DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

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Chapter 14: Jealous?

"On the third landing, a door stood ajar. Harry caught sight of a pair of bright brown eyes staring at him before it closed with a snap." -J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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1992

(Cedric and Hermione's past)

Cedric and Susan were just starting with their ice cream when they heard the door chime. Susan turned her head while Cedric looked up at the door. Hermione perked up when she saw them.

He was quick on his feet to offer her the seat beside him near the window.

"Hermione!" his little cousin exclaimed.

Hermione grinned, and the two girls embraced when they reached each other.

"Where are your parents?"

"They have to work, so they just dropped me outside the Leaky Cauldron."

"Hey, midget," he teased after the girls pulled away.

Hermione pouted and looked up to him. "You've grown again!"

He chuckled and patted her head. "Have a seat and have some ice cream. Maybe it'll make you taller."

"They're just sugar-free," she said matter-of-factly.

"I'll order for you. What do you want?"

Hermione eyed his ice cream cup. "Is that pistachio?" He nodded. "I'll have it, then. You sure you'll do it for me?"

He grinned and winked before walking to the counter. He heard the two girls chatting again, and Susan was already telling Hermione about the flying car he mentioned to the two of them (to Susan via Floo, to Hermione via letters). It was safe to talk about it because they were in an ice cream shop in Diagon Alley.

He and Hermione had been exchanging letters for the past one month. The moment he arrived home, he wrote a letter to her and asked Harley to stay if she wanted to write her reply. Of course, she did write back after one day so as not to exhaust his owl. Sometime last week, he asked her to hang out with Susan in Diagon Alley. Terrence and Ian were out of the country, so he couldn't invite them.

"Mr. Weasley works at the Office of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts," Susan was saying when he returned with Hermione's ice cream. "Auntie says the car was enchanted... She will have to ask him about that."

"Thank you," Hermione smiled broadly at him when he gave him the cup of ice cream.

"It was hard not to spot the car. Dad and I were de-gnoming early in the morning, and it was flying low already because the Weasley house is near ours."

"Speaking of the devil," Hermione whispered, her eyes on the door.

Cedric saw Harry Potter and a few redheads outside the ice cream shop through the glass door. "Maybe they picked him up from his Muggle relatives."

"He stayed in school during the Christmas and Easter holidays. Maybe he doesn't like his relatives," quipped Susan.

"Or maybe his relatives don't like him," she whispered empathically.

Cedric agreed with Hermione. He wasn't blind. Harry Potter wore obviously old and overly large clothes. There was nothing wrong with hand-me-downs... but Harry Potter's clothes were too big and faded. But his school uniform and other things were new. "The Potters were a rich family. Harry Potter was left with some fortune, I'm sure... But you're right, Hermione. I think his relatives don't treat him very nicely."

When the three of them finished their ice cream, they continued catching up. They weren't getting school supplies today because their guardians weren't free, but they looked around the different shops.

Until they reached Flourish and Blotts.

"Hey, Hermione I'm sorry but I have to go. It's almost lunchtime. I promised Auntie that I'll be home before twelve."

"What?" she asked, turning to him and Susan.

"Oh, no, it's just me. I guess Ced's going to hang out with you longer," his little cousin said.

"How are you going home?" she asked.

"I'll Floo." Susan pulled Hermione into a hug. "See you next weekend for shopping."

Hermione hugged Susan back. "See you."

He muttered his goodbyes to his little cousin before she ran to the Leaky Cauldron to Floo home. Then, he turned to Hermione. "So, Flourish and Blotts?"

She looked up to him with a smile and nodded. "Flourish and Blotts."

Ced reached out to place a hand on Hermione's back and gave her a little push towards the bookstore. It was jam-packed because of Gilderoy Lockhart, a famous book author. "Do you still want to go?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "Let's go up on the first floor."

He placed his hands on her shoulders to prevent her from being squeezed in, and they met a familiar blonde boy on the stairs.

"Hey, Malfoy," he greeted casually as they walked past him.

The boy sneered at the two of them in disdain but didn't say anything.

"I'm surprised you're not interested in Gilderoy Lockhart?" he teased when she looked down at the railing. Several witches of different age appeared swooned at the sight of the 'charming' author.

"Well, he's got a charming smile, but - " she trailed off. "Anyway, let's browse some books."

He followed Hermione to the bookshelves. He browsed some texts as well.

"So what did you do this summer?" she asked.

"You already know that. I wrote to you almost every day," he smiled.

"Just played Quidditch and read?" she asked again.

"Yeah. Transfiguration is fascinating."

"It is."

"But you like Potions and Charms better."

She nodded. "I think I want to be a Healer."

He frowned slightly. "Because?"

She shrugged. "My parents are dentists - Muggle healers. My grandma's a retired physician... It's in the blood. Just like being a Ministry worker," she joked.

