metanoia - cedric diggory

chapter twenty one

January 7th, 1995

The way it felt when his fist joined forces with Malfoy's foolish face could only be described using the words: earned or the best thing anyone had ever done. Clementine could feel everyone's eyes on her as Draco held his cheek, and she swore she saw a tear running down his lifeless skin. 

Time had felt unreal at that moment, like it was all happening in slow motion as if the clocks had all died and the planet had stopped moving.

What the fuck just happened?

Olive and Blaise stood beside her, also staring at the crime scene, listening to Malfoy scream at the top of his lungs at Clementine.

The words weren't registering in her mind, he would have been better off yelling at a brick wall for all she could do was stare at him. The ringing in her ears vanished when Blaise grabbed her shoulder, turning the clocks back on and allowing the world to begin spinning once again.

"We need to go," His eyes darted to her and Olive, giving the other girl a nod. "Now, Clem." She felt her legs regain feeling as she was ushered out of the room and back to the quiet halls of Hogwarts.

Cedric had never felt such a feeling as freeing as punching Draco Malfoy in the face, shutting up his big mouth and foolish thoughts. The only thing that concerned him before he did it, was thinking of if he could get in trouble for this.

The pros and cons were weighed out in his head nearly four seconds before it happened, knowing Draco could never say anything because they'd all fall into heaps of trouble, being at a party and all.

"Are you alright, lad? Is your hand feeling up to par?" Fred and George had guided him out of the room, trying their hardest to hide their grins behind their concerned scowls.

The concern was written all over their faces, but it was paired with expressions of pure enjoyment. Cedric met eyes with the boys before they all shared a humorous laugh, which turned into an uncontrollable fit.

"That was probably the best thing that's happened this year, mate. Definitely one of the top ten moments at Hogwarts for us." George's words could hardly be heard through his laughter.

There would definitely be bruising on his hand tomorrow, but Cedric didn't care at all, the bruising would be worth it every day.

The trio of boy's laughter died off as the door opened once again, revealing Clementine and her friends, holding her tightly by the arm like a parent would. If they hadn't been there, she was sure she would've stood there forever.

The chatter and breathing took a halt as the two met eyes, staring at one another without a word spoken. It had been more than a few days, besides today, that the two even acknowledged one another.

In both of their heads, it seemed better to just ignore it, to ignore the feelings and gut instincts that still lingered in their minds. At least until further notice, to pretend that they had never existed to save their own feelings.

Cedric knew the sensation wouldn't disappear, even if he ended up with four children and a wife that wasn't Clementine, if she came knocking on the front door he'd still consider ruining it all for her.

"Why would you do that, Cedric? You could get in serious trouble, you could get expelled, you could-" Clementine spoke with bewilderment and concern, thinking of how out of character it was for him.