Disclaimer: Harry Potter stuff's not mine. Mine are mine though.

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Chapter 21: Late Night Dancing and Half Naked Teenagers

"Will you hurry up already? I don't know how much more of this I can take…" Heather said, breathless and squirming.

Cedric smirked. "Oh, anxious are we?"

"Cedric," She whined. She rarely used his first name, Cedric knew she was serious.

"Just stick it in already." She half begged, half demanded. He smiled wolfishly at her. "Say please first." He commanded.

"Cedric!" She pleaded.

"Say it." He said again, laughing at her.
"Please!" She shouted. "Now will you put the bloody leg in the socket already you prat! I don't know how much longer I can hold this stupid tin can upright!" She snapped, struggling to keep the heavy suit of armor from topping over. Cedric laughed and screwed the leg into the armor. "Its in." he said when he heard the small click of the metal attaching itself back to the rest of the armor. "Oh thank Merlin." Heather said, sliding to the floor in exhaustion. "I didn't know how much longer I could have held that thing…" She said.
"Well, you wouldn't have had to hold it at all if you hadn't been using magic in the corridors." Cedric said, brushing his hands off and standing up. "Oh do shut up." She snapped irritably. "Malfoy was asking for it. Poor Hermione, I hope her teeth are back to normal…" She mused. Cedric nodded and helped her up. "Come on, we still have loads more to do." She groaned, but accepted his hand up, something she never would have done a few months prior.

"No more…" She begged. "It really wasn't my fault; I meant to hit Malfoy and his goons, not the suits of armor." She protested.

"I'm not blaming you, but you did manage to get yourself caught, hence the detention." He said pointedly.

"But it's talking so long… And these bugger's are heavy! It would go so much faster if we could just magic them back together…" Heather said, casting Cedric a pointed look. He smiled and shook his head. "I can't give you your wand back, Filch would know if you used magic to put them back together."

"Yes, but if you used magic to put them back together no one would be the wiser. Then you wouldn't have to baby sit me in detention and we could duck out early."

"Why should I?" he asked, laughing. He rather enjoyed watching and 'helping' her in detention.

"I would be forever in your debt good sir." She said, bowing low.

"Alright, alright." Cedric said. "Enough of the theatrics, but you owe me. I'm breaking the rules to do this you know." He said, raising his wand.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, whatever." She said in a hurry, she didn't want a teacher to come be and catch them. "Just hurry up so we can go to dinner, I'm starved." She was eager to get down to the great hall; she could smell all the delicious food wafting down the hall.

With a flick of his wrist and the magic words Cedric had righted all of the over turned suits of armor in the hall. "Thanks." She said relieved she wouldn't have to put together the other remaining sits of armor, seven in total. After the two she'd already done she was already sore. She bent down stiffly and grabbed her bag. "Let's go, I'm famished." She said, gingerly standing upright.

"Is that all you ever think about? Food?" He asked, following her to the great hall. She whirled around to face him. "How dare you!" She said, outrage taking over her previously pleasant face. Cedric gulped. He'd just broken rule number one of girls. Never call them fat, or something along those lines.

"I think about quiditch just an equal amount thank you very much." She said in a clipped tone and resumed her way, immensely enjoying the look of terror on the Hufflepuff's face.

When they reached the great hall the pair split off to join their respective tables. Heather sank down into the seat across from Ryan and sighed blissfully as she reached for the shepherd's pie. "Come to me, my one true love." She said, serving herself a large portion.

"So, where were you?" Ryan asked, taking a dainty bite of mashed sweet potatoes.
"Detention." Heather answered, reaching over for the dinner rolls. "Oi, Fred! Pass the pumpkin juice!"

Ryan shook her head. "Detention again? Honestly…." Heather just rolled her eyes and settled in for another lecture from her best gal pal, which in her opinion was worse than the detention itself. Ryan took a deep breath ready to launch into her lecture, when she looked across the hall and noticed Cedric watching Heather, amusement apparent on his handsome face as he watched her dig in to her dinner with enthusiasm. The wind of self-righteousness that had been fueling her sails instantly fell flat as her thoughts took on a new direction.

"You came in with Diggory." She commented.
Heather bristled the tiniest bit. "He was my detention babysitter; I had to fix all the suits of armor I accidentally knocked down." She said defensively. "So… How come you're done so soon?" Ryan asked, feigning disinterest. "Diggory… Might have helped a bit." Heather admitted, suddenly very interested in finding the butter. "He helped you? He could get into trouble for doing that!" Ryan hissed between her teeth. "Will you please pipe down," Heather hissed back. "It's not like I forced him. I was without a wand, remember?" She added, not meeting Ryan's gaze. Ryan was puzzled, she watched her friend eat before realization dawned on her.
"You did it again didn't you?" Ryan asked incredulously.

