Four:

Turns out that reading actually works. Cedric had always genuinely believed that reading the textbooks was waste of time and that he wouldn't learn anymore than he would by just listening in class. There was a lot flawed with that logic, especially considering that Cedric had never really bothered to listen in class either. Bottomline, was that by the end of January, Cedric had come to the conclusion that, yes, his books did actually hold valuable information and no, his professors were not speaking in some secret code that he'd not been clued in on.

And when he received his first ever E from a proudly grinning Flitwick; books actually started to seem kinda cool.

So cool, in fact, that he ventured to a place in Hogwarts that he'd never thought he'd step foot in. The Library. As a matter of fact, he stepped foot in the library quite regularly ever since returning from Yule break, much to the confusion and elation of Jona, who'd always rather liked reading.

On a dreary afternoon in early February, until recently, Cedric would most likely have been found napping in an alcove or hassling the house elves in the kitchens for a snack. But, indolent Cedric Diggory was a thing of the past and instead he could only be found pouring over his transfiguration essay, doing his best to decipher the confusing passage he was using as reference.

He was so focused that he almost didn't notice three little figures sitting down in the table in front of him, but their furious whispering was rather hard to ignore and in the end, and he glared up from his essay, preparing to snippily address whoever was breaking his concentration. But all of that was wiped clean from his mind upon seeing Harry Potter sitting barely a meter away.

Since then Cedric had been spending any free time possible in the library in hopes of repeating the encounter. It worked rather well, as it seemed that the Gryffindor Trio was researching something with reckless abandon. This ignited the elder Hufflepuff's curiosity greatly and he wanted nothing more that to walk up and ask what it was they were looking for.

However Cedric was not in Gryffindor for a very good reason and ultimately, couldn't summon the courage to directly ask them. He instead had to resort to less than glamorous tactics and sneak one of their note sheets from their table when the three of them were off searching for more books.

When he returned to his own paper-strewn table he examined the almost barren piece of parchment. All that was on it was 'Nicholas Flamel?' written in hurried chicken scratch and circled a few times. He frowned in thought, squinting at the name. Nicholas Flamel... he was almost certain that his father had said something about him at one point or another. Something about... Dumbledore...

"Oi" he grunted, elbowing Jona who was flipping through what looked like a rather tasteless romance novel.

Jona grimaced, rubbing his his arm sorely "What, you neanderthal?"

"Do you know who Nicholas Flamel is?"

A mulish expression crossed his friend's face as he continued to rub his arm. "No, should I-" He then froze, eyes glazing with thought, staring distantly in no particular direction.

Cedric waited for a moment or so, watching Jonathan's expression eagerly before adding, "Something about Dumbledore, right?"

After a second longer Jona sprung to action, reaching into his pocket and slamming the box from the chocolate frog he'd been snacking on earlier onto the table. The taller Hufflepuff squinted at the crumpled bit of cardboard for a moment before turning back to the shorter.

"Look, I get that you're mad that I elbowed you, bu-"

Jona rolled his eyes and interrupted, huffing dramatically. "No, you dunce. Read the card."

Straightening out the wrinkles, he looked down to find a omnipotent-looking Dumbledore staring back at him, it winked and raised a long finger to point at the caption below the image.

"Oooooh."

-0v0-

Cedric almost immediately regretted writing down that Nicholas Flamel was the creator of the Philosopher's Stone. He'd felt an initial excitement at being able to help Potter in some way, even if the boy would never know it was he who did it, followed by a wave of pride at the elated and thankful look on Potter's face. But about a day later all he really felt was a mixture of regret aggravation upon the realization that now that Potter had what he needed, there was no point in him visiting the library.

He sighed forlornly, flipping through a dusty, old Potions encyclopedia. Oh well, all his Potter-watching had been distracting him from his studying anyway.

-0v0-

There had been a brief point where Cedric had wondered if his interest in Potter was just a phase that would eventually fade. He'd dismissed it though. It didn't really matter either way, if he lost interest in Potter then at the very least he still had his improving grades from the whole juncture of wanting to impress the boy-savior. However he needn't worry in the first place. By the end of the year Potter still had his full attention whether Cedric wanted to admit it or not.

He didn't want to admit it though, not in the slightest. In all honesty, he wasn't certain why this concept unsettled him, especially since he certainly wasn't the only one who was entirely riveted by Harry Potter, the majority of the school still watched his every move with bated breath. All the same it did him better not to dwell on the why.

After all, he was benefiting far too much from his actions to allow himself to contemplate why he was bothering with them. His grades had rapidly spiked since January bumping him from his less than stellar record of 27th in his year all the way to 11th. Looking back on it, it made him feel silly that he'd ever thought that learning was hard.

Having realized that he could put in half as much effort as we was putting into his education and still do quite well, Cedric decided to refocus on the athletic portion of his popular persona in the making. Cedric was already a fairly athletic individual and was blessed with a naturally lean and strong body. Therefore Cedric spent less time trying to get in shape and more time improving his Quidditch technique. This did not go quite as quickly as Cedric had hoped, though, truthfully he had some unreasonable expectations. He'd been aiming to somehow get so good that he replaced the main seeker by the time the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff game at the end of the year rolled around. Although, by around May Cedric actually paused and thought about how ridiculous that goal was, considering that reserve players didn't even go to practices and there was no real instance where his captain would actually see that he'd surpassed their main seeker (although he hadn't surpassed her yet anyway so it was all null and void).

