Anyone who knew Pippa Wilson knew that she got excited over everything. Reading brand new books, getting mail (even if it was only the newspaper), and so many more.

So when Hufflepuff beat Slytherin in the first match of the season, it was not an understatement to call her ecstatic.

The day was cold but sunny. She, Dove, Lynn, and Amy all woke at the crack of dawn and decked themselves out in black and yellow clothes. Compared to the other Houses, the Hufflepuffs tended to go all out when it came to supporting their friends. Pippa even painted a "GO CEDRIC!" sign and outlined the letters in gold glitter.

All bundled up, the four girls hurried down to the Quidditch pitch to get good seats. While there were a good deal of Slytherin scarves and hats, they looked insignificant next to the sea of yellow pouring into the stands. Many of the other Houses had also chosen to sport Hufflepuff colors, making their number even more impressive.

"This is great!" Amy said as she led the way to their usual spot. "Talk about Puff Pride."

"Hey Lynn, do you want to hold Pippa's sign?" Dove asked teasingly. She then sat down on the bench and opened a collection of poetry by Dylan Thomas.

"No," Lynn replied, her cheeks turning as pink as the bubblegum bubble she'd just popped. "No, I would not."

Pippa readjusted oversized yellow and black sweater. Her eyes eagerly scanned the pitch. A bit farther down, she could see the Gryffindors. Harry, who for some reason was sitting between Neville and Hermione, nowhere near Ron, waved to her. She waved back with a happy grin.

"Looks like I'm not the only one that's got a crush."

Pippa laughed with the others until it clicked. "What? No!" She stammered, shaking her head rapidly as her friends laughed harder. "No no no! We're friends! Nothing else!"

"Mhm."

"Mhm."

"Mhm."

"You guys!"

This argument continued until the match began. Once Lee Jordan's voice rang out and the students began to cheer, they dropped it in favor of watching. Pippa, Amy, and Lynn screamed with their classmates and Dove occasionally glanced up from her book to ask the score. The girls took turns whacking her with the GO CEDRIC sign each time she did this until she begrudgingly marked her place and stood up.

"You three ruin my fun," she grumbled, rolling her dark eyes.

"You're reading poetry written by an old dude at a Quidditch match and we're the ones ruining the fun?" Amy asked. She looped a scrunchie around her bright red hair and stuck out her tongue.

Dove rolled her eyes. "I'm going to kill you, Cooper."

"I'll annoy you to death before you can manage to kill me."

"That's likely."

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts-"

"NO!" Dove yelled, holding her hands over her ears. "Lalalalalala!"

"Ames, you're kind of obnoxious," Pippa pointed out with a smile. She rubbed her arms and shivered, wishing she brought an extra jacket. The sweater, while festive, wasn't quite warm enough.

Lynn, the only one currently paying attention to the match, suddenly jumped and screamed, "YOU GUYS, CEDRIC'S SEEN THE SNITCH!"

All four girls whipped around seconds before Cedric's fingers closed around the golden snitch.

"And that's the game, folks!" Lee announced. He had to raise his already-loud voice just to be heard over the roar of overexcited badgers. "Hufflepuff wins against Slytherin for our first match of this year's House Cup!"

The party in the common room was almost as big as the one they threw for Cedric when he became Hogwarts' first champion in the Triwizard Tournament. Most of the houses believed that the Hufflepuffs were lame, but they knew how to celebrate. It helped being on good terms with all of the house elves.

Pippa would have loved to stay for hours as everyone danced to the Weird Sisters and ate desserts, but she had to meet Malfoy again in the library at eight. While she had no desire to go, Professor Snape's latest essay required twice the usual amount of scrolls and she didn't want to procrastinate. The first task of the tournament was set for the following weekend. All she wanted to do on that Saturday was support her friend and her cousin.

"Pip, don't leave!" Amy begged, grabbing her friend's wrist. Pippa continued to move, dragging her off of the couch and onto the carpet. "Ow."

"Sneak some strawberry tarts into the dormitory. Please and thank you!"

Shaking out of Amy's grasp and scooping up her messenger bag, Pippa weaved her way through the crowd and out of the common room's circular door.

As she walked, Pippa thought about Malfoy. Most of their meetings were silent. She hoped for another silent one tonight, but briefly wondered if he'd be angry with her. Hufflepuff did just beat Slytherin, after all. Either way, that wasn't her fault. He had no right to blame that on her.

Right?

Her paranoid thoughts distracted her, but not enough to miss two figures walking towards her. Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode, two Slytherin girls in her year, snickered to each other, but stopped abruptly when they saw Pippa, who was trying to slip buy without any trouble.

"Wilson!" Millicent greeted in a condescending, sickly sweet voice. "Going somewhere?"

"The l-library," Pippa stammered. It wasn't that she was scared of them, even though they were both physically bigger than her. She just hated talking to people she wasn't comfortable with, and these girls made her absolutely uncomfortable.

"Oh, that's right. Draco was complaining about you the other day." Pansy pretended to check her nails, but her beady eyes swept over Pippa, a cruel smirk spreading across her face. "Something wrong?"

