#friend drama

[mosquego359]

𖤐One Kiss and A Quidditch Match — Chapter 4: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang𖤐

Prologue (recommended to read)

Chapter 3 (previous)

Pair: Cedric Diggory x Male Slytherin Reader

Word count: 2.7K words

Summary of the book: You and Cedric Diggory hate each other. It has always been this way. But everything changes one night when you kiss each other at a party. Now, it seems you can’t escape each other — from being partnered up in Herbology for an important project to having to help Cedric during the Triwizard Tournament.

Summary of the chapter: Two weeks after you became partners with Cedric, Hogwart's Rival Schools arrive.

Notes: Please comment anything I should change to improve this. Also, I am not British so I am not 100% sure how to correctly write people from the UK. Also, Wix is the gender neutral term for witch and wizard and, like in the books Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are a school with mixed genders. This is the video I'm basing for the guests' introduction.

Content warning: One curse word. It's also a bit fruity.

!PLEASE DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION OR CREDITS TO ME!

...

Around a week or two later, you decided to hang out more with Alistair. Your judgy grudge against him had dimmed to a slight annoyance, and the two of you agreed to not bring it up.

It was now the 30th of October, and Hogwarts’ rival schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were to arrive in the evening. You personally hadn’t given the Triwizard Tournament much though for you were too young to participate and not keen on putting your life in dangerous situations.

The rest of your friends, however — particularly Alistair and Ziggy — were buzzing with anticipation.

And that was how you, Brian and Ziggy’s friend — whom you found out was named Roman Conyngham — silently watched Ziggy and Alistair passionately fantasise about the Triwizard Tournament.

Their conversation buzzed around the air of the grand Dining Hall, a complex and complicated interaction that caused you to zone out from boredom. Your eyes strayed from any of the boys you were with and to Elsie, Winnie and Destiny, sitting together at the Hufflepuff table.

Your mind shifted to the day you and Cedric became partners. 

After class, you watched as Elsie rapidly marched away from the classroom, Destiny by her side. You swore you saw her glance back at you before finally disappearing into the corridor.

At lunchtime, you swiftly devoured your meal, curious yet concerned for Elsie. She was often serious, and that meant what she would tell you was something important. It was probably rather personal since, if it wasn’t, she would have informed you on the spot.

You craned your neck to see if she was still in the great hall — which she was not — before heading to the library with a goodbye from Brian and Winnie. 

It wasn’t hard finding Elsie; she was pacing by a window at the corner of the library — your usual studying spot.

“Elsie?” You said softly to grab her attention.

Her head snapped up, and — with a furrow in your brow — you noticed a stressed look in her golden eyes. She gestured for you to come closer, simultaneously looking around for any snooping students.

“(Name),” she paused, nervously playing with her hair, “It’s about the party…”

You nodded carefully as curious thoughts circled your mind. Was this about Alistair?

“You see, after the whole…fiasco with Campbell,” Elsie cringed, “I went to the drink table since I was looking for Winnie. And I may have taken a couple too many shots. So I was drunk when I finally found Winnie. Stay with me on this, alright?”

You arched a brow. This was about her? Was there drama between them you didn’t know of? If so, why had they been so friendly with one another since the party? Sure, they seemed a bit off at some points, but you didn’t think too much of it.

Elsie glanced nervously to the side, “Winnie agreed to tell you. Please don’t say anything to Alistair, (Name). We’re telling Brian later.”

“You can trust me.” You promised, “Take your time.”

Tugging her brown curls, Elsie stayed silent momentarily, staring at your eyes. You saw how hesitant she was about the conversation and mentally applauded her for opening up to you. She inhaled a big breath, “I kissed Winnie.”

“So, Alistair, how do you feel with your little sis getting along with your ex?” Ziggy asked, snapping you out of your daze.

Alistair shrugged but looked visibly uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat as he replied, “Eh, don’t care much for it. I mean, Winnie can do whatever; I don’t control her life.” He puffed his fringe out of his face.

Ziggy and Roman shared a look, and the former responded in mild disbelief, “Yeah, of course.”

Personally, you were glad that they were all finally getting along, but a small pang of jealousy shot into your heart when you recalled barely talking to them for the entire day. In DADA, they had moved their seats to the back where Destiny sat, and you barely saw them in Herbology because of your project with Cedric Diggory.

Professor Sprout had given you a different room to work in, and when you came out covered in cuts and bruises from the Snargaluff, your class would joke that you were physically fighting.

For example, earlier that day, the Snargaluff was particularly peeved and somehow tangled you and Cedric in its bulky vines. You felt embarrassed to say that Professor Sprout had to rescue you from its grasp.

Needless to say, you felt triumphant when Cedric had to hobble to the nurse to get his scratches checked. Apparently, the Snargaluff’s vines had squeezed his leg so hard it turned blue, thus causing him to get healed. You, on the other hand, felt fine despite an ache in your core and a few scrapes from being compressed by the plant.

You admitted that you felt an odd pang of pity seeing your usually all-powerful rival limp out of the class like a fragile bird. You weren't used to seeing his vulnerable side.

