Crush
Minisinoo

4. Support

It was not, apparently, enough for Moody to work with his duelling club in spells.  That Thursday evening saw them all down by the lake stretching out then endurance running, counting shuttle sprints, and doing pushups.  Cedric -- who wasn't in bad shape -- was winded.  Ernie, Susan, Hannah, as well as quite a few others (including, amusingly for Cedric, Draco) were bright red in the face and panting.  "He's trying to kill us!" Draco complained.

It was Head Boy Adrian Pucey who snapped back, "Don't whine.  It makes you sound like a girl."  Interestingly, Draco shut up.  Cedric noted the dynamics, and what insult worked best.

Moody gave them time to walk themselves cool, then get a drink of water before they were due back in the Great Hall.  On their return to the castle, Harry caught up with Cedric, leaving behind Hermione and Ron for a moment.  "Look," he began, "about Monday . . . you weren't . . . upset, were you?"

"Monday?" Cedric asked, honestly confused for a moment -- then he remembered.  "Oh, in the library.  No, of course I wasn't upset.  Did you think I would be?"

"Erm, well -- I think Cho hoped you were.  Maybe.  That's what Hermione said.  I wasn't sure . . . I mean, I know that, um, you're not likely to be jealous about Cho.  Considering."  Harry had dropped his voice and glanced around, probably to be certain nobody was near enough to listen in.  "But when you walked away . . . she said she hoped you weren't upset."

And Cedric puzzled over how to answer that without making a dog's dinner of it.  "I wasn't upset, just startled," he lied.  "That was the table we used to share.  The two of you looked rather cosy; I didn't think I'd be welcome."

"I wouldn't have cared!"

Hands on hips, Cedric stopped walking and Harry stopped too.  They'd fallen behind most of the student pack, but a few other stragglers passed, looking at them curiously.  "You might not have cared," Cedric said.  "But I think Cho would've.  At best, it'd have been awkward.  Old boyfriend turns up to visit at her trysting table when she's wooing somebody new?  Not a good idea."

Harry blinked behind his glasses, then flushed a deep red.  "You think she was . . . I mean, she said she'd like to do it again -- meet to study -- but . . . I don't know and . . . "  He trailed off, clearly confused.  "I was hoping, but I didn't know."

Cedric dismissed what he was feeling; Harry needed reassurance.  "I'd say she was flirting with you.  Pretty obviously."

"Really?"  Harry sounded so hopeful.

"Really."

"How do you tell -- ?  Well, I mean, I know you're not . . . but girls flirt with you all the time.  How do you tell?"

"You just said they flirt with me all the time -- obviously you can tell for yourself."

"It's different when it's somebody else!" Harry said, then glanced up at the castle.  The other students had all pulled ahead of them now.  Off to their left, the sun was going down behind the Quidditch Pitch, its light reflecting off the many castle windows, glaringly bright.

"Yes," Cedric agreed.  "It is.  And she was flirting with you.  That's why I left.  You didn't need me there complicating things."  Cedric started walking again, ignoring the ache inside.

"You wouldn't have been complicating -- "

"Yes, Harry, I would."  Cedric resisted snorting in amusement.  "The last thing you needed on Monday night was me barging in."  He took a deep breath and made himself say, "She fancies you.  Two's company, three's a crowd, right?"

Harry's expression was a study in excitement, embarrassment and plain confusion.  "So what do I do next?" he blurted after a moment.

"You're asking the gay fellow what to do next with a girl?"

That was more an attempt to dodge discussion than a real attempt at humour but Harry still shoved at him in good-natured amusement.  "Oh, come on!  Gay or not, you were seeing her for six months.  And it's not as if . . . well, you've got a lot more experience than I do."

Cedric shook his head.  "Not really, Harry."

"But of course you do!  I've never . . . this is the first girl I've fancied!  I've never been through this before."

Cedric glanced down at him as they walked, then paused because they'd gained a bit on the rest and he didn't want this overheard.  "Neither have I," Cedric said.  "That's just the point.  I've never gone out with anybody I fancied.  It makes a difference.  For one thing, you actually care enough to worry about what to do next.  With Cho, 'what to do next' mostly amounted to figuring out how to hide the truth."

Harry stared up into Cedric's face as if understanding something for the first time -- or considering something for the first time.  "Who did you want to ask to the Yule Ball?"

"I didn't want to have to ask anybody!"

"Oh, come on -- pretend nobody would care.  If you could've asked the person you wanted, who would it've been?"

But Cedric shook his head, and not because it was Harry he'd have wanted to ask.  It had been at the Ball that Cedric had noticed Harry cleaned up rather well, and his feelings had begun to change.  "It doesn't matter," he told Harry now.  "I couldn't have asked who I wanted to, so I don't see the point in speculating about it."  Then he made a face.  "Can you imagine how stupid that would've looked?  Two blokes in dress robes dancing a waltz?"

Harry's face fell.  "I don't think it would've looked stupid," he said, tone serious, and sad.  Then he shrugged and pushed ahead.  "It's just . . . you know who I fancy," he said over his shoulder, "but I haven't got a clue about you.  Friends tell each other things."

That hit home.  And wasn't that the problem?  Cedric had learned not to tell anything private; now the not-telling was a habit.  "Oliver," he blurted to Harry's back.  The others were already back in the castle.  They were the last two on the path.  "But he'd have turned me down.  He's not bent.  And he's not at Hogwarts anymore anyway."

Eyebrows up, Harry turned back to look at him.  "Wood?  Really?  You fancied Oliver?"

Embarrassed, Cedric looked down at the toes of his trainers.  "Yeah.  I did."

Harry appeared thoughtful as they mounted the steps back into the castle.  "I suppose he's fit.  I never really thought about it."

"Of course you didn't," Cedric replied, amused.

Harry didn't ask if Cedric still fancied Oliver so Cedric didn't have to lie.  They were inside in any case with other students about so they stopped discussing it, but just before they entered the Great Hall, Cedric halted Harry with a hand on his arm.  "Listen, er -- about Cho.  A Hogsmeade weekend is coming up -- well, it's supposed to be coming up, if Umbridge doesn't cancel it like she threatened.  Why don't you ask Cho if she'd like to hang about with you?  I suspect she'd say 'yes.'  Take her to Madam Puddifoot's tea shop; it's a bit twee, but she likes the place."

Harry appeared