Happily ever after? /// Cedric Diggory

8

CEDRIC'S POV

After dinner, Cedric saw Evan quietly slip away from the mass of people making their way towards the Hufflepuff common room. She seemed to be walking in the direction of the courtyard, despite the fact that it was no doubt below freezing outside since the sun went down.
Intrigued, Cedric decided to follow her and see what she was up to. He snuck along as she made her way in the direction of where Hagrid's hut is. Assuming that was where she was headed, he waited behind as she descended the hill. But instead of entering Hagrid's hut, she walked right past it into the Forbidden Forest. His curiosity growing by the minute, he eagerly chased after her, dying to see what mysteries lie in the forest so late at night.

After the quick descent, he was at the edge of the forest. He had never been into the forest, so he felt slightly intimidated by the darkness in front of him, feeling unprepared and unprotected. Leaving his sense behind him, though, he bravely stepped into the darkness to find Evan, who had a descent head start due to his hesitation at the hill. After several minutes of stumbling around in the near darkness, with only the light he produced at the end of his wand helping him any, he was sure he would never find Evan or the end of the forest and would freeze to death or become someone's dinner.

However, just as he was attempting to retrace his steps back to the castle, he heard an animated voice coming from somewhere. Following the voice, he was able to distinguish that it was the exact voice he came into the forest to find. It grew louder and he knew he had almost found her. Peeking around a tree, he saw her standing in the middle of the opening of a field a few yards from the tree he was hiding behind. Light from somewhere was coming in and turning everything a fantastic blue color, making it all seem like something out of a dream.

He couldn't help but stare in awe at the fact that even in the darkest place, Evan's inner light still shone. She looked as beautiful as ever, with her wonderfully messy tangles of thick hair that looked almost white in the light, trailing just past her shoulders.  Despite the fact that he could only see half her face, it was impossible to miss the twinkle in her huge blue eyes that never seemed to go away, even when she was flustered or angry. He could just barely make out the smattering of freckles along her nose and cheek. She seemed like she belonged in a fairy tale story as a princess or fairy, not a boring old witch. Cedric was sure he had never seen such a lovely thing in his whole life, finally admitting to himself that what he felt for this beautiful girl was something more than just curiosity or intrigue.

He was pulled out of his trance by Evan's voice ".... and the fact that Becca still won't tell me what is going on, which is completely unlike her. We've always told each other everything, I wish that whole situation last year never happened, it is continuing to ruin all my relationships, they all think I'm some child. And on top of all that and school, the bloody Triwizard Tournament is starting tomorrow and I have a dreadful feeling about it, but I have no idea why. You've felt it too surely?" Evan rambled, although to whom she was addressing Cedric had no clue.

Slightly uncomfortable at the fact that she was talking to herself, Cedric tried backing up and leaving before she could catch him eavesdropping but fate had another plan. A loud snapping sound followed his last footstep, telling him he had the unfortunate misfortune to step on a stick and give away his presence. Cringing, he knew it would be impossible for Evan to have not heard that noise. His fears were confirmed when he heard Evan's voice ring out, "Who's there?" and he could hear the sound of fear in her voice. Not wanting to scare her, he stepped out into the field despite how badly he wanted to sprint away, where she could clearly see him. Horribly embarrassed,  Cedric prepared to save his dignity and honor by attempting to apologize.

"This is terribly uncomfortable. You see I was just making sure you were okay because I saw you were going into the forest which was very odd, and I just was curious and didn't want you getting lost or hurt without anyone knowing where you were, but clearly you need to be alone, I'm really sorry," Cedric stammered out while looking at her sheepishly and turning back to the darkness of the trees.