QLFC Season 7: Round 1

Montrose Magpies- Chaser 1

Prompt: Write about a canonly virtuous/innocent character resisting temptation.

WC: 2094

Cedric clutched the paper, his fingers leaving small indentations in the parchment where his father had left ink smudges in his haste to get the letter out.

He could practically feel his father's excitement radiating from the page.

Usually, whatever his father was excited about, Cedric was excited about too. But the contents of the letter had, if he had to narrow it down to one feeling, left him nervous.

He'd written to his parents about the Yule Ball as soon as Professor Sprout had told them about it. Being an only child, he had always been very close to his parents, and being an only child had also put a lot of weight on his shoulders to perform well at everything he did. He had grown up terrified of disappointing his father. And up until now, he'd never come to close to letting him down.

And it wasn't just his father. People seemed to expect things from him; even more so now that he was a Triwizard Champion.

His eyes were drawn back to the sentence that had left him anxious.

"Make sure to send a picture of you and the beautiful young woman that will be accompanying you. Your mother and I can't wait to see it!"

Beautiful young woman. He closed his eyes, imagining the face of the person he wanted to be on his arm. He imagined unruly hair, ruffled from Cedric's hands and piercing green eyes that would dance with laughter as whenever Cedric managed to say something amusing, bringing a smile to a usually solemn face.

"Cedric?"

Cedric's eyes flew open. One of his roommates, Tom, had entered their dorm without him noticing.

"You okay, mate?"

"What?"

Tom pointed at Cedric's hand. Cedric looked down and saw a scarlet stream running down his wrist, staining the cream parchment. He'd given himself a papercut, as he'd daydreamed about something he shouldn't have.

"Oh, er, yeah. I was just thinking about who to ask to the Ball."

"Must have been some deep thinking."

Cedric nodded, staring down at the letter. "Yeah."

"So, who are you gonna take, then?"

Cedric's panicked, trying to think of a name, any name that he could say that wasn't the one that he wanted to most. He knew that Tom would be expecting him to say the name of a beautiful girl. Beautiful young woman. Then it came to him.

"Cho. Cho Chang."

Tom smiled appreciatively. "Nice, mate. I'd say good luck, but I don't really think you need it."

He winked at Cedric and then got into his own bed, drawing the drapes closed around him.

"Night, Cedric."

"Night, Tom."

Cedric looked down at the paper, watching as his blood left intricate patterns as it spread over the weave. A single tear dropped from his eye, staining a corner of the parchment.

He wanted to tell his dad the truth. He wanted his dad to be proud of him for being able to share something so private.

But being attracted to the same sex was so stigmatized in the Wizarding world; it was almost tantamount to murder. The magical community depended on procreation to remain pure and powerful. He would be expected to pass on his magical abilities. It was already hard enough to sustain blood lines when families tended to have few children, but add to that wizards who were gay and didn't procreate… well, no parent would ever accept that, let alone be proud of it.

He didn't think he could bear to see the look of shame in his father's eyes. He rolled out of bed, taking a moment to compose himself before heading to chat to Ravenclaw's seeker, putting thoughts of another seeker far from his mind.

Cedric had been so focused on a singular target, rehearsing his line in his head, that he'd almost not noticed Harry standing only a few feet away from him.

Harry's focus seemed to be in the same direction as his own—a group of girls talking and giggling together in the courtyard. The way he was tapping his fingers against his leg told Cedric that he was most likely trying to get his nerve up to ask one of them to the Ball just as Cedric was.

Cedric noticed that Harry was chewing on his lower lip, and he couldn't help but allow his mind to wonder what that lip must taste like. Even a bundle of nerves, Harry looked captivating; the sharp lines of his face lending a strength to the gentle personality of the young man.

In that moment, Cedric imagined himself walking up to Harry and asking him to go with him to the Yule Ball. He could see them walking arm in arm down the staircase towards the Great Hall, and the night of dancing ahead of them, as if they were the only ones present in the whole school. He could see it so clearly in his mind's eye that he actually began to walk over to Harry. But last minute, he saw the youngest Weasley boy walk up beside Harry and Cedric quickly changed direction.

What was he thinking? Of course they wouldn't be the only ones there, would they? Half the school would be present; including many whose parents were almost in constant contact with his. He would be shunned and ostracized. And so would his parents unless they chose to disown him.

He turned to look over his shoulder to see if Harry or Weasley had noticed his behavior, but they were gone.

Cedric let out a sigh and returned his attention to Cho, who was standing in the middle of the group of giggling girls.

Now or never, he told himself.

Someone had charmed the mirror in the Hufflepuff sixth year boys' dorm room. Cedric rolled his eyes as his reflection winked at him while he was smoothing out the collar of his dress robes. His reflection then proceeded shake his hips and beckon Cedric closer.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you very much!"

Joshua Allen had walked in behind him, doing his best impersonation of 'The King'. Josh's family had moved to England through their second year, and he idolized Elvis Presley.

