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Chapter Text

The 6th of April, 1993.

It was the afternoon of the 6th of April, 1993, when Cedric thought it would be funny to follow his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin, to play a prank on him. It just so happened that this very afternoon was a full moon, and the place Cedric was following his professor was the Shrieking Shack. Of course, everyone knew that place was dangerous, they said it was haunted or something like that, and Cedric knew that too, but his popularity was at risk as the girls started to swoon over the short Gryffindor, Harry Potter, instead. Stupid Chosen One.

Cedric crouched down and looked around at anything in his vicinity for a student, or worse, a professor. Of course Cedric had the greatest luck, no one was watching. Cedric then slowly snuck into the Shack, shutting the door gently behind him and clenching his wand in his pocket. The plan was to use the spell Jelly Legs jinx on the professor, then run out before being caught. Although, as all pranks do, it went wrong.

He heard a loud scream from very near by, or was it a howl? It didn't matter, probably the Weasley twins putting a curse on the Shack to make that noise. Cedric slowly walked further into the Shrieking Shack, before standing up and pulling his wand out to point at... Lupin?

"Jelly legs ji-" Cedric called out before realizing it wasn't his professor standing in front of him, it was a horrible beast with a wolf-like snout, legs and a tail. A werewolf.

He gasped and dropped his wand in shock at the sight of the creature infront of him, opening his mouth as to speak a spell to protect himself- Although, nothing came out.

Where was Lupin? How did this werewolf get on campus? His mind swirled with questions, which distracted him from the actual situation. The ginormous werewolf infront of him suddenly pounced forwards qnd-

CRUNCH

The side of Cedric's stomach had a massive bite mark in it and was bleeding profusely.

"Oh Wizard God-" Cedric's mind continued to swirl and got fuzzier and fuzzier untill he was unconscious, blacked out.

Next thing he knew, Cedric was lying in a bed in the infirmary- his eyes still shut and voices speaking above him.

"How exactly did you find the boy, Professor Lupin?" That voice had to be Madame Pomfrey, with that high pitched voice and that caring tone in which she spoke in.

A man to the left of the bed began stammering through words.

"I had awoken from a..." He cleared his throat. "Transformation." The man said that part quieter, as if whispering to the other two people in the room.

A soft gasp was then heard by Cedric from the door of the bed.

"Oh, Professor. It wasn't your fault- But you understand we do have to tell the boy's father of the... Circumstances... And who bit him, correct?" A different woman then spoke, it definitely had to be McGonagall.

The man to the left of the bed was heard shuffling his feet in an anxious manner.

"Yes, McGonagall."

"Good- Poppy will try to treat the scratches you left on him and I... I'll send the letter. Good day to you, Remus." McGonagall dismissed before clacking footsteps of heels exited the infirmary.

It was Lupin that bit him? Cedric finally opened his eyes to see Professor Lupin looking down at him from the left side of the bed, and Madame Pomfrey grabbing ailments from a cabinet on the other side of the Infirmary.

"You... You were that werewolf, in the Shrieking Shack." Cedric said to Lupin, his voice shakey and low. The ginormous scratches on his body stung like hell and the bite mark on his side was only worse. It was covered in a massive bandage that was wrapped around the Hufflepuff's entire stomach to hold the blood in.

Lupin merely nodded before letting out a sigh.

"You mustn't tell anyone about my... or your... 'condition'." Remus warned the brown haired boy lying in the bed.

Cedric gulped before reluctantly nodding, addressing the Professor's warning.

"I don't know why I would want to." He chuckled a little. "How the hell am I supposed to live like this..."

Madame Pomfrey then came back over and began treating Cedric's wounds.

---

The 6th of May, 1993

It was a month after Cedric Diggory's little incident. Ever since that night, he's actually paid a little more attention in Magical Creatures and Astronomy. The scars from that night hadn't faded, and neither have the memories. On the morning of the 6th of May, he was awoken by Remus Lupin tapping him on the shoulder.

"Diggory. Diggory, wake up." The Professor whispered to the Hufflepuff, causing him to finally open his eyes and sit up on the bed- Albeit, not happily.

"What- Why..?" Cedric groaned, rubbing his eyes before turning his attention to Lupin, tilting his head curiously.

"Tonight is a full moon." Lupin told the boy in a monotone voice. "You are to meet Madame Pomfrey at the infirmary after dinner." He added.

"And then..?" Cedric urged for the Professor to give him more information as for his transformation.

Lupin sighed before responding. "She'll take you to the Shrieking Shack, where you will transform."

"And where will you?" Cedric asked Lupin, a little bit of worry slipping into his tone.

Lupin shuffled his feet in place and cleared his throat quietly. "I will do so off-campus. Somewhere where a student-" His eyes looked more intensely at the Hufflepuff before continuing."can't reach." He finished.

That made Cedric's cheeks flush a light shade of pink. He didn't expect to be called out like that."Anything else?" He asked the Professor.

"Your magic will be stronger and you will be able to smell blood during the days close to your transformation, which you've probably noticed." The Professor said before waving a goodbye to Cedric and leaving the dorm.

That left Cedric alone on his bed to ponder what his life would be like for the rest of it. Was he really that dangerous?

He finally got up from his bed and began dressing himself for the day, his pupils were small and his lips slightly parted as he continued to think heavily about the future. He grabbed his wand, his magic would be stronger as it's the day of the full moon, he could use it to his advantage- but it is also dangerous. Eh, he needed the attention.

Cedric then walked out of the dorm and down to breakfast, Merlin, he was hungry as hell. He sat down at the middle of the Hufflepuff table as usual, but he immediately shoveled food into his mouth- with grace and elegance of course. He finished his large portion before the rest of the house and leaped up to head to the library. He had already done a bit of reading on his condition before, but today would be his first full moon as a werewolf.

