A Change in Fate || Cedric Diggory [1]

Chapter 19: Confrontations

"Analeigh's being oddly quiet today."

"You didn't see her at breakfast, did you?"

"No, she woke up earlier than I did."

"Maybe she's having that time of the month. I found out Ginny first got hers when she was being extremely moody last summer."

"Ron!"

Analeigh scoffed and lightly shoved her friends from behind, all three of them seated at the couch in front of the fireplace at the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I leave for a few minutes to grab my jumper and you're all talking behind my back now?"

The Golden Trio turned around and smiled sheepishly, caught in the act.

"Sorry, Leigh," Harry said. "We were just wondering what's up with you today."

"Yeah, especially since we didn't see you at breakfast," Hermione added. "You didn't mention what you did this morning."

"Nothing much. Just walked around the castle," she lied. "I haven't spent any Christmas at Hogwarts yet, so this is a first."

"Doesn't explain why you're being so quiet, though," Ron said.

"Just missing my family a bit. It's my first Christmas away from them, after all."

The two boys nodded in understanding, but Hermione didn't seem to buy it. Her stare lingered a bit longer on the dirty blonde-haired girl before scooting closer to Harry to make space for Analeigh to sit next to her on the couch.

The truth was, Analeigh couldn't stop thinking about her kiss with Cedric. It was her first one and frankly, she was a bit embarrassed. She wasn't sure how she did whereas Cedric had probably done it before considering his level of popularity among all students. Girls (and she wouldn't be surprised if there were probably boys, too) fawned over him and it was very likely that he must have dated quite a bit since he was already a sixth year student.

Of course, she was over the moon that Cedric seemed to return whatever feelings she's had for him based on the fact that he had initiated the kiss. However, she didn't know what that really meant to him. Was he just attracted to her? Was kissing such a casual thing to him that it didn't mean he liked her romantically as much as she thought? She didn't know how she was supposed to act around him now. Would she pretend like nothing happened? Should she wait for him to bring it up? Should she just ask him?

"Have you opened your presents yet?" Hermione was asking.

"Just whatever sounded like food," Ron answered, confirming his actions as he shook a box of assorted chocolates he brought down earlier and popped a piece of it in his mouth.

"Not everything," Harry said next. "Shall we open them now?"

The four friends agreed to open their presents together in the common room. The boys went up to their dorm while the girls went to theirs, and this was the perfect opportunity for Hermione to confront Analeigh.