None of this really mattered in the end, as the whole reason why he'd been looking forward to the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff match was lying unconscious in the infirmary on the day of the match. Cedric didn't even bother showing up to the match (despite it technically being obligatory for him) and instead allowed his feet to carry him to Harry Potter's bedside in the Hospital Wing.

It was an odd sort of feeling, looking at the boy's face in the warm morning light. This was the face he'd studied hundreds of times before throughout the school year, but never had he the opportunity to see it so close. He noticed things that he'd never seen in the many times he'd gazed at Potter's visage, the light dusting of freckles for example and the rosy, almost fevered cheeks. So pale and smooth Cedric could almost believe he were a porcelain doll if not for the rise and fall of the thin chest.

He had to force his eyes away from their inspection of Potter, looking instead at the candy-laden bedside table. It was so full that Cedric questioned if the table would be able to support even a cauldron cake more. His eyes narrowed, looking at the tottering pile.

Cedric had been sent to the infirmary once. It had been for a foolish reason; sliding down the banisters of one of the moving stairways. In the end the stairway had moved right as he was sliding towards the end of the bannister and he'd been sent plummeting down to another set of stairs three floors below, breaking so many bones that he couldn't even recall them all. If he'd been a muggle he'd surely have died.

And yet, in the 6 long days he'd spent in the infirmary he'd only received three get-well presents, one from his parents, another from his grandparents and a third from Jonathan.

So, looking at this pile of offerings filled him with a sense of urgency. He and Potter were truly worlds apart, when total strangers were willing to laden him with gifts while Cedric receive barely a card from his loved ones. Strangely, though, there was no jealousy or longing even.

He wondered why, popularity is what he wanted, wasn't it?

A realization broke him out of his haphazard thoughts. Out of all the sweets the adoring masses had sent Potter, not a single one of them were his favorite. With that thought in mind, Cedric turned on his heel and headed straight for the kitchens.

Surely Potter would appreciate a slice of treacle tart upon awakening.

-0v0-

The gentle rock of the Hogwarts Express always made Cedric a bit drowsy, he'd usually end up spending at least half of his time on the train snoozing while Jona pouted at him falling asleep mid-conversation. This time, however Cedric couldn't have felt more wide awake. He wasn't quite certain why, he just seemed to be getting increasingly more energized as of late. It was a little irksome actually as it was slightly impeding his sleep schedule, but oh well, all the more time to focus on more important things.

Spending his train ride in something besides a sleepy haze was actually very surreal. What had once been almost an image that weaved in and out of his dreams and his consciousness rose and fell like a tidal wave, became nothing more than a cozy compartment. For some reason it felt like the magic was kind of lost.

He still didn't really listen to Jonathan's blatherings, opting to stare at the ceiling instead. It was a bit harder to actively ignore him without the veil of drowsiness, but as long as he didn't allow his thoughts to wander, he could still manage to tune him out. Therefore, he spent his time focusing on mentally going over and perfecting plans.

Cedric had never been much of a planner so, he really had to think hard on all of it. He decided that he needed to list what exactly he was going to do over the summer, else he may allow his lethargy to creep back once removed from his learning environment. He also made note to buy a journal from Diagon as soon as possible to write all of this down. The moment he started actually doing his school work he noticed that he had an easier time organizing his thoughts when he wrote it out on paper.

His main goal was to replace the current Hufflepuff seeker; *Ava Cesaria. by the next Quidditch season. He thought it quite possible, really. Cesaria had always been rather jittery during games and would make a lot of mistakes that would cost them the entire competition. If Cedric could show that he was just as skilled as he and still capable of keeping his head in the game, then he'd be a shoe-in.

With this surge of confidence he decided that he may as well pay Jona a bit of attention, after all, it'd probably be a whole summer before they'd see each other again.

When he finally stepped off the train it was late afternoon and Charing Cross was basked in a warm golden glow. And instead of searching out his parents, Cedric found his gaze drifting towards the gaggle of redheads that Potter was no doubt ensconced in. Something in him made him want to march over and bid the boy goodbye.

He resisted the urge and was soon distracted by his approaching parents.

He's then wrapped in another of his mother's smothering hugs and his father pats him on the back, pride coloring his face. Cedric just stood greeting them politely and pretended to listen as his parents droned on about how Sprout had mailed them about his improving grades. About how proud they were.

Yeah right.

It was almost amusing how they thought he'd been doing it for them.

A/N: I feel like it's becoming harder to follow, but at the same time this is a story about a person going insane so I suppose that's kind of what I'm going for. I'm sorry for the late update (if anyone cares) I got a new laptop, so I was just getting situated.

*I'd been listening to Stromae when I came up with name, so if anyone recognized it kudos to you, for those of you who didn't you should try him out.

Feedback is always appreciated.