Hands-on your cheek, you glanced over to where he was sitting with his friends. He was laughing, his perfect pearly smile gleaming charmingly. You felt as if some of the girls you knew thought of him as a fairy prince with those gorgeous grey eyes and soft-looking brown hair.

The last time you saw him was in the hallway, walking to his next class, which you believed to be his Transfiguration class. His leg was still in a cast, but he looked to be trying to apply some weight to it with the help of his mates and a mutual friend of yours — Chunhua Chang, also known as Cho.

A wave of warmth subconsciously flooded your heart at the thought of him recovering from the incident. You were honestly glad of his healing and smiled when you noticed he was recounting something to his friends. He was so…

Wait, what were you thinking? 

You shook your head, and despite no one being able to hear your thoughts, your neck grew warm in embarrassment. Sure, you were mildly aware of your attraction to boys, but there was no way you liked Cedric Diggory of all people.

You felt a nudge from your right, “You doing okay, man? Your face looks a bit red,” Roman asked in concern. Sometimes, you were glad most of the other students were ignorant of your odd condition.

“I’m alright, thank you for your worry, Roman,” You smiled calmly at him, and he shrugged.

“Did you see the chariot outside?” you heard a 4th Year student to your left ask her friend with excitement, “Today is the day the foreign students arrive!”

Her friend giggled, “Ahh! Do you think there’ll be any cute boys?”

“Obviously,” the first girl huffed, “French boys are hot.”

“What about those at Durmstrang?”

“Don’t even think about it, Emily! I heard they are troublemakers. Apparently they’ve been cheating at the Triwizard Tournament for years. I doubt any good guys go to that dreadful place.”

You turn away from their conversation, feeling rather awkward listening to a bunch of children for information regarding Hogwarts’ rival schools. Luckily for you, Ziggy and Alistair were now gushing about the games. 

“Hey, Brains, do you think the new schools will arrive soon, I’m starting to get hella impatient,” Alistair huffed and nudged Brian, who was snoozing off. You stifled a laugh at his confused expression.

“Huh?” He asked, and you swore you saw drool trickling down his chin.

“When will we get introduced to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang?” You rephrased Alistair’s question, leading forward curiously.

“So you were listening!” Ziggy jumped in.

Brian ignored him and frowned, “Well, I expect Dumbledore to give us a speech any minute now. I believe he is waiting for the rest of the students to settle in their seats. Surely he won’t make us sit here impatiently for long.”

You craned your neck to the entrances of the Great Hall, noting not a single student in sight seemed to be trickling in. Everyone was here so why wasn’t Dumbledore doing anything.

As if your thoughts were a trigger, the old headmaster stood up from his chair, and, like a magnet, attracted the attention of all the students. Despite your dislike for him because of how he favoured Gryffindor and detested Slytherin, you admitted he was rather excellent at drawing everyone’s eyes to him.

“Well now that we’re all settled in and sorted, I’d like to make an announcement.” Dumbledore commenced. The door to the main entrance cracked open and Filch scrambled over to the headmaster as he continued, causing a few students — including yourself — to chuckle at his silly run, “This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well.”

The old man paused to listen to what Filch had to say. He nodded carefully, whispering something in his ear before continuing his speech. “You see, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Triwizard Tournament.” You glanced at the Hufflepuff table, seeing how Cedric’s friends were teasing him and the way he smiled in mild embarrassment. A pang of jealousy shot through your heart. It wasn’t fair that he got to compete, and you weren’t. You were just as powerful, perhaps even more. 

“Now, for those of you who do not know, the Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. For each school, a single student is chosen to compete. Now, let me be clear, if chosen, you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint-hearted, but more on that later. For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies and men of the Beauxbatons academy of magic and their headmistress: Madame Maxime!”

The doors of the main entrance slid open, and a bunch of students your age strutted in, perfectly in sync and classical music played as they walked.

They were all dressed in a similar fashion: a silky, baby blue uniform with an elegant poncho and small hat. The girls wore skirts over lights while the few boys wore tight-fitting pants that totally did not make you stare at their asses. 

You heard Alistair whistle when they passed. The girl's repressed smiles at his flirtatious move. 

At some point in the song, they extended their arms with a very flowy movement, making you realise they were dancing. They then separated themselves into two groups and lined up in a v formation in front of the students.

A tall woman dressed in furs and leopard prints walked after her students. She had to be at least 2.5 meters if not more. You assumed she was the headmistress, Madam Maxime, as you and many others gaped at her. 

Ziggy and you shared a look, and he mouthed, “She’s humongous.”

In front of her, two students performed a gymnastic choreography, elegantly bowed to their headmistress and finally stepped into the lines their fellow students were placed in. 

Hogwarts erupted into applause, and a few wix even stood up. However, you spotted many girls in the room with disapproving looks on their faces.

Dumbledore carefully took Madame Maxime’s hand and placed a respectful kiss on it. He then walked a bit higher up on the steps and quickly silenced the crowd with his hands.

