Twenty-Seven:
"Why are we here again? It's too damn loud in here." groaned Jona irritably, his voice barely audible over the bustle of the Hufflepuff common room. It was Saturday, a few days after Cedric's late-night meeting with Harry. Unsurprisingly the Common room was packed on this rainy morning, many Hufflepuffs huddled together as they worked on their homework.
"I need to make a point." Cedric replied, equally irritable. "Honestly, what's the purpose of all this popularity if people won't listen to me?"
Jona seemingly ignored Cedric's question (case in point) and asked, "Well, couldn't you have done it half an hour ago? We've been sitting here for ages."
"I'm waiting for the right opportunity. And you're the one who invited himself along, I might add." Cedric snapped back, surreptitiously eyeing every passerby, looking for the proper victim.
"Well, somebody has to stick around to keep you from doing something deranged." Jona grumbled under his breath, completely abandoning his book to cross his arms poutily.
Cedric paid him no mind as he zeroed in on the perfect scapegoat.
"Dawley!" He called out to the 7th year who had just stepped through the common room entrance, a yellow and brown pin standing out starkly against his black robes.
The Hufflepuff beater's face lit with joy at being addressed by Cedric and he immediately loped over to his (technically former) Quidditch captain.
"Hey, Ced'." The guileless grin on his face was priceless. What a perfect specimen for Cedric's plan. "How's it going?"
"It goes well." Cedric replied, smiling sedately. "Been rather busy with this tournament business, but I make it work."
"That's our Cedric!" chimed in a 5th year girl who had just perched herself one of the armrests of the couch that Cedric and Jona were occupying. She tossed her long curtain of strawberry blonde hair and smiled beatifically. "Always staying busy."
If Cedric could fake a blush he would've but instead he settled for ducking his head in a hopefully shy manner and rubbed the back of his neck. "Er, yeah... Well, Dawley, I was just wondering about that button on your shirt."
The older boy straightened a bit at this, his chest puffing out and drawing even more attention to the slightly garish badge. "Oh this?" he questioned in a failed attempt to sound nonchalant. "This is just my way of showing my support for you as Triwizard Champion. Loads of folks have them, I'm surprised you've not noticed them before."
"I have, actually." Cedric corrected politely. "But, I've not had the chance to get a closer look at one. Do you mind?" He held out a hand expectantly.
Immediately the grin on Dawley's face soured, his countenance becoming pale and somewhat guilty. Distantly, Cedric wondered how a person so near adulthood could be so transparent.
"Er- well..." he stuttered awkwardly, glancing around. Their conversation seemed to have caught the attention of some other Hufflepuffs and out of the corner of his eye Cedric could see a few people shaking their heads and waving their arms in a negative fashion.
"Uh, it was kind of expensive I don-"
He latched on. "Expensive? Who'd you buy it from?"
Dawley grimaced, the discomfort on his face increasing tenfold. "Er... don't remember..."
"Ah, I see." Cedric remarked sadly, his voice trailing and wistful. "I was hoping to send a few to my parents..."
"You can have one of mine!"
Cedric glanced in the direction of the strawberry blonde girl, who was directing a naive little smile down at him and leaning so close a lock of her hair brushed Cedric's closer.
This wasn't really Cedric's intended target. He'd prefer to humiliate a boy if possible, women often garnered far too much sympathy. But, who was Cedric to deny such a perfect little offering?
"Could I really? I can pay for it of course. How much did it cost you?"
She laughed, loudly and heartily; as Cedric had just told the joke of a lifetime. In Cedric's peripheral he could see his fellow Hufflepuff's expressions tightening into something pained and anticipating. Dawley already seemed to be backing away, preparing for Cedric's inevitable disappointment.
"There's no need for that!" The girl assured as she rifled through the inner pockets of her robes. "Here, you can have a few, in fact. I bought them in multiple colors."
She shoved three small enamel badges into his hands, grinning widely all the while.
He held one up to eyeview, inspecting the bright orange and yellow letters that spelled out "SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY" in bold text.
He turned his gaze back to the girl, who looked inordinately pleased to be the focus of his attention.
