Expecto Patronum || Cedric Diggory x Hufflepuff Female Reader

~ f o u r ~

"Say it after me. Riddikulus!" Professor Lupin says.

"Riddikulus," the class mumbles.

"Right, now say it louder."

"Riddikulus!" the class repeats, stronger.

"Yes, very good. Now Ms. Clareton, please come up and perform your boggart transformation."

A Gryffindor girl named Hillary walks up and faces the closet. Out of it slithered a huge basilisk. y/n looks away from it so quickly she almost pushes me to the ground. She buries her face in my robes. I stroke her hair.

"It's just a bogart y/n/n," I remind her.

"Oh right," she says, looking up and laughing. Then she turns away. I shiver a bit at the sudden loss of warmth.

"You good?" she asks. We move closer to the closet.

"Huh?"

"You shivered. Are you cold?"

I was about to say no but then I think about it. "Yeah, a little. Maybe just from stress."

She hugs me, just like I wanted her to. "It'll be ok Ced. I'll always be here with you." She smiles up at me and that instantly warms me up.

After a few more students, it's y/n's turn. She exhales and bravely steps up to face the boggart which currently is in the form of a beehive as that was the last student's boggart.
At once, the boggart transforms into... her father? I had only seen Mr. Freeman once and that was on the Hogwarts Express platform in fourth year. He didn't seem like a scary man of any sort so I was confused as to why y/n would be afraid of him.

Before the boggart Mr. Freeman could do anything, y/n lifted her wand and yelled "Riddikulus!" much louder than need be. He dropped back, suddenly turning into a dog which was one of y/n's favorite animals.

She turned around and started walking to the back of the line. It was now my turn. I had an idea as to what my boggart was and it was embarrassing.

As I stepped up to face the shape-shifter, the dog turned back to human form. But this time, it wasn't y/n's father, it was mine. My mother appeared next to him and so did... y/n.

"You're such a bad student, Cedric. I am ashamed to have been the one to raise you," my father says.

"You're so hopeless," my mother adds.

"You're not even good at Quidditch. I don't even like you. Not even as a friend," boggart y/n says. Her eyes aren't the normal, pretty e/c color. They're red. A very menacing red.

"Riddikulus!" I yell, snapping out of my trance. All three turned to their loving normal selves.

Dazed, I start walking back so that the next person in line can go. I want so badly to leave the classroom, not wanting to face y/n, worried she would say that the things her boggart form said were true.

Instead, she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the tightest hug ever. I don't even know what to say. I just rub her back and kiss the top of her head. She nuzzles her head into my chest more.

"I don't think you're a failure," she says finally. "And I think you're great at Quidditch and you're going to be my best friend for life even if you don't want to be."

I smile and take her hand as she grabs our books. Class has just ended and we have an hour until dinner.

"We can go to my dorm to hang," she says. "Seen as we went to yours last night."

"Sure," I say, taking my books from her.

Along the way, we pass Donovin Rutherford, the Ravenclaw boy who had flirted with y/n yesterday. He glares at me so hard I thought a literal sword was going to impale me right then and there. I looked at the hallway we were walking down and turned the corner to head up to the Hufflepuff common room and then the girls dormitories.

"How do you think you did on your potions test?" she asks.

"Great! Studying with you really helped," I reply.

"Did it?" she laughs light-heartedly.

"Do you have roommates? And if you do, are they going to walk in on us?" I joke.

"Nope. No roommates. Don't worry about it. My father specifically asked for me not to have any."

"Why? I mean not to be rude or anything but... who wouldn't want their daughter to, y'know, connect with the other students?" I ask tentatively, not wanting to be rude.

"I- uhh don't know," she shielded her face from me while she opened her dresser. "It's not in here," she mumbles.

"What isn't?" I ask.

"My flowery blouse. It's probably in my closet. D'you mind getting it out for me?" she asks.

"Sure!" I open her closet. This was a normal thing. We went to each other's dorms a lot since we became best friends in first grade.

"Here it is!" I say, taking it out.

"Thanks," she says, grabbing it. Without her telling me, I hide myself in her closet so she can get changed. I don't know why I chose this way, I thought it was funny.

"Lumos," I cast the spell so I can see and not fall into her hamper by accident.

I don't want to say that I was... examining her clothes... but I was. As I was inhaling her scent, I noticed something. All of her clothes were long sleeved and she didn't have a single pair of shorts.

I found this kind of odd because what would she wear during summer or when it was hot around Hogwarts. I brushed off the summer part because nobody stays at school for summer, but it was still weird...

"You can come out now Ced," she says. I do nox to turn off my light and step out. I see that she's sitting on her bed.

"You good?" she asks. I guess I'm not very good at hiding my emotions from her.

"Yeah, totally fine. Just... nervous about... tomorrow's quidditch game," I come up with an excuse. I wasn't actually nervous. We had been practicing since school had started.

"You'll do fine," she says reassuringly.

**Later that night**

Dearest y/n,
These are the days that I enjoy most. When we just hang out together and enjoy each other's company. I still wish I could do the things that I want to do with you, as in more couple-y stuff, but I suppose being your best friend is already enough to ask for, seen as how many people would kill just for you to say hi to them.

Some people ask me what makes you so popular. It's simple really. Charming smile, cute personality, and really gorgeous looks. Any person would be crazy to not fall in love with you. Like seriously, are you a veela or something?

Ok maybe I'm being too weird. But I really like you and I really like hanging out with you. If only you would just see me as more than a friend. But I don't know. Maybe I'm asking for too much at once.

Wishing for the day that you'll be mine,
Your Ced.