...

Lynch's owl, Lyra, is named after the constellation, not all that other stuff. When I first looked up Lyra it gave me like fifty other things. For some reason, this was written as if it was rushed and I'm truly sorry about it. When I write, it's either amazing or horrible. I guess this is one of the horrible ones.

...

"Have you got your bag? Where's Lyra? Hold on, you dropped a book - " Mum's fussing was cut off when Dad rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, she's fine. She'll do great this year, right?" he sent me a look that meant 'say yes or your Mum'll strangle me'.

I nodded, "Of course, Mum, this is my sixth year, after all! I'll do fine!"

Mum sent us both a look then sighed, "All right, fine, but where is Lyra?"

"I let her out, I think she's circling the platform with the other owls," I answered, looking around and, sure enough, I saw my owl drifting around with some of the other students' owls.

"Call her back soon," Mum said, a bit worried.

I sighed, Mum was always worrying over me because I was the "baby" of the family. I had an older sister but she'd left school years before and moved to France for work or something like that. I hadn't heard from her in a while.

"Lynch!" I heard someone call and, moments later, a tall dark-haired boy came up next to me and tipped his head to my parents, "Mrs. and Mr. Lynch, how're you?"

"Wonderful," Mum answered, looking around for Mr. Diggory since our families had long been friends, "Where's your father?"

"Ah, he's coming. Mind if we head onto the train?" he gestured to me and back at the scarlet train behind us.

"Not at all," Mum said, pulling me into a hug before letting me go.

I waved at them and followed Cedric onto the train, where he already had a compartment. I begrudgingly let him put my trunk into the overhead storage area with his since he insisted that it was the right thing to do. The show-off!

"Well, Lynch, how's your summer been?" he asked, sitting across from me.

I leaned against the window, "Great, actually, you?"

"I went to the quidditch world cup," he said offhandedly, knowing it would annoy me.

I rose to the bait, "What? Diggory! How could you not tell me! My dad wanted to buy tickets but Mum didn't want to go and the decision fell onto me! We could've met up."

"Didn't know you wanted to see me that badly, Lynch."

"Oh, shut up," I scoffed.

"That's not very Hufflepuff of you," he commented.

"We can't all be the perfect Hufflepuff, Diggory."

"That's true, Lynch, there can only be one," he paused for dramatic effect, "And it's you."

I burst out laughing, "Sure."

"It's true!" he insisted, "You're a great Hufflepuff."

"Nah, you're definitely the best. The whole school agrees! Unless the golden boy of Hogwarts is deaf and he's heard none of the whispers?"

"I've heard whispers that you're awesome," he smiled.

"Maybe you are deaf, or maybe you're being annoying. Or maybe it's both!"

"I'm known for my good looks and annoying-ness," he laughed.

"Obviously you are," I laughed as well.

"Lynch! There you are!" someone said, sliding open the compartment door and I looked over to see Emmaline, Isla, Ki, and Camille. Ki was the one who had spoken.

"Hello," I greeted them.

Emmaline glanced over and, upon seeing Cedric, pinkened a bit, "Oh, hi, Diggory."

He smiled at my friends, "Hey."

Isla rolled her eyes, "Lynch, I thought you wanted to sit with us?"

"Oh, uhm, I was -"

Camille cut me off and started to shove Emmaline, Isla, and Ki out the door, "Sorry, Lynch, we'll see you later!"

I laughed as my three friends protested and tried to stay in the compartment but Camille successfully thrust the three of them out, smiled at Cedric and I, then left, hauling Emmaline, Isla, and Ki behind her.

I turned back to Cedric and laughed, "Ignore them, they're slightly insane. I think Camille is the only one keeping all of us sort of rooted to earth."

"And here I was thinking that you were all perfectly normal," he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, no, Camille is the only normal one among us. We're all aliens," I stopped myself from laughing and said, "Rawr, beware."

"Rawr? Don't cats or something say rawr?"

"Well, yeah, big cats do."

"So aliens are big cats?"

"Sure."

He laughed, "So aliens are among us?"

"Well, they could be. I mean, we're wizards, Cedric, why not aliens?"

"I think you've read too many muggle sci-fi books," he commented.

"Probably," I agreed.

We chatted and joked for the rest of the train ride, surprisingly left alone despite the fact that Cedric had many people wanting to talk to him from all the houses and years. Later I found out that my friends had stationed themselves in the compartment next to ours and fended off others. 