"These feel charmed." He commented pleasantly. There was a collective intake in breath at this observation. While all wizarding folk are able to feel magic to a certain degree, most are usually only able to detect extremely powerful spells or spells that are intended to be felt, like the cheering charm or the Patronus. To be able to detect such simple charmwork is the mark of an extremely talented wizard.
So, it's a shame that Cedric couldn't actually feel the simple spells that Malfoy and cronies had casted on these badges, but there was no harm in letting people think he could.
He could practically hear Jona rolling his eyes.
"What is the charm on them?" he asked when no one replied to his observation.
"Er, it's to make them sparkle." said a younger year hurriedly. "I- I think..."
"Really?" Cedric questioned, holding the badge up to catch the light from a nearby lamp. "I don't see any sparkle."
He took out his wand, ignoring a few feeble requests for him to stop, and tapped the badge with it's ash tip.
"Potter stinks?" he read aloud, when the surface of the pin finished it's transformation. "Why is- Are all of these like this? Why do they say this?" He thought he was selling his confusion rather well.
Many of his fellow housemates had the sense to look sheepish, but a few seemed resolute now that Cedric had cottoned on.
"It's in support of you." said one boy, Cedric recognized him as a student from Harry's year. Not Finch-Fletchley though, the other one. Something Smith. "You're the true Hogwarts Champion, Cedric."
"Yeah!" Concurred Analisa, another of Cedric's Quidditch mates. "You were selected fair and square, but yet again, Potter has to be the center of attention. It's not fair! You shouldn't have to share the spotlight with him."
The airhead still perched next to him agreed, pursing her lips poutily. "You're the true Triwizard Champion, Cedric."
He blinked, and leaned back into the couch, not even having to fake his bewilderment at the utter idiocy of his housemates. Sure, he'd been fully aware of their motivations for awhile now, but something about them declaring their complete confidence in their collective logical fallacy still managed to shock him.
"I- there's just so much to unpack, I'm not even sure where to start." he paused for effect. "Okay, first off, you lot actually think that Potter intended to join the Triwizard Tournament?"
"Of course he did!" Smith exclaimed, seemingly deeply passionate about slandering Harry Potter. "Every year he does something to put himself in the spotlight! It-"
Surprisingly, it was Jona who interrupted Smith's ranting. "I mean not last year. Unless you're saying that Potter somehow broke Sirius Black out of Azkaban for attention."
"Well, no-" Smith wavered a bit. "But, he certainly played it up! Made a huge deal out of it!"
"I'd probably make a huge deal about a convicted mass murderer baying for my blood too." replied Jona, voice deadpan.
Okay, Cedric needed to get things back on track. "How on earth would he have even managed to get his name in the cup?"
"Well, perhaps he could've paid an older year to do it for him." Commented Cesaria thoughtfully.
"I'm almost impressed that you would believe something so stupid could ever possibly work."
The girl sent him a glare. "You're the one who asked. I don't really think he wanted to be in the tournament either. He turned whiter than the Fat Friar when Dumbledore announced his name."
"He was acting." said the girl seated next to Cedric. "Why wouldn't he have been pleased to be picked?"
Cedric resisted the urge to push her off that armrest. "Well, considering adults die in the Triwizard tournament, it would not be hard to believe that a fourteen-year-old might be a little concerned about being selected for it."
"Also, Potter is a terrible liar." Cedric was pleasantly surprised to find Finch-Fletchley of all people defending Harry. Clearly his perception of the boy had changed since a few years ago. "It would've been pretty obvious if he was trying to fake fear. If he somehow did manage to put his name in that goblet, he clearly put it in there thinking it'd never be selected."
"Whatever the case is, it's ridiculous that you all would bully a child when it is very possible that he could be dead by the end of this month. You all ought to be ashamed of distributing these badges."
The dissenters seemed to quiet at this statement, the shame within the room was practically palatable.
"We weren't actually the ones to distribute these." Dawley spoke up, tentatively. "Malfoy's really the one behind all of this."
"Oh, even better." Cedric allowed an ounce of vitriol into his voice at the sheer stupidity of the entire situation. "Listen to the spoiled brat who bullies all the majority of our house's younger years. What a wonderful example to follow."