Cedric pulled his magical creatures book out and set it down gently on the table, before sitting down in one of the chairs and opening the book to a certain page he had doggy-eared during a lesson earlier in the week. He let out a sigh and began reading. 

Lycanthropy; The Pain of a Transformation. The heading read. Cedric sighed quietly to himself, this was going to be a long day.

He took an hour of his free time devoted to reading that one chapter of the textbook, now he was going to spend the rest of the day worrying about that stupid transformation, the stupid full moon, the stupid him that tried a lame prank the month before. Werewolves had always seemed like a cool concept to him, but now they don't really appeal to him. He'd rather be a normal, popular Hufflepuff again- Well he was still popular, but he had to tell everyone that the prank had just 'failed', he didn't dare say what really happened that night.

"Cedric?" A gentle voice approached and placed her hand on the table next to Cedric's book. Cedric looked up to see the girl.

"Hannah?" He called out curiously, tilting his head. "Why are you here?" He asked the girl, quickly shutting the book. 

"You've been reading alot of animal books, and you've actually been paying attention in Magical Creatures and Astronomy– Why?" Hannah asked the taller Hufflepuff, sitting down in the chair next to his.

Cedric fidgeted with his hands for the first time ever, he couldn't tell her– It didn't matt that they were friends. "Trying to get my grades up." Cedric grinned awkwardly and lied. It wasn't his strong suit, that's for sure.

Hannah gave Cedric a death glare, knowing that boy was lying, before walking away with a sigh. She knew she wouldn't get any information from him.

---

Dinner Time

During dinner, Cedric was shakey and eating his food slowly. He could smell everything, the food, his housemates' perfumes and colognes, but some smells were more prominent than others... Blood, of course, and a certain Gryffindor.... After dinner, Cedric fake coughed before rushing to the infirmary to meet Madame Pomfrey.

Once he was in the infirmary, he was greeted by her.

"Alright, Mr. Diggory, just let me fix up the things you need, and then we will be on our way. Sit tight." Poppy Pomfrey told Cedric, motioning to a chair by the entrance. Cedric sat down and tapped his foot a little.

A certain Gryffindor walked into the infirmary. He grabbed a potion off of the table next to where Cedric was sat.

"And what do you need that for?" He smirked up at the boy.

Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Skinned my knee. What's your name?" He asked, leaning in close to Cedric's face.

"Cedric Diggory, now go on and fix your knee." Cedric chuckled in a response.

Harry nodded before walking out of the infirmary. "Pretty name for a pretty boy..." He mumbled to himself on the way out.

Cedric's eyes widened slightly, he must be hearing things... A light blush faded onto his face before Madame Pomfrey came back.

She motioned with her head for Cedric to stand up and follow her out to the Shack. "Come on, hurry, before the rest of Hogwarts gets out of dinner." She rushed, walking quickly. The vials and potions flanked together in her arms.

Cedric quickly followed after her. "Okay okay!"

---

At the shack

The two quickly reached the Shrieking Shack after around a minute. Madame Pomfrey placed the vials and glasses down before motioning for Cedric to enter.

"I will come back in the morning and help with any scars you get, although, I may warn you, they do not fade." She warned.

Cedric shuddered before walking in and shutting the door behind himself... They don't fade... The words echoed in his ears. The Hufflepuff removed his uniform and hid it under the small mattress as to avoid ruining it. He curled up on the mattress and waited for the 'transformation' to happen...

Chapter Text

The 17th of September, 1994

Cedric was sat at the Hufflepuff table eating lunch on the 17th of September when Professor Dumbledore suddenly called out, "Silence!"

The Hufflepuff perked his head up as every other student did, and devoted his attention to the headmaster. A blue goblet with silver accents was revealed, Cedric marveled at the sight.

"This year we will be hosting a tournament called the Triwizard tournament..." Dumbledore went on about how the tournament went since 700 years before, bla bla bla. Cedric only payed attention when the other schools came in through the great Hall entrance.

Cedric looked over and mouthed "Woah.." and gasped a few hundred times as he saw the students in matching uniforms, marching down the hall.

Then, the headmaster told everyone that anyone 16 and over could place their name on a piece of parchment into the fire and they could be chosen to be one of 3 champions. In that moment, Cedric already knew he would put his name in. One, eternal glory. Two, it sounded sick as hell.

After he finished his meal, Cedric wrote his name down quickly on a piece of parchment borrowed from Hannah Abbot. He walked over to the fire and tossed the parchment in, a big grin on his face. The Hufflepuff walked back down to his table and sat down, talking about the tournament to his housemates.

"No way they're picking you!" One of his friends called out. Cedric merely rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You think so little of me."

---

The 21st of September, 1994

It was dinner time 5 days laater and Professor Dumbledore was ready to pick names out of the fire. Cedric turned around on the bench and grinned with his teeth excitedly, his leg bouncing in anticipation.

"From Beauxbatons; Fleur Delacour!" The headmaster called out, followed by a roar of happy Beauxbatons girls and intrigued Hogwarts students.

Cedric clapped and leaned further in his seat.

Another piece of parchment flew out and into Dumbledore's hand. He gasped quietly and looked to the crowd.

"From Drum-Strang, Viktor Krum!" He held the small slip up in the air and pumped his hand up and down, shaking Viktor's hand as he walked up.

The final slip of parchment came from the fire and Dumbledore held it in his hands for a second before reading it out.

"From Hogwarts..." He began, everyone from Hogwarts leaned closer from their benches. "Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore roared, his voice echoing through the halls before every student and teacher began clapping and cheering as loud as they could.

Cedric's eyes widened and his friends all patted his back. He stood up and walked over to Professor Dumbledore, shaking his hand before standing behind him.

"May everyone please congratulate our three champi-" All noise in the room stopped immediately as a fourth piece of parchment flew out of the fire and fell into Dumbledore's hand.

