~.~.~Parts 28-33~.~.~
•Y/n's POV•

Later that night, Y/n and Cedric returned to the common room after writing to Amos Diggory about the outcome of the first task.

"You did so well today, Y/n." Smiled Cedric, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"Thank you Ced, I'm sure you did well to." She smiled back, "I wonder what the is in the egg."

"We could always find out together." Cedric offered, approaching the door to the common room.

"That would be a good idea." Y/n replied. She knocked the passcode and the painting moved to form the door to the common room.

But neither of them knew the party inside the common room waiting for them. The people in the common room had made banners and got food from the kitchen next door. They all screamed when the two of them walked into the room, they were screaming with excitement and all tried to reach their hands out to touch a champion.

The party started, music was blaring from speakers that muggleborns had bought from home and all linked to a music disc which made the music loud all over the room. Y/n and Cedric had gotten some snacks from the table and went over to get a drink.

"There's firewhiskey in that one." A sixth year pointed at a bowl of punch.

"Y/n grabbed a large glass and swallowed the glass in one mouthful, she felt the burning feeling of the alcohol burn down her throat. She quickly grabbed another glass and decided to drink it a bit more slower. Someone grabbed Y/n and Cedric by their empty hands and both were lifted into the air.

They lifted their golden eggs high into the air, and people around the started cheering and reach their hands out to try and touch the eggs in their hands. She pushed her curly hair out of her face and behind her ear .

"Go on Cedric, Y/n, what's the clue?" Ruben Sanders yelled.

"Who wants us to open it?" Y/n screamed into the crowd of people, all of them looking at the two in awe and excitement "You want us to open it?" They yelled again

Both Y/n and Cedric opened their eggs and a loud horrific screech erupted out of it, everyone covers their ears and the people holding them both dropped them to the floor. Y/n and Cedric closed their eggs, an awkward silence falling across the room.

"What the bloody hell was that?" A familiar voice said through the crowd. Fred Weasley was standing in the arched doorway, his hands over his ears, looking into the room with confusion.

"Fred?" Y/n asked, "What are you doing here? And now did you get in?"

"Never mind that." He smirked, "Can I talk to you really quick, Y/n?"

"Uhh, yeah. Sure." She replied, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. The crowd of Hufflepuffs made a path between Y/n and Fred.

"Will you be okay, Y/n." Cedric asked, looking at her worriedly.

"I think I'll be fine. But thank you, Ced. I'll be back to celebrate soon!" She replied. Giving him a small smile.

Y/n walked through the room and up to Fred, who was standing in the archway. Y/n grabbed Fred by the wrist and pulled him out of the common room.

"So, what do you want?" She asked, crossing her arms and flicking the curly hair out of her face.

"I've come to apologise." He simply said, looking at her with gentle eyes.

"What? Apologise?Fred Weasley came to apologise to Y/n Lestrange, the person he hates in the whole world." She said, half shocked and half sarcastically, not believing what she was hearing.

"Yes, I am." Fred sighed, "I'm sorry for the way I've treated you Y/n, I shouldn't have treated you the way I did."

"That's very random." She frowned, "You've always compared me to my mother. What made you come to apologise?"

"I've had a change of heart." Fred said, "Is there any chance we could be friends? I'd like to get to know you more."

"I'll think about it, you should go back to your common room, Fred. Go to the Gryffindor party, because Hufflepuff is having ours. Good night, Fred."

"Good night, Y/n." Fred said. He gave her a small smile and she watched Fred walk back down the corridor. She smiled to herself, went back into the common room to party and have some more to drink.

Y/n woke up with a pounding on her head the next morning, she shouldn't have drank as much firewhiskey as she did. But nevertheless she crawled herself out of bed, washed her face, cleaned her teeth, pulled her curly hair into a bun and changed into her robes.

She didn't want to open her curtains, she knew the sunlight would hurt her head. She did it anyway and the rays of sun hit her face.

Y/n slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the room to meet Cedric for breakfast. She walked down the steps to see a large group of people huddled around the notice board. She hustled to the front of the group to read the notice.

Please can all Students Forth Year
and up please come to the empty
Greenhouse after lunch. You will all

Pomona Sprout- Head of House

Y/n gave a small smile after she realised she would miss double history of magic. She pushed herself out of the crowd and saw Cedric sitting on the sofa.

"Good morning." Y/n smiled, sitting next to her best friend, "Have you seen the notice on the board?"

"Yeah, shame. I miss potions and transfiguration." Cedric said sarcastically.

"Gutted, I miss double history of magic." She replied, matching his energy.

"That must be devastating!"

"Very much so."

Both of them started giggling at themselves before Y/n finally said, "Let's go, we need to get breakfast."

"Yes! I'm starving!" Cedric replied.

