HARRY
LXXVI
"You have done what?"
For someone who had grown up in the wizarding world, it did surprise Ron to hear that they had gone back in time to help both Black and Buckbeak escape. Hermione had explained everything to him as soon as they woke up, and Harry was listening from his bed.
Now that he was rested, he wondered when he would be discharged.
"And you did it to...," Ron said, stopping in the middle as if the words were hard to pronounce, "... to go to class ? Hermione! I can think of a lot more interesting things than that."
Besides the reasons that had led them to time travel, Harry couldn't think of any other. He doubted that it was possible to go back as far in time as he would have liked, to when his parents were alive. He figured that if he could do it and as long as he didn't alter events too much, his parents wouldn't recognize him and he would be able to meet them. Even when it was an impossible idea, it was one of the most feasible he'd ever had and he entertained himself with it as he had never been able to do before.
He had a whole new range of questions to ask Lupin.
When they were all recovered, of course.
LXXVII
"Have you told Cedric about what happened?" Hermione asked later, stepping closer as Ron fell asleep.
Ron needed rest to get better.
What Harry had to do was eat chocolate. Not that he complained.
"No," he answered immediately, unable to anticipate her opinion. "Do you think I should?"
Hermione plopped down in a chair. "I don't know. It's your decision. I think he would understand it."
"Don't you think we could get into trouble?"
"If we did, I don't think it would be because of Cedric," she laughed and listed the people who could.
Harry didn't really think he could give them away or anything like that, either.
So why was he so hesitant about it?
When Cedric had asked him what had happened, he couldn't answer. He went blank. Cedric's fingers on his wrist didn't help and the trace of them on his skin had nothing to do with Harry not being used to physical contact. Cedric was the type of person who clearly , Harry had concluded, expressed himself in that way, and it didn't bother him.
Of course it did not.
It was just that a heartbeat escaped from his chest every time Cedric, so casually, as if it were so easy, touched him.
The reason behind his hesitation suddenly became apparent.
LXXVIII
On Sunday's morning he was discharged, but Harry stayed there anyway to keep Ron company until visiting hours were over. He slept in his bed, thinking about whether he was going to tell Cedric or not.
It was Monday morning, and he hadn't made a decision.
He was on his way to his first class of the day after having breakfast with his best friend (he had stolen a couple of Ron's favorites from the Great Hall to sneak in during his early visit) when Draco stepped closer, forcing him to stop. Harry would have preferred to keep going and just ignore him. Malfoy had found out that someone had freed Buckbeak and was threatening to turn Harry in as the one responsible.
Nothing out of the ordinary, Harry thought.
Except that Draco said, "Or are you protecting your new best friend? That Huffepuff."
"What does Cedric have to do with this?" he asked, changing his strategy of denying everything and trying to run away as fast as possible for one that might get him an answer. "He hasn't done anything."
"Oh, so he didn't tell you." Harry rolled his eyes at Draco's dramatic silence. "Such great friends, then," he mocked before walking away, leaving him wondering.
LXXIX
He was afraid. He had never before told anyone about any of his undoubtedly risky experiences. Someone who wasn't there, like Hermione and Ron, or who wasn't an authority, like the Headmaster, who Harry told only what was strictly necessary. When someone asked him questions in the hallways, Harry was an expert at answering without content.
He knew that nothing he had experienced could be called normal .
He wasn't sure if anyone other than his best friends would understand it.
If Cedric knew how crazy his life was... he was afraid that it would end up driving them apart.
Absurd , considering that he was the most incredible person he had ever met.
And that at some point Harry couldn't pin down he had chosen to trust him.
So he would do it.
CEDRIC
LXI
It didn't take long for rumors to spread about what had happened with Black.
Under what circumstances was he caught? Most believed that he had tried to kill Harry, since they had found out that he spent one day in the hospital wing, and that Snape had saved his life. Cedric would get goosebumps every time he heard a conversation of that sort.
How would Black have managed to escape again ?
"The ineptitude of some," was Kevin's response, "and the cunning of others."
