Harry Potter was staring glumly at the floor as he dragged his feet up the stairs. Hermione had been questioning him about the egg, demanding he work on it. He had assured her he was figuring it out, but in all honesty he wasn't doing anything to work on it. When he had opened the egg, it made loud unintelligible shrieks. How the hell was he supposed to decode that?

You have plenty of time the procrastinating part of his brain told him, and he had to agree, although he couldn't help feeling guilty for lying to Hermione.

As Harry was taking a painfully long time getting up the stairs, he imagined all the terrible things he may find himself having to do during the third task. Maybe, they'd make them completely deaf and force them to battle a whole family of blast-ended skrewts. Maybe, he'd get the pleasure of experiencing the sweet release of death.

Although He and Ron had made up a long time ago, Ron was still acting overly jealous of Harry, and Malfoy had been treating him considerably worse as if to fill the hole of his friend hating him. Harry absolutely loathed Malfoy with every fibre in his body. Why did the git have to constantly be tormenting him every single chance he got?

An image of the "Potter Stinks" buttons flashed through his mind, and Harry felt himself clenching his fists. Harry didn't mind Malfoy supporting Cedric more than him, hell he'd support Cedric more than himself if it wouldn't make him look soft. But the fact that Malfoy had actively targeted him got his blood boiling. It also made him utterly confused. When he thought about it, Malfoy's hate for Harry made absolute no sense. Why was the Slytherin so brutal to him over something that happened in first year? It didn't seem possible that someone could hold a petty grudge like that for so long, but in all honesty, Malfoy was the most petty person he'd ever met.

Harry spent a whole 10 minutes slowly walking up the stairs thinking about how much he despised Malfoy. He got so caught up in his internal rant, he hadn't realise someone had been behind him. Harry had just reached the top of a moving staircase when he was pushed to the ground. He heard the sound of glass breaking and his glasses were crooked on his nose. It wasn't that painful, just annoying. And it was lucky that whoever had pushed him waited till he was no longer on the stairs.

Harry fixed his glasses and looked up to find Draco Bloody Malfoy smirking at him with his arms crossed. Bloody prat.

"What the hell-" Harry muttered but suddenly Malfoy booked it down the stairs.

Harry's confusion over why Malfoy had ran was cured when he saw Cedric Diggory turn the corner and speed up the minute he saw Harry on the floor.

"Woah, Harry, what happened?" Cedric asked as he grabbed Harry's hand to help him up, and Harry felt odd sparks at the contact, Harry assumed it was just some wizard thing.

"I just um- tripped..." Harry muttered, ducking his head and blushing in embarrassment as he began collecting his books. honestly, Harry had no idea why he had lied. He could've saved himself from this exact situation if he had.

"Here, let me help," Cedric offered with a smile as he got down and helped Harry gather his books.

Harry couldn't suppress a grin. He was flustered and awkward and his heart skipped a beat. This feeling felt so similar to the one he got when he was around Cho. Harry blushed, thinking of Cho's pretty black hair and shining dark-brown eyes. He then looked up and noticed Cedric's eyes were a lighter shade of brown, but yet they were equally attractive.

"Harry, did you see someone else in the hallway when you tripped?" Cedric asked, his eyes full of concern.

"Wha- um what?" Harry practically spluttered.

"Your bag's ripped. Someone probably hexed you when you weren't looking." Cedric explained, and he got his wand out and reparo'd Harry's bag before returning it.

"Thanks. I wouldn't be surprised if someone tripped me.. I wasn't paying very much attention." Cedric chuckled and shot Harry his winning golden-boy smile. Harry was melting.

Usually people lied to make themselves look better. But not Harry, apparently he managed to make himself look like more of a fool than he actually was. Bloody splendid.

"Have you managed to find out what the egg meant yet?"

"Nope. Hermione's mad because I haven't started yet,"

Cedric laughed, and Harry enjoyed that laughter. It felt like a treasure.

"Well, if you ever discover it and I don't... You wouldn't mind telling me, right?" Cedric asked, giving Harry puppy eyes.

"Of course! Why not?"

Cedric flashed Harry that winning smile again before finishing packing Harry's bag and leaving. Harry frowned when the Hufflepuff had left, but he was in a much lighter mood than before. Somehow, he knew it'd work out. He might not win, and Malfoy may never stop tormenting him, but he knew for a fact he would get out of there alive. Maybe if he did win, he could be closer friends with Cedric. That would be amazing.

Harry shifted to the other side of his bed, hoping desperately to make himself more comfortable. He longed for sleep, but his thoughts were too loud. He couldn't get the image of Cedric's smile out of his head, and how those eyes were alight with pure happiness. He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to touch his strong-square jawline, or run his fingers through Cedric's caramel-brown locks that hung down his head and curled perfectly. He wondered what it would be like to kiss those full lips... Wait what? No... He liked Cho. He wanted to kiss Cho.

He found himself imagining running his hand through her silky black hair, oh how soft it was. And she smelled like freshly-cut grass, and he revisited a fantasy of playing a seekers game and kissing the girl before she could catch the snitch. Harry imagined that Cho would look cute angry. He remembered the time she had walked by him in the great hall and all he could think was, damn, she's hot... But Harry also found Cedric hot. And he also smelled like the Quidditch pitch. And he wouldn't mind the Hufflepuff pushing him against the wall for a passionate makeout session...

Harry found himself pondering why he found Cedric attractive. He eventually came to the conclusion that it was just because Cedric Diggory was objectively attractive. It would seem that the time got away from him, because the moment he came to that conclusion Seamus was yelling at them to wake up. That was when Harry realized he had stayed up all night thinking about both Cedric and Cho. That was a first.

"Ron, have you ever stayed up all night thinking about someone?" Harry asked, ignoring Hermione's eyebrow raising.

Ron, to Harry's amazement, waited before he finished chewing to say "Of course, when I fancy someone."

Ron then shot a not so inconspicuous look at Hermione, his ears a bit pink. He then shoved food in his mouth

"So, Harry, whose the lucky person?" Hermione asked.

"Um- there's no person- I just... Heard Ron whispering something about um... Fleur," Harry lied.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent. She gave him a look that said "We'll talk about this later."

"Bloody hell! I was saying that aloud?" Ron asked this twice, the first time he was unintelligible due to the food in his mouth.

Hermione snorted in both disgust and mirth. Harry chuckled awkwardly, his mind elsewhere.

Harry couldn't possibly like Cedric, right? He was likely just in his thoughts because Harry had thought it nice of him to help him with his bag. Harry couldn't like boys, because he knew for a fact he liked girls. It didn't make any sense to Harry, and the more he wished he would stop thinking about it, the more he did think about it.

Ron had made it seem as if the only time you stay up thinking about someone was when you fancied them. But that couldn't possibly be true, right?