𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻, cedric diggory

˗ˋ 20

CHAPTER TWENTY
✧ 
-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH SHE AVOIDS HIM

. . .

Rosie Kersey had made the conscious decision to ignore Cedric Diggory. Mostly because of Cho, but also because he had decided to not even look at her or defend her against Cho.

She wasn't jealous - she could never - Rosie was just unaware that there was something between them. Or even if there wasn't - he should have at least defended her against her words.

And even if she was making an active effort to ignore and avoid Cedric, it didn't seem like he was taking it well. At least for the first couple of days. 

She wanted to tell Cedric all about the clue, but with him having taken the hint and not talking to her, Rosie would not be telling him. Not until he realised that she genuinely had a reason to be upset with him.

"Seems that Pretty-boy Diggory isn't such a Golden boy after all." One of the twins mused, sitting down at breakfast a few days later. Rosie was staring determinedly down at her toast, aggresively spreading butter on it, not bothering to look up at the twins but recognising their voices.

"Well, I didn't realise that our Rosie was such a heart-breaker." At this remark, Rosie finally looked up, seeing George and Fred sat across from her, Katie talking to Angelina on one side and Harry on the other. 

"I don't know what you mean." Rosie lied, taking a rather large bite of her toast to avoid talking. Fred promptly leant across the table and snatched the slice out of her hand. 

"You always do pick the perfectly toasted piece." He smiled, taking a bite, the Kersey girl unable to protest as she chewed, reaching for another slice, frowning when George tapped her hand, pulling the bread away. 

"What is this? An intervention?" Rosie questioned, glaring at George when he tried to stop her from reaching over to the plate of perfectly shape croissants. "Harry, you wouldn't mind passing me the croissants, please?" She asked.

The Potter boy passed it to her silently, holding it as she took one. "Thank you." She smiled as he put the plate back, before turning to the twins. "So, what are you hoping to achieve from this?"

"Why you're acting like this?" Fred offered, and shrugged when he saw Rosie's gaze flicker over to him. "It's true, you're not exactly looking like you're having the best time."

"And when Diggory is staring over at you like you've ripped his heart into shreds." George said and Rosie didn't stop herself when she leant backwards slightly, looking down towards the table where the teachers sat, and saw that Diggory was staring at her. 

They made eye contact, and Cedric stood up. "Oh for Merlins sake." Rosie rolled her eyes, and the two twins watched at the Hufflepuff walked over to the table. 

"Why are you ignoring me?" Cedric asked, and Rosie looked up at him, feeling a twang of guilt when she saw the confusion in his eyes. 

"Figure it out for yourself Diggory, the same with the rest of the bet. I'm not interested in it anymore." Rosie replied, and beside her, Harry looked confused. 

"That's not how bets work, Rosie." Cedric replied. "I... I.." He stuttered and Rosie looked expectantly up for a moment, before turning away. 

The twins watched, confused as Cedric walked away. By now, more than just their small group were staring at them. "So who's going to explain why you're not talking to Cedric anymore - or helping him?" Angelina asked, leaning towards her friend. 

"Cho Chang." Rosie shrugged, picking at her croissant. Beside her, Harry's head snapped towards her, confusion. "I don't wish to repeat what she said." Rosie said, somewhat diplomatically as she took a bite of her croissants. 

"So is that it, you're done helping him?" Hermione asked, sat across from where Harry and Ron were. "Completely?"

"Unless he apologises. Which would severely impact his pride. Or I feel bad enough to go and help him. Whichever comes first. Hopefully not the second." Rosie looked around her, seeing just how many people were listening to her.

"Sorry I'm helping your competition, Harry." She continued, realising that she didn't exactly know what his thoughts were on it. "We made a bet before the names were drawn and up until now I've just been sticking to te bet."

"It's alright, don't worry about it. I can't exactly say I expected to be chosen either." Harry shrugged. "Is the bet off?"

"Like I said, for now." Rosie stood up as she saw Snape leave the hall. "I need to talk to the greasy-haired git before Transfiguration, about that essay." 

The girl got up, leaving her half eaten croissant on the side, her bag swinging from her shoulder as she dashed after Snape. "I'll never understand that." Lee commented. 

"Trust me, it's a gift hidden in plain sight. She's great at potions, can suck up to the prick inside lessons and out of them - I swear she's the only one who can listen to him prattle on for hours on end." Fred told the others, who were still staring after the girl confused.

"And how, exactly is that a gift?" Ron asked, looking skeptical. 

"Well, she can distract him whilst we steal from his cupboard. She can get all sorts of recipes out of him, even stuff from the Restricted section." George chimed in. "It's what she gets from being a potions prodigy."

"And she enjoys the bloody speeches she gets from him on the properties of Aconite Fluid." Fred rolled his eyes, before looking to his twin. "Come on, Georgie, let's go to Transfiguration and make sure Diggory doesn't annoy her into throwing herself off of the Astronomy tower." 

The twins got up and left, leaving Lee and Angelina with the trio that were two years below. "Do you think he's realised yet?" The oldest girl asked, and Harry and Hermione looked confused.

"What?" Hermione asked, and Angelina shook her head slightly, a smile on her face.

"The bloody idiot is head over heels for her." Ron replied, not knowing a few feet away, a certain someone had heard exactly what had just been said.

✧