Chapter 4

It was a week before the Triwizard champions were to be announced, and the levels of excitement within the school had skyrocketed. Cedric had owled his father about not putting his name forward and as expected, his father reprimanded and scolded him in his letters. Cedric merely ignored his father's letters for the past few days. He's surprised his father hasn't sent a howler, but it didn't matter what his father said, did or wanted. Cedric was perfectly happy sitting on the sidelines with Harry, both of them perfectly safe.

"Who do you think is going to be the champion for Hogwarts?" Cedric asked Harry, who was lying on the grass with his head on the Hufflepuff's lap.

"I just want it to be someone from Gryffindor" Harry replied with a smile. "But if I were to choose a specific student, it'd have to be Angelina."

"Yeah, she'd be a great pick" Cedric said with a nod. "She's tough, smart, and a great chaser."

"So, who from your house do you want the champion to be?" Harry asked.

"Well, there's this friend of mine" Cedric began. "He's not as athletic as the others and he's not the smartest, but he's a great duelist and an extremely hard worker. I'm sure he'd do well."

"Do I have to be worried?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"He's just a friend. In fact, he was the first friend I made when I arrived at Hogwarts" Cedric replied as he ran a hand through Harry's hair. "He's the one who helped me with understanding a lot of muggle things at the start, since he's a muggleborn."

"He sounds like a great friend" Harry said, smiling softly up at Cedric.

"He's the closest thing I have to a brother" Cedric said. "He actually immediately knew that I was dating someone the night we got together. I didn't tell him that I was dating you since we're keeping our relationship a secret."

"Are you okay with keeping that from him?" Harry asked as he sat up. "It was hard keeping our relationship from Hermione."

"He actually told me that he was a little bit hurt by me not telling him who I'm in a relationship with" Cedric said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry" The younger teen said as he took Cedric's hand. "I don't want to cause a rift between you and your friend."

"That's not your fault Harry" Cedric said. "But if you were open to it, maybe we can tell him? I'm sure he won't tell anyone, and I'm sure you guys will get along great."

"If he's been an amazing friend to you, I'm sure he'll be an amazing friend to me" Harry said with a smile.

"So, is that a yes?" Cedric asked.

"Let's meet him at the Three Broomsticks this Saturday?" Harry suggested. "We can even bring Hermione, Cho and Joseph."

"I love that idea" Cedric said, placing a kiss on the Gryffindor's cheek. "I love you so much."

"Love you too" Harry returned and gave Cedric's lips a quick peck.

The two teens stayed for a couple more minutes at their spot overlooking the Black Lake before Cedric escorted Harry to the Greenhouses for Herbology and he headed for Charms.


Hermione was heading to the library after dinner that evening. But rather than walking there in her normal pace, she was rushing a bit. In fact, she almost bumped into someone when she turned a corner.

"Oh Joseph, I'm sorry I almost bumped into you" Hermione apologised.

"It's quite alright" Joseph said. "You're heading to the library to see Viktor, yes?"

"W-What? O-Of course not" Hermione immediately said.

"Hermione, I kept my feelings for Draco a secret for years. I can tell when someone's lying" Joseph stated. "Even without that experience, your blushing face is a huge giveaway."

"Okay, so what if I am going to see Viktor?" The brunette asked. "He's a nice person."

"Yes, and that nice person kissed me last night" Joseph said and Hermione's eyes widened. "And he knew I was in a relationship with Draco. What's worse is that Draco and I had an argument earlier, and he saw us kissing when he went to the library to talk to me...and we broke up."

"Joseph...I'm so sorry" Hermione said.

"It's alright" Joseph said with a sigh. "My and Draco's relationship was on the rocks the weeks before the new school year started. Maybe this is for the best."

"I'm still sorry" Hermione said. "I'm not going to see Viktor anymore."

"No, go see Viktor" Joseph said.

"I'm not interested in someone who would do that" Hermione said. "Even if he didn't intend to break you two up, he still kissed you when you were in a relationship with someone else."

"Well, I was thinking you could help me get some revenge" Joseph said, and Hermione looked intrigued. "You go, talk to him like normal, and ask him if he showed any interest in anybody else."

"And then you show up when he denies it" Hermione said. "What about if he doesn't deny it."

"I still come out and make him face what he did" Joseph said.

"You have my full support" Hermione said. "And I have a few choice spells I wish to use on him. Let's go teach him not to mess with the smartest people in the school."


Cedric and Damian walked together as they headed for Hogsmeade. While the announcing of the Triwizard champions that night was at the forefront on their minds, Cedric was more focused on Harry and Damian meeting. He was sure that Harry and Damian would get along well, but there was that tiny voice saying "what if they don't?" Cedric don't know what he would do if they didn't like each other and he had to choose who to hang out with.

