Cedric's relationship with Maddie went smoothly following her parents finding out. Fortunately, for Cedric, they never let anything slip to either one of his parents about them seeing one another. He knew he should have just admitted to his dad that night that he was in a relationship with Maddie, but he couldn't bring himself to do it even after.
They had had their share of fights, but in the end, they patched everything up; following these spats, it seemed as though they had grown closer. Joseph began to feel like a third wheel, since he was usually included in what the two did together.
It was the summer between Cedric's fifth and sixth year of Hogwarts. He was sitting at the kitchen table, looking over the supply of books he would need for Hogwarts, when his father burst into the room.
"Dad…?" he asked in shock. His father smiled back. "Is something…?"
His dad held up two tickets for something. The Quidditch World Cup.
"We—we're going?" Cedric stammered.
"The twenty-second of August," his dad said back.
Cedric jumped out of his seat, unable to believe it. The Quidditch World Cup was between Ireland and Bulgaria. Of course, Bulgaria had Viktor Krum, but the Irish team was pretty good, too. And his dad had always been a fan of the Irish team since his own family was from Ireland. Still, it seemed surreal staring at the tickets. He couldn't believe they were actually going…
"How did you…?" he started.
"Pulled a few strings at the office," his dad said coolly, still smiling. "Arthur's got tickets for him and his kids, too, and Braiden and Katie are taking Maddie as an early birthday present."
Cedric almost gasped; somehow, he had almost forgotten that Maddie's birthday was coming up. He caught himself at the last second. The day of the Cup was the day before Maddie's thirteenth birthday.
Good Merlin, what was he going to do for her birthday? He honestly had no idea; now that they were dating, he was supposed to get her something, wasn't he? But that was the problem: They were dating, so he had to get her something, but he didn't know what to get a girl he was dating for her birthday. And he knew if he asked she wouldn't tell him anything, so that was no use. He couldn't ask his mother, either, because she'd ask who it was for, and he had never usually bothered on doing anything for her birthday in the past. At the same time, he couldn't ask his father either, because he couldn't ask "what do you get a girl you're dating for her birthday" without actually dating someone…which, as far as his dad knew, he wasn't.
He snapped back to reality. "Thanks, Dad!" he said.
"You're welcome," his father replied, placing the tickets on the table.
"Mum's not going?"
"She's never really been one for Quidditch games," his dad replied.
"Probably why it took you so long to convince her to go out with you?" Cedric joked.
"It's not my fault I was good at Quidditch in school," his father countered, no longer smiling.
"I'm sure it wasn't."
Cedric tried to leave the kitchen, but his dad stopped him. "Ced…you're almost seventeen now."
"Yeah? And?" He was a bit afraid to find out what this meant.
"Well…you just never talk about girls, is all," his dad said, shrugging. "I just thought…by your age…you should have talked to a female before."
"What are you trying to say, Dad?"
"I don't mean it like that!" his dad said immediately. "It's just…"
"I know what you meant," Cedric said, his heart pounding in his chest. He should have admitted it then and there. He should have turned to his father and just admitted that he was in a relationship with his best friend…his best friend in the whole world, Maddie Lewis, and that he was so crazy about her he couldn't think straight. But he didn't…he didn't admit it, and, at that rate, he was afraid he never would.
Once he got to his room, he took out a piece of parchment and scribbled a quick note to Joseph, which read:
Dad got tickets to the World Cup. Don't know what to get Maddie for her birthday. Advice? Cedric.
It felt as though Cedric had hardly slept at all when his dad burst into his bedroom the morning of the match. "Time to get up," he said, sounding as though he had slept for ages.
Cedric rolled over. "Wha tie es et?" Cedric said, his words slurred from exhaustion.
"Two!" his father said happily.
Cedric sat up. "In the morning?"
"Well, you can't Apparate yet, you haven't taken the test," his father reminded, making the dim light in the room brighter with a flick of his wand. "Braiden Lewis was up ages ago, no complaining… Better wear a jacket…" And with that, he left the room.
