Hey everyone. This is an extra long chapter so I hope you like it! Thanks to the reviewers! I'm glad you are enjoying the story! You can now see Willa's ball gown in my author profile as well as some of Willa's clothing from this chapter.

Chapter 7-Come Back to Me

Willa woke up the next morning facing Cedric who was already awake and watching her with those handsome eyes she loved so much. She smiled as she realized that all of this wasn't a dream. It was in fact quite real.

"Morning, happy Christmas" he said quietly, his voice almost a whisper.

"Morning, same to you," Willa replied.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," she said

"Me too," he told her. He kissed her lips gently. When they parted, she sighed.

"What time is it?" she asked, not really wanting to know. Cedric slowly turned onto his other side and looked at his clock. He then turned back to Willa.

"Its 9:30," he informed her. She groaned loudly.

"I don't want to get up. I want to stay right here. And never leave." She buried her face in the section between his neck and shoulder after snuggling underneath the blankets.

"We can, if you don't want breakfast," Cedric said in her ear. Hmm, she was hungry.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her.

"Very."

"Well then we should get up," he said kissing her. Grudgingly, the two got out of his bed and stood awkwardly for a moment. Then he came over to her, placed both of his hands on her arms and leaned in to her as if he had something important to say.

"You should probably go put regular clothes on."

Willa had barely acknowledged the fact that she was still in her deep blue ball gown. When she looked down at herself, she laughed and Cedric joined in.

"You're probably right. I better go do that."

"I'll meet you in the hall," Cedric said letting go of Willa's arms."When the time is appropriate we will tell everyone."

"Right," Willa agreed. "I'll see you at breakfast then."

He kissed her more strongly then Willa had expected but that by no means mattered to her. When his lips let go of hers, she squeezed his hand and left the room, heading to her own. She was relieved to find that Lucy had already gone down to breakfast but as she was taking off her dress, she discovered a note written in Lucy's print lying on her bed. Willa picked it up.

"Willa- Don't think for a second that I don't know where you are. Tell me all about it after breakfast in the courtyard!-Lucy"

"Oh great," thought Willa. So much for when the time is appropriate. Willa got dressed in a hurry. She tossed on a pair of jeans and black long-sleeve shirt with a beige scarf. She slipped on her black flats, brushed her semi-smoothed hair, grabbed her black beret style cap and was off. As she made her way into the common room, Willa discovered a beautifully decorated tree with presents underneath and wondered if there was anything for her. Figuring she would get to that later, Willa hurried off to breakfast.

When Willa arrived at the Hufflepuff table, most if the kids looked positively dreadful; tired from the night before. The hall was all cleaned up and back to its normal façade. Being wizards and witches certainly came in handy when having to clean up and Willa knew that from experience. As soon as she got to her usual place at the table, Cedric was already there and looking perfect as usual. His hair was combed and he wore jeans with a gold sweater. When he saw her, he smiled.

"Morning, Willa," he said cheerily as several other salutations were mumbled. Lucy was seated across from Willa and Willa could already tell she was jumping out of her skin with excitement to find out where she had been the night before.

"Morning, happy Christmas everyone," she replied. The breakfast was quiet but all conversations and comments were about the ball. Neither Willa nor Cedric contributed to them though. They stayed relatively quiet, but couldn't keep their eyes off each other and made small talk about the food, or how tired they were. It was fairly obvious to everyone around them of their affection toward each other but no one made a comment about it. During the meal, Willa looked up and instantly made eye contact with Cho. She her face was expressionless. Willa probably looked extremely guilty; it occurred her that she and Cedric would have to deal with the aftermath of their actions the night before. She slowly turned away from Cho and finished her last piece of waffle before turning to Cedric.

"Me and Lucy are going to take a walk," Lucy stood up the moment she heard her name. "We'll see you all later."

"Bye," Cedric said as the two friends got up and walked away.

Willa hated to admit to herself that she kind of almost didn't want to tell Lucy everything about the two of them. She really wasn't the type of person who liked to talk about herself or brag about herself. Once they were out of the hall, outside Lucy grabbed Willa's arm stopping

Willa in her tracks.

