𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 ━━ harry potter

chapter fourty-two

The following days were awkward, to say the least. The morning after Marina and Ben had hung out together, the boy sat with her and her friend Delilah at the Hufflepuff table, since he didn't want to continue being ignored by Hermione. Besides, for some reason, there was a strange sensation regarding Harry on his chest. He was afraid of the moment where he'd have to see him again, after the drama he had caused the afternoon before. So, he was glad when he saw that both he and Ron had drawn the curtains on their beds when he arrived at their dormitory.

He ended up meeting them at class only some hours later, though, and they sat next to him, with Hermione not even looking at him. He was starting to get quite annoying at her childish behaviour. Therefore, he decided that, until she came into her senses and realised he had done nothing wrong, he wouldn't hang out with them.

Not as a kind of punishment, or anything of the sort, but simply because it made him uncomfortable, and the girl was starting to get heavily on his nerves.

So, Ben spent pretty much every single second of his free time with either Marina, Thomas and Leah, or Cedric. He had a lot of fun with them but, deep down, he couldn't help but miss his best friends.

One sunny afternoon, Ben was hanging out outside with Cedric, Mei-Xing, and Rolf Scamander, one of Cedric's best friends. At first, Ben had been hesitant about joining them, since he didn't want to bother them by intruding, but both Hufflepuff boys and the Ravenclaw girl had insisted, so he sat next to them on the soft, warm grass.

"Is it true you're going to put your name into the Goblet of Fire as soon as they allow participants to, Cedric?" he asked.

Cedric swallowed hard, and placed a small daisy he had just picked up between Mei-Xing's dark, shiny hair. She blushed, and rested her head on the boy's shoulder.

"Well, yes... I really want to try."

"Oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing... It's just that, well, the tournament is quite dangerous, isn't it?"

Rolf, who had been lying on the grass, sat up straight in an instant. "That's exactly what I told him! The tournament is incredibly dangerous. Why do you think they've been considering cancelling it permanently for years?"

"But, if they haven't, it's for a reason, Rolf," retorted Cedric, calmly. "They've probably improved the security of each task, and I'm sure it won't be that dangerous anymore."

"But what if you're wrong?" inquired Rolf, getting nervous. "What if something goes terribly wrong, and you get killed?"

Ben got the strongest chill he had ever gotten down his spine.

"He's not going to get killed," stated Mei-Xing, raising her head momentarily from Cedric's shoulder, in order to speak more clearly. "Dumbledore won't let any of his students die. I'm sure that, if anything goes wrong, he'll be the first one to step up and protect every champion."

"I guess that's true," admitted Rolf.

"And, apart from that, Cedric's absolutely capable of doing amazing in any task he might be given if he's selected as the Hogwarts champion. He's incredibly smart, and intelligent, so I doubt he'll have any trouble if it comes to having to solve a riddle, or something of the sort. And, as you know, he's an awesome Seeker. He has very quick reflexes, a perfect vision, and he's really strong, too. I know that he'd do such an awesome job, and he could even win."

Now, it was Cedric's turn to turn pink. He couldn't even contain his smile like a fool in love, and his eyes were literally sparkling at the sight of his girlfriend. The boy extended his hand to take Mei-Xing's carefully.