Here is the next chapter for you guys. Sorry about the length of it though; I had a lot to go through in the Chapter so I thought I would just blag it. Much love RSD xoxoxoxox
"Jeez! Cedric! I nearly died there" I said playfully as I went to slap his arm. Cedric however caught my hand and turned it around and kissed the palm of my hand. This caused me to smile. He dropped my hand and moved his hands to my shoulders and started to slowly massage them.
"Hmm that feels nice" I said trying to supress a moan as his fingers started to need into the top of my back.
"Good" he said as he started to rotate his fingers in the opposite direction. I looked up to him to see him grinning at me and he lowered his head down and brought his face a couple of inches away from mine.
"And what period are you skiving from then" I asked teasingly moving my head up slightly to brush my nose against his. It was hard to not just kiss Cedric there and then as our lips were an inch apart.
"I'm actually on a free period before and after lunch" he answered back mockingly.
"Oh I see have you got much work to do?" I asked trying to put a serious face on, which was hard as when Cedric was about I wanted to permanently smile.
"Well I have a little bit of work to do and I still have my egg to do as well" he asked smiling my favourite crooked smile.
"Oh well, I guess I'll have to leave you to it then" I said raising my brow trying to tease him. He went to move forward to kiss me and I moved my face down. I felt his lips catch the top of my head.
"Are you trying to tease me Miss Grainger?" he asked with his face in my hair. This caused me to smile I loved the fact that I was able to tease Cedric. This is something that I was going to have to use to my advantage in the future.
"I'm allowed aren't I?" I asked moving around in my chair to look at him. He released me so I could do this.
"Of course you are; but you do know I love a challenge" he said reaching for my hand. I put my hand in his and he pulled me up to stand face him.
"And I hope you know as well that the roles can be reversed Hermione" he said as he entwined his arms around my waist. I bit my lip as he pulled me closer.
"Please don't do that, it makes me want to kiss you" he said as he moved his left hand to cup my face.
"Maybe that is my intention" I muttered putting my hands on his chest. I watched Cedric gaze drop to my hands on his chest. Then he smiled my favourite crooked smile again. Then I saw him start to move his face towards mine – his lips were practically touching mine.
"Well I would hate to disappoint" he whispered before his mouth captured mine. I felt his arm tighten around my waist claiming me further. I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers through his hair. His hand let go of my face and moved to the back of my head. The sudden need to breathe came and I pulled my face away slightly and I felt my face break out into a smile.
"No disappointment here" I said quickly breathed before pecking his lips again.
"Good, cause I would be worried if there was" he whispered as he balanced his head against mine. We stood like this for a little while trying to regulate our breathing. He quickly kissed my lips again after a few moments he tried to deepen the kiss again and I let him for a few seconds before pulling away. He started to look confused and I stepped out of his embrace. I slid my hand into his and led him to the couch. Cedric's face was still contorted into a confused state.
"Nothing's wrong Cedric. It's just even though I could kiss you all day" this caused him to grin like a Cheshire cat "I would like to sit down and speak to you".
"Sound's serious" he added as we both sat down. I shook my head and put my hand under his chin.
"It doesn't have to be" I said stroking his chin, I watched his reaction for a couple of seconds before continuing.
"The other day you looked upset and you were looking in Victor's direction" I stated what made me stop what Cedric's eyes widened slightly and sighed and moved his face away from mine.
"So I was right to think there was something" I asked moving closer to Cedric. Cedric turned his head back towards me moved his hand towards his face and took my and from his face and interlocked our fingers together.
"It's nothing really, just something that annoyed me that's all" he said.
"I would still like to know what it was, so I can keep an eye on said annoyance so it doesn't bother you again" I replied. Cedric sighed, slightly shook his head and smiled at me.
"It's nothing you can help with but I will tell you. It looks like you're not going to let it go" he said laughing. I shook my head back smiling at him, of course I am going to want to know what was bothering Cedric – no matter how small.
