❣︎ 𝑇𝑤𝑜 𝑂𝑓 𝑎 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑑 ❣︎ 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑜 𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑥 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 ❣︎

Chapter Twenty Nine

You walked back to the Gryffindor dorm room, alone. Luna, Cedric and Malfoy had moved back into their dorms, preparing for the arrival of the school students and professors. The feeling felt somewhat familiar, like the first day of school after the summer holidays, but it was only Christmas. Your eyes widened. It was going to be Christmas! You sighed, you knew this was going to be one of the worst Christmas' you would ever have, but wanted to get into the spirit. You had an idea and rushed over to the Ravenclaw dorm rooms.

"Hey, Luna! Luna-" You stared at the Ravenclaw common room. The whole room looked like it had been hit with a bomb, a bomb made out of Christmas decorations. You gasped. The whole room was glowing and had a massive Christmas tree in the centre. The stairs banisters were wrapped in colour changing tinsel that morphed from red, to white, to green. The fire was burning and the great statue of Rowena Ravenclaw had a giant wreath around its neck.
"Hello Y/n." Luna said dreamily, sliding down the tinsel covered banister. You cringed at the sight of her backside creating friction with the uncomfortable plastic tinsel, however she stood up quite easily and smiled at you weakly.
"What brings you to my common room?" She asked, studying your face.
"Well, I would like some help bedazzling the Gryffindor common room for Christmas." You said, sticking your hands in your jumper pockets. You saw Luna's eyes light up with excitement.
"That would be delightful! I've already helped Draco and Cedric, and I can't wait to decorate more!" Luna squealed. You flinched at Malfoy's name, but still smiled, regardless if there was a frown hiding behind it.
"Once we're finished, how about me, you, Draco and Cedric get into some cozy Pyjamas and sit in front of the fire, just to talk and get into the Christmas spirit?" She said, her eyes glazing over at the thought of a little sleepover. Your mouth twitched and you opened your mouth, but before you had the chance to say a word, Luna said,
"Well let's get going then!"

You fell on the floor, laughing so hard that your sides hurt. You and Luna had been working on the Gryffindor common room for about an hour and was almost done. You had been chatting non-stop, getting into deep, personal conversations. You'd never been close with Luna, but she was a very nice friend, and you felt bad for degrading her personality at times.

"Luna-! Are pffft- are you oh- okay?" You wheezed, laughing hysterically. Luna was screeching with laughter on the floor. She was just showing you that wizard tinsel was not itchy. Part of you wished you knew about wizard tinsel when you had to perform those church assemblies in primary school and you would go up on stage and sing off key with your year group to all of the poor parents. The teachers always made you wear that really uncomfortable tinsel around your neck and head and it was so annoying. Luna was demonstrating by sliding down the banister in the Gryffindor common rooms but when she was near the bottom, she lost balance and toppled backwards on to the floor, landing with a  huge thump. You were scared that she was hurt, until you heard her high pitched cackles.

"So, what's the deal between you and Cedric?" Luna said, putting crazy ornaments on the colossal Christmas tree. You shrugged, your mood slightly decreasing.
"I don't know, it's nothing too serious... but we did..kiss this morning..." you said, blushing a little and putting on a crystal ball ornament. Luna gaped at you.
"'Nothing too serious?!' Are you kidding me Y/n? You just told me you kissed a boy that still doesn't believe in nargles! How is that not serious?" Luna said sternly, but with a slight hint of banter. You rolled your eyes while smirking.
"I don't know, I do like Cedric, it just seems like everything I feel, he feels the opposite way. For example, sometimes I just want to be alone with him, not talking about anything, but he ruins the silence, he ruins the moment. I know he doesn't mean to, and in a way it makes him even cuter, but still..." You said, looking down. Luna was just shaking her head.
"Y/n, I am very sure that Cedric has proper feeling for you and wants to get to know you. Why don't you just have an official relationship with him?" Luna said still with her dreamy voice, but placing her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes at you. You didn't say anything, just blushed out of embarrassment and continued hanging up the variety of baubles.