"Tell me everything." It was a demand, not an option. It was then Willa's turn to grab Lucy's arm and drag her into the courtyard. She pulled her friend to a bench and sat down.

"Alright, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone okay? We kind of just want this to happen on its own."

Lucy's mouth dropped. "Merlin!" she cried loudly.

"Shhhh!" Willa hushed urgently, putting a finger to her lips.

"You two are together now aren't you?" Lucy asked barely able to contain her excitement. Willa breathed in and sighed out heavily.

"Yes," Willa confirmed strongly.

"Willa that's bloody perfect! I knew you two would end up together. Didn't I tell you that a million times? So what actually happened? I saw you leave the ball last night and the minute the band stopped playing he left Cho and ran right after you."

Willa told her friend the details of the night before but left out the fact that they each professed their love of the other. She felt that it seemed a bit too soon to mention the L word. Still, Lucy was positively enthralled with her story and so happy for her friend. While telling the story, Willa felt like she could not stop blushing and smiling.

"Wow," Lucy breathed. "That's the most romantic thing I've heard."

Willa giggled. "Yeah. It was nice." She paused and thought about it."So, anyway, enough about me and Cedric. Did anything happen between you and Ben last night?"

Lucy smiled weakly. Obviously whatever happened the evening before did not live up to her fantasy of the perfect night with Ben. Willa felt guilty now, after telling her incredibly romantic story that she still found hard to believe really happened.

"Well, we danced all the dances together cheek to cheek and all and I thought It was going well. But, in the end all he did was kiss me on the cheek."

"Lucy, that's not bad! You know boys, they get intimidated. Something will happen, I promise."

Lucy didn't respond but merely nodded. Just then, Willa and Lucy's names were called by Cedric as he and Ben rushed over to them. His cheeks and the tip of his nose were pink from the cold. The moment she saw him her eyes lit up, and Willa felt a smile slide onto her face.

"What is it?" Willa asked.

"We have Christmas presents to open!" the girls looked at each other and smiled before going off to open their gifts. Willa had only two gifts to open but she didn't mind. Her parents had given her a lot of money for her dress. Her father had given her a new book, knowing that Willa loved to read. Willa's mother had sent her a beautiful necklace with a single pearl that Willa put on immediately.

Cedric, Lucy and Ben all got numerous presents, mostly clothes for each of them. Cedrics father bought him some extravagant magical contraption that Willa had no idea what it was. Lucy got tons of beauty and hair care products and Ben got some Quidditch gear even though there was no Quidditch this year. After they were all done opening presents, Ben and Lucy left Cedric and Willa to themselves. They talked for a while about Christmas and the dance and about what they were going to tell Phil and Cho. Each was dreading it but they needed to explain themselves.

"I feel like I should have gotten you a Christmas present," Willa said as they sat on the couch, her head resting on Cedrics shoulder, his hand in hers. Cedric laughed.

"You gave me the perfect gift last night. I think you're all set," he said kissing her cheek.

That evening, Willa decided to write her parents a letter. She hadn't written to them since her last letter at the beginning of the year and was overdue to contact them. She sat down at her desk, brushed a piece of stray hair away from her face and began to write.

Dear Mum and Dad,

Hello! I'm ever so sorry for not getting back to you sooner! I've just been so busy! This whole tournament business is so tiring, especially if your best friend is a competitor. Everyday literally poses a new threat to all of us. Cedric is doing an admirable job however, having placed highly in the first task which, unbelievably, was to fight off a dragon.

Speaking of Cedric, I guess it's my responsibility to tell you that since my last letter, Cedric and I have, well, become a lot more than friends. I'll tell you the full extent of exactly what happened between us when I come and see you two in person. It all happened during the Yule Ball. Which I looked amazing at! Thank you guys so much for the money to buy a dress! I don't know how you knew there was going to be a ball. Well, I guess that doesn't matter now ha-ha. Thank you also for the Christmas gifts. Mum, the necklace was beautiful. I couldn't imagine a nicer present. And Dad, you know how much I like to read. Thank you.

Well I best be off. Hope to hear from you soon!

Love,

Willa.

"Willa!" Lucy called to her friend. She had poked her head through the doorway.

