Late that night, Cedric was still awake, trying to think of ways he could talk to Maddie about his feelings. He was too nervous to say much to her, and each different imaginary situation had about a million ways it could go wrong. He woke up the next morning a wreck and saw her multiple times throughout the day, but each time he was too nervous to go even say 'hello'.

Finally, after he and Joseph came back to the common room after Charms, his friend started to chew him out. "Why didn't you talk to her?"

"I haven't had the chance," Cedric muttered, lying quickly. Joseph glared him down. "What?"

"I remember we came out for breakfast, she said, 'Good morning, Cedric', and you barely said 'hello' to her." Cedric stared in bewilderment—how had Joseph noticed something like that and Cedric hadn't? "Then we were in the Great Hall having breakfast, and she walked right by you when she was leaving for Herbology and we were going to Transfiguration. We ran right into her and she said 'sorry' and you said 'see you'. You're hurting her feelings, Ced."

Cedric stared blankly back at his friend. Thinking back, he did remember seeing her that morning. She was talking to Sierra and Amber and was laughing. Then he and Joseph had walked by and she smiled at them warmly. "Good morning, Cedric," she said, brightly and happily as ever.

"Hello," he said indifferently and walked away. He remembered Joseph having a look that was mixed with shock and frustration. Then they had finished eating and stood up to go to Transfiguration, talking about how McGonagall would be angry if they were late again. As Cedric hadn't been paying much attention, he had ran right into Maddie, who immediately flushed red.

"Sorry, Cedric," she said quickly, covering up.

"See you," he mumbled in the same indifferent tone as before. Maddie had stared after him as he walked away, a hurt look on her face.

Cedric sighed. "I just don't know how to tell her," he said. "How am I supposed to tell her how much I really care about her?"

"Not by hurting her feelings!" Joseph said loudly. Luckily, there was only a handful of people in the common room; everyone else was getting ready to go down to dinner. "It's obvious, isn't it? Just tell her."

"How?" Cedric said, getting annoyed. "I don't know what to say to her. Do you expect me to just prance up to her and say, 'Mad, I fancy you, I'm just too damn thick to figure out how to tell you'?"

"You're not thick, you're just too used to her reading your mind!" Joseph said. It amazed Cedric how much he knew about talking to girls when he was one of the most socially awkward people he knew. "Cedric," he said in a tone much gentler than the one he had been previously using. Cedric looked at him, his eyebrow arched. "She means a lot to you. I can tell. I see it in your eyes. Tell me what you're thinking about."

Cedric paused, thinking it over. "I was just…thinking…" He paused again. "That she's been my friend for eight years. And I know I shouldn't, but I really care about her. I mean…I feel really happy but kind of nervous around her, even if she is four years younger than me…"

"Ced, I'm starting to think you're perfect for each other."

"What?" he asked in shock. "How so?"

"She always seems so alone," Joseph said. "She needs someone in her life. And you need someone to keep you sane. You're getting stressed, I can tell. About O.W.L.s, your classes, being a prefect, Quidditch—"

"You know Gryffindor should have won that match," Cedric said. "Harry fell off his broom because of Dementors. I caught the Snitch while he was fall—"

"Let it go," Joseph said slowly. "We're not talking about Quidditch. We're talking about the girl that you're lovesick for."

"What?" Cedric said in shock. That word—lovesick. Somehow, it sounded right…but oh, so wrong at the same time. He wasn't in love with her… He just fancied her… There had to be a difference, right? Sure, she was amazing… She was pretty, intelligent, funny, nice to talk to…and she knew more about Quidditch than most people, which made for long, interesting conversations… She had mentioned how the World Cup was the following summer and she had wanted to go with her father. She had even mentioned how her parents had met because her mother was a Keeper for the Ravenclaw team when she went to Hogwarts, and her father was a Beater. They had met during the Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match fifth year, and her dad had been hit by a bludger when he noticed how pretty her mother was, with her hair fanned out behind her. Every time Maddie mentioned it, her green eyes sparkled and she smiled her beautiful, flawless smile. She was very much a tomboy—Cedric wondered if her childhood friendship with him had caused that—but small things such as romance made her happy.

"You were just thinking about her, weren't you?" Joseph asked, smirking.

"Look, there's no such thing as being 'lovesick', okay?" Cedric said, blushing slightly.

"You're a sicky, whatever you've got," Joseph said, trying not to laugh. "Come on, it's almost time for dinner."

