Author Notes – Another chapter done, and another one I'm very proud of. A lot happens in this chapter, and luckily there's a positive ending. This is just the beginning, though, plenty more to come. Please read and review, I'd like to know what you think.

Rating – T for language.

Note – I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, that privilege belongs to JK Rowling.

CHAPTER SIX

A Love Interest

That Tuesday evening, Harry was once again sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, studying a thick textbook. His first lesson with Moody was just over an hour away, and because of everything that had happened that weekend, he had not properly prepared, and so now he was desperately trying to glean some information on the spell diagrams that Moody had instructed him to study, in a frantic bid to avoid his teacher's wrath. He wasn't having much luck, some of the spells were very complicated, and he was having a great deal of trouble deciphering what most of them were supposed to do. He had managed to discern that Moody wanted him to learn the Stunning spell and the Impediment jinx, but the more complicated ones remained beyond his comprehension. Unfortunately, Hermione was in the library, and so he wasn't able to ask for her help.

He glanced over at Ron, who was engaged in what looked like a brutally competitive game of Exploding Snap with Seamus and Dean, and Harry suspected from Ron's smouldering eyebrows that he wasn't winning. Harry wished very much that he could go over and join them, but he knew that he had to focus; Moody's attitude to him had been less than ideal the last time they had met, and Harry didn't want to risk antagonising him further through lack of work. Although, at this late stage, he was beginning to question whether continuing to sit there staring at the intersecting lines and symbols was doing any good at all. He looked at the cover of the book, silently cursing the author for making the spells so complicated.

Cedric would be able to help me, he thought absent-mindedly. Harry had not seen the Hufflepuff boy since the bizarre encounter he had had after Quidditch practice on Sunday, which, despite the fact that it still fascinated and confused him, he had been forced to put to the back of his mind to concentrate on other things. He was determined, however, to get to the bottom of what happened, but had decided to respect older Cedric's wishes and not tell anyone what he had seen. He knew that they might be able to help, but as Cedric had asked him to do something, he wasn't going to ignore that. He found himself wishing, not for the first time, that Cedric was in the same house, because then at least they would be able to talk about Moody and everything else, even if he was sworn to secrecy about that. I could send him a message, he though, gazing into the fireplace.

A loud bang coming from the vicinity of Ron, Seamus and Dean brought Harry back into the present, and he looked down again at the textbook. He had a suspicion that he was looking at some sort of defensive spell, but he couldn't yet determine the incantation or exact purpose. He looked up again, this time at the clock above the fireplace, and saw that his lesson with Moody was in twenty minutes. Sighing heavily, he got to his feet, tucked his book under his arm, and headed for the portrait hole, passing Ron on the way, who gave him an encouraging thumbs-up. Harry grimaced in reply and left the Common Room.

He trudged down the Grand Staircase, feeling all the time that this just wasn't going to go very well. He began to formulate some excuses in his head, but they all needed him to explain why he had been so preoccupied over recent days, and his backup plan of blaming Ron and Quidditch practice probably wouldn't go down very well.

As he left the staircase and joined the second floor corridor, Harry couldn't help noticing a tapping sound, accompanied by footsteps, as if someone was walking with a cane, but it sounded far too light to be Moody's staff. He paused and listened intently. The sounds got gradually louder, and then Harry heard a door opening and closing again. He turned the corner and looked down the corridor, but he had no idea which room whoever it was had gone into. 'Mmm, I wonder who that was,' he muttered to himself. Then he remembered why he was there, and headed for Moody's office. He knocked and was told to enter.

The office looked the same as it had last time. Moody was sitting at his desk with his legs, both real and wooden, resting on the table in front of him. He watched Harry intently as he approached the desk, and nodded at the chair opposite him. Harry sat down, feeling nervous, and waited for his teacher to speak. Moody continued to look at him for a few moments, and then got to his feet and removed his wand from his pocket. Harry's hand involuntarily hovered over his own. Was he expecting Moody to attack him? He wasn't sure.

Moody seemed to notice this. 'Good, he said, with a sharp laugh. 'At least you seem to have a natural suspicion of everyone. Perhaps there's some hope after all.'

'Erm...thank you sir,' said Harry, though he wasn't at all sure that this was a complement.

'Now then Potter,' continued Moody. 'I tasked you with studying some spell diagrams, some of which I acknowledge were very advanced for someone of your age. I trust that you had some success with them?'

