Backfire • Cedric Diggory [✓]

• TEN •

The lake in front of the castle was serene, Holland wanting nothing but to take her shoes off and dip her toes in. The weather was perfect, too. It wasn't the usual sunny day, the skies were painted grey, but there were no winds nor rain. Holland preferred this weather, making her feel like it was always an opportunity to be outside. Holland woke up that morning, smiled at the sky, and looked for her friend, Harry. She hadn't spoken to him in ages, and she had always wanted to find the time to check up on the second Hogwarts champion.

    "Amazing," Neville mumbles to himself, the boy sporting rolled up bottoms as his lower limbs were submerged in the lake. Holland, Neville, and Harry were all by the lake, just talking and trying to spend some time together before Holland would be off to see Cedric again.

    "So how have you been doing?" Holland asks Harry, sympathy in her voice. While Neville had been in the water, Harry was perched up and leaning on a tree as Holland sat opposite of him, the two examining 'Winogrand's Wondrous Water Plants', a book that Moody had given Neville when the two had spoken after his traumatic Forbidden Curse demonstration.

    "Majority of the school hates me, though that's not exactly news." Harry mutters. "And to top it all off, my best friend thinks I'm a cheat." Harry says in a tone as if he was happy, though he clearly wasn't. A mannerism he'd grown to keep after all the years of peace and joy in Hogwarts. Holland did her best to refrain her chuckling, for a boy who was known to be the one to grow up and defeat You-Know-Who, he sure had a lot of attitude, always sassing as if he were a hormonal teenage girl. Holland fumbled and played with the cool stones she and her friend were sitting on, bringing a smooth one up to her face as she studied it. It was a wonderful looking stone, majority of it black but lined by strips of jagged white, like an inverted zebra.

    "Harry," Holland begins, trying to imagine how the boy felt. "I know this probably won't mean much but there are still people here who believe and believe in you." Holland says, gesturing to Neville who had practically been flirting with the greens and plants in the lake. "And you know little Ronald. As if there'd even be some kind of universe where he doesn't believe in you. He's just being stubborn. He'll come around."

     "Amazing!" Neville exclaims once more, Harry and Holland turning their heads to face him.

    "Neville, you're doing it again." Harry notes, earning a mumbled 'sorry' from Neville. Holland chuckles, not knowing who to feel sorry for more. She took one last look at the stone and stood up before positioning herself a little to her right, then throwing the stone, admiring it as it skipped forward, creating ripples and ripples on the water. She sat back down and stared at the lake, deep in thought before she could remember what she was talking about.

    "Anyway, back to what I was trying to say. I know things are mad scary, but when has near-death experiences ever actually stopped you, Harry Potter?" Holland playfully challenges, determined to put a smile on the boy's face.

    "Let's not find out." Neville mumbles, immediately shying away from the looks the two had given him. Neville had always been such a sweet boy, Holland thought. There were just times where he'd be a lot sweeter if he kept his mouth shut.

    "Thanks, Neville." Harry mutters as Neville says his apologies once more, Neville then waving behind Harry and Holland. Holland turns to see Ron, Ginny, and Hermione coming from the trees behind the lake, Ron not exactly sporting a friendly face. Hermione and Ron were now talking as they walked towards them, obviously having another quarrel with the poor third year trailing behind them. Holland squints her eyes in focus as she tried to make out what the two were saying to each other.

    "If it's already gone through so many people, why don't you just go and tell him yourself?" Holland snickers, Ron clearly wanted to talk to Harry, but was too stubborn and into their little fight to do so. Harry filled Holland in on what went down in their dormitory that night, even though Holland knew Ron wasn't happy about Harry being a champion and thinking he intentionally entered, Holland was surprised at how Ron behaved and reacted to the situation. Holland still couldn't believe it.