"H- Harry Potter.." Dumbledore said quietly. The short Gryffindor's eyes widened and he looked around the now silent room. "Harry Potter." Dumbledore repeated, louder.

A few whispers began and a student yelled "He's a cheat!" Harry wanted to open his eyes and see it was all a dream, but it was no dream. 

"Go on then." Ron told him. Harry cautiously walked up to a now very suspicious and curious Dumbledore, and shook his hand before standing next to Cedric.

Cedric's eyes continuisly darted to the small boy next to him, the way his overgrown hair fell, the way his entire body was shaking.

"Are- are you okay," Cedric leaned over and whispered to the Chosen One, only to be met with no response. "Harry?" The Hufflepuff added.

Harry shook his head, his jaw trembled and his hands vibrated violently st his sides. This boy was not alright. Cedric wanted to rub his back or comfort him at all, but he couldn't. The one time they met, the year before, it wasn't a particularly nice encounter. So Cedric merely sighed.

"You didn't do it on purpose, did you?" He whispered again, met with another shake of the Gryffindor's head. Cedric nodded, he believed Harry, no matter how crazy their current situation.

After dinner, Cedric decided to take a trip to the library. Of course, he'd already done lots of reading on Lycanthropy, but he would have to refresh his memory if he was going to be competing in an insane tournament such as the Triwizard tournament. He sat down in the same chair as usual, and with a flick of his wand, a pile of books containing the key word 'Lycan' appeared next to him on the table.

"Hm." Cedric hummed, impressed with his own magic. He took the first book off of the top of the pile, and with a thud, placed it in front of him.

Across the library, Harry sat with his friends, Ron and Hermione— Well, Ron and Hermione were sitting together. Harry was sitting and holding his face in his hands, still trying to process his circumstances.

"Wizard God, Ron! I didn't put my name in that damn fire." Harry hissed, his fingers tightening in his own hair.

Ron rolled his eyes. "You don't have to lie, Harry! Just tell us how you did it." He replied, not listening to his friend.

Cedric heard the commotion and looked over. Of course it was the Golden Trio, probably bickering about something stupid like the Weasley's 56th child or something. But no, the Weasley was... Yelling at Harry? Cedric furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and slight curiosity. Right, it had to be about the tournament.

Ron whispered something to the Granger, who was seated to his right. Hermione nodded, before looking at the frustrated and confused boy opposite her.

"Harry." She said, her tone calm and collected unlike the boys'.

The Chosen One dropped his hands onto the table and met Hermione's gaze. His hair was a mess and his eyes had evidence of dried tears.

"What?" He grumbled lowly, fidgeting with his hands on the table and twiddling his thumbs expectantly.

The Gryffindor girl rolled her eyes. "Ron told me to tell you that Dean was told by Parvarti that... Uh..." She turned back to the ginger, and was met with another whisper in her ear.

"Right." Hermione mouthed. "Ron told me to tell you that Dean was told by Parvarti that Hagrid is looking for you." She sighed out.

Harry raised an eyebrow but reluctantly nodded. "So- Hagrid needs me, right? Well you can tell Ro-"

"I'm not an owl!" Hermione hissed.

Harry's eyes widened slightly but he then sighed and went back to his sulking. Cedric chuckled quietly to himself. He felt sympathy for the black haired boy, but it was a tad funny seeing that perfect friend group bickering.

The Hufflepuff then heard the bell rings, signalling that it was almost time for curfew. He quietly sighed and muttered a spell to send all of his books back to their places before leaving the library to head to the Hufflepuff common room.

The Golden Trio had all set off to the Gryffindor common room, except for one. Harry wanted to stay and ponder for a few moments more. How the hell was he, a mere 15 year old, supposed to participate in that damned competition? He stood up and was about to make his way out of the library when he spotted a messenger bag labeled 'Diggory' left on a table. He walked over to it to inspect it more. Surrounding the bag was around 33 books slowly making their ways back to the shelves of the library, all of them having titles that either contained the words 'Magical Creatures', 'Werewolves', or 'Lycanthrope'.

Strange, Harry thought to himself. A piece of parchment reading 'How did your transformation go?' along with a few lines filled out with sentences written in fancy writing sat just under the messenger bag, which piqued the Gryffindor's interest further. He shouldn't meddle in Cedric's things, he told himself. So, Harry neatly folded up the form and put it into one of the front pockets of the bag before picking it up with the two handles on top. He ran out of the library and rushed over to Cedric, placing his hand on the Hufflepuff's shoulder and stopping him just before he got through the door to his common room.

"Cedric..!" Harry panted heavily, using the other boy's shoulder as support as to not fall and collapse onto the floor tiles below.

The taller boy's eyes widened and he turned to face Harry. "Harry?" He asked, slightly confused and raising an eyebrow.

Harry quickly handed Cedric the heavy bag and continued to pant and grasp his shoulder. "You... You left that in the- in the library." He sighed, letting out a large breath of air.

"Thanks, Harry." The older boy smiled and patted Harry's back before taking a step back to get him off of his shoulder. He searched for something in the bag for  a moment. "Harry, did you happen to see a small piece of parchment on the table next to, er- near my bag?" He asked the Gryffindor.

Harry nodded and pointed to the pocket where he placed the form. "I didn't read it. I just folded it and put it in there." He told Cedric, which was only partially a lie. He had only read the questions on it, not the answers. Harry didn't dare ask Cedric about all of the werewolf stuff he found.

"Well- uhm. Thank you, goodnight." Cedric dismissed before rushing into his common room.

"Bye-" Harry exhaled, but Cedric was already gone and away. He started making his way to his own common room, his thoughts occupied by the books of Cedric's he saw in the library.

He reached the common room, murmured the password to the fat lady, and walked in and sat down on a red cough that was parallel to the large fireplace. Harry stretched out his legs and it was just then when he remembered what Ron had told him earlier  that day. He had to go to Hagrid.