Harry shifted uncomfortably, choosing his words carefully. 'A little sir,' he replied. 'I got the Stunning spell and the Impediment jinx, but the defensive spell...'

Moody glanced over the corner of the room and frowned, before looking at Harry once more. 'Well I suppose with everything that's going on at the moment, I shouldn't have expected much more.' Harry, who had been bracing himself for a bollocking, was surprised by this attitude, it didn't seem like Moody at all. 'So then Potter, we may as well practice the spells you've discovered. Let's start with the Stunning Spell. This is one of the most useful spells in a wizard's duelling set, as it is simple to cast, and very effective. Let's see how you do.'

Moody flicked his wand, and a target appeared on the wall above his trunk. 'You know the incantation I take it?' Harry nodded, having managed to decipher it earlier that day. 'Good. Now then, let's see how accurate you are.' Harry drew his wand, concentrating hard on the target, and prepared to cast the spell.


They spent over an hour practising the same spell, until Harry had been able to hit any spot on the target on command. Moody had then proceeded to instruct him to cast the spells at Moody himself to see if he could get any past his defences. Harry had been unable to do so, every time he cast the spell, his teacher had deflected it and ordered him to try again. Now Harry was completely exhausted, and he had yet to successfully stun the Professor.

'I think that will do for tonight Potter,' Moody said, and Harry lowered his wand gratefully and slumped into a chair. 'Tiring isn't it?' Moody continued, and Harry nodded without saying anything. 'Good, because there's no respite in the real world, and if you drop your guard for even a moment because of tiredness then that's it.'

'Yes sir,' Harry replied wearily. 'Constant vigilance and all that.'

A small smile appeared at the corner of Moody's scarred mouth, but soon disappeared again. 'Quite right Potter,' he said, and sat down himself. 'Perhaps to someone as young as you, it seems harsh, even paranoid, but when you've been around as long as I have, you'll understand what I'm talking about.'

'Believe me sir I do, I've been through a few things myself.' He paused, feeling a little braver. 'Tell me sir, are you ever afraid of anything?' He remembered talking to Cedric, and his confession that he was afraid all the time, and Harry thought back to his conversations with Lupin last year about the fear Harry had had of the Dementors. Fear had played such a huge part in his life, from the fear of his relatives onwards. Could there really be anything that frightened the famous Auror in front of him?

Moody let out a bark of laughter in response. 'A good question my boy,' he said, and Harry noted the more affectionate term of address. 'Of course, only a fool is never afraid. What matters is that you don't let it control your actions, because that's when you make mistakes. Yes I get frightened, but I'm always in control.' Harry nodded, understanding exactly what Moody meant. 'Now then Potter, you'd better be going. Continue to study that defensive spell diagram. You did well today, but there's a lot of work still to be done.'

Harry smiled at the compliment, and feeling pleased with himself, got up to leave the office. As he walked through the door, Moody called after him, 'You might even recruit Miss Granger to help you, I'm sure she'd be a valuable asset.' Harry smiled as he left the room, knowing that he intended to go straight to Hermione for help.

After the door had closed, Moody swivelled in his chair to face the man who had appeared from the corner of the room, focusing on him with both his normal and magical eye. He glanced dismissively at the umbrella that the man was leaning on, and then back to his face. 'Are you going to come to all of these and observe in silence? Judging my teaching style perhaps?' His tone, however, was light-hearted.

'I would never dream of presuming,' replied the man, smiling from beneath his white panama hat. 'Your teaching style is unique and unrivalled.' He padded across the room and examined his features in the Foe Glass. His curly brown hair was particularly untidy at this particular moment, and his red silk tie was off centre. He corrected it and turned back to Moody. 'Went quite well I thought. Do you think he'll be able to cope?'

'I don't think he has much choice does he?' said Moody, watching the visitor carefully. 'Whether he's ready or not, he's going to be involved.'

'Indubitably, but I'd feel better knowing that he was at least a little prepared. I don't think Dumbledore would have agreed to this if he had known that Harry was going to be unprepared. Not that he could've done much about it in any case,' the man added as an afterthought. 'That's why I suggested bringing you here, an Auror such as yourself is the perfect candidate to train Harry for what's to come.'

Moody frowned obviously. 'And that's the only reason?'

The man's smile faltered, and he looked at Moody with his deep grey eyes. 'Of course,' he said, in a mildly dangerous tone. 'What other reason would there be?'

'You can see why I ask of course,' said Moody. 'You're full of secrets, half-truths and misdirection. You won't even use your real name, will you "Smith"?'

