A/N: I promised you an update, and here it is. First I just want to thank everbody who has reviewed so far, it means soo much to me. Second I just want to say that my knowledge of pregnancies is about as big as my knowledge or quantum physics, so please don't be afraid to correct me if I'm wrong about something, I've dug up everything on google. Not much else to say, but please check out my new one-shot The Real Him, and leave a review. Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, only my original characters.
Falling at my own Pace
Chapter 21
The next few weeks flew by, and I was now 12 weeks pregnant. I was starting to show, and it made me so happy. It wasn't noticeable when I was wearing my school robes, but naked you could see the defined bump on my stomach. I had moved in to Cedric's room permanently with Dumbledore's permission. It suited both Cedric and I fine, since it meant less time apart.
I sighed as I walked up the next flight of stairs towards my Defense class. My feet were killing me and my bag seemed heavier than usually. As I came to the corridor, I literally bumped into someone. Gasping, I grasped that person's shoulders to keep me standing. When I looked up, I recognized the black hair and green eyes.
"Harry, hi." I smiled. "Sorry for not watching where I was going."
He smiled nervously. "It's my fault, I should have watched where I was going." His eyes shifted downwards, and I realized that he'd felt my bump when we collided.
"Please don't tell anyone," I said low, and he nodded.
"Off course not. I won't tell anyone. I should get to class."
"See you later." I continued to walk, but stopped and turned around when he called out my name.
"Congratulations."
I smiled at him, a silent thank you, and then started to walk towards the classroom again. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't hear the footsteps behind me, and I screamed when two hands grabbed my shoulders. Holding a hand over my racing heart I looked back at the Weasley twins.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack. If I'd fallen down the stairs Cedric would have had your heads."
They only grinned. "We can take him. We've got skills," Fred winked.
I chuckled. "Ah, but so does he. Can we get to class now?"
We went to class, making it just in time. As I sat down, I felt someone looking at me. I glanced up, and saw that Professor Moody's magical eye was fixated on my stomach. Feeling extremely uncomfortable, I sat down and kept my head bent down as the class started.
--
When I came out from the classroom an hour later, Cedric was waiting for me. He smiled when he saw me, his beautiful crooked grin.
"Hey," I smiled.
"Hey yourself. How was your class?"
I shrugged. "It was fine. The usual. Moody still creeps me out." I lowered my voice. "I saw his magical eye fixated on my stomach. I think he knows." A panic stricken look came onto Cedric's face, and I grabbed his arm. "Don't worry about it, he's not going to tell anyone."
"I believe you. Should we get down to lunch?" I nodded and took his hand in mine, entwining our fingers. When we were almost at the Great Hall, I remembered something, and I tugged on Cedric's hand to make him stop. He frowned at me, and I pulled him to the side, so that we wouldn't be overheard.
"Harry knows."
"What?!" His voice was loud, and I shushed him.
"I crashed into him earlier, and he felt it. He promised he wouldn't tell anyone though. He did offer us his congratulations."
"That's nice of him."
I nodded. "It is. So try to be nice to him if you see him."
He feighned being hurt. "Like I'm anything but nice to him. Now let's go, I'm starving and you need to eat."
Almost as if it was planned, we bumped into 'the Golden trio' in the Entrance Hall. An awkward moment arose, before Harry stuck out his hand to Cedric.
"Congrats, mate."
"Thanks." Cedric replied, shaking his hand. I offered the Gryffindors a smile, and then Cedric and I moved into the Great Hall.
--
Later that night we were sitting in the common room, working on our homework. I was tired, and yawned repeatedly. The fifth time I yawned, Cedric looked up at me sharply.
"Ava, go to sleep." I tried to protest, but he just blew me off. "You need your rest." He gave me a look that said not to argue, but I didn't give up the easily.
"Don't tell me what to do." My voice was pretty loud, and we had now caught the attention of every student in the common room. The younger students looked at us with fear in their eyes, probably thinking we were going to wip out our wands, while the older students looked amused.
Cedric clenched his jaw, and his grey eyes were dangerously narrow. "Don't argue with me."
"You're not the boss of me, you can't tell me what to do!" Blinded by rage I stood up and threw my books down before storming off to the dorms. My bed looked empty and cold because I hadn't slept in it for nearly a month, and I threw myself on my back. Bringing up my pillow over my face, I screamed into it. Letting angry tears leak from my eyes I placed an arm over my stomach. A tentative knock was heard on the door, and I knew who it was.
"Go away!"
He sighed. "Ava, please don't shut me out."
"Leave me alone! I hate you!" Pregnancy hormones, I know. But I couldn't help myself. I'd never been one of those people who relied on others, and I wasn't about to start now just because I was pregnant.
"Please don't say that, you don't mean it."
"Maybe I do!" I shouted back.
"I didn't mean to upset you, I promse. I just worry about you. You know why. I just can't stand the thought of anything happening to you."
I sat up, tears still streaming down my cheeks. "You promise?"
