Rose was putting the final touches on her hair when Angel burst in the room. "Cedric's outside the Great Hall waiting for you," she said. "And oh, my gosh...I would seriously steal him from you if I didn't have a date already!"

"You better not!" Rose exclaimed, though a smile played at her lips. She surveyed herself in the mirror and smiled; she really hoped Cedric thought she looked good.

Rose checked herself in the mirror one last time. She wore a simple, mint green dress with a diamond necklace. Her hair was down and curly with green sparkles barely noticeable against her silvery hair. She fixed her makeup once more then headed downstairs.

"Are you sure I look alright?" She asked, fixing the spaghetti straps and adjusting the folds in front of her chest where the dress pooled a bit. "Here, your eye shadow is a little smudged," Angel said, fixing her shimmery eye shadow.

Rose giggled. "Ok, ready?" she said when Angel was finished fussing. Angel nodded and they both headed out of the common room.

"He's waiting by the Great Hall," Angel told her as they walked down the halls, Rose grimacing as every male head turned to drool at her as she walked by.

She saw Cedric waiting by the entrance to the Great Hall. He turned around and his eyes became 10 times bigger when he saw her.

He smiled as she approached him. "Hi, Rose," he said, kissing her cheek. "You look absolutely, bloody, beautiful!"

"Thank you," she said, blushing as he took her arm and led her over to an empty spot.

"I'm going to go find Trey, I'll see you later!" Angel exclaimed, walking off to find her boyfriend.

Rose waved goodbye as Harry and Cho entered the hall. She waved and turned to talk to Cedric again. "Doesn't she look beautiful?" Cho whispered looking at Hermione coming down the steps.

"Yeah, she does," Harry replied, his eyes glued on Rose.

He didn't know why...but just now he seemed to realize that she was gorgeous...she WAS a veela...Before now he never really noticed how amazingly beautiful she really was.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Chang, are you ready?" came McGonagall's voice. Harry turned around and asked, "Ready for what?"

"To dance!" McGonagall exclaimed. She told Harry that it was customary for the champions to have the first dance. Harry nodded and got into the line that the champions made in front of the Great Hall door.

All the champions and their dates were on the floor. Cedric put his hand on Rose's waist and took her hand. The music began and they started to dance.

Rose was all smiles inside and out as she and Cedric waltzed around the floor, their bodies pressed close against each other.

This was actually the 2nd time she had seen Cedric since he had kissed that day, the other time had been in the hallway about a week ago. Their midterms were coming up and it left everyone busy.

In that one encounter, other than now, he had come up to her and made sure she was still game for the Yule Ball, which of course she was. He had smiled affectionately at her after that before going off with his friends.

Suddenly, the music sped up and everyone was dancing to the Weird Sisters' latest song. "Let's go somewhere," Cedric whispered in her ear.

A shiver shot down Rose's ear as she nodded, taking his hand as he lead her off of the dance floor.

They walked outside to find the grounds completely transformed. Rose rubbed her bare arms, shivering in the cold. Cedric put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Are you cold?"

"A little I guess," Rose replied, trying to stop herself from shivering. Cedric smiled and opened his coat.

"I can share," he replied.

She smiled as her wrapped his arms around her. She settled into his arms, leaning her head against his chest. "You truly do look beautiful tonight," he whispered in her ear.

"You don't look too bad yourself," Rose whispered in reply, her heart pounding 5000 beats a second. This was the closest that she had ever been to him, or any other boy for that matter.

"Thanks," he replied. They stood quietly for a moment until Rose asked, "Why are we out here, Cedric?"

"I wanted to be alone with you, away from everybody's eyes," Cedric said, running his arms down her back gently as he gazed down at her, that same gaze that for some reason Rose couldn't hold for longer than a few seconds.

"Cedric...why me? Why did you ask me to the ball? Why are you interested in me?" Rose asked, not being able to hold the question in any longer.

When he didn't answer immediately, Rose added in a whisper, "Is it because I'm a veela?"

"Is it because I'm just pretty? Is it because you wanted to show off to all of your friends?" Rose added, her eyes starting mist as she continued her sentence.

"No!" Cedric exclaimed. "How could you think that, Rose? My friends may be that shallow but I'm not. Is that what you've been thinking all this time?"

"I haven't known what to think, I mean that tends to be the trend around this school you know," Rose replied bitterly.

"How can I prove that I'm with you for you and not the pretty face?" he asked, holding her gaze.

"Oh Cedric I don't want you to have to prove anything to me, I'm just glad that you're here right now," Rose sighed, scolding herself for not trusting him.

"Thanks you," he said, kissing her forehead. "Now, how about we go back in? I'm starving."

Rose smiled and they went back inside. She was slightly disappointed that they ended up going outside for nothing but she supposed it was her fault.

After they ate their dinner, they headed to the dance floor where everyone was dancing. She looked over at Harry and Cho who were dancing not too far from them. Suddenly, the music slowed and Cedric pulled her flush against him.

She was in heaven right now. She didn't know how long she had been crushing on Cedric, but finally it had paid off and he was here...with her! She opened her eyes from where her head rested on his firm chest and caught Harry looking over at them briefly before she looked up at Cedric.

At the end of the song, Cedric kissed her lips, but not softly like he did last time. He cupped her face with his hands as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Everyone in the Hall was watching them.

Harry felt a surge of jealousy flood his body as he, along with everyone else in the great hall, watched Cedric kissing Rose. He glanced over at Cho, who was talking to one of her friends and sighed.

He went to sit down at a table next to Ron who was also watching Rose and Cedric. "She just loves the attention, doesn't she?" Ron said with disgust.

