Author's Notes: We've moved on into the romantic comedy genre, so to speak, with this story. There are a variety of characters present since it takes place at a party for purebloods. It is an interesting place to have Cedric and Marcus interact! The prompt was "The ballroom at midnight". I don't want to give away too much, so just wait and see what happens ;) Let me know what you think!


Cedric didn't like going to big parties. Well, at least the pureblooded ones. They were all about showing off what you had, talking about people and what they didn't have, and basically about acting in ways that he didn't really approve of. He didn't know why his parents made him go, or why they even went, themselves. It wasn't like they needed to prove anything, was it? He certainly hoped not.

"It's all about the connections you can make," Cedric's father would tell him. "Not every pureblooded individual supports You-Know-Who, you know that. Those that do, well, they tend to have their own private soirées."

Whatever the case, Cedric felt mildly indignant about being forced to go. After all, it wasn't like it was made for people his age, now was it?

When Cedric and his parents arrived at the building where the party was taking place, Amos ushered his wife and son inside and then took the lead once the large doors shut behind them. Cedric could hear the classical music faintly drifting down the stairs, and for a brief moment, he wished he had his violin with him. At least with that he could have gone off and entertained himself somewhere instead of sitting at a table and feeling uncomfortable. While yes, the Hufflepuff boy was usually very amiable, he was also very quiet and shy, and didn't often speak unless spoken to, especially with people that he didn't know, as was the usual case with these parties.

He entered the large ballroom behind his father and mother, placing his hands into the pockets of his robes. As he had suspected, there were few, if any, familiar faces. He could see Roger Davies off in the distance, but as usual, he was talking to a girl and was likely preparing to ask her out on a date or something of the like. The thought made him laugh, despite the fact that he kind of wished for the familiar company. Or romantic company. Those kinds of thoughts had been bothering him for a while now, much to his chagrin. Not being one who often worried about that kind of stuff, he knew that when he did, there had to be a reason.

Maybe he was just tired of hiding it.

Cedric, along with his mother, took a seat at a small table just a ways away from the balcony. On either end of the right side of the large ballroom, the doors to the balcony were open, and a nice breeze wafted through the room. It being just before the beginning of July, the days were hot, but the nights were still thankfully somewhat cool.

Sitting there beside his mother, Diggory eavesdropped idly on a few of the conversations taking place at other tables near theirs.

"…So I heard that you got box seat tickets to the Quidditch World Cup this year..."

"…Now really, why would she have done that to her hair…"

"…It's not as if I asked him to buy me the locket, but when he offered it, well…"

Nothing of interest, he thought. In fact, it was almost too boring. Coming from him that had to be saying something. Then again, he was also slightly biased; not wanting to be here put him in a lower mood, and thus his usual behavior had been dampened a bit. Nonetheless, he wanted to find something of interest, and, when his mother began speaking to someone at their table, effectively cutting him out of the conversation (they were talking about their husbands), Cedric excused himself from the table and slipped outside onto the balcony under the pretense that he saw a familiar face and wanted to go say hi.

"There," he said quietly to himself once outside. That was much better. Out here, there were less people, and not only that, but the conversations were quieter, easier to ignore. He could stare over the side and take in the beauty of the cloudless, starry sky, as well as the sight of the goings on down below.

So enthralled by the sight was Cedric that he was caught off guard by the sound of a low, somewhat inquisitive voice that appeared beside him. "Awfully high up, aren't we?"

He craned his neck to the right, only to be met with the figure of Marcus Flint. Cedric's natural reaction was to be a little confused. What was he doing at a party like this?

"Spooked you or something, Diggory?" Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-No," Cedric replied with an embarrassed chuckle. "Sorry, I just…didn't expect to see you here."

"Why? I'm as pureblooded as the next person." He sounded a little defensive.

"Oh, that's not what I was implying. I just…well, you know. Did your parents make you come?"

"'Course they did. Fuck, I wouldn't have come here willingly."

That made Cedric smile. Now he was sure he wasn't the only one. He reached over his shoulder and scratched his neck, looking up at the older boy. "Same here. I just hope the night ends soon."

Marcus didn't reply. Instead, he just leaned over and rested against his forearms against the railing with a clearly bored sigh. Cedric decided not to ask and just folded his arms over his chest, looking over the side of the railing again.

It wasn't until he felt a pair of eyes resting on him that Diggory looked back over in Marcus' direction. He raised an eyebrow, laughing despite himself. "What?"

"Wanna skip out?"

Did he want to skip out? The Hufflepuff looked somewhat bemused. Why in the world would that be a good idea? "Are you kidding?" he asked, quietly.

