Author's Note: I do not nor will I ever own any of the recognizable charactors, they all belong to the beautiful J.K. Rowling. I do however own Ria and James, and you know what ... you can't touch them! That's right! Can't touch this! - Sorry I'm a little hyper...
Please feel free to enjoy the fourth installment of I'll Be - a Cedric Diggory story!
Most of the students hadn't gotten back after their after-ball escapades, so Ria had the common room to herself. That's the way she liked it – quiet. It was much easier to think that way.
Dear Oliver,
Wow, I'm glad writing that letter didn't kill you, I don't know what I would have done without my Ollie. Thank-you for coming to my rescue tonight, you will now forever and always be known as my Prince Charming, my rescuer. I know you didn't mean to, but you have made some things very difficult for me, Ol. I love you, but not the way that you love me. We tried that once, and although it was fun – even you admitted that it felt like you were dating your sister. I think that since then you have forgotten that statement. As for looking for another me, I don't think you were really doing that – not that I'm calling you a liar – but what I think you were looking for is someone that you feel comfortable with. You're never going to find a girl that you're comfortable with if you keep comparing them all to me – or what you remember of me. You need to let me go, find a new damsel in distress – just don't forget me when I need you! – fall in love Oliver, trust me, it feels great! If that doesn't answer your question, I will spell it out, I want to be blissfully unaware of your affections again, it was easier that way. And don't worry I will always count you as one of my friends, one of the very best! I love you Ol,
Love always,
Ria.
Ria sent her owl off with the letter and specific instructions to peck Oliver to death or until he sent a reply.
She hated doing this to Oliver, she did love him, but she didn't love him romantically, she didn't love him the way she loved Cedric. She didn't even know if she loved Cedric, but that was the only way she could think of using to describe the way she felt for him.
- - -
"Ria, are you ever going to talk to me?"
Ria kept walking down the hallway towards her potions class, ignoring yet another of Cedric's attempts to get her to talk to him. She hadn't talked to him since the Yule Ball, although she did still give him his Christmas present – wordlessly of course.
"Ri? Please?"
Ria whipped her head around to face Cedric; "Do you know what I hate the most about you, Diggory?"
Cedric's face was split into a happy grin; he knew what was coming next, "My sparkling personality and my dashing good looks?"
Ria shook her head and opened her mouth –
"Cedric, you haven't talked to me since the ball, I was beginning to wonder if you were trying to avoid me."
That's not what she was supposed to say, Cedric looked at Ria apologetically before turning to look at Cho Chang who was running down the hallway to embrace him, "Actually Cho, I was – er – avoiding you."
"Oh." Cho said delicately.
"I was talking to Ria, so if you don't mind -" but as Cedric turned around he caught a glimpse of Ria's long brown hair flying around a corner. She was gone, and he probably wouldn't get another chance.
He sighed, "Time to take a leaf out of Potter's book," with that he took off down the hallway after his best friend, hoping for the best.
"Diffindo!"
He heard Ria's scream of anger as her book bag spilt in half and all of her books fell to the ground, Potter had been on to something, this was a good way to get someone off on their own so that you could talk to them. Instead of helping her, the other students just kept walking; some Slytherins even went as far as to kick her books further away from her. Within moments just Cedric and Ria were in the hallway.
"Here let me help you."
Ria looked up to see Cedric bending down to help her collect her books. She rolled her eyes; "I was wondering when you would come to help me."
Cedric smirked, "What do you mean by that?"
Ria snorted, "You know full-well what I mean, I mean that I know that you were the one that split my bag in half in the first place."
"You can't prove that."
"The saleswitch told me that the only way this bag would split was if someone caused it to by using magic. And I don't know why anyone else would feel the need to split my bag in half."
"You think that I would have a need to do that?"
"Yep."
"Okay, then, what was my motive?"
"To get me alone in a dark, deserted hallway so that you can have your way with me, clearly."
"Yes, clearly."
"Don't laugh, I always knew that you had a hidden rapist in you – somewhere."
"Of course, that makes perfect sense."
"Okay, so I'm not doing so well at explaining why you wanted to split my bag in half, so why don't you clarify for me, so that I can stop making a fool out of myself."
Cedric looked around the hallway to make sure that there weren't any professors around, "Do you want to get out of here?"
"Ahah! I knew it! I knew there was an inner-rapist in you!"
