CEDRIC
LVIII
The first thing he did after entering the classroom was pulling both sides of the scarf around Harry's neck, to place a soft kiss on his lips. One that Harry extended with calm tenderness before hugging him tight.
As if trying to convey something through the gesture.
Cedric needed words, he wasn't that good at reading between the lines.
“I don't know how to say this, but you have to know the truth."
Without letting go of him, Harry fell into a brief, heavy silence.
"Did you lie about something...?" Cedric asked then.
Remembering when they confessed their feelings was what kept his composure.
Harry pulled back enough to look at him with a grimace. “Not exactly me, if you get my drift."
"Harry," he spoke on impulse, uncertainty taking over.
Cedric knew there must be a lot of things he kept from him.
Or was not entirely honest.
Although Cedric had never expected to be one of them.
LIX
He had died at the hands of Voldemort.
In another timeline.
The reason that brought that Harry to these times was him.
"Ced, look at me. I won't let, we won't let that happen here."
He listened to Harry's voice, unable to feel the touch of his hands on his.
Cedric saw him as if he were out of his body.
Harry cupped his face, stroking his cheeks with a thumb. "You heard me? There's no way I'm going to lose you. We will come up with a plan."
Then he passed his arms behind Cedric's waist, pulling him into a hug. He was talking, but Cedric could no longer tell one word from the other and barely understood the thoughts that raced through his head as Harry rubbed his back. For a moment he wanted to laugh, because on the way to the classroom he had thought that he'd be the one to comfort Harry with whatever was ailing his mind, and not the other way around.
LX
He didn't think Harry would answer his question about when.
For all the witchcraft in the world, he jumped out of reach.
"I can't believe it," he muttered breathlessly. "I got into this myself. I'm so stupid. I never should have signed up for this tournament. What was I thinking? That it would be a good experience for my resume? That's what I always do, push myself to do things that probably aren't for me."
Harry's hands were the only thing holding him in place.
"Of course you're not stupid. You didn't know."
But he did know...
Malcolm…
Malcolm had warned him, and he didn't listen.
Those dreams. That nightmare. The horrible feeling inside him.
He fell back onto Harry, who caught him in his arms.
LXI
Taking a deep breath, Cedric stepped back until he stood up on his own.
"Are you okay?" Harry questioned softly, tightening his grip on the fabric of Cedric's sweater. "Silly me, of course you're not. I don't know what to say."
"I don't know either," he cracked a weak laugh.
"That's bad. You always know what to say."
Cedric smiled despite everything, and glanced at the time. Ten o'clock. "I think it's time to go back to our dorms."
Harry nodded slowly, and kissed him before heading out into the hallway.
“Everything will be fine, Ced. I promise."
LXII
Cedric tried to walk him to the Gryffindor common room, but instead Harry ended up convincing him to be led to the basement entrance. They walked in silence, and once there, Harry took off his scarf to return it to him.
"It's yours now. Yellow suits you."
Cedric ducked into the alcove behind the wall, his whisper lost.
"You already gave me your sweater," Harry replied a few seconds later, taking refuge in the small space. "It's not fair. I should get you something too."
He loved the idea as much as it made him laugh. "Your clothes would be too small for me."
"Magic can't fix that?"
"I wouldn't want to change something of yours."
"I wouldn't want to give you something that once belonged to Dudley, either," Harry mused, scrunching up his face in disgust. "I'll figure it out. Good evening, Ced. I... I wish you a good night."
LXIII
Had Harry been about to say what Cedric thought…?
It seemed like it.
The little smile that only he could cause Cedric remained until he reached his room. Malcolm wasn't there, and Hunter had his bed curtains drawn, something he often did.
He laid back and took from his coat the photograph Will had taken.
With magic, he glued it to the ceiling of his bed, along with the rest.
Pictures with his friends.
One from when he was little, in which his mother smiled with bright eyes.
Even in his darkest days, Cedric had always thought he had a long life ahead of him. Sometimes that sounded like better news than others. Now, knowing that at some point in the not-so-distant future as he had considered, he might die (and, in fact, he had), suited him very badly.
He looked at another photo with his father before his first day of third year.
Cedric should be terrified or worried about himself.
All he could think about was those people who were stretched out over his head. He wasn't sure his father would survive in such a case. His mother's departure had already done enough damage, and Cedric feared that one more would be too much. He was all Amos had.
His friends…
Merlin, it would be horrible for them too.
And Harry…
Harry had already been through too much to add a new tragedy to it.
Cedric wanted to make him as happy as he made him.
LXIV
He pretended to sleep when Malcolm got through the door around midnight.
"Psss," he could hear it, but he didn't move. "Cedric, are you awake?"
Malcolm even moved closer to the edge of his bed.
He remained there for a few seconds, without speaking again.
The sound of footsteps walking away resumed Cedric's struggle to sleep.
LXV
"Good morning!" his best friend greeted, causing Cedric to jump. "Hunter and you missed breakfast. Sleeping beauty and the lazy one. Hey! You almost made me throw breakfast. You know I say it with love."
A pillow laid on the floor by the door, Hunter's act.
"Sundays are for staying in bed late."
Cedric would usually wake up before the two of them.
He sat down just in time to receive the tray Malcolm offered.
"Thank you, Mal."
"I wasn't sure about your favorites, Hun," he turned to the other boy. "So I've brought you a bit of everything. Am I not the best roommate?"
LXVI
If it was strange that Cedric stayed in the room all afternoon…
It was twice as odd that Malcolm did it too.
