Authors Note: yes! I'm back, finally inspired, though randomly, to write some more of this long forgotten story! So tell your friends, cause I really am going to finish this sucker!
I'm a little out of practice, so please be kind with the reviews, though constructive critisism is always welcome!
Let me know what you think, because I'm dying to know!
Mal
Disclaimer: I do not own Cedric or his wonderfully magic world, though I do adore my own original characters!
Chapter 4: Discovery
Cedric woke early the next morning once again, letting the sunlight dance across his golden blankets. He lay there for some minutes, thinking about the day ahead and the day passed. Day two; his schedule wasn't as easy as the previous, with double N.E.W.T. Potions with the Ravenclaw's and Muggle Studies before lunch, followed by an afternoon in the N.E.W.T. Herbology greenhouses, but the sun rose in such a way that the promise of an enjoyable second day of term lingered.
Absent-mindedly gazing out the window, Cedric allowed his thoughts to wander away from him for a few moments. After returning to the common room last night, Matt and Ewan had pestered Cedric in way that could almost be described as cruel and unusual punishment, and he knew that just because a night had passed, they weren't going to ease up in the slightest. But he had gotten to play Quidditch with Sam. That made it all worth it. Sam. The sweet girl who he had somehow overlooked for six years.
Realizing that he was going to spend all morning daydreaming if he didn't act quickly, he chanced a look at his alarm clock. 6:23. He rolled himself out of his soft bed and began dressing noiselessly. Once he finished, he looked himself over quickly, making sure he hadn't forgotten something obvious, like shoes, and upon loosening his tie and running a hand through his hair, made his way toward the door. He was just about to cross the threshold when revenge suddenly took hold of him. He couldn't let his best friends annoying behavior form the night before go unpunished… He turned toward Ewan and Matt's golden brown four-poster beds and drew his wand from his pocket, took aim, and fired. The hangings on the two beds instantly shot open, flooding the sleeping occupants with bright sunlight, followed by the mattresses folding swiftly in half, squishing the boys instantly, before laying flat once more.
Cedric chuckled softly under his breathe, then quickly turned on his heels and walked rapidly out the room as Matt uttered a string of offensive profanities and Ewan mustered up a shamefully crude gesture with one of his hands.
Yes, it was going to be a wonderful day.
Cedric, elated with his practical joke, walked into the abandoned common room smiling widely still snickering to himself. He took a quick glimpse around the common room. Everything was clean and fresh, ready for another day of use. Deciding it was in his best interest to avoid Ewan and Matt until they had been properly fed he started down to breakfast alone.
The great hall was bare at quarter after seven in the morning, with the exception of a small group of Ravenclaws, who looked like nervous first years, and two Hufflepuffs near the faculty end of the hall. The Gryffindor and Slytherin tables sat completely disserted. Cedric promptly pulled out a book (Ridiculously Useful Quidditch Moves and Maneuvers by Irving Glidderin) and plopped down onto the bench, pulling over an english muffin and jam.
That's when he got a glimpse of who sat at the end of the Hufflepuff table. It was Samantha Bennett sitting next to another sixth year, whose name Cedric was fairly sure was Edward Heppington. But to Cedric's amazement she was looking back at him and the instant their eyes met hers fell to floor quickly as a blush spread across her cheeks, making Cedric smile wider and wave at her. She returned it politely, and just as he had resolved to go over and sit with her, a loud sound came from somewhere near the entry to the Great Hall.
'You giant sodding git!' Matt's voice sounded loudly through the empty hall. 'What do you think you were getting at, waking us up at this unearthly hour? And to do it so rudely! You'd think you had been raised by a troll!'
'What would your mum say, Ced?' Ewan added while he shock his head in mock disappointment and they both sat down next to their friend, grabbing fistfuls of food. It was obvious he had been forgiven, though they had their playful way of making it clear.
' I figured after the torment I went through at your hands last evening a little pay back was more than fitting.' Cedric replied, his smile still in place, though he hoped that his friends wouldn't go back to teasing him about Sam while she was within earshot.
'Which reminds me, you said her name while you were sleeping last night,' Ewan smirked as he took large bite out of a sausage.
Cedric's face instantly froze, smile gone. He had dreamt of Sam last night, they had started kissing before he woke himself up in the middle of the dark early morning hours. This wasn't going to be good. In fact, this was going to be downright unbearable.
'And the pretty boy is speechless,' Ewan continued, as an evil smile spread across his lips. 'I hope it was a hot dream Ced, because you seriously need to loosen up. It's only the second day and you're already waking up at the ass-crack of dawn.'
'Not so loud, she can hear you,' replied Cedric through gritted teeth.
'So it is true? The Prefect-slash-Head Boy-slash-Captain-slash-Pretty Boy is having dreams about a certain appealing blonde we all know? Matt inserted joining in the fun of making Cedric as embarrassed as could possibly feel all before their first lesson of the day.
'No, it's not. Now shut up before I give you both jaw-locking hexes,' he threatened back as he pulled his book up to his nose and blocked them from view. How did his perfect morning suddenly become his own personal purgatory?
'Breathe, mate, you're dirty little secrets are safe with us,' Matt replied, attempting to mollify the suddenly tense situation.
Cedric let his book creep down so he could study Sam's expression. She was smiling at some comment Edward had made, thankfully oblivious to Cedric's plight. Laying down his book, he smiled at Matt and Ewan and punched the latter in the arm sportively.
The rest of breakfast was spent complaining about the approaching double Potions lesson with the Ravenclaws, whom always acted as though they 'had sticks so far up their rears, that they were coming out their nostrils' as Ewan had put it, until finally they abandoned the Great Hall in pursuit of the dungeons. As he turned the corner, Cedric shot one more glance in Sam's direction, suddenly very envious of Edward Heppington.
Potions passed slowly, and everyone quickly realized that double Potions induced some sort of narcolepsy, as it was a challenge to remain conscious through Professor Snape's dull lectures on the powers and properties of powered Fluxweed in a Scintillating Solution. But eventually the lesson ended, and everyone surfaced from the dungeons grumbling about a twenty-two inch essay on the varying traits of powdered versus chopped Fluxweed. Oh how they all loathed Professor Snape.
Glancing at his watch, Cedric bid Ewan and Matt goodbye until lunch and headed for the Muggle Studies Classroom in the Southern Wing of the school. As he opened the door of the classroom, he noticed that a familiar blonde head sat in the center of the second row. He smiled to himself, practically euphoric with the fact tat she had managed to get an O.W.L. in this particular subject, and dumped his books into the seat next to Sam. This was going to be a wonderful year. He had never loved Muggle Studies more than in that particular moment.
'If one of your parents is a Muggle, is that considered cheating in Muggle studies?' he questioned to her, and as she saw him her face instantly lit up as a wide smile spread across her features and sparkled in her grey-blue eyes. Cedric was momentarily speechless.
'I didn't know you took Muggle Studies!' she exclaimed, her eyes still sparkling in a way that made Cedric's throat dry nervously. This was a happy discovery indeed.