Let them wonder

Chapter 18 - Charms

Hermione P.O.V

I woke up to someone shaking me. I open my eyes to see Ginny who smiles at me. I groan before sitting up.

"Morning." I mumble tiredly.

"Morning 'Mione."

"Quick question. Why did you wake me up?"

"You slept in so I thought I'd wake you so you wouldn't miss breakfast." I jolt out of bed at her words. Ginny laughs as I run into the bathroom to take a shower. After I dried myself and brushed my teeth, I get dressed and put a drying charm on my hair. I then make sure I have all my books ready for the day before I head down to the common room. I see Ginny waiting for me. We walk out of the common room together before heading down to the Great Hall.

As soon as we get to the Great Hall we walk towards the Gryffindor table. I sit next to Cedric and Harry and Ginny sits opposite with Mace and Ron.

"Morning." I say to everyone .

"Morning." They chorus back. I grab an apple and bite into it. I turn to Cedric and see his face scrunched up teasingly.

"What?" I say with a laugh. He then smiles.

"You should try the waffles, they're really good." He says with a hopeful smile. I nod and put a waffle on my plate. I then put some cut up fruit with it. I turn to Cedric to see that he was watching the entire thing. I raise my brow as if to ask him if he's happy. He sends me an approving nod before continuing with his own food. I take a bite of the waffle and let out a sigh of contentment. After breakfast I check my timetable to see that I have charms first. When I look up I see Ron looking at me before looking at Cedric and scowling whilst shaking his head. I stand up and tell the others that I'm heading to class. I leave the Great Hall without looking back. As I'm heading down the corridor, I hear footsteps behind me and turn to see Cedric trying to catch up with me. I stop so that he can catch up. It only takes him 3 strides before he is next to me.

"Hi." I say as we start walking towards the charms classroom.

"Hey, why were you in a rush to get to class?"

"Well I was already running late so I thought I could at least head to charms and be on time." I say with a shrug.

"Are you sure it's not because of Ron and how he was acting at breakfast?" I sigh before turning to Cedric.

"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know. It just seems that lately he's trying to stop me from being friends with you."

"He sounds jealous if you ask me."

"But why would he be jealous?" I say with a shrug before turning to look at Cedric. Cedric stops and looks at me confused.

"You really don't see it do you?"

"See what?" Cedric lets out a sigh.

"You're really oblivious to the fact that Ron's clearly into you."

"What...there's no way that..." I say realizing that there's a chance that Cedric might be right about Ron. "But I like... someone else." I say which causes Cedric to look at me with a curious look.

"You like someone?" He asks with a teasing tone. I blush, realizing what I had just said.

"Maybe... but it's not like I could tell them." I say with a defeated sigh.

"Why not?" Cedric says with a frown.

"Well, because they are way out of my league for starters. To be honest they probably only see me as a friend so they wouldn't think to look at me as anything more. Plus I think this really pretty girl is into him and there's no way he'd choose me over her." I say glancing at Cedric who looks back at me frowning.

"What makes you think that this guy is out of your league. You're probably out of his league and if he doesn't see that you're into him then he's just plain daft. He's lucky to even have you as a friend. And if there is another girl who likes him there's no way she's half as pretty as you Hermione and if this guy can't see that then he's just blind." He says which causes me to blush.

"You really mean that?" I say in a quiet voice.

"I mean every word of it." He says looking deep into my eyes. The moment feels special almost before the rest of the class start heading towards us. I look away when I spot Ron glancing at me and Cedric. I immediately turn away and head into the classroom. I sit down in my normal seat and Cedric comes to sit beside me. Once everyone is in their seats, Professor Flitwick starts a lecture about different charms. I scribble a few notes down. My mind wanders to what Cedric said. I couldn't help but glance over at him every few seconds. I then realize something that hadn't occurred to me during our conversation. I told Cedric that I liked someone, but I don't know why. I shake away the thoughts for now before continuing writing notes.

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After class I pack up all of my stuff and leave the class without another glance back. I immediately head to the library so that I can study during my free period. I find a table closest to the back and place my bag onto the table before going to find some books.

Once I've grabbed the books that I need I sit down and begin writing notes. I write at least 2 and a half pages worth before I hear someone approach. I glance up and see Cedric stood there with some books in his hand.

"Hey, do you mind if I join you?"

"No." I say gesturing for him to sit down at the table. He sits down next to me and drapes his arm over the back of my chair. "What?" I say when I catch him looking as though he is trying to say something.

"Nothing it's just that, you seemed off today and I wanted to make sure everything was okay?" He says looking down at his hands. "But I get it if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's not that. It's just that every time I'm around you Ron always seems angry and it annoys me that he thinks that I can't have other friends besides him and Harry."

"Well he's just being a git and I'm sure he'll get over it eventually. But until then don't let him get you down and do things that make you happy, it doesn't matter if he doesn't like it, it's your choice that really matters at the end of the day." I sigh and nod before turning back to look at my book. "Hey." He says placing a finger under my chin and turns my head so that I am looking at him.

"What?" I say looking up into his eyes. He looks down at me with a smile and his eyes are on mine. I feel a blush creep up my neck. He leans down and presses his lips lightly on mine. He pulls away slightly to see my reaction. "What was  that for?" I say with a small smile. He shrugs and rests his forehead on mine.

"I just felt like kissing you since the moment we became friends but I didn't want to ruin our friendship. But I'm not scared about it anymore. I understand if you don't want to be friends with me anymore and if it's too weird since you already like some--" I press my lips against his effectively shutting him up. He cups my cheek before I pull away. "What was that for?" He says repeating my previous question.

"The person who I like is you Ced. It has been since we first spent time together, I just thought that you liked Cho so I didn't think I stood a chance with you. But now that I know that you possibly like me back I thought I'd take my shot." He smiles before leaning down to kiss me again. I feel sparks spread throughout my body and I wrap my arms around his neck pulling him closer to me. The kiss is slow and sweet. We eventually pull apart from each other, gazing into each other's eyes. I smile up at him as he links our hands together and kisses my hand gently.

"Well now I have to ask you. Will you do me the honor of accompanying me to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

"Yes, I'll go to Hogsmeade with you." I say leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. His cheeks flush a pink and it causes me to smile. I glance at my watch before realizing what  time it is. "Oh, we should head to care for creatures otherwise we'll be late." He nods before gathering his books and packing them away. I do the same before standing up to put some books from the library away. We head out of the library and Cedric holds the door open for me. I smile and say thank you before walking through. He walks out behind me and we walk side by side with linked hands and grinning continuously.