Cedric used his bracelet to call Malcolm for the first time and chuckled when his best friend was startled by the buzz.
"Don't you have anything to do today?"
"Excuse me?" Mal got up on his elbows. "Are you kicking me out…?"
"Of course not," Cedric answered quickly. Malcolm's big smile was sure evidence that he was joking. "It's just that it's not very common for you to stay here on a weekend. I thought you were going out with Fred or something."
"We saw each other all day yesterday. I don't know how, but he can live without me."
"And can you…?" He left the question in the air very late, suddenly shutting up.
Impertinent.
He almost understood Dobby's impulse to hit himself when he made a mistake.
"I don't know. I hope I don't have to." Just before Cedric sagged, he continued, "Besides, I am doing something. I'm caught up in reading this book." He tossed it up in the air, though the magic had altered the cover.
The one Cedric had on his lap had no enchantment on it.
"I'm not absorbed in this one," he muttered, trying to focus his attention without success. "Oh, before I forget. I have only a couple of pages left and I was planning to return it to the restricted section of the library this week. If you've finished the one you took, I could take that too and bring you another one if you want."
His book must have been real interesting, because Malcolm just nodded and went back to it.
HARRY
LVI
Perhaps it was a bit stalkerish to look for CEDRIC DIGGORY's dot on the map, and perhaps even more so the fact that Harry knew he hadn't left his room all day.
As much as he knew the location of the other Harry.
He checked again before heading towards the library.
Cedric was still there, motionless.
But he couldn't find Harry. Where would he be?
"Mischief managed," he recited and pocketed the map.
LVII
After last night's conversation, he couldn't stop thinking about Cedric.
The way he held him, the look on his face, and Harry couldn't imagine how Cedric must feel. He needed to see him more urgently than usual.
At least he had gotten into the back of the library to (not) investigate.
Away from Hermione's scolding for getting distracted and checking the map again.
Oh, Cedric was no longer in the same place.
He began by looking at the Hufflepuff common room, then the Great Hall…
"Hello," he heard a voice, and when Harry looked up from his seat on the soft cushion, Cedric was standing above his head. "I've been looking for you. I remembered that you said that today you would be researching what to do for the task, and I thought that perhaps you would be here. I wanted to see you."
Harry tried to cover the map, but it was useless.
Cedric's eyes were already on it.
"I was also looking for you…" he admitted the obvious deduction, embarrassed.
Cedric smiled and ruffled Harry's hair before sitting down on the adjoining beanbag.
Not knowing what to say, Harry reached out to grab his hand just in the space between them. Cedric watched him for a moment. Then he noticed the piles of books that surrounded them and asked, "Have you found anything?"
If he wanted to do small talk, Harry wouldn't be the one to deny him.
“Nope. Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” he blurted out, frustrated. "Considering Hogwarts is the site of the Tournament, shouldn't they make sure the answers are in the library? It's like asking for a task that we cannot solve."
LVIII
Maybe it was because he wasn't old or knowledgeable enough.
Details Cedric didn't mention, and he offered to help.
He took a book from a nearby stack, which Harry snatched from him.
“You should mind your own things, Ced. I bet you must have homework."
"There is always homework," he shrugged. "And when not, there's Potions."
"Snape is strict," Harry agreed, and remembered that, "Almost every class he takes a point from me for not knowing an answer. Two when the one I say has an error, which according to him happens every time."
Cedric's eyes widened, shocked, and he leaned back against the wall.
It was Harry's turn to be shocked the worse when he said: "In his class you have to study for the class itself . Imagine that this year Snape is enjoying trying out a new pop quiz dynamic with the sixth years."
LIX
Harry's mastery of levitation spells served him well.
At first he felt foolish conjuring his book to hover on its own in the air in front of him, because the reason behind it was that he wanted to be more comfortable to lean on Cedric's shoulder.
Which worked. Harry was more than alright like this.
"That's an amazing idea," Cedric commented, his head resting on Harry's. "It has never occurred to me. It's one of the first times I see you doing things the magical way."
"I usually use both hands," he tried to explain, turning red, "to read."
The slight vibrations of Cedric's laughter reverberated on his cheek.
"The muggle style."
Harry didn't realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up.
Instead of sitting up, he shifted against the soft, warm fabric of Cedric's sweater. He adjusted his glasses, noticing that his book was no longer floating, and put a hand on Cedric's leg, who pushed his reading aside to declare: “I thought of something."
LX
Cedric suggested using a privacy spell.
"We wouldn't want anyone to listen to us and accuse us of breaking the rules."
Harry nodded, still sleepy.
"I was doing my Herbology homework, following your recommendation," Cedric continued brightly. "But I couldn't help but think about your research. Transfiguring yourself into an aquatic animal is risky. I considered it at first, and discarded it because of it. If the spell fails underwater, there isn't much to do. And it must be difficult to move with a non-human form."
Maybe Harry was too sleepy to get the idea.
"Then I thought of other options… Without reaching anything until I thought of the plants. There are so many of those with lots of different magical properties that I am sure that one of them will serve us."
"Which one?" Harry got up, feeling the chill in the air.
"I haven't found any names yet."
"It's a good start," he smiled at Cedric. "A clue. You have shortened the stack in half."
Not so deep down, the second task wasn't the one that worried him.
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These last chapters destroy me I must admit
I wanted to write fluff and I created a plot that demands this - and I don't regret it. I love this story. The two of them are, despite everything, so cute together