"Hey, back off Ron, it's not her fault he's publicly molesting her," Harry grumbled, pulling his suit jacket off so he wouldn't be as warm.

When Rose and Cedric finally broke apart, the music sped up and they left the dance floor. He kissed her cheek and went to get drinks. Smiling, Rose sat down next to Harry, not even noticing that Ron was next to him. "Hey, Harry!" she exclaimed. "Having a good time?"

"Pretty good I guess," Harry replied.

Just then Ron sat up, "You know what...? You may be bloody gorgeous, but I'm not fooled you know, you're just using Harry to give information to that pompous git!" Ron hissed.

Rose opened and closed her mouth several times, as if searching for the right words. "Use Harry?" she breathed. "I was friends with Harry before I even met Cedric!"

"Well that isn't stopping you from making a move on Cedric, knowing he is one of Harry's competitors, knowing he wants to win and he'll do anything to win, who says that he isn't just using you?" Ron demanded.

Rose didn't know what to say as a single tear made its way down her face. Just then, Cedric came up behind her. "Hey, Rose, what's going on?" he asked, a concerned expression on his face.

She whipped her head around and stared at Cedric and then Ron. She didn't know what to do right now. What if Ron was right? What if Cedric was using her for information?

"Here's your lover boy now Rose," Ron spat.

"Rose, what's he talking about?" Cedric asked.

"You're using her to get information on Harry aren't you?" Ron demanded, standing up and walking over to Cedric.

"What?" Cedric looked over at Rose. "You don't believe him, do you?" She looked up at him, tears spilling from her eyes.

"I...I don't know," she sobbed.

"Or better yet...what if she's using you to get information for Harry? You know how close they are!" Ron exclaimed.

"Enough!" Harry exclaimed, jumping up and standing in-between the two guys.

Rose stood up and looked over at Harry. "You...I'd never," she began.

"Don't worry about it, Rose," Harry told her.

She turned to Cedric. "Take me out of here," she mumbled.

With one final death glare towards Ron and a brief nod in Harry's direction, Cedric wrapped his arm around Rose and walked her out of the Great Hall, where she collapsed on one of the steps and buried her face in her hands.

"I...I j-just went over t-to t-talk to Harry and...and Ron s-started accusing you of using m-me..." she trailed off, sobbing even louder. Cedric pulled her closer and let her cry into his chest.

"I'm not using you Rose, I promise...and I believe that you're not using me," Cedric whispered, cradling her head as she cried into his chest.

"I...I know," she stuttered. "But the way he said it...he thinks that all I am is a d-dumb v-veela who is good for nothing but p-pleasing a m-man!" Cedric held her closer as she continued to cry.

"That's not true love, I promise," Cedric said soothingly, glaring at a few people who were looking at them funny.

Rose looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you," she mumbled, laughing a little. "God, I'm a total wreck."

"I probably look like shit, lord knows I feel like shit," Rose said, wiping her eyes, glad her mascara didn't run too much.

"You're beautiful no matter what," Cedric told her. Rose smiled. "I never properly apologized...tonight didn't exactly go according to plan."

"It's alright, I got to be with you, I got to dance with you, that's all that I care about," Cedric said, his voice low as he gazed down at her.

Suddenly, Rose threw her arms around his neck and glued her lips to his.

If Cedric was caught off guard he didn't show it. He pressed her close to him and wrapped his arms tight around her waist as he kissed her intensely.

Without warning, he scooped her up into his arms and began to carry her up the steps to the Room of Requirement. When they entered, there was a four-poster bed in the middle of the room and candles lit throughout. Gently, Cedric placed her down onto the bed.

As if suddenly realizing where they were and what was probably about to happen, Rose turned a deep scarlet and hoisted herself up, her eyelids heavy as the smell of the scented candles made her feel...well…horny.

She pulled him closer and brushed his lips softly with her own. "Are you sure?" Cedric whispered against her lips. Rose responded but pulling him down on top of her, kissing him fiercely.

She darted her tongue out against his lips and he quickly obliged, opening his mouth for her and sending his tongue out to meet with hers. Rose was soon panting with the intensity of the kiss and she slightly pulled back.

Cedric leaned up on his knees, taking off his suit jacket and then slowly taking off his bowtie, as if wanting to take his time. Meanwhile Rose's heartbeat accelerated to 1000 times per second as she watched him undress before her.

She sat up, un-buttoning his shirt for him and then sliding it off his shoulders, revealing his muscular chest. She ran her hands all over him as he unzipped her dress, running his hands all over her back, sending shivers throughout her body.

He leaned forward, capturing her lips in a breathtaking kiss, his tongue doing what the rest of his body wanted to do at that moment.

He pulled her flush against him as he slowly started to slide her straps down, kissing her right shoulder as he did. Rose blushed as she felt something very evidently poking at her leg that hadn't been there while they were dancing earlier.

Cedric slid the dress off of her body, revealing her blue lace bra and panties. He stared at her for a moment before saying, "You're so beautiful."

"Please just...don't say anything," Rose breathed, running her hands all over his back.

Cedric latched his lips to her neck and she moaned breathily as she slid her hands down to his pants, unbuttoning them and unzipping them faster than she thought possible.

Rose pushed them down his legs and moaned as he moved his hands to her back to un-hook her bra.

The second his hands touched the bare skin of her back, she shivered with desire, grinding her body under his and watching him react to this.

She slid his boxers down his legs and threw them to the floor, gasping at how big he was, she wondered if he could even fit inside of her. He slid her panties off and they joined his boxers on the floor.

Her breath hitched as he looked deeply into her eyes, as if making sure she was alright. Her eyelids heavy, she leaned up and kissed him tenderly as they finally gave into their darkest desires.