Title: Harry Potter and the Love of a Lifetime
Author: bloodyromance647
Rating: T
Genre: Romance
Ship: HP/CD
Summary: Alternate ending to GoF. Harry saves Cedric from the Killing Curse. How will this affect their lives? Books retold with Cedric inserted in them, so canon events may be tweaked. This story is AU.
Disclaimer: I own only the plot; the rest belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling.
A/N: "New Beginnings" is an awesome song by Finch and it definitely fit as a title. I'm probably going to be using song titles for my chapter titles, so keep in mind that I don't own any of them. I strongly encourage you to check out all the bands I mention. But anyways, onto the story!
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Chapter One: New Beginnings
It was a normal, quiet morning at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place when a sudden interruption almost made Harry fall out of his bed.
"Harry, Ron, wake up!" yelled Hermione, opening the bedroom door and jumping up and down excitedly.
Harry groaned. Ron snored.
"Harry, Ron, you'll never guess who's here!" Hermione continued. After getting no response she said, slightly deflated, "Come on, you're not curious at all?"
Sitting up slowly, yawning, Harry said, "Mmph, Hermione… its eight o'clock in the bloody morning. What's so important that you felt the need to wake up the whole bloody house?" He sighed. "Fine, I'll get up, but it better be worth it."
Hermione grinned and gave him a quick hug, saying, "Good! You might want to get a quick shower before you come down though," as she left the room.
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After a brief shower, Harry raced down the stairs, letting curiosity get the best of him. It's probably Snape again or something, he thought. He couldn't see why that would get Hermione excited, though, but he couldn't think of anyone else that would be at the Order.
Walking slowly into the kitchen, he noticed that it seemed like half the order was crowded around the kitchen table, talking noisily to each other and, apparently, whoever the new person was. Hermione was a part of the crowd but as soon as she spotted Harry entering she rushed over to him eagerly, taking his hand.
"Come on, now that you're up you have to see who's here!" she exclaimed.
"Okay, Hermione, what's the big deal?" Harry demanded.
"Look!" she said, gesturing to the handsome young man sitting at the table.
Despite the weary expression on the young man's face and the numerous bleeding wounds scattered all over his body, Harry recognized him at once.
He was staring at the face of Cedric Diggory.
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When all the concerned, yet excited, Order members finally dispersed, Harry shyly walked up to Cedric, muttering, "Hi," not really sure what to say after what happened just a fortnight before.
"Hey, Harry. How've you been, mate?" said Cedric, looking Harry straight in the eye.
Mate? He's never called me that before, Harry thought before replying, "A--alright, I suppose, just kind of trying to stay occupied by cleaning the house and such. Um, w—what about you??"
"Pretty good," Cedric said, "considering I just got attacked by a couple of Death Eaters." He winked at Harry.
Stupid, stupid, stupid was the litany in Harry's head and he actually had to resist the urge to smack his forehead. He just got attacked, and here I am blathering on about cleaning the house. Stupid, stupid, stupid! But did he just…wink at me? "I'm so sorry, is your family okay, your house? Was anyone hurt? Is there anything I can do to help?" he said quickly, clearly trying to make up for his thickness.
"Whoa, slow down there, mate," Cedric chuckled. "Everyone's fine, my father got hit by the Cruciatus Curse and he's in hospital but they said he'll be okay. My mum's going to stay with him while he's there. The Death Eaters blasted our house and the Order was there to help us fight. We've decided to join the order."
"Really? I'm so sorry… I—I know what it's like to have to deal with something like that, but… at least your family's there beside you." Harry tried to smile but he was overwhelmed by the fact that Voldemort is already causing chaos. "I'm—I'm here if you need anything."
"Well, I think I do need something, actually," said Cedric. He looked warily at the approaching Mrs. Weasley, who was levitating several dishes of food for breakfast. "Can you meet me somewhere private after breakfast? Do you know of anywhere?"
"How about the upstairs drawing room? No one ever goes in there," Harry said uncertainly.
"Perfect."
