Disclaimer: All characters and places are owned by the ubiquitous JK Rowling, and not me. Yep. I've just messed with their emotions and toyed with the happenings like they were mine.
A/N: Hm. So. I just saw the 4th HP movie. Isn't that like, the most slashable movie since like, LotR? I thought so. Couldn't sit through it without making a face and several billion perverted jokes. But I also discovered a couple new pairings, one of which I am testing out here. It's quite cute, really.
Summary: Harry realizes something about himself over the course of the Triwizard Tournament, though by the end it just might be too late. HarryXCedric
Revelation Kiss
I first met Cedric Diggory on the hill. Days before the Quidditch World Cup. I thought little of it at first, that meeting. But I soon came to realize that I missed the tall, dark haired boy more than I should have. I had taken a liking to his kind smile, that blush that spread across his cheeks whenever his father praised him in any way, and I longed to reach over and stroke his face in a comforting way.
I pushed those thoughts away, calling myself a daft fool and ignoring the way Ron teased me for staring off into space during the day. It was nothing. Cedric was nothing more than a newly acquired friend and role model. According to many at school, he was the epitome of a good student; he was polite, courageous, smart, witty, and (in the girls' opinions) handsome.
I strengthened that idea when we were both somehow made champions of Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament being held here. His name had made it out of the Goblet without any dark spells to help it. Cedric was obviously the best candidate, and if I was going to be forced into this tournament then I would strive to surpass him and the others. Or perhaps just strive to stay alive.
But there were moments I found myself entertaining fantasies of us working together, him coming to me when he needed something, though that was clearly forbidden by the rules of the Goblet. When I learned of the first task out in the woods, I couldn't let Cedric face them without a clue as to what was going to happen. I told myself I was just being chivalrous, that it wasn't fair for Fleur and Krum and to know and leave Cedric out of the loop.
But I really wanted to talk to him, I think, and it made my stomach flutter when he smiled and thanked me — I could see the fear in his eyes, however. He told me then too that those 'Potter Stinks' badges (which were starting to get on my nerves) hadn't been his idea. I was glad he didn't wear one.
I listened anxiously to the first task, when it came around. Pleased that he and I both had survived the dragons, I speculated as to what would of happened if no one knew about the dragons beforehand. Died, I suppose.
And then they told us about the Yule Ball. A ball. How I desperately wanted to ask Cedric — there was no denying it now. I'm afraid to say I'd fallen prey to that sickness known as youthful infatuation. But I knew he'd say no, especially when I found out (quite humiliatingly) that he was going with Cho. It wouldn't have turned out well in any case. Not that the ball went smoothly anyhow. I sort of feel sorry for Parvati. But my eyes never left Cedric and Cho, who always seemed to be mere feet away from us. I don't suppose I could ever get tired of looking at Cedric.
When the second task was drawing nearer, I began to lose hope. I had no idea what the task even was, and if Cedric knew already, he obviously wasn't going to tell me. Yet he came through in the end, and told me to use the Prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor.
Sadly, all I could think about at that moment was Cedric in a bathtub. Damn my hormonal teenage mind.
I figured out the egg, with extra assistance from Moaning Myrtle, and was overjoyed. Cedric obviously had taken a liking to me, to want to pay me back for the tip off about the dragons. Or maybe he just didn't like feeling like he was in debt. Whatever the case, I didn't really care. Then it hit me that I had no idea what to actually do for the task. Cedric probably wasn't going to help me out with this one. Thankfully, Neville came through in that unique way of his, and for that I was extremely grateful. It didn't even bother me that Cedric and I were tied for first place — I was happy.
The third task was the maze. I caught Cedric practicing on the grounds and in empty classrooms occasionally, and sometimes I just stood and watched, knowing that I myself should be practicing but never really having the incentive at the moment to go and do so.
Then the genuine maze. That horrid maze that made me happier than anything else and ruined everything at the same time. Now was the time to act, my last campaign to beat the students older than me and prove to everyone — even Cedric, especially Cedric — that I could do what was not though possible before.
I struggled through the labyrinth of hedges, saved him from a possessed Krum. He smiled again, and my heart melted. As I turned to continue on my way, he caught my arm, stopping me. I froze. He tugged me nearer, and placed a light, angelic kiss on my lips. Murmuring a word of thanks, he disappeared down a foggy path.
My first kiss was in a dark, damp, dismaying, dangerous tangle of flora. To me it now seemed like Eden.
But I had to press on. One kiss was not going to stop me from trying to beat him in this tournament! We found the center of the maze at the same time, and trounced the spider that came with it together. It was as if we were perfectly in sync, made for each other. I told him to take the cup, he ordered me to do the same. I made the terrible suggestion of taking it at the same time. If only I had listened to him, for once in my life wanted to take all the glory for myself. But I didn't.
Had I know how this tournament was going to end, that Cedric would meet his demise so quickly, I would have done something sooner. At the time, I was content just to sit and watch. In the end, all I obtained was that one sweet kiss; that one kiss that was the world to me. A year's worth of regret exploded in me. I had never hated Voldemort more, hated Wormtail more than I did in that moment. One second he was there, breathing hard beside me, the next instant he was gone, dead in a flash of green.
Had I the power, Voldemort, and every one of his Death Eaters there would of been dead, even if it cost me my own life. But he told me to take him back. He wanted his family. I couldn't ignore Cedric's last words, more than anything I couldn't let Cedric stay in this hellish place.
Back in the crowd, the light, it suddenly seemed to hit me. Cedric was dead. And I was crying like I'd never done before; it would have taken tremendously strong magic to get me off of his body. I clung to his chest like there was no tomorrow, sobbing into his neck, feeling the delicate brush of his hair on my face, pressing kisses to his cold jaw as if that would wake him up, as if he were only sleeping.
They finally got me off him, I'm not sure how and I really don't care who. And as the night progressively got worse, all I could think about was Cedric, and how he died because of me. I could still feel the ghost of a kiss on my lips, still sense the touch of his hand on my arm and hear the whispered words of gratitude.
He didn't need to die. He wasn't supposed to. He never deserved this. Cedric was perfect in so many ways; if anything, I was the one who should have died, not him. I was nothing compared to Cedric Diggory.
Somehow I know this is slowly going to drive me mad. Everything is going to be different now.
I miss him.
end.
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