Alistair whispered to your group with a smirk, “Did you see the pretty blonde one?”  But he was quickly hushed by a few people to his left.

Your eyes scanned the Beauxbaton girls until you spotted one of the girls who bowed to Madame Maxime next to the Hufflepuff table. Her hair was a golden blonde, wrapped in a ponytail, and the front curled around her jaw like a perfect ribbon, framing her glowing face. Even at a distance, you could tell she was stunning.

“And now, our friends from the north!” Dumbledore boomed, grabbing your attention, “Please great proud sons and daughters of Durmstrang and their headmaster Igor Karkaroff.”

A more sombre music started playing along with drums. A band of mostly boys marched in, occasionally hitting their staff on the group and shouting on time with the music. They stuck their staffs forward and twirled them, performing a simple yet powerful choreography as they neared the front with the Beauxbaton students, who had moved to the sides next to the wall.

Suddenly, they rushed forward, and two of them executed a series of somersaults and gymnastics, breakdancing their way where the Beauxbatons students once were while the others placed themselves in a v shape.

Two men entered the Great Hall, and you heard Ziggy and Alistair gasp, and Roman whispering, “Is it really him?”. This caused you to recognise one of those faces as the famous Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum. 

You assumed the mean-looking man in white behind him was the headmaster Igor Karkaroff. You finally noticed a smaller man trailing them, dressed in grey.

The two students who breakdanced blew fire from their wands like dragons, controlling it to make it resemble a phoenix, giving the other students a little spectacle.

When the fire disappeared, they rapidly lined themselves up with the others, making way for Karkaroff and Hogwarts erupted in applause. The Beauxbatons students clapped respectfully.

The headmaster of Durmstrang walked up to Dumbledore, who spread his arms wide in greeting, and they both hugged each other, patting each other on the back in a friendly manner.

Once Karkaroff had moved to the side, Dumbledore cleared his throat to grab the student’s attention from the attractive Beauxbaton candidates, the gymnasts from Durmstrang and Krum.

“Please, please, take a seat, you all, make yourselves at home,” Dumbledore smiled at the crowd of guests. The students shared a look before ultimately choosing their tables. Luckily for you, Durmstrang had chosen the Slytherin one and had settled into their seats. Krum sat next to Alistair and across from Ziggy, who both started shifting in their seats in excitement.

But before they could say anything, Dumbledore spoke.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and — most particularly — guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable.” You heard a snicker from the Ravenclaw table and rolled your eyes at the disrespect.

“The Tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast,” Dumbledore continued, “I now invite you all to eat, drink and make yourselves at home!”

Through the meal, Viktor Krum, Ziggy and Alistair started having a conversation while you and your two other friends talked quietly amongst yourself.

Brian and Roman were rather alike: calm and collected, introverted and you found out Roman was a top student in most of his classes. At first, it confused you since you never saw him until he mentioned being in Year 7.

“You gotta have someone to control that energetic idiot,” he shrugged when you asked him about being friends with Ziggy.

Speaking of him, he and Alistair were gushing over Krum, whom you noticed was rather unresponsive. It wasn’t until the Quidditch player glanced at his peers and shifted in his seat that you realised he didn’t like the attention. You felt pity; he was worldwide famous and yet never enjoyed the attention.

At the end of the meal, Dumbledore brought in something called the Goblet of Fire and when he started speaking of signing up for the Triwizard Tournament, you tuned out, a jealous hole forming in your heart. 

Like Alistair, you wanted to participate, but in contrast, you were too young. You recalled the Weasley twins complaining about it in the hallway earlier that day, and despite your indifference to them, you couldn’t help but relate.

Your eyes drifted away from the headmaster to the Hufflepuff table, first to your girl friends, then to Cedric Diggory. To your surprise, he was already staring. Since you were competitive, you instinctively kept your eyes on him until he turned away.

Slowly, you faced the front again. You felt heat rushing to your cheeks and neck for the second time tonight. Your hands were cold, so you pressed them to where your skin felt warm.

Merlin’s Beard, what was happening to you?

...

Chapter 5

[theborzoiarebackintown]

Life is a lot at the moment and I may be MIA for a bit. Margo encapsulates how we’re feeling pretty well lol

[taurusicidal]

i hate being the nicest person! just for them to turn around and say things behind my back!

[glittter-vamp]

Today has been the LONGEST day ever omfg. So happy to be in my bed all cozy rn bc fuck 😭

[femmefatalevibe]

how do i deal with an overcompetitive best friend? Shes usually the top student of our class btw. She looks to see where i've reached in my studies by looking at my books while studying, she tries to fact-check some of the stuff i say and talks loudly abt the mistakes i made in my wording of my sentences. She also gets visibly upset and quiet when i get stuff right or start studying in class. Do you think she's aware if her actions + any tips?

Most people's bad behavior is a reflection of their inner turmoil, not an accurate reflection of your behavior/actions/qualities – unless there's some sort of direct action(s)/comment(s) you made that could be their rationale for their attitude toward you.