Cedric shut his eyes for a moment then climbed out of bed. It was far too early to be awake. Looking out his window, he could see Mr. Lewis moving about in the upstairs portion of his house. If he strained enough, he could make out Maddie's sleeping figure in her bed. He felt a pang of jealousy that she was still asleep, though he knew it couldn't be for much longer. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he grabbed a pair of jeans, a green shirt, an olive green sweater vest, and a matching green jacket (he loved the color green, as it reminded him of Maddie's eyes)out of his dresser. He stared at the fabric of the jacket a moment… It had been Maddie's Christmas present to him. She had bought it with her own money. He had felt a bit bad for buying her a book to read, since she liked to read, but she hadn't minded in the least bit.
He went downstairs sleepily, stepping into shoes as he went. He was fully exhausted. Somehow, his mother was as awake and chipper as his father. "Morning, Cedric," she said.
"If you could call it that," Cedric said in response.
"Someone didn't get his beauty sleep, I see," she said, putting food on the table in front of him. "Eat up." In her voice, there was a hint of an Italian accent; Lucy, Cedric's mother, was originally a Russo before she was married, and both of her parents were Italian, though they had moved to England when she was young. However, she never lost some parts her Italian accent, as both of her parents had strong accents. She even spoke some Italian as well.
"You'll be wide awake once we get started," his father assured, reading the paper and eating toast. Cedric's father's Irish accent was much more pronounced. Sometimes Cedric wondered how he sounded British when both of his parents had strong dialects.
"Whatever," he mumbled; he was known to have an attitude when tired.
After they had finished eating and getting everything together that they would need, it was almost four.
"Not that bad, was it?" Amos said.
Cedric didn't reply.
"Behave yourselves," Lucy said, cleaning up the kitchen as her son and husband left.
"Dad, how exactly are we going to get to the World Cup?" Cedric asked. Looking back at the two houses belonging to his family and Maddie's, he could see Katie in her daughter's bedroom waking her up. He pushed all thoughts of sleep from his mind.
"What? Oh, we're meeting Arthur…he has a Portkey, you see…"
However, after walking for about an hour, it was obvious to Cedric that they weren't going to the Burrow. They arrived on a hill. Suddenly, his dad dropped to his knees.
"Dad…?"
"What do you suppose the Portkey looks like?" his dad asked, searching.
"Uh…" He had never seen a Portkey in his life, though he knew what it was. It was a device used to transport wizards from one place to another. All you had to do was touch the Portkey and it would take you there.
"Oh—I think I found it!" his father said a few minutes later, as they heard voices on the hill; that had to be Arthur Weasley and his children. "Over here, Arthur!" he called. "Over here, son, we've got it."
Cedric, still tired beyond belief, walked with his father to where the voices where. "Amos!" said a balding man that Cedric recognized as Arthur Weasley. What little hair he had left was flaming red. He turned to his children, four redheaded teenagers and two other kids that Cedric recognized from school. All of them were in Gryffindor house at Hogwarts. "This is Amos Diggory, everyone," Arthur said, turning to his children as he shook Amos's hand. "And this strapping young lad must be Cedric?" he asked Amos, then shaking Cedric's hand.
"How do you do?" he asked, trying his hardest to be polite, though he was embarrassed of the attention. He could feel the stares of one of the girls, one he didn't recognize as a Weasley.
"Long walk, Amos?" Arthur said, finally directing his attention elsewhere.
"Had to get up at two!" Amos said, though he didn't sound like he cared too much. "Didn't we, Ced?" The attention was back on him again. Just what he needed when the six children all seemed to be angry with him…he supposed they remembered the Quidditch match from last school year, Gryffindor against Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff had won because Harry Potter had fallen off his broom due to Dementors and Cedric caught the Snitch in that time. He had offered a rematch, but Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor team, had declined. "I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still…not complaining…Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons—and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy…" His father finally seemed to take notice off how many children were actually with Arthur. "All these yours, Arthur?"
