Author's Note: First, thank you for still reading! Second, not really much to say except this is the calm before the storm. Also, reviews are encouraged and appreciated (really, they mean the world to me).

Posted 8/2/15

Standard disclaimer about not owning anything; I am so thankful for JKR and all that she did for us. She gave us one of the greatest gifts, and so many people have taken to this site and played brilliantly with her creation. We should have a JKR day and it should be a global holiday!

Harry was nervous. It was just a few days before his birthday and he was heading to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies so that he could start going over the material for the upcoming year. And while he was there he would also add a few books on Occlumency as well considering that Sirius had all ready begun his training. So far they had focused on getting Harry to clear his mind; it was counterintuitive to most people that before continuing on and organizing one's mind, you had to get used to having your mind absolutely quiet.

But getting all of his stuff wasn't what made him nervous. Now that he was actually applying himself and understanding the material he found that he loved learning the many different types of magic and couldn't wait to get new material. The practical application came easy to him and the wards inside Grimmauld Place allowed him to practice as much as he wished, but the thing that he found had most changed since the cemetery was his newfound appreciation of magical theory. He had always struggled with the basic underpinnings highlighting the many branches of magic with each being specific in their own ways of how the magic actually worked. It used to be difficult for him to be able to grasp that conceptual framework, but he found that it made sense to him now and greatly increased his interest to the point where he thought Hermione might have some competition at being first in the class.

No, Harry was on-edge and tense in anticipation that Cedric would be meeting them in Diagon Alley. It was the first time that they were seeing each other since Hogwarts, which was hard to believe was a month ago. He had spent far too much of that time in between obsessing over the littlest things because he was so new to these feelings and making sense of them.

They still wrote each other very frequently, perhaps not twice a day as in the beginning, but the tone and content of their letters did not change. Indeed, they were still learning about past experiences that the other one had had or what their thoughts were on a particular topic and continued developing a close relationship where they started trusting more and more and withholding less and less information. Harry was beginning to imagine that someday he would have to fill Cedric in on what he was doing with Occlumency, which Sirius had advised him to keep under wraps for the time being, to ultimately learn the information that Dumbledore had. But they weren't at that point yet.

He had spent the four previous years getting this close to only Ron and Hermione, and it felt refreshing for him to hear a new point of view or having someone else to lean on and also be a support for them.

But there were some negative thoughts that countered all of his positive ones.

Harry couldn't help the thoughts that would enter his mind, asking him what he would do if that spark weren't there anymore when they reunited. The thought of it being different between them caused his chest to tighten; he didn't want to lose something that he had known so briefly but had brought him so much joy and excitement. Even though Harry had raised this concern in one of their last letters, and even though Cedric had reassured him that he was even more enamored, he just couldn't shake this feeling in the back of his mind. It was one of his greatest fears that this would be taken away, like so much else had in his life. A part of him was even preparing for it.

He supposed that it was normal and had awkwardly spoken to Sirius about the matter, who had more or less told him that the beginning of all relationships were like this. Sirius had even suggested having Cedric come over to Grimmauld Place after their trip so that they could spend some time alone. Sirius wasn't too worried about anything unbecoming happening between them – and he thought that the interaction and chance to hang out with no one else around would be good for Harry and Cedric to get a solid foundation. What Sirius didn't want to happen was for them going to extreme lengths at Hogwarts to get some privacy and perhaps progressing the relationship too far too quickly. He would much rather have their interactions be under some auspice of adult supervision, never mind that Cedric was technical an adult because it didn't count in this situation.

And so, Harry came down the stairs that morning, readjusting his shirt because his hair had refused to remain set in the direction he had placed it in and it was something to occupy the nervous flutters that had prevented him from eating more than a few bits of food.

"All set, pup?" Sirius didn't have it in him to make Harry feel any worse about the situation by making some snarky comment; he could practically feel the nervousness rolling off of the boy.

"I guess," Harry replied, fidgeting incessantly.

"Harry," Sirius reassured him. "I know you are nervous and that it is perfectly natural to be so, but you guys do write every day. From everything you tell me, I don't think Cedric is the type of person to suddenly lose interest in something. And he's Hufflepuff, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, aren't they supposed to be honest and loyal?"

