It was funny, really, that nothing really changed between him and Hermione in the course of him asking her to reserve a spot for him next year once she was allowed to go to Hogsmeade. Oh, little things did change- like the fact that when she gripped his hand, it was done with intent and shy glances between the pair of them. He walked her to the classes he was able, much to the seeming annoyance of her two best friends and even carried her impossibly heavy book bag(first thing he had done was charmed it to be feather-light, she had chuckled and claimed that she had been looking for that spell for ages). Or that he hugged her a couple of times, or sometimes she would reach up on her tiptoes and drag him down for a peck on his cheek. And that sometimes he found himself returning the gesture.

It was new, fluttering kind of thing that made him feel as if he was on top of the moon. Of course, it didn't come without its hang-ups, dating a girl two years younger than him, in a different house, and not even able to go out on a proper date yet.

Oh, they walked around the lake together each morning:

"Cedric, I'm so glad you can do this," she gushed, beaming at him from beneath her pointed hat, drawn closely to her face.

It was still a bit cold out, it was the highlands of Scotland, after a, l and Cedric himself was wearing two pairs of socks(he hated cold feet above anything). He smiled, gripped her hand, glad that he could do that without feeling strange about wanting too. He swung their joined hands between them.

"Anytime, Hermione."

"Let's do this every day!"

She had surprised him with a lovely picnic atop the astronomy tower:

"Hermione?"

The witch beamed at him, hands twining together nervously.

"Oh, is it too much?"

He stared at the small sheet, periwinkle blue(her favorite color) laid out with sandwiches and a small dish of ice and- were those butterbeers? As well as eclairs, chocolate eclairs and he laughed, cheeks heating up.

"Did you do this?"

"I figured it would be silly to wait all the way until Hogsmeade, Cedric and-"

He thought she was a sight to behold when she was angry, beautiful. But there was something about a flustered Hermione Granger that made Cedric feel a bit flustered himself.

"I should've thought of it first!" he exclaimed, laughing, "Just like you, kitten, to beat me to the punch!"

He had taken her for a reluctant ride on his broom:

"Cedric I swear to Merlin if you drop me I will hex you into next week!" she cried, tightly holding onto the broomstick.

"Hermione, I will never drop you," he whispered, leaning over her small frame to grip the broom himself.

She adjusted herself accordingly, moving closer to his chest and pressing into his lap. He felt himself go very warm at that and prayed to Merlin that an additional wand wasn't going to make himself known because his girlfriend already didn't like broomsticks.

"I know Cedric," she squeaked when he kicked off, "I'm not terribly fond of heights."

He laughed. Figures when he finally found himself a girl, it was one who wasn't terribly into Quidditch and who had a fear of heights.

"Yet you gave me a picnic on the top of the Astronomy Tower."

"That has railings nearly as tall as me, Cedric Diggory, it's completely different."

"Just trust me."

Her laugh made him blink.

"Cedric, I am on a broomstick, floating over the lake about a hundred feet in the air and can calculate exactly how many bones I will break if the fall doesn't kill me, in my head, as we dangle from a stick propelled by magic" she giggled, "That should be enough to know how much I trust you."

If he had pressed her closer into his lap and tightened his arms around her, she made no comment other than to press closer herself.

They couldn't have a meal or a drink in the Three Broomsticks, couldn't see one of the performances sometimes done in the small theater or even go see a 'film' like she had mentioned in her letters. But they did hold hands with new meaning. They did stare at each other in a way that was new and lovely. And while he wouldn't mind a snog per say, he also knew it was all about going at Hermione's pace. Which he was completely okay with because he honestly just loved talking to her, beyond just being able to hold her hand.

For now, he was more than content.