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Chapter Text

Saturday, 20 November 1993

Harry just wanted this game to end. It was pouring rain, freezing cold, and there was a death omen hanging out in the quidditch stands.

There, finally, a flash of gold.

Harry took off at a breakneck pace, the Hufflepuff seeker, Cedric Diggory, hot on his tail.

The snitch was going up, and up, and up. It was getting colder; the air was getting thinner. But Harry and Oliver Wood were of an identical (if psychotic) mindset; you win, or you die trying.

Just as Harry reached out to wrap his fingers around the little golden ball, the screaming started.

And it didn’t stop until everything went dark.

* * *

Harry doesn’t remember plummeting to the ground, he doesn’t remember Dumbledore’s cry of arresto momentum, he doesn’t remember his broom whipping away and crashing into the Whomping Willow, he doesn’t remember his teammates panicking or Cedric catching the snitch or Cedric’s subsequent attempt to get Madam Hooch to re-do the match.

He vaguely remembers waking up in the hospital wing and being presented with the pile of splinters that used to be a top-of-the-line broom. He vaguely remembers all of his teammates except Oliver showing up and assuming that Oliver was either hiding from the Chaser line who had likely chewed him out about his, admittedly, insane outlook on quidditch or was crying on the floor of the shower about losing.

What he does remember, quite clearly in fact, was waking up in the middle of the night to the feeling of someone brushing the hair off his forehead.

He remembers blinking awake to the blurry face of someone with kind grey eyes and golden-brown hair.

That description didn’t quite match any of his friends.

Scrambling slightly, Harry tried to locate his wand and glasses.

“It’s alright,” a soft voice said, “it’s just me, here,” the mystery person said before placing Harry’s glasses gently on the bridge of his nose.

“…Diggory?”

“Yeah,” he said with a smile, “I needed to make sure you were alright, and this was the first chance I had where you weren’t surrounded by angry Gryffindors. Lions are rather frightening, did you know that?”

“They’re really just giant cats,” Harry said with a laugh, “it’s the badgers you have to worry about, vicious little things.”

“Oh no,” Cedric said with an exaggerated sigh and a poorly hidden smile, “you’ve figured us out.”

Laughing, Harry relaxed back against his pillows, “I’m alright, thank you for asking. Congrats on the win by the way.”

Cedric breathed out a genuine sigh and ran a hand down his face, “I shouldn’t have won though, Potter, you were right there, and it would’ve been your catch if the dementors hadn’t shown up.”

“I think I remember George whispering that you tried to get Hooch to redo the game, and she said it was a fair catch, we’re not going to fight her on that, and you shouldn’t either. Be proud of yourself, you’re a great Seeker.”

“I’m not as good as you and we both know that.”

“Stop talking poorly about yourself,” Harry chided, “you’re a great player.”

Smiling, Cedric just nodded his thanks before the pair fell into silence.

It was rather strange, Harry thought, to be so comfortable in someone’s presence that he didn’t need to fill it with mindless chatter. There were very few people who made him feel like that. Hermione, Ron, Neville, Fred, and George were about it, and he didn’t even know Diggory … but there was just something about him that was calming.

Cedric was thinking much the same thing. He was rather popular, both in his House and across the school. People expected him to always know what to say and he so rarely did. He had learned how to put on a mask of confidence, he’d figured out how to make the right jokes and say the right things, but it wasn’t natural. He was much better one-on-one; he preferred the quiet.

“Are you alright, really?” Cedric asked after a few minutes of peaceful quiet.

For the first time he could remember, Harry thought about the answer. He always just responded that he was fine. But he found himself wanting to be honest. He wasn’t sure if it was the strange calm he felt around Cedric or the quiet of the hospital wing or the magic of midnight that made conversations easier.

“I’m not sure,” he answered after a minute, “I’m really not sure.”

“That’s alright,” Cedric responded easily, “it’s alright not to know.”

“Yeah,” Harry said after a moment, “I guess it is.”

They sat quietly for a while longer. Cedric found himself thinking he really should get back to the dorm, but it was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. Something told him he just needed to sit here for a few more minutes.

After nearly 30 minutes of silence, Harry leaned his head back and closed his eyes, he took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face and then through his perpetually messy hair.

There was something about that mop of black curls that Cedric found endearing.

Harry Potter had always been something of a mythic creature in their world, but he was just a boy. A too skinny, too short boy who flinched away from loud sounds and sudden movements, who hid his intellect and skill, who thought the very fate of the world rested on his shoulders.

“I don’t think I’m alright,” he admitted for the very first time, “I really can’t think of the last time I was alright. There are good moments, of course. But, I think, overall, I’m rather far from alright.”

“Okay,” Cedric said, “I can understand that.”

Harry snapped his eyes open and looked at Cedric in shock, “you can?”

“I can,” Cedric said with a nod, “though the circumstances are probably quite different, I do get what it’s like to have people pressuring you to be something you’re not sure you want to be.”

“It’s exhausting.”

“It is.”

“I didn’t know magic was real until I was 11,” Harry quietly admitted, “and then I got here, and everyone expected me to be something great but I’ve never been allowed to be great, so I did my best to fade into the background. I don’t really think it’s working though.”

Deciding that most of that statement was something they could unpack later, Cedric simply said, “you should let yourself be great, but only in the way you want to be, not in the way other’s tell you to be.”

Harry smiled his first genuine smile in what felt like months, “thanks, Diggory.”

“Call me Cedric.”

“Harry, then.”

* * *

Saturday, 25 December 1993

On Christmas morning, Harry unwrapped his normal selection of gifts; candy from Ron, a book from Hermione, a hand-knit Weasley sweater and fudge from Molly, a carving from Hagrid. Then he found something out of the ordinary … a package that looked rather like a broom.

A Firebolt.

The best broom on the market and Harry’s first thought, oddly enough, was that he could challenge Cedric to a Seeker’s match now.

* * *

Friday, 11 February 1994

“Cedric,” Harry called when he’d finally found the Hufflepuff alone on the map Fred and George had passed down.

“Harry, hi,” Cedric said with a smile, “what can I do for you?”

“McGonagall finally cleared my new broom; how do you feel about a Seeker’s match sometime?”

“New broom? Why’d she have to clear it?”

“It came from an anonymous sender and it’s a Firebolt, so she and Hermione were convinced that Sirius Black bought it, cursed it, and sent it to me to try and kill me. I rather think that’s a stupid way to kill someone, but whatever.”

“You have a rather strange life, don’t you Harry?” Cedric said with a laugh.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Harry said with a wry smile, “so Seeker’s match? We can swap brooms every round if you want.”

“Sounds great to me, are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?”

“I can’t, my uncle refused to sign my slip, so I’ll be here.”

“Let’s play while everyone’s at Hogsmeade then, I’m guessing you’d rather avoid attention.”

Oddly touched fact that someone had finally noticed he hated attention without him having to tell them, Harry smiled and nodded and suggested they meet at the pitch after breakfast before heading back down the hallway.

Cedric smiled at Harry’s retreating form before he remembered what weekend it was.

Valentine’s weekend.

He rather hoped Harry wouldn’t notice and question Cedric’s intentions because he didn’t think he’d be able to lie, and he wasn’t exactly ready to admit that he had intentions.

Lucky for Cedric, he could probably yell “I have a massive sodding crush on you!” directly in Harry’s face and he still wouldn’t notice.

* * *

Saturday, 12 February 1993

After breakfast, everyone headed down to the entrance to get checked out of the castle by Filch. Harry bid his friends goodbye before darting up the stairs to get grab his broom and a snitch Oliver had definitely not stolen from the supply shed before heading back down to the pitch.

When he got there, Cedric was already waiting, leaning against the wall with his broom thrown over his shoulder, an easy smile on his lips, “hiya, Harry,” he greeted, “ready to go?”

“Absolutely,” Harry said with a grin, “best 2 out of 3?”

“Deal,” Cedric responded before following Harry out onto the field.

Harry won both times, Cedric just smiled and demanded a rematch.

* * *

Monday, 6 June 1994

Cedric’s young friend was acting rather cagey.

It was nearing dark, and Hermione and Harry had just sprinted down from the hospital wing, headed out onto the grounds.

“Harry,” Cedric called, “what are you two doing?”

“Just going to see Hagrid,” Harry said, refusing to meet Cedric’s eye, “we can’t be late, don’t want to run out of time.”

For some odd reason, Harry’s quip about running out of time got a snort out of Hermione who Harry promptly jabbed in the side with his elbow.

“We best be going,” Harry said quickly, before grabbing Hermione’s hand and turning back toward the grounds, “see you later!” he called over his shoulder.

Cedric just stood on the front steps watching the pair run toward Hagrid’s hut, sticking to shadows before they ran into the forest for some reason.

Just as he was about to shrug it off and head back into the Castle, he spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione dart out Hagrid’s backdoor.

Had Ron been in the hut the whole time? How in Merlin’s name did Harry and Hermione get into the hut from the woods without Cedric noticing?

Cedric decided this was probably just another day in the life of Harry James Potter and went inside.

He darted out of the way of Professor Lupin who was running full tilt at the front door and then narrowly avoided colliding with Professor Snape who was running in the same direction a couple minutes later.

Cedric decided there was no way they were involved in whatever it was Harry and Hermione were doing.

Cedric maybe should’ve thought that through a little harder.

* * *

Tuesday, 7 June 1994

The next morning at breakfast, Cedric looked up when Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the Great Hall.

Ron was limping, Harry’s hair was somehow messier than normal, and Hermione had a rather satisfied smirk on her face.

Malfoy and his goons walked up, and Cedric watched as the Golden Trio just stared back before Hermione clenched her fist and moved like she was about to raise it. To Cedric’s eternal shock, Malfoy flinched before turning tail and darting back to the Slytherin table.

* * *

Thursday, 30 June 1994

The train was leaving in a couple of hours and Cedric still hadn’t gotten an answer to whatever had gone on at the beginning of the month.

He waited until he saw Harry stand up from the Gryffindor table before leaving the Hall himself.

Ducking through the crowd until he was next to the younger boy, Cedric threw an arm around Harry’s shoulders and steered him toward the nearest abandoned classroom.

“Cedric,” Harry said once the door was closed, “what can I do for you?”

“You are such a cheeky git.”

“So I’ve been told,” Harry said with a grin, “what do you need though?”

“I’m not going to ask you what happened the other week because I know you’re not going to tell me, but I am going to ask you to please write to me this summer.”

Harry cringed slightly and Cedric thought maybe he’d overstepped or misread their friendship. Just as he was about to back peddle, Harry took a deep breath and seemed to decide something before saying, “I’d love to write, I’m just not sure how much I’ll be able to. I live with my muggle aunt and uncle and they don’t like anything magic or anything that might get the neighbors to think they’re strange so they don’t let me send Hedwig out all that often.”

“I live near a muggle town,” Cedric said after a moment, “near the Burrow actually, so I could go into town and send you letters through the muggle post.”

To his surprise, Harry cringed again. Now Cedric really thought Harry was trying to avoid writing to him.

“They don’t just dislike magic, they dislike me, they probably wouldn’t ever actually give me the letters,” he then went quiet and appeared to be thinking, it was a couple of minutes before he pulled out a piece of parchment and jotted down an address, “I’ll try to send mail with Hedwig, but if you haven’t heard from me, you can send a letter through the muggle post to this address, it’s the public library down the street and I go there at least once a week. The librarian likes me, so she’ll set mail aside for me. I’m hoping to end up at the Burrow by the end of the summer, so I’ll let you know once I’m there.”

“Alright,” Cedric said, taking the address and deciding now was not the time to ask Harry about his family, “I’ll write.”

“Great,” Harry said with a bright smile, “I look forward to it.”

Chapter Text

Saturday, 2 July 1994

Harry,

I’m writing to see if you made it home alright. I’m already missing Hogwarts, there’s very little to do at home. I only have one sibling, he’s Bill Weasley’s age. His name is Matthew. He doesn’t live at home anymore, so it’s just me and my parents. My dad works at the ministry, as I believe I’ve told you and my mum is a healer at St. Mungo’s so I’m alone most days. Playing quidditch by yourself is far less fun than playing with others. I may see if the Weasley twins are around, but they’ve been rather busy recently. Who knows what they’re up to.

Hope all is well.

Your friend,

Cedric Diggory

* * *

Wednesday, 6 July 1994

Harry,

I didn’t receive a response from you so I’m guessing that you weren’t able to send one. I’ll ask Cato, that’s my owl’s name, to wait for a response from you instead of just dropping the letter off and leaving, please let me know if that’s alright. Otherwise, I’ll send post the Muggle way to the address you gave me.

Cedric

Cedric,

Asking Cato to wait for a response works well. If you could also ask him to only come at night and when I’m alone, that would be best. My relatives don’t like magic or anything “strange,” so they don’t really like owls. I don’t want them to try to put Cato in a cage as well.

My summers are usually pretty boring. My uncle works, my cousin spends all his time with his friends from the neighborhood, and my aunt spends most of her time critiquing everyone around her. I mostly just do chores. I was able to get some of my books before they put my trunk away so at least I’ll be able to do my summer homework.

Hopefully I’ll be at the Burrow by the end of the summer.

Signed,

Harry J. Potter

* * *

Thursday, 7 July 1994

Harry,

I’m glad asking Cato to wait works for you. You live in a Muggle neighborhood, right? What sorts of things do you do for fun? I’m guessing there’s nowhere that you could go flying. What sorts of chores do you do? I help my mum out with gardening quite a bit and we have a couple of chickens that I help take care of but most of the other chores get taken care of with magic, so I guess I’m not even sure what other chores you’d have to do!

What books did you keep out? I’m happy to help with homework, if you’d like. Just let me know if you have any questions.

Your friend,

Cedric

Cedric,

Yes, I live in a Muggle neighborhood. It’s a suburb of London and there’s really not much to do around here. There’s a small park down the street that I go to sometimes. Most of my chores are housework; cooking, cleaning, laundry. But I also do some gardening and other work outside.

I have my potions and charms books, I haven’t run into any issues yet, but I’ll be sure to ask you any questions I have. Thank you for offering!

I know you said you had a brother and mentioned what your parents do for work, but I don’t know anything else. What’s your family like?

Best,

Harry

* * *

Sunday, 10 July 1994

Harry,

Charms is my favorite subject so definitely don’t shy away from asking me any questions, I’d love to help!

I think I told you that my older brother’s name is Matthew. He graduated with Bill Weasley so he’s a few years older than me. He just turned 24. He’s exactly what my father hoped he’d be. He’s incredibly smart and loves listening to my father talk about the Wizengamot and Ministry policies and family magic. He works in the Magical Accidents and Catastrophes department in the Ministry. He was a Gryffindor at school, like my father. He played quidditch (chaser) and was top of his class in Transfiguration and DADA. We aren’t all that close, mostly because he’s 6 years older than me but also because we have rather different personalities, but he’s a good guy and he helps me when I need it.

My dad works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He’s very proud of his job and of everything the Ministry does. He’s a good dad; wants us to learn and very proud of everything we do, but sometimes he takes it too far and I’m not sure what exactly I can do to make him happy. That might be too deep to say in a letter to a new friend, but for some reason I feel like I can tell you anything. Anyways, he’s a good guy overall.

My mum is my best friend. That might sound lame, but it’s true. She was a Hufflepuff like me and incredibly proud of it. She’s the kindest person I’ve ever met. Like I said in my first letter, she’s a healer at St. Mungo’s. But more specifically, she works in the Janus Thickey Ward. That’s the ward where they treat people with permanent spell damage. She’s explained that some of the patients are the sort of people you’d find in a Muggle Mental Hospital, so that might help you understand her more as a person. She’s incredibly patient and fiercely protective. I’m much more like her than I am like my dad, I even look more like her.

I don’t know what you know about magical traits, but I really don’t look like a Diggory. You look like a Potter for sure, in case you were wondering. That messy hair is the most recognizable Potter trait. What I mean to say is that the main Diggory traits are dark brown hair and brown eyes, but I’ve got light brown hair and grey blue eyes, same as my mum. My mum is an Abbot, you might’ve met my cousin Hannah, she’s in your class. But that’s where the blonde hair and blue eyes are from. My brother looks like a Diggory, though. He looks so much like my dad it’s uncanny.

So that’s a rundown on my family, what’s yours like?

Hope all is well,

Cedric

* * *

Tuesday, 12 July 1994

Cedric,

I can relate to not knowing how to make someone happy. I live with my mother’s sister and her husband and son. From what I know, I was rather unceremoniously dropped on their doorstep in the middle of the night. She woke up to a toddler sleeping on her porch with a note that said her sister was dead. So, on some level, I can understand why she’s never totally warmed up to me.

My aunt doesn’t work so I’m around her the most and when it’s just the two of us, she’s a bit warmer. She gives me chores, but she also tells me to take breaks and makes sure I drink water. My uncle is the problem. He’s never liked me and spends a lot of time talking about how much I cost them to keep around. My cousin, Dudley, sort of follows his lead but I don’t think he knows better. He’s gotten better over the last couple of years, I can tell he’s growing up. I hope someday we can be friends; it’d be nice to have a family member I actually get along with.

But overall, it’s alright, I do my chores and stay out of their way, and I spend 10 months of the year in Scotland. I’m also sure I’ll end up at the Burrow sometime before the end of the summer. I’ve asked before about why I need to stay here when they don’t like me and Dumbledore explained that there’s some sort of ward attached to my mother’s blood that keeps me well protected, so I understand the need to keep me here. Strangely, it also feels nice knowing that my mum is still protecting me somehow. That might be a lot for a letter to a new friend, but to echo you further, I feel like I can tell you what I’m actually thinking.

Your friend,

Harry

* * *

Friday, 15 July 1994

Harry,

I can’t imagine how your aunt must’ve felt getting that letter, but I don’t think that excuses her not “warming up” to you. You were just a baby, how was any of it your fault?

I’m glad to hear that, overall, it’s alright, but I wish it were a little happier. You deserve to be happy and safe. I like what you said about your mum still protecting you though, I think if I were in your shoes I’d be comforted the same way. I asked my mum what those wards might be, and she got a rather far off look in her eyes before saying “that Lily Evans always was craftier than anyone gave her credit for,” and then she walked away, if she ever offers me any real explanation, I’ll be sure to share it.

I hope you and Dudley can be friends someday too. I love all of my cousins. Are you close with your cousins at Hogwarts? They’re in your year right?

Best,

Cedric

Saturday, 16 July 1994

Cedric,

I know the wards are tied somehow to my mum sacrificing herself for me if that brings any light to what your mum said, but it’s nice to hear that my mum was crafty, I like to think I’m the same way. Maybe not the smartest, but definitely able to find my way out of a situation. I’ve heard more about my dad than I have my mum, but everything I’ve heard about her has made me wish I’d gotten to know her. Everyone says she was the kind of person who was friends with everyone, that she was smart, and now that she was crafty. She sounds like someone I’d like.

