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1993

Through the crowded halls and overzealous chatters, Mia storms out of the classroom in a hastily manner. Her footsteps bounce throughout the walls and conjoin with the whispers as she tries to ignore everyone's gazes on her.

With everyone having seen what her boggart was, her classmates wouldn't stop talking about it. Not even when there's better gossip to discuss do they seem to lose interest. Well, it's not everyday your biggest fear gets showcased like a work of art. The only thing that brings her comfort is knowing that at least, they know she's afraid of becoming like her father. Maybe then, the expectations of following in his footsteps will subside.

"Mia, hold on!" Harry calls out to her and waves his hand in the air for her attention. He pushes a few students out of the way, but she's quicker than he'll ever be.

She turns the corner in the direction of the courtyard. If inside she was being gawked at like a spectacle, it's much worse outdoors. Her few classmates that were in the same class as her keep looking at her and whispering amongst each other, especially that particular group of Slytherins that get on her last nerve.

"Where are you going, Grey? Running off to hide from your father?" Malfoy teases, laughing with Pansy and Mattheo at his pathetic attempt to bother her.

"Fuck off," Mia shoves past him and he groans as if the shove had been painful.

"Watch it!" he complains, his hand brushing his arm that had been supposedly injured by Buckbeak. "You could have ripped open my stitches and I would have bled out!"

"Then the world will have one less bleach blonde to deal with," she retorts and ignores the rest of his complaints as she turns the corner toward the exit.

Unsure of where to go, all she knows is that she needs to be alone and far from the meddlesome vultures. She harshly removes her green tie and shoves it into her pocket, the ends hanging loosely from the edge and threatening to fall the faster she strides the yard.

When the overbearing sound of chatters and laughter fade into a gradual silence, she comes to a stop. Standing before her is the Black Lake and surprisingly, there's no one around to make sure no student gets near. She walks closer to the edge and crouches down, her gaze landing to the obscure waters beholding various deadly creatures. Being this close is dangerous enough, but there's something calming in standing before it when already knowing what may or may not happen.

She glances up and looks beside her, noticing a small boat lying close to the edge. Someone careless must have left it there since it's prohibited for anyone to attempt entering the lake or going near it (unless accompanied by an adult).

It suddenly hits her how perfect it'd be to escape this school. Crossing this body of water could either end with her suspended or expelled, or maybe being drowned by the creatures. Quite frankly, it's a risk she's willing to take if it means not going back and being forced into hearing everyone's whispers about her.

Escaping through the front gates is impossible since she's bound to get caught due to it being well guarded. Going through the Forbidden Forest is out of the question. She's stupid, but not stupid enough to enter alone. The only choice that seems the lesser of two evils has to be crossing the lake into, hopefully, somewhere far from the school that will grant her enough punishment to obtain a few days off.

Deciding enough is enough, she figures she has to go through with this now before anyone notices. She leaves the edge of the lake and heads to the small boat. Inside, there's two oars that are slightly cracked and are a perfect representation of old and senile. It's foolish to do this, but the worst that can happen is simply getting dragged by those awful creatures to the depths.

She starts trying to push the boat out into the water, letting out harsh breaths at how heavy it is. For something insignificant in size, it's proving to be much harder than expected. With every pull and every force, her feet start slipping in the mud. Her robe fills with lots of stains, making the green in them transform into a faded emerald.

"Damn it," she complains and pushes her hair from her face. She takes a deep breath, refusing to let this boat win and force her into staying in this dreadful premise. If she has to go over the lake swimming, then so be it, but heading back is not the answer.

Mia curses under her breath and continues trying to drag the boat out one more time. It moves an inch, but not enough to where she can row away successfully. She leans her head back and closes her eyes, already growing much more frustrated at this little ordeal.

She starts considering that maybe using her magic would be more suited. It would be easier and quicker, which is all she needs if she intends on not getting caught. She reaches into her robe's inner pocket and pulls out her wand, but before being able to cast a spell, a voice is heard a couple feet behind her.

"Do you need some help with that?"

She freezes for a mere moment, her hand still outstretched and aimed at the boat, "I'm quite fine, thank you. Just go back inside."

He hums for a moment, "Not to sound like I'm intruding, but you do seem like you need help. What are you trying to do?"

"I'm not trying to do anything," she places her wand back inside her pocket, but still refuses to face the person.

"You are," he argues.

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I said I'm not doing anything," she continues trying to convince him otherwise, but something is telling her he's not going to believe her.

"You're clearly doing something."

Mia finally turns around and her breath becomes caught in her throat when seeing him. His chestnut waves are blowing with the breeze and with the faint sunshine hitting them, they appear to have highlights sprinkled in them like stars. His bright grey eyes are warm and inviting, resembling the embracing comfort of a cozy campfire. A soft smile rises from his rosy lips, matching the tint gathered in the apples of his cheeks. His hands are tucked behind his back and his yellow tie combines with his robe that reveals his designated house.

