Warning: Pre-slash, heavy GoF spoilers. Definite Cedric/Harry, slight Cedric/Cho or Harry/Cho
Disclaimer: Only the plot idea belongs to me, the rest is C J.K. Rowling or anyone she may have passed copyright to.
Prologue
"Tell us your favorite story, Papa."
"Yes, Papa the one that always makes both of you cry!"
Well, once upon a time there was a school called Hogwarts, but this was no ordinary school. It was a special school for special people,
"Like me, Papa?"
"Yes darling, like you,"
This school was for people who could do magic. It had been made by four people, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They were great wizards and each had their own innate powers but in the learning and teaching of practical magic they, and their later generations, forgot about the greatest magic of all. As a meddlesome old wizard with twinkling blue eyes always tried to tell us, there was no greater power than the ability to love.
This is a story of two boys who fell in forbidden love, and having fallen, fought against the rest of the world to be allowed this love.
He knew he should be listening to what Professor Binns was telling them instead of automatically copying down everything, after all- it was his seventh year and his NEWTs (as both his parents kept reminding him) were vitally important. But really, the old ghost never did tell them anything that couldn't be got from books and he had quite a few things puzzling him.
Most important was what had happened the day before. He had felt like whooping with joy when he had been chosen as Hogwarts Champion. He had wanted it very bad, not only for the fame and the money, in fact, thinking about money had always embarrassed him- an eccentricity all his closest friends laughed good-naturedly at- but also because everyone, even, he had been aware, the more friendly Slytherins had expected him to win.
When Cho hugged him, he thought he had reached the height of his happiness but when Harry offered a hand and a quiet "Congrats, mate" with sparkling eyes and a happy grin, it had calmed him enough for him to go to the door where the other two Champions had gone. It was strange that simply speaking to someone (or quite often, just looking at him) could have such an effect on him but he had gotten used to it though, the first few times it had happened, he had been…
Cedric shook his head, dislocating the locks of hair that had stuck to his forehead when he sweated. It was quite hot for winter and it was the middle of the afternoon, another excuse for not being able to concentrate on Binns. He didn't really try to concentrate, instead he let his mind idly drift through the many times he had experienced Harry's effect over him.
The very first time he had not even known who it was, not until he caught sight of the famous green eyes, and the infamous scar. He had been hurrying along for his first class of the year intending to reach before time, since it was Potions and Professor Snape's aversion to Hufflepuffs in general, thinking them 'untalented' and 'weak-willed', was quite well known. At the time he was in his fourth year, OWL year, and had no intention of losing points the first day of school.
He had noticed Harry's arrival of course, who hadn't? The second the name had been mentioned the whole hall had gone unnaturally silent and then all the whispers. For a moment he had had the uncharitable thought that for the greatest hero ever, he did not look like he was up tovery much.
The thought had been born out of jealousy, Cedric admitted silently, but it was such a strange feeling to him that he didn't recognize it until much later, and hadn't admitted it till today.
Then he had knocked into someone and nearly fallen. His books were a jumbled mess on the floor but Harry had been carrying a bag, the shorter boy had quickly picked up all his books and handed it back with a "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."
Cedric had also noticed his instant reaction when he had glanced at his scar was for him to flatten his hair down and try to hide it. He had felt sorry for him since he obviously didn't want the fame, and had smiled and waved him on, carefully not looking at the scar. He had only noticed his own nervousness, or lack of it when his friends had commented on it after class. So that was that. And he had forgotten about it.
Then, two years later, after the horrible Hufflepuff- Gryffindor Quidditch match he had first asked Madam Hooch for a rematch and then, he had quietly changed and gone to the Hospital Wing to wait until Harry woke up, to apologize. He had been tired and drowsy from the earlier events and had eventually found himself staring at Harry through half-lidded eyes. He had quickly left the Hospital Wing, and gone back to the Hufflepuff common room, though he didn't join in the party. He never did get to apologize to Harry after that.
And then he had watched, discreetly, of course, he had found out when the Gryffindor Quidditch practices were usually held or when Hermione managed to drag him to the library for studying,whenever he felt the pressure of the OWLs or the ever-present expectations of his friends and family getting to him, he would search him out and watch him until the tension gradually leaked out of his body. A very odd thing to do, and thus he kept it hidden, one of very few secrets he never told to anyone. He had been very relieved when after starting to see Cho, his obsession with this watching had grown lesser and lesser.
But, barely a month or so ago, when they had met at the site of the Portkey which would take all of them to the World Cup finals, campsite; he had not had Cho with her soft eyes and dark hair with him then and over the three days that they were in the campsite, he and Harry had grown unexpectedly close, and when he had seen the chaos after the match, he had run straight for the Weasleys' tent. He had seen the Hermione, Ronald and Harry stumbling through the trees until the next explosion. He had kept on running after them and had found Harry searching for his glasses, alone. And even in this desperate situation, he felt an irresistible calm stealing over him and he knew that the effect was still there.
Harry sat at the edge of the lake and fumed, he was used to the school changing it's mind about whether he was a tragic hero or an attention seeking git in a split-second, but he had never imagined that he wouldn't have Ron there at his side to back him up. But that wasn't the only reason he was angry, his scar had been hurting worse than ever very recently and he still couldn't forget that it was his fault that Sirius wasn't a free man.