There's a good chance she prioritizes her status as an academic achiever and her success in this area blinds her to any sense of social graces/empathy towards others in this area of her life. This could mean she bases her identity primarily on her intellect/being the highest achiever vs. interpersonal relationships/image (not a good thing per se, but a possibility to consider).

To determine whether this rude behavior is in any way personal (she does it only to you or to anyone who displays academic prowess/success), you will need to speak to her. Explain to her that it makes you upset when she does "XYZ" behaviors (like loudly announcing your mistakes), and ask her why she feels the need to do this?

If she gets defensive when you say that you enjoy learning and understanding the material too and, as a friend, you should be hyping each other up, distance yourself from her. It is not personal, but you can't tell someone to prioritize their relationships over their ego – they need to make that decision for themself. If she gets embarrassed/apologetic, congrats on building a stronger friendship and helping others gain higher levels of self-awareness.

Hope this helps xx

[arandombiped]

yall help I broke off a friendship over text but I messed up big time by leaving it open-ended because now I am a jittery ball of anxiety trying not to explode

context under the cut, cw for transphobia/enbyphobia

So I’ve known this guy since we were like 7 (we’re both 17). We live down the street from each other, we had a lot of similar interests and stuff, but once I started questioning my identity and figuring things out, he was pretty resistant to me changing. When I told him I was aroace, he basically just said no, and that I just had to wait for the right guy. When I told him I was enby, I learned from my mistakes and told him over text. He never responded. He never changed what he called me.

This past Monday, I texted him this:

Hey I know it’s been a while since we brought up my pronouns, so I wanted to ask your comfort level on actually using they/them for me 

and I got no response. So today I sent:

👆genuine question, you could even just put it on a scale from 1-10

and he finally replied, saying that he was at a 1-2. I asked if there was anything I could do to raise that comfort level. He said no because it was his “personal stance on the subject.” I told him this (just gonna keep copying because this was a kinda long interaction)

well, I do hope you can see it’s a bit more than a personal preference for me. It does really get tiring to be referred to as something I’m not. I just kinda wanted to get a gauge and give you a heads up, because I’m at a point where I’m going to be correcting people when they’re using the wrong ones, including yall in the friend group. If you are at all curious about why this matters so much to me, just let me know and I’ll do my best to explain when I’m ready 

And I am being very genuine and honest here. I really did just want to see where his comfort level was, because I know that it would have a pretty big impact on me going forward. But to this he said:

From my perspective calling you they/them is calling you something you aren’t, and I did not say preference, I said stance meaning that I do not condone your decision on this matter.

chat do you know the willpower it took to not strangle a man today

I took a minute after this text to consult with the one friend of mine who I usually vent to about this guy, then spent about 30 minutes writing this in response (it’s gonna be long):

Firstly I just want to say, I hold no grudges towards you and I truly value our friendship. We have known each other since we were in the second grade, and I am very happy that we were able to be friends. But my identity is not your choice to make. My identity is not an opinion or something to joke about or something I have “chosen.” You don’t get to “condone” or “not condone,” it just IS. If you are unable to accept the reality of who I am as a person, then we are not required to continue this relationship. I will likely continue to interact with you at school and at D&D, but I will take no initiative to be around you. This part of me isn’t going away anytime soon. If you are unwilling to make space for me in your life because of your personal stance, then I am not going to wait around for you. If you are willing to reconsider your stance, then I will be willing to continue being friends with you. Either way, I wish you the best and I hope you can understand.

He hasn’t responded since. I’m not even sure if he’s read it. But now I’m dealing with the anxiety of being stuck with no response. I’m defaulting to not being friends anymore, but it’s just really rough.

[choucon]

Would you stay if I needed?

[the-bimbo-bunny]

okay y'all listen

TLDR: my friend who was the Aziraphale to my Crowley did the same thing Azi did at the end of season 2 (but worse) and it ended up only validating my kin

for almost 20 years (I'm 23) I had a best friend who ended up kinda being my Aziraphale friend. after basically our whole lives of being friends we both got really into Good Omens, they borrowed my book, we binged season 1 together, and (after it being announced years later) anxiously awaited season 2 to binge as well. after season 2 we only resonated with the characters more and it became a really comforting bit calling each other Aziraphale and Crowley (we're neurodivergent and got attached to the fictional characters, sue me) It was very wholesome and fun, and I mean hell they even threw me a Good Omens and Jimmy Buffett themed surprise party (again, neurodivergent)

like dude they even made me this cake!

then like a week later they literally did the worst thing they could've possibly done (not going into detail here) and just up and abandoned me and everyone else for something that is genuinely hopeless and they're the only one not able to see it.

so, obviously we're all heartbroken bc we lost someone who meant the world to us, but uhhhhhhh

weirdest fucking way to validate my kin but like damn okay, ig I am Crowley lmao

[quinn-totally-not-a-nerd]

My friend recently got into Kandi and she like me loves pjo so she made me these + one that says my name. I swear this world doesn't deserve her she is so sweet.

