A/N: I am so incredibly sorry for not updating this sooner! To be honest, I completely forgot about the whole thing until last night and I wrote a quick chapter in an effort to make up for it.
Chapter Two: Interruptions
Harry woke up with a shout. He hastily put on his glasses and was pleased, and slightly irritated his terrors didn't alert his friend, to find that Ron was still sound asleep with globs of drool running down his mouth. He had had another disturbing dream about the night Voldemort murdered his parents and decided, with great eager; a trip to the kitchens would take his mind off of things. Not bothering to be quiet, as Ron could sleep through a war; Harry slipped on his invisibility cloak and departed the room with the door making a soft click in his wake.
He cast Lumos and let his feet carry him to the kitchens while he thought about last night's encounters. What had Hermione and Tonks been up to talking about Cedric like that? And for that matter, why was Harry concerned as to whether or not the two witches had a crush on the Hufflepuff? Cedric was an attractive bloke, one of the fittest in the school. He had never been interested in Cedric, but he could certainly see the appeal.
Harry's internal musings were halted by his sudden arrival at the kitchen's entrance. "Harry Potter, back again!" Dobby greeted him excitedly.
He removed his invisibility cloak and shook the elf's hand firmly. "I hadn't taken off my cloak, how'd you know it was me?"
Dobby gave him a bright smile. "Your feet are visible sir, better cover them up next time," he then winked at Harry who laughed sheepishly. "First visitor of the night, is there anything Harry Potter requests, sir?"
Harry followed him into the kitchens and was barraged with greetings of various kinds reverberating around the room from the other elves. "I'd like to try a raspberry scone if that's alright."
He wasn't all too surprised to hear an amused voice cut across the clatter coming from the house-elves. "I doubt they'd refuse the great Harry Potter," Cedric met Harry's smile and continued to speak "Trying my usual, eh?"
Harry looked sheepish and swallowed the bit of pastry he had in his mouth. "You'd be surprised; I hardly ever get my way."
Cedric thanked Dobby who handed him a rather large amount of raspberry scones and crossed the room to the place where Harry was standing. "I have a hard time believing people could ever refuse you," he leaned in so that his mouth was barely inches away from Harry's own.
"Uh," was the only intelligible response Harry could come up with. Why was Cedric so incredibly close to him? And most puzzling yet, why was Harry okay with the whole situation?
"Wotcher, 'arry."
Cedric jumped back from Harry looking more than a little disappointed. "Tonks," he greeted a bit coldly "what're you doing here so soon?"
Tonks, who didn't seem to notice her unwanted presence, strode over to the pair of boys and shrugged. "Saw a pair of feet roaming the halls and thought it a bit suspicious. 'Course I knew it was 'arry." She gave the aforementioned boy a wink and picked a biscuit up off a tray. "What're you two talking about?"
Cedric, still standing millimeters away from Harry, turned red and coughed indignantly. "He was telling me how he didn't think anyone could refuse me." Harry hadn't realized how the phrase sounded until he had uttered it himself.
Cedric looked mortified at Tonks, who had bitten into her biscuit only to have it fall out of her mouth at the information. Her surprise slowly morphed into a sultry smile that widened as she took in both red faced boy's expressions. "Right…Well I'll be heading off then." She had the audacity to throw a wink over her shoulder as she sauntered off.
"Uh," Harry said once again.
Cedric turned his attention back to its previous owner. Once again, although slightly more tentatively, he leaned close enough to Harry so that his every breath tickled the hairs on the latter's neck. "Like I told you," he said softly "I find it hard to resist you."
Third time was the charm when "Uh," came out of Harry's mouth instead of; 'You said refuse.' Although the soft pair of lips that greeted his was enough to make him forget about specifics.
The two stood locked in a soft kiss that lasted all of three seconds before a very discernable voice cleared his throat. Harry broke away, more than slightly dazed from the previous osculation, and barely had the decency to look ashamed as Albus Dumbledore gave the two boys an admonishing look.
"For both your sakes," the Headmaster said lightly "I'm going to assume young mister Diggory was simply crushing a bug off your lips Harry," his mouth quirked into a smile "because his hands were too tied up with the pastries he was carrying. I will also assume that he didn't tell you so you yourself could crush this 'bug' in means not to startle you."