He took pleasure in their cowed expressions. It was truly proof that they looked up to him. That they wanted his approval. That he was superior to them.
"I don't want to see any of you wearing these anymore. They're an embarrassment to our house."
He almost expected them to chorus a sing-song 'Yessir' as if they were little first years addressing their Professor. This did not happen, of course. But, the majority of the students present did immediately remove their badge and bin them. A few stowed them away in their pockets, but Cedric decided to leave it be for now.
"Appropriately dramatic." Jona commented dryly once the normal murmur within the common room returned. "Was that all improv-ed or did you have a script?"
"Shuddup."
The shorter boy stood, grabbing Cedric by the arm and hauling him to his feet. "Well, now that we've dealt with your nonsense for today, we're going to do what I want now."
Cedric considered arguing, but decided against it. He supposed he could indulge him, they'd not had much time together ever since the tournament was announced.
"Lead the way."
-0v0-
One would think that after the first meeting, Cedric would be a bit less nervous about rendezvousing with Harry again.
And one would be wrong for thinking that.
Cedric is just as nervous as he was the first time. He'd arrived at their meeting spot just on the edge of the Forbidden Forest far before their agreed upon time. Now he was rapidly pacing back and forth, wringing his hands behind his back, checking his watch every few seconds, urging the minute hand to move faster.
"Dragons, that's the first task." Harry had said the day previous, nearly scaring the life out of Cedric when he pulled the older boy into an alcove on the way to his Arithmancy class.
"I- sorry?" Cedric had blinked, still a bit disoriented, not to mention disbelieving that such a thing could possibly be their first task. "Are you serious?"
Harry, unsurprisingly, had been annoyed with Cedric's disbelief. "Yes, of course!" he'd hissed, looking very tired of having to defend himself. "There's four of them. One for each of us."
Fighting down the panic that had risen like bile up his throat, Cedric immediately began to plan.
"What breed were they?"
The boy blinked up at him with big, confused eyes. "Breed? I'm not really sure... I think they were all different kinds. I didn't have long to look at them, though."
Cedric could feel the grimace crossing his face. A Dragon's breed will be very important if they're actually going to be expected to fight them.
Harry seemed to sense his unease as he then said, "I can take you where they're hidden. We can look at them together. Meet me at the edge of the Forbidden Forest after dinner."
He heard a rustle next to him, and turned to find Harry Potter standing in the previously unoccupied space, like some sort of imagined mirage.
"I'll never get used to that cloak of yours." commented Cedric jokingly.
The boy grinned, revealing a set of straight, white teeth. "Well, you'll ought to. We'll be using it liberally tonight."
Cedric glanced down at the shimmering fabric in Harry's hand and frowned skeptically, they surely would not both fit under it.
"I know it's a bit small." agreed Harry. "Ron always whines, and you're even taller than him..." he shrugged. "We'll figure it out. We won't actually need it until the end of our trip."
With that, he walked past the older boy, stepping into the treeline as if he were entering just any old set of woods rather than the infamous, perilous Forbidden Forest.
"Been in here before, have you?" Cedric asked as soon as he caught up, scanning the brush around them for any sign of threat.
Harry didn't even glance at him, winding his way confidently between the trees, following some unseen path. "A few times, yeah."
"A few-" something skittered by somewhere to his left, and Cedric couldn't quite fight down the lurch. His voice dropped to a whisper. "A few times? Doing what?"
He felt his heart stutter when Harry looked over and granted him a patient smile, one that he unfortunately could hardly see in the darkness.
"I'll tell you about it another time. For now let's just stay quiet, yeah? We don't want to attract anything's attention."
Well, Cedric couldn't argue with that.
They walked in silence after that, and Cedric spent the majority of the trip simultaneously straining his ears for the sound of danger and watching the mesmerizing sway of Harry's shoulders.
Immediately he could tell when they were growing close to where the dragons were being kept. The air grew heavy with the scent of woodsmoke and in the distance he could hear deep rumbling roars that shook him to his core. In front of them he could see even through the thick and abundant trees that there were sudden flashes of white hot fire.
However, his attention was immediately dragged away from the vision when Harry laid a hand on his forearm.
