I didn't talk to Harry after our argument. In fact, I didn't talk to anyone at all. All I could think about was Cedric. I really liked him, but knowing if Harry or Malfoy finding out about it was something that I didn't want to happen. Harry really cared about me, but I hoped that he could understand that I was going to start having crushes on boys. Who knew, maybe he had a crush already, a crush that I didn't know about. But I was going to find out eventually.

We were about to head out so we could meet up with Mr. Diggory and Cedric. I was a little bit nervous. If my mother was still alive, she would know exactly what to say to me. But she was dead. And I couldn't bring her back to ask for advice.

Once Mr. Weasley was finally ready to go, we all walked out of the tent and followed him. Harry stayed close to me, even though I didn't want to talk to him. It was the first time that we had ever gotten into an argument before. I couldn't remember a time where I wasn't open to him and that I'd kept any secrets from him. But it wasn't fair that I had to tell him everything and he didn't have to tell me anything. If he got to see my letters from Sirius, then I got to see the letters that Sirius sent him over the summer. But I was pretty sure he'd do the same thing I did and get protective over them.

Before I knew it, Mr. Diggory and Cedric joined us. I started talking to Harry again after a long time of ignoring him. Then Cedric joined in our conversation. I didn't seem to mind and Harry didn't either. In fact, it was quite interesting, actually. We talked about the dumbest things, but we continued going on about them. They were mostly about girls, but I was still included into the conversation, despite me not being into girls like that.

But Cedric then dropped that discussion and brought up another topic. "So who are you guys pulling for? The Irish or the Bulgarians?"

Harry and I looked at each other and said the obvious answer. "The Bulgarians."

Cedric chuckled at our response. "Well, I can't wait to watch them get their arses kicked by the Irish."

We raised our eyebrows at him. "Oh, really?" we said.

He grinned and nodded. "Really."

"I don't think so," I said. "The Irish may be good, but the Bulgarians are better."

Now Cedric raised his eyebrows at me. "We'll see about that."

I blushed a little. Cedric didn't notice, but Harry did. I knew he wasn't going to let it go. After Cedric started catching up with the others, Harry spoke up. "You like him, don't you?"

I sighed. "Isn't it obvious?"

He chuckled. "You think he feels the same way?"

"No," I scoffed. "I'm not good enough for him."

"Yes, you are, Max," Harry retorted. "You're good enough for anyone at Hogwarts."

"Except Malfoy," I muttered.

"Malfoy's an idiot," he said.

I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back and soon our smiles turned into laughter. I just shook my head at him and laughed even more. But he was right. Malfoy was an idiot and he'd eventually want me. Yeah, like that was going to happen.

We weren't far from the stadium because I saw the bright lights ahead of us and the distant cheering coming from the same direction. Mr. Weasley told us that where we were going to be watching the match was very high up. So we would have to climb tons of stairs to get up there. Hopefully, I wasn't going to pass out on the way up there.

We were walking up many flights of steps and thankfully I wasn't even close to passing out. In fact, I felt fine. But if I did pass out, I would have Harry and Cedric to catch me. And plus, I didn't have anything heavy on my back this time, which was a good thing.

"You okay, Max?" Harry asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I smiled at him and he smiled back. Then I continued to walk up the stairs.

Harry grinned at me and I whacked his arm. Cedric didn't seem to notice any of it. But I guess that was a good thing. That way, I wouldn't be embarrassed by Harry, and Cedric wouldn't know that I liked him. He'd probably find out eventually, but for right now, I wanted it to remain a secret.

"Blimey, Dad! How far up are we?!" Ron asked in excitement.

"We'll put it this way. If it rains, you'll be the first to know." We heard a voice coming from below. We turned around to see the one and only Lucius Malfoy and his son, Draco, smirking at us. They were the last people I wanted to see here. And now they were here, thinking they were hilarious when in reality they weren't.

"Father and I are in the Minister's Box!" Malfoy said while we continued walking. "By personal invitation of the one and only Cornelius Fudge himself!"

Lucius poked him with his cane. "Don't boast, Draco," Lucius said as Draco rubbed his chest.

"It's not like we care, anyway," I snapped.

Lucius raised his eyebrows at me, then looked at Mr. Weasley. "If I were you, Arthur, I would make sure that she doesn't get away from you. She's always had a little habit of running away."

"Yeah, from you," I snorted. This made the others snicker, minus the adults.

"Come on, Draco. There's no need for these people," Lucius retorted.

The others, minus Harry and I, seemed offended by this statement. I didn't blame them, though. I shook my head, rolled my eyes at him, and turned around to go up more flights of steps. But then I felt something on my jacket. The same thing with Harry's as well. It was Lucius' cane that was holding us back.

"Do enjoy yourself, won't you? While you can." He let go of our jackets and gave us an evil smirk.

"We will, thanks," I retorted. Both of them gave me a dirty look and continued on walking. I huffed a sigh and looked at Harry, shaking my head. "I hate them so much. I just want to rip their heads off and put it on a platter to eat."

Harry chuckled at my comment. "You're not the only one."

I looked over at Cedric and he just laughed at me. Then for some reason, I started laughing. But then we both stopped and he cleared his throat. "I want to ask you something."

"Okay," I replied.

"How would you like to make a bet with me?" Cedric asked.

I was confused at what he was asking. "A bet? Bet on what?"

"A bet on the match tonight."

I raised my eyebrows at him, but I was interested in what he was asking me. "Go on."

