Disclaimer: I own nothing that is the Harry Potter canon. J.K. Rowling is an excellent woman to give myself the characters to play with, and will return when done. I only own the plot, and nothing else.
Cedric sat down, trying to compose himself from running into the item of his thoughts. He needed to concentrate on his homework. He needed to practice summoning charms after he need to complete his essay on Switching Spells for McGonagall's class due in a couple days time. With his O.W.L.'s coming up, and the homework loading up, he needed to focus. After he needed to write a schedule of what the Hufflepuff team needed to work on during practice to have a shot at the Quidditch cup after their loss to Gryffindor. His mind went back to the game, when he had collided with Oliver, and a grin stretched across his face. How things had changed so fast since that day. He was sad for the loss, but absolutely ecstatic for the gain that had come from that game. He began to scrawl over the parchment in front of him, working and focusing so he could meet up with Oliver later. In the meantime, the Scottish Gryffindor was having a hard time focusing. He was still slightly flustered from his encounter with the Hufflepuff, and needed to get his work done in order to spend time with him. With his N.E.W.T.'s rapidly approaching, and this being the final year he could attempt the Quidditch Cup, he had a lot on his plate. Though Cedric now being apart of it was not something he complained about. Though he was still surprised and confused by these new found feelings for the same gender, he could not deny his appreciation for discovering it all with Cedric. He let his mind wander slightly and think of all that had come from that Quidditch game against the Badgers. He unfortunately wouldn't allow himself to think about a possible future for the two. He still struggled with the idea of being gay, and having a boyfriend. His career dream was to become a National Quidditch player, and he knew of none that were gay. Though knowing about Harry and Draco helped a bit, it still didn't ease all the worries.
Both students worked diligently, and when it had become dark in the library and Madam Pince was ushering all the students out, Cedric caught a glimpse of the Scottish lad of his thoughts moving towards the door and heading in the direction of the stairs. Cedric took his time to give themselves enough gap so they wouldn't be caught walking in the same direction. In time, Cedric moved towards the stairs to reach the 7th floor and was grabbed by a strong figure near the tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy, and thrown against a wall. He felt a strong chest against his own, and his hands were pushed up above his head, unable to use his hands and felt a strong, yet soft pair of lips against his own, a tongue immediately seeking entrance within his mouth. He didn't need to open his eyes to know who was in front of him; he was already familiar with the presence of Oliver. Said Gryffindor quickly worked to the delicate skin by the Hufflepuff's ear, and whispered, "What you do to me Diggory, I wanted to have you in the library!" Cedric gasped audibly, and smiled, replying, "I'm sure Madam Pince wouldn't have been too pleased with that notion." Oliver chuckled against his neck, and moved away to walk in front of the wall necessary to be granted entrance into private quarters to share with the younger boy. Cedric let him decide the necessities of the room, and once the door appeared, walked in making sure no one was around the corridor.
The scene inside surprised Cedric slightly; it wasn't quite the warm atmosphere as it had been before. The bare necessities were inside, a fireplace lit lowly, a bed, a bedside table, and nothing else. Before Cedric could even speak, he found himself gripped once again tightly, thrown on the bed on his back, and then felt a familiar weight on top of him. Oliver had already climbed on top of the Hufflepuff, straddling his waist and grinding against him, showing his apparent arousal, and assaulting all available skin he could get to, while trying to reveal more. Though Cedric absolutely enjoyed the sensations he was receiving, he felt a tang of regret if this was the only aspect that allured Oliver into meeting up with him. He wanted to talk to him, especially about the fact that Draco and Harry were in on them being…well whatever it is that they were. At this point it seemed more like friends with benefits. He brought his hands to Gryffindor's shoulders, and said, "Ollie, please stop." Oliver stopped immediately, confused by stopped. Cedric moved to sit up and Oliver followed his movements, and moved from the Hufflepuff's lap, and sat cross-legged before the younger boy. Cedric sat up as well with his back against the headboard. Cedric brought his hands in front of him and clasped them together, nervous about bringing up a topic that may end badly. Oliver looked at the boy intently, realizing there was something he wanted to talk about and say, but not quite sure where this would lead. He waited patiently, and then finally Cedric stated, "I am aware that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy know about us. Draco and I had a nice talk by the Black Lake today about everything."
Oliver nodded, "Harry told me that he would talk to Draco about talking to you. Harry felt that if I had someone besides you to talk about it, you should have someone as well. It seemed a win/win situation, to have Draco step out of his boundaries and make friends with someone besides himself and Slytherins." Cedric nodded at the information, and had to ask, "Oliver, I know you and I have talked about what we want out of this. I understand you're not sure where this may go, and neither am I. But I'm afraid this is going to turn into something I won't be comfortable with. Do you want this to just be a physical relationship?" Oliver noticed the sad tone Cedric had taken when asking this question, and took the time to think about it. Finally, he responded, "Honestly, I don't know. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable Ced, that wasn't my intention. I'm also sorry if Harry and Draco finding out upset you as well. It was a mistake, and I think it would be a good thing for us to have friends to talk to about it all besides just each other." Cedric nodded, still not looking at Oliver. Oliver noticed Cedric's inability to look him in the eye, and moved a bit closer, brought his hand to grasp the chin of the younger boy and moved him to look up at him, but Cedric continued to look anywhere but at the older boy in front of him. "Ced, please look at me," Oliver pleaded. Cedric finally brought his gaze to Oliver's looking and imploring within the brown orbs in front of him. Oliver took a deep breath, and said, "Ced, I really don't know." Cedric pulled away and brought his gaze elsewhere instead of towards Oliver, not wanting to hear that he didn't know. "Ced..." Oliver pleaded, this going completely the opposite of what he had hoped coming to the Room of Requirement. "Oliver, I just need to think, I think we should take some time apart for right now. I'm sorry, I just need to think things through." Oliver's eyes widened, and brought his eyes down towards his own hands, and nodded, sadly.
