Chapter 2: Snake in the Garden
Harry and Joseph hadn't discussed anything yet since Harry was afraid someone might hear them. Joseph told Harry he'd look for a private place and owl him the details. Hermione had asked how things went the next day at breakfast and Harry told her everything before thanking her for introducing him, but he still felt bad. He wanted to tell Hermione the truth, but he just wasn't sure how his friend would react. "When you're ready, you can tell me." She kept saying and it only made Harry feel worse. The raven was reading up for his History of Magic class when a folded paper landed on his book. He unfolded the paper and it said;
Meet me at the library immediately after you finish dinner
-J.D.
Harry turned and saw Joseph walking towards the Great Hall's doors. He turned and glanced at Harry, who nodded and smiled. When Harry looked at the Hufflepuff table, he saw that Cedric wasn't smiling or looking at him. Following his gaze, Harry saw that the brunette was looking at the Slytherin who had just left him a message.
"Hermione, can you cover for me with Ron later?" He asked and showed her the note. She nodded and the three walked towards their Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
"I can't believe Snape substituted for Lupin again." Ron complained. "If this keeps up, we'll have him for two classes, which means double the points lost for Gryffindor per week."
"You should've taken Arithmancy with me Ron." Hermione said jokingly and Harry chuckled while Ron rolled his eyes. Just as they turned the corner, the trio bumped into someone and they fell back.
"Well, look who's as clumsy as they are untalented." A familiar annoying voice said.
Harry looked up to see Draco Malfoy smirking down at him with Crabbe and Goyle at his side.
"Say what you will Malfoy. I'm not the one making excuses so other people will have to do my work." Harry spat back. "Like father like son I guess."
"How dare you." Draco said and pulled out his wand.
Harry saw Cedric from the corner of his eye approaching them but before he got there, someone else had cut in.
"Draco, you really shouldn't stress yourself over this lot." Joseph's quiet voice said and, surprisingly, made the blonde lower his wand. "Besides, you need to get to Madame Pomfrey for your weekly diagnostic."
"You three are lucky I'm in a forgiving mood today." Draco said before turning on his heel.
While Ron glared at the person who just helped him, Harry and Hermione gave Joseph thankful smiles, who nodded before turning to follow Draco and his goons.
"Hey, you guys alright?" Cedric asked when he got there.
"Yes we're fine, just Malfoy being Malfoy." Hermione said with a smile. "Ron, could you come with me? I need some help for an extra credit paper on Quidditch for History of Magic."
Harry looked suspiciously at her, wondering if she knew, while Ron smiled, glad that Hermione asked him. Harry and Cedric were now walking together towards the Great Hall for dinner. The scene with Malfoy made them late, so they were the only two in the corridor.
"So, how've you been lately?" Cedric asked.
"I've been fine, though the work that stacked up while I was in the Hospital Wing has been hell." Harry replied, and smiled when he heard Cedric chuckle.
"If you're free after dinner, maybe we could hang out?" Cedric asked and Harry wanted to say yes so bad, but he decided to get advice first before getting too close to the Hufflepuff.
"Sorry, but I'm going to the library to reduce my workload." He said, hiding his disappointment.
"I'll come with you and help. You'll get done in no time." The brunette stated.
"Thank you, but Hermione's been encouraging me to work on my own." Harry lied. "She's afraid I might get too dependent on others." Cedric nodded and a flat line had replaced the smile on his lips.
"I'm surprised Malfoy backed down." He said. "He usually never does that unless it's a teacher. That guy must be something special."
"Yeah, he is. Although he spoke about Malfoy as if they were closer than just housemates." Harry said, making the taller teen glance at him.
"You know this guy?" Cedric asked.
"He was a friend of Hermione's long before. She just introduced us to each other recently." The Gryffindor said and he saw that they'd arrived at the Great Hall. "Well, see you around Cedric." Harry gave a smile to Cedric but much to his disappointment, the brunette just nodded and headed for the Hufflepuff table, no smile or wink.
Harry sat on his place and stared at the Hufflepuff table. Cedric didn't smile for most of the evening; he would laugh when someone told him a joke or give a small fake smile to his friends. The worst part about it was that he hadn't looked at Harry, not even once. He kept his gaze down at his plate and it killed the Gryffindor. One of the things he loved during mealtimes was that he would look at Cedric and see his beautiful and happy grey eyes staring at him. Harry sighed and stood.
"Harry, you've barely touched your food." Hermione called out to which Harry just shrugged and headed for the library, not knowing that the grey eyes he'd wanted to see all night finally looked at him.
"You're early." A quiet voice said and Harry looked up to see Joseph.