"Come on! The Christmas Feast has already begun! And Cedric has been waiting for you!"

Willa mentally slapped herself. She had completely forgotten about the feast. At least she looked presentable at her current state.

"Oh, crap. I completely forgot. Um, just give me one minute. Tell Cedric I will be down in a second," Willa said as she folded the letter and placed it in an envelope before sending Lore of with it. Willa then quickly threw on a red long-sleeved sweater dress with tights and her black flats. She put a headband in her hair and left the room. The others had gone but of course Cedric was sitting on the arm rest of a chair waiting for her. When he saw her, his eyes lit up.

"You look beautiful," he told her before kissing her.

"Thank you. You don't look to bad either," she said taking his hand. "Come on, let's get down there."

The meal was exquisite and afterwards, Willa was so full she felt like she would never eat another crumb ever again. She also went right to sleep; between the meal and the night before, she was exhausted.

The winter recess was a dream. Willa and Cedric spent every minute together, whether it was in a group or alone. Students began to notice the affection between the two of them, and news of the new relationship spread around the school. Even though they hadn't been together long, Cedric and Willa both felt like they had been in love for ages. Willa was bewildered that this could be happening to her. A girl with not one previous relationship suddenly had all of Cedric's love. It was beyond surreal.

"Have you found out what to do with that egg thing yet?" she asked him the day before classes started up again. The second task wasn't too far away and Cedric needed to get going with figuring out what that egg was for. Cedric sighed and looked over to where the golden clue sat.

"Unfortunately no, I haven't. I'm hoping someone will give me a hint though."

Just as Cedric had hoped, Professor Moody had called for him to stay after class the following day. Willa left the class last out of everyone and once in the hallway, stood just outside the open door, eavesdropping. Well she had a right to know what was going to happen next.

In the classroom, Cedric stood awkwardly in front of Professor Moody. The large man turned to him and stared him down with his mechanical eye.

"So Mr. Diggory, have you any ideas of what the second task is to be?"

"Uh, no, sir. Why?" Cedric replied uneasily.

"Then I suppose you'll be needing my help then, aye?"

"Do you know something sir?" Cedric said softly. Moody smiled wickedly.

"Go take a bath, laddy. Take the egg with you."

Cedric then knew what he had to do.

"Can I tell the others?" he asked, his voice still hushed.

"Of course. Just do so carefully."

"Yes, sir..."

Cedric turned to leave the classroom when Moody called his last name gruffly from behind him.

"Diggory!"

"Yes professor?"

"You and Miss Hardcastle. Are you a pair?"

Cedric stayed silent a moment. Why would Professor Moody want to know that? Let alone care?

"Yeah, we are Professor."

"Very good then. Be off with you then."

"Good day to you sir," Cedric replied. That was weird. When Cedric came out of the door, Willa was there waiting.

"So you found out?" she asked.

"Yeah. I have to go take a bath."

"That's weird," Willa replied as they turned a corner. "Well have fun. While you're off doing your champion business I have a study session with Phil. First one since the ball." by now the two had reached a breaking off point where Cedric would go one way and Willa the other. Cedric grabbed her hands and looked her straight in the eye.

"You'll be fine. We did nothing wrong. He's the one to apologize. Plus he's still a friend. Remember that." Cedric kissed her forehead. A couple of boys whistled and hollered as he kissed her and Cedric smirked at then before following Willa's lead and laughing.

"I will. Thanks for the pep talk," she said with a twinge of sarcasm. He gave her a look before letting go of her hands and walking off.

"Bye," she called to him. She paused a moment before entering the library. She poked her head out from behind a bookshelf and saw Phil sitting at their usual table wringing his hands nervously. Willa then looked away and breathed out heavily before making her way to the table. When Phil saw her he immediately fixed his slouching posture.

"Hi," Willa said softly as she put her books down.

"Hi," he replied in the same tone.

Willa sat down and stared at him. He knew what was coming.

"Why did you do it?" she asked when the silence grew to be too long. Phil didn't look at her but shrugged.

"I just really liked you, Willa. And it's hard to compete with a boy like Cedric Diggory; the golden boy of Hogwarts." He said the last part in almost a mocking tone.

