Title: Sound of the Revolution, Chapter 12
Author: kevo
Pairing: Harry + Cedric.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to these characters or the series they're from.
Summary: In his fifth year, Harry faces ostracism with boyfriend Cedric for coming out and for declaring Voldemort has returned. (Order of the Phoenix canon re-write.)
Author's Note: Told you I'd be back soon! I figured I would post this on Cedric's birthday (in this universe, anyway), since I posted that last chapter on Harry's.
The Love So Green Collection
Playlist #2:
sound of the revolution
CHAPTER TWELVE
"A Little Fall of Rain"
After the lamentably eventful week he was having, Harry dreaded attending his Wednesday night Occlumency lesson even more than usual. He even entertained the notion of using one of the twins' Snackboxes to feign illness so he could skip it. But Dumbledore's plea, to practice closing his mind and listen to Snape, was all too fresh in Harry's memory. He couldn't ignore that. Not when Dumbledore would still be at Hogwarts if not for Harry and the Army. With any luck, Harry hoped he just might be able to skirt by without any further incidents.
He probably should've realized how impractical that hope was.
It was still early enough after Snape threw Harry out of his office that he knew he might find Cedric in the library. Thankfully, he was right. The whole encounter left him thoroughly shaken, something Cedric sensed the instant he saw Harry, his already troubled scowl deepening.
"What's wrong?" he asked without any preamble.
Taking a seat at his side, Harry filled his boyfriend in on the whole ordeal. How he snuck a peak in the Pensieve and saw James Potter terrorizing the young Severus Snape. That, seeing his father as a bully, scared Harry almost as much as Snape's meltdown. For years he defended his father against the Potions Master's accusations, swearing up and down that James Potter was a good man. Now he wasn't so sure.
"I can't go back there," Harry declared.
"You have to, Harry," replied Cedric.
"I don't even know what I'd say or do. How can I be around him like that, after what I saw?"
"Well," said Cedric, pausing to bite his lip delicately, "have you ever considered being nice to him?"
"Nice?" Harry echoed incredulously. "You want me to be nice? To Snape? You must be joking. After the way he's treated me for the last five years?
Because even if Harry could no longer deny that his father treated Snape terribly when they were kids, it didn't excuse all the things Snape had done to him.
"Why is that so crazy?" Cedric asked. "Snape being awful to you doesn't justify you being awful right back at him. One of you has to break the cycle. Granted, it should probably be him, but if he won't then it falls to you. Like it or not, he is your professor. No matter what, he's the one in charge. And don't forget, he did just help us out the other day with Umbridge. He didn't have to step in like that."
Everything Cedric said made sense and was probably true, yet Harry couldn't imagine actually doing it. After all they'd been through, the very idea of being nice to Snape just felt so wrong.
"Maybe I should quit," Harry mumbled.
"No," Cedric insisted firmly.
"Why not? Snape won't care."
"That doesn't matter, Harry. Dumbledore had you start these lessons for a reason."
"Like how he had a reason for making me to stay in Little Whinging almost the entire summer?" Harry asked bitterly. "With no contact from or news about the Order?" Gesturing at their twin scars, he added, "Or answers about what these mean?"
"Probably," Cedric replied. "He's leading the only resistance there is against Voldemort right now. We can't expect to be his top priority."
"But we're not any kind of priority!"
"Unless the Occlumency is his way of trying to protect you," Cedric inferred.
There was another cause for Harry's reluctance. One he was not eager to admit, even to his boyfriend. Yet he knew he had to. He stared down at his hands, steeling himself.
"You didn't see him, Cedric, he was… It was scary. The only time I've ever seen him like that was the end of my third year when Padfoot got away. He was so angry."
"If you're afraid of how he might react, we could get in touch with, erm, Padfoot," Cedric suggested. "He probably shouldn't be the one to talk with Snape directly, but he can have someone else do it. Maybe even before your next lesson."
"We can't trust the owl post anymore," Harry reminded him. "Umbridge has her goons reading it all."
"No, but you have the mirror," Cedric pointed out. "The one he gave you at Christmas."
"Oh," said Harry. "Huh. I forgot about that. I was thinking if we could come up with a way to sneak into Umbridge's office to use her fire for the Floo Network."
"Blimey, Harry!" cried Cedric. "And you call me insane? It's a good thing you have me. I can't even imagine the sort of crazy, reckless things you'd get up to otherwise."
"What, you mean like sneaking into the Hufflepuff dorm to –" Remembering they were out in the open, Harry caught himself, and slipped into their old code to finish his sentence. "Erm, play Quidditch? You mean like that kind of reckless?"
