𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓| 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲✔️

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄|𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇

MARA WILLIAMS

The next day potions class had me bored to tears. Snape's voice had been droning on about the practical applications of wormwood for over an hour already, and things were only made worse by the palpable tension that hung heavy in the air.

We didn't dare so much as look at one another, mainly for fear of what we might see, God forbid we make eye contact. He kept his head down, pale white hair falling over his face, staring hollow at his vacant palms. Even seeing him out of the corner of my eye caused a pang of pain to strike my chest, he looked like a beautiful nightmare, a torrent of darkness plagued by storms and cursed to fear the light.
-He feared salvation, for he was in too deep.

There was no sanctity in his lightless world, there was no solace from what he could not outrun.

Even Blaise was silent, seeming somewhat downcast as he kept his head firmly fixed forwards until the end of the lesson when he practically leaped from his seat before I could even look his way.

As I left Snape's class I felt a firm hand rest on my shoulder and for a second my heart jumped into my throat thinking it was...
"Hello little bird," Cedric smiled, "Do you mind if I talk to you for a second." He eyed something behind me before adding, "-Alone."

A moment later Malfoy shoved past me, knocking the air from my lungs as I turned to shout at him, but he was already gone. He boiled my blood in a way that no one else could, how had we gone from something close to lovers to nothing more than strangers in a matter of weeks? The only explanation was it was never real to start with.

"What an asshole." Cedric frowned, "-Come on let's go for a walk."

The outside courtyard was blanketed by a thick cloth of snow, and I found myself dragging my feet and watching the deep gashes it left in the sterile white. "...So what was it you wanted to talk about?" I asked after a long while of quiet. Seemed like no one felt much like talking today.

He watched me with a small smile, unable to tear his eyes from my snow covered shoes. "Oh nothing, I just wanted to see you."
In a way, the thought made me uncomfortable, and at first I wasn't exactly sure how to respond, I felt as though Cedric and I had drifted apart in the past few weeks, before Christmas he promised me he would write me every week as he returned back to his family home, and yet as I sat waiting no such letters ever arrived. "...Oh."

Using his sleeve to wipe the snow from the bench, Cedric motioned for me to sit besides him. "Are you okay... You know, after yesterday?"

"Yeah I'm alright," I said quietly as I sat down on the cold stone, "It's just I've never seen a Boggart before..."

"Me neither." He said with a low chuckle to fill the silence, devoid of humour. "It wasn't exactly my favourite D.A. meeting I must admit, but we'll get better, we just need to keep working at it."

"What was your fear?" I kicked the snow idly, watching the way it clung to my shoes and chilled my toes. I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of ever having to face another Boggart. "Who was that man?"

"-That was my father, Amos Diggory." Cedric flexed his hands, turned bloodless by the cold as he shot me a small smile. "...Promise you won't tell?"

"-Pinky swear."

He took a steadying breath, a finality in the exhale, taking with it all the parts on himself he wished he could erase. "I'm terrified of not being good enough. It's just... -He only wants the best for me but somstimes I feel like he asks too much."
There was a pause, and a brief moment where his mouth opened but no sound came out, almost as if he couldn't bring himself to say the words he so desperately wanted to speak. "... Especially after my mother died, I mean I know he will always love me no matter what, it's just I want to the son he always wanted me to be."