"Oh, no, only the redheads," Mr. Weasley said, which Cedric thought should have been obvious to his father. "You remember Fred and George, Ron, and Ginny, don't you?"
"Yes, of course," Amos said, "how did I forget?"
"And this is Hermione, a friend of Ron's from school…and Harry, another friend…"
"Merlin's beard," Amos whispered. "Harry Potter?"
Oh great, Cedric thought.
"Er—yeah," Harry said, sounding as uncomfortable as Cedric felt. He must have been used to people doing that to him upon meeting him…still, that didn't make it any better. Cedric hoped beyond hope his father wouldn't mention Quidditch…unless it was about the Cup…
"Ced's talked all about you, of course," his dad said. "Told us all about playing against you last year…"
Thanks, Dad.
"I said to him, I said—Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will… You beat Harry Potter!"
"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," Cedric muttered, trying to make it right. He could tell everyone was starting to hate him more and more by the second. Shut. Up, he thought desperately, but his dad didn't seem to get the message. "I told you…it was an accident…"
"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you?" roared Amos genially, slapping his son on his back. "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman…but the best man won, I'm sure Harry's say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"
"Dad!" Cedric said; some of his irritability could be due to his lack of sleep, but this time, his father had gone too far. Lucy had pointed out time and time again that her husband was proud of their son, and that he had interesting ways of showing it…but if Amos kept it up, Cedric was going to be the most hated boy at the World Cup. His father flashed him a smile that said "sorry" all over it…as if he could actually be sorry.
Mr. Weasley looked at his watch. "Must be nearly time," he said, and Cedric was thankful for the change in the conversation. Anything to get the focus off of him… "Do you know whether we're waiting for anymore, Amos?"
"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already, the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets, and I'm not sure how the Lewises are getting there," he said. Safely, I hope, Cedric caught himself thinking. "There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"
"Not that I know of," Arthur said, looking around as though to see more people coming. "Yes, it's a minute off… We'd better get ready…" He then turned to Harry and the girl called Hermione to explain how to use a Portkey.
Amos held out the Portkey, which was an old boot, and Cedric placed two fingers to it. He had never travelled by Portkey before…
"Three…two…one…" Arthur said.
And suddenly, it felt as though he was being jerked forward by something hooked onto his stomach. They all were moving through the air, it seemed, going Merlin knew where…
Just as suddenly as the sensation came over him, he felt his feet touch the ground again and struggled to stay up. His father and Arthur, too, were standing, but everyone else had fallen to the ground. Harry fell down directly in front of him, so he walked over and extended his hand to the younger boy.
Harry stared for a second, then accepted Cedric's help. "Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome," Cedric said back.
"Come along, Ced," his father called.
He caught up to his dad, who was walking alongside Arthur. The two fathers said their good-byes, then they went their own separate ways.
Ohai there. Lamest ending to a chap ever? Yes, I quite agree MMMM HMMMM. I just loved Amos when he woke up Cedric lol ("Two!"). So I got straight A's this semester, apart from geometry, I don't know about that class yet. In case you don't remember geometry was my one class of struggle. All of my other classes were relatively easy. I'm so glad I'm taking algebra next year. :'D So anyway I'm sorry that I've abandoned this story since spring break o.o It's now summer of 2011, yay. So glad I'm not taking P.E. and geometry next year. I've already said geometry but now I'm mentioning P.E. yayay. I'm so sad that Harry Potter's almost over D: Oh and this summer I'm going to CAMP? DA FACK. I also have two summer assignments to complete. I have to read The Lord of the Flies and do some assignment on (but I lost the assignment sheet oopsies) and I also have to do like five assignments for European History n.n Yeah I have three maps of Europe to complete (one of countries, another of cities, and one of like geographic things like mountains and junk?) and two reading logs. Well it's A.P., after all. Anyway. I'm trying to get this done on top of camp, homework, swimming, and, of course, my own novel :D Yeah I'm writing a book called Howl. Good hopefully? Review please.
-Hatter of Madness