Chapter 22 – Passageways & Cafés

Cedric was about to walk into the Great Hall for lunch when he spotted Cho Chang with a group of her friends. They were laughing and one in particular, Marietta, was pretending to cry and she was holding her hands up. Cedric was certainly curious now, what was their strange behavior about?

"And did- did you see her face? It was pric-priceless," Cho laughed.

"Oh, Cho, you are brilliant. A true Ravenclaw, in a sense," said a girl with a liquid paper complexion and reddish-purple curls.

"I couldn't have done it without Marietta, though, of course," Cho merited. "She was the one who got the bubotuber pus from Sprout while I asked her about some stupid extra credit Herbology assignment."

"Bubotuber pus? That's what Hermione had on her hands," Cedric whispered to himself as he watched them while hiding around the marble staircase. "Cho!"

Cedric was more than angry by now. His teeth were grinding together in frustration and his eyes were narrowed while his fists curled up into tight balls of fury. He came out from behind the staircase and stalked toward her, catching the click of girls' attention halfway through his stalking.

"Cedric... honey," Cho said cheerfully as she suppressed a giggle.

"Don't you honey me, you... you... you lying, evil, sorry excuse for a girl! What did you do to Hermione?"

"What did I do?" Cho looked taken aback as she looked around at her friends who all shrugged and pressed their lips together to keep from grinning maliciously.

"Yes! What did you do? I heard you lot talking about the bubotuber pus and how Marietta helped you," Cedric snarled. "Now, go in there and apologize to Hermione!"

"Why should I apologize to her?" Cho sounded outraged now at the mere thought of his demand.

"Because she didn't deser-"

"Oh, yes she did! She deserved every bit of that stuff and so much more! Besides, I'm not the only one who sent it. People actually believe the article about the little bookworm turned tramp," Cho snapped viciously.

"And what did she do yo deserve it, Cho? Huh?"

"She tried to take you from me. No one, and I mean, no one can do that! Ever!"

"No, no, Cho. She didn't try and take me from you. I was already distancing myself from you. You're not what I want in a girlfriend," Cedric hissed.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you dumby, that I'm through with you. To put it in even plainer terms, I'm breaking up with you!"

"What! No! You can't do that!"

"Yes, I can. I just did," Cedric said triumphantly before grabbing her hand.

"What are you doing?" Cho tried to wrench her hand from his grasp as he twisted a ring off of her finger.

"I don't think you'll be needing this anymore... seeing as we aren't dating anymore and all," Cedric huffed as he struggled to get the ring off her curling and jerking finger.

"You leave that ri-," but Cho was too late. Cedric had gotten the ring off and was now grasping it firmly in his palm.

"I think I know someone who will appreciate this a little more than you," Cedric breathed.

"Don't you even give my ring to that... that little fourth year... know-it-all... Mudblood!" Cho's friends gasped at her choice of words, even Cho herself seemed a bit surprised as her eyes widened at her words.

"Take. That. Back," Cedric hissed.

"N-... No!"

"Take it BACK!"

"Give me back my ring!"

"It's not yours anymore," Cedric bellowed. With that said, Cho turned on her heel, her long sheet of silky black hair lashing out violently at Cedric as she turned away so quickly. She began to stomp off toward the entrance hall doors as Cedric shook his head in disbelief before turning and entering the Great Hall while placing the ring safely in his pants' pocket.

"Cedric," Hermione giggled. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Cedric whispered in her ear.

"Wait... I know this-"

"Dissendium!" The hump on the back of a statue of a one-eyed witch slid open revealing a passage way. This was the way Harry got into Hogsmeade last year without anyone knowing or seeing him. How did Cedric know?

"How did you kn-"

"Prefect patrolling gets quite boring unless you can be lucky enough to find and follow Fred and George Weasley," Cedric laughed.

"Well, we can't leave the grounds... That's breaking the rules and to top it all off, you are a prefect breaking the rules if we do," Hermione pointed out firmly.

"Hermione, I promise you that we won't get caught... now, just go down the passage way," Cedric instructed as he laced his fingers together and held them out like a step to give Hermione a boost up to the opening.

Hermione frowned as she looked up and down the third floor corridor. She could be in serious trouble if she was caught, but then again, this was Cedric. Her handsome, dreamy, and oh so lovably kissable Cedric. She was willing to do anything for or with him.