"I finished my dinner quickly." He lied.
The Slytherin gestured Harry to follow him and they walked until they stopped in front of a large portrait of Merlin in a huge library.
"What is the one good?" The Merlin in the portrait asked.
"Knowledge." Joseph said in reply.
"And the one evil?" Merlin immediately asked.
"Ignorance." Joseph replied.
Suddenly, a portion of the wall beside the painting had become a door. The two entered and went down a spiral staircase until they reached a circular room with several desks, a large fireplace with a couch and lounge chairs in front of it.
"What is this place?" Harry asked.
"A private room in the library." Joseph replied. "Most of the time, only teachers and students with permission from their Heads can use this room, but Madame Pince has allowed me full access since she and my mother were close when they studied here. Plus, she appreciates the help in silencing noisy students."
They approached the couch and Harry saw that there was food on the coffee table. It was the food from dinner and a slice of Treacle tart, Harry's favourite.
"Eat." Joseph said as he sat on one of the chairs.
"But I already ate." Harry replied and the Slytherin just smirked at him.
"It's cute when you Gryffindors think you can lie to a Slytherin." He said. "I watched you the entire time at the Hall. Your friends were there before you and before you entered, Diggory came in with a frown on his face. You came in and kept looking at him and since you didn't look or act like a fourteen year-old girl who just got asked to the ball by her crush, I assume something happened or you said something that must've peeved him off."
Harry stared, his mouth slightly open in awe.
"Cold, calculating, and harsh." Joseph repeated the words he said to Harry the night they met. "Eat, then we'll talk about it.
Cedric just had finished walking around the entire library for the second time that night and he hadn't spotted Harry not even once. He felt bad about ignoring him the entire evening, even more so when he saw the Gryffindor leave and overhearing that he hadn't eaten a thing. Harry told him that he would be in the library after dinner, but he was nowhere to be found.
Why would Harry lie to me? Cedric asked himself then frowned. Maybe he's with his special Slytherin friend. He sat at one of the tables and rubbed his face. Get a grip of yourself, Cedric. It's not like you two are together and by being a jerk to him, you'll just ruin any chance of becoming his friend.
He sighed and didn't notice someone sit across him.
"You know if you worry too much, you'll get frown lines." A sweet voice said and Cedric saw that it was Cho and smiled.
"Well, at least I'm not some Nosey Nelly who takes pride in butting into people's lives." The male said.
"But you love it when I butt in." Cho said with a pout before chuckling.
Cho was the only person Cedric had told about his sexuality. They dated for a while, but there was no spark between them and when Cho asked what the problem was, Cedric confessed everything to her. Luckily for the brunette, Cho was understanding and has been extremely supportive. Cedric told her everything that had happened that day.
"Well, Harry's very friendly to everyone he meets, with the exception of Malfoy of course." Cho said thoughtfully.
"So do you think I overreacted?" Her friend asked.
"Yes Cedric Diggory, you overreacted." She replied and Cedric sighed. "He told you that this guy was a friend of Hermione's and that she had just introduced the two of them recently." She moved to sit beside her friend, who now had his face in his hands. "It's alright Ced, you'll be able to apologize soon enough. I doubt Harry's the kind of person to hold a grudge over something like this."
Cedric nodded and thanked his friend before leaving to do his rounds.
Harry had just finished explaining to Joseph what had happened between him and Cedric that day. When he was finished, he asked the other male what was wrong, and Joseph replied that he needed more information. He lied, he knew what was wrong; Cedric Diggory was jealous, but he wouldn't tell Harry that, not just yet. He brought out a small vial with navy blue liquid.
"You will drink this potion, which will make you enter your mind." Joseph explained. "I will then follow and take control of what you see. I want to test you on something before we can proceed."
Harry opened the vial and downed it.
"Legilimens." Joseph said as he pointed his wand at Harry.
Harry opened his eyes to see that he was surrounded by nothing except shadows. There was a cracking sound and he turned to see Joseph.
"What are we going to do now?" Harry asked.
"You are fully aware of what you feel, think and see." Joseph pointed out. "I will make you see things that will test you."
"Test me on what?" Harry asked but the Slytherin had disappeared. The shadows around him began to shift and swirl. "What if he just went that night to apologize and nothing more?"
Joseph's voice echoed and the shadows dissipated. Harry was now watching the memory of Cedric visiting him in the Hospital Wing, but something was different; there were no cards or sweets on the nightstand. Harry heard the older boy apologize and when Harry told him it was alright, he just left, no smile or wink, they didn't talk about Quidditch or the dementors. There was a pain in Harry's chest and the shadows appeared again.
