Where'd You Go

"I'm nervous." Hermione was two seconds away from hyperventilating as she smoothed down the front of her dress and patted her hair. I'd told her multiple times that it was fine, but she didn't believe me. I tugged at my own ringlets hopelessly, braiding the sides and pinning them back. I slipped my feet into my death traps and dropped the bottom of my dress. I was a few inches taller than normal, and I hoped that I'd be taller than Harry so I would have an excuse to take them off.

"Don't be nervous. Honestly, you've got the most sought after bloke here as your date. You have nothing to worry about. You look beautiful." I gave her a reassuring smile, but she still stared nervously in the mirror.

"No, I don't. I look slightly more acceptable than normal. I mean look at your dress. You should be wearing a tiara." I giggled a little, placing my hands on her shoulders.

"Thanks, but I wouldn't lie to you. You really do look beautiful. You're going to turn heads when we walk downstairs. Now get your shoes on. We have to dance first so we have to go." She nodded and smoothed her hair once more before we made our way down to the common room. It was almost completely deserted, meaning everyone was already down in the Great Hall.

"We're going to make an entrance." Her nerves seemed to worsen as we walked down the stairs. I kept a tight grip on her hand to make sure that she didn't run.

"Yes, we are. And it's going to be amazing." We had one more flight of stairs to walk down, but Hermione stopped around the corner and closed her eyes, "The boys are waiting." I tried to nudge her, but she wouldn't move. I let her breathe for a second before I tugged her forward. I saw the Patil twins standing with Harry and Ron. Padma was going as Ron's date, something I was shocked to find out but didn't make a comment on, and Parvati was going with someone from Durmstrang.

"Everyone is staring at us." She had a smile on her face, but I knew it was forced.

"That's a good thing." She opened her mouth to say something else, but Viktor stepped forward, and her grin suddenly became very real. I released her hand as he bowed to her, smiling as they walked off. I continued my journey toward Harry, coming to a stop when Parvati noticed me.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you." I grinned at her, waiting for Harry to turn around. I stifled my laugh when he went slack jawed.

"Alexandria, you look amazing." It was the first time in a long time that he'd said my full name.

"Thank you." I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek, looping my arm through his. I tried not to stare at Cedric as we stepped in line with the rest of the champions and their dates. Even with my extra height, I could barely see inside the Great Hall. From what I could see, there appeared to be snow. It was Christmas Eve after all. It seemed only fitting.

"I'm nervous," he said, placing his hand on my waist.

"It'll be fine. We've been over this. Don't look like you're going to be sick." I gave him an encouraging smile, and stepped back when the music started, pulling him with me. I could tell that he was counting in his head as we spun around the dance floor. I giggled when he lifted me up, and a smile slowly spread across his face. He was having fun now.

"Cedric's staring at you." He spun us around again, and I stopped myself from glancing at anything else but Harry's eyes.

"He should be. I look damn good." We both grinned, and I followed him to the punch bowl when the song finished.

"You can go talk to him, you know." Harry sipped from his cup, but I shook my head.

"There's nothing for us to talk about."

"Alex, he looks miserable. At least go and say hi."

"You're only saying that so you can have a go at Cho," I joked, smirking over at him. He laughed a little, shaking his head at me.

"Stop being stubborn and at least say hello." He pushed me in Cedric direction, and I had been spotted so I had no choice but to actually go and talk to him.

"Hi," I gave him a small smile, moving a fallen curl from my eyes. Cedric stared down at me, momentarily stunned, and I decided to take that as a compliment.

"Hi." His voice was quiet, and I looked around for Cho, but I didn't see her.

"You look great, Cedric." I couldn't tell if he wanted to run away from me or not. We hadn't spoken since he claimed Harry was in love with me. We'd been avoiding each other since the conversation, neither of us making an effort to fix our growing problem.

"I...You look—" He glanced behind me, and I turned around, half expecting to see Cho, but it was only Harry staring at us with curious eyes.

"You don't have to worry. He's the one that sent me over here. Where's Cho?" I expected the two of them to be attached at the hip, but she'd yet to make an appearance.

"She went to the bathroom." We stood in silence for a long moment, just gazing at each other. I could only imagine what we looked like to the rest of the room, but I was more concerned with the look on his face and what it meant. He cleared his throat, taking a step toward me, "Would you like to dance." His eyes were hopeful, but it wasn't like I was going to say no either way.

"Of course." I grabbed his hand when he held it out and let him lead me to the dance floor. I turned to glance back at Harry, but he just gave me an encouraging smile and a nod. You didn't do that for someone you were in love with. Clearly, Cedric was mistaken.

"Alexandria, I'm sorry. I've been really—" I cut him off before he could say much else, squeezing his shoulder.

"Hey, this is supposed to be a fun night. Don't worry, yeah? We don't have to talk about it." He nodded his head once, but I knew there was a lot more that he wanted to say, and we were going to have to talk eventually. I just didn't want it to be right now. The song was slow, and I locked my arms around his neck. In our close proximity, I could see how light his eyes were, how his lips were extremely pink and slightly chapped. I could feel his heartbeat and hear his nervous breathing. It made me smile.