Sirius was just trying to get Harry's improved logical way of thinking to kick in.

"I know, Sirius. These are all things that I have told myself, but I don't think anything will work until I just see him again. It was hard going through the end of the tournament, with all that happened there and all that started between us, and then go our separate ways for a few weeks."

"Well, let's get this over with then," Sirius offered his hand, intent on just apparating the two of them there instead of the floo.

They popped over to an apparition point just besides The Leaky Cauldron, and then entered through the magical archway and headed to Gringotts to meet Cedric and get some of the galleons out of Harry's vault. It had been agreed to meet earlier in the morning as there were usually fewer people around and people were still getting used to seeing Sirius without immediately thinking to run to the Ministry and inform them of his whereabouts. Also, with the increased notoriety from winning the tournament, in a tie no less, it worked in their favor to try and stay out of the public's view as much as possible.

Cedric was standing on the marble steps, his back resting against one of the off-white stone columns that supported the huge bank. His arms were tan and streaks of a rich, golden color were visible in his noticeably lighter brown hair.

'Cedric must have been spending a lot of time outdoors,' Harry thought as he looked over his seemingly Greek Adonis. His heart skipped a beat and a huge smile appeared on his face as Cedric spotted him and flashed him his dazzling smile.

"Harry," he said excitedly, skipping down the steps to meet them

There was hardly anyone around to worry about, but the boys still just shook hands, perhaps a slight delay in releasing each other's hand. Cedric hadn't taken his eyes off of Harry yet and was searching his face hungrily, hardly believing that he had gone this long with seeing the object of his affection.

But Cedric was also aware that Harry's guardian was present and so he turned to introduce himself to Sirius.

"Hello, Sirius, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Cedric Diggory," he shook his hand firmly and quickly released it.

"Pleasure to meet you, Cedric. I thought your parents were coming today?" Sirius peered behind Cedric and looked for Amos Diggory, who he knew from his brief stint as an Auror.

Cedric moved to stand next to Harry while answering. "Well, since I am of age and my parents are working, I told them that I would be fine doing this by myself."

"Ah, I see," Sirius said, aware of the age difference between Cedric and his Godson, but trusting Harry to make his own choices and Cedric for being respectful. At least, he was going to give them some space as long as neither gave him a reason to do otherwise. It would also have been hypocritical for him considering some of the choices that he had made in his own youth.

"Shall we?" Sirius directed and led them up the steps and into the bank. Harry and Cedric trailed behind and they smiled dumbly at each other, both relieved that the wait was finally over. They quickly followed Sirius path, removed some money from their accounts, and headed out to get their purchases over with.

Lord Voldemort was never one to sit around leisurely and read the morning paper; however, given that Dumbledore was aware of his return and that likely the Minister knew as well, he was keeping his ear to the ground. He was a little surprised that news of his return hadn't been made publically yet, but one could read between the lines if you paid close attention to things that were happening in the Ministry.

Small reports were being made about a larger class of recruits being hired for Auror training than the year before or how they had started newer security measures at the Ministry. Any one of these things taken by itself wouldn't mean anything, except when taken together it signaled that they were moving against him and were going to make it harder for him to infiltrate as he had last time.

'Harder, but not impossible,' he thought.

It was one of the reasons why he had freed Bellatrix, and only her, because they would have been hard pressed to find a plausible excuse for all of his followers escaping. This way, they could chalk up her escape – to the public – as being reminiscent of what Sirius had done only two years prior, seeing as they were both Blacks. They would likely know that he had done it, but the public wouldn't and that was the important thing at the moment.

In the future, he would be free to break all of them out, while at the same time providing them another person to blame. 'Bellatrix Leads Mass Breakout,' was a better headline than 'Dark Lord Returns: Run for Your Lives.' The Ministry wanted the public to think that they were on top of things and that no problem existed, and he knew the lengths that they would go to so that the public had confidence in them. So, the Dark Lord had simply played along, and would play along, until the time was right for a swift takeover once he had everything in place.

Besides, he was in no rush to act. It had taken him years to regain a body and he never wanted to be in that position of helplessness again. He had waited a long time and he could be patient a little longer if it increased his likelihood of success.