We aren't friends anymore. I suppose it's my fault but what she did, she never cared, I tried to be emphatic but she refused to here my apology. It's fine. But it's not. She called me a name I didnt like and I told her. Then she had the FUCKING AUDACITY to say I SHOULD HAVE COMMUNICATED?! HONESTLY WTF? I know I acted irrationally but she never owned up to her side. I did, I tried. Honestly with her, your feelings only matter if your on her side. I know what I did was wrong. But she didn't. And she's breaking rules now. I know now. So. F her. Also, you decided not to keep this between us. So F everyone else who thought blindly it was only me in the wrong. And when I'm immature, I'm the bad guy but not the other way?

[yourlnterlude]

yall can we be moots pls i need friends i just had to drop my two main ones because they became friends w my ex and I didn’t have a good feeling about it

please I need friends 😕

[mosquego359]

𖤐One Kiss and A Quidditch Match — Chapter 5: The First Task𖤐

Prologue (recommended to read)

Chapter 4 (previous)

Pair: Cedric Diggory x Male Slytherin Reader

Word count: 3K words

Summary of the book: You and Cedric Diggory hate each other. It has always been this way. But everything changes one night when you kiss each other at a party. Now, it seems you can’t escape each other — from being partnered up in Herbology for an important project to having to help Cedric during the Triwizard Tournament.

Summary of the chapter: You and Cedric get into an argument. The first task is a week later. A Professor (you and Cedric's number one shipper) wants to talk with you after it.

Notes: Please comment anything I should change to improve this. Also, I am not British so I am not 100% sure how to correctly write people from the UK. (I'm very sorry for the late ass update but motivation hates me)

Content warning: There is an argument and many swear words. Also, a homophobic slur.

!PLEASE DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION OR CREDITS TO ME!

...

You were going to have a blast in Herbology.

Earlier that week, Cedric Diggory had been chosen as Hogwarts champion — which, because of your incredible luck, you were convinced was going to happen — and was required to bring honour to the school by winning the Triwizard Tournament.

For the past few days, he had to miss Herbology to attend interviews and get his wand checked, leaving you alone to take care of the Snargaluff, with the occasional aid from your teacher. Needless to say, you were struggling to handle the plant independently — not that you’d admit it if asked.

And today, Diggory was going to have his first Herbology class since he was elected as the champion, and you’d been dreading finally talking to him.

You bid goodbye to your mates to work in the oh-so-isolating room you shared with Diggory. Grabbing your Herbology coat, you pushed the door open, not surprised to see your rival already dressed in his equipment.

“Missed me, (Surname)?” he raised an eyebrow with a handsome, cocky smile, tracking you with his eyes as you dressed. You realised he was referring to the visible scars the Snargaluff had imprinted on you last class and sneered at him.

“Oh yes, absolutely, it was so boring without you to bother me,” you replied sarcastically, pulling your dragonhide gloves onto your nimble fingers and making your way next to him. You dropped your act quickly, “I’m so fucking happy this is the last day I have to deal with you.”

He huffed and crossed his arms, “I could say the same.”

After a short silence, you sighed, “Congratulations.”

“On what?” Diggory said, clearly knowing what you were felicitating him on.

You stayed silent, so he took that moment to ask you, “Did you put your name in?” 

You shook your head, and he let out a breathy laugh, “Seriously? Out of anyone, I would’ve expected you to try and find some sneaky way to be a champion. Wow. Were you that confident that I wasn’t going to be chosen?” He mocked.

“No. I’m just too young to participate.” You gritted your teeth, “Where’s Professor Sprout, she’s supposed to tell us how to finally kill this thing.”

“Are you seriously gonna change the subject? Are you embarrassed, (Surname)? Because I can guarantee even if you had put your name in, mine would have still popped out.” Diggory said presumptuously, a bit angry that you were suppressing your emotion, “I mean, just look at the wounds on your arms you got without me.”

That was your final straw. “You know what, Diggory? Yeah, sure. I can’t deal with this plant alone. You know why? Because I’m not fucking supposed to! The fact that I am able to stand my own against this Snargaluff without being sent to the infirmary proves my capability as a wizard.” 

Curious students had started trickling into your room, murmuring about you and Cedric’s argument. What was going on? Who was going to win? 

Diggory opened his mouth to retaliate, but you cut him off before he made a sound, “And if you want to argue that you’re so much more powerful than me, just look how you are in Quidditch. You think you’re a good flyer? Well, I’m better and I’ll bet I can beat you any fucking time of the week-”

“THEN WHY DID YOU QUIT?”

You recoiled at the volume of his voice. His face was red in anger and you could tell by the murmurs, whispers and gasps of the students that no one had seen him like this before.

It took you a moment to respond, for you hadn’t heard him raise his voice that loud before, either. You usually ended up punching him before he could.

But now, you were in class and a crowd of students were waiting for you to retaliate. They wanted answers to why you, the Slytherin’s star Quidditch player, quit just before you could ascend to the title of captain.

“Excuse me, pardon me, Miss Hilton.”

You turned your head when Professor Sprout squeezed through your classmates to get between you and Diggory. She ushered the other students out and once the door closed, she turned to the two of you.

“Now, what is the meaning of this?”

