Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count - 1341
Note - This story is not canon compliant.
I'll Wait For You
It started with an innocence that Cedric couldn't help but find charming. As the other students treated Harry like he was carrying some kind of contagious illness, Cedric was drawn to him.
He watched from the sidelines, surrounded by his friends, as Harry was left alone to struggle along.
It left Cedric with a bitter taste in his mouth.
What was it about this boy that made everyone lose their heads? Sure, he was too young to enter the competition, but it was done, and the school should be rallying behind him as they were Cedric, not treating him like a leper.
Cedric didn't like it, but he didn't really know how to reach out to Harry.
Or if it would even be welcome.
…
When Cedric had put his name in the Goblet of Fire, it was because it was expected of him. He was a good student, a popular student, and there was no real question if he was going to do it.
It was just a fact that he would.
Cedric was beginning to wonder if Harry had been telling the truth when he said that he didn't put his name in the fire. He listened as time and time again, Harry protested his innocence to Rita Skeeter, who smiled back at him with greedy eyes as she realised just how many papers the green eyed boy would sell.
They posed for pictures side by side, and while Cedric offered the photographer an easy smile, he later saw that Harry just looked like he wanted to the ground to swallow him whole.
It was a strong reminder that as mature as he may seem, Harry was fourteen.
He deserved better than what he was getting.
…
Cedric climbed the stairs wearily. It had been a long day, and he was still aching from his run in with the dragon, despite Madam Pomphrey's work to make him better.
The common room was wild though, the Hufflepuffs celebrating that he wasn't actually burned to death, and he couldn't stomach it. It was just too much on top of the day he'd already had.
When he reached the top of the stairs, he blinked when he saw that the Astronomy Tower was already occupied.
Harry sat by the window, his arms wrapped around his legs as he leant against the wall.
"Harry?"
The younger man startled and looked up to meet Cedric's eyes, his cheeks flushing a light red.
"I wasn't expecting anyone to come up here," Harry muttered, uncurling with a grimace. "Sorry, I'll leave you to it."
"You're fine," Cedric said, waving his hand for Harry to sit back down as he started to get up. "Stay. How are you feeling?"
Harry shrugged as he settled back down against the wall, watching Cedric do the same across from him. "I don't know. Relieved I guess."
"Flying against a dragon… that's some achievement. What was it like when you were in the air?"
"Windy," Harry replied, and his blush intensified when Cedric chuckled. "No. Uh. I don't really… remember? There wasn't time to think, I just… acted on instinct, I guess."
Cedic nodded. "You did well. How did the Gryffindors react?"
Harry scoffed. "They're all partying in the common room. I just… couldn't."
Cedric heard the bitterness in his tone. He was sympathetic, if only because after watching the whole school treat him badly since Halloween, Cedric couldn't blame Harry for being bitter at them.
He knew he'd feel the same.
"How are you? I know you got burned pretty bad. Looks okay now though?"
"The skin will be stiff for a few days, but I'm okay. It would have been a lot different if you hadn't warned me about it."
Harry swallowed hard. "I had help on that too. And Fleur and Krum, they both knew about it. It wouldn't have been fair to let you go out there without knowing."
There was just something so… pure about that sentiment that Cedric could feel himself melting slightly.
They sat in silence for a while but it wasn't uncomfortable.
In fact, Cedric thought it was the most enjoyable time of his whole day.
…
He wanted to tell Harry about the poem from the egg, but he didn't know if he should. He knew that he had to tell him something, but he didn't want Harry to think he was just trying to give him the answers because Harry was younger.
Unsure what else to do, Cedric told Harry to take a bath with the egg, because it was the best clue he could think of without offering up the whole thing.
He was surprised by the scathing look Harry gave him. He'd realised the younger man had been avoiding him lately, but he'd had no idea why.
At least he'd had no idea until the Yule Ball.
The covetous way Harry watched them left Cedric with no doubt that Harry was jealous and he cursed himself for being so insensitive. He wouldn't have asked Cho to join him if he'd known Harry liked her.
He was an idiot.
…
"What?"
"I didn't realise you liked Cho," Cedric repeated. "I wouldn't have asked her if I'd known. I'm sorry, Harry."
Harry blinked at him and then flushed, ducking his head away. "Uh. Right. Cho. Well, uh, it's fine. No problem. I should uh. Go."
Harry walked away from him, leaving Cedric baffled. He'd thought the two of them were becoming friends, but now…
Was Cho really that important to Harry that he couldn't stand to even spend time around Cedric now?
"You're an idiot."
Cedric turned to see Cho standing behind him. "Why am I an idiot?"
She smirked. "Because I'd wager that it's not me that Potter has a crush on, Ced."
"What? Of course—oh. Really?"
"Really."
"But… he's fourteen. I shouldn't, right?"
"Do you like him?"
Cedric felt his cheeks heat. "I'm doing my best not too," he admitted sheepishly. "He's three years younger than me and… that matters when you're a teenager, you know?"
"I don't think he's a normal fourteen year old. Do you?"
…
They walked across the grounds together, discussing the mess that the officials were making of their Quidditch Pitch.
"A maze could be fun though, right?"
"Maybe," Harry agreed. "I don't really like the unexpected though. Tends to be problematic for me."
Cedric chuckled. The whole school had heard of Harry's adventures that often seemed to come at the end of the school year, after all.
"We could stick together?" Cedric offered. "Work it out together?"
Harry looked up at him, eyes narrowed slightly. Before he could say or do anything, a voice startled them both and Mr Crouch was staggering out of the forest.
They never did get a chance to finish that conversation.
…
Cedric offered his hand to Harry. "Together?"
They worked their way through the maze, guarding each other's back, their hands clutched tightly together. They'd been forced to enter from different points, of course, but it hadn't taken them long to find each other.
"I expected it to be worse than this," Harry admitted, as they walked down the narrow path. "I expected more obstacles. It almost seems too easy."
Cedric nodded, because he too had expected it to be more of a challenge.
"Cedric."
He glanced down at Harry and then followed his gaze. There, directly in front of them, was the Triwizard Cup.
Harry looked up to meet his eyes. "Together?"
"A double Hogwarts victory?" Cedric asked, his lips tilting into a smile. "Hell yeah!"
When they were a step away from the Cup, Cedric pulled Harry to a stop. "I just… before we pick it up… when you leave Hogwarts… look me up, okay?"
Harry's eyes widened. "I, uh. Really?"
Cedric nodded and leaned forwards, pressing a gentle kiss to Harry's lips. "I'll wait for you."
…
The morning after Harry defeated Voldemort for the final time, he stood on the Quidditch Pitch and looked at the sky.
"I did it for you, Ced."
Written for:
Disney: T2. Working Together - Write about two or more people from different houses working together.
Trope - 4. Different
Space - 6. Hurt/Comfort
Showtime - 10. "There wasn't time to think."
Attic - 25. Ramones: Write about someone who is popular.
Scamander's Case - 1. Pure
Film Festival - 23. Problem
Marvel - 11. Red
North Funfair - Winter Petting Zoo - Feeding Selena the Sea Otter - Write about holding hands with someone.
East Funfair - Snow Art - Orange: Windy / Pink: Posing for a picture / Green: Harry Potter
South Funfair - Magical Mistletoe - HarryCedric
Galleon: Hurt/Comfort
365: 314. Contagious