Cedric turned around with a smile on his face. "I should've known it would be you that would do something so tasteless." He pointed back towards the mirror. "What exactly is it that I'm doing with my hips?"

Josh curled his lip and looked up through his lashes. "Lookin' sexy, man."

Cedric laughed, nudging Josh with his shoulder as he walked towards the door.

Josh turned and called after him. "I'm telling you, pull out those moves tonight and Cho will be all over you."

Cedric shook his head and raised his hand in acknowledgement as he left.

He blew out a breath through pursed lips. He doubted he would really need to do anything to impress Cho. She seemed to be enamoured with him already. His dad was already joking about hearing wedding bells ring.

He trudged down the stairs. He didn't want that. He didn't want to spend his whole life pretending to be someone he wasn't. He could imagine it now.

Kissing her on their wedding day—trying to enjoy the softness of her lips—knowing that he would be the envy of many a man. Her bearing their first child and the joy he'd feel that would soon be overshadowed by guilt as he had to add one more person to the endless list of people he was forced to lie to about a fundamental part of himself.

He shook himself. This was not the time for all of that. He just had to get through the ball first and everything else could wait until later.

Cho looked elegant. That was the best word Cedric could use to describe her as she seemed to flow down the stairs, extending her hand to meet his proffered one.

"You look... beautiful," he said. And he meant it.

She smiled shyly at him and for the first time since asking her to the Ball, he felt as though he could do this. He took a breath and smiled. He wasn't going to ruin this evening for her, no matter his own worries.

He walked past Harry and his date, one of the Patil twins, past Fleur and Roger Davies, past Viktor Krum who was standing alone, and waited with Cho by the doors to the Great Hall.

Cedric could feel Harry's eyes on them without looking. He fought the temptation to turn and catch his eye—to share a moment; to see if maybe Harry felt even an inkling of what he did. But he kept his eyes on Cho, only allowing himself a small grin, eliciting a similar grin back from his date. His smile faltered just for a moment as he realised he'd allowed his thoughts to stray.

He pushed Harry out of his mind and readied himself for their entrance into the Hall. Just smile and wave, smile and wave.

"Here you go." He handed a glass of punch to Cho.

"Thank you," she said, as she grasped the drink delicately and took a sip.

They had decided to take a break after spending the last half hour dancing, and Cedric gratefully reclined back in his chair, stretching his legs out in front of him.

His eyes wandered the room and inadvertently landed on Harry, slumped in a chair with the Patil twin sitting beside him, throwing him furtive glances.

"Harry looks absolutely miserable," Cedric said, feeling his spirits soar at the thought that Harry was as equally dissatisfied with his date and doing a worse job of hiding it.

Cho followed his gaze and winced. "Yes, that may be my fault."

Cedric cocked his head back. "Why do you say that?"

Cho stared down at her lap, smoothing non-existent wrinkles out of her dress. "Well, Harry asked me to the Ball not long after you did. He seemed a little disappointed when I turned him down."

"Oh," was all Cedric managed to say.

"I think that was why he was staring at as earlier, before we entered the Hall."

"Oh," Cedric said again. He felt his heart drop into his stomach. He'd been elated that maybe, just maybe, Harry had felt what he did. That even if he couldn't tell anybody what—no, who—he was, maybe he'd be able to share it with one person who felt the same.

And those hopes had just been dashed. He felt like he'd lost something and at the same time he felt ashamed that he'd even had these thoughts about someone who probably would never feel the same; that might have even been disgusted if he'd ever revealed those feelings.

Suddenly the room felt very stuffy. Cedric pulled at his collar.

"Would you like to go for a walk?"

Cho smiled. "I would love to."

He knew what Cho thought this was. Maybe he should give it a try? He resisted sighing, took her hand, and guided her through the dancing bodies and out of the Hall.

Cedric caught Harry's eye as they both grasped the Triwizard Cup, and he felt a familiar pull in his gut.

Was this how it was always going to be? Would he forever feel this way and never be able to do anything about it?

The world swirled around him and he realized that the familiar feeling wasn't one of longing, but the pull of a portkey.

He recognized the mode of transportation too late to be able to land on his feet. He sprawled forward, scraping his hands, but quickly pulled himself up.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, laying on his back in the grass

Cedric grasped his arm and helped him up. "I'm not really sure."

Cedric was looking around, trying to figure out where they were, when he noticed someone approaching. He pulled his wand out and Harry followed suit.

A small man carried a bundle in his arms, and then the bundle seemed to speak.

"Kill the spare."

He heard the words and he saw the flash of green racing towards him. He froze. There was no time, no time to do anything… or say anything. A sense of relief washed over him.

He opened his mouth, a small breath escaping his lips… and then there was nothing.

Optional Prompts:

(colour) cream

(situation) Catch-22 (according to wiki: a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules.)

(word) expectations