They had more Quidditch practices over the next few weeks, Sophia enjoyed this time, even if they did take up most of her schedule. Her free time was spent doing homework, helping Hermione with Hagrid's defence for BuckBeak and spending time with Cedric, they had to make sure people still bought their fake relationship. Sophia enjoyed spending time with Cedric, she thought he was a great person. And they were friends, and they were growing closer each time they hung out. Sophia also didn't mind kissing him, he was good at kissing.

Eventually, Harry had his Firebolt returned, Sophia thought this might reunite their friend group, but Crookshanks had done something to Scabbers which caused Ron to throw a fit at Hermione. Which in turn caused Hermione to be mad at Ron, and eventually Harry. So Sophia was supposed to be mad at Ron and Harry. She was only actually mad at Ron.

Sophia had gone to find Cedric, she wanted to complain about the entire situation to someone who was relatively unbiased,

"What troubles have befallen the core four?" He asked as they sat in a stone windowsill. She stared back confused,

"Core four?" He nodded,

"Yeah it's what everyone calls you and your friends. Whenever something happens it's always you four at the centre of it" she sighed in realisation, that was true. After explaining the situation to Cedric he'd said that,

"Hermione was right for wanting to get the firebolt checked and cats eat rats, it just what they do. Ron has every right to be upset but he shouldn't be taking it out on Hermione"

"You're so perfect" she smiled, she could've sworn he went slightly pink,

"Thanks my love" he often called her 'my love', she rather liked that.

At their next Quidditch Practice, Harry and Sophia were finally able to talk without feeling like they were breaking any kind of rules. With them both on firebolts, Oliver was sure they'd win.

At breakfast the next morning, Oliver had decided that the two owners of firebolts deserved a guard of honour. Draco looked even more annoyed, which made Sophia happy. Cedric came over and sat with Sophia, complimenting Harry about his firebolt. He then wished Sophia luck and told her he'd be rooting for her before kissing her and leaving, Sophia knew however that he secretly wanted Cho Chang to do as well as she could, seeing as he had a crush on her.

"I still don't know when you got over my brother" Ron rolled his eyes, clearly already sick of the relationship, these were the first words he'd spoken to her since the Crookshanks incident,

"Who says I did" Sophia replied and ate some food, the boys stared at her shocked, they were about to say something but then her brother approached and started his usual chain of insults,

As the game started, Sophia couldn't help but smile at Lee Jordan's commentary,

"And Sophia has possession of the Quaffle, the only Malfoy to ever be a good person...."

"Jordan!" McGonagall called out,

"Just stating facts, and she shoots and she scores!" Sophia then began to try and get another goal with the help of her fellow chasers, she couldn't help but notice that Harry kept staring at Cho. She intended to tease him later. Her head turned just in time to see Fred hitting away a Bludger that was aiming for her face, he winked at her and she fought back a blush before continuing the game.

Harry shot some silvery thing at the dementors and then caught the snitch, Sophia smiled broadly and rushed over to hug him. During the group hug, Sophia had found that Fred's arm remained around her for slightly longer that a friend's arm would, she'd turned to look at him and he'd smiled before landing his broom.

When she landed, Cedric rushed over and lifted her into a hug, swinging her around. A laugh escaped her lips before she kissed him.

"You better beat Slytherin" he smiled, she nodded. Her hands rested on his chest as his were on her waist.

"We will" then she looked over and saw her brother lying on the ground, tangled in black robes, "guess they weren't dementors after all" she chuckled, Cedric looked over and laughed too,

The Gryffindor Party was fun, Sophia had brought Cedric to it, much to the delight of the other girls. She'd found that nearly every girl she spoke to was jealous of her, as were many others. Fred did not look happy Cedric was there, this made Sophia happy. Cedric danced with her and kept his arm around her waist, he didn't take his eyes off her the entire night.

"You know, Hufflepuff parties aren't usually this chaotic" he'd said as they'd gone to grab a drink,

"Really?" She'd questioned,

"Yeah..." she could feel peoples eyes on them, Cedric leaned down, holding the back of her head in his hand, kissing her once more. Every time they kissed, Sophia further realised how good he was at kissing. They rejoined the party and kept celebrating,

She only stopped partying when she saw a crying Hermione running up the stairs,

"It's alright, go. I'll see myself out" Cedric smiled, she smiled up at him and he kissed her before she ran after her best friend. Hermione was more important than a stupid party.

