Cedric Diggory: Spinning in Cirlces

The Realization

"I've known Cedric since our first year! And I've been spending more quality time with him for about 3 days now! And I feel like I know everything I have to know about him already!" You explain. Across from you sits one of your friends Hermione Granger. You were studying in the library together when everything came out.

"And you like him already?" Hermione questions, frowning a bit.

"Yes! I think I do..." You respond, glancing embarrassed down at your Divination papers.

"Ok, then why don't you tell him?" Hermione asks, tilting her head at you, "Just give him a note or something."

"I guess I could do that," you take a sip of your ice water to clear your head, "but what if he doesn't feel that way for me!?" You question frantically, "we couldn't even be friends anymore..."

"Why not?" Hermione wonders, "It's not like he'd hate you after that."

"NO! I'd be too embarrassed to even be friends."

"Well if you told him you love him, where would you want your relationship to go?"

"Um... I guess it'd be cool if we wanted to be girlfriend and boyfriend maybe," You blush,

"Okay! Then that's your decision." Hermione shrugs.

"What?! What is my decision?!"

"Just tell him Y/N." Hermione closes her book and looks you in the eyes, "I'm finished with the test, are you?"

"No,"

"If you want to get an A+ your exam then you'd better start focusing." Hermione says, before turning around and walking away down the corridor. I've never had an A+ in my life... You realize, you groan and bend down to scribble down the answer to question 5 on your smudgy paper.

"Need any help?" Your voice catches in your throat at the sound of that voice.

"Um, maybe?" You say stupidly. Turning your head to look at Cedric. His smile is bright and his soft brown bangs flutter in the breeze, his gray eyes are focused on you and his cheeks are flushed from the chilly temperature outside.

"Okay!" He comes over to you and looks down at your test, "Try flipping to page 70 in your book, answer 6 should be in there." You blush as he leans over your paper. You take up your Planets book and star map, you flip to page 70 and read through the lines of words. You read around until your eyes skim over the sentence, ON MONDAY THE SHIFTS OF VENUS HAVE BEEN SEEN TO MOVE 3 FEET TO THE RIGHT IN SPACE. You nod and trace a line to the right on your star map, and sure enough the move alined Venus into its correct position. You smile and write 3 feet to the right under the question about Venus.

With Cedric by your side you easily fly through the rest of the test. Finally by the time you're finished you begin to wonder if you should tell Cedric how you feel. But ultimately you decide not to.

"We'll be getting results back tomorrow! Good luck."

"You too." You smile.

"I got to go, sorry."

"Okay, see you tomorrow." You part with Cedric and immediately facepalm. God, I am such a coward! You beat on yourself as your heart pounds. You yawn and take up your wrist to consult your watch.

10:59

"No no no! It's so late!" You say realizing the halls are now empty, you rush back around the corridor and wheel around the corner. You swing the dorm open gently with a screech. You tiptoe to your dresser and quickly change into your pjs. You brush your teeth, brush your hair, and get into bed feeling butterflies in your stomach. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. Before you know it, you're drifting into sleep.

You are sitting on a stone bench in the hallway, staring at the ground.

"M'lady!" You look up to see Cedric standing above you grinning widely. You smile back and invite him to sit down.

"Hey Cedric, can I tell you something?" You ask sheepishly.

"Of course."

"Well I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time!"

"What is it?" You close your eyes and take a breath.

"I love you, more than just as a friend. I get butterflies everytime I see you, I think about you everyday and I just wanted to ask you if you feel the same..."

Cedric's nose wrinkles up like he'd smelled something foul. You tilt your head.

"So?"

"NO. GET AWAY FROM ME YOU OBSESSED LEACH!" Cedric stands up and yells. Your heart aches in your chest as Cedric turns around and runs away. Tears prick at your eyes and you blink to make them fall down your cheeks, burning your cheeks. You feel inexplicably depressed and claustrophobic. You stop breathing and look around you to see Malfoy and the Slytherins, the Hufflepuffs, the Ravenclaws, and even the Gryffindors laughing hysterically at you. Their laughter rings in your ears and your head begins to hurt. You stand up and run away, suddenly everything starts to blur, colors fade into each other and then black.

You sit up as your eyes fly open. You feel sweat on your neck and above your lip. You rub your eyes and feel real tears gliding down your cheeks. Your breath is ragged and that pain in your heart is still there. A wave of nausea falls over you and you believe for a moment that you'll puke. Your eyes slowly adjust to the darkness of the dorm room.

"What time is it?" You mutter blindly reaching for your watch.

4:50

You groan and slide back under the covers staring up into the inky blackness. You roll over and try to go back to sleep but you wake up again immediately to a headache. You go onto your other side only to sit up from another pain above your brows. Now that I'm awake I may as well be up. You reach for your wand on your bedside table and grasp onto the cool wooden handle. You slide out of bed and whisper,

"Lumos." A faint light ignites at the tip of your wand. You pad down to the bathroom/changing room. You step onto the tile and set down your wand. You obtain a plastic cup and fill it up with water. You take a sip and the cold liquid helps to clear up your headache and wash away your dizziness from the nightmare. You swallow and pour out the rest of the water. You take your wand and guide yourself to the open window. You push away the curtains and breathe in the cold night air. Over the mountains you can see a brightening orange light. You change into your school robes and tie up your hair. You stuff your hands in your pockets, tie your scarf tightly around your neck, and grab your watch. You check the time.

5:04

The school doors open at five. You strap on your boots and wander over to the door. You walk into the hallway and down two flights of steep stairs before going through another door and out of the Hogwarts building. The cool morning air blows onto your skin as you make your way down the paths and into the statue garden.

"Good morning." You jump as you turn to look at the statue next to you. Just then Cedric pops his head out from behind the gargoyle and smiles.

"You scared me!" You insist, "What are you doing here?"

"Admiring the sunrise, you?"

"Well, I just had a nightmare, I came out here to get my thoughts together." You admit.

"Oh, I woke up from a nightmare too." Cedric's smile fades, "What a coincidence."

You nod and you both pause to stare at the brightening orange and pink sky.

"It's beautiful." You say after a while.

"Yes it is." He agrees. Then there was silence. You both stayed there for at least 10 minutes before the sun had risen fully and the sky became clouded up.

"We'd better go inside." You say eventually.

"You're right." Cedric agrees. You head inside and get some breakfast, even though you aren't hungry. You barely pick at your food as you consult your nightmare.

How likely is that to actually happen? How likely is it for him to like me back. How likely is it that I'm losing my mind??