What do you mean cousins at Hogwarts? My dad was an only child, according to Professor Lupin (who, by the way, was apparently best friends with my parents. Sometime, in person, I’ll have to tell you more about my parent’s friends, it’s a pretty insane story).

Best,

Harry

* * *

Monday, 18 July 1994

Harry,

My aunt and uncle, Hannah’s mum and dad, were a couple of years older than your parents in school so all of my mum’s stories about them are second-hand but everything I’ve heard anyone say about them has been kind.

As for cousins, your dad was an only child, but his mum was a Patil and had at least a couple of siblings. The Patil twins are your second cousins, their dad was your dad’s first cousin. I don’t know them well; I’ve only met them in passing but from what I hear they’re nice girls. They might offer a chance to get to know your family better, if you’re interested.

How’s your summer homework going? Do you know when you’ll be at the Burrow yet? Also, have you heard anything about the World Cup?

Signed,

Cedric

* * *

Wednesday, 20 July 1994

Cedric,

I’ve gotten my potions and charms homework done so I’ll be able to get the rest done when I get to the Burrow, I’m not exactly sure when I’ll be there yet but hopefully soon, I’m ready to get out of the suburbs and back to the open air!

I had no idea that I was related to the Patils, they’ve never mentioned it. It might be something where they expected I’d known. I ran into that situation with Neville. We’re godbrothers but no one had ever told me so when we started talking about godparents this year it came up and apparently he’d thought that I’d known but just hadn’t wanted anything to do with him, I made sure to rectify that and we’ve been getting along great. I’ll be sure to bring it up to Padma and Parvati. They are in my class, Parvati is in Gryffindor and Padma is a Ravenclaw.

Ron mentioned the World Cup in his last letter, but I don’t know much about it. I have no way of keeping up with Quidditch when I’m here, anything I should know?

Best,

Harry

* * *

Sunday, 24 July 1994

Harry,

Oh no! Poor Neville, I’ll be he was excited when he learned you’d had no idea and that you actually did want to be friends. Hopefully the Patils are the same way.

The World Cup Final is scheduled to happen in August and my dad got tickets for the two of us, Matthew is going with some of his friends from work. It’s down to three teams now; Ireland, Bulgaria, and Peru. Bulgaria just beat Uganda in the first semi-final and Ireland and Peru are playing in a couple of days, I’m guessing that Ireland is going to win, they have an almost unbeatable Chaser line. I’ll let you know how the game turns out if you’d like? We listen to the games on the wireless.

I’m a Ballycastle Bats fan, they’ve always been mum’s family’s favorite team. Do you know much about the professional quidditch league?

Best,

Cedric

Tuesday, 26 July 1994

Cedric,

Ron is a massive Chudley Cannons fan. His bedroom is almost painfully orange. He, Seamus, and Neville all came in knowing a lot about quidditch, so Dean and I have had to catch up. The two of us have decided that we’re Holyhead Harpies fans. Mostly because they’re a great team, but also because Ginny Weasley bullied us into siding with her for weeks before we finally just gave in. We listen to the games on Seamus’ wireless sometimes. Do you know anything about football? Dean and I have taken it upon ourselves to educate the wizarding masses. I’m particular to Fulham and Dean’s an Arsenal fan, his stepdad sends us mutli-page letters every week with game updates.

Signed,

Harry

* * *

Thursday, 28 July 1994

Harry,

I know a bit about football, one of my roommates is Muggleborn so he’s tried to teach us about it, but I’ll have to let him know that there’s a couple other football fans at Hogwarts, so he has someone to talk to that actually understands a single word out of his mouth. And people think quidditch is confusing? For having only one ball and being played entirely on the ground, football has a ridiculous number of rules. You’ll have to try and explain it to me sometime because Truman has failed entirely. Your birthday is soon, right? Do you have any plans?

Your friend,

Cedric

Saturday, 30 July 1994

Harry,

Cato came back without a letter from you, is everything alright?

Cedric

Friday, 29 July 1994

Cedric,

Hope Cato coming without a letter didn’t concern you too much, Fred and George may have taught me how to pick locks a couple years back, but I try not to use the skill too often. Neville’s birthday is the day before mine and I had to send him a present, so I think that warrants a little jailbreaking don’t you think? I took the chance to send a couple other letters as well, but Hedwig has been instructed to go to you right after she goes to Neville, so you’re not left wondering why I sent Cato back letter-less for too long. I apologize in advance if she tries to steal your bacon or preen your hair. She’s an incredibly smart bird but also has a big personality.

My birthday is on the 31^st and I don’t have any plans but I’m looking forward to hearing from some of my friends. One of the letters that Hedwig is carrying is to Dean to let him know that I’ve finally found someone for him to chatter about football with. I’m much more of a casual fan than he is, he could talk for hours. I hope Truman is prepared.

Best,

Harry

* * *

Sunday, 31 July 1994

Harry,

You should’ve given me more than a 48-hour warning that it was your birthday! I’ll just have to have a gift ready for you when I next see you. For now, just know that I’m incredibly thankful that we’ve become friends. Writing to you has been the best part of my summer.

It sounds like Truman has finally met his match and maybe it’ll spare the both of us from having to hear about whatever the hell the offsides rule is.

Hope you have a great day and hope to see you soon.

Your friend,

Cedric

Tuesday, 2 August 1994

Cedric,

Sorry for the lack of warning on my birthday, but you really don’t need to get me anything. I’m glad we’re friends as well, writing to you has made this summer so much better. Also, guess what, Mr. Weasley got us all tickets to the World Cup! I think he won some sort of lottery for Ministry employees. Maybe I’ll see you there? And, if not, you mentioned you lived close to the Burrow so maybe I’ll see you after. I’ll be spending the rest of the summer with the Weasleys.

Best,

Harry

* * *

Thursday, 11 August 1994

Harry,

You are absolutely getting a present, no arguing. Also, sorry for the delay in writing back. My mum and I have been visiting my grandmother, but I’m back home now.

I’m so happy to hear that you’ll be coming to the cup and spending a couple weeks at the Burrow! Hopefully I’ll be able to see you, I’m getting rather bored at home. Most of my friends have been travelling with their families all summer so no one has been around to do anything. I saw the Weasley twins once, but they’ve been really busy this summer and, knowing them, whatever they’re working on is probably going to be both a risk to society and incredibly impressive. Fair warning to avoid wherever their workspace is when you get to their house! Do you know when the Weasleys are coming to get you?

Sincerely,

Cedric

Sunday, 14 August 1994

Cedric,

I got a letter from Mr. Weasley saying that they’re coming to get me on Tuesday so I think this will be my last letter from Surrey, soon I’ll be just down the road and Hedwig will be free to fly again!

See you soon,

Harry

Chapter Text

Thursday, 18 August 1994

It was far, far too early when Mrs. Weasley came into Ron’s room to shake the four boys awake. “S’ time already?” Fred mumbled. Harry rather had to agree, he felt like he’d just fallen asleep.

By some miracle, they all made it downstairs where they found Mrs. Weasley at the stove and Mr. Weasley sorting through a pile of tickets. This was the first professional quidditch match he was going to get to see but, strangely, all Harry could think about was how excited he was to see Cedric.

After Hermione and Ginny finally appeared and Mrs. Weasley had a grand old time yelling at the twins about the sweets they’d been developing, the group (minus Bill, Charlie, and Percy, who were lucky enough to be apparating in later) started the hike toward … somewhere … Harry honestly wasn’t sure.

It took a rather long-winded explanation about wizards in muggle areas before Mr. Weasley finally said they were hiking toward a portkey. When they finally reached the top of Stoatshead Hill, they split up to search for whatever the portkey might be. After a minute or two, they heard someone call “Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we’ve got it!”

“Amos,” Mr. Weasley called back, smiling as he walked toward the man.

That was a name Harry recognized, meaning … he started to search around for golden brown hair and bright grey eyes and that handsome grin.

There was a soft rustling and then Cedric swung out of a nearby tree, shooting Harry that grin and oh.

Is this what a crush felt like?

Harry was rather thankful it was dark out, hopefully no one would be able to see his blush in the morning light. He did his best to smile back and for some reason Cedric’s grin grew wider.

Harry finally tuned back into the conversation when he heard Mr. Weasley say his name.

“Merlin’s beard,” he heard Cedric’s dad exclaim, “Harry? Harry Potter?”

Oh, sweet Jesus.

Harry was getting quite sick of this being people’s reaction to him, but he knew there was next to nothing he could do to change it.

But instead of saying that out loud, Harry just said, “er – yeah.”

“Ced’s talked about you of course,” Amos said. Harry shot Cedric a look, one eyebrow raised as if to say oh, have you? And if Harry wasn’t mistaken, Cedric was absolutely blushing. “Told us all about playing against you last year … I said to him, I said – Ced, that’ll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will… You beat Harry Potter!”

Harry was starting to understand Cedric’s complaints about his dad. If he were either slightly more petty or slightly more awake, Harry probably would’ve made some quip about Amos trying to win a game while listening to his mother’s dying screams but, alas.

“Harry fell of his broom, Dad,” Cedric muttered, “I told you … it was an accident…”

Harry tried to tell Cedric either through the look on his face or just somehow magically forcing his thoughts across the circle to give it up and that he didn’t really care and that it wasn’t his fault that his dad somehow had less tact than Harry which is truly an accomplishment.

“Yes, but you didn’t fall off, did you?” Amos roared genially, slapping his son on the back. “Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman … but the best man won, I’m sure Harry’d say the same, wouldn’t you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don’t need to be a genius to tell which one’s the better flier!”

Harry was starting to wonder if it was socially acceptable to thump a grown man over the head, but he was pulled from his musings by Mr. Weasley saying, “must be nearly time, do you know whether we’re waiting for any more, Amos?”

The two adult wizards spoke back and forth, listing off the families who lived nearby that might be coming or who’d already left, Harry wasn’t paying attention though, he was just looking at Cedric … and apparently not doing a great job of covering it up if George’s elbow in his right side was any indication.

“Pretty boy, eh?” Fred whispered into his left ear.

Harry turned scarlet and swallowed hard before sending his elbows into the twins’ stomachs, “quit it,” he hissed.

He was saved from further teasing by Amos picking up the boot and Mr. Weasley looking for Harry and Hermione to instruct them on how portkeys work, his instruction was rather lackluster because they were both entirely unprepared for the feeling of being jerked through space and time a moment later.

His feet slammed into the ground, Ron staggered into him and fell over, and the portkey hit the ground near his head with a heavy thud. Harry looked up and found that Arthur, Amos, and Cedric were still standing and everybody else was on the ground.

Harry disentangled himself from Ron and got to his feet. Cedric was looking at him with undisguised amusement and Harry just barely held himself back from sticking out his tongue.

The men working at the portkey site directed them toward their respective tent site managers and the group headed down the hill. Harry couldn’t decide if he wanted to talk to Cedric or avoid him for the foreseeable future, but the decision was taken away from him when Ron and Hermione fell into step, flanking him on both sides.

Harry and Hermione spent the next 20 minutes listening to Ron ramble on about the odds of the upcoming match, when they finally reached a small stone cottage and a gate to a campground Harry nearly sighed in relief.

It appeared that this was where they’d be splitting off, Harry looked over his shoulder and caught Cedric’s eye. The older boy smiled and winked before following after his father and Harry momentarily forgot how to breathe.

* * *

The World Cup was insane from start to finish.

When they finally got to the Burrow after … everything … Harry was looking forward to being able to see Cedric. He really wanted to see him in general, but right now he mostly just wanted to make sure he was alright.

“Harry dear,” Molly said once everyone was settled inside, “there’s a letter for you, I didn’t recognize the owl.”

Harry recognized the handwriting on the outside of the parchment immediately.

Harry,

My parents have pretty well lost their minds after what happened last night so I’m on total lockdown until the train leaves. I probably won’t be able to escape to the Burrow, but I’ll keep writing and I’ll see you on the train on September 1^st.

Are all of you alright? Please let me know soon before I totally freak out and try to sneak past my parents to come see for myself that you’re safe.

Your friend,

Cedric

Harry couldn’t have kept the grin from spreading across his face for anything. Of course, he was sad that he wouldn’t get to see Cedric before school, but he knew that he was safe, and Cedric was worried about whether Harry was safe. It was that last bit that made a warmth spread from Harry’s chest. He thanked Mrs. Weasley for setting the letter aside and darted up the stairs to find Hedwig and send a reply. In his haste to get upstairs, he didn’t notice the look of amusement that Fred and George shared.

Cedric,

All is well here, we’re all safe, thank you for checking. I’m glad to hear you’re safe as well, is your brother alright? I remember you saying that he was going with his friends.

I’m sad that we won’t be able to see each other before school, but there’s only a few days left before we board the train, so I’ll see you soon. Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Your friend,

Harry

Chapter Text

Thursday, 1 September 1994

The weather certainly knew summer had ended.

Rain was pounding on the windows of the Burrow as Harry got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, he’d change into his school robes on the Express. He, Ron, Fred, and George had just arrived at the first-floor landing when Mrs. Weasley appeared yelling for Mr. Weasley. The boys pressed themselves as close to the wall as possible as Mr. Weasley came careening down the stairs.

While Mrs. Weasley dug around in a drawer to find a quill for Mr. Weasley to write a response to whatever message he’d received from the Ministry, Mr. Weasley was bending over the fire to talk to … was that Amos Diggory’s head in the fireplace? Magic never ceased to amaze Harry.

The pair were talking about something, likely something important but at the sight of Amos Diggory, all thoughts not about Cedric Diggory had fled Harry’s head.

Harry vaguely heard them talking about someone named Mad-Eye, but all he could think about was the fact that he’d get to see Cedric today. He zoned back in to the sound of Fred stifling a laugh and George putting on a rather exaggerated swooning act. It took everything in Harry to not shove them both down the last few stairs.

After a rather enlightening breakfast conversation about why Mad-Eye Moody is called Mad-Eye Moody and what, exactly, Aurors are, the Weasleys minus Percy plus Harry and Hermione headed to the Muggle village near the Burrow where Mrs. Weasley braved the pay phone to order taxis.

Thus ensued the strangest taxi ride Harry had ever been a part of, and likely the strangest taxi ride any of the drivers had been a part of what with the owls and Filibuster’s Fireworks going off in Fred’s trunk. Crookshanks, in particular, was not happy with the situation. By the time they arrived in London, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all severely scratched.

Despite the heavy downpour, they were all rather excited to exit the cars when they got to Kings Cross.

The only difficult part of entering Platform 9 ¾ (now that Harry was used to it) was doing it in a way that didn’t raise alarms for surrounding Muggles. Harry, Ron, and Hermione leaned against the platform entrance like they were chatting and then slid sideways through it, hoping no one had noticed them simply disappearing into thin air.

The Hogwarts Express, in all its gleaming scarlet glory, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it, filling the platform with a fog that made everyone appear like dark ghosts from a distance. The air was filled with the hooting of owls and the sounds of families saying goodbye.

They made their way down the platform and said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie.

“I might be seeing you all sooner than you think,” Charlie said, grinning as he hugged Ginny.

Fred and George perked up like particularly excited puppies, “why?” Fred asked.

“You’ll see,” Charlie said, he had to know that he was egging them on. “Just don’t tell Percy I mentioned it … it’s ‘classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,’ after all.”

“Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year,” Bill added, hands in his pockets, looking wistfully at the train.

“Why?” George asked, sounding rather impatient.

“You’re going to have an interesting year,” Bill said, eyes twinkling at a near-Dumbledore level, boy the oldest two Weasleys were having fun with this. “I might even get a bit of time off to come and watch a bit of it…”

“A bit of what?” Ron asked, unable to hold himself back any longer.

But then, as if perfectly timed, the whistle blew and Mrs. Weasley all but picked them up and threw them on to the train.

“Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione called as they climbed on board, leaning out the window to talk to her.

“Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley,” Harry added, his head popping up over Hermione’s shoulder.

“Oh, it was my pleasure, dears,” she responded, before joining the fun her oldest two sons had been having, “I’d invite you for Christmas, but … well, I expect you’re all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with … one thing and another.”

“Mum!” Ron said, totally irritated now, “what d’you three know that we don’t?”

“You’ll find out this evening, I expect,” Mrs. Weasley said, smiling up at them as if she had no clue that any of them were frustrated, though the twinkle in her eye matched Bill’s, “it’s going to be very exciting – mind you, I’m very glad they’ve changed the rules –”

“What rules?” Harry, Ron, Fred, and George shouted back together.

“I’m sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you … Now, behave won’t you? Won’t you, Fred? And you, George?”

The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to move.

“Tell us what’s happening at Hogwarts!” Fred yelled out the window, “what rules are they changing?”

But Mrs. Weasley just smiled and waved and between one breath in the next, she, Bill, and Charlie had disapparated.

They’d just sat down in a compartment and Ron had thrown his horrific maroon dress robes over Pig’s cage to quiet him down when they heard a familiar drawling voice from the hallway, it appeared it was time for Malfoy’s annual visit to their compartment.

Well, it would have been if Hermione hadn’t gotten up and quietly slid their compartment door shut.

“So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?” Hermione said angrily, “I wish he had gone, then we wouldn’t have to put up with him.”

“Durmstrang’s another Wizarding school?” Harry asked.

“Yes,” Hermione said, before going on to explain that it was a school that put a rather large emphasis on the Dark Arts and explaining that no one knew where the school actually was.

“Come off it,” Ron said, starting to laugh, “Durmstrang’s got to be about the same size as Hogwarts – how are you going to hide a great big castle?”

“But Hogwarts is hidden,” Hermione said, “everyone knows that … well, everyone who’s read Hogwarts: A History, anyway.”

It was getting to the point where Ron and Harry hadn’t ready Hogwarts: A History solely so they could hear this lecture from Hermione every single time they asked a stupid question. It was almost principle at this point.

Turns out, Hogwarts just appears as a ruin with a Danger: Keep Out sign to any Muggle. Hermione told them she thought Durmstrang was probably somewhere in the far north, though, because their uniforms apparently have fur capes.

“Ah, think of the possibilities,” Ron said with a dreamy tone, “it would’ve been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident, shame his mother likes him.”

The further the train moved north, the rainier and drearier the weather got. As the afternoon progressed, several of their friends came in to say hello. Seamus, Dean, and Neville all stopped by, the main topic of conversation was the World Cup so it didn’t take very long for Hermione to give up on the conversation and pull out The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and start trying to learn a summoning charm.

“Gran didn’t want to go,” Neville sighed, rather jealous that he’d missed out on the World Cup, “wouldn’t buy tickets. It sounded amazing though.”

Harry found himself wishing that Neville had come with them. He’d gotten a lot closer to his godbrother over the past year. He was one of the only people in Harry’s life who was happy to just sit in silence. He’d never expected anything amazing from Harry, he just wanted to be his friend.

