Twenty-Six:

In preparation for the weighing of the wands, Cedric made certain polish his own ash and unicorn hair foic to a shine the evening before. Jona rolled his eyes at his antics, but Cedric paid him no mind, knowing the press would likely be present. It was important to put his best foot forward.

He'd also spent a fair amount of time that evening reading on wand-making and wand components in hopes that any information he could glean from the ceremony could be of use to him in the future.

He was greatly disappointed that next day to find Rita Skeeter of all people waiting for him and his competitors at the weighing ceremony. It shouldn't have been that much of a surprise, she was the Daily Prophet's most famous (or infamous to anyone with sense) writers. Still, he thought the publication would have been a bit more logical about who they would hire to write a piece about four students.

He ignored her as he entered the little classroom where the ceremony was taking place, pointedly disregarding the slimy little grin she directed at him as he passed. He noticed Delacour and Krum did the same as he, however Harry did not seem to know who she was and sent a polite little smile back.

The wicked grin that erupted on her face as soon as the boy's back was turned put Cedric on edge.

Harry sidled up to him, looking deeply uncomfortable. Cedric smiled down at him, raising an eyebrow. He hoped it looked a bit cool.

"Hello Harry."

"Er- h- hello..." said the boy, fiddling with the edge of his shirt. "What is this about a wand weighing? N- no one told me anything about it."

Cedric felt his lips pursing in disapproval at this revelation. "Well that's... remiss. It's the responsibility of your head-of-house to keep you informed of such things. If you'd like I could have a word with McGonagall." He spoke lowly, not wanting to be overheard.

A becoming blush erupted across Harry's face. "Oh, that's alright! I'll speak to her myself..." he trailed off in an uncertain manner. Cedric silently vowed that he'd mention it to her anyway.

Their attention was drawn away from each other (well, sort of, Cedric's attention was always on Harry to some degree) as Fleur was called up to stand before Ollivander.

She swept over to Ollivander handing him her wand with a graceful flourish. He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully.

"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches... inflexible... rosewood... and containing... dear me-"

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a Veela," said Fleur. "One of my grand-mère's."

Cedric's eyes narrowed at this. Nine and a half was somewhat short, especially considering how tall Delacour was; just an inch or two shorter than Cedric himself. Undersized wands usually denoted a lack of character, though it is hard to say for certain given how rare they are.

The inflexibility was no surprise, Delacour struck him as a rather inflexible girl all things considered. She had a rigid air about her that screamed 'don't test me'.

Cedric found the 'rosewood' description especially annoying, since as far as he knew, rosewood is not an actual wood, but rather a wood hue. He wasn't sure what hell Ollivander got out of knowing what color the varnish on the damn thing was.

He also wasn't sure what to make of the core. From what he read, veela hair is a fairly weak and often volatile core, but perhaps given her veela heritage it would be different for Delacour.

"Yes," said Ollivander, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands, however, to each his own, and if this suits you..."

He ran his gnarled fingers along the wand, likely checking for notches; then muttered, "Orchideous!" and a bunch of pale flowers burst from the wand tip.

"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur along with her wand. "Mr. Diggory, you next."

He stepped away from his spot next to Harry and walked over to Ollivander. He had to fight down a blush at the sight of Harry eyeing his wand. What did he think of it? It was a fairly average wand all things considered. Did Harry know that? Did he think it suited him?

He frowned as he watched Ollivander twirl the wand around in his fingers. It really was a rather average wand. Ash was admittedly known for it's loyalty and stubbornness, and when combined with unicorn hair it's usually suited for more courageous individuals and could even be rather powerful, especially for charm-work. But, ultimately it is a rather common combination of core and wood.

He glanced at the other three students. They were all rather spectacular individuals weren't they? A veela, a quidditch-star and the saviour of the free world. How could he possibly measure up?

He'd just have to work harder, he supposed.

So lost in his thoughts he didn't even notice Ollivander had finished until he'd pushed the wand back into Cedric's palm.

Krum loped up next, looking as surly and awkward as usual. Cedric resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the sight of him.

"Hmm," said Mr. Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I- however..."

Cedric wondered about that; it just looked like a stick of wood from where he was standing, how different could the styling possibly be?

Ollivander lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.

"Yes, hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees-"

Cedric had to disguise his chuckle with a cough; Krum is certainly rather thicker than one usually sees. Mentally speaking.

"quite rigid. Ten and a quarter inches... Avis!"

The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.

How annoying. Again, more wand components that Cedric didn't recognize. Hornbeam was like a... birch right? Birch wood wands usually were a sign of wisdom and patience. He shot a glance in Krum's direction, watching the man scratch awkwardly at his oversized nose.