"You're beautiful," He reached up, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. It wasn't until his fingers moved down to my jaw that I became acutely aware of everyone else that was in the room and the fact that they were staring at us.

"Thank you," I whispered, resisting the urge to thread my fingers through his hair. Regardless of what I was thinking and feeling, he was still someone else's date, and I'd come with Harry.

"We need to talk."

"I know, but I want to enjoy this night. Don't you?" I raised my eyebrows at him, hoping to kill the conversation. Our bubble was going to be burst soon, and I wanted to appreciate every moment that I could.

"Yes, I just...it's important."

"We'll talk. I promise." He nodded once, tightening his arms around my waist. When the song ended, he didn't move, but I could see Cho walking back inside, and it was in my best interest to get back to Harry, "Come find me later, alright?" I pressed a kiss to his cheek and pulled myself away from him, walking back to Harry.

"You two looked pretty cozy." I sighed and almost completely ruined my hair. I had to remember that I'd spent over two hours on it, and I refused to damage my hard work out of stress.

"He wants to talk."

"Are you actually going to listen this time?"

"I listen to him plenty," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You've got a bit of selective hearing, Alex." I rolled my eyes, pushing at his shoulder.

"I do not."

"If you say so."

"Stop talking, and dance with me." I only gave him a second to put his cup down before I pulled him onto the dance floor. The live band had arrived, and the lot of people were jumping around and attempting to dance.

"You're mad." Harry laughed at me as I moved to the beat of the music like I didn't have a care in the world, and for now....I didn't.

"All of the best people are." I made him spin around, giggling at the terrified look on his face. I could see Cedric and Cho not far away, and I shot him a wink. Hermione and Viktor weren't far either, and it was obvious that she was having fun. I thought it was good for her to let loose. She'd been upset with Ron all week, not that I really blamed her. He'd practically told her that she was a last resort and expected her to be okay with it. The music died down a little, and I decided to sit on account of the fact that my feet were screaming at me

"Are you having a good time?" Ron appeared at my side, and my smile quickly turned to a frown. Padma was nowhere in sight, and I felt that it was safe to assume that she ditched him.

"Yeah." My tone was clipped, and I hoped he got the idea that I really didn't have a desire to talk to him.

"You're still mad at me." It wasn't a question, and I scooted my chair away when he sat down next to me.

"Of course I am."

"Everyone else has forgiven me. Why can't you?" I turned, fired in my eyes as I glared at him.

"It took you all of thirty seconds to turn on your best friend because of something you didn't even let him explain. That wasn't fair to Harry. He needed you, and you decided that you were going to be a jealous prick because you hadn't figured out how to put your name in that goblet. He didn't ask for any of this. He doesn't want it, and the fact that you were so quick to discredit him without even letting him speak.....I don't know why he's forgiven you, but I'm not ready to." I pushed myself up and stomped out of the Great Hall. I needed time to cool off. I wasn't going to ruin anyone else's night.

"You look upset. What happened?" I hadn't noticed that Cedric followed me outside. There were only a few people in the hallway. Everyone else was still enjoying themselves.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I gave him a tight lipped smile, hoping that I was convincing, but the look on his face said otherwise.

"You're not fine."

"Go spend time with Cho. She's your date."

"I'm pretty sure she's not going to talk to me after tonight. She knows how I feel about you." I instantly felt guilty. I didn't want to take Cedric away from Cho. That was never my intention.

"We're not supposed to be having this conversation right now," I reminded him, taking a seat on the stairs.

"No better time like the present."

"What exactly do you want me to say?" I asked, sliding my shoes off of my feet.

"Anything." It was a broad term, and this wasn't the kind of conversation for broad terms. We needed to be specific

"I'm not really sure. I mean we've already talked about this. You like Cho."

"If I honestly thought you'd choose me, I'd have let her go." I didn't like the sound of that. I didn't know Cho well enough to consider her a friend, but being someone's second choice wasn't ideal, and if Cedric was saying what I thought he was, she was his second choice.

"You don't mean that," I mumbled, my shoulders sagging a little.

"Yes, I do."

"That's not fair to her."

"And I haven't been fair to you. I know I made a big deal about Harry, but if you wanted to be with him, you would. I was just using it as an excuse, and I'm sorry. But I'm willing to give this a shot if you are." Everything in my body was screaming for me to say yes, but I still had my reservations about it.

"Cedric, I— " I didn't know what I was supposed to say. I wanted to say yes, but I wanted to say no.

"Please, Alexandria." I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't do this often. He was putting himself out there, and I couldn't say no.

"Alright, Cedric." A smile slowly spread across his face until he was grinning at me from ear to ear. He lifted me from the floor, spinning me around in a circle as my shoes clattered to the ground. I giggled, holding on as he set me back on my feet. I reached down to slip my shoes back on and let him pull me inside.

"Let's dance." We walked back into the mass of people, and I wrapped my arms around him as yet another slow started to play. I knew it was nearing time for the dance to be over. People were slowly trickling out, but Cedric didn't seem to notice as he swayed us back and forth. The clock striking 12 let me know that the dance was over, and I smiled as Cedric stared down at me, "Merry Christmas, Alexandria."

"Merry Christmas."