"Why don't you make me"
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Draco's stare pierces through me like a knife. I find myself feeling guilty, though I have no reason to.
I don't like this. Him looking at me like I owe him an explanation. Like he owns me.
I push past him. I don't owe him anything.
"What were you two doing?" He asks
suspiciously.
"None of your business, Malfoy," I retort as I start walking down the corridor with Cedric's hand in mine.
"I think I have a right to know," he says from not far behind us.
I whip around.
"Why on earth is that?"
He crosses his arms.
"I've hardly seen you all day. We usually meet up in between periods and in study hall. We never hang out anymore," he whines.
"Malfoy, we've been hanging out all week and it's literally only 2 pm. You're acting like I've been ghosting you. Besides, we have next period together and houses can't mix tables at dinner, so obviously I'm sitting with you,"
"Yeah, but-"
"Not to mention, we all have to be back to our common rooms every night by 7:00 so you, me, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise will do what we always do which is just hang out for a couple of hours and chill," I finish.
He seems to have no further comebacks from his silence and the defeated look on his face.
I walk up to him and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Look Draco, you know I love you, and I love spending time with you, but there are going to be times when there are other people in my life that I also want to spend time with, and you're just going to have to accept it,"
"I know that," he scoffs.
"Then why are you so upset by this? You didn't seem to mind nearly half as much when I started hanging out with my Gryffindor friends," I ask.
"Because they're just friends to you, but there's something different about you and Diggory. I could tell, ever since I saw you two talking for the first time on Monday, there's no way you two are only going to be friends," he explains.
"What's it to you? You know there are no real feelings between you and me. You're not my boyfriend, nor my ex, so why do you care?"
His face hardens as he processes what I said.
"You're right, I don't," he sneers.
Cedric stiffens beside me at his tone.
"I don't care about you, I never have and I never-"
"You should leave Malfoy. Now," Cedric interrupts in a threatening voice as he steps between us.
His tone is firm and angry, but, at the same time, it's at a normal level volume, making it all the more intimidating. I hope I never get into an argument with him where he uses that voice because it is really quite frightening.
Draco rolls his eyes as he looks up at Cedric.
It's funny, Cedric towers over Malfoy by around four or five inches, causing Malfoy to look like a child.
Draco seems to notice this, and his face turns into a terrified expression for a second before he masks it.
"Whatever," he scoffs as he stalks away.
Cedric turns to me.
"Are you okay? I'm sure he didn't mean it when he said he doesn't care about you. You two seem very close so he was probably only saying that in the heat of the moment," Cedric assures me.
It's funny how quickly his tone changes from threatening and scary, to concerned and loving.
"Don't worry about me Ced, that's Malfoy's go-to insult when we get into arguments. I've learned to take it with a grain of salt because I know if he truly didn't care about me, he would treat me the way he treats everyone else he doesn't care about,"
"And how does he treat you?" Cedric questions curiously.
"He treats me fine. I'm always the one saving his ass, though. You should've seen the look on Pansy's face on Monday when we-" I abruptly stop, realizing what I was about to say.
Damn my stupid, fat, blabbermouth.
"When you what?" Cedric asks suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.
Well, what do I do now?!
I do the only logical option.
I make a run for it.
I start to sprint towards the end of the corridor, but then I feel Cedric's arms pick me and sling me over his shoulder.
"Put me down!"
"Not until you tell me what you were going to say," he smirks as he walks.
"Cedric, you really don't want to know. Trust me," I insist.
"Oh, but I really do. So why don't we do this the easy way, and you can just tell me," he suggests as he plasters a fat grin on his face.
I put on a smug grin on my face and put my lips to his ear.
"Why don't you make me," I whisper seductively.
He abruptly stops in place.
After a couple seconds, he swiftly turns around, and starts heading to the room of requirement, where we came from.
"What are you doing?"
He doesn't respond.
After a minute, we reach the blank wall and the doors start to form again.
He steps through them and sets me down on the leather couch.
He takes a seat next to me so our legs are touching. I can feel the electricity radiating between them.
He looks at me with an expression that looks to be one of playfulness and confidence.
"Cedric..."
He moves my hair over to my other shoulder, exposing my neck, where he touches his lips.
My mind goes blank for a minute.
His lips are soft and warm, and my heart is practically thumping out of my chest at this point.
He stops kissing me for a minute and puts his lips to my ear.
"You sure you still don't want to tell me?" He whispers.
"Well, I um," I can't seem to form any coherent thoughts or words.
What is he doing to me?
"Have it your way," he shrugs.
He puts his lips back to my neck. As he kisses me, he starts to move his mouth up to my jawline.
If I don't stop him now, he might just get all the way to my mouth and I can't allow that to happen. Swerving every time he tries to kiss me is the only power I have over him, but if he makes it close enough now, I might just not have the willpower to.
"Okay, fine," I give in.
He stops and I feel him smile against my skin.
He sits up straight and looks me in the eye with an eyebrow raised.
"Keep in mind, this was before you and I even talked for the first time, okay?"
He says nothing so I continue.
"Basically, I saw Pansy was harassing Malfoy like she always does, so I pretty much just told her to leave and kiss my ass while she's at it,"
"She kept standing there being annoying though, so I may or may not have kissed Malfoy right in front of her to piss her off,"
I look up and see that Cedric's face is a mixture of annoyance and anger.
Oh no, he's mad at me.
"Don't be mad! I didn't even know you that well yet, Ced. I swear I would never do that now,"
He still says nothing.
I put my head in my hands. How am I this stupid? Why can't I keep my stupid thoughts to myself? Again, it's like I have no filter.
I feel him pry away my hands from my face. He tilts my chin up so I'm looking into his eyes.
"I'm not mad at you love, I'm just annoyed how you did that with him, even though I have no right to be,"
"Cedric Diggory, are you jealous?" I raise my eyebrow.
He scoffs.
"Jealous? Of Malfoy? Please," he rolls his eyes.
He brings my face closer to his so we're only millimeters apart.
"I'm just jealous you allow Malfoy to kiss you, but not me," he whispers.
"Your time will come, Diggory, don't worry," I smile.
"For now, I'm just enjoying that I have this one thing that seems to drive you crazy if not anything else," I sigh.
"Maxwell, everything about you drives me crazy. Your clothes, your smile, your sarcasm,"
I roll my eyes.
"Kissing up now so I'll finally give in?" I ask suspiciously.
"Maybe a bit," he smiles.
"But that doesn't mean it's not true,"
"Alright lover boy, whatever you say. I think we should probably head to class though, we're definitely at least ten minutes late by now," I suggest.
He takes my hand and we exit the room.
We head to the end of the corridor where we have to part ways.
"I'll see you after class?" I ask hopefully.
He smiles.
"There's no other way I'd rather spend my afternoon,"