Attention everyone, this is your captain speaking. We'll have a perfect forecast of friendship-y, humorous Cedric/Hermione here today, plus a little of Cedric/OC that will not show up that much, but it is expected that this will be a sweet little fiction. Enjoy! Especially you, 123Quarters!
DISCLAIMER: The only characters in here that belong to me are the muggles, Davin Leela and Xingchao Leela. And even they don't feature that much.
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
"Hermione? Hermione Granger?"
She turned her head a little to the side, not quite believing that there would be a wizard who would recognize her so far from any wizarding villages. But then, there was this man who was calling to her...
"Is that you, Hermione?"
She shifted her grocery basket on her arm, wincing as it scratched a sore spot on her skin. Despite all of the commotion of the open-air market around her, she could clearly hear the man's voice. So she supposed she had no choice but to look his way.
And so she did.
And when she did, she nearly dropped her basket, because who in the whole wide world should be standing before her but Cedric Diggory.
"Ah, so it is you! I'd recognize that bushy mane of hair anywhere. How are you?"
She opened and closed her mouth several times, but no sound came out. For once in her life, she was speechless.
Cedric Diggory looked as though he'd never fallen at the end of the Triwizard Tournament; his sandy, wavy hair was combed perfectly in place, and his angular, masculine face was as handsome as ever. He looked fit as a fiddle in an odd assortment of muggle clothes. She could trace the lines of his muscled self through the tight threads of his smock-esque shirt. The only difference in his appearance was that he looked older. He was probably at least thirty, anyway. That was close to her age.
Then she realized Cedric was staring at her strangely, and so she struggled to attempt a greeting.
"I...I'm alright. H-how are you?"
A smile immediately lighted his face up once more. "I'm just peachy!" he said with warm enthusiasm.
"G-god. I-I mean, good." Hermione stuttered.
Cedric chuckled. "Hey, since it's been such a long while, why don't we go have a drink? You're at least sixteen now, right?"
Hermione blushed. Was he trying to imply that she looked younger than her age? What was he doing, flirting with her?
"No, sorry. I mean, I have to get home. I've all these groceries to put away..." She hefted her basket up to show him how full it was.
"Oh." Cedric sounded disappointed. "Well, then, maybe some other time."
"Sure." Hermione nodded, still feeling a bit weird. She found herself wondering how in Merlin's shiny underpants Cedric had somehow managed to come back from the Elysian Fields. It must be a fascinating story... but her groceries! But the chance for a real scientific discovery lay afoot! But her groceries!
As Hermione waged a war of priorities inside of her head, Cedric mulled over the chance that he could get her house address without seeming too creepy. He did want to catch up with her after all these years apart. He wondered if she still remembered the day when he asked her to the Yule Ball. Of course, she had said no because at that point Viktor Krum had already gotten her. By Merlin, if he had only convinced her to go with him all those years ago... where would they have ended up?
"Cedric," Hermione began. He looked up from his lustful musings to eagerly await the rest of her sentence.
"Perhaps, if you have time now, you can accompany me to my home (where I'll drop my groceries off) and then we can go out for a drink?"
He grinned widely and replied, "Lovely idea! Shall we go now, or do you have more shopping to be done?"
Hermione actually did have more things to be bought, but that could wait. She was insatiably curious as to how he was here alive and well, and she knew she would regret it if she turned down his offer.
"So where shall we go? I'm not really familiar with this area, I'm just here for a visit to the in-" Cedric abruptly cut himself off. Hermione glanced at him, worried. He seemed fine, though a smile was frozen on his face, and his eyebrows were bunched together.
"Visit to the inn...? You mean the Red Rooster Inn?" Hermione prompted when the man didn't say any more.
Cedric sighed, his pained expression gone. "...Yeah. The Red Rooster Inn. I had some business there."
"Oh. But that's a muggle-frequented place. I'd never seen any witches or wizards staying there."
Cedric seemed uncomfortable with this new topic, so Hermione wasn't surprised when he changed the subject. "Yeah. Um... so do you know of any good taverns in the area? I'll treat you to brunch."
"That's very sweet of you," Hermione said pleasantly. She hadn't been out to eat in a while.
