VII
Masquerade.
-x- Cho Chang & Cedric Diggory –x-
'You found me
When no one else was looking
How did you know just where I would be?
You broke through
All of my confusion
The ups and the downs
And you still didn't leave
I guess that you saw what nobody could see.'
Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff Seeker and the Hogwarts epitome of charm, was in all aspects of life, a winner.
He was quite easily the best looking guy in his house, a pretty decent flyer that could hold his own among the best, had good grades, and was never the loser when it came to a love-triangle. However, as charming and good-looking as he was, he was quite modest, and whenever anyone was heard rambling on about him – something that happened quite regularly – you could be sure to find him blushing good-naturedly in the midst of a large group of friends; and this just made everyone like him more.
Yet, beyond this seemingly perfect exterior, if you cared to look, you could find someone who wasn't nearly so sure of himself, and someone, who although seemed to have everything together, actually didn't have the first clue with what to do with his life. His days were spent hiding behind a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, male-model mask, and that was all he knew. He didn't understand how people could wear their heart on their sleeve, it was a concept that he just couldn't grasp, and no matter how much he tried to wipe that perfect smile off his face so that people could see that lost, unassuming boy inside, he just couldn't do it.
And so, consequentially, here he was, hidden away in the Prefects bathroom at midnight, staring up through the large window at the night sky, trying hard to blink back the tears that fought to pour down his face onto the hastily written letter in his lap… tears that would mill into the ink and smear away forever the cruel words written by an angry parent.
Dear Cedric,
If you need to contact me you'll have to send your letters to me at your grandmother's house…
your father, I'm afraid, has finally crossed the line with his dithering and whatnot,
and I just can't be in the same house as him at the moment.
I would say it's nothing to worry about, but honestly darling, this time I think it is.
I just don't understand him.
I'm sorry darling; write to me when you get this so I know you're all right.
Love,
Mum.
Looking down at the letter again, he laughed hollowly before scrunching it up in one large fist and lobbing it as far away as he could, where it skidded across the tiles for a few metres before stopping at a small pair of slippered feet.
Startled, Cedric blinked, the dim light stopping him from being able to make out who it was he'd accidentally thrown the letter at.
'Oh, I'm really sorry, am I interrup – never mind, I'll just go.'
The voice was gentle, delicate with a soft Scottish lilt... a voice that could only belong to one girl: Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw prefect and quite easily the most attractive girl in his year.
Embarrassed, Cedric felt his pale cheeks flush a brilliant red.
'No, no, don't go on account of me, I was just leaving anyway.'
Getting to his feet, he quickly strode over to where she was standing, and flashing her a brief smile, he picked up the hated letter and made to walk past her, but she reached out and took a hold of his forearm, in an action so gentle and unassuming he probably wouldn't have felt it had he not seen her do it.
'You look upset, are you sure you're all right?'He coughed awkwardly.
'Uh, yes, yes I'm fine.'
'Oh, all right then.'
Letting go of him, she stepped forwards into a stream of moonlight, and he was surprised to see that her cheeks were wet, tear-stained from a recent bout of crying. She cringed as she realised he'd noticed and quickly wiped her cheeks with the arm of her satin dressing-gown, smiling slightly as if she hoped to distract him from the sight.
'Are you all right?' he asked, concerned, stepping forwards onto the strip of floor illuminated by the moon, so that both their faces were half-shadowed and half-lightened, creating an eerie effect that sent shudders up both their spines.
'Oh, I'm fine,' she whispered hoarsely, unable to look him in the eyes.
'No you're not,' he said quietly, looking down at her delicate features and averted brown eyes, 'you've been crying.'
'And you were about to before I came in,' she said quickly, making him smile at her quick-wit.
'So we're both upset, hiding away in a bathroom at midnight,' he said with a light-hearted laugh and shrug, 'how strange.'
'Not nearly as strange as some of the things that happen around here,' she said coyly, taking a step away from him so that she was in the shadows again, 'after all, having a letter thrown at you by the ever-gentlemanly Cedric Diggory is by far much stranger.'
'Being psychoanalysed by none other than Cho Chang is at the top of my strange-list,' he said with a smirk, stepping into the shadows with her.