Marcus snorted. "'Course I'm not. I don't want to be here, you don't want to be here…we're in a big place, I'm sure we could find something to amuse ourselves with. I'd rather not waste my time listening to my dad brag about his promotion in the Ministry, or my mother whining about how we kids do nothing but cause strain on the House Elves, and how she needs another, or some stupid shite like that…it's all really stupid."

"You know, your father sounds…ridiculously similar to mine," Cedric said, blinking.

Flint looked amused. "Really? Huh. Prolly what a lot of fathers 'round here act like, I reckon…" After trailing off, he cleared his throat and pushed off of the railing. "Last chance to go somewhere, Diggory. I'm not staying unless they catch me and make me." He shrugged.

As much as Cedric didn't want to stay, he felt like he was obligated to. If there was one thing that made it hard for him to do what he wanted, it was that feeling of obligation. No matter how much he wanted to get away, he didn't want to disappoint his parents.

"I think…I should stay," he said.

Marcus didn't find that answer approvable. He reached down suddenly, gripping Cedric's wrist. The younger one's body tightened up a bit.

"What're you doing?" Diggory asked, perplexed.

"Not sure yet. But we're going somewhere."

For the first few moments, the grip on his wrist was surprisingly tight. Marcus clearly didn't want him to pull away, and once he was sure that Cedric wasn't going anywhere, he let go. The two of them slipped out the main doors of the ballroom, entering the lightly populated hallway that had a few people talking amongst themselves here and there.

"Where're we going?" Cedric asked.

Marcus, who was a few steps ahead of him, just shrugged. He looked over his shoulder. "Dunno. Heard there were some empty rooms down the hallway, and there's a kitchen around here somewhere. Better than that boring ballroom, right?"

Cedric couldn't argue with that logic. So, he just followed the larger captain, until they finally went around a corner and ended up hitting a dead end. He could barely hear the music, which meant they had to be a good distance away from the party. Considering how much they had walked, it would make sense.

"Where to now?" He couldn't help but sound somewhat facetious. After all, it was because of Marcus that they were here.

"Way to sound unappreciative," Marcus replied somewhat shortly, shooting Cedric a look. He looked from side to side before deciding on going toward the door to the right. After Diggory apologized, Marcus tried to open it, and when the doorknob turned, allowing them entrance inside, he gestured for the other boy to follow.

The room they had stumbled upon wasn't much different than the one that they had come from, save for the fact that it wasn't decorated and the lights weren't on. It must have been an extra ballroom for other galas or affairs. Cedric hadn't expected for there to be another, but given the size of the building, it would have been rather ignorant of him to assume that there wouldn't be others.

"Shit," Marcus said rather audibly. "We're almost right back where we started. I didn't want another ballroom."

"What did you want, then?" Cedric asked, chuckling. Jokingly he added, "It's almost like you planned this, or something."

The way that Marcus froze up and turned around to look at him made the Seeker realize that there probably was some truth to that. The older boy looked down, folding his arms over his chest.

"Am I that obvious?" he asked quietly.

Not exactly sure what to say, Cedric just pursed his lips. Marcus looked back up at him a few moments later, his pale cheeks somewhat red.

"Guess I am," he said. "Fuck. Diggory, I—" but he stopped himself, furrowing his brow.

He asked, "You what?" despite the fact that he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

Marcus heaved a sigh, avoiding eye contact with Cedric. "…I really…fancy you."

Flattered though he was, Cedric couldn't help but feel surprised, too. He had to be joking, right? The odds were entirely too much. "You do, do you?"

"Would I have said it if I didn't?" Marcus asked. He was very uncomfortable, as was obvious by his slight shifting and fidgeting in place. "Look," he said, "It's really—"

"—I fancy you, too."

"—hard to—wait, what?"

"I said, I fancy you, too." Cedric smiled.

Now it was Marcus' turn to look surprised. "You're kidding. Right? What?"

Moving toward the Slytherin, Diggory laughed. "You heard me. Now, are you going to continue to be floored, or are you going to be the aggressive and straightforward Marcus Flint that I know and have come to like?"

Marcus couldn't help but snort. "So that's how you see me, huh? I suppose I shouldn't disappoint." With that, he reached out and grabbed Cedric by the waist, pulling him close. He looked down at the brunette with a smirk. "You could have made it easier on me and just told me instead of letting me make a fool of myself."

Cedric grinned rather coyly. "Now where's the fun in doing that?"

Maybe tonight wasn't going to be as boring as he thought it would.