Both you and Diggory stood silently. The latter’s head hung in shame of not being capable of controlling his emotions. You knew him as a regularly calm individual, so you understood his disappointment in himself, but still feeling upset towards him, you couldn’t empathise.

Professor Sprout frowned at your soundless states before sighing, “You lads must be so stressed. How about you use this as a free block, I’ll handle the Snargaluff.”

Diggory’s head popped back up, “Won’t you get hurt?”

She chuckled, “I’ll be fine. Now go to the library or help out your classmates. If anyone asks, tell them I allowed it.”

You didn’t hesitate, walking into the room where everyone else was working, eager to escape Diggory’s presence, only to be met with every one of your peers eyeballing you as soon as the door opened.

You quickly shuffled next to your nearest friend — who just so happened to be Winnie. Around a week ago, she and Elsie had switched partners since she spoke better sign language than Winnie, who partnered up with Mary Rivers — the mute girl that you met going to the party.

“(Name)!” she hissed a bit too loud for your liking, “What happened in there? Are you in trouble? Where’s Diggory?” She grabbed your shoulders and shook you dramatically.

You nod towards the room you were in just before, “He’s still in there and no need to worry — nothing happened. Professor Sprout just told us we could take a break from working to help you out. She’ll take care of our plant for us.”

“Well in that case,” Elsie chimed in, “could you help us with our plant?” She gestured to where Mary was standing, carefully tending to some bite marks on her bleeding fingers. You rushed over and when you spotted the red rimming their Snargaluff’s maw, you realised what had caused those marks.

“You okay?” Mary nodded to your question, “Do you wanna sit out for a while and let Elsie and I take care of it?” She shook her head.

Elsie appeared behind you, leaning her head on your shoulder, “Hm, at the very least you should bandage up those wounds.” 

You noticed Mary silently sigh and walk over to where the Herbology med kit lay. It wasn’t uncommon that a student hurt themselves during a lesson — you dealt with poisonous and hostile plants constantly, especially in the later Years.

Compared to your larger, more vicious Snargaluff, Elsie’s and Mary’s was relatively easy to put down. 

Looking around the room, you noticed a few students struggling to get a hold of their plants, and only two other groups had finished; the first being Brian and Alistair and the second being a couple of Cedric Diggory’s friends with him standing between the two of them, carefully handling the fallen Snargaluff with a charming smile as if you hadn’t even fought.

“So,” Elsie said beside you, laying the Snargaluff down to not rip it, “Why did you quit Quidditch?”

“Didn’t I already tell you?” 

“No. But you told Winnie. And made up an excuse for Alistair — whom I still don’t forgive,” she added. “Listen, (Name), if it’s a touchy subject, I get it and you don’t have to say anything, but I really thought you trusted me more than that.”

You felt the back of your neck grow warm and pressed a cold hand on it to cool it down, “It’s not that… I just feel like my reason’s a stupid one.”

Elsie rolled her eyes, “Don’t treat me like Alistair. I’m not that judgemental.”

You took a deep breath. Apart from Winnie, you’d have to say you had the best relationship with Elsie. She knew most of the things that you told Winnie, but lately, you’d been keeping things from her, mainly about Cedric and the kiss.

“Well, I guess it was just something I couldn’t handle. All the stress and pressure to succeed. I already have that with my studies; I don’t need it in an activity I’ll never play again after graduation.” You looked away, “Quidditch won’t get me anywhere. That’s why I quit.”

Elsie was quiet for a moment, as conversations between the other students filled the silence, “I promise I won’t tell Alistair. Or Diggory.”

“Alrighty tighty!” Ziggy hooted, walking backwards towards where the first Triwizard Tournament task was to be, “Ladies and motherfucking gentlemen, are you ready to see our two champions, Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory, absolutely crush their opponents and winning the first challenge??”

Roman chuckled and shook his head in embarrassment, bringing his Slytherin scarf higher up his face. Alistair huffed, a clear expression of annoyance etched on his features.

Ziggy, noticing this, slowed his pace to match his friends, “What’s wrong, my man? You still pissed at not getting in?”

“Ha! As if,” Alistair snorted, puffing his burgundy hair out of his handsome face, “Diggory just pisses me off.”

“Oh don’t tell me you’re still mad at how he treated (Name) in Herbology,” Ramona Armstrong— Ziggy’s twin and Elsie’s roommate — jumped into the conversation, pushing the two boys apart, “It’s been forever ago, get over it. And it’s not even your battle.”

Earlier that day, at lunchtime, Ramona, Mary and Avery Hilton — the third member of their group — approached you and the rest of your gang, asking if they could tag along to sit alongside you during the games. You assumed this was because you were friends with their roommates, but you found them friendly enough, so everyone nodded in agreement to their proposal.

So there you were. A ten-person group loudly chatting as they approached the Triwizard Tournament’s arena somewhere in the forbidden forest.

