i should have held your hand || cedric diggory

on her way

"lia! we've got to get to king's cross station! it's about 10:45. train leaves at 11:00 let's go, dear!" ophelia scrambled to get the rest of her things. she had her trunk ready at the foot of her bed. all her textbooks that she got from diagon alley, stacked neatly on her desk. she heard a small squawk from the corner of her room. she recognized the owl. gray feathers laid messily on its back. it was cedric's. ophelia took the letter attached to his leg and thanked the bird to send it on its way. she opened the letter and read it.

little lia,
please be safe this term. my father has told me about the murderer sirius black and i am very worried. i hope they catch him soon. i fear dark times are approaching. owl me once you get to beauxbaton. i will miss you.
kindest regards,
ced

in the rush of packing for hogwarts, she had forgotten to tell cedric she would not be returning to beauxbaton. she held the letter to her chest when her eyes shot up at the clock on her wall. 10:50. shit. she thought to her self. shoving the letter in her pocket, she quickly grabbed her trunk, put all her textbooks in the plain, tan tote bag that was hanging from her door, and her barn owl, tilly, that was in her cage. she rushed out of her room to see her father in the kitchen, pacing and looking at his pocket watch.

"my goodness child. we better get a move on!"
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muggles we're running everywhere. many bumping into ophelia's shoulders. an "im sorry" would be nice from these people she thought. her father was pulling her trunk behind him while she had her tote bag and owl in hand. the pair ran at a steady place to get to the platform. ophelia glanced at her ticket and it read platform 9 3/4. her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. still looking down at her ticket while running, she didn't notice her father had stopped. she ran into his back causing her to fall down on her ass. she dropped all her textbooks and tilly, who looked unhappy with ophelia for falling.

"oh for merlin's sake ophelia. clumsy just like your mother was," her father tobias said, reaching his hand out for her and dusting her off, "alright we are here. all we have to do now is run onto the platform through the wall right between platforms 9 and 10. haven't done this since i was a wee lad. you ready dear?" she nodded and watched her father disappear into the wall. she took one last look around. her eyes fell on a clock. 10:58. she had to run. now or never.

she trucked her way into the wall. she took a look around, examining her surroundings. the energy on platform 9 3/4 was magical. families were running back and forth, hugging and saying goodbye to each other. it was full of happiness. then, her eyes fell on her father. it was always difficult for her to leave him but she knew she had to go. they gave each other one last hug before ophelia stepped foot on the train.

"be good now and don't forget to write me. you will love hogwarts just as i did. let me know where you get sorted. your mother and i met during the sorting ceremony. both hufflepuff of course. hope you can carry it on." he said scratching the back of his head.

"i hope so too father. i will miss you. see you during holiday!" she called out as the hogwarts express started chugging. her hand waved as she saw her father disappear with the distance being created. a single tear fell from her cheek. it would be a long school year.
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ophelia looked everywhere for an empty compartment to sit in. everywhere was full. she passed by a couple of compartments before she accidentally bumped into someone. he was a tall boy, already in his school robes. she looked at the crest on the black robe he wore, hufflepuff. his hair was longer than most boys, just hovering above shoulder length. alabaster skin with hazel eyes to complete his face. he looked down at ophelia with a disgusted look that immediately turned kind when he looked in her eyes.

"oh sorry about that. merlin, i should probably watch where i'm going." she chuckled a bit, obviously nervous from her first encounter with a hogwarts student.

"no you're alright. im gallagher. bruno gallagher. i've never seen you before. are you new?" he smirked at ophelia when he saw her face flush into a rosy red. she looked up at him, playing with the hem of her shirt as she did.

"yeah i just transferred from beauxbaton. ophelia ambrose. um, i should probably sit down. it was nice to meet you...bruno." she slid into a compartment that had a couple of other girls inside it, from the looks of it, ravenclaws. as she closed the door, bruno stood outside of it.

"nice to meet you too...ophelia." he stood frozen for few more seconds before returning to his compartment. when he got there, his friends were already sat across from one another discussing what was in store for this years season of quidditch. bruno sat next to his friend, alastair bellchant. the hufflepuff boy ran his hands through his blonde hair as he discussed quidditch plays and his blue eyes were focused while he talked, using hand gestures to make sure his friends could understand. alastair turned to bruno with a questioned look on his face.

"where you've been mate? honestly you've been gone for ages." bruno's eyes grew wide. he wasn't sure what to say. did he tell them it was cause of a girl? or that there was a line to the washroom?

"oh...um just got caught talking to someone. new girl. she's really pretty. awkward as hell though," his friends nodded signaling they understood, "anyway, what are you two on about? cedric is probably tired of hearing your voice alastair. isn't that right, ced?" cedric diggory sat across from his friends and laughed. he agreed with bruno. he was getting tired of alastair's insane quidditch plays.

"alastair let me handle the plays. i am going for captain after all. did you catch the girls name, bruno?" he asked curiously. he was interested to know who the girl might be if bruno thought she was pretty.

"yeah mate but don't steal her from me. she transferred from beauxbaton." cedric nodded at this and rolled his eyes.

"right gallagher but did you catch her name?" he asked impatiently.

"ophelia ambrose."