Strawberry and Vanilla (Cedric Diggory AU)

Chapter Nine: "To Make it Authentic"

She was in her fifth year, she was intelligent beyond her years, she was quick to reply with a humorous insult or comment, she had wide brown eyes, golden-brown hair, fair and clear skin, smelled like heaven. And Cedric liked her. She was on his mind ever since that night in the library. It had been a week since and they had met up twice throughout that week to do homework in the library corner.  He figured out that now it was absolutely hopeless to try and rid himself of his obvious feelings for her.

        Hermione sat at the lunch table with Lavender and Parvati, as it was Tuesday and Hermione had too much homework to attend G.A. later that night. The girls seemingly cared more about their crushes and secrets than their schoolwork and Hermione couldn't relate. From the first meeting she attended, she learned Parvati had a 'major crush' on Dean Thomas and Lavender expressed that she felt boys looked at her strangely. Hermione only shared her advice, but otherwise kept to herself about Cedric and the night she very much enjoyed with him.

        He was funny and kind, sweet and flirtatious, teasing, smart, attractive. She knew he was attractive and she didn't mind having him around to talk to. It was easy to talk to him as she knew he would keep anything she said to himself, which was only partly true, as Cedric told Scott everything. Hermione trusted Cedric, above everything else. He was a good friend.

        "Hermione, what do you think?" Parvati asked suddenly. Hermione hadn't been listening, her mind was on Cedric and for reasons she couldn't quite explain.  "Hermione?"

                "Repeat the situation?" Hermione queried, resting her jaw in her hands and elbows on the table. "Sorry, my mind slipped off. I have quite a bit to do later. Do ask!"

        "Should I tell Dean I like him?" Parvati giggled and bounced in her seat. "Oh, he's so cute with his smile and his eyes and the way he speaks, his arm veins are pretty visible from the quidditch playing he's done."

        Lavender nodded excitedly and grabbed Parvati's hands, "You should! Then you could date and show off your boyfriend around school and Hogsmeade! Ugh, you two would be so cute together!"

        "You really think?!" Parvati squealed and the two giggled and Hermione found herself both confused and happy for her friend. The confusion mostly came from the still obsession with veins the two had. The happiness was genuine, as she felt Parvati was doing something good for herself and Hermione cared about how her friends treated themselves. 

        "I think you should tell him," Hermione beamed at Parvati. "Lavender is right, you two would make for a good couple."

        "When should I do it? What if he says he doesn't like me back? What if I make a fool of myself?"

        "Don't stress it, Parvati. Just agree to be friends, then. Maybe eventually your feelings will die down and you'll move on." Hermione finished her glass of grape juice. "There are so many boys here, I'm sure at least one other boy likes you."

        "I think I can do that, yeah," Parvati grinned a worried grin and glanced down the table at where Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus were seated. Seamus was covered in soot, as usual. Hermione rolled her eyes and looked back at Parvati who seemed incredibly interested in Dean. Hermione gazed around the room for fun and set her eyes on Cedric, who she noticed from across the room was smiling a kind of crooked smile at his plate. It was the smile he had when he was trying not to smile. Hermione found herself smiling down at her hands.

        Lavender twisted to see what Hermione was smiling at because she knew Hermione didn't just look at a dirty Seamus and smile. Lavender caught Cedric's eyes when she turned and Cedric angled his head down, as to pretend he wasn't looking her way. Hermione's way. Lavender gave him a skeptical look, though he couldn't see it.