"Ron is so.... So....UGH" Hermione cried as Sophia held onto her,

"Boys are the worst"

*•*•*•*•*

"What's going on?" Sophia asked as she walked into the common room, she'd been woken up by a loud scream,

"Looking cute Goldie" Fred smirked, she looked down and realised she was in a flimsy top, dressing down and satin shorts. Her cheeks went scarlet and a furious Lavender Brown stepped forward,

"She has a boyfriend!" Lavender folded her arms in a fit of rage,

"Ah yes, darling Cedric Diggory" Fred replied through gritted teeth before addressing the room about the party, Ron began screaming about how Sirius Black had gotten into the tower and had been standing above him,

McGonagall came in, shouting about how they should've all been in bed, Ron kept screaming about Sirius Black and it turned out, Sir Cadogan had let him in. For he had all the passwords, written down on a sheet of paper.

No one slept that night, they all stayed up in the common room, Sophia and Hermione were curled up together. At dawn, McGonagall told them he'd escaped,

Sophia tried to check in on Ron, but he'd walked off, Harry had apologised and ran after him.

Sophia and Hermione spent more time at Hagrids, and Hermione spent a lot of that time crying. When they weren't at Hagrids, Hermione was curled up in the library and Sophia was with Cedric.

On the next Hogsmeade Visit, Sophia felt bad about leaving Hermione alone so she asked Cedric if he didn't mind just hanging out with her and Hermione and he agreed.

They all went for a drink in the Three Broomsticks and Sophia could feel Fred's glare on her and Cedric, this only made her smile.

"What's that?" Sophia asked as they returned the castle, a letter had arrived for them. Hermione shrugged and opened it, both their eyes widened in horror and they ran to find Harry and Ron,

"Come to gloat?" Ron snapped,

"No, we thought you ought to know. Hagrid lost his case. BuckBeak is going to be executed"

They showed them the letter,

"My dad either scared them all or paid them off" Sophia huffed, folding her arms, Hermione started going on about the appeal, and Ron's offer of help caused her to fling her arms around his neck. The two of them then made up,

Valentines Day approached quickly and Sophia knew this day would be vital in proving her fake relationship was real, not that anyone doubted it. She'd bought Cedric some nice stuff and had it sent through the gift system,

On Valentines morning, Sophia had been sat with Hermione, Ron and Harry, when Cedric had come up behind her to kiss her, she'd laughed and kissed him back. He'd handed her a card and told her he'd see her later before walking off,

"That was disgusting" Ron looked like he wanted to puke, Sophia laughed and opened the card. It was sweet. Throughout the day she received several more cards and gifts, by the time her date with Cedric arrived she'd counted thirteen admirers. Cedric was the first one sending her flowers, a card and giving her one of his Quidditch shirts. She'd received flowers and a card from Ernie MacMillan.Three students in younger years had sent her cards and gifts. She'd received several from students older than her to, Hermione had said that was a bit creepy. One of the cards was handmade and she instantly knew it was from Fred, it came with a single rose, she loved it.

Her date with Cedric was lovely. He'd organised a trip to Hogsmeade for them, perks of being a prefect. He'd also told her their actual date would be surprise.

"You ready to go?" Cedric asked as he came to pick her up from the Common Room, she was wearing a dress that she thought was cute, "you look beautiful, my love"

"Thank you, and yes" he offered her his hand, and she grabbed onto it. Her other arm wrapped around his, her head on his shoulder. They walked together down to the village, making chat about everything and nothing at once,

He led them toward a building that looked pretty empty, she looked confused before meeting his eyes,

"What's going on?" She asked, he smiled stopping them walking, tucking her hair behind her ear,

"You'll see" he smiled, kissing the bridge of her nose, some of other couples in the school cast their eyes over to them and smiled. He took her hand once again and led her inside,

There was a candlelit room with a singular circle table in the middle, she cast her eyes up to him,

"Oh Ced...." Her eyes widened in awe and met his, he was smiling at her. A big smile.

"Surprise" she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him close, her hands cupped his face. And they shared another kiss, another unnecessary kiss, but she didn't mind. Cedric had cooked the food they ate that night, it was the best meal she'd ever eaten.

On the way back, she realised how cold February was, so he placed his jacket over her shoulders. Sophia never intended to return this jacket.

They could no longer go visit Hagrid in the evenings and Sophia had decided she couldn't trust Sirius, so she had buried the mirror in the bottom of her trunk,

During their care of magical creatures lessons, they found time to speak to him,

"S all my fault. Got all tongue tied. They was all sittin watchin an' I kep' droppin me notes and forgettin the dates yeh two looked up fer me" Hagrid looked at Sophia and Hermione, "An then, yer dad stood up an' said his bit and the committee did exactly what he told em" Ron then reminded him about the appeal, but Sophia wasn't confident it would work.

As they walked back up, she could hear her brother insulting Hagrid, Sophia stormed toward him, preparing to punch him, but Hermione beat her to it, she began shouting at him which caused Sophia to smile broadly,

"You're amazing" she smiled and hooked her arm in her best friends as they kept walking,

Hermione didn't show up to charms, Sophia guessed she must've forgotten to time travel there, shrugging at Harry and Ron's confusion, she sat down.

