saving the spare // cedric diggory

chapter 4

Jasmine

"Cedric," I call out. "Cedric, are you in here?"

I slip into the Hufflepuff common room, a first year girl being kind enough to let me in. She glanced at me suspiciously but after I said I was coming to see Cedric, she seemed to loosen up. Cedric must be a big deal around here, somehow. Popular, maybe.

You'd think I would appreciate life more, being a whole "seer of the future" but it just makes me bitter at it sometimes. But that's what life is: preparing for the future. Sometimes I wonder if it's possible to just live in the moment. It doesn't seem possible to me.

"Diggory," I say louder, switching to his last name. It felt weird calling people by their last name still, but I'd been getting used to it. "Dig-"

"Katz," he says, getting up from a kneeling position behind a couch. He rubs his brown hair, looking quite embarrassed.

"Uh...were you praying?" I ask, flustered. Wizards and witches tend to sway away from Muggle dominated religions, but that doesn't mean people don't have their own beliefs. "Sorry to interrupt."

He laughs that smooth, carefree laugh that makes my heart beat fast. I'm falling in love with a practical stranger. But isn't that what love is? Falling in love with strangers. And getting to know them. Damn, I need to calm down.

"Not praying. Someone's pet rat got loose again. Hufflepuff's got the highest amount of pet owners, you know," he says, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Detective Diggory," I joke, "finder of rats."

He grinned that genuine grin again.  He seems to be the embodiment of kindness. I think that is what I like most about him. The smile that drew me to him.

"No need to call me Diggory," he responds. "I don't really fancy the name, anyways."

I smile along with him. "Yeah, that name...it's a little...sharp, isn't it?"

"Exactly!" he exclaims loudly. I jump a little, not expecting him to get so excited. It made me laugh again, his boyish excitement.

"No one seems to understand when I explain my name has those sharp edges." He walks towards me, dropping down on the yellow couch (horrid color for a couch, by the way). "Dig-or-ee."

He stares at me for a moment, looking at me up and down. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it again. His eyes find my eyes and then we stare at each other. Embarrassed, I put my hands in my pockets.

"Jasmine," he murmurs.

"Th-that's my name," I says, trying to keep my anxiety down.

Blinking, he appears to snap himself out of it. "Uh, you - uh, potions..."

"Potions homework!" I say, thankful for the reminder and the segway out of the awkwardness. "Right, uh, you said...you said you were good at this stuff, the other day. You invited me, to, uh..."

"Study with me, then," he grins again. "Unless you've changed your mind, then..."

"Of course not," I say, swiftly taking the seat next to him. It's strange being next to him. Don't be creepy was the only thing going through my mind.

"Always glad to make new friends and help them out," he says nonchalantly.

Friends. That's what he'd said. I was stupid, really. Cedric Diggory: the hot, kind, Hufflepuff. Of course he had many friends. Who knew how many girlfriends he had, anyway? Maybe I was nothing more to him than another person to help. That was his brilliant, love-able personality after all. His kindness. I couldn't be the first girl to fall for him. In fact, maybe he even picked up a few guys as well.

Sometimes I wonder if I could control my power, if I would use it often. I try to keep up with Cedric explaining Mugwort Powder and Murtlap Tentacles, but my mind travels away into what could be. My head aches dully, a physical symptom that alerts me that there could be a vision coming to me in the near future.

I can't see the future when I want. And right now, I am glad for it. Because I feel some hope; a spark of hope that maybe one day, I might be able to help the world with my visions. A spark of hope to have a good school year. A spark of hope that my earlier premonitions were wrong; maybe I won't get a bad vision, maybe my head just hurts because of stress, maybe nothing bad will happen.

And even though I want to see if this relationship is worth pursuing, I simply push it down and discuss potions ingredients with Cedric, stealing glances at him when he's not looking.

For me, with these divination powers, the future is always a mystery. Until it's not. 

.

First of all; just reiterating that this is sort of going off book from the source material (being the Harry Potter series). Cedric isn't supposed to be in the Golden Trio year, etc. etc. but it's all just for this story.

Also, events and dates might not line up but don't come @ me; this ain't a research project this is just for a fanfiction