'And what do you think the reaction would be if I did?' the man interjected, looking thoroughly annoyed. 'Do you really think people would believe me? I can hardly produce Salazar Slytherin to collaborate my story can I?' He turned away, and began to examine Moody's trunk, caressing each of the locks delicately one at a time, as if trying to establish their secrets. There was a silence for several seconds and then he turned back to Moody again. 'I'd better be going, I've got a lot to do and I've got to be at St Mungo's before it's too late.' With that, he started towards the door.

'Of course,' replied Moody, raising a barely-visible eyebrow. 'You've made your next move then I take it?' He gestured over to the dark corner of the room.

'Naturally, and it's a particularly devious one,' the visitor said, a twinkle returning to his green-blue eyes. 'Good day Alastor, I'll let you know when I come visiting again. I may even drop in on Professor Trelawney next time, I've been meaning to speak with her.'


Cedric always enjoyed breakfast at Hogwarts. It was, as his mother always told him, the most important meal of the day. And the sheer choice of dishes available on any given day meant that Cedric followed this doctrine carefully. That particular morning, he had opted for a large bowl of porridge followed by toast. God, he thought to himself suddenly, my life really isn't interesting enough if I get excited about a wide selection of breakfast cereals.

He glanced over at James, who was tucking into a large plate of bacon and eggs, and smiled. Cedric was always careful to eat a balanced diet, but James, like many people who came to Hogwarts, had decided that given the chance to eat anything and everything he wanted, he would make the most of that opportunity. Cedric, thankfully, had been rewarded for his dietary discipline with a healthy weight, decent muscle mass and, most importantly for him, clear skin that was rarely blemished with spots. He had seen how some of his classmates had struggled with acne, and was privately grateful that he had been spared such a fate.

James looked at up, and Cedric realised that he had been staring at him unthinkingly. 'Can I help you, or are you just daydreaming about me again?' asked James.

Cedric grinned. 'You know, for a supposedly straight man, you spend a lot of time wondering whether I fancy you. Anyone would think you were waiting for me to say yes.' James begin to chew very slowly, signalling his annoyance. 'Come to think of it, have you ever actually had a girlfriend?'

'Ouch,' replied James. 'That's a low blow. Just because we're not all smitten like you -

'I'm not smitten for goodness sake,' interrupted Cedric. 'Honestly, the lack of excitement in your life is no reason to project excitement onto mine. I have an interest in a young man that may or may not be something, let's just wait and see.'

'And yet you still won't tell me who this man is. This tall, dark handsome stranger who has knocked you off your feet?'

'I told you, it's not my place to tell you who it is,' said Cedric, but he involuntarily glanced over at the Gryffindor table to see if he could spot Harry. Luckily, James didn't notice this movement. 'He's not ready yet. One day maybe, but not now.'

'All right, I get it. Still, it hasn't stopped you being all dreamy the last few days. You've barely paid attention in lessons, and when you're not paying attention, people notice.'

Cedric thought about this. It was true that he hadn't been concentrating properly since the weekend, but that was understandable considering the situation. This was the first time that he had a reasonable prospect of getting close to someone since...well, since what had happened last year. Besides, he might act very mature, but the truth was he was still a teenager, and he was entitled to become infatuated every now and again. But, on the other hand, he didn't want his work to suffer.

'You're doing it again,' said James, and Cedric raised his eyebrows at him quizzically. 'Staring off into the distance. You're clearly thinking about him. Honestly, you're terrible conversation when this happens. I'm off to my lesson.' And with that, James pushed his plate away and strode out of the Hall. Cedric waved to him as he left before returning to his food.

At that moment, the post arrived and Cedric looked hopefully up at the ceiling. It had been a while since he had received a letter from home and he wanted to hear from his mother soon. He was heartened to see his owl flying towards him and drop a small note onto his lap. Cedric didn't recognise the writing, but he had a feeling he might know who it was from, and so flipped it over. He was right.

Dear Cedric,

Hope you're having a great week, mine's been a little eventful and I was hoping we could get together so I can tell you all about it. If that's all right with you, why don't we meet after dinner in the Entrance Hall and go for another walk in the grounds?

