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The morning sky was blanketed with an eerie fog that broke only to let the deepest ray of sunshine on the glorious castle. Zinnia thought to herself that maybe today the all powerful weather would be forgiving and kind, she thought the chilling mist might have just made an exception today to allow a gleaming yellow light on the cold stone.

The morning was the 19th of September, this morning Hermione would turn fifteen. Zinnia loved her friends' birthdays as she would go to great lengths to ensure the happiness of the people around her.

The day was filled with glorious laughter as the friends took the time they had on the weekend to celebrate the girl. The entire Weasley family and Beaumont family wished the girl a happy birthday.  Zinnia had done the honour of buying her her own copy of 'Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century', to which Hermione shared a great appreciation for by almost tackling Zinnia to the ground in a hug.

Hermione and Zinnia found themselves sprinting between Ron and Harry in the midst of celebration as neither of them were willing to put away their differences for the day, this earned a gleaming scolding from Zinnia at the two's selfish actions. Zinnia and Hermione spent the rest of their day soaking up the sun that the clouds had most generously gifted them that afternoon.

"Don't worry about them Hermione, they're just being idiots and I bet in no time they'll come running to you begging on their knees with an apology" Zinnia stated, her eyes squinted from the sun as they both lay on the grass.

"It's not even that, I'm just so worried for Harry, God knows what he will have to do '' Hermione worried as usual. Eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"We're forgetting about that today, today is a triwizard free day" Zinnia knocked off the girl's worry, keen for her to have a perfect birthday and not just concern herself with others like she always did.

"You know, your problems don't just go away if you stop thinking about them" Hermione explained to the girl with an amused smile

"Says who?" Zinnia lifted herself from her relaxed position

"Anyone ever" Hermione laughed at the girl

"Yeah well right now I wouldn't mind if I could simply not think about my problems" she muttered through closed teeth into her lap.

"And what exactly does that mean?" Hermione concerned herself with the girl's business.

"It'll go away, i'm sure" Zinnia denied

"What? Tell me right now" Hermione demanded

"No." Zinnia simply replied. Refusing to share any of her problems with anyone.

"Too bad, it's my birthday and you have to do what I say." Hermione planted herself closer to the refusing girl. Zinnia took a deep breath, hesitant to share her worries and feelings with anyone, even if it was only Hermione.

"Okay top secret. It's not like it's a permanent thing but this stays between us" Zinnia encouraged the girl. Hermione nodded with her eyebrows knitted together trying to think of what the girl would say.

"I may or may not, possibly, maybe like Harry" she said in a hushed embarrassed tone. In that moment you could hear a pin drop. Hermione stared vacantly at the girl without a change of expression or a quivering muscle. Only her eyes moved between Zinnia's as if she were looking for a lie.

"Well of course" she blurted out, moving her head back in disbelief.

"What do you mean of course?" Zinnia snapped quickly, unaware of the blatantly obvious way her and Harry act with each other.

"Well it was only a matter of time before you realised it, everyone can see." Hermione nonchalantly expressed, unassuming to the volcano of confusion about to erupt out of the jittery girl next to her.

Zinnia simply stared at her for a moment, unable to process the idea that people outside of her own mind could possibly be able to understand and dissect the abundance of clutter stored in her brain.

"Impossible" is all she could mutter out, turning her head from the smug Hermione to the vast green that stretched along the grounds. "And here I thought I was being all mysterious" she chuckled to herself before the realisation of everything sunk in.

"Shit, if you know does that mean Harry knows, is it that obvious" she began to stress, unable to fathom the idea of what an idiot she had looked like if he failed to return her feelings

"Please, Harry couldn't decipher a person's feelings if you wrote it out on paper and read it aloud to him. Of course he has no clue but I'm not too sure he feels completely different" She laughed at the shredded girl fiddling with the grass beneath her. 

"Come on, pretty sure he fancies Cho, if he liked me he would have done something by now" she exclaimed, moving her gaze disheartedly towards her lap, recalling the events of the owlery.

"If you think that you're daft, it should be completely obvious to the both of you but you're both too caught up in your own heads to see what's right in front of you." she sharply spoke, growing, tired of the indecent denial and ignorance from the two.

Both of the girls only giggled at each other and enjoyed the rest of the sunlight that was slowly disappearing over the fading afternoon sun on the horizon. Unaware of the prying ears of one Lavender Brown hidden behind a stone column, eager to spread news of this exclusive delectable new piece of gossip.