Sophia mentioned this to Hermione once she arrived in Divination,

"What's the big deal, can't you just go back and go to the lesson?" She asked,

Divination made her want to fall asleep, she really hated the subject, she didn't pay much attention the entire lesson,

At somepoint, Hermione snapped and stormed out, Sophia's eyes widened and her head flopped on the table,

Sophia spent the Easter Holiday's being forced to revise by Hermione, helping with BuckBeaks appeal, attending Quidditch Practice, attending Oliver's tactic discussions, and keeping up the act of her relationship with Cedric.

Sophia had so much to do that she almost wished she was Hermione and was taking about fifty subjects instead.

The night before the match was unlike any other, Hermione and Ron tried to calm Sophia and Harry but they were both incredibly stressed out.

At breakfast that morning, Cedric had come to sit with them, he was wishing Sophia and the whole team luck, he kept his arm around her the entire time.

As they came out the changing rooms, they saw the majority of the school were there, supporting Gryffindor.

"This is the first time in Hogwarts History we'll see two players who shared a uterus going head to..." Lee started before he was interrupted by McGonagall, Sophia looked over at Draco, he nodded at her. Sometimes Sophia forgot they were triplets, her Draco and Roxie. They were all so different.

Sophia was able to score the first goal of the match, much to the crowds celebration, then she felt Flint come crashing into her, a glare fastened on her face and she heard the boos from the crowd, before she could react Fred had smashed his club into the back of Flints head, causing him to face plant the broom and his nose to bleed,

"And Weasley just giving the entire school another reason to think he is absolutely head over heels in lo..." Lee started but was once again shut up by McGonagall, although Sophia could see the hint of a smile on her face. Her eyes cast over to Cedric who smiled and nodded, he knew their plan was working too.

Gryffindor kept scoring, much to the crowds delight. Then Slytherin scored, to the crowds dismay. Sophia noticed, that Fred kept flying near her, hitting away any bludgers and knocking away any players who approached her. Tiberius Yaxley kept flying up to her, a stupid smirk on his face. So Fred, gave him a bludger in the face. Sophia went red at this but flew away so fast that no one saw,

Sophia scored the next goal, they were fifty points up now, all Harry needed to was catch the snitch.

Then he did. Sophia screamed with joy and rushed over to hug her best friend, the crowd celebrated. The team celebrated, they'd won.

The core four engaged in a bone crushing hug as they celebrated the win, Fred walked up to Sophia and pulled her aside, beaming. He looked like he was about to kiss her then, Cedric came running over and beat him to it, he swung her around and then kissed her, smiling broadly,

The celebrations lasted for a week, then the exams hit and everyone had to revise,

Sophia found herself revising with Cedric, with him finding it useful to help her understand what she was studying, and her being able to quiz him on his notes, they were closer than friends by this point. She didn't know how she would quantify their relationship, they were friends. But what level of friends, she didn't know.

Apparently BuckBeaks appeal date was set for the same day exams ended, and the executioner was attending. Sophia thought this was ridiculous,

Exam week was a nightmare, although Sophia was sure she didn't fail anything, she didn't expect many Outstandings.

Sophia rolled her eyes as she saw Cornelius Fudge approaching,

"Ah Hello Harry, Miss Malfoy" Sophia forced a smile, "you two just had an exam I bet, are you nearly finished?"

"Yes" Harry answered for the two of them, Ron and Hermione hung behind them awkwardly, Fudge then began explaining that he was there for the excecution,

"Had the appeal already happened then?" Ron questioned,

"I uh... no, it's scheduled for this afternoon" Fudge replied,

"Well then there may not be an execution to witness" Sophia folded her arms, Fudge eyed her suspiciously,

"That could be the case, but your father's evidence was quite damning I hear, and he's such a noble man..." Sophia scoffed and Hermione nudged her to shut up, the executioner then approached and the group walked off.

The last exam was divination, and Sophia completely intended to lie her way through it.

During her exam Sophia spouted some bullshit about seeing her breaking up with Cedric, because she knew that would happen, and Trelawney smiled broadly.

The group then snuck off to check on Hagrid, BuckBeak had lost and they felt awful, on the way they'd ran into Roxie, so decided to drag her along too. No one objected.

They tried to comfort Hagrid the best they could, but it was to no avail, apparently Macnair was the executioner, Sophia knew she recognised the name,

"He's the one you called a nonce at dinner that one time..." Roxie whispered, Sophia sighed in realisation,

"That's him"

Then Scabbers the rat appeared, Sophia stared at him shocked. The group were then ushered out and snuck out the cloak.

Then they heard the axe swing.