Wow. So, I haven't update since 4-26-06...Craziness. You all probably thought I'd forgotten my baby, huh? Think agaaaain. :)

For everyone that reviewed I cannot thank you enough. I wish I could thank you all individually but this site frowns upon authors being curteous to the faithfull. Just know that you are sincerely loved and this chapter is dedicated, without a doubt, to you all. I love you guys and I hope you enjoy this chap ;)

Peace and Cookies,

-Rachel

Chapter Seven: The Lines Only Sound Rehearsed After We've Crossed Them

School life swept them up into its current the day they arrived back at Hogwarts. Quidditch practices, applying to dance academies, prefect's duties, dance practice, Cho, studying for N.E.W.T.'s, and remembering to eat took up all of their free time. Occasionally Shandie would catch a glimpse of Cho and Cedric holding hands in the halls, laughing. It certainly didn't look like either of them were busy. Spitefully she toyed with the possibility that Cedric had just been using her for a good shag or two. Cedric himself wondered why she never smiled at him in the hallways anymore, why she didn't come looking for him at practices. He figured she was too scared to make a move.

Finally, after three weeks, Cedric couldn't stand it anymore. It was a Friday night and he had just gotten off prefect's duties. Knowing everyone in his dorms was probably asleep and anyone still awake certainly wasn't waiting up for him, he made his careful way up to the sixth floor and approached the door to a softly lit studio.

Silently, he watched her stretching and contorting her limbs on the floor, trying to cool down after another intense dance session. With amusement in his eyes he realized he was rather disappointed to have missed her work out. Cedric had been captivated from day one by the emotionally charged ebb and flow of her dancing. The way he could see the music in the fluid movements of her body, the passion and energy that radiated from her skin in waves of heat.

Her stretching ceased and she lay on her back, breathing deeply for a few moments before wiping the sweat from her forehead and getting up.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" she asked, getting up off the floor and heading towards the opposite end of the room from him. As she reached the barre under which she'd left her bag, Cedric discretely closed the door to the room and walked up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist. She froze, surprised by his chest pressing flush up against her back.

"I've missed you." his voice was low in her ear.

Shan stayed quiet for a few moments just soaking up the feeling of him behind her, solid and warm.

"I saw you and Cho walking yesterday. You two seem to be getting on well." She hated herself for letting jealousy get the best of her, but hell, she was only human.

Of course, so was he. Her unexpected comment caused him to sigh deeply over her neck.

"We aren't…She says she thinks it's healthy for us to fight, it's the only way we can ensure proper communication. Rubbish in my opinion. People don't fight wars because it's healthy."

"They don't have affairs for the sake of their well beings either." she bit off, turning to face him in spite of herself. She needed to sink back into the warm cover of those gorgeous gray eyes of his.

"Yes they do." he whispered over her lips, kissing her slowly, sensuously.

"Cedric…" she whispered helplessly, feeling herself caving in before he even asked for anything. His finger came up to press over her mouth, hushing her.

"I just got off duty, no one's expecting me back anytime soon…what do you say to a trip to the prefect's bath."

"I'd say you're a very bad influence, but I honestly don't think I can resist you." Her eyes closed again and suddenly all the resentment that had been pent up inside of her slipped out of her mind's grip. His lips molded against hers, pleading his case for him and doing far to good a job for Shan to find it within herself to refuse him.

However, as Cedric wrapped an arm around her waist and began backing up towards the door, she had to break away from him for a moment.

"I need to get my bag," she whispered. Nodding, he let her go. Shandie quickly got her things together before turning to face him. For a moment she just stood there, staring at him almost apologetically. Shaking her head in remorse, she began walking towards him, the weight of their sins making her feel more guilt than she had ever known in her life.

"We're going to hell for this you know." she murmured. "For all the pain we're going to cause."

"I'd like to know what God had in mind for you and I when he introduced us, if not for this." he offered a small smirk and slid an arm around her shoulder. "Here, let me take your bag."

Shandie had never been to the prefect's bathroom before. She knew it was more than just a bathroom, and that more than a few prefects had used it to their own…romantic advantage shall we say. Their stroll led them down to the fifth floor and after Cedric gave the door a password, he took her hand and led her into what looked like a large, old fashioned indoor pool.

Despite herself, Shan began laughing softly as she looked around in amazement. This was too much. Dim candle light reflecting a warm haze off of marble tile, Roman style pillars, cushioned benches built in to the walls.

"You sure know how to romance a girl." she smirked, tucking her hair behind her ears and she looked around. Cedric set her things down in a corner and loosened his tie a little. Breathing became more difficult for both of them as Shandie made her way across the room to his corner.