Ron was showing Neville his Viktor Krum figurine and talking about their time at the match when Harry realized they’d forgotten to close the compartment door.

“We were in the Top Box -” Ron was saying before he was cut off by that drawling, self-important voice.

“For the first and last time in your life, Weasley.” Draco Malfoy had appeared, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot over the summer.

“Don’t remember asking you to join us, Malfoy,” Harry said coolly.

“Weasley, what is that?” Malfoy said, pointing at Pig’s cage. A sleeve of Ron’s dress robes was visible, the moldy lace cuff very obvious. Ron tried to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy was too quick.

“Look at this!” Malfoy said, sounding nearly ecstatic, holding up the dress robes to show Crabbe and Goyle, “Weasley, you weren’t thinking of wearing these were you? I mean – they were very fashionable in about 1890 …”

“Eat dung, Malfoy!” Ron said, the same color as the dress robes as he snatched them out of Malfoy’s grip. Malfoy and his goons were laughing. Malfoy then spent several minutes hinting at what he knew was going to happen at school this year. When they finally left, Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them the glass shattered. Hermione quickly shot a Reparo toward the window and the glass shards flew back into place.

Harry then spent the rest of the ride listening to Ron and Hermione snap at each other before it was finally time to change into their school robes.

Harry called hello to Hagrid as they got off the train and they all shivered in sympathy as they realized the first years were going to have to ride boats across the lake in this weather.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed into one of the hundred waiting horseless carriages and started their trek up to the castle. The wind was somehow getting harsher as they made their way up the path and when they finally made it inside and started to dry off, they were immediately soaked again by Peeves throwing water balloons.

“PEEVES!” a thick Scottish brogue yelled, “Peeves, come down here at ONCE!”

Professor McGonagall came dashing out of the Great Hall, skidding to a stop on the wet floor, and grabbing Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling.

“Ouch, sorry, Miss Granger.”

“That’s alright, Professor,” Hermione said, massaging her throat.

They escaped into the Great Hall as McGonagall continued yelling at the resident poltergeist.

Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, appeared in front of them, “good evening,” he said, beaming at them.

“Says who?” Harry responded, taking off his sneakers and pouring the water out of them, “hope they hurry up with the Sorting, I’m starving.”

This was actually the first Sorting that Harry would be at since his own, with the flying car in 2^nd year and the dementors on the train last year. He was actually looking forward to it, but he really was starving.

Just then, an excited and breathless Colin Creevey appeared out of nowhere, “hiya, Harry!”

“Hi, Colin,” Harry greeted back.

“Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother’s starting! My brother Dennis!”

Colin was a great kid, really, but Harry wasn’t sure he’d ever had the amount of energy this kid displayed on a daily basis. It was honestly impressive.

“Er – good,” Harry responded, genuinely bewildered by the 3^rd year who was practically bouncing in his seat.

“He’s really excited!” Colin said, “I just hope he’s in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?”

Harry couldn’t decide whether he hoped Dennis was a Gryffindor so Colin got his way or hoped he’d be in one of the other three houses if he was anywhere near as energetic as Colin, he was a bit afraid the Tower might collapse if the chaos of the Weasley twins was compounded by the energy of the Creevey brothers.

Someone mentioned something about the Head Table looking empty and Harry spent the next few minutes analyzing the professors, trying to figure out who might be missing.

“Oh hurry up,” Ron moaned beside Harry, “I could eat a hippogriff.”

As if the universe were listening, the doors to the Great Hall banged open and Professor McGonagall entered with a line of firsties, one of whom was drowning in Hagrid’s moleskin overcoat. He looked around the hall and his face lit up when he found Colin. He gave a double thumbs-up and mouthed I fell in the lake! And to Harry’s surprise, he looked positively delighted by that fact. It was looking like they were going to have another Creevey lion by the end of the night.

The sorting began and Harry politely clapped for each name. When “Branstone, Eleanor!” was sorted Hufflepuff, Harry’s gaze swept up the table of yellow robes. He caught Cedric’s eye and was just about to look away when he realized the other boy was looking back and grinning. Harry thought for a second he might just be smiling at the Sorting in general, but the wink he shot Harry’s way dispelled that notion pretty quickly.

Harry snapped back to his surroundings when a sopping wet Dennis Creevey came tripping up to the table all but shouting, “Colin, I fell in! It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!”

“Cool!” Colin said, just as excitedly, “it was probably the giant squid, Dennis!”

“Wow!” Dennis said, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being thrown into a giant magical lake in the middle of a raging storm and be pushed out by a massive sea monster.

Harry found himself hoping that Fred and George never took these two under their wing, the castle wouldn’t survive.

Finally, “Whitby, Kevin!” went to Hufflepuff and the Sorting ended. Ron picked up his knife and fork and stared art his plate, waiting for food to appear.

Sir Nick then just had to mention that there were house elves working in the kitchens which sent Hermione off on a trademarked rampage. She didn’t eat another bite of dinner and when Ron tried to get her to eat dessert she sent him a look that wouldn’t have been out of place on McGonagall, so he wisely gave up.

When the deserts disappeared, Dumbledore rose to his feet and gave his normal speech about banned objects and the Forbidden Forest being … forbidden before he announced that quidditch had been cancelled for the year.

Harry found himself thanking whatever deity might be listening that Oliver Wood had graduated the year prior because the fall out of that statement had he still been here would’ve been catastrophic.

But then, Dumbledore started to make an announcement about some event that would start in October. It was likely whatever everyone had been hinting at all day, but he was interrupted by a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Hall swinging open.

A grizzled wizard with dark gray hair and deep scars was standing in the doorway, leaning on a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step as he made his way to the staff table.

Dumbledore introduced the man as Mad-Eye Moody, the new DADA teacher.

Moody took a seat and one of his eyes, large and vivid, electric blue, began roving independently from the other eye. It scanned the hall and seemed to linger on Harry for a moment too long.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued his announcement, “as I was saying,” he said, smiling out at the sea of students, all of whom were still looking at Mad-Eye, “we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.”

“You’re JOKING!” Fred said, loudly.

The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody’s arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

“I am not joking, Mr. Weasley,” he said, “though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…”

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

“Er – but maybe this is not the time … no …” Dumbledore said before continuing his explanation of the Tournament.

Harry was just rather excited that the age line meant he wasn’t going to be dragged into this year’s crazy.

* * *

Sunday, 30 October 1994

The next two months passed largely like normal, if you don’t count Moody both transfiguring Malfoy into a ferret and showing the Unforgiveable Curses to a bunch of 14-year-olds.

Harry also found himself continuously distracted by one Cedric Diggory.

They didn’t see each other all that often outside of meals, being in two different years, but it seemed like every time Harry looked toward the Hufflepuff table, Cedric was already looking at him. Harry felt a bit like he was going out of his mind. Hermione had cottoned on pretty quickly so now it wasn’t just the Weasley twins teasing him, but Hermione as well. Though at least she tended to evenly split her time between teasing and asking genuine questions about whether he had a crush, how he felt about having a crush on a boy, and reminding him that she loved him no matter what.

Hermione was a good friend.

Cedric had also had a pretty normal couple of months. Moody was clearly off his rocker, but that wasn’t necessarily new as far as DADA professors went. The professor his first year had literally killed a student so really nothing was too out of left field for that post.

What wasn’t exactly normal, though, was the amount of time he spent staring at Harry Potter. He probably would’ve told himself to stop being creepy if it hadn’t been obvious that Harry enjoyed the attention. Cedric really, really wanted to get over his nerves and actually approach the younger boy and make his intentions clear. It was obvious that he was going to have to spell it out, but he just hadn’t found the right opportunity (oh, alright, he was completely and utterly terrified to lay his feelings out but just let him pretend it’s a matter of opportunity).

Cho had noticed almost immediately and had taken to teasing Cedric relentlessly. She was lucky he loved her, otherwise she’d have found herself at the end of a powerful silencing charm.

It was the day the foreign schools were arriving, and the castle had been polished to a shine.

The schools’ arrivals were rather impressive, as was the feast they’d shared. Then Dumbledore presented the impartial judge which turned out to be a wooden cup. Something told Cedric that a cup might be a rather easy judge to fool, but he also wasn’t one to question ancient magical objects.

They’d have the next day to submit their names to the Goblet for a chance to be selected as their school’s Champion. Cedric had decided that he was going to enter, his father had been hinting at it over the summer and had outright suggested he enter in his more recent letters. Eternal glory sounded alright, but he was mostly doing it to make his father happy.

* * *

Monday, 31 October 1994

“Harry Potter,” Dumbledore called after he caught the surprise fourth slip of paper the Goblet had split out.

So much for avoiding this year’s crazy.

Chapter Text

Monday, 31 October 1994

Harry was pretty sure his legs had stopped working.

“Harry Potter,” Dumbledore repeated.

Hermione all but shoved him off the bench and toward the side chamber with the other Champions. The three of-age wixen who’d actually put their name into that godforsaken Goblet. Harry was fucked.

Not to mention that one of those three of-age wixen who’d actually put their name into the godforsaken Goblet was the guy he had a massive, life-altering crush on. Harry was, well and truly, fucked.

Harry was also rather thankful that Hermione had shoved him toward the side chamber because, if left to his own devices, he’d have sat at the Gryffindor table staring dumbstruck at Dumbledore for the foreseeable future.

Sometime between his name being called and Hermione shoving him off the bench, he thinks he’d said that he hadn’t put his name in, but he honestly couldn’t be sure if he’d said that out loud or just screamed it in his head. Why, oh why, does insane shit continue to happen to him? And on Halloween of all days? Can’t a guy mourn his parents in peace? Between trolls and death tournaments, Harry would choose a troll every time. This was getting ridiculous.

Harry made his way into the side chamber in a total stupor, though he was aware enough to realize that Dumbledore wasn’t smiling, and his eyes were certainly not twinkling. That, more than anything, was a concerning development. Harry had rather thought that was a permanent feature.

The three Champions were standing grouped around the fire. Krum was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry walked in, “what is it?” she asked, “do zey want us back in ze Hall?”

Harry didn’t have a chance to answer before Ludo Bagman came darting into the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward.

“Extraordinary!” he said, squeezing Harry’s arm, “absolutely extraordinary! Gentlement … lady, may I introduce – incredible though it may seem – the fourth Triwizard champion?”

Strangely, Harry’s first clear thought was that “Tri”wizard was a rather stupid name now.

Cedric appeared to be in shock, darting his eyes back and forth between Bagman and Harry. Fuck, Harry thought, there goes any chance I had.

Fleur was the first one to respond, “oh, very funny joke, Mister Bagman.”

“Joke?” Bagman repeated, “no, no, not at all! Harry’s name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!”

Krum looked pissed, Cedric still looked entirely bewildered, Fleur frowned, “but evidently ziar ‘as been a mistake,” she said, “e cannot compete, e is too young.”

Harry decided he liked Fleur. He really didn’t care why she was arguing that he couldn’t compete, he was just thankful that someone else had realized how absurd this whole situation was.

Bagman was muttering some utter bullshite about how Harry had to compete, and the age restriction had only been added this year when the door behind them opened and a large group entered: Dumbledore, Mr. Crouch, Karkaroff, Madame Maxine, McGonagall, and Snape.

Usually, Snape was the last person Harry would want to see in any given circumstance, but if anyone were going to argue that Harry shouldn’t be allowed to do something, it would be him.

“Madame Maxine!” Fleur called as they entered the room, “zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!”

Harry bristled at her calling him a little boy but, if he were to be honest, compared to the other three champions, he really was a little boy. They were all 17-year-old trained wizards and he was a 14-year-old Muggle raised disaster of a human being. This wasn’t going to end well.

Madame Maxine and Karakaroff immediately turned on Dumbledore, demanding an explanation at which point Dumbledore stared Harry down and asked if he’d put his name in the Goblet, no, had he had someone else put his name in the Goblet, no.

After some more argument, they all looked to Mr. Crouch for his determination. He was entirely unhelpful.

“We must follow the rules,” Crouch said, “and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament.”

“Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front,” Bagman said, as though that settled everything.

Harry found himself thinking that the rule book probably made no mention of chaos magnets who can’t seem to escape life-threatening situations, but he wasn’t about to voice that opinion.

They all kept arguing until a gruff voice said from the back of the room, “empty threat, Karkaroff, you can’t leave your champion now. He’s got to compete. They’ve all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?”

“Convenient?” Karkaroff asked, “I’m afraid I don’t understand you, Moody.”

It was clear that Karkaroff did not like Moody, no matter how much he tried to sound aloof and disdainful.

“Don’t you?” Moody said quietly, “it’s very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter’s name in that goblet knowing he’d have to compete if it came out.”

No one liked that explanation, and everyone kept yelling while Harry kept wishing he could just disappear. He zoned back in when he heard Moody say, “maybe someone’s hoping Potter is going to die for it.”

Alright, what the fuck. He’d missed something important, but he also didn’t really want to ask why, exactly, the insane ex-auror thought he was going to die. Something about Moody made Harry’s hair stand on end.

The silence in the room was almost palpable until it was finally broken by Bagman saying “Moody, old man … what a thing to say!”

“We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn’t discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime,” Karkaroff cut in and Harry took that as his cue to zone out again.

He was avoiding eye contact with everyone, staring at his shoes and, again, wishing he could just disappear. As such, he was entirely ignorant to the looks Cedric was sending him.

Cedric had gone from confused to angry in record time. Someone hoping Harry would die? Not on his watch. And Harry just looked so defeated. Cedric had no clue what to do.

Finally, Dumbledore just straight up declared that both Harry and Cedric would have to compete, and they moved on to the instruction part of the evening. The first task would take place on November the 24^th, the champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers, and they’d face the first challenge armed only with their wands, also they’d be exempt from end-of-year exams.

“Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed,” Dumbledore said, smiling at both of them, “I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise.”

Harry finally glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left together.

The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burned low.

“So,” Cedric said, with a slight smile, “we’re playing against each other again.”

“I suppose,” Harry said, he couldn’t think of anything to say. His thoughts were in utter disarray.

“So, tell me,” Cedric said as they reached the entrance hall, “how did you get your name in?”

Harry was so out of sorts he didn’t notice that Cedric’s tone had edged on teasing.

“I didn’t,” Harry said, completely earnest, staring up at Cedric, almost begging him to believe him, “I didn’t put it in, I was telling the truth. You have to believe me, Cedric. I didn’t put my name in,”

“Harry,” Cedric said, trying to cut off his rambling.

“I really didn’t put my name in, Cedric, I don’t want to compete, I don’t want to be involved, you’re the Hogwarts Champion, it should be,”

“Fuck it,” Cedric said before grabbing Harry’s face and pressing their lips together.

Harry had hardly realized it was happening before Cedric pulled away. The older boy took a step back and Harry stared at him in open shock, not able to process what had just happened. Cedric started to take another step back and Harry finally shook out of his stupor, “wait,” he said, reaching out and wrapping a hand around Cedric’s tie, pulling him back in.

Harry had to press up onto his toes to reach Cedric’s lips. He’d never noticed how much taller Cedric was, Harry barely reached his shoulder.

It was a quick kiss, but at least Harry was fully aware it was happening that time.

After a moment, Harry pulled away and stepped back, releasing Cedric’s tie, “you believe me?”

“Of course,” Cedric said, as if it were that easy, as if it had always been that easy, “of course I believe you.”

“Thank you,” Harry said, smiling softly, “I don’t want to keep you from your celebration, I’ll see you around?”

“See you,” Cedric said, waving as Harry turned and headed for the stairs.

Cedric just stood there, entirely dumbstruck, as he watched Harry’s form fade into the distance.

After several minutes, he shook his head and smiled to himself as he turned toward the stairs to the dungeons. He wasn’t even slightly sure what he’d just gotten himself in to, but he couldn’t help but feel it was something great.

Chapter Text

Monday, 31 October 1994

Somehow, Harry made it up the stairs to the Tower. He passed through the portrait hole and bee-lined for Hermione, not even noticing the entirety of Gryffindor House crowded into the common room to celebrate his being selected as a Champion.

Hermione was sitting on a couch in the corner of the room and Harry all but crashed into the cushions next to her, lovesick, soppy grin plastered on his face. He finally came to when a pillow came down over his head, “Harry James!” Hermione yelled, snapping her fingers in his face.

“Hermione Jean!” Harry yelled back, still grinning, “what?”

“I’ve been calling your name for a full minute, what happened,” she said, staring at him like he’d lost his mind, “wait, don’t tell me, Diggory?”

All Harry could do was nod before twin terrors dropped onto the couch on either side of him, “what about Diggory?” Fred asked from Harry’s right.

“Harry came in grinning like a loon, and it has something to do with Diggory,” Hermione said, quickly filling them in.

“Did he believe you that you didn’t put your name in?” George asked. He’d always just somehow known what Harry was really thinking. Hermione was like that too, to an extent, and Fred was good at picking up cues based on George’s reactions, but George just understood Harry in a way very few people did. It was rather lucky, actually, because Fred was the same way with Ron.

Harry grinned up at George, “yeah, he did.”

“That’s not all though,” George said, staring Harry down, “something else happened.”

“Maybe,” Harry said, grin coming back in full force.

“Oh, Merlin,” Fred sighed, “we have to talk to Diggory now don’t we.”

“I believe we do, Freddie,” George said, though he was grinning back at Harry.

“What happened?” Hermione interrupted, “what am I missing?”

“He kissed me,” Harry whispered. Her squeal gave him a 0.5 second warning before he had a lapful of Hermione.

“Where’s Ron?” Harry asked once he got air back in his lungs, looking around the room. He spotted Neville, Seamus, and Dean in one corner who all waved at him when he caught their eye. Neville looked concerned and Harry gave a miniscule shake of his head that Neville easily understood to mean we’ll talk later. But Ron was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah,” Fred said, clearing his throat.

That was all it took for reality to come crashing down.

Ron didn’t believe he hadn’t put his name in. Actually, most of the school didn’t believe he hadn’t put his name in. It was like 2^nd year all over again, Harry withdrew from everyone except Hermione, Neville, Fred, and George.

* * *

Saturday, 5 November 1994

It had been nearly a week since Cedric had kissed Harry and now he couldn’t as much as catch the younger boy’s eye across the Great Hall. Cedric was about ready to corner Harry and (calmly) demand an explanation when he was unceremoniously shoved into an abandoned classroom.

He’d hardly had time to notice where he was before he heard the incantations for a locking and silencing charm. He was momentarily worried that he was about to be attacked when he realized it was the Weasley twins and calmed down, then he realized it was the Weasley twins and got anxious all over again.

“What can I do for you?” he asked, doing his best to cover up how nervous this situation was making him.

One of them, he’s pretty sure it was Fred, sighed and looked toward his twin, “he’s your brother, you explain.”

“What do you mean?” Cedric asked, “is something wrong with Ron?”

“No,” the second twin said, “Harry.”

“Brother?”

“We’ve all but adopted Harry.”