Cedric sat on his bed and yawned, a Magical Creatures book cradled on top of his thighs and a Potions book lie on his lower legs. He was reading one chapter from the Potions, then the Magical Creatures, then repeated. The Hufflepuff sighed and shut both of the books, throwing them onto the hard wooden floor below his bed. He stretched his legs and pulled the yellow comforter up to his chest.

"I should just quit the tournament." Cedric sighed and told himself, before remembering that boy, remembering Harry... Harry was just 14- er 15? He never asked. Whatever his age was, Cedric needed to protect that Gryffindor, befriend him, be near him. It also wouldn't hurt to be near The Chosen One. Cedric chuckled quietly to himself. "I couldn't drop out, he needs me."

The Hufflepuff rolled onto his side and shut his eyes, trying his best to sleep. Visions of him as a werewolf attacking the audience appeared in his mind, his brows furrowed and his eyes shut tighter. Visions of him accidentally hurting Harry. Cedric opened his eyes, he got out of the bed and rushed to go take a shower, to clear his mind of those visions, he couldn't sleep with that on his concious, hurting that boy...

---

An Hour Later

Harry plopped down onto his red sheets. "Dragons!?" He called out to the ceiling, his brows furrowed, and his black hair all messed up. The first task was dragons. He sighed and tossed and turned in his bed. There was no way his scrawny self could fight a dragon. After a few minutes of tossing in his bed, the Gryffindor finally managed to fall asleep, exhausted. His dreams were all nightmares about all of the different ways he could die; a dragon eating him, a werewolf biting him, stupid stuff.

Chapter Text

The 22nd of September, 1994

---

The next morning, at 6:30 AM, Harry woke up and stumbled out of his bed with his black hair messed up and in his face. He slipped on his clothes and made his way down to the common room, to speak to his best friends. As the short Gryffindor boy reached the couch in the middle of the room, he realized he'd woken up late and everyone was already at breakfast. Harry let out a sigh and began walking down to the great hall, he was slouched and dragging his feet along the floor.

"Good morning, Harry." Hermione greeted the Chosen One as he sat down opposite her at the Gryffindor table.

Harry waved in response and began eating pancakes and eggs off of his plate, sighing. Nothing really woke him up all the way, he was still thinking about that darn tournament, the danger, the stares he was getting, his own best friend hating him. Harry slowly finished his food and excused himself. He made his way to the library to look up some books on Dragons, where he found Cedric with the same exact pile of books next to him as the day before. 

The Gryffindor sat down next to the Hufflepuff and sighed,

"Oi, Cedric. Could I borrow that Magical Creatures book from you?" He asked, placing his finger on the open page of the book Cedric had sat infront of him. The chapter, Lycanthropes.

The Hufflepuff perked his head up and he closed the book almost immediately, sliding it to his side, to Harry.

"Uhm, take it." Cedric smiled, trying not to be suspicious about what he was reading. Harry raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise but reluctantly took the book and opened it to the dragons chapter.

He smiled at the Hufflepuff. "Thanks. Im actually glad I found you here, Cedric. There was something I needed to tell you." Harry pinched the corner of the page in-between his finger and his thumb, fidgeting nervously with it.

Cedric, who had already moved on to another book, perked his head up. "Hm?" He hummed and tilted his head curiously, devoting his attention to the Gryffindor.

"Dragons- Cedric, the first task is dragons. They've one for each of us, Cedric I- I have to fight a Wizard God-damned dragon." Harry blurted out to the Hufflepuff, his voice shaky, nervous, and unsure about the situation.

Cedric's eyes widened and he tightened his hands around the book in his hands. The way his name rolled off of Harry's tongue... "Dragons..." He whispered and repeated to himself.

Harry nodded and continued shaking. "We're just kids, Cedric... I- We shouldn't have to do this." He told the Hufflepuff.

"Harry. Harry I'll help you through this, man I swear. I'll make sure you don't get hurt- neither of us get hurt." Cedric assured Harry, grabbing a hold of his hand and squeezing it tight.

Harry nodded and squeezed Cedric's hand back, his cheeks and nose dusted in a pink blush. "Thanks, Cedric." He sighed and turned back to look down at his book, still holding tight on to the other boy's hand. "I'll tell you any information I find."

Cedric smiled endearingly back at the shorter boy and looked back at his own book, he was trying to find away to control the werewolf, the beast inside of him... but none of the giant texts he was reading contained any usefull information, although there was something fun he found, something about scars. As he read, his eyes continuously darted over to his and Harry's intertwined fingers, as well as his own fairly visible scars on his wrist, which Harry noticed, but didn't point out. Cedric was looking in a stupid book about love or something, he only read it because of the chapter on Lycanthropes. 

'If a Lycanthrope were to find their one true love, their scars would only then begin to fade. The power of the love between the Lycanthrope and their lover would be powerful enough to heal those wounds, although slowly.' The chapter read, Cedric's eyes widened slightly. How would he find his true love? Just as he was going to read further, he felt a squeeze on his hand.

"Yes, Harry?" Cedric asked, turning to face the Gryffindor, who had a tall and monotone looking Mad Eye Moody behind him. His eyes widened slightly and he released his hand from Harry's, hiding it in his lap. "Oh- uhm, greetings, Professor." The Hufflepuff shakily greeted Moody.

"I need to borrow your little boyfriend quickly, champion stuff, you would know." Moody grabbed Harry's wrist and began dragging him out of the library. Harry looked back at Cedric with a pleading look before he exited with the professor.

Cedric blushed furiously. "HE'S NOT MY-" By the time he finished his sentence, the two men had left. The sight of the Gryffindor's pleading green eyes and his messed up black hair was engraved into Cedric's brain. He sighed and returned to his reading, occasionally glancing over to Harry's abandoned drawings and notes.