"Fine," Hermione sighed as she put her foot in his hands and grabbed the statue, pulling herself up as Cedric pushed her up.

Hermione seemed to be doing okay until her sock got caught on Cedric's prefect badge. She pulled a bit and it finally came loose as Cedric gave a heaving push and finally got her up to where she could sit on the edge of the one-eyed witch's hump.

"You know... not that I'm trying to look or anything," Cedric panted, "but nice pink lace."

Hermione looked back over her shoulder at him in confusion before realizing that he was talking about her underwear. She blushed a deep crimson and felt her face heat up as though she had an awful fever. He laughed at her surprised face as he boosted himself to sit with his legs in the opening of the statue just like her.

"Ready?"

"We can't see anything," Hermione said before letting out a scream as he slid down, pulling her arm and taking her with him. Just down the corridor, Filch's ears perked at the sound of Hermione's scream and he walked in the direction of the noise.

When he got to the statue, he found nothing except Cedric's prefect badge. It was laying at the foot of the statue of the one-eyed witch, but Cedric was nowhere in sight. In fact, the only ones in the corridor were Mrs. Norris and Filch. For the hump had slid back into place, and Hermione and Cedric were just hitting the bottom of the slide in the witch's hump.

"Well, hello," Cedric laughed as he lay there on his back, Hermione straddling his lap. Cedric had tried to stop himself on the way down or at least slow himself down, but all he managed to do was send himself flipping down the rest of the slide. Landing them in the situation they were in now.

Hermione blushed once again and got up quickly as Cedric sat up and searched his pockets for his wand. He felt in his pants pockets, but it wasn't there. He stood up and bumped his head on the passage way ceiling as he felt in his back pockets for the wooden stick.

"Lumos," Hermione said softly, her wand's tip lighting and the light landing on a wooden stick laying on the dirt floor.

"Thanks," Cedric muttered in embarrassment as Hermione sighed amusedly and bushed herself off while Cedric lit his own wand and followed suit.

"So, where are we going?"

"That's for me to know and you to find you," Cedric teased as he grabbed Hermione's hand gently and pulled her along the passage way.

After about ten minutes of walking, they came to the trap door in Honeyduke's basement and pushed up into the basement of the candy shop. They sneaked up the stairs, unlocked the front door to the closed and darkened sweets store, and walked unnoticed out into the village street. The street was nowhere near as crowded as it was during the day or on the weekends, but there were still people mulling around.

The Three Broomsticks was still extremely full and seemed to be a place of excitement as people in its windows sat talking animatedly. Shops such as Zonko's, Honeyduke's, Gladrags, and Scrivenshaft's were closed, their windows dark or dimly lit by lights from the back of the stores where the shop owners were undoubtedly counting up the day's earnings.

Cedric lead Hermione down the street, past Zonko's, Gladrags, and to the corner of the sidewalk where Scrivenshaft's was. He made her take a left and lead her down the sidewalk, buildings on their left disappearing after Scrivenshaft's.

"Cedric, where are you taking me?"

"Right there," Cedric said as he stopped and pointed across the street.

On the right hand side of the street was a little café called Madam Puddifoot's. It looked cramped even though there was only three couples inside the tea shop. The tables inside were covered with powder pink table clothes and they were circular and small with two chairs at each.

"Well, no use standing out here all night... Let's go in," Cedric said cheerfully as he put his hand on the small of Hermione's back and pushed her gently toward the shop.

She felt her feet working awkwardly, as though she didn't know how to walk. Why was she feeling this way? It wasn't as though she had never been on a date, she had went to the Yule Ball with Viktor and been just fine. But this was a real date, one-on-one, no one but her and Cedric. At the Yule Ball, her friends had been there and she didn't really feel this way about Viktor.

"Are you sure no one will spot us and tell?"

"Don't worry about it... I've got my-," Cedric stopped as he looked down at his chest where his shiny prefect badge would be, but it wasn't there.

"What's wrong?"

"My badge... it's gone," Cedric answered.

"Where do you think it is?" Hermione looked really worried now, and she seemed to be only seconds away from biting off every nail on her hands.

"You know what? Don't worry about it," Cedric sighed contentedly as he felt that worrying about it or even thinking on it might ruin their night.

"But-"

"Hello, Cedric... and who's this new young lady?" Madam Puddifoot was standing next to their table, a tablet in her hand and a pink feather quill in her other hand.