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The next two hours were spent, for Harry, trying not to be nervous about what Cedric wanted Harry to help with. What could he possibly need my help with?, he thought. He's so confident and sure and I'm a nervous, blubbering dolt. At breakfast he pushed his food around idly, not really eating much and getting nervous twinges in his stomach every time he met Cedric's eyes across the table. Why am I acting like a first year about this? It's not like he wants to snog me or anything, we're both boys for Merlin's sake! He… doesn't want to snog me… right? Of course he doesn't, I must be mad for even thinking it!
Every time he tried not to think about it, it was just harder to get out of his head. He couldn't understand why he was making such a big deal out of this. I bet Cedric isn't nervous about it. He probably won't even show up, it's so unimportant…
"Harry," said Ron, making Harry jump. "Sorry, mate, didn't mean to scare you," he took a big bite of his eggs and continued, "bu' are you gon' ea' those?"
"Oh, um… n—no, Ron, you can have them," he replied, pushing the plate toward his friend. When Harry finally looked up he realized they were the only two at the table. His stomach plummeted. "Wh—what time is it?!" He jumped out of his seat, not pausing for an answer, and ran as fast as he could upstairs to the drawing room.
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Cedric was sprawled out on one of the couches upstairs, wondering why Harry wasn't here yet. He'd been up here for almost half an hour waiting for him. He should be done breakfast by now, right? Maybe he's not going to show up, he thought, wondering whether he should be relieved or worried if he didn't show.
Cedric wasn't even sure exactly what he wanted Harry to help him with. All Cedric knew was that Harry saved his life and, if anything, Cedric actually owed Harry and not the other way around. He had been thinking about Harry saving his life constantly since school ended. He didn't have a chance to see Harry again before they left; Cho and all of Cedric's friends were constantly suffocating him to the point where he couldn't even go to the loo by himself. It's almost as if they expected him to die the second he was left unattended.
And then this morning the Order wouldn't leave him alone about the attack. He knew the attack was significant not only because Cedric was a target now, but also because it was the first attack since Voldemort had been resurrected.
All Cedric wanted was someone who wouldn't suffocate him. Or at least someone he wouldn't mind suffocating him.
All of his thoughts were interrupted, as well as the quiet, when the door burst open.
Harry came running in, out of breath. "I'm—so—sorry," he panted, putting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "I was—just—thinking. Were you—waiting long?" he asked.
"Don't worry about it, Harry," Cedric said, smiling. "You're here now, right?"
"Yeah, I—I guess." Dumbfounded, Harry thought, No one's ever not been angry that I was late for something. He was relieved that Cedric wasn't upset.
"Now, didn't you say you could help me with something?" Cedric winked.
"Y—yes…" said Harry, his stomach giving a nervous twinge when Cedric winked at him. Stop that, he said to his stomach, knowing it wouldn't help.
"Well, I was thinking… I'm the one that owes you, mate. You saved my life. Anything you want me to do, just say the word. I can try, but I'll never be able to repay you for what you did," Cedric said, a sob coming out even though he tried to hold it in.
"Cedric, don't." Harry looked touched.
"I just… that was the nicest thing anyone's ever d—done for me. I… I can't bear it, thinking about what would've happened if I'd d—died," he sobbed, the tears flowing freely now.
"Cedric…"
They both moved forward simultaneously, each embracing the other as if they had been friends forever; each embracing the other as if they wouldn't live to see another day. Both of them now knew how precious and sacred life was, and each silently made a promise to himself to live life to the fullest and protect the other, no matter what the cost.
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A/N: Whew, first chapter done! I never realized how long it took to write a chapter. I'm pretty sure it took me almost 2 to write this one, and it's about 3 ½ pages long.
Keep in mind that this is a work in progress, and I'll post the chapters as I get them done. I might be an eager beaver and write another today, but if not then I'm booked for the next four days so don't expect anything until at least Tuesday, if even. I go to school 5 days a week and also work 5 days a week, so yeah. When I have a chance I'm going to try to write multiple chapters so that I can post them weekly and be ahead.
But I'd love to know what you guys think! Love it, hate it? Did I do a good job keeping everyone in character? Review, loves:)