Chapter 13

Cedric crept up the stairs to the astronomy tower, peering into the top where Sage was already sitting on the balcony. "Cedric?" She turned around, and he nodded.

"What do you want to talk about?" He sat down beside her, their feet dangling over the edge of the balcony. "Same thing as Breakfast." She shrugged. "Have I been annoying you, or is it the studying?" She asked him again.

"I'm not annoyed." He shook his head. "Ced, you always look mad, or upset. If you're angry with me, I want to fix it." She pouted. "I'm not angry at you." He rested his chin on the metal barrier, and Sage picked up the slight emphasis on the word 'you.'

"So you're angry with someone else?" She frowned, before it hit her. "You're angry at Harper." She sighed. She knew what the problem was now, but just didn't know why it was a problem. "Because we keep spending time together?"

Cedric nodded.

"You're jealous?"

Cedric hesitated for a moment, before nodding again. "Why?" Her tone was soft and kind, hoping she could get it out of him faster if she was nice about it, not annoyed. "I have no right to be." He shrugged.

"You have every right to your emotions." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tell me." She smiled assuringly, and Cedric felt safe. "I'm just being sensitive." He shrugged. "I guess it feels the same as when you two were dancing together at the Ravenclaw party, and that whole fight."

"Ced, I don't like Harper." She linked their ankles together, watching them as they swung back and forth over the edge of the tower. "Harper likes you." Cedric whispered. "How do you know?" she kept her eyes on their ankles.

"I can just tell." He shrugged. "It wouldn't matter anyway." She sighed, resting her head on the barrier. "Don't be mad at Harper. He's not trying to upset you." She lifted her head, resting it on his shoulder as he wrapped one arm around her waist. 

"I'm sorry." He exhaled. "Don't be." She smiled. "I'm glad you worry about our friendship." She closed her eyes, not seeing how Cedric physically cringed at the word. "Yeah." He swallowed. "I got an owl from Amos this afternoon, I forgot to tell you." She told him.

"I know. You're coming to Italy with us for the Summer." He smiled. "Just two weeks." She frowned. "But I am grateful!" She defended after Cedric scoffed at her. "He wants to distract me." Cedric frowned, and Sage knew he was talking about his mothers death.

"I'm going to get an Outstanding O.W.L in muggle studies. I just wish she could see it." He smiled sadly, his mother taught muggle studies at an overseas Wizarding school. "She will." Said Sage. "She'll see." She pointed up at the sky. 

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"Why do you think it took so long for her to approach you about it?" Harper interrupted. "Maybe she thought i'd try to fix it first." Cedric shrugged. Cho Chang had attempted to fix her and Cedric's friendship earlier that day. 

"Are we going to that Gryffindor party tomorrow?" Said Jill.

"I don't know.." Sage glanced nervously in between Cedric and Harper. She had neglected going to every common room party since her first one, bad memories. "Oh, come on Sage." Harper laughed. "Hakuna Matata." Jill giggled.

"Hakuna Ma-What." Sage frowned. "It means no worries... Haven't any of your watched the Lion King?" She frowned. "Anyway, you can't live in fear forever." Jill urged her friend. "As long as there's no repeats of last time, you'll be fine." She advised Sage.

"Why not." Sage shrugged. "I won't drink any alcohol this time.. I didn't think any parties would be on. The O.W.L's are next week." Sage furrowed her brows. "They need someway to let loose a little bit." Harper shrugged. 

"It'll probably be crazier than the last one because of the O.W.L's, and the fact that they're Gryffindors." Cedric grinned. "It'll be fun."

"Right- Well, we have Ancient Runes to get back to." Sage slid her textbook into the middle of the group. "I don't get it." She pointed to one of the paragraphs, and Jill began to explain it to her. "Why on earth I chose Ancient Runes? I do not know. I am so terrible at it." Sage groaned. 

"I'm going to fail." She rested her face on the desk. "I don't get any of it."

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"Outstanding in Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration.. Exceeds Expectation in Charms and Potions. Acceptable in Astronomy, Poor in History of Magic, and this ones a shocker, Troll in Ancient Runes. Who would've guessed." Sage read her O.W.L results aloud. 

"That's seven O.W.L's. That's still incredible, I only got five." Olive complained. "Rowan got all of them!" She defended. "He got nine O.W.L's. How is that even possible?"

