The magic of love

Hurt.

I can see the hurt on cedric's face, his face turns bright red.
"Cedric...what are you doing here" I clear my throat. "I needed something, but I can get it later." He leaves.
I put my face into my hands, shit shit shit.
I quickly put my clothes back on, "I have to go"
I look over at Draco who looked sorry.
"I'll see you tomorrow" I give him a small smile and run off.
"Cedric !" I call out in the hallway.
He's gone. I run after him, hoping to catch him before he goes to the Hufflepuff common room. But I'm already too late.

That night I barely got sleep, I tossed and turned but my mind always seemed to wander back to Cedrics hurt face. The way he couldn't look at me and Draco, the way he is face turned bright red, the way that he stumbled off, not looking back.

What if he tells everyone?
That thought was enough to make me ill. I wasn't ready for the world to know about Draco and I. My friends all despise him and I'm pretty sure they would not be happy to see us together. The only person who I trust now is Ginny, whose kept my secret from so many people.

The next day, I debate on going to Hogsmead, everyone else seems so excited to finally be getting out but I'm feeling nauseous. Ginny, whose been looking forward to this all week, begs me to go. She pulls back my covers.
"Come on! It might clear your head to get out of Hogwarts for a little bit."
I pull my covers back "I don't know..."
"Are you still fretting over Cedric and Draco?"
"Maybe" I say. I haven't told her about what happened last night yet.
"Forget about them; think about me! Harry and cho are officially a couple now and I need you! I can't face them alone"
"Alright" I say thinking of all that she's done for me. "but only for you"

The cold air stings my face when we get outside. Ron is teasing Hermione about some funny thing that happened yesterday. Harry is holding hands with cho, I can feel the jealousy seething off of Ginny. "They aren't even a cute couple" she says to make herself feel better.
The Weasley twins are goofing around as usual, making me smile a bit.

As we are walking, I'm trying to keep my mind off of everything by listening to Ginny vent about Harry and Cho.
It works for a bit, then I see Draco and his friends together laughing, making fun of Neville and his pet frog. I go over to them "guys leave Neville alone" I give Draco a warning look. Draco looks surprised, his friends start laughing "the Hogwarts slut has finally come to save you Neville. Are you guys sleeping together too?" Goyle teases.
"She's with Cedric" someone from the crowd says.
I give him a confident look "if it's any constellation,
I'd rather sleep with Neville than you any day."
"Ooooo" the crowd says. I can see the look on goyles face, stunned and speechless, Draco looks like he's trying to stifle a laugh. My job here is done

When we get to the tavern, Ginny and I sit in a booth while Harry and the rest disappear. Weird I have barely seen them around this year.
"Ok spill. You've been sulking all morning, what happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it" I sigh.
She shakes her head "nope not good enough. Obviously something is eating you alive. spill it or I will make you walk back by yourself" she jokes.
She knows me so well
"Cedric walked in on Draco and I last night" I confess.
She chokes on her butter beer a little what "wait what?! Let me get this straight, you and Draco were....." she wiggles her eye brows "and Cedric saw the whole thing?"
I nod
"How did he react?" She digs.
I think about his face, making my stomach churn "as you would expect. He walked away before I had time to explain everything. I really did hurt him. I was hoping to talk with him here but I don't see him."
She looks at me concerned "how are you feeling?"
"Honestly, not great. I feel guilty for it all. I just want him to know it wasn't him. It was me being dumb and not breaking up with him first. I fucked up, Ginny" I'm close to tears.
She reaches across the table, "you did what you thought was right at the time, but I agree you'll need to talk to cedric but give him space this week. He just needs time to think and so do you."
I agree. He did need time and so did I, so for the rest of the weekend I took time to study and hang out with friends. I avoided leaving the common room just so I wouldn't run into Draco or Cedric.

"Aurelia," Ginny says "i just saw Draco, he's stalking the Gryffindor house entrance"
I look at her
"He asked about you. He's worried"
"What did you say?"
"I said you were fine but needed time to yourself. He says to give you this"
She hands me a note.
"Thanks Ginny"
I open it

I'm sorry I put you in this position. I hope you're doing ok. I can't wait to see you again.
Draco

Smiling, I put the note away. I take some more time to think. I know I want to be with Draco. I'm falling harder than I've ever expected, but I can't pursue him without apologizing to cedric first.

When the weekend ends dread hits me, I have to suck it up and face the real world not cope up and avoid the world.

After breakfast I see Cedric, he looks tired, he has bags under his eyes. I gulp was it because of me?
I try to go up to him but he immediately walks away from me, he's still hurt which I understand. I should give him time.
When I get to my class with Cedric he changes seats and sits all the way across the room from me. Avoiding me at every class, I can't seem to ever catch up with him.

When I see Draco, I tell him we are still on for tonight. Tomorrow is the test and I wanna get in much studying done as possible

When I meet Draco that night I am immediately questioned:
"Have you been avoiding me?" He asks with hurt in his voice.
"No no! I'm sorry I didn't reply to your note. I just needed time for myself. It's been so overwhelming and I needed to take a step back for a little bit"
"Look, I know you liked Cedric, I'm sorry I led you into temptation. But I'm falling hard for you, I can't get you out of my head" he says taking my hand
"Me too but I need to explain to cedric what happened. He's been avoiding me so it's going to be difficult to talk to him. Today when I saw him he looked tired, which I know cedric never is."

The next week pasts by in a blur. Draco and I continue to see each other in secret while Cedric continues to ignore me. Rumors has swirled that Cedric and I broke up. I confirmed it to several people and told them we weren't ready and we rushed in.
No one found out about Draco and I. Which is a relief because I wasn't ready for the world to find out that I fell in love with the schools biggest bad boy. I know people would not react lightly to it. He's bullied everyone in my friend group and has harassed several people. Even though I understand why he's acts the way he acts, most people don't.

One day I'm sitting in the court yard with Ginny, and Cedric comes up. "Hey can I talk to you" he motioned to me. I give Ginny a look and she leaves.
"Look cedric I'm sorry..."
"Before you say anything I just want to ask why? Why Draco? Why not talk to me first? Did I do something wrong?"
I sigh "Cedric, you didn't do anything wrong. I cheated on you. I was stupid, I was going to talk to you and confess at Hogsmead. I wanted it to be private so no one overheard. And it all blew up in my face, I deserve it. Look I owe you an apology. You are so sweet and kind, you did nothing but treat me with kindness during our relationship.
I'm sorry I hurt you."
"Why Draco?" He asked.
"I don't know. We kind of were drawn to each other. Kind of like magic." He gave me a pained look when I said that.
He hesitate "The reason it hurts so much is because I love you. I was going to tell you at Hogsmead and then that happened. I love you and I can't stop thinking about you. But if you and Draco want to be together I won't stop you."
He gives me a sad look.
"Thank you for not telling anyone what you saw" I say.
"Off course. I'm not that kind of person to do that. I try hard to stay away from the gossip"
"I know. But thank you"