"That was different," Cedric replied, turning slightly pink. "It was a different time then. Before we were out. Before Umbridge."
Harry was about to argue, when a nagging voice that sounded entirely too much like Hermione told him to stop and think. After having his prefect status unjustly revoked, the last thing Cedric needed was to be reminded of previous rule-breaking, especially rule-breaking done with Harry in mind. And hadn't Harry realized only a few weeks ago that he didn't want to waste any more time arguing?
"Can I give it a few days?" Harry asked instead. "Before I talk to Sirius?"
"Yeah, sure," said Cedric. "I can be with you when you do it, if you like."
"No, no, it's fine," Harry said. "I will use it, I promise, but I'd like a few more days to…"
"Recover?"
"Yeah."
And after about a week, Harry actual did follow through. Sirius was surprised to finally hear from him, and enraged over Snape's treatment of Harry. He was half ready to storm Hogwarts himself when Lupin came in. The former Defense teacher had a much more even tempered reaction to the situation. He insisted on smoothing things over with Snape.
In Double Potions the following Monday, Harry was informed by the sneering professor that he would be resuming his Remedial Potions lessons that evening. Harry responded with a curt nod. Apart from an acknowledgment of Harry's arrival and the usual instructions on Snape's end, not a word was spoken between the two of them during Occlumency practice. Not even for a disparaging comment. That was fine by Harry.
Actually, it was more than fine. Given how little personal interaction was taking place, the whole experience of learning Occlumency from Snape had grown slightly more tolerable. Harry was even starting to build up a resistance to Snape's Legilimency. Part of him was probably only working so hard to make absolutely certain Snape wouldn't see his thoughts about the Marauder memory. Still, he was doing good work, even if it wasn't for exactly the right reason.
His growing skill also had a specific side effect. The more proficient Harry became at Occlumency, the easier it was to block his connection with Cedric. The older boy had suggested once before Harry's lessons started that it could be a possibility. Now that it turned out he was right, Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Having his thoughts back to himself was sort of nice, yet he felt lonelier now without being able to sense Cedric from a distance.
Not to mention how frustrating it was that he could no longer tell his boyfriend was coming. Like when Cedric popped up unexpectedly next to him in the library one afternoon toward the end of May. Harry nearly jumped right out of his skin.
"You scared me," he hissed, his heart racing in his chest.
"Sorry," Cedric winced. "Didn't mean to."
"It's fine," Harry said as he struggled to regain his breath. "I just got used to knowing when you'd be there. If I could let my guard down a little bit…"
"Absolutely not, Harry," Cedric insisted. "We talked about this. You need to be working on Occlumency, that's the most important thing. We got along fine before we had our Scar Sense, we'll be fine without it now. Hey, what're you doing on Sunday?"
It was a week before the Quidditch final, which meant it was the last week before exam prep started. His professors had been stressing since the first of September that this would be far more intensive than any other review week he'd had in previous years, so he was mostly looking to simply relax before it all got started.
With a shrug, Harry replied, "Nothing. Homework, most likely. Why?"
"Well, it's our anniversary."
"Is it?" asked Harry, only realizing how bad his surprised tone sounded after the fact.
"Yep," Cedric said. "Eighteen months."
Thinking about it, Harry realized Cedric was right. He felt guilty for not remembering on his own. The guilt in turn annoyed him, as he had enough going on lately. He didn't need the reminder that he'd been a crappy boyfriend on top of all that. Cedric didn't seem bothered by Harry's obliviousness, however, so he decided not to worry about it.
"You know, exam prep starts soon," said Cedric. "And then you'll be taking the O.W.L.s and I'll be taking the N.E.W.T.s, and then it's graduation and…"
The rest was left unsaid. It didn't really need saying. Harry knew exactly what Cedric meant, even without their Scar Sense: they were running out of time.
"I was thinking we might do something," Cedric continued. "Nothing too major, obviously. I thought maybe we could have a picnic? It's a Hogsmeade weekend so we'd have the grounds to ourselves. We could stake out some remote corner by the forest and have a nice, quiet day. Just the two of us."
"Does that involve you making some of those delicious turkey sandwiches we had last summer?" Harry asked.
"You mean the ones with the stuffing?" Cedric responded. "Absolutely."
"Then it sounds perfect," grinned Harry.
"Okay, cool," Cedric replied, bearing a pleased smile of his own. "Yeah, I thought it'd be nice to have a happy memory we can look back on during all the chaos in the next few weeks."
