The Queen of Vipers || Fred Weasley

II.IX

All the concealer in the world couldn't save her.

The dark circles under her eyes were impressive (not in a good way) and her hair was just shy of a rat's nest. She had to do some serious damage control before she even stepped out of her dormitory.

Electra had hardly slept. She and Cedric had stayed up into the wee hours of the night preparing for the first task. Taking Mad-Eye's advice, and Cedric's strongest subject, they (Electra) had come up with a pretty decent plan. Or so she hoped.

Where Electra looked like an Erumpent had trampled her, Cedric came up to breakfast looking immaculate as usual. The bastard.

By the grace of Circe they both stayed awake during double Transfiguration, but as difficult as it was to keep her eyes open, Electra let Cedric take a kip during Astrology while she took notes, so he could catch up on his hours of sleep. It did the trick, because by the time lunch rolled around, Cedric was practically keeping Electra upright. Though her body was tired her mind was restless with anxieties and intrusive thoughts of every little thing that could go wrong in their plan. It was nothing short of maddening.

She was stumbling down a narrow staircase, Cedric ahead of her. "Watch the trick step," he warned, right as he skipped over the step. Electra hopped over it and shot her hands out to grip Cedric's shoulders for balance as her ankle wobbled. "Watch it."

"I'm trying," she grumbled as she snatched her hands back.

Cedric stopped suddenly. Electra had to back up a step to stop from crashing into his back. "What—?"

He bent his knees and looked over his shoulder at her. "Hop on. I owe you."

Electra pursed her lips to keep a smile from pulling on her lips. She placed her hands back on his shoulders and jumped on his back. She slapped his chest when he groaned. "I'm not that heavy!" she said in a surprisingly high voice.

Cedric chuckled as he took the stairs again. "I'm just messing with you."

"Jackass," she mumbled under her breath.

"I could let go, you know." He loosened his grip on her knees for effect and she instinctively squeezed her thighs around his waist harder before she slid down any further. "Ced!" They reached the end of the staircase when Cedric hoisted her up higher on his back. A small shriek of laughter left her as she went airborne before crashing back onto Cedric's back. He chuckled at her.

She leaned over his shoulder, crossing her arms over his chest. "You're an ass."

Cedric turned his head towards her as they passed into the Grand Staircase, an impish grin on his face. "And you just squealed like a little school girl."

There was a bright flash. "What a beautiful couple!"

Electra blinked the white spot in her vision away and frowned. A woman with blonde hair curled and pinned closely to her head and bright green robes came scuttling over, her heels clicking against the flagstone floors as a man with a huge camera scurried after her. A neon green quill and weird leather notebook floated along beside her.

Electra slid off Cedric's back, pushing down her skirt before that cameraman got any improper pictures. The clicking of the woman's heels stopped. "My my," she cooed as she clutched her hands in front of her in an endearing manner, but the talons on that woman made it look more menacing than anything. "Electra Black." Her smile was vulpine. "You've grown into a..." She paused, tapping one of her long maroon nails onto her overlined lips, "...striking young lady." She pointed to her quill, which Electra recognized was Quick Quotes Quill, to make sure it got that down. She placed her hand on her hip and eyed the two teenagers from head to toe, a satisfied grin on her lips. "My readers are going to just love seeing such a gorgeous pair in the next issue of Witch Weekly. I'll be honest, I didn't think you had it in you," she said talking to Cedric now, but scrutinizing Electra with a hawk-like gaze. "You seemed so shy in our interviews."