A Dozen Fallen Roses // Cedric Diggory

chapter thirty-three. the sleepless night.

i think imma start doing dates before the chapter to help with the storyline?

sunday, november 30.

"Great practice everyone! We'll meet at 5 in the common room on Wednesday for the Ravenclaw match, yes?" Everyone nods as Oliver grabs the trunk of balls and we head back to the castle. I wipe my sleeve across my forehead as sweat drips into my eyes and Fred catches up to me.

"You were killing it out there, today," his amazement is a bit insulting but I let it go.

"Thanks," I smile back.

"Who knows, maybe Cedric is good for you," he says, nudging me with his elbow.

"Yeah, I think he is," I think about it and everything just feels better now. I'm not focused on how to get his attention because now I have all of it.

"How about you and Angelina? I've barely seen you guys speak since the ball?" I try changing the subject, worrying that all I talk about with my friends anymore is Cedric.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that's gonna stay a friend thing..." he trails off, treading a bit lightly on the subject.

"What did you do, Fred!?" I ask, astonished that this boy can't even keep a girl for a week.

"Nothing!" he defends, holding both of his hands up in surrender as I wack him with my gloves. "She just didn't like me even talking to other girls! She got jealous of HERMIONE!"

"Are you sure it was just Hermione you were talking to? You know how you can be," I offer.

"I swear, she was just being dramatic. I don't wanna deal with it," he sighs.

"Whatever you say," I only slightly agree with him because I'm sure there's two sides to this story.

"Probably her time of the month anyway," he mumbles and I whack him again with my gloves.

"You can't say that!" I scold him.

"What? What do you mean?" he steps away from me to avoid getting hit anymore.

"Oh my god. Men," I roll my eyes and leave him behind, quickening my pace up the hill.

As soon as I get back up to the common room, I shower and throw on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie with my hair in a messy bun after drying it with a charm. I grab my books and head to the library to study for my charms exam on Tuesday.

The room is fairly busy with students cramming last minute for this and that. Last year, Hermione took up a volunteer position and she's pushing around a cart casting books back onto their shelves. I take a seat at a table by the window, opening my charms book and dipping my quill in ink, starting to scribble notes on a piece of parchment.

After about half an hour, someone enters the library and sits at the table in front of mine and I look up to see Cedric taking the seat facing me. I can't help but blush at his presence, but to avoid suspicion from the now very full library, I prop my book up on the right side of my face and whisper to him.

"Are you following me, Diggory?" he doesn't return the gesture with the book, but does first look around at who is nearby.

"Not a chance," he smirks. I roll my eyes and return to my parchment of notes, smiling uncontrollably to myself.

Cedric opens his books and starts his work as well and for the next hour, we work at separate tables, glancing up at one another every once in a while. When I've finished my notes, I rip off a small piece of parchment and scribble a little note.

Don't follow too fast. See you in your room.

I stand with my books and notes, crossing to leave the library, and slip the note onto Cedric's table. Making my way out of the room, I'm blushing incredibly as I find my pace quicken towards the Hufflepuff Common Room. I round a corner and suddenly feel two hands on my waist, slowing me down. I whip around to see Cedric and his warm smile towering over me. He dives down, kissing me softly and sweetly, then pulls away for a moment, trying to read my expression. I grab his face with both hands, pulling him back down as he kisses me passionately. Pulling away from him, I start to giggle. He grabs my hand as we run through the halls and down the stairs into the common room.

When we get to his dorm, he pins me against the door, kissing me harder than before, I wrap my arms around his neck and he pushes the door open behind me. I walk backwards, his lips still on mine as he shuts the door behind him and my legs meet the foot of the bed as I fall onto it. He stays standing, looking down at me almost greedily as I prop myself up on my elbows. I undress him with my eyes and he catches on, pulling his shirt over his head to reveal his fit figure. He leans over me as I crawl backwards onto the bed and kisses me again and again, slowly removing my hoodie to reveal the lace bralette I'm wearing underneath, and throwing it aside. Running his fingers up my hips, I untie the waistband of his sweatpants.

"Are you sure?" he asks, his breathing growing heavy. I smile and nod enthusiastically.

~

"Oh my god, Hermione we did not have sex!" I assure her, lowering my voice as we round the corner to the great hall for dinner.

"What am I supposed to think?" she asks. "I know you've already done it, but when I see you two slipping out of the library together and you come back to our room with your hair a mess with his hoodie on instead of your own..." she trails off.

"Look, yes, we did some stuff, but I'm not trying to rush anything, you know? We've got something good and there's no need to speed anything up. We're just getting to know each other in a different way now and I really like it," I explain as we take seats at an empty section of the table.

"Okay, just be careful. I don't want you to regret anything," she cuts into a jacket potato, sprinkling on cheese and chives.

"I almost forgot! Did I tell you about our picnic?" I remember as all of the boys and Ginny sit around Hermione and me.

"What picnic?" Ron asks.

"The other day, after Cedric was talking to you, Harry, he took me to this part of campus I've never been to and the view was incredible!" I gush, trying to describe the magnitude of beauty. "There was this huge picnic on this hill and we sat and just talked for hours."

"That's so romantic!" Ginny cries.

"Oh, Ava, that sounds perfect," Hermione smiles.

"Cedric's got your heart, doesn't he?" Fred chuckles, elbowing George who just smiles and shakes his head.

"So I think I have some information on the next task, but I have no idea what it means," Harry changes the subject, speaking through mouthfuls of potato.

"Isn't that literally tomorrow?" Ginny asks, a bit dumbfounded.

"Wait, holy shit, it is?" I realize that Cedric and I haven't even spoken about it. "Does he know what the task is?"

"Well, he's the one who basically told me about it, so yeah, I think so," Harry replies and I feel a bit more relieved.

Drowning out the rest of the conversation, my mind is only on one thing. Cedric. I grow anxious for the task tomorrow, wondering what it might be, and hoping he knows how to survive it. My friends and I finish our dinner and head up to the common room together.

I can barely sleep, and clearly, neither can Hermione or Ginny, as we all lay awake in our beds, staring up at our bed canopies.

sorry for going MIA the past two days, i've been super busy, but i plan to write as much as possible today!

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