MANIPULATIVE || Edward Cullen

Liar

Dumbledore led Cedric and I, still hand-in-hand as neither of us seemed to want to let go, to his office. Up a windy staircase and through a wooden door was a messy office with a large, colorful bird perched in the middle. I smiled politely at the bird.

"Miss Liddel," Dumbledore spoke once again, leaning against the front of his desk and looking at me over the top of his glasses. "You're far from home." I bit my lip, I hated that he seemed to know a lot about me while I knew nothing about him. 

"Yes, sir." I spoke politely, and even I noticed that my voice had raised an octave. "How do you know me?" I asked, stepping closer to him and dropping Cedric's hand. Dumbledore sighed. 

"I was scrying," he admitted, pulling a scrying bowl out from behind his desk. The water sat perfectly still and looked black, "and I heard screaming." He explained. I was just taken back that the screaming for help had actually worked. 

"How did you get me out?" I asked. He looked me over once, twice, then again before speaking.

"I didn't, that was three months ago." He said lowly. My breath hitched and I wanted to yell. If it had been three months here, then how long was I falling in my world? How long have I been gone?

"I-- I woke up outside, on the ground--" 

"By the lake," Cedric assisted. I nodded furiously and began pacing. I needed to figure out how to get home and travelling was clearly dangerous. 

"You said Cedric could help me." I moved closer to Dumbledore and set my hands on his desk, leaning forward, "How?" 

Dumbledore did nothing to answer my question, instead he simply looked at Cedric.

"Cedric, would you please set Celia here up in the Ravenclaw dorm?" He looked me over once again before leaning in and giving me a small wink, "even though you would certainly be Slytherin, dear." I furrowed my eyebrows at this, yet I somehow knew what it meant-- and took it as a compliment. Could I hold the cunningness that Slytherins were known for?

"Of course, Headmaster." Cedric agreed. 

"Wait, please." I pleaded, "I need answers. I need to get home." 

"In due time, dear." Dumbledore mumbled, but it seemed he had already brushed me off as he went about his business. I huffed as I left the room with Cedric, and I didn't stop fuming until we were far away, down an empty corridor. I let myself stop and rest my head in my hands. I had no clue what I was going to do.

"Hey, it's just a night, then we'll pick up again tomorrow," Cedric tried to be helpful.

"You don't understand. My family-- they could be in danger." My voice cracked as I said it, the reality of where Edward and Alice were without me sinking in. 

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to help you." He whispered, and I could hear the regret in his voice. I looked up at him. His head was bowed and especially from the side he looked so much like my Edward. My heart was pounding. I'd hardly experienced romance as a human, and it felt so different than falling in love as a vampire. I laid a hand gently on his shoulder, making him look up at me. I just wanted to look at him; to touch him. He was Edward where I didn't have Edward. He was like a human Edward. I knew he wasn't, though. It was hard to remember, but I had to. 

We stared for a while, and I could have stood there all night. Edward told me that he had blue eyes as a human, and even though Cedric's were more hazel they were still so close to the same eyes. They held a lot of the same intensity, which was surprising for a kid of seventeen vs a one hundred something year old. 

"I'm scared," I whispered. I wasn't sure why. 

"It's okay, we can stay up together." He whispered back, taking my hand from his cheek and leading my down the hall. We came to a door and he pushed it open slowly, peaking his head in and looking around before smiling back at me, opening it further. I walked in and raised an eyebrow. It was a bathroom, but more private than the one I'd been in earlier and with a huge tub in the middle of the room. Cedric chuckled at my expression.

"The prefect's bathroom. It's only me and a few others and they'll all be in bed by now. We can hang out in here and try to come up with a plan." He explained, I watched as he made his way to the empty tub, sitting on the edge with his feet dangling in. I followed suit.

"It's actually pretty cool in here." I admitted, looking around at the sparkling floors. 

"It's nice to have a place with at least a little privacy," he nodded, "I feel bad for the students who don't have this, you know?" He muttered. We sat in silence for a few moments, and I admittedly spent most of that time staring at him. I was studying every difference and similarity between him and my Edward. 

"Are you close with Luna?" I asked, catching him by surprise. 

"Luna Lovegood?" he cocked his head lightly to the side, "No, I wouldn't say we're close." He shrugged. 

"I used to be a lot like her." I mumbled, looking down at my feet, swinging in the tub. Cedric let out a laugh beside me and I looked at him. "What?"

"You used to be like her? Please," he joked, making me scoff. 

"Okay, maybe I'm still like her, a little bit." I admitted. 

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," he whispered after a minute, and when I looked up I noticed how close him already looking at me. My mind seemed to slip away as I forgot what we were even doing there. We spent what felt like hours just talking. He talked about Hogwarts, wizardry and his family. He talked about quidditch like Emmet talked about football and he loved music. He told me of his collection of cds, a "muggle" thing, he called it. 

I told him that I came from Washington, and that I lived there with my parents and sister, and my dog Posie. I told him I went to Forks High School and lived a normal, muggle life. I told him absolutely nothing that was true to me, but how could I look a seventeen year old in this world in the eyes and tell him I used to be a vampire in my other reality? That my schizo friends kidnapped me and kept me starved and dirty for a decade? I couldn't tell him anything about who I was, and that was okay. I was going to have to leave eventually and I'd probably never see him again. 

I painted a picture of the perfect life. The life I probably would have wanted.  Perfect family, perfect friends, perfect girl. If he couldn't see right through me, I would be impressed. I felt like I was doing a terrible job lying the entire time I did it, but the more I spoke the more I just wished it could've been true. 

"You sound like you have a happy life," He stated softly, and I was pretty sure he meant it as a good thing. I nodded, looking down and biting my cheek. I was a liar. I was manipulating this boy into thinking I was a good person when really I was just a freak-- like Luna x100. 

"I do. I really do." 

"I'll figure out how to get you home, I promise." He whispered, and I hadn't noticed how close we'd gotten. He was flushed, looking down at me and breathing. He was breathing, and I was breathing, and we both needed it. I could feel warmth coming off of him. I knew I'd never get a chance to love Edward as humans. I knew he wasn't Edward. I knew it wasn't right, but still I leaned up and let my lips touch Cedric's. They were warm, and soft, and he produced saliva-- I kissed an actual human boy. I had never done that before. 

And I liked it. And my whole body got warm and his teeth nicked my lips and neither of us spent much time searching for air despite us both needing it. I don't know how long it went on for, but it must have been minutes, at least. It was getting hot and we were both panting for air. I'd never experienced feelings like this. Such warmth and adrenaline. It was like hunting, but close and personal with hormones and skin.

It happened so fast, and before I knew it Luna's robe was in the bottom of the empty tub with Cedric's tie. My mind was racing, but I was hungry. While Edward flooded my mind, I really felt like I was with him. Like this was the experience we could have had if things had been different. Cedric's hands began undoing the buttons on my shirt, and just as the back of his knuckles brushed against my chest, I fell.