Strawberry and Vanilla (Cedric Diggory AU)

Chapter Three: The Starting Point

Draco Malfoy and... Pansy Parkinson? At first, it seemed strange, but then, as Hermione reminisced about it, it wasn't so unlikely. Both Slytherins whipped out their wands and fired spells at her before she could pull her wand from her pocket. She felt fine, for just a small moment. Then she grew confused. Why was she here? Where was she trying to go? What was Pansy doing with Draco's head? It didn't make sense, what spell did they use?

        Everything spun in circles and black edges appeared in her vision. There was a voice echoing in one of her ears, footsteps echoing through the other. She felt on air, then she fell. A boy caught her before she hit the floor. He was very very very familiar, but her mind didn't have the time to process it, as she blacked out.

        She woke up not so long after. There was the boy, by the end of her bed. He was dazed-looking and wasn't paying attention to her. Harry and Ron weren't there, but she could see Madame Pomfrey mixing something by the counter where she kept her things. Hermione sat up. The boy's head turned toward her. He was wearing Hufflepuff uniform and he was strangely familiar.

        "Granger, you're awake." He signalled Madame Pomfrey who then bustled over and felt Hermione's head. Hermione was befuddled. Who was he? What had happened?

        "My dear, you were hit with a strange sort of stupefy. A rare sort. You are very lucky Mr. Brosse caught you."

        Scott Brosse. Cedric Diggory's best friend. Oh, it was all too good to be true. Note the sarcasm. Her stomach filled with dread. She was supposed to have met him in the library... She looked at the golden clock on the wall, then at the window. It was 10:36 and it was dark. He was probably gone. She felt terrible.

        "Thank you, very much and I'd love to learn more about the rare sorts of stupefies but I really must go." She slipped out of bed and was surprised she felt fine. Then she ran. Scott ran after her. God that was annoying as hell. She wanted to leave.

        "Hey- Hermione, I mean, Granger!" He called out. He caught up to her in mere seconds. Long legs, she supposed. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, that was a stupefy mixed with confundus... Maybe you should go back..."

        She slowed to a speed walk. "I'm fine, thank you for catching me."

        He clasped his hands together and got straight to the point. "Would you like to go out on a date, anytime soon?"

        "What?" She stopped in her tracks. A date? Things were going so right at the wrong time. She had to see if Cedric was still waiting for her in the library, which he wasn't. If this was any other time Hermione would have loved to be asked out. But somehow Cedric was in the way?

        "A date... romantically." He nodded and puffed his chest out a bit. Hermione wasn't sure what to do. So she nodded, smiled and ran off down the hall. He wasn't in the library. As she suspected. She returned to Gryffindor and went straight to bed, awfully disappointed in herself for taking the wrong hallway. On top of that disappointment, she felt pure hatred towards Draco Malfoy. She knew exactly what she was going to expose tomorrow.

        Cedric was awake as ever. He felt bad too; should he have waited for her longer? Maybe she got caught up in something serious and had gotten there right after he had left? He put his journal down. Maybe Scott had stopped her on her way and had asked her out. Coincidentally, one part of his last guess was true. He didn't know Scott had deceived him. Scott said he would lay off Hermione and let him have a go at being friends with her. Scott knew something Cedric didn't, Hermione had agreed to go on a date with him and not Cedric. When Cedric thought Scott was being a good friend and giving him a chance.