Lillian 'Anna' Potter || Goblet of Fire

Chapter Six: Sweethearts?

Anna looked around curiously, though there was nothing much to see. Just a deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of them were two grumpy wizards, one who was holding a large gold watch, and the other a thick roll of parchment.

As the wizards began to speak to each other, Anna looked worriedly over at Cedric. She wasn’t the best reader of emotions, but even she knew that there was something wrong with him that was affecting their relationship, and she intended to find out what that was.

“You guys go ahead,” Anna said to them, carefully taking Cedric’s hand. She hated being careful - as if the wrong word or the wrong thing could break them completely. “Cedric and I are going to go take a walk and catch up.” She said, looking up at Cedric, who nodded, but Anna could still see the stiffness he was trying to hide.

“Ok, Anna. Meet us back at the tent - it’ll have Weasley on the sign!” Mr. Weasley called as their group went away, and Mr. Diggory gave his son a raised eyebrow before also leaving. They began their trek closer to the woods - trying to avoid the many wizards setting up their tents.

“Hey...are we okay?” Anna asked him. She had let go of his hand, and the two walked stiffly side by side. “Of course.” Cedric said immediately, looking over at Anna. “Why wouldn’t we be?” Anna wrung her hands uncomfortably. “I dunno...It’s just..” She took a deep breath. “You never write anymore, and I thought that you didn’t really like me all that much anymore.”

They two stopped, and Cedric put a hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Lillian Anna, I will always like you, okay? I’m your boyfriend, so that means I like you the most.” He reminded her. She gave him a small smile as he bent his head down to press his mouth onto hers, but Anna couldn’t help but notice that the kiss was more desperate - not a sign of love, but as if he was trying to remind himself that Anna was still there. Anna didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one.

- - -

It was now lunch, and the Quidditch World Cup would be starting within the hour. Anna sat quietly by Ginny, pretending to listen to her ramblings about quidditch, but really, she was stuck inside her own head. It was what she did when she was troubled, and she often spaced out without thinking much about it.

Had she done anything to upset him? To be fair, she had been unconscious for months during the school year, and during the summer, she had written to him religiously, sending him a letter every Sunday evening. And she hadn’t even said anything bad in her letters. They were all mostly about her parents, her new life with the Weasley’s, and replying to his own letters.

It started before that, remember? Came the voice inside Anna’s head, and her memory went back to the moment she finally stepped out of the forbidden medical wing, and she had met Cedric for the first time in many months. You sensed something was wrong back then.

Anna shook her head to rid herself of the voices, telling herself that nothing was wrong. It was much easier to ignore a problem and pretend it wasn’t there then actually confront it. It was what Anna had done when she was first told that she had to be the sacrifice to kill off Voldemort, and it was what she was going to do now.

“You okay?” Ginny asked Anna curiously as they made their way to their seats in the top box. “Yeah, why?” Anna said nonchalantly. “Because you’re doing that thing where you furrow your eyebrows and cross your arms.”

Anna quickly dropped her arms to her sides, rearranging her face. Ginny frowned. “You know if something’s wrong, you can always tell me.” Ginny reminded her, nudging Anna slightly. The words seemed more like an accusation than a reminder.

“Cedric and I...just haven’t been going very smoothly.” She admitted as they took their seats. Ginny raised an eyebrow. “Trouble between the sweethearts?” She only asked, and Anna flushed red. “I mean, he says there’s nothing wrong, but I can feel it. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being crazy.”

“Would you be upset if you guys broke up?” She only asked quietly. Anna shrugged. “I mean, yeah, I would be, you know, temporarily. Young relationships never really last. I mean, I’m surprised we’ve lasted this long.” She said honestly.

Ginny snorted. “That’s just because you guys are prudes. What?” She asked as Anna punched her arm. “I mean, I’ve seen you guys kiss like once.” She added. “Merlin forbid holding hands.” Anna’s face was red. “Well, we just don’t see any reason to eat each other’s face off if we don’t have to.” She defended herself.

“The point is,” Ginny continued. “You guys are more like friends than ‘girlfriend, boyfriend’. There’s not a lot of drama.” She tried to explain. Anna raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t no drama good?” She asked. Ginny shrugged. “Depends on the people.” She looked up and down at Anna. “And you are definitely not the drama type of girl. I know you, Anna. You like life straight and simple.”

If only Anna’s life could be like that. Straight and simple.

“And Cedric?” Anna questioned. Ginny pursed her lips. “He’s...hard to read.” She admitted, and Anna nudged Ginny’s shoulder. “You mean you lost your talent? Already? How are you ever going to become a matchmaker in the future?” Anna said, feigning sadness and disappointment.

“Oh, belt up.” Ginny said, and the two laughed - all worries about Cedric now forgotten.