"I got an Outstanding in Ancient Runes." Harper boasted. "I told you i'm a genius." He continued, as Sage peered over at Cedric's score. "Outstanding in Muggle studies.. Good job, Ced!" She beamed.

"I'm so relieved." He sighed happily as Sage pulled him into a hug. "I hope she's proud." He whispered into her hair. "She is." Sage whispered back. "Okay, now I think it's time we decide who won the bet, it's the end of Fifth Year." Rowan spoke up.

"What bet?" Cedric frowned. "Over who our DADA professor would be." Harper reminded them. "I think it was Jill." Rowan shrugged. "He kind of was a nobody they just pulled of the street." 

"I agree." They all nodded. "Yes! One hundred Galleons, suck on that Harper." Jill poked her tongue out at Harper as everyone handed her twenty Galleons each. "I'm rich." She gushed over the abundance of money she had obtained. 

"We need to go to Diagon Alley immediately." She nodded, getting up off the couch. "I'll go ask mother to take us to London." She told them. "We aren't going to London." Olive laughed. "We can go shopping at the beginning of Sixth Year, don't go bothering your poor mother."

"Has she ever been in Diagon Alley, she's a Muggle?" Cedric frowned. "Only when taking me to Gringotts or School."Jill shrugged. "She likes it there, she says it's very lively and people don't come up to you in the street to advertise their products. Like they do at Muggle shops."

"Hey, can we make another bet over who our next DADA Professor will be? We can make it a tradtion." Jill grinned. "Alright, I'm betting it'll be a magical creature." Rowan was the first to place his bet. "Like how Lupin was a Werewolf."

"I think it'll be a boy." Harper grinned. "Harper that doesn't count. You have to be super specific." Olive frowned. 'Fine. I reckon they'll be an ex-teacher." He groaned. "I think our Professor will be a Muggle." Jill boasted. "How does that work- Nevermind." Harper laughed, at least this way one of them was ruled out.

"I think we'll get someone who works at the Ministry." Olive said matter-of-factly. "I think we'll get an ex-prisoner." Sage grinned. "Like Sirius Black." She nodded. "I'm still betting that they'll be a Quidditch Player." Cedric shrugged. 

"Twenty Galleons again?" Jill asked. "Twenty Galleons. This time I'm winning." Harper nodded. "There's no way I won't." He rested his hands behind his head, coolly.

"Cedric and I should probably go, we have to pack for Italy." Sage got up off the couch, pulling Cedric with her. "See you at Kings Cross." They all waved Cedric and Sage goodbye, as they left the house and flew away on their brooms.

"Tell Amos I'll be over at 10am." Sage told Cedric, before heading into her own house, and packing her suitcase. 

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"And then we'll be home for two days before the Quidditch World Cup." Amos beamed as they dragged their suitcases into the small house they'd be staying in for the next couple of days. It was an old home with stone walls and ivy crawling up the outside, quite pleasant looking.

"The house is lovely, Amos." Sage beamed, admiring it's inside as they found their way to their rooms, Cedric's across from hers. "I'm thinking of relaxing on the first day, but the market opens in about an hour if you two want to go and explore." Said Amos.

"Can we go to the market, Cedric?" Sage pleaded, and Cedric agreed. 

Sage's room was quite small, but she adored it. It had a single window, with transparent curtains. The view from her window overlooked the Venice canals, where boats were gliding across the water. 

"Your room looks exactly like mine." Cedric smiled from the doorway. "Mines got a view of the canals, your view is of the street." She grinned. "Shall we go?" Sage began putting her shoes back on. "It doesn't open for another hour." Cedric frowned. "I want to look around."

"We should take a boat on the Canal sometime." Sage told Cedric as they wandered the streets of Venice. The air was humid and warm, but a cool gust of wind blew through the narrow street, keeping them comfortable. 

"How do you suppose they get in there?" Sage giggled, pointing across the canal, where a door sat directly above the water, with no step to protect you from falling, they soon found quite a few doors like this, and turned it into a game. Two Galleons to whoever could spot the most by the end of the outing.

"Nine." Sage pointed ahead, where another door sat above the water. "Look." Cedric pointed a little further along, where Rialto Bridge had come into view. "Oh, wow." Sage beamed. "Can we cross it?" 

