Title: Attraction To A Wallflower
By: Smurf
Disclaimer: There is a really good reason why I don't own Harry Potter; that reason is J.K. Rowling does. But it's probably a good thing that I don't own it as I have an affinity for slashiness, and obscure pairings.
Note: I haven't ever really seen any of this pairing posted here before, and so I decided to make my own slashy wish come true and write one up myself. Erm… enjoy the CD/NL slashy drabble goodness!
Attraction To A Wallflower
Cedric Diggory sat patiently at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, along with the rest of his house, watching the yearly sorting ceremony, and awaiting dinner. Actually Cedric had always rather enjoyed the traditional sorting of the first years into their houses, and he had even made somewhat of a little game of it. Every year he would watch the new students, and then guess which house the hat would put the new pupils in. He was surprisingly good at it too, even if he did say so himself. He was next to never wrong. This year would be no different. He had scouted the first year students as they had come into the Hall, hesitant, and lumped together as they often times were- indeed as he and the rest of his class had their first evening at the school- and he had begun to guess where it was that they would be placed.
As usual, Professor McGonagall started with the A's. Abbott went to Hufflepuff, as did Bones, there were a few Slytherin's, some Ravenclaw's, and Gryffindor's. So far Cedric had been correct about every new student he had hazarded a guess at, although the Granger girl had been a tough call to make. She looked like she could belong in Ravenclaw in the way her eyes spoke of cleverness, and intelligence, however, the way she carried herself, also spoke of Gryffindor; if he had to say he would think that perhaps Gryffindor would be the better fit. In the end she had been sorted to the Gryffindor house, and Cedric knew he had been right once again, and gave himself a mental pat on the back.
When a timid, round-faced, kind looking boy, with a fair complexion took to the stool to have the Sorting Hat placed upon his head, Cedric was positive that he would be sorted to his own house of Hufflepuff. Everything about the boy seemed to scream that same conclusion. So it was needless to say that when the worn looking Hat pronounced the boy to be placed in Gryffindor, not Hufflepuff, Cedric was more than just a little surprised.
Perhaps that was when his interest in the younger boy had first developed.
At first Cedric had told himself that it was just a passing curiosity that had been spurred by the fact that the little sandy blonde had surprised him in the sorting ceremony- something that had never happened before in all of his four years at the school. Neville had surprised him, and he was interested to know exactly why the first year had been placed in Gryffindor, when Cedric, and indeed the rest of the school, had been so certain that he would wind up in Hufflepuff, along with Hanna Abbott, Susan Bones, and Justin Fitch-Fletchery.
However, as time passed, and the school year dragged on, Cedric's curiosity in his schoolmate failed to wane, and he found himself strangely unsatisfied with what little knowledge he had about the sandy haired youth. It wasn't exactly like Cedric got the opportunity to spend much of his time with the young Gryffindor. They were, after all, several years apart, and thus had different classes, and moved in different circles, not to mention that they were in separate houses. He was the Hufflepuff Seeker, and Neville was the Gryffindor wallflower.
Oh, he'd managed to learn bits and pieces of things here and there, for example, he knew that Neville was terrified of Professor Snape, and that he was both forgetful, and clumsy (endearing traits really, or at least Cedric thought so.). He also knew that Neville was mad about plants, and was Professor Sprout's top student in that year, edging out even that frizzy haired Granger girl, who seemed to be head of the class in pretty much everything. He even knew that Neville had a pet toad named Trevor- though why a toad would be called Trevor he didn't quite understand; if it had been him who had done the naming, the toad would have been called Wart, or some other toadish name.
He knew that Neville never finished all of his pumpkin juice, and that he preferred carrots to peas, and that at meal times he sat with Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnegan, who, along with Ron Weasley and Harry 'the-boy-who-lived' Potter, were his dorm mates. Cedric had even noticed that when Neville smiled, twin dimples would appear, gracing either side of his kind, round face, and that when he really smiled, not one of those shy awkward half smiles he usually bestowed upon his mates, but a real honest-to-goodness smile, a warm feeling would spread through his chest, and settle in his stomach, and Cedric Diggory couldn't help but to smile as well.
By the years end, it became apparent to Diggory that he had developed what could only be called a crush on Neville Longbottom. He had come to that conclusion when the House Cup had been awarded to Gryffindor, and Neville had been embraced, and congratulated, along with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley, by their fellow housemates. He had been surprised, yet again, by Neville, and by how much he wanted to be a part of that merry crew of Gryffindor's, simply so that he too could get the chance to hug the boy with fondness, and camaraderie, and not have it be looked upon as being something out of the ordinary.
It was all very strange to Cedric who had never found himself attracted to a boy before in his life. He had always just assumed that he was straight, because he found the girls at school to be pleasing to the eye, and he appreciated how they looked, and felt. Now because of one boy he was calling his sexuality in to question, even if he knew the attraction to be wrong. Neville was eleven for Merlin's sake!
Yes, Neville Longbottom, all around nice boy, and the bane of Professor Snape's career as a Potions Master, was filled with surprises, and Cedric Diggory couldn't wait for the next time the sandy blonde lion did something to astound him. And hopefully, by that time, his interest in the boy would have settled once again into a safe, and justifiable curiosity.
Here ends Attraction To A Wallflower.
Thanks for reading it, I know it isn't all that great, and it's sort of a weird pairing, but hey weirdness is what I'm known for.
Smurf: Review if you feel like it, flame if you must.
Queen Shnoogleberry: I like flames; they're great for toasting marshmallows!
Smurf: Yes, yes they are (Begins preparations for marshmallow roast)