Harry walked into the muggle convenience shop on the corner. Draco claimed he was "simply dying for a Nutty Royale ice cream cone" and Harry had a devious plan to make sure that Draco got his treat… if he begged for it.

The kid in front of him was causing some problems for the cashier. Honestly, who doesn't have anything smaller than 100 pound notes? Harry needed to get the ice cream home before it completely melted – what else would Draco have to lick? That thought invoked a memory of Draco on his knees before him, lightly licking Harry's cock, looking up with those dark grey eyes turned nearly entirely black with lust, but suddenly the young man in front of him made a choking sound and whirled around, at first looking repulsed and angered, then shocked. Harry was bewildered for a moment, but then his brain kicked in and his Nutty Royale dropped to the floor.

The boy was Cedric Diggory.

…………………..

Harry and Cedric stared at each other. After a few scattered moments, Harry remembered he possessed the power of speech. He licked his lips but his voice cracked as he said, "Ced-"

"Shhhhh!" the bronze-haired boy snarled harshly. He grabbed Harry's forearm and dragged him into the shampoo aisle, away from the curious eyes and ears of the cashier. Harry was in shock. This was Cedric, but then it was not – this person was too pale, his skin too hard, his features too perfect, but there it was – it couldn't be anyone else. Harry noted with dull surprise that he was taller than Cedric now.

"What are you doing here?!" Cedric demanded, looking furious.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here! You're… you're dead." Harry ended in a whisper that was nearly a whimper. "You're dead, I saw him kill you…"

"Pettigrew was far from the best wizard, Harry," Cedric said quietly, "For those types of spells, you have to really mean it. Pettigrew acted out of fear and cowardice and self preservation, not malice, so I was… almost entirely dead. But not quite."

He looked around and pulled them into a more secluded area. He leaned in close to speak quietly – Harry shivered. Cedric's breath was cold. "Harry, what do you know about vampires?"

Harry's breath caught. "They're cold. Undead. It's hardly possible to kill them, and they drink..."

"Human blood."

Harry stared. Was Cedric admitting to being a vampire - a killer? Were there more in the area? Were they hunting? What if they came across Draco?"

"Harry, there was a vampire in the audience of the triwizard tournament. As soon as my body was unattended, he took me to a safe location and made me like him. Yes, I'm a vampire, but the coven I belong to does not drink human blood – we hunt animals instead."

At Cedric's last words, Harry felt a vice lift from his heart. "Oh thank god," he murmured, his legs feeling more than a little weak as relief began to slow his heartbeat. "But, Cedric, everyone… they think you're dead! Your parents, Cho Chang… me!"

Cedric shook his head. "Harry, the world rejects vampires. Had my parents, or Cho, known what had become of me, they would have been repelled and disgusted. I left your world behind, Harry. I have a new identity now, a new family, a new love."

While the boy was talking, Harry was becoming more and more angry. "You bastard," he hissed, "You have no idea what you did to me! I blamed myself, don't you know? I thought you were dead and it was my fault, I had nightmares for ages, it fucking tore me apart!"

Cedric looked taken aback. "But it wasn't your fault! You were just being generous, trying to share the glory of the Cup."

Harry looked down. He wanted to talk about something else, but how do you start casual conversation with a vampire, someone who you presumed to be dead?

Cedric quietly answered his unspoken thought; "Just like you would with anyone else, I guess."

Harry looked up. "What?"

Cedric looked embarrassed. "I guess I owe you something else… as an explanation. I have an … unusual power, even for vampires; I can hear people's thoughts. Just now, you wanted to talk about something else, so… I tried to start on a different topic of conversation."

Harry blinked. "Oh." Then he colored bright red. "Oh. So when you, err, turned around in line, you, erm… saw what I was thinking?"

Cedric averted his gaze. "Yeah."

Harry didn't know what to say.

"So…" Cedric tried again, "You and Draco Malfoy, huh?"

"Yeah," Harry said softly. "He's brilliant. Just like… in everything, you know? It happened at the beginning of sixth year. Voldemort had given him a mission and he was just falling apart, and I convinced him that there were other options than the one his father had chosen and, well, we've been together since. It just fits."

Cedric smiled, and it hit Harry just how blindingly handsome he was. Harry grinned back, partly at the realization that as gorgeous as Cedric was, he still couldn't evoke the same jolt in his gut that Draco did every morning, with sleep-tousled hair wearing one of Harry's oversized shirts.

