Third Year

It started as mere curiosity.

Cedric Diggory was 14 years old when the famed Harry Potter began his Hogwarts education. When the awed hush swept over the Great Hall Cedric was moved not because it was the first time he was laying eyes on the savior of the Wizarding world, but because he was so little.

Of course, the young Wizard had been far younger when he'd defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It was no surprise to him when the Sorting Hat declared a sound "Gryffindor!"

The Hufflepuff found his eyes drifting to the Gryffindor table more times than was necessary in lulls of conversation during the Great Feast.

Merlin, but the child was scrawny.

Cedric wasn't certain what he'd expected of Potter, or if he'd expected anything at all, but what he'd heard of the boy didn't seem to add up with what little he saw of him.

When the mostly quiet boy was made Gryffindor Seeker, Cedric found himself more than surprised, more than envious.

Cedric was fascinated.

This underage, untrained child was phenomenal on a broom, persevering through the underhanded tactics of the Slytherin team and apparent illegal spell work. Unsurprisingly, Gryffindor won that match.

Cedric, home for the Christmas break, between spending time with his parents and completing his holiday assignments wondered absently about those who stayed behind at Hogwarts.

That afternoon, he picked up a quill and a short sheet of parchment. Two sugar quills and several rounds of pacing later, Cedric finally returned to his desk and scribbled out a hasty 'Happy Christmas Harry.'

Rooting around for an unadorned envelope while contemplating whether or not to sign the note, his father, Amos, burst into his room.

Startled, Cedric dropped it into a drawer and looked up.

"Cedric, my boy! Don't hole yourself up all day," Amos exclaimed, pausing at the pale look on his only son's face. "Er, everything alright there, Ced?"

"I – uh," he'd stuttered, searching for something to say. "I thought you and Mum left for the Chang's already."

Amos waved the statement away with a vague answer about his wife and her dress robes before dragging Cedric with him.

It was only once Cedric returned to Hogwarts and Cho commented about the upcoming Hufflepuff-Gryffindor match did he realize he would be facing Potter.

Cho spent several minutes trying to break him out of his transfixion.

Once he'd assured the younger girl that he was quite fine, they resumed their talk of Quidditch, Cho mentioning briefly of thinking about trying out for the Ravenclaw team next year and Cedric silently resolved to get some extra practice in before the match.

At the sound of the whistle, fourteen brooms shot into the air, Professor Snape's making an uncomfortable fifteen.

Spying one of the Weasley twins rocket a Bludger at the acting referee earned Hufflepuff a penalty and made Cedric feel slightly more confident.

A flash of gold in his peripheral vision drew his attention only long enough for him to dodge a stray Bludger and by the time he'd righted his broom a roaring cheer filled the air.

Glancing to see who'd scored, Cedric looked back to the stands where all of Gryffindor was pouring onto the field in disbelief.

It'd really happened: Gryffindor had won.

Harry Potter had caught the Snitch. Five minutes into the game.

The third year Seeker wasn't angry or jealous or embarrassed like his other teammates.

In fact, he was impressed.

In his eyes, The Boy Who Lived was shaping up to be far more than the people's champion.

Harry Potter was turning out to be an exceptional young Wizard as well.

A/N: This is just going to be a short series of vinaigrettes until Cedric's final year. I don't really have much of a direction for it now, so updates will be far and few. Some facts will be skewed and/or assumed to my liking.

Thanks for reading.

[FF is eating my formatting, periodically updating it, don't mind the random changes]