Cedric clapped his hand over Ria's mouth, "Sssh, no there is no inner-rapist I was just thinking that it had been a while since we had skipped school, and I was wondering if you'd like to fly down to Hogsmede, and maybe go to The Three Broomsticks or something, I'm really missing Butterbeer."
Ria smirked, "Fly down to Hogsmede? My my my, Cedric, when did you become such a romantic?"
She turned to pick up some more books before she could see Cedric's smirk, and by the time that she turned back he had it under control and hidden.
"So do you want to go or am I going to be forced to go alone?"
"Did you really think that I was going to give up a free butterbeer?"
"Who said anything about it being free?"
Ria hit Cedric playfully on the shoulder; "You are such a mood-killer."
"A mood-killer?"
"Yeah, you were just making me feel special, like a date I guess, but now you're going to make me buy my own butterbeer? How rude."
"Oh yes, how rude of me. First I split your bag in half, and then I tell you that you have to pay for your own butterbeer."
Ria nodded as if it was the rudest thing that had ever happened to her, although it wasn't – not by a long shot.
"You owe me one, because of my bag, I can't use it anymore, how will I carry my books now?"
"Get some lovesick lad to carry them for you."
Ria smiled playfully, "So, you'll carry them, right?"
Cedric laughed, "Of course."
"And I won't have to pay for my butterbeer?"
"No."
"And you'll buy me a new book bag so that you don't have to carry my books around all the time?"
"Of course."
"Sweet deal!"
"Deal, what kind of deal is that? What's in it for me?"
"You, my darling little rapist might possibly get a kiss."
Cedric smiled, "Stop calling me a rapist."
"Fine, spoil my fun."
"I will."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"I hate you."
"No you don't."
- - -
"So you never told me what you hated the most about me." Cedric reminded Ria.
She was sitting across the table from him, sipping out of her warm butterbeer, "I didn't?"
He shook his head, "No, someone that I have been trying to avoid interrupted you."
"Oh yeah."
"So what is it?"
"You're so stubborn! I hate it! I was supposed to be mad at you for at least another week, but you're just so bloody stubborn, you wouldn't leave me alone, and then you made me skip potions -"
"Wait – I made you skip potions?"
"Ok, so you didn't make me skip potions, but still I'm supposed to be mad at you."
"Why be mad? It's so much more fun to be happy."
Ria smiled at him from over the table; "I missed talking to you."
Cedric reached across the table for her hand; "I missed you too."
She hadn't said it, but he knew that when she said that she had missed talking to him she meant that she missed him.
Ria looked down at his watch, "Bloody Hell, it's almost dinner, we should go now, eventually they'll notice that we're not on the school grounds."
Cedric nodded and led her out of the pub to his broomstick; she got on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist as he kicked off the ground.
"Whooo hooo!" she yelled as they flew faster and faster towards the huge castle.
As they flew a piece of paper flew out of Ria's pocket it read:
Good luck with Cedric, Love.
-Oliver.
- - -
"Have you figured out what the egg means?"
Cedric shook his head, "But for some reason I think I should open it under water."
Ria laughed, "What gave you that crazy idea."
Cedric looked down at his feet, "Just a hunch."
"You're lying Ceddy."
Cedric looked up, he knew that the one thing that Ria hated more than a cheater was a liar. And she hated being lied to even more than she hated liars.
She smiled to show to him that it was alright then she looped her arm through his, "So are you going to tell me the truth now?"
Cedric gulped, "Professor Moody told me."
"Moody? Why?"
"I don't know, but I thought that it was worth a try."
Ria nodded, "It's definitely worth a try."
Cedric nodded as Cedric pushed her into their Defense against the Dark Arts classroom. She wasn't sure if she exactly liked Professor Moody. Granted that he had been there, so he understood more than most, but she wasn't sure if she liked his teaching style.
She shuddered as she remembered when he had shown them the three unforgivable curses. That poor spider.
"It's ok, we probably won't have to see those again." Cedric knew exactly what she was thinking, sometimes it was scary.
Ria wrapped her arms around her upper-torso, "All I can say is that Lupin is still my favorite Defense professor."
"I think he was everybody's."
Ria glanced at the rest of the N.E.W.T. defense class, "Except for the Slytherins'," she said, trying to ignore the winking and other gross gestures sent her way by Marcus Flint. How he had made it into N.E.W.T. classes was beyond her, but it meant that she saw him at least six times a day, not counting meals.
