Last First Kiss {HP Next Generation}

Chapter Fifty One

Hope held Henry in front of her as her grandfather and uncle made their way over after the announcement of the Hogwarts champions selected. She was still completely stunned by the idea of being entered in the tournament. Thrilled but completely confused by Eliza actually entering her name along with her own and Stella's had left her lost. Eliza always seemed like the goody two shoes of the group. She was calm, considerate and normally was the one to rationalize the decisions when the group went crazed. However, it seemed the Ravenclaw girl was ready to step outside of the box and show them that she was capable of having a wild streak.

After the names were announced, it seemed Elliot was the most upset with Eliza's decisions. After all, hearing the horror stories of how his father had nearly been killed and the amount of the stress that came with the previous tournament, it was obvious the boy didn't want anyone he cared about entering. He left the room in tears with Eliza following right after him. 

Upon Hope's name being called out, she turned to Henry, hoping he didn't believe that she had any part in it. She really only had wanted to join the tournament with Henry as she figured it would be fun to compete alongside her best friend and her boyfriend. They worked well together and she knew that from years of experience. They were normally on the same wave length, always understanding what the other was getting at. Which made him the ideal person to have at her side in more ways than one. She wasn't sure how it was going to go competing with her cousins as the three girls had very different personalities.

Henry seemed upset but not as upset as Elliot, and he certainly wasn't upset with her. He felt her closer until she saw her grandfather and Teddy approaching. She quickly hid behind him, knowing what was to come from Remus.

"Hope!" Remus's hands found themselves resting on his hips as he looked directly at her, ignoring the shield that was Henry. "You said you wouldn't enter, you promised!"

"But Grandpa Remmy, I didn't!" Hope told him. "I swear, I didn't enter my name. It..it-"

"It was Eliza." Henry finished for her. "She's the one who entered their names."

"Or maybe it was Stella." Teddy said crossing his arms as he stood beside his father and looked in Stella's direction. "After all, she enjoys making stupid decisions."

Stella cast a dirty look in Teddy's direction before leaving the room along with some other students, completely disregarding anything he had to say.

"Wait until your mother hears about this.." Remus sighed rubbing his forehead. "Wait until...wait until the rest of your family hears about this, Hope."

"But Grandpa-" Hope frowned as Remus shook his head with a disappointed look and left as well. "I didn't do anything. It wasn't me.."

"It's alright, Hope." Teddy told her. "Everyone is just worked up right now over it. It's not your fault. Stella or Eliza were the ones who were supposed to be responsible in this situation-"

"It wasn't Stella!" Hope snapped at him. "So stop blaming her just because you're angry with her. It was Eliza who entered our names. She wanted us three to compete together for a reason. Whatever is happening between you two is separate from this...so don't make it worse because Stella and I didn't know this was about to happen. Drop this ...whatever this is between you two, talk to each other, snog, fall in love...whatever! Just stop driving the rest of us mad with it! If you like her like I think you do, she's going to need your support now...more than ever."

Grabbing Henry's hand, Hope pulled the boy along, ignoring everyone that called out to her to talk. She just wanted to be left alone in the company of Henry as he seemed to be the only understanding one when it came to the situation.

"You believe me, don't you?" She asked him as they stood in an empty corridor after they had walked some distance in silence. "I didn't put my name in and I-"

"I know you didn't put your name in, Hope. I know it was Eliza, she admitted to it after all. But you want to be in the tournament, don't you?"

'I wanted to be in the tournament with you." She admitted.

Henry couldn't deny the giddy feeling that filled his chest despite the situation the two were faced with.

"You really mean that?" He asked with a shy smile, looking down at his feet.

"Well of course!" Hope said throwing her hands up into the air with an exasperated sigh. "It's the whole reason I wanted to enter int he first place, so it could be us..possibly Fergie at the time or whoever. But really, I just wanted you to be there. I mean, we do everything together, so we would make an unbelievable team, you know? Ugh, this...this isn't what I wanted."

She leaned against the wall and slumped to the floor.

"No offense to Stella and Eliza, I think they're great, but I'm not sure how compatible we're all going to be since we all think differently."

"It might be a good thing to have people on your team that think differently than you, Hopey." Henry said sitting beside her. " Get different perspectives."

"Or a whole lot of arguing." Hope sighed.

"You're going to be just fine, Hope." Henry said allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. "I mean, we can't do everything together."

"Really?" She glanced up at him. "Because that was the plan when I asked the Sorting Hat to put me in Gryffindor to be with you."

"Y-y-you did wh-what?" Henry looked down at her with wide eyes, but feeling all too happy that he was sure he was about to explode.

She smiled at him.

"You heard me, Henry. Still don't think I like you more than a friend now?"