Poison | Cedric Diggory

7: fight

{ 7: fight }

dedicated to ClinKitty for being another super-fangirl

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The rest of the day, Oleander kept sneaking smiles in Cedric's direction. They were encouraging smiles, but also possessive ones, saying to anyone who was paying close attention that this man is mine. Even if he doesn't know it yet.

And Cedric always smiled back.

At dinner, Claire said ooooh like the good friend she was and poked Oleander in the arm. "Ow," Oleander said, rubbing the spot. "Stop acting like a child." But she liked the fact that Claire supported her and Cedric, so she sent him another sheepish smile as a sort of apology.

"So," Claire said, displaying a mouthful of dinner rolls, "the first task is coming up, and nobody knows what it is. How are you going to protect your precious Cedric?" The girl reached for another roll, ripping off small pieces and eating them one at a time.

Oleander's stomach clenched whenever she thought of the Tournament and how Cedric had no idea what he was up against. "I don't know," she said simply, turning away from her friend and picking up her fork.

"Hey, Ollie? I'm not trying to be mean..."

"You're not mean, Claire, but could you please just stop talking about the Tournament? You're stressing me out." Oleander pushed a fork full of food into her mouth to avoid further conversation.

"Okay..." Claire said reluctantly, still searching her friend's face for any hints as to why she wasn't willing to talk. "If you need anything, you know where to find me." And she got up from the table, stuffing some more bread into the pockets of her robes.

Oleander sighed loudly. She had forgotten to finish her homework after classes had ended and now knew that a load of it awaited her when she was done eating.

She set down her fork and got up from the table. The knot in her stomach had caused her to lose her appetite.

***

The next afternoon, Cedric came over to Oleander when she was sitting on a bench in the courtyard, reading a book. "Oleander!" he said breathlessly. She looked up to meet his sparkling eyes. "I know what the first task is. Harry Potter told me."

"Harry Potter told you?" she repeated.

"Yes. He didn't tell me how he knows, but...it's dragons. We have to fight dragons." There was no hint of a smile on his face.

Oleander's heart began to race. "What? Are you serious? Cedric, you can't battle a dragon! That's insane! They have to cancel this." She slammed the book shut and stood up, ready to head straight to Dumbledore.

But Cedric reached for her hands. "No, don't. It's already decided, there's no way they could cancel it. But it'll be fine, Oleander, I can do it." It seemed almost as if he was pleading with her.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Cedric, but I don't think you can." His lips pursed and she could see that she had hurt him. "I don't mean that you're not strong, and you're brilliant, but...there's no way. You're only seventeen-"

"I can do it, Oleander." Though his voice seemed confident, she could hear a slight tremble.

Before she could say anything else, Cedric turned around and walked away.