"Class has begun," a gruff voice from the front of the classroom stated. Ria and Cedric quickly rushed to their seats. They were the two seats in the exact middle of the classroom.
"Do you know what it feels like to be under the imperious curse?"
The class shook their heads, staring at their professor with wide eyes; no one was exactly sure what he was planning to do, but it scared them slightly.
"Good, neither do half the people who say that they were under the imperious curse while doing the dark Lord's bidding. They're spineless if you ask me."
Ria was beginning to get scared, she was sure that this man was insane, what exactly was he going to do to the class?
"Miss Everard, you seem like a willing participant, would you please come up to the front of the classroom?"
Ria slowly got out of her seat and forced herself down the aisle to the front of the classroom, anything but willing.
"Thank-you."
Ria gulped and nodded, she didn't really trust herself to answer. She heard Moody moving around behind her and she glanced at Cedric; he looked confused and – was that worry? Ria stopped herself from wondering if he was worried about her for any other reason besides the fact that they were friends. He couldn't like he that way.
"Imperious."
Wait! What? Did he just say what I think he said? He did NOT just use an unforgivable curse on me! Ria thought.
Slap Cedric Diggory.
Ria started to move toward Cedric, wait! What was she doing? He was her friend, she would not slap him.
Slap him! The voice commanded.
No, she wouldn't. She would not do it.
Ria had stopped moving forward, but she felt a burning desire to slap her best friend across the face.
SLAP HIM!
"NO!" Ria yelled.
Barty Crouch Junior was slightly upset when he realized that he would not be able to control the girl through the imperious curse – she was too strong. But he put on a smile for the class, "There it is class, another one that can withstand the imperious, Harry Potter is the only other one that I know of that can do it! Very good, Miss Everard, very good indeed."
The rest of the class burst into applause, except for the Slytherins that is, but Ria didn't care, she just wanted to sit down. And was that anger she had seen in Moody's eyes when she had been able to throw off the curse. It couldn't be – why would he be angry? Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.
- - -
"So…"
"So…"
Ria sat down on the side of the prefect's bathtub while Cedric began to fill it up. They were both wearing bathing suits, and Cedric was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of Ria. Her bathing suit really showed off the curves that her school robes hid.
She laughed, "What?"
"What – what?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Why can't I look at you like this?"
"I never said you couldn't, I just wanted to know why you were."
"I've never really seen you in a bathing suit before."
"Oh."
"Yes – oh."
"Do I really look that bad?"
Cedric laughed, "Yes Ria, you look so horrible, I don't think I can bare looking at you." He was lying through his teeth, but he wasn't sure if Ria knew that.
"Really?"
She didn't. He sighed, this was good, if she knew what he really felt then nothing would be the same between them again.
"I was joking Ri, you look good. It's just – it's different from what you usually look like – it's a change, you know how changes take time to get used to."
"Right."
He sighed again, Ria didn't believe him, "You look great Ria, and if I weren't your best friend I would be highly attracted to you right now."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Truthfully?"
"YES!"
"So you're not attracted to me now?"
"Yes."
"Yes what? Yes you are or yes you're not."
"Yes I am."
Ria sucked in her breath, she hadn't really expected that. What should she do now? Should she make a joke out of it? Possibly. Should she say thank-you? No that would be too dorky. Should she tell him that she was attracted to him? No, definitely not! She went with the only thing she could – a joke.
"As long as you don't have wet dreams about me, we'll be fine."
Cedric choked on a laugh. Ria hit herself on her forehead, wet dreams? Where had that come from? Merlin she was stupid!
There was an awkward silence as the bathtub continued to fill up. Ria went around turning on several faucets that spouted out different kinds of bubbles. Her favorite bubbles were the one that spouted out the ice-white foam that was so thick that she could walk on it. She had tried, the first year that she was a prefect she had tried to walk on them and had succeeded, it was the greatest feeling in the world.
"I think it's ready."
Ria nodded and dove into the water. Coming up about seven feet from the wall and quickly fixing her bathing suit so that Cedric wouldn't see anything that she was sure he didn't want to see. Cedric dove in after her, clutching the golden egg in his hands. Ria was sure that it was heavy, but he held it as if it weighed nothing at all.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Ria nodded, and they both took a deep breath before submersing themselves in the water. Cedric opened the egg and they both sat on the bottom of the bathtub.
It was like a choir of eerie voices and they were coming from the egg.
