Like Luminescent Dawn from the Shade of Night -Aariya
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Harry Potter/Cedric Diggory
Genre: Romance, Drama, Mystery
Summary: Cedric just wants to know what the big fuss is about the new student but gets more than he bargained for: love…and a closely guarded secret of such great import that, if let out, could plunge the wizarding world into chaos.
Warnings: AU; slash; Powerful/Dark!Harry
Spoilers: Information from all seven books. However, know that everything changed was done so consciously, and is not a mistake on my part; I have done my research.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything associated with it belongs to J.K. Rowling. The song "Breathless" is borrowed from Shankar Mahadevan, used here in the story's title and the lyrics below. The song "Tu Hi To Meri Dost Hain" is written by Gulzar, used here for Part I's title.
Part I. The Moonlight Often Hums in the Night
4. animus_
-:-
In your dreams all these past moments
when someone came, and I recognized him
(as my own)
-:-
After two days of being confined to the infirmary, Cedric was glad to finally get discharged on Monday.
He'd felt better yesterday, but Madam Pomfrey had refused to let him leave. While it was frustrating to have to stay in bed the whole day, he'd had plenty of company to keep him occupied. Besides his friends, Harry had visited every hour, much to Weasley's dismay when he'd reluctantly tagged along once before the two were to hang out (or so he was given to understand).
Cedric woke up bright and early so he could slip out before Madam Pomfrey had a chance to change her mind. He was in the process of changing into the fresh uniform Andras and Étienne had brought him yesterday when he heard a sound at the entrance.
Roger Davies stood tentatively at the door, looking at Cedric with an unidentifiable emotion. Cedric himself was shocked that the Ravenclaw had come, though he doubted it was out of worry for him. Merlin help him if Davies thought he could just waltz in here and goad him with his useless taunts.
But the expression on the seventh year's face didn't match his usual one. It was uncertain and maybe even slightly miserable-looking. Cedric kept quiet, watching and waiting for him to say what the boy had obviously come to say.
"Look, Diggory," he started, voice uncharacteristically soft, "I didn't mean for—"
"What the hell are you doing here?"
At the cold voice, Cedric looked behind Davies at the same time the boy swiveled around. Standing there, looking more outraged than he'd ever been, was Harry, his brows arched angrily over his madly glinting eyes. His fists were clenched tightly, his knuckles completely white, and his whole body shook with such fierce rage that Cedric felt as though the hospital wing itself was shaking along with him. Absurdly, all Cedric could think at the moment was that he'd never heard the polite boy use such foul language.
Davies stepped away from him nervously. "I just came here to—"
Harry moved swiftly past him and stood before Cedric as if to guard him. "You dare…" his voice cut off, rough with rage.
Oddly, this seemed to be him trying to get himself under control. Cedric could feel Harry's magic—searing and overwhelming—blazing at the surface, itching for release. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end at the crushing force.
Then, with a burning intensity, it came out in waves, honing in on the boy across the room, and attacking him with a deafening whoosh sound. Davies was knocked off his feet and blasted clear out of the infirmary so fast that he didn't even have a chance to scream. There was a noise like a bang, a groan followed, and then nothing but Harry's deep breaths and Cedric's stunned silence.
Harry turned to face him, eyes glowing a fiery amber-red. Or so Cedric thought, but when he blinked the next moment, he was staring back into the green they had always been. The Gryffindor's current expression wasn't anything out of the ordinary either, only a gentle countenance and a concerned look directed at Cedric as he inquired after his health, which he'd been doing every visit.
Cedric was too speechless to respond. He took a moment to gather his wits about him before asking, "Is he going to be okay?"
Harry raised a quizzical brow. Then he frowned and said, "You mean Davies?" He glanced back at the Ravenclaw sprawled out on the floor outside the hospital wing; he was quite obviously unconscious. Turning back to look at Cedric with an angry scowl, Harry dryly said, "Unfortunately, yes."