"I heard Krum talking to his friends about who he would like to take to the ball" he said and paused to let that sink in. "I also heard other comments that I wasn't entirely happy with" he quickly added after a few moments.
"What did he say?" I asked I knew who Cedric meant – me. But I still wanted to know what Victor had been saying. Cedric looked down and started to pick at something on the couch.
"Anything I need to worry about?" I prompted as was starting to get a concerned.
"Well it depends on how you look at it" Cedric said. I just stared blankly into his face.
"Cedric you're starting to worry me" I said laughing trying to hide my concern.
"Well it's not cool to hear someone speaking about MY girlfriend in a way that I deem inappropriate. Fair enough it was more his friends than him but still" Cedric said clenching his jaw. I opened my mouth to speak but he quickly added "I'm the only one who's allowed to kiss you or do anything else for that matter". Then the penny then dropped, my face started to smile.
"Cedric Diggory, you're jealous?" I remarked. This caused me to laugh and shake my head. Cedric looked hurt with my reaction but I quickly put my hand on his neck and made him look into my eyes.
"You have no reason to be jealous Cedric. I have no intentions on anyone else but you. I'm shaking my head as I can't believe that you don't already know that" I said slowly letting him digest what I said. He started to smile at me. "As for who he wants to take to the ball I can't really help that as far as everyone else is concerned I'm single. This is one of the things I wanted to discuss with you". I quickly added before pulling his lips to mine.
I had to make sure he knew that I didn't want anyone else but him. I couldn't think about anyone else when I wasn't with him; I know I haven't been with Cedric for very long but I felt that I was falling for him pretty hard. I raised my other hand to put it on the other side of Cedric's face to deepen the kiss. I felt Cedric's tongue push against my mouth requesting to gain access and I opened my mouth and let him. I felt his tongue move against mine and into my mouth. After a while Cedric pulled away and grinned at me.
"You really want to persuade me don't you?" he asked laughing trying to catch his breath. I nodded and put my head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer towards him so we were now lying cuddling on the couch.
"I know that I can't help people fancying you Hermione – I'm one of them. It's just it's hard to hear what they say when I secretly know your mine" he said into my hair as he put his hand in the small of my back.
"Yeah well you should just think about when I'm with you, hopefully that will ease your mind" I said stroking his chest.
"Oh it will ease my mind alright, knowing that your mine and only mine. However I don't really know what to do about the Yule Ball of course I want you with me, but I don't know whether it is worth the risk of putting you in harm's way" he said rubbing the small of my back.
"Neither do I. It wouldn't bother me if people knew; the initial backlash would be dreadful of course but I'm sure I could get over it" I said into his chest not wanting to lift my head up due to not wanting to upset him.
"Backlash?" he asked quickly absent mindedly. This caused me to look at him and I started to laugh.
"Well it looks that I have finally managed to get the third and final male champion. My oh my I have been busy. Who will I move onto next?" I asked sarcastically.
"Sorry Mione I didn't think" he quickly answered his cheeks slightly going red "I was just thinking out loud; I meant nothing by it".
"I know you don't – don't worry. But that is what they are going to think aren't they? A girl yesterday even said to me that you were the only one that's smart enough to keep away from me" I told him. His eyes widened and then bit his lip then suddenly smiled.
"Obviously I'm not smart enough" he said kissing my neck. This caused shivers down my spine. I looked into his eyes and felt his mouth move from my neck to my jaw and finally catching my mouth quickly.
"Obviously not" I teased. I couldn't believe how easy it was to be with Cedric – it felt as easy as breathing.
"Oi!" he said laughing and he started to tickle my sides. I started to shriek as I was very ticklish there.
"Cedric stop it!" I said through laughing. He suddenly stopped and wrapped his arms around me and pulled me on top of him.
"It's no one else's business but mine and yours so I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's only between you, me and my "stupidity" he said snuggling into my hair. I grinned into his chest and started to stroke his arm slowly.