And also, he had gotten quite infuriated with Cedric, "I can't believe I was starting to be friends with the ponce!" he said out loud, then he sighed to himself and admitted that what Hermione had told him was right, Ron was simply angry at all the attention Harry was receiving and Cedric probably couldn't believe that Harry wouldn't have put his name in the Goblet of Fire, if given the chance. He knew that, if he were in Cedric's place he wouldn't have believed himself.
He also didn't know exactly why he was nearly more bothered about losing Cedric's friendship rather than his best friend's, they weren't really friends though he had found Harry's specs and fixed them when he had gotten separated from Ron and Hermione at the World Cup, as well as sticking up for him when his father accused him of conjuring the Dark Mark. 'But he probably would have done the same for anyone, stupid goody-two-shoes!'
And he was starting to get questions of how come he was the only boy in all three schools who was completely unaffected by Fleur, it was frustrating to constantly have to answer the same two questions over and over. 'When will they understand that I didn't put my name in the rotten Goblet?'
'It's nearly lunch time,' he realized with a start, then he shrugged defiantly, after all- he had been told that he could skip classes to practice for the Tasks, and he wouldn't have to give the end of year exams anyway. He vaguely wondered how the other Champions would be giving their NEWTs. Then he heard the sound of footsteps slipping on the moss-covered rocks leading to the place where he was sitting. He just barely suppressed a growl when he heard the someone calling to him, "Har, Er…Potter!"
"What? Come to have another laugh at the fame-seeking slimeball," he snapped, jumping to his feet and turning around, only to see Cedric flushing a deep red
"Professor Dumbledore told me to call you for some sort of interview that's going to happen, no one else could find you." He explained
"Interview?" Harry repeated blankly
"Yeah," he looked distinctly uncomfortable now, "They want photographs and all, I think we're late," Harry shrugged resignedly, and started climbing over the rocks to where Cedric was standing, they made their way to the castle and through the corridors in silence, but Cedric opened his mouth every few minutes, then closed it again as if unsure of what to say.
Finally, irritated, Harry asked, "Spit it out, will you? And if you're going to ask again how I put my name in the Goblet- I didn't, alright?"
"If you say so," was the retort with a disbelieving look, they didn't speak another word to each other even though they spent nearly half-an-hour in the room.
The whole Weighing of the Wands ceremony and the photo shoot had been equally horrible and it was with a distinct sense of relief that he sat down to lunch, though Hermione was missing from lunch.
Afterwards, he had Hagrid's class so he decided he might as well go, with a growing sense of dread, he made his way. When Hagrid asked him to help with the Skrewts who didn't want to come out of the box, Harry had a shrewd suspicion that Hagrid wanted to talk to him.
No sooner had the others all gone out of earshot, his suspicions were proved, "Hogwarts' Champion are ya, Harry?"
"One of them," Harry shrugged
Hagrid shook his head with a serious expression, "Reckon what Professor Moody said was right, someone could be tryin' to murder yeh, be careful, Harry,"
"You believe me then," Harry suddenly felt a whole lot happier
" 'Course I do," Hagrid replied gruffly, "Now, meet me here on Sunday evenin'. I've something to show you, bring that Invisibility Cloak of yers,"
Harry collapsed on the couch nearest to the fire; he was almost numb with horror. 'Dragons, we're going to have to fight dragons!' He couldn't get rid of the picture of the Hungarian Horntail that was running through his head, then another thought created fresh horror, "Cedric doesn't know,"
Krum and Fleur were sure to know by the morning, and Harry himself already knew so only one of the four Champions would be completely unprepared. A image of himself holding the Triwizard Cup, and everyone cheering for him came to him for the first time since the Goblet of Fire had gone out but somehow, the sick feeling he got when he thought of Cedric facing one of those monsters without foreknowledge overcame any other feeling.
'It's just because I don't want to win against him unfairly,' he argued with himself 'I'd have done it for the other two,' then he recalled Krum's brooding face and Fleur saying, "He eez too young, 'e cannot compete," and thought sourly, 'Maybe not,'
Harry tapped his foot impatiently, 'Doesn't he ever go around without his fanclub?' He had finally decided, the night before, that Cedric couldn't be allowed to go before the dragons without being warned, but now was the problem of getting him alone to tell him. Then, he got an idea, aiming carefully at Cedric's bag, he muttered, "Diffindo"
"Don't bother," said Cedric in an exasperated voice as his friends' bent down to help him, "tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on..."
He bent down to pick up his books and Harry went over, "Oh, uh…Hi," he smiled at Harry but the awkwardness was still there, "Dragons," said Harry bluntly, "The first task is dragons,"
"Huh?" Cedric's eyes had widened and there Harry saw echoed some of the fear that had been gnawing away at him since the night before.
"But how do you know and why are you telling me?" the fear had been replaced by confusion and not a little distrust.
"Never mind that," Harry shook his head impatiently, "Maxime and Karkaroff have seen the dragons too, and they're bound to tell Krum and Fleur. I just thought you shouldn't be the only one not knowing, these dragons are dangerous, you could get hurt!" then blushing, as if he realized he had said too much, he backed away, "Anyway, you know now," he turned around and was moving to the stairs when Cedric called out, "Harry, wait!"
That's it for the prologue, it's just a snippet but I tried to make it run as smoothly as possible. Please review if you liked it, and tell me what you didn't like. I'm not really sure that they're in character. By the way, if you noticed, I've changed quite a few things, including that they were camping for three days before the World Cup.
