The Fallen Hero [HEDRIC]

Chapter IV - My Darling Harry

CHAPTER IV

MY DARLING HARRY

August 18, 1994

One of the positive points when waking up early was seeing nature "waking up" with the dawn.

It started in the same way: little by little the birds started to sing and left their nests, just like the small wild animals left their dens to look for food... The bluish, cold light of the forest was slowly replaced by the golden, warm light of the morning sun, a rare moment if you consider that the rest of the year was a constant variation of being cloudy, rainy or cold.

That's why Cedric liked the morning, because it was a peaceful, serene and calming moment, something he needed badly.

As he leaned his back against the tree trunk and stretched his long legs on the firm branch that supported him, he sighed as he thought about how frustrating his summer break was being that year.

Not that it had changed anything, because in essence it remained the same: physical exercises after waking up, followed by helping his mother to do the garden's maintenance, shopping in the village market, writing letters to his friends, reading books, listening songs or organize his bedroom and attic... But if he used to do these activities with good pre-disposition before, in those last few weeks it has become a frustrating attempt to contain his anxiety since he returned from Hogwarts... Anxiety caused by a certain wizard with round glasses.

In theory, he shouldn't feel that way.

Harry and he were fulfilling their promise to communicate through weekly letters, in which they told about their routines, expectations for the next school year and other superficially irrelevant things, but that for the Hufflepuff they were of great importance: he had already read and reread Harry's letters so many times that their paper was about to tear apart, as he had practically decorated the contents of all of them.

It was enough for him to hear Hedwig's characteristic chirp - in which he memorized over the months - to make him run from wherever he was in order to pick up the letter, making his parents look at him in a laughing and suspicious way when they noticed his unusual anxiety.

"Is it your girlfriend, Ced? If so, tell her I say 'hi'!" Amos once said as he drank his tea, causing his wife to laugh and Cedric to blush as he hurried up the stairs.

In the privacy of his bedroom, he was beginning to feel that familiar sensation of butterflies in his stomach as he opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, being greeted by Harry's irregular handwriting, almost hearing the boy's voice in his head when he read the first words:

'Dear Ced'.

In the beginning, the letters were headed only with his name, 'Cedric'. Over the months that they had been secretly meeting, Harry changed to the affectionate form of his nickname, ' Ced ', and finally, since they were on summer break, it came as 'Dear Ced', making the older boy's heart warm before he even read the content.

But if he was anxious to receive the letters and read them, he was even more anxious to answer them.

It started the same way: he sat at his desk, took out his quill and inkwell, and wrote on the header of the sheet of paper three words that made him smile shyly while a slight blush appeared on his cheeks:

'My darling Harry'.

My darling Harry... When he closed his eyes and said these three words slowly in a low voice, he immediately felt a pleasant warmth in his chest that gradually spread throughout his body, making him smile as if he had the Gryffindor boy in his arms, feeling his soft, clean scent of soap and feeling the warmth of his small body...