"I really don't know what to do Hermione. I still want to keep things secret due to this relationship being quite new and I don't want anything or anyone spoiling it" He added slowly after a while of lying in silence.
"I understand that" I said into his chest. How was I going to bring up the fact that I wanted to tell Ginny. I understood what he meant because I felt that way as well but I felt bad lying to her. I also knew that Ginny was going to keep thinking that I fancied Victor until I told her. I just hoped Ginny was the only one that thought this – but I didn't think this was the case.
"Why do I feel a "but" coming along?" he said laughing tightening his arm around my shoulder for a couple of seconds pulling me closer to him.
"It's not that it's just I'm confused about it all" I answered back.
Truth is I was confused about it all; this was my first relationship and I didn't know what to expect. A thought crossed my mind - if the tournament hadn't taken place this year would I have met Cedric that night and would I be in a relationship with him? I know there is no way of ever answering this question but I think it has been pure chance that this has happened. I felt my eyes drift as I started to think about what would it have been like if I didn't meet Cedric that night and I didn't realise that I had drifted off to sleep until I heard Cedric speak to me.
"Sorry Hermione – I didn't realise you went to sleep. I thought that you were upset" he said sounding concerned. I pushed myself up to look up at him, my eye lids still felt heavy.
"It's ok; don't worry about it. I wasn't upset I just started thinking about something and then I drifted off" I said yawning.
"Anything I should be worried about?" he asked laughing. I shook my head before speaking.
"I was just wondering about what would have happened if this tournament never happened" I said watching his reaction.
"Hmmm, you're wondering whether we would have met and got together aren't you" he asked and I felt his hand start to draw patterns on the back of my hand.
"Yeah, what do you think?" I said resting my chin against his chest so I can see him.
"I don't know but I'm sure if we didn't met like this now I'm certain in the future we would have done" he answered smiling.
"What makes you think that?" I asked.
"Well this just feels right, I would like to think that even if it was after we had both left Hogwarts we might have met" he said stopping tracing patterns into the back of my hand and slid his fingers into my hand so they now interlocked. I blushed at this and his other hand caught by cheek and started to stroke my cheek.
"Nothing to be embarrassed about love, I love you" he said slowly.
"And I love you too Cedric" I answered back automatically. I loved how easy it was to be with Cedric, I never have felt like this before. Obviously this is my first relationship so I didn't know what to expect - but this felt so much better that I ever expected it to.
This caused Cedric to smile and he started to stoke my hair. It felt nice to feel him run his fingers through my hair; it made me relax a little bit more. We lay like this for a while and I started to fall asleep. I felt myself yawn that made Cedric chuckle.
"Do you want me to leave you to sleep?" he asked.
"No I don't get to see you enough as it is" I said pushing my hands up on the coach to look up at him. This caused Cedric to chuckle as I moved my arms up to his neck and I pulled him towards me. I felt his lips kiss my forehead whilst his arms snaked around my waist.
"I know what you mean; it feels nice to spend some time with you instead of writing letters. I was starting to feel more like a pen pal rather than your boyfriend" he said chuckling.
"The letters are nice, but this is better" I said snuggling into his chest.
"Definitely" he agreed. We sat in silence for a little while just enjoying the moment. Cedric was the first to break the silence.
"Hermione?" he asked slowly; this caused me to look up at him and watch his reaction.
"Cedric" I answered back slowly repeating what he had said to me.
"About the other day?" he answered watching my reaction. When I didn't answer him back he continued. "You looked upset when you saw me sat with Cho" he stated. I froze how was I going to answer this, yes I was reacting to Cho being sat with Cedric but I wasn't upset - I was jealous.
"Oh that?" I said dropping my head back down, why did I feel so embarrassed?
"Yes that" he said "I just wanted to make sure you knew that you have nothing to worry about" I heard him say. I smiled into his chest knowing that he was right. Of course I had nothing to worry about; sadly it still made me jealous.
"I know that but it doesn't help..." I said cutting myself off due to being embarrassed.