Doubtful.

Dragon heartstrings were known to produce powerful wizards, but again Cedric was skeptical. More likely it was paired with Krum due to its ability to easily cast dark spells; a necessary skill at Durmstrang.

Harry was called up last, and Cedric felt himself jolt to attention. Silly, really, it's not as though he didn't already know Harry's wand components. He'd managed to figure out most of that years ago. He was, however, excited to hear about it's flexibility, something he'd never managed to find out.

"Aaaah, yes," said Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember." Something about his tone sounded ominous. Cedric desperately wanted to know what it meant.

"Eleven inches, holly and phoenix feather... nice and supple."

'Ha!' Cedric exclaimed mentally, containing the urge to yell it aloud. He knew that it had to be a flexible wand. Harry was far too adaptable for a stiff foci. He allowed himself the smallest smirk. He knew Harry so well.

After the wand-weighing ceremony they were quickly ushered over to the space that was set up for photos. Cedric found the heavy velvet curtains and gold-painted chairs rather gaudy, but that's Rita Skeeter for you.

Cedric and Krum, being the tallest, stood in the back while Harry and Delacour sat in the chairs in front of them. Cedric ignored the photographer's commands to switch sides with Krum while he stood behind Harry, not willing to give up the chance to be in such close proximity. Though, in all honesty, he probably should have agreed to switch spots considering he had to hold his breath for fear of how he'd react to Harry's scent in his lungs.

The photoshoot went unnecessarily long, with Skeeter and the photographer ordering them to do a number of different poses, each with different facial expressions. He could fathom why they hell they needed so many pictures, surely only one or two would actually be in the paper.

"Now for the interviews!" Skeeter cheered after they'd finally finished taking pictures. She surged forward, and grabbed Harry by the cuff of one of his sleeves attempting to pull him bodily out of his chair. "Somewhere private, shall we?"

'Oh no you don't.' he thought viciously, his hand snaking out before he could stop himself, settling firmly on Harry's shoulder and pushing the boy straight back into his seat. He ignored the pang of guilt when Harry let out a tiny, "Oof."

"A private interview with a minor, Mrs. Skeeter?" he intoned in a saccharinely polite voice, a stiff smile on his face. "That hardly seems appropriate."

Her eyes immediately skittered up to meet his own, glittering and bug-like behind her garish, red glasses. She levelled him a strained smile. "Ah yes, Diggory your Amos' boy, hmm?"

Cedric was sure his grin was shark-like when he said in a slightly sing-song voice, "That's right."

"I must agree." said Crouch, from where he was settled next to Ollivander, a look of undisguised disdain on his face. "Any interviews conducted will be conducted here, Mrs. Skeeter."

She paused and her expression morphed into something quite unpleasant (well, more unpleasant than usual anyway), before it retired to it's usual simpering grin.

"Of course, sir."

The interviews went by quickly Skeeter asking a multitude of mundane, useless questions like what their favorite color was or what star sign they were born under. She looked as displeased with the content of her interviews as Cedric was, but better that than her smearing Harry's name in the papers.

But, eventually Skeeter finally shut up and they were directed back to their classes.

Surprisingly, Delacour of all people approached him as he made his way to Professor Vector's class.

"Diggory." She called liltingly, making him turn around. She approached him with a small smile on her face. "You are headed to Ari'mancy, no? I am also going zat way. I will join, ez zat okay?"

He blinked then replied politely, "Er, that's fine."

They walked in silence for the majority of the trip and Cedric almost began to believe that there was no actual ulterior motive in her joining him. That was until she listed a bit closer, looking up at him with heavy lidded, blue eyes, her mouth poised into an inviting pout. Cedric found himself becoming lost in her ethereal features. He hadn't even noticed that they'd stopped walking, simply standing at the center of the empty corridor, staring at each other.

"You and Harry Potter seem close. Why eez zat?"

He frowned, at the mention of Harry and when he breathed in he caught wind of the strongest most saccharinely sweet perfume he'd ever encountered, nearly taking a step back at the scent of it. Out of politeness he simply held his breath.

"Close? No, not really we're both house seekers, so I suppose he feels comfortable around me. I'm not complaining, if he has information I can use then I'll use it."

Her inviting expression didn't change, but there was a glint in her eye that Cedric interpreted as suspicion. "So, you are just using him? Zere is no alliance between you two since you are both of 'ogwarts?"

Why was she asking such blatant questions? Did she really think he'd answer her honestly? Or maybe she had tried to douse him with Veritaserum at some point.