"Can you take the hint and just leave?" She gestures her hand in the direction of the building and he follows her movement before looking back at her.

"No, I cannot," he retorts and glances down at the boat lying a couple inches from her. "It seems to me like you're trying to go into the lake."

Mia sighs heavily and folds her arms across her chest defensively, "Fine. You caught me." He smiles at her candor, "If you must know, I'm trying to go over the lake."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"That's none of your business," she snaps at him and he turns quiet as if her tone had actually hurt or offended him. She pauses for a second before reaching down to grasp the boat, "If you can just leave and pretend you never saw me, it would be greatly appreciated."

He moves a step closer with his hands still tucked behind his back, "Going into the Black Lake is dangerous, especially without supervision. I can't let you go there alone."

"So what? Are you offering to accompany me?" Mia questions with her hands now resting on her hips, her brows cinching together in perplexion. "No thanks."

"I have no intention of going after you," he admits. "I'm just wondering why you would want to go into the lake in the first place."

"Because I want to get out of this damned place and since the main entrance and the Forbidden Forest are out of the question, I settled on rowing away."

He softly chuckles, almost like he's finding actual humor in this, "And you think the lake is the better option? It's quite dangerous for you to go in there regardless if you're on a boat or not."

She nonchalantly shrugs, "Yeah, well, I would just be taken by those creatures and possibly drown. No big deal."

He stares at her like she has grown two heads, "No big deal? Is drowning not serious enough for you?"

Mia glances back at the lake, her eyes narrowing pensively as she thinks of other ways to escape without having him rat on her. He seems like the type to follow the rules, so trusting that he won't say anything would be her worst possible mistake.

"Of course it's serious," she responds while attempting to bring the boat into the lake again.

He moves a step closer, "Why would you want to run away from Hogwarts? I'd say it's the greatest place to be."

"Well that's impertinent and like I said before, it's none of your business," she remarks, continuing trying to drag the boat into the waters. "Instead of questioning me, how about you prove to be useful by giving me a hand? Come on. Make haste."

Still refusing to follow her orders, he remains in place with a complacent look, "Not until you tell me why you want to run away."

Mia drops the boat in a loud thud, her expression bewildered and mouth slightly agape. She turns around and strides a few steps forward, "I'm not telling you anything. I don't even know you."

"And yet you're asking for my help."

Well played.

Her breath hitches as she clenches her jaw. She's silent for a quarter of a second as she debates on whether or not to tell him her reasons. It's awful admitting it, but she does need his help if she wants to achieve her mission and not get caught.

"I'm sure you must have heard what everyone is saying about me," Mia reluctantly says and becomes surprised when he stares at her like she had said something strange.

"I haven't, but I'm certain it's nothing worth running away over," he softly says.

"It is when it's all you hear everywhere you go," Mia turns back around and crouches down to grab the boat. "It gets tiring, so I settled on going away. Maybe finding a nice place where no one knows me and I can be my true self."

He sighs heavily and looks down at the boat, "As saddening as your reasons are, I'm still not helping you. It wouldn't be right."

She curses under her breath and stands up, "You agreed to help me if I told you my reasons, so pay up your end of the deal."

"I wasn't aware of making such a deal," his voice is full of teasing and instead of finding it charming, it's making her irritated and losing her patience.

She rolls her eyes, her frustration worsening by the minute, "I'm not asking for much. I just want to leave this place and it'd be much easier if you help me."

He presses his lips into a tight lipped smile and moves forward, "I'm not planning on helping you."

Frowning, she turns to him and shortens the distance between them. Only a couple inches stand in the way to the point she can feel the warmth from his body radiating onto her like the sun's rays. "When someone asks for help, the right thing is to offer aid. Be a good samaritan and help me with this."

He's silent for a quarter of a second, "I'm not going to help you run away. If you were simply trying to go for a nice stroll, I'd gladly offer, but since you're not, I refuse to help you."

She scoffs in disbelief, "So you're just going to stand there and watch me then? Well, if that's your intention, just leave and forget you ever saw me."

"Do you know why I'm not helping you?"

Mia clenches her jaw and offers a careless shrug, "I don't care. Just leave already."

He ignores her words and loses that conceited smile of his, "I'm a prefect and I'm required to report this. I could also assign you detention or take house points if you refuse to listen to me."

She pays close attention to his uniform and notices the badger imprinted in his robe. He's Hufflepuff's prefect and the thought that he believes she would listen to him makes her laugh. If she doesn't listen to Slytherin's, she's certainly not going to with him.

"You're forgetting you can only penalize your house. Since I'm in Slytherin, you can't do so," she points out and has to refrain from smiling when seeing his defeated expression.

