Disclaimer: Previous chapters.
A/N: The plot thickens and everything changes. I hope you know that this story won't be like what you usually read. And I do so hope that you like it.
Light of the Dark Chapter 5
Harry glanced around at his companions. Most were ignoring him now in favor of their dinner while others had no qualms of staring. He looked over his shoulders at his own house table and sought out his friends. Hermione gave him a nod of encouragement while Ron simply shoves food in his mouth with Ginny looking on in disgust. Harry looked up at the head table where Hagrid was flirting with Madam Maxime and Headmaster Dumbledore was in deep discussion with Mad-Eye Moody and Professor McGonagall. Snape, as usual, was scowling at him, not even bothering to listen to whatever Headmaster Karkaroff was telling him. Apparently, family does nothing to dissipate Snape's surly look.
The young Champion looked back at the source of his predicament, sitting calmly in front of him and conversing with a friend. Up close, Cedric Diggory was even more gorgeous. His face was refined, distinguished in its own way. And his hair; what Harry wouldn't do to run his fingers through it now. His eyes were a deep brown, capable of looking deeply into one's soul if he so chooses.
Harry cleared his throat, catching the attentions of Quidditch Boy and several others his near vicinity except for the one whose attention he was seeking. Harry repeated the act; no reaction. Well, time to get vocal, he thought.
"Um, Diggory, mind if we talk?" he stuttered.
Cedric "I-am-ignoring-you-Harry-Potter-the-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Steal-My-Heart-because-I-don't-know-if-I-want-to-be-held-responsible-for-jumping-you-should-I-look-in-to-your-beautiful-face" Diggory said, still keeping his attention on the boy next to him, "We are talking, Potter."
Harry frowned. "No we are not. You're talking to your friend and ignoring me. You don't very well think that we are talking when a blind person could see the obvious. Besides, I was wondering if we can talk somewhere else other than the Great Hall."
Cedric still wasn't looking at him but now others are. "I don't know if I want to be anywhere near you, Potter. According to what people said of you, those near to you always end up worse for wear just by being associated with the Boy Who Lived."
Harry flushed, his spine straightened with anger. "I didn't peg you as a gossip monger, Diggory."
The other boy flushed with anger and embarrassment but still kept his eyes away from Harry.
Harry went on. "And I assure you, Diggory, your life and your…virtue is safe as Voldemort and his minions aren't idiotic enough as to set foot on Hogwarts. I give dear Voldie credit for that."
Flinches all around; eyes widened considerably at the nickname he had bestowed upon the Dark Lord. Dumbledore twinkled than ever before; McGonagall was shaking her head in exasperation, and even Snape's lips quirked with amusement. Ron laughed while Hermione scolded him about respect.
Harry glared at the boy who still refused to look at him. His magic was angry enough to escape and wreak havoc but he reined it in. Hermione was right: he really do need to work on controlling his magic and his temper.
"All I want to do is talk, Cedric. It's not like I'm going to ravish you as soon as I get you alone. I'm only fourteen, too young to do that." Dumbledore was almost laughing while Ron was practically rolling on the floor in laughter; even Hermione and Ginny were giggling. Harry's voice had risen considerably in his anger and thus, the whole hall heard.
"Apparently you're not too young to enter the TriWizard Tournament," Cedric mumbled, still flushed. From what, Harry didn't know but it was nice to know he has that effect on the older boy. But that didn't excuse the fact that Cedric brought up that sore topic of his supposedly entering the Tournament.
Harry stood up, furious. His magic had escaped completely. The dishes upon the tables rattled with the sheer intensity of his magic causing some of the students to jump in fear.
"I don't think I need to explain myself on that matter, Cedric Diggory. All I wanted was to talk to you without an audience but you just have to make things difficult. Why is that?" Harry was eerily calm despite the number of emotions flitting across his face. It was disconcerting.
Cedric finally locked eyes with Harry which didn't calm the boy down any. He could see the rage inside the emerald eyes. He stood up and stalked out of the room. He was almost to the door when he realized that Harry wasn't following. "Well? You wanted to talk, didn't you?" Then he walked out without even waiting for Harry.
Harry raised an eyebrow. After a moment, he, too, walked out, leaving a room that was silent broken only by Ron's and Dumbledore's laughter and Hermione's and McGonagall's scoldings.
Harry found Cedric in an unused classroom just down the hall. His magic had calmed down, setting the other boy at ease. As soon as Harry closed the door, Cedric said, "Well, we're here where there's no audience. What do you want?"
"I just want to talk," Harry answered.
"About what?"
Harry fell silent. Now that he had accomplished his first task, he was scared to proceed. He wasn't even sure Cedric felt the same way but first things first…
"Why have you been avoiding me the past few months?"
Cedric snapped, "That's none of your business."
