Strawberry and Vanilla (Cedric Diggory AU)

Chapter Twenty-Four: To Take Off a Mask

A/N: Mild M Content, (*sexual content*) TRIGGER WARNING! Readers under 13, I really advise you to skip this one or skip to the very end to grasp the context. 

He felt alone. It was Christmas eve day and Cedric sat in his room feeling very alone. Atlas scampered around Cedric's room and he found that it was the only form of amusement he would be getting until he returned to school when it resumed. His room was large, but hardly anything compared to his head boy room at Hogwarts. His room in his house was painted beige, with vermillion sheets and pillows that accompanied his dark wooden headboard and dresser. It was vast, but lacked the comfort of Scott barging in and being able to step out of his room and slip into the Hufflepuff common room.

       His parents were across the street at the neighbours for afternoon tea, while their daughter sat ever so giddily on Cedric's bed. Her name was Amber Jones and she was possibly the most exhausting person Cedric had ever met. She had honey blonde hair that fell in loose curls around her shoulders, bright green eyes, and a tall and slender body. She wore a tight bubblegum-pink skirt and a partly undone cream-coloured blouse. She was Cedric's age and always found a way to make him uncomfortable when she visited. He wasn't all that sure why she was over when they both could have been having tea with their parents, but he had to deal with her for another hour and a bit and then he was free. Free to feel even more alone.

      "Ced, Ced, Ced," Amber said, crossing her legs one over the other on his bed. Cedric turned his attention from Atlas to her begrudgingly. "Want to play a little game? Questions or maybe a game of strip War?"

       Cedric sighed, knowing she wouldn't settle for a 'no, I don't feel like playing any games'. He had to agree to play something with her or she'd just bug him until he gave in. "Questions, because there sure as hell won't be any stripping."

          "If you say so," Amber smiled. "You go first, ask anything."

     Cedric went for the most basic question anyone could ask, "What's your favourite colour?"

       She looked almost disappointed and who would blame her, really? She was looking for better questions, ones that came with drama and intel. Cedric wasn't very good at that, seeing as he was a nice person most of the time and was used to staying out of all local drama both at school and at home with the teenagers in the area.

         Amber was a muggle, meaning she only thought Cedric was a regular boy who had been in a car accident and was losing the use of his legs slowly. She had no idea what school he went to or anything about his life or him other than he was hot. She didn't care, frankly. She saw it as he was eighteen, she was eighteen, they were both attractive and they were most likely going to sleep together at some point.

      "Pink," Amber replied, rolling her eyes. "And yours?"

       "Yellow...and maybe green," Cedric said, standing up to pace his room back and forth. "Next question, I suppose. Your favourite school subject?"

          "Definitely not math," Amber chuckled, pulling out a bottle of red-tinted lipgloss and applying it with precision from Cedric's wall mirror. "I'd have to say gym. It's by far the easiest and I don't have to do much to pass since I showed my gym teacher my- nevermind, just- gym is my answer. my favourite, by far. Do you know Lily who lives down the street? She-"

         "My question?" Cedric asked, losing his patience quickly. Amber sighed, thinking for a moment.

       "What is your favourite song? And please, nothing by that David Bowie guy you were talking about earlier, he's more than awful." Amber smacked her lips together and dabbed her lower lip before turning back to Cedric from the mirror. "Don't you like modern music, Ceddie? Haven't you been to any parties that play modern music?"