Hello, Fluffy, insane author and reader extrodinaire at your service. Umm...Well, that personality didn't last very long. Well now that that's over, I want to say I'm sorry. You see, I was grounded from the computer for a week, so I wasn't able to write at all. Yes, I did suffer from author's withdrawal. And let me tell you, it was not nice. So, now that I have a new chapter for all of you fans, let me say thanks for all of you that have stuck with me so far, and that as repayment for my lateness, I have a good chapter in store for you. Don't be daunted by it's length, but it just seemed to stretch on and on this time. So, thanks to all of you, and if you could jus click on the box at the bottom that says review, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Fluffy


Rating: PG [Trust me, it's going to stay like this for a while still

Disclaimer: Umm...Wow, I'd be soooo rich if I owned the idea. But sadly, here I am typing on a run down computer and semi crappy internet connection. GO FIGURE! Lol, by the way, lol.

P.S. I love you all, my faithful fans, and my newbies, who love slash fiction. Keep on truckin'!


Harry's eyes fluttered open, his vision still slightly foggy. The last thing that he remembered was himself telling Cedric to go, and Professor McGonagall fluttering over him. Obviously, as he stared up at the hospital wing ceiling, he had been out for several hours. He was in a far bed, near one of the great stained glass windows at the end of the gargantuan room. Madame Pomfrey was in her office presumably, and beside himself, there was no one else in the wing. For all the times he had been here, Harry had never seen the room so desolate, so empty. It now seemed as if it was a gaping maw, or black hole, and whatever it sucked in was never seen again. So decrepit was the room that it sent a shiver down Harry's spine, one that sent small waves of pain through his torso. He looked down, and saw that his entire upper body had been wrapped in starch white bandages. He tried moving parts of his body, his arms were fine, his head and neck were in working order, and even his shoulders were operating with little pain. But when he tried to sit up, his body screamed in protest, making him yelp and lay back down heavily upon the bed. Obviously, the noise had startled someone in Madame Pomfrey's office, and with a crash of what sounded like glass, Madame Pomfrey, Cedric Diggory, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger came out of the room at a run.

Cedric, the most fit, reached Harry first, and with a sigh of relief sat down heavily in the chair. Madame Pomfrey came next, bottle in hand, and started to pour a goblet full of the light blue liquid Harry recognized from previous visits to her domain. Ron and Hermione followed closely, and immediately started to bombard him with questions.

"What happened?" Hermione started, her voice a high pitched squeak.

"Yeah, suddenly we hear you're in the hospital wing with four broken bones!" Ron practically yelled.

Cedric stood up, and to Harry's relief, tried to intervene. "Hey, guys, he just woke up, give him some room, and, Ron? Do him a favor and try not to yell."

"Oh…" they said simultaneously, as they looked down, slightly ashamed.

"So Harry," Cedric continued. "What did happen? All I saw was three people beating on you, and then high-tailing it out of there when I yelled."

Harry thought, a blank expression crossed his face. "I don't know," he said quietly. "The last thing I remember was eating in the Great Hall, and then going out to the Entrance Hall to do something. Then, nothing." He looked up at the other three, trying to read their expressions. Ron was confused, as always, Hermione was deep in thought and Cedric… Cedric was wearing a deeply pained expression, his eyes seemed as if they were continents away. His mouth was torn in a grimace, and eyebrows were knitted in pain.

"You're sure you don't remember anything?" Hermione asked, her voice worry stricken.

"Hermione," Harry said, looking back at her. "It's my own mind. I think that I'd be able to tell if I remembered something or not."

"Well," Cedric said, his voice resigned. "There's nothing we can do about it now. All we have to do is make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"Okay," Ron said. "And, how exactly do we do that?"

"Easy, we have someone with him at all times," Cedric supplied simply.

Harry groaned. "Look, I don't want to become an object of great importance here. All I want to do is to go on normally with my life," he said.

"And if you want to do that," Cedric immediately countered, "One of us has to stay with you so you don't get cornered again."