But in the meantime, he did have work to do.

"Bella! Barty!" he shouted, pleased at their quick response. He liked it when they dropped everything and answered him, running as quickly as they could through the manor, which he had acquired for them all, to stand before him, and ready to answer to his every whim.

"I have work for you to do. See that it is taken care of," he dismissed them with a small envelope with his explicit instructions.

"My Lord," they intoned, bowing low in his presence and quickly departing to fulfill their Master's wishes. They didn't question why he was interested in this particular Ministry worker or why their Lord wished for information on The Department of Mysteries; they simply followed their orders.

The trip to Diagon Alley had been a rousing success. Not only had they purchased their supplies for the upcoming year, with a few dozen more tomes thrown in at Harry's urging, but they had also shaken off their nervous jitters and were fully relaxed for the first time in weeks. Harry and Cedric were walking through the park shoulder-to-shoulder, their fingertips just casually brushing against each other's, and following Sirius towards the entrance to Grimmauld Place.

He stopped and turned to Cedric, holding out the written address and telling him to memorize it.

Cedric was fascinated with charms and couldn't believe that he was in on the secret that was protected by a Fidelius. Although, it did make him slightly curious at why it was cast in the first place. It wasn't everyday that someone took it to that extent to protect something, but he supposed, in Harry's case it made sense. He was living with someone who was pretty infamous in his own right, and reasoned them wanting their privacy was reason enough for that complex and complicated charm to be cast.

Once they were inside, Cedric placed his belongings near the door and besides the picture of an old, but once-beautiful woman. Her eyes followed him intently as all three of them walked in. She had changed much in the past weeks as she got used to people living in her home once more and had cut back on the amount of screaming. Things had even progressed to the point where basic pleasantries were exchanged as she observed more and more that Sirius was doing everything right to raise his Godson. It had helped that Walburga was also related to Harry through his Grandmother, Dorea, and that he had fame, wealth, and power in spades. He had all of the qualities that she used to espouse, but more importantly, Harry was her only hope at keeping The Black Line alive.

"Walburga," Harry nodded his head in a polite greeting.

"Harry," Walburga returned, giving a calculating glance at both Cedric and Sirius but not making any further comments.

"This way," Harry beckoned, leading Cedric into the parlor and then the library while Sirius went to inquire about lunch. They had spent a few hours in Diagon Alley and it had been even longer since they had eaten breakfast, and all of them were very hungry.

But thoughts of food were forgotten as soon as Harry and Cedric were finally alone, not even waiting to get fully into the room before wrapping their arms around each other and kissing the other one as if their life depended on it. Any thought about time or how nervous they had been with waiting so long was forgotten as they got lost in the moment of the other's long-awaited company. The kisses were rushed and frenzied before they settled into a gentler, more passionate rhythm. For the first time, tongues were added, and created more sensations and tingles than Harry could ever hope to describe.

"Hem Hem," Sirius interrupted, feeling better about walking in on this than he had ever expected he would be. He had had to remind himself that Harry would turn fifteen soon, and this was natural for his age group. It helped that he had walked in on what he thought to be a very tender moment that he felt appropriate for Harry's age, even if he didn't like how fast Harry was growing up.

However, both Harry and Cedric were mortified and they fully expected to be yelled at for their lack of discretion or even something worse. Sirius simply informed them that lunch would be ready soon and to wash up. Harry was the first to use the sink in the bathroom and left Cedric and Sirius with a lot of red on his face.

Sirius' eyes followed Harry out of the room, and then he turned all of his attention onto Cedric. He didn't have much time, but he wanted to get his point across.

"I don't have to give you the talk, do I?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, sir," Cedric's red face becoming whiter as it hit him fully that he was alone with Sirius Black, Harry's Godfather, and the only man that had escaped from Azkaban, who had just walked in on him making out with his Godson.

"Good," Sirius eyed him seriously.

"Because my only concern is Harry and his happiness and well-being. Just remember that."

Cedric nodded, "of course, I don't ever want to hurt him." Cedric did care a lot for Harry.

