glow. // cedric diggory

22

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

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Gryffindor Tower was packed with students of all houses, all of which equally as excited for the new year as the next person. Cedric and Ellie walked through the crowd, Ellie's pinky locked tightly with Cedric's. Their contact was discreet, minimal, and by the looks of the party-goers and the smell of intoxication lingering in the air, Ellie didn't have to worry much about anyone noticing the two and stopping them to ask questions.

"Ellie!" two very loud, very enthusiastic voices shouted. Ellie turned around and saw the Weasley twins sauntering over towards her. 

She looked at Cedric who just nodded and leaned in close to her ear so she could hear over the loud noises, "I'll be by the drinks."

Ellie nodded and reluctantly dropped her little finger as he pulled away to let her talk to the twins.

"I dunno about you, Georgie, but it looked to me like our good friend Eleanor Campbell was getting all cozied up with Diggory in the boats," Fred remarked, tousling Ellie's hair. She smacked his hand away and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"I saw the same, Freddie," George slurred. "Very cute, very very cute."

The two were clearly inebriated already.

"George, tell me, was that Angelina Johnson I saw you cuddling up to?" she asked, trying to shift the conversation. She hadn't actually seen that, but by the way George's face contorted in confusion, she realized she might not have been all that off the mark. Plus, the two hung out rather frequently. "And Fred, what about you and my good friend Florence?" Again, another lie, but she just wanted to change the subject.

"You're very funny," Fred grumbled as the two set off to mess with another person.

Ellie grinned and walked to the drinks table to find Cedric again, but he wasn't there. He'd probably been sucked into a conversation with someone who wanted to discuss what he had figured out about the next task, so she just decided to pour herself a drink.

Lifting it to her lips, she scrunched her nose. The first whiff was rather potent, the smell of alcohol even stronger than the fruit punch. She drank it anyway. As soon as she took that first sip, her mind grew cloudy.

"Ellie," a voice called out. It was Flora. Frankie was following closely behind, a drink in hand. While Flora appeared to be sober enough, Frankie was clearly a little bit tipsy, to say the least. "What did you think of the lanterns?" Flora asked as she stopped in front of Ellie.

"They were beautiful," Ellie said, her mind hazy and her voice a bit airy, like that of a certain blonde Ravenclaw. "It's easily one of the best nights of my life. What a way to end this year. I've never seen anything like that." There were certainly other reasons for it being the best night of her life, but she wasn't drunk enough to disclose that just yet.

Besides, it very well could just have been a kiss and nothing more. Maybe the setting was just too romantic that the tension grew and Cedric didn't really mean any of it. What if that was true? What if everything he said was negative? About how she was the reason he can't sleep? Plus, weren't he and Cho Chang a thing at one point not too long ago? What about her?

Ellie must have been frowning because Frankie said, "What's wrong, Ellie?"

"Just thinking," she mumbled. "Hey, I'm going to have to catch up to you guys later."

"Alright," Flora replied. "See you later."

"Bye!" Frankie said, waving as they walked off.

Ellie poured herself another drink, her frown unwavering. She was aware of just how drunk she was, and she knew that the alcohol in her system was clouding her judgement, but she still wondered if what she thought was true. More than likely it wasn't, but Eleanor Campbell was a chronic overthinker.