Astounded, Cedric silently went back to his bed to continue dressing. He couldn't believe Harry could be so blasé about what he'd just done. Didn't he care at all that he could have seriously hurt Davies? The boy wasn't exactly on Cedric's list of favorites either, but that didn't mean he wanted to inflict bodily harm on him. This was the second time Harry had shown a side to him that was very unlike his customary one—a dangerous, unpredictable side.
Closing the curtains around his bed, Cedric stripped out of his hospital gown, glad to finally be rid of it, and grabbed his discarded shirt to pull on. Hoping to get an answer this time but having his doubts, he plunged ahead with the question anyway, "Why did you do that to Davies?"
A short silence followed the query before Harry's rigid voice came from behind the drapes. "I didn't much care for his audacity," he said, and then brusquely added, "To presume he can come in here and speak to you when it was his fault you came to harm in the first place is utterly galling."
"How do you figure that?" Cedric asked dubiously. "I'm in here because of the Bludger."
Harry huffed exasperatedly, as if the mere reminder of the incident infuriated him. "Yes, but the only reason that happened was because Davies' presence distracted you," he explained.
Cedric certainly hadn't thought of it like that, but he could see where Harry was coming from. Still, that didn't mean he agreed with him. Maybe the whole thing could have been avoided had Davies not been there, but the same could be said of his lack of regard for his surroundings.
The sound of Harry's once again flowing voice brought his attention back to his companion as he announced, "I'll leave you to your preparation, Cedric. I shall see you later."
Cedric shrugged on his robes and pushed the drapes aside to tell him that wouldn't be necessary but the infirmary was already empty. A bit put out, he wondered if Harry had become cross with him and his refusal to completely acknowledge Davies as the bad guy here. Or perhaps he'd gotten as upset as he had the last time he'd gotten this mad and left to seek out the company of his godfather.
Figuring he'd talk to Harry about it later, he walked over to Davies' supine form. Though he wanted to see if the Ravenclaw was all right, he didn't want to stick around for his reaction to what had transpired. He had no doubt it would be very bad.
Cedric settled with Rennervating him and quickly made himself scarce before Davies fully came around. If the enmity between Harry and Davies had been bad before, he was sure it was about to get ten times worse.
-:-
Between students welcoming him back and a Potions class spent avoiding Davies' direct gaze, Cedric's decision to talk to Harry had left his mind. So when Harry asked to speak to him in the courtyard between classes, Cedric was too busy reassuring him like a lovesick fool instead of questioning him as he'd planned to do.
Harry led him to a bench against the stone wall that was surrounded by shrubs and had a small tree behind it. "I want to apologize for this morning," he began when they were both seated. "I did not mean to offend you."
"What are you apologizing for?" Cedric asked, raising a brow at him. Had he given Davies the same courtesy? "You haven't done anything to me."
"You were clearly upset about what happened, and I rudely brushed aside your concerns," explained Harry. "For that, I am sorry."
Cedric looked at him closely. The Gryffindor's expression was drawn and, though he probably meant his apology to Cedric (even if Cedric himself didn't understand it), it was obvious he wasn't going to be taking back what he'd done to Davies anytime soon.
For some reason, he couldn't find it within himself to be disturbed by the fact that Harry regretted something as trivial as offending Cedric's sensibilities, but refused to show remorse for hurting another student. This morning, he'd found it disconcerting; but now, faced with Harry's contrite visage, it seemed like a thing of the past.
Putting a comforting hand on the younger boy's shoulder, he said, "It's no problem, Harry. You don't have to apologize for that." Cedric felt the unbearable heat radiating from the skin underneath the clothes, and warmth tingled up his hand.
Harry gave him a soft smile. "Thank you."
"Oh, isn't this cute? Warms my old heart." Both boys looked up to see the Defense instructor smiling patronizingly down at them. "Hello, boys."
Harry flushed and Cedric hastily removed his hand from the boy's shoulder when the man stared pointedly at it. He trained his eye instead on the unsealed envelope the professor had in his hand and, by the broken seal, identified it as one from the Ministry.
"Hope you aren't too busy to hear some good news, Harry," Professor Black teased, putting way too much emphasis on busy for Cedric's liking. He waved the envelope in his hand. "Finally got your O.W.L. results."
