An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Fifty-Two

A/N: No Ted Lasso spoilers in the comments please, I haven't finished watching it past the first season ❤️

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On Sunday, Cedric and I spent the entire day in the Astronomy Tower, laying around and being complete bumps on a log. We binge watched the entirety of Ted Lasso together, which Cedric got a kick out of and which I'd already seen, and the only times we left were to steal snacks from the kitchens. Around dinner, just before the sunset, we went for a walk around the grounds before coming back to the tower to end the night.

What would a special occasion date be for us if it didn't end in the Astronomy Tower, sitting side by side and watching the stars like the very first time we'd admitted our feelings for each other?

Unlike on Friday night in the greenhouse, we both decided it was worth the risk to just fall asleep together in the Astronomy Tower in our pile of blankets, without returning to our dorms. Unlike the greenhouses, the tower was out of the way, and much less likely to have unexpected visitors. I woke up early the next morning, back on the schedule of my usual routine, which gave both Cedric and I plenty of time to get ready for breakfast and classes to start our Monday morning.

The relaxation and relief that came from my weekend with Cedric quickly disappeared. This time, at least, it wasn't for any reason to do with Umbridge, Voldemort, or even Jackson's mother. Instead, it came from Angelina, who'd upped our Quidditch practice hours to almost four a day, leaving almost no time for anything else and making me want to absolutely murder her.

"Come on, Gryffindors, let's go!" she shouted across the pitch. "We have a match with Hufflepuff in five days, and we cannot lose! You're lucky I gave you the weekend off, and now we've got lost time to make up for!"

"She's lucky I don't knock her off her broom right here and now," I muttered to Kenneth as we floated in the cold, waiting for Angelina to order us into the drill. He snorted.

"I think if you did, she'd just critique your form and tell you to hit her harder next time."

We shared a laugh, but quickly got cut off as Angelina barked at us to try to take down Ginny as she dove for the Snitch. My arms screamed in protest, still not happy with me playing the Beater position despite how long I'd been doing it now. Thankfully, with all the training my family made me do, I'd gotten good at blocking it out and getting in the zone when my muscles wanted me to just collapse on the ground and take a nap.

Practice continued at the same crazy intensity for the rest of the week, hardly leaving time for me to work on all the thousand other things I took part in. Thankfully, after Friday's match against Hufflepuff, Angelina would likely go back to her normal crazy intensity instead of this possessed-by-Oliver-and-then-some intensity she had going right now.

In Potions on Friday, one of only two classes I had with Cedric every week, I leaned into him as we worked over a shared cauldron towards the back of Snape's class.

"Hey," I said, nudging him and giving him a little half-smile. "It's gonna be weird playing against you today. Especially as Beater."

"Don't worry," he said, smiling back and leaning into me even more. "You're going to do amazing. Just try not to hit me in the head when you send the Bludger my way, alright?"

I grinned. "No promises."

We shared a laugh, then had to fight off full-blown cackling as we caught Snape and Angelina giving us matching stink eyes. For different reasons, obviously—one for talking in class and one for fraternizing with the enemy—but for a few seconds they almost could've been twins.