prospicere futurum | fred weasley | cedric diggory

18

"Ease up, mate. She's probably sleeping in, it is Saturday!" Lucas muttered, his eyes still heavy with sleep as Cedric forced down another bite of their breakfast, his eyes flickering towards the doorway every few seconds.

"I s'pose." He nodded, though his mind was searching over their last conversation the night before at dinner, in this very spot. Had he said something wrong? Upset her somehow? He forced his mind back to their last words, to her beautiful smile, the memory of her wishing him a good nights sleep...

"Diggory!" Mark kicked him from beneath the table, pulling his friends attention back to breakfast. "Head in the game. No more second place."

"When I win this tournament, none of you can expect a knut." He forced down a final bite before shoving his plate towards the center of the table, where it disappeared at once. "I think I'm just going to run upstairs and check on her before-"

"Are you mad?" Lucas's eyes were wide now, despite the fact that he had been fast asleep not thirty minutes before. "All the way up to Gryffindor and back? You're going to be late and they won't let you compete-"

"You think they'll start without one of the champions?" John pointed out.

"I think they'll start without this one." He jabbed one finger towards Cedric. "They've got two Hogwarts champions and one's the boy who lived."

"Alright." Cedric shot him an eye roll, chugging down the rest of his coffee in one go.

"Look, you get down there and figure out what the hell it is you're even supposed to be doing today, and I'll go check for blondie." Lucas offered, Cedric running over the offer in his mind. Lucas was probably right, she had just overslept. It was the weekend, and knowing her roommates habits of sleeping in, it really wasn't that far out of reach.

Just as he was about to agree, his eyes flashed to the doorway, Taylor's voice ringing over the hallway easily, though Ella seemed still half asleep.

He didn't offer his friends a goodbye, hurrying towards the girls and blocking their path to the Gryffindor table at once, Taylor's eyes lighting up as she spotted him.

"Diggory! I'm so excited, are you excited?" She began to ramble, though Ella's eyes flickered back to the Hufflepuff table before returning to his.

"Where's Corinne?" She asked, cutting through Taylor's sentence without a second thought.

"What do you mean?" His voice was low as his stomach sank. "That's what I was coming to ask you."

"She didn't come to bed last night... We thought the two of you-" Taylor muttered.

"No." Cedric shook his head, his eyes already scanning down the Gryffindor table, searching for the all too familiar burst of red hair. "Where is he? I swear to God, if he-"

"Fred wouldn't..." Ella trailed off, Cedric's eyes flashing back to hers. "He's left her alone... since the stairs. He felt really bad-"

"Yeah, I'm so sure." Cedric scoffed, his gaze settling once again on the slow stream of students flowing into the Great Hall before it clicked.

And while you're searching, ponder this:We've taken what you'll sorely miss,An hour long you'll have to look,And to recover what we took.

"For Merlin's sake..." He muttered, rubbing over his eyes with two fingers and letting out a deep sigh. "I think I know... I'll see you guys later, I've gotta go-"

"Wait, Diggory! Do you need help?" Ella called, and Cedric tried for a small smile, noting the worry lining Ella's gaze.

"Nah, I've got it handled." He promised, already starting towards the exit as they both wished him luck before hurrying to their seats for breakfast.