t h i r t e e n

(A/N: This chapter is dedicated to all three of you readers still reading this because Merlin knows how close I was to giving up on writing this fanfic. Thanks for sticking around! <3) ~ 07/18/2021

"Hi Blaise, hey Daph." Maeve grinned, seeing the two coming out of the Great Hall after lunch.

"Hello." Blaise acknowledged while the blonde tackled her into a hug. 

"Where have you been?" Daphne widened her eyes at the brunette. "We've been searching everywhere ever since we came back from the train station. Theo's by the Courtyard right now." 

"I'm sorry. I got a letter the second I entered my dorm and I had to write back." she blushed, scratching the back of her neck.

"The second you came back? Who's this mystery person?" Daphne asked, giving her a suggestive glance. 

"Calm down, it's family." Maeve rolled her eyes. "But there's something I have to tell you... how about we catch up at the library this afternoon? Say, four o' clock?"

"We'll have to take a table by the back. Or else Madam Pince will have our heads." Blaise noted. 

"As if we don't always choose a table by the back." Daphne scoffed. "We'll be there." 

"Great. I have Potions with Theodore right now, so I'll tell him and Pansy-" she flinched inwardly, "-then."

The couple nodded and Maeve left them with a last wave. 

_____

"I was just looking for you-"

"By the Clocktower, I know, I know." Maeve sighed, interrupting Theodore as she hurriedly walking to her seat beside Draco, two minutes late because she had been occupied by a very playful prefect. "Meet me by the library at four this afternoon. I've told Blaise and Daphne already." 

"Kingston, you're late." Professor Snape frowned. "Again. Stay back after class. Ten points from Hufflepuff for tardiness." he grunted as the girl cowered in her seat, cursing herself.

And with that, he began with the day's lesson. 

"Who've you been snogging?" three pairs of eyes - including Maeve's - looked up at a very smug-looking Draco Malfoy. 

Maeve's lips thinned as she looked straight ahead as Snape demonstrated how to measure the ingredients. "I don't know what you're talking about, Draco."

"Oh, I think you do." he smirked. 

Maeve had had enough by that point. "So what if I did?" 

"Oh I know you did." he pointed at her tie, which was still out of place. Maeve's cheeks ran red as she quickly attempted to fix it. "I just want to know who it was."

And then Maeve did something she never thought she'd do. 

She gave the git the middle finger. 

Theodore sniggered while Draco just watched on; appalled. "You'll regret this." he muttered threateningly. "I'll make sure you regret it." 

Maeve simply rolled her eyes and attempted to focus on the rest of class. 

_____

Grudgingly, Maeve made her way to Snape's desk. He hardly acknowledged her, busy scribbling something into a very battered Potions textbook. After about five minutes of no conversation, Maeve began wondering if he even knew she was there. 

She cleared her throat discreetly. 

The Potions Professor looked up, a little annoyed. "Maeve." he noted. "What do you want?"

Did he seriously just-

"You asked me to stay back, sir." she gulped, cursing herself for staying back. If he'd forgotten, she could've escaped the oncoming lecture.

"Oh. Right." Snape nodded. "I thought you'd said you wouldn't be late for class again?"

Maeve opened her mouth to speak but Snape went on, with a wave of his hand. 

"Anyway, that's not exactly what I wanted to discuss. This is about your performance during this year's mid-terms. More specifically, Potions."

Maeve's face paled. She had spent almost every waking moment in the library ever since she'd come out to Cedric. And unlike all the previous Potions exams she'd given, she had actually put an effort into performing well. If she couldn't still get good marks, she was a lost cause. Not to mention, Julia would be terribly disappointed.

She looked down softly. Maybe Pansy had actually taken a toll on her more than just emotionally. 

"I'm sorry, professor. I tried." she looked up, wiping her watery eyes. " I really did, this time."

Professor Snape grimaced - or was that his attempt at a smile? Maeve wasn't sure. Regardless, she felt the hair on her arm rise. 

"I know you did, Maeve." he said, sliding a piece of parchment across the table. 

The Hufflepuff's eyes almost bulged out of her head as she looked at the paper and back up at the professor, wondering if he was pulling a joke - even though that was highly unlike Snape.

"A... An O?" she screeched. "Are you serious?"

"I see that Blaise's tutoring has fared well for you. You are no longer complied to be tutored by him although if that's what you want, you can communicate with him." Snape said, and Maeve figured he had been trying to smile earlier because his grimace grew wider. 

"Of course, sir." she nodded, ecstatic. 

"Also, twenty points to Hufflepuff for your hard work." he nodded.

Maeve's eyes gleamed as she looked at him. "Thank you, sir." If she could, she would have flung herself and covered him into a bear hug. But she was right to assume that he probably wouldn't welcome the gesture.

"Right. Well I don't want Professor Moody inquiring about your absence so you better be off now." he shooed her away. 

Like a puppy on a high, she ran through the halls. She couldn't wait for that evening - when she would write to Julia about her improvement in Potions. 

_____

"So... you're gay?" Daphne blinked, her face blank. 

"You got an O in Potions?" Blaise asked, his jaw dropping slightly.

Maeve nodded. 

"Oh shut up." Daphne smacked the back of her friend's head. "We're discussing more important topics here." 

Blaise said nothing except lightly smacking her back.

"That's great!" Theodore leapt out of his seat and hugged the girl, which took her quite by surprise. After all, a Slytherin acting so affectionate was a rare sight. "Thank you for telling us, May."

"Congratulations, Maeve." Blaise smiled too, nodding in approval. 

Daphne shook her head in agreement. "Wow. I've only met a few other wizards who aren't straight." she explained before her eyes shot up with a very Daphne-like thought. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Maeve almost choked on her own saliva. "I uh - not exactly." she blushed, scratching the back of her neck. "It's complicated."

