Dear Diggory

chapter 48

I walked into the great hall with my books. It was Tuesday afternoon and I was relieved that I had a free period. I'd been looking forward to getting through a decent amount of revision for muggle studies, trying to get ahead before we broke up for winter break.

The buzz around the ball hadn't died down. Posters were strewn across the school that detailed the time of the event and the dress code.

A lot of students had already attended the dance classes and seemed to be getting the hang of it quite well.

Who each person was taking had been the biggest gossip of all, occasionally you could see a guy approach a group of girls to ask one of them out and it made for interesting entertainment.

To Evelyn's relief, Max had asked her the next day; Jamie and Rory had followed suit this morning by asking Dakota and Maisie to be their dates. The girls were all ecstatic to have their partners sorted and I was partly relieved that I didn't have to worry about finding mine.

I spotted the Hufflepuff boys in our usual study spot and made my way over to them. Cedric seemed to sense my presence and looked up on my approach.

His expression changed instantly and he seemed almost angry as he slammed his book closed with too much force, gathering his stuff.

He rose from the bench and brushed past me quickly, exiting the hall as if I didn't exist. I looked after him in confusion for a moment, he always acknowledged me, every time without fail. He was usually the opposite in fact, overly attentive and welcoming. I had certainly never known the boy to be so cold.

I sat down in his empty seat and Max looked at me guiltily.

"What was that all about?" I assumed that if anyone knew what was wrong with Cedric, it would be him. They were best friends after all.

He looked at me apprehensively and shifted in his seat, wriggling like a worm. "I sort of told him that you were going to the ball with Carlisle... and he didn't seem too happy about it..." he trailed off and I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

That was what had made him angry? It didn't make any sense to me.

"That's what he's angry about? Why does it even matter?" I flicked my book open, turning to the page I'd left off on.

Jamie went to open his mouth but Max gave him a pointed look and he quickly closed it. Something secretive passed between them and I couldn't understand what puzzle piece I was missing.

"Maybe he was going to ask you to go," Alastair piped up, ignoring the boys' strange behaviour.

I laughed loudly at the ridiculousness of this idea, probably a bit too loudly considering a group of second years on another bench turned around just to shush me.

I ignored them, continuing our discussion, "yeah that's unlikely. I'll have to talk to him and see what's up."

The boys nodded, although Jamie looked like he wanted to say more again but he didn't, probably in fear Max would strangle him for divulging whatever the information was.

Over the next week I really did try to talk to Cedric. I tried with all my might, but he never seemed to be around, or he blatantly ignored me when I attempted to talk to him. I even went to his dorm room multiple times but he was conveniently never there.

As the days of silence went on, I began to get more and more annoyed with his behaviour. He was acting incredibly childish and I didn't even really know why.

And more than annoyed, I was hurt. He had claimed he was my friend and now he wouldn't even talk to me. In all these months he had never been so unkind to me and it felt weird to be the victim of his icy demeanour.

On Thursday night, after another failed attempt at communicating with him, I returned to my room and flopped onto the bed. I sighed in frustration and the girls looked over to me.

"What's wrong?" Dakota asked, applying a pore strip to her nose.

"It's Diggory. He won't talk to me at all. In fact, he seems to go out of his way to ignore me." I slipped my shoes off, tossing them carelessly beside my bed.

They seemed surprised to hear this and exchanged looks with one another.

"Did you do something?" Maisie said.

"I don't know... Max said he was annoyed when he found out that I'm going to the ball with Carlisle, but if that's the reason then he's being stupid about it."

"Do you think he wanted to go with you?" Dakota spoke up again.

"I doubt it."

"Did you want to go with him?" Evelyn asked this, already two steps ahead of the others. I sat up in bed from her question.

I paused for a moment. I didn't have the energy to lie anymore. They were my friends and I wanted to share the terrible truth with someone. I needed support of some kind.

"Yes... yes I really want to. I sort of realised that I like him as more than a friend but I guess that's stupid..." I felt tears slipping down my face and for the first time it occurred to me how upset I really was about the whole situation.

The girls quickly got up and came to sit next to me, Evelyn wrapped her arm around my waist, pulling my against her in a motherly gesture.

"It's not stupid." She whispered and I cried harder into her shoulder.

"Why don't you tell him?" Maisie offered optimistically. I knew she was trying to be helpful, but it wasn't that simple in my mind.

"It's pointless, he'll never like me back and anyway I've already agreed to go with Carlisle. I don't want to be rude." I sniffled and Dakota handed me a tissue. She said something under her breath, but it was so quiet I couldn't hear her over my obnoxious nose blowing.

Evelyn sighed and hugged me tighter. They all stayed quiet as they let me cry out my feelings and it felt good that at least someone finally knew the truth, even if Cedric never would.