"Did what?"

"You've found yourself in another I. O. U. haven't you?"

"So?" Heather snapped irritably.

"So, the Heather that I know wouldn't be so foolish as to wind up in such a predicament for the... What is this? The third time?" Ryan ranted. "No, the Heather I know is clever enough to avoid a predicament such as this after the first go 'round." Heather ignored her friend and served herself a second helping of shepherd's pie. Ryan's eyes sparkled wickedly. "You're intrigued aren't you?" Ryan accused. Heather choked on her pumpkin juice. When she had some of her composure back she glared at Ryan. "I," she said through her teeth. "do not… fancy… Diggory."

Ryan smiled, thinking the lady doth protest too much. "I never said that you fancied him." Ryan said simply, returning her attention to her own dinner. "I simply stated that you're intrigued. It's a game isn't it?" Heather kicked her friend hard under the table. "Ouch! Merlin woman! And you tell me I ought to have my hormone levels checked…" Ryan muttered, rubbing the abused area. "Well I only did it because you're talking rubbish." Heather snapped, refusing to look at the girl across from her. Ryan smirked at her peas, but let the subject go.

As dessert appeared Heather's disposition had taken a notable turn for the better. Ryan had been hoping her pal's mood would stay that way for the rest of the evening, but felt that the peacefulness of an enjoyable night was about to be shattered when the headmaster stood up and raised his hands, calling the hall to silence.

Only when the hall had gone from the cheery din of the normal evening time meal to the quiet expectation of an audience did the headmaster lower his arms. "Thank you," He said graciously. "The first task has come and gone, and I think that the majority of us are feeling the need for some… Fun." He said, eyes twinkling. "The Yule Ball is approaching- a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament. The ball is an opportunity for the participating schools to socialize with our foreign friends. The ball is for students in the fourth year or higher, however if participants with to invite a younger student they may do so." He added with a smile.

The hall was suddenly alight with the twitter of females.

"The ball will be taking place here in the great hall at eight o'clock on Christmas Eve and will be ending at midnight. Dress robes will be required; this is a proper celebration after all." Professor McGonagall added. The twittering resumed as McGonagall continued to give out the information.

"A Ball? How terribly exciting!" A fourth year said.

"What am I going to wear?" Commented another.
"Oh I don't know who to ask!" Said a third.

Heather looked heavenward and had one of those rare moments when she was embarrassed for her own sex. Ryan would have been rolling her eyes along with her pal, however she was far more interested in a certain young man's reaction to the news. The boy in question was looking intently at his dinner plate as his mates were talking animatedly about who they would invite. 'hmmm, this is curious.' Ryan thought.

"I'm going to go to bed." Ryan said suddenly.

"What? But you haven't finished your ice cream."

"I'm full," Ryan said distractedly. She wanted to get out as soon as she could. She had a feeling that Cedric would have rather have talked to Heather without another female present. "I've got an essay to finish for muggle studies. See you later." She said, grabbing her bag and making a mad dash out of the hall, leaving her friend with a bemused expression on her face.

Ryan's prediction did come true later that night, because when Heather was walking back to her dorm after astronomy Cedric asked her if she would hang back for a moment. "What is it Diggory? I'm tired." Heather said, yawning. Cedric fidgeted nervously on his feet and didn't look her in the eye. "I need to call in that I. O. U." He said.

That woke Heather up.

'He couldn't be thinking… No… No, he can't!' She panicked.
"Wait a second golden boy, let's think things though," She started to say as Cedric blurted out. "I need you to teach me how to dance."

"I do think it's…. Huh?" She said, confused.

Cedric flushed. "I don't know how to dance." He admitted. "I was wondering if you could teach me, I remember seeing you teaching your mate Ryan to fox trot back in third year." He said. "Please," He begged. "I really don't want to make a fool of myself in front of everyone."
Heather felt her panic lessen and was mildly surprised to find a pin prick of disappointment. "You want me," she said pointing to herself. "to teach you, how to dance?" She repeated, pointing at Cedric in return. He nodded, still blushing. She giggled for a moment, and then she laughed.

"Oh shut up." He said, still scarlet.

"I'm sorry, but the golden boy can't dance?" She gasped between laughter. "Mr. suave and debonair can't dance? Oh I can hear the female hearts of Hogwarts breaking this very minuet!" She cackled.

"Never mind…" He said, prickling. She didn't have to laugh like that.