Let me know. Look forward to hearing from you,

Harry x

Cedric noted the kiss at the end of the note and his heart lifted a little. He couldn't wait to meet up with Harry again, though he hadn't expected the younger boy to ask him, at least not for a little while longer. He smiled and quickly scribbled an affirmative reply to the note, and attached it to his owl to take the Gryffindor table. Glancing at his watch, Cedric realised that he was going to be late for his first lesson, and so quickly finished his breakfast and left the Hall, feeling excited and nervous about the evening to come.


Harry waited nervously in the Entrance Hall that evening. He had been looking forward to this ever since Cedric had agreed to meet him, but he couldn't help feeling a little bit apprehensive. He felt that way every time he met up with Cedric, which Harry assumed was perfectly normal when you fancied someone. What made it even worse was that after the events of the weekend, Harry knew that Cedric would fancy him back at some point, but he wasn't sure whether he did yet. Even so, he had decided, it was time to take the risk.

He had told Hermione what he was planning, and she had been characteristically supportive, but also, like any excitable teenager, extremely giggly about the whole thing, so much so that Ron had kept asking her what she was smiling about all day. Harry couldn't put into words how much Hermione had helped him in the last few days, she had simultaneously fulfilled the role of supportive parent, friend and enthusiastic matchmaker all at the same time. Not for the first time, Harry thought about how lucky he was to have her as a friend.

A few minutes later, Cedric came strolling out of the Great Hall. Harry considered him for a moment; he had always known how good-looking the older boy was, but now that Harry truly knew how he felt about Cedric, he looked even more attractive than before. He was truly stunning, and Harry once again registered disbelief that someone so beautiful might possibly be interested in him. Cedric smiled widely, and Harry couldn't help beaming back, hoping desperately that he didn't look weird.

'Hello there,' said Cedric. 'Now after the day I've had, that's the smile I like to see.' He clapped Harry on the shoulder, which gave him a thrill of excitement. Just calm down, he thought to himself, you're becoming ridiculous now.

'Well I'm glad to see my clumsy attempts at smiling are favourable to someone,' Harry replied. 'Shall we?' he added, gesturing towards the double doors that led to the ground. Cedric smiled and grabbed Harry's arm, leading him forward. OK, Harry thought, this was a little more forward than I was expecting, but at least it's progress. He allowed Cedric to guide him out of the castle and towards the lake. Eventually they came to a halt beneath a large cedar tree by the lake, where the giant squid had been known to frequent. Luckily it was nowhere to be seen and so they sat down, looking out across the lake towards the horizon, where the sun was beginning to set. It was a beautiful sight.

'Ah,' said Cedric, gazing outwards. 'I love the September sunset. It just creates such a peaceful atmosphere. Winter's coming though, there's a chill in the air.'

Harry nodded, unsure of what to say. Now that he was here, alone with Cedric, he suddenly had an attack of nerves again. He steadied himself, trying to regain his confidence. 'I like the winter,' he decided on in the end. 'I love Christmas at Hogwarts.'

Cedric looked at him. 'Oh yeah, I forgot that you don't go home at Christmas. What's it like here then? Does Professor McGonagall get drunk?'

'Erm...I think she might have done last year,' Harry replied. 'It was really fun actually, there were only about twelve of us on Christmas day and so we all had Christmas dinner at the same table.' He suddenly adopted a whisper. 'Don't tell anyone, but I actually heard Snape laugh at a Christmas cracker joke.'

'Blimey,' said Cedric, smiling. 'It must have been either the funniest joke in history, or a particularly dark one.' He paused. 'I can't believe we're talking about Christmas already.'

'Yeah,' agreed Harry. 'Sorry, shouldn't have brought it up. But it is one of my favourite times of year. At least it is now,' he added darkly, remembering the miserable Christmases that he had had at his Aunt and Uncle's. He saw a flash of concern in Cedric's eyes and decided to change the subject. 'How's Quidditch training going then?'

The conversation continued like this for some time, and the sun slowly descended in the sky, until it was just above the horizon line, and darkness was falling quickly. Harry realised that curfew would be coming soon and they would have to part, but there were things he still wanted to talk about. He decided to go straight for the plunge. 'So,' he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. 'When did you realise that you were...you know...?'

Cedric, who had been silently watching the lake for a few minutes, started and looked over at him. 'Do you really want to know?' Harry nodded earnestly, and so Cedric turned so that they were facing each other. 'Well, when I was about twelve, I realised that I fancied one of my friends. It was bad, Harry, really bad. I was ashamed, I couldn't believe that this was happening to me. I felt like I was letting my family down, my friends down. But the feelings wouldn't go away, they just kept getting stronger.'