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As November approached, so did Harry's first Triwizard task. With the impending event, Zinnia found herself growing more anxious by the day. The year was approaching its end and the air began to feel more icy as time went on. It seemed that today of all days, the weather opened up to a bit more of the disappearing sunshine as Harry and Zinnia gathered by the lake alongside Neville, who was almost knee-deep in the chilling murky water.

Harry was peacefully sitting against a large tree that gave him shade over the disappearing afternoon sun, whilst Neville uttered exclamations about his fascination with the plants he had in his hands.

"Neville you're doing it again" Harry snarkily spoke whilst picking up a tattered old book belonging to Neville.

"Oh, right, sorry" Neville replied, returning his head to what was in his hands in embarrassment.

"Don't be such a prick Harry" Zinna scolded the distasteful way he spoke to Neville. She moved over to Harry from her position at the edge of the lake where she had been attempting to skip rocks.  Her film camera hung from her neck as she took advantage of the beautiful atmosphere she surrounded herself with.

She felt the cool breeze in her hair and sighed peacefully, there was nothing that matched the feeling of being outside to her. Outside she felt that the time moved substantially slower than the hassle of inside. Back at the cottage, she would often find herself escaping the playful screaming of her family by wandering to a perfectly placed patch of grass in the middle of nowhere and simply sitting. Often she felt that these times were the only times she could be completely still, she didn't have to read a book or walk around aimlessly or fill the silence with chatter. She could simply sit still and it was as if she created her own bubble of time where nothing existed outside of it.

"Manage to skip any rocks?" Harry snidely remarked with a playful smirk on his face, knowing full well her entire time had been filled with her making comical splashes in the water from her miserable attempt to skip a rock. She turned her body toward Neville and with the click of her camera, captured the moment of him staring into a muddy jar of water with absolute astonishment on his face.

"That entirely depends on your definition of skipping" she avoided the question, looking down as she fixed her lens, feeling the embarrassment of not being able to complete the simple task.

"Well I define it as throwing smooth flat stones into a body of water in a way that makes them jump across the surface, what do you define it as?" he cockily replied, exploiting her stumbles in words.

She merely looked at him, all too knowing of how she loved their playful banter. She thought it stupid to enjoy such a thing as it was meerly friendly, however she couldnt mistake the heat rushing through her when he smirked up at her. She closed her mouth tightly in an attempt to hide her smile and averted her gaze to the book he was holding.

"What's this book Neville?" she asked, sloppily sitting next to Harry and snatching the book out of his hands. She flipped through the book to see old cursive writing alongside intricate drawings of different coloured and shaped plants. Unknown to her, Harry was fully invested in watching concentrated face as her eyes skimmed over the aging pages. 

"Magical Water Plants of the Highland Lochs?" she let out a bare whisper through her pale lips, entrancing the boy next to her even further.

"Moody gave it to me, that day we had tea" Neville explained, swiftly looking up and waving to someone that seemed to be approaching from the treeline.  Harry and Zinnia sharply turned their heads around to be met with the approaching group of Ron, Hermoine and Ginny. They all found themselves lost in a hushed whisper as Ron scowled at Harry.

Harry promptly sat up from his spot lying on the tree roots, Zinnia stood up with him and held back his arm, giving him a concerned look as it was still surprisingly icy between him and ron. Harry gave her an assuring look as they headed over to the approaching Hermione.

​​"Ronald would like me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid was looking for you." she repeated in a stagnant manner, trying her hardest to remember the complicated story Ron had told her.

"Is that right? Well you- What?" he stuttered in confusion, barely being able to comprehend what was coming out of Hermione's mouth. Hermione's uttered confused noises then swiftly turned back to Ron to confirm what she had to repeat. Zinnia turned to harry's side in support

"Come on harry this is ridiculous, just forget about your grievances" She whispered to him as Hermione walked back to the two in a stride.

"Dean was told by Parvati that... Please don't ask me to say it again. Hagrid's looking for you." she said to Harry, tired of the tension between the two and the stupid ways they decided to communicate.

"Well you can tell Ronald..." Harry began arrogantly, too caught up in his own pride to forgive and forget.

"I'M NOT AN OWL!" Hermione shouted back at him in a fury, completely over the way they two were acting.

The group stared at each other for a moment before the three turned their backs and left. Harry dropped his head in annoyance, muttering something incomprehensible to himself out of anger.

"Come on Harry, this is getting out of hand" Zinnia softly spoke, returning her hand to his arm and attempting to make eye contact with him. He lifted his head for a moment, with tight lips he stared at her in deep thought.

