Cedric, the golden boy that everyone talks about.
Also Emma, Emma Raven had long, wavy dark brown hair and soft red eyes that almost glowed under sunlight.
Her family — the Raven family — was a famous pure-blood line, well respected and well known in the wizarding world.
The first time that they met was when Emma was 5 years old and Cedric was 9 years old.
"Well Cedric? You are already excited about Hogwarts?"
Emma's dad asked Cedric.
"Yes! I'm ready! But Dad said I can't go yet."
Cedric answered with a sad voice.
"You are too young to go, just wait for 2 years ok?"
Said Emma's dad.
"Hey! I also want to go!"
Someone yelled — it was Emma.
"You are too small to go, only big kids can go."
Said Cedric, patting Emma's head.
"Hey! I'm not small!"
"You are small."
Said Cedric, and ran away.
They kept meeting, but after 2 years they stopped seeing each other. No one knows why.
Time passed. Cedric was finally 11 years old — he could go to Hogwarts.
The night before leaving for Hogwarts, Cedric heard his dad's owl coming.
Cedric opened the letter and started reading it.
Letter:
How is Cedric? He is going to Hogwarts very soon, right?
Tell him I promise to buy him a gift soon.
Cedric didn't know who Emma was, so he gave the letter to his dad.
"Dad? There's a letter for you! It's about a girl named Emma?"
Cedric called out.
Cedric's dad came over, took the letter, read it, and said,
"Oh, Emma~ Don't you remember? You used to meet her all the time."
"Well… I don't," Cedric said quietly.
Four years passed at Hogwarts. Cedric was now called the golden boy, admired by almost everyone.
He was 15 years old.
Meanwhile, Emma, who was finally 11, was getting ready to go to Hogwarts for the very first time.
On a monday morning
She sat in the car, not knowing where they were going.
"Dad, for the last time — where are we going?"
Emma asked her dad, crossing her arms.
"You'll know soon,"
said Emma's dad with a small smile.
"Yeah, yeah, like always,"
Emma muttered, looking out the window.
The car finally stopped. They had arrived.
Emma stepped out and saw a large, warm-looking house.
They walked up to the front door, and Emma's dad knocked.
"Whose house is this?"
Emma asked, but before her dad could answer, the door opened.
There stood a tall boy with messy brown hair and bright gray eyes.
"Dad! The visitors are here! Hello, come in."
"Cedric! Nice to meet you again!"
said Emma's dad cheerfully.
Emma and her dad stepped inside and sat down at the table.
A moment later, Cedric's dad came downstairs with a smile.
"Welcome, my old friend — and Emma! You've grown up so much!"
"Thank you, sir…"
Emma said politely, still unsure why she was here.
"Why don't you two play outside? Like the old days,"
suggested Cedric's dad.
Emma and Cedric looked at each other awkwardly.
"Uhm… not real—" Emma began, but Cedric cut her off.
"Sure," he said quickly.
They walked out to the backyard, the silence between them a little awkward.
"So… are we supposed to play or something?"
Emma asked, breaking the silence.
"I mean, I'm used to playing with people I don't really know,"
Cedric said, running his hand through the grass.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked.
"I mean, people come to my house that I don't know, and I have to play with them."
Cedric said, plucking a blade of grass.
"Well, good for you — I'm not like that,"
Emma replied and walked away.
Cedric sighed. He was bored and wanted to play,
but it didn't seem like Emma wanted to.
A few minutes later, Emma was still sitting by herself, poking the dirt with a stick. Cedric was on the other side of the yard, tossing a ball into the air and catching it again and again.
Finally, he called out, "You're really not gonna play?"
Emma glanced up, unimpressed. "Play what? You didn't even say what we're doing."
Cedric grinned. "Catch."
Before she could say anything, the ball came flying toward her — she yelped and barely caught it.
Cedric laughed. "See? You can play!"
Emma glared at him for a second, then threw the ball back — hard. Cedric caught it just in time. "Whoa, You're strong. "
That made Emma smirk a little.
Soon, they were running around the backyard, tossing the ball back and forth, laughing every time one of them missed. Cedric tripped once and rolled onto the grass, and Emma couldn't stop laughing.
"Are you okay?" she asked between giggles.
"Yeah," he said, brushing grass off his hair. "You're fast!"
Emma shrugged. "I have to be. I run away from boring people."
Cedric laughed. "So you almost ran away from me, huh?"
"Almost," Emma said with a teasing smile. "But you're not that boring."
He grinned at that, and for the first time that afternoon, the silence between them wasn't awkward anymore.
They sat down under the tree, both catching their breath.
Cedric plucked another blade of grass and said quietly, "You're different."
Emma tilted her head. "Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true," Cedric said. "But I think it's a good thing."
Emma didn't answer — just smiled a little and looked up at the sky.
After playing about 4 hours without knowing it, the sky got dark, Emma's dad yelled.
"Come back in! It's Lunch time!"
Emma sighed and said
"We can play after right?"
"Of course, let's go in."
They all sat around the dining table that evening . Cedric and his dad were still talking about Quidditch, laughing about something from earlier, but Emma just poked at her food quietly .
The morning light spilled across the Diggory's kitchen. Emma sat at the table, quietly eating toast and staring out the window. Her trunk was packed beside the door, and her Hogwarts letter peeked out from the top of her bag.
Cedric walked in, rubbing the back of his neck sleepily. "Morning."
Emma looked up. "Morning."
He sat across from her, trying to smile. "Excited for your first year?"
Emma gave a small laugh. "I'll be fine."
Cedric smiled.