Where'd You Go

I hated the rain. It ruined everything. I liked to be outside, but the storm that was currently over Hogwarts was preventing that from happening. Many people had been caught in the downpour of water, and they were running inside, laughing with their friends like it was all fun and games. Maybe it was to them, but the rain put me in a sour mood. I walked into the Great Hall where the goblet of fire sat in the middle, finding Harry, Ron, and Hermione already inside. Ron was stated a few times how he wished he could enter his name. Harry spent half his time trying to convince him that it would be a mistake even if he were allowed.

"Still sad he's not 17?" I asked, sitting down next to Hermione. She looked up from the book she was reading, glancing over at Ron and Harry.

"He won't shut up about it, actually, but I think the ministry has every right to put an age limit on the tournament. It's dangerous, and the younger kids don't know everything that the seventh years do. It makes sense. Less of a chance of someone dying."

"I don't really think it lowers the chances of someone dying. Just lowers the chances of them dying over something small." It would be easy to get to close to a plant that was unknown to most and poisonous, and that would be a shitty way to die.

"Did you know Cedric was putting his name in?" I figured he was going to, but I secretly hoped he wouldn't. I turned, finding him being pushed into the room by his friends, laughing like mad men. He stepped through the age line, putting his name into the fire. He looked directly at me, and I felt Hermione nudge me with her elbow. I turned back, trying to ignore the feeling of him staring at the back of my head.

"I assumed he was going to. I'll be right back." I stood, walking over to where Cedric was telling his friends he'd see them later. They all looked at me, putting two and two together and smirking.

"Alexandria," he smiled a little, nodding his head at me.

"Why do you insist on calling me that? Everyone calls me Alex." I stopped in front of him. There was a blue hue to his face, the only light in the room coming from the goblet.

"Your name is beautiful. I don't know why you want to shorten it." I blushed, pushing a lock of hair out of my eyes.

"It's not that I want to shorten it. Everyone has called me Alex since I was younger. It's just a habit now I guess."

"Well, if you don't mind. I think I'll call you Alexandria." It was a change from what I normally heard, but I guess it wouldn't hurt. I nodded once, crossing my arms over my chest. I glanced back at the goblet, watching as a few people put their names in.

"So you put your name in?" I asked, though the answer was obvious. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. It's not like I could talk him out of competing. I'd hardly known him, and if he got chosen, he didn't have a choice anyway.

"Yeah."

"Please be careful." It was the only thing I could say that made sense. This conversation was slowly getting awkward, and I wasn't sure why.

"The champions haven't been picked yet," he pointed out, leaning against the doorway. I stared up at him, shaking my head.

"Cedric, you and I both know that your name is going to come out of that goblet." Anyone would be a fool to think otherwise. Cedric was the talk of nearly every girl at Hogwarts; how smart he was, how cute he was, the list was never ending.

"I don't want to get my hopes up."

"Just promise me you'll be careful," I pleaded. We were allowed to watch the tasks, and I really didn't want to see anything bad happen to him.

"I promise." He pushed himself away from the doorframe so that he was standing right in front of me, reaching up to tuck some hair behind my ear. He left his hand on my cheek, I reached up to touch his wrist, rubbing the back of it with my thumb. He looked like he was about to say something, but one of his friends returned, and we both dropped our hands, "I'll see you later, yeah?" I nodded, watching as he disappeared around the corner. I walked back to Hermione, resuming my seat next to her.

"What was that about?" She asked, looking up from her book.

"I don't know," I replied truthfully. I was just as confused as she was. Cedric and I weren't particularly close, though he did check on me every day after Moody's horrific lesson of the Unforgivable Curses.

"Do you fancy him?"

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it." Harry and Ron weren't far from us, and I didn't want them to hear the conversation. Ron would never leave me alone about it, and I wasn't sure what Harry would think.

"I didn't know you had to think about fancying someone." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.

