Title: Mutual Sacrifice
Pairing: Harry / Cedric
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Didn't make up Harry Potter and I don't get any money from this. (But wouldn't it be cool if I did?)
Summary: Harry tries to convince Cedric to quit the tournament for his own safety.
Author's Note: So, this story is written for HarricIsLife and is WAY overdo. It's a short one but I've had this conversation on my mind for a while. Still taking requests so if you have a couple you're into, shoot me a message!
-x-
"There you are!" Cedric beamed room behind his desk. Harry closed the door to Cedric's otherwise empty dormitory. "Where have you been?"
"I was with Dumbledore." Harry felt his heart break when Cedric smiled at him. "He… he showed me what the Death Eaters are planning."
Cedric's face dropped. He jumped up from his chair and inspected Harry like he was a child who had fallen. "Are you alright?" Harry nodded. "Okay… good." With a deep breath, he took a step back. "So, what are we going to do?"
Harry looked away. "There is no we this time. There's only me."
Cedric looked confused. "You're kidding, right?"
"No… I'm not." Harry paced the room. "I never thought this-" he motioned to the two of them, "-would ever happen but… I couldn't stop myself from being with you. Even though I knew there was a chance you'd get hurt, I did it anyway. So stupid." Harry kicked the side of Cedric's bed.
"Hey..." Cedric used his most comforting tone. "Who says I'm going to get hurt? Whatever is going on, we can figure it out."
"There's nothing to figure out!" Harry's annoyance was building. "Dumbledore thinks the Death Eaters going to use the last task as the stage for their next attack!" Harry gulped. "So… I need you to drop out of the tournament."
Cedric froze. "I'm sorry, Harry. But, you know I can't do that."
Harry hadn't expected his boyfriend to relent so easily but it was infuriating none-the-less. "Why not? Aren't you listening to me?" Harry's head was swimming. He couldn't lose Cedric, he wouldn't lose Cedric. Too many things had been taken from him already. "The Death Eaters are targeting the tasks. If you go out there, you could die."
"And if I don't go, they win."
"It doesn't work like that! Not this time! You don't know what it's like, what they're capable of! We win when we live to fight another day."
"But you're still going to go?"
Harry sighed. "If there is an attack, I have to be there to stop it."
"Then how can you ask me not to take the same risk for you?"
"I have to go into that maze because it's my responsibility, it has been since that bastard put this scar on my forehead. But this isn't your fight, and I couldn't live with myself if you were caught in the crossfire."
To his surprise, Cedric smiled. "I'm not defenseless, Harry." He closed the distance between them. "You have it in your head that you're the only one who knows to survive. I'm not going to let you go in alone."
Harry grunted in frustration. "Cedric, please..." Cedric ran his hands up Harry's chest. Harry tried to push him away. "I've already lost my parents." Cedric took Harry's face between his hands but he wouldn't look in Cedric's eyes. "I can't lose you, too."
"But I'm not going anywhere." Cedric pressed their foreheads together. "You need to trust that everything is going to work out in the end, alright?"
Harry's eyes brimmed with tears but he held them back and pulled Cedric into a desperate kiss. "Please don't go." He whispered when they'd pulled apart.
"Harry… I love you. Not the Boy Who Lived. Not the Seeker. Not the Hogwarts champion. You. I know you feel you have a responsibility to try and stop the evil in the world but what the world asks of you isn't fair, and you don't owe them a thing. But, if you are going to insist on being brave and stupid, at least let me help you carry the weight. You aren't alone anymore."
"And if something happens to you?"
Cedric chuckled and put on his golden boy smile. "If something happens to me, then there's no one I'd rather be with when it does."
-x-
Author's Note: Don't forget, I work for comments! : )