"Oh don't be so grumpy." Heather said as she caught up with him. "It's just that I never thought there was anything that you couldn't do." She said, still chuckling. "Don't worry mate, I'll make sure that you can dance just fine." She said, clapping him on the back. "Now, when do you want to do this?" She asked. In her opinion she was getting off rather light. She was just glad she didn't have to go flying again, last time Cedric had said something about getting her on her own broom.

"Tomorrow night? After dinner?" He asked, still sensitive from her mocking laughter. "Righto." She said when she reached the fat lady. "Just find a place we can practice and bring your dancing shoes." She said climbing into the portrait hole.

The next night at nine o'clock Heather and Cedric were in a deserted classroom in the north wing. Heather was quite amused when Cedric went to the trouble of sound proofing the room, shutting up the windows and locking the door. "Relax you ninny, I don't think anyone will be that interested whether you can dance or not." Heather said from her seat on the floor. Cedric glared at her. With a flick of the wand all of the desks and chairs were neatly stacked against the wall leaving ample room to move around.

"Right, so first things first." Heather said as she got to her feet. "You need to know the basic steps." She said pulling out her wand. She tapped the floor sharply and footprints magically appeared, making dizzying patterns on the floor.

"This is basic?" He asked, looking horrified at the complicated blueprint before him.

"It's not as hard as it looks," She said as she took a place next to him. "Now just to start off, let's just walk the board and get out a feel for how your feet should move."

Cedric hadn't been kidding; he really didn't have the slightest clue what to do. Heather struggled to keep her temper as she spent nearly two hours going over the simple patterns with Cedric and correcting his posture. She was dreading when she would actually have to dance with him. The poor lad could hardly keep from tripping over his own feet, how on earth was he going to avoid stepping on her toes?

"I think we should call it a night for now." She said finally. The relief on Cedric's face was almost tangible. "Oh thank Merlin." He sighed. "I'm really terrible aren't I?" he asked. Heather had to bite her cheek to keep the smile off of her face. "Hogwarts wasn't built in a day." Was all she said as she erased the markings on the floor and returned the room to its previous state.

"I think I'd rather fight the dragon again than dance in front of the entire school." He said glumly as they headed up to the astronomy tower. "Cheer up mate, I'll turn you into a first rate dancer in no time." She said.

And so dancing lessons became a part of their routine. After dinner the pair would meet in the abandoned classroom and go over various dance steps before or after astronomy. A smirk seemed to have taken up residence on Ryan's face, but she wisely said nothing about her friend's sudden absences late at night. The ball was fast approaching and much to both of their delight, Cedric had turned out to be a very hardworking student, showing progress every night. It seemed like no time at all when Cedric had graduated away from the blueprint and dancing with a broom stick under both arms to keep his shoulders strait to actually dancing with Heather. There had been a few trampled toes, but other than that Cedric seemed to be getting along very well indeed.

She never would have admitted it, but Heather enjoyed the dancing lessons. It was a rare treat indeed to be able to school the golden boy of Hogwarts at something. What she wasn't so keen on however, was how he sometimes made her forget how to speak, or breathe, or think. So what if they were meeting in secret almost every night? This was a tutorial and nothing more. And so what if instead of going over spells and other school related material they were spiraling across the stone floor in the moonlight as an easy waltz played.

'Nothing to get worked up over. Nothing whatsoever.'

'Keep telling yourself that honey.'

They were on their way to their empty classroom one night after astronomy when Heather stopped Cedric from entering with a palm flat on his chest.
"What's the matter?" asked.
"Peeves." She whispered. Cedric peeked around her into the classroom and found the impish little ghost setting a tack on each of the chairs, giggling wildly to himself.

"Well that's just peachy." She said, feeling slight disappointment. "I suppose we'll just continue another night." She shrugged before heading back to her dormitory.

"Wait!" Cedric called after her. "I know somewhere else we can practice." He said. "Follow me."

She watched him hurry down the hallway and shrugged, what did she have to lose? She followed to one of the castle's many paintings just as he was giving the password. "Pine Fresh." He said, and the door slid open. Heather followed him in and looked around, unimpressed. "A bathroom."

"Well, it's all I could think of after such short notice." He said, setting his things aside. Heather looked around the room. "Okay, so it's big enough," She allowed. "But a bathroom?"
"Oh hush up, give me the music box." He said, holding his hand out. Heather smirked at his irritation, but surrendered the small music box they had been using for music. Heather had managed to place a rather tricky charm on it so it would play several complicated songs with a ¾ beat. While Cedric was busy fighting with the music box, Heather busied herself with poking around. She'd never been in this room before. She frowned at the mermaid that was coquettishly smiling at Cedric as she flipped her fins and flashed her ample bosom.