"It doesn't matter," he comes closer and kicks the boat along the way, making mud splatter on her shoes like a puddle. She grits her teeth as her hands tighten into fists, an action that doesn't go unnoticed by him. He softly laughs, but decides to continue either way, "I'll tell Dumbledore and he will for sure punish you and your house. Everyone knows Slytherin house is his least favorite."

"You're literally in Hufflepuff," she argues, furrowing her brows in annoyance. "He doesn't care for you either."

He ignores her comment, "If you listen to me, I won't say anything and no punishment will be given."

Mia runs a hand through her hair and averts her gaze to anything but him. Her chance of running away is slipping from her and with him being here, she can't attempt to try one more time. Even if she doesn't care for any punishments she might receive, she can't let her house get penalized. It's already hard enough that her house is the least favored and gets points deducted for the most foolish things. Imagine being the reason for another penalization. She couldn't do that, and even if she hates admitting defeat, listening to the boastful Hufflepuff is what's right.

"You're seriously a pain in the ass," she shoves past him and he grimaces in satisfaction, which makes her thread of composure threaten to snap.

Raising his hands in surrender, he trails after her with a prideful smirk, "Excuse me for looking out for you. It's my job as a prefect to care for all students. Not just from my house."

"You seem to be the only one that does," Mia peers past her shoulder at him, her hair blowing in sync with the wind as she attempts to walk away. "I'm surprised you seem to care that I don't drown. You know, since we're in different houses and all."

He matches her pace, their arms brushing against the other that emits electric currents, "House differences don't matter, but I do admit that I forget on the Quidditch field. Now that you're Slytherin's seeker, we'll be seeing each other more often."

"How fortunate am I," she sarcastically says, but comes to an abrupt stop when wondering how he knows about her new Quidditch position when it hasn't been announced yet. "Wait, you know me?"

"Of course I do," he says this like it's the most obvious thing. "I know all about my competition, especially after hearing you're supposedly an incredibly skilled seeker."

Mia looks at him much more attentively as she tries remembering if she has seen him somewhere. It's obvious they haven't crossed paths before since she's unable to forget a face. Usually, she wouldn't care if someone knows about her since the entire wizarding world does, but hearing that he only knows her due to her new seeker position makes her intrigued.

"It's nice to meet you, Mia," he softly smiles. "I'm Cedric."

"Oh," she wants to say more, but in all honesty, his knowledge about her took her off guard. It's refreshing only being known for her Quidditch position and not for her last name. It's hard finding an oblivious person nowadays that she can't deny feeling grateful for this encounter that happened at the right place and the right time. "So, you know me. That's... interesting."

Cedric loses his smile at the thought of having possibly frightened her, "It's not what you think. I just like knowing who will be my competition and everyone at the field kept talking about you."

Mia moves her hair back in a sassy way, a proud smirk landing on her lips, "Of course they would. I'm an incredible player and let me be kind enough and warn you beforehand that I will beat you every single time. Slytherin will come on top."

"Is that so?" He raises his brow in a challenging way and moves closer. Their difference in height becomes much more noticeable this way, resulting in him looking down and her leaning her head back for a better glimpse. "I'd like to see you try, little witch."

She tilts her head slightly, almost like she's considering the person before her. He waits for her to say something and based on the way her forehead is creasing and mouth is curving into a frown, he knows he's acquired his goal in fully vexing her. Seems rattling the competition might actually work and make the next game much more interesting.

"Careful, goldie. I just might surprise you," Mia places her palm against his chest to push him away and walk past him. His tongue pokes against his cheek before nodding impressively at the warning and nonchalant tone in her voice. She turns around halfway and stares at him in a condescending look, one that's enough to tilt him off his axis. "Good luck trying to win against me."

Cedric attempts getting the last word, but is prevented by doing so when the sudden feeling of his mouth being sealed shut takes over. Panicking at his muffled voice, he tries speaking in hopes it's something temporary, but something or someone has taken his ability to speak. He's confused for a moment, but when he looks toward the Slytherin girl, he learns it was her that had been the culprit.

Her hand is lowering itself and in her grip is her wand. She places it inside her robe's pocket and moves her hair back in a rather pompous way. A mocking smile covers her face that is soon followed by a wave, making his dislike for her start forming. She offers a gentle bow to mock him before turning around, leaving him standing in the middle of the field with a sealed mouth and irritation pumping through his veins.

He takes heavy breaths and tries maintaining his composure knowing it's bound to make it worse if he were to continue panicking. This is what she wants – for him to become full of hysteria, to become consumed with anger, and for his judgment to become clouded, which would make this new competition between them become intense and impossible to ignore.

From the courtyard's entrance, Mia pauses before entering to look back. She can't contain a prideful smile from appearing any longer and despite a part of her feeling guilty for leaving him alone with a sealed mouth, she chooses to ignore that part and head inside. Besides, it's not like he can't find a spell or get one of his friends to help him out. Surely someone as capable as him, who went on about being a prefect, can handle this.

"I'll be seeing you in the field then, goldie."