The morning lessons passed by quickly and lunch was nearly over. Y/n and Cedric ate their lunch and joined the rest of the Hufflepuffs to the empty greenhouse. Her head was still pounding, she was never drinking that much again. She didn't realise that she bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going, mudblood." The voice of her cousin, Draco Malfoy said out of habit.

"Mudblood?" Y/n cocked an eyebrow, "I'm just as pure as you are Draco. Although that doesn't matter, and the fact that you say that as a habit is disturbing."

"Oh it's you." Draco smirked, "cousin."

"We're doing it like this? Cousin?" She sneered at him.

"We are, you don't deserve to be called by your name."

"And why is that?" The older cousin asked, "Fallen under Lucius' spell and manipulation have you?"

"Because you're a disgrace to our family for being a Hufflepuff."

"I'm proud to be a Hufflepuff," she said, standing tall and proud, "And I'm glad that I don't have to associate myself with my family and their stupid beliefs."

"You'll regret saying that, Lestrange." He seethed at her, and showing her his signature smirk.

"I don't think I will," she smirked back, "It will only show that I'm nothing like my family or my mother."

"This is why we kicked you out in the first place."

"We?" She asked sarcastically, "I vividly remember you crying to Lucius and Narcissa begging me to stay. Now if you don't mind, cousin, I have somewhere to be." She deliberately barged past him and started walking down the corridor.

"Ugh! My father will hear about this!" He called down the corridor.

"Great idea! Then he'll know you've been talking to me!" She called down the corridor.

She walked out of the castle and down to the greenhouse. Her conversation with Draco uncovered feelings that she hadn't felt in a long time. The pain of abandonment surfaced, she didn't want to lose her family and she doesn't want to lose her friends too. She hates offloading her feelings onto Cedric in fear that he will leave her too. So she builds it all up and tries to hide it.

"Y/n!" Cedric said, catching up with her, she didn't even realise she walked away from Cedric. "You alright? Y/n?"

"Hmmm?"

"I said are you alright?" He asked again, worry growing on his face.

"I'm fine." She said, behind a fake smile. She was not sure if Cedric could tell or not.

"Hey." She said carefully, gently holding onto her shoulder, "Talk to me. You know it always stays between us, you know that right?"

But we reached the greenhouse and Professor Sprout was ushering is all inside whilst shouting, "Boys to the left, girls to the right!"

"We'll talk avoid this layer, okay Ced." Y/n said as she and him walked into the room.

They placed their bags down and separated to their side of the room. The girls and boys were chatting amongst themselves, Y/n sat in the corner, her head was down and twiddling her thumbs.

"The yule ball," Professor Spout, "has been a tradition of the tri-wizard tournament since its inception. On Christmas eve night we and our guests gather in the great hall for well mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally because the yule ball is first and foremost...a dance."

Groans emerge from the boys who are listening to their head of house. However, the girls are a lot more excited, they were all whispering among themselves with glee and excitement.

"Silence. The house of Helga Hufflepuff has commanded the respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you in the course of a single evening besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons." Professor Sprout said.

"Cedric and Y/n looked at each other and she mouthed, "Try saying that five times faster."

Cedric smiled at her whist they both tried in silence, both of them were trying not to giggle themselves.

"Now to dance is to let the body breathe," Sprout started again, "Inside every girl a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight.
Inside every boy a lordly badger prepared
to prance. Mr Diggory, will you join me please?" Sprout said, holding her hand out to him. Y/n chuckled to herself and glanced a look at her best friend.

"Of course, Professor." Cedric said, embarrassment hinted in his voice.

Cedric took Professor Sprouts waist, and held her hand. Y/n wolf whistled to Cedric who gave her a annoyed look.

"Mr Filch, if you please..."

The music starts, Cedric had a plain expression on his face whilst she and Professor Sprout danced.

"One two three, one two three, one two three." She counted. "Everybody come together."

All the girls instantly stood and walked forward, the boys are all still seated. But Y/n stood sitting, she didn't want to dance with any of those guys.

"Boys, on your feet." Sprout yelled.

"Y/n, will you dance with me?" Cedric said, offering his hand out for her.

"Oh, I don't dance." Y/n said dismissively.

"Pointless. I'm sure your idiot of an Uncle taught you how to dance." He joked, "Come on then." He added, taking her hand and pulling her up.

They danced together for about 20 minutes, Cedric was surprised of how well she could dance. But the lesson was soon over and Professor Sprout dismissed the class for the end of the day.

"Diggory, Lestrange!" Professor Sprout called, "A word please."

Y/n sighed, turned on her heels and said walked towards her head of house with Cedric.

"I'm sorry for keeping you two back." She apologised, "I just need to tell you something."

"What's wrong, Professor?" Cedric asked.

"I wanted you two to know that as Tri-Wizard Champions, you and the other champions will lead the dance."

"So-so we are starting the whole evening?" Y/n asked.

