Counting Stars || Poppy Snape

CHAPTER 19

***

"Let the feast begin!" Dumbledore announced.

It was crazy to think it was my second year hearing him say that. I don't mean to sound cheesy or anything but it had all gone by so fast, it felt unreal.

I looked over at the Ravenclaw table and waved at Pen. I hadn't seen her since last year, as she's a prefect now so she wasn't able to sit with Lanti and I for the ride here.

I noticed that she had gotten a lot prettier over the summer. Not that she wasn't before! But now she was even more pretty. I could see that Lanti had noticed as well since she couldn't keep her eyes off Pen.

I kept looking around the Great Hall and I locked eyes with Father. He gave me a small wave and I waved back with a small smile. Next to him I saw a teacher which I didn't recognise.

I turned to Sarah and asked her about him. "Oh, that's Gilderoy Lockhart. I'm guessing he's our new defence against the dark arts teacher. And he's a total buffoon who is just a semi pretty face."

"Buffon. Got it."

While I was catching up with Sarah, I wonderingly looked around the Hufflepuff table until I saw him. Cedric Diggory. He turned to face me and a smile instantly grew on his face. I sharply turned away and started blushing profoundly.

Sarah noticed and stopped talking. "I still remember what happened between you two."

I groaned and raised my head from between my hands.

"But what if he doesn't?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out. Talk to him"

I groaned and slammed my head against the table.

"Or I can pretend it didn't happen and never talk to him again" I replied sarcastically. Kind of.

"Yeah, and I can scream out his name across the Great hall and ask him about it in front of the whole school and your Father." Sarah said with an innocent smile.

"Fine." I huffed "I'll talk to him"

***

As I made my way out of the Great Hall alone (Sarah had gone to find Cassius), I heard one of the Gryffindor prefects calling for everyone to follow her. I stalled a bit, wanting to stay behind and find Cedric. Instead I ran into my favourite Ravenclaw.

"Poppy!" Exclaimed Pen as she gave me a tight hug. "I feel like I haven't seen you in so long"

"Easy there Pen or you might hug the life out of her" said Lanti walking up to us.

The couple hugged each other, but when Lanti leant in for a kiss, Pen quickly pulled away, muttering in a soft voice "not here"

I saw Lanti ready to argue back but I thought now wouldn't be the best place or time to do that so I quickly changed topics by asking her about her holidays. She simply said "fine" and then a quick "see you guys tomorrow" before heading off to her dorms.

Pen looked at me apologetically, knowing that she had to go after her girlfriend and sort this out. I nodded and gave her a small hug before she ran after the Hufflepuff.

I yawned and decided it was best for me to talk to Cedric tomorrow. However before I could even start heading to the Gryffindor tower, I heard someone call my name.

I turned around quickly hoping to see Cedric but instead I saw the Weasley prefect running towards me.

"Why did Penelope look upset?" he inquired.

"Aww thanks for asking" I said as he gave me a puzzled look, "my summer was great! How was yours?"

"Haha. Hilarious." He replied dryly

"Wowww that sounds fun Peter! What else did you do?"

"My names Percy" he said straightening out his robes "and I'm a prefect"

I brought my hand to my mouth and widened my eyes "No way! That's so cool! I did something similar as well"

He let out a sigh as he saw that he wasn't going to get anywhere with this conversation. "Goodnight Poppy"

"Bye Peter!" I shouted as he walked away "It was great catching up with you!"

I let out a chuckle as I tried to remember the conversation the best I could. I wanted to tell Oli about it as soon as possible. He was always complaining to me about Percy having the lights on while studying late or bossing him around the dorm. He was going to think this was hilarious.

I couldn't help but smile to myself as I walked back towards the dorms. But yet again I was interrupted by another voice speaking to me.

This time I knew it was him.

"I missed you stranger"

I gulped as I turned to face him, and when I did, it took everything in me to not let my jaw drop open.

Remember how I said Pen had gotten prettier over the summer? Yeah, well so had Cedric. A lot prettier.

His jawline was more accentuated and his haircut suited him really well. And his robes- they were so tightly fitted around his body. He looked gorgeous.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer" He smirked

I rolled my eyes, "Very original"

He smiled at me and shrugged. "Do you want to go out with me Poppy?"

"Aww thanks for asking!" I said as Cedric looked a little confused "My summer was great. How was yours?"

He let out a hearty laugh. "Alright fair enough. That was a bit straightforward-"

"A bit?" I cut him off, raising my eyebrows with a smirk.

"Well you kissed me completely out of the blue so two can play this game" He said cockily.

I blushed and was suddenly very interested in the floor.

"I thought about it all summer," He blurted out. Then shut his mouth quickly and I saw his cheeks become slightly tinted. That made me feel better.

"Meet you on Saturday at 11:30 in the astronomy tower, make sure you don't get caught!" He instructed as he started walking away. "You better be there!"And with that he turned the corner, leaving me staring like an idiot at where he had been standing mere seconds ago.

***

A/N: Omg omg omg guys this is insane!! thank you so so much for 1K reads. I honestly started this story cause I was bored and I was already thrilled when I hit 500 reads, but this is even better! I tried to give you a chapter with a lot of interaction with different characters to celebrate, and I may or may not have included some foreshadowing (my English teacher would be proud). Anyways, thank you so much and I'll try to update more regularly, ily guys <3