"Come and seek us where our voices sound,
We can not sing above the ground,
And while you're searching ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we've took,
But past an hour – the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
The two friends slowly floated up to the surface of the water. Once their heads broke the surface they stared at each other for a couple seconds. Neither one of them daring to open their mouths.
"That is too weird." Ria said, finally daring to break the silence.
Cedric nodded, it was rather creepy.
"So let me get this straight, something in the lake is going to take something of yours and you'll have an hour to get it back?"
"I guess."
"How will they get it?"
"The teachers will probably give it to them."
"What could they be? What will they take? How will you get it – you can't breath underwater for an hour."
"I don't know. I don't know. And I guess I could use that Bubblehead charm – you know – the one that Flitwick taught us last year."
Ria floated on her back in the water, "I guess we should try to figure out what it is?"
"What they are you mean."
"Yeah, that's what I meant."
Cedric thought, but all he could think of in the lake was the giant squid and as far as he knew there was only one of them – and the song clearly said we."
Ria did a flip in the water and started swimming using the butterfly kick. She smiled, "Look! I'm a mermaid!"
Cedric watched her as she happily kicked like a mermaid and flipped through the water. That was when it hit him – mermaids.
"Ria that's it!"
"What's it?"
"Mermaids!"
"Say what?"
"It's mermaids! There are merpeople in the lake! They're going to take something precious that belongs to me. And I'm going to get it back by using the bubblehead charm!"
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"What are they going to take?"
Cedric glanced at her, Ria's eyes sparkled when she got excited, and she was certainly excited now. She looked beautiful, "I have an idea."
"What is it? Tell me! Please?"
Cedric shook his head, she couldn't know that she was the most important thing in his life – that would screw things up, "Never mind."
"What? You can't never mind me!"
"I just did."
"But - "
"You'll find out soon enough, the task is next week."
"But - "
"I have to find a way to tell Potter to take a bath with his egg without sounding weird, so if you would excuse me," Cedric pulled himself out of the bathtub and grabbed a towel.
Ria followed him out and allowed him to wrap a towel around her. He stood behind her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms trying to warm her up – it was cold outside of the bathtub.
She turned around to face him, "I hope you make it Ced."
Cedric suddenly got a vision of him holding the Triwizard Cup above his head triumphantly and Ria standing in a crowd of students, smiling. Then she was running toward him and she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him fiercely.
It was then that he knew that he had to win the tournament. It was the only way that he could think of getting Ria to finally notice how he felt about her.
They were so close, their faces were almost touching, he could kiss her right now – he should kiss her right now.
"We should get going, classes tomorrow – you know."
Merlin he was such a chicken, he had the perfect opportunity and all he could say was that they had classes tomorrow. Tomorrow was Saturday why would they have classes?
Ria giggled, "Cedric knows best."
- - -
"Miss Everard?"
"Yes, Professor McGonagall?"
"Would you please follow me?"
"Of course, but where are we going?"
Minerva McGonagall hid a smile, she had always loved Ria Everard, the girl was one of her favorite students – so curious, so cunning – she would go as far as to say that the seventeen year old reminded her of a female James Potter. And everyone knew how much she had adored James Potter.
"It's a surprise, but I can guarantee it'll be worth your time."
"Oooh, I can't wait to see what it is!"
- - -
It was the day of the second task and Cedric couldn't find Ria anywhere. He had asked the twins, and he had asked Ron Weasley, but none of them had seen her. He even went as far as stalking James – maybe James knew where she was – maybe she was mad at him.
But all the stalking James got him was a leg-locker curse until Alicia Spinnet was kind enough to perform the counter-curse.
It seemed as though Ria had just disappeared into thin air, but he knew that that could not happen. She must be in the lake! She must be the thing that he would sorely miss! He sighed, she would soon know exactly how he felt for her.
His journey through the lake was smooth he only ran into a small group of grindylows and a simple stunning spell took care of them.
When he reached the mermaid city he followed the singing voices to the center, Harry was already there, he was just floating as if trying to figure out which hostage was his. Cedric looked at the other hostages and realized why it might be hard for him. Hermione Granger was his friend, Ria was his friend, and everyone knew that he fancied Cho Chang.
He decided that he would make it a little easier for him, he cut Ria free and pulled her lifeless body close to him, it was a little weird to be hugging a lifeless Ria, it was almost as if she was dead – he shuddered, he didn't want to think about that, Ria was always so full of life, as soon as he got out of the lake he wanted to forger how dead she looked right now.