"Kind of like 'something to look forward to,' only backwards," Harry said, calling back their old maxim. "Not a bad idea."
Though he'd been annoyed by the reminder at first, in the end Harry was glad Cedric remembered the anniversary. Between schoolwork and Umbridge's ever-watchful eye, the pair hadn't gotten a lot of time to be a couple. Since Umbridge would most likely assume they'd gone to Hogsmeade with everyone else, Cedric reasoned that they wouldn't have to worry about her interrupting as long as they found a remote enough corner of the grounds.
As they searched for such a place on Sunday afternoon, Cedric frowned up at the sky. It was a pale shade of gray; dark enough to be troubling, but not so much that it would make going outside seem reckless.
"Not really ideal weather for a picnic," Cedric observed.
"It's so strange," said Harry. "I used to hate gray skies. Now I love when it's overcast. It reminds me of your eyes."
"My eyes are a stormy sky?" Cedric asked.
"I didn't mean for it to sound so poetic," Harry admitted, "but yeah, I suppose so."
"Hmm, that's not really fair," said Cedric. "There's no such thing as a green sky, so I can't say anything poetic like that for you."
"There's the grass," Harry pointed out. "And the trees."
"So the two of us combined makes a stormy forest?"
"Now that's poetic," Harry chuckled.
They walked around a bend in the tree line. The bend folded in such a way that it created a sort of indent into the forest, like a small clearing. Cedric stopped short. He appeared to be dumbfounded.
"Harry, do you realize where this is?"
"Err, no," said Harry.
With a slow grin, Cedric replied, "This is where we had our first kiss."
Harry looked all around the clearing, trying hard to remember back to that fateful day. It was the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Right before Cedric went out to face his dragon challenge, Harry kissed him. The tent where they were forced to wait had been near the Forbidden Forest, and he remembered it being a long walk to get there.
"Merlin's beard, I think you're right," he said. "We should set up here, it's perfect."
"Totally!" Cedric agreed. He knelt down in the grass, unpacking their lunch from his bag. His shoulders quaked as he stifled a laugh. "I can't believe you pounced on me like that."
"I was being brave!" Harry shot back.
"Hey, I am not complaining," said Cedric. "One of us had to be. I don't know that I would've ever made the first move, so I'm glad you did."
Harry leaned over to kiss his boyfriend. And also to take his beloved turkey sandwich, because it was maybe his second favorite thing in the world after that kissing thing.
After they'd both had enough of their lunch that they were able to talk again, Harry asked, "Will you visit again this summer?"
"And take you to that ratty little cafe in town so I can make sure you're getting enough to eat?" grinned Cedric.
"With that waitress who's so obviously in love with you," Harry added.
"Oh yes," Cedric said, rolling his eyes, "clearly I need to visit her again."
"So you'll come?"
"Gee, I don't know, Harry," said Cedric with an exaggerated air of indifference. "I suppose, if I can fit it in. I am a very busy man, after all."
"Yeah, yeah," Harry whined, playfully throwing a grape at his boyfriend, "make all the jokes you want, but you graduate in a few weeks. You'll be getting a job soon after that, won't you? Doesn't leave a lot of time to Apparate in and out of Little Whinging."
"Eventually I'll have to. Not right away. Most wizards take a year or so off after graduating. Take a tour of the world, that sort of thing. Of course my year off will most likely be spent working for the Order. Not that I'm complaining, I sincerely hope they're able to use me. I want to do my part in the fight against You-Kn— you know, Voldemort."
"The war won't go on forever," Harry pointed out. "What about after? Are you still going to go into Muggle Relations?"
"Absolutely," said Cedric. "I think it's an important field. Not enough of the wizarding world takes it seriously. You know, I bet you good gold that if all magic just suddenly stopped, most wizards and witches would no longer be able to function."
"That's not entirely fair," Harry replied. "The same could be said of Muggles and technology."
"Depends on how you define technology," Cedric countered. "They'd be probably flip out if you took away their electricity, but they could adapt. Survive. Most wizarding folk can hardly dress themselves in the morning without using magic.
"And they flagrantly violate the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, one of our most important laws. Look at the Quidditch World Cup two years ago. There are strict laws – not rules, but laws – on how to behave when in a Muggle environment. Like we're supposed to adhere to Muggle fashion, but you saw the way people were dressed. Hell, a lot of them couldn't even put their wands away! For a single day!"