"Stop worrying so much Ced" Damian said. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

"I just want for everything to go perfectly" Cedric said with a small smile.

"Well, if we hate each other, at least you have other friends there to keep us from hexing each other" Damian said with a chuckle.

Cedric gave a small smile, and the two friends talked about Damian's chances of being the Hogwarts champion until they got to the Three Broomsticks. Cedric led them up to the private room they rented. They entered, and the four other people inside turned their attention to them.

"So you and Cho finally got together?" Damian asked.

"Ced and I aren't dating, Dames" Cho said.

"Well, this must be her" Damian said as he moved to shake Hermione's hand. "Damian Clark, it's nice to meet you."

"Hermione Granger, 4th year Gryffindor" Hermione introduced herself. "And I'm not the one Cedric has been dating over the past year."

"Sorry. But that means…" Damian said slowly as his eyes landed on Joseph.

"As if I would be dating Cedric" Joseph scoffed.

"Really? He's a friend of yours?" Damian asked Cedric.

"Joseph takes a while to warm up to other people" Cedric said. "And that's just his way of saying he likes me as a friend."

"But who are you dating?" Damian asked. "There's no one else here.

"Actually, there is" Someone said, and the two Hufflepuffs turned to see Harry sitting on the couch on the other side of the room.

Harry stood and moved to stand next to Cedric, lacing his fingers together with the older teen's.

"Damian, I'm sure you know who this is already, but I'm going to introduce you guys anyway" Cedric said as he took a deep breath. "Dames, this is Harry Potter. We've been dating each other for almost a year now. Harry, this is Damian Clark, and he's been my closest friends since my first day in Hogwarts."

"Hello, it's nice to meet you" Harry said, and moved to shake Damian's hand.

"You two have been together for nearly a year" Damian said, his face nearly as blank as Joseph's. "Do you love him?"

"Damian" Cedric said. "That's not-"

"I do" Harry said, cutting Cedric off. "I love him more than anyone or anything in this world.

There was a minute of silent staring until Damian broke out in a wide grin, and pulled Harry into a tight hug.

"That's great" He said. "Sorry about that, but I had to be a serious overprotective brother first."

"Why? You had me worried there" Cedric said with a sigh.

"Hey, I just had to make sure he loved you as much as you loved him" Damian said before looking at Harry. "You should see him when we're in the common room; always gazing off into space and smiling at random times."

"No need to bring that up" Cedric scolded, making everyone in the room chuckle.

After everyone got settled, everyone started talking as if they had been friends for years. Damian was really friendly with everyone, even Joseph warmed up to him slightly, and it was clear he cared a lot about Cedric from the stories he told of them hanging out to Cedric's first Quidditch match.

"I swear, I thought Ced was done for when the Slytherin beater hit that bludger his way" Damian said. "But he dodged it so easily, like he had been in a Quidditch team his whole life."

"Impressive, but he didn't catch the Snitch with his mouth" Joseph remarked with a smirk.

"Why?" Harry asked with a groan.

"Come on Harry, you might as well own it" Cho said. "It will forever be in history."

"So, how did you all become friends?" Damian asked. "I mean, it's not strange to make friends with people from other houses, but Gryffindor and Slytherin's relationship has been more antagonistic than normal since Harry became a first year, and there's an age gap between you guys."

"Well believe it or not, but Joseph and Cho were the reason Harry and I got together" Cedric said.

Everyone then began talking about everything, from Cedric telling everyone that Cho suggested Cedric to bring Harry treats after he fell off his broom due to the dementors, to Harry talking about confessing his feelings to Cedric after they were trapped under one of the Weasley twins' charmed mistletoes.

"I remember those" Damian said as he chuckled. "I also remember seeing Joseph and Malfoy together under one. That was hilarious."

"Yes, it was" Joseph said before standing and gathering his things. "If you'll all excuse me, I have an essay to finish."

The Slytherin left before anyone could say anything, and there was an uneasy feeling in the air.

"Did I say something wrong?" Damian asked worriedly

"It's a long story" Harry said with sigh. "Basically, Joseph does like Malfoy, and they got together this summer. But they recently broke up, and it's still a pretty sensitive topic."

"Well, people do say my big mouth will get me killed someday" Damian said.

"It's alright, you didn't know" Cedric said as he patted his friend on the back. "Joseph will understand that."

"Maybe I should go after him and apologise" Damian said, but Harry shook his head.

"When Joseph gets like this, he doesn't talk to anyone" He said. "Just give him a day or two to cool off, and then go apologise."

"Why don't we change topics?" Cho suggested, and everyone agreed.

"Oh, did you guys hear that they found Krum tied up in the library the other night" Damian said. "Who do you think did that?"

"Who knows?" Hermione asked while avoiding to make eye contact with Harry.