Harry sulked. He hated feeling like a burden to everybody else, especially to Cedric. Arms crossed, and head down, he sat there as his ribs flawlessly healed, and his friends and lover debated and drew up a schedule between the three of them. Cedric, being two years ahead of them, was only able to watch Harry during lunch. Hermione and Ron took over for all other classes, as well as between periods. Soon the bell rang, and Ron and Hermione had to head off to class. Cedric, on the other hand, had a free period, and was able to stay with the injured and disgruntled Harry. After much bustling by Madame Pomfrey, soon the two were alone in the monstrous hospital wing.

Cedric came to sit by Harry's bed, and he cautiously laid a hand on Harry's back.

"I hate this," Harry said bluntly.

"Hate what?" Cedric asked as if he didn't know the answer.

"You know what I hate!" Harry told him in an enraged whisper.

"I may, I may not. There are just so many things for you to hate about this plan. The fact that I came up with it. The fact that you know someone's got it out for you. The fact that-…"

Harry interrupted with, "I get the point! I hate that I have to be watched all the time, and that the three of you have to waste most of your time on me."

"But love, you know that none of us consider it wasted. We don't mind to donate time to a friend or lover."

Harry blanched. Cedric was right. They wouldn't mind, just as he wouldn't mind doing it for them. Silenced by this comment, Harry just looked down and played with the rim of his bed sheet.

Cedric snuggled closer, his strong arm sliding Harry across the bed towards him a bit. Soon, Cedric had Harry in a tight hug, and he was burying his face in Harry's shoulder. "You scared me," Cedric whispered, his tone terrified. "You scared me so much. I just couldn't let it happen again."

Harry's eyes widened as he felt tears wet his shoulder. He realized with a rush that Cedric could only do so much, could only protect him to a certain extent. He realized that Cedric may be his lover, but he wasn't Superman. "I'm sorry," Harry whispered back, nuzzling into Cedric's chest. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I didn't mean to- I'm just-…"

This time Cedric interrupted. "It's okay. Just never go unconscious for a day again, k?"

"A day?" Harry asked. "I don't know. That may be stretching it a bit. I was out for a week once. In-."

"You're first year, I know. You stopped Voldemort then, too."

"Wow, you really know me," Harry said, impressed.

"Of course, I love you. How could I not?"

Harry looked up at him as he sunk into a blissful sleep, the last thing that he saw was Cedric's beautiful face smiling down at him as his eyelids shut, and he knew only black.


Harry woke, so warm, so comfortable, that all he wanted to do was to fall into sleep's open arms. He groaned softly, then turned to his side, trying to find a more comfortable position so that unconsciousness may better embrace him. However, the ruse did not work, and Harry was forced to wake up, his eyes staring into another cloak, lined with yellow.

Harry heard a giggle above him, and strong hands lifted him up and brought him to his senses. "So you finally decided to wake up?" an amused voice said in the fog of his vision.

"Hunh?" Harry mumbled.

"So, you finally decided to wake up?" the now familiar voice repeated.

"Mmm," Harry replied sleepily.

The hands hugged him tightly, planted a kiss on his lips, and lay him back in the bed. "Good. I almost had to leave for class, and I would hate for you to wake up when I wasn't on duty."

That woke Harry up, and when his vision finally cleared, he was staring into Cedric's beautiful gray eyes. "You're leaving?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. I don't want to face the wrath of that too pink Umbridge woman," Cedric gave a nervous laugh.

"You hate her too?" Harry asked.

"Who doesn't?" Cedric replied immediately. Harry laughed, making Cedric smile. "Have I told you that I love the way you laugh?"

Harry shook his head. "No," he said.

"Well, now you know," Cedric said matter-of-factly. "Well, I hate to abandon you, love, in your time of need, but I have to go to class." Cedric made for the door.

"Wait," Harry said. Cedric halted, school bag still in hand. "Goodbye kiss?" Harry asked, looking up. Cedric smiled.

"I can't believe I forgot," he said. He returned to Harry's bedside, and gave him a deep kiss, his lips gently sliding with Harry's. "There," Cedric said when they were done. "Now, I have to go. Try not to burn anything down, k?" Harry nodded. "Good boy! I'll be back with lunch for you in an hour." He left, closing the door silently.

