"Cedric Diggory! You are a prize idiot! Put your name in the Goblet why don't you! Yeah it'll be fun going through challenge after challenge of pure and utter peril!"

Cedric had been mentally scolding himself for putting his name in the Goblet. He considered himself a prize idiot for putting his name in when he really didn't want to enter. When Dumbledore announced that he was the Hogwarts champion, he just blanked out while others were cheering around him. When his brain registered that little bit of information, he didn't know how to react so he just went with the flow and acted happy. Now that he was in a secluded part in the library (a/n: cough History of Magic Section cough) he could freely express his inner thoughts.

"Then again…how was I supposed to know that I would be picked! Isn't the Goblet supposed to pick willing victims? What business does it have picking me! ME?"

He had been ranting for the better part of an hour…still he couldn't digest the fact that he was one of the Hogwarts champions. It was like a conspiracy against him.

"First my dad…then my friends…then Cho…and now the bloody GOBLET is out to get me too? Damn that stupid piece of…of…what ever it's made of! Damn it to hell!"

"Ummm…excuse me this is a library so you are expected to be quiet…"

Cedric froze. How long had that person been standing there…first of all who the heck was that person and why did she sound so familiar! He mentally calmed himself down and slowly turned around. Behind him was a familiar bushy haired witch carrying a figurative truck load of books.

"A little help please?" she said as she shifted the weight of the books from one arm to another.

Cedric snapped from his reverie and quickly jumped to her side where he took the load from her and set it to the nearest table.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked somewhat nervously.

"Well, I was there long enough to catch the part where you said…'Damn it to hell!'. That's pretty much it. Man I wouldn't want to be the one you're pissed off at right now." She laughed as she picked up one of the books and put it in its appropriate place.

"Oh I wasn't pissed off at anyone…I was…I was…" what was he doing?

"You were..." she motioned him to continue. She found his loss for words utterly amusing.

Cedric was not good at coming up with excuses…he was a Hufflepuff for goodness sake! Hufflepuffs were horrid liars! He just blurted out the first excuse that came to mind. "I was rehearsing for a play!" Hell, that was the worst excuse in the history of Hogwarts. Utterly pathetic.

"Oh…ok then…" Hermione replied, she didn't really believe him. That was just too pathetic…even for a Hufflepuff. But she didn't want to pry. Who he cursed during his free time was his own business.

'She believed that! Damn that was the worst excuse ever! I can't believe she fell for that! HA!'

"Ok then." He nodded in reply.

'He actually thinks that I believe him! Are Hufflepuffs this gullible? Oh dear! I have to stop myself from laughing…I mustn't laugh at him!'

"Yeah, ok." She calmly answered as she stuffed a book in the shelves.

"Oh I almost forgot!" Cedric sprung as he dashed to his bag and pulled out a thick and musty old book. "I almost forgot to return this." He gave her the book.

"Did you actually read this?" she said as she searched for the book's shelf.

"Yeah I did. Why do you ask?" he eyed her as she scanned from one shelf to another. There was an alluring thing about the way that she walked. It wasn't exactly graceful, but it still enticed him to watch her move. 'Bad thoughts Ced! Again! Cho…girlfriend…Hermione…not Cho… hence you can't have those thoughts about her so banish them this instant!'

"It's just that this book is actually quite scary with all the death accounts that it has on the Triwizard Tournament…but still you put your name on the Goblet…oh congratulations by the way."

'Damn Goblet will pay!' "Oh thanks…it was nothing really. I guess it was just meant to be…" 'NOT!'

"Well, I wouldn't know what I'd do if I were in the Tournament! I mean, I am really stressing on Harry being in it! God knows how dangerous that event is!" she said finally sitting down on top of the nearest table. She was short, so her petite feet dangled to and fro as she sat there in deep thought.

"I almost forgot about Potter." He replied as he took a seat beside her. Unlike Hermione, Cedric was tall, so his feet were planted firmly on the ground. "So, how is he taking all of this?"

"He doesn't know what to think. He didn't even put his name in that idiotic Goblet…"

'At last an ally in my battle against the Goblet!'

"…now him and Ron are having this huge fight because Ronald doesn't believe that Harry really didn't want to join! Oh, the best part is that I am caught in the middle of this unbelievable mess!" she exclaimed, forgetting for one moment that she was in fact inside the library. "Oh sorry for pouring my problems on you…I'm not normally like this you know."

"It's ok…you obviously have a lot to deal with…venting is good." But of course, he was an expert on venting.

"You know, you remind me of someone…" 'He really reminds me of someone…but can't be him! Cedric 'Perfect Guy' Diggory hating his life…HA! Definitely not him…just strangely like him…maybe they're related…'

"Same here." He laughed. 'She is so like her…but come on! Hermione Granger…a vandal? That'll be the day! Nope, can't be her. Maybe related…nah!'

