✓ epiphany ━━ cedric diggory

﹙ 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢 ﹚ apologies and amortentia

"I'm s-s.." I stammered once again. "I'm sorry," I said, followed by a single nod, glad that it was finally out of my system and off of my conscience.

As I turned to face the front, Cedric inched closer, leaning to my ear, "Sorry, I didn't get that. Could you say it again?" he asked, in a playful way, still grinning widely.

I gritted my teeth, and a moment of silence fell again. Just as he went to open his mouth, to usher me into apologizing for a second time, I turned to face him. "I'm sorry! Okay? Is that good enough?" my voice was raised slightly, and now I had rotated to look at him, our faces were but inches apart.

Cedric narrowed his eyes, and his smirk grew ever so slightly, "Sorry for what exactly?"

A semi-audible groan slipped past my lips, "For lashing out on you, in front of a lot of people?" I said, in a tone that came across as more of a question than a statement.

"For no reason." he inserted.

My eyebrows furrowed together, "Hey, Diggory, I had plenty of reasons." I stretched out my shoulders and returned back to facing the front of the classroom.

"But no proof," he added.

I scoffed subtly, "Oh come on. I didn't need proof. Are you insinuating that there was another reason behind you chasing after me?

Cedric turned back to the front, his head angled in my direction; a smile playing on his lips, "I did it because I wanted to see if you were okay."

There was a tense moment that had relaxed between the two of us. Our eyes had found their way into a lock, and our torsos were inclined to face the other.

I sucked in some air, trying my best to not let my awkward side break me. "Bullocks." I drew my eyes away from his and turned back to face the front.

Cedric did the same, and chuckled softly, "And why would that be such an abnormal thing to be labeled as "bullocks"?"

"There's no need to ask if I'm okay because chances are, I'm fine." I said confidently, despite the version of "me" that we're talking about, wasn't doing her best at the time. "And in the rare case that I'm not doing so great, I wouldn't class that as any of your business."

Cedric shook his head, with a light-hearted smile, "You need to drop this I-don't-feel-any-emotions act, y/n. You're a human too."

I inhaled again, still remaining away from him, "It's not an "act", Cedric. You of all people know full well that I'm not the nicest of people, so I'm not sure as to why you are questioning it."

Cedric chuckled again, inching just that little bit closer, "Whatever you say."

There was another pause between the two of us, as Professor Snape began to talk once more.

Until he broke it, and leaned right back over to my ear again, "Let's back-track a moment, and, correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just said my first name?" he faked a gasp, I assume, for some kind of dramatic effect.

I scoffed, turning my head towards him, so now our faces were level. "Oh, relax Diggory. You did it first. Let's not go jumping to conclusions."

Cedric shook his head, accompanied by a subtle laugh, "Well now, that's still progress, isn't it love?" he said and I could feel his breath on my face, due to the overly close proximity.

Breaking the tension between us, that was even obvious to the rest of the room, Professor Snape ushered the class over to a brewing station, of which he stood behind a freshly created potion, in a cauldron that's steam was overflowing, over the rim.