Weirdos.

When the train pulled to a stop we climbed out and onto the platform before setting off to find a carriage. It was then that our peacefulness was disturbed. A group of fifth years with people from each of the houses crowded around us and broke me off from Cedric.

They pulled him towards their carriage despite his not very insistent protests, because he was too nice to say no, and left me behind. I huffed and followed after them, much to Cedric's relief.

"Who are you?" one of the girls abducting Cedric asked, or more like snapped.

"His friend," I replied calmly, knowing that some people disliked my friendship with Cedric. It wasn't my fault we were friends! It was purely my dad's fault, he had befriended Mr. Diggory when they were in school.

The girl who had questioned me turned to Cedric, "Is this true, Ced? Or is she lying to worm her way into the carriage?"

I rolled my eyes at the nickname 'Ced' but he ignored it and reached out to rest his arm over my shoulder, "Yep, Lynch is my friend. She's super annoying though, can't get rid of her."

I snorted, "Well, too bad, Diggory, you're stuck with me for at least another two years. I understand the pain it must be to deal with my awesomeness for that much longer."

The group exchanged annoyed looks and, when they determined that Cedric and I had been joking, they crowded into a carriage, pulling Cedric up with them.

I sighed and climbed up after them, turning to a Ravenclaw girl close to Cedric but not too close. The way you sit next to someone when you want to keep others from sitting between you two but also not close enough to make contact. I would've been fine with it if she hadn't been sitting in a way that took up space for two people. She was near the edge of the seat!

I cleared my throat and she looked up, "Could you... scoot over? Please?"

"Why?" she asked.

I wanted to say 'because your pitiful attempts of flirting with Cedric are sad' but, since my nice side ruled out, I instead said, "There's no other places to sit and I don't want to wait for the next carriage."

"Fine," she moved closer to Cedric with an exaggerated sigh.

I sat down and kind of regretted not waiting for the next carriage. Helga, either girls were getting more desperate or I just never noticed how intensely people attempted to flirt with Cedric. I stayed silent during the bumpy ride and was the first one to climb out.

Cedric hopped out after me and, since we both couldn't force ourselves into leaving behind the fifth years, waited for them to all get out. We headed up to the castle with the rest of the Hogwarts students who weren't first years. Sometimes, I wished other years used the boats but, alas, that wasn't how it worked.

We flooded into the Entrance Hall before we entered the Great Hall and, thankfully, most of the group broke off to go to their own tables but a couple remained and joined us at the Hufflepuff table. Or tried to.

"Lynch! Diggory!" I saw Camille waving us to two spots she'd saved next to her and my other friends.

Thankfully, Cedric was used to sitting with my friends and I so he didn't protest as we slid onto the bench. Camille turned away after he and I had sat down because Isla and Emmaline were arguing. Camille poked Isla in the side and hissed something at the two of them and they immediately quieted. I guess that's why being the "mom friend" of the group had benefits. Despite the benefits, only Camille fit the right qualities to keep the rest of us from bickering like six-year-olds so we all agreed to let her boss us around.

Sometimes Emmaline complained about it though.

The sorting began and the first years filed in. The stool was placed and names were called. Cheers and clapping filled the hall as each kid was sorted into the house. I grinned wildly when Hufflepuff house greeted new students. Who didn't love having new little first years to tease?

After each student had been sorted, the stool and hat were taken away then the feast began. The clinking of cutlery and chatter rose through the space and I dished some of my favorites onto my plate before joining my friends' and Cedric's conversation.

An hour later, the feast ended and Dumbledore announced the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mad-Eye Moody. No one except Dumbledore and Hagrid clapped for him, probably because of his frightening appearance.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "As I was saying we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're joking!" said one of the Weasley twins loudly. The tension broke and everyone laughed, including Dumbledore who chuckled.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley, though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar..." he trailed off when Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, "Er - but maybe this is not the time... no... where was I? Ah, yes, the Triwizard Tournament... well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

Whispers filled the hall and I leaned over to Cedric, "What do you think?"

"Sounds interesting, I might join," he answered truthfully.

"I was honestly thinking the same thing, I mean, why not?"