"I've got to go find Hagrid" he spoke and left without letting her get a word in. She shouted out his name in a plea but he only muttered a goodbye and disappeared through the trees. Zinnia stood there for a moment staring at his receding figure and turned back to Neville in a huff.

"This is all terribly complicated" she told him as she returned to her spot at the root of the tree, this time feeling the absence of Harry next to her.

"They're Harry and Ron, they will make up at some point. Well I hope so, it's awfully awkward in our dorm at the moment" he told her, attempting to reassure his friend.

"Sorry to hear that" she muttered, her head swarming with the burden of this childish disagreement.  She took a deep breath in an attempt to rid her mind of the stressing thoughts. She stood up from where she was and gathered her things.

"I'm going for a walk, Neville, want to join?" she asked kindly to the boy, wanting to clear her mind a bit and enjoy the last sunlight of the day.

"No i'm going to stay here for a bit, meet you back at the castle later" he said to her, lifting his head only for a moment and then looking back at the plants he had in hand.

Zinnia farewelled Neville and proceeded to walk the path back to the castle. Her head was abundant with distressing thoughts. Not only were her closest friends in a meaningless quarrel, but Harry's first task was approaching in a couple of weeks, and he was well underprepared. And on top of all of that she couldn't get over her feelings for him. It was as if suddenly she had a moment of clarity to why she wanted to be so close to him over the years. It was even more stressing as she had absolutely no clue how he felt back, she may not be remotely on his radar at all for all she knew. In her tornado of thoughts she barely noticed Kian approaching from behind her, calling out her name. He ran up from behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"What's got you all gloomy?" he asked cheerfully, laughing at his friends constant state of worry

"Everything really, Ron and Harry are at each other's throats, the first task is merely weeks away and I-'' she stopped herself before revealing too much, not wanting everyone she knew to know how she felt about Harry.

"And I what?" Kian asked with a quizzical brow, concerned for his friends' mental state.

"And I just... i'm just stressed is all" she lied to him, reluctant to share any bit of herself with others. That vulnerability gate was to stay closed by Zinnia's rules.

"You need to cool down. It's really not that stressful if you think about it. I mean friends fight, that is normal and before you know it they'll be fine again." Kian reasoned. Pulling Zinnia into a friendly side hug and scruffing the hair on her head as she frowned comically.

"Wise you are master Yoda" she laughed at him. Kian, not understanding the reference, gave her the oddest look she had ever seen.

"What is a Yoda?" Kian asked, unsure whether he should be offended or not

"Yoda, you know...Star Wars" she explained, hoping to ring a bell only to be met with the completely blank face of her friend as he unsurely shook his head. "It's a muggle movie" she sighed at him, giving up.

"Why on earth would you think I would get a reference from a muggle movie?" he asked, laughing at her.

"My mum made me watch it, I don't know how integrated with the muggle world you are" she attempted to justify with a laugh from Kian.

The two were chuckling at each other in a fit of laughter as they approached the castle when all the sudden Harry came racing past them from the grounds. He didn't even acknowledge the two as he was so laser focused on where he was going.

"Harry, where are you going?" Zinnia shouted at him, her and Kian slightly running to catch up with him.

"Hagrid '' is all Harry could muster up saying before attempting to sprint off.

"It's gonna be dark in like five minutes" she shouted out, not wanting her friend to get in trouble

"I'll tell you all about it when I get back,"  he yelled out at her before sprinting off in the direction of the Gryffindor tower. Zinnia merely looked on bemused at what on earth he could be doing. She glanced towards Kian as they gave each other confused looks and continued on their way.

Later that night, Harry had not shown up for Dinner and Zinnia was beginning to get worried. It was only around fifteen minutes before everyone would be sent up to their dorms when everyone was sitting by the cozy fire of the common room. Harry came streaming and all puffed out and looked like he had just seen a ghost. He immediately caught the eyes of Zinnia, he rushed over to her and pulled her out of the common room by her arm. He pulled her through the portrait, looked around them and pushed her against the wall.

"Its dragons" he said, breathing heavily and eyes darting around him to make sure no one was there. Zinnia was all too confused with what was going on and felt overwhelmed.

"Are you mad? What are you doing" she whispered to him in a frantic voice, unsure of what he could possibly be going on about.

"The first task is dragons, Hagrid showed them to be. We- we've got to fight them I think." Harry said. Still holding Zinnia's arm and pressing it against the wall beside her. Zinnia was at a loss for words at that moment. Her brain darted between being so close to Harry and the information he just told her.