"We'll have to get under the cloak from here on out if you want to get close enough to try and distinguish their breeds."
There was a very brief moment where Cedric contemplated offering just going alone under the cloak. But, there was no way he was leaving Harry alone in this awful place.
Not to mention why would he ever pass up the opportunity to be so close?
"Perhaps you could hop on my back?" Cedric offered, trying to think of the most comfortable configuration.
Admittedly, the position would not be perfect, he'd hardly be able to smell Harry with him on his back, nor would he really see him at all, but at least he'd get to feel the boy's arms around him, not to mention the fact that it would provide much more mobility.
"That's a great idea." Harry whispered back and Cedric crouched to the ground.
Despite his initial reservations, something about the situation felt immensely satisfying. Him, kneeling in the dirt here at Harry Potter's feet, offering himself in service; it was the personification of the past three years. Everything he worked for led him to this. Led him to Harry Potter trusting him enough to climb onto his back.
Merlin, here he was getting emotional over a piggyback ride. Maybe Jona had a bit of a point about him being overdramatic.
When Harry wrapped his arms around Cedric's neck and settled his hands beneath his chin, Cedric had the sudden and bizarre urge to press his face into them and bite at the soft-part of the boy's palm.
He didn't. Instead he rose from his crouch, only slightly surprised at the ease he moved despite the additional weight. Potter has always been on the small side.
He then settled the invisibility cloak over the both of them, marveling at the smooth, silky material.
"This is not at all how I imagined a Demiguise pelt would feel." He whispered offhandedly as they moved closer to the commotion ahead. "If I didn't know any better I would've sworn this was made of some sort of woven material."
"Demiguise pelt?" Harry breathed into his left ear, his breath warm and slightly damp.
Cedric nearly stopped as a shiver went down his spine. Hopefully this wouldn't go on too long, otherwise he'd surely be driven mad.
He managed to reply with only a minimal amount of voice-crack. "Yeah. That's what most invisibility cloaks are made of. They're the only known magical creature capable of true invisibility. Though admittedly their pelts usually become opaque after a few years."
"Oh." replied the boy thoughtfully, readjusting his grip on Cedric's neck a bit. "That's... odd."
Cedric waited for some sort of elaboration, but none came.
Just as he was debating requesting an explanation, they finally exited the treeline surrounding the clearing where the Dragons were being kept, and immediately his mind cleared.
As the son of the head of the Department of Control of Magical Creatures, he has heard many stories about the horrors of Dragons and the sheer destruction they often cause. But, nothing could have prepared him for seeing them in person.
Even the smallest of the group was truly enormous, it would have been able to rear its head far above the tops of the tree if it were not for the magically reinforced chains keeping it in a crouched position. Cedric was pretty sure that if the creature was stretched from top to tail it would reach further than the Quidditch field goalposts. The beast reared back its head and let out a deafening roar, bearing it's razor-sharp teeth the size of a grown man's forearm, before directing a plume of blindingly bright fire in the direction of a nearby tamer, forcing the man to erect a hasty shield.
"Are they always this aggressive?"
He was pulled from the utter terror he'd been plunged into at the sound of Harry's voice. Blinking as he attempted to collect himself, Cedric eventually responded hesitantly. "Er... N- no no, not generally. That green one is a Welsh Green, they're one of the most docile breeds, actually, second only to the Portugese Long-Snout."
"Doesn't look very docile to me." mused Harry skeptically. "You think the handlers have been riling them up?"
Cedric found himself rather impressed with how calmly Harry seemed to take all this. Admittedly he'd already seen it, so perhaps he'd already had the chance to process this, but if 14-year-old Cedric had found out he'd have to fight a fucking Dragon he'd promptly fill his pants.
Gryffindors, he supposed.
"Perhaps..." The Dragons did seem unusually angered. Sure, they were chained to the ground, which was surely uncomfortable, but one would think they would be gnawing at their restraints. Instead they each seemed to be scanning the area as if searching for something.
"Oh fuck, they're all broodmothers."
Cedric had some serious planning to do.
A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus. I spill Calpico all over my laptop, lol. Had to buy a new one.