“Right but then why would he only be your brother?”

“Ah,” the second twin said with a nod, “I can see why that would be confusing, Freddie claimed Ron and I claimed Harry,” so this is George, Cedric thought, trying to subtly analyze the two to find differences now that he had a clear indication of which was which for the moment, “they tend to get into rather explosive spats so it’s just easier if they both have a brother to turn to, also Harry and I think alike and Fred and Ron think alike so it just works.”

“Got it,” Cedric said with a nod, “what’s the problem with Harry? I was just thinking about going to find him to talk to him.”

“Don’t do that,” George said, voice brokering no argument.

“Why?” Cedric asked, rather thrown off by George’s tone.

George sighed before gesturing to a clump of desks. Once they’d all sat down, he began to explain, “I’m not sure what all you know about Harry’s home life, but he didn’t grow up loved and spoiled like we were all led to believe.”

“He’s mentioned that in passing,” Cedric said, “but I think I’ve put together most of the story from other off-handed comments and things I’ve observed.”

“I’m sure you have,” George said, “but what I’m getting at is that because he didn’t grow up loved, he’s been conditioned to believe that he has to earn love and that he deserves to be mistreated. The problem right now is that the entire school has turned against him. He knows in his head that you believe him, that he didn’t put his name into the Goblet, but Ron, his closest friend, doesn’t believe him and has been rather outspoken about that. Ron is mostly just jealous which is something we’re working on, but he’s also stubborn as all hell so it’s going to take something big for him to admit he’s wrong. But, because of that, Harry is having a hard time believing that anyone believes him. He’s all but gone mute except for with Hermione, Neville, and the two of us.”

“I really think everything will be alright after the first task,” Fred cut in, “I think that whatever it is will be dangerous enough that Ron will realize there’s no way Harry got himself into this and then he’ll apologize and everything will be fine. But the reason we’re talking to you is to warn you that if you push Harry he’ll push back. We like you and we like how happy you make Harry, we don’t want whatever is happening between the two of you to be ruined because you never got the chance to understand how he works, so we’re telling you how he works.”

“Let him come to you,” George suggested, “I’m sure he will. He’s started responding when Dean talks to him which is normally the next step. If he starts speaking without being spoken to, we’ll suggest he seeks you out.”

“You two know him really well,” Cedric said, slightly awed.

“He’s our little brother,” George said with a shrug.

“That doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone,” Cedric said with a sigh.

Fred and George shot each other a look, they knew of Matthew Diggory, he’d been Bill’s roommate, but they didn’t actually know him.

Cedric saw their look and decided it’d be easier to just explain, “Matt helps when I ask but he doesn’t actually understand me. He’s a good brother but he’s not my friend, not in the way that I can tell all of you are friends with each other. You took Harry and Hermione under your wing no questions asked because they mattered to Ron. You’re good brothers, they’re all lucky to have you.”

“Thanks,” Fred said, both sad for Cedric and his brother and touched that Cedric had noticed how much they cared for their younger siblings.

“We want this to work out,” George said, “you can ask us questions if Harry does something you don’t understand. But, at the same time, know that if you hurt him we will thoroughly destroy you.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else,” Cedric said with a laugh, “thank you for telling me all of this, I absolutely would’ve pushed him and I don’t want to inadvertently hurt him or push him away.”

“You’re a good guy, Diggory,” Fred said, patting Cedric on the shoulder as he stood up.

George took one last look at Cedric before nodding and following his brother out of the room, as he reached the door, he looked over his shoulder and said, “be good to him, Cedric.”

* * *

Monday, 21 November 1994

“Cedric,” Harry said, stepping up to the bench Cedric was laying on in the Transfiguration Courtyard, surrounded by his friends, “can I talk to you a minute?”

Cedric nearly threw himself off the bench at the sound of Harry’s voice. He waved off his friends and followed Harry to an alcove near the entrance.

“Hey,” he said, using every last ounce of his will power to not reach out and pull Harry into a hug. He’d barely seen him since Halloween and was taking the opportunity to drink in his appearance. Bright green eyes, messy black curls, honeyed skin, soft pink lips…

“Dragons,” Harry said, snapping Cedric out of his reverie, “the first task is dragons.”

“What?” Cedric said, his thoughts screeching to a halt.

“Dragons,” Harry repeated, speaking quickly, “they’ve got four, one for each of us, and we’ve got to get past them.”

Cedric just stared at him and Harry saw some of the panic he’d been feeling since Saturday night flickering in those beautiful blue gray eyes.

“Are you sure?” Cedric whispered.

“Dead sure,” Harry said, “I’ve seen them.”

“How did you,” Cedric started before shaking his head, Harry had some way of just knowing things that no one could figure out, “never mind, do the others know?”

“Yes,” Harry said, nodding his head, “I know that Maxime and Karkaroff both saw them and I’m sure they’ve told Krum and Fleur.”

Cedric was about to ask Harry how he’d been, why he was telling him about the dragons, how he actually knew about the dragons, how everything with Ron was … anything, when they heard a familiar clunking noise coming up behind them.

“Come with me, Potter,” Moody growled, “Diggory, off you go.”

Cedric watched as Harry stared at Moody for a moment before seemingly giving in to whatever was about to happen and following after him. He looked over his shoulder and for just a second Cedric thought he saw the same fondness and desire he’d gotten used to seeing in those green eyes but then the pair turned the corner and Cedric was left alone in the Courtyard, thoughts filled with impossibly green eyes and crooked smiles and dragons.

Harry followed Moody into his office for a conversation that sounded a rather lot like cheating but at least he had a plan by the time he made it to the greenhouse, “Hermione,” he whispered, “I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by Thursday afternoon.”

* * *

Thursday, 24 November 1994

Thursday afternoon came around far too quickly for Harry’s taste. He’d learned how to do the Summoning Charm, now it was just a matter of not getting crispy fried by dragon fire while he flew around. This was absurd. For the first time he found himself wishing he could’ve just gone to Stonewall High, there’s no shot there are dragons at Stonewall High.

Harry was walking into lunch when he saw McGonagall hurrying over to him.

“Potter,” she said, “the champions have to come down onto the grounds now. You have to get ready for your first task.”

“Okay,” Harry said, standing up to follow her out of the Hall.

“Good luck, Harry,” Hermione whispered, squeezing his hand, “you’ll be fine.”

“Yeah,” Harry muttered, his voice hardly sounding like his own.

He left the Great Hall, following after McGonagall. She looked nearly as anxious as Hermione and Harry found himself wanting to admit that he already knew what he was facing. He probably would’ve if he thought that would make her any less anxious but, at the end of the day, she was sending her14-year-old student into a pen with a dragon after she’d been the loudest advocate for getting him out of this disaster so he rather thought nothing would make her less anxious.

“Now don’t panic,” she said as they approached the enclosure, Harry wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or herself, “just keep a cool head, we’ve got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand. The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you. Are you all right?”

Harry decided McGonagall was his new favorite. To be fair, there was very little competition (and he wasn’t counting Hagrid, because no staff member would ever beat Hagrid), but she was absolutely his favorite in this moment.

“Yes,” Harry said, trying to sound confident, trying to put both himself and his newly crowned favorite professor at ease, “yes, I’m fine.”

They approached a tent that was blocking their view of what Harry knew to be the dragon enclosure.

“You’re to go in here with the other champions,” she said, her voice still rather shaky, “and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there, he’ll be telling you the – the procedure. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Harry said. He found himself wanting to hug her but thankfully held himself back. There was a non-zero chance that she’d hex him if he hugged her. She left him at the entrance of the tent, and he went inside.

Fleur was seated in the corner on a low wooden stool. She looked rather pale and clammy. Krum looked even surlier than normal, and Cedric was pacing up and down.

When Harry entered the tent, Cedric gave him a small smile which he returned. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to walk up and let himself be folded into Cedric’s arms, but they were far from alone. So, again, he held himself back.

“Harry! Good-o!” Bagaman said, sounding incredibly happy for someone who was about to send four teenagers into a pen with mother dragons, “come in, come in, make yourself fat home!”

It was then that Harry noticed Bagman was wearing his old Wasps robes again. He looked like an overblown cartoon figure.

Now that all the champions were there, Bagman pulled out a bag and Harry had to stop himself from laughing at the fact that Bagman had become a bagman.

“I’m going to be offering you each this bag,” he said, holding up a small purple silk sack, “from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face. There are different – er – varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too … ah, yes … your task is to collect the golden egg!”

Harry glanced around the tent and saw as Cedric nodded once before returning to pacing around the tent. Fleur and Krum hadn’t reacted at all.

They listened as hundreds upon hundreds of feet entered the stands surrounding the enclosure and Harry did his best not to throw up all over his shoes.

Finally, Bagman stepped up and held out the sack, “ladies first,” he said, offering it to Fleur.

She pulled out a tiny model of a Welsh Green that had the number two around its neck. Krum went next, pulling out the Chinese Fireball which had a three on its collar. Then it was Cedric’s turn, he drew the Swedish Short-Snout with the number one which left Harry, of course, with the Hungarian Horntail and the number four.

Why, oh why, did life continue to throw insane situations Harry’s way? Is a break too much to ask for?

He was pulled out of his minor crisis by Bagman saying, “well, there you are! You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see?” Harry zoned out there, the directions were pretty clear, and he didn’t really want to listen to Bagman chatter on any longer.

He snapped back to when he heard him say, “Harry, could I have a quick word? Outside?”

“Er, yes,” Harry said, though everything in him wanted to say no.

He followed Bagman outside where he, like Moody, blatantly attempted to cheat. Harry was a bit fed up, to be honest. He was saved by a whistle somewhere and Bagman saying, “good lord, I’ve got to run,” before he hurried off.

Harry walked back to the tent just as Cedric was emerging, Harry wished him good luck and Cedric tried for a smile, but it looked more like a grimace.

Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure. It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. He did his best to block out Bagman’s commentary because hearing things like, “oooh, narrow miss there,” and “he’s taking risks, this one,” and “clever move – pity it didn’t work!” were not good for his nerves.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry heard a deafening roar that could only mean Cedric had succeeded. He blew out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding when he heard Bagman say, “very good indeed, and now the marks from the judges!”

They didn’t hear the scores being called out. Harry supposed the judges were probably holding them up and showing them to the crowd.

Then it was Fleur’s turn, then Krum’s, and then Harry heard the whistle indicating his time had come.

He stepped into the arena and shouted “Accio Firebolt,” and then he blacked out. He didn’t come back to reality until he was landing in front of Moody, McGonagall, Charlie, and Hagrid holding the golden egg.

His shoulder hurt but he was otherwise unharmed.

“That was excellent, Potter!” McGonagall cried as he got off the Firebolt, Harry blinked, surprised, that was rather extravagant praise from his Head of House. “You’ll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score. Over there, she’s had to mop up Diggory already.”

That was far from the most comforting sentence Harry had ever heard. He wanted to run into the tent and make sure Cedric was in one piece, but he was stopped by Hagrid pulling him into a hug, “yeh did it Harry! Yeh did it! An’ agains’ the Horntail an’ all, an’ yeh know Charlie said that was the wors’ -”

“Thanks, Hagrid,” Harry said, cutting him off so he wouldn’t accidentally reveal that he’d shown Harry the dragons beforehand.

Moody looked very pleased, “Nice and easy does the trick, Potter,” he said, whatever the hell that means.

“Right then, Potter,” McGonagall said, stepping in, “the first aid tent, please.”

Harry stepped into the tent and was immediately pounced upon by Madam Pomfrey. “Dragons!” she said, sounding utterly disgusted. Harry let her patch up his shoulder while she muttered about the insane things this school does to put their students in danger. She didn’t make a single point that Harry could’ve argued with, even if he’d wanted to.

He sat quietly and looked around the tent. His heart returned to a normal rhythm when he saw that Cedric was fine, just a little burned.

Pomfrey told Harry, in no uncertain terms, to sit until she released him to go get his scores but that was the absolute last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to jump off the bed, grab Cedric, and drag him up to the castle or into the forest, somewhere no one could see them, and apologize profusely for pulling away after Halloween. He wanted to tell him everything that was on his mind, about how anxious he was about this tournament, about how someone was absolutely trying to get him killed, about how every thought that wasn’t about the tournament or the plot to kill him was about golden hair and grey eyes and the feeling of Cedric’s lips against his, he wanted to kiss him senseless and make sure Cedric knew, without a doubt, how much Harry liked him.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Hermione and Ron darting into the tent.

“Harry, you were brilliant!” Hermione cried. Harry could see fingernail marks on her face where she’d been clutching it in fear and her eyes looked suspiciously damp, “you were amazing! You really were!”

Harry looked to Ron, who’d gone totally white and was staring at Harry as though he were a ghost.

“Harry,” he said, sounding more serious than Harry had ever heard him, “whoever put your name in that goblet – I – I reckon they’re trying to do you in!”

“Caught on, have you?” Harry said, trying to keep his voice cold but he was sure his two best friends could hear his relief, “took you long enough.”

They stared at each other for another minute before Harry cracked a grin, “it’s okay, forget about it.”

“No,” Ron said, shaking his head, “I shouldn’t have -”

“Forget it,” Harry repeated, still grinning.

Hermione burst into tears.

“There’s nothing to cry about!” Harry told her, absolutely bewildered.

“You two are so stupid!” she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks. Then, before they could stop her, she crushed them both into a hug and then dashed away.

“Barking mad,” Ron said, shaking his head again, “Harry, c’mon, they’ll be putting up your scores.”

Harry picked up his golden egg and Firebolt, feeling more elated than he could’ve possibly believed just an hour ago. He dared one last look at Cedric and, this time, he was looking back. Harry smiled at him and Cedric lit up. Harry knew immediately that they were okay. He ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, and stood to hear his scores.

Ron was chattering on about a party in the Tower and about what the other three champions had done, but all he could think about was finding Cedric.

They reached a spot where they could see the judges and Ron cut off his running commentary, though he voiced his opinion after each judge held up their score. He lost his mind when Karkaroff raised his wand and gave Harry a four, but Harry couldn’t have cared less, Ron’s indignation on his behalf was worth more to him than any score.

Harry looked around and realized it wasn’t just Ron and his close friends cheering, the entirety of Gryffindor House was screaming for him, along with most of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. It seems that seeing the champions go up against nesting dragons had made the school realize that they’d better just support Harry and Cedric rather than making Harry’s life a living hell.

“You’re tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!” Charlie Weasley cheered, hurrying to meet them as they headed toward the school. “Listen, I’ve got to run, I’ve got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I’d tell her what happened – but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah – and they told me to tell you you’ve got to hang around for a few more minutes … Bagman wants a word, back in the champions’ tent.”

Harry saw this as an opportunity to catch Cedric alone, so he sent Ron on his way and headed back toward the tent. His focus was entirely on Cedric who was standing next to him, looking only slightly beat up. He had a burn on his right cheek, but Madam Pomfrey had gotten him almost entirely fixed up.

He grinned when he saw Harry looking at him, gray eyes sparkling.

“Good job, Harry,” he said.

“And you,” Harry responded, grinning back.

“Well done, all of you!” Bagman said, bouncing into the tent and launching into a spiel about the second task.

Finally, they were allowed to go and everyone started splitting off.

Harry fell into step next to Cedric. It was quiet for a minute; it seemed Cedric was going to follow Harry’s lead.

“I’m sorry,” Harry started. Cedric tried to cut him off, probably to say it wasn’t necessary, but Harry just kept talking, “I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you, it wasn’t fair,” he looked around to make sure they were alone but found there were several people in ear shot, “follow me,” he said, quickening his step and heading toward the castle.

Once inside, he ducked into an alcove hidden behind a tapestry that he only knew of from the Marauder’s Map, it was unlikely this spot was common knowledge. His thought was confirmed when Cedric said, “woah how’d you know this was here?”

“Trade secret,” Harry responded with a grin before turning serious again, “I’m sorry, Cedric, I have a problem with drawing into myself when big things happen and this past month, with everyone turning against me, I just totally withdrew. It wasn’t fair to you, especially after what happened on Halloween, but I just want you to know that I’m sorry and I really, really do like you. I think I have for a long time but only just realized it at the World Cup and I hope you like me back, but if you don’t and if that kiss was just a one-time thing, I understand, but I just had to -”

He was cut off, once again, by Cedric grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss.

This wasn’t like the kiss on Halloween. It wasn’t short and sweet and testing the waters, it was the kiss of someone who knew their feelings were reciprocated. It was the kiss of someone who’d been deprived of what they wanted most for weeks.

Harry melted immediately, winding his arms around Cedric’s neck and pressing onto his toes to get as close as possible. Cedric moved one of his hands to thread his fingers through the curls at the back of Harry’s head and the other to pull Harry in by the hip.

The warmth Harry had felt spreading in his chest during their first kiss was multiplied, it spread from his chest to the very tips of his fingers and toes, it ran up his neck and colored his cheeks.

Cedric’s kiss was somehow both sweet and demanding. He held him gently and took control with his lips and tongue and teeth. He broke away and Harry nearly whined at the loss of contact, but his breath caught in his throat when Cedric’s lips started traveling down his neck before making their way back up to Harry’s mouth.

When Cedric pulled away the second time, he leaned his forehead against Harry’s and they just stood there, breathing.

Finally, after a full minute of quiet, of them just breathing and staring into each other’s eyes, Harry spoke, “so you like me back?”

“Cheeky git,” Cedric said, face splitting into a grin.

“So I’ve been told,” Harry said, grinning back.

Chapter Text

Friday, 25 November 1994

Cedric woke up with a grin on his face. He’d made it through the first task and, better yet, Harry wasn’t avoiding him anymore.

He got dressed and made his way up to breakfast, thinking about getting to see Harry again when he literally ran into him as he rounded the corner.

“Oof,” Harry grunted as he ran straight into someone’s chest, he took a step back and looked up into familiar gray eyes, “morning,” he said, matching Cedric’s grin.

“Morning,” Cedric greeted, “how’d you sleep?”

“Good,” Harry responded, expending considerable energy to focus on the conversation rather than dragging Cedric into the nearest dark corner, “you?”

“Good,” Cedric said, staring at Harry, entirely checked out from his surroundings.

“Me too,” Hermione said, appearing over Harry’s shoulder, rolling her eyes, “we all slept good, let’s get out of the hallway now.”

Cedric shook his head, trying to physically clear his mind, “morning, Hermione,” he greeted, “see you two later.”

He then had to physically stop himself from skipping to the Hufflepuff table.

Hermione looked at Harry and let out a long-suffering sigh before grabbing him by the front of his robes and dragging him into the Great Hall, “get it together, Potter,” she muttered, “you look like a lovesick puppy.”

“Trying, Granger,” Harry muttered back, “it’s not going well.”

“I noticed.”

“I’m sure you did.”

Hermione then unceremoniously shoved Harry onto the bench at the Gryffindor table before calmly climbing into the seat next to him and filling her plate.

