~ In which a shy Hufflepuff falls for a certain redhead Gryffindor that changes her life. ~
Disclaimer: I only own Katherine, Alden, and other original characters not found in the original HP world. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.
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Katherine stared at George's head as Professor McGonagall spoke about their lesson. His fiery hair made her heart flutter as it fit his personality so well. Cedric took notice of Katherine's stares and nudged her. Katherine turned her head and saw him drawing a heart in the air with his fingers. She stuck her tongue at him in response. When the students were dismissed, the twins walked with Cedric and Katherine. As Katherine pulled her school bag over her shoulder, George saw her hand wrapped with a white bandage.
"What happened to your hand?" He asked, taking her hand. Katherine gulped and looked at Cedric. He just shrugged.
"Well, Graham and Adrien found out about my Mum and said some mean things. So I punched them," Katherine shyly responded. Fred started to laugh.
"That's why they were running to their common room holding their nose the other night. Good job, Ollivander!" Fred patted her on the back while George gave her a worried look.
"I swear to Merlin, I didn't tell them," George said. Katherine smiled at his uneasiness.
"George, I know you didn't tell them. They overheard us talking about it a few nights back. There's no need to get worried. It's not like I'll punch you," Katherine's joke made George relax.
"Wait, what did you tell George?" Fred frowned and crossed his arms.
"I'll tell you later—well maybe," Katherine teased.
"I thought I was your favorite Weasley!" Fred pouted.
"You're wrong there, mate! I'm her favorite," George said, winking at Katherine. She blushed at his actions.
"You're both wrong. Percy's my favorite," Katherine laughed. She thought about the uptight Weasley sibling. Percy was always around to ruin the twins' fun.
"Yikes, you need to think before you speak," Fred started to fake shiver, causing the group to laugh. "So I heard you had to interview with Rita Skeeter. How'd it go?"
"Yeah. She was a real delight," Cedric said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.
"Harry was talking about her this morning. Said she had this magical quill that wrote down lies," George said. "Well, we've got to go. You know, prank people and stuff. Bye!"
Katherine and Cedric walked to the courtyard and sat on a stone bench. When Katherine sat down, Cedric laid his head on her lap. She heard laughing and saw a bunch of Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. At first, Katherine thought they were laughing at her and Cedric, but then she realized they were wearing badges. A couple of 6th year Hufflepuffs strutted over to the pair and showed them the badges. They read:
Support Cedric Diggory
The Real Hogwarts Champion
Katherine cringed at the badges as Cedric frowned. Then the Hufflepuffs tapped the badges, and the words changed too—
Potter Stinks
"Take those stupid things off!" Katherine demanded, standing up. "He is just a fourteen-year-old boy!"
"Yeah, well, that fourteen-year-old boy cheated. The bloke thinks it's always about him," A boy sneered.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves! You all should!" Katherine yelled, walking away. The group of Hufflepuffs started to snicker.
"She's right, you know. Those badges are stupid," Cedric said as he followed after Katherine.
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Katherine, Cedric, and a couple of other Hufflepuffs walked out of the dining hall when suddenly Cedric's bag ripped open. Cedric told everyone to go without him so they wouldn't be late. Katherine hesitated but started walking. As she walked, she saw the twins goofing around.
"Hello, boys," Katherine greeted them. Fred and George walked over to Katherine and locked their arms with her.
"Why hello Miss. Ollivander," Fred said.
"Guess what, Katherine! My brother's here at Hogwarts, and he said he would love to speak to you about dragons," George exclaimed.
"Oh, that's wonderful! But wait. Why is he here? Isn't he supposed to be in Romania?" She asked.
"I think he's on a break or something. I have no clue," George shrugged.
Fred, George, and Katherine entered Professor McGonagall's classroom. Katherine took a seat at the second to last table while the twins sat behind her. In a matter of minutes, Cedric rushed in and took a seat next to Katherine. As he sat down, Katherine noticed he looked uneasy. She wanted to ask him what was wrong but decided against it. Katherine didn't want to get called out by Professor McGonagall for talking in class. Throughout the class, Katherine felt eyes on her. She looked around the room but found everyone was paying attention to their professor.
Katherine slowly turned her head back and saw George looking right at her. She quickly turned around and felt a blush grace her cheeks. Katherine heard Fred snickering, which made her blush even harder. Class ended rather quickly. Cedric rushed out of the room, which worried Katherine, so she followed him. Cedric walked to the library. Katherine sat at the same table Cedric sat and stared at him.
"Something is wrong," Katherine stated. Cedric kept his eyes on a book that he had pulled from the shelf.
"Nothing is wrong," Cedric sighed.
"You're a bad liar. I hope you know that. Now, you are going to tell me what's wrong, and if you don't, I'll tell Cho that you like her," Cedric's head shot up at the last part. Katherine tilted her head. "What? You think I won't?"
"No, I don't think you will. You're too shy to do such a thing." Cedric laughed but shortly stopped when he saw the severity in Katherine's face. "Fine! Harry caught me when I was picking up my stuff that fell out of my bag and told me about the first task. Its dragons, Katherine! What am I supposed to do?"
"Bloody hell! Isn't the task tomorrow? We have got to get you prepared! " Katherine said frantically. "We know you can't stun a dragon. They're too big. What are you reading?"
"A book on transfiguration," Cedric sighed.
"Okay. Maybe you can transfigure something to distract the dragon," Katherine suggested.
"That's a good idea!" Cedric started to flip pages until he stopped. "I could transfigure something into an animal. That'll distract the dragon for sure!"
"That's brilliant! Let's go back to the common room. You can practice transfiguring in there!" Katherine exclaimed. The pair got up. Katherine skipped all the way to their common room, with Cedric laughing behind her.