Harry made a noncommittal "mm" sound in response as he suppressed a grin. He loved when Cedric got passionate like this. Most wizards spoke of Muggles the way one would describe of a precocious child, as if their efforts to live without magic were something amusing, something to be pitied. Even Mr. Weasley, who worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office and was truly in awe of Muggle technology, rarely made any serious effort to understand them. Harry admired Cedric's fervor and commitment to learning as much as he could about Muggles.
"Not that it's entirely their fault," Cedric went on. "It's practically instinct to have your wand ready at all times. And the Statute's only been around a few centuries."
"Hang on," said Harry. "I think I remember this one. Four? Four hundred years?"
"Very good," Cedric beamed proudly. "And that's not very long, in the grand scheme of things. We've been carrying wands for thousands of years, after all. Do you remember why it was created?"
"Prosecution, I'd imagine."
"Persecution," Cedric corrected. "And yes, basically. Not just violent persecution with the witch-burnings, although that was a crucial factor in ratifying it, but also Muggles attempting to use our magic for their own gain. The Ministry lobbied for protection under Muggle law and we were denied, so we faded into the background. Let magic become the stuff of Muggle children's bedtime stories."
"Do you ever think it might be easier if we let the Muggles know the truth?" Harry wondered.
Taking a moment to mull the question over, Cedric answered, "Yes and no. I'm not convinced one is easier or harder than the other. It would be different, I'm sure of that."
"Obviously."
He tried to picture a world where wizarding folk and Muggle folk coexisted in piece but the idea was too strange. It was like imagining what it'd be like if aliens landed on Earth. Too far removed from the realm of possibility to ever give serious consideration.
"The Statute was put in place for a reason," said Cedric. "To protect us. Now, do I think Muggles have advanced far enough intellectually that we don't need to worry about it any longer?" He made a face, a lopsided sort of grimace. "Maybe. There's no telling for certain, though. Let's just say I'm glad the decision won't be mine to make."
Finished with their sandwiches, the boys dug into the cookies Cedric had baked. As if being gorgeous and brilliant weren't enough, Cedric had to be a talented chef too.
"Not to sound like your dad," Harry said, "but did you ever think about being more? Muggle Relations is an important field and all, I'm not disputing that because we both know most wizards have a very distorted view of Muggles. But Merlin, Cedric, you could probably run for Minister of Magic if you wanted to."
"Yeah, right," Cedric scoffed. "I lack moral fiber, remember?"
"I'm not talking about now, I mean after the war, when things go back to normal," Harry explained. "Cedric, you're the true Hogwarts champion. You were chosen because that Goblet of Fire saw something great in you."
"But what if I don't want to be great?" Cedric asked heatedly. "Maybe it's what's expected of me or even what I'm capable of, but that doesn't mean I want it." He sighed. "I like Muggle Relations. I know I'd be good at it. Hell, I'll even give myself this: I'd be the best at it. And that's enough for me. To be the best at something I know I'll enjoy, even if it's not the sort of thing people expect of me."
"That's actually really brave," Harry said. "Doing what you want instead of what others want you to do. You're bolder than you give yourself credit for."
"Yes, well. What about you? Still plan on becoming an Auror?"
"Speaking of what's expected of people," Harry chuckled. He shrugged at the question. "Most likely. It feels like the right fit for me, with everything I've been through."
"I dunno," Cedric said, looking off toward the tree line. "Some people would probably want a more quiet life for themselves after everything you've been through."
"Not me," Harry said confidently. "I had a quiet life for eleven years. I'm done with that." At that, Cedric's eyebrow perked up slightly. "What?"
"I didn't say anything," Cedric insisted.
"But you made a face," said Harry. "You think I enjoy it, don't you? The danger and the fighting and all that."
"Well, do you?"
It was a loaded question, one that Harry didn't like the implications of. Rather than respond right away in annoyance, he took a breath to calm himself. It wasn't an entirely unfair question to ask. A number of the situations he'd gotten himself into had been avoidable. But did Harry enjoy it?
"I don't think 'enjoy' is the right word," Harry replied. "It's more like… like I know I'm good at it."
"Oh, so you've come to accept that now, have you?" Cedric smirked.
"I never said I wasn't good at it," argued Harry. "I said I didn't know if I could teach it. Very different thing."
"If that's how you did at something you were unsure of, I can't wait to see how you are with something you know you're good at."
"I guess I could maybe teach, if the Auror thing doesn't work out," Harry mused. "Now that I've actually done it, the idea doesn't seem so scary anymore. But I think I'd rather be in the field. Use what I know to help people. To protect them."