“What’s gotten into you two?” Fred asked, looking between the pair in amusement.

“Harry saw Cedric and lost all rational thought,” Hermione explained.

“Ah,” Fred said, nodding his head seriously, “I see.”

“Have I mentioned recently that I hate all of you?” Harry said conversationally.

“Oi!” George exclaimed, “I did nothing.”

“Not you, George, everyone else.”

“It’s never George,” Fred muttered, “sometimes I hate that you can tell us apart.”

“I don’t,” George said with a smile, “as long as it means he hates you and never hates me, I’m good with it.”

“It’s too early for whatever is happening here,” Ron said approaching the table, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but I can tell by the look on George’s face that it’s too early for whatever it is.”

“Oh, Ronnie,” George said with a sigh, “you wound me.”

“I’ll actually wound you if you keep calling me Ronnie.”

“That’s an empty threat and you know it,” George said, pointing his fork at his younger brother, “Harry would retaliate immediately, not to mention Fred and Ginny.”

“I get it,” Ron said, raising his hands in surrender, “I’m outnumbered.”

“Good boy,” George said, patting Ron’s head and turning back to his breakfast.

“Now that that’s over,” Ron said, side eying his older brother, “what’d I miss?”

“Harry mooning over Diggory,” Fred informed him.

“So, nothing new,” Ron said, filling his own plate.

“Au contraire, Ronnie,” George said, “so much is new.”

Ron turned to Harry for an explanation but found his friend staring dreamy eyed at the Hufflepuff table and decided he’d be more likely to get an explanation out of his water goblet, so he turned back to the rest of the table, “what’s new?”

Fred made a rather obscene mock display involving kissing noises and wandering hands while George simply said, “they kissed.”

“Again,” Hermione added, “they kissed on Halloween which I don’t think anyone ever told you because you were being a massive prat, by the way, and then Harry was Harry and avoided him for a month, but they kissed again last night, and it appears the avoidance is over.”

“Ah,” Ron said, “sorry again about the whole massive prat thing.”

“Apology accepted,” Harry said, tuning back into the conversation, “Hermione pretty much covered it."

"So, are you two dating now?” Ron asked.

“Good question,” Harry responded, “I’ll get back to you when I figure that out.”

“Alright,” Ron agreed easily while Hermione looked like she was questioning, yet again, why she’d chosen two boys for best friends.

“Good morning,” Parvati greeted as she and Lavender approached the table, followed closely by Seamus and Dean, “how’re you doing today, Harry?”

“Great,” Harry said, smiling up at her, “glad the task is over and that we have a break before the next one, how are you lot?”

Harry allowed himself to relax in the chatter of the Gryffindor table until they had to get up and head to class. He glanced back toward the Hufflepuff table on the way out and found Cedric already looking his way, he shot him a smile and then turned to follow Seamus out of the Hall.

“Cedric,” Gabriel Truman said, smacking him upside the head, “Earth to Cedric.”

“Ouch, Truman,” Cedric said, rubbing the back of his head, “what?”

“Why are you staring at Potter like he hung the moon?”

“Great question,” Cedric responded, “what explanation is going to satisfy you?”

“The one that includes why you’re staring at Potter like he hung the moon while also maybe touching on why you’ve been entirely out of sorts for the last month.”

“We kissed,” Cedric whispered, “after the champions were announced and then everyone turned on Harry and he sort of withdrew so we weren’t really talking and then we talked after the task and kissed again and now we’re good.”

“Are you dating?”

“I’m honestly not sure,” Cedric said, “I’ll get back to you when I figure that out.”

* * *

Saturday, 3 December 1994

For the next week it seemed that every time Cedric turned a corner Harry was there. School was busy, between trying to figure out the clues in their eggs, all the homework that builds up at the end of term, and everything else that comes up in a day, all they’d had time for was pulling each other into random corners and closets and behind portraits and tapestries.

Finally, the weekend had come, and Cedric didn’t have anything he needed to get done. He was on his way up to the owlery to send Harry a note to ask if he was free to hang out when he seemed to appear out of thin air down the hallway.

“Cedric,” he greeted with a smile, “busy?”

“No?” Cedric said, trying to figure out where Harry had just come from.

“C’mon then,” he said, stepping up next to Cedric and throwing a piece of fabric over his head, “follow me.”

“What is happening right now?”

“Trade secret,” Harry said, leading Cedric through the halls and up the grand staircase to a portrait where he whispered, “this password is absurd.”

Harry glanced around and made sure no one was looking before opening the portrait just enough for them to slip through. Cedric followed Harry down the staircase, still trying to figure out what, exactly, was going on.

They exited at the boathouse and Cedric was momentarily thrown before he remembered that Hogwarts was, itself, magical.

Despite the chill outside, the boathouse was warm, and no one would brave the trek down here through the ice and snow and, if Cedric had to guess, there were maybe three people in the entire school who knew about that particular passageway.

“How do you know where all these passages are?” Cedric said and then quickly interrupted Harry as he started speaking, “and if you say ‘trade secret,’ I’m going to scream.”

“Alright,” Harry said with a sigh, though the corners of his mouth had twitched up into a smile, “this is an invisibility cloak, it was my dad’s, Dumbledore gave it to me my first Christmas here at school.”

“So that’s how you appear out of nowhere,” Cedric said with a laugh, “but it doesn’t explain how you know where all these passages are and, now that I think about it, how you can find me anywhere at any time.”

Harry pulled out a piece of ratty parchment, “this.”

“What is that?”

“Marauder’s Map.”

“What is the Marauder’s Map?”

“Good question,” Harry said, holding his wand up to the parchment before he got a mischievous glint in his eye and looking up at Cedric, “the twins found it and gave it to me, I want to see if you can figure out how to open it.”

Cedric shook his head but pulled out his wand to comply, he thought for a moment before pointing his wand and saying “Revelio.”

Messr. Moony thinks Messr. Diggory can do better.

Messr. Wormtail asks why Messr. Diggory thinks he can reveal our secrets.

Messr. Padfoot echoes Messr. Wormtail and also asks Messr. Diggory what he thinks he’s doing.

Messr. Prongs asks Messr. Prongslet if he really thinks Messr. Diggory can figure this out.

“Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?” Cedric asked, looking up at Harry with one eyebrow raised, “and who or what is Prongslet?”

“That’d be me,” Harry said with a grin.

“So, your dad is Prongs and the other three are…?”

“What fun would it be if I told you?”

“Cheeky,” Cedric said with a smile, “alright, I know that Professor Lupin was one of your parent’s best friends and I know he’s a werewolf so I’m going to have to guess he’s Moony.”

“Right in one, Diggory,” Harry said, grinning, “two to go.”

“Well one has to be Sirius Black and the other Peter Pettigrew, right? I don’t know much about your dad, but I do know that those two were his close friends. but I don’t know which is which.”

“Close enough,” Harry said, his smile turning soft, “Sirius is Padfoot.”

“So, Pettigrew was Wormtail?”

“Is Wormtail,” Harry said, his smile turning into a sneer, “long story.”

“Tell me when you’re ready,” Cedric said, reaching out to intertwine his fingers with Harry’s, “so how do you open the map?”

Harry’s smile returned and he squeezed Cedric’s hand and said, “you give up?”

“I’m being teased by a piece of parchment. Yes, I give up.”

“Alright,” Harry said with an easy smile, “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”

Cedric watched as ink spread across the parchment, “Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder’s Map,” he whispered.

Harry’s smile turned soft as he unfolded the map and showed Cedric how it tracked every person in the castle and pointed out all the different passageways and how the passwords appeared.

“This is incredible,” Cedric breathed out, “does this show every bit of the castle?”

“Everywhere they were able to physically map,” Harry said, “there are some places they didn’t find or couldn’t get to that aren’t on the map that I know of but I didn’t get the chance to ask how it worked, hopefully I’ll get a chance to ask one of them soon.”

Cedric decided to ignore how the wording of that statement indicated that Harry would be seeing either a werewolf, a mass murderer, or a dead man soon and instead asked, “what else have you found?”

“Well,” Harry said, moving the map until it showed the second-floor girl’s bathroom, “the Chamber of Secrets for one, the entrance is through here. But I have to think it was just one of the entrances because there’s no shot Salazar Slytherin was sliding down a pipe to get to the Chamber. Also,” he said, moving the map to the dungeons, “the only common room they didn’t map was Slytherin, but I’ve been in there and could map at least the common room.”

“When were you in the Slytherin common room?”

“Second year,” Harry replied, flipping through the map, “with Ron, polyjuiced as Crabbe and Goyle.”

“What?”

“Hm,” Harry asked, looking up, “what’s wrong?”

“Why were you polyjuiced as Crabbe and Goyle?”

“Wanted to see if Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin and we couldn’t think of a better way to figure it out.”

“Where did you get Polyjuice?”

“Hermione brewed it,” Harry said with a shrug, “in the second-floor girls bathroom, actually. Which is kind of funny when you think about it.”

“She brewed Polyjuice as a second year?”

“Yeah, tasted like shit.”

“That’s incredibly impressive,” Cedric said shaking his head at how casually Harry was telling an utterly insane story, “and how do you know how to get into the Chamber?”

“Had to get in to kill the basilisk.”

“Right,” Cedric said, drawing out the word, “basilisk?”

“Yup,” Harry said, popping the p, “that’s what was petrifying everyone.”

“Your life is insane.”

“Indeed.”

Cedric decided he’d get the full story another day, not wanting to push Harry to tell him too much if he wasn’t ready, “so is this what you wanted to talk to me about today?”

“No,” Harry said, folding the map up and whispering, “mischief managed,” before putting it back in his pocket, “I wanted to ask if we were dating.”

Cedric choked on air for a second, still not quite used to Harry’s straightforward, no-nonsense approach to … everything, “good question,” he said, deciding to just follow Harry’s lead, “do you want us to be dating?”

“I think so,” Harry said.

That threw Cedric off, “think so?”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a shrug, not meeting Cedric’s eye, “I’ve never dated anyone before, neither have Ron or Hermione so I don’t really know what it means, but I think I want us to be dating, what would that mean to you?”

Cedric let out a sigh of relief that Harry’s apprehension wasn’t because of Cedric but rather because he didn’t have any experience with dating. He thought for a moment before responding, appreciating that Harry was being vulnerable with him and wanting to give him a proper answer, “I don’t like the kind of dating that means nothing,” he started, “if we were to date, I’d want it to mean that we’re committed to each other and not going to date other people. I know you don’t have a lot of your life that you’re able to keep private so I’d be alright keeping us a secret until you’re ready for people to know, but I’d want to be able to tell my parents and my closest friends, people I can trust to keep my secrets.”

Harry nodded and bit his lower lip, thinking through Cedric’s answer, “that all sounds good to me,” he said after a minute, “you’re right that I don’t have much I get to keep private, and I’d want to keep this quiet. Everything in my life just gets blown out of proportion and I don’t want something that makes me happy to be destroyed by everyone else’s opinions on it.”

“That makes sense,” Cedric said easily, reaching out to run his thumb across Harry’s cheek. Harry leaned into the touch and took a deep breath before finally looking up and meeting Cedric’s eye.

“So, we’re dating, then?” he asked.

“We’re dating,” Cedric responded with a soft smile.

Harry grinned in response before burrowing his head against Cedric’s chest. Cedric wrapped his arms around Harry and pressed a kiss to the side of his head, pressing his nose into Harry’s mess of curls. Harry wrapped his arms around Cedric’s waist and pulled him impossibly closer, entirely content in Cedric’s arms.

“Who are you taking to the Yule Ball?” Cedric asked after a few minutes.

“I’m not sure yet,” Harry murmured, his voice muffled with his face pressed against Cedric, “you?”

“I’m going with Cho, have you thought of asking Hermione?”

“She already has a date, apparently,” Harry responded with a sigh, “I have no clue who though, she won’t tell me.”

“It’s not you or Ron?”

“It’s not me and I’m fairly certain Ron hasn’t realized that Hermione is a girl yet, so no.”

Cedric let out a laugh at that, “what other girls are in your year?”

“For Gryffindors it’s just Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender,” Harry said, “I might see if Parvati wants to go as friends, we’ve gotten closer this year.”

“That’s a good idea,” Cedric said, running his fingers through Harry’s hair, “maybe Padma would go with Ron?”

“Genius,” Harry said with a smile, “though that leaves us with the problem of me being utterly incapable of dancing.”

“I’d say I could teach you but I’m also horrific, I’m relying on Cho to make us look good.”

Harry laughed and tightened his hold on Cedric, “then it’s probably a good thing we can’t dance together in public, it’d be an embarrassment.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t dance in private, though,” Cedric said, pressing a kiss to the top of Harry’s head, “we can always sneak away from the ball and have a dance just us two.”

“I’d love that,” Harry said, leaning his head back to capture Cedric’s lips in a proper kiss.

Cedric sighed into the touch and moved one of his hands to cup Harry’s cheek, kissing him back.

Harry broke away first and pressed a soft kiss to Cedric’s cheek before taking a step back, “alright, I need to get back to the tower and either do homework or robe the Patils into going to the Ball with Ron and me.”

“Sounds like a great day you’ve got planned,” Cedric said with a laugh, “I’ll follow you back up, you’ve got to show me more of these passages sometime.”

“I will,” Harry promised, grinning, “the twins and I have even found a few that aren’t on the map. Honestly, sometimes it’s like the castle responds when I need a quick route somewhere. A passage will appear and then when I go back to where I swore it was, it’s disappeared.”

“That’s odd,” Cedric said, “though Hogwarts is thousands of years old and magical so what’s to say she’s not also sentient.”

“So long as she keeps helping me avoid being late, she can be whatever she wants,” Harry said with a laugh, reaching out for Cedric’s hand to lead him back up the passage to the Grand Staircase.

As they reached the back of the portrait, Harry rocked up onto his toes to give Cedric one last kiss before throwing the Cloak over his shoulders and slipping back into the hallway.

Cedric just stood in the dark for a minute, smiling before he too slipped back into the hallway and carried on with his day.

* * *

Sunday, 25 December 1994

Harry stood in front of the mirror in his bottle green dress robes, feeling more put together than he’d ever been … if it weren’t for his inability to make his hair do anything but stick up in all directions at all times. He ran a comb through his hair one more time before sighing and giving up, this was as good as it was getting.

Neville, Seamus, and Dean were all dressed and ready to go but Ron was staring at his robes in undisguised horror.

A quick severing charm took off most of the lace but there was nothing they could do about the strange paisley maroon pattern of the velvet. Once he was dressed, they headed downstairs to find the girls. Hermione was nowhere to be seen but they found Ginny, Parvati, Lavender, who was going with Seamus, Padma, and Dean’s date, one of Padma’s roommates named Lisa.

“Shall we head down,” Harry said before bowing with overexaggerated flourish and holding his arm out for Parvati.

“Lead the way good sir,” she responded, easily matching Harry’s dramatics.

Padma rolled her eyes before grabbing Ron’s arm and dragging him along behind her cousin and sister.

Lavender looked at Seamus with one eyebrow raised until he followed Harry’s lead and held his arm out for her to take, Dean and Neville followed suit and soon their whole group was headed down the stairs.

Harry and Parvati broke off from their friends and headed toward where McGonagall was corralling the champions.

“See you lot later,” Harry called over his shoulder as everyone else entered the Great Hall.

“Has Hermione told you who she’s going with yet?” Parvati asked.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Harry said as they approached the champions. He nearly lost consciousness when he saw Cedric in his dress robes but was saved by Parvati digging her elbow into his ribs and shooting him an amused glance.

“Who’s that?” Cho asked, gesturing toward the stairs with a nod.

Harry and Parvati turned around and both their jaws dropped rather comedically in sync, “Hermione?” Parvati breathed out.

“Whoa,” Harry said, “still doesn’t answer the question of who her date …” he trailed off, finally noticing who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

“Is that Krum?” Parvati whisper yelled in Harry’s ear, elbowing him repeatedly in the side.

“Yes and you’ve officially broken three of my ribs.”

“You’re fine.”

“Whatever you say, dear.”

“You’re on thin ice, Potter,” Parvati said with a laugh, “tell your best friend she’s hot and get in line.”

“You look great, Hermione,” Harry said with a grin as Hermione and Krum approached.

“Thanks!” Hermione said, matching Harry’s grin, “you two look great as well.”

“Thanks,” Parvati said, “you know who else Harry thinks looks great?”

“How about I break a couple of your ribs, Patil?”

“Diggory,” she said, ignoring Harry’s threat and grinning at Hermione.

Hermione looked over Parvati’s shoulder to where Cedric was standing with Cho, doing a rather poor job of hiding the fact that he was checking Harry out, “I think the feeling’s mutual.”

Harry just glared at her.

“I’m missing something,” Parvati said, looking between Cedric, Harry, and Hermione for a minute before she gasped and stared directly at Harry who just stared back. After a moment, Parvati nodded as if she’d gotten all her answers, “good for you,” she said, smirking at Harry.

“I’ll kill both of you and I won’t even hesitate.”

“That’s not very Gryffindor Golden Boy of you,” Parvati said, while Hermione tried to hide her laugh behind a cough.

“You three,” McGonagall sighed, “get in line.”

Harry saluted her before pulling Parvati into line behind Cedric and Cho and Hermione gave her a thumbs up before joining Krum. McGonagall just rolled her eyes and thought, once again, about how nice retirement might be. There were no Potters in retirement.

The champions marched into the hall and up to the Head Table where Harry was forced to make conversation with Percy Weasley about his boss before he was forced into the opening dance which went about as well as it could’ve. Once the dance was over, Parvati just patted Harry on the shoulder and said, “see you later, Harry, I’m going to find my sister.”

“See ya, Patil,” he said, happy she knew him well enough to know he wasn’t going to dance more than he had to.

Eventually, Harry made his way over to Ron who was sulking at a table staring at Hermione and Krum. Harry could sense an all-out brawl between his two best friends coming from a mile away and found himself hoping he’d at least be clear of the blast radius.

Eventually, Cedric made his way over, “Harry,” he greeted with a smile, “can you come outside with me, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Smooth,” Harry said, grinning up at Cedric, “sure, lead the way.”

As they made their way out of the hall, Cedric leaned down and whispered in Harry’s ear, “I figured out the egg.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, you’ve gotta take a bath with it.”

“Take a bath with it?”

“Yeah, take it in the bath and mull things over in the hot water.”

“Of all the ways to pass along that information, you chose the one that wasn’t just mildly suggestive but edged on seductive?”

“Yup,” Cedric said with a bright grin, “I’ll even tell you the password to the prefect’s bathroom if it’s not on that little map of yours.”

“My savior,” Harry said with a laugh, “now where are we going?”

“This way,” Cedric said, pulling Harry by the arm up the Grand Staircase and toward the portrait of Percival Pratt that hid the shortcut to the boathouse. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching before whispering the password and dragging Harry behind him.