She began to flutter her lashes a bit, in a manner that reminded him vividly of Cho Chang.

Maybe she was attempting to use her veela thrall? He didn't feel very enthralled.

Either way, he answered. "No, there's no way I'd actually ally myself with a cheat like him." He felt a bolt of pain in his chest at vocalizing such a statement, but consoled himself with the fact that what he was doing was in Harry's best interest.

As always.

She smiled at his response and winked. "Zat eez good to hear. I 'ope you would not be opposed to sharing information in ze future. We would make a good team."

Cedric nodded, hoping his gobsmacked expression at the audacity of the woman would be interpreted as a lovestruck look.

Apparently so as she then blew him a kiss and flounced away. Not in the direction of the Arithmancy classroom, Cedric might add.

He sighed when her little flowy skirt finally rounded the corridor and out of sight.

"Stupid bint."

-0v0-

"Cedric, as your best friend, I promise you when I say: it does not fucking matter."

Cedric whirled around from where he'd been bent over his travelling chest, pulling out article of clothing after article of clothing, looking for the perfect outfit for his meeting with Harry.

"Of course it matters, Jona! You want me showing up to rendezvous with Harry in rags?! What sort of impression would that make!? He'll think I'm not taking him seriously!"

Jona sighed, he was laying on his bed and staring listlessly towards the ceiling, looking unreasonably world-weary. "Firstly, you don't own any rags. So unless you're going to start stealing from the supply closet, I don't think that will be any concern. Secondly, Potter's not exactly Madam Malkins, Ced. Half the time it looks like he fished his outfit out of a dumpster, especially when he doesn't have his school robes to cover it up."
"He does not!" Cedric hissed viscerally. "You take that back! That's just... y'know, muggle fashion. It's what they wear."

"I can assure you it isn't. Anyway, you look fine. Just go already, you're gonna be late."

Cedric was not going to be late and Jona was full of shit. But, he didn't particularly feel like hanging around any longer anyway.

With one last glance in the mirror he was out the door and on his way to the empty classroom Moody had designated as his and Harry's meeting spot. He was not entirely certain how Harry was supposed to get there, though. Since Cedric was Prefect he was allowed to be out after hours without issue, but Harry did not have that luxury, unfortunately. Maybe Moody gave him a pass or something?

The room was just another old, dusty classroom and Cedric found himself frowning at the untidiness. He cast a quick cleaning spell that cleared away the dust and grime. It wouldn't do for Harry to be sneezing throughout their meeting, after all. Though, then again, he'd never heard Harry sneeze before. He'd seen it a few times during meals in the Great Hall, but he'd like to know what it sounded like. It's probably ver-

"Hi Cedric."

He surely jumped a foot in the air at the sound of Harry's voice in what he thought was an empty room. "H- Harry?" he questioned softly. Harry was a skilled wizard, no doubt, but surely he did not know how to cast a disillusionment charm that's a Auror level spell.

"Boo!" Harry's face appeared before him, seemingly floating in mid-air. Despite the slightly unsettling image, Cedric felt his heart swell at the sight of the large, impish grin on the boy's face.

"Is that an invisibility cloak?" he questioned as Harry's form was fully revealed.

The boy nodded and held out the magical artifact, allowing Cedric to feel the odd, watery texture of the cloak and marvel at the way his hands disappeared under it as if they'd never existed.

"Amazing."

He froze when he realized that Harry was staring up at him, expression indecipherable. "Er- sorry... I should've said hello. Um... how have you been?"

The boy settled on top of one of the desks, and patted the spot next to him, which Cedric eagerly took. It was like something out of a fantasy. Harry was so warm next to him and in the flickering torchlight, he looked like some sort of other-wordly being. Something incomprehensible and endless. Utterly perfect.

"I'm alright." Harry intoned in a soft, wavering voice. His eyelashes were downturned and his teeth worried at his plush lower lip.

It was apparent that something was bothering him and Cedric hesitated only momentarily before he placed a hopefully comforting hand on Harry's knee. "Are you concerned about your safety? I know it must be scary to think that someone might be conspiring against your life."

The boy let out a mirthless chuckle and shook his head. "No, that's nothing new, really."

Cedric found that comment deeply concerning, but did not interrupt.

"It's just... everyone hates me right now and-" he sighed and let out another watery chuckle. "I suppose that's nothing new either but I- I just..." he trailed off, seeming unable to find the words he was looking for.

"Everyone hates you?" Cedric parroted. "Why? I mean... you're the second Hogwarts champion, they should be happy. This raises our chances of winning exponentially."

"Er... I'm not sure everyone is thinking so pragmatically."

