Chapter 2: Think About It
HPCD
After some basic sleuthing, I managed to come up with a list of the most eligible male students in the school, and I'm surprised to see Cedric Diggory at the top. I'm even more surprised that I'm in the top five, along with Malfoy, this Roger guy from Ravenclaw, and Seamus. Seamus! I'll be damned.
I've never really noticed Cedric before, to be honest. I've only ever taken note of his extraordinary flying skills.
Whenever he's on a broom, I could never tell whether he was flying or gliding effortlessly through the wind. He's such a natural, especially at catching the Snitch.
Come to think of it, I've actually played with him a couple of times without really knowing it. All those Hufflepuff-Gryffindor games and not a single exchange of words or anything. It's quite sad, actually. Makes me think I'm not that engaging a conversationalist.
One of the other things I uncovered about Cedric was that he had an obsessive stalker in his midst. Colin Creevey. It was harmless, really, but the way Colin talked about Cedric, and the numerous, scandalous pictures of the Hufflepuff made me think that there might be something potentially illegal to it.
Throughout the week I've seen the small Gryffindor badger (haha, Hufflepuff joke) Cedric whenever their free times coincided. It was rather noble, how Cedric acted as considerate as possible in letting Colin know he's not interested, and quite bluntly straight, but I don't think polite and passive would cut it.
Aside from the Gryffindor creep, I've noticed that a lot of the female student population tended to throw themselves at his feet, and that he'd never given anyone the chance, under the alleged reason that he's looking for the right person.
Of course, the way he worded it, every other guy who's interested in him, along with the long line of girls waiting to kiss his footsteps, just made it even harder for him to get any peace.
Despite all that, Colin still managed to be the top offender, and it got to a point where I could see the irritation in Cedric's pleasantly fake smile whenever they interacted.
It's during lunch when I get chances to blatantly ogle him without anyone getting suspicious. Throughout the week I would sit facing the rest of the hall, close, but not quite, to the spot where Cedric and his year sat. Then, I would manipulate Hermione and Ron into sitting where my line of vision hits him, and then I would be set.
His hair isn't quite brown, yet not really blonde. It's a sort of caramel, woodsy color, and it's stylishly messy. Makes me envy him somewhat, since I can't really change my hair style, except maybe if I decide one day to be a cue ball. It's very effortlessly there, like the smallest of breezes would make its gentle waves cascade down to his face. I hate it.
His face seemed to be perfectly locked in a contemplative expression, like he's thinking hard about whatever it is he's currently looking at. His eyes are round and deep blue, too hard to stare at if they ever stare right back, and his nose is straight and perfectly shaped.
I don't know why, but whenever I watched him during lunch I seem less and less significant, and see him more as some sort of otherworldly creature. Sometimes I think he has some Veela in him, or some other magical folk blood, but that couldn't be the case.
And then, in class, I'd pay less attention to the lesson, and would often get scolded for not focusing. I found myself thinking whether Cedric was good at Defense Against the Dark Arts like he was in Quidditch, because then we'd have something in common.
I'd think about him snoozing at the side of the History classroom while Mr. Binns droned on about the goblin wars, or brewing a complicated Potion in the labs, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the collar of his school shirt unbuttoned at the very top.
That one I actually thought of during an actual Potions class, which was a bad idea. I actually apologized to my fellow Gryffindors for losing the house that many points in one class, just because of 'staring blankly and ineptly into space' as Snape put it. I promised to make up for it by reciting in other classes, but I find myself caring less and less about schoolwork, and more and more about Cedric.
The first thought that occurred to me was that I didn't want to be like Colin, whom I knew Cedric secretly despised. If I ever turned into such a nuisance I would flay myself. But then I realized that it was just a healthy, happy crush. There's no harm in having crushes. It's part of teenage-hood, or at least, that's what I hear from those girls in Gryffindor.
But then, I think, what the bloody hell led to this thing I have for Cedric? I mean, I'm sure it's nothing. He's never going to be interested in me. I think that's what's stopping me from pushing any of this further. He's gorgeous, yes, and quite fit. But I'm usually not that shallow.
I remember liking this guy from Ravenclaw because he seemed like he didn't give a flying fuck. He wasn't particularly handsome or funny, but the way he carried himself was so … so devil-may-cry, and he was devilishly smart and witty.
