Star Girl | Cedric Diggory

|*| Thirty Four |*|

|*| thanks for 6K reads guys!! |*|

Ethan knew the Yule Ball was not something to be taken lightly. His great-great grandfather was a Champion of the Triwizard Tournament back in his time, and from the stories told about the man, Ethan knew far too much about the ball.

His great-great grandfather didn't win-he didn't even come close-but he was the life of the Yule Ball according to his father's stories. Unfortunately, after the tournament, Ethan's great-great grandfather suffered massive brain damage, running rampant around the streets telling the Muggles he was a wizard who survived death three times. While it was true, the old man was executed.

But, Ethan knew the Ball was significant. His great-great grandmother met his great-great grandfather at their Ball, and the same thing had to happen for Aquila and Cedric.

Ethan would make it happen.

But nothing would happen if Aquila acted a fool. Knowing her, she'd walk into the Ball in her average school robes with her green hair lazily tossed into a bun.

Ethan refused to let that happen.

It was the greatest dance in the entire wizarding world, and he was not going to have the ball's good name besmirched by Aquila.

The way to prevent disaster was simple: dance lessons.

Ethan knew that if he didn't prompt them to learn the dance, they'd never do it. He couldn't let his two best friends walk in and not know the routine. They'd look like fools.

So, he rounded them up, forced Aquila to wear a pair of high heel shoes, and attempted to teach them the dance.

|*|*|*|

"Now," Ethan began his lesson with a premeditated speech. "Dancing has three main factors: beat, flow, and choreography. Skill is not necessary for dancing at all. You just need to feel the beat in your feet, go with the flow, and keep consistency with my choreography."

"Those are some crazy good rhymes, Eth," Aquila pointed out. "But where do these high heels come into play? My feet hurt like h-" Cedric glared at her "-heck..."

"Quil," Ethan sighed, "you've only been wearing them for two minutes."

"Two minutes just killed my feet!" Aquila declared. "I'm taking these off!"

"Aquila!" Ethan yelled. "Just wear them for ten minutes!"

"Seriously, Quil," Cedric said, "it can't be that bad."

Aquila glared at her boyfriend, "Ceddy, these shoes make me want to chop off my feet and invest in peg legs like a pirate!"

Cedric laughed, "They're just shoes, Quil!"

It was Aquila's turn to laugh, "Just shoes, he said. They're just shoes, Quil! Oh yeah? Why don't you wear them for five minutes, Cedric? Then let's see how you feel, huh?"

Cedric pulled off one of his shoes, "Alright, give me them."

"We don't have time for this!" Ethan yelled. "Aquila, you're the girl, so you wear the heels! If men were supposed to wear them, they'd be put in the men's section!"

"Come on, Ethan!" Aquila pouted. "It's only a test!"

"A test that can be done after our lessons!" he decided. "Stop it with your antics!"

"Put that Hufflepuff back where it came from, dude," Aquila told him as she slipped her shoes back on. "It's getting scary."

"This is just my inner fire, Aquila," Ethan said. "Stop making those stupid Hufflepuff jokes. They aren't even funny."

"I hear these jokes all the time in my dorm, and when Abby tells them, they're bloody hilarious," she stated. "But, fine. I promise I won't tell any more Hufflepuff jokes. I can't seem to find any reason to anymore."

"Great!" Ethan said, clapping his hands together. He saw the smirk on Aquila's face, then facepalmed. "Merlin, Aquila... You didn't-"

"She did," Cedric said.

"How do you put up with this?" Ethan asked Cedric.

"He finds me hilarious!" Aquila interjected earning a scowl from Ethan.

|*|*|*|

"One, two, three! One, two, three! One, two, three, and one, two, three!"

"Not to be a buzzkill, Ethan," Cedric said, "but you're counting is beginning to irk me."

"You need to feel the rhythm in your feet!" Ethan told him.

"My feet hurt!" Aquila complained.

Ethan began to count louder, "ONE, TWO, THREE!"

"My ears hurt!" Aquila shouted.

Ethan counted louder in Spanish, "UNO, DOS, TRES! UNO, DOS, TRES!"

"That's not any better," Cedric muttered.

Ethan was about to switch to French when Cedric finally snapped. "IF YOU SAY ANOTHER BLOODY NUMBER THAT IS LESS THAN FOUR, I WILL CUT OUT YOUR TONGUE!"

Aquila froze. She'd never heard Cedric snap before, and she was impressed. She began clapping slowly, smiling.

Ethan froze as well. He'd also never heard Cedric snap, and he was shaking. His eyes widened and he gulped.

"L-let's move on to the big finish."

|*|*|*|

"AQUILA, YOU CAN'T DO THAT ITS UNTRADITIONAL!"

At the end of the dance, Aquila wanted to do something "to make the other people cry because we're so awesome". She kept on posing at the end, doing hip pops and head turns and dramatic spins.

And each time, Ethan reminded her that it wasn't traditional. She didn't hear a word of it.

"Ethan," she said. "I honestly don't care if it's traditional or not. Do I look traditional to you? I dyed my hair green to piss off my parents, disagree with my housemates, and hang out with Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. Nothing about me is traditional, so stop expecting me to dance like I am!"

Ethan was taken aback. "Quil, I'm sorry, it's just that this dance means a lot to me."

"I get that, Eth," she said, "so when you're dancing, be as traditional as you want, count to three, make the girl wear high heels, but just know I'm not doing any of that. Okay?"

Ethan seemed to think about that for a minute, but came to his conclusion quickly.

"No. Not okay. Put those shoes back on and listen to me count to three until you've got this whole routine down! You hear me?"

"Merlin, you're trying find ways to kill me, aren't you?" Aquila asked.

Ethan smiled proudly, "I'm a Hufflepuff; finding things is what I do."

Aquila's mouth fell open, "You just-"

"I beat you at your own game, yes," he said. "Now get back to dancing!"

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