He ran a hand through his messy brown hair and muttered a spell to send all of his books back to the shelves. The Hufflepuff stood up and began stacking Harry's things into a small pile and organizing them, before levitating them and having them follow behind him as he walked and tried to find where Moody's office was, where Harry was. Him and Harry were actually starting to be good friends, which was one good thing about the tournament. After a few minutes of lurking around the corridors, Cedric reached a door which had a silver sign that read 'The Office of Alastor Moody'.

The Hufflepuff smiled to himself and knocked on the door. "Harry? You in there?" He knocked once more. "Professor?"

The door of Moody's office swung open in front of Cedric, the sudden wind pushing his bangs back. Alastor Moody gently pushed out a smiling and confident looking Harry, before shutting the large door, the force sending Harry tumbling toward Cedric.

"Hmph!" Harry squeaked as he was caught in the Hufflepuff's arms. He immediately stood back up straight and brushed himself off. "Sorry- Sorry, uhm- Cedric." Harry's smile widened as he adjusted his glasses and realized it was his friend.

Cedric set the pile of Harry's stuff down on the ground next to the boy. "I grabbed your stuff from the library." He told the Gryffindor, a smile playing on his lips.

Harry looked down and picked up his things. "Thank you so much..." He sighed, starting to walk away, before Cedric grabbed his shoulder.

"We have potions together, Harry. And the class is this way." Cedric giggled and told his friend, his tongue darting out to wet his previously dry lips. "Come on, I'll help carry your stuff."

Chapter Text

After classes were over for the day, Cedric followed Harry outside by the lake, to meet his friends he said. It was only when they arrived that Cedric realized that he was holding Harry's hand, and how tightly he was at that. The Hufflepuff's cheeks and nose quickly dusted pink as he looked down at their intertwined fingers, his thumb gently caressing the back of the Gryffindor's hand. They reached the small lake surrounded by trees. There was a short redheaded boy sitting by the lake with his knees up to his chin, he was looking at the girl next to him. The girl next to him had a brown afro and a pretty face, she was looking into the water. Although, there was another boy- a blonde boy. He was sitting with his back against a tree and his eyes were locked on the back of the hair of the redhead. He looked solemn, his grey eyes dead. Strange, Cedric though. He let go of Harry's hand and brushed his own off. Harry looked slightly sad at the loss of touch, but he cleared his throat and ran over to the small group of people. Cedric followed. The black haired boy smiled.

"This is Ron, Ron Weasley... Hermione Granger... and- WHAT'S MALFOY DOING HERE!?" The black haired boy interrupted himself, pointing to the solemn blonde boy leaning on the tree. Cedric's eyes widened slightly and he followed Harry's gaze. The other two turned, too.

"Oh, he was going to ask me something, but stopped when 'Mione came over." Ron replied, his feet stretched out in front of him and his gaze moving between Draco and Harry. Harry hummed for a second before nodding. Cedric's eyes widened slightly and he looked to the now flustered Slytherin holding his face in his hands.

Is he- Cedric was about to say, but stopped himself. Everyone else still looked confused as to why their enemy was acting so flustered, but Cedric knew damn well what Draco was– and why he was staring at Ron. That Slytherin, that pray, that posh little rich boy, was most definitely a faggot– And that was the only thing Cedric was sure of. Draco saw how Cedric was looking at him... he knew. The blonde gritted his teeth and hissed.

"What are you looking at, champion?" The Slytherin growled, pulling his knees up to his chest and holding onto them tight. Cedric chuckled, meanwhile Harry stepped infront of him.

"Oi, Malfoy. Cedric did nothing. You scared he's gonna steal Ron from you, you little obsessed fag?" Harry cackled. Although, something was off about Ron. He looked defensive, like Harry was right, Draco might really have been obsessed with Ron. Cedric grabbed Harry's shoulder tightly.

"Love-" Cedric began, but quickly paused before fixing himself. "Harry, don't use that wizard-god damned word. I thought you were better." The Hufflepuff insisted. Harry whimpered quietly and looked confuzzledly up in Cedric's eyes.

"Wait, what? Fag- Uncle Vernon told me that word just meant weird when kids called me it." Harry told Cedric, confused and sorry. "I'm sorry... What does it mean?" He added. Cedric's tone changed and he rubbed the Gryffindor's shoulder softly.

"No— I shouldn't have snapped, you didn't know... It- It's a bad and derogatory way to refer to... a gay man." Cedric explained and continued rubbing Harry's shoulder. Harry's eyes widened slightly and he opened his mouth to say something before he was interrupted by a groan from the boy leaning on the tree.

"When you two are done with your homoerotic shoulder rubbing, can you two and Granger leave?" Draco growled. Cedric rolled his eyes, Harry did as well. Harry beckoned Hermione over and the three walked away, talking about the Triwizard Tournament. Ron looked confusedly at Draco and sat down closer to him, next to him. Their legs and sides were against that of the other, the two boys looked each other in the eyes.

"What were you going to ask me?" Ron asked Draco, his voice quiet, calm, and collected. Almost whisper. Draco's cheeks and nose dusted with a bit of pink blush. He opened his mouth and took a large breath, and opened his mouth to speak. He closed it, he changed his mind on what he wanted to say, and it was very obvious to the ginger.

"I want to be your friend, sure you're still a poor little twat, but you... you look cool sometimes, and you're good at Wizard's Chess- at least from what I've seen.  And you seem interesting." The blonde began rambling about all of the great qualities of Ron's appearance, personality, and hobbies. Ron merely nodded, and failed to hide the giant smile on his face. Maybe Draco wasn't so bad, after all.

