Title: Invisible String
Pairing: Cedric Diggory x reader
Summary: Years of pining after your best friend and the end of your time at Hogwarts approaching isn't enough for you to make a move, but perhaps a comment from a local muggle waitress will enough be for you and Cedric to see what has been in front of yourselves for years.
Word Count: 2.5k
Summer breeze hit your cheeks, leaving a warm smile spreading across your lips instead of grimace that would be there in its place during the brutal winter wind in Scotland during your term at Hogwarts. Your skin held a glow of radiance from the summer sun after months of absorbing its warmth. With a deep breath, you tilted you head back and your hair flowed from the sea's breeze as you took in as much of the taste of summer that you could.
Summer holiday from Hogwarts was long in theory and short in practice. Nearly three months of no school with the freedom to do whatever you wished made the days go by seamlessly. Without fail, every year when your Hogwarts letter with the required books for the school year came you could have sworn that summer holiday went by in a blink in an eye. Perhaps, if you could teach yourself to live without blinking an eye then summer would last forever. This would be a dual purpose, because if you never had to blink an eye, then you would never have to go a second without seeing Cedric. Even a fraction of a second where you couldn't look at him was a moment you wished you spend gazing at his features, despite how irrelevant the time it would be. His honey eyes and milky skin wouldn't change in that amount of time nor would the brightness of his smile or the softness of your hair. Nothing would change, least of all your feelings for him - your feelings that for years now had surpassed friends, or rather, best friends. Best friends didn't suffer from a rapidly beating heart at a mere smile and best friends certainly didn't wonder what it would feel like to have their best friend's lips on theirs. Nothing what you felt about Cedric was platonic.
Now in the summer just a mere week away from the beginning of your final year at Hogwarts your feelings had dwindled a hair. They grew constantly despite your internal pleas for them not to. It wasn't as though you hadn't tried to push these feelings down and move past whatever you wished you could have with Cedric. You dated Roger Davies for much of last term in a futile attempt to move on from Cedric. It all seemed to be easy enough when Cedric's then girlfriend Cho Chang introduced you to him and you hit it off. He was kind and charming enough, not to mention incredibly intelligent and talented at Quidditch. The relationship was only an excuse for you to bury your feelings, though, and it was impossible for Roger to win your heart when Cedric already won it years ago even if you knew he didn't want to. You tried to make it work for with Roger, but even he knew what you couldn't admit - their was no way moving past the truth. In all honesty, you couldn't wish for these feelings to go away. This was proven once again for what you could assume was the millionth time as you were walking down the gravel path to a local Muggle diner with Cedric as his hair flowed in the summer breeze did nothing except remind you of your deep rooted love for him.
If you had thought that Cedric felt even a miniscule of what you did, then you would have said something. You would have told him you loved him, that you thought of him endlessly, that he was the firstYou knew he didn't, though, and didn't have enough courage to wreck your friendship. You would leave that kind of nerve to the bold Gryffindors and stick to what you knew best - loyalty. When you first took notice that his smile made you feel things it hadn't before and him tugging your hand made you feel serenity throughout your whole body, you decided then and there you wouldn't let these feelings destroy your friendship. At the end of the day unrequited love was worth it if you still had Cedric, even if it was only as a friend.
He looked ethereal, you thought, and gazing at him had become a dangerous pass time as you lost track of your own time. The jingle of the door passed you by without notice as did the smell a warm and delightful breakfast foods. You were sitting in a small table beside the window and couldn't help but glance out and observe the grassy field that you had been surrounded by a moment before and the cliffs of the seashore of coastal Dover that was the delightful cause of the warm sea air blissfully invading your every senses.
Before you knew it you were having a paper menu placed in front of you and you were both ordering pancakes. The came and went along with conversation that any two best friends would have - your last year and the excitement of what you would experience this year on the forefront of both your minds. You and Cedric had frequented this dinner a few times before and enjoyed going her in the summer when you would visit his home. The pancakes were a normal occurrence as was the diner as a whole - places like these didn't change after all. The only difference was at the cash register where Cedric paid using some Muggle money that the waitress that had served had been the one Cedric paid. It was quick, seamless and with no pain attached that she said with a warm smile and glimmering eyes, "You two sure do make a lovely couple."
Your mouth had slightly parted slightly and your facial expression represented just how flustered her comment had made you feel. You could have said something - anything - and you wouldn't have been quick enough, because just as soon she had made the assumption Cedric had denied in vehemently. "We're only friends." He interjected and just as suddenly your heart sped up, it dropped to your stomach - the aching in your heart a familiar feeling, though never one you enjoyed. With one look that the waitress haphazardly shot you, you knew that the look on your face was obvious enough - the heartbreak and disappointment had seeped through your features and your facade ahd been shattered into pieces.
You left the dinner with Cedric and had tried your hardest to ignore the pain in your heart and your mind's pleas to forget about it as you both walked on the same gravel path by the sea. The sea breeze didn't comfort you anymore nor did the sun's warmth on your skin. Now, you worried you could never associate these two things without the memory of Cedric confirming what you had always known - you would never be anything to him except a friend.
