Chapter Four

The First Kiss

Night was dawning when Cedric finally started his Potions essay. He sat in a fluffy yellow and black arm chair, facing the fire, his books in his lap. His face was scrunched up furiously as he flipped through the pages of his Potions text book, trying to find the contents of Felix Felicis, and its effects on humans who consume it. Sighing very loudly, he scribbled a few sentences down on his fairly blank piece of parchment that had to eventually become a foot long by the next morning. It was already late, and his eyelids were becoming heavy. It was bad enough that he could not keep his mind on the potions for anything…

All he kept thinking of was two things. The one thing that consumed his mind was the tournament, as usual. That was all he could think about since setting foot inside Hogwarts that year. He had gotten through the first two tasks barely, and now was about to face the third and final task. He knew that if he performed no better than perfect, he would never feel like he had made his father completely happy. His goal was to win the Tri-Wizarding cup, but not for himself. This was far beyond some personal goal. He knew it would make his father happy…ecstatic, even, far beyond that. He just wanted his father to be proud of him. He always managed to make him fairly proud; becoming Quidditch seeker in his third year, Quidditch captain in his fifth. Becoming a Hufflepuff Prefect in his fifth and sixth years, and was obviously now onto becoming Head Boy the following year- he knew his father would celebrate that quite fondly. Now, becoming the Hogwarts Champion, although he shared the title with Harry Potter in a freak accident, which he did not care about, but his father did. Cedric was quite, though, and let his father do rant and rave and go on as he usually did.

Cedric attempted to shake his thoughts off and far from his father and the dangerous tournament. His mind, though, did not wander back to Potions and the essay or Felix Felicis. It immediately shifted to Elizabeth. Her beautiful face formed in his mind, and it made him smile to himself. He thought of how she had become opening up to him lately, and how she revealed to him earlier that day in the library that she did not find him to be a pompous, over-achieving snob. He had thought she did not like him…it was becoming more evident that she might be interested in him.

He found this arrogant though, thinking of this. He had no proof, he thought to himself. It was more like wishful thinking. Immediately, he swore at himself. Cho was still in the picture. He knew she assumed they were an item. And this being a known fact, he knew then that Elizabeth assumed this as well. This was something he, by far, did not want either girl to assume. Cho was a nice girl, very beautiful, a lot of fun; he, though, had no interest in her like that. She made a nice date to the Yule Ball, but she was not his treasure. Elizabeth was the one that held a place in his heart. He knew this was not a typical girl that anyone in Hogwarts would see him liking, but this was where he surprised them. He was not going to let his stereotypes stand in the way of him being with the girl he most certainly desired.

His mind was racing, and this was most evident on his exterior; obviously, because someone had approached him, and spoke to him in a concerned voice. "Cedric, are you alright…Cedric?" a girls voice broke through his concentration on Elizabeth, and his eyes snapped open. There she was, in her dressing robe, a pink one, and a pair of matching pajama pants. He was crouched down low in the chair, and his eye sight immediately caught sight of her breasts through the opening of her robe. Snapping up, he stared at her face, not wanting to have gotten caught, that he had just had en eyeful of chest, bare beneath her robes. Staring at her face, he gripped the side of the chair a bit. "Elizabeth!" he cried out.

She looked startled, backing up a bit, her green eyes blinking furiously. "Are you alright?" she asked him, her voice squeaking a bit.

He blinked, then relaxed against the back of the cushioned chair. Immediately, he began to laugh hysterically, shaking his head a bit. "Merlin, you startled me!" he said in a softer voice, extending his hand upward to ruffle his hair a bit.

She looked at him for a moment, and then her face broke out into a smile. "I thought you were having a fit!" she said, sitting down in arm chair across from him. She placed her head in palm and shook it slightly, laughing.

Cedric was laughing as well, watching her. He had a smile on his face. "No, I was just…trying to concentrate on Potions…" he said, half lying to her; he was not about to confess that he had been thinking about her.

She bought it; he knew she would. She opened her eyes and looked at him, smiling. "It was difficult…I finished it before. If you need help…" she trailed off, but he knew what she was asking. He smiled at her and nodded a bit, discarding of his papers and books, placing them inside of each other and back into his bag.

"Breakfast?" he asked her as he placed his bag in his lap, sitting upwards. "At breakfast tomorrow," he clarified himself, "I'll finish it…will you help me then?"

Elizabeth eyed him suspiciously. "Well, of course…you're going to eat breakfast with me again tomorrow?" She had an eyebrow raised at him, a puzzled look on her face.

Cedric returned her puzzled look. "Well, yes…is that a problem?"

"Oh no, no no…" Elizabeth stood from her chair slowly. "Not at all…It's just...odd." She glanced around nervously, seeing if anyone was around. The only other person in the common room with them was two second years, sitting in a corner playing a rather suspiciously quiet game of Wizarding chess. Turning back to him, she noticed he was standing at this time.

"What do you find odd about it?" Cedric asked, arms folded across his chest. He was very interesting in finding out why she thought it was weird him eating breakfast with her.

"Well, Cedric…" she said plainly, crossing her arms across her chest. "It's not like we were friends before recent…ever since the second task you have been talking to me a lot more than normal…than you ever have before. It's not like I did something for you, or you need something…" she eyed him suspiciously again, "it's just…out of the blue." Elizabeth could not believe she had just come out with all of that, so bluntly, so bravely.

Apparently neither could Cedric. For a moment, he did not speak. He just eyed her. His mind was spinning again; she had a wise point. He had been paying much more attention to her than he ever used to. He, of course, knew why. But he had not meant for her to catch on. Blinking, he took a breath. "Well…" he was looking nervous and felt himself becoming hot. Elizabeth was watching him with concern.

"Is there something you want from me?" she asked impatiently, not sure of what else to say.

Cedric looked at her, then turned and grabbed his bag. "No, it's really…it's nothing." Finally, he began to stride away from her, getting to the staircase leading to the dormitories. He heard Elizabeth following him, her bare feet padding up on the stone stairs. She called his name, and he stopped on the landing, turning towards her.

The staircase curved, and they were in a hallway, in the range of no one else's eye, unless they came out of the dormitory doors or up the staircase. He looked down at her, standing next to him in the tiny, close corridor.

"I just want to talk to you; that is why I talk to you now." He sort of spat the words out, very randomly. This confused her, and she stared up at him, her brow and nose wrinkled slightly.

"But…why? And, why have you never talked to me before hand?"

"Because before that, I was too shy…"

"Shy? Cedric, you're not shy…"

"And are you saying that I'm not? I think I would know myself more than you, Elizabeth."

This struck her hard. She stared at him blankly, her mouth opened to say something, but she shut it. Her face was red, and she looked down, obviously at a loss of words. Cedric immediately felt sorry for this.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry for snapping…" he reached over and touched her face gently, bringing her face to look up at his.

He found himself in a position he almost regretted immediately. Both their faces were close to each other, and his hand was on her chin. It was a very awkward position, with an obvious outcome. His face was hot, and he could feel his palm sweating. Her eyes were wide; he could see the sparkles of green in them dancing slightly, swimming around in the sea of green, with a little hazel, almost gray ring around the outside. He was entranced by her eyes, his hand trembling. He could not help himself; his face was drawing nearer to hers, and before he knew it, their lips were touching.

Both their eyes grew gradually closed, and he kissed her, with all the passion he had in him. He had never kissed a girl like he kissed Elizabeth. Elizabeth had never been kissed like she just had. As her mind raced, her insides leaping, she thought of how she had never been kissed before. This was her first kiss, standing in the corridor of the Hufflepuff dormitories.