"I'm glad," Cedric said, though whether it was at what Harry said or what he thought, he couldn't tell.

"So what are you doing here?"

Cedric shrugged. "I'm here with my family on a vacation. London's nice because it's virtually always cloudy, so we aren't revealed."

"Oh, well that's-" Harry was cut off by a new voice.

"Edward?" a girl called softly.

Harry didn't expect Cedric to turn and call in response, using a perfect American accent, "Over here, Bella." The girl who belonged to the voice navigated her way into their aisle and took Cedric's hand. Harry started. Bella was pretty and sweet-looking, but very much human. He tried not to let his surprise show on his face, knowing that Cedric could hear his thoughts and seeing no reason to upset the girl.

"Bella, this is Harry. Harry, I would like you to meet Bella, my… girlfriend."

Bella blushed furiously and stuck out her hand, which Harry shook. "Hello, Bella."

"Hi." She looked at Cedric, her eyes full of questions.

Cedric, clearly looking uncomfortable, asked, "Bella, would you wait at the counter for a bit? I'll only be a minute."

"Okay." Bella was confused, but clearly more than willing to do as Cedric said. It was more than willing, though… it was trusting. She ambled off, and the two were left to look at each other. Harry cleared her throat.

"She seems lovely, Cedric."

"Thank you." He had dropped the American accent.

"Does she… you know, know?"

Cedric sighed. "She knows about vampires, but nothing about the Wizarding world. I suppose she'll learn, someday, because she seems quite persistent to become a vampire, too, just to spend eternity with me." He smiled bitterly. "She doesn't know that I have ever been anybody but 'Edward', and she's ready to give up her life for me. I don't deserve her. Still, a part of me wants it just as much, so I know that I never have to lose her."

And in that moment, Harry was jealous, an emotion he was more than unaccustomed to, seeing as how virtually every day he felt like the luckiest man alive. But now, he was green with envy.

Because someday, Draco would die.

Harry's heart ached at the very idea, but it was true. Draco would someday die, be it before or after Harry, and just then, he envied how confident Bella and Cedric could be in their soon-to-be immortal lives together. Harry imagined himself and Draco, both pale, never having to let go of each other, eternally in bliss and love.

"Harry."

Harry jerked back to attention to see Cedric frowning wearily at him. The boy shook his head. "Harry, the way we are, it's no way to live. It's a soulless, forever burning thirst. It's… unnatural. If you truly love Malfoy, you will not even consider anything other than what you have. If I could become human for Bella, I would gladly do it without a second thought. I don't want this for myself, so much less for her, but she refuses to see any other option."

"But… but…" Harry felt so very small and lost now. "What if he dies?"

"That's life, Harry, something you and Draco share that Bella and I never will. Think of Tom Riddle. He sacrificed his humanity in the name of immortality, which is what Vampirism is. I know I said that my family sticks to a human-free diet, but I have killed people, Harry, in my early years when I was out of control, and it weighs heavy. Do you want that for Draco? For him to feel the constant pain of bloodlust and denial through the years?"

"No," Harry breathed, "No, I don't want that for us."

Cedric slumped a bit, seeming tired. "Thank you, Harry."

Before Harry could answer, his cell phone rang. He picked it up without a moment's hesitation for rudeness.

"Hello, Draco."

"Harry! Where are you? You went for ice cream ages ago."

"Sorry, love, I got caught up with some stuff."

"Well, call next time you get sidetracked, okay?"

Harry grinned. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy."

"Unless you're going to be home in the next minute, you better stuff it with the 'Mr. Malfoy' drivel, Potter, you know what that does to me!"

"I'll me home shortly. Love you."

"Prat. Love you too. And don't forget the ice cream, because if you do, you can forget about the sex as well!" The line went dead.

Harry turned back to Cedric, who was looking respectfully away, even though Harry know that he must have heard everything.

"Sorry, but I have to go."

"That's okay. I have a very confused girl waiting for me up at the front."

"So… good bye, Cedric."

"Goodbye, Harry. I wish you all the best."

"Same here."

They shook hands, and Cedric left to fetch Bella. Harry waited a few minutes, not wanting to see Cedric again before he left; he wanted their proper goodbye to be their last.

After a few minutes, he investigated where he had dropped the first ice cream cone; it was little more than a soggy mess of blue paper. He shrugged, purchased a new one, and went home to Draco.