Sirius nodded just as Harry walked into the room, Sirius greeting him and informing Cedric where the washroom and the kitchen was before leading Harry to where lunch was being served.

Cedric joined them a few minutes later, taking a few minutes to splash some cold water on his face.

He sat down next to Harry who was smiling sheepishly at him, attempting to make up for starting off on the wrong foot so to speak with that public display of affection. He waved it off and briefly put his hand over Harry's on the table before picking up his utensils and digging in.

"Cedric?" Sirius called.

"How are you doing with everything after the end of the year? I have to say that I am surprised that you were out by yourself – rather, I'm surprised that your parents were okay with it. I know Amos is a very conservative individual in some regards."

Harry looked to Cedric, himself curious at what the answer would be, but thinking that he already knew the answer given that they had had a lot of time to get to know how the other person thought.

Cedric placed his silverware down and responded.

"At first, it was difficult even being alone in the house. I would charm a little blue ball to get through the night." He wasn't ashamed at admitting his need for a nightlight. Harry understood completely what he was talking about. Those things just took time to get used to.

"After a while, it gradually went away, and when things felt like there were back to normal – I don't know, I guess other things came easier. I realized that after going through that, and surviving, I could handle a lot. My parents were supportive and have always given respect and space to my decisions and we have talked about what happened. They are comfortable with my choices because of the ones I have made in the past, and they realize that I am of age now. Also, I thought this morning would be a good trial run, so to speak. It was early in the morning and it was a public space and then there was the fact that I was meeting you guys there, and no offense, Sirius, but people are still scared of you."

"Of me?" he responded with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

They all laughed at that, and settled into a casual conversation about the summer quidditch leagues, debating how the World Cup had changed certain teams for the better.

When lunch was finished, Harry and Cedric went up to his room, with Sirius giving Cedric a reminding look regarding their recent conversation. However, Sirius had very little doubt that Cedric would act like a gentleman, and he knew that Harry could take care of himself.

"Finally," harry sighed as he closed the door and wrapped his arms around Cedric. "I thought that we would never be alone." Cedric chuckled and bent his head down and picked up where they had left off in the library.

They didn't spend the entire afternoon kissing. In fact, a good portion of the afternoon was spent just lying together on the bed and talking about the upcoming year and what they were going to do about their relationship. Harry knew that he would have to tell Hermione and Ron at some point; he just didn't know how or when that would be.

Cedric knew that some people would be surprised with him dating Harry because he had never shown any inclination to the same sex before. However, when Cedric thought about his life deep down, he realized that he was attracted more to who someone was on the inside and then the physical attraction came. At any rate, it explained why he had never hit it off before with Cho and her now obvious vapid nature.

It also allowed him to see how he had fallen for Harry, though it seemingly came out of nowhere. They had crossed paths a few times for quidditch, but had really started interacting during the tournament and Cedric was able to see how brave Harry was for competing despite not entering and the integrity he had shown by sharing the secret that the first task was dragons. Over the course of the year, he had noticed all of these little things that culminated with the events of the end of the year to make him realize just how much he valued the person that Harry was.

Ultimately, it was decided that they would keep this to themselves for now and just see where things went. They both liked how it wouldn't add any pressure and they could just enjoy each other's company.

Dolores Umbridge was pissed off. She had spent so much time working on the Triwizard Tournament and it was going to be her crowning achievement in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. It was supposed to be her ticket to a higher office, the one she had set her sights on as soon she started working at the Ministry: Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. That job had power, prestige and she would finally be able to put it to all those who had been mean to her in her youth. She in no way resembled a toad.

And she had gotten her desired role, but not with the pomp and circumstance that she desired to go along with it. How could that have happened with how the tournament had ended? How could there be a grand celebration in her honor for the conclusion of such a successful and well-executed plan now that everything was hush-hush with preparations for You-Know-Who's alleged return. She didn't believe that at all. To her, this was clearly someone with an overactive imagination, a little boy who wanted to claim more of the fame that he had gotten used to and had gone and caused the Ministry, her Ministry, so much work preparing for something that couldn't possibly exist.

She would do something about that little liar, and she would do it soon.

Let me know what you think! Reviews are great. I just had to bring Umbitch back; I love to hate on her.