The waitresses comment swirled in your mind with no end in sight. You wondered if you would ever forget the sound of her sweet voice saying 'You two sure do make such a lovely couple'. You wouldn't forget her sweet smile as she thought she observed two teenagers in love and you would never forget the look of shock on Cedric's face. He had denied it so quickly - it was almost like he had to get that words 'we're only friends' out fast enough so that he could breathe again. Were you so awful that the mere assumption from a waitress of you two being together that you deserved that kind of rebuttal. It felt like the final nail in your coffin. It was the affirmation of what you had always known - Cedric would never love you as you loved him. While your love for him was like the air you breathed, he coudln't get the correction of only being friends out of his mouth quick enough. The back of your mind reminded you that you ought to know you weren't half good enough for him. After all, his ex girlfriend was as beautiful a girl could be, wickedly intelligent, and as good a seeker as he was. You weren't half as good at her and you reckoned you weren't half as good as Cedric deserved - half as good as Cedric wanted. You mind implored you to brush it off for now and to just go back to Cedric's house peacefully as you forget about the moment entirely. There had been many times where your heart begged you to tell your best friend how you felt and you listened to your head instead, letting the poisonous thoughts of your one sided love only haunt you at night. But this was different somehow and you could not listen to your head no matter how much it begged you to and listened to your aching heart for once.
"Am I truly that terrible?" You asked sadly, completely stopping movie as Cedric stood in front of you with his back turned.
He slowly turned around and wore a confused expression. His eyebrows furrowed together only grew more prominent at your expression coated in sadness. "What do you mean?" He asked softly, trying to breathe in the sea's air to calm his heartbeat. You looked miserable and dare he say heart broken, which tore him apart. He wanted to move forward and embrace you, but his mind implored him not to, at least not when you were visibly upset at his hand. It didn't help that he wasn't sure if he could let go if he embraced you, the thought that after this year he would see less of you plaguing his mind. The thought that you would find someone else, like you had last year and Roger made his own heart ache and he wondered if you felt the very same. You didn't, he insisted. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"You said we were just friends." You cringed at how obvious you were being, but couldn't find it in you to care. "It was like you couldn't get the words out of your mouth fast enough."
"Well, we are friends, aren't we?" He tried to crack a smile but the lack of yours made his own fall off his lips just as quickly as they had been placed on his own.
"Yes." You confirmed and let out a shaky breath - your heart a swarm of emotions, buzzing around like bees leaving your heart feeling tireless and exhausted. You couldn't hold back, you couldn't cover up your feeling no matter how hard your mind begged you. Your heart had won this internal battle. "But am I that terrible, Cedric?" Your bottom lip tremble as your emotions overtook you.
"Who said you were terrible?" He asked, perplexed and worried. "You know I'd never call you such a thing. You're my best friend, Y/N, and I love you." He said sincerely.
"Yeah." You only scoffed, feeling angry mostly at yourself even though you were punishing Cedric for your travesty of falling in love with him. "Just not as I love you." You huffed and turned around, making your way on the path and didn't bother waiting for him.
Cedric moved forward and caught up with you in large strides, taking your wrists and turning you around. "What are you talking about?" He looked at you with more intensity than he had before. "What does that mean?"
You shot him a fierce look. "It means I love you!" You didn't bother grimacing at your confession nor your tone, too busy being upset with yourself for both exposing your feelings and the embarrassment of him not wanting to be yours. "And you'll never feel the same, which isn't at all surprising. Not when girls like Cho are where you set the bar. I'm not a fool, Cedric, I know I'm not half as good as you want, and that's just fine - it's not like I've always know that. But it hurts, Ced. It hurts that I never stand a chance. It hurts that the mere thought of someone who doesn't even know our names could think we're together and I can't even smile in vain before you deny it." Cedric's stare and lack of any comment at all made you huff, too mentally exhausted to realize anything besides the fact you wanted to be far from here and far from him. "Just forget it, it's not like it matters anyway." You moved to walk away when Cedric moved in front of you, holding a hand up, urging you not to move.
"What do you want, Cedric? I can't - I can't do this anymore." You heaved as you tried to move around him but to no avail.
"You." He simply replied.
"Excuse me?" You shot back, suddenly feeling angry. "You know how I feel about you now and the first thing you do is make a joke?" You shook your head at him.
"Why is that so hard to believe?" He asked with desperation in his eyes. "Is it that difficult to believe that I'm in love with you? That you're all I think about and that the only reason I've never said anything was that I didn't want to lose you?" His eyes begged you to hear him out.
"I doubt that." You shook your head in disbelief, feeling sad more than anger. "You dated Cho Chang, remember? All of last term." You pointed out. "You really liked her, Cedric."
"You dated Roger Davies." He pointed out just as you had done. "Dated him for almost just as long." He looked at you before sighing. "Besides, I wasn't in love with Cho. I liked her sure, but it wasn't love."
You saw the sincerity in his eyes and admitted softly, "I didn't love Roger, you know." You felt your anger slip away and your sadness. "I only dated him so I could try to stop thinking of you."
"Did it work?" He asked softly.
"Not at all." You admitted. "He got tired of being with someone who was obviously in love with someone else."
Cedric then smiled and you couldn't help but return the gesture. "Well you know what that means then." He moved besides you and said gently, "We owe it to ourselves to stop acting like we don't feel the same about each other." He laced your fingers together and as you made the familiar journey back to Cedric's home, you couldn't help but feel like that as your time at Hogwarts was ending, your new journey was only beginning.