"That's not what I meant, Hermione. My mind has been occupied with other things. I haven't taken the time to consider it." The boys stood in front of us at that moment, and I gave Hermione a look, telling her that the conversation was over for the time being. Harry sat down next to me, an annoyed look on his face, "You alright?" I asked, placing my hand on his knee.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I knew it was a lie, but I didn't have time to ask for the truth because the twins walked into the room ranting and raving about God only knows what. Everyone inside started to cheer, knowing whatever they had planned was going to be good. The twins were known for pulling multiple pranks. They managed to get themselves in loads of trouble despite being at the top of their class.

"Well lads, we've done it."

"Cooked it up just this morning." I really didn't want to know what it was that they cooked up. It was sure to end in disaster.

"It's not going to work," Hermione sand, perking up for the first time since the day started. She'd been in a somewhat foul mood all day, but every time I'd asked her what was wrong, she'd claim it was nothing and go back to reading her book.

"Oh yeah. And why is that Granger?" Fred and George were on either side of us now, smirking like they had a great secret.

"You see this? This is an Age Line. Dumbledore drew it himself," she said, motioning to the thin, clear circle that was surrounding the goblet.

"So?" I wasn't sure which twin I was looking at. It was hard to tell them apart, and they liked to confuse people anyway.

"So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by a draught as pathetically dimwitted as an aging potion." She was right. Dumbledore had probably taken more precautions than necessary to assure no one under the age of seventeen would be able to submit their name into the goblet without dire consequences. This was going to be funny.

"But that's why it's so brilliant."

"Because it's so pathetically dimwitted." I giggled, shaking my head at the boys. They were always getting themselves in trouble.

"Ready Fred?"

"Ready George."

"Bottoms up," They said in unison, shaking and uncorking the vials they had in their hands before wrapping their arms around the other and tipping them into their mouths. They hopped together onto the other side of the age line, and when nothing happened, they cheered.

"This isn't going to end well," I whispered to Hermione, still giggling. She didn't find it funny. They put their name in the goblet, and the fire seemed to accept them. The twins erupted into cheers once again, along with everyone else that was watching them, but as Hermione and I expected, the blue flame seemed to become angry and began spouting fire, hitting the twins directly in their chests. Hermione and I both stood to see where they had landed, hoping they were injured, but I giggled when I saw that they were sprouting grey hair and bears. The rooms erupted with laughter, and Hermione sat down, and irritated look on her face. The twins were busy rolling around on the floor, fighting each other when Viktor Krum walked in to put his name in the goblet. He stared directly at Hermione, and I watched as a small smile crossed her face and she blushed. Maybe she was finally over Ron.

"You and Krum?" I asked, sitting down next to her again. The twins had been escorted out by McGonagall, thus calming down the chanting that was echoing through the rom.

"Not really. We've only had a few conversations, but he's nice." She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but we both knew that it was. The boys were going to freak when they figured it out.

"Hermione, can I ask you something?" Her words about me fancying Cedric were still playing in the back of my mind, and I wondered if maybe I did? There was no denying that he was attractive, but he was three years older than me and could have any girl he wanted. Did I really want to put myself in that position?

"Sure."

"How did you know you liked Ron?" Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to deny it, but I shook my head. It was obvious to everyone but Ron. Even Ginny knew, and Ginny wasn't around us half the time to really pay attention to them.

"It was just sort of a feeling I guess. I didn't overanalyze anything like you seem to be doing with Cedric." It's not that I was overanalyzing it. Then again, maybe I was, but weighing the pros and cons seemed like a logical thing to do in that situation.

"I just don't know if it's worth it."

"You never know. If you want my honest opinion, I think he fancies you as well." I raised my eyebrows a little. It was something I wasn't expecting, but the thought wasn't unpleasant.

"Who fancies you?" Ron asked, sitting on the other side of Hermione.

"No one," I said quickly, not wanting the boys to know what was going on just yet, "I'll see you back in the common room," I stood, making a beeline for the door to the Great Hall. I had a lot to think about.