Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first two chapters! It makes my day seeing your responses. Now, without further ado, here's chapter three!
Off My Radar
By heeha
Chapter 3
A week has passed since my encounter with Tom in the girls' bathroom. I haven't said a word to him since then, and if things go my way, it'll stay that way. After all, what am I supposed to say to him after that? He just made things unbelievably awkward between us with his actions and words. And I don't know how to deal with unbelievably awkward situations.
His last words to me in the bathroom have been at the forefront of my mind lately. What could Tom possibly do to make me his? Imperio me? While that is a possibility, I don't think he would do it. I wouldn't truly be his if he imperioed me. I'd only be his because he commanded me to be. And something tells me that that wouldn't be enough for him. When he said that I would be his back in the bathroom, his tone sounded as if he was promising to possess me completely. He wouldn't be able to do that by imperioing me. In order to possess me completely, he, at the very least, needs my devotion, if not my love. And he can only have my devotion if I choose to give it to him. It's not something that he can just take from me by force, nor is it something he can get by coercing me to give it to him.
Tom probably knows all of this already. He's one of the smartest, if not the smartest, students in school. If he's determined to have me, as he seems to be, then I'm sure he'll try to create a situation that entices me to pledge myself to him. That's the only way he could possibly hope to obtain me.
What kind of situation would lead me to pledge myself to him? I'm not too sure. But it'd probably have to be something significant. Something that would rock my core to the point where I'd want him to have me. I can't presently say I know of any situation that meets that criteria. I don't want any situation to meet that criteria.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think Tom's a bad guy. He absolutely deserves someone who will love him and be devoted to him. I'm just not so sure that someone should be me. I don't think I'm ready to give that much of myself to someone. To anyone.
Sigh. Why did he have to pick me? Out of all the people he could have, why does he want me? I'm not particularly special or anything. I'm not brilliant like Hermione, nor am I particularly attractive, like him. I'm just plain Harry. Sure, I may be good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, and sure, I may be a good Seeker, but that's about it with me. Nothing else really distinguishes me from everyone else.
...
Okay, so maybe that's a lie. There is one thing that also might distinguish me from everyone else. That thing is the fact that I don't covet him like practically everyone else in the school. I respect him, yes, and I may even admire him a little, but I've never really wanted him in particular. I've never really wanted anybody, to be honest.
Yes, I think that could be the reason why he wants to possess me. Because I'm one of the few people who don't desire him. It's the classic 'he wants me because he doesn't have me' case. Once he does have me, once I do desire him, he'll lose all interest in me and leave me. This means that I should never give myself to him, because he doesn't truly want me. He doesn't truly love me. But then again, if I don't give myself to him, he might not stop trying to claim me. So if I want to get this over with quickly, I should pretend to let him have me, and then wait until he gets bored of me and leaves me. But there's a problem with that.
In order for me to let him have me, I'd have to act as if I want him, as if I desire him. And I effectively screwed that up in the washroom. If I suddenly did a one-eighty and professed my love to him, I'm sure he'd get suspicious. Tom's no idiot. He'd know something is up in a heartbeat. I'm not sure what he'd do if he found out that I was playing him, and I'm not sure I want to know either. This leads me back to square one.
Ugh. All this thinking about Tom is giving me a headache. Wearily, I rub my temple to soothe the sudden pain. When the pain subsides, I check the time, noting that it is now ten o' clock in the morning. It's the weekend, so there are no classes today. Thank god. I don't know if I'd be able to concentrate in class when my head is currently filled with thoughts of Tom.
Getting out of bed, I go to the washroom, brush my teeth and wash my face, before going back to my bed and changing out of my pajamas. I head out of the room once I'm done, going down to the Gryffindor common room. I don't spot Ron nor Hermione in the common room, so I assume they're already in the Great Hall eating breakfast. I leave the Gryffindor common room and make my way towards the Great Hall.
Once I arrive, I head to the Gryffindor table and spot Ron and Hermione sitting somewhere in the middle of the table. Luckily, there's no one sitting across from them, so I plant myself there and begin piling food onto my plate.
"Morning, sleepy head," says Hermione, smiling at me.
"Morning," I reply absently, my attention mainly focused on putting some scrambled eggs onto my plate. After adding a bit of bacon and hash browns, I start eating my food.
"What do you guys want to do today? Even though the professors have piled it on, I don't feel like doing homework just yet," says Ron.
Hermione frowns. "The fact that they've piled it on means you should get to it even more. I finished all of it last night. It's not hard. It just takes some time to complete it."
Ron rolls his eyes. "Figures you'd be done already. Any chance we can copy off of you? Your homework is the best!" He flashes a grin at Hermione, whose frown morphs into a scowl.
"Don't be lazy!" she scolds. "Do your own work." She crosses her arms in front of her chest, signaling that she will be unyielding regarding this matter.
Ron sighs. "Well, it was worth a try. But I still don't feel like doing it. Fancy playing a game of wizard's chess, Harry?"
I shake my head. "No thanks. I think I'm gonna do a bit of flying after this. I haven't been on my broom since the last quidditch match."
Ron pouts. "Fine, be that way. I'll play wizard's chess with someone else."
I finish my breakfast and say goodbye to Hermione and Ron before heading back to my room. After grabbing my Firebolt, I make my way to the quidditch pitch. Immediately after I turn a corner, I spot Tom up ahead talking to someone. Quickly, before he has a chance to see me, I double back a bit and use an alternative route.
