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004.
WALKING INTO THE Great Hall for the first time each year was, in Esme's opinion, the best feeling in the world. The floating candles above flickered brightly, casting a warm, earthy glow about the entire room. The four grand tables, in which students were already finding their seats and conversing quietly with their friends, were filled with empty golden plates and goblets, waiting to be overflowing with delicious food that the House Elves in the kitchens worked hard to prepare.
Esme breathed in the familiar and welcoming scent of the castle, her worries about the year prior and stress about her classmates slowly disappearing the more time she spent ogling the beauty of Hogwarts. After four years, she still hadn't quite gotten used to it.
Amara cut off Esme's thoughts as she placed a chilled hand on her forearm. "We better go. See you later?"
Esme nodded with a hesitant smile on her rosy face, watching as Amara dragged Sara towards the Slytherin table on the other side of the room. Her gaze didn't leave her best friend's head until a strong force knocked her forward, and she realized she had been standing at the entrance for quite some time. Her cheeks flushed at her aloofness, and Esme looked around at the person who bumped her shoulder passing by.
She immediately recognized the messy, jet-black hair and deep, emerald green eyes of Harry. He stood there, a few inches taller than he was last year, staring at Esme intently.
"Hey," the Boy Who Lived spoke up first. Esme managed a small smile in return. "Didn't see you on the train."
That caught her off guard. Did he expect her to sit with him? She was at Grimmauld Place for only a day, and in that time she barely said two words to him. Maybe they should have been sticking together, with everything going on, but... "Oh. Yeah. I was... with Amara..."
Harry simply nodded, glancing from where they stood near the enormous double doors leading out into the Entrance Hall to the Hufflepuff table diagonal to them. The students belonging to that House were conversing much more quietly than at any other table, as though the thought of being back at Hogwarts and laughing with their friends was a disgrace to Cedric Diggory's memory. Esme shook her head. Cedric would not have wanted that. Although the two weren't the closest pair of friends at the school, Esme considered him to be one of the few that she held dear to her heart. He was someone she could rely on to help her and look out for her, along with Andrew.
Esme also felt guilty. She was receiving many pained looks from all around the Great Hall as Harry led her to their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, as if everyone thought her and Cedric were... something more than they were. The fact was, Esme hadn't known Cedric all that well. The whole friendship started when he caught Draco Malfoy – who was currently conversing heatedly with Amara, Esme couldn't help but notice – picking on her. The blonde had said something cruel about her father and Cedric stepped in to help. Ever since, Esme had harbored a small crush on the older boy, but it wasn't anything more than shy smiles in the hallways or Cedric helping her study in the library.
