prospicere futurum | fred weasley | cedric diggory

22

Corinne turned up the next flight of stairs with a nervous sigh, glancing down to the doorway two stories below. She had caught a brief glimpse of Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Bagman and the perfect gold of Fleur's hair waiting on the grounds outside before the doors had shut.

Yet, despite her nerves, she was thankful the day was finally here. They would finally get to know what horrible creature or challenge Cedric would be facing in a months time. Which meant she and Cedric would be holed up in some extra late night library sessions, paired with her already grueling exam preparation schedule she had laid out with Ella.

"Hi." The cheery voice tore through her train of thought, her eyes pulling towards the red head who had snuck up beside her.

"Really?" She asked, her voice cold and her lips falling into a thin line. "That's all you've got to say after Wednesday?"

"Wednesday... Wednesday..." He placed two fingers on his chin, letting his eyes roll towards the ceiling as if he was deep in thought.

"Go away, Fred."

"Oh, come on, Baker. I was joking. You may have heard of the term-"

"I always thought jokes were meant to be funny." She said, turning at the last second and starting down the random hallway away from him.

"Oh, you know how to cut me deep, don't you, Baker?" She could practically hear the grin seeping through his words, though she didn't look back. "Corinne, come on... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start world war Ced-"

"You didn't." She snapped. She wouldn't have him thinking he had any stake in her relationship, that he could have caused any problems.

"Well, good. Problem solved." He shrugged, keeping pace with her through the corridors with ease. "How was your day?"

She bit back a sigh, which would have likely been more of a groan.

"Fine."

"I saw Eddie Carmichael staring at Ella all through lunch." He started, watching her face closely for any changes. "Did she notice that or is she purposely sitting with her back to him at every chance-"

"I'm not sure." Corinne shook her head as they neared the next staircase, though at this point she knew there was no shaking him. Dinner wasn't for hours and he was surely headed up to the common room with her.

"I mean... Does she not think about it? Like... eventually, assuming the potion was right, I mean-"

"I don't want to talk about this with you." She snapped.

"Corinne-"

"No! I mean it... Either leave me be or stop talking."

Fred paused for a second, letting her pull ahead slightly, and for a moment she thought he might be listening. Might have been leaving her alone and shutting up all in one.

"I don't know why you're making everything so hard." He called through the hallway, though there was no one else to hear his words. Her steps faltered and she spun back to face him, his mouth had fallen into half a frown, though his eyes were linked with hers, burning bright even in the dim light of the castle's lamps.

"I'm making everything hard?"

"Yeah." He answered without hesitation.

"Oh, right. Cry me a river, Weasley. Half the school's throwing themselves at your feet every day-"

"Half the school?" He scoffed through her sentence.

"Like you don't notice the way Alicia and Katie always stare at you with those wide eyes, like they're just begging for you to even glance their way-"