"Exactly, why not?" he agreed with a smile.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful. However, our own Departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

"The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their shortlisted contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

Whispering rose again and Cedric was watching Dumbledore with rapt attention. The Hall quieted again when the professor began to speak once more, "Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the Heads of participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" Dumbledore raised his voice because people were making noise of outrage "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them the Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Cedric turned to me, "I'm submitting my name."

"Same, I turned seventeen a month ago."

He sighed, "You'll be a good champion, probably better than me."

"You'll be better," I stood up with my friends, "You should go corral the first years to the common room, I'll see you later!"

My friends and I left him to head down to the Hufflepuff common room. Cedric, as a prefect, had to help the first years find their way to the basements and show them how to get in without getting drenched in vinegar.

The Hufflepuff common room was fun, honestly. The first time I had to get in by myself I had missed a tap and got soaked. It wasn't fun in the moment and I smelled odd for the rest of the afternoon, since I had gone in at lunch and I had to wait until classes ended to shower, but a few months later I'd had a good laugh with my dormmates over it. There was no way to symbolize the beginning of a friendship better than laughing over someone's failure.

Isla tapped the barrels and we entered the common room, rushing up to our dorm and hurrying to get ready for bed. After we were all ready, we gathered on Ki's bed, since she was the only one willing to let others pile onto her bed, and started to tell each other about our summers. We talked over the others, shoved people off the bed, and in general, no one heard the others' stories. Eventually, we all went to our own beds and immediately fell asleep.

That's how it worked every year and we all wouldn't have it any other way.

...

In a few days, a sign had been put up in front of the marble staircase. I head down with Cedric and we were met with a large crowd. Cedric, being annoyingly tall, was able to see over the crowd and read the sign for me:

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY. STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FROM OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.

"Only a week away!" said Ernie, one of our fellow Hufflepuffs, to Potter, Weasley, and Granger, "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him..."

Cedric grinned when Ernie hurried off in his excitement, dashing right past us. Weasley, meanwhile, asked blankly, "Cedric?"

"Diggory," Harry said, "He must be entering the tournament."

"You bet I am," Cedric nudged my shoulder, "And, you'll be entering with me. I'll root for you."

I rolled my eyes and nudged him back, "And I'll obviously root for you as well. I'm not sure if I actually want to be in the tournament but I'll take my shot at it."

"Why're you entering your name then?."

"Because I want to have bragging rights, duh. What about you?"

He snorted, "Sounds fun, probably won't win though."

I patted his shoulder, "You'll win, don't worry."

While we talked, the 'golden trio' left, pushing through the crowd and heading up the staircase.

With the sign set up, an effect descended upon the inhabitants of Hogwarts. During the week leading up to Beauxbaton's and Durmstrang's arrival, rumors flew like mad. Who was trying to be the Hogwarts champion, what would the tournament involve, how the students from the visiting schools differed from themselves.

The castle was put under an intense cleaning. Portraits were scrubbed, suits of armor were polished, and Filch was terrorizing students who forgot to wipe their shoes. Members of the staff were tense too.

On the morning of October thirtieth, Cedric, my friends, and I head down to the Great Hall for breakfast to find the place decked out in decorations.

That afternoon, classes ended half an hour early and Cedric and I set off from the greenhouses to place our stuff in our dorms. I pulled on my cloak as the two of us went down to the entrance hall where the Heads of Houses were ordering students into lines.

The lines set off and we lined down the steps to stop in front of the castle. The sky darkened and six was fast approaching when Dumbledore called from the back, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

The guests from Beauxbatons arrived in a large powder-blue carriage and, when Durmstrang arrived, they came with just as much dramatics. A whirlpool appeared in the middle of the lake and a huge ship emerged from it, gleaming in the moonlight.

The passengers disembarked and the man who was leading them up to the castle exchanged a few words with Dumbledore.

Karkaroff then beckoned forward a student but I didn't catch a glimpse of him since I was filing back into the castle with everyone else. It was too cold to goggle at some other student.

I soon found out who it was, however. Viktor Krum, famous quidditch player. Girls were frantically calling out to their friends about stupid questions while searching their pockets for a quill. One even asked if Krum would sign her something with lipstick.

In the Great Hall, the Beauxbatons students had chosen to sit at the Ravenclaw table and had glum expressions on their faces. Soon, the Durmstrang students settled at the Slytherin table with interested looks at the starry black ceiling as they pulled off their heavy furs.

Filch, at the staff table, added four chairs.

