warmth - cedric diggory

chapter seven

athena rosewood was still flustered with the results of potions class yesterday. cedric diggory, the hufflepuff prince, the golden boy, the soft work of art, was the thing athena admired the most. she couldn't even pretend that it wasn't true anymore because the evidence was thrown right in front of her face, or nose, would be better.

it was no secret the admiration athena held for cedric, or at least, not for her. she knew she had some sort of crush on him. she knew when he walked into a room, her heart stopped. but as much as she enjoyed pretending that he wasn't constantly on her mind, she couldn't do it anymore.

athena started to notice her friend, edmund wood, was starting to spend a lot of time with cedric diggory. yes, they were on the same team, yes they had classes together, but he was starting to get very close with diggory. athena was happy that edmund was getting more guy friends, since he mostly spent time with herself, belle, and ivy, but she was scared.

would this make cedric see her as more of a sister or just his best mates friend? was edmund going to leave them for cedric, resulting in her losing two of her friends? athena tried to push these thoughts away.

"stop pestering poor belle and confess your own, wood." ivy raised one of her dark eyebrows towards edmund, the previous smile on her slowly disappearing. ivy leaned back onto the yellow couch, her head gently falling into belle's lap.

the group of girls and sweet edmund were hanging out in the hufflepuff common room. edmund and athena had been sneaking them in the hufflepuff common room since year two. most hufflepuffs knew of the group and didn't say anything but instead would smile at them as they exited.

edmund's cheeks began to burn as he parted his lips and looked down at the brown book he held in his hands. edmund had been bothering the girls all day to see what they smelt in amortenia, mostly because he had no idea what belles could be and he wanted to know if athena had felt the same way about his new mate.

athena still had no idea about what cedric smelt. like he told cedric, he was not going to tell athena. possibly for the sake of embarrassing cedric, but also for the sake of protection. edmund had thought it over previously, about his dear athena and cedric.

anyone in the right mind would know that edmund wood was protective over his girls. even if ivy could beat his ass any day, he still felt like they needed protection. edmund didn't see them as hopeless girls that needed saving in the big bad world, but he saw them as his little sisters who loved too hard.

especially athena. since they were both in hufflepuff, he spent the most time with her. he knew athena always gave more love than she received, and she was okay with that. edmund wanted to protect her from heartbreak and mean people because he saw her as the most precious thing in the world.

if anyone in this world came close to being good enough for athena rosewood, edmund knew it was cedric diggory. cedric was the kindest soul and most gentle person edmund had ever met. he was funny, witty, and kind. most hogwarts boys were full of themselves or selfish in different ways, but cedric wasn't.

"you wanna know what i smelt?" edmund picked his head up, looked to the girls, and smirked tightly towards them. the girls all looked back to him and quickly nodded their heads. "and why do you want to know so bad?" edmund stood up from his seat.

"tell us!" belle was smiling largely, her hand slowly playing with ivy's dark hair in her lap. the dark blue tie she wore was crookedly hanging across her neck.