The Golden Quartet (Harry Potter x Reader x Cedric Diggory)

Fourth Year - Chapter 18

"What are you doing here? I was looking for you earlier."

You pulled on his scarf. Cedric smiled at your pouting and let you pull on his scarf until he was bent down to your level. Kissing him was something you weren't sure you'd ever get used to. It was a sweet kiss, nothing too much. All kisses with Cedric were like that. You pulled away and just looked at him until a throat clearing sound came from behind you. You turned and immediately felt your face heat up in embarrassment at seeing your father and godfather. Remus looked at his friend.

"I was right, you owe me the chocolate."

Sirius wasn't as amused.

"Hi, Dad," you muttered with a half-hearted wave, knowing he just saw everything.

"Hi, Poppet. Hello, Cedric."

"Hello, Mr. Black."

Remus was smiling like a madman. He reached into the pocket of Sirius' jacket and began searching through the man's wallet for the exact amount of money needed to buy the Bulgarian chocolate being sold at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Remus put the wallet back and patted Sirius on the shoulder, stating that he would be back in a minute. Sirius wasn't paying attention at all— he was looking at Cedric's hands on your shoulders. Cedric broke the tension, talking more to you than your dad.

"I asked your dad and Professor Lupin to meet me..."

"To clear up those Daily Prophet stories that skeevy reporter keeps publishing," Sirius cut him off.

"Yes, sir. But also to talk about... dating your daughter, without those fake reports in the way."

"Talk about?"

"Ask permission," Cedric said quickly. You looked back at him, not used to this mildly flustered side.

Sirius looked at you. "Poppet, why don't you go do whatever you were doing. You and Remus can meet us at Three Broomsticks in a bit. I want to take a walk with Cedric."

You didn't even bother to say anything but started walking to your original destination. Cedric listened to Sirius' rather long speech. The overall message was quite clear though— if you so much as muttered that someone broke your heart, Sirius would have a real reason to be in Azkaban. Cedric listened, without once interrupting as Sirius talked about you not having the best cards dealt in life sometimes. Aside from Mr. Stapius who your father was very grateful for, you never had a solid, stable, and nice male figure in your life. While not an issue necessarily in your daily life, Sirius was concerned it might lead to less than stellar choices in your love life. He didn't want you picking boys with some of the worst characteristics of the men that you knew. Not his abandonment— even if it wasn't by choice. Not Heron Black's anger issues. Not Lucius Malfoy's entire personality. None of it.

It worried him even more after the Daily Prophet piece. It took everything in him not to show up to Rita Skeeter's office when he read those words. Two biggest disgraces to the wizard world. A squib and a banshee— and those were two things you'd never be able to control. Sirius became upset because of the Yule Ball. You wrote him so upset that no one asked you and then refused to communicate through a mirror or even his Patronus so he could see your face. He wasn't naive and could remember his Hogwarts days. He might have been a flirt with everyone and the most arrogant person on campus even at eleven but he wasn't a player. If he went on a date, everyone was aware it was just a date for fun and maybe a kiss at the end— maybe, and never a snog.

But he saw the womanizers at their school. They took the insecure girl and played with her heartstrings for fun. He wouldn't consider his daughter a shrinking violet but an article as bad as Rita's had been could change everything. It made him worried that there was a scheme, especially after you told him about the Roger Davies bit. That he, or any other boy, was waiting until the very last minute to ask you out; and you would be so happy that you'd do whatever.