"But you didn't have to lie to us." Willa stressed.

"It wouldn't have changed anything if I had just let everything play out and not interfered. You still would have gone with him. I needed to do something to get you to go with me."

Willa just stared at him.

"That's really low Phil. Did it ever occur to you that me and Cedric have something special? And care so much about the other that it was destined to happen?"

Phil was silent and stared blankly past Willa. She waited for his response patiently yet fuming.

"I'm so sorry, Willa," he finally said. "But can you understand where I was coming from? I just wanted to be with you alone."

"I know, and I'm sorry that I have to hurt you like this," Willa said looking into his bright blue eyes. "But I love him, Phil."

Phil nodded. He understood. It just wasn't meant to be, the two of them. As much as he was jealous of Cedric, he was happy for them. Willa was an extremely good friend, and that's how it should be.

"Thank you so much, Phil," Willa said putting her hand on his.

"What are friends for?" he asked. His face looked better but Willa could still identify a hint of sadness is his voice.

Meanwhile Cedric was on his way back from bathing and was looking for Harry, Fleur or Krum. He needed to tell them what the next task was. As he came upon the bridge, he saw Harry leaning on the edge. Just as he was about to call out to Harry, a sweet, Scottish toned voice called from behind him. Cedric spun around and noticed Cho on his right. He must've walked right past her.

"Cho!" he said in surprise.

"Hi Ced," she said. "Can we talk?"

"Um, sure Cho. Can you just give me one second though?"

Cho nodded and watched Cedric rush over to Harry. Cho liked Harry lot. He was cute, sure, but there was just something about him that made her smile.

Cedric had called Harry's attention away from the lake he was staring at below the bridge.

"Hey Potter," he said.

"Cedric," Harry simply said.

"How are you?" Cedric asked him, he didn't look well.

"Spectacular." Man, he didn't sound it either.

"Look I realize I never really thanked you properly for tipping me off about those dragons."

"Forget about it. I'm sure you would have done the same for me," Harry replied. Cedric smiled at him.

"Exactly. You know the prefects bathroom on the fifth floor?" Harry responded by nodding.

"It's not a bad place for a bath" Cedric hinted. "Just take your egg and mull things over in the hot water."

Cedric raised his eyebrows, smiled, and made his way back to Cho. She had been watching the exchange between the two with a furrowed brow.

"So, uh, where do you want to go?" he asked her when he came to her side once again.

"Can we just walk?" she asked.

"Of course," Cedric replied, as they began to walk. After talking a bit about the Christmas break, the two stopped next to a tree somewhere on the school grounds. It was private, with silence surrounding them.

"So," Cedric said awkwardly.

"What happened?" she asked looking at him in confusion. Cho had tried to sort out the events of the Yule Ball over and over in her head since then. She had speculated that there was something between him and Willa, but she needed to here it from Cedric.

Cedric hesitated.

"Are you with her now?" she asked quietly.

Cedric looked at her calm face and sighed. He certainly hadn't expected this to be as hard as it was turning out to be. Maybe it was the look on her face that made him feel like the biggest jerk on earth. When he looked at Cho he did remember certain times they shared together. Good times. It was just that now he was actually in love with someone; a feeling that he hadn't experienced until now. He now knew the difference between a crush and love. He nodded to answer Cho's question.

"I'm in love with her, Cho."

The girl said nothing and looked down at her feet, then back up at Cedric. His face was covered in an expression Cho did not know how to translate. He looked pained but he also looked relieved. There was also a constant gleam in his eye that she had never noticed before; an effect of this newfound love of Willa. As the look of pain spread across his face, Cho raised a hand and placed it on Cedric's cheek. She smiled at him comfortingly.

"It's alright," she started. "I know. I just want you to be happy, Cedric, you know that. I see a gleam in your eye I have never seen before. A product of true love." she paused and smiled to herself, letting out a giggle.

"Listen to me, I sound like I'm right out of a cheesy old movie. Anyway, I guess I would be lying if I said I wasn't going to miss you. You were good to me, Ced. I know you will be wonderful to her." Cho hugged Cedric and kissed him on the cheek one last time.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "For everything." She let go of him.

"Thank you for understanding," he told her. "Friends?" he asked. She smiled.

