Yea, so the thing is, I don't own the characters, but the storyline is mine. So far.
"Yo, Diggory, going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Roger Davies asked as he hopped over to a table occupied by a group of Hufflepuff boys studying.
"Yea, I'm planning on it." Cedric Diggory applied nonchalantly.
"Cool, I'll meet you at the three broomsticks. 2 o'clock ok?" Roger asked, fingering his broken quill in his hand.
"Alright…" Cedric replied automatically, puzzled by the sudden appointment. However, his grey pairs did not leave the book.
"Dude, it's Friday. Lay it off." Roger nudged his friend.
"Can't. I have a huge essay due on Monday on the history of the goblins. Have to do some researching. See you on Saturday." Cedric grabbed his books and stood up to leave.
Roger didn't stop there.
"Man, Diggory, stop being such a good-two-shoe. Enjoy the sun! Look outside! Look at all the available ladies out there!" Roger exclaimed as he followed Cedric out of the library.
"Mate, I know what I have to do, alright?" with that, Cedric left for his common room.
It was still 4 pm, and the Hufflepuff common room was almost deserted. It seemed as if everybody was outside enjoying the great weather.
Cedric slumped down on a nearby chair, and closed his book shut. He rest his head backwards, and closed his eyes.
Why on earth does Davies want to meet me at the Three Broomsticks at 2? Cedric wondered. What was this about? Not another blind date, he hoped. He could still remember the time when he was in his 4th year, Davies and McLand tried to pair him up with some giggling Slytherin girl. He tried to be polite, but the girl giggled so much that Cedric finally left her after 1 hour. It was a total pain in the butt. Since then, Cedric firmly told Davies not to cope with his love life.
In fact, there was someone he'd like to be with. It was a secret. No one knew, except for him. He quite didn't know her name, and never really talked to her. He bumped into her a few times in the Great Hall, and had solemnly apologized when he accidentally knocked off her books off her fragile body.
Oh, and another thing. Both he and she stayed at school for Christmas. Cedric grinned slyly at his thought. She was a beautiful being…even if they didn't know each other…
Cedric wasn't one of those boys who looked at girls, thought they were handsome, and automatically asked them out and end up snogging one of them in the common room.
No, Cedric was much more mature and cleverer than that. He had high standards, to tell the truth.
Yawning, Cedric stretched out his arms and legs. Studying is so tiring, he thought. Cedric wiped his prefects badge with his robes. He made sure it was neat and shiny. When he had first got the badge last summer, before he started 5th year, he was ever so excited. Hufflepuff never had any prefects for 10 years. And now, Cedric had made the difference.
Except when his father Amos Diggory was so proud of his son that he told the whole Ministry of Magic about it. Yes, that was pretty embarrassing.
His friends called him a teacher's pet or goody-two-shoes all the time, but Cedric always went for his best. As long as he got great marks, played his regular dose of Quidditch every week, he was pretty much satisfied.
The next day, Cedric woke up early to do his prefect duties. It was his fifth time telling the second years to stop blocking the entrance to the common room with exploding firesnaps. He had no clue how they even thought of the silly idea, but now he was getting pretty much annoyed. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed his broomstick.
"Yo! Diggory! Where you going!"
It was Roger.
"That would be to the Quidditch Field. You know, the game between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw is pretty soon, you know. And I really need some fresh air." Cedric replied.
"You can't go now, mate. Hogsmeade in half an hour, remember?" Roger protested, grabbing Cedric's arm. "That reminds me, I better call my team for a practise soon," Roger said. "Being the team captain, pretty hard, you know. Now let's get ready for Hogsmeade. I'll walk with you."
Cedric tried not to show his disappointment. Why was this Hogsmeade so important all of a sudden? He wondered, as he reluctantly followed Roger back to the Hufflepuff tower.
"See you at the Three Broomsticks, then?" Cedric asked, and Roger nodded and ran excitedly away.
When Cedric arrived at his common room, he noticed a Hufflepuff girl, Rose Zeller, and Lisa Turpin of Ravenclaw giggle softly at him. Cedric half-waved at them, and hurried to his dormitory to put away his broom.
The Hogsmeade seemed more crowded than ever. He noticed a group of giggling girls heading for his direction. Ignoring, he looked for the mysterious girl instead. She had long, flowing dark hair that reminded him of a river at night. Laughing at his own mushiness, Cedric glanced at his watch.
1:55pm, it read. He headed for the Three Broomsticks.
As he entered, he noticed a table where Roger was sitting at. Beside him was Lisa Turpin, the girl who giggled at him previously with Rose Zeller.
Cedric stopped dead in his tracks. He so knew where this was going. Roger saw him at once and enthusiastically waved his hands, mouthing, "Over Here!"
Shaking his head, Cedric went up to the table, and sat down.
"Hey mate, glad you showed up." Roger was grinning broadly. He glanced at Lisa, and introduced him to Cedric. "Lisa Turpin, she's in Ravenclaw. Third year, to be exact."
Cedric nodded. "Hello, Lisa."
