Harry Potter One-Shots

Something Dear (Cedric Diggory)

WORD COUNT: 1812 (sheesh sorry, long one)

"Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching, ponder this;

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And recover what we took,

But past an hour — the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

"What do you think it means?" I asked when I emerged from the foamy bath water in the prefect's bathroom. Beside me, my best friend, Cedric Diggory, had surfaced from the water and was shaking bubbles out of his eyes. I couldn't help but watch as he ran a hand through his sopping hair, pushing the curls out of his face. Something about the way he didn't even think about what he was doing made it all the more attractive.

"I have no idea... that's why I asked you! You're supposed to be the smart one, remember?" he responded, splashing a bit of water at me. I shrieked and dodged, sheltering behind my hands. Ever since we became friends in 1st year, Cedric and I had a running joke that I was the brains and he was the braun in our friendship.

I pretended to stroke my chin like I had an imaginary beard, but in reality I was actually trying to decipher the meaning of the song.

"We cannot sing above the ground..." I murmured, mostly talking to myself. I could feel Cedric watching me as I turned the ideas over and over in my head. All of a sudden, it struck me.

"Ced! I've got it! It's something to do with mermaids! Their voices sound scary and garbled above the water but when you're in the water, they sound like a beautiful song. You must have to go get something from them," I blurted out, my brain turning at a mile a minute to try and work out the next part of the clue.

"You really are a genius, Y/N," Cedric replied, eyes wide with awe and shock. I blushed at his compliment, but I was hoping that the steam from the bath would cover it. I fiddled with the tie on my swimsuit as a distraction so I didn't have to look at him.

"So... any idea how to get to the mermaids then?" Cedric asked, and we both burst into laughter before getting serious and discussing different spells, potions, and tools he could potentially use to help him with the task.

---

As the day before the second task drew to a close, Cedric and I headed down to the lake for one last practice session. All month we had been working on swimming and casting different spells underwater so he could be prepared for anything. As we strolled down the hill toward the lake, I held his towel in my hands so he wouldn't be too cold after practicing.

"So remember, we decided on the Bubble-Head Charm, which is the circular motion, because if you do it too sharp you'll -

"Cast the Hair-Growth Charm instead, I know. I remember what happened last time." He shuddered in mock horror as we both laughed at his last attempt at the charm, which ended him in the hospital wing with hair longer than Dumbledore's.

"Ok, I trust you, but just in case, remember to -"

"Send up a jet of water if I need help. I know all this. Really Y/N, you worry too much, I'll be fine," he interrupted again, disarming me with one of his signature dazzling smiles. I had seen it work on countless other girls before, and I had never pictured myself being one of those girls, but alas, here I was with butterflies in my stomach and feeling weak at the knees. You'd think that having a crush on someone you spend all day, every day with since the third year would make it easier to be around them, but that's actually the farthest thing from the truth.