"Friends."

As the two were making their heartfelt exchanges, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall watched.

"Should we take her for the task?" McGonagall asked. "Or Miss Hardcastle? I've heard from Alastor that she and Mr. Diggory are quite fond of each other. I experienced it first hand as well."

"No," Dumbledore said sharply. "We cannot put Willa in any danger. Harry is enough to worry about. Summon Miss Chang this evening as well as the others. "

McGonagall nodded and left the office.

That evening, Willa waited for Cedric's return. When he appeared in the doorway she literally came out of no where and pressed her lips on to his. Cedric wrapped his arms around her tightly and they continued to kiss. It was the night before the second task and this time, just in case he didn't survive, he wasn't going to let himself let go of Willa. She felt the exact same way. It was a horrible feeling knowing that he could die the next day. And on a personal note, she was putting him in even more danger by having been affected by Lord Voldemort himself. Who knows? His workers could be anywhere.

However, Willa wanted to make this moment last as long as it could. Their kissing became more and more rapid and passionate as the two headed for his room. She was already in loungewear but he wasn't, and in the process of moving from room to room, undid his robes leaving him in pants and a sweater. He then pulled off her cardigan sweater leaving her in a skin tight camisole and stretchy black pants. The two broke apart and he tugged his sweater off leaving him in a white t-shirt. He then kicked off his shoes and socks and started to undo his pants when Willa brought her lips to his again. When he was finished undressing, he flopped onto his bed with Willa in his arms, his lips glued to hers. Willa then caught her breath and gently pushed Cedric away. As much as she wanted to keep going, she needed to stop him.

"Cedric...Cedric..." she said in between kisses. "We need to stop," she said breathlessly. What was she doing? This is what she wanted; all of Cedric. And yet she found herself stopping him.

"What? What's the matter?" he asked breathlessly. Willa rolled of his chest to his side as he got up and took her old position so he was now looking down at her.

"This isn't how I wanted this to play out."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well I just planned this all differently. You know," she felt strange saying the word. "Sex."

Cedric understood and rolled off of her and sighed heavily. He then turned to face her. She smiled weakly.

"Are you mad?" she asked, hoping he wasn't.

"No! No no no no no," he said frantically. "I know, its okay." He kissed her.

"Plus you have an important job to do tomorrow. This would be a distraction."

Cedric smiled.

"Well then we better get to sleep," he said putting an arm around her and pulling her towards him. The two of them were asleep in seconds.

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Willa woke up the next morning sprawled out across the entire bed with Cedric no where in sight. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Soon enough, Cedric came back into the room in a warm up suit over a bathing suit. Cedric looked at himself in the mirror and then turned back to Willa.

"You look good," she said. "Nervous as hell but good."

Willa yawned. Cedric took both of her hands in his and pulled her off the bed and into his arms. He kissed her gently and let his lips linger on hers. When they broke apart, he placed a hand on her soft cheek.

"You mean the world to me, Willa. I don't ever want to loose you."

"You won't," Willa said. "Promise you'll come back to me?"

Cedric kissed her again, as if was for the last time.

"I promise."

As much as Cedric wanted to stay right where he was, the two had to get going. Willa got dressed in jeans and a sweater, scarf and hat and then they left the house.

They walked hand in hand to the docks.. It was a relatively quiet trip; Cedric was busy concentrating on the task at hand and Willa didn't want to bother him. Once they were at the three towers, Cedric was called over to where the other champions were gathered. He turned to Willa and lifted her chin to kiss her.

"Come back to me," she told him.

"I will," he promised.

As they did this, everyone watched. Dumbledore smiled to himself as did Professor McGonagall. Cedric gave her one last kiss on the forehead, brushed her cheek with his hand and was off to join the group. Willa felt a twinge of separation anxiety and then went to find Lucy. She didn't have to look far before she heard her name called from above.

"Willa!" Lucy called. Willa looked up to see her friend waving to her. Willa climbed up the stairs and found her friend among a crowd of Cedric fans waving banners and flags with the Hufflepuff colors.

