☤ Pseudonym ☤

~Chapter Eight~

I sat down next to Hermione and Fay at the bustling Gryffindor table. Harry, Hermione and Ron were engaged in an intense conversation it seemed so I turned my attention to the copious amounts of food strewn across the table in front of me. 

I was just about to reach for a rather large croissant when Angelina Johnson marched up to our group, her long braided hair swinging out behind her. She was a fierce seventh year who I remember always correcting Wood with his constant use of male pronouns when addressing the team. Hermione told me that she had entered herself into the tournament last year. She had just replaced Wood as captain of the quidditch team and I had no doubt that was the reason behind her sudden appearance.

"His Angelina." Harry greeted her.

"Hi," she replied briskly, "Good summer?" And without waiting for his reply continued, "Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."

"Nice one," said Harry, grinning at her. I tore apart my croissant while still listening to their conversation intently.

"Yeah, well, we need a new Keeper now Oliver's left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o'clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new person'll fit in."

As Harry agreed with her, I nudged Fay's side and whispered, "If you want to be on the team, now might be your only chance for a while. Maybe you're secretly a star Keeper." I grinned at her. 

Fay looked a little skeptical but didn't have a chance to argue as Angelina turned to me.

"I'm really sorry about Cedric, Renn. He was an amazing Quidditch player, but also one of the nicest guys I've ever had the privilege to meet." she said with such sincerity, my eyes started to water as sadness washed over me.

I smiled softly up at her, "Thanks, Angelina. It means a lot." she returned my smile and walked back along the table to join her friends.

Hermione nudged me gently, "Are you okay?" she asked quietly, the rest of the table had returned to their meals. 

I thought about the people that surrounded me. How they supported me and seemed to actually care about me.

"Yes, I think so." and for the first time since Cedric died I truly believed what I was saying. 

-----

A fine misty drizzle was tumbling from the skies, so that the people standing in huddles around the edges of the yard looked blurred at the edges. I accompanied Harry, Hermione and Ron to a secluded corner under a heavily dripping balcony. 

"Hi Harry." I jumped a little in surprise at the soft voice behind me. I turned to see Cho Chang from Ravenclaw standing a few feet away, her collar turned up in an effort to block out the wind and rain. I looked around for her usual posse of friends that seemed to follow her everywhere. 

"Hi." Harry replied, and I noticed his face become tinged with pink. "Did you ... er ... have a good summer?" he asked awkwardly.

"Oh, it was all right, you know ..." I recalled that her and Cedric had been friends for a while and I felt a pang of sympathy as I recognised the pain that I was also feeling.

"Is that a Tornados badge?" Ron demanded suddenly, pointing to the front of her robes, where a sky-blue badge emblazoned with a double gold 'T' was pinned. "You don't support them, do you?" he asked in an accusatory tone of voice.

"Yeah, I do." she said.

Ron then launched into a vicious debate in order to convince her that she was wrong and why the Chudley Cannons were clearly superior.