A/N: This story was written for February's Roll a Drabble over at Draco's Den. I've got two more to write.

Beta work was done by Grammarly. All other mistakes are my own.

Title: Timing
Rating: T
Characters: Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter, & Tom Riddle
Summary: Death wasn't on the agenda that day for anyone.

Check me out on social media if you enjoy my writing style! I hang out under my penname all over the place.

Be sure to let me know what you think!

Love always,

~starr

"Are you going to arrange a meeting with him or what?" Cedric asked Harry as he carded his fingers through his hair, knocking the dust onto his shoulders and then brushing it off his top. He couldn't believe that he had been bested by an old man. Something wasn't sitting right with him about the whole situation and he couldn't figure out why.

"Oh, I am," Harry replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Somewhere with tons of witnesses so that you two don't kill each other."

"We won't kill each other!" Cedric exclaimed, rolling his eyes at Harry.

"Yes you will," Harry laughed. "Or you'll try at least. He thinks you're me."

Harry's comment caught Cedric off guard and he turned to face the Chosen One slowly. With a furrowed brow, he looked at Harry and waited for an explanation. He was Harry fucking Potter. There had to be a reason behind what was going on.

After a few minutes of silence, Cedric sighed and shook his head. "Are you going to tell me why he thinks I'm you or are you going to just leave me hanging with that nugget of information?"

"The reason he tried to kill you in the first place is that he is out to kill me," Harry replied calmly and smiled as he watched Cedric take in the information. He laughed as he watched Cedric's eyes go wide and swallow deeply.

"You're kidding right?" Cedric asked, scrubbing his hand over his eyes.

Harry shook his head. "I wish that I was, but I don't think he's kidding."

"So why are you setting up a meeting then?"

"Because I want him to see just how confused he really was."

"Oh."

. . . . . . . .

"You're late."

A shiver ran down Cedric's spin when he heard the icy voice coming from the man standing in front of him. Trying his best to push away his fear, Cedric shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest as he continued forward.

"And he's not alone," Harry announced as he appeared at Cedric's side in front of the man that had been waiting for them.

Slowly Tom turned around to face the voice that had spoken. As he turned, he saw two men standing in front of him that he recognized, but he didn't know their names. They looked similar, but there were subtle differences between the two. It would be easy to mistake them with just a passing glance.

"You fucked up, Riddle," Harry said with a laugh, pulling his wand out of his pocket and aiming it at Tom, who was currently unarmed. Cedric followed suit but kept his mouth shut with a smirk painted on his face. "This is Cedric Diggory, the man you thought was me."

Tom looked between the two men, his lips pursed tightly as his eyes continued to flit between them. Something wasn't right about this and he knew exactly who to blame.

Just as Harry opened his mouth to say something, Tom disappeared into thin air.

"Where did he go?" Cedric shouted. "Why didn't you hex him?"

Harry shrugged and lowered his wand, turning slowly back towards the way they came. "The timing wasn't right."