Cedric laughed and reached out to pinch her nose. "You're a cheeky little pod."

Hermione glared at him. "Little pod?" she almost screamed.

"You always smell like vanilla," he explained but looked away to grab some textbook, feeling his cheeks flush.

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"Fred! George! Have you seen Ron and Harry?"

Hermione was waiting for Susan outside the toilet of Hogwarts Express when she heard an unfamiliar voice behind the wall that separated a compartment and toilet for girls. She peeked and saw a little girl with flaming red hair outside a compartment.

"No, Ginny, we didn't," said a voice from the compartment. "Go and sit with Luna."

Ginny Weasley stepped back and turned towards the toilet, but she saw her. She froze for a moment and Hermione wondered if the new girl knew her, because she glared at her and turned the other way.

"What's going on?" came Susan's voice.

She looked around. "Nothing. Just saw a new Weasley. Girl, this time," she replied.

"That would be the last one. There are seven of them. Let's go."

Hermione and Susan went back to the compartment they shared with Cedric, Ian and Terrence.

"Hey, Hermione, guess what?" Ian grinned.

She took a seat beside Cedric and Susan was on her left. Even on the train, she was sandwiched between the two cousins, but she didn't mind. "What?"

Ian pointed at something outside the window.

"Is that a flying car?" Susan, who was on the window side, shrieked

"Is that the flying car?" she asked Ced who was sitting on her right, near the compartment door.

Cedric nodded. "Yeah."

"I hope the Muggles don't see them, or else..." Susan trailed off.

"Boy, I hope Professor Snape's not waiting for them outside the castle and Mr. Weasley won't be asked to clear his desk," said Terrence seriously.

When they arrived at the train station, Hermione was surprised to see Ced holding her trunk as well. "Hey, that's heavy," she protested.

"I can handle our trunks," he replied kindly. "Just carry Harley, will you?"

Ian was helping Susan with her trunk. She carried Harley's cage, then followed the group. Carriages were waiting for them outside the station. Susan, Ian, and Terrence got on a horseless carriage (Hermione made a mental note to ask Cedric about it), but Cedric stopped. "Only four people are allowed," he told her and then turned to their friends. "Hermione and I will be in another carriage."

The two of them found an empty carriage. Cedric got in first with their trunks, then offered a hand to help her get on. "Thanks!"

"No problem," he replied, panting and his hair was plastered to his forehead because he was sweaty.

"You all right?" she asked, reaching for her handkerchief to wipe his forehead.

Cedric smiled fondly and touched her arm. "Yeah, absolutely fine."

"Hey, Cedric?"

Hermione and Cedric turned to the carriage door. She saw an older girl with straight black hair, monolid eyes, and fair skin - an Asian girl. She was wearing a school robe with the Ravenclaw seal.

"Do you mind if we join you?" the girl asked gently.

"Oh, Cho. Sure."

Cedric moved to help the girl get up and sat beside him. There was another Ravenclaw girl with curly reddish-blonde hair and a freckled face. Cedric helped her as well and sat beside Hermione.

"Hermione, meet Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe," Cedric told her. "Cho, Marietta, this is Hermione Granger."

"Hello, Hermione."

Hermione forced a smile. "Hi." She wasn't happy. She couldn't say it was a pleasure meeting her while this girl, Cho, was sitting so close to Cedric and even rested a hand on his thigh throughout the journey to the castle.

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"Hey, are you avoiding Cedric?"

Hermione looked up to Ian from her book. He sat across from her. She went to the library alone and she didn't know that one of her friends followed her there.

"I don't know what you mean," she replied innocently. "We still sit next to each other during mealtimes."

"What happened two nights ago?" From her peripheral vision, she knew that Ian was eyeing her intently.

"The start-of-term feast?" she asked innocently.

"Don't play with me, Hermione. I've always been sitting across you and Cedric every meal. You don't talk to him anymore like before. The boy has no bloody clue what's going on in that smart head of yours," he whispered harshly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered back.

"Did he do something really bad to you?" Ian asked exasperatedly.

"What? No!" she almost yelled. "He's a perfect gentleman."

Then Ian smiled playfully, clearly taking a hint out of her words. "Who rode the carriage with you?"

"Some Ravenclaws."

"By the name of Cho Chang?" teased Ian.

She scowled at him.

"Yeah, that's the problem. He's a gentleman. I think he has to stop being too nice to the girls he doesn't fancy."

Before she could say something else, Ian left.

Yes, she felt jealous. And Cedric's gentlemanly manner was the problem. Girls flirt around him. Hermione didn't mind last year, but when she saw the beautiful, Asian Ravenclaw Cho Chang, she just lost it. She was smart, tall and slender; her long, straight hair was always on place, and she was very beautiful. She sat beside Cedric that night as if she belonged to his side. Hermione felt a pang of jealousy in her chest for the first time in her life.