~.~.~Y/n's POV~.~.~

There I was, sitting in my bedroom at the Diggory's, staring at my barely empty trunk which I should have just started packing a few days ago. Since the World Cup, I've been scared of the thought of going back to school, knowing people will know what happened during the World Cup, that Y/n Lestrange, the school outcast is wanted by the death eaters.

The few things that were sitting in my trunk mainly consisted of what I didn't remove at the end of the last term. Such as my school shoes and day bag.

And here I am, the day before I'm expected to go back to school with a smile. I know it's going to be the hardest school year yet, considering the events of the World Cup and that Y/n is going into her fifth year, her OWL year.

There was suddenly a faint knock at my door.

"Come in." I said, the door opened to reveal my best friend, Cedric Diggory. He was wearing a pair of joggers and a t-shirt, his brown hair messy as though he just got out of bed. Even though it's 5:00pm.

"Y/n? Why aren't you packed yet? We leave in the morning." He asked, taking a seat on the edge of my bed.

"I don't want to go back to school." I whispered sadly.

"Why not?" Cedric asked sincerely, giving me a warm yet small smile.

"I don't want the world to see me." I muttered.

"Why not?"

"Cause I don't think that they'd understand, with all the rumours and what happened to me at the World Cup, the whole school is bound to know!" Y/n said, fear laced in her voice.

"Y/n, it's going to be okay you have me. I'll always be there for you." Cedric smiled warmly at me.

"What if I'll be alone when we go back, like when you want to be with your other friends, no one else will wanted to be my friend." Y/n ranted, lowering her head into her hands with shame.

"You'll never be alone." Cedric said. "I'll be with you from dusk till dawn. Y/n, you know I'm right here for you."

"I know Ced, but you're the what above me, which means that we're in all different classes. So I'd be alone in lessons." I sadly said

"Trust me Y/n, you'll be perfectly fine this year." He said reassuringly.

"Thank you Cedric." I smiled. "I should probably get packing, I clearly still have lots to do."

"Do you want me to help?" He offered.

"No it's fine. You still have things to do." I replied.

"How do you know that?" Cedric smirked, cocking an eyebrow at me.

"You are Cedric Diggory, there's always something you have to do." I replied in a cocky tone.

"That may be true, but I'll always make time to help you. You're my best friend and basically my sister."

"Well thank you very much, but I'll be okay."

"If you're not mostly packed after dinner, then I'm going to help, and you can't complain." Cedric said.

"You sound like a dad." I laughed. "Not like my dad though, he's in Azkaban and would never do that."

"Well we all know that your biological parents aren't the best, but I like to think me and dad are better parents."

"Of course you are." I smiled. "Now leave so I can pack." I added, jokingly pushing him out of my room.

"Okay fine, I'll leave you to it!" Cedric yelled, putting his hands up in the air to surrender and walking out of my room.

A smile formed on my face and a light giggle escaped my lips. I hauled my trunk on top of my bed, pulling my clothes, uniform and anything else I may need out of my wardrobe or drawers and tossed them on my bed until it was as tall as a mountain.

"I didn't know I needed quite so much stuff." I whispered to myself in disbelief.

I sighed and shook my head and started to slowly break down the mountain of clothes. I grabbed each piece and folded it neatly and slotted it into my trunk, the pile on my bed was slowly decreasing and my trunk was filling with neatly folded clothes and my belongings that I may need for the next year of school.

"Y/n, Cedric!" Amos called from downstairs. "Dinner is ready."

I smiled at the progress I had made, a small amount of clothes lay on my bed and my trunk was almost full. I opened my door and down the stairs to have the smell of fresh pasta wafting through my nose.

"Amos, this looks lovely!" I said, taking a seat at the table.

"Well thank you Y/n, I made the usual end of summer meal." He beamed.

"You make the best carbonara ever!" I replied.

"Im glad to hear." Amos smiled. "Oh where is Cedric."

"Shall I go get him?"

"Yes please. Thank you Y/n" He replied gratefully.

I nodded and ran back upstairs and long the corridor to Cedric's bedroom. I pushed it open and he was laying on his bed, engrossed in a book.

"Cedric, your dad said dinner is ready." I yelled, closing his book.

"Hey! I lost where I was!" He said grumpily. "Im coming now."