When everyone had settled down, Dumbledore started to talk, "Good evening, ladies and gentleman, ghosts and - most particularly - guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feat. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!" He sat down.

The plates filled with food after the professor had sat and there were many foreign dishes. Cedric pointed at one and asked me, "What in the world is that?"

I leaned towards it to inspect the dish but backed up with a shrug, "Honestly? I have no idea."

"I'll stick with more familiar dishes then, who knows what's in that!" he smiled and loaded up his plate.

I laughed, "Too bad, some of these dishes are actually good, I've tried them."

"I'll take your word for it," pushing away one of the plates I'd placed in front of him.

"You're boring," I responded, taking the plate and dishing some onto my plate.

When the desserts were finished, the golden plates were wiped clean and Dumbledore stood up again, "The moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket - "

"What?" Ki asked Isla in a hushed voice. Isla shrugged and looked to Camille, Emmaline, Cedric, and I. We all shrugged too.

Dumbledore continued until he called for Filch, who approached the headmaster with a wooden chest encrusted with jewels and set it carefully on the table before him. Dumbledore continued, "The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways... their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger. As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

He took out his wand and tapped it three times against the top of the casket. The lid creaked open slowly and the professor reached in to extract a roughly hewn wooden cup that was filled to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore continued talking until he bid the students good night and everyone burst into conversation.

...

Over the next few days, all of Durmstrang had entered their name into the cup, the Weasley twins tried and their friend tried, two other students tried, a rumor that Warrington had tried, Angelina Johnson entered, and people talked about Cedric entering the tournament.

Some talked bad about it but I didn't understand why. He was a capable student!

When the Beauxbatons students entered their names, Madame Maxime organized them into a line and one by one the students dropped their names in.

Cedric, when he had decided the timing was right, pulled me down to the Entrance Hall with him. His admirers obviously tagged along. They watched with anticipation as he produced two squares of paper and handed one to me.

"Hurry up, Ced!" one of them called while he scratched his name onto his paper.

I waited for him to finish with the quill he'd brought before snatching it and writing my own name onto the parchment. I handed the quill back to him, "Ready, Diggory?"

"Definitely," he grinned at me and tucked the quill back into his pocket before his admirers started to sweep him into the Great Hall.

Before we were pulled apart, since his shadows seemed to love leaving me behind, he grabbed my hand and tugged me along with him. We entered the hall and he was pushed forward towards the goblet.

I stood awkwardly next to him until he smiled at me again and dropped my hand to step across the age line and drop his paper into the goblet. Cheers echoed around the hall after the action was done and he turned around to gesture for me to go.

I could audibly hear his shadows' annoyance but I flashed a smile at him anyway and walked over to join him in front of the goblet. I reached up and let my parchment drop into the flames with a rush of excitement. I was now a candidate for the Hogwarts champion.

Cedric left the age line but before he could anchor himself to me, he was swept off in a rush of congratulations and wishes of good luck. He glanced back to see me following behind the group, obviously annoyed, but we both didn't make a move to reach each other. It wouldn't work, we had tried before.

...

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," Dumbledore announced, "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and the candles extinguished themselves, leaving the goblet to shine more brightly. The flames inside the goblet suddenly turned red and sparks flew from it. Moments later, a tongue of flame shot out and a charred piece of parchment fluttered into Dumbledore's waiting hand.

Cedric reached over to grip my hand and I squeezed it back, knowing he was stressing over the fact that we both had our names in there and that he wanted to be the champion but also wanted to support me. He was like that.

"The champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum," he announced.

The next champion was announced the same way and the Beauxbatons champion was Fleur Delacour, a veela-like looking girl.

The third time the goblet turned red and spit out a parchment, Dumbledore caught it and, with all of the Hogwarts students listening with anticipation, called, "The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!"

Every Hufflepuff jumped to their feet and an uproar filled the hall. It drowned out the disappointment that the Gryffindors were obviously trying to make known. I pulled Cedric into a hug, a tight one at that, and shook him violently in my excitement.

I yelled in his ear, "I knew it, Diggory! I knew it!"

He grinned widely, returning the hug, but pulled away, "I need to go, Lynch, you know... champion business."

I smacked his shoulder, "Make Hufflepuff proud!"

He had a broad grin on his face as he turned away and headed towards the chamber he was instructed to go to. The Hufflepuffs continued to applaud and cheer for such a long time that it took effort for Dumbledore to make himself heard again.