They began walking to her home, which was about a mile outside of the little market. He offered to carry her basket, which she happily handed over. They talked lightly and joked with each other along the way. Hermione was reluctant to bring up his... unfortunate incident. Cedric seemed relaxed and rather cheery, though.
On Talbot Street, which boasted numerous pretty boutiques and some up-scale restaurants, it started to rain. Hermione hadn't brought her umbrella with her, thinking that it wasn't too grey for rain that day, and Cedric didn't have anything with him except his wallet and wand and it would've looked odd if he'd conjured up an umbrella. Besides, with so many bars to choose from sitting squarely all around them and the rain coming on fast and furious, they decided, with unspoken agreement, to sprint for the nearest one.
The White Lion was a nice little tavern. Hermione hadn't been there, but she had read about it and the reviews were always good. There was good lighting and quality tapestries on the walls, and the long bar and several boothes looked comfortable and splendid in beige. There were some customers in the bar section eating and drinking. As far as Hermione could tell, these people were all muggles. She and Cedric had to be the only magical pair there.
"Well," said Cedric, running a hand through his rain-slicked hair, "Let's get to a table, shall we?"
Hermione agreed and they chose a comfy booth near the middle of the tavern. Presently, a waitress came to take their drink orders. Cedric wanted a wizarding beer, but Hermione quickly covered for him by correcting him, and then told him to get a muggle product with a similar name. She herself only asked for water. Cedric noticed this, and when the bar-maid went to get their drinks, he gathered the courage to ask her about it.
"Oh, it's just that... well, I'm not in the mood for alcohol right now." Hermione responded.
"Ah, okay." Cedric hoped it was just that, and that she didn't have a bun in the oven, so to speak.
They waited for their drinks. Rain pounded on the veined windows. When the bar-maid returned and set down their drinks, Cedric also ordered some muggle breakfast options, and Hermione did as well.
When the bar-maid left again, their silence did not. Despite Cedric's eagerness to take Hermione out somewhere, now he didn't know how to leap back into things. Hermione was at a loss for words as well.
So she supposed she might as well start with the most prominent thing on her mind. "Cedric, how is it that you're here right now?"
Cedric looked up from his drink, his long blond lashes over his amber eyes giving him a coy look. "I told you. I'm here on... business."
Hermione nodded slowly. "I know that. But what I mean is... how are you here now? At the Triwizard Tournament, you..."
Cedric seemed to understand. "Oh. Oh, Hermione. Well... you know that when one uses the killing curse, one must mean with all of one's might to kill a person, don't you?"
Hermione couldn't bring herself to speak. Already she could feel a prickling sense on the back of her neck, and wetness in the corners of her eyes. But she forced herself to nod.
"Yes, of course you know. You were always a bright one," Cedric said, and he flashed her a smile before continuing. "The man who tried to kill me did not believe one-hundred percent that he should, or could, kill me. So, I was still the littlest bit alive after the curse. It was not Harry's fault that he presumed me dead. By all appearances, I was. And trust me, I thought I was dead too. I remember..." But then he shook his head.
"Anyway, when my father and mother took me up to the hospital, I was revived. My father was so happy. Then we went into hiding, you know, so that You-Know-Who wouldn't come after me. It's been long years away from the wizarding community. But when Harry finally killed You-Know-Who, my father, mother and I went back to our house on the coast. I went back to Hogwarts too, but I had to start at the fifth year level all over again."
Hermione could see Cedric was starting to tear up. It must be hard to talk about, she knew from experience from trying to speak to her mother and father about her time with Ron and Harry finding horcruxes.
She said, "I know how you must feel, believe me. It's been so long and the war still affects me too."
He smiled with watery eyes. "Yeah. Hey, do you remember... when I asked you to the Yule Ball?"
Hermione's eyes widened. "I do." She laughed a bit, and was glad he was changing the subject. "I was surprised that you asked me! I thought you were going out with Cho Chang at the time."
His grin matched hers. "I wasn't going out with her, no. I was hoping I could've gone out with you. Cho was my second choice. She's always been my second choice."
Hermione caught his eyes. "What do you mean, 'always'?"
Cedric glanced down and his drink and stirred it with a spoon. He took a sip, and then, seemingly steeling his nerves, said, "Hermione... I'm engaged."