"It is my business when my friends kept asking what I did to deserve that treatment," he retorted. "It is my business when Grandpa Albus kept calling me to his office offering me lemon drops, asking if I was ok. It is my business when Hagrid and even Snape asked what they can do to eliminate you from my life so I can be myself. It is my business when Ron wants to kill you with his bare hands and Hermione wants to hit you. It is my business when Aunt Minerva decided to cut me some slack because apparently, I haven't been paying attention in my classes. It is my business when you are killing me with your indifference and desire to avoid me whenever possible. It is my business, Cedric, whether you like it or not. It is my business because it is!"
Cedric stood, stunned. Harry had ended his tirade in a roar. He doesn't even know what to say to the irate boy in front of him. What could he possibly say to account for his doings the past few months? And really, so many people out to beat the bloody hell out of him? Hah, he always knew Snape had a heart underneath all that coldness. Harry was a hard guy to love, that's for sure. He doubt Harry would ever let him off easy especially since he is still in denial and scared of pursuing his love for the green eye boy.
Harry glared at the man before him through his wayward bangs. He crossed his arms and resisted the urge to tap his foot. Ron would go barmy if he knew Harry was starting to act like their female counterpart.
Cedric snapped out of whatever daydream he was having when he recalled what Harry had said. He stared wide-eyed at their Savior. "I'm killing you?"
"You have no idea, Cedric," Harry said with such a strong conviction that it blew Cedric away. "I like you, ok? I really like you. I don't know. I think I'm in love with you." He ignores the look on Cedric's face. He needed to get this out in the open. No matter what Cedric's reaction would be, at least he got it off his chest. "I don't know when and how it happened and frankly, I don't care. It's not like we'll be together or you'll feel the same way. You were right earlier. Nobody is safe with me because Voldemort would do anything in his power to eliminate those I love to break me. So I don't expect you to do anything, Cedric. I just wanted you to know and because, well, Hermione scares me so I had no choice but to tell you."
Cedric took a shattered breath and collapsed on the only desk in the room. Harry-Harry loves him. And he loves him. His heart couldn't take the excitement and he forced himself to calm down. But even if they love each other, they can't be together because of circumstances and family. Harry has his duty as the defeater of the Dark Lord and him, to his father. It is as it should be. Then why does he feel like his heart was breaking in tiny pieces? Why does he feel like he wants to break down and scream his heart out at the unfairness of it all? Perhaps then his father could see what his son's soul had become: hurt, pained, and broken.
Next thing Harry knew, warm lips were on his, urgent and desperate but full of passion, love, care, and forever. Cedric's strong hands were cupping his face. He froze before returning the kiss resulting in a battle of dominance. Harry's arms were wrapped tight around the older boy's waist, bringing them closer.
It seemed like forever when they finally broke apart, panting, out of breath. Cedric rested his forehead against Harry's, on arm cupping his neck, the other around the small boy's waist.
"I don't know when and how but I love you, harry. So much that it hurts," he whispered. He took a step back, away from the only reason he lives. Harry ached to touch, kiss him again, but he stayed, his arms slack at his side. "But we can't be together, Harry. The Tournament and everyone…my father. You friends may approve of you but my father will not of me."
He stroked Harry's cheek before turning towards the door. His hand was on the doorknob when Harry's voice, so cold and harsh, echoed around the silent room, freezing him in his spot.
"You can't kiss me like that then run away, Cedric, you just can't."
His magic was acting up again, making its way through the dilapidated room. Cedric felt its power and for just a moment, was scared. But he needn't worry. Harry's magic somehow found solace and comfort the in the older boy and knowingly and willingly wrapped itself around him. Cedric felt safe more than ever. Harry turned to see Cedric enveloped in a golden hue of flames. Harry's magic was safe some of the time but when angry, it is deadly. Sirius and Snape had gotten the knowledge firsthand. Apparently, Sirius' innocence did nothing to stop Snape from ribbing the Lord Black but then it might have something to do with the fact that Snape was still sore from the treatment he received from the Marauders when they were in school themselves. So Harry, one day, found their fights quite annoying and immediately doused them both with his magic: in flames. He got the lecture of a lifetime for that little display from Aunt Minerva, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley. Dumbledore had laughed at the two childish grownups. It was Harry's turn to laugh when Aunt Minerva and Mrs. Weasley turned on him.
It seemed that Phoenix, the name he had taken to calling his magic and himself, was taken with Cedric, the traitor. It was on Harry's fourteenth birthday when he came in to his magic. Sure he had it before but it would manifest greatly when he turns fourteen. Sirius had said that James Potter had also received his inheritance at fourteen. Research of his surname had resulted in Harry coming from a powerful family. His family had come from a line of wizard mages. Harry's was fire and air, the power to blow things up, and the power to heal. Obviously, he was the most powerful since his great-grandfather Potter. Fortunately for the others, he never uses his magic except in training. The only people who had knowledge of it were Grandpa Albus, Aunt Minerva, Hermione, Ron, Sirius, Remus, Snape, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Even more fortunate was that his magic had the power to distinguish evil from good and would attack as see fit or until Harry command it on his own.
Harry looked Cedric in the eye, summoning Phoenix in to him.
