Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or 'She Will Be Loved'
It was a hot and humid day. The girls lifted their sleeves up to their elbows, except for one particular Gryffindor, and Cedric Diggory knew well why she didn't. She was sitting under a tree's shade by the lake, watching the other girls as they giggled and talked to each other. Ginny Weasley got detention for blowing up a cauldron during Snape's class, so she was pretty much alone now. Cedric wanted to go sit next to her, but after what happened at the astronomy tower, he didn't know if he could talk to her.
He mustered his courage and stood up and walked towards her.
She was reading a book when he sat himself next to her. She remained unfazed with his presence.
"You can't ignore me forever you know." He said to her, as he got a book from his bag, one that Hermione gave to him on his seventeenth birthday two months ago.
She still wasn't talking after a few minutes. I take it Plan A doesn't work, he thought to himself. He grew tired of always waiting for her. Maybe it was his turn now.
"I don't exactly hate him. I'm quite grateful to him actually. Not to mention he saved my arse during the last tournament." He told her.
She still didn't budge, and he couldn't wait anymore. He slapped the book off her hands and grabbed her wrists. Some students saw this and started whispering to each other, when he glared at them and they immediately cleared off. He noticed that she winced at his strong and tight grip, he gentled down, and kissed her fingers.
"I'm sorry for hurting you, but can't you see that what you're doing to yourself is hurting me more?" He told her in his softest voice. Tears welled up in his eyes.
She fought the urge to cry. "Why do you care?" She asked him. "Why do you care so much for me when I don't even care about you at all?" She told him, her voice raising.
It was like a bullet that hit him straight in the chest to hear those words from her. He thought that he was already prepared to hear the words of rejection from her, but he was wrong. He unbuttoned her sleeve, revealing the thin white scars on her right arm and wrist.
"You're asking why?" He told her.
He kissed the thin white scars, and moved his lips next to her ear.
"It's because I want you to feel loved."
Even with these words, he knew that it wouldn't change anything. He knew that it wouldn't change her feelings towards him. He knew that it wasn't enough. She bit her lip unconsciously, something he knew she would do whenever she's uncertain. She sniffed and rubbed the tears from her eyes. "You don't have to."
He put a finger to her lips, wishing she would already understand. "But I want to."
"You can't make me happy."
"I'll try."
"Why do you have to be so nice?"
"Because I don't want you to suffer and be eaten by your anger and frustrations."
That hit the right spot, and there wasn't any good in denying it.
Hermione's hand swung across his face and hit his cheek.
"I don't need your help… I don't need you…" She helplessly said.
He knew that she just couldn't accept the fact that someone actually cared for her. That someone wanted to love her. Even though her words were like the cruciatus curse, he still stayed strong. Not only for himself, but for her as well.
He pulled her to him and enveloped her to a large hug. He didn't care what others might think about them. All that mattered now was the two of them, and how he could fix her.
"I don't care if you don't need me, because it's me who needs you."
a/n: chapter four on the way!