When they headed back through the portrait hole a half hour later, looking distinctly disheveled, neither of them thought to listen for anyone walking by and, as such, stepped into the hallway right in front of Albus Dumbledore.

“Ah, hello,” he greeted, smiling as if nothing were amiss, “Merry Christmas, boys.”

Cedric was staring at his shoes, so Harry was the only one who saw the wink Dumbledore sent his way, Harry just grinned at the Headmaster, and called “Merry Christmas, sir!” over his shoulder as he dragged Cedric back down the stairs toward the Great Hall.

“That was so embarrassing!” Cedric said.

“Embarrassed of me, pretty boy?” Harry said with a teasing tone.

“Embarrassed to be caught coming out of the wall by the Headmaster, actually.”

“He winked at me when you were busy staring at your feet,” Harry said with a laugh, “I think we’re fine.”

“You are so his favorite.”

Harry wasn’t sure whether being Dumbledore’s favorite was actually a good thing, but he decided that now wasn’t the time to voice that opinion.

“Let’s go back inside,” he said instead, shoving Cedric toward the doors and running a hand through his hair. As they approached, he saw Ron and Hermione coming out of the hall, both looking entirely pissed, “I’ve gotta get involved in this or they’re going to level the castle,” Harry said, shooting an apologetic glance toward Cedric, “see you later?”

“See you later,” Cedric said with a soft smile before he shot a worried look at Ron and Hermione and ducked back into the Great Hall.

“Alright,” Harry muttered to himself, “time to avoid World War III.”

After Ron and Hermione were done shouting at each other, Harry followed Ron into the courtyard where he heard several enlightening conversations and saw a giant beetle before they headed back inside and called it a night.

Harry was nearly asleep when he heard someone shuffle into their dorm humming, he poked his head out and saw Neville grinning from ear to ear, “Nev,” he whispered, “have a good night?”

“It was great,” Neville whispered back with a massive smile, “goodnight, Haz. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Nev,” Harry responded before pulling his curtains shut and falling asleep with a smile on his face.

Chapter Text

Wednesday, 8 February 1995

Cedric smiled to himself as he saw Harry turn the corner, “hey, Potter,” he greeted with a grin and a wink.

“Diggory,” Harry responded, rolling his eyes with a slight smile, “what can I do for you?”

“Do you have plans for this weekend?”

“I do not, why?”

“It’s a Hogsmeade weekend.”

Harry looked around the hallway to see who all was listening before turning back to Cedric and simply saying, “and?”

“And,” Cedric said, drawing out the word, “do you want to go with me?”

Harry just stared at Cedric for a moment before saying, “sure?”

“Alright,” Cedric said, grinning hard, “I’ll let Krum and Fleur know you’re joining us.”

“You are the worst person I’ve ever met.”

“That just can’t be true,” Cedric said with a pout.

“Alright fine,” Harry said, folding immediately, “it’s a boldfaced lie.”

“We’ll have lunch with Krum and Fleur and then we can do our own thing, how’s that sound?”

“Sounds perfect, Ced,” Harry said, not noticing he’d used the nickname until he saw the soft smile on Cedric’s face. He started to backtrack but was cut off by Cedric saying, “no, I like it. Now I just need to come up with one for you.”

Harry ducked his head to hide his blush and scuffed one of his toes against the ground, he was trying to come up with something, anything to say in response but was saved by the sound of the bell letting them know class started in 5 minutes.

Cedric reached out and squeezed Harry’s arm, “see you later, Potter.”

“Later, Ced.”

* * *

Saturday, 11 February 1995

“Hazza,” Cedric suggested as they walked down toward the gate to meet Viktor and Fleur.

“Meh,” Harry said, shrugging one shoulder.

“Haz?”

“That’s what Nev calls me, and it sounds odd when others use it, Ginny uses it some but I don’t know.”

“This would be easier if you had a full name that wasn’t Harry, there’d be more options for nicknames.”

“You know,” Harry said, “I’m honestly not sure if Harry is my full name, I’ve never seen my birth certificate or any records with my name on it so who knows. I didn’t even know my middle name was James until my Hogwarts letter came.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Cedric said, even though the situation made zero sense to him whatsoever, “what about H?”

“That works.”

“Oh wait,” Cedric said with a grin, “I know what I’m going to call you.”

“And what’s that, Pretty Boy?”

“You walked right into this one by calling me that,” he said, laughing, “you shall henceforth be known as Lover Boy.”

“That’s awful,” Harry said, laughing as well.

“Don’t care, Lover Boy.”

“Quit.”

“Shant,” Cedric said with a shrug, sending his most charming grin toward Harry as they approached the gate, “if you won’t let me call you Haz, you’re officially Lover Boy.”

“Call me whatever you want, Diggory but I’m officially ignoring you.”

“That won’t last long.”

Harry made a show of fully turning his back on Cedric as he walked toward Viktor and Fleur, “good morning,” he greeted, “ready to go?”

“Good morning,” Fleur greeted with a smile, linking her arm with Harry’s, “lead the way.”

“Good morning,” Viktor echoed, “how are you two today?”

“I’m great,” Harry said, “I don’t know who else you could possibly be talking about, though.”

Viktor looked between Cedric and Harry in confusion until Cedric threw him a bone and said, “he’s decided he’s ignoring me because he doesn’t like his new nickname.”

“And what might that be?” Fleur said.

“Shut it, Diggory,” Harry said, turning to glare at Cedric.

“You lasted 90 whole seconds ignoring me,” Cedric said with a self-satisfied grin, “I think that’s a new record.”

Harry, being an incredibly mature individual, simply stuck out his tongue in response.

“You two are good friends, non?” Fleur asked, looking between the two in amusement.

“You could say that,” Cedric said, raising an eyebrow at Harry.

Fleur took one look at Harry’s blush and understood immediately.

Viktor just looked even more confused.

“Wanna tell them, H?”

“Go for it, Pretty Boy.”

“We’re dating,” Cedric informed their fellow champions with a proud smile.

“I knew it,” Fleur said with a grin, “you two make a fine couple.”

“Wait,” Viktor said holding up a hand and looking at Harry, “so there really is nothing going on between you and Hermione?”

Harry just stared at Viktor before looking to Cedric for help. Cedric, the total arse, just laughed.

Harry looked back to Viktor, realizing he wasn’t going to get any help from his boyfriend, and shook his head, “no there is not and never will be anything going on between me and Hermione, she’s like my sister.”

Viktor let out a sigh of relief and Harry decided now was not the time to tell him that Ron and Hermione were on a years-long crash course toward one another.

“Alright, Ced, now that I’m done ignoring you,” Harry said as he led Fleur up the path toward the village, “where are we going?”

“If we go to the Broomsticks now it won’t be too busy, everyone will go shopping first.”

Harry found he was rather glad that Cedric had suggested making friends with their fellow champions. After a quick minute where they made sure that they’d all figured out the clue in the egg and come up with some sort of plan (Harry thanked Merlin for Neville’s herbology obsession and Dobby’s willingness to steal from Snape’s storeroom), they’d spent their lunch just chatting. Fleur asked question after question until she had the whole story of how Harry and Cedric had gotten together, they all grilled Viktor on what playing in a professional league was like, Fleur talked about what it was like to have creature heritage, and they talked about their families and school years.

When they parted ways late in the afternoon, Cedric led Harry back to the school and down to the boathouse which had become “their spot,” no one ever used it outside of the boats bringing the first years to the castle and taking the seventh years away.

Cedric stepped into the building and headed straight for the corner of the room where he grabbed a picnic basket he’d stashed at some point. He held it up to Harry with a smile and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Harry couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face for anything, “Happy Valentine’s, Ced.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening sitting in the boathouse, listening as the waves the wind created on the lake crashed into the outer wall, and talked about anything and everything.

* * *

Friday, 24 February 1995

The Second Task was nearly as absurd as the first.

Granted, nothing would really beat dragons, but stashing people at the bottom of the lake for hours and then sending them to find them with no real monitoring system outside of the merpeople was simply ridiculous.

Harry had gotten to the center of the mer-village first but had waited to make sure that everyone was rescued. Cedric hadn’t truly conceptualized how little Harry trusted adults until he saw him breaking the surface with both Ron and Gabrielle Delacour.

Cedric didn’t get a chance to get Harry alone, however, until later that night when they met at the top of the Grand Staircase to take the shortcut down to the boathouse. Once they were in the relative safety and privacy of their spot, Cedric turned to Harry and asked, “did you really think they’d have left our people at the bottom of the lake once the hour was up?”

“I had no reason to believe otherwise,” Harry said, “and I’ve learned the hard way that I shouldn’t assume the adults have picked the safest option.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well for one they didn’t even make sure we could all swim before staging a task at the bottom of the lake.”

“Wait do you mean…?”

“I can’t swim,” Harry confirmed, “it was the Gillyweed. That was part of why finding a solution was so difficult for me because a simple bubblehead wouldn’t fix the fact that I can’t actually swim. With the Gillyweed, there was some instinctual knowledge of how to swim but even if there weren’t, the fins make it easier to figure out what to do as long as you know the general motions.”

“You were never taught how to swim?”

“Who was going to teach me?” Harry said with a derisive laugh.

“Does your cousin know how to swim?”

“I think so,” Harry said, “I remember him going to swimming lessons in the summers when we were young, but I never went.”

“Harry…” Cedric started before trailing off. Harry just looked at him, waiting for the question. He took a deep breath and seemed to steel himself before he looked straight into Harry’s eyes and asked, “how bad is it at home?”

“Bad.”

“I’ll get you out of there, I promise.”

Harry held onto that promise like a lifeline. Sirius had promised the same thing, so had Fred, George, and Ron, but something about the way Cedric said it made Harry believe it.

Maybe he should’ve remained cynical.

Chapter Text

Wednesday, 24 May 1995

In the wake of Harry’s admission that his home life was worse than Cedric had imagined, he spent every free moment reminding Harry that he was important and that he deserved to be treated as such. Not because he was the Boy-Who-Lived, but just because he was Harry.

It took time and effort, but by the time the champions were instructed to meet up at the quidditch pitch on the evening of the 24^th of May, Harry was starting to believe him.

“What have they done?” Harry breathed out as he took in the hedges growing across their sacred quidditch pitch.

Cedric just let his jaw drop in shock and nodded at Harry’s words.

“Don’t worry,” Bagman was saying, “it’ll be back to normal by next year.”

Then they were asked to guess what the task was, which Viktor very succinctly answered, “maze.” and then they were told that it wasn’t just a maze, but that Hagrid would be stocking it with various creatures. Harry and Cedric both shivered at that which confused Fleur and Viktor, but they just waved them off. Finally, they were told the date for the last task, 24 June 1995, one month away.

As they were leaving, Viktor asked Harry for a word and Cedric watched them walk toward the edge of the forest, likely the first place Harry could think of where they wouldn’t be overheard or interrupted. Cedric told himself he’d see Harry later and fell into step next to Fleur as they walked up toward the castle.

“What creatures do you think there will be?” she asked as they walked.

“Who knows,” Cedric said, “Hagrid has a love for all things dangerous, so I’d study up on your Care of Magical Creatures knowledge if I were you.”

“Thanks for the tip,” she said with a laugh as she split off toward the carriage and bid Cedric goodnight.

Cedric continued up to the castle on his own and started wandering the halls, knowing Harry would find him eventually. A few minutes later he heard the sound of hurried footsteps heading toward the main entrance and watched as Dumbledore, Snape, and Harry darted back outside. Cedric decided he’d get an answer later so he didn’t follow them, instead settling down onto a bench in the main courtyard and waiting for Harry to return.

A while later, as the sun was sinking toward the horizon, Cedric heard someone approaching and looked up to find Harry who looked slightly thrown. Before he could ask what that was all about, Harry said, “do you want to train together for the last task? I think we’re going to need a wider catalogue of spells for this one.”

“Of course,” Cedric said, patting the bench next to him and nodding for Harry to set down, “now do you want to tell me why I saw you, Snape, and Dumbledore tearing out of the castle and toward the forest?”

Cedric sat and listened to an insane story that absolutely ended in Barty Crouch’s murder and found himself wondering whether or not whoever had attacked Crouch and Viktor was the same person who’d put Harry’s name in the Goblet, but he didn’t want to voice that thought and add to Harry’s already palpable anxiety.

It was fully dark by the time Harry stopped talking and he took the opportunity the anonymity of darkness provides to let out a breath and rest his head against Cedric’s shoulder.

Cedric turned his head to press a kiss to the top of Harry’s curls before he intertwined their fingers and leaned his head against Harry’s, “how are you feeling about all of this, H?”

“I’m not sure,” Harry said with a quiet sigh, “I think I’ll feel better if we practice for it and do everything we can to keep ourselves safe.” He was quiet for a moment before he softly said, “I’m not sure what I’d do if something happened to you.”

Cedric let the silence settle for a minute before he turned his head and pressed his nose into Harry’s hair and whispered for only Harry and the stars to hear, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“You are my everything, Harry,” Cedric said, pressing his lips to Harry’s head, “my sun, my moon, and my stars.”

“My sun, my moon, and my stars,” Harry repeated.

* * *

Saturday, 24 June 1995

The third task wasn’t until that night, but McGonagall stepped up to the Gryffindor table and told Harry he was needed in the side chamber at breakfast. Harry looked up at her confused and she explained, “the champions families are here to spend the day with them.”

Harry had a moment where he worried that the Dursleys would be waiting for him when he stepped through the door but then he decided that was insane. He was equal parts ecstatic and touched that Mrs. Weasley and Bill were waiting for him alongside the other families.

Molly wrapped him into a bone-crushing hug and Bill clapped him on the shoulder with a grin before he raised an eyebrow toward Fleur and sent Harry a look that obviously said introduce me and you’ll be my favorite brother.

Harry laughed and squeezed Molly back before he pulled away and dragged them toward the Delacours. He was immediately nearly tackled by Gabrielle who’d decided that Harry was her favorite person (after her sister) ever since the lake.

He watched in barely concealed amusement as Fleur tried her charm on Bill and he was unaffected, which seemed to endear him to the part-Veela immediately. He was pulled out of his musings by someone tapping his shoulder. Harry turned around and looked up to see Cedric’s sparkling grey eyes and bright smile, he threw an arm around Harry’s shoulders and guided him toward his family, “I’d like to introduce you to some people.”

Harry sent Bill a panicked look over his shoulder but realized quickly he’d been abandoned.

“Mum, dad,” Cedric said as they approached his parents, “this is Harry Potter, you’ve met dad before, but this is my mum, Josephine.”

Amos Diggory was barely concealing his dislike for Harry. Ever since Rita Skeeter had decided to release that article that made it seem like the Triwizard was the Harry Potter Show, he’d decided to captain the Harry Potter Hate Train. Josephine Diggory was a different story, though. She was exactly how Cedric had described her. Grey blue eyes and light brown hair and a kind smile.

“Hello, Harry,” she greeted, “it’s wonderful to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you,” she added, shooting Cedric an amused look.

Cedric blushed but recovered quickly and turned to Harry, “we’re going to walk around the grounds, what are you lot going to do?”

“I’m not sure but I don’t think it’ll involve separating Bill and Fleur, I’m not entirely sure what I just set up but it’ll either be incredible or explosive.”

Cedric looked over his shoulder to look at Bill and Fleur who were openly flirting and grinned, “I’m sure it’ll be incredible. She’s talked about wanting to find a job with Gringotts, so we know they have something to talk about.”

“You’re right,” Harry said, “I’d forgotten about that.”

They spent the day wandering around the grounds and Harry got to know Josephine Diggory. She’d spent her entire career working in the Janus Thickey Ward at St. Mungo’s and when Harry mentioned that he was good friends with Neville she gave him a knowing look and a soft smile. Harry decided he rather liked Cedric’s mum.

As it got later, the champions split off to get ready for the evening. When they reached the spot where Cedric would have to head down to get to Hufflepuff and Harry would have to head up to get to Gryffindor, Cedric pulled Harry behind a tapestry and into a tight hug.

Harry buried his head into Cedric’s chest and soaked up every ounce of warmth and love he could. He had an odd sense of foreboding about this task and was happy to take any comfort his boyfriend could give.

“I love you,” Cedric said, “I love you so much and I am so proud of you, you’re going to do great tonight and then tomorrow it’ll all be over.”

“I love you too,” Harry said, holding Cedric tighter, “more than I’ve loved anything or anyone.”

“My sun, my moon, and my stars, lover boy.”

“My sun, my moon, and my stars.”

* * *

The maze was easier than it should’ve been.

It was almost like someone had cleared his path.

And then he heard the scream. Fleur. He darted through the maze until he found her and shot up sparks so someone would come get her out, he hoped she was okay.

He continued on, and then he heard another scream. Cedric. Harry took off at a breakneck pace, crashing through the hedges until he came upon Viktor standing over Cedric. His eyes were glassy like he’d been … fuck, Viktor was under the Imperius and was currently Crucioing Cedric. Harry shot a stunner at Viktor and helped Cedric to his feet. They shot up sparks over where Viktor lay, and Cedric pressed a quick kiss to Harry’s cheek before they split up.

He didn’t see Cedric again until they were fighting off an acromantula and then there it was, glowing in the low light of dusk and the shadows of the maze.

“You take it,” Harry said, feeling the acromantula venom coursing through his veins. Oddly, he found himself thinking about how it was much less painful than basilisk venom. He hated that he had that point of comparison.

“No,” Cedric said, pulling him out of his thoughts, “it’s yours, I wouldn’t have made it here without you, you take it.”

“And I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t helped me with the acromantula!”

They stared at each other, seemingly at an impasse when Cedric’s eyes lit up and Harry saw where he was going and said, “together.”

“Together,” Cedric agreed, grinning.

They limped to the platform and just as Harry was about to start counting down, Cedric pulled him into a tight hug, “I love you, Harry.”

“I love you too, Ced,” Harry said, pulling out of the hug just enough to tug Cedric down into a searing kiss, “my sun, my moon, and my stars, Pretty Boy.”

“My sun, my moon, and my stars, Harry. I love you.”

“On the count of three?” Harry asked.

“On the count of three,” Cedric confirmed, pressing one last kiss to the top of Harry’s head.

Together, they counted, “1, 2, 3,” and each reached out to grab a handle.

And then it all went wrong.

Chapter Text

Saturday, 24 June 1995

“Kill the spare,” echoed in Harry’s head and the flash of green blinded him every time he closed his eyes.

Death had brushed elbows with Harry his entire life, but this was the first time it had shown its face.

Grey eyes that no longer sparkled with life.

Soft lips that no longer stretched into that easy grin.

Harry felt his breath leave his lungs and for a moment, just one solitary moment, wished they wouldn’t fill again.

But then his lungs inflated, and sound filtered through his ears, and sight met his eyes once more.

Whoever had spoken that curse had just signed their death warrant as far as Harry was concerned. Something in his soul answered that claim, something in the universe accepted it and wove it into the thread of fate. Not that Harry knew or understood it at that point, but his word had just become law.

