Harry Potter One Shot And Imagine Book

Cedric Diggory

"Follow me, please—excuse me, that's the wrong way!"

[Y/N] sighs to herself for what must have been the hundredth time since the opening feast ended. This year's first-years are proving to be especially difficult—even more so than usual. The tiny eleven-year-old Gryffindors keep trying to go down different corridors despite [Y/N] leading them at the very front of the pack.

She grits her teeth before forcing a painful-looking smile. "Everybody," she says in as patient a tone as she can muster, fighting the urge to throttle the mischievous first-year at the back who keeps trying to leave the group. "If you don't follow me, you'll end up getting lost inside the castle—and we have trolls and vampires and ogres who will not hesitate to eat any lost first year they stumble upon."

The first-years gasp in fear simultaneously. One of them starts crying, but [Y/N] only briefly pats the bawling little girl on the shoulder before ushering them up the stairs. "That's it, come on—excuse me!"

One of them—the same particularly devious boy from before—breaks away from the group and bounds down the stairs they had just ascended. A domino effect ensues; the other first-year Gryffindors catch sight of him, and apparently the sight of his defying the rules has given the others the courage to follow suit, because the rest of the first-years—save for the teary-eyed girl—bound down the stairs after him.

Frazzled, frustrated, and incredibly bewildered, [Y/N] stands at the top of the staircase for a moment, stunned as she stares down at the first-year Gryffindors now back in the Great Hall corridor. She wonders, briefly, if her prefect badge will be taken away if she uses the incarcerating charm on all of them so she can levitate them up to Gryffindor tower herself.

But then, as though the heavens have taken pity on her, help comes in the form of her boyfriend.

A group of baffled-looking first-year Hufflepuffs have arrived at the scene. At the very front of the pack stands Hufflepuff prefect Cedric Diggory, looking just as bewildered as the seemingly better disciplined young Hufflepuffs behind him. [Y/N] can't blame them; the sight of eleven-year-olds prancing around the Great Hall corridor after the opening banquet when they're supposed to be in their common room is certainly one to behold.

Slowly, Cedric pries his gaze away from the rather comical scene to look at [Y/N], who has now regained control of her senses and is rushing down the steps down into the Great Hall corridor in pursuit of the rampaging first-years.

Admittedly a little amused, Cedric approaches [Y/N], his own group of first-year Hufflepuffs trailing after him obediently. [Y/N]'s Gryffindors thankfully haven't gone very far; at present, they're currently clustered around a large painting of Godric Gryffindor, eyes wide with childish mirth as they poke at the canvas, much to the bafflement of Godric Gryffindor himself.

"Blimey!" exclaims one of them. "That's one old-looking bloke!"

"That's Gryffindor, stupid. He founded our house!"

Bewildered, Godric Gryffindor stares down at the group of eleven-year-olds clustered around his portrait. "How may I assist you, young—ow!" One of the first-years had taken out their wand and jabbed his belly.

[Y/N] rushes forward and places herself between the first-years and the portrait, effectively blocking the enraged Godric Gryffindor from view. "Alright, that's enough!" she announces, giving each of them a stern look. "If any of you lot keep this behavior up, I will physically—"

"Oookay!" Cedric says loudly, cutting her off before she says anything she might regret. Mumbling "hold on a second, you guys" over his shoulder to his group of Hufflepuffs, he walks over to [Y/N] and the rowdy first-year Gryffindors.

"Woah!" one of the Gryffindors cries out. "You look like my uncle!"

They all start giggling. Cedric meets [Y/N]'s gaze and she grimaces, mouthing "get me out of here".

Cedric's lips tug up into an amused grin as he nods. Turning to address the Gryffindors, he says in a playful tone, "What do we have here?"

A flurry of excited chatter bursts from the group as they all try to reply to Cedric. The closest one to him exclaims, "We were looking at all the portraits! We don't have ones as big as those at home!"

Cedric peers down at the enthusiastic little girl who had chimed in. "Really?" he says, smiling. "Well, me neither. Wicked, aren't they?"

Another burst of eager assent from the tiny Gryffindors.

"But you'll have plenty of time to look at them everyday," Cedric says, nodding solemnly at them. "For now, you lot have to go into your common rooms—and rest assured there are more fascinating things to look at there. Alright?"

There is a momentary lull as they seem to consider this, but eventually, they all shrug and nod, turning back to face their own Gryffindor prefect. [Y/N] gapes at Cedric incredulously as though saying how? Cedric merely shrugs, although he looks smug.

"Okay," she huffs, shoulders slumping in relief. "Let's get going!"

Thankfully, this time, they all trail after her. She pauses when she passes by Cedric to swoop in and plant a brief kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, Ced," she whispers to him, offering him a smile of gratitude.

"Don't stress yourself too much, love."

"WHAT!" the first-year Gryffindors exclaim in unison. One of them blubbers, "You two are.. together?"

Taken aback, [Y/N] and Cedric turn to face them. The looks on their childish faces give off the impression that someone has insulted their mothers. "Yes?" [Y/N] replies uncertainly, looking at Cedric out of the corner of her eye. He looks like he's fighting back a laugh.

"Like boyfriend and girlfriend?"

She nods slowly, wondering where this is going and dreading it.

"But you can't!" another tiny Gryffindor boy with auburn hair says. "You're from different houses—you're enemies!" [Y/N] stares at him, looking genuinely baffled. This is not how she imagined her first day back at Hogwarts.

Mouth opening and closing as she struggles to find words, Cedric once more comes to her rescue. "Just because we're from different houses doesn't mean we have to be enemies," he says gently. [Y/N] is surprised at how much self-control he has; personally, she feels like tugging her hair out. "Aside from the competition for the house cup—"

"And the Quidditch cup!" pipes up the same auburn-haired boy.

"Yes, the Quidditch cup—aside from those, there's really not much rivalry between the houses," the Gryffindors stare up at Cedric in awe. "You'll find that there's a whole lot of inter-house friendships going on around here."

"And relationships," [Y/N] mutters, pressing a palm to her forehead.

"Wicked!"

"Do you guys kiss?"

"Yuck!"

Grinning excitedly to themselves, the Gryffindors finally, finally skip up the staircase with [Y/N] in the lead. Cedric goes back to his own group of calm Hufflepuffs, amused as he stares after his girlfriend.

"Alright, let's go," says Cedric, leading the first-year Hufflepuffs towards the kitchen corridor, where their common room is.

But when he glances over his shoulder already a few feet away, he sees that the first-year Hufflepuffs are still standing there, rooted to the spot.

Cedric's brows arch.

One of the Hufflepuffs at the front row says in a timid voice, "Was that your girlfriend?"

Gaping at them momentarily, Cedric lets out an incredulous laugh as he nods and beckons for them to follow him.

But they stay unmoving. The same timid Hufflepuff boy opens his mouth, and with his forehead creased, says slowly, "But she's in Gryffindor."