Cedric, not having much experience with Dumbledore's odd sense of humor and understanding, looked confounded and spoke hastily. "I'm very sorry sir, it won't happen again I-" Dumbledore held up a hand to silence him.
"My dear boy, like I said; you were only helping out a friend, no need to apologize. Alas, I shall be taking my leave as I realize I forgot to catch up to Miss Tonks and relay some information to her. Forgive me boys; good night." Dumbledore divulged in taking a few dashing dandies before heading off sending a knowing smile in Harry's direction.
Cedric had barley recovered from the whole encounter when Harry decided now would be a good time to regain his ability to speak. "You kissed me," he said it neither sounding enthused or upset; merely stating a fact.
"I kissed you." Cedric didn't know what he had been thinking when he did that, except that the sweet crumbs left on Harry's lips made it much harder for him to resist his impulse to kiss him.
"It was nice," Harry said with a smile. "Rather unfortunate that this place seems to be the traffic center for interruptions."
Cedric let out a sigh of relief. Harry wasn't mad at him. Harry even said it was nice. Wait; only nice? "Not fantastic, amazing, perfect?" he asked with a smirk.
Harry bit his lip and shrugged. "I don't have anything to compare it to, so I'll leave it as nice. Don't want you to get too big of a head, eh?"
Cedric felt himself become unceremoniously giddy as he moved closer to Harry once again. "I was your first kiss?" He nodded. "If I'm being quite honest, that makes me incredibly happy and a bit relieved."
"Relieved?" Harry repeated.
"As shocking as I know it may be," he laughed "you were mine as well. Don't know how I finally worked up the courage to snog you though." He nervously set down the tray of forgotten scones, took Harry's hand and started fiddling with his fingers.
"Finally, been fancying me from a far have you?" Harry joked. He supposed a normal person might be uncomfortable with the amount of contact a boy they had hardly ever talked to. However, being a rather abnormal boy himself, Harry relished in the feeling of the small circles Cedric was drawing into his palms.
"Frankly, yes I have. Yesterday I was quite happy to find you in the kitchens. I secretly hoped you would appear once more tonight, and you indeed did not disappoint." He had never expected to tell Harry this, but the effect the boy's green eyes had on him made Cedric want to tell him every secret he ever had.
"Well, if I'm being honest I had never taken a fancy to you." Harry hurried on when Cedric's face dropped and the circular motions on his hands came to a halt. "However, I had always thought you to be one of the most attractive blokes in the school. And you do you have a certain charm about you."
Cedric resumed his invisible drawings and smiled cockily. "So you just think of me as a piece of meat? I guess I'll have to change that," he looked into Harry's eyes and added hopefully "if you'll let me."
Harry was going to respond until a loud clatter resounded across the kitchen. The two of them, no longer surprised to be interrupted, found an extremely embarrassed Hermione hurrying to pick up the bowls she had knocked off a nearby counter. The house-elves shooed her away, assuring her that they would pick up the mess. "Hermione, how're you?" Harry asked with a laugh.
"I'm fine, although it looks as if you're doing a bit better than me." Her eyes drifted to her friend's hands. "Very adorable boys," she commented.
Harry and Cedric smiled. "Suppose you're not having much luck with Weasley yet?"
Hermione flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet. "How do you know about that?" she demanded.
Cedric laughed and said "I'm afraid to tell you, but the only person in the entire school that doesn't know about it is Ron himself."
Hermione sighed while Harry sniggered. "Oh it's true isn't it? He's an awfully daft man sometimes." She brightened up as she said "Although I am quite happy to see Harry with someone. Shut out those awful rumors about him and me."
Harry nodded in agreement and sighed when he noticed the time. "I'm sorry Cedric, but it's nearly three and I'd like at least two hours of sleep before class tomorrow." He gave the Hufflepuff a smile, pleading for him to understand.
Cedric, who couldn't be happier at the current moment, smiled back at Harry and said "Of course, I'll let you and Hermione go off."
Relieved, Harry gave him a quick snog and strode off to the door where Hermione was waiting looking on at the scene with a grin on her face. "Harry," Cedric called as he was almost out the door.
"Yeah?" He turned back to see Cedric giving him a hopeful smile.
"Same time tomorrow?"
"It's a date." And the two boys went to sleep already waiting for the next night.
