Chapter 8

Rachel watched David and his friends play Quidditch. They goofed around occasionally, and Rachel had a good laugh during their forty-five minute practice. As they got ready to leave, Rachel waited for David outside of the Quidditch field. They walked into the castle together smiling and talking about the day's events. Rachel was happy that they finally had time to hang out and talk.

She waited in the Hufflepuff common room while David changed into his school robes. Slightly blushing, Rachel thought about their friendly banter and the way David could make her laugh so easily. Seeing him walk down the stairs, she got up. Together, they left the common room and walked out into the corridor. Students were everywhere, enjoying the Saturday afternoon.

Seeing Cedric, Rachel and David walked over to congratulate him. Several girls were hanging around Cedric, smiling and batting their eyes, as well as giggling at everything he said. David nudged Rachel, and motioning to the girls, rolled his eyes. Rachel laughed.

"Yeah, you'd love to be Cedric," she whispered as they neared the champion. David grinned.

"You'd love to be one of those girls," he shot back. Rachel smacked David's arm, which hurt her more than it hurt him. They laughed together as they reached Cedric.

"Hey Cedric!" they said. Cedric smiled and returned the greeting.

"So what's it like, being chosen to be in the Triwizard Tournament?" David asked. Rachel noticed several of the girls glance at David and giggle among each other. Cedric grinned.

"It's pretty great!" he said, "I mean, I'm nervous, but this is great." Someone called out David's name, and excusing himself, David went to go talk to his friend. Cedric broke through the circle of girls surrounding him and pulled Rachel to the side, ignoring the venomous glares from his fanclub.

"Nice to finally see your face, Rach," said Cedric. Rachel laughed.

"Yeah, same goes for you. Sorry I couldn't write back halfway through the holiday," Rachel said, smiling sheepishly.

"And why couldn't you? I thought we were friends!" said Cedric, jokingly.

"Well, Sage was hogging our owl, writing to her best friend all summer. You can blame her," Rachel grinned. Cedric rolled his eyes.

"Ah, the dynamic duo," he said. "Nothing can separate them, eh?" Cedric joked. Rachel laughed.

"Ahem," said one of Cedric's "fans", "You're not going to keep us waiting all day, are you, Ced?" She had a pout on her face, which Rachel almost laughed at.

"Sorry, girls. Just catching up with an old friend," Cedric said. David came back just then, and Cedric smiled at them both.

"See you guys around," he said, falling back into his army of fangirls. David and Rachel continued walking together. Rachel nudged David as she saw Harry Potter walk by. The entire corridor quieted until he had disappeared around a corner.

"Wonder how Potter feels," David said. Rachel saw Sage in the distance and thought of a way to avoid her as she distractedly replied to David. When it came to Rachel's crush, Sage could be really embarrassing. Panicking, Rachel saw that Sage had spotted her. David kept talking, oblivious to Rachel's panic.

"RACH!" exclaimed Sage. "I need your help with someth--" Sage spotted David standing next to Rachel. She glanced at Rachel apologetically.

"Oops! Sooo sorry to interrupt," said Sage, shrinking back. "Uh, I'll go find Stacy to help me. Uh... bye." And with a final apologetic glance at Rachel, Sage hurried back the way she'd come. Rachel let out a sigh of relief. Sage could be embarrassing about David sometimes, but most of the time, she left them alone if she accidentally ran into them.

"Your sister never talks to me anymore, you know that?" David said, shaking his head. Rachel smiled. She thought, yeah it's a good thing she doesn't, because if she did, she might let slip that I like you. Aloud, she said, "Hey, she says 'hi' and stuff like that. She does talk to you!" David laughed.

"That's true. Let's go eat lunch now. I'm starving," said David, frowning.

"Alright," exclaimed Rachel. Together, the two friends walked to the Great Hall.