"Help with what?" Cedric asked moving slightly away so he could try to look at my face. When I didn't answer he placed two fingers on the tip of my chin and lifted my head. I felt my stomach start with the butterfly feeling as his eyes burned into mine.
"With what?" he repeated keeping his gaze locked with mine.
"Erm" was all I could say, it was hard to concentrate when I was staring into Cedric's eyes.
"Hermione, speak to me" he said still watching my reaction. I shook my head slowly and sighed.
"I wasn't upset Cedric, I was jealous" I quickly said. I felt my face burn with embarrassment.
"Jealous?" was all he said. I nodded my head and I watched as his face slowly spread into a smile. He moved his hand to my neck and started to trace patterns on my neck which sent tingles down my spine.
"There's no need to be jealous Hermione, you know I only want you" he said as his fingers started to trace patterns faster on the side of my neck.
"I know that Cedric but it doesn't help" I answered back slowly as it was hard to concentrate on what he was saying due to the tingles going down my spine. I closed my eyes and started to snuggle back into his chest.
"And anyway I could say that to you about Victor" I added quickly. This caused Cedric's fingers to slow down which made me open my eyes and move my head to look up at him.
"I know" he said as he inched his face closer to mine. His nose brushed against mine quickly before hips lips quickly claimed mine. Cedric quickly pecked my lips and then pulled back to look at me.
"Just as long as you know that I wasn't upset" I said slowly.
"Just jealous" he quickly stated with a smile.
"Well we both are going to have to learn aren't we? Especially if we want to keep this a secret" I asked smiling back.
"Yeah I guess we are"" Cedric sadly.
"I know this situation is hard on both of us but as soon as this tournament is over we can go public and things should be ok" I answered back. This caused Cedric to smile.
"Yeah, I wish this year would hurry up already. I want people to know about us but I can't put you at risk like that" he said looking absent minded at a spot on the wall.
"Anyway what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked changing the subject quickly. How was I going to bring up what I wanted to speak to him about after that? I quickly bit my lip and thought I'd just come out with it.
"I know you have just said that you want to keep it a secret but would you mind if I told Ginny about us?" I asked looking up at him. Cedric's face looked confused before answering.
"Why?" he asked slowly.
"Well to cut a long story short, Ginny thinks I'm hiding something. Well I am..." I said nodding toward Cedric which caused him to smile. I pushed the butterfly feeling away before continuing.
"Ginny has got it all wrong. She thinks I have a thing for Victor" I explained waiting for his reaction. He stared at me for a little while.
"Hmmmm, you worried that she will say something?" he said as he started to stroke my back.
"No I don't think she would say anything to anyone what she thinks about me and Victor. I don't think she would even say anything if she knew about me and you. That made me sound like I have two men on the go… urgh!" I said pulling a disgruntled face at the end.
"Not even to her brother or Harry?" he asked not even commenting on what I have said about Victor.
"No, not even then. Us girls know how to keep secrets you know" I asked teasing him as I moved my hands up to his neck.
"I would prefer you didn't" he answered back quickly. I already knew the answer before I asked but still didn't make it any easier.
"Ok" was all I could say to him.
"I know you want to tell people, I do as well. But I've done a lot of reading into the history of this tournament and they use those who are close to the Champions in the tasks. I don't think I could bare it if something happened to you as I was trying to save you" he said stroking my face.
"I know" I answered back not looking up at him.
"It's only for your safety, I need to know that you are safe" he said still stroking my cheek.
"I am safe Cedric and I will be but I hope you know as soon as this tournament is over people are going to find out" I answered smiling at him.
This caused Cedric to quickly pull me into another kiss and we kissed like this for a while until the need of breathing came apparent. We shifted our positions on the coach so Cedric was now sitting up and I was leant against his chest with my legs and feet on the couch. As Cedric started to slowly rub the small of my back I fell asleep again as I snuggled into his chest. I didn't know how long we were sat like this and I didn't really care. I was spending time with Cedric and it felt right and it was what I needed right now.