"Is that who you were snogging before Potions?" Theodore asked curiously and Maeve's cheeks blushing a deeper red were proof enough that the answer to that question was yes. 

"Look at you, having a rendezvous lover and everything." Daphne teased, nudging Maeve who was now covering her face in embarrassment. 

"Maeve, don't take this the wrong way..." Blaise said and the brunette peeked out from behind her hands. "I'm very grateful that you chose to tell us this. But wouldn't it have been better if you'd told Pansy along with us?" 

"I um- Pansy already knows." Maeve explained. 

"Is that why she's been dodging any topic about you ever since the Ball?" Daphne gasped. "She's never been good at keeping secrets that aren't her own."

"I guess you could say that." Maeve smiled nervously. 

"How about we all go to Hogsmeade and celebrate?" Theodore asked, slinging each of his arms around Maeve and Blaise. 

"Celebrate what?" Maeve laughed. 

"You of course!" the Slytherin rolled his eyes. "This could be your official coming-out party. Just the five of us." 

"Uh -" Maeve hesitated, knowing Pansy would have no choice but to join them. "Let's see about that later. The second task is in two weeks and Cedric needs all the help he can get." 

"Sure." Blaise grinned. "We'll see you later, Maeve?" 

"You will." she promised, waving to them before walking out of the library. 

_____

Three months. Three months had passed and Maeve was nowhere close to getting over Pansy. The girl was everywhere she went - some classes, the Great Hall during meals, and the frog choir. Pansy made it a point to leave as soon as Professor Flitwick had dismissed them from choir and Maeve made it her duty to be the last person to leave - that way, they would never cross paths. Of course, there were still Maeve's study sessions with the Slytherins but Pansy rarely attended them. And when she did, she made sure she came late enough so that everyone would have already started without her. Then she'd leave at the earliest possible second. 

Before she knew it, just like everyone else in the castle, Maeve anticipated the third task that was then just a day away. Her hands were jittery despite the perfect spring weather. She was so nervous, one would think she was the one performing the task.

"You'll do great, Ced." she grinned, fixing his Triwizard shirt that day, just before she was supposed to go join the rest of the choir for the pre-task performance. "Go win this thing." 

"Thank you, May." he tall boy hugged her. "I will." 

Maeve nodded as she heard the sound of the other trumpeters  practicing their notes. "I guess it's time for me to go now. I'll see you soon. I love you, Ced." she gave him a tight squeeze.

"I love you too, May." Cedric laughed as she broke away. And with a single wave, the girl rushed out of the Champions Tent and headed for the rest of the choir. 

Maeve groaned, stretching back in her seat as she turned to Susan. "It's almost night. How much longer is it going to take?"

Susan laughed. "Calm down Maevie. Cedric will win. I'm sure of it. There's only him and Harry left." 

Maeve nodded, putting  her hands, on the trumpet, ready to play any second just as she had for the previous part of that day. 

Pop.

"Now!" Professor Flitwick signaled and Maeve started playing, her happiness reaching the brim when she saw Harry appear with Cedric.

And then she noticed Cedric wasn't moving. 

And that Harry was crying.

She put her trumpet down as the rest of the crowd went to congratulate the winners. "Um- Susan?" she whispered, not being able to look away from a frozen Cedric.

"What're you doing?" her friend hissed, "You're supposed to be playing."

"Susan." Maeve said more firmly, chills running down her spine. "Cedric. He isn't moving. Why isn't he moving?"

That's when Fleur Delacour screamed. 

And Maeve just knew. 

She sat down numbly, her brain going point blank as the crowd stopped cheering and the band stopped playing. 

It all happened in slow motion. 

Professor Dumbledore tried to yank an unwilling Harry away from Cedric. Harry, yelling through his lungs that the Dark Lord was back. And then she heard Cornelius Fudge whisper to the Headmaster. 

"Keep everybody in their seats. A boy's just been killed."

Maeve gasped as she watched Mr Diggory cry over his son. She tried to yank her way through the crowd but a pair of hands held her back. It was Professor Sprout. 

"I know, I know." her Head of House hushed in her ear as she hugged Maeve, "Let it out, Maeve." 

The crying didn't stop. Maeve was crying in the professors arms and passed out. When she came to, she was in a hospital bed. Then she cried some more. Days passed, and Maeve still couldn't move. She refused to eat, or sleep. All she could think of was the fact that Cedric was dead. 

But the thing that kept haunting her dreams was the look in his eyes. The wide open eyes - no longer full of friendliness and warmth. They only held pain.

She received letters. And visitors. Clint had sent over a plane ticket from London to New York for after the year was over, and Maeve still wasn't sure whether she wanted to leave for the break. She wasn't sure if she wanted to leave Hogwarts. 

Two weeks later, she had no choice except to leave the Hospital Wing and focus on her classes. The final exams were near. Hardly anyone spoke to her except Daphne, Theodore, Susan and Zach.

She was in the Great Hall when she finally burst. Harry had tried to come over and talk to her about Cedric. And that's when she had finally snapped.

"You know what I'm going through?" Maeve laughed - although there was no humour in her voice. "Shut the fuck up, Harry." she grit her teeth at the boy, attracting the attention of a few students trying to eat their lunch. "You knew him for hardly a year. I've known him since I was three. So no, you don't know what I'm going through you self-entitled Gryffindor." she yelled, "You think that just because you're the Chosen One you get to let people die for you?"

"May, calm-" 

Susan was cut off by the girl. 

"You know it, and I know it. He died trying to save you. And you have the audacity to come up to me and say that you know what I'm fucking going through?" she chuckled bitterly. "Fuck this. Fuck you, Harry Potter." she shoved the hurt boy and stalked past him, hardly noticing that the entire room had gone silent. 

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