"What if he didn't look at you? Didn't smile at you? What if he just ignored you?" Joseph's voice echoed and again, the shadows were gone, showing the memories of when Harry was at the Great Hall and when he passed the Hufflepuff in the corridor. Cedric didn't look up at him during meals nor did he smile at him when they passed each other. The scene shifted to when they bumped into Malfoy earlier that night. After Cedric had asked what was wrong, he left without another word. The pain in Harry's chest grew more and more.
"Would you be willing to give everything for him?" The area darkened and several steps away from him, Cedric was laying on the ground. Harry wanted to run to him but felt a sudden chill, a feeling of dread. Then he saw it, a dementor was making its way towards Cedric. Harry wanted to move, but fear kept him rooted on the spot. The dementor was now hovering above Cedric. Harry screamed, brought out his wand and shot spells at the dementor, but they proved ineffective. It was now giving the older boy the Kiss and Harry fell to his knees. He opened his eyes to see he was back in the secret room in the library.
"Go ahead, jinx me if you want." Joseph said and Harry saw that the Slytherin was sitting beside him. "It wouldn't be the first time."
Harry felt the tears on his cheeks and immediately wiped them away. The two stayed quiet for a while.
"What was the point of all that?" Harry asked after some time.
"The memories that I used, which I altered, was to see what reaction you would have to them, and you gave the right one." Joseph explained. "The one with the dementor was to see if you truly loved Cedric, and you showed me that you didn't." Harry gave him a questioning look. "If your fear for your own safety trumps your love for someone, you don't truly love them. As I have seen and observed, the people who get into relationships with whom they don't truly love, they end up with broken hearts. You should understand that until you do truly love Cedric, we won't be able to continue."
Harry nodded and Joseph stood and took his bag. He looked at the Gryffindor, who was still shaking slightly, and brought out a vial with light blue liquid and handed it to Harry.
"Don't worry, it's just Calming Draught." He explained and Harry downed it. "Come on, I'll walk you to your dorm."
Harry was glad there was still a lot of time before curfew, so he didn't have to rush. What he had seen scared him more than anything.
"What's your relationship with Malfoy?" He asked, trying to distract himself. "You two seem closer than housemates. And he lowered his wand after you said something to him. No one other than the teachers can get him to back down, not even the prefects."
Harry glanced at the Slytherin and noticed that he was tall, shorter than Cedric, but still taller than the people in their year.
"We have a…professional relationship." Joseph replied and Harry gave him a confused look. "My grandfather, Magnus Duskgem, and his grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy, were close friends during and even beyond school. They helped each other in every way possible. Before Abraxas died, he hoped that our families would be as close and loyal to each other as the two of them were."
"And that still goes on until now? What if the Malfoy you're with in school is a git?" Harry asked and Joseph cracked a small smile.
"My father may not have agreed with some of Lucius Malfoy's…life choices, but he remained a true and loyal friend until now. As is with me; Draco may be a handful sometimes, but he's not that bad once you get to know him."
Harry tried to imagine a Draco Malfoy that was easy to live with, but was impossible for him.
Cedric had just finished his rounds and was on his way back to his dorm when he heard a laugh that he knew belonged to Harry. He peeked his head out of the corridor he was in and saw the raven walking down the staircases with a smile on his face. That smile made Cedric's heart melt countless of times before and tonight was no exception. He was about to go and talk to the younger teen when he noticed the other person with him. It was the Slytherin that had left Harry the note in the Great Hall earlier that morning, the one that got Draco Malfoy to lower his wand, and the one Harry had spoken so fondly about. He knew that it was nothing and he shouldn't get worked up, but the jealousy he felt was hard to control. Harry was nearing the portrait of the Fat Lady and Cedric knew he might not get a chance to talk to him again. He walked out of the corridor and descended the staircases.
"Good night Harry, see you soon." He heard the Slytherin say and it took all of his willpower not to hex him.
"Cedric?" Harry said as he looked up the prefect.
"Oh, hey Harry." Cedric replied. "Just finished my rounds. Off to bed?"
Harry nodded and then looked away. Cedric's insides twisted and hurt, he wanted those green eyes to look at him, and only at him.
"Hey Harry, it's a Hogsmeade weekend next week. You want to hang out then?" He asked and saw the other boy frown.
"I'd love to, but my relatives didn't sign my permission slip." Harry said with a sigh.
"Well, I hear you have a knack for getting past the rules." Cedric said and smiled mischievously when the Gryffindor looked at him. "If you do get into Hogsmeade and want to hang out, I'll most likely be at the Three Broomsticks."
Harry smiled at the older boy and Cedric ruffled the raven's hair and gave him a wink before heading for his dormitory.
