An Unbreakable Vow ~ Harry Potter

xxii - in which cedric asks an important question

Valerie spent most of her days in the library, and it was not due to the fact that Cedric also spent most of his days here. She honestly stayed away from Harry, because he acted weird every time she was around him.

Ron and Harry had spent a lot of time playing wizard's chess, much to Ron's delight. Hermione stayed with her in the library, but generally abandoned her when Krum was around, which was all the time now.

She had started talking to Cedric. In fact, so much that she was wondering why she was still sneaking around to take a peek at him.

She snapped out of her thoughts and focused her eyes back on the table where Cedric was, only to find that he wasn't there anymore.

"Where..."

Strong hands slipped around her waist from behind, and before she could grab her wand, she felt someone's breath hot on her neck.

"What are you doing, Faire?" Cedric's voice pierced through the uncomfortable silence.

"You've got to stop sneaking up on me," Valerie whispered back through gritted teeth.

"You've got to stop following me around with that look on your face," Cedric laughed softly, a hand going to her lips when she started to protest. "Now, it wouldn't be nice for you to argue with me when I could've very well died to those dragons."

"I thought you did great. That was quite a while ago now, though. All people are talking about is the Yule Ball."

"I see," Cedric bit his lip. "Well it's pretty exciting. I was thinking about that — and please don't interrupt me."

Valerie closed her mouth before she could argue, and crossed her arms over her chest rather self-consciously. "What?"

"I have to admit, you're been growing on me a lot lately. Now we've formed quite an acquaintance..."

Valerie's chest tightened painfully. She loved Cedric now, and she was now sure it was only as a friend. The more she got to know him, the more time she spent with him, she found him funny and kind and nice and — still just not someone she would want for a boyfriend. He was so amazing. Just too perfect. She wanted someone who she could just talk to. Someone who could relate to her not being to sleep at night, who could hold her while she cried out her sorrows.

"Alright, I'll just say it. Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?" Cedric asked, a nervous smile still on his face.

She looked at him for a second in shock, as if she hadn't already been expecting it. "I'm sorry Cedric, I really am. But — there's somebody else I want to go with."

Cedric's smile vanished, his face turned defeated. "Well, who is it, then?"

Before Valerie could think about what she was saying, she whispered, "Harry."

Cedric's mouth dropped open, before he quickly regained his composure. "Well, he's the more famous one, anyway, isn't he?"

"It's not like that —"

"It's alright, I understand. You were friends with him first. I really tried to do it the right way, after that day in the snow. I really tried. It just wasn't enough."

Valerie was helpless to do anything but watch as Cedric directed a small wave towards her and walked back towards his table. When he arrived, his friends patted him on the back. She could hear dozens of questions being asked of him, and cringed when he held up his hands and waved them away. The table became silent.

Why did it feel so wrong, befriending Cedric Diggory? Why did her crush on him seem to be slowly burning away when she spent more time with him? He was handsome, and she was pretty sure he was interested in her.

So why did she always seem to be thinking guiltily of Harry?

And why did she say she wanted to go with him? Was it true? She was almost certainly sure he never thought of her that way, never seemed to care.

The best thing to do would be to ignore the entire thing.

(A/N): Dun dun dun!