Cedric rose of his bed and the two of us walked back down the stairs where three bowls of carbonara was sitting on the table, with garlic bread and cheese in the middle of the round table. We sat down and began to eat.

"Are you two excited to go back?" Amos asked eagerly

"I am." Cedric replied straight away.

"I am too." I added after I swallowed my food.

"You two are going to live this year." Amos said excitedly, then retreating slightly when he realised what he had said.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you two."

"Why not?" Cedric added.

"Dumbledore will explain tomorrow at the feast I'm sure." Amos retaliated.

"Why can't you tell us now?" I asked.

"I just can't. Now I'm giving you 100 galleons each." Amos started. "For dress robes and only dress robes."

"Why do we need dress robes?" Cedric questioned confused.

"Again, it will be explained to you at Hogwarts." Amos stated. "No more questions on this matter."

The three of us continued to eat dinner, getting engrossed in a conversation about the Quidditch World Cup, before the death eaters attack on the campsite.

As the sun set over the hills of the English countryside, I went back up to my bedroom to finish packing my trunk, folding the last few clothes on my bed and grabbing my other belongings, such as hygiene products and my shampoo and conditioner as well as some makeup and jewellery.

I sealed the latch on my trunk, heaving it off my bed and onto the floor, placing some clothes and a small bag on top to wear to London Kings Cross tomorrow morning.

I changed into a pair of pyjamas, crawling into my bed and pulling the covers over my body, snuggling myself in the blankets, falling into a peaceful sleep.

~.~.~The Next Morning~.~.~

I woke up early on September 1st to the sound of birds tweeting and chirping over the trees of near by woods. I glanced at my clock, 6:30am. I silently changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a jumper that I slung off my shoulder.

Sneaking down the stairs quietly revealed that I was the only one awake, not even Amos was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the three of us. I wrote a quick note on a piece of scrap parchment, telling Amos and Cedric where I was going. And with that, I crept out of the house, breathing in the fresh September air.

I wandered down a small hill towards the lake, that sat under a canopy of trees, and seeing the house looming in the background.

The water was still and clear blue, rocks sitting at the bottom and fish floating in the water. I sat at the edge of the water and put my feet into the cold water below me.

It was peaceful, calm and quiet. I was able to forget who I was and where I came from, I could just sit there and look into the deep blue water and get lost in the serenity of it.

I don't know how long I sat there looking at the rising sun over the rolling fields of the countryside when someone took a seat next to me.

"Good morning Y/n." A familiar voice said with a warm yet tired tone. I looked over and saw Cedric sitting next to me.

"Morning Ced." I replied, looking back at the sunrise.

"How long have you been here for?" He asked.

"What's the time now?"

"8:00am." He replied.

"About an hour and a half." I answered his first question.

"Oh wow. Anyway, dad has nearly finished with breakfast, the taxi is going to be here in 30 minutes to get us to London on time." Cedric said.

"Okay, I'm coming." I said. Pulling my feet out of the water, sliding my shoes back on and standing up to join Cedric back to the house. The house was over come by the smell of pancakes.

"Good morning Y/n, how are you?" Amos asked warmly.

"I'm good thank you Amos, how are you?" I replied.

"I'm great, breakfast will be ready in about 5 minutes, make sure your trunk is packed and your dressed and ready, the taxi will be here soon." Amos instructed. "You too Cedric."

"Okay." Both Cedric and I said together, turning on our heels and walking upstairs. All I had to do was place my pyjamas in my trunk as well as sliding on my Birkenstock shoes brushing through my thick curls with my brush. I sealed my trunk, grabbed its handle in one hand and my owl cage in the other before dragging it downstairs and leaving it by the door.

I sat at the table with Cedric and Amos, each had two pancakes in front of us, I placed lemon and sugar over my pancakes where both Amos and Cedric opted for chocolate spread.

"This is lovely Amos, thank you." I smiled, shoving a piece of pancake into my mouth.

"You're very welcome Y/n. Oh look at the time! The taxi will be here soon!" Amos said alarmingly. "Have you two got everything down here?"

"Yep." I replied, finishing my pancakes.

"I have, ready to go." Cedric added.

"Good good. I'll wash these up, are your rooms clean?" He said, using his wand to fly the plates into the air and to the sink.