Despite the rumours, the forest was calm and beautiful, so much so that you challenged the idea of it being dangerous. However, reminding yourself of what your parents told you about not judging things by their appearance, snapped you back into reality. This was a treacherous place. Danger lied in every bush. You had to be careful but admitted that the gnarly trees and whispering leaves felt less menacing with the teachers up ahead.

“I’m so friggin’ excited! Tina’s already waiting for us!” Winnie said, eagerly skipping alongside Elsie and yourself. Her curly hair was tied up in high pigtails, occasionally, brushing across your arms.

“Who’s Tina?” You asked.

“Um, Destiny, obviously,” Winnie said as if it were obvious, but seeing both yours and Elsie’s confused expression, she finally explained, “Destiny. Tina. Tiny. Tina. Get it?”

You and Elsie shared a look and the latter sighed, “Please just stick with Destiny.”

Winnie pouted but eventually got over it in a matter of seconds.

“(Name)!” Ziggy called for you, rushing to grab your bicep and dragging you to his conversation, “We can both agree that Potter’s not gonna fuck this up, right?”

“Oh please, Ziggs,” Ramona huffed, brushing her spiky red hair out of her face, “He’s just a kid. Sure, he’s “the Boy Who Lived” but dumb luck can only get him so far in life. Just admit it.”

“I agree with her,” Roman chimed in.

“I don’t care,” replied Ziggy sarcastically, before turning to you, “What about you, (Name)? What do you think?”

“Uh,” you hesitated. 

Luckily, Winnie pulled your arm, grabbing your attention, “Look! Look! There it is!”

You turned your head to where she was pointing and made out a stone wall in between the masses and masses of trees surrounding you. The professors near the front vanished into a relatively large entrance.

You and your group passed the archway, a few of them (notably Winnie) craning their neck to get a good look at the fancy architecture and carvings engraved on the walls. 

Since you were one of the first groups, you got to choose your seats first — which turned out to be somewhere in the middle-lower rows where you were facing smaller entrances — presumably where the champions would enter from. The arena was a large dome with thousands of seats for the three school’s students. Your keen eyes noticed the floor was actually a trap door and you wondered about the first challenge.

“Winnie! Elsie!” 

You turned to see Destiny White navigating the crowd settling in and embraced both girls in a warm hug. You noticed out of the corner of your eye Alistair shifting uncomfortably in his seat next to Brian.

Despite your support for the three girls’ growing friendship, you did feel rather uncomfortable with the tension between them and Alistair. You feared your friend group was splitting apart and dreaded being stuck in the middle of the confict.

As the rest of the three schools gathered into the humongous arena, you and Brian chatted and continued to do so even as Dumbledore gave his speech — not unlike most students. 

Similar to the majority of Slytherins, you held a certain disdain for the man. His obvious favouritism towards Gryffindor irritated you and his contempt towards Slytherin fueled the fire in your heart to win every year’s House Cup just to spite him and his efforts to prevent that from happening.

One by one, the Triwizard Tournament Champions were called to enter the arena. 

First was the man you dreaded seeing (despite his attractiveness): Cedric Diggory. Most Students hooted and cheered for the handsome contender, but you sulked in your seat — a mild reaction compared to Alistair full-on jumping out of his chair to boo and yell something a blast-ended skrewt and Diggory’s genitalia, but Brian quickly pulled him down to quiet him, scarred face flushed with second-hand embarrassment.

As Alistair seethed in his seat, you wondered why he took things so much more personally than you did with problems that weren’t his own.

For the next fifteen minutes, the crowd gasped, cheered and wailed at Cedric’s every mishap and close encounter with the dragon as he briskly evaded the beast’s attacks. He had transfigured a rock on the ground to be a dog and sent it out as a distraction — a smart move, you admitted to yourself quietly. However, the dragon changed its mind halfway about who to chase and Diggory had to run and dodge its attacks.

He got the egg with a couple of burns on his limbs — which caused him a few points in the grand total.

Next up was the gorgeous contender Fleur Delacour who caused over half of the students to cheer and hoot and whistle — you swore even a few of your friends joined in. 

The fierce Quidditch star Viktor Krum went before the final competitor Harry Potter. 

Overall, Krum and Potter were tied first while Diggory was second, meaning Delacour was placed last. On the way out of the arena, you and your friends — especially Alistair and Elsie — agreed that she should have scored higher since her spell was effective and the only problem was when her skirt caught fire. You theorised that the judges weren’t entertained enough by her performance and Ramona blamed it on sexism.

Your group chatted with one another, and, being one of the last students out of the gigantic stadium, you happened to leave at the same time as Fleur Delacour.

Her cheeks were red from crying and you noted that she was holding back tears. Her hair was a mess, strands sticking out from her once beautiful ponytail and spit flew from her mouth as she wallowed to Madame Maxime in rapid french.

“Damn,” muttered Alistair, who was walking next to you, “Even crying, she’s hot.”

You gave him a disgusted look, “What the fuck, Alistair?”

“What?” he asked.

“That’s so rude!” You scolded, “She’s bawling her eyes out because she lost a competition that is clearly important to her in front of our entire school alongside her peers and those at Durmstrang, and the only thing you can think about is whether or not she looks good or not while doing it?”

