Chasing Shadows || Draco Malfoy x OC

Year 4- Ch.34

It was quiet the whole way up to the Hospital Win, aside from the occasional grunts of discomfort coming out of Draco's mouth. Once they arrive, Céline helps Madame Pomfrey get him in a bed.

With a huff she straightened herself and was starting to walk away, when he grabbed her hand.

"You're leaving?" Draco asked. She frowned at him.

"Yes." She said curtly  

"But I'm hurt..." he said with a frown, completely forgetting for a moment that she was also hurt as well, much worse than he was.

"I'm leaving because this is the Hospital Wing, so I am unable to yell at you. And if I can't yell at you, then I don't want to be here."

"Why are you going to yell at me?" He looked at her annoyed and confused and she looked back at him in disbelief.

"BECAUSE—" she stopped herself, looking around, before taking a deep breath, "because you are an absolute prat." She hissed at him, fully facing him now. "How could you say that to Ron? That was incredibly unnecessary and childish of you." She smacked his hand off of hers, but he didn't let go. "Why do you always do that? Why do you always pick a fight with them? It's literally the first day of classes."  She gave up trying to release her hand from his grip.

He was taken aback, it's been a while since she yelled at him like this. Even if it's a whispered yell.

"That was so rude to insult Mrs. Weasley like that. You don't even know her at all.  She is an incredibly kind and caring woman, how dare you speak of her that way." She continued.

"Potter insulted my mother." He retorted, but she raised her free hand in front of him to shut him up.

"I do not condone Harry stooping as low as you, by insulting your mother, but it's your fault for adding fuel to the fire. If you can't take getting insulted, then don't start it in the first place." She said out of breath. "You are so aggravating sometimes... I told you to leave them alone."

"And I never agreed that I would." He said defiantly. Her eyes narrowed and she yanked her hand out of his grip.

"I can tolerate getting bullied, but I will not sit there and watch one of my friends taunt and bully my other friends. No matter who it is."

His eyebrows creased, he hated that she was friends with them. He hated that she talked to them, especially when he saw how Harry looked at her. "If you're thinking you will get some kind of apology out of me, then think otherwise." He scoffed.

"Then I have no reason to stand here and talk to someone who doesn't see they're in the wrong... if you'll excuse me, I haven't eaten since breakfast and I have a potion to take." She said, before holding her chin up and walking out of the hospital wing.

Céline made her way to the Slytherin common and up to her dorm room. She was thankful that it hadn't been too long since dinner started so her dorm was still empty when she entered. She quickly made her way to her nightstand drawer and pulled out a vial. Drinking its contents before storing away the empty glass again.

She stepped out of the room and back out into the dungeons. Quickly making her way to the Great Hall, in hopes to be able to eat something before dinner is over.

Just as she rounded the corner of the entrance hall she ran into something hard. She stumbled back a little, the person gently grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling backwards. When she looked up she saw a very handsome and tall young man. He had dark hair, and gray eyes.

"I'm sorry." They both said at the same time. He chuckled, and released her shoulders. She smiled sheepishly, her cheeks turning pink.

"Sorry, I was in such a hurry to go eat, I wasn't really paying attention to what was in front of me." Céline said.

He chuckled again, giving her a brilliant smile, "it's alright." He studied her face for a minute. "You're... Everhart.. er— Céline, right?" He asked.

"Er— yes?" She wasn't sure how he knew her, because if they had met, she would have definitely remembered his face.

Somehow his smile brightened up even more. "I've heard about you. You were quite the topic with everyone last year. 'The pretty Slytherin girl who's kind and friendly with everyone.'... " his cheeks warmed, "pretty is... not the word I would've used... n-not that you're not pretty! You definitely are... well you're a lot more than pretty." He stumbled with his words, worrying that she might've taken it the wrong way.

He stopped talking and looked at her. Céline looked like she was holding in her laughter. He let out a light laugh, she could help but release her laughter as well.

"I'm Cedric Diggory." He introduced himself, after their laughter quieted down. He stuck his hand out to shake hers.

She took it happily, "It's nice to meet you, Cedric. And you don't have to worry, I understood what you were trying to say." She giggled, "you know.. I think I may have met your father once." She tilted her head a little in thought.

"Oh? My father works in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

She nodded, "yes, I remember. Though, we didn't meet in the best of circumstances..." she said. And when he just looked at her confused she added, "it was after the Quidditch World Cup last week."

He nodded in understanding, "ah, yes. That was..."

"Awful?"

"Horrible." He finished. She nodded. They stood there for a moment until her stomach growled almost comically. Her eyes widened in embarrassment. "Right, you were in a hurry to eat." He chuckled. "I'll let you go then. It was nice to finally put a face to the name I've heard so much."

She smiled at him, "I'll see you around, then?" He nodded and waved goodbye, before walking out of the entrance hall. She hurried into the Great Hall, her upset mood completely lifted, thanks to her encounter with the upperclassman.

Author's notes::

So we have Cedric in the story now!!

I'm thinking of making him a love-interest for my girl Céline, and because of that I'll be changing some things of the story, specifically between Cedric and Cho. (This is still a Draco x Céline love story)

Now my question is...

Is the age difference between Cedric and Céline okay? She's in fourth year, and he's in sixth year. Technically speaking they're only three years apart, which isn't a lot. But when I hear their actual age, fourteen and seventeen... that sounds like a lot...

What do you guys think?