Cedric couldn't help but still be enamored by her grace, every little move she made seemed heartbreakingly beautiful in his eyes. The irony of it was that his eyes were the most beautiful thing to her then, the only thing she could rock herself to sleep to come nightfall. Over the past few weeks she had wanted to be so angry with him, but so often those gray eyes came back and Shandie found herself unable to stay upset.

Her fingers began gingerly undoing his uniform buttons, ignoring his eyes on her, until Cedric was nearly going mad with longing and leaned down to kiss her firmly. That arrested her attention quite notably and she forgot his buttons altogether. His hands found her waist and cheek, and he moved forward so that his footsteps were slowly forcing her backwards until the cold marble of the walls was flush up against her spine.

The shock of it made her pull half an inch back for a scant second as she gasped, before his mouth smothered the sound. Cedric's hands went to work, trying to figure out how to get her dance attire off. The wrap sweater came off easily enough, but her leotard was a different story. When he couldn't figure out where the damn thing began or her tights ended he finally pulled back, glaring at her body.

Shandie couldn't repress the small giggle that bubbled forth at his helpless, frustrated look. She went back to work on his own button down oxford.

"You should have just been patient and let me undo your clothes first…" she playfully chastised. Her words trailed off as she finished and was reminded of how well sculpted quidditch training kept his stomach and chest. "God above, I missed you more than I realized." she whispered, rising up on her toes to reach his mouth.

As she kissed him, she decided to help them both out and guide his hands to her shoulders where her leotard straps could easily be pushed down. Once he'd gotten the hang of that, she quickly began undoing his belt and khaki trousers, his mouth growing more desperately ardent against her own as his pent up lust for her spilled out around them, like a champagne bottle all shook up.

Cedric's hair seemed to run through his lover's fingers as she cradled his head in her lap. The pair of them were lounging across a settee, her clad in his oxford, him in his boxers. It was incredibly late but neither of them were willing to give up the sanctuary of being alone with the other. The idea of dawn was hard to imagine at that point, but at least the sun would be rising to the tune of a Saturday. A Saturday devoid of school and responsibilities until noon at the earliest. So they had indulged themselves, talking the way they used to. The way it had been so easy to do before feelings had tangled their heartstrings and intertwined them like vines.

"What dance studio are you attending in the fall?" he asked.

"Antoinette's." she answered, "In France." she let the last bit hang in the air between them like shattered daylight, knowing he would need time to digest that.

His gaze rose to her own after a few long moments of silence, "God help the French."

That earned him a light smack on the arm and a playfully angry smirk.

"Wrong answer." she pouted down at him.

"Oh? And what was the right answer? That the weight of what you just told me is making it hard to breathe?"

"Maybe you should just save your breath, because I don't know CPR." she said softly.

"You seem to have a good handle on mouth-to-mouth, I'll be alright." he played along. A short silence followed, leaving the pain to grow in the wake of silence.

"We can't keep doing this." Shandie murmured, breaking it. He responded by taking her hand from his head, kissing the palm of it.

"Staying away from each other for weeks at a time? Tell me about it." Cedric grumbled.

"No," she cracked a tired smile, "You know what I mean. We can't keep sleeping together behind Cho's back."

"I've already offered to break up with her." Cedric said, in a defeated tone with a defensive edge.

"I know," she sighed as her hand rubbed his stomach affectionately. "but I've already begged you not to do that. I think it would be healthier if we just stopped seeing each other."

The very idea was painful enough, Shandie shuddered to think how difficult it would be to relive the past three weeks for the rest of her life.

"You just try and get rid of me." he smirked wickedly, holding her hand even closer as he looked up at her with serious eyes, "I'm not going anywhere."

Shandie's smile was short lived and weak. "What's your plan then? Just meet up every now and then and pretend like our feelings for one another are only physical. Because I assure you my love for you goes much more than skin deep."

Cedric sat up, staring Shan in the eyes for a rather long moment.

"You know I feel that way about you too, right? You know this isn't just about sex."

"The problem is: we're settling for just sex. Relationships shouldn't be based on settling." she told him, helpless under his grey gaze.

"If this is the best we can have- this meeting up behind closed doors- I'll take it, Shan. As pathetic as it is, I would rather have any little piece of you possible than none of you at all."

"But you're holding out for something than can never happen. You're giving yourself false hope and that's going to hurt both of us even more in the end. Even if Cho never finds out about us, even if this ends quietly, we're still going to get hurt." she pleaded with him, trying to make him see.

His mouth met hers softly, briefly before he pleaded with her, "Can't you just let me have my denial for now?"

"No." she shook her head slowly, looking him steadily in the eyes. "I won't let you put up a blanket for me. You put one up for Cho and your parents, for the whole God damn school. But I'm not them Cedric. I am your blanket, not someone else to hide from. The minute you start hiding from me the way you hide from them, you've lost me. You've lost what this is all about."

