Sincerely, Harry -h.p

Chapter 22

The next few days were the absolute worst days of my life. Luna and Neville were busy most of the time, me and Harry weren't communicating whatsoever, and I had been ignoring Cedric. So the only person I could talk to was Ginny, and she usually had things she needed to do.

Today was my birthday, but I was sure no one would remember. They all had their problems, and I had my own.

As I was walking to charms I saw Cedric walking with a couple of his friends, and I tried to avoid eye contact, but it was too late, he already noticed me.

"Hey Jocie, can we talk?"

I knew he wouldn't remember, but it still hurt.

"What is there to talk about?" I replied.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe how you've been ignoring me for 3 days," he retorted.

"Right. I'm sorry, I'll stop."

He looked taken aback.

"Uh- okay."

I smiled at him and walked off. I was not in the mood to talk to anyone. Today was supposed to be special, but I could tell it was going to be anything but that.

I walked into potions and sat down in my usual spot, and I almost jumped when I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Happy Birthday."

I looked to my right and saw Harry leaning towards me, holding a little teddy bear. I stared at him for a moment, processing what he just said, but it clicked not long after.

I took the bear from his hands and I couldn't help but notice that it smelled exactly like him.

"Oh- uh- thanks."

I gave him a small awkward smile and he beamed at me. This was the first interaction me and Harry had for almost a month now. My heart felt heavy for some weird reason, and deep down I knew it was because I missed him. I loved him, for gods sake, but I tried pushing my feelings for him down even farther.

After all my classes, when I was walking back to the common room, I ran into Cedric. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see him or not, even though I desperately needed to talk to someone.

"Hey," he said as he walked closer to me.

"Hi?" I said, acting confused.

"Meet my at the entrance of the forbidden forest at 5, okay?"

"I have homework, Ced," I replied.

"Do as I say. For once in your life," he snapped as he rolled his eyes.

I scoffed at him and he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Once. Just this one time," I responded.

"Right," he said as he winked and walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~

At around 4:30, I started to get ready and just threw on a sweater and mom jeans. I had no idea what he was planning, and I was actually really curious.

I headed outside and walked towards the forbidden forest. I noticed a figure sitting on the grass, and I assumed it must be Cedric.

As I walked closer, it was obvious that the figure I saw was indeed Cedric. When he finally got into a clear view, my jaw dropped. He had set up a bunch of snacks and made a whole cake for me. I sat down onto the soft blanket, still in complete shock.

"Happy birthday, Jocie. You didn't think I would forget did you?"

Before I could reply, he leaned over and kissed me. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed kissing him because every time I did kiss him, we were both drunk.

I stared at him as a million fireworks went off in my head.

"You are something different, Diggory."

He licked his lips and smirked at me. God he really was attractive.

"Well don't be shy, help yourself," he said as he pointed towards the cake.

I giggled and we ate the snacks he prepared and talked for what felt like 10 minutes, but in reality it had actually been over an hour.

"Are you going to eat that cake or not?"

"Thank god you said something, I've been eyeing it for too long," I said as I started to laugh.

"Why couldn't you say something?" He scoffed.

"I didn't want to come off as impatient!"

We were both laughing now, and it was the happiest I had been in a while. I felt like I could be myself around Cedric.

Cedric then suddenly stopped laughing, and looked serious.

"Is everything-"

He interrupted me by pulling me into a kiss. He placed one of his hands on my thigh and the other on the side of my neck. I kissed him back passionately, just to surprise him.

He then got on top of me but kept his lips on mine. I pushed him off and he looked confused, but that look quickly faded away as soon as I climbed on his lap.

"I want you," he whispered into my ear.

"I want you too," I whispered back.

We stopped and stared at each other for a couple minutes before he said something.

"We should probably eat that cake."

I tried to hide my smile but failed. We both started laughing and he placed some candles in the cake and lit them with his wand.

"I'm not singing," he stated.

I opened my mouth in shock and he genuinely looked like he felt bad.

"I'm joking, Ced. You're a horrible singer."

Now he was the one who looked insulted. I started laughing at him but he kept the look of shock on his face. I then took a fingertip of frosting and plopped it on his nose.

"You little-"

He took a handful of cake and threw it at my face.

"You did not!"

I grabbed another handful and tried to throw it at his face, but it ended up hitting his chest.

"I see how it is. You just want me to take my shirt off. Clever girl."

"That's not what I-"

"Payback time!"

He grabbed my sweater and pulled it over my head.

"Ced, it's like 10 degrees!" I yelled as I covered my chest.

"Are you sure? You look hot."

I blushed as I rolled my eyes and broke out into an uncontrollable laughter.

"I just wanted cake," I laughed.

"Here."

He grabbed a small handful of cake and put it into my mouth. He watched me eat it as we stood inches apart.

He wiped the excess frosting off of my face and stared into my eyes.

"Happy birthday Jocie."

He slowly placed his hand on my face and kissed me. My heart soared at the feeling, but something was telling me I was still in love with Harry. And it was right.

Although this day turned out much better than I expected, I would have rather spent it with Harry.

To make it even worse, I slept with the little teddy Harry gave me earlier that day. It smelled just like him, I couldn't resist.