Phew. That was close. I'm not ready to face him again. I don't know if I'll ever be ready to face him again after our meeting in the washroom. So for now, I'm going to stick to avoiding him at all cost. It shouldn't be too hard to do. We are from different houses, after all.
After a few more minutes of walking, I finally arrive at the quidditch pitch. The sky is clear and sunny, and there's a slight breeze in the air. Altogether, pretty good conditions for flying.
I mount my broomstick and kick off from the ground. Once I'm high enough in the air, I start to do laps around the quidditch pitch. After my second lap, I pick up the pace, going twice as fast as my previous laps. In just a few minutes, I complete five laps around the pitch.
As I get started on my sixth lap, I notice someone on the ground, watching me. I can't tell who it is from my position in the air, so I fly lower and move closer to the person.
Cedric Diggory.
Abandoning my sixth lap attempt, I make my way towards him, dismounting from my broomstick once I reach him.
"Nice flying," says Cedric, his lips quirking up into a smile.
I flash him a smile in return. "Thanks. I didn't know I had an audience until now." Looking him over, I notice that he doesn't have a broomstick with him. That's odd. Why's he here, if not to fly?
I voice my question aloud, looking at him curiously.
"I was going to run a few laps around the pitch, but I got distracted when I saw you flying around," he replies. Oops. My bad.
"Sorry," I apologize, smiling sheepishly at him.
"Don't be. It's my own fault for getting distracted." His gaze slides to my broomstick. "That broomstick of yours is really fast. What model is it again?"
"It's a Firebolt. My godfather Sirius bought it for me." I hold out my broomstick to him. "Wanna go for a spin?"
Cedric shakes his head. "Not today. Maybe next time. I came here to run. Gotta keep myself in shape and all." He starts to stretch his body, raising an arm high above his head and leaning to the left. "You gonna continue to fly?"
"Nah. I've done enough laps around the pitch for today, and I don't want to distract you. The pitch is all yours now. Have fun." I start to move past him when suddenly, I feel a hand grab my wrist. I look down at the hold before looking up at Cedric's face. Why'd he stop me?
"Why don't you run with me?" he asks. "I could use a running partner for once."
My lips quirk upwards into a small smile. "I don't think I could keep up with you if we ran together. Your legs are longer than mine."
"I can go at your pace, if you'd like," he offers. "C'mon! It'll be good for you. When's the last time you ran?"
"I don't remember," I reply. "A long time ago, I guess."
"So that's all the more reason why you should run. Besides -" he smirks at me "- I'm not letting go until you say yes."
I let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll run with you. Just let me put my broom to the side."
"Okay." Cedric releases his hold on me.
I walk to the quidditch pitch entrance, leaning my broomstick against the wall beside it. After staring at it for a couple seconds to make sure it doesn't fall, I turn around and walk back to Cedric.
"You should start and set the pace," he says.
"How many laps are we doing?" I ask.
"As many as you can," he replies.
"Alright." I start running at a moderate pace for me. In a few seconds, Cedric is beside me, matching my speed.
We run together for what must be about half an hour before I finally stop where we started, unable to run anymore. Cedric stops a few steps in front of me. He turns around and walks to my side, a grin on his face.
"That was great!" he exclaims. "You have really good endurance, especially for someone who hasn't run in a long time." I thank him for the compliment through my heavy breathing.
God, I'm so tired. My legs are aching. I sit down where I stand, looking up at Cedric, who, aside from breathing a bit harder than normal, looks unfazed from our run.
"We should do this more often. It's much more pleasant to run with you." He sits down next to me, watching me as I breathe heavily from the exertion.
It takes me a few minutes before my breathing normalizes. Cedric remains quiet the whole time, just watching me catch my breath. A comfortable silence stretches between us.
"So," he finally says after a while, breaking the silence, "what are you gonna do after this?"
I shrug. "Dunno. Homework, I guess. I have a lot to do. What about you?"
"Ditto," he replies. Another smile forms on his face. "Wanna do homework together? We can help each other out."
I perk up at his invitation. "Sure, that would be great! After lunch in the library sound good?"
Cedric nods his head. "Sounds perfect. Meet me at the entrance, okay?"
"Alright." I finally get up from the ground. Cedric follows suit. Together, we head towards the entrance. I pause once we arrive, seeing a piece of parchment lying on the ground next to the entrance, my broomstick nowhere in sight. Frowning, I pick up the piece of parchment.
"Where's your broomstick?" asks Cedric.
"Dunno. I found this -" I hold up the piece of parchment "- in its spot."
"Well, what does it say?"
I look at the words on the parchment. I feel a knot form in my stomach as I process what they say.
"Harry?"
I look up at Cedric and quickly fake a smile. After rolling up the parchment, I put it into my pocket and head towards the exit. Cedric falls into step beside me, silent. He's probably waiting for me to say something. I have to BS something up fast.
"The Weasley twins apparently took my broomstick," I lie smoothly. "Said they'd give it back to me in the Gryffindor common room."
Cedric raises an eyebrow. "Why'd they take your broomstick?"
"Dunno. The note doesn't say. Guess I'll find out when I see them." We head inside the castle. After walking for a bit, I tell Cedric I'll see him after lunch and leave him, heading to Gryffindor Tower.
The message on the parchment plays over and over again in my mind.
I have your broomstick. -TR