"I- I want to be with you- your friend, too." Ron stammered in some sort of an attempt at a response to the rambling of the boy pressed against his side. Draco grinned widely and his fingers tingled, he flapped his hands a little in front of him, it was a little... cute to Ron, seeing his former enemy so vulnerable and truly happy, it was weird, but damn it felt good. Ron instinctively, without thinking, pulled Draco into a large hug and put his chin in the crook of his neck, pulling Draco onto his chest. The Slytherin blushed heavily.

"Weasley- Ron, what are you-" Draco chuckled and hugged back, how were they already this close? Harry now spending more time with Cedric than Ron probably caused it a little bit, not like it mattered. Ron never knew how much he wanted to be Draco's friend, to be close to him, so close. He felt warm inside, the way his name just rolled off of Draco's tongue like that, Ron he called him, his first name. Ron pulled back slightly and smiled directly at Draco, reallly looked him in the eyes.

"I'm glad we're friends now." He said, subconciously licking his lips. Draco's eyes widened slightly and he blushed softly at Ron, although his grin widened. Draco looked down at Ron's lips and licked his own.

"Me too." He chuckled and relaxed against Ron's chest. Harry, Cedric, and Hermione weren't watching, but they sensed it was time to come back. Hermione stopped in her tracks and raised an eyebrow, looking in between the two boys.

"Ronald...?" She shakily asked, approaching slowly. Draco got up off of Ron and ran away from the group, flustered as hell as he rushed back to the castle. Hermione hummed for a second and tilted her head. "I never thought you were... like that." She suggestively chuckled. Ron turned flustered and sat up against the tree, shaking his head defensively.

"I'm not gay." He hissed. Cedric chuckled and looked at Harry, who nodded in response. Cedric rubbed the back of Harry's hand, looking down at it. Harry blushed slightly. The sky darkened.

"We ought to get to bed, it's almost curfew." Harry said, looking up at the stars, Cedric nodded in agreement.

Chapter Text

It was the morning of the very first task of the Triwizard tournament. Harry and Cedric were both very stressed, they just had to get in one more session of reading up about things before the task. So, they were up in Harry's dorm, 'studying'. Totally not talking and giggling about the most off-topic things you could ever even imagine.

"So, you remember Professor Quirrell?" Cedric asked, a slight chuckle in his voice. Harry's eyes widened slightly, but he reluctantly nodded before adding a verbal response.

"Yeah- How could I not?" He chuckled.

"You ever seen him a wife?- or any girl?" Cedric raised an eyebrow, smirking at the boy lying next to him on the red sheets.

"OH. Oh my Wizard-God... You don't mean-"

"Do you think him and Voldemort-"

"I don't want to think about that!" Harry exclaimed, playfully and gently smacking the cheek of the Hufflepuff lying next to him on his Gryffindor themed bed. Cedric checked his watch.

"Well, my prince, it's time for us to fight a damn dragon." He stood up, handing out his hand to Harry and helping him up next to him.

"Yes, my liege." The Gryffindor blurted out, before taking Cedric's hand and walking with him.

The two walked down first from the Gryffindor boys' dorms, then down from Gryffindor tower, next the long corridors of the Hogwarts castle, and finally out to the quidditch pitch- where they'd be fighting a DRAGON. It still a seemed a little- no- crazy and bizzare to Harry, who although was a half-blooded wizard, grew up and was in the muggle word most his life.

The stands were marvelous, the champions tent, although, very different. It surely wasn't appealing to the eye- but it did its job, it sheltered them from the sun, and gave them a quieter space, which was fairly loud being outside and all. There, it was just Harry, Cedric, Viktor Krum, and Fleur Delacour, just the champions; of course, in addition to Professor Dumbledore, Professor Mad-Eye-Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Minister Barty Crouch Senior. The minister held a small drawstring back which contained four dragons... one for each of the champions. That moment is when it really hit Harry, he had to fight a dragon. A DRAGON. He mentally swore at himself over and over again, if only the dark lord didn't fail at murdering him as a baby, he wouldn't have to fight a damn dragon. The minister, one by one, took a tiny version of each type of dragon and handed it to each of the champions. Of course, Harry got the Hungarian Horntail, scariest dragon ever!

It was time for the first champion, Fleur, to go out and try to take a golden egg from her dragon. Harry sat on a bench inside the champion's tent with Cedric sat next to him. Viktor was the only champion who sat outside of the tent and watched Fleur.

Fleur did sort-of well with the task, although she retrieved the egg and got back into the champions' tent– her outfit was scuffed, a rip through that marvelous hat of hers, collections of small scrapes and cuts, and finally- worst of all— her ponytail was undone. Harry blushed a little to himself, damn she was hot... Although, Cedric didn't bat an eye, instead raising an eyebrow at the Gryffindor.

"You alright, Harry?" He asked, carefully rubbing Harry's lower back with his right hand, fingers gently squeezing his spine.

Harry jumped a little and turned to face the Hufflepuff sat next to him on the old bench— which happened to make him blush ever more furiously. Shit, Cedric was WAY hotter than Fleur, the way his brown hair fell just above his eyes and—

"Oh- Yeah, I'm fine... I like your hair." He spat out without a thought of how damn gay that must've sounded. Cedric blushed  little himself and fully wrapped his arm around to Harry's side.

"Thank you..!"

"Now, ladies and gentlemen... Viktor Krum!" a thick, deep, and heavy voice yelled from outside the tent, Harry could tell that the sound had definitely came from above the stands; aswell as the fact is certainly had to be the Headmaster Dumbledore. No voice was as distinguishable as that of the Professor's.

At the sound of his name, a confident grin appeared on Viktor Krum's face as he took a moment to adjust the collar of his robes before sprinting out of the champions' tent with a quick start, Cedric patting his back as he went.

"I think I'm after Krum, Harry. Wish me luck?" He chuckled, giving Harry's side a slight squeeze

"Please- you don't need luck, you're damn perfect." The smaller boy responded, grunting at the sudden squeeze to his hip.

