𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻, cedric diggory

˗ˋ 33

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH THEY'RE TIPSY

. . .

With a sigh, Rosie settled down between the two twins, who glanced at her, and then at the particularily handsome, dark haired Durmstrang student who had walked her over there.

"Well, I can't say my feet don't hurt after that." Rosie said, reaching down and pulling up the various layers of net petticoats, finally revealling her ankles, taking off her heels and placing them on the tabel just behind her, careful not to knock any glasses. "No one will ever know." She smiled, slightly conspiratorially, as her skirts covered her feet. 

"If they ignore the pair of shoes on the table, then sure." George said, and Fred chuckled, Rosie shaking her head and smiling. 

"Who was he then?" Fred asked, folding his arms over his dress robes, looking over to Rosie, whose cheeks had turned a light shade of pink. 

"Him? His name is Theodosii, but he goes by Theo. He's from Durmstrang, our age." Rosie told them, and the twins nodded along, George spotting the boy in question and nudging the Kersey girl's shoulder, pointing him out. 

"He seems nice enough." Rosie continued, glancing over in the direction George said he was. "He asked if I was involved with anyone - he had seen me with you -" She glanced at Fred, who nodded along, "Before asking me to dance."

"What about Cedric?" Fred asked, and Rosie fell silent for a moment, not exactly knowing what to say in reply to that.

"He can come dance with me when he wants to. I might want to make them jealous, but only because Cho is a bitch." Rosie's tone fell flat. "I don't like Cedric like that." She shrugged, seeming a little brighter as she glanced at Fred.

"Oh - that's what you were doing?" George said, having a moment of realisation, and Rosie and Fred stared at him. "When you were doing that dance thing? You were trying to one up Cedric and Cho."

"Kinda." Rosie shrugged. "I don't care about that anymore - besides, I've promised Theo a tour of the castle. Did you know that they really don't spend any time in the castle other than to eat - they stay in that ship all day."

Rosie didn't talk much after that, but the three best friends ended up getting more punch, which, as they realised much too late, someone had spiked with what felt like firewhiskey, as the younger years disappeared off to bed. 

The Weird Sisters continued to play more upbeat songs, and the slightly buzzed older students danced right into the night. "Rosieee." A voice called, and Rosie turned around, seeing Cedric there, most definetely slightly tispy.

His dress robes had been discarded somewhere, and his hair was a mess - the complete opposite of what it had been at the beginning of the ball. Only wearing his waistcoat, and half-unbuttoned shirt, the Hufflepuff champion seemed just that bit more attractive then he usually was.

It was oddly beautiful, and Rosie felt her breath catch in her throat. Just because she said that she didn't like Cedric in that way, didn't mean that she couldn't find him attractive - which he so blatantly was. 

"Ready to dance?" He asked, and Rosie didn't even trust herself to speak, a swarm of butterflies fluttering around her stomach. Instead she just nodded, and let Cedric take her hands, pulling her further into the crowd. 

Neither of them stopped holding hands - one of them always touching as they danced. Cedric kept doing things to make Rosie laugh, like little spins and just things that somewhat tipsy Rosie found hilarious. 

"This will be the last song of the night!" The lead singer of the Weird Sisters announced, booing right back at the crowd of teenagers when they shouted their complaints. 

Laughing, Rosie took Cedric's hands again, her mind not registering how much more sultry and less upbeat the song was. But Cedric did, his arm snaking around Rosie's waist, the pair in the middle of the crowd. 

Someway through the song, Rosie dared to glance up at Cedric, the butterflies so prominent in her belly still. He met her gaze, stare almost piercing. Smirking slightly, Cedric rose a hand and pulled it through his hair, before nodding his head to the beat, hair falling all over the place. 

The song came to an end, much to the disappointment of the group. But Rosie didn't mind oo much, she felt far too nervous around a far too attractive Cedric. 

Still, she had some ounce of confidence left, and as the song came to a close, and the crowd stopped moving, no beat to dance to, she stood on her tiptoes, kissing him on the cheek and moving his hair out of his eyes. 

"I'll walk you back to your dorm." He mumbled, taking her hand and pulling her away from the crowd, grabbing his dress robes and wrapping them around Rosie's shoulders, buttoning them around her neck. 

She smiled and thanked him, holding onto his shoulders as she pulled off her heels, holding them by the straps. They exited out into the Entrance hall, where Cedric asked her to wait, chasing someone up the stairs for a moment, before stopping.

Whilst he was talking to whoever it was, they peered out from around his shoulders. It was Harry, who was somewhat surprised to see her - he had probably expected Cho. Rosie wavbed slightly at him, before her hands dropped to her lap, shivering slightly.

"I told him about the egg." Cedric explained when he rejoined Rosie, and with a smile, the pair set off for the Gryffindor Common room, where Cedric would wish goodnight to Rosie, leaving her with his dress robes at the portrait of the Fat Lady and her friend Vi. 

That night, the half-mermaid would fall asleep with the memories of the tipsy, messy-haired Cedric, who smirked whilst he gazed down at her. It was a memory that would reply in her mind like a broken record. 

And Rosie wasn't exactly complaining.

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