Chapter 1

Harry looks at the black and white pictures in his hand, it all seems so surreal, like nothing of it ever happened, that the looks and smiles were never shared, that fingers and palms never slipped underneath wispy cotton, that the hot kisses tracing lips and neck was never there, it was like it had all been a dream, and Harry had nothing but the pictures left, in that wooden box lay all his faith, all his hopes, dreams, belief and strength to go on.

He knew that it would soon be his turn, he would soon be reunited with his love, his family, his godfather, his mentor and headmaster for six years, everyone he had ever cared for, and soon he would see them again… but not yet, just not yet.

Before that, he had to finish his task in life.

Harry rose from the bed, one of the photographs falling to the floor as he did so, he picked it up and smiled. There was Cedric, smiling, wrapping his arms around Harry from behind. Harry on the photograph looked dreamingly into Cedric's grey eyes. The photograph had been taken during the summer between Harry's fourth and fifth year just a couple of weeks before the Diggory house had been stormed by death eaters, and Cedric had been…

Harry felt the tears coming and abruptly put the photo back into the chest…

It had all started at the Quidditch World cup, when faith in a peculiar way had decided to give Cedric a helping hand and Harry a push in the right direction.

Before that Cedric had during Harry's third year found interest in the younger boy.

He just hadn't had the courage to do something about it, he was after all, much older, and the chance of Harry having any sort of interest in him was minimal. When he for the first time met the other seeker in a game, it was raining heavily and thunder disturbed the otherwise cheery mood of the Quidditch match. When several dementors showed up at the pitch, Cedric was forced to an ultimatum; it was either saving Harry from a dreadful fall, possibly crushing some of his bones hitting the ground, or catching the snitch that fluttered about right in front of him, most likely giving him the appreciation of his father and house mates.

For Cedric at the time, the answer was obvious; he turned his broomstick on the spot and caught Harry a few feet above ground.

Harry was, at the time being, still confused over anything that had to do with love; he was after all only fourteen. But waking up, finding that he was carried up the staircases of Hogwarts castle by a handsome boy with the most stunning grey eyes and strong arms, Harry for the first time, felt perfectly safe. This was odd because before, he had never really liked grey.

"Hey…" The other boy said as he noticed that he was awake.

"Where are you taking me?" Harry asked though he felt that he didn't really care.

"To the hospital wing, you fell of your broomstick, I caught you in time before you hit the ground but Madame Hooch insisted that you'd get some rest and ordered me to take you to Madame Pomfrey." Harry nodded and found that he liked the other boy's voice, it calmed him. He closed his eyes and fell into a steady sleep.

After that, he didn't see Cedric again, more than when he noticed him at the Hufflepuff table, passed him in the corridor or greeting him briefly in the great hall.

Until the day of the Quidditch world cup…

It was early morning when he and the Weasley's finally reached the place where the so called portkey was supposed to be placed, Harry was pacing the area, searching for anything that could be used as a portkey when a shout broke the silence.

"Over here Arthur!" Harry immediately turned his attention in the direction of the shouting; all he could see was two tall figures against the night sky. But as they all walked closer, his heart skipped a beat; one of the figures was none other than Cedric Diggory!

During the following couple of minutes, when the other figure was introduced to him as Cedric's father, Amos Diggory and he in his turn was introduced to Amos, he had a hard time not to glance at Cedric. He looked, if possibly, even more handsome than the year before.

"Cedric has indeed been talking about you." Amos said and Harry's heart skipped a beat again, Cedric had been talking about him? But then… why would he care? "He told me about that Quidditch game last year when he saved you from a nasty fall from your broom. A really brave boy my son, and a good flyer too. It was obvious that if it hadn't been for Cedric's bravery he would have caught the snitch and won the game, that's for sure."

"Dad! There is nothing that says that I would have caught the snitch before Harry did!" Cedric blushed slightly.

"Well… I'll just say this, one boy falling of his broom and one still sitting on his, its quite clear who's the better flyer"

"Dad!" Cedric was still blushing but the tiny hint of anger in his voice was very easy for Harry to detect.

"Well, I guess it's time to go." Mr. Weasley kindly shot in. He and Amos started walking away, discussing the lack of tickets and whether or not they needed to wait for someone else. Harry felt someone tugging at his sleeve. He turned around to find that it was Cedric.

"I'm sorry about my father… he's just… well, I'm his only son and he thinks very highly of me." He was looking at the ground. Harry smiled and placed a reassuring hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"Hey… it's okay. I understand. He puts you under a lot of pressure sometimes huh?" Cedric finally looked up, letting Harry drown for a moment in what was Cedric's amazing grey pools for eyes.

"Yeah, I guess he does, sometimes, it's a bit hard to handle." He smiled a broad smile and Harry could do nothing but smile back. The moment was interrupted by Mr. Weasley calling their names.

"Come on boys! We're leaving!" Harry remembered watching Cedric when grabbing for the boot, and for the first time of many to come, he felt a slight tingle when Cedric's hand touched his.

"Three… two… one" Mr Weasley's one was practically drowned in the sound of wind as Harry and the others were pulled into a whirlwind of colour and almost as sudden as it had started, he felt his feet hit the ground with a thud, the surprise making him stumble and fall to the ground. Half a second later, he had a hand in his face; he followed the arm and met a pair of grey eyes and a broad grin.

"First time's always rough." Cedric chuckled. Harry grabbed the offered hand and let the other boy pull him up; Cedric may have put a bit too much strength in this though because it left Harry only millimetres from Cedric's body. He felt how his heart beat faster than usual and he looked up at the brunet.

"Thanks." He managed to whisper.

"You're welcome…" Cedric whispered back… raising his free hand, tracing the line of Harry's jaw for a brief moment before he realized what he was doing and let it drop. "W… we should go now." He stuttered.

Harry pulled back, feeling a bit empty as he let go of Cedric's hand. "Yeah we should. The others are already far ahead." He agreed. The both of them walked in silence for a while before both of them broke the silence at the same time.

"So… I was wondering if you'd like to… you know, hang out sometime once we're back at Hogwarts." Harry blurted.

"I was wondering whether you'd like to meet again later, for the game I mean." Cedric said at the same time. They looked at each other and then gazed back at the ground, blushing slightly.

"I'd love to." They said, again at the same time. This time they just laughed at their foolishness.

"Great. Then I'll see you later." Cedric said as they caught up with the others.

"Sure." Harry replied. Hermione shot him a questioning glance. "He's going to meet up with us later so that we all can see the game together." Harry said casually. Hermione nodded.

"That was nice of you Harry." She smiled at him. He smiled back.

Later that evening, about twenty minutes before the start of the match, Cedric entered the Weasley's tent with his father right behind him. He turned to look for Harry who sat in one of the chairs, reading his program for the evening. He looked up just as the Hufflepuff entered the tent, like he had sensed that he was there, and received a smile and a small wink from the other boy. Cedric greeted Bill Charlie and Percy that had all apparated to the camp.

"We thought we could accompany you to the game." Cedric said. Harry walked next to Cedric all the way to the arena, feeling like nothing in the world could destroy this evening for him, unfortunately, he was wrong.

Later that night the camp was attacked by death eaters, chaos broke loose and Harry, Ron and Hermione was found underneath the Dark mark, followed by being accused for conjuring said sign too. But Harry could think of nothing else but Cedric, wondering if he was alright, hoping that the older boy hadn't been hurt or worse... killed.

Not until Amos Diggory himself told him that Cedric was safe in the tent did Harry relax.