𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 ↬ 𝔡.𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔣𝔬𝔶

16 | b a d g e r

{T} he next few days passed by agonizingly slowly.

I walked to the library, looking for something to keep me occupied. It was almost dinner time, and it was nearly empty.

I breathed in the familiar smell of old, crisp pages, and began to search for one particular book. Spotting it, I reached up, the book being inches from my grasp.

"Do you need any help?" a voice asked.

"Maybe," I admitted.

A tall boy with messy brown hair walked over, carrying a stack of books. "I'm the library assistant."

"Oh, they have those here?" I asked, interested.

"No," he said flashing a lopsided smile, "I created that position for myself."

"Really?" Now, I was more interested.

"Yeah, the library is left a mess at the end of the day." he shook his head, "I like to help clean it up. So, what's the book you want?"

"The one over there, green cover." I pointed.

He put down his stack of books, and grabbed it easily. Examining the cover, he remarked, "Oh, I quite like this one. Rooting for Oliver."

I raised my eyebrow, "Personally, I'm rooting for Brendon."

"How?" He said in disbelief, "Oliver supported her the entire time!"

I laughed, "But, Brendon is adorable!"

"I can't disagree with that," he chuckled. I noticed that his nose scrunched up when he laughed.

"Lexi." I introduced.

"Cedric." He looked at my tie, "Slytherin, eh?"

I puffed out my chest proudly, "Yep. Hufflepuff?"

He nodded, "I heard somewhere that honey badgers eat snakes." He said with a childish glint in his eyes.

"Oh, really?" I challenged, crossing my arms.

He shrugged with a smirk, "That's just what I heard."

"I mean, all I can say is that a badger can try to eat a basilisk." I shrugged in the same nonchalant tone.

Cedric's eyebrows raised, "A basilisk, huh?"

"It's just a big snake," I commented cheekily.

Cedric laughed, "Head to dinner?"

"Let's go." I said, "By the way, any chance I can get in on being a library assistant?"

"Maybe," Cedric said in a sing song tone.

We arrived at the entrance of the Great Hall, and the smell of food nearly drove me over. "Chicken..." I whispered.

"Chicken?" Cedric asked.

"I want chicken."

"Let's get chicken."

We got chicken.

I wanted to sit with Cedric, but I wasn't up for the stares today. "See you later, honey badger," I waved.

"Goodbye, oh great Basilisk," Cedric did a mock bow.

We parted ways, but I felt better than I did in a long time. Walking over to the Slytherin table, I noticed Malfoy was glowering by himself, glaring at his food. What was up with him?

I headed over to the seat closest to the chicken, next to Pansy. "Oi, Potter." She asked, "Who's the Puff?"

"Cedric." I said between bites, "Why?"

"Oh, nothing." She said, with a knowing glance at Draco, "He's a looker, isn't he?"

Draco grumbled and turned away from us.

"Hm." I said, realizing that I never got his last name. I didn't really like last names, so I never introduced myself with it.

"Are you two close?"

"Cedric and I?" I asked.

Pansy nodded.

"No, we just met today."

"But he doesn't seem to be a first year."

"Yeah, he doesn't." I thought about how much taller he was, how mature he looked. Boys get their growth spurt at what, thirteen? He was probably a third or fourth year.

"Planning on getting a boyfriend, Potter?" Pansy teased.

"Maybe," I answered honestly, I mean everyone thinks about it, right?

"Do I have to spell it out, Potter?" Pansy sighed, "Is Cedric a candidate?"

I almost swallowed a grape. Draco started to choke on his water, Blaise having to whack his back a few times.

"You okay, Malfoy?" he asked. Pansy snaked her arm around Draco, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Fine." he grumbled, "Lost my appetite." He pulled away from Pansy and stormed off, but not before sending a deadly glare directed at Cedric.

"What's up with him?" I asked, tired because of Qudditch practice that morning. We were increasing the number of days we practiced due to the first playoff inching closer. We were going against Gryffindor, and I had heard that Harry had got on the team.

It made my heart swell with pride, but also made me feel a bit guilty. I knew I was going to win. That might sound arrogant, but it was the truth. No matter how good our parents were, he wasn't going to compare against someone who'd been playing all their life. Gryffindor did have a winning chance, though, since they had pretty decent players.

Slytherin went more for brawn than skill. I would have never made it on the team if it wasn't for Snape.

"Aren't you going to answer my question?" Pansy huffed.

"Not really, I guess." I said, I mean, everyone knew that upperclassmen were off limits. And even if they weren't, I barely knew the guy.

Pansy wiggled her eyebrows, "I know what you're thinking."

I rolled my eyes, "Shut up, Parkinson."

She shrugged, "He's older, sure. But, you can't deny he's cute!"

"How's it going with Draco?" I asked, changing the subject.

Her expression dropped. "He won't respond to anything!"

I felt bad for her, and I knew I owed her for being there for me. "Give him some lemon bars," I suggested. The last lemon bars I wrapped, I had to force down my throat. I was so pissed I wanted to throw them out, but couldn't waste perfectly good food.

Pansy looked at me suspiciously. I threw my hands up, "Do as you please, but I'm not a liar."

Most of the time.

Whooooo! 1K reads! I did a little dance in my room after I checked Wattpad this morning. I just want to say thank you to everyone!

Sidenote: please vote and comment. One of my guilty pleasures is that whenever someone comments I reread it at least 3 times a week.