Sick of watching the silly mermaid, she walked over to the large bath and peered inside. It was full and steaming. She marveled at the size, it was more like a swimming pool than a proper bath tub. She heard Cedric curse and turned her attention to him. He was having a bit of trouble with the music box; instead of playing a melodious waltz, the music box was busy churning out a lively jazz tune.
"Oh, give it here." She said, striding over. "No, I have it." Cedric said, pulling the box out of reach. "I said give it!" She said as she tried to tug it out of his grasp. "No!" Cedric said, pulling back. They fought over the little box in a tug of war. The struggle was short lived however when someone kicked Cedric's school bag, causing its contents to go spilling out. "No!" they both said as they watched in horror as the golden egg went rolling out. All they needed was for the blasted thing to crack open and start wailing, alerting anyone on patrol where they were. They made a mad dash to try and scoop it up, but as they both grabbed for it, they accidentally knocked it again, causing it to fall into the bath tub with a depressing splash.

"Look at what you made me do!" Cedric said, bending over the pool and looking into the quietly steaming depths. He could see that the egg had sunk to the very bottom of the pool and had split itself open. He let out a quiet breath, thankful that the shrieking didn't carry up and out over the water.

"Me?" Heather hissed outraged. If Cedric had only let her charm the blasted music box then the egg would have never fallen out. And what was more, what was he doing carrying the silly thing around for anyway?

'Well, he does have to be working on the next clue after all.'

'Oh do shut up and allow me to simmer for once will you?' She mentally snapped back.

Cedric sighed. "One of us is going to have to go and get it; if I try and levitate it out it will still come out screeching." He said.

"By all means, dive in." Heather said, motioning to the pool. It was his stupid egg anyway. Cedric threw her a sour look and loosened his tie. Heather began to sputter and blush when Cedric removed his shirt. "I know this is a bath, but you don't have to be naked!" She said, turning away to hide the furious blush staining her entire face. "I'm not going in naked," Heather heard him say as the rustle of clothing being removed continued. "I'm keeping my underwear on." He said. For once Heather couldn't think of anything witty to say. The next thing she heard was the sound of splashing water.

Heather's flush began to recede as a new kind of flush took over. She'd caught a brief glance at Cedric when he'd tossed his shirt aside. All those years of playing quiditch had done the lad good.

'Real good.' She allowed.

He wasn't overly toned like some athletes were; he still had a soft look about him. A normal look. But despite looking soft, his chest was nicely developed and his arms were strong looking. She smiled a very small smile. Much to the horror of every fan girl's imagination, Cedric did not have rock hard abs, nor did he did have the even barest hint of a six pack under the smooth skin of his belly. Instead he had a smooth and flat looking stomach. He had minimal chest hair and a very distracting trail of hair that disappeared into his trousers…

The sound of Cedric surfacing and gasping for breath brought Heather back from her dangerous thoughts. "Foxx, you have to hear this." He said.

"Hear what?" She asked, her voice slightly higher than normal.

"The egg," he said. "It's… You have to come in." was all he said. He sounded excited.

"Are you mad?" She asked. He wanted her to go swimming? In the middle of the night? While he was in his underwear?

"Come on," He urged, "you can come in wearing your under things." He said. "They're just like a regular swimming costume aren't they?"

"They are not like normal swimming costumes!" She said. A proper swimming costume was one piece that covered everything, not those skimpy little bits of cloth that Ryan was always bugging her to buy.

"Come on," He said, "This is really cool, you have to see for your self." He said eagerly. He saw her posture change from the ridged line it was moments before, to a more relaxed pose. "I won't look." He added, seeing that her curiosity was going to win out eventually.

Heather was torn. On the one hand she desperately wanted to find out what he was so excited about, but on the other hand, she did not want to be in a swimming pool wearing nothing but her under things with Diggory.

In the end her curiosity won out.

"Turn around." she ordered. Cedric grinned and turned around to face the mermaid. When she heard the sound of the water rippling she turned around to make sure he wasn't looking. "Don't turn around." She said warily as she pulled her tie off. If felt like ages, but in no time at all Heather was standing, practically naked in a white bra and a matching pair of boy short panties. She was nervously thanking the fates that she had had the presence of mind to put on a matching set this morning, and what was more she'd actually worn something slightly cute while still providing as maximum coverage as she was ever going to get out of underwear. She fidgeted nervously as she stared at Cedric's bare back, distracted by the lean muscles and little beads of water dusting his skin.
"Are you done yet?" he asked, still facing the wall. "No peeking." She said firmly as she made her way to the edge of the tub. Cedric smirked when he heard the splash of water. He might have said, 'wouldn't dream of it.', but to say it would have been a lie, seeing as he couldn't exactly say that he wasn't the slightest bit occupied with the thoughts of a half naked girl swimming with him.

