Dear Diggory

chapter 29

It was just after breakfast on Tuesday morning. The day was going slow already, the great hall had been unusually quiet this morning and students on each table seemed to eat passively on their house tables. I put it down to the month we were in, with the long weeks of November stretching ahead of us, a collective glumness had overtaken the usual cheery school spirit.

Most of the students had eventually pottered off, going to attend their various lessons, but our dorm stayed to study and I was thankful for the company on such a draining morning.

Evelyn sighed to herself and opened up her potions book.

"Snape's assignments are killing me, I don't know why he insists we memorise the entirety of Volume 6. When am I ever going to need to brew a candle wax regenerating potion in the real world?"

I laughed slightly at her frustration. Evelyn disliked Snape strongly, they'd never gotten along very well since first year.

He'd given her detention after she exploded a potion, accidentally drenching his robes in a glittery sludge, and she'd never forgiven him for it. They each had strong personalities that didn't seem to click well.

"I don't think he means to be harsh, he just wants us to be knowledgable I guess." I opened my potions book too, smoothing out the folded corner that marked my place.

She gave me a look as if I was deluded, "that's easy for you to say, you're like his star pupil."

"Just because he sneaks me salted caramel snakes doesn't mean I'm his star pupil. Look turn to page 82, let's work on the apple tree potion." I rolled my eyes, although a part of me had to agree with her.

Snape never showed unwarranted kindness, but occasionally he would slip a bag of sweets into my desk when no one was looking. I guessed it was a gesture of thanks for the fact that I didn't give him any hassle, more than anything else.

She muttered under her breath but flicked the pages and we began to study the ingredients.

Dakota and Maisie were sat on the other side of the table. Maisie was focused on her alchemy revision with a worried frown and Dakota had her headphones in, she was listening to a new album she was obsessed with as she memorised divination symbols.

We worked away for a few minutes, trying to remain focused despite our lack of enthusiasm. Evelyn would curse occasionally as a Latin phrase she didn't understand came up, but I made sure to translate it quickly before she threw the book across the hall.

I wasn't sure how long we'd been focused for when I felt a presence at my side and looked up.

Cedric was standing next to me with Max, Alastair, Jamie and Rory trailing behind. They all looked especially tired this morning, with their shirts half tucked, messy bed hair and ties loosely hanging around their necks.

"Hey guys. what's up?" I asked. It was unusual that they'd come over. I knew they had a lot of the same free periods as us because we saw them frequently engrossed in discussion at the Hufflepuff bench behind us, but as of yet they'd left us alone.

"Can we join you girls? To study I mean." Cedric clarified, glancing down at the book in front of me.

The other girls looked up then, interested in our guests, and Dakota took out her earbuds to join the conversation. I looked at them, trying to judge if they were okay with it and Evelyn's eyes were practically pleading for me to say yes. I knew she wanted to sit with Max and it was my best friend responsibility to help her.

I nodded in agreement and the boys piled onto either side of our bench. Max sat on Evelyn's other side and Alastair, Jamie and Rory sat next to Dakota and Maisie who seemed thrilled with their new study buddies. Cedric placed himself next to me and laid out his books.

"Are you doing the the potions assignment?" He looked towards my own books open on the table.

"Yeah, do you want to go over it with us?"

He smiled and flipped his book open to the correct page. I glanced at his notebook and admired the neat writing adorned across the page. Ugh, even his writing was perfect.

We spent the next 10 minutes going over the method. Evelyn had given up studying with me, and instead was conferring with Max about the greatest movies of all time.

I smiled to myself as I listened in on part of their conversation. It was nice to see her happy with a guy, she'd never really liked anyone properly before and from the way Max treated her, it seemed that he returned the feeling just as much.

"What's that look?" Cedric nudged me gently, ruining my secret eavesdropping.

"I just think they're sweet" I whispered, inclining my head towards Max and Evelyn.

He laughed under his breath, "yeah they are to be fair, Max can't stop talking about her lately. He really likes her."

I was happy to have Cedric confirm his friend's interest, and I made a mental note to tell Evelyn what he'd said when we were back in the privacy of the dorm.

"I like your hair like this," he pulled gently on one of the strands slightly before letting it go. I'd left it to air dry so it was in my natural curls rather than my usually tamed waves.

I felt the blush seep into my cheeks at his compliment. "Thank you... I like your hair like that too. Not that I ever don't like it... you know it's always... it looks good all the time I think."

I realised I was babbling and screamed at my stupid mouth to shut up. I wrenched my eyes from his and went back to my potions work, pretending to be really interested in how you mix newt grain with the air of a city sewer.

He laughed deeply beside me and it didn't help to lessen my embarrassment.

"You're cute."

My heart sped up rapidly and I let my hair fall forward to conceal my face.

He'd just called me cute. No one had ever called me cute. I almost wanted him to say it again, but that would've been pathetic to ask for.

I realise that I was being ridiculous, Cedric Diggory had complimented me and I was acting like a giddy school girl, not that I wasn't actually exactly that. I tried to quiet my insane mind and continued writing notes instead.

I stayed fairly quiet for the rest of the time we sat there. Occasionally, I tuned into Evelyn and Max's conversation but for the most part I tried to join in with the others. They seemed to be getting along well and it was nice that Cedric's friends and my friends liked each other so much.

But more than anything else, I tried very hard to ignore the attractive presence next to me, even as he snuck me side glances or shuffled an inch closer on the bench. Albeit, it was difficult, very difficult.