"I promise. I love you Ava, so much."
Standing up in a haste, and nearly falling flat on my face in the process, I made my way over to the door and threw it open. Cedric was standing outside, his hair looking like he'd run this fingers through it for several minutes, and with a somber expression on his face. I threw myself in his arms, sobbing into his shirt.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I sobbed, and he kissed the top of my head.
"It's okay. I know your hormones are going crazy."
I gave a tearful chuckle, and looked up at him. "I love you."
He grinned crookedly. "I love you too."
--
The late April weather was perfect, and the sun warmed my face as I from towards my Herbology class. It had been almost two weeks since Cedric's and my argument, and he proved to be Godsend. No matter how angry I got when my hormones freaked out, he was always there, muttering sweet words in my ear and holding my hand. Even the nights I made him sleep on the floor he was a total sweetheart.
When I came to the Entrance Hall, Cedric was there to meet me. I met his lips in a kiss, and a smile graced my face.
"Hey."
"Hey," he replied, taking my bag from me. "Let's eat, I'm starving."
I laughed. "Me too."
We went to eat, and I loved the feeling of Cedric's hand on my knee. I squeezed his fingers, and got a crooked grin in response. Tara looked at us, a frown on her features.
"Something's different with the two of you." We both looked up at her. "Oh my god, you're not getting married are you?"
"No! Off course not!" I objected, but I could feel my palms getting sweaty. I hadn't wanted to tell anyone just yet, but I could feel my resolve start to crumble. I could picture Tara's face when I told her. Leaning into Cedric's side, I brought my lips close to his ear. "I want to tell them."
He squeezed my hand. "Are you sure?" At my nod, he looked up at Tara. "Can you gather up the gang and meet us in my room after dinner tonight?"
Tara's eyes almost bulged out of her head. "Merlin's beard! You are getting married!"
"We're not. Can you just do it?"
Tara nodded, her blonde hair twirling around her head. "Off course. I have to run, I haven't done my Divination homework. I'll see you later though." She left us, and I breathed out in relief.
"That was close." Cedric agreed, and kissed my temple before we continued to eat.
--
I was nervous as we all sat in Cedric's room after dinner. Tara and Ethan were sitting on the bed, Jennifer and Ryan on a sofa they'd transfigured, and Cedric and I was standing up against the wall. I rested my back against Cedric's chest, and covered his hands with mine as they lay on my stomach. His thumb started to stroke my abdomen slightly, and I knew it was time to start.
"Thank you for meeting us here, we wanted to make sure no one else heard."
"What's wrong Ava?" Jennifer asked, looking concerned at me.
"Nothing's wrong," Cedric said calmly. "We just wanted you to be the first ones to know."
We were only met with confused faces, so I took a deep breath and then took a direct approach, "I'm pregnant."
Jaws dropped, eyes got big, and Tara blurted out, "What?! How could you keep this from me?"
"It hasn't been that long Tara. I found out about a month ago. It's taken some getting used to."
"Congratulations, you're going to make wonderful parents," Jennifer smiled, standing up from the sofa to give me a hug. I hugged her back, a smile forming on my face.
"Way to go Ced," Ethan exclaimed, and made a yelp when Tara hit him. We all laughed. It felt good to get that tension out of me, I felt much lighter now.
"What about school? Are you still coming back next year?" Ryan asked, and Cedric shook his head. He started to fill them in on our arrangements, including getting married at the end of the term. I looked over at Tara, who had a huge grin on her face.
"Congratulations!" she gripped me in a tight hug, and I laughed.
"Tara, pregnant here, take it easy,"
"Oops, sorry." She let go of me, and rested her hand against my stomach. "I can't believe that there's a life growing inside of you." Her voice dropped in volume. "How did Cedric react when he found out?"
"He was very supportive," I responded. "More than I would have expected from a 17 year old boy."
"Have you started to come up with names yet?"
I shook my head. "We haven't talked about it yet. I'm not due until the end of October though, so we've got time."
"Speaking of time," Ryan interrupted, "I have to go work on my potions paper. It's due tomorrow, and I haven't even started on it yet." as it turned out, everybody had homework to do, so we left our room in favour of the library.
I was dead tired when I crawled into bed later that night, and struggled to keep my eyes open. I lay down on my side and closed my eyes, feeling my body relax. I heard the door to the bathroom open and close, but didn't look up. I knew he'd be joining me soon. I felt the bed behind me shift after a minute or two, and then the warmth of Cedric's body behind me. He snuggled in close, wrapping his arm tightly around my middle and burying his nose in my hair.
"I love you," I whispered, and his arm around me tightened.
"I love you too." He kissed my neck, and I smiled. I was so lucky to have him. It almost seemed unreal, like it was all a dream. It certainly was too good to be true. Snuggling nearer to him, I matched my breathing to his and found myself starting to fall asleep. Just before I was falling I thought about what Tara had said about names, and reminded myself to speak with Cedric about it tomorrow.
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