1 | Sunlight ➙ Cedric Diggory

Chapter Eight

The snow at Hogwarts had left quicker than it came, the sky having some sort of confusion about the seasons. It was only the end of October, but the temperature had dropped enough for snow to fall.

It was October 31st to be exact. Hallowe'en. Matthew had woken up early to see green grass on the grounds of Hogwarts, and the sun rising peacefully in the sky. As Matthew stared out his dormitory window, his hands in the pockets of his pyjamas, an idea popped into his head. Two months had come and gone since the young boy last spoke with his parents, and he wanted to get in touch with them. Matthew rummaged through his backpack that sat on his trunk at the foot of the bed, grabbing some parchment, a quill, and his small glass jar of ink.

Matthew went downstairs to the Common Room, taking a seat on one of the large yellow couches. A blanket sat nearby that Matthew pulled over to him.

"Oh!" Matthew exclaimed, revealing a sound asleep Cedric on the couch. The older boy was curled up in a fetus position, his chestnut hair pointing in every direction atop his head. Cedric squeezed his eyes shut tighter as his mouth curled into a scowl.

"What's going on?" Cedric mumbled, reaching out for his blanket. He still had his eyes closed as he slowly rolled over onto his back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Matthew attempted to recover Cedric with his blanket, not wanting the boy to wake up and be grumpy.

"S'alright." Cedric replied, opening his eyes only to briefly shut them again as a yawn escaped his lips. "What're you doing up so early?"

"I'm writing a letter to my parents." Matthew set his parchment and writing supplies down on the wooden table in front of him, before leaning over the table to prepare his quill and start writing.

"Ah, my mother and father will probably be wanting to hear from me." Cedric sat up on the couch as he realized he also hadn't spoken with his parents since he last saw them at King's Cross.

"I have more parchment if you want to write to them. I brought extra down with me just in case my letter is long." Matthew chuckled shortly as he glanced over at Cedric before returning his attention to the parchment in front of him. A small drop of black ink had fallen off the quill, leaving a smudge on the boy's parchment.

"Sure, thank you. I'll do that once you're done." Cedric smiled as he watched Matthew start to write, the younger boy not saying anything in response as he focused on the words that traveled from his brain to the parchment.

Matthew kept his letter short and sweet, but he still ended up using the entire sheet of parchment. He told his parents about his friends, how he was liking Hogwarts, and wished them a happy Hallowe'en.

"Do you know if there's any envelopes in here somewhere?" Matthew asked as he folded his letter in half and proceeded looking through the drawers of tables and chests in the Common Room.

"Second shelf on the bookcase over there." Cedric replied without even hesitating, pointing over to a wooden bookcase that sat under one of the windows.

"Thanks." Matthew walked over to the shelf, grabbing envelopes for him and Cedric. There was a neat stack in a small basket, with other writing supplies on the same shelf. Extra parchment, quills that looked like they'd been used too many times, and a jar of ink that was almost empty.

Matthew walked back over to the couch and sat down beside Cedric. The sounds of Matthew's letter being folded and a quill scratching against parchment were two of the only noises in the Common Room, until someone came running down the stairs from their dormitory.

"Morning." A female voice spoke, Matthew and Cedric both turning to see who it was. A seventh year walked past the couch, a friendly smile on her face as she looked at the boys.

"Hi, Tonks." Cedric greeted, briefly glancing up at the brunette. Matthew had never spoken to Nymphadora Tonks before, mainly because the chance never arose. They hardly ever saw each other, even during meals in the Great Hall.

"Coming for breakfast?" Tonks asked, stopping just outside the door of the Hufflepuff Common Room.

"Yeah, I think we're gonna take a detour to the owlery first though, right?" Cedric turned to Matthew, who quickly nodded his head.

"Right." He replied. Enzo would be happy to see the boy, and eager to fly back home.

"Alright." Tonks nodded as she left the Common Room, not having anything else to say. Cedric went back to his letter, while Matthew sealed his envelope shut.

"How do you know her?" The younger boy asked, his question sounding a lot better in his head. They were all in the same house after all, so it made sense for Cedric to know the girl.

"Who, Tonks? She helped me with some homework last term. I was struggling pretty bad in Potions." Cedric replied with a soft chuckle at the end. Matthew noticed that the corner of his mouth had turned up in a small half smile.