Petrichor

Be still my foolish Heart

Cedric was going to curse his roommates into next year, he decided. It was 7 in the morning and they perfectly knew he didn't fancy being woken up earlier than necessary. Especially when ice cold water was involved.

He closed his eyes and quickly threw the covers over his head trying desperately to go back to sleep and return to the wonderful dream he was having but even the sheets were soaked now and it was getting really uncomfortable staying in the bed. Not to mention, the rather loud and completely off-key singing of his friends wasn't helping. So he reluctantly got up and made straight for the bathroom, stopping only to shoot a glare at Graham and Malcolm who had thankfully stopped singing and were now grinning at him innocently. Idiots.

He felt definitely better once he was under the spray of the shower and hot water started pouring out of it. He took his time to recover from the none too gentle awakening he had, on his birthday no less, and tried to focus on the lingering feeling that night's dream had brought. Cedric couldn't recall what had happened in it, all he could see when he closed his eyes where splashes of red and brown. But accompanying them there was this sense of belonging and wholeness that was like nothing he had ever felt before. It was amazing and jarring at the same time. He couldn't explain it and the more he tried to hold on to it, the more he felt it slipping away, until it disappeared altogether. And now, he could clearly feel the void that was left in its place and it took him a moment to realize that this emptiness had always been there, just in the background, as he had never known he was missing something until that very moment.

There was no doubt in his mind about what that something was but he didn't stop analysing the thought because a loud and insistent banging on the bathroom door brought him back to earth.

"Are you almost done in there, Ced?" Shouted Graham from the other side of the door.

"Did you drown in the shower?" Came another shout, this time from Malcolm.

Cedric snorted and shook his head in amusement.

"I'm still alive, don't worry. Though I woke up a bit cranky this morning for some reason. So if you don't mind I'm taking my time now." He replied.

There was a beat of silence before his friend spoke again.

"Oh no. Of course we don't mind. We just thought you'd like to know there's a chocolate cake in the kitchens that Tilly made especially for you. But if you'd rather take your time and stay here, I'm sure she'll let me and Graham have it." He said nonchalantly and it wasn't even two seconds later that Cedric was out of the bathroom, bag packed and already making his way out of their room.

The two Hufflepuff wizards shared a look a started chuckling before following the birthday boy out of the common room and towards the kitchens.

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Adrian Pucey was the typical Slytherin.

Born in a pureblood family and raised accordingly, with the pureblood customs and ideals, blood purity being the most important one. He was an only child, thus heir to the Pucey family fortune, which wasn't as large as the Malfoys but was still large enough to allow him a wealthy life, and that clearly gave him a sense of self-importance. He was proud and ambitious, respected among his peers, probably because he had chosen to make allies rather than friends.

At least, that is what one would think upon first impression. The truth, however, was quite a different story.

The Adrian Pucey that everyone saw was just the carefully constructed persona that he had chosen to portray some three years ago, when all his beliefs started crumbling and he began to see the Wizarding society, its aristocracy in particular, in a new light. When he decided his opinions were worth something and he didn't have to be what his parents expected. When she started attending Hogwarts.