Alistair stared at you, dumbfounded. “Relax, weirdo, it’s just a harmless comment.”

“Harmless-?”

“Geez, you’re so sensitive. Why are you acting like one of those fags?”

Your mouth hung wide open at his words, and before you could retort, Elsie jumped in with rapid-fire insults. 

You deeply inhaled and walked ahead, past the rest of your friends staring at the argument. Delacour was out of sight — which was unfortunate since you wanted to compliment her on her performance — and everyone else was already inside the castle, so you walked alone, attempting to calm yourself.

Near the entrance stood Professor Sprout.

“Quite a spectacle, wasn’t it?” She smiled.

You scowled at her, the anger towards Alister being redirected towards the sweet woman, “I apologise, Professor, I’m not in the mood for a chat.” You pushed past her.

“Wait!” She grabbed your forearm.

You retained yourself from pulling away and turned to face her with a cold, dead expression and she recoiled from your sharp glare before coughing and composing herself.

“The second task!” Professor Sprout spluttered, “It has to do with an egg!”

“An egg?”

“An egg. I am aware that you enjoyed riddles and challenges and — well — as I suspect this egg contains the answer to something related to the second task, it made me think of you and your love for brain puzzles and — well—”

“Please just get to the point, Professor.” You cut her off, rubbing your forehead in annoyance, despite knowing how rude you seemed at the moment, “What do you want from me?”

Professor Sprout bristled, tentative, “I am aware that I’ve asked you to do multiple things you were uncomfortable with but I promise you, Mr. (Surname), this is the last time.”

You raised an eyebrow in confusion, “And that is.”

“Well,” she hesitated, “It has to do with a certain Cedric Diggory…”

...

Chapter 6

[v1xv4p0rub]

Anyone have any songs they recommend about hating your friend's boyfriend? I'm trying to make a playlist. Please leave recs or boost

[remithequeerdude]

hey everyone who is reading, this is a rant

Hi everyone how is it going? How has your day been so far? So about a hour ago I just got home from school. I am so annoyed. So who here had read heartstopper by alice oseman? So I was carrying the book into school when the main bully let Call him Freddy pointed at the book and yelled "Ayy yo look what remi is reading? a gay book!! That so weird bro" except he did not use "remi" he used my dead name so I said "that is not my name and so what? maybe one of the characters is gay but why does it matter to you the content of my book" I said something like that and he stormed off. I told the teacher and they spoke to him but I am so mad he knows nothing about heartstopper not one thing!!!!!!!! Now I am going to talk about something else to get this off my plate. So I have two friends that are girls right I am out as trans to both of them. One of them is really cool about it lets call her Olivia but the other one Ava (I have talked about her before the one who kept using my old pronouns my wrong pronouns well she stopped at least) So Ava and Olivia were fighting they do this everyday but they were fighting at our lunch table and they just would not stop. I forgot what they were fighting about I think its because Ava said short people cant play basketball but Olivia who is not the tallest plays basketball so they were yelling and I was kinda like don't-drag-me-into-this-but-if-push-comes-to-shove-i-am-siding-with -Olivia yeah I had that kinda vibe as I tried to make them stop. Because I am always the peacemaker. Then Ava said"why are you even friends with us aren't you just a cross-dressing girl we want a girl who knows she is a girl" Ava said and I am/was so mad I was like okay this is the end of our friendship I am going to find new and better people so screw you! I said something or the sort so Olivia sent me a i-am-so-sorry-that-was-unfair-i-will-avenge-your-honer -see-you-in-a-sec if a look can say all of that but then I had no where to sit then my neighbor and friend likes call him John waved me over so on the plus side I had friends. on the bad side a "friend" I had known for years was a backstabbing traitor face. But this made me feel so much better thank you for reading it means a lot!!!

-Remi

[taurusicidal]

some people in my circle have been testing me lately and it’s ruining my patience. sorry if i haven’t been active here.

i’m just trying to protect my peace and everyone else.

[femmefatalevibe]

Hi femme! I was wondering if you could do something about not talking shit and staying out of drama? Tysmmm I love what you do and you're so amazing <33

Hi love! Thank you so much! This comment made me smile from ear to ear <333

I would say there are a few easy motivators to opt out of gossiping/stay out of drama:

Staying silent in the realm of gossip/drama/people talking shit saves your reputation by default. Opting out of drama is one of the best PR campaigns you can implement for yourself. This strength allows you to pursue/strengthen opportunities, connections, and relationships with those who succumb to this low-brow energy and no longer have access due to their desire for instant gratification

Remember that any energy and time spent investing in drama/gossip correlates to less energy/time you can spend working on yourself, your goals, and the things you enjoy. With this in mind, involving yourself in gossip sounds like a lose-lose situation to me

Staying out of negativity will almost certainly lead you to be a more positive person by default. Like attracts like at the end of the day. Don't let other people's drama, hangups, or issues get you down. You deserve better than that

Hope this helps xx

[evilynapple]

it’s time for realizing that sometimes i just gotta suffer through drama even if I didn’t cause it