And there was Cedric's eternal struggle. If people would just be logical every once and while it'd make it a lot easier for him to deal with them.

"They're mad that I'm stealing the spotlight from you." Harry continued. "I don't... entirely blame them for feeling that way. I'm often the talk of the whole school. Someone else deserves a turn. And I would happily give it to you, except that I didn't put my name in that bloody cup!" he finished in a frustrated huff.

Cedric had thought that he'd nipped the resentment towards Harry in the bud at the party they'd had after the election. Clearly not, however. "So they've been bothering you? Making your life harder?"

"Yeah, I- They have these buttons... you may have seen them. When the professors are around they'll say things like 'Go Cedric Diggory' or something like that."

He had in fact seen these buttons before and had found it rather annoying that he hadn't even gotten a cut of the profits made from them.

"But, when the teachers aren't around they can change them to say 'Potter stinks' or 'Potter is a cheat'. It's no surprise the Malfoy is behind it all. Hermione keeps telling me to tell McGonagall or someone, but if anyone finds out then I'll just be labelled as a snitch, in addition to everything else. I just want it all to stop."

Cedric felt as though he'd been struck by lightning when Harry looked up at him with those big, tearful green eyes. He wanted to reach and wrap him in his arms, but was unsure if that would be too forward. He settled for taking one of the boy's delicate hands into his own.

"I'll deal with it. Don't worry."

"No, please." Harry's words were emphasized by the light squeeze he gave Cedric's hand. "You've already got so much to deal with right now. I'm just happy you let me vent to you."

"No." Cedric replied firmly. "I have to do something. I won't be able to focus when I know people are bullying you on my behalf, of all things. I'll deal with it. I promise."

He received another squeeze at that statement as a teary but genuine smile appeared on Harry's face. "I- thank you... I swear I can normally deal with the student body's hot and cold attitude, but it's harder now that Ron isn't talking to me. I just feel like so much is happening at once and I've no one to turn to."

Weasley and Harry weren't on speaking terms? That's... Interesting.

"Well you have me." he stated, again in a firm voice, though it morphed into something more cautious as he continued. "But, you and Weasley aren't... getting on? I thought you were very close."

Harry crossed his arms and Cedric lamented the loss of feeling their hands intertwined. "Well, I'd thought so too." he intoned a bit resentfully. "But he refuses to believe that I didn't put my name in the cup. Don't know why he thinks I'd want to be in a freaking death-match. I'm quite happy to remain living, thanks. Hermione says he's jealous, and honestly I'm inclined to agree, but that doesn't excuse him treating me like dung over something I can't control."

Cedric allowed himself a split second to consider this new information. It would be perhaps... morally ill of him to use this crack in Harry and Weasley's friendship to his advantage but...

God he'd wanted this for so long.

Weasley, stupid, obnoxious, rude, useless, Weasley had never been worthy of Harry's friendship. From what Cedric had observed the boy was nothing more than parasite, leeching off Harry's kindness and popularity in order to feel like he was worth something. He wasn't and never would be.

Harry deserved better. So much better. He deserved someone who would support him, who would provide him with unconditional loyalty. Someone worthy.

Cedric could be that. He would be that. He was a far better alternative than Weasley. And there was nothing wrong with showing Harry that.

"That's terrible." He said, genuinely sympathetic. He didn't entirely mean it, since the further Weasley was from Harry, the better, but he didn't like the concept of Harry hurting either. "What sort of friend abandons you when you need them most? And over something like jealousy? He's scum."

Harry looked a bit taken aback at the older boy's vehement statement and Cedric mentally scrambled to figure out whatever he'd done wrong, before Harry smiled a bit tiredly. "Thank you for listening, Cedric. I was honestly getting tired of Hermione yelling at me to just apologize."

"You shouldn't have to. You've done nothing wrong."

Harry smiled again, a bit more brightly this time and they both basked in the warm moment for a few seconds before the younger boy eventually said, "Moody said you'd be able to help educate me a bit on past tournaments and what we might expect from this one, is that right?"

Cedric jolted to attention at that and reached into his bag, pulling out the binder he'd used to organize all of his notes on the Triwizard tournaments. "Ah- er, yes, actually. I have plenty of info on that. I've also got some notes on our competitors that I'd like to share with you if you're interested."

Harry looked quite impressed, and Cedric internally preened at the sight. "That sounds great! Let's get started then, aye?"

A/N: Kind of a weird chapter. I hope the wand-talk wasn't too bothersome for people. I also want to apologize as there will likely not be an update next week. I've much to do in preparation for Thanksgiving.