"I don't know what you're trying to do, Cedric, but if you want me to feel none for you, you would do well to remember to not maul me at any given time."
Pushing aside the shell shocked seventh year, he stalked out, returning to the Great Hall. He needed his family. He entered, shocking those closest to him: his eyes were red. Hermione and Ron stood and followed him up to the head table.
Aunt Minerva, Grandpa Albus, and Snape had stood up when he entered. Ditching his dignity, Harry rushed around the table, throwing himself in McGonagall's arms. She wrapped her arms tight around him, ushering them out of the room and towards the door to the side followed by Ron, Hermione, and Snape. They distinctly heard Headmaster Dumbledore calming the students down.
The little group made their way to the headmaster's office. Silence was only broken when Snape gave the password and Harry sniffled in to McGonagall's robes. Snape transfigured a table to a couch and Harry and McGonagall sank onto it, the latter silently thanking the Potions Master. Ron settled on a chair with Hermione at Harry's feet, rubbing his knee comfortingly. Almost immediately, Dumbledore arrived, sitting next to Harry. All was quiet till Harry broke it.
"He kissed me" came the voice between the folds of McGonagall's robes.
Ron turned a shade of purple at this little information. Hermione just smiled while Snape did what he did best: scowled. Looks like they all have to say that little speech every one gives to the boyfriend.
"Then what is the problem, magelet?" asked Dumbledore.
"He said he can't love me because of his father. I would have understood if he hadn't kissed me! Bloody git," he muttered darkly.
Dumbledore chuckled as does Snape. Ron looked at him in surprise only to be glared at; Ron just rolled his eyes. After spending the year with a mellow Snape, obvious dislike from him doesn't intimidate them anymore.
Harry jerked up and glared at the eccentric old man. "Grandpa Albus, I am angry and I'm resisting the urge to kill someone preferably you, Grandpa, but then Aunt Minerva would scold me and that would defeat the purpose of me thrilled over your death because then I would feel guilty and saddened because I actually love you, old man."
McGonagall scolded him for his cheekiness as Dumbledore just laugh and drew the young man in his arms. He had been so worried and scared when Harry's name came out of the goblet that it was all he had to do to stop himself form calling Sirius and send Harry to him. McGonagall had ranted and raved until she cried.
It was late in the evening when the trio made their way to the Godric Gryffindor Room. It was the room reserved for the founder's heir and descendant and Harry was as thus. It was useful for the three friends as they spend more time with Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Remus, and Sirius training the three of them for war and Harry on his mage magic. The results were heartening. The three of them were skilled in hand to hand combat from Sirius; sword fighting and dueling techniques and spells from Albus; summoning and advanced transfiguration from Minerva; potion making from Snape; and the ability to detect animagus and magical auras from Remus. They even have their own unofficial animagus forms: Harry as a lion and phoenix for his mage magic, Hermione as an owl, and Ron as a grey wolf. They were all surprised at Ron's form but strangely, it fits him.
Wearily, they enter the room (after Hermione provided the password) and split up. Hermione went to the room Harry had kindly given her for herself while he and Ron share the larger room. The interior of the room was simple, casual, and cozy. Two comfortable couches graced the living area with an action chair near the fireplace. A coffee table was in the center, piled with books. Obviously, Hermione can't go anywhere without books to mark her presence. A small kitchen was off to the side where Hermione occasionally teach the boys to cook.
The colors of the room had surprised them. It was green with silver lining it with the occasional red and gold peeking out from something. They had been prepared for the blinding red but the story Grandpa Albus had told them was even more shocking: Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were apparently an item. Unknown to everyone but Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw, the two were lovers for years. Only, when it came to the choosing of who was allowed, they had parted on not so nice terms. But it didn't stop Salazar from having one over Godric: Slytherin's heir would not of Slytherin blood but of Godric's blood, which would mean that Harry James Potter was not only the heir to Godric Gryffindor but to Salazar Slytherin as well. Which means Harry Potter plus heir of Gryffindor plus heir of Slytherin plus heir to Sirius plus heir to the Potter family plus a mage equals a very powerful and rich Harry Potter. His life couldn't have been more complicated that it already was.
A further reading of Harry's genealogy line found that Albus Dumbledore was his father's distant uncle and Minerva McGonagall's his dozen times removed cousin. And Snape, well, Harry, Hermione, and Ron had bouts of laughter when they found that Severus was not only related to James Potter but to Sirius Black as well. The look on both of their faces was priceless. Both ended up evading each other for the duration of Snape's stay at Grimmauld Place. The trio had fun calling Snape Uncle Sev heedless of his threats and warnings.
*I know some of you probably didn't like it that I paired Gryffindor and Slytherin but hey, it's fanfiction. Anything is possible. And since Harry is the real heir to Slytherin, Voldie has no claim on the ancient line as he is not of Godric's blood. I will get to the point of the story but like my friends say, it takes me a lot of time and details to finally get to where I originally meant to. My favorite chapter is next so stay tune.