DUSK; Cedric Diggory

Chapter 45

It took Ophelia a good ten seconds to process the words that came out of Dumbledore's mouth.

Harry Potter...Harry Potter...

And along with every head in the Great Hall, her mouth agape, she turned to look at the fourth year boy she had developed an older sister instinct for. It was silent, except for a few gasps and clattering of the silverware. As much as she wanted to question him, yell at him, comfort him—something—no words came out.

At the teachers table, Professor McGonagall rose to her feet and whispered something to Professor Dumbledore, who looked equally as worried. Professor Dumbledore straightened up and nodded back at her.

"Harry Potter!" he called, this time in a more stern voice. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

Harry turned to her, his emerald eyes pleading. "I didn't put my name in. You know I didn't."

Ophelia ran a hand down her face, shaking herself out of her blank state. She studied the boy for a while, and sighed loudly, reaching across to push his drooping glasses back up. "I know." she assured, then nodded to the teacher's table.

She watched with a heavy heart as he slowly stepped over the Gryffindor bench and made his way down the table like the previous three champions had, but the deafening silence made it seem like eternity.

⟠ ⟠ ⟠

After many reassuring words from Luca on their way back to the common room, Ophelia felt slightly better, but considering she was scared and worried shitless for both Cedric and Harry, she still felt like crap.

"Alright," Ophelia said firmly. "This time, for real."

Luca scoffed, raising an amused eyebrow back at her. "That's what you said about the previous sev—"

Ophelia raised her hand dramatically to tell him to stop speaking. "Shhh." she said. "pancakes or waffles?"

"Um..." Luca tapped on his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. "waffles."

She furrowed her eyebrows, a pout falling on her lips.

"So who was which?"

"Cedric was pancakes, Harry was waffles."

Luca sighed, glancing over at the clock to check the time. "Look, the common room is going to be hectic once Harry gets back, and I doubt the kid wants to be bombarded with accusing questions. I'll help tell everyone to back off—so go find loverboy before he gets back to the Hufflepuff dorms."

Ophelia smiled softly, pulling Luca into a hug and throwing a sweatshirt over her tank top. "You're the best, Luca."

Luca rolled his eyes and gave her a thumbs up, pushing her to the entrance of the common room. She stumbled a few steps, and the portrait automatically swinging open.

"Dear, where are you going so late?" The Fat Lady asked, not annoyed but a little concerned.

"Thanks!" Ophelia sent her a smile, and then left without giving her an answer. She jogged down the stairs to the entrance hall, hoping that she could catch Cedric and Harry when they came out. After a while, no one had shown, so she decided to sit on the marble staircase, her mind in a frenzy as she tapped with her foot to a rhythm.

"So...tell me..." she heard a muffled voice and footsteps nearing her. "How did you get your name in?"

"I didn't." said another voice, and Ophelia knew it was Cedric and Harry, and immediately jumped to her feet.

"Ah...okay," Cedric and Harry finally came into view from the dimly lit candles.

"Hi," Ophelia said softly, finally making her presence known.