Perfectly Imperfect || C. Diggory

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 || 𝐀 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐀𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

It was only around the second week of September but the leaves were quickly changing, and the weather was getting colder. I walked into the courtyard on one of my breaks. I pulled out a book and sat on one of the benches. I was about a paragraph in, when I felt a presence behind me.

"Mind if I sit?" Cedric asked. I turned around to him and shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry I haven't been talking to you all week. It's just, my friends they-"

"Cedric, you don't owe me any explanation." I replied, looking back at my book.

"No, I do. We're supposed to be friends. We are friends." Cedric exclaimed, sitting beside me.

Friends. I looked up into his silvery eyes.

"My friends, they don't know who you are. They can be... I don't know. They just get really..." Cedric's words drifted into an awkward silence.

"I get it. I'm an embarrassment to be around. It's fine. You really don't have to talk to me."

"No, y/n, I want to. And I'm going to. This weekend, go to Hogsmeade with me. Just the two of us. We'll actually get some alone time." Cedric smiled.

"I was actually planning on asking you that. Of course. I'll see you then." I replied, happily. Cedric walked off and I sighed, relieved.

Maybe things are turning around.

***

"Girls, guess what! Cedric asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow." I giggled.

"Really? That's amazing!" Jenn exclaimed.

"I'm so happy for you." Olivia replied, excitedly. I smiled at them and told them about my encounter with Cedric.

Time flew by and before I knew it, the day had come. I got ready for my day with Cedric and wore blue jeans and a hoodie. It was refreshing, not having to wear my uniform. I tied my hair up into a high ponytail and put on some glossy makeup. I made sure to put on a windbreaker jacket over top since it was only 6° C (42.8° F). I walked back out to the courtyard and surprisingly no one was around.

Cedric walked up to me and we began to walk to Hogsmeade. He slowly inched closer and closer to me and by the time we got to Hogsmeade, he was walking awfully close to me.

"How have classes been for you?" I asked.

"Well, pretty good actually. I just want to make my father proud. I think I'm going to sign up for the Triwizard Tournament too... You've heard of that, right? It's being held at Hogwarts this year." Cedric said, nervously.

"Cedric, that's so dangerous. You can get seriously hurt." I replied. "But, if you do put your name in the cup, I really hope you win."

"Me too." Cedric exclaimed. "Looks like we're here. Want to go to Honeydukes? I have some extra change to buy some candy, but only if you'd like."

"Of course! Thank you." I made my way into the happy store and struggled to pick which candy I wanted. I decided to go with some simple milk chocolate and Cedric got a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

"I had a really good time today. I'd like to do this again. But... I don't know the next time I can. It has to be in secret because-" Cedric said.

"No, Cedric. Pick a side. Me or your reputation. I'm not going to play games, okay? So, until you come to your senses, we're not hanging out." I walked back to my dorm, upset. Maybe Cedric wasn't really who I thought he was.

"Hey! How was your day?" Olivia cheered. I shook my head and plopped onto my bed.

"What happened?! I thought you went out with Cedric today?" Olivia asked, sitting beside me.

"Well, when we're together he's really sweet and fun to be around, but whenever he's with his friends, he says he has to act like I don't exist or he doesn't like me at all. I don't even know if I should be liking him. I mean, if this is what his personality truly is, maybe it was a bad decision." I sighed.

"Maybe... he has a reason?" Olivia suggested.

"Like what? What good reason would there be to avoid someone who they like?" I snapped. Olivia shrugged. "I'm sorry. I'm just not in a great mood. Why don't you go hang out with Jenn or something. I'm not really any fun to be around right now."

"Okay, I'll, um, see you later then." Olivia turned around and walked out of the dorm. I pulled the blankets over my face trying to escape the world.

About two weeks went by and still not a word from Cedric. I was right... and wrong. Right knowing he's not the kind of person I had thought, and wrong to like him. Even more wrong for accepting his mistakes, and continuing to like him.

I walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and couldn't even bear to look at him laughing with his friends at the end of the long line of tables.

"You're still not talking to him?" Olivia asked. I shrugged and looked away.

"Just distract me. What have you guys been doing about, well, your guys?" I questioned, turning back to them.

"Well, Draco and I are dating now. We've gotten really, really close and I think I bring out the best in him. It's like, he's a different person around me." Jenn gushed.

"I'm really happy for you Jenn." I smiled.

"Oliver and I have been talking. He invites me to watch his quidditch games and I think he might ask me out sooner or later." Olivia exclaimed, giggling.

"That's great you two! I'm gonna go to the washroom, I'll see you both later." I made my way to the washroom and called for Myrtle.

"Well, hello, y/n. What brings you to my humble abode?" Myrtle squeaked.

"Just wondering if you had any word on Cedric?" I asked, sitting on top of one of the sinks.

"Hmm, he seemed to have asked me the same thing about you." Myrtle smiled, and came beside me.

"He did? When?" I asked.