Harry lay back against the monument of pillows, still slightly tired. Something about Cedric bothered him. When he looked at him, something was different. Harry lay there, tossing occasionally, tormented with the task of trying to figure out what bugged him about his lover. Soon, he was tangled in his blankets, and his pillows were neatly thrown on the floor. Madame Pomfrey came and went, tidying up the mess he had made, only to allow the disarray to return and Harry went through fits of torture. Then, it hit him like a ton of bricks. It had happened to him when Hermione was in the hospital wing during their second year. It had happened when Ron was in this very bed their third year. And he had seen it happen to both Ron and Hermione when he was here during the end of last year. The defining factor of this occasion was the bags under his lover's eyes, and the lethargic, almost clumsy, way that he moved around Harry. Finally coming to terms with what bothered him so, Harry relaxed, his body resuming the limp posture that he was so used to. The bed formed to his form, and once again he was at peace in body and mind.

The door opened, hinges squealing in protest from lack of use, startling Harry out of his reverie. Cedric walked in, skillfully balancing two trays of food and his book bag in his hands as he tried to shut the door. Succeeding finally, he proceeded to make his way down the ward to Harry's bed and lay food on the starving boy's lap.

Harry studied Cedric intently for a fraction of a second, and found the proof he was looking for. There they were, dark as night, happily sitting under his lover's eyes, scarring that gorgeous face. He took a couple of bites of the meal before him, and the clasped his hands together and looked at Cedric.

Cedric looked up from his own meal, noticing something was wrong. "Something the matter, love?" he asked.

"No," Harry said, lightly. "I just have a question for you."

"Okay," Cedric said, slightly confused. "What is it?"

"I have to ask, but…have you been loosing sleep when I've been here?"

Cedric froze, he felt like a deer trapped in headlights. "Yes," he said ashamedly, looking down.

"It's okay, really. I used to do it when Hermione and Ron were here, and vice versa. But, you can't do this to yourself," Harry explained. He knew just how to cure this. "You need to tell yourself that I'll be okay. You need to give yourself permission to relax, and to stop worrying about whether or not I'll make it through the night. You must know that I will never leave you without the best darn fight that I can give, don't you?"

Cedric nodded when he realized every point that his boyfriend was making. And every one of them he knew, he just never thought to do. "Yeah, you're right. I need to stop worrying about you so much. It's just that-."

Harry put a finger up to Cedric's mouth, stopping him from saying more. "I know. You were scared half-silly. It's okay." Harry pulled him into a tight hug, and buried his face in the older boy's shoulder. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too." Cedric replied.

The door opened, and they broke apart, and began to eat their meals again as Ron and Hermione entered and crossed the ward.

"Hey," Harry said as Hermione put her books down and sat on the opposite side of Harry's bed.

"Hello, and when did sleeping beauty wake up?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, about an hour ago. I brought him lunch," Cedric said.

"Oh…Well, did you have a good sleep?"

Harry nodded, his mouth full of food.

"Well, I'll let you know that I've got all of your homework in one of the drawers in you nightstand. Beware, there's quite a stack of it."

Swallowing, Harry looked her. "Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"Don't worry," Cedric said. "I'll help you with it. It must be really easy."

Ron and Hermione looked at him curiously. "What? When you face certain death together and survive, it really brings you close faster than you think," Cedric pointed out, waving a chicken bone at them.

"Okay…." Ron said awkwardly, slightly confused as to why Cedric took such an interest in his friend.

"It's fine with me. Maybe you can find a way to save this hopeless case," Hermione said, gesturing toward Harry as she concentrated on her own food that she had brought.

"Don't worry, I've saved many hopeless cases in my time here," Cedric replied, grinning wolfishly. Harry glared at him.

"Good, I've tried everything."

Harry groaned.

"Come on, Harry! It'll be fun!" Cedric said playfully.

"Whoo hoo," Harry said unenthusiastically.

Soon, Hermione and Ron had left, and Cedric and Harry were left alone. It was another free period for Cedric, and he had insisted to get Harry's homework done. So, quill in hand, they started.


I know what you're thinking. SLOW! But, it was fluffy...really fluffy...Now that I read it again, it's practically a cloud...A really poofy cloud. Anyway, R&R, peeps, and remember, I love you all.