Where'd You Go

I slid into the chair next to Hermione, opening up my charms textbook. We had an essay due in a few days, and I wanted to get a head start on it. The first task wasn't far away, and I knew everyone, including me, was going to be distracted. None of us had any idea of what it was going to be either. We hadn't seen much of the boys on account of the fact that they were avoiding each other, which meant they were avoiding us out of fear of seeing each other.

"Hey. Have you talked to Harry?" Hermione asked, looking up from the notebook she was scribbling in.

"Yeah. I talked to him for a bit after potions. He's scared." I felt bad for him. Everyone was blaming him for something that wasn't his fault, for something that he didn't ask for. Life was hard enough, and people just seemed like they wanted nothing more than to make it worse for him.

"I can only imagine what he's going through." I knew it was worse because Ron was mad at him, even if he didn't want to admit it. As close as we all were, Ron was his best friend, and this was the moment when he needed him the most.

"Is Ron coming around at all?" I was hopeful, but I already knew the answer to the question.

"No. He's convinced Harry put his name in, though I really don't see how that's possible, but Ron isn't the only one that thinks so." Majority of the student body thought that Harry somehow hoodwinked the goblet so that he could enter his name. Almost the entire school was against him.

"Should I try talking to him?"

"If you think you can get through that thick skull of his." Hermione rolled her eyes, and I sighed, laying my forehead down on the table.

"It feels like we're co-parenting, taking turns on talking to the boys. Honestly, you'd think we were their mothers," I mumbled, pulling a quill and some ink out of my bag.

"I know. Hopefully Ron will come to his senses soon. Harry needs us." He liked to pretend that he didn't, but we all knew better.

"Yeah." I started writing the introduction to my essay, the words flowing from my brain at a quick pace. The introductions were the easy part. It was the middle and the conclusion that always took me the longest. I was a perfectionist, and I went through days of adding and taking things out before I actually turned the assignment in.

"Have you talked to Cedric?" Anger burned in the pit of my stomach at the sound of his name. I was still upset with him for accusing Harry of putting his name in the goblet.

"No."

"Don't be too mad at him. The whole school thinks Harry did it." That didn't change anything in my eyes.

"So what? I thought Cedric was better than that."

"He's human, Alex. Give him a chance." As if he knew we were talking about him, Cedric turned the corner, stopping once he saw me. I groaned, knowing that I wouldn't have time to run away from him or hide. He was already walking toward me.

"Hello, Hermione," he greeted her politely, nodding his head.

"Hi, Cedric. Alex, I'm gonna go. I'll meet you back in the common room." I glared at her as she grabbed her things and disappeared, leaving me with Hufflepuff's prefect.

"You're avoiding me." It wasn't a question, and I fixed my glare on him as he sat down.

"Yes."

"Why?" I had a feeling he wasn't going to give up, and I wasn't going to get away with continuously giving him one word answers.

"You accused my best friend of illegally entering himself into a competition. I thought you were one of the people that saw the good in everyone." I slammed my charms textbook shut and stood, but Cedric put his hand on my arm.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but you have to understand how bad this looks to everyone." I snatched my arm back, shoving my things in my bag.

"I know how bad it looks, yet I still believe in him. Why don't you?" When he didn't give me an answer, I walked toward the exit of the library.

"Alexandria, wait." I could hear his footsteps behind me, but I only quickened my pace, turning corners left and right, hoping I would lose him, "You're quick for someone with such short legs." He appeared in front of me, and I gasped, placing my hand over my heart. Of course he knew secret passageways and could stop me at any moment. It was his job as a prefect.

"Cedric, I don't want to argue with you," I sighed, pushing my fingers through my hair.

"Then don't. I'm trying to apologize." The sincerity in his eyes was the only thing that stopped me from stepping around him. I leaned against the wall, staring up at him, waiting for him to say something else, "I'm sorry for accusing Harry of cheating, but I don't know him the way you do. What would you think if you were in my position?" He had a point. I knew Harry better than anyone in this school, even Ron. Of course I knew he wasn't responsible for his name coming out of that goblet.

"Fine." A small smile spread across Cedric's face, but it didn't make me feel any better. There was no telling what the rest of the school was saying about Harry, and I didn't like it.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your study time. I could walk you back to the library if you'd like." I didn't want to sit in the library by myself, but I knew if I said that, he'd offer to stay with me, and I really didn't want to stay with him right now despite his apology.

"No, thank you. I'm probably just going to head back to the common room. I'll see you later, okay?" I could see the disappointed look on his face, and I almost gave in.

"Yeah. I'll see you at dinner." I nodded once and turned to walk to the common room.

"Password," The Fat Lady said, looking as bored as she normally did during this time.

"Balderdash." The door swung open, and I stepped through the portrait hole, immediately spotting Hermione at one of the tables near the fireplace. I sat down across from her, pulling my things out of my bag.

"How'd it go?" she asked, looking up from her parchment.

"He apologized, but don't leave me alone with him again, please."

"Fair enough. I just wanted you to talk to him." I understood where she was coming from, but that didn't mean that I was happy about it.

"And now I have." Ron walked through the portrait hole, dropping himself into the last available chair at our table.

"You're starting on the charms essay already? That's not due until next week." I rolled my eyes, picking up where I left off in the introduction.

"Yes, and you're going to wait until the night before it's due and beg me and Hermione for help. If I were you, I'd start on it now," I pointed out, moving onto the next paragraph. He reluctantly pulled his things out of his bag, and the common room got eerily silent. I turned, looking around to see what happened. Harry was standing right in front of the portrait hole, a sour look on his face as many of the people around us glared at him. He stomped up to the boys dormitory, and I heard a door slam. I sighed and shut my book, standing to go talk to him.

"No, I'll go," Hermione said, disappearing from the table.

"Still on his side, I see," Ron sneered. I smacked the back of his head for good measure and glared at him.

"You have no business being mad at Harry. He didn't put his name in that goblet, and if you were really his best friend, you would know that. I grabbed my things and walked up to the dormitory, throwing my things onto my bed. If Ron continued to act like a prick, this was going to be a long year.