He started to talk but the goblet turned red and another piece of parchment spit itself out, reading Harry Potter.

Uproar filled the hall again, this time in surprise and outrage, but Harry went with the other champions. The tournament had begun.

...

At lunchtime a day or so later, girls crowded around Cedric and shoved me aside to beg him to sign their schoolbags. Helga, what was wrong with them! They had interrupted a conversation between us! Plus, suddenly he had way more fangirls than before. Were people suddenly all "oh, Ced! The amazing, handsome Hufflepuff!" because of the stupid tournament? It wasn't that stupid though, I admitted, it was a big deal. But still!

Eventually, I dragged him off but a large group of simpering girls followed, refusing to leave us alone and continuously shoving me away from Cedric. I was tempted to send a jinx at them but decided against it, people already disliked me and I'm not sure if I could handle more hate. Or a detention and a howler from Mum and Dad.

Eventually, I was able to get the girls to shove off when I announced that Cedric and I had to go to Charms class. They left, huffing and shooting glares at me, but they came back again. And again. For the rest of the year.

...

The first task came and went quickly. Caused a lot of stress for me, though, since Cedric faced a literal dragon but I guess that was the point of the tournament. Almost die multiple times then walk away with a load of gold.

In the common room the evening of the first task, Cedric opened up the golden egg he'd gotten and it let out a horrible wail. He slammed the egg closed and everyone started to ponder over what he was supposed to do with it.

He figured it out eventually though, thankfully. He refused to tell me how but at least he was able to get it.

...

"Lynch! Did you hear about the Yule Ball being announced?" Emmaline asked me over lunch one day.

I had decided to sit with my friends since Cedric was still being crowded. Was it bad I felt jealous? I batted the thought away and rolled my eyes, "Of course I did, everyone's talking about it."

"Have you owled your parents for something to wear?" Isla asked, excitedly.

"Yes, I have. It should arrive tomorrow."

Ki, as we got up to head to our next class, asked, "Who do you want to go to the ball with?"

Emmaline answered immediately, "One of those Durmstrang boys, probably."

Isla rolled her eyes, "Just because Krum goes there?"

"Why not?" Emmaline defended, "What about you, Ki, Lynch, Camille?"

Ki shrugged, "Anyone who'd be willing to ask me."

"Same with Ki, or no one, actually. The ball doesn't interest me," Camille answered.

My friends turned to me and I blinked, "Whoever asks me first, I guess?"

We were stopped in the hall when three Durmstrang boys approached us. They walked in a kind of arrow pattern, one boy in front and two behind, and stopped in front of Emmaline. My friends and I shared knowing looks. Emmaline's wish was going to come true. Maybe she was better at magic than us, I thought with amusement but shook my head, nah, she was too bad at multiple classes to make her wish come true.

"Will you go to the ball with me?" the boy in the lead asked after bowing deeply and extended a hand.

Emmaline blushed and looked back at the rest of us. We all nodded vigorously and she turned back to the boy to let him take her hand, "Of course!"

A smile spread across the boy's face and the three bowed again before walking off. The boy's two friends broke formation to slap him on the back and tease him. The four of us laughed and descended upon Emmaline to tease her. Who knew her wish to be asked out by our foreign guests would come true?

...

With the ball rapidly approaching, everyone scrambled for dates. Ki got asked out by a Beauxbatons boy, Camille was asked out by a Ravenclaw, and Isla mustered the courage to ask a fellow Hufflepuff out. He said yes.

Helga, I was the last of my friends to get asked out. Except Cedric.

"Lynch, found a date yet?" Cedric asked as we wandered down an empty hallway. We had been able to drop his admirers a bit ago.

"Nope, you?"

"Still no. Many people keep trying though... even Delacour asked me out. I said no though, she ended up getting annoyed and started to use that veela trick thing," he shook his head, looking a bit annoyed.

I frowned, "Really? What happened? Did she do anything else?"

"She didn't, she gave up after I repeatedly said no. Plus, I might've told her I had a certain friend who would chase her way if she got too insistent," he put his arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer with a smile.

I sighed, "That's true but the ball is literally this evening, Cedric, you should say yes to one of your many admirers. What about Chang? I thought you said she was interesting?"

I fought back a small pang of jealousy when he nodded, "I did say that. She isn't someone I'd want to date though. Hey, wait a moment..."

