Out of my League

Chapter Sixteen

Hermione is frantically running around our dorm trying to find her shoes while I'm punching some earrings through the artificial holes in my ears. We're both shaking uncontrollably considering we'll most likely be the talk of the majority of the students.

If someone were to go up to any girl and ask her who she would want to be going to the ball with tonight they would most likely say Cedric Diggory, and if they didn't say Ced they would probably say Victor Krum. So either we make everyone jealous and wish they were us or we make ourselves look like mere children being asked by seventh years and everyone gossips at our expense.

"I found them!" Hermione shouts while perking up from under her bed.

"I'm going to look so bad next to Cedric." I sigh. "He's so perfect and I'm just so... not perfect."

"Don't say that, if Cedric didn't think you were perfect he wouldn't have asked you. He essentially had an entire school of girls to choose from and he chose you." Hermione reassures me.

But he only asked me as a friend so he probably doesn't think of me as anything special. He probably is just using me so that he didn't have to turn down tons of girls who fancy him.

"Come on we can't be late." Hermione whines. She's really a nervous reck, but so am I.

I step into my shoes that I had bought hoping I would be tall enough to reach Cedric.

I grab one last bobby pin off of the dresser and stick it into my hair, accidentally hitting my scalp. I've never been the best at hair anyways.

"Mione, could you zip the back of my dress please?" I ask as she goes for the door handle. She sighs and turns around. The dress constricts me but that's how all dresses are supposed to be. Even if it's not comfortable.

We head out the door in a rush even though we are planning on showing up about five minutes late just so everyone will see us enter. It was Hermione's idea to do that, I don't really want everyone's eyes on me but I didn't want to leave her alone.

———————————————

"I'm scared." Hermione whispers as we approach the large staircase. She starts chewing at her lip.

"Well we can't go back now." I huff.

I peak around the corner to see if anyone is even looking.

They're looking.

I fix my dress and make sure the ribbon is perfectly placed. Hermione starts to play with her necklace a little while waiting for me to be done. "Ok, we've got to go now." I sigh.

She nods.

As I step down the stairs, being careful not to trip on my dress or twist my ankle with these heels I see Cedric at the bottom. In some odd twisted way all of my fears melt away but at the same time I am overcome by a whole new set of anxieties.

I don't even remember walking down the rest of the steps just moments ago as he takes my right hand. My whole body becomes weak at his touch. I've never felt this amount of butterflies in my stomach all at once. His smile is perfect and his dress robes fit him so nicely. It's so surreal that he even asked me to the ball. It's really hard to believe honestly. He could've gone with one of the beautiful seventh year girls from Beauxbaton who would be fit to be a model but he chose me.

"You look lovely." He says kindly.

"Oh thank you." I stutter. I'm trying my best not to embarrass myself but I'm failing miserably.

"Do you want a drink, you seem hot. Well your cheeks are quite red so I just assumed." He points out.

Before I can say anything else that will humiliate me even more I decide to just nod.

Once Cedric is far across the room I feel a light tap on my shoulder.

"You look nice."

I turn around and notice Harry standing before me. "Oh thank you, shouldn't you be with Parvati?" I ask.

I know it's wrong that this is the first thing I noticed but, I'm almost at the perfect height to be dancing with him rather than Cedric with the hell from my shoes. I'm still going to have to reach quite a bit for Cedric.

"Yeah I guess." He says looking down. "Hey maybe I'll see you later-"

"Potter! Wood! Come on you'll keep the entire ball waiting." Professor McGonagall says. I look at Harry in confusion.

"Well you are at the ball as a couple correct?" She asks as she approaches us. I shake my head but before I can open my mouth she starts speaking again "Oh I'm sorry dear, it's only for champions and their plus ones. You'll just have to wait inside."

"Well I came with Cedric Diggory." I interjects as she begins to escort Harry away.

"Right, then follow me." She insists. "You see, the champions along with their dates get to make a grand entrance." She begins as we walk along with her.

Just as I thought this couldn't get any worse.

"And you also get the first dance of course."

"The what?" Harry's face begins to go red.

"Oh Potter have you not heard?" She asks glancing back at us. "Well you'll begin the dance, others will slowly join in until the entire dance floor is full. It's nothing to worry about as long as you've been keeping up with your dancing." She explains.

I'm not the last but worried about dancing in front of everyone. Harry seems petrified, he really didn't improve that much while I was teaching him so he should be scared honestly.

McGonagall leads us over to the other champions and their dates.

Cedric quickly approaches me.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you about this but I assume you'll be fine since I've heard you have some immaculate dancing skills." He says with a smile.

"You would be correct." I respond with a small airy laugh.

"Right then, I think we're supposed to link arms." He says gesturing at the other couples. I nod quickly and put my arm through the triangle shaped hole he's made with his arm while smiling up at him.

———————————————————————