Harry wouldn't have admitted to Ron, but he was getting out of breath from all the hill climbing – he glanced over at his friend who also had a hard time pretending that he wasn't exhausted, his face was red and his bangs were sticking to his forehead, however, it seemed like the two boys reached an unspoken agreement not to point it out to the other. It was a tad embarassing how Mr. Weasley, who was leading the small group, had seemingly no difficulties at all, as he was cheerfully whistling, clearly oblivious to how eager the kids behind him were to reach that bloody portkey already. Harry silently cursed whoever it was who decided to place the Portkey on the top of a hill, when he suddenly heard a man shouting in their direction.

- „Arthur! Over here! We've found it, it's right here!"

Harry spotted a short man in glasses, probably around the age of Mr. Weasley, waving to them not far away. He wasn't alone, a strikingly handsome, tall guy was standing next t him. He had brown hair, a muscular, but lean stature and prominent eyebrows. He was also looking at the small group and had a friendly smile on his face. Harry couldn't help, but feel a little jealous for a moment – how easy must this guy have it? Ginny and Hermione were giggling behind him and Ron, and Harry was certain what (or rather whom) it was about. He must be stupid – he thought – his looks are probably a compensation from nature. He felt a little relief when he heard Ron sharing his opinion out loud:

-„ I bet Pretty Boy won't be so hot anymore when the girls will realise he can't say a sentence longer than two words!"

The boys chuckled and walked up to the short man and the obnoxiously attractive guy.

-„Everyone – Mr Weasley said with a wide smile on his face – this is my collegue, Amos Diggory, and you probably already know his son, Cedric. „

So his name is Cedric… Why does that name sound so familiar? Harry's thinking was interrupted by Cedric reaching out with his hand with a warm smile on his face.

-„Hello Harry! It's awesome to finally meet you in a proper way! How are you?"

Harry shook Cedric's hand dreamily - he could see that Cedric wasn't too hard on the eyes from a distance, but standing this close to this male beauty dazed him. It wasn't even so much about his looks… sure, he had gorgeous eyes, a strong jawline and nice skin, buti t was more about the aura he was giving off. He was this perfect mixture of seemingly contradicting qualities; he seemed very strong, capable, confident, but at the same time, he had kindness, warmth and humbleness in his eyes that Harry has never seen in a man before. Harry instantly felt bad about what he thought about him some minutes ago… Cedric definitely wasn't the kind of guy who'd use his looks to get unfair advantage in any area of life, and he couldn't be further from being stupid. Harry felt a bit burned by Cedric's grey, intelligent eyes. Harry suddenly realised that he hasn't let go of Cedric's hand yet, feeling awkward and stupid.

- „Oh, yeah, umm… I'm Harry Potter…"

-„How could I not know that, mate?" Cedric grinned cheekily.

It was Amos' turn to shake Harry's hand, and although he was smiling, Harry could tell it was not sincere.

-„So you're Harry Potter, eh? I'll admit it, I imagined you to be a lot taller! Well, I still always tell my Cedric, it will be quite the story to tell his grandchildren that he has beaten the famous Harry Potter ont he field! Isn't that right, Ced? You showed him!"

Cedric was looking uncomfortable, he was clearly embarassed by his father's boasting.

-„I've told you countless times Dad, Harry had an accident, if he hadn't fallen off his broom, he would've caught the Snitch first, not me…"

-„Well it's still a fact that he fell off his broom and you haven't, isn't it? It just clearly proves who the better flyer is!"

Harry was already at loss of words, both because of Amos' rudeness (that he probably didn't even notice) and Cedric's decency, when Cedric turned his head to look at Fred and George who were approaching them.

-„I'm Cedric, nice to meet you!"

Fred and George reluctantly shook his hand. Harry noticed that they were being deliberately hostile for some reason. Fred even tried to squeeze Cedric's hand a little too hard, however, he was no match for Cedric, who never broke eye contact, then gave a slight cocky smile and walked away calmly with his father. Harry walked up to Fred who was rubbing his hand that was hurting from the backfired little action.

-„Why did you have to be a prick a him?"

-„Harry, come on, don't be fooled by Pretty Boy Diggory! His team of Hufflepuff losers won that match unfairly, and he has the nerve to pretend that he's oh-so-humble about it! Humble, my ass, he was probably laughing all the way to the Trophy Room!"

Harry had none of Fred's rant, he could tell when someone was being a fake, and Cedric was definitely a genuine person. He has only seen Cedric in his Quidditch goggles before though, that's why he didn't recognise him. Good thing he wears goggles to the matches though, otherwse it would be fairly difficult to concentrate ont he Snitch… What was that? Harry shook this weird thought away and scoffed at Fred instead:

-„Well that's still no reason to be a dick to a nice guy."

Harry was even more surprised at his own words than Fred himself, so he turned around blushing and started walking towards the rest of the group, who were gathering around a very old and ugly boot, that Harry figured must be the so-called Portkey. Harry has never travelled with one and didn't know what to expect. His worries must have shown on his face, because he suddenly felt a big, warm palm on his shoulder.

-„First time using a Portkey, eh?" Cedric's gentle, reassuring voice startled Harry.

-„Umm… yes… actually yes…"

Cedric gave a warm smile (even his eyes were smiling, how does he do that?!) and said:

-„No worries at all mate, I promise it'll be fine! It's not that bad at all!"

With that, he started walking, giving Harry a gentle push with his hand on his shoulder, still not letting it go.

The little group circled around the boot.

- „Just put your hand anywhere on the boot, Harry" Cedric smiled encouragingly.

Harry put his hand on the boot, looking intensely at it, when he heard Amos'voice:

- „He doesn't even know how a Portkey works?"

Fred and George were about to retort, but Cedric was the quickest one.

- „Leave him alone Dad, there's a first time for everything."

He gently put his hand near Harry's and smiled at the younger boy.

Harry suddenly felt like his world was spinning around like crazy, but it wasn't only because of the Portkey.