The Boy I Love -HEDRIC (2)

13.(CH) always

CEDRIC

LXV

“Thank you for placing your trust in me.”

For all the unexpected panic that Malcolm’s bad omen had caused Cedric, he didn’t have a chance to let him know how much he appreciated that he'd decided to confide in him. With something he had never told anyone, it was clear, and now Cedric knew. 

He wanted to understand more about Malcolm.

“It's not a big deal. Or very interesting,” he would say when Cedric asked questions. “It really hasn't helped me much, not as anyone would expect.”

Okay, so he couldn't predict specific events.

"I'd say I can tell when someone fancies someone else, but I think that's just me being nosy. Or a dreamer,” Malcolm chuckled, stretching out on his bed one afternoon in their dorm.

Would he know about Harry…?

Was Cedric ready to talk about it…?

Perhaps he would have done so now if Zacharias hadn't walked in.

LXVI

He still couldn't tell Malcolm because he wasn't ready to deal with all the emotions in front of others. It would make it more real —and more difficult if someone caught the fleeting expression on his face when he saw Harry talking to Cho in the hallways between classes. 

One that he controlled instantly. 

Cedric wanted to be better than that, and he really thought it was great that they were friends.

How different it was from last year.

Before he wouldn’t have approached so as not to interrupt Harry’s odds.

Now he was wondering if this would be the year that Harry and Cho would start dating and he didn't stop to talk to them. He waved from afar, if he couldn't help it. Before he would have asked Cho about Harry, to gauge the situation. Old Cupid couldn't do it anymore. 

LXVII

He couldn't always help it.

Harry and Cho would invite Cedric into their conversation, and they would end up carrying it on between the two of them despite trying not to leave him out. Cedric wouldn't stay long. He’d feel like the worst friend in the world at that moment, unable to continue there. What would he do if…?

HARRY

LI

Although it had given him some anxiety talking to Cedric's friends on his birthday alone, on his own... especially when Ron and Hermione, who had also attended, left... They were most pleasant and Harry had a good time. He met Willow and he totally understood what Malcolm had said in the stands that time they played Quidditch. 

That explained why she and Tam had spent so much of it talking to each other. What would otherwise seem rude, like how they made comments in a low voice, laughing or smiling, turned out partly adorable. 

On the one hand, because she did dedicate herself to talking with Harry. 

On the other hand, because she was almost as gossipy as Malcolm. 

"See those bracelets? They made them together for all of us. Ced, Malcolm, me but… I think theirs are different or they've used a spell, I don't know. I keep trying to figure it out.”