Come to think of it, Cedric's all of those things, but yes, I'm not going to delve on it, because I don't want to expect something that wouldn't, couldn't happen at all. And besides, Cedric's too nice and Hufflepuff-y to be compared to that guy.
Next week came, and soon, the first Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match. I was hyperaware that I was going to be playing with Cedric during this match, and I didn't want to look like a bumbling idiot if he ever decides to engage in some Seeker wordplay. I was sincerely hoping he would be less douchey and immature with his remarks as compared to Malfoy, so that we could at least have a playful, harmless exchange.
It turns out that he's quite fun to talk to when he's in game. Both of us were distracted as we look for the Snitch, but I could tell he didn't want to stop talking to me, just as much as I didn't want to stop talking to him. It had been long since I'd talked to him in the Great Hall last time, and I kept berating myself for not doing so sooner.
"Nice weather, Potter," he said amicably, hovering weightlessly in heavy Quidditch gear. It's amazing how he could get that much speed, despite his tall figure. His eyes darted from one end of the field to another, looking for that same golden glint I was searching for.
"Yeahp," I said, breathless as always whenever I'm in the zone. We don't make eye contact at all. "Perfect for kicking some badger butt."
He laughed. "I was talking about how windy it is. Your hair's definitely caught the drift."
"Hey! I don't take it on your over-coiffed locks, Diggory!"
"Call me Cedric. It's a syllable less. And my 'over-coiffed locks' trumps your 'street urchin do' any day."
"As if! My hair could whoop your ass any day!"
He smiled, one of those dazzling, disarming ones which caught me off-guard. "We'll see about that," he said, and it took me three seconds to register that he had zoomed past me.
"And Diggory's got a lock on the Snitch!" cried Lee Jordan over the excited crowd. I swore a plethora of curse words that would make the Dark Lord proud, and darted after him in a flash. He was gaining speed at around the same rate as I was, and it was hard to reach him. The Snitch was not far ahead, and Cedric's face was glued to it in concentration. I didn't know why, but I somehow found the time to look at how beautiful his face was, all scrunched up in determination and focus, that I almost lose concentration.
Shaking myself out of my reverie, I shot for the Snitch with much more conviction. I closed the distance in, and a few side-darts from the Snitch and I manage to reach Cedric.
"Not gonna get it this time, Harry!" he said, laughter trailing behind him as he got ever closer to the Snitch. His calling me by my first name had caused me to stagger. His palm was inches away from the Snitch, and I lost all hope when he snatched it from the air like a hawk.
Not ten minutes from then and I'm in the Quidditch locker rooms, getting sympathetic pats on the back for not catching the Snitch this time. It was certainly big news that Harry Potter didn't push the Gryffindor team to victory, and I found it quite a blow to the gut. I don't mean to be boastful about it, but Quidditch was actually one of the few things I actually took pride in, and to have that glory taken away from me like that was, well, it just sucked.
As if I wasn't miserable enough, a couple of Slytherins passed by the small corridor outside the locker rooms, herded by Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, chanting some inane, uninventive cheer about 'Potty' and the 'Gryffindorks'. Usually it doesn't bother me, so it came to me as a surprise when I took it as a serious blow.
I honestly wanted to cry. Screw what everyone thinks, or that stupid Gryffindor pride every Gryffindor's supposedly made of. I'm really a sore loser.
"Hey."
I look after a few seconds of trying to keep my composure in check, and then blink in surprise when I see Cedric. Both of us seemed to have not bothered getting out of our Quidditch outfits yet.
Cedric was grinning. Why wouldn't he be, anyway? He won the fucking Snitch from the Boy-Who-Lived.
"So," he started, but I cut him right off.
"Look, if you came here to gloat—"I started, but he went on.
"I didn't," he said, his grin going down to a gentle smile. "Nah, I'm just joking. I won."
I stared at him for a moment, trying my best not to glare because I actually like him and he's smiling at me, which isn't so bad.
"And?" I said, deadpanning. I really didn't want him in the same room as me right now. I was that close to hexing his balls off.
"Well, I wanted to make it up to you for letting me win," he said cheekily.
"What … I didn't let you win, Diggory, if anything you beat me fair and sq—"
"Harry, I'm gay."
HPCD