He sighed deeply, "What is this all about?" It sounded to Shandie as though he was desperate for an answer that covered broader territory than their relationship. It seemed he needed an answer that would tell him why he put up with everyone's bullshit twenty-four-seven.

She leaned forward and took his face in her hands, cupping his cheeks gently, "This is about a boy who just needed someone to talk to, and a girl who wants to listen. Who wanted to let him feel like more than everybody's daydream." Leaning forward, Shandie dropped her hands from his face, wrapping them around his neck as she whispered in his ear, "To let him feel what it was like to have to fight for something beautiful." she pulled away, kissed him softly.

It was then that Cedric realized he was used to having most things handed to him on a silver platter. Girls, many awards, many times even grades. In fact, the more he contemplated it, the more he realized that quidditch was the only genuine thing he had ever been forced to grit his teeth and earn. That and his father's approval.

"It's not that you aren't a hard worker. I know you work hard at everything you want." she assured him in a flirtatious tone, showing off a naughty smirk.

"Maybe some things more than others." he admitted, returning her smirk somewhat sheepishly. Her smile grew and she kissed him softly before continuing.

"My point is: Not many people make you work for the things you want. And I know you like to know that you've earned your rewards. So, I'm not going to make this easy for you. If you want me you're going to have to hurt the same way I do, accept the same realities. Because this isn't perfect, but it's still love."

He nodded, taking her hand in his and leaning back, still facing her.

"Do you love me?" he asked, his voice so earnest it made her heart feel like it was melting into rain.

"Yes." the word was a whisper, sweet on her lips as she closed her eyes and smiled, savoring its truth.

"What does it feel like?" he all but begged. His tone forced her eyelids open and the hunger she saw in his own gray eyes longed for her to tell him in detail just how she felt for him. Shandie knew her answer immediately because she'd been obsessing over it for some time.

"Like water. So deep and full and dense and fluid. So cool and refreshing and powerful. It's like a river running through my entire body. I love you, Cedric. I do."

He couldn't stop the grin that plastered itself, not just on his mouth, but on his entire face. The grin that lit up his eyes and shone from his skin like candlelight.

"I love you too." he let her know, "And it's like cinnamon. And ginger snaps, and hot chocolate. Like tree trunks and broomsticks."

She laughed loudly at his odd explanation, throwing her head back and squeezing his hand ever tighter as she did so.

"What?" he had expressed himself so honestly that he couldn't quite understand what was so funny about his emotional purge. Still, a smirk perked up the side of his mouth as he couldn't be upset with her in the slightest, such was the effect of her laughter as it vibrated through his senses. Yes, he certainly loved her (no matter how funny Shan found it).

"I don't get what any of those things have in common." she was trying to suppress her smile, her laughter, but it really wasn't working. Cedric didn't mind, and he was all too happy to explain his feelings for her in depth.

"Warmth," he told her as he tucked a stray stand of hair behind her ear, "And a sense of home for me, a sense of safety and familiarity. They're all so harmless and lovely. And yet practical too, you have an understated kind of grace that isn't frivolous or trivial. It's something I need in my life."

"Not like pearls." the realization was nearly a question as she looked up at him, her eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight all around them. He could have laughed at her point, remembering that he'd used pearls as an analogy for Cho the first day he'd met Shandie.

"No, nothing like pearls." The urge to laugh was lost as his words came out more sincerely stressed than anything. There was no similarity for him between Ravenclaw's seeker and his little dancer. None whatsoever. The mere idea of comparing them made his stomach churn and he swallowed uncomfortably.

As Cedric's attention wavered from the girl in front of him, he was painstakingly awared once more that there was a world beyond the walls of the prefect's bathroom. A world that would be waiting for them come morning.

The shift in emotions must have come up clear in his features because Shandie's entire demeanor changed. Her back seemed to grow straighter, her eyes more alert, muscles tense.

"We should start heading back, otherwise the sun is going to beat us to our dorms." he told her, just in case he was imaging her intuitive assumptions. His company nodded and both began looking for (and exchanging) their clothing.

Crossing the threshold from the prefect's bath into the hallway felt like stepping out of heaven for both of them. Like being rudely awakened with a pitcher of cold water being dumped all over you. Shandie didn't like to walk with her head down but she couldn't find the strength in herself to keep it up as Cedric walked her back to Ravenclaw tower. She didn't even have the strength to hug him or kiss him goodbye. Her hand simply squeezed his a little tighter as she slipped through the portrait leading into Ravenclaw's deserted common room and left him alone in the shadows of the torch lit hallway.

A/n: Sad, oui? Well, I hope you liked it. I've already started chapter eight, so the next update surely shouldn't take as long as the last one did! Love you guys and thanks for reading!

-Rach