The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 47: Cauldron Cakes

June 22nd, 1995

"When do you suppose they'll be back?" Hermione asked.

"Depends on who you're talking about..." I shrugged.

"Well, didn't Cedric tell you?" Hermione asked once more, "I'm sure he would have."

"It's Rita Skeeter, 'Mione, it's going to take a bit," I chuckled, "Actually, I haven't seen Ced at all today. Yesterday he told me that it would've taken about an hour, but it's obviously been a bit longer than that."

"What does she want anyway?" Hermione seethed, "That woman gives me the creeps. How does she know what's happening all the time? It doesn't make any sense!"

"I wouldn't know, I've done my best to avoid her after the article she released about Cedric and me," I sighed, "It was a harmless debate, and she managed to tell the entire Wizarding World about our 'toxic' relationship. We were just debating which color scheme we wanted to go with for the Yule Ball. There was nothing toxic about it!"

"And she told the entire Wizarding World that Harry and I were dating," Hermione scoffed, "Absolute rubbish! He's my best friend, I would never!"

"She's rubbish, 'Mione," I chuckled, "But to answer your question, they're taking photos for The Daily Prophet. Cedric said that it was to announce the last challenge... Blimey, I can't believe this tournament ends in two days."

"I've heard that they've grown the Quidditch Pitch into a maze just for the challenge." Hermione hesitated.

I nodded, "They did, Cedric told me that they took the champions to go visit it the other day."

"What did he say it was like?" Hermione asked.

"Erm... big... scary..." I stammered, "That was it ,really."

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder that made me jump. I turned around to see Ron panting like he had just run a marathon.

"Have any of you seen, Harry?" Ron panted. Hermione and I shook our heads.

"We were just talking about that," Hermione sighed, "Dawn said that the champions were getting their photos done for The Daily Prophet."

"Yeah, yeah... I already knew that," Ron scoffed, "Weren't they supposed to be done an hour ago?"

"Yeah, they were, but like I told 'Mione," I scoffed, "It's Rita Skeeter, she'll take however long she needs."

"Alright, well until Harry gets back, could I hang with you two?" Ron asked, "I was with Neville, but then he wouldn't stop talking about plants, so I had to outrun him."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "THAT'S RUDE, RON!"

"It's not my fault that I don't find Herbology interesting?" Ron protested, "The wanker couldn't take the hint that I wanted to leave!"

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms, "He just wanted somebody to talk to! You probably made him feel bad about himself!"

"I mean... it'll be nothing new for him, at least." Ron scoffed.

"RONALD WEASLEY!" I seethed, "You know what, I'll see you later, 'Mione, I'm going to go talk to Nev because, unlike Ron here, I find him interesting."

Ron stuck his tongue out at me as I walked away from the two and headed back to Gryffindor Tower to find Neville. He was one of my first friends at school and held a special place in my heart because of it. I always felt bad for him because of all the bullying he underwent - some of it being from my own peers. But unlike Ron, I would've willingly listened to him talk about his plants.