Chapter 4. Sweet Things

I stretch out in bed, still lethargic from too much sleep. Tangled in my sheets, I trip out of bed, hitting the floor with a soft thud. I grab some clothes and make my way to the girl's bathroom. I let the hot water fall over my back, waking me up properly. After 10 minutes of scrubbing, washing and bathing I climb out and wrap myself in my towel.

Standing in front of the mirror with my wand, I dry my hair off and shape it into soft waves. I pull on my jeans and lace up my yellow-tan hiking boots. I look at myself in the mirror briefly before pulling my "What The Fox?" t-shirt on. I need a hoodie. I head back to the dorm and throw my towel over the edge of the bed along with my PJ's. Where's that hoodie? I search for a good 15 minutes before I see it slung over the end of Pansy's bed. Argh. I grab it and slide into it, pulling my purple knit beanie onto my head as I walk down the stairs. The common room is devoid of my friends so I make my way to the Great Hall. As I pass the Hufflepuff table, I look over through my eyelashes to see if Cedric is there. He sits with his friends, totally glorious with his usual wind-swept hair.

I head straight for Pansy and the other girls. Pansy shoos the other girls down the bench, making room for me. This is new.
"Wow your hair looks amazing, did you do something new?"
I look at her for a moment, confusion written on my face.
"Maybe it's the beanie?"
She nods in apparent approval and I proceed to load up a plate with toast, eggs, bacon and seared tomatoes. Oh my god. I'm practically salivating over my plate as I start to shovel food into my mouth. A scrunched up piece of parchment lands in front of me. I look over at the Hufflepuff table not bothering to hide my curiosity and see Cedric standing on the bench, his arm still extended from throwing the parchment. Draco sneers from next to Pansy,
"Who does he think he is? I could hex him a real haircut…"
I roll my eyes as I flatten out the paper,
"Oh shut up. He's really nice you know."
Every Slytherin within earshot turns to look at me. Some have complete confusion on their faces, others are just glaring. I look down at the parchment, still wrinkled from being aggressively scrunched into a ball.

Nice hair.

I quickly scribble "You too" underneath. I jump up on the bench and throw it over to Cedric. The ball hits him in to temple and he looks straight at me with mock hurt on his face. He picks the ball off the table, winks at me and shouts;
"Nice shot Chase! You'll need that aim when you're up against Hufflepuff!"
Cedric's friends, a few of which are on the Quidditch team start chanting
"HUFF-LE-PUFF! DO YOUR STUFF!"
I look up and down the Slytherin table and notice a couple of the other players standing up and throwing toast at Cedric and his mates. I lift my arms into the air and shout back;
"THERE'S YOUR FAMOUS, THERE'S YOUR FAMOUS SLYTHERIN! THERE'S YOUR FAMOUS SLYTH-ER-IN!"
I laugh as I sit down and smirk straight at Cedric. He reads the note and smiles at me while he runs his fingers through his hair.

Before we head into Hogsmede, Professor McGonagall gathers the third years in the court-yard.
"Now, remember! These visits to Hogsmeade Village are a privilege. Should your behaviour reflect poorly on the school in any way, that privilege shall not be extended again. No permission form signed, no visiting the Village. That's the rule, Potter."
Draco sneers next to me.
"Poor Potter can't go. Ha."

We make our way down the path towards the town. It's a pleasant Autumn day and it feels so good to be getting out of the school grounds. Draco, Pansy, Blaise and I wander into Honeydukes. It's vastly crowded and I feel totally repulsed by being in such close contact with other students. All the students in Honeydukes are acting like they've had far too much sugar.
"You should try the Toffee Traps, they're awesome."
I look over my shoulder and my breath hitches in my throat. Cedric leans over my shoulder and picks a bag up himself.
"Brilliant exhibition at Breakfast."
I smile to myself and look at my hands.
"I…you don't have to make…whatever this is so obvious."
I walk up to the counter and hand over the coins for the toffees, Cedric does the same and follows me out of the shop. The fresh air hits my face and I feel my head clear as the noise subsides. I look around, not really knowing where to go. I'm starting to get a serious crush on Cedric and he is doing nothing to deter me. I'm sure he's toying with me.

He grabs my hand and pulls me along. There's a garden next to the Three Broomsticks and he pulls me down onto a bench next to him. I twist in my seat to face him and cross my legs. The silence is getting heavier between us.
"I can play piano."
Cedric looks at me for a moment and smiles.
"My dad taught me when I was little. He's a music teacher, not magical at all. My mum is an amazing witch, and she never hid anything from Dad. But he taught me to play and she taught me to fly."
He blinks blankly at me for a moment.
"You're not pure-blood?"
I open the bag of toffees and pop one in my mouth.
"Nope. In fact, my mum was a Ravenclaw. But her father was Slytherin and her Mother was Gryffindor. Go figure hey?"
Cedric laughed and took a toffee for himself.
"Both my Dad and Mum went to Hogwarts, but I'm not pure, not that it matters anyway."
I look at him and smile.
"You're wondering how Draco could be friends with a half-blood. We're cousins of sorts, we both have Black in us."
"Of sorts?"
"Yeah. Well you see, my Mum and his Mum are cousins. We aren't super close, I mean, my grandfather was 'disowned' from the family for helping his nephew, who was disowned for running away. But my mother would have been disowned anyway for marrying a muggle."
Cedric laughs and runs his fingers through his hair.
"Wow, that sounds complicated. So why are you and Draco friends?"
I think about it for a moment, rolling the question over in my mind.
"I don't know if we are friends, but I think the fact that I am in Slytherin and on the Quidditch team helps. I don't think I'm super friendly, but I don't go out of my way to be mean either."
He gently rests his hand on my knee and gives me a serious and concerned look.
"I think you're sweet and you're obviously a great witch. I like that you are obviously your own person."
"When's your birthday?"
He laughs at my sudden change of topic.
"October, you?"
I laugh too,
"April."
He nods as though he's come to some sort of conclusion in his mind.
"So you're only 18 months younger than me really?"
"Like it matters anyway, I guess it explains why you thought I was a fourth year though."

We start to make our way back to the castle, I find myself dragging my feet, reluctant to part ways with Cedric. I notice he is watching me out of the corner of his eye.
"What?"
He smiles and looks ahead of himself.
"Nothing."
From behind us I hear the sound of a voice talking more than they should. Pansy.
"c'mon, lets walk faster."
Cedric grabs my hand and we run up head, he pulls me up to a big tree near the little bridge.
"Trust me."
He pins me gentle, yet firmly against the tree and places his hands on my hips. I throw my arms around his neck and tangle my fingers in his hair.
"Are you ok?"
I smile at him,
"Fine."
He frowns down at me.
"Just fine? Oh hold that thought, I can hear them coming."
We start moving a little, I run my fingers through Cedric's hair and he tilts his head from side to side slowly. The voices on the path get louder and louder until I hear Draco snort in disgust.
"Get a room! No one wants to see you doing that in public!"
Cedric removes one of his hands from my waist and flips them the bird. Pansy makes a high pitched sound of irritation and they walk off. As the sounds of their voices and footsteps get smaller and smaller Cedric pulls away from me and I untangle my hands from his hair.
"Problem solved."
I smile and nod at him. As we walk the castle starts to loom in front of us.
"This is us. Will I be seeing you in the library again?"
I look at him and see that his smile falters from a moment.
"I think you can count of it Cedric. You'll also see me on the Quidditch pitch."