He paused and I looked up at him, "Hm?"

"Uhm, well," he rubbed the back of his neck in a sudden wave of nervousness, "We could go to the ball... you know? As friends?"

I could've cast an amazing patronus in that moment but I fought off a wide grin and smiled a bit, "Sure, that would work, I guess."

He smiled back, "Great! See you in the evening! Remember the first dance!"

He leaned down and pressed a swift kiss to my cheek before hurrying off to get ready. Helga, what was that? I brushed my fingers against my cheek but headed to the Hufflepuff common room as well, I had to consult my friends who would be happy to attack me with makeup and jewelry.

...

Hours, yes, hours later I found myself finally ready for the Yule Ball. Emmaline and Isla had insisted on doing Ki's, Camille's, and I's makeup and they had taken forever.

Helga, I felt odd wearing so much makeup. I usually didn't wear any! As I slipped on my heels I watched as Camille helped Ki twist her hair into an intricate bun.

Isla adjusted one of Emmaline's hair clips and looked over at me, "You should do something with your hair, Lynch, it looks boring right now."

"I like it down," I defended.

"Come here," Camille gestured to the space next to her that Ki had just vacated, "I'll give you a simple style."

"Fine," I relented and moved to sit next to her.

Isla put on her earrings and watched approvingly while Camille ran a brush through my hair, commenting on how I should do my hair more often. I shrugged as she separated my hair into three sections and started to do a braid.

Minutes later, my hair ran down my back in a neat braid and the five of us headed off to the Great Hall. When we got down, my friends wandered off to find their dates and wished me luck since they knew Cedric and I were going as friends.

"Champions over here, please!" I heard Professor McGonagall call and I moved toward her voice, knowing Cedric would be there.

I found him and smiled, "You clean up well, Diggory."

"Not too bad yourself, Lynch," he offered me his arm, which I took awkwardly.

Delacour stood with Davies while Granger accompanied Krum. Potter showed up with Parvati Patil. Granger greeted Potter and his date, who was staring at her in disbelief.

"Ready?" Cedric asked as Professor McGonagall told the champions to get into a line with their partners and follow her.

"Definitely," I responded, entering the Great Hall.

Applause started up as we entered and we walked towards a large round table where the judges sat. The Hall was beautifully decorated with silver frost, garlands of mistletoe and ivy, and many smaller lantern-lit tables replaced the four House tables.

Cedric smiled at the people they passed and I tried to do the same but I stopped when it seemed a bit too forced. Helga, it was a bit awkward being the date of your best friend who didn't fancy you back.

Dumbledore smiled happily at us as we approached the top table. When we reached it, we sat down. There was no food on the plates but small menus were set in front of each of us.

Cedric nudged me, clearly spotting my confusion, and whispered to his plate, "Steak."

I glanced around and saw that Dumbledore had been the first to order and the rest had followed his lead. I picked up my own menu and ordered the thing that looked best.

"So, Diggory, what's it like being the champion of Hogwarts?" I had already asked him that multiple times to annoy him but I did it again.

"Nice to know that I'm good enough to do something," he answered, setting an arm over the back of my chair.

"You're already a seeker for the quidditch team, a prefect, and insanely popular, what else would you want?"

He pretended to think for a moment, "One thing."

"And that thing is?" I prompted.

"Maybe later," he grinned, knowing it would annoy me.

I poked him, "Secretive, are you?"

He smiled again but returned to his food. When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood and asked everyone else to do the same. Then, he waved his wand and the tables moved back along the walls to leave the dance floor clear. He then conjured a raised platform along the right wall with instruments and the Weird Sisters trooped onto it, greeted by enthusiastic applause.

Cedric stood and offered me his hand, which I took and let him help me up. He released my hand and, instead, pressed his right hand to the small of my back and led me down to the brightly lit dance floor.

He placed a hand on my waist and held the other one before leaning closer and whispering, "Do you know how to dance?"

I watched him for a moment then murmured, "Nope, never seemed important to learn. At least, it didn't seem as important to seven-year-old me as learning to ice skate was."

He smiled as other people joined us on the dance floor, so that we were no longer the center of attention, "Ice skating? Really?"

"You already knew that, Cedric," I commented.

"That's true, but I don't know what else to talk about," he replied as the Weird Sisters stopped playing.