'I don't know, having Cedric Diggory mirror every step I take,' she continued with a cheeky glint in her eyes, as she took three more steps to the left and then backwards, 'might top mine.'
'Cho Chang thinking I'm stalking her might just have replaced my top one,' he countered, mirroring her three steps and then taking one more so that he was nearly touching her, 'after all, I'm no stalker.'
'I beg to differ, Mr. Diggory,' she said, turning and sprinting away from him into the darkness where he could no longer see her, 'you are indeed, stalker-material… because I can bet you the next outcome of our next match that you are going to start looking for me at any second now.'
'And what if I were just to walk out and leave you here in the dark?' he said, surprising himself at this attempt at scaring her, he'd never had the urge to frighten a girl before, but she was just so elusive, 'would that prove that I have no stalker-tendencies?'
'Please don't!' she cried out, her voice wavering with an echo off the walls of the marble bathroom.
He laughed.
'And what kind of guy do you think I am Miss Chang, one that would leave a girl by herself in a castle at midnight?'
'Enough with the "Miss Chang",' she replied, ignoring his question, 'my name is Cho.'
'Enough with the "Mister Diggory" then,' he retorted, 'my name is Cedric.'
'Don't I know it,' she replied with a laugh, 'you're all my friends talk about, you know; it's always "Cedric this" and "Cedric that"… quite the charmer, aren't you Cedric?'
He cringed: he hadn't wanted to delve into that with her… he'd just been having the most wonderful time idly flirting with her and now she wanted to bring up his little masquerade.
'How do you know that I'm not like that? How do you know I'm not just some stupid boy with family problems and no life-plans?'
There was a stunned silence, in which he reflected on what he'd just said and she pondered them thoughtfully. And then, he laughed hollowly. 'That's the first time I've ever anything like that to, well, anyone…'
'Tell me more…' she said quietly, and he could hear her sit down on the floor wherever she was, the rustle of her satin night-clothes giving her away, 'I don't sleep much these days, so you have all night.'
'Not quite yet,' he replied, getting down to the floor and sitting down upon it, his back up against the cold marble floor, 'tell me something you've never told anyone first… it's only fair.'
'Sly, Cedric, sly,' she said with a giggle, before sitting back against something herself, 'hmm… something I've never told anyone… hmmm… I haven't actually been asked to the Yule Ball yet… I made up some lie about Roger Davies asking me to keep a few boys off my back.'
He laughed.
'That's it? That's your big secret?'
'What?' she asked indignantly, peering through the dark, trying to see his face, 'do you expect me to tell you that I live a lie every day? That I'm actually a scared, silly little girl who doesn't understand the concept of being herself?'
'That's exactly what I wanted to hear.'
'Oh.'
There was an uncomfortable silence, before Cedric leant forward onto his left hand, his right holding his now ignited wand. The light faintly illuminated the bathroom, and suddenly, there she was in front of him, not two metres away from where he sat.
Grinning, he raised one perfect eyebrow.
'Tell you what, Miss Chang.'
Getting to his feet, he walked softly over to her, his bare feet making gentle slaps as they connected with the cold marble floor. Leaning down, he held one hand out gently for her to take, which she did and he pulled her to her feet gracefully.
They stood, quiet for a moment, Cedric looking down at her with an unreadable expression on his handsome face, before he spoke.
'Will you, Cho accompany me to the Yule Ball?'There was another silence, in which she drew her breath in quickly, her cheeks flushing a slight pink in the dim light, and then she laughed merrily. 'Yes, I'd like that very much.'
He grinned, before winking at her.
'There's one condition, though.'
'You have to keep me up all night telling me more of those things that you've never told anybody else.'
'Just as long as you do the same for me.'
'It's a date.'
A/N: lyrics - "You Found Me" by Kell Clarkson.
well, i know a lot of you think Cedric/Chop stories are boring, but i love them.. this one was one of the few i felt happy with out of this series.. i loved the idea of them being able to see through each other's whole "pretty and perfect" facade they seem to have going on.. i always believed that they had more substance as characters than JK Rowling let on.
Ash x