"I saw that," Lucy said to Willa. "We all did." Lucy looked about her at some students all eyeing Willa. Clearly they had all witnessed her and Cedric's public displays of affection. She nodded to them awkwardly and then turned back to the lake. Dumbledore's voice then boomed throughout the area explaining the scenario and the rules. Then the sound of the canon sent Cedric and the others diving into the water. Now all she had to do was wait.

A half hour went by and there was no sign of any of the champions. In the lake, Cedric came across Harry struggling to untie Ron Weasley. This must have been what they took. People that meant a lot to each champion. He saw Weasley, Hermione Granger, a little girl he didn't recognize, and Cho. He knew instantly that she was his to save. Cedric fired his wand at the tie causing it to break. As Potter watched, Cedric tapped his watch, signaling that Harry needed to get moving. Cedric then grabbed Cho and pulled her up to the surface.

Willa watched as Cedric burst out of the lake. Why was Cho with him? Shouldn't she be down there? The bitterness of her thoughts went away quickly though, as she realized that Cedric was safe. She cheered with the others loudly and she ran down to see him. Cho was quickly pulled away by her friends after he made sure she was okay and after she thanked him for saving her. As Willa hurried over, Cho smiled at her and then turned away.

"Cedric!" she said in enormous relief as she threw a towel over him and rubbed his head like she was trying to dry him off. He then pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm so happy you're safe!" she said pulling away from him and putting both hands on his cheeks before kissing him quickly on the lips. Suddenly, Viktor Krum with Hermione Granger splashed out of the water. As they dried off, everyone waited for the emergence of Harry and his "treasure". Instead, Ron Weasley and Fleur's little sister popped out of the lake with Harry no where in sight. Soon after, Harry emerged but with scrapes and cuts everywhere on his body. After Potter was wrapped up, Dumbledore made an announcement.

"Attention! Attention! The winner is... Mr. Diggory!"

Willa and all the Cedric fans erupted into cheers and applause. Willa jumped onto Cedric and he hugged her back, lifting her off her feet.

"You did it!" she cried. "First place Ced!"

Cedrics friends high fived him and patted his back. Well, it was actually more like slapping. Cedric was beaming, a huge smile plastered on his face. She couldn't be bitter about the Cho thing. At least not now. Now was a time to celebrate Cedric's win, and that's exactly what she was going to do.

It was decided that Harry would come in second place as he rescued two students, with Krum in third and Fleur in fourth since she had dropped out of the task. That night the celebration in the Hufflepuff house raged on. This time, however, Willa was not curled up in an armchair with a book. Throughout evening Cedric kept Willa close to him, with an arm around her waist, as if to show that she was his. Willa surprised herself with the way she enjoyed all the attention she and Cedric were getting from everyone. She liked how everyone got to see how the two of them were together. As it grew later, Willa was getting tired and decided to go to bed. She wanted to sleep in her own bed for once so she kissed him goodnight and went up to her room. Lucy was already in her pajamas in bed, reading a magazine.

"Well, well, well," she teased. "Look who's back."

Willa smiled.

"Hi," she said giving her friend a look and then pulling on her pajamas.

"How was vacation?" Lucy asked clearly joking.

Willa laughed and decided to play along.

"It was wicked," she said winking. The two friends laughed together before Lucy put down her magazine and took off the gleeful look on her face.

"Hey if you don't mind me bringing it up, I was kind of surprised that they didn't have you down in the lake for him to save."

"I know!" Willa said. "But there must be some reason for Cho doing it. I mean maybe Dumbledore just thought they were still together or something."

"Yeah but McGonagall saw you two in the assembly hall. And you said that Professor Moody asked Cedric if you to were a couple and he said you were. I mean, people know, Willa."

Willa thought about it for a moment. It was true that enough people knew about her and Cedric. That's all she cared about though. But what if people started to think that Cedric and Cho were back together... or if he was cheating on her?

"Whatever," Willa said. "What's done is done. I'm not going to waste time worrying about it. I know he loves me," Willa said getting into bed. Still, as she tried to fall asleep, Willa couldn't help but wonder if Cedric still liked Cho. A possibility that was likely, and a possibility that she was dreading finding out.

Whew! Long chapter! I needed to end it somewhere hahaha. Please review!

-TheatrePirate.