1 | Sunlight ➙ Cedric Diggory

Chapter Seventeen

The darkness that surrounded Matthew's room was so awfully quiet that he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears. His eyes focused on the blank slate of a ceiling above him, a mattress spring digging into his lower back. The world on the other side of the closed window was peaceful and chilly, snowflakes falling by the bucket load.

It was Christmas morning, but too early for the boy to get out of bed. His excitement kept him awake, tossing and turning as he tried to get comfortable. The shuffling of his parents downstairs came to a halt about an hour ago as they prepared for the morning with their son and Cedric.

A small beam of light cascaded into Matthew's room, coming from a dimly lit street lamp outside. The boy sat up slightly in bed as he tried to figure out of Cedric was awake or not. He hadn't heard any movement, or even a breath, come from the boy on the floor. The boys didn't share a dormitory back at Hogwarts so Matthew had no idea how Cedric slept. If he snored, moved around a lot, or even talked, while in slumber. The light illuminated the top of Cedric's head with a warm glow but Matthew couldn't see his face. He didn't know if his grey eyes were open or not.

"Cedric, are you awake?" Matthew whispered into the air, not expecting a response.

"Yeah. Are you?" Cedric replied with a small snicker.

"Yeah." Matthew couldn't prevent the smile that formed across his face as he heard Cedric's voice cut through the darkness. He felt better knowing he wasn't the only one lying awake.

"Too excited for the morning?" Cedric asked as he sat up on his air mattress. Matthew realized for the first time that the older boy was shirtless, the cotton t-shirt he had been wearing when he got into bed was now discarded on the floor at the foot of the mattress.

"Yeah." Matthew partly lied. Christmas was his favourite holiday and he felt jittery with excitement, but also had a few other things itching at his brain. Cedric was one of them, and the fact that the two boys were spending the holidays together. Something about the older boy made Matthew's heart skip a beat with nerves. Just recently Matthew found himself wanting to be around him more but was always stumbling on words when they were together. The rising feelings were strange and confusing for the boy. He wanted to tell Toby about them but didn't want to make a big deal out of an irrelevant situation.

"Me too." Cedric said. Matthew could tell based on his silhouette that the older boy was turned in his direction. A silence had settled over the room once more as the teenagers sat in the darkness, partially facing each other but not being able to notice facial features.

"I don't even know what time it is. We should probably get some sleep." Matthew stated into the thickening air, a strange tension growing between the boys who were both now wide awake.

"Yeah, you're right." Cedric cleared his throat as he laid back down, shuffling with his blankets as he tried to get comfortable again. "Goodnight." The boy said from the floor once he was settled.

"Goodnight." Matthew replied as he tucked himself back under his covers, rolling over to the other side of the bed and turning his back to Cedric. Matthew stared blankly at the wall across from his bed and he tried to turn his mind off, his brain aching with thoughts. Some of them were about Toby and the boy's mom, while most of them were about Cedric and how the brunette boy was laying awake just a few feet away from him.

Just as Matthew allowed his tired blue eyes to close, he heard shuffling from the floor before the edge of his blanket was being lifted up. The boy looked over his shoulder to see Cedric standing beside his bed, carefully holding the corner of the duvet in one hand. A crack of light coming from the window glowed against the tall boy's pale skin.