"I'm not hungry," Cedric said quickly. Truthfully, he wasn't; his stomach was in knots so tight it'd be too difficult to try to eat.

"You have to eat something," Joseph said.

"Look, I'm not hungry, okay?" Cedric said. "I'll see you aft…"

At that moment, the five Hufflepuff girls entered—Amber and Sierra were laughing about something; Allison, as usual, kept to herself; and Boo and Maddie—

Merlin, she looked so pretty, in Cedric's opinion. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, leaving only her bangs in her face. She had a wide smile on her face, and was nodding her head every so often. Allison looked up, then cleared her throat. The other four looked up as well, and two of the girls giggled.

"Your knight in shining Diggory is looking at you," Amber breathed.

"Shush!" Maddie hissed back. The other three girls erupted into a fit of giggles. "Oh, come off it," she said indignantly.

The five girls tried to go to their dormitory. "I'm going to dinner," Joseph said. "Whatever you're doing…I don't want to know." He left the common room quickly, not wanting to be in his friend's way.

Cedric stepped toward the group of girls carefully. Allison, who was much more mature than the other four, towered over the group and bounded away in only a few quick strides. The other girls lingered back, still talking and laughing. Everyone else had cleared out of the common room at this point.

"Uh, Mad, can I talk to you?" Cedric asked, interrupting a conversation about Professor Binns. Cedric knew that Maddie and her friends had History of Magic with the Ravenclaws prior to dinner. This proved to be true; Maddie had an air about her that suggested that she had just talked to one of her best friends, Luna Lovegood, who was in Ravenclaw herself. Professor Binns, the History of Magic professor, also didn't seem to notice when his students talked, as he was a ghost. It was rumored that he died one night in his sleep and woke up the next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. No one knew whether or not he was aware even after all that time that he had died, but either way, he was easily the most boring teacher at Hogwarts.

Again, the girls giggled. Maddie, however, did not. She seemed rather nervous. "Can you take my things to the dormitory?" she asked Amber politely. The other girl took her book bag and practically danced away with the other two girls.

Buying some time, Cedric started a conversation about Quidditch, hardly noticing anything about his conversational partner. He was waiting until he was absolutely certain that they were alone. About three minutes later, the three girls came back from the dormitory.

"Do you plan on eating anytime soon, Maddie?" Sierra teased.

"Hmm?" Maddie said, turning to her friends. "Oh—no, I'll be up in a few minutes. You go ahead."

Boo spoke next. "Have fun talking to your—" she giggled once "—your boyfriend."

"Oh, shut it," Maddie said quickly, "you know he's not."

Cedric's heart melted at that. Somehow, he took it mean that he wasn't her boyfriend…and that he never would be. She hadn't said anything of the sort, but she still seemed to be leaving something out of the conversation.

"Who're you playing next, Slytherin?" she asked, trying to resume their conversation of Quidditch.

He cleared his throat once. "A-actually, Mad, I really need to talk to you."

She frowned. "Can it wait?"

"No," Cedric said seriously.

She frowned harder. "Cedric, you're scaring me," she said quietly.

"What?" he asked, suddenly afraid. "How?"

"This morning you barely said three words to me," she said, "and you didn't even seem to care if it hurt my feelings. And when we were just talking about Quidditch it seemed like something else was on your mind, and—and you said you needed to talk to me. You're scaring me."

"I'm sorry," he said, and he was. He didn't mean to scare her. She was the only thing that really, truly mattered to him. "It's just…"

"What?"

He paused, thought for a moment, then said, "There's really no easy way to do this, so I'm just going to go right out and say it." He sighed. "I—I know we're friends and everything, and I really do value our friendship, but…but I really, really fancy you, Mad. Very much and for a very long time."

This did not go as well as he had hoped. She stared at him in bewilderment for a second, then shook her head, her eyes closed. "Forgive me," she said, then opened her eyes. "I must of heard wrong. Did I just hear my friend—my best friend—just tell me that he fancies me very much?"

"That is correct," Cedric said, nodding slowly and sadly. This was stupid, but it was too late to change his mind now. Maddie looked so hopelessly confused.

"And is he looking at me like I wouldn't want to be his friend if I knew the truth?" Now she seemed more curious than confused. The look on her face—he couldn't lie to her. There was no way to tell her that he really didn't fancy her. He couldn't lie…not with her, when she looked so innocently curious.

