PRANKSTER [1] ↝ C. DIGGORY

twenty-seven

In the short weeks that followed since the horror that had befallen the Quidditch World Cup, Molly and Arthur Weasley did their very best to reassure their children that they were safe, and that no harm would come to them if they were under the supervision of either the two redheaded parents themselves, or headmaster Albus Dumbledore. The seven Weasley children, minus Percy, who locked himself in his room claiming he had important Ministry work to be done, spent their final days of the summer holiday in the company of their friends, playing pick-up games of Quidditch in the fields of the Burrow and only discussing the recent Death Eater attack when far out of earshot of either of their parents. Though Molly was hellbent on letting her children know they were in good hands, they could tell she worried for what the not-so-distant future may hold.

As September 1st arrived and the children bid their parents goodbye at King's Cross Station, Clary kept a watchful eye out for Cedric, though the boy was nowhere to be found at Platform 9 3/4. She hadn't spoken to the boy since the event at the World Cup, or since their near-kiss that ended in the two running for their lives away from the Death Eaters.

"Here's an empty one," Newt announced to the girls as they hurried through the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, the three of them piling into the empty compartment.

Clary plopped herself down in a window seat across from Newt, opening the tiny box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans clutched in her hands, and Vasantha sat next to the Weasley girl, closest to the compartment door. Clary watched from the window of the train, seeing families everywhere bidding goodbye to their children and wishing for them to have a great school year. As she watched, the Diggory family suddenly Apparated in, Cedric bidding goodbye to his mother and father before leaving his trunk with the others and climbing onboard the Hogwarts Express.

She turned from the window to peer into the corridor, Cedric coming into view as he passed by their compartment. As the boy's eyes met Newt's, he gave him a bright smile, sliding open the compartment door before his eyes landed on Clary, causing the boy to freeze in place.

"There you are, mate." Newt announced. "Where've you been?"

"S-sorry," Cedric said, shaking his head and attempting to regain his usual confident demeanor. "We were running a bit late this morning."

"Well come on, take a seat." Newt said, jerking his head in the direction of the empty seat next to him. "We won't bite."

"Erm, actually, I promised Heidi and a couple others I'd sit with them today." Cedric said nervously. "She had an idea for a couple Quidditch strategies she wanted to run by me before our team meeting tonight." Cedric nodded in Clary's direction. "Clary," he said in a short greeting before turning away from the compartment and continuing his walk down the corridor, a hint of red flush evident in the boy's cheeks.

"Okay," Vas said, turning to Clary skeptically as the train began to move out of King's Cross Station, and the journey to Hogwarts began. "Spill. What really happened between you and Cedric after the Cup match? There's no way that you two just took a walk."

Clary shrugged. "Before the match, we made a bet as to which team was going to win. If Bulgaria won, he wasn't allowed to give me detention for a month. If Ireland won... then I had to kiss him."

"Clary!" Vasantha exclaimed.

Newt put a hand to his heart, feigning shock. "I can't believe my own Mrs. Scamander would betray me like that. And with my best friend, no less!"

"Shut up," Clary sighed in exasperation, throwing a purple-colored bean at him, and the boy caught it, tossing it into his mouth in one fluid motion.

"It's plum flavored," he announced, "In case anyone was wondering."

Clary rolled her eyes. "Anyways," she said.