prospicere futurum | fred weasley | cedric diggory

10

The music and cheers from the Common Room could be heard all the way through the dorms, and Corinne hoped someone had had the common sense to charm the portrait hole to contain the noise from McGonagall's ears. Not that she would have minded a party to celebrate Harry Potter. Or a Gryffindor win of any kind.

The party had begun even before Harry had returned, though the sound certainly amplified on his arrival. Corinne watched as a few members of the Quidditch team hoisted him onto their shoulders, the golden egg still between his hands now thrust into the air to everyone's applause.

Corinne had waited with Cedric as the rest of the contestants had their turn with their dragons, sneaking glances at the rapidly healing burn on the side of his face every few minutes, only letting him leave her side when the four students had been called to the podium near the judges to announce the winners.

Cedric had gotten second place, though she was sure were it not for the burn, he could have won. It was easy to see the disappointment in his eyes, yet he held his smile as he clapped for the rest of the group before returning to her side, tucking the golden egg beneath his arm and starting back up to the school, Lucas, John and Mark racing to our side and attempting to tackle Cedric to the ground.

Now, nearly an hour later, she was hurrying to pull a cozy sweater over her shirt, trading her muddy boots for some fuzzy ones and climbing back down the stairs to her friends. She had promised them a bit of time at the Gryffindor party before heading down to the Hufflepuff dorms where Cedric had invited her on their walk back to the castle.

"Finally!" Taylor grinned as she spotted her friend, forcing a drink into her empty hands in the deafening common room. "That's what you're going to wear to Hufflepuff? Won't you be burning hot?"

"I don't know?" Corinne glanced down to her sweater, feeling perfectly content at the moment, even in the crowded room. "Is it hot down there?"

"That's what I've heard." Taylor shrugged, waving as Harry walked past them, only partially listening to Ron at his side, his mouth moving a mile a minute. "Congrats, Potter!"

"Thanks." Harry offered her a small smile and a nod, accepting a drink from another quidditch player who Corinne hardly recognized.

"Alright, I've heard there have been some complaints in the past with the music?" The familiar voice boomed over the Gryffindors and Corinne winced before turning to see Fred on top of the same coffee table from months ago. There was a murmur of slight agreement and a few loud cheers paired with some low groans, which Fred shook off with a grin.

"Do we want better music or not?" He asked once more, the crowd finally breaking into applause, his cue to continue.

He aimed his wand lazily at the table behind him, the music cutting off and morphing into a new beat entirely. "Jessie is a friend..." Fred started off, a small smirk on his face as the cheers around the room grew louder. "Yeah, I know he's been a good friend of mine..."

Taylor glanced between Ella and Corinne, an uneasy smile on her face. "This one can't possibly be about you, huh?"

"Taylor." Ella called back over the music, warningly.

"But lately something's changed that ain't hard to define, Jessie's got himself a girl and I want to make her mine."

"Oh, shit." Taylor could barely be heard over Fred's words now and Ella let her face fall into her hands.

"And she's watching him with those eyes! And she's loving him with that body, I just know it."

Corinne's stomach jerked as she raised her cup to her lips, an excuse to look away from the redhead. Yet everyone else's gaze had started to drift to her, following Fred's line of sight until she couldn't stand it any longer.