The Boy I Love -HEDRIC (2)

79.(CH) no matter how much

"For the first time we have an advantage."

"Is it really an advantage to know that he is going to…?" she stopped, looking at the ground. "I find it typical of an idiot to get into that situation instead of looking for a way out. We can do things differently."

Harry understood her point, Cedric's same perspective.

The thing was, none of them got it.

He had never had an advance notice before.

And Voldemort...

"He'll do something else, Hermione, if it's not this. What if he decides to… I don't know, to come to Hogwarts? Would you allow so many students to be put at risk? He wants me there. No one else has to be in danger."

"Only you," she concluded quietly, disappointment in her voice.

CEDRIC

LXXVI

They agreed that one way to get information was…

"Hey! Hello."

Percy frowned at Cedric's greeting.

He had told Harry that maybe he should be the one to talk to him, considering that Percy was his best friend's older brother. 

Harry should know him way better. 

But Harry claimed that he doubted Percy even liked him. 

Cedric wasn't sure Percy liked him that much either. 

"How are you?" Cedric began, because going straight to the point would be impolite and wouldn't get any response. "How is your position at Hogwarts going?"

Percy, whose face was usually serious, almost smiled with pride. "It's strange to be in these halls again, no longer as a prefect but as something greater."

"You... helped in organizing the tasks," Cedric deduced, to which he nodded, mentioning his older brother. "How did you decide who to take for the second task?"

He was just being curious and doubted Percy would answer.

"In fact, it was complex and my vote decided it. You see, we used a spell," he began to walk and Cedric kept pace, "that would choose a significant person for each Champion. It turned out to be a disaster, so I proposed to choose their Yule Ball dates if it was impossible."

"What do you mean by impossible?"

"Viktor's grandmother couldn't travel," Percy explained, turning to look at him for a second. "And I didn't really know that you and Harry were such best friends. How things change when you leave."

Luckily Percy stopped looking at him, otherwise he would have noticed the blush on his cheeks and his silly little smile.

Cedric coughed to cover it up.

"But they didn't choose my Yule date."

Percy waved a hand in disdain. "That was the idea until Professor Sprout preferred to ask someone else without proper notification."

Cedric held back his expression.

The head of his house had admonished him and Malcolm so many times for speaking in her classes, and sometimes she gave in and let them sit together again with a warning. 

"And McGonagall chose Ron," Cedric followed, opening a space for clarification. 

"They practically went to the Ball together. Their dates didn't last much. Although I would have preferred them to choose anyone but my younger brother…"