More applause filled the Hall but quieted down when a new song was struck up, this time faster.

Cedric looked down at me then at an empty table, "Want to sit down?"

"Think I'm too boring to handle dancing more?" I teased.

"Not at all," he grinned and spun me around but I tripped on something and fell against him, "Falling for me, Lynch?"

I righted myself, "Shut up, I know you tripped me on purpose. I could've broken my ankle or something."

"Nah, you've walked in heels enough to not injure yourself."

"Thanks for your confidence."

"My pleasure," he smiled.

We passed Ki and her Beauxbatons date and she grinned at me, "How's it going, Lynch? Has Diggory trod on your foot yet?"

I smiled back and called, "It's a matter of time!"

We laughed and she disappeared into the crowd again, obviously delighted with how her night was going so far. Ki rarely opened up to others so I was happy that she was having a good time.

I spotted Emmaline, Isla, and their dates sitting at a table with butterbeers and couldn't help but smile. Isla's date was staring at her like she was the only thing in the world while Emmaline's was holding her hand.

The song ended again and I admitted with a small laugh, "This is tiring, actually."

Cedric gestured to a table, "We can sit down, you know."

"If you're all right with it, I'd like to keep going. This is my first dance and I want to make the best of it."

He nodded, "Of course, I could dance for the whole night if you wanted."

I blinked at him. What did that mean? I let the thought slip from my mind the song continued, picking up a bit of speed. Surprisingly, dancing wasn't too hard after a bit. Sure, when the tempo changed it was a bit awkward for a moment but it was actually quite fun.

Song after song, Cedric led me through the dance and, eventually, we were both too tired to continue. We found an empty table and he pulled out a chair for me.

I smiled, "Being a gentleman, Cedric?"

"Why not?" he asked after I had sat down, "This is a fancy ball, after all."

"That's true," I answered, watching as he took my hand in his and studied the simple ring Emmaline had let me borrow, since she and Isla had a very convincing argument on why I should wear jewelry for the night.

We sat in silence until midnight came around and the Weird Sisters ended their final song. A storm of applause followed the end of the performance and Cedric looked up to see Potter leaving, "Hold on, I need to talk to Harry."

I followed him out and waited in the entrance hall while he hurried after Potter.

"Hey - Harry!" he called.

"Yeah?" Potter said a bit coldly while Cedric literally ran up the stairs to the boy.

I lost the rest of the words exchanged between the two but I watched as he grinned at Potter then hurried back down the stairs to me.

He held out his hand, "Come on."

"And where are we going?" I asked as I let him take my hand and pull me out to the rose garden, "Hold on, aren't we supposed to be returning to the common room?"

"If we're confronted, I'll say that I was doing prefect duties and found you out here, not knowing the ball had ended," he replied, leading me around the paths until we found a fountain that was splashing happily.

"That wouldn't work, Cedric, I've obviously been with you this entire night."

"Then who cares," he sat down on a bench and I settled next to him.

"What do you mean 'who cares'? I thought you cared about this kind of stuff."

"Yeah, well," he watched the fountain for a bit, "This is different."

"You're weirding me out, how is this different? And why is it worth breaking the rules for?"

He turned towards me and met my gaze, "If I did something unexpected, how would you react?"

"Well," I said slowly, a bit confused, "That depends on what the unexpected thing is. If you burst into random song then I'll find it amusing but if you hex me then I'll be angry."

"It's neither of those things," he laughed, leaning towards me a bit.

I sucked in a breath as he closed the distance between us, pausing for a moment a bit away from me, before pressing his lips against mine for a few seconds. It was definitely unexpected and I could've fainted it he didn't meet my eyes with a worried look.

"Well?"

I started to laugh, despite myself, and a small flash of hurt crossed his face until I calmed down and said, "Not too bad, Diggory, not too bad."

He smiled, "You're okay yourself, Lynch," I snorted and he leaned forward again to press a kiss to my cheek, "It's true."

...

Is it bad that I keep disliking my oneshots? I don't know why but this is sad. I feel like my writing is getting worse. Anyways, it's almost Christmas (for those of you who celebrate it)! One more Christmas oneshot to write! And I'm not looking forward to it, sadly, since my last few oneshots were disappointing. Hope y'all are doing well!

Edit: I went back and added more to this since I disliked some scenes, hope it's better now!

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[Original Word Count: 6119]

[New Word Count: 6928]

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