"I don't know," he said, "I can't see my face."

She grinned for a moment, not meeting his gaze, then stared into his gray eyes. He stared back. He's not really saying this to Plain Jane me, is he? Maddie thought. There wasn't anything special about her… Her hair never fell the way she wanted it to, her green eyes were repulsive—at least, in her grandmother's opinion they were—and her pallor was ghostlike. There was no way that Cedric, tall, handsome, intelligent, strong, muscular Cedric fancied her.

"You're being honest with me?" she asked, staring at him, into him.

"I wouldn't lie to you, Mad," he said as calmly as he could with her looking at him. "I told you earlier I thought you were pretty. I told you before that you were the only person I could trust wholeheartedly. For Merlin's sake, I fidget around you. How much more obvious could I be?" He wasn't angry with her, just curious.

"You hardly talk to me," she said, "at least, you haven't lately." She continued to stare at him. It appeared he was waiting for her to say something… It was as though he was living on her every word. There was still no way that any of this was real. She had been secretly watching Cedric for weeks, hoping she'd catch even the slightest sign of the feelings she had being reciprocated. Her eyes even dilated in his presence, and she once had cried herself to sleep at the knowledge that, because of their age difference and Cedric's popularity, they could never be together.

That was how the girls found out. They had heard her sobs and heard her muttering his name in her slumber. "Either you were having a nightmare that your friend was being murdered," Boo teased the following morning, "or you're totally in love with him."

"I'm not in love with anybody," was the saucy reply. But later she confessed to Ginny…who told Luna…who told Sierra…who told Boo…who told Amber…who told Allison that Maddie had deep, deep feelings for her best friend. After Maddie had made them sworn they wouldn't tell anyone, she confessed that she did care about him.

And now, it seemed, so did he about her.

"I'm sorry," he said, ashamed at his behavior. "I'm so sorry, I was…" He paused. "I've never had these sort of feelings about anyone before, Mad. I don't know what I'm supposed to be saying or doing right now. I'm just kind of…" He stopped again. "I completely understand if you don't feel the same way. And if you can't look at me the same way again, I know why and I'll understand…"

"Would you shut up and let me talk?" Maddie said. Cedric suddenly realized that she had been saying 'Cedric' at three-second intervals throughout his speech from the moment he said 'Mad'.

"Sorry," he said again.

"I was asking if you were honestly telling me this because that's what I've been wanting to say to you for months now," she admitted, a bit red in the face. "But you and I both know we can't be together…"

"Why not?" Cedric blurted out. This all seemed like a sick twisted dream… At any moment, he could imagine all of their friends coming in and telling him they were pulling some cruel joke on him and Maddie would be laughing… But she seemed sincere, and he had known her long enough to tell that she was being completely serious with him.

"You and I both know how that would work out, Cedric," she said. "You're popular. All of the girls in this school are falling all over you."

"They are?" Cedric said, shocked.

"Yes, they are," she said. "Your friends, at least, they wouldn't understand."

"So let's not tell them."

She raised her eyebrows.

He didn't even know where the words had come from. He was so confused about how he felt about her, the girl he had called his friend for eight years, that he was desperate to do anything to call her 'his', even if for a moment. "We can keep it a secret, if it'd make you feel better. Than we can tell people when we're ready. Would that work?"

She stared at him in confusion, then slowly smiled. "You're an idiot," she said, shaking her head slowly.

He didn't know what came over him, but he leaned down, one of his hands under her chin, the other one brushing hair out of her face. Before he was able to stop himself, he was kissing her, his eyes closed. The butterflies in his stomach had never been as bad as they were at that moment. She was kissing him back, and he had never felt happier in his entire life. He didn't want to leave her, but he pulled himself away at last.

She stared at him in wonder. "Did you just…?"

He nodded. "Did you not…?"

"Do you promise me that we can still be friends, even if this doesn't work out between us?" she asked, almost afraid.

He didn't like the sound of her voice when she was afraid. He held her in his arms, then whispered, "I promise." He kissed her cheek again, and it felt as though he was holding the whole world in his arms.

It was his first kiss.

La di da. Sucky ending. I won't randomly blurb about my life cause no one cares. o_e Bleh blehhh. NOW I CAN GET MOVING WITH ACTUAL PLOT YESYESYESYESYESYES

-Hatter of Madness