"Jen? You awake?"

"Mmh, wha?"

I rolled over to see Cedric, face guilt-ridden and half-hidden in shadow. I blinked a few times to get my eyes to focus.

"Sorry, I thought you were awake."

"What's up?"

"It's not important, you should sleep—"

"No, I'm awake. Tell me what you're thinking."

He reached over and brushed my bangs out of my eyes, frowning slightly. "It's more of a question, really."

"Okay."

"Jennifer… have you ever been in love before? I mean, besides now, at least—"

"Oh shush. Of course I love you."

"Just checking. But… yeah."

"I, uh… I have, actually. You?"

"No." I could see him blush in the dim light.

"Really?" I was genuinely confused. "You… haven't? But I thought you and Cho…"

"I never said it back to her."

"Oh." I was silent for a moment while I processed this information.

"So, you said you've been in love before? With who?"

"Cedric, I… I don't know—"

"Who is it?"

I steeled myself for his reaction. "Lance."

"Lance? Lance Malfoy?"

"Yeah."

"How? Why? Why would you ever—"

I shook my head. "Cedric, you… you don't understand."

"Please. Please explain."

I took a moment to try and organized the story in a way that would make sense to Cedric.

"Cedric, you have to understand… Sarlanda and Lance were the first friends I made at Hogwarts. The two of them were my best friends until, well, really, the end of third year. And well… Lance and I dated third year, and most of fourth. And I fell for him. Hard." I swallowed nervously. If only I could see Cedric's face properly, I could know how he was taking this information. "I just… he seemed to understand me, and I had been so alone… I don't know. It's hard to explain."

"Okay."

He sounded reasonably calm. "Anyways… everything went downhill, and I ended up breaking up with him. But right after that, he decided that… I dunno, he owned me or something, and tried to kill me… that's what really broke my heart, I think. And he's been obsessed with getting me back ever since."

"Jennifer?"

"Yeah?"

"You aren't still in love with him, are you?"

I had to think. Was I?

"Are you?"

I bit my lip. "No, I'm not." I heard him breathe a sigh of relief. "But… that doesn't mean I don't think about him. That's the thing about love, I suppose. Even if things end badly, there's still a part of you that still clings to those memories. I'm not saying I still love him, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten what it was like."

Cedric huffed. "Well… good, I guess."

I laughed. "Cedric, are you jealous?"

"I… what?"

"You're totally jealous of my shitty ex-boyfriend that I had when I was fourteen." I couldn't help but let out another chuckle. This was ridiculous, but also sort of cute.

"Alright, I am. But just because I love you."

"Uh-huh. You know there are plenty of other people I love just as much as I love you, right?"

"Yeah, but like... romantically."

I laughed again, softer this time. "Cedric, trust me, you have nothing to worry about." I scooted closer and kissed him, my stomach jumping a little when he responded.

"Jen?" he asked, lips still brushing mine.

"Yes?"

"This is odd, but… well, it's been on my mind recently. I don't think you ever told me the truth of why you didn't want to date me. In sixth year."

"Oh. That was so long ago… I mean, I guess I was scared, really."

"Scared? Of me?" He almost sounded offended. "Honestly, I was terrified of you."

"I mean, after everything with Lance… and you kind of just reminded me of him…"

"What."

Now I may have actually offended him. "No, I mean... you're both very handsome. And charming. And… good students, smart, powerful. And… honestly, how nice you were treating me was so similar to Lance when we first met that I was expecting to be tricked."

I could feel Cedric shaking. "You know I'd never do anything like… like what he did, right?"

"Yes. That's why I took the chance with you."

He kissed me again, desperate to prove himself, but he didn't need to. He never would.

"So, what about you?"

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"I don't think I've ever gotten the full story of why you even like me in the first place."

"I guess I… haven't." He hesitated before he continued. "So, just… first year, we ran into each other on the train…"

"Yeah, I remember," I prompted.

"And, I dunno, I just thought you were really pretty." He was definitely smiling his dorky, nervous grin. "But I was way too scared to talk to you. You were the smartest kid in class, and you had that famous name… I guess I was just intimidated."

I snorted but let him continue.

"Then I heard rumors you were dating someone in third year, and sort of gave up. I had a brief stint with Cyliana White. Then I dated Cho most of fifth year, but… I dunno, we just didn't feel the same way about each other." He paused to scratch the back of his neck. "By then, I was decent friends with Sarlanda, somehow, and she and my other mates pushed me to talk to you."

"Well, you seemed perfectly sure of yourself."

"It took a lot of guts, you know," Cedric countered. "Especially with knowing that if I said something wrong, you could send me to the Hospital Wing."

"Well, it's a good thing you're smart then," I teased, leaning in to kiss him again. He smirked into the kiss, setting a hand on my hip and encouraging me to shift closer to him. I did, adjusting the blankets around myself with my free hand. When we broke apart, I could feel that his mood had changed again. "What's up?"

"I just… I've been thinking about a lot of heavy stuff lately."

"So I noticed."

"I… do you really want to know?"

"Always."

"Okay… Jen, what would you do if I died?"

I took a deep breath before even attempting to answer him. "Wow. Cedric, I dunno, I haven't thought about it."

"How come?"

"I dunno, I guess… well, I figure I'm more likely to get killed that you are, so…"

"But what if?"

"Well… I guess eventually I might move on. You would be a tough act to follow." I smiled, hoping he could see it. "But… honestly, if you were to be killed right now… I would think that Voldemort would have been worrying about the wrong Potter. I'd kill every last one of them."

My own words shocked me. I couldn't quite picture myself killing a legion of Death Eaters single-handedly… but then again, Cedric and Harry were both still alive, as were a number of my friends.

Cedric let out a sort of nervous chuckle. "Well, good to know I'd be avenged."

"Um… you? What will you do if I…?"

"I…" He gulped. "I dunno what I'll do. Honestly. I'm… I'm so-so in love with you, I can't… I can't imagine life without you." He gulped again. "I wouldn't want to move on."

"I would want you to, though." I set my hand on his cheek, wiping away a small tear. "You can't be miserable forever."

"I can try," he joked, and another tear squeezed its way out of his eye.

"I wouldn't want you to," I repeated. "Cedric, you totally deserve to be happy."

"You do, too."

We were quiet for a moment while I stroked his slightly stubby face.

"What if we make it though?" I asked. "What if we make it through this… this shit storm… alive?"

I felt Cedric smile. "That I have thought about."

"Yeah? And what does that future look like?"

"Well… I mean, obviously, I'd like to marry you."

I was sure he could feel me blushing even though he wasn't touching me any more.

"And, you now, move out to the country so we could have a nice house I'm thinking garden, library, lots of bedrooms—"

I snorted. "Why? It's not like Harry's gonna live with—oh." Cedric chuckled. "Jeeze, how many kids do you want?"

"I dunno, what about you?"

I tried to clear my dry throat. "I—I dunno, I haven't really… I mean, the thought of raising kids is kind of terrifying."

He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Sorry. Don't worry about it. It's just something that's been on my mind."

"Okay. Sorry, I just—"

"It's fine." He kissed me. "I love you, that's it. For better or for worse."

"For better or for worse," I repeated, and kissed him again, wrapping my arms around him.

Happy Monday! I know this is a shorter chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it regardless :)