Harry nodded, feeling both sympathy for Cedric but also relief that others knew what he, Harry, was going through. 'It got really bad when I was thirteen,' Cedric continued. 'I got really depressed, and it was affecting my work and everything. You know that on my birthday when they brought out the cake and told me to make a wish, I prayed that gay Cedric would just go away.' Harry winced, imagining how painful that must have been. 'But he didn't. And over time, I began to accept myself for who I was. My friend James helped a lot, I came out to him first, and he was really supportive and understanding, I could always go to him when I was feeling down. It took time, you know, and now I'm very comfortable with who I am.' He paused, as though thinking hard. 'But I haven't been able to tell my parents yet, I know my Mum will probably be fine but I can't help thinking that Dad will be less than supportive. It's frightening that he might not accept who I am.'

'Have you...er...you know, ever had a boyfriend?' Harry asked, feeling awkward about breaching the subject, but for some reason, he needed to find out. But Cedric remained silent. 'Sorry,' Harry said, worrying that he had upset him. 'I shouldn't have asked that. It's none of my business really.'

'It's fine Harry really,' Cedric replied. 'Erm...the answer to that is...sort of, I suppose. Last year, I had a thing with a boy but I'm not sure you could ever describe us as boyfriends.' Cedric pre-empted Harry's unasked question. 'Can't tell you who I'm afraid, he...er...never really accepted who he was.'

Harry was thinking fast. It was clear that Cedric had struggled with his sexuality in the same way Harry had, and some of the emotions that he had just had described to him were similar to ones he had experienced. But Harry was still very new at this, Cedric had had much longer to come to terms with who he was. Was Harry really ready to divulge his secret? He remembered what the older Cedric had said to him when he had disappeared, and took the split-second decision to go for it. He looked at Cedric intently and said, 'Listen Cedric, I...um...think I might be gay too.'

There was a beat and then Cedric smiled, looking at him with great affection. 'I'm glad you were able to tell me that Harry, you've clearly come a long way.'

'Wait a minute,' Harry said incredulously. 'You mean that you knew already?'

'I had a suspicion,' Cedric admitted sheepishly. 'Remember that I'm more qualified than most to recognise the signs of someone struggling with their sexuality. And when you...you know, shouted all those insults at me, I knew there had to be a reason for you to behave like that, cos let's just say it was a little out of character.'

Harry nodded, and then realised the implication of this. 'So, when you said that it was because of my upbringing, you were...what? Bullshitting?'

Cedric grinned. 'I wouldn't put it quite like that. I just thought that you needed a little more time, so I used some deflection to give you that time.'

'I can't decide whether that makes you the nicest person I've ever meet, or a total bastard,' Harry said, but his fixed smile gave away which one he believed to be the truth. 'So, yeah, there we are, I'm gay. Who'd have thought it? Do you know what actually provoked that argument we had last week?' Cedric shook his head. 'Ron and Hermione told me that you were gay and were worried that you might fancy me, and I completely flipped out. Weird really as I know that's not the case.' Harry knew precisely what he was doing with this, it was a little devious but he was pushing Cedric towards where he wanted him to be.

'I'm sorry?' asked Cedric, but Harry could tell that he knew what was happening.

'I said that Ron and Hermione thought you might fancy me, but I know that's not the case.'

'I...er...no,' said Cedric in the end. 'I mean...you're wrong.' It took Harry a moment to digest this information. Had Cedric really said what he thought he had said? 'Listen Harry,' Cedric said quickly. 'It's getting late. We'd better get back to the castle.'

Harry nodded silent, his heart and head were working too quickly for him to vocalise anything at that moment. He got to his feet, and they walked silently back to the castle. They paused in the Entrance Hall and Harry decided to take a risk. 'So...do you think then, that we might...you know, have something?'

Cedric looked at him, and it was clear that he was choosing his words carefully. 'Yeah, maybe we do. Though I think we should take things slowly for the moment. This is something a bit new for both of us, so shall we just see what happens?'

'Yeah, absolutely,' said Harry, quick to agree. 'We certainly don't need a label for anything yet. We should just focus on taking things slowly. So...when can I see you again?'

Cedric smiled. 'I'm sure we'll find a time. I'll send you a note. Goodnight Harry.' And he set off towards the Hufflepuff Common Room. Harry stood there silently for a moment, collecting his thoughts and allowing his heart rate to return to normal. Unless he was very much mistaken, he may well have just got himself a boyfriend.