Second chances *ੈ✩‧₊˚ (harry potter x reader)

Dear Cedric

"Are you sure your nose is alright?" I asked Harry as all four of us met in the common room the next morning.

After reassuring me for the thousandth time, Harry wasted no time on telling Hermione about yesterday's occurrences.

"But he was obviously showing off for Parkinson, wasn't he?" interjected Ron quickly, before Hermione could say anything.

"Well," she said uncertainly, "I don't know... It would be like Malfoy to make himself seem more important than he is... but that's a big lie to tell..."

"Exactly," said Harry, but he could not press the point, because so many people were trying to listen in to our conversation, not to mention staring at him and whispering behind their hands.

"It's rude to point," I snapped at a particularly minuscule first-year boy as we joined the queue to climb out of the portrait hole.

The boy, who had been muttering something about Harry behind his hand to his friend, promptly turned scarlet and toppled out of the hole in alarm.

"Thanks," Harry mumbled to me.

Ron sniggered. "Don't you love being a sixth year? And we're going to be getting free time this year. Whole periods when we can just sit up here and relax."

"We're going to need that time for studying, Ron!" said Hermione, as we set off down the corridor.

"Yeah, but not today," said Ron. "Today's going to be a real loss, I reckon."

"Hold it!" said Hermione, throwing out an arm and halting a passing fourth year, who was attempting to push past her with a lime-green disk clutched tightly in his hand.

"Fanged Frisbees banned, hand it over," she told him sternly. The scowling boy handed over the snarling Frisbee, ducked under her arm, and took off after his friends. Ron waited for him to vanish, then tugged the Frisbee from Hermione's grip.

"Excellent, I've always wanted one of these."

Hermione's remonstration was drowned by a loud giggle; Lavender Brown had apparently found Ron's remark highly amusing. She continued to laugh as she passed us, glancing back at Ron over her shoulder. Ron looked rather pleased with himself.

I'd noticed Hermione's scathing look at Ron.

The ceiling of the Great Hall was serenely blue and streaked with frail, wispy clouds, just like the squares of sky visible through the high mullioned windows.

While we tucked into porridge and eggs and bacon, we told Hermione of our embarassing conversation with Hagrid the previous evening.

"But he can't really think we'd continue Care of Magical Creatures!" she said, looking distressed. "I mean, when have any of us expressed... you know... any enthusiasm?"

"That's it, though, innit?" said Ron, swallowing an entire fried egg whole. "We were the ones who made the most effort in classes because we like Hagrid. But he thinks we liked the stupid subject. D'ya reckon anyone's going to go on to N.E.W.T.?"

Nobody answered; there had been no need. We knew perfectly well that nobody in our year would want to continue Care of Magical Creatures.

We avoided Hagrid's eye and returned his cheery wave only half-heartedly when he left the staff table ten minutes later.

After we had eaten, we remained in our places, awaiting Professor McGonagall's descent from the staff table. The distribution of class schedules was more complicated than usual this year, for Professor Mcgonagall was reviewing O.W.L results as she went.