He looked at the clock. "Tick tock," he said, looking over at me. He smirked. I wanted to kill him. Punch him in the throat. Smack him. God damn him.

"Shut up. Honestly." He loved to bug me, but really, this was pushing it.

His hand grazed over his thick hair. "I'm just watching your back."

I snapped my head in his direction. "Cedric, shut it." I resumed my homework. If I didn't finish this on the account of him wanting me to finish it, I would kill him. I really would.

"I am missing out on dinner. Just you help you with your homework. I could be chatting away with Cho right now, but no." His chair squeaked as he drug it across the floor then stood up. I could hear him tapping by the window.

"No tapping," I called over my shoulder, sending him a deadly glare.

He put his hands in the air, still smirking. Stupid prat, I thought angrily. He was too damn proud for his own good. Too assure of himself.

"I am such a good friend," he went on.

"I will go over there and choke you. Don't make me do it, Diggory," I growled. I put my quill back to the paper. Now what was that potion I was leaving out…surely there was one that I missed…

"I'm sure my girlfriend misses me."

"I'm sure she does."

"She's so madly in love with me."

"Aren't we all," I grumbled. Immediately I knew my mistake. He had stopped pestering me, not a good sign. Damn, damn, damn.

"Are you now?" he questioned. It was like his smirk was the air and it was smacking me straight in the face.

"I said 'we' as in the entire student body," I corrected. Picking up my quill again, I remembered the potion I left out. It was so simple! How was I being so stupid?

"Just admit it, Mira," he said. I could hear his footsteps creep up until he was behind me. He leaned down to my level. "You love me."

Not only did his breath against my neck tickle but he couldn't get any fuller of himself if he tried. "Shut your bloody face, Diggory," I snapped. Maybe there was another potion as well. Snape would fry me up if missed one.

"Mira, honestly, let me know. I'd like to know. It'd be so much easier on you and me if it was just out in the open." He leaned against the desk. "So admit it."

"You're confusing me," I said without a single thought. I was much too focused on homework to understand what he was running his jaw about now. "You're supposed to be helping me with this." I was almost done now. No thanks to him.

"I just want to know," he said, in a whiny tone now. He got down on his knees next to me, looking up at me sitting high up than him in my chair. "Do you like me?"

"Do you want to die?" I replied back without another thought.

"I would die a happy man if I knew if you liked me or not," he grumbled.

I stopped doing homework and looked down into his somewhat pleading gray eyes. His thick hair untamed. His tie had come loose. "What are you going on about?" I asked. My eyebrows knitted together at just the site of him. He never looked so innocent. So not assured. He was always assured, he was Cedric.

He looked speechless. Oh, but I would be wrong about that, wouldn't I? "I just want to know if you like me."

I scrunched my face. "As a friend?" I inquired.

"No," he said, drawing out the word. He stood up and walked over to the brick wall, about ten feet away. "As more than a friend. As…something more."

That was it. "What?" I asked harshly. "You were just raving about how much your girlfriend loves you!"

He looked flustered and sounded it too. "I didn't say that I liked her back!" His eyes got big.

I took a second to think it over. "So?"

"So do you like me?"

"This has nothing to do with me!"

"It has entirely to do with you!" he yelled back.

I was going to murder him. Really I was. "I'm going to have you kicked out of my dorm in a minute, Ced."

He came back over to me. "See? The way you just said that! It does things to me!"

I stared up at him with my mouth open, my mind whirling too fast to be good. I had just done homework for Merlin's sake. He looked entirely serious and it really was mean to laugh, but I did.

"Why bother!" he yelled angrily, storming back to the wall.

I looked at him and just kept on laughing.

"Shut up," he hissed. He was now pouting with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You have gone bonkers," I finally managed to say.

"Laugh all you want," he pouted. "I just wanted to know…"

"Then the answer is no. I see you as a friend. As the captain of the Quidditch team. Prefect. Nothing more, nothing less. You are the golden boy." I stopped smiling. "It's a bit sickening the way you can go on about yourself," I added seriously.

"I need reassurance!" He crossed the room. "I am not confident in myself. I'm weak. The first task is in days."

"Then go complain to your girlfriend and not me," I told him. "I need to get Potions homework out of the way and you said you would help me."

"Oh for Merlin's sake," he cursed, "I know nothing about Potions! I just wanted to get you alone! I just wanted it to be me and you! I want you!"

I fought another case of the giggles. "You have no idea how mad you sound right now," I said, shaking my head. I picked up my quill again. Now, if I got this finished in ten minutes…I would have exactly forty-five minutes to do Defense Against the Dark Arts homework and then I could get some sleep tonight.

"That's it," he growled. He grabbed my hand and—with his holy golden boy strength—pulled me up from my chair. My lips landed on his. I believe it was his intent after all. I only struggled for a few seconds. The feeling was strange. It built up from my stomach and traveled up to my heart.

My mind whirled. My body seemed to have a fluttering sensation all throughout it. I was…kissing Cedric...and it…felt wonderful.

His arm was tucked safely in the curve of my back, supporting me up. Merlin he felt so strong against me. He was keeping out the world. We were untouchable. I left the world far behind. There was no Potions homework or first task in coming up, it was just me and him.

He broke away first, making an audible sound come from our lips. I just stared up into his gray eyes. He looked like he was going to go mad again, like he still needed reassurance. "See?"

I did see but mostly I felt. And it felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. "I think I need to sit down," I whispered. My words sounded far apart and far away, like they didn't come from me at all.

He still had his arm around me. "Tell me you felt that."

"I did," was all I could manage. I felt it everywhere and it felt good. I didn't want it to stop. "Could I sit back down until the bricks stop spinning?"

"Oh. Right." He let go of my back and placed the balance in my arms. How could he stand after that? Damn him. He made sure I was sitting before he left go.

I looked down at the table at my Potions homework. The handwriting looked foreign and like someone had written it a million years ago. "You are such an idiot, Cedric."

"What?" he nearly gasped out.

I looked up at him with a smirk. "I'm going to kill you for making me fall for you."

"Well at least now I can die a happy man."