"I just have to make my bed." I said, now remembering the one thing I have to do.

"Go do it now then." Amos said.

I ran back upstairs and hurriedly made my bed, pulling my blanket up so it sat neatly on my bed, puffing the pillows and tucking in the blanket. I brushed off any bits of fluff and dust, and when I was done I heard a knocking at the door.

"Y/n! The taxi is here!" Cedric called from downstairs.

"Coming!" I yelled. I looked into the mirror on my desk, pulling a lock of hair behind my ear. I sighed and muttered. "I can do this."

I confidently walked downstairs as though for once I was proud of my parentage. Although I wasn't. I met Cedric's eyes and he had a smile on his face.

"Suddenly so confident." He giggled, nudging me slightly.

"A mirror can sometimes do great things to a teenage girl." I retorted cheekily.

"Of course it can." He smiled. He leaned down to my ear sightly to whisper "Dad wants us to act like muggles so we don't confuse the driver."

"Got it, we're now muggles." I said, pretending to sound disgusted at the situation, purely so I can mock my parents.

"After you Miss Lestrange." Cedric mocked.

"Thank you, peasant muggle." I said, but couldn't help but to burst into a fit of giggles.

"Y/n, Cedric come on!" Amos called from outside the house.

We took deep breaths, allowing our inner muggle to take over, and stepped outside and into the taxi. Amos climbed in the front seat moments later, and with that, I waved goodbye to the house I had called my home for the last 4 years and we were off to London.

We were in the car for nearly two hours, by the time we made it to Kings Cross station, we had 45 minutes until the train was due to leave the platform. We unloaded our trunks onto a cart each and perched our owls on the top. As we walked past the ticket control I saw the crowd of people slowly divide onto the different platforms.

We walked down to platforms 9 and 10, walking down aimlessly until we found the right wall and a area of less muggles.

When the coast was clear, I changed towards the wall and let the colour of brick red take over my vision. But when it returned, it revealed the scarlet and black train that was the Hogwarts Express, it was pillowing grey smoke out of the front and over the crimson and gold carriages that queued long after it.

Seconds later, Cedric appeared through the wall as well as Amos, we wandered up the carriages until we found a spare compartment, we unloaded our trunks and put our owls on the seats next to us.

As time was slowly ticking down until the departure of the train, Cedric and I jumped off to say our goodbyes to Amos.

"Bye dad!" Cedric said, hugging his dad.

"Good luck with this year, my son." He said, patting Cedric on his back.

"Goodbye Amos, thank you for having me this summer." I said warmly.

"You're very welcome Y/n, you're welcome home anytime. Because it's your home too." Amos replied, pulling me into a loose hug.

The horn on the train blowed and we rushed back onto our carriage and to our compartment. I landed on a soft chair and as the train left the platform we waved to Amos, who eagerly waved back. The train turned the corner and before we knew it, Amos Diggory was out of sight.

We've sat in our compartment talking for about an hour, about anything and everything. It was great spending time with my best friend.

"Y/n." Cedric said.

"Yeah?" I answered him with a questioning tone.

"Is it okay if I go get some sweets for us?" He asked.

"You don't have to ask, of course you can." I smiled.

"Are you sure?" Cedric questioned.

"Yeah of course, why do you ask?"

"Because I don't want you to be alone." Cedric said worriedly.

"I'll be fine said." I beamed. "You can go see your other friends too if you want."

"But you'll be alone."

"I'll be okay Ced, I have my book." I said, showing him the newest book I bought.

"Promise?"

"I promise, I'll be okay. I have my book." I said, now jokingly shaking it in his face.

"I'll be back soon, what sweets do you want, I'll pay." He asked, standing up, getting some money from his trunk.

"There's no need to rush, I'll be okay. And I'll have a cauldron cake, chocolate frog and jellybeans, I don't mind giving you some money."

"No need, you buy the next butterbeers."

"Deal." I smiled.

Cedric smiled back at me, pocketing his money and walking out of the compartment. I looked out the window at the rolling fields that sped past my window. Looking down at my book, I suddenly became engrossed in the book. I don't know how long I was reading for, I only noticed someone when they sat in the seat that Cedric was once in.