"You flatter me, love-" Before Harry could register what Cedric had said, a loud roar of applause, cheer, and cries came from the stands outside. "Already!?" Cedric jumped slightly at the noise. Harry's eyes widened, too, and he shrugged in response.

"The man's got a beefy build, wouldn't be surprised." He giggled a little. "What was it you were saying-"

"Nothin'."

Fleur looked curiously over at the two boy's from a separate bench, as if she had been listening in to their homoerotic conversation— despite the newspaper in front of her. Speaking of news, right as Harry and Cedric had pulled eachother into yet another tight embrace, a reporter— Rita Skeeter, to be exact— rushed into the tent with a cameraman behind her. She gasped and clasped two hands together; the sound of the camera snapping a photo made the two young boys split apart, Harry running his tongue over his own bottom lip.

"My, my... What do we have here?" Rita Skeeter asked, walking forward and rubbing Harry's shoulder with her hand; said boy looking very uncomfortable. Harry sighed and leaned back a little in the bench.

"Just... two champions sitting next to each other and talking." He grumbled.

Cedric whacked Rita's hand away. Viktor Krum ran back in the tent, waving his hands in the air above his head and cheering loudly. Luckily, his presence distracted Rita; she walked over and interviewed him.

"Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore called out.

"Crap.." Cedric tightly hugged Harry for a moment before running out of tent with merely a, "Wish me luck!"

He immediately stopped outside of the tent, frozen in place at the sight of the large dragon curled around the small egg.

"Swedish short-snout..." Cedric muttered to himself, drawing his wand from inside his robes.

He twirled it in his fingers a moment before holding a tight grip on it and jumping down into the arena to face the Swedish short-snout. It was a large beast, and even the light footsteps of the Hufflepuff's feet awoke it. It stood up and stretched its front claws out, before exhaling a loud huff from its large nostrils; which earned a roar of cheers and "GO CED!"s from the audience. Cedric took another deep breath before leaping onto the dragon and pushing his wand far into the top of its head. The dragon yelped and shook its head a couple times in an attempt to get him off, but to no avail.

"Give me that egg!" Cedric hissed, climbing off of the Dragon and launching himself onto the golden egg, wrapping his arms around its shape as he did so.

"He's done it! He's got the egg!" Fleur yelled from just outside the tent. Harry was watching too, he stood up and applauded for his friend.

Cedric ran out of the arena with the egg and slid back in to the tent, very disheveled.

"Cedric, Cedric you did it!" Harry felt all warm inside and his eyes darted down to Cedric's lips for a second, before back at his eyes.

"I- I did it... I..." Cedric knelt to the ground. "Damn, the full moon was 7 days ago and I still-" He huffed. "Still so tired."

Harry sat beside Cedric and rubbed his back comfortingly. Although, he slightly raised an eyebrow at the Hufflepuff's words.

"What does the full moon have to do with you being tired?" He asked softly. Cedric merely held tighter onto him, claws- nails digging into his back slightly. "Cedric are you a-"

"Harry Potter!" The headmaster called out.

"Go, Harry. " Cedric stood up, rubbing his arms in a slightly disheveled and uncomfortable manner.

"Cedric-" Harry sighed and stood up, walking out of the tent and jumping down to the arena.

There, the Gryffindor was met by a fairly eager Hungarian Horntail. Harry's breath hitched, he backed up a little and held his hand up

"Accio firebolt!" His familiar broom appeared in his hand, and a grin appeared on his face.

Harry hopped onto the broom and began racing towards the egg and dragon. Said dragon flew up and began chasing Harry. Harry flew up and out of the arena as the Hungarian Horntail continue to chase him. A loud collective gasp was heard from the crowd. Cedric, who was watching, sighed. Harry definitely knew about his condition— he'd never want to talk to him again.

Harry's broom caught on the side of the castle.

"Oh- shit- Oh no no..." He whimpered, held up by one hand grabbing a spike on the castle.

"Harry!" Cedric called out, he couldn't help. It was against the rules...

Harry brought himself up and grabbed his broom, chasing the dragon back. He nearly evaded it, getting back into the arena and sweeping up the egg before flying into the champions tent. He landed with a loud 'mmph!'

"Harry.. Harry you did great." Cedric kneeled down and held Harry in his lap. Harry smiled up at him as the Hufflepuff wiped blood from his cheek and fixed his hair.

"You're a werewolf aren't you..?" He asked, holding his arms around Cedric tighter.

Cedric's breath hitched and he looked away.

"It's okay, Ced. I suspected it..." Harry added, lifting a hand to make Cedric look back down at him. Cedric panted softly, before a small smile faded onto his lips.

"Don't hate me."

"I wont, I love- I wont, you're my best friend, Cedric."

Chapter Text

Claiming to be studying and looking for what the next task is, what a lie Cedric and Harry had told their friends. The truth was they were in Cedric's Hufflepuff dorm with Harry lying on the boy's chest while purring lowly like a handsome cat. Cedric tangled his fingers in the Gryffindor's hair and stroked the dark strands softly and slowly.

Harry turned his head slowly, slightly adjusting the position of his face on Cedric's sweater. In doing this, his small pink lips pressed accidentally in to a cluster of scars on Cedric's wrist that had only appeared a couple days before. Cedric felt the sudden kiss and tightened his hand in Harry's hair before pushing his wrist more in to the man's lips.

Harry hummed and fully kissed the scars before slowly letting his eyelids open and look up at Cedric's face. Cedric's cheeks and nose were entirely pink, flushed with embarrassment and anticipation. The were wolf took his own rough pale palms and cupped the stag's tan freckled cheeks, framing his already beautiful face perfectly. Harry blushed and leaned into the touch, subconciously leaning forward while straddling Cedric. Cedric panted softly, inhaling each warm tasteful breath that Harry exhaled into his mouth. Their pink faces were so close together, you could cut their tension with a Wizard God damned knife.