Harry watched as if experiencing it from an outside perspective as he was tied to a gravestone.

Wormtail’s face brought him back to his own body.

Bone of the Father, Flesh of the Servant, Blood of the Enemy.

Something deep within Harry’s being, some part of his very soul, recoiled at the magic that was being performed. Something was happening that went against Harry’s very nature, more than just a Voldemort with a fully corporeal body. This magic was a perversion and Harry’s magic was aching with the need to undo it.

Unseen by Harry, Death stood at his shoulder. His hood was lowered but his scythe was still raised.

“Who are you?” Cedric asked, looking into a face he was intimately familiar with but eyes he didn’t recognize.

“You know,” Death said, placing a comforting hand on Cedric’s shoulder.

The knowledge washed over him even before he dared a look back toward where they’d landed, “you’re Him.”

“I am,” Death confirmed, “don’t worry, young one. You’ll see him again, maybe not the way you imagine, but one day he will call, and you will answer.”

“Alright,” Cedric said. That was easy to agree to, information that was easy to process. Cedric knew in his heart, had known for some time, that no matter what, whenever Harry called, he would answer.

“Something is going to happen when they duel,” Death said, pulling Cedric from his thoughts and gesturing toward Harry and Voldemort with his head.

“Duel?” Cedric said, suddenly scared.

“Don’t worry,” Death soothed, “in a battle of wills, our boy will win every time.”

Cedric was so comforted by Death’s declaration that he almost missed it, “our boy?”

“Yes,” Death said, but offered no further explanation on that front, “their wands are brothers,” he explained, continuing his earlier point about the impending duel, “and when they’re forced into battle against one another, an odd phenomenon will occur, something called priori incantatem.”

“Like checking a wand for recent spells?”

“Exactly,” Death said with a nod, smiling softly at Cedric, “the spell won’t be spoken, but the effect will be the same. The reason I tell you this is because it was that wand that killed you. When their wands meet, and Harry overwhelms his opponent, which I’m confident he will, your shade will return to their side of the veil, if only for a moment. You will have a chance to say what you wish to say.”

Cedric watched as Harry was cut down from the gravestone and cried out as he saw Harry writhe under the pain of Voldemort’s curse. He felt pride swell in his chest as he saw Harry duck behind a headstone and gather himself before he stepped back out to face his enemy. And then it happened, green light met red, and Cedric felt something tug at his core. Death nodded and he gave himself over to the sensation.

Harry watched as shadows of Voldemort’s most recent spells spilled into the night sky. He had only a second to realize what this meant before the form of Cedric appeared in front of him. Harry stared at him with tears in his eyes, “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice cracking but his focus unbroken. Voldemort looked momentarily terrified, and Cedric counted that as a win.

“No,” he said, shaking his head at Harry, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Harry. I love you so much. Get out of here alive and I promise that one day I will see you again.”

Harry tuned out what the next two shades said, his focus split between Cedric and maintaining this connection with Voldemort’s wand, but then he saw green eyes and red hair and almost buckled.

“Your father’s coming,” she said quietly, “hold on for your father. It will be all right, hold on.”

And there he was, first his head, then his body. Tall and strong with messy hair just like Harry’s. The shade of James Potter spilled from the end of Voldemort’s wand and walked up to Harry, “when the connection is broken, we will linger only moments, but we will give you time, you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts. Do you understand, Harry?”

“Yes,” Harry gasped, fighting to keep hold of his wand.

“Harry,” Cedric whispered, “take my body back, will you? Back to my parents.”

“I will,” Harry said, drinking in Cedric’s features as they moved and spoke like he was still alive. He wanted this to be his last memory of the boy he loved, not the lifeless eyes and cold skin he knew was waiting for him a few meters away.

“Do it now,” his father’s voice whispered, “be ready to run, do it now.”

Harry wrenched his wand back and took off toward Cedric’s body at a full sprint, he heard as the phoenix song that had been ringing through the air cut off as he reached Cedric and grabbed the front of his jersey. He pointed his wand toward the cup and yelled “ACCIO!”

And, as he felt the now-familiar tug behind his navel, he heard that sweet, familiar voice whisper, “my sun, my moon, and all of my stars.”

Chapter Text

Wednesday, 12 July 1995

Cedric,

You promised. You promised you’d take me away. You promised I wouldn’t have to come back here, you promised you’d never leave, you promised you’d love me forever but what’s forever if I’m here alone? Here without you? Here without my sun, my moon, my stars? You are everything to me, Ced, and now you’re gone. What am I supposed to do about that?

I haven’t slept through the night since it happened. I can’t close my eyes without seeing yours staring back at me, lifeless. How am I supposed to go on without you here with me?

We had a funeral for you at school. Dumbledore told everyone how you died and now they’re all afraid. I got shuffled back to Surrey without a second thought.

I gave our winnings to the twins to go toward their shop. It’s about to get dark. Well, darker. And I thought that meant everyone could use a laugh. I thought you’d agree.

Your parents came to see me the morning after. Matthew wasn’t there, I’m not sure where he was. If your dad didn’t like me before, he absolutely hates me now. But your mum was kind. I tried to give them the winnings, but they wouldn’t take them. When your dad left, your mum hung back and gave me a hug and thanked me for brining you back so they could bring you home.

It turned out that Moody was an imposter, Barty Crouch, Jr. if you can imagine. But Fudge had him kissed before he could make a real statement that he was involved or that Voldemort’s back, I’m fairly certain that’s going to blow up in my face sometime soon but I’m past the point of caring.

I’m angry all the time, Ced. Angry at you, angry at the world, angry at myself.

I miss you. I miss you so much it physically hurts and I hate you too. I miss you and I hate you, but I love you more. I love you more than I miss you and I love you more than I hate you and I think that’s why it hurts so much.

I wish you were here, Ced.

Love always,

Harry

* * *

Harry thought he was out of tears but as he stared at his rambling mess of a letter to a dead man his eyes welled up once more. He thought of lighting it on fire but decided against it. Instead, he folded it up and shoved it into the back of the photo album Hagrid had given him at the end of first year and hid the whole thing below his floorboards.

No one would tell Harry anything. He was alone in Surrey with grief so heavy it would topple an elephant, and no one would answer any of his questions. Missing Cedric sat on his chest like an anvil, it followed him everywhere, lurking in the shadows, draped over him as a shroud.

* * *

Wednesday, 2 August 1995

Missing Cedric and being cut off from his friends had initially made Harry angry, but as the weeks went on, it just made him depressed.

He knew it was bad, but he didn’t realize how bad until he didn’t notice the dementors were there until they were staring him in the face.

Finding a memory to conjure a Patronus was both easier and harder than it had ever been.

“I love you Harry,” Cedric’s voice whispered in his ear as Prongs sprung forth from his wand.

When he got Dudley home and got that letter saying he was expelled, he was momentarily relieved. Being expelled meant he wouldn’t have to go back to Hogwarts where Cedric was in the very stones. Where his voice echoed through the halls and his grin was waiting around every corner.

He could pack a bag and run away. He knew he could exchange some galleons for pounds at Gringotts and he knew the vault his parents had left him was rather well stocked, he’d be able to get far, far away from here before anyone was the wiser. Especially if he used muggle transport. The wizarding world sucked at figuring out muggle stuff and, as Hermione said, was severely lacking in common sense.

But then the next owls arrived, and the dream died.

* * *

The rest of the summer passed in a haze. He was tried in front of the entire Wizengamot for underage magic which, if he weren’t constantly fading away, would’ve made him rather pissed. But, instead, he just sat there and watched it happen. Dumbledore swooped in to save the day and Harry couldn’t have cared less.

It seemed the only person who noticed that Harry was a shell of his former self was Remus and, thinking back on it, it was probably because he was intimately familiar with the feeling.

He tried to get to know Sirius better but neither of them was all there.

The Order had invaded Sirius’ house and Harry was rather unimpressed. They couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought, let alone a solid plan to counter Voldemort.

There was something about the house that set Harry on edge, it wasn’t just the lingering feel of dark magic or the strangely sinister magic he could feel radiating from one of the display cases in the library, it was as if the magic that held the very house together was calling his name. If he were even 5% more of a functional human being, he might’ve thought to ask someone about it but, as it stood, all his energy was focused on making it through the day.

Then Moody showed him that picture of the original Order and whatever was left of Harry’s soul shattered. Nearly every single person in that picture was dead or irreparably broken and now they were looking into the eyes of a second war which had already seen its first casualty and Harry couldn’t help but look around the room and wonder how many of these people would be left standing at the end, something in him told him that it wouldn’t be very many.

The days passed and the 1^st of September arrived, and Harry packed his trunk and headed to the station and laughed at Sirius sneaking along with them as Padfoot, even though he privately agreed with everyone who was telling him he was a massive sodding idiot for doing so.

Harry was so checked out of life that he was shocked when the girl with long blond hair who Ginny introduced as Luna looked straight in his eyes and he felt himself crashing back to Earth.

“You’re Harry Potter,” she said.

“I know I am,” Harry said, not able to come up with anything else.

Neville laughed and Luna turned her eyes upon him, “I don’t know who you are.”

“I’m nobody,” Neville said.

“No you’re not,” Ginny said sharply and Harry nearly hugged her, “Neville Longbottom – Luna Lovegood. Luna’s in my year, but in Ravenclaw.”

“With beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure,” Luna said before she raised her upside-down magazine high enough to hide her face and fell silent. Neville and Harry stared at each other, eyebrows raised and Ginny tried to suppress a giggle.

Something in Harry’s soul felt settled surrounded by these people. Neville always felt like home for some reason and Ginny knew him better than most and there was something about Luna that made Harry’s shoulders relax.

“Guess what I got for my birthday?” Neville said.

“Another Remembrall?” Harry teased.

“No,” Neville said, “I could do with one though, I lost the old one ages ago. No, look at this,” he dug the hand that wasn’t holding Trevor in a firm grip into his schoolbag and pulled out a small gray cactus that appeared to be covered in boils, “mimbulus mimbletonia,” he said, as if that meant anything to Harry.

Harry tried to be interested, he really did, but he felt himself zoning out. Well, he was until he was splashed in the face by cactus slime. As he was trying to wipe it off, the compartment door opened and a shy voice said, “oh, sorry, bad time?”

Harry looked up and saw Cho Chang standing in the doorway with a sad smile.

Everything came crashing back down over Harry’s head and he felt the breath leave his lungs. That was enough of feeling again, being numb was much easier.

“Hi,” Harry said blankly.

“Um,” Cho muttered, “well, just thought I’d say hello, bye then.”

She closed the door as she left, and Harry finished cleaning the Stinksap off his face and clothes before he returned to staring into the mid distance.

Ginny and Neville both knew him well enough to know they weren’t going to get through to him and Luna was too invested in her copy of the Quibbler to try.

Somehow, the train reached Hogsmeade. Harry vaguely remembered Malfoy stopping by but the ride after he’d seen Cho was largely one big blur. He was entirely numb to the world until he saw whatever it was that was pulling the carriages.

The magic of the creatures reached out to Harry and wrapped his soul in a warm hug, and he was nearly overcome with grief.

Grief had been weighing on him since the 24^th of June, it had made him angry then depressed then numb but right now, staring at whatever these creatures were, it felt fresh and, somehow, felt oddly like it could be overcome.

* * *

Friday, 15 December 1995

Harry was standing in front of the mirror where they’d hung up photos and articles and notes that motivated them. He was looking into grey eyes that haunted his nights, dreams and nightmares alike, when he heard someone sniff behind him.

He turned and saw Cho standing in the middle of the room, tears pouring down her face.

“What’s up?” he said, his voice breaking.

She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and shook her head, “I’m sorry, I suppose it’s just learning all this stuff. It just makes me wonder whether, if he’d known it all … would he still be alive?”

Harry’s heart sank and his breath caught, and tears welled up in his eyes. He’d been avoiding Cho for this very reason, she wanted to talk about Cedric, and he was the last thing Harry wanted to talk about with anyone except for maybe, maybe Neville.

“He did know this stuff,” he said, thinking back to all the time they’d spent training for the third task. Learning and mastering new spells between telling stories and sharing kisses, “he was really good at it. But if Voldemort really wants to kill you, you don’t stand a chance.”

That was a rather lame excuse, especially given the fact that Pettigrew was the one who killed Cedric, not Voldemort, but he couldn’t think of what else to say.

He knew that Cho was Cedric’s best friend and if there was anyone he should be sharing his grief with, it was her, but he just couldn’t figure out how, he couldn’t bridge that gap.

“You survived,” she said, “when you were just a baby.”

“Yeah, well,” Harry said, moving toward the door, “I don’t know how, and neither does anyone else really, so it’s nothing to be proud of.”

“Oh, don’t go!” Cho said, tears welling up in her eyes again, “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Harry felt horrible in a new way. He’d been so focused on his own grief he’d hardly spared a thought for anyone else’s. Cedric was his, that’s certain, but he wasn’t just his. Missing Cedric didn’t belong to Harry.

“I know it must be horrible for you,” she said, “me mentioning Cedric, when you saw him die and with everything else, I suppose you just want to forget about it.”

For a time, he had. But now he wanted every single memory he could get. He hoarded them like treasure, the good, the bad, the painful, the euphoric. It was all Cedric.

“You’re a really good teacher, you know,” Cho said, apparently trying to cheer Harry up and maybe distract herself, “I’ve never been able to stun anything before.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, his voice sounding awkward even to himself.

They stared at each other for a long moment and Harry wanted nothing more than to run and hide but, at the same time, he’d also lost all ability to move his feet.

“Mistletoe,” Cho said quietly, pointing to the ceiling over his head.

Oh, sweet Jesus.

“Yeah,” he said, trying to think of anything he could do or say to get the fuck out of this room, “it’s probably full of nargles, though,” is what he came up with. He wasn’t sure whether he was going to hex or hug Luna when he saw her next, but he was leaning toward hex.

The next thing he knew Cho was kissing him and he was kissing her back and then between one breath and the next he was out of the room and running full tilt toward Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione and Ron were in the best seats by the fire, nearly everybody else had gone to bed.

“What kept you?” Ron asked as Harry approached.

Harry didn’t answer, he was in a state of shock and felt about four seconds away from a complete mental breakdown. Half of him wanted to tell his friends and the other half wanted to take the secret with him to his grave. For some reason, he could hear Cedric’s laughter at the back of his mind and that certainly wasn’t helping.

“Are you all right, Harry?” Hermione asked, setting aside the parchment she’d been writing on.

Harry gave a halfhearted shrug.

“What’s up?” Ron asked, moving to get a clearer view of Harry’s face, “what’s happened?”

Harry thought that was maybe an easier question to answer than whether or not he was alright, but he still couldn’t form the words.

“Is it Cho?” Hermione asked, “did she corner you after the meeting?”

Harry just nodded and Ron tried to cover his laughter with a cough.

“So, er, what did she want?” he asked in a mock-casual tone.

“She,” Harry began, before coughing, clearing his throat and trying again, “she, er -”

“Did you kiss?” Hermione asked, all business.

Ron sat up so fast his ink well went flying all over the rug. Disregarding the mess entirely, he just stared at Harry, “well?” he demanded.

Harry looked from Ron’s expression of curiosity mixed with amusement to Hermione’s slight frown and nodded.

“Well, how was it?” Ron asked.

Harry thought about that for a moment. He could’ve said any number of things; horrific, depressing, an insult to the memory of my recently deceased boyfriend, but what he landed on was, “wet.”

Harry sat back and stared into the distance as he listened to Hermione say something about Ron being “the most insensitive wart” she’d ever had the misfortune of meeting before she went on to deftly explain why both Harry and Cho were emotional disasters to which Ron deftly replied, “one person can’t feel all that at once, they’d explode.”

“Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have,” Hermione replied before she picked up her quill again.

“She was the one who started it,” Harry said, feeling like he needed to give them that bit of information.

Hermione looked at him with pity in her eyes and Ron shrugged before trying to clean up his ink spill.

Harry sat and stared into the fire for another minute before he stood with a sigh and muttered a quiet goodnight and headed up the stairs.

He fumbled through his trunk for some pajamas and was about to collapse face first into his bed when he heard Neville’s soft voice say, “Haz?”

And that was all it took for Harry to lose it.

He collapsed into Neville’s bed and waited until he heard the sounds of the curtains closing and Neville’s voice muttering a silencing charm before he broke down entirely, sobbing into Neville’s pillow and trying his best to listen to the soothing words his friend was whispering.

Finally, after what must’ve been an hour, Harry felt his breath begin to even out and he mustered up enough energy to say, “can I stay here?”

Neville simply said, “of course,” and pulled his duvet up to Harry’s shoulders before settling in next to him. They were getting a little big to share a bed, this had been much easier when they were little 3^rd years who’d just declared themselves godbrothers, who spent their nights talking in hushed tones about the parents they’d never actually gotten to have and held hands through nightmares. But that night Harry slept better than he had in months. His soul felt settled as he rested next to this person his magic recognized as a brother. It was the first real measure of comfort he’d felt since the graveyard, so the lack of space was the least of his concerns.

* * *

Thursday, 21 December 1995

Harry shot awake and felt something warm dripping into his right eye and down his neck. This was the first night he’d slept in his own bed since the night Cho had kissed him and apparently that was an awful idea. That had been the most vivid nightmare he’d had since … that wasn’t a nightmare.

He tried to scramble out of his bed and got tangled in the sheets, crashing into the floor and waking up everyone else in the dorm.

Someone got McGonagall and she rushed them through the school to Dumbledore’s office. Harry knew the warmth he felt on his face was blood and couldn’t imagine how deranged he looked, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

He relayed the information to Dumbledore and watched as the headmaster, instructed a few portraits to check the Ministry and St. Mungo’s before he turned to a third portrait and instructed a man name Phinneas to let his grandson know that they’d be coming. The man who Harry now realized was a Black looked directly at Harry in concern before his impassive mask slid back over his face and he nodded to Dumbledore before disappearing from his frame.

Dumbledore turned an old teapot into a portkey and instructed them all to hold on. Harry was rather apprehensive about portkeys, for rather obvious reasons, but followed instructions. He chanced a look at Dumbledore just before they spun away and felt anger rush through his body.

He’d become rather familiar with his own anger over the past few months and what he was feeling just then was not him.

* * *

Tuesday, 16 June 1996

It was just a stunner.

It wasn’t even that green light he’d become so intimately familiar with between the memories the dementors brought and the graveyard and every nightmare he’d had since, it was just a stunner.

Sirius was gone, through that godforsaken veil never to be seen again.

Harry heard himself scream and felt arms wrap around his torso and knew that he was well and truly broken.

Something had been crushed when his parents died but he didn’t know what it was like to live without that particular cloud. Then he’d watched Cedric die and he thought that was the moment he’d been broken but he was wrong.