"Hi Lestrange." Fred's voice said in his mischievous and overpowering tone.

"What do you want Weasley. Where's your brother who's actually kind." I sneered at him, looking back down at my book, which Fred quickly snatched out of my hand. "Hey! Give that back."

"What's with the attitude, huh, annoyed that I took your book."

"It's because I don't trust you Weasley. And maybe you should pick on someone in your own year, not someone a year below you."

"And why doesn't the little Lestrange trust me?" Fred mockingly said, now flicking through my book.

"Because I'm not that stupid to trust a boy like you." I spat, snatching for my book but Fred jerked it away. "Pathetic boy." I muttered under my breath, but he heard me.

"What was that?" He asked, pretending like he didn't hear me. "I guess you're more like your mother than I thought."

I was taken aback, the confidence I gained this morning suddenly evaporated. I was lost for words, I was fighting the temptation to let tears fill my eyes.

"That was too far Fred." George said, who now was standing in the doorway, having heard Fred's comment. "And why are you picking on someone in a younger year than us? Mum said how disrespectful that is, I'm sorry Y/n." He said, and I have him a weak smile.

"What, it's true though." He sneered at me.

"Get out of my compartment." I dangerously said. But Fred didn't budge. "GET OUT!"

"Okay fine. I'll go, at least I'll be away from the clone of Bellatrix." He said, standing up and walking out of the compartment, dropping my book on the ground as he left.

"I'm sorry about him Y/n, I don't know why he's acting like this." George sincerely said, giving me a comforting pat on my shoulder and bending down to get my book and hand it to me.

"It's okay George." I sighed, but gave him a small smile.

"I'll talk to him." George said. He gave me one last smile and followed his brother out of the compartment.

I wiped any angry tears from my eyes with the sleeve of my jumper. I opened the book and tried to find where I was before Fred came in. I was able to find the page and I continued reading, acting as though nothing had happened.

About 20 minutes later, someone else came into the compartment, taking a seat in the chair opposite me, I looked up relieved that it was now Cedric sat opposite me, sweets bulging out of his pockets.

"Hey Y/n, I'm back." He said cheerfully, but noticed my changed expression from before.

"Hey Ced, you didn't take that long, or that's how it felt." I replied, giving him the best smile I could muster.

"I said I would be quick." He replied. "Oh here's your sweets." He added. Placing two cauldron cakes, a chocolate frog and jellybeans in-front of me.

"You could have seen your other friends too." I said.

"I did, but I didn't want to leave you for that long." Cedric answered. "Because you are my best friend."

"I had my book, I would have been fine you know." I smiled. "And you're my best friend too."

"How was your time without me." He asked cockily, probably expecting a cocky reply.

"It was uh-fine." I stuttered, putting my head down shamefully.

Cedric stiffened up, now sitting up worriedly. "You're lying, aren't you? Where did your confidence from this morning go?"

"No I'm not!" I retaliated

"I've known you for 4 years Y/n, I know when you're lying." He said, coming over to sit next to me.

"Okay fine. Fred came in." I gave up.

"What happened? What did he do?" He asked, trying to hide the anger in his voice.

"George came in later, and was being very nice." I added, trying to avoid his question.

"And what about Fred?" Cedric asked again.

"He was not so nice."

"What did he say?" He asked seriously, sounding like a concerned father.

"He compared me to my mother, said I was like her." I cried. "It knocked my confidence away."

"He said that!" He exclaimed, I nodded. "Do you believe him?"

"I-I don't know." I muttered

"You are nothing like her, and I'll prove it to you." Cedric said adamantly.

"How will you do that?" I asked.

"Because I can."

I looked out of the window briefly and saw the tall figure of Hogwarts castle come into view from the trees, it stood tall and majestically. I didn't notice I was nearly crying until Cedric pulled me into a hug, resting his chin on my head. He leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"You're nothing like your mother, we're at Hogwarts now, so I'll prove it to you. To start, you're a Hufflepuff."

Word count: 3500
A/n: Happy Tuesday! I've decided over the summer holidays, I'm going to publish when I have a chapter written, I'll get back into a routine when school starts again. But I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and sorry if it's boring now. But it should get exciting soon and I'm looking forward to writing the future chapters for you all. Have a great day :)

From
~Ella