Hermione was not at all taken aback. A man as handsome as Cedric would be engaged to be married by now, surely. She had even been a little suspicious when she hadn't seen a ring on his finger. And it wasn't as if she would be jealous if he had told her he was married! She hadn't had a large crush on him in school like some of her classmates had. But, if she could admit it to herself, she was a little flattered that he would still think about her in a romantic way after all these years. It almost seemed as if he was regretting that he was engaged...
"Congratulations," Hermione said. "Are you marrying Cho?"
Cedric looked up, a mixture of relief and hurt on his face. Though she wasn't sure why that was. Maybe he was hoping that she would be angry that she wasn't getting married to him? Weird.
"I'm actually marrying her daughter, Xingchao."
Hermione was surprised to hear this. She hadn't kept in touch with Cho (they weren't really friends), but it was disconcerting to hear that she already had a daughter who was old enough to be married. This was creepy.
"Con-congratulations."
"Thank you."
They both shared pained frowns and then their food arrived. While they ate, Cedric again brought up the topic of marriage.
"So... are you going to settle down sometime in the future?"
Hermione swallowed some of her sandwich, wiped her mouth and replied, "Well, I don't know. There really isn't anyone in my life who I can consider getting married to, let alone having children with."
Cedric looked thoughtful for a moment. "What about that Ron fellow? I thought you fancied him."
Hermione almost did a spit take. "Don't be absurd. I've never felt that way about Ronald. People just talked about us."
Her male companion grinned. "And they did talk a lot."
Hermione's cheeks flushed. "Oh, dear. Well, whatever you heard, it wasn't true."
"I believe you." Cedric took another bite of his sandwich.
The topic changed to lighter things, such as work and the ministry, and how Hermione came to live in such a muggle area (she was researching for a study-grant). When they were done with their meal, Cedric paid and, though it was still raining, they left the cozy tavern for the wet world outside.
Hermione conjured up an umbrella and the pair made their way up the cobblestone street back to the market place, which was less crowded now in the late afternoon.
When they came to a stall selling cheeses from France, Cedric stopped to get a sample. He offered to give a cube of muenster to Hermione, and when she refused he just popped in right into her mouth! Though she protested weakly, she did enjoy it.
They spent the rest of the dwindling afternoon walking around and talking. The rain subsided just as the small hamlet's tiny clock tower chimed six. Cedric had to go, not to the Red Rooster Inn, but to his future in-laws, Davin and Cho (ex Chang) Leela, who lived a few kilometers away from Hermione's residence. His bride was already there, waiting for him.
"It's been fun, Hermione. I hope I can see you again sometime." Cedric handed her basket of vegetables, bread, meat and fruit back to her.
"Yeah, I had a good time too. Do you want to meet up again tomorrow? You're staying at Cho's place for the next two weeks, right?"
Cedric nodded. "Yes."
They stood still for a moment, just looking at each other. Then Hermione set her basket down and reached to hug him.
They embraced like old friends. Cedric drew her close to his body, and she could feel his warm breath near her ear. It tickled a bit, but she stifled her giggles.
In a few minutes, they pulled away from each other.
"Well, I have to get back to my home. I have a cat waiting for me." Hermione said, smiling. "And when Crookshanks starts to get hungry, he scratches up the furniture. Have a safe journey to your in-law's house, Cedric."
"Bye, Hermione. I look forward to our meeting tomorrow. How about at The White Lion?"
"Fabulous idea."
Before she could wave and turn off though, Cedric swooped in to place a kiss on her cheek. If she had been startled, his lips would probably have landed on hers. As it was, his mouth landed quite near her mouth anyway.
With a lopsided grin and reddened cheeks, Cedric bounded off on his way down the lane. Hermione touched a hand to where his lips met her skin, watching after him. Then with a shrug and a smile, she went off on her way too.
After all, it was just a friendly kiss. There was no need to look farther than that.
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
Sooooo... yes, it was only a friendly encounter! (No matter that you can look at it as a tentative romantic start.) I now ship Cedric/Hermione! Oh yeah!
Thanks for reading!
Oh yeah, and: Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday 123Quarters, Happy Birthday to you!