Watching his godfather, the person who was meant to raise him, the man who had broken out of Azkaban to protect him, the person who had fought through the effects of 12 years with dementors to try and be there for him fall through the veil was Harry’s undoing.

It didn’t matter in that moment that Sirius’ last words had been nice one, James, Harry would be James for him any day so long as he was still here.

He recognized the voice telling him that Sirius was gone. Remus. Half of Harry’s brain told him to turn around and wrap Remus into the strongest hug he could muster. Harry wasn’t the only one who’d loved him, Remus had too, in more ways than one. And Harry knew better than most what it felt like to watch the man you love die when there’s nothing you could do to stop it.

But the other half of his brain was telling him to kill Bellatrix with his bare hands and that was the half that won out.

Harry broke out of Remus’ grip and ran into the atrium and utter chaos followed.

He found himself trapped in Dumbledore’s office and wanted nothing more than to leave but he couldn’t. His magic lashed out and destroyed everything in its path, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

And then Dumbledore showed up and showed him the prophecy and he knew right away that this wasn’t just about him.

At the first possible chance, he pulled Neville aside and told him everything and that, more than Cedric’s death, more than Voldemort arriving at Godric’s Hallow, felt like the beginning of the end.

* * *

Saturday, 10 May 1997

Gryffindor won the quidditch cup and the next thing Harry knew he was kissing Ginny.

Something felt off, but he was happy, and Ginny was familiar, and this was how things were supposed to be, so he let it go.

* * *

Wednesday, 2 July 1997

They’d just buried Dumbledore, and all Harry could think about was how he was never going to be returning to Hogwarts. He needed to keep his friends safe. People kept dying and he couldn’t seem to stop it. He needed to find those damn Horcruxes and destroy them so he could either destroy Voldemort or die trying. He’d been on a collision course with death ever since he watched the life leave Cedric’s eyes.

He found Ginny and told her they needed to break up because he wanted to keep her safe but they both knew that wasn’t the real reason.

* * *

Friday, 1 August 1997

Harry felt at peace at the Burrow but there was a constant voice at the back of his mind telling him he needed to leave to keep these people safe. He knew Ron and Hermione were dead set on joining him, but he still thought that maybe, just maybe, he could escape without them, and he wouldn’t have to drag them into the wild goose chase that Dumbledore had left him with.

One good thing about being here, though, was that Ginny had easily fallen back into place as Harry’s friend. She was kind and intelligent and always steady and Harry loved her with his entire heart, even if it wasn’t the way many people thought he should.

Scrimgeour came and read them Dumbledore’s will and left them with the world’s most confusing belongings but all it told Harry was that Dumbledore had expected him to drag Ron and Hermione into this insanity. Great.

Then Kingsley’s patronus appeared and Harry was whisked away.

* * *

Thursday, 26 March 1998

Harry watched as Pettigrew’s metal hand turned on him. He watched as he struggled to breathe and as the last light of life left those beady little eyes and he felt like something bigger had happened. It wasn’t just Pettigrew dying. It wasn’t just the man who’d orchestrated his parents deaths, who’d sent the curse that killed Cedric, leaving the world. It was something greater. It felt like Pettigrew’s death had settled a balance, but Harry had no time to examine that because Hermione was screaming, and they needed to get the fuck out of here.

* * *

Saturday, 2 May 1998

Cedric watched as Harry closed his eyes and turned a cracked stone over in his hand, he felt something pulling at his core like it had back in the graveyard when his shade spilled out of Voldemort’s wand but before he could follow it, the familiar face of Death stepped in front of him and said, “not yet.”

Cedric remembered the day he’d died. He remembered Death saying that one day Harry would call, and Cedric would answer and this sure felt like Harry calling so he had no clue why he was being prevented from answering but then he saw the shades of James and Lily Potter standing alongside Sirius Black and Remus Lupin and understood. This wasn’t his place. He nodded at Death and took a step back; he could wait for his love to join him.

Chapter Text

Saturday, 31 October 1998

Cedric stood in the shadows outside the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, waiting for Harry to call him. He wouldn’t just appear, especially not when he wasn’t sure who could see him and who couldn’t. Death had told him that one day Harry would call, and Cedric would answer, so he waited.

“Would you like me to take Teddy?” he heard Hermione ask. He hadn’t been able to see Harry much in the past few months. Up until the final battle he could see him pretty much whenever he wanted, it was like he was constantly on Harry’s mind. But something had changed. It wasn’t a bad thing, it felt like Harry was finally allowing himself to move on. All this to say, this was the first he’d heard of Teddy. He heard Hermione continue, “and you could go up to your room to talk to him?”

“Would you?” Harry asked, looking relieved. Cedric saw the bags under his eyes and how deeply exhausted Harry looked for how early in the day it was, “thank you,” he said to Hermione as he passed a baby over.

That must be Teddy, Cedric thought, smiling at the sight of the little boy. He was adorable, maybe 6 months old with messy brown curls and beautiful brown eyes, freckles across his nose and perfect chubby cheeks. Cedric watched as Teddy grinned at Hermione and wrapped one of his hands around the fingers of the hand she offered him.

Then his attention was drawn by Theodore Nott stepping up to Harry with eyes so full of love it made Cedric’s breath catch, “do you want to do this alone?” he asked.

“For now,” Harry responded, stepping up to Nott and pulling him into a tight hug, “I love you,” he whispered, and Cedric understood. Maybe something else, some greater knowledge had allowed Harry to move past his grief, but this, the knowledge that he could be loved and cared for even without Cedric there must have been what allowed him to truly move on. Cedric watched as Harry kissed Nott softly and pressed their foreheads together.

“I love you too,” Nott whispered back, pressing another soft kiss to Harry’s lips, “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Who’s he…” Ron started to ask before Cedric saw him pause for a second to think, “oh, okay.”

“Let’s eat,” Hermione said, clearing her throat as Harry walked out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. Cedric followed behind and heard Hermione say, “he’ll be back in a bit and then we can all talk to whomever,” as he left the kitchen behind.

Cedric followed as Harry headed up four flights of stairs before finally turning and entering a bedroom. Cedric looked around and realized this was the master suite meaning Harry must’ve claimed the Potter Lordship. Cedric had beat himself up several times over the years for forgetting to mention that particular facet of Harry’s status to him, it would’ve helped him in so many ways but alas. He looked around trying to figure out what felt off about the house and then he saw the seal on the wall above the bed, this wasn’t a Potter property.

Cedric was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Harry throwing himself onto the bed and throwing one of his arms over his eyes, “I know you’re there, Pretty Boy.”

Cedric smiled and walked across the room, laying down on the bed next to Harry and turning his head so he could look at the man his last love had grown into.

“Hey, H.”

Harry sucked in a breath and rubbed his hands over his eyes before sighing and turning his head to look at Cedric. Green met gray and Harry couldn’t hold his tears back any longer, “Ced,” he breathed out, his voice breaking.

“You grew up, Lover Boy.”

“You didn’t.”

“That’s alright,” Cedric said, reaching his hand out to hold Harry’s.

Harry intertwined their fingers and squeezed Cedric’s hand, tears rolling down his cheeks as he just stared at Cedric in silence, reveling at the sight of him.

“It’s alright, Harry,” Cedric said, running his thumb across the back of Harry’s hand in an attempt to soothe him.

“It’s been so long,” Harry said, his voice soft.

“I know, I’ve been waiting.”

“Why didn’t you come in the forest when I called?”

“Death said it wasn’t time.”

“Death is a right arse.”

Cedric laughed and Harry smiled, committing that sound to memory.

“In the graveyard,” Cedric said, looking straight into Harry’s eyes, “Death told me that one day you would call, and I would answer, and it was the easiest agreement I’d ever made. I’ll always answer your call, my love, but that day in the forest wasn’t my time or place, that was for your parents, and I knew I could wait to see you.”

“I’ve missed you.”

“I know,” Cedric said, reaching his other hand over to run his thumb along Harry’s cheek. Harry’s eyes fluttered shut. “I know, Harry, I heard you every time you talked to me, I saw you every time you thought about me.”

“I was so angry.”

“I know.”

“I hated you.”

“I know.”

“But I loved you too, I still do.”

“I know, Harry, I know that, and I love you too. I’ll never stop.”

“My sun, my moon, and all my stars.”

“My sun, my moon, my stars, Lover Boy.” Cedric paused for a moment, just basking in Harry's presence before saying, “tell me about your little family, I saw them downstairs.”

“You mean Theo and Teddy?” Harry asked, a soft smile lighting up his face.

Cedric smiled at the sight. The look of Harry happy and in love, he’d been worried he’d never see that look again, “yeah, I want to hear about them.”

“Teddy is Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks’ son but they both died during the final battle, and I was named his godfather,” Harry explained.

“So, you adopted him?” Cedric asked before answering for himself, “of course you did.”

“I did,” Harry confirmed with a grin, “he’s my little boy and I love him more than anything.”

“How old is he?”

“Six months,” Harry said with a proud smile, “his birthday is the 26^th of April.”

“Did you fully adopt him? Like blood adopt him?”

“I did.”

“What’s his full name?” Cedric asked, wanting to know everything about this little boy who’d made his Harry this happy.

“Edward Remus Hadrian Lupin Potter,” Harry answered, “quite the mouthful but not nearly as ridiculous as my full name.”

“So, you have a full name then?” Cedric asked with a laugh.

“I do,” Harry confirmed, grinning, “it’s even more insane than Dumbledore’s, Hadrian James Arcturus Ignotus Peverell Potter Black Slytherin.”

“Did you just say Slytherin?”

“I did.”

“So, you really were the Heir of Slytherin?”

“You know you’re not even remotely the first person who’s made that joke,” Harry said, smiling and rolling his eyes, “yes I was actually the Heir of Slytherin and, fun fact, I was and am a true heir while Tommy boy was not.”

“Wow,” Cedric said, “just another thing you beat Voldemort at.”

Harry laughed and squeezed Cedric’s hand, “yeah I really was a thorn in his side.”

“Isn’t one of Dumbledore’s middle names Brian?”

“Yeah.”

“At least you’ve got cooler names than that.”

“That’s exactly what I said!” Harry exclaimed, laughing, “and I think my names are pretty cool, there’s just a lot of them.”

“Your full name makes you sound rather official.”

“Oh, I’m super official,” Harry said with a mock-serious nod of his head, “you’re talking to the Lord of Houses Peverell, Potter, Black, and Slytherin, Head of the Black Coalition and Bitch of Susan Bones as she orchestrates a hostile takeover of our government.”

Cedric let out a laugh at that, imagining Susan Bones taking over the government before he looked at Harry’s face and realized he was entirely serious, “dear Merlin, what have you lot been up to?”

“We control the Wizengamot and I’m pretty sure the median age of the body dropped to like 21 when we all joined.”

“You control the Wizengamot?”

“Pretty much,” Harry confirmed, “we only have to lobby for like 4 votes to get anything passed.”

“Woah,” Cedric said, “you lot are going to make some big changes.”

“We sure are,” Harry said with a proud smile, “some good changes, I think.”

“How’s it been working with my dad?”

Harry rolled his eyes, but his smile didn’t drop entirely, a marked improvement from the last time Cedric had seen Harry and his father interact, “he stopped openly hating me at some point in the last few years,” Harry said, “we are not friends, but Matthew has decided I’m alright, so I guess that’s a win. We mostly send Hannah to deal with your dad, but he nodded at me during our last meeting, so I think we’re practically best friends now.”

“Ah the saga of Harry Potter and Amos Diggory continues,” Cedric said with a laugh, “have you seen my mum?”

“I’ve seen your mum far more than I’ve seen your dad.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Nev’s parents are in her ward,” Harry said, “I see her almost every time we go visit and I’ve stopped by just to see her a few times as well. She’s doing good.”

Cedric’s smile got even brighter, “that makes me so happy. Now, tell me about Theodore Nott. I’ve got to hear how the son of the original Death Eater ended up raising a kid with Harry Potter.”

“He sort of just snuck up on me,” Harry said with a soft smile, “after the war ended, Andromeda and Teddy moved in here with me, this is the Black Townhouse by the way, and after a week or two she asked if we could reach out to Narcissa, which led to Narcissa and Draco moving in. Draco renounced the Malfoy name, they’re both Blacks now. I named Draco my heir for the Black family, actually, and with Draco came basically the rest of Slytherin House.”

“So, you were entirely surrounded by snakes?”

“I basically kidnapped Neville so I wasn’t alone,” Harry said with a light laugh, “though I should mention I’m actually a Slytherin now, the castle re-sorted me when we showed up for school this year.”

“I saw you in green robes when you walked by the boat house a couple weeks ago,” Cedric said, “threw me off for a minute but I’ve always said you look good in green.”

“You said that one time,” Harry said lightly shoving Cedric’s head, “anyways, all the Slytherins invaded, and everyone acted like Theo was this total mystery, but I understood him right away. He’s so much like me and it was like how I felt with you, you know, like anything I told him was safe?”

“I know what you mean,” Cedric said, his voice soft, “I’m glad you found that again, you deserve it.”

“I think I’m finally realizing that I do,” Harry said, looking up at the ceiling, “there’s so much I haven’t told him yet but not because I’m keeping it from him or because I don’t want to burden him, because something about him makes me feel like I’m not and never will be a burden, but just because there’s so much and I can’t talk 24 hours a day. We only officially started dating at the beginning of the school year, but we’d been circling around each other since they all moved in back in July. I guess he'd had a crush on me during school, but we’d never actually talked before. I don’t know, he makes me feel like I don’t have to be anything or anyone other than Harry. He doesn’t expect anything of me. And Teddy loves him which was absolutely a selling point."

"You love him?"

"I do,” Harry confirmed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before turning to look at Cedric again, “I’ve never stopped loving you,” he said, drinking in the sight of his first love after years of only seeing him in nightmares, feeling rather guilty at the admission.

“I know,” Cedric replied, “but that doesn’t mean you don’t love Theo and that you don’t love the life you’ve built. You can still mourn the life you lost; we lost. I don’t know,” he said, smiling softly with a fond look in his eyes, “maybe mourning our chance makes you appreciate this one more.”

Harry thought that over for a while, remembering nights of whispered conversations and dreams for the future. He’d only been 14 then. He hadn’t yet watched someone die, he hadn’t yet fought a war and died himself. He hadn’t truly met Theo, Teddy hadn’t been born, he hadn’t known about Regulus or Horcruxes or the Peverells. He had no clue what responsibility awaited him. He’d been young and in love and, in spite of everyone who’d tried to drag him down, a dreamer.

“That’s one thing you never understood,” Harry said, “I appreciate every chance, I always have.”

“You’re right,” Cedric responded, taking a moment to really look at the Harry who now lay beside him. They were the same height now and Harry was a year older than Cedric had ever been. He wasn’t that too short, too skinny young boy who’d been shoved into a tournament he’d never wanted to be a part of. He was a young man who’d fought a war and walked to his death, who clawed his way back and built a family and stepped up to the responsibility of being a Lord and a Founder’s Heir. He was a father. Cedric didn’t know this Harry, he never would. And, maybe, he’d never truly known Harry at all, “Theo understands though?”

“He does,” Harry confirmed, though it was clear he didn’t want to compare the two, “he understands more than most.”

“Good,” was all Cedric had said, “then let him love you.”

“I will.”

Cedric took a deep breath and studied Harry’s face before turning to look at the ceiling again, “so how’d you end up Lord Black? Sirius?”

Harry accepted the change in conversation, squeezing Cedric’s hand before turning to look at the ceiling himself, “no, actually, Regulus.”

“I don’t know much about him.”

“He’s my dad, actually.”

Cedric looked at Harry in open shock, “I’m sorry, did you just say he’s your dad?”

“I’ve got two dads and a mum,” Harry said, turning and smiling at Cedric’s shocked expression, “found out this summer that I’m extra orphaned.”

“Was he Sirius’ brother?”

“Yeah,” Harry confirmed, “his younger brother, he dated my dad, James, at school and they broke up when he was forced to take the Dark Mark when he turned 16 and James started dating Lily but they made up at the end of mum and dad’s 7^th year and all started dating each other and then they got married, James and Lily in public and to Regulus in secret and then they found out about me and Regulus gave James a blood adoption potion and then disappeared. He died on New Years Eve 1979.”

“Seven months before you were born.”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a sad smile, “he was the first person who discovered horcruxes actually, which I’m sure you know about because I spent half that stupid hunt thinking about you.”

“Yeah I watched most of that year happen,” Cedric confirmed, “did he die in that cave Dumbledore dragged you to?”

“Right in one, Pretty Boy.”

“Go me,” Cedric said with a light laugh, “what do you know about him?”

“He was a Slytherin, a Seeker, super smart and incredibly kind, I met his shade when I went back to the cave with Death which is a long story, the main points of which are that I can banish inferi and send spirits to rest, and then I spoke to him again this morning. I might look a lot like James, but I think I maybe act more like Regulus.”

“I’m sure you’re a perfect mix of all three of them and a lot yourself as well.”

Harry smiled at that, “thank you.”

Cedric took a moment to just look at Harry. His Harry who’d bled and fought and died to save the people he loves, who jumped at the chance to adopt his godson and give him the life Harry himself should’ve had, who loved hard despite never being given love as a child. His beautiful, beautiful Harry with raven curls and bright green eyes and honeyed skin, tall and strong and scared and perfect.

“I love you, Harry,” he said, “and I am so thankful you’re finally happy.”

“I love you too, Ced.”

“I’m going to go,” Cedric said, “but just remember, whenever you call, I’ll answer.”

“I know.”

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when his eyes fluttered open he was alone.

* * *

Cedric talked to Hannah and Susan and Ernie and Justin and all the while he was watching Theodore Nott, waiting until he was alone. Finally, a little after 11:00, he saw him standing alone, no one, dead or alive, claiming his time.

Cedric thought this through one more time and decided to just follow through.

“Nott,” Cedric greeted, stepping out of the shadows and standing in front of Harry’s boyfriend.

“Diggory,” he responded, his expression stuck somewhere between scared and amused.

“Thanks for loving him.”

“He deserves to be loved.”

“Thanks for letting him love you,” Cedric said, “he told me you two are a lot alike so I’m sure that was the harder part.”

“You’ve got me there,” Nott said with a half-smile, “but he’s mine and I’m his and I’ll love him as long as I breathe, and I’ll love him after that.”

“Then we’re one in the same.”

“Call me Theo, then.”

“Cedric.”

“Alright, Cedric,” Theo said with a grin, “you should know that Harry and his grandparents are looking at us like we’ve lost our minds.”

Cedric laughed lightly but didn’t turn around quite yet, “I’ll leave you now, but just know that I’m happy he has you.”

“And I’m happy he had you.”

Cedric sent Theo one last smile before turning over his shoulder to look at Harry.

He shot him a smile and a wink and mouthed, “my sun, my moon, and all my stars,” and stepped into the shadows to wait until his love called again.