"Like- like real dragons?" She stuttered out, not believing him.

"No, a cardboard cutout of a dragon. Yes, a real dragon!" he sarcastically replied to her.

"Holy hell Harry, they can't expect you to fight that thing" she exclaimed, her breath quickening with her worry.  He looked at her with fear in his eyes, he searched her face although Zinnia had no clue what he was looking for. He let out a mournful sigh after a few moments.

"I don't think I have a choice," he whispered.  They stayed in silence for a moment, simply looking at each other before Zinnia broke the ice

"You missed dinner, I brought you a couple of bread rolls. I buttered them this time" she shyly spoke. Harry only let out a sigh of laughter as he looked at the concerned girl. 

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The day was bright and the courtyard full. Harry and Zinnia walked alongside each other ignoring the awful comments Harry was receiving from people who had decided to wear the all new and popular 'Potter Stinks' badge. Although Zinnia was quite impressed with the design, she tore the badges off of anyone when she got the change to.

"You cheat, Potter"

"You stink. Potter"

Harry was met with the remarks of his unsupportive classmates. As they bumped into Him and Zinnia, knocking her books out of her hands.

"Great, bloody pricks" she shouted at them as she collected her books from the ground with Harry's help. He handed her the last book that lay on the ground as she thanked him. She noticed one book that had skidded across the halls and was stepped on by multiple students.

"No! Stop please stop" she shouted as she launched at her copy of 'Little Women', only to find the pages torn and the muddy footprints of ignorant students all over it.

"Fan-fucking-tastic" she exclaimed as she picked up the ruined book.

"I'm so sorry Z, it's my fault, they meant to get me" Harry apologised, feeling tremendously guilty.

"Not your fault, just the people who don't appreciate the auspicious words of Louisa May Alcott" she sighed, moving forward into a blockade of students at the exit of the corridor.

"Like the badge?" Zacharias Smith spat humiliatingly at Harry. Harry stood there for a moment before Zinnia stepped forward.

"Give it a rest! I've had enough of you guys!" she shouted as she violently shoved the crowd away, Harry following. 

"You alright here? I'm going to talk to Cedric." he turned to her, concerned about how upset she was getting

"Yeah I'm fine here, go on," she said, pushing him forward and finding a vacant bench to sit on. She instinctively pulled out her book only to remember it was completely ruined. She muttered profanities to herself as she put the book back and waited for harry.

Lucky for Zinnia. The conversation was brief, she spotted Harry walking back in her direction as she got up from her spot and put her bag back on her shoulder. They both moved back in the direction of the corridor, but unluckily for them, Ron and Seamus were approaching deep in a one sided conversation about Seamus's proclivity for explosives. Harry immediately became enraged when he spotted Ron, and Zinnia tried her best to pull him back.

"Harry stop, harry-'' she ran after his speedy step towards the infuriated redhead.

"You're a right foul git, you know that?" Harry spat at the boy, at this point Zinnia just accepted that she could do nothing to stop this and watched as the boys imploded.

"You think so?" Ron scowled back

"I know so" Harry maliciously replied, terribly angry with Ron not telling him about the dragons. Although Ron was nowhere aware of this, he was just mirroring Harry's anger.

"Guys stop, this is stupid" Zinnia tiredly tried to intercept the argument.

"Keep out of it Z" Ron turned momentarily to look at Zinnia, not wanting his oldest friend to get in the middle of the fight

"Watch yourself" she scorned back, not appreciative of the disgusted tone she was given by Ron.

"Anything else?" Ron growled back at Harry

"Yeah, stay away from me" He said as his voice rose.

"Fine" Ron spat back as he knocked Harry's shoulder when he left. The two were left in silence as Zinnia stared down Harry

"Really?" is all she said to him, baffled at his childish behaviour. However before he could reply, the nasally voice of Malfoy interrupted the two from above in the tree.

"Why so tense Potter? My father and I have a bet you see. I don't think you're gonna last ten minutes in this tournament" he dramatically jumped out of his place in the tree, as Zinnia rolled her eyes and nudged Harry away. "He disagrees. He thinks you won't last five" he laughed with his friends.

"I dont give a damn what your father thinks Malfoy" Harry rushed forward and aggressively pushed Malfoy in the chest "He's vile and cruel, and you're just pathetic." he snapped at him.

