Moment of Weakness

Disclaimer: I'm not Harry Potter and I don't own JK Rowling… wait. It's the other way around, isn't it?

(A/N: Written for the: "You Must Be Crazy" Challenge by The-Booyah-Effect. Hope you enjoy =0)

There was just something about nights that made you feel calm, he decided. Something other than the fact that, at night, was the only time of day he didn't seem to be followed everywhere by hordes of fans. His mother used to tell him that when he had something to think about, he should do it at night, because then, the world was quieter and he would be able to hear his heart talking.

He almost wished she were still alive at times, especially lately. He'd never wanted to be in the Tri-wizard Tournament, he'd placed his name in the cup because everyone had been expecting him too, he didn't think he would win. And now, he regretted it more than he'd regretted anything in his entire life.

It was only the soft pads a pair of feet made as they made their way to him that startled him out of his reverie. He turned around to find Luna Lovegood walking through the hallway, having the air of being looking for something. He'd always liked her, since her first day of school when she'd gotten lost and he'd had to take her back to her classroom. And since then, he'd felt a strange protectiveness toward her.

"Hey, Luna," he greeted, waving his hand a little in front of himself and dedicating her a small smile. She turned to look at him and smiled.

"Hello, Cedric. How are you?" She asked, coming to sit next to him on the stone steps. "I do hope you're okay."

"I am. Thanks." He cleared his throat, drumming his fingers in the stone in front of him. "What are you doing up?"

"I'm looking for my Puppy," she said, smiling at him. "And you?

"I was thinking. About...well, things."

"You are really brave. I would be scared out of my wits if I were you. And I don't like people much either, you know?"

"No?" Cedric asked a bit startled by her sudden rambling.

"No. But you do, don't you? And you like Harry, I saw you talking to him the other day. He's a nice kid, a bit shy. I think he doesn't like people much either." She gave a little laugh, covering her mouth and looking down at her feet, which Cedric realized only now were bare.

"I'm not that brave. That guy, he said we could die." He sighed, looking up at the full moon shinning on top of them. "I haven't been able to get that possibility out of my head."

"Dying is not so bad. My mom told me you didn't feel anything." Luna sighed, looking up at him with wide eyes. "But thinking you might die is scary. I remember when I was little and I fell into a lake. And then my dad saved me; I do remember how it felt, when he did. Thinking you might die is not an easy thing. Certainly not something you'd forget."

He gave a dry chuckle. "No."

Luna smiled up at him. "But, you know? I think that if you're happy with the life you've lived I don't think dying would be that bad. Plus, they probably have peanut butter in heaven too."

Cedric stared at her silently for a few minutes, wondering at how, with such a simple statement, she seemed to have been able to take his mind off death for the first time in weeks, even if she, herself, had been talking about it.

"Come on," he said, standing up and turning to look at her. "I'll help you look for your dog."

"Oh, Puppy's not a dog," Luna told him as she stood up, brushing dirt of the skirt of her nightgown. "He's a kitten, but naming a cat 'kitten' is so overused."

Cedric laughed. "Right. Well, come on, we'll look for Puppy then."