An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Twenty-Six

While Jackson and I sparred, I filled him in on everything that had happened over the past six hours. Umbridge's notice, the defense club, WWHRS, Umbridge's stance on our Quidditch team, and of course, Cedric. He took everything in stride, and just let me vent while we exchanged blows. I think part of him was hoping I'd be distracted enough that he could win, but either way he listened to me, so I couldn't complain.

"So basically, this has been the longest day of my life," I huffed as I threw another punch and immediately put my guard back up. "And it's not even half over."

"You wanna talk about any of it?" asked Jackson. He shifted his balance and kicked at me, but I blocked. "Or was the venting enough?"

I sighed, dropping my fists. Jackson took the hint and relaxed his own stance, then followed me to the edge of the Astronomy Tower as we both got some water.

"I don't know. I should probably practice my pitch for WWHRS..."

"But that's not what you want to do," said Jackson knowlingly.

"No."

I didn't say anything else. I just stared at the wall as I sipped from my water bottle, trying to sort through everything in my head.

"...You wanna talk about Diggory?"

I grimaced and turned, walking a few paces away from Jackson. But, after a few beats of silence, I spoke.

"It's just weird, you know. Like, everything he said makes sense, and I get where he's coming from, but after growing up with the Avengers I just sort of assume that the people who are close to me will want to fight."

Jackson didn't say anything, and I didn't turn around either. In the back of my mind, I was pretty sure he was just staying quiet to try and trick me into talking more, but I decided I didn't care. I needed to say this to somebody, and Jackson understood the Avenger part of me better than any of the rest of my friends.

"Last year, when my dad finally met Cedric, he said Cedric reminded him of Steve. Of Captain America. At the time I kind of laughed it off with a dig at Steve, but now... I don't know. Steve would never walk away from a fight, especially not one that's important. Steve's a boy scout until it matters, and then he'll do what needs to be done even if it means breaking the rules, or even laws. But it kinda seems like Cedric's just a boy scout all the time."

I heard Jackson sigh from behind me, then he crossed the room to stand next to me. We stared out the window of the Astronomy Tower together for a few seconds, and then Jackson spoke.

"Do you want to be with somebody that's not a boy scout all the time?" he asked softly. "I mean... is it important to you that your boyfriend's in the trenches fighting with you every step of the way?"

I sighed heavily through my nose. "I don't know. Cedric's my first boyfriend, so it's never... it's never come up before. What I do know is that I love him. And that... ninety-five percent of the time, I love how sweet and kind and caring and... diplomatic he is. It's just that other five percent, when diplomacy definitely isn't the answer, that I'm getting tripped up on."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Stark. It's your relationship to work through. But for what it's worth, if you really love him... that can see you through a hell of a lot."

I nodded slowly, feeling a little better. I really did love Cedric, and it might not be a bad thing that he wasn't always in the middle of the fray with me. I mean, Clint and Laura were a great couple, and Laura almost never got involved in anything Avengers-related, even including parties.

I took a deep breath to let the last of my worries drain away, then turned to Jackson with a smile.

"How the hell do you know so much about relationships?" I demanded. He just shrugged.