"Just ignore him harry, it's not with the breath" Zinnia pulled Harry away, grimacing at Malfoy

"That's right Beaumont, go take him back to that filthy muggle mother of yours" he joked at her, knowing that would hit a nerve.

"You better shut it Malfoy before I curse you" she swiftly turned around and headed straight for him so they were now face to face.

"Surprised you can even cast a spell with all that muggle in you, everyone knows the Beaumonts are a stain to the name pureblood" he smirked at her, wanting to do as much damage as possible after his ego was hurt.

"YOU ROTTEN MAGGOT" Zinnia shouted as she sporadically lunged towards the shocked face of Malfoy, only to be pulled back from the waist by Harry who turned her around in order to lead her away. Unbeknownst to them, Malfoy had his wand drawn and ready to curse the two behind their backs.

"Oh no you dont, sonny" Mad-Eye boomed from the corridors, in a blast from his wand turning Malfoy into a small white ferret.

Zinnia and Harry turned around in shock before bursting into an uproar of laughter. To the both of them, this was by far the funniest thing they had seen all year.

"I'll teach you to curse someone when their back is turned." he growled as the smiles of Zinnia and Harry grew larger.

"You stinking, cowardly, scummy.." Moody repeated as he bounced ferret malfoy up and down in the air, much to the amusement of the crowd that grew around them. He was abruptly interrupted when a Professor McGonagall came streaming into the scene.

"Professor Moody! What are you doing?" she worriedly questioned him, her eyes focused on the continuously bouncing ferret.

"Teaching" Moody grumbled out, Zinnia couldn't help but laugh into Harry's shoulder at this.

"Is that a--?  Is that a student?!" Mcgonagall shouted, her face alarmed at the scene unraveling before her.

"Technically it's a ferret, '' Moody sardonically replied. Zinnia let out a burst of laughter as Moody shoved ferret Malfoy down the pants of crabbe.

At this point her ribs began to ache and her knees gave in as she couldn't contain her laughter. She was struggling to lean against Harry as he too was weakened by the amusement. Moody turned and gave a wink to Harry and Zinnia as the ferret moved down the pants leg of Crabbe and bit Goyle at attempting to retrieve him.

McGonagall swiftly flicked her wand and Malfoy was returned to normal, however scuffed up and utterly frightened.

"My father will hear about this!" he spat as he retreated to the protection of his friends.

"IS THAT A THREAT?" Moody chased Malfoy across the courtyard and behind the tree as the frightened boy scurried away in a hurry and McGonagall shouted for the professor.

"I could tell you stories about your father that would curl even your greasy hair boy! It doesn't end here!" He yelled out as Malfoy finally got away.

"Alastor! We never use transfiguration as a punishment, surely Dumbledore told you that." she scolded, stone faced at the shameful Professor Moody.

"He might've mentioned it." Moody explained as he lowered his head to the ground, even a scary guy like him was no match for the wrath of Professor MsGonagall.

"Well you will do well to remember it." she demanded as she dismissed the crowd of onlooking students as she left. Moody replied by pulling a childish mocking face at her ash she turned her back.

"You, come with me" he demanded Harry as he picked up his walking stick and hobbled away. "Not you Beaumont, just Potter" he said as he watched Zinnia try to follow after them.

Harry gave her an apologetic look as he followed the fast moving Moody into the castle walls. Zinnia looked concerned but dismissed her fears as she had taken a new liking to Moody.

"Hey are you alright" the soft voice of Cedric spoke from behind her, interrupting her thoughts.

"What?" she obviously questioned to the towering hufflepuff

"Well, I heard Malfoy say some pretty terrible things about you and your family, just wanted to check if you were okay." he mumbled, stuttering on his words with a concerned brow.

"I'll be alright, im tough" she smiled at him, putting on a brave face.

"Alright well, if he ever says anything like that again, just send him my way" he smiled at her. She chuckled at his suggestion and looked at her feet.

"I'll keep that in mind" she said before he wandered off back to his friend group.

Zinnia sighed to herself, trying to bury the anger she felt towards Malfoy for saying those horrid things to her. She fought the urge to find him there in that moment and give him a piece of her mind. She simply exhaled and headed back towards the Library in order to see if they had a copy of Little Women she could borrow to finish, although she highly doubted it. Her mind now solely on how Harry would manage getting past a dragon.

(A.N- yeah this chapter is incredibly long but i think it might be one of my favourites so pls vote and share it ❤️ also shoutout to Vl0let cause u always read and vote my chapters. you a real one😔)