Theories that he had to be helped to get into the castle were fueled by the conveniently recent news of Professor Lupin's resignation. Cedric was concerned with a bigger issue that no one else seemed to be wondering about: was Harry safe?
LXII
Looking forward to going back to his dorm to sleep after spending the night patrolling in the last double watch as a prefect, Cedric came across Harry on his way and said hello. Harry looked much better now than he did when he visited him in the hospital wing over the weekend. The dark circles under his eyes had disappeared, though he wasn't wearing a smile when Cedric approached.
"How are you?" he asked the only question that really mattered.
"I need to talk to you," was his answer, instead of the usual okay.
Those words always made Cedric nervous.
Coming from Harry, he didn't know what it could be.
He walked by his side without thinking twice. "About?"
"I think I owe you a story or two."
LXIII
"You don't owe me anything," Cedric wanted to clear up when they sat down on the ground on one of the solitary sides of the castle. "I mean, you can tell me whatever you want. It's not an obligation or anything like that."
He hated the thought that he might have made Harry feel like he had to .
It was obvious that Harry had been through things that he didn't feel comfortable talking about and he understood that.
"I would like to ask you a question."
That sounded even more alarming to Cedric. "Sure. Whatever you want."
"You never asked me about what happened last year," he stated as a fact. "Or the previous one. Why?"
A small oh escaped his mouth as he took a breath.
"I don't know," Cedric finally said, making Harry laugh.
Cedric did too, breaking the tension he didn't know he was holding.
"I thought you would have an answer."
"I guess I didn't want to bother you," he mused, letting his nervousness pass at being directly questioned about something he had never realised. "If you wanted to tell me, you would. I think."
Harry was nodding as if he was agreeing.
"You're like the first person who never asked me about other years."
"Except this year," Cedric admitted.
"Reasonable," Harry conceded. "I've heard some of the rumors, and at least twice a day someone comes up to me in order to find out what happened and how I survived. And here you are, telling me I don't have to tell you and having the decency to hide your curiosity."
He leaned back, with his back against the wall.
"I haven't hidden it that well if you've noticed."
"What do you want to know...?" Harry asked, adjusting himself to face Cedric, "... first?"
Since " everything " didn't seem like the right answer, Cedric said he could start wherever he wanted to.
LXIV
He had never met anyone quite like Harry.
And no, it wasn't because of the exceptional events he had been a part of.
It was about his sincerity and the trust he had placed in Cedric that first night in the hospital wing or when he told him a secret in the library. One that would probably cause more buzz than Harry's second year abilities.
Cedric had met a lot of people this year.
Just no one he'd ever told about his first day of school. About the doubt in the back of his head that was telling him that perhaps the only reason he had been sorted into Hufflepuff was because he had wanted it and sometimes he wasn't sure if that was enough.
Someone with whom he could talk about his mother.
Who supported him so selflessly.
And who let him into his life like that.
So open and authentic.
LXV
If he had to highlight three new things that he now knew, they would be:
How thoughtful of Harry to tell him that that day in the forest, when something had clearly happened, Cedric hadn't been the one to make him sad as he suspected (not mistakenly) that Cedric believed. The real reason, on the other hand, made Cedric wish he had held him tighter.
Harry would ask for his consent before telling him anything illegal, which of course Cedric wouldn't reveal (unless it compromised his or a third party's well-being).
He definitely couldn't have imagined any of it.
HARRY
LXXX
Cedric's usually smiling face was torn between suppressed expressions of astonishment and a concerned frown with such concentration as he listened. The way he looked at him and reached out on occasion to touch his shoulder or arm at certain parts of the story would make Harry stumble at his words for a second.
He thought Cedric would probably interpret it in the wrong way.
It was true that it was difficult. Telling him. The only thing he left out was the matter of time travel, because that wasn't his business but Hermione's. He didn't want to betray her trust or get her into some kind of trouble, even though he was sure Cedric wouldn't share any part of it with anyone. He told him about that day in the forest and what he had learned about Black (Harry had to quickly explain to Ced that it turned out that things were not that way ). With a big warning sign, Harry answered his questions about how the hippogriff had been freed.
