Misunderstood | Cedric Diggory

xiii

Alissa was the talk of the school after her public humiliation asking Viktor Krum to the yule ball. Whispers quickly exchanged; I suppose people had observed the closeness between Alissa and Viktor in the weeks that had passed through the love potion had worn off, and only Alissa was left heartbroken.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl, which felt utterly and truthfully ridiculous considering the amount of ridicule I had suffered on her behalf. Perhaps the love potion wasn't the smartest move a person could make, and her Ravenclaw peers had scoffed to that. But to change onto the right path, you must first walk through the consequences of the previous routes.

So we watched the once-mighty Alissa sink into shame and humiliation, as Viktor Krum took her heart and tore it into two. I took her to the side after class, and we snuck out into Hogsmeade for a butterbeer and a pastie.

"I don't know why you're so nice to me, Elise." she whimpered, her eyes sorrowful as she wiped the crumbs from her cheeks.

I shrugged, "I used to think Cedric was egotistical and arrogant, though I started to get to know him and discovered a completely different person."

"I've been horrible to you, though; there's no way to misjudge me."

She was undoubtedly pretty, even with a painful frown and self-hatred on her face. It was the insecurity that was rooted deep inside of her, the fear and the hate. She reminded me of the girl I was before, who stuck to herself as she was scared to let anyone in, whose own mother hadn't even of wanted her; the girl who made judgements about people as excuses not to let them in. People had thought I was snobbish and cold.

"That doesn't matter. We're both misunderstood, and people like us have to stick together in this world. That's the only chance we have."

This year would change me for the better. It had brought a new relationship, unexpected friendships and a change of attitude, a sense of belonging and being understood. Though I brought Alissa into an embrace and told her it would all be alright as if it was myself a year ago, I had been saying those words to.

Having Alissa hanging out with our group was awkward at first. Some of the boys had never been particularly fond of her, primarily due to her on-and-off flings with Cedric and previous attitudes. It took a lot of persuading for me to convince them to open up, see her as a changed person.

It was a Friday evening when we had all gathered in the Prefects bathroom that they began to open up. Our group had sat at the edge of the bath with a couple of bottles of firewhiskey and tipsy secrets to spill.

I was thrown entirely off though when in truth and dare when Anthony asked Alissa why she had given Viktor Krum a love potion when she opted for the truth. Immediately I turned to her, "You don't have to answer that."

Alissa took a breath in, swallowed and smiled, "No, I will." Alissa took a swig of the firewhiskey and spoke. "I was brewing potions at a seventh-year level, if I wanted to try it out on someone why would it not be Viktor Krum." she chuckled, playfully, as if the sharpness and brutality of the question had disintegrated. "I think what I did was naive and foolish, though I don't believe it's unforgivable."

From there, people loosened up, laughed and enjoyed Alissa's company. A part of me felt accomplishment in her success in our group, undeniably proud of myself for looking beyond Alissa and I's past and giving her the helping hand she needed. Cedric had been critical at first, due to their previous affairs and her attitudes to me. Yet, when he opened up, we all did, and I couldn't imagine a time before Alissa was in the group.

On the lead up to Christmas the group had been closer together, Cedric promising he wouldn't worry about the second challenge until after the holidays. Perhaps it seemed unwise, but being stressed and over-pressured was the last thing Cedric needed during this time. Besides, spending time with his friends was making him more jubilant than ever, and his lack of assignments left him with too much free time.