The Hufflepuff raised his thumb from the Gryffindor's freckled cheek to gently push a black strand from the boy's forehead, before fixing his circular glasses.

"Cedri–" Harry's small chirp was interrupted by a deep open mouthed kiss from Cedric.

One of Cedric's hands moved from Harry's cheek and down to his thigh, pulling him closer on to him while his other hand grabbed the back of his long tanned neck.

"Ced..." Harry sighed, the moan barely being heard through a gap between his and Cedric's entertained lips and tongues.

The kiss was slow and gentle, but deep and passionate in how they both understood each other almost telepathically. Harry's hand reached up Cedric's gold and black sweater to rub along the side of his stomach, which— unbeknownst to the Gryffindor— had a bite scar which was sensitive to any small touch. Cedric whined lowly like the lost wolf pup he was and leaned his head back, sliding his hand up to the back of Harry's messy hair to push the boy's face into his scarred neck.

Harry's fingers traced the bite mark while his mouth fit perfectly around a small scar on Cedric's throat, kissing it lovingly. Cedric groaned and Harry's mouth moved to a scar on the Hufflepuff's nose bridge.

"Harry— I think I— mmph..." Cedric gave up all thought as he was again in to another German kiss with the shorter boy.

"I love you— ah..." Cedric finally spat out into Harry's tongue in his throat.

Harry stopped, both of his hands moving up to hold Cedric's face, and his lips turning into a smile as he pulled away from the kiss.

"I love you too, pup." He said sweetly.

Cedric blushed heavily and bit down on to his own lip gently.

"Okay, stag." He retaliated, sitting up and fixing his and Harry's hair.

The two laughed and chuckled together, before they both got an idea.

They stood up together almost in complete sync, walked to the bathroom, and filled the bath tub. Once the tub was full of warm water they looked at enach other knowingly.

"The scales on the egg... it must be... water." Harry said quietly.

Cedric nodded in complete agreement before putting the egg into the water, then his face, then Harry followed putting his own face in. The egg sung to them, almost a calming beautiful song. Its high notes' lyrics spoke of mermaids, and hours.

After around thirty seconds Harry and Cedric both emerged, looking at each other again puzzled before kissing once more. Harry sighed and leaned his forehead against Cedric's.

"Mermaids..." He groaned. "Fuck."

---

At the same time, Ron and Draco were sitting pressed up against each other in the same place that they had been in just a few days before. Ron leaned back with his thick spine against the hard dark bark of the large oak tree he was against, while Malfoy sat in his lap like a ferret.

Weasley stroked his hair softly and hummed a low tune that his mother had taught him when he was young.

"Ferret," He whispered softly, raising Draco's chin to force him to look him in the eyes.

Draco furrowed his eye brows and let out a low 'tch' from his teeth.

"Don't call me that, Ron. I am a Malfoy— the Malfoy." He snarled, pinching Ron's rosy cheek, causing him to blush a little."Much more than a stupid... ferret." He mumbled quieter, almost in a whimper.

Ron chuckled lightly and made annoying kissy noises to the platinum blonde.

"Hear me out, Draco." He whined, drawling out Draco's name. "I'm the weasel, you're the ferret. It even fits our animagus types, eh?" He proposed, petting Malfoy's hair.

Draco blushed heavilly and groaned at the kissy noises from the ginger.

"You... You remembered my animagus." He sighed softly and adjusted his seating position in Ron's lap, holding each side of his thick tan neck.

Ron nodded and parted Draco's hair, fixing it and pushing stray pieces behind his ear. Draco purred quietly, almost silently, and nuzzled his cheek into the gentle carress from Ron's rough hand. Ron's lips parted with a small smack, Draco's followed soon after.

Ron leaned in slowly, so did Draco. Ron's hand tightened on the side of Draco's cheek and his tongue extended to lick Malfoy's lip before pushing into his mouth, then connecting their lips.

The ferret's eyes widened and his eyes welled with tears, he pulled away immediately and panted.

"No– I can't be— Malfoy's aren't faggots!" He hissed loudly, standing up and scratching his own arms vigorously, trying to escape the sinful skin he was trapped in.

Ron stood up immediately and grabbed Draco's arms, twisting the left one around to reveal clusters of fresh deep slices.

"Draco." He sighed deeply, placing his other hand on top of the cuts. "Why?" His heart sank and he held Draco's wrist tightly.

Draco sniffled and his arm went limp in Ron's hold.

"Every time I have an.. urge.. or am compelled to do something against my father, I need to punish myself." He said shaking, looking down at his covered skin.

"My love... Please... This isn't something you need to punish yourself for." Ron insisted, pulling Draco into a tight embrace and petting his silver hair.

"I'm– I'm sorry for pulling away from the– from the kiss." The ferret cried.

Ron wiped Draco's tears before softly kissing his neck once; then his cheek, then his forehead, and finally his plump red lips. Draco groaned a light whine, he felt too horrible for kissing back, but did it anyway.

After a few seconds, both of them pulled away and hugged again.

Ron took a step back and removed his Gryffindor maroon & gold sweater, handing it over to the shorter boy.

"In the case you want to cover up your scars." He said considerately.

Draco's eyes widened slightly and he immediately slipped the jumper on over his tee shirt. Its large size practically consumed his small stature which meant that Ron couldn't help but chuckle a little– that's a lie, he chuckled a shit ton.

"Don't laugh– !" Draco whined through his own many chuckles.

He— for the first time in probably ever— smiled, grinned greatly. Ron's eyes widened.

"That's the first time I've ever seen you smile. Baby, I love it..." He chuckled and French kissed Draco.

Draco huffed and kissed back before pulling away still having that cheeky grin on his face. The bell rung signalling time for dinner, the two went their separate ways.