Perfectly Imperfect || C. Diggory

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 || 𝐃𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐕𝐮

"Promise you'll write to me?" Mum asked Kayla as she tightened the straps on her backpack.

"Yes, Mum, of course." Kayla rolled her eyes. She'd asked that about a hundred times on the ride to King's Cross Station. She kissed Kayla on the top of her head, and waved goodbye just as she did on my first day of school.

I tried to get her to walk onto the train with me, so we could find a seat for her together, but she insisted she go alone. I guess she didn't want me cramping her style. She had already began talking to a young girl as she walked up the steps, and I could just tell they would be fast friends.

"Okay, have a good year, honey." Mum said to me, Jenn and Olivia by my sides. "And, you too, girls." She nodded towards them.

"We'll try, and I'll write to you tonight, don't worry." I added, knowing that'd be her next thing to say. She smiled, and wrapped me into a hug. My head rested on her shoulder as I watched students pass by and walk towards the train. "I've got to go, Mum, it's ten fifty-seven."

"Alright, I'll see you in December." She grinned.

"Bye, Mum." I said, and linked arms with Olivia and Jenn. We practically skipped to where Cedric and Steve were standing, stirring with excitement. "Hi, love." I kissed Cedric's cheek, and he turned to me.

"Hey! I was looking for you. I saw Kayla head onto the train and I thought you'd gone on without me." He said. I dramatically gasped.

"Never! Come on, though, it's nearly eleven." I dragged him by the arm towards the lot of people getting on the train.

And so, with Jenn, Olivia, and Steve following close behind, I boarded the Hogwarts Express, Cedric's hand in mine, a wide grin stretched across my face.

We headed down the aisle, peering into the compartments to find one empty. And, at the very end, in the exact same booth I sat in the year prior to this one, we found a place to sit. Jenn, Olivia, and Steve sat on one side, and Cedric and I on the other. It was a tight squeeze, but we made it work by putting all of our bags in the overhead bin.

Just as I got comfortable leaning on Cedric's shoulder, he looked over to me with a sorry expression. "What?" I asked, my eyes hooded.

"I have to go into the prefect's compartment for a meeting, and then talk to Professor Sprout about Head Boy duties. I'll be back within the hour, I promise." He told me. My long-lasting smile faded into a frown.

"Okay," I unwillingly agreed. "don't be long." It came out whinier than I wanted, and I blushed, looking down.

"Ouch, you'd think the presence of her best friends would be alright, guess not." Steve joked.

"Oh, stop it, Steven." I chuckled. Cedric gave me a short kiss before leaving with the click of the door closing behind him.

"Do you think with You-Know-Who back, the school'll have us learn more defense?" Olivia asked, putting the bookmark back in her book.

"Are you mad? The Ministry thinks Harry's crazy, Cedric as well, though he's not talked about nearly as much in the paper. Speaking of, Harry must hate all that attention." Steve replied.

"Bashing, more like. He already has it bad with the fame of being The Boy who Lived, and this on top of all that... Anyway, no, I don't think we'll be learning anything more. I do know that Dumbledore and McGonagall believe the boys, and with them on board, the other teachers too, but knowing the Ministry... well, they're all just cowards. Fudge had a huge argument with Dumbledore last June, completely disagreeing with him. I know he doesn't want to believe it, and being the Minister, he'll probably try to put a stop to anything about You-Know-Who." I informed.