˗ˋ 35

                                    

                                          
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
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-: sixth year :-
                          
── IN WHICH IT'S OFF
                          
. . .
                          


                          
The weather in Scotland was what one may call miserable. Snow covered the grounds surrounding the school, and various students trudged back and forth over the paths created by previous people, whining about how snow was getting into their shoes, casting charms to melt the snow around them.
                          
And Rosie was one of them. It wasn't just to one of the Herbology greenhouses, but across down to Hagrid's cabin. Hagrid wasn't even there, replaced by a woman named Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank. Nobody knew where the half-giant was, and neither Harry, Hermione or Ron could get any answers to where their friend was. 
                          
But at least Professor Grubbly-Plank showed them a unicorn, which was far more interesting to Rosie than the theory they had been studying for the couple of weeks before Christmas. 
                          
However, it was still bitter and annoying for her to half to trudge through the snow back to the castle, especially at the end of the day, when the sun was already beginning to set and it was getting colder.
                          
Rosie and Cedric had resumed their usual sessions, meeting three times a week at first, then moving it up to four as February creeped closer, the second task nearing on the horizon. 
                          
"Oh." Rosie exclaimed, after she had walked back in forth in front of the specific wall on the top floor, the door into the Room of Requirement appearing in front of her. She had entered it, and as usual there was the room, sunshine yellow and overflowing the plants, a jar of paradise in a world of what seemed to be everlasting winter. 
                          
She was late to get there - having just had a Care of Magical Creatures class. And because of how late she was, Rosie had expected to find Cedric there.
                          
But he wasn't. The Kersey girl wouldn't have minded so much.. if it hadn't been the fifth time in a row. What Cedric was doing, she didn't know. Well, she had her suspicions, but she hadn't talked to Cedric about that yet. 
                          
Sitting down on the plush sofa, Rosie sighed as she pulled out the potions book. She was studying absolutely anything that she could find that related to being able to breathe underwater - and not just for a few minutes, but for an hour. 
                          
She couldn't help but think of just how easy this would be for her if she was the champion. But, she figured that seeing as Dumbledore knew of her condition, he would have somehow altered it so that she didn't have that advantage. 
                          
Almost an hour passed, and yet, no Cedric. The few times previously had only reached half an hour maximum, but as the hour mark approached, Rosie couldn't help but feel stupid. 
                          
She had sat there, scribbling down names of any potion that could help, bookmarking it in the rather large book. Annoyed, she slammed the book closed, bottling up her ink and cleaning her quill, folding up her piece of parchment and slipping them all into her bag. 
                          
Having absolutely soaked her boots from the journey between Hagrid's cabin and the castle, Rosie had left them to dry by the door, and she was glad to find that they were only the tiniest bit damp. 
                          
She knelt down to do up the laces, bag discarded on the floor next to her. Suddenly, the door into the Room of Requirement opened with a crash, and she jumped out of her skin. 
                          
It was Cedric, whose hair was a mess and tie a lot less loose then usual, his shirt button oddly and rather flushed. Not at all like the generally tidy and neat Cedric - more like the Yule Ball Cedric, the half-mermaid realised with a blush.
                          
Rosie glared at him, not at all impressed. And it seemed that Cedric easily got the message, shuffling on the spot, staring down at the floor. "I'm sorry." He said, and Rosie rolled her eyes. 
                          
"Your shirt is buttoned wrong." Rosie replied, her voice flat and dry, Cedric stared at her for a moment, the girl standing up, swinging her bag over her shoulder and folding her arms, a finger jerking in the direction of his shirt. 
                          
Cedric flushed red, quickly adjusting his shirt to the right way, Rosie rolling her eyes as she waited, her fingers tapping on the potions book, that was clutched between her folded arms, decidedly too heavy to carry in her bag.
                          
"I'm sorry I'm late." Cedric repeated, running a hand through his hair and looking up at the girl, expression apologetic. 
                          
"Are you though?" Rosie questioned, and Cedric looked confused. "This is fifth time you've been late, and you apologise every time, but don't change a thing. I've been trying to help you the best I can, but if you're not here then I can't do much."
                          
"Where can you even go that makes you so late? We all finish class at the same time, I'm pretty sure you've never had a detention in your life, and considering the current weather conditions, you can't really stroll through the castle." She continued. "So who were you with?" 
                          
Rosie hadn't originally wanted to ask that question, wanting to let Cedric have some privacy. But anger had bubbled up within her, and she just wanted answers - and she wanted to confirm her suspicions. 
                          
"Just my friends, you know.. Rob and Jack and stuff.." Cedric was so clearly lying that Rosie couldn't believe what she was hearing, and she stared at him, eyebrow raised. "Fine, I was with Cho." 
                          
You could've heard a pin drop, the silence so deafening. Until Rosie scoffed, shaking her head. "Rosie-" Cedric said, Rosie shrugging off his arm. 
                          
"The bet's off. There's no changing my mind this time. You can figure it out by yourself, I'm done." Rosie shoved the book into Cedric's arms, before leaving the Room of Requirement. 
                          
Leaving Cedric alone, and feeling guilty.
                          
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