Azkaban's Youngest Prisoner

Ch. 31

Chapter 31:

As much as I wanted to believe Draco, I couldn't bring myself to. While I acknowledged Draco's thoughts, I never fully believed them. Diggory could've had a disagreement with Harris about quidditch, not everything is about me, I thought, making my way across the courtyard towards the trio. We had planned one last study session together before final exams hit.

"Tessa!" A voice called out causing me to freeze in my tracks. Diggory. Maybe I should give him a chance. I slowly turned around to face him, wincing at the state of his face. "Are you okay?"

I nod at the Hufflepuff. "What happened?" I ask, referring to his face. These were the first words I had spoken to Cedric in months. My pulse began to quicken, those feelings from months ago never went away completely.

"Ben and I had a bit of a... disagreement. I was really angry at him."

"Why?"

"That last prank he did on you. I know you handled it well but I couldn't stand the way he treated you," he replied.

"You didn't have to do that," I stressed, running a hand through my hair.

"But I did, Tess," he protested. He took a deep breath before speaking again, "Look, Tessa, I know I fucked up. I was a shitty friend to you and you didn't deserve that and I'm really really sorry. I really care about you, okay? Please tell me all those nights we spent talking together meant something?"

"I- They... They did. But, Draco... I can't let him take any hits for me anymore," I croaked.

"I promise you, Ben will never touch you or your brother again. I'll even ditch all my other friends and only hang out with Tom if they don't change."

"Please, don't leave all of your friends for me. Just... don't do that." My eyes dart around, begging to look at anything else but his eyes. I can't let myself get attached. It won't be good when he leaves me in the end.

"Tessa please, just let me prove myself-"

"Prove yourself?" I scoff. "I'm sorry, I don't know what it is with you and wanting to prove yourself to me but you really don't have to do that. You don't have to keep pretending you care about me anymore. You were nice to me once, why can't you just leave it at that?"

"You think I've been pretending?" Cedric exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. "Why on earth would you think I would fake that?" I blink at him and stay silent, not wanting to admit my reasons. "Give me another chance, Tessa please."

"Look, okay I really appreciate your kindness and all, it's really sweet but I'm serious you don't have to do that. You have your own life going on, don't just drop it for someone who shouldn't matter this much. Maybe it's best for you to forget me and just-" I am cut off by Cedric pressing his lips onto mine, something that I didn't expect, but nonetheless I kissed back. I melted into the kiss as I placed my hand on his chest while he cupped my face. When we pulled away, I couldn't help but stare into his eyes, causing butterflies to arise in my stomach.

"Why would I want to forget you?" Cedric says, still holding on to me. "You kissed back," he said after a pause.

"You're lucky you're cute, Diggory," I breathed, still in shock from the kiss.

"So does this mean you'll give me a chance?" I look at him up and down and smirk before letting go of him and turn and start to walk away. "Tessa?" I turn around and face him, but still stay silent. "Okay, say no for no and say nothing for yes." I raise an eyebrow at Cedric, giving him a mischievous smile before turning around, without saying a word. As I make my way to the trio, I can hear him exclaim a very excited "Yes!" and whoop in glee as he makes his way back to the castle. I shake my head and smile to myself, Draco was right after all.

a/n: I am awful at writing kisses but WE GOT OUR FIRST KISS OF THE BOOK WOOOO! I know this chapter seems short but it actually took me SO LONG to write it omg. This one is for all you #Tedric shippers out there. For the #Hessa shippers, don't worry you guys will get your moment. Oh and btw a little explanation for why Tessa is the way she is, I figured some of you guys would be confused as to why she didn't want to believe Cedric when he told her he cares about her. He is her first crush so these feelings she has for him are very new and scary to her. Not to mention she isn't used to people caring about her a lot, especially in a non-platonic way. She has only felt the love of her mother and Draco growing up (not her father so much bc self explanatory) and had never experienced this kind of love before so she is obviously very scared. It doesn't help that one of Cedric's friends was basically out to get her, so she can't help but have trust issues and feel hesitant. I'm still getting used to writing and I'm really sorry if it doesn't make sense, I am hoping to keep improving. Anyways, don't forget to comment and vote! Love you guys.