"This is Hermione Granger," Cedric introduced.

"Wait! You're that one in Witch Wee-"

"That article is a lie," Cedric said quickly. Madam Puddifoot gasped and looked to Cedric quickly as though he had told her about someone breaking into Gringott's.

"No!" Cedric only nodded to her gasping and she quickly turned to Hermione, frowning down at her in pity. "I should have known that any girl with our young Cedric here was a good person. So, what shall I get you all?"

"How about two lattes and a chocolate sundae," Cedric suggested. Hermione nodded in agreement and smiled at Madam Puddifoot as she nodded and beamed at the two of them before disappearing to the back of the café. "What I ordered is okay with you... right?"

"Absolutely," Hermione beamed as she sat in her chair timidly, her hands laying her in lap under the table. She looked around at the café and noticed that the lights had started to dim and the only thing now lighting the place was metallic pearl white candles floating above the tables.

"Do you like it here? I mean, is it all right that I brought you here?"

"Cedric," Hermione laughed at his seemingly nervous questioning, "it's fine... really."

Silence ensued, both seemed to be lost for words. Suddenly a soft tune struck up and floating across the café to their eager ears. It wasn't long after this that their drinks and sundae came floating across the room on a tray. The lattes were steaming with loads of whipped cream on top, and the sundae looked simply delicious to the both of them.

Cedric pulled her drink and the sundae toward him before Hermione let out a yelp and realized that her chair was floating an inch of the ground, moving her closer to him. When her chair was on the ground again, Cedric raised his hands above the table, laying his wand down and picking up a spoon as he handed Hermione hers.

She frowned at this as she tried to take it. She still hadn't gotten the hang of holding the utensils with her bandaged hands. She sighed and let the spoon fall to the table as Cedric frowned too. She resorted to picking up her cup with both hands and going to take a sip.

'At least I can pick this up' Hermione thought gratefully as she sipped the warm liquid. It was sweet with a hint of French vanilla flavoring as well as another flavor Hermione couldn't place, but it made her want to snuggle up to Cedric. 'Does this lady... Puddifoot, put Love Potion in her drinks!'

Hermione was broke from her reverie though as Cedric snorted and tried to suppress laughter. Her brow knitted as she wondered what he could be laughing at. She sat down her cup and looked down at her shirt to see if she had dripped anything, but that's when she noticed what he was laughing at. She had whipped cream on the end of her nose.

"Here... let me," Cedric snickered as he picked up a napkin and dabbed her nose. "Do you want some of this?"

"If you can help me with this spoon, sure," Hermione replied as she tried to pick up her spoon, but Cedric stopped her as he put his hand on top of hers gently.

"Here," he said as he put some ice cream on his own spoon and brought it up to her mouth. Hermione looked at him with a bit of reluctance before sighing and taking the bite he was offering her.

The ice cream was cool the whole way down to her stomach. It was just the right contrast to the warm latte she was drinking. Cedric smiled at the happy look upon her face. Cho had never been like this with him, happy with the simple things.

The longer they sat there together, the more that Cedric thought Hermione was for him and the more she forgot about all her problems with Viktor, Ron, Harry, school, and those hate letters. She had even forgotten about her hands when she balled them into excited fists as Cedric leaned into her for a kiss.

She whimpered and opened her hands quickly, her stomach which had previously seized up in excitement, dropping as pain rushed over her. Cedric sat back in his seat and cradled her hands in his as she winced.

"What's wrong?"

"They just hurt," Hermione groaned as she bit down on her bottom lip and watched Cedric pulled them up to him and kiss each one. She smiled, she had stopped believing a long time ago that kisses made boo-boos better, but when Cedric did this, for felt like a kid again. A little kid that had scraped her knee and went to mom for bandages and a kiss to make them better.

Hermione sighed and let him pull her into him, her head resting on his shoulder as his arms wrapped around her shoulders and held her tight and close to him. She couldn't be happier. Well, she could if her hands had been better, but things were good enough for her that she wouldn't ask for more of what she thought was good fortune.

"Are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah," Hermione whispered as she raised her head and looked up at him. They were totally oblivious to the fact that they were the only ones left in the café and that Madam Puddifoot was watching them from the little circular window on the kitchen door.

Madam Puddifoot swished her wand, and as Cedric and Hermione drew closer and closer for a kiss, more and more candles extinguished themselves. Finally, their lips were only mere millimeters apart when only one of the three candles above their table remained lit.

