Title: Loyalty

Author: Ashanta

Rating: PG

Summary: For some strange, unexplainable reason, I had the desire to write a Justin/Cedric story. As in, that "curly haired kid, Justin Finch- Fletchley" having some kind of innocent boy-crush on the all around good- guy and crush-worthy Cedric Diggory, and Cedric being his usual sweet, kind self about the entire matter, not wanting to hurt Justin's feelings, and thus...this thing evolved. Or mutated. Whichever.

Pairing: Cedric/Justin

Setting: PoA time-span, perhaps GoF later

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Chapter Three: Loyalty



The Hufflepuff common room couldn't have been any more different from the night of their win against Gryffindor. When the Quidditch team entered the room this time, a somber air met them, not even encouraging chirps of "Good game" or "You did your best" meeting their ears. Ravenclaw had flattened them, and they were now out of the running for the Quidditch Cup. Cedric was so tired that he dragged himself to bed without a word to his fellow housemates.

The next morning when he awoke, he rolled out of bed with a dull ache in his head, as if his subconscious was trying to beat something from his memory at the back of his head. After a moment, he realized with a sense of dread he had missed his late night meeting with Justin and hadn't even forewarned the other boy that he wasn't coming down. The thought of Justin, sitting all alone in that common room waiting for Cedric to show for hours...

Cedric could've kicked himself; Justin probably thought he ditched him because of what happened the other night. Cedric hoped that wasn't the case; he thought Justin rather brave for deciding to tell him, and felt even a little bit of pride, sure he was the first person Justin had told.

Quickly making his decision, Cedric pulled on his robes and hurried out of his room.

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There was a light knock on the door of the dormitory, and Ernie Macmillan opened a sleepy eye and peered out from between his hangings to see if anyone went to answer it. When he saw Justin's form cross the room and open the door slowly, he nestled back under his duvet, ready to fall asleep when he heard voices.

"Justin, I just come to apologize," a voice said from the door in a whisper, and Ernie tried to ignore the conversation, but the voice a clear in the quiet room where everyone else was still sleeping. "I should've told you I wasn't going to meet you last night, but I was so upset over the game...I know that's no excuse, though."

Justin mumbled something under his breath that Ernie couldn't quite hear, but the other boy replied, "I didn't purposely skive off meeting you, you know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah I guess so," Ernie heard Justin reply, sounding slightly sullen. Ernie peeked again from behind his hangings and saw, to his shock, Justin talking to Cedric Diggory, who was standing in the doorway with an apologetic look on his face. What Justin had done to make a 5th year apologetic, he didn't know, but was curious to find out.

"I guess I'd should get going then," Cedric said to Justin, and paused for a moment, looking hesitant. The next moment, so unexpectedly it seemed to catch both parties off guard, Cedric bent down and kissed Justin quickly on the forehead in a gesture that appeared to be more friendly than romantic, but Justin looked surprised nonetheless.

Ernie couldn't help it. He gasped loudly, blowing his cover, and Justin and Cedric both widened their eyes in shock when they realized they were being watched. Justin quickly pushed the taller boy bodily out the door and closed it behind with a snap. Justin leaned with his back against the door, face bright pink, and peered around the room.

"Ernie? Ernie, was that you?" he whispered, looking over at the other boy's hangings. Ernie quickly scrambled back under the duvet, but it was too late. Justin strode across the length of the room and pulled Ernie's hangings open slightly. "Please don't tell anyone..." he whispered, looking panicked and flustered.

"I won't." he said honestly, still reeling from shock. He made a note in the back of his head that he owed Hannah five Sickles. "Promise."

"Why did he do that?" Justin asked desperately, as if Ernie had the answer. "I mean, what in Merlin's name possessed him to..." He trailed off, looking horror-stricken. "He knows, doesn't he?"

"Knows what?" Ernie asked, becoming more and more confused with each word Justin spoke, but making sure to keep his voice down so the other boys who were--presumably--still asleep, couldn't hear them. "What are you talking about?"

"Really, Ernie, do I need to spell it out for you? You saw what happened," Justin snapped, a little harsher than he meant to. "Merlin, now I'll probably have to tell Hannah..."

"You don't have to, you know. You can trust me not to tell her. She's got a right big mouth, anyway," Ernie added quietly, as if he were afraid Hannah was lurking around somewhere nearby and could hear him. "Probably end up telling half the school if you give her the chance." He looked over to Justin and said, "Come on, let's go down to the common room so we can talk about this properly."

They pulled on their robes and went down to the common room, where only the sprinklings of a few people were awake; it was a Saturday morning, after all.

"So, mate...really, you and Cedric Diggory? The Quidditch captain?" Ernie asked at once, and realized he sounded a bit like a gossipy schoolgirl. He had to stop hanging around Hannah Abbot so much.

"What? No, of course not." Justin said. "It's...it's not anything like that. You make it sound so...scandalous, or something. I mean, he's a fifth year, Ernie; he'll be sixteen soon."

"Why'd he kiss you, then?" Ernie pressed, lowering his voice in case of any eavesdroppers.

"I dunno...if you ask me, I reckon he doesn't even know. And anyway," Justin added, feeling a lot less frantic now, "It was only on the forehead, right?" He stopped suddenly, turning slowly towards Ernie. "You seem to be taking this awfully well," he observed.

"I have a cousin in Yorkshire who's dating a bloke; nothing much new for me here, mate." Ernie replied simply, shrugging. "Even if I didn't, you're my best mate; I don't care if you're a poof or not."

Justin made a face, but appreciated the sentiment all the same. "Thanks."

"Come on, how about a game of Exploding Snap?" Justin nodded in a agreement, and he and Ernie went back to the dormitory to collect the game.