"We'll probably end up crossing paths at the Ministry from time to time," Cedric informed him. "The Muggle Relations office frequently needs to liaise with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Well, I reckon we'll be seeing each other more than just at work," Harry pointed out.
"I didn't want to assume…" said Cedric, a light flush blooming in his cheeks. "You – You think about that? Me and you, having a future?"
It was another loaded question, even more lethal than the last one. Thinking carefully about how he wanted to answer, Harry uttered a simple, "Sometimes."
He hesitated to say more than that.
Often Harry fantasized about what a future with Cedric might be like. At this point in his life, he could hardly even picture being with someone else. More and more, when he pictured himself in five, ten, twenty years, the person he saw at his side was Cedric.
The idea of saying that out loud, however, made him extremely uncomfortable. On the one hand, it felt like he was promising something, a life he wasn't yet certain he wanted to commit to. On the other, he was afraid saying anything might ruin it, might even jinx the whole thing, and he didn't want that either.
He was saved from having to say any more than that when a droplet of rain streaked down the left lens of his glasses. Frowning, Harry looked up at the sky. Another struck his face, and then two more after that.
"Oh dammit," Cedric muttered. As the downpour increased, he let out a louder and even angrier, "Dammit!"
They grabbed their things and rushed for the nearest cover, into the trees at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The woods were dense enough that it kept the rain out. Only the occasional trickle of water made its way through the leaves. Not that it mattered, because the boys were already pretty wet from their mad dash. It was all very amusing to Harry, who was gasping for air between laughs. Cedric, on the other hand, appeared to be torn between anger and tears.
"Cedric?" said Harry, concerned. "What's wrong? Are you upset about the rain? Because it's fine, really."
"It's not fine," Cedric argued. "It's… I wanted to give you something nice." He folded his arms across his chest in a way that made him look more vulnerable than irritated. "I feel like this whole school year has been a huge disappointment, between Umbridge and your Quidditch ban and losing the Room of Requirement to the D.A. and then losing the D.A. to Umbridge. This year was supposed to be better for us. We weren't going to have to sneak around anymore. I was going to hold your hand in public and not have to worry that I'd get detention for it."
"None of that stuff's your fault," Harry said.
"I know that," said Cedric. "But… You don't get it, Harry. That's my job. It's my job to make things better for you. That's all I've ever wanted, even since that night in the hospital wing after you fell off your broom. I want to make life better for you. Because you're wonderful and amazing and special and yeah, half the world thinks that too, but they only see you as the Boy Who Lived. To me, you're more than that. To me, you're just Harry. And that's all you ever have to be with me. It's all I ever want you to be."
For a minute, Harry didn't know how to respond. It wasn't that he ever questioned Cedric's love for him. He just didn't think about it that much. Probably even took it for granted sometimes. Being confronted with how raw and genuine Cedric's feelings truly were…
Harry pulled Cedric in by the collar of his wet shirt and kissed him, fiercely and passionately. He backed Cedric up into the nearest tree, scrambling to reach the hem of Cedric's shirt so he could pull it up and over the taller boy's head. It had been ages since they were last able to fool around and Harry was hungry for it. He didn't want to stop and Cedric wasn't asking him to.
All he could think about as the storm raged above them was the looming threat of war and their uncertain future. He didn't care about getting caught or the possible consequences. All he cared about was his gray-eyed boy making love to him.
Regardless of what the future held for the two of them, in that moment Harry was absolutely certain that he loved Cedric Diggory. Beyond doubt, beyond reason, beyond hope.
At that moment, nothing else mattered.
END NOTES: This chapter originally ended on more of a cliffhanger, but I decided not to do that to y'all for once. That just means there's more to the next chapter then. Then final chapter.
I say final, I mean final chapter of this installment. There's absolutely more to come, in one shape or another. I have plans for these boys, that's for sure.
As always, please follow me on Twitter and Tumblr at MisterKevo for updates about other writing projects! (Don't forget – I'm writing a book! Immensely proud of how it's turning out, I cannot wait to share it with you all!)
You can also find me on AO3 and Instagram under the same username. I instagrammed a bit of a treat for you all: a picture of the Harry/Cedric shrine I have next to my bed. Just a little reminder of where it all started.
Oh! And a fun fact before I go! "A Little Fall of Rain" was also a potential title for the very first chapter of A Lack Of Color. I've been debating changing it for about seven years now, so I decided to pay tribute to that debate by using it here! (Blimey, how time flies...)
Thanks again to everyone who has stuck by this story. You all mean more to me than I can ever say. -kevo