Lisa burst into a fit of giggles as she said, "Hello" with a huge amount of confidence. Cedric politely smiled back.
"Now, I will like to leave you twos alone, I'm going to get some new quills. Adios." Roger winked, and he left.
Boiling inside, Cedric looked at Lisa. Lisa stared back at him, blushing madly. She chose to look down at her hands.
"Err…nice to meet you, Lisa." Cedric said, feeling incredibly awkward. I will kill Roger tonight. He vowed angrily.
"Hi…" Lisa said. More like whispering, he thought.
"How was your day?" Cedric asked, smiling at her. No matter what the situation was, Cedric Diggory knew how to work it out with girls. All it needed was several polite smiles and a smart etiquette.
"Great," Lisa replied, barely speaking.
God, what am I supposed to do here? Cedric thought desperately. This girl is barely talking! He looked around, and saw the Patil twins sharing a cup of butterbeer. He scanned around the room.
It was she.
The mysterious girl.
Who smiled at him everytime he saw her in the hall.
Cedric did not take his eyes off her.
All he could see was that girl…
The girl with fascinating, gorgeous dark hair that reminded him of a river at night.
She turned around towards him.
Their eyes met.
"Ahh, sorry!" Cedric mumbled as he picked up the cup that shattered on the ground.
"Repairo," Cedric muttered, pointing at the shattered cup with his wand.
Ugh, you clumsy goblin! Cedric thought angrily, as Lisa laughed at Cedric's work. He looked at the girl, and she was smiling at him. She was smiling at him!
Cedric smiled back, scarlet in the face, and did a half wave.
She waved back. And then she turned around again, and started chatting animatedly with a girl with reddish curly hair.
Lisa turned around at the girl, and looked back at Cedric. She seemed to have the finest idea that it wasn't she whom Cedric was interested in.
"Alright, well, thanks for your time." Lisa stood up, her voice cold all of a sudden. "Good bye, and I hope you have fun checking out that girl." She snapped.
"Hey, wait! I didn't mean…" Cedric yelled after her, but she was already outside the Three Broomsticks.
Cedric sighed, and slumped down in his chair. Clearly, he had made a fool out of himself. A prefect, who made a fool out of himself. Laying down a galleon on the table, Cedric slowly walked out of the café. He took a last look at the girl with dark hair, and she was still chatting.
The weather was cold, but sunny. Cedric wondered around the village, looking out for Roger. If he found him, well, he was a toast.
Cedric turned back and started walking the other way. And he saw her.
Alone.
She was walking towards him, and he was walking towards her. When they were about three feet apart, Cedric smiled at her again. "Hello there," he said, flashing his straight white teeth.
"Hey," the girl said, smiling back at him. Her brown eyes twinkled under the sun.
"I'm Cedric. Cedric Diggory." Cedric blurted out, feeling incredibly stupid. "Err…nice weather, isn't it?" weather…he was talking about the weather for Merlin's beard!
She giggled. The laugh was so musical that Cedric wanted to hear it again.
"I'm Cho Chang. Nice to meet you, Cedric." She said, smiling at him. "Yes, it is a nice weather. Pretty chilly though, if you ask me." She said. "You're a prefect, aren't you?"
Cedric nodded, still smiling. God, he couldn't stop. He felt so happy.
"Where's your girlfriend?" Cho asked, frowning.
Girlfriend? What girlfriend? "I don't…" Cedric thought rapidly. "Oh you mean Lisa…no she's not my girlfriend. A git who's my friend named Roger set me up with her." Cedric said, rolling his eyes.
Cho laughed. "I see, blind date, was it?" she said, staring into Cedric's grey pairs. "Roger can be so tactless at times…" she said.
"You know Roger?" Cedric said, but he then hit himself on the head in his mind. Duh, dufus. He's in Ravenclaw! Same as Cho's!
"Of course I do, he's my Quidditch captain for Ravenclaw." Cho said.
"You play Quidditch? You're in the team?" Cedric asked, keen to know more.
"I just made the team, actually. I play the seeker. I couldn't really play before due to an injury…but now I'm fresh as new." Cho grinned, and her freckles shined under the sun.
"Wow, I'm the Hufflepuff seeker…we have a game is next week." Cedric said, deeply impressed by Cho's Quidditch interest.
"Yes, next week." Cho smiled. "Shall we walk back to school? It's almost time to leave." Cho said.
"Of course!" Cedric smiled, and walked aside Cho. She's beautiful…and so unique, too. Cedric thought happily. He wasn't sure how to hold himself up. He usually did not have any trouble with girls, but now, he felt like he was some geek neophyte who couldn't utter a single word to girls.
They walked all the way into Hogwarts, until Cho stopped.
"Well, my house is that way. I'll see you around." She said, gently touching Cedric's arm.
Cedric was secretly disappointed. "Can I see you tomorrow?" he blurted out, without even catching himself.
"Oooh, yes!" Cho said, grinning wide. Then she waved. "Bye, Cedric."
Hope you liked my first chapter! Please review! Thanks!