"Was that all?" she turned to look at his smiling face deep in thought; it seemed to be a happy memory.

He really didn't want to leave yet, but the prospect of having to come up with another excuse scared the hell out of him…so he reluctantly replied… "Yeah…yeah that was all."

"Ok then…see you around then." She hopped off the table and started walking out the History of Magic Section.

"Yeah, it was surreal yet pleasant." He replied.

"Umm…yeah." She softly laughed as she tuned on a corner and was out of sight.

"Surreal yet pleasant? Oh come on! What the heck was that? That was just lame…" he muttered to himself. "Way to go Ced! But wait…what was that back there…was I just flirting?"

---

"Surreal yet pleasant?" Hermione mouthed to herself. She was now walking through the corridors of the library and was headed towards the exit. 'That was one of the weirdest things anyone has ever said to me...' but then again, she couldn't deny that it was really cute.

She was smiling all the way to the exit. Maybe it was the daze of being in such a situation…or maybe it was because she had to wake up at the crack of dawn that morning…whatever the reason…she was so out of it that she didn't hear the person calling from behind her.

"Hermione!" the voice called. Still, Hermione didn't notice because she was still smiling and walking to the exit.

"Hermione!" the voice called even louder. To anyone listening could sense that the person calling out to Hermione was obviously exhausted from too much running…but sadly Hermione couldn't hear this.

"HERMIONE!"

That snapped her. She whirled around only to be bumped once more by a very familiar person. She scrambled on to her feet and stood up to see a pair of eyes that she was slowly becoming more acquainted to her.

"You know, you should really be more careful." He smiled. "I've been trying to call you, but somehow I don't think I was loud enough when I shouted your name." he laughed.

"I'm sorry Cedric…I was just…in deep thought."

"In deep thought…ok…I'll buy that…" he helped her pick up her spilled things.

"You don't believe me?" she asked half amused and half annoyed. How could he think that she was lying!

"Oh, I believe you…it's just that I think that there's more going on here than you being in deep thought and me needing another book."

"Huh?"

"I didn't make sense did I?" Cedric laughed at himself. Seldom had Hermione met any boy that laughed at his own mistakes. It was somewhat endearing.

"No you didn't." she laughed along with him.

"What I am trying to say is that I think the vast cosmos have it in for me since they always make me look like an idiot when I'm in front of you."

"Oh no…you must be mistaken since the cosmos already owe me a tub of embarrassment and I believe that they picked you to be the sad victim of all my mishaps."

"Alright then…yours sounds better." They simultaneously laughed until the eye of Madame Pince fell upon them."

"Oh will you be quiet…unless it is unknown to you Mr. Diggory…the library is a place for the absorption of knowledge and not for flirting" Madame Pince scowled at the defenseless boy. "…and you Ms. Granger" the Librarian shifted her eyes to Hermione "I expected more from you." She tsk-ed.

The two fell silent and continued walking on.

"I'm sorry for getting you in trouble…" he whispered to her, since they were still within the walls of the library.

"Oh and I'm sorry for what Madame Pince said…what we were doing was far from flirting…we're…"

"friends." They said simultaneously.

"Exactly…" Hermione continued. "We are just friends."

"Yup…friends…" said Cedric. There was an awkward silence for a while. Both wanted to say so many things, but were too uncomfortable to say it. They were near the library exit when he finally realized why he had come to find her in the first place. "Book!" he shouted…

"Excuse me?" Hermione turned to him skeptically.

"I need a book, that's why I was looking for you."

"Good work boy…I think you deserve a doggie treat!" Hermione mocked him as she tried to pat his head, well obviously he was too tall and so she failed.

"Ha…I'm too tall!" he beamed proudly.

"Oh yeah…and I'm the younger one? Really mature." She laughed.

"You are no fun." He mock pouted…but he quickly recovered since he remembered that he needed another book. "About the book…do you have a less gruesome account of the Triwizard Tournament? The other book you gave me was all about the deaths that happened."

"And still you joined…oh my, it seems that the book didn't do its job right." She smiled. "Yeah we do have that book lying around somewhere I think it's…" Hermione stopped in her tracks when she heard the old grandfather clock in the library chime the hour. She was going to be late for History of Magic! "Maybe another time…I'm sorry gotta run…" she said hurriedly.

"But I…" before Cedric could finish his sentence, Hermione was gone…again.

'She is definitely one surprising girl.' He thought to himself.

---

A/N: I am so sorry for not updating in a while…here are my reasons:

I have a life that I have to get to…

When I wrote that AN thingy, I didn't realize that my finals were coming up

I had writer's block for a while

Personal problems arose.

There…I hope that is sufficient reason enough for my lack of updates…but take note that I am back! School's out and I am now free of any prior obligations…hope you all missed me…huggles all readers!

Hope the update was worth the wait…more of the letters in the next chappie!

TTFN

rita