Pippa's gaze had fallen on their robes, where they each wore one of the neon green POTTER STINKS badges that the Slytherins made to humiliate Harry even further. They'd started circulating around the school after Halloween and she hated them with all of her heart.

"I wish you wouldn't wear those badges," she said quietly, deciding to defend her friend even though the thought of contradicting these girls scared her to death. "They're really mean."

"Well, I wish you wouldn't wear that sweater," Pansy retorted. "It's terrible. You look like a fat bumblebee in it."

"And your hair looks horrid," Millicent added, wanting to get in on the joke.

Pippa's eyes widened. She wanted to be confident and laugh off their insults. She wanted to be brave and defend herself. She wanted to be strong and not let their words bother her.

But she wasn't any of those things. She was Pippa Wilson, the Puff Princess with secret anxiety and a nature too kind for a hard world.

Before they could say anything else, she ran.

*

Draco sat at their usual table, the secluded one near the back of the library. He tried to stay focused on the text he meant to read, but he couldn't help checking the clock every few minutes.

In the two months since they'd been partnered for potions, Pippa Wilson was never late. That was his job. In fact, he'd arrived fifteen minutes late that day. Now, the clock read eight thirty, and she had yet to make an appearance.

Just like a Hufflepuff, he thought scathingly, shaking his head as he returned to his textbook. Neglecting responsibilities to have a little fun. No wonder they never get anywhere in life.

"I'm so sorry!"

His head snapped up at her breathless voice. Her eyes were rimmed in red and her pale face looked a little blotchy. After setting down two travel mugs, Pippa sank into the seat across from him and sighed.

"I didn't mean to be so late! I really didn't, I just had things going on and-"

"Breathe, will you? It's not a big deal. I was late, too," he said.

"Still. I hate not being on time."

"I figured. You're usually here ten minutes early." Eyeing the mugs, he asked, "What did you bring?"

"I, um, I stopped in the kitchens. It's coffee. I didn't know how you liked yours, or if you even do like coffee at all, but I thought you might be tired after the match and we have work to do."

Draco didn't like coffee, not in the slightest, but he took the cup from Pippa simply because she had brought it.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

He waited for her to rub in the Hufflepuff victory, but she didn't. His brow furrowed as she untied the yellow bow around her ponytail and took it down. "What are you doing?"

"I'm fixing my hair," she mumbled, running her fingers through her long brown mane to smooth the tangles. The contact only made it frizzier. "It... it looked horrid."

Her comment rubbed Draco in the wrong way. She didn't strike him as the self-deprecating type, so someone must have bothered her about it.

"I liked it like that. Minus the ribbon color, of course."

"Oh. Um, thanks, I guess." Pippa pulled her hands into her sweater sleeves, a faint pink tinging her cheeks. "Did you get much work done already?"

"No," he answered shortly. "I kept getting distracted."

"With what?"

"Nothing."

Still a bit confused, Pippa began to pull out her books. A novel fell out, a pretty white one with red flowers creeping up the worn spine.

Draco's eyebrows lifted in amusement. "That's a pretty big book, Wilson."

"I like to read," she said defensively, tucking Gone With the Wind safely back into her bag. "Do you?"

"Yes."

"What do you like to read?"

Draco actually considered her question. He couldn't discuss books with Crabbe and Goyle, they were about as stupid as one could be. Blaise was the only intellectual equal that he regularly spent time with, but he wasn't the kind to discuss literature.

"Not romance novels, that's for sure," he said simply, pointing to her book.

"What's wrong with romance novels?"

"They're irritating, that's all."

Pippa hummed her disapproval under her breath. "You must not have read a good one, then."

"They're all the same."

"No, they're not!"

"Kissing in back hallways, parental disapproval, sunsets over the ocean, 'No, I love you more!' Sound familiar?" He flipped through his book, dipped his quill in ink, and began to take copious notes.

"But you're missing the point! The romance - oh no."

Draco looked up, confused. "What?"

"Macho Quidditch player has officially entered the room, with fan club no doubt soon to follow."

Sure enough, Viktor Krum walked into the library and over to one of the shelves. Not even thirty seconds later, at least ten girls flooded through the doors, giggling and chattering obnoxiously. A few were even wearing Bulgarian scarves.

Krum did his best to ignore them as he scanned the shelves, but Pippa could tell that even he was annoyed.

"Damn," Draco muttered. "We're never going to be able to focus now."

Pippa nodded along with him, but then an odd emotion crossed her big brown eyes. "You're not wearing one."

"What?" He glanced down at his outfit, a simple black sweater and jeans. Much more casual than he could get away with at home. After the match, he had no desire to change back into school robes. "I'm not wearing what?"

"One of those badges," she said softly. "You're not wearing one."

"Oh yeah, I didn't put it back on when I changed out of my Quidditch robes. Besides, it didn't match my aesthetic."

Pippa's lips turned upwards ever so slightly. "Did you just make a joke, Draco Malfoy?"

"No."

"Yes, you did!"

"Read your book, Wilson."

I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated! Life's been busy. Anyway, I hope you liked this one!