Cedric felt a pang of guilt wash over him seeing the sad look on Oliver's face, but he knew he had to say what he was feeling. He stood up from the bed, looked down to Cedric, and began to walk towards the door. He felt a hand grab his wrist, and turned to see Oliver looking up at him, with tears swimming around his eyes. "Ced…" Oliver pleaded once again. Cedric bent down to look Oliver in the eye, "This isn't goodbye Ollie, I just need time, and you need it too. We both need to decide what we want from this, if this is what we truly want, if we want more or less. No matter what happens, we can be friends, I just need time to think as you do." Cedric leant into the Gryffindor and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, "Take your time, I will, and when I'm ready to talk to you, I'll get a hold of you." He stood up and walked of the room, leaving the Scottish boy behind him. Though Oliver didn't notice, feeling a bit distraught and brought his knees up to his chest, feeling an ache wash through his body, Cedric walked away with a few tears silently falling down his face.
Time passed quickly since the last encounter between Oliver and Cedric. Schoolwork was mounting and students were becoming tenser as time went on. Harry and Oliver became closer, spending a lot of time together talking about what was going on with him and learning more about being attracted to men of the same sex. He also got the opportunity to become friends with Draco Malfoy, something he had never expected to happen. The couple refrained from being close and intimate around Oliver, knowing he was going through a hard time and seeing two of his male friends being in a happy relationship wouldn't help. They both told Oliver the same thing, to give Cedric his time. "Mate, it takes some time. Draco and I didn't start out completely happy from the beginning. It's a learning process, not something that comes immediately. You aren't too certain of how you're feeling yet either. I can't say that I blame Cedric, Draco and I took time apart a few times before realizing we wanted to be exclusive and in a relationship regardless of what others thought." Harry stated. It had been a month since Oliver had spent time with Cedric, and in which time Draco and Harry had gone public. It still surprised him with the courage both the younger boys had. They received extreme scrutiny from some, admiration from others, suspicion that Malfoy had placed the Gryffindor under the Imperius Curse, or plenty of fans of two young attractive boys together. Things had quieted down a bit since the initial shock, but it had put some things into more perspective for Oliver. Cedric was leaning towards exclusiveness, a relationship, something Oliver didn't know if he was ready for. He felt guilty, not being on the same page as Cedric, but this was all so new to him that he couldn't just jump right in.
It was a Thursday morning; the weather was dismal and rainy. Through the ceiling of the Great Hall you could see grey clouds and rain hitting the top of the roof. Oliver was pushing around his food on his plate, not feeling up for eating. The whole situation with Cedric was eating at him, and he was becoming slightly depressed. The weather seemed to be a preview of how the day would turn out, Oliver heard a distinct laugh come from across the Hall, and he looked to see Cedric joking with his pals and people seemed to hang on his every word around him. Why was Cedric so happy? Why was he not depressed like how Oliver was feeling right now? Did he meet someone new? Did he meet someone who wanted to give him the things Oliver couldn't? Cedric never turned to look at the Gryffindor table, and this infuriated Oliver even more. He got up from the table abruptly and walked out of the Great Hall. He walked out to the grounds, and walked towards the Black Lake, and heard a pair of footsteps catching up with him. He sat down by the Lake and waited to find out who was following him. Draco and Harry sat down next to him and waited to hear what was troubling Oliver. "It seems like he doesn't care, that he's moved on," Oliver said softly. Draco shook his head, and Harry put a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Not true mate, I know I've talked to him about it," Draco replied. Oliver looked up towards Draco, and his eyes widened, though tears were leaking down his face. "He told you? What has he told you?" "I can't give too much away Wood, he told me in confidence. I can tell you though he hasn't moved on. Though the time may come, since Harry and I came out, plenty of students are getting brave to do so, and some of those students are eyeing the pretty boy from Hufflepuff." Draco admitted. Oliver fists tightened, and a rage soared through him; the thought of anyone else being near Cedric made him infuriated.
Draco and Harry noticed the anger etched the older Gryffindor's face, and spoke silently between each other while Oliver attempted to calm down. Once his breathing became regular again, Harry spoke up, "Oliver, you need to make a decision, sooner than later. Cedric gave you time to sort things out; you've had a month to think things through. Draco and I can only give you so much advice until you act on it. Notice how mad you just got thinking of someone else being with Cedric. It's obvious mate, you want to be with him." Oliver thought over what Harry had just said, and nodded in agreement. "Thanks guys, for everything. I know what I have to do." Oliver stated, while standing up and walked away from the couple, leaving them wondering what he was going to do next. Whatever it was, for his and Cedric's sake, they hoped it would work.
Surprise surprise! 2 updates in one day. I was feeling very up to the challenge, and knowing that people have been waiting for updates, I decided to keep going even after the earlier update. Hopefully people appreciate the turn of events. There should be more soon, and I think the story will be nearing an end at some point, I Just need to decide where the ending will be, I could write on this story forever. Thanks to all, and please review if you have a moment!
-D.R.