Cedric Diggory woke to Harry Potter sitting at his kitchen table, small face the brightest red he had ever seen, as his dad smacked his back, looking… Well, too pleased with himself.

Steve was already awake, or, half-awake, his head on his arms on the table as Cedric's dad prattled on.

"Dad," he said, hurriedly, trying not to wince at the pleading look Harry shot him, "Good morning."

His father brightened.

"Cedric, m'boy, good morning! Right, a good one it is. Having your friends stay is a delight- I was just telling Harry here that the Weasley's let us have a run of their orchid, and that you boys have been playing quidditch all summer-"

"Harry would like to get practice in too," Steve's voice was muffled.

"Good on you, lad!"

Cedric nearly sighed at the mighty slap his father gave to Harry's shoulder.

"I was quite the flyer in my day- not as good as your father, mind, James Potter had the talent and then some- but good enough to be on my House team. I actually played against your father. He was a couple of years younger than me."

Harry's face turned a shade wistful.

"Was he good when he played against you, Mr. Diggory?"

"Good?! James Potter was a right good chaser. Fair hat at seeker when they needed a reserve, but he was a better chaser. Out flew me plenty of times. Word on the street is that you take right after him. Same position as my Ced, aren't you?"

"That's right dad," said Cedric, sitting down and pulling his plate with a good breakfast.

Lolly, their lovely house-elf, always had a large meal in the morning, with a generous spread kept warm or cold with some clever charms on the dishware that she had invented herself.

"Who's the better flyer between the two?"

In unison, as a chorus, Cedric and Steve said, "Harry."

His father's lips pursed.

"Cedric is very good," countered Harry, frowning slightly, "I may have the advantage of being the ideal body type for a seeker, but Cedric more then makes up for it with skill. You nearly had me the last game we played."

"Oh, well, that just means Ced's gonna have to try harder for your next match, doesn't it? That is something to say, my son, beating Harry Potter at Quidditch. Well, at the very least I can say that my son killed a basilisk!"

"Harry was the one who killed it," snapped Steve.

"I just stabbed the dumb thing in the head. We were all fighting it!"

"You still were the one that killed it. Honestly, first the giant spiders and then a giant snake. Potter, you are so much trouble."

His dad blinked.

"Giant spiders?"

Internally, Cedric swore. In his highly edited version told to his parents, he had forgotten to mention the whole acromantula thing.

"Ced, what's this about giant spiders?"

Cedric groaned at the sound of his mother's concerned voice.