prospicere futurum | fred weasley | cedric diggory

49

"Here," Ella muttered, tapping the edge of Corinne's coffee mug after her own, watching as they transformed into thick, paper cups, like the ones they so often treated themselves to from Madam Puddifoot's after Hogsmeade trips.

"Ugh, you genius." Corinne smiled, sloshing a bit more coffee into her own cup and swirling in some sugar, watching as it melted into the dark liquid. Her gloves were stuffed into the pockets of her thickest coat hanging over her shoulder and she had already pulled her hat over her hair on the walk down to breakfast.

"Come on!" Taylor whined for the tenth time. Why she was so eager to get out to the frozen pitch extra early for a Hufflepuff Ravenclaw, Corinne would never know.

"Coming, your highness." Ella grumbled, grabbing her cup from the table and stuffing the last bite of her muffin into her mouth.

"Ladies, looking lovely as ever." The familiar voice carried over them as Fred slid up on her left, George and Lee on his heels.

"Really? Feel like I slept an hour max last night." Ella shot Taylor half a glare which went thankfully unnoticed. Corinne had already sat through half of breakfast listening to them bicker about Taylor's snoring.

Corinne's mind, however, was now solely focused on Fred at her side. The warmth that always seemed to radiate from him, no matter how many layers of clothing stood between them. The spicy cologne flooding her senses. The feel of his gaze stuck to hers.

It was fine. Everything was fine. They could walk together, as a group. Sit together at the game... With their friends. She couldn't avoid him anymore, not after he had broken her out of her detention.

She frowned, biting her cheek.

She shouldn't have been avoiding him anyway. Her mind flashed back to the way he had looked at her the night the train had come back. The sadness in his eyes.

It wasn't his fault she had kissed him. Why was she punishing him?

You're not punishing him. You're just not leading him on.

Yes. That was it. She couldn't spend so much time with him, like they had over the break. She didn't want him to get his hopes up.

Yeah, why would he get his hopes up? Maybe because you jumped him on New Years Eve?

"Corinne, where do you want to sit?" Taylor was asking, though everyone's eyes were on her, waiting as they stalled at the end of the bleachers.

"Wherever!" She forced on a smile, pausing a moment to let Taylor up first before stepping up the first row, cutting Ella off. They rose, one level, then another, until they were halfway up, sliding towards the middle of the empty row. Taylor liked to be in the center, almost positive that she would end up knowing whoever chose the seat at her side.

Lee had already waved them goodbye, climbing the rickety steps to the announcement box, leaving the twins to shuffle into the empty spots beside Ella.

"Are your siblings coming?" Taylor asked, leaning forward to meet the boys eyes.

"Better be." George muttered.

"Yeah, Ron needs to watch a good keeper for once. Learn a thing or two." Fred agreed.

"Katie said he was getting better!" Taylor said.

"Sure, she would say that, since he's stopped smacking her in the face with the quaffle." George snickered.

"She had a forty-five minute nose bleed a few weeks ago."

"Well, that wasn't entirely Ron's fault-"

"I'm still blaming him." Fred shrugged, settling back against the wooden bleacher behind him and watching as students slowly started to fill the stands.