Harry's eyes alighted eagerly on the letter. "Yeah? How did I do?"
Professor Black slipped the letter out of the envelope and held it out for him. "See for yourself," he said with a wide grin.
Harry grabbed the letter and keenly looked it over. Cedric didn't have to sate his curiosity by looking on or asking him about it as the professor began commenting on it before Harry was done.
"All perfect—not that anyone's surprised, mind," he put in, voice full of pride. He sighed wistfully. "Remus would be so proud of you if he saw your scores."
Harry's head snapped up to look at the professor, though the man himself didn't notice and continued to talk. To say Harry's face glowed at the praise would be a complete understatement. Cedric had never seen him looking happier than he did at that moment.
"Really?" the sixth year asked softly. "Do you really think that?"
Professor Black paused in his speech to glance down at his now hopefully attentive godson. He smiled softly. "Yes, I do."
Harry's answering smile seriously looked as if it could split his face. Cedric was taken aback at all the emotions coming off from him.
Still smiling softly, Professor Black held out his hand for Harry to grasp, saying, "Come on, James and Lily want to congratulate you."
Harry frowned and glanced over at Cedric uncertainly. "I don't think there's time for that. Can't I do that later?" he asked, though he didn't protest when his godfather took his hand anyway and dragged him up.
"It won't take long," the professor assured. "You have my class next anyhow so come along."
As Professor Black pulled him along back into the school, Harry didn't have much time to say anything except a hurriedly cried out, "Um, I'll see you later, Cedric." Cedric called a good bye and returned his tentative wave.
What was that about? Who was this 'Remus,' and why had the mere mention of his name brought such a glow as he'd never seen to Harry's face? He'd been happier about the simple insinuation that this person would be proud of him than the pride clearly written all over his godfather's face.
The students milling about the courtyard began to leave one at a time as the break was coming to a close. Cedric stood to join in heading back inside, and spend his free period holed up in the library working on the vicious essay Professor Snape had assigned them.
While he tried his best to busy himself with other things, at the back of his mind, the questions remained. Harry continued to be an enigma to him, and Cedric's thirst to know more and everything about him only seemed to grow.
He didn't know what to do now that every waking moment was filled with thoughts of Harry, but it was beginning to become quite overwhelming. And pretty soon, like Harry's magic, it would prove to be too much and burst out of him. It was only a matter of time before standing by became too much to bear and just watching became not enough and these feelings transformed into actions.
He only hoped he didn't end up scaring away Harry.
-:-
Cedric's ears were assaulted by the sound of loud chatter the moment he opened the doors to the Great Hall. Dinner at Hogwarts was by no means a quiet affair, but it usually didn't get this loud. That could only mean one thing: new gossip for the masses to feed on.
It didn't take much to figure out what had captivated their feeble minds this time. And he wasn't at all surprised when the subject of this round of gossip turned out to be their latest favorite.
As he was passing the Slytherin and Ravenclaw table, he heard bits and pieces.
"He's really been given a room of his own?"
"Oh, what do you expect? Nothing but the best for Prince Potter." That was Malfoy's scathing voice. "Coddled like a fucking baby; they'll say going to class won't be safe enough for him soon. Why he's even bothered to show up for school is beyond me."
"Louis tells me ee 'asn't seen 'im going into the dorms at all."
"But he's visited the tower, hasn't he?"
"Mais oui. Plenty of times."
"Where do you reckon he sleeps then?"
"Eh, je ne sais pas."
Much the same was being discussed at the Hufflepuff table, and he could make out that it was no different at the Gryffindor one.
Cedric couldn't tell what had brought this on, but he was a little amazed that it had taken the students this long to figure it out. It was Harry's eleventh day in Gryffindor House and they were only now finding out that he didn't sleep in the tower with his Housemates. Though, to be fair, his rooms weren't that far from the tower and only the Gryffindors would know such a thing.
He was glad to see that Harry hadn't come yet, and didn't have to be subjected to this.
"Shut your fat gob, Vigneron!"