They crossed the large bridge, peeking through the archways in it's side, overlooking the water. It was quite a pretty bridge, and Sage was excited to cross it again on their way back. "The boats cross under it." Sage leaned over the edge, and Cedric pushed slowly on her back, pretending that he was going to push her off. 

"You scared the living shit out of me." She hit him on the chest, and he grabbed her wrists, laughing at her attempts to fight him. "You're cruel, Cedric." She frowned, and Cedric released her. "I hope you fall in." She huffed as they continued walking.

"I think the markets will be open by now, should we go?" Cedric checked his watch, and they crossed back over the bridge, making their way to the markets. "It's busy." Sage glanced nervously around the market place as large crowds of people blocked most of the stalls. 

"Don't get lost." Cedric took hold of Sage's hand, guiding her over to the fresh food. "Father said to buy some groceries while we're here, he gave me twenty Euros." Cedric told her.

"We should get some nice fruits." Sage picked up a pomegranate, and Cedric plucked it out of her hands, dropping it into the basket. "I've never had a Pomegranate." She told him. "I'll show you how to get the seeds out when we get back." He smiled at her and Sage suddenly felt lighter than she usually did.

"That one smells bad." Sage pointed at a spiky fruit nearby, pinching her nose. "That's a Durian. Apparently in some hotels in Asia they're banned because they smell so bad." He grinned. "Want to try one?" He raised his eyebrows and she shook her head aggressively.

"We should buy pasta, Italy would have the best pasta's." Sage gasped, pulling Cedric to the checkout so they could go and find a pasta stall. "What kind of Pasta?" Cedric asked her as they found one.

"Ravioli." She nodded. "You don't go to the country of pasta and get Ravioli." Cedric laughed, but Sage wanted Ravioli, so they got it. "Amos likes Ravioli too." She pouted. "Oh, look! Gelato." She pulled Cedric over to an Gelato stand. 

"Pistacchio, per favore(Pistachio, please)" She smiled at the man. "Bella ragazza. Molto fortunato(Beautiful girl. Very lucky)." The man handed them their ice cream, smiling approvingly at Cedric, who flushed pink. "Grazie..?" He smiled back.

"What did the man say?" Sage asked Cedric when they were out of earshot, Sage's Italian was not as good as Cedric's. "He said you were beautiful." Cedric laughed. "Oh." She smiled. "I didn't thank him." 

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"And then you put it in the water, and gently pull the seeds out." Cedric submerged a quarter of the Pomegranate in a bowl of water, pushing the seeds out, which floated to the bottom. "Here." He stepped back, allowing Sage a turn.

"Not like that." he laughed. "You'll crush them." He put his hands back in the water, taking hold of hers and showing her how to de-seed the Pomegranate. Sage turned away slightly, hiding her reddened face. "There." He smiled, releasing her hands as she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in. 

"Did you want to take a boat on the canals in a little bit?" Amos knocked on the doorframe. "Sure, it's a little late though." Said Cedric. "We can finish it later." They left the pomegranate in the water, then left for the Canals.

"Ooh, we get one of those rowers." Sage giggled as they stepped into the Canal boat, a tall man with a paddle standing at the back. Amos and the man spoke in Italian for a couple of minutes, before the man began to move the boat down the canal. 

Sage peered over the edge of the boat, admiring the water which rushed past, whilst Cedric admired her, secretly. Sage was careful not to lean too far over, out of fear Cedric would push her again.

"Do you think there are fish in there." She kept her eyes on the water. "There are." Amos answered. "You can't see them this late, it's too dark." It was about 9pm in Italy. "Do people go fishing in the Canals?"

"I've never seen anyone fish, I assume it'd be illegal, seeing as there's so many boats and it can get very narrow." Amos assumed. "I hear there are sharks in the canals." Cedric whispered to Sage as Amos began a conversation with the Italian rower. 

"I don't believe you." She scoffed. "There are. Really big ones, too." He grinned. "And don't tell the Muggles, but there are Grindylow as well." He grabbed her waist and she shrieked at the sudden movement, fearing it to be a Grindylow. 

"Cedric! You're going to annoy the man." She send an apologetic look to the Rower at the back of the boat, who smiled kindly at her. "You thought I was a Grindylow." He laughed and she hit him in the arm. "You're so annoying."

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