☃︎

You sat in the Ravenclaw common room in front of the fire with your cosiest pyjamas on, in silence. You were accompanied by Luna and Cedric and you were plagued with Malfoy. You just all sat there, in unbearable silence, taking quick glances at eachother.
"Thanks for the help with decorating, Luna. You really have helped to put me in the Christmas spirit." Cedric said, out of the blue, smiling. You decided to jump into the conversation, you couldn't bear the silence anymore.
"Yeah, I'd also say that your common looks like a replica of Santa's grotto, except... more blue." You said, laughing awkwardly at the end.
"Yeah, Thanks." You heard Malfoy mutter from the corner. You wanted to smack him, but knew the better of it. You found it disrespectful that he had all of her help, yet all he could muster was a pathetic 'thank you'. Then, just like that, awkward silence fell back upon you. You looked around the room, and for a split second, you locked eyes with Malfoy. Although the moment was a mere millisecond, for you, it lasted years. His usual blue eyes, that were filled with mischief and charm, were solid ice. He looked deep into your own eyes and it was as if you were communicating. If the moment could be translated into words, they would say-
"Hey Y/n, want to go take a walk?" You heard Cedric pipe up. He was looking warily at you, then Malfoy. Your eyes slid off of Malfoy and you smiled at Cedric, getting up to signal approval.

"That was awkward." Cedric said, laughing and raking his hair with his hand as he usually did. You chuckled lightly.
"The tension in that room was deeper then the forbidden forest." You said, rubbing the back of your head. Cedric laughed and then looked at you, turning you to face him gently. He looked up and looked back down at you. You followed his lead and stared straight above you. There, a mistletoe hung, sparkling in the moonlight. Your eyes hung on it. "Mistletoe.." you whispered. You looked back at Cedric. You smiled sheepishly and he did the same. You both embraced in a soft kiss. Your sense of hearing seemed to fade and you felt on top of the world, but only for a second, soon you felt as if you were plummeting back into the earthy ground. You pulled back gently and looked up at Cedric. There were so many things you wanted to say, but it was if you couldn't say a word. You embraced him and the hug felt like hours. The sound of footsteps approaching stopped your hug with Cedric. You looked up to see Luna and Malfoy.
"We're both going to head to bed, but I had to tell you all something before we go to sleep." Luna said dreamily.
"We must pretend to be friends, I don't think anyone here wants to be alone for another three months." Luna said, her eyes glazing over, as you stared at Malfoy. Malfoy just gave a robotic nod and Cedric followed suit.
"I just hope dumbledore doesn't see through us." You said, itching the back of your neck.
"That why we have to be really believable." Luna said, smiling. You smiled back and waved at Cedric.
"N-night." You whispered, giving him a quick hug. You hugged Luna and nodded to Malfoy. Then you bit your lip in sorrow.
"Th-this is last day we're going to all be together like this." You said, looking down, your fists tightening. "Through upa and downs, I think we should just hug it out, one last time?" You said, opening your arms. Luna and Cedric did the same, but Malfoy just stared. You watched him, he stared right back at you and didn't move a muscle. Then, he stalked off, without a word. You sighed and hugged Cedric and Luna, then walked off to your common room. Suddenly, you remembered that you needed some presents for everyone. Ignoring your tiredness, you rushed to filch's office and pulled open the confiscation box.

You took a beautiful red gem for Hermione, a book of hexes and jinxes for Harry, a small replica of Viktor Krum's broom for Ron, a crazy headband for Luna and bunch of sweets from honey dukes for Cedric. You were about to leave when Malfoy crosses your mind, as soon as he did, something silver caught your eye. You looked over and saw a beautiful snake pendant. It was encrusted with emeralds and glimmered without any light source. You picked it up and had an argument in your mind in wether to even bother with Malfoy. However your angel outweighed your devil this time and you sighed, putting the gem into your pocket. You snuck out of the office and went back to the common rooms, quickly packaging your gifts and leaving the Gryffindor ones under the tree. You wanted to stay and watch the stars, but your limbs were so heavy and as soon as your head touched your pillow, you were asleep.