"I bet that Ireland is going to beat Bulgaria tonight." He smirked.

I raised my eyebrows at him again. "Really?"

"Really." He smirked again.

I shook my head. "Well, I bet that Bulgaria is going to beat Ireland."

"I'll believe it when I see it," he chuckled. "Now, on with the bet. If Bulgaria wins somehow, then I'll take you on a date on the first Hogsmeade trip."

"And if Ireland wins?" I asked.

He pretended to think about it before he answered. But when he got his answer, he smirked. "I want a kiss."

I shot him a confused look. "But that's a win-win situation for both of us."

"Exactly. That means you won't have to wait until our date to kiss me." He gave me a wink.

I let out a laugh in return. "A kiss? Out of all the things you want from me, you pick a kiss? I've never kissed anyone!" I mentally slapped myself for saying that. I needed to stop being so honest.

"Well, then, you'll have the best, first kiss ever," he said, smiling at me.

"That's if Ireland wins."

"Oh, they will."

"So we have a deal, then?"

"Deal," he said.

We shook hands and smiled at each other. As far as we knew, no one noticed us making the bet and I was so glad for that. But I was a little nervous about this bet. If Ireland did win, that meant that he would have to kiss me in front of everyone at the match. That would be embarrassing. They would hold it over me forever, and forever was a long time.

We finally made it up to the top so we could watch the match. I saw the bright lights and the colors red and green. But it was beautiful, there was no doubt about that. Harry gave me the extra red hat and I put it on while Cedric was looking. He chuckled and shook my head at me. I laughed at him and looked down at the stadium again.

"I told you these seats would be worth waiting for!" Mr. Diggory told us.

Suddenly, the Irish team came flying from behind us. Green and white smoke followed them then quickly dissolved into the air. A giant, sparkly Leprechaun formed in the sky and started dancing.

"It's the Irish!" one of the twins yelled.

Then they started naming the players on the team. I didn't know how they knew which one was who when they were so far away. Cedric and I looked at each other and he gave me a nod while I just shook my head at him again. Soon, everyone in the stadium started chanting and rooting for Ireland. They flew around the stadium once, then looked up to see the Bulgarians flying straight through the Leprechaun with a streak of red following their brooms.

"There's the Bulgarians!" the other twin shouted.

There was one player of the team who was doing tricks and stuff on his broom. I didn't know who he was, but he was good. And everyone else thought he was, too, by all the cheering that everyone was doing.

"Who's that?" Ginny asked.

"That, little sis, is the best Seeker in the world!" one of the twins answered.

Everyone started chanting his name, which I later found out by Ron that his name was Viktor Krum. I saw Hermione cheering once she saw him. I could tell that she thought he was cute.

"You think he's cute, don't you?" I asked her, planting a smirk on my face.

She grinned and started blushing. Then she hit my arm. "Shut up." I laughed at her and turned back when I heard the voice of the Minister for Magic.

"Good evening! As Minister for Magic, it gives me great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you to the final of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup! Let the match...BEGIN!" He made the Snitch fly out of his wand and the game started.

"And so does our bet," Cedric whispered in my ear. This was going to be a long night.

*******

"And Ireland scores again! If their Seeker can catch the Snitch, then it's all gonna be over!"

I thought for sure that Bulgaria was going to have this game down. But by what I had been watching for the past hour, I knew that they were going to lose. That meant I lost the bet with Cedric, which meant I had to give him what he wanted, and what he wanted was a kiss.

But if that was what he wanted, did he like me? Or was he trying to be funny? He didn't talk to anyone else but me on the way here or on the way to the campsite. Oh my Merlin, he did like me!

"Looks like Krum has found the Snitch!" The announcer yelled. Cedric looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I playfully hit his arm and turned back to the stadium.

"Krum caught the snitch! Krum caught the snitch!" An echo of cheering and yelling came from the entire stadium.

"Yes! I won the bet! I'm looking forward to our date, Diggory." I smirked.

"Ireland wins!"

My mouth dropped in shock. A roar of cheering came from the entire stadium. I felt like the only one that wasn't cheering or yelling. Because I lost the bet. I had to kiss Cedric. Damn the Irish.

I turned to look at Cedric and blushed. He looked at me, and smirked. "So where's my kiss, Potter?"

I covered my face in embarrassment and laughed. He took my hands and pulled them away so he could see my face. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me in so that my lips met his.

I thought no one else was watching. But when you were surrounded by people like Fred and George, it was hard not to get noticed. A chorus of oohs and cheering came from behind us and I pulled away, turning around to face them. I just laughed at them and looked back at Cedric. He was smiling at me.

"Wow," he said.

I laughed. "Best first kiss ever."

He smiled and let go of me. I started walking with him and he took my hand, helping me down the steps. After he helped me, he didn't let go of my hand until we had to part ways. When we got back to our tent, he stopped and looked at me.

"I'll see you at school," he said.

"See you at school, then," I replied.

He smiled and then kissed me on the lips once more. We bid goodbye as I went back into the tent with the others, thinking about Cedric.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Hello!

Sorry I haven't been updating. I have a lot of things to do with gifts for people, and exams start on Friday, which I'm really nervous about. Well I'm actually nervous about my Geometry MSL mostly. Well either way I'm reallllyyyy nervous!

I'll try and not slow the updates down. But school ends June 5th, so I'll be updating a lot after that day. I wanna get this story done by the middle of July. That's enough time right?

Well I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though it took me 4 days to write it. Watch out for the next chapter!

-A