And how Black was innocent.
Harry still hadn't talked to his friends about having a godfather.
He shared his hopes that the trial would go in his favor and that Lupin, despite having resigned, would keep in touch and pursue the case. He felt a little exposed and thought that perhaps Cedric wouldn't get over the fact that Sirius had spent time in Azkaban, but he seemed glad that he had a good chance of getting all charges dropped.
Although he had considered Cedric his friend for months...
It was at that moment that he realised how real that name was.
LXXXI
"I wish I had been there."
Cedric had asked how they had ended up in a hospital bed.
He had no problems with answering.
It was a very different story when he heard him say that.
I don't , Harry thought.
"It was dangerous," he admitted, unable to hide his disagreement. "Ron got hurt. I almost got kissed by a dementor, and I'm sure Hermione got the scare of her life running from a werewolf."
None of that seemed to discourage Cedric.
"I would rather have helped. Next time you're in trouble, you can let me know."
The fact that he offered himself that way did not make it easier.
"I hope I don't offend you with this, but..." Harry began, trying not to sound too harsh. "I didn't like that Ron and Hermione had been in that situation because of me. I wouldn't ask you something like that, something that could put you at risk."
Just the thought of seeing Cedric involved in one of his disasters...
A fear that he had not been able to fathom before was inescapable.
"I doubt your friends think it was your fault."
"They don't, although they should."
This was not the time for Cedric to touch his arm so comfortingly.
Because the anguish appeared.
Immense.
CEDRIC
LXVI
"From what you told me, Ron would have been involved in any case. With or without you. And he had you and Hermione. What happened was not your fault."
He barely made out Harry's murmur: maybe not this time.
"How can you be sure it wasn't?" he asked softly.
"Because I consider you my friend and, given the situation, I would also want to help you."
Cedric knew one thing about Ron and Hermione: they were extremely loyal.
"I consider you my friend, too," Harry replied with a fleeting smile. "Just not that kind of would you risk your life for me? "
I would, he thought. "That's good to know, because I wasn't sure you did."
He was aware that his own use of the word friend was quite broad.
And Harry didn't seem like the kind of person who would grant that title easily.
"I never thanked you for supporting me this year on the Quidditch's field," Cedric couldn't help but blurt out. "For not having held a grudge against me for what happened in the match..."
"You must be the first person in history to ask for a rematch after winning."
"And that organizes a friendly match with mixed teams," he added, laughing.
LXVII
"I would have liked to meet you sooner."
He had lost track of how long they had been in that place.
Talking for what seemed like hours.
"How come we never spoke before this year?"
It was quite possible that Harry's question was one of those that didn't require an answer, especially the one Cedric had. "I can't deny that the idea of talking to you was intimidating."
"Why?" he was surprised and then he wasn't. "Right, the scar and all."
They shared a smile, as if they were both remembering the same thing.
"Talking to you was also intimidating," Harry also confessed.
Now it was Cedric's turn to ask why.
Harry grimaced, looking away. "It's embarrassing to say."
"You've piqued my curiosity," he declared in an attempt to motivate him.
"You're popular..."
"I'm not."
The boy raised an eyebrow, but continued, "Older and..."
"And...?"
"You probably know why girls like you."
"I'm afraid not."
Okay, he might have an idea.
With haste and an obvious blush, Harry explained, "You must be aware that you're handsome. Lots of girls fancy you."
There was no vanity when a thought came to him: and a boy.
"I don't think I would say a lot ," Cedric answered embarrassed, doubting the veracity of that statement. "You yourself should give it time. Girls will adore you, if they don't already," he wanted to return the compliment so badly, but he couldn't tell Harry that he thought he was cute and had pretty eyes .
"Ron used those exact words once, but I don't think time could pull off such a miracle on me." Something in Cedric's expression at his words made Harry comment with amusement, "And hey, Hermione looked at me like that too."