"Yes, Miss Lestrange."

"Oh Professor, I don't dance. It brings back bad memories."

"I'm sorry you've been through that, Miss Lestrange. But I'm afraid it's a tradition, I'll be happy to find coping mechanisms." Professor Sprout said sincerely.

"Thank you for the offer, Professor. But I'll figure something out."

"Thank you for telling us, Professor." Cedric said, "Have a good night."

Y/n and Cedric said their goodbyes, grabbed their bags and walked back up to the great hall for dinner.

"What happened with Draco?" Cedric asked sensitively.

"He said I was a disgrace and Lucius was right for abandoning him." Y/n said, it was nearly a whisper, "Being abandoned still hurts and I'm scared it will happen again."

"Just think, it's in the past." Cedric answered softly, "The past can hurt, but the way I see it you can either run from it, or learn from it."

"Thanks, Ced." Y/n weakly smiled.

"Let's go back to my dorm. We can talk about it there."

"Okay. But, let's go to my dorm, I'm have a single."

"Fine." Cedric smiled.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they walked back up to the great hall for dinner. They talked about the first task and their opinions of their dancing lessons. Y/n didn't want to open up to Cedric in the Great Hall, she didn't really want to open up at all.

But dinner was soon over and everyone made their way back to the common rooms for evening and bed. Y/n and Cedric walked back to the Hufflepuff common room. She knew a charm to get Cedric up the stairs without turning into a slide.

"How do you know that?" Cedric as soon as they walked into her dorm.

"I have a little Slytherin in me. I never reveal my secrets." She giggled, trying to hide the nerves she was feeling.

Cedric took a seat at the end of her bed and looked around at her dorm.

"You have a nice dorm! How come you have a single? You can't get these until 7th year?"

"I've had a single since middle of first year. My roommates got scared of my last name and all requested to leave. So they just put me in a single."

"Lucky for some!" Cedric jokingly scoffed, "Come sit." He motioned for her to sit on her own bed.

She sat down opposite Cedric, she gave a deep breath and he looked at her.

"Y/n, please tell me what's wrong." Cedric said worriedly.

"Nothing Cedric. I'll be fine." She replied, her eyes fell down to her fingers.

"Don't lie to me, Y/n."

"I'm not lying."

"I've been you're best friend for five years now. I know when something is wrong." Cedric cocked an eyebrow, "You've just told me about abandonment."

"I just don't want to burden yo-." She sighed.

"Don't even finish that sentence, Y/n. You're not a burden to anyone, what's wrong?"

"Are you sure?" She asked. Looking up at him with worried eyes.

"Absolutely, if you need to talk then you can always talk to me." She smiled.

Y/n took a deep and long sigh before finally blurting out, "I'm just scared I'll be left alone again. After what Draco said. I'm scared of being abandoned."

"Do you think we'd abandon you, Y/n." Cedric asked, holding her hands and giving them a light squeeze.

"No, I don't, Ced. It's not just that, it's the fear that it will happen again at some point. I don't want to go through that again."

"I swear to Helga my dad loves you more than me." Cedric laughed, a faint smile forming on Y/n's lips.

"That's definitely not true, Cedric." Y/n replied to him.

"No it definitely is." He smiled, "But we are nothing like the Malfoy's, Y/n. We would never leave you."

"Thank you. Cedric." She smiled.

"And I completely understand why you have that fear. But please don't be scared to come to me if you have these worries. You're my best friend and I hate seeing you like this." Cedric said honestly, he was looking at her with soft eyes.

"I don't want to be a hassle, Ced. Especially in-front of your sixth year friends."

"Please don't worry about that, Y/n. You're way more important than them."

"Thank you, Cedric." Y/n smiled. It felt like a relief to tell her best friend that. A weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

"Come on. Let's play exploding snap!" Cedric offered, pulling a deck of cards out of his robe pocket with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Oh game on." Y/n smiled, "You're about to loose terribly! I'm a master of exploding snap!"

"The game is so on! I'll beat you!"

Y/n beat Cedric as they both expected. They had a few more rounds before deciding to go to bed. They stood up and walked to the door.

"Good night, Cedric, thank you for everything tonight." Y/n said.

"You're very welcome, Y/n. Glad I could make you feel better." He replied, a smile on his face.

"Oh and one more thing." She said. When he looked confused she added, "Enjoy the slide."

She pushed him out of the door and the staircase turned into a huge slide. His screams could be heard all the way down. Y/n giggled to herself as she walked to the bathroom to shower, and get ready for bed. Her hair poofed into one large circle around her head. She sighed to herself and decided to deal with the curls in the morning. She climbed into bed and fell asleep thinking of who she might invite to the ball with her.

Word Count: 3000
A/N: It's been a while. I'm sorry I haven't posted on here. I've been busy getting ready for university. Which starts in a week!! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, I'll try to publish more often.