The whole hall's attention was directed at a suddenly furious Ron Weasley, who was now standing. He glared menacingly at the boy across from him and, though he only saw the back of his head, Cedric assumed it to be his fellow sixth year, Louis Vigneron. It was evident he'd been the one to foster the rumors.
"I'm bloody tired of you making up this shit," Weasley snapped, his fists clenched as though he were refraining from punching Vigneron. "There's nothing unsafe about Gryffindor, and you need to stop instigating these stupid rumors."
Vigneron brazenly retorted in a drawling voice, "Then why does ee not stay in the tower with the rest of us lowly people?"
The room was silent in anticipation of what Weasley would say to that. Probably didn't want to miss his answer in case he revealed what they all wanted to know.
If possible, Weasley turned even more red than he had been. He took a deep breath and replied through gritted teeth, "He's not used to having so many people around him; you can't imagine he'd be comfortable sharing a room with four other boys. Not that it's any of your damn business;" he splayed his hands out on the table and leaned forward to snarl at the French boy, "and it's going to stay that way."
Professor McGonagall's stern voice cut across the silence that continued to encompass the hall, "Five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley. Your crude language will not be tolerated."
Weasley didn't seem to care one whit about the points lost. He nodded at the professor and sat with a complacent air about him, bestowing his French year mate with a final nasty glare. Gradually, the noise picked back up in the hall, doubtless filled with talk about what Weasley had just revealed.
The students hadn't been the only ones to learn something new. Cedric himself, who knew more about Harry than the rest of them, had thought generally along the same lines as they had. He hadn't realized Harry's change in rooms had been something as cut and dry as him being uncomfortable around too many people. Though, now that he thought about it, he could see how that would be the case; Harry was uneasy around crowds and strangers.
The subject of his thoughts and the current rumors finally showed up for dinner. But Harry didn't seem to notice the eyes that turned on him as he was too busy talking to the person he'd come in with, the seventh-year Gryffindor Seeker.
Cedric felt his heart constrict at the sight of Harry's smile, at the light blush gracing his face, at the delighted laughter in his eyes—caused by him, Arsène Savoy with his perfect lean Seeker's body, striking gray-green eyes, slick layered dark brown hair, and seductive, curving smile.
And Cedric had never hated anyone as much as he did the French boy at that very moment. It was irrational and inexplicable, but he felt it so strongly that he almost choked with the abrupt white hot mixture of fury and jealousy that consumed him. He'd never had Harry so wrapped up in him that he failed to notice the entire hall's attention on him.
Then Harry's eyes sought him out and lit up brilliantly, and the inferno within Cedric was immediately extinguished. He returned Harry's smile, beginning to feel a tad ashamed of his excessive reaction to the sight of him just talking to another boy. What the hell was wrong with him?
Even so, he couldn't look away, and still wanted to get Savoy as far away from Harry as possible.
Andras chuckling beside him made him look away from the scene that was now burned into his retinas. He leaned in and murmured, "Admit it already. You have it seriously hard up for Harry."
Cedric glanced at him and raised a brow. "Harry? What happened to Potter?"
His friend shrugged. "Well, we had a chance to talk while you were out taking a vacation—"
"A vacation? Is that what we're calling it?"
"—and you were right, mate, he's easy to get along with. Bloke's real generous with his name, told me right off not to bother with that Potter nonsense. And don't change the subject." Andras smiled smugly and waved his half-bitten pickle at him as if to say "I'm onto you."
Cedric summarily ignored what he was pointing out. Merlin, if Andras, of all people, had noticed, it wouldn't be long until others did; or already had. Then it was pretty given that Harry already knew, too.
He supposed he hadn't been exactly all that secretive about it, but he'd hoped that he could put off the inevitable until Harry was ready for it. It seemed, however, that his feelings would come out into the open sooner than he'd thought.
The only thing that remained to be seen was whether Harry reciprocated them like he suspected—hoped—he did.
In case anyone has the urge to correct me, I know I wrote Rennervate instead of Ennervate. JKR officially renamed the spell in a Goblet of Fire text edit. But I'd love to know if you see any other mistakes.
Edited: 2/3/10