When Heather dove into the pleasantly warm water she immediately swallowed a mouthful of water. When she heard music she'd gasped, not something advisable for someone presently under water. She surfaced sputtering and coughing. "Are you alright?" Cedric asked, swimming over. She nodded and continued to cough. "Wha- What was that?" She asked, sneezing.

"I don't know," he allowed. "But it's cool isn't it?" He said, excited again. When Heather had cleared her nasal passages she took in his eager face. His hair was darker now that the water was dripping form his normally sandy brown locks down his face, clinging to his skin. Heather closed her eyes and scolded her self. She would not check Diggory out. When she had composed herself she smiled back at him. "Let's give it a proper listen shall we?"

They both took a deep breath and submerged themselves. This time the music was less of a shock for Heather. She swam closer to the little egg and listened.

Come seek us where out voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground.

An hour long you'll have to look

To recover what it is that we have took.

An hour long you'll have to look

To recover what we've took.

You're time's half gone so tarry not

Lest what you seek stays here to rot.

They surfaced at the same time, both breathless and excited. "You have to find something underwater." Heather said, wild with excitement. "But I only have an hour." Cedric finished. "But what is it that's singing?" He asked, puzzled. They both sat in silence. Occasionally one of them would offer up a suggestion, but it would be quickly thrown out. "Don't be daft," Heather said, "Kelpie's can't speak."
"Well if you're so brilliant than what is it?" He snapped. They'd been picking their brains for the past hour and still hadn't come up with anything. They lapsed back into silence again.

Heather dove underwater to listen to the song yet again and Cedric tried hard to think of what it was. Heather emerged from the water and wiped the water out of her eyes. She shook her head sadly as she treaded water. The corners of his mouth twitched in an effort not to smile as he took in the sight of her. She was quite fetching swimming there in her charming little underwear set. Part of her hair had come unbound from her braid and floated around her like foam. She looked like a mermaid.

A mermaid!

"That's it!" He cried, pointing at the wall.

"Huh? What?" Heather asked confused, looking behind her.

"That!" Cedric said, pointing to the mermaid on the wall.

"A painting?"
"No stupid, the mermaids! It's the mer folk! I have to find something the mer folk took." He said, excited again that he'd solved another part of the clue.

"That's right! I remember Hagrid mentioning something last year about mer people not being able to speak above water!" Heather said, catching on to Cedric's enthusiasm. "But where are there mer folk?" She asked. Cedric shrugged.

They went back and forth for a few moments going over the populations of mer people in the world.

"But how are they going to get the entire school to the Bahamas? It's not like we can all take a holiday for the second task." Cedric said.

Heather thought some more. "What about…? No, it couldn't be…" She said. "But maybe…?" She mused aloud. "What?" He asked, eager to hear a new theory.
"The lake." She said. "I'd be willing to bet that there is a population of mer folk living in the black lake." She said, looking him in the eye. Cedric paused to consider this. "I'll bet you're right." He said. They both grinned madly at one another, thrilled at having worked the puzzle out.

Heather laughed. "See, if I hadn't knocked the egg into the water none of this would have happened." She said with a large smile.

"You knocked it in now did you?"

She nodded.

"Oh really, well try and knock this." He said, and splashed her in the face.

Heather caught the water full in the face. "You're going to wish you hadn't done that Diggory." She said pouncing on him.
They played in the water for another hour before they realized the time. They climbed out of the water and were careful not to catch the other looking as they each stole surreptitious glances at each other as they dressed.

By some act of God, the pair of them made it back to their dorms without getting caught. Even Cedric would have had some serious explaining to do if he were found out of bed at four o'clock in the morning.

He walked her back to her common room. Was about to climb to the secret passage way when she stopped. "Cedric-"

"I'll tell him tomorrow." He said. She smiled at him and climbed the rest of the way in.

Heather was ever so quiet when she snuck up to her dorm room. She breathed a silent sigh when she saw that every one of her bunk mates was sound asleep, Ryan included. She tip toed to her bed and quickly changed for sleep. As she settled herself into her covers she replayed the night's events in her mind. Grateful for the darkness, Heather rolled over and tried to sleep and forget about the rush of heat invading her face when she thought of Cedric, all wet and mostly naked.

I know updates are few and far between. I don't have too many excuses. I do want to finish this thing, but I have no clue how long it's going to take. I don't know when I will update next, but do know that it will come... Eventually.