They sealed the kiss and the last candle went out as Madam Puddifoot summoned the dishes from their table to her. It took them a matter of two minutes and four kisses later to realize that they were in total darkness except for the dim light that was coming in the window from the street lamp outside. They laughed silently and got up, carefully pushing in their chairs and using the dim street lamp light as their means of light to make it to the doorway.

"Ladies first," Cedric said as he held the door open for Hermione and gave a short bow as she walked past. She giggled and waited for him to join her on the sidewalk before starting off for the High Street, the lock on the café door giving a soft click as it locked itself.

They made their way up the street before Cedric realized something. Honeyduke's was now locked and they wouldn't be able to get inside without a magical alarm going off and them getting caught. He stopped and looked around as he tried to figure out a way for them to get back to the castle.

"What's the matter?" Hermione was about three feet ahead of him and looking very puzzled as he started to walk slowly toward her.

"Would now be a bad time to tell you that I don't know how to get back to the castle?"

Hermione's jaw hung agape slightly as Cedric stood there looking extremely sorry. It was after midnight and there was no way they could wait until in the morning. They would miss classes by the time Honeyduke's was open for them to use the passage again. Besides, they couldn't use that passage during the daytime, they would run the risk of getting seen and exposing the passageway. Then suddenly, something hit Hermione.

"Wait! I know a way to get back onto the grounds," Hermione said hurriedly. "Follow me." Without another moment's hesitation, Hermione and Cedric set off once more up the High Street, past Honeyduke's and made a right at the next corner.

"Where are we going? The only thing out this way is the Skrieking Shack," Cedric pointed out.

"Precisely," Hermione said in a know-it-all fashion as she sped up.

"But-"

"Just c'mon," Hermione directed as she looked back over her shoulder to make sure he was keeping up. They finally made it to the gates of the shack and Hermione began to walk onto the grounds when Cedric reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Hermione... are you insane? That place is haunted, and there are trespassing signs everywhere," Cedric said firmly.

"No, I'm not insane. No, the place isn't haunted, it was just once dwelled in by a werewolf. And I don't care... I've been in there before," Hermione shrugged as she turned and started off toward the shack once more while Cedric looked at her as though she were insane.

"A werewolf?"

"It's fine... he's not there anymore," Hermione called over her shoulder as she came to the boarded up door. She pulled out her wand and blasted the door in, climbing over the wreckage of boards smoking boards that used to be the door, into the shack's main room.

Cedric followed her reluctantly in, checking everywhere, looking nervously here and there. He seemed to be waiting for something to jump out and grab him, possibly for a werewolf to jump out and bite him. He jumped a bit when he heard a squeaking noise, but it was only Hermione who was giggling at his scared movements.

"This way," she said cheerfully as she pulled out her wand. "Lumos!" Her wand light fell over a trap door in the wooden floor, a passage with dirt stairs, much like the one inside the one-eyed witch's hump. They entered the passage, Cedric deciding that he would let Hermione go first since she knew the way.

Within fifteen minutes, Hermione's hand was reaching up and groping for a knot on the roots of the Whomping Willow, but she didn't find it in time as the tree lashed out with a whip-like branch and hit her hand. She pulled her hand back quickly, tears welling in her eyes as she shook her hand like she was trying to shake away the pain.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine, fine... just reach out there and find a knot on the roots to the right... push it and it will make the tree hold still," Hermione instructed. Cedric did as he was told, playing cat and mouse with the tree for a few minutes before finally placing his hand on the knot and pushing, causing the tree to freeze. Cedric crawled out first, holding the knot while he watched Hermione crawl out.

"Now, what?"

"Now, you put your foot on the knot, stand up, and get ready to run as fast as you can," Hermione replied as she took a deep breath and prepared to run.

"Go ahead and get back... I'll join you in a minute," Cedric commanded as he realized that holding in the knot until Hermione was well out of the way would be a smart thing to do.

Hermione took obliged to his command and waited on the hillside four feet out of the tree's reach as she watched Cedric take his foot off the knot and break out into a run. It took the tree a few minutes to shake off its frozen state before it realized that Cedric was still within reach. He dodged the many branches, finally falling at Hermione's feet, safe from the tree.

"See, that... wasn't so... bad," he panted as he got up and brushed himself off while she giggled.