He tapped his watch to warn Harry that time was running out. The younger boy nodded, but made no move to leave. Cedric shook his head, he knew that Ria loved Harry, but the boy was always playing the hero.
As he swam out of the city he passed Krum, Viktor would probably make it easier for Harry, he would take Hermione, everyone knew that he was taken by her – much to the youngest Weasley boy's annoyance.
Cedric swam quickly to the surface and broke it just before the hour finished. Viktor appeared with Hermione shortly after.
As they swam closer to shore Ria finally came to, she looked around and smiled at Cedric. He smiled back, she looked adorable, but she must have been freezing. He helped her out of the water and ignored all the students trying to congratulate him, he led her to Madam Pomfry, she gave them each a warming potion and thick fleece blankets.
Ria let Cedric wrap the blanket around her and then allowed him to pull her onto the same cot as him. She leaned back into his warm body, she sighed contentedly there was nowhere that she would rather be right now.
"Harry still hasn't come out yet, but he was the first one to the hostages." Cedric whispered in her ear.
She turned to look at him, "Do you think he's ok?"
Cedric glanced at the water and saw three peoples' heads emerge from the steel gray surface, "I think he's just fine."
Ria looked toward where Cedric was looking and watched as Fleur Delacore, the champion from Beauxbatons went rushing toward the water to help Harry help a small blond-haired girl out. Once the young girl was off of his hands Harry could devote his whole attention to helping Cho Chang out of the lake.
Ria glared stonily at the girl, "She was his hostage?"
"I guess, I just knew that you were mine." Cedric whispered, pulling Ria closer to him.
"Congratulations Harry!" Ria said throwing her arms around him as he arrived by the rest of the champions and their hostages.
"Thanks Ria!"
"Good job Potter, I hope you get a good score." Cedric said, holding out his hand.
Harry shook it and smiled, "Same to you, Diggory."
Dumbledore stood up, "Congratulations to all the champions!" he said, his voice magically magnified, "Now for the points: Miss Delacore, who failed to finish the task will be in last place. She follows Viktor Krum in third – although he came up second, he was the last of the three to finish the task to reach the hostages."
Ria looked toward Karkaroff and saw him glaring at Dumbledore and the merepeople that were floating neat the surface, his face was almost laughable.
"This brings us to the Hogwarts champions," the headmaster continued, "although they both brought up the wrong hostages – Mister Diggory came up first, so he will get first place. Mister Potter arrived at the hostages first, but I am told that he refused to leave until all the other hostages had been rescued – "
Ria laughed and ruffled Harry's hair, that sounded like her Harry to her – always the hero – the brave one.
"Because of his moral fiber he will receive second place."
Ria clapped, and hugged both of her friends, "Great job, both of you!"
"What does he mean that you both brought up the wrong hostage?" Hermione wondered aloud.
Ria thought about it and glanced from Harry and Cho to Cedric.
Harry … Cho … Cedric.
Harry … CHO … Cedric.
That's when it clicked. She jumped off of the cot and out of Cedric's arms, "I thought that you didn't like her!" she hissed.
Cedric jumped to his feet, "What do you mean?"
"You said that you didn't like Cho! Why was she your hostage?"
"I don't know, maybe because we went to the Yule Ball together, the teachers might have thought that I liked her."
Ria shook her head, "I can't believe it, she was your hostage."
"You know, this wouldn't have happened if you had just gone to the Yule Ball with me!"
Ria turned to Cedric, "Well if you had just asked me."
Cedric took a step closer, "I was going to, but you said you wanted to go alone."
Ria took a step closer, "I said I might go alone, if no one asked me!"
"I thought that you were hinting at me – trying to tell me not to ask you!"
"Why would I do that?"
"I don't know, you're crazy like that!"
Ria took another step closer, they were so close now that she could feel his warm breath fly across her forehead when he spoke, "I'm not crazy, you're the crazy one!"
"I'm only crazy about one thing."
"Oh really, and what's that? If you say Cho I will curse you into the next millennium." Ria said, pulling her wand out.
Cedric reached out and gently cupped her face in his hand, "No, you."
"What?"
"I'm crazy about you. You're so amazing – you're so different from any other girl I know – when I'm with you I'm never bored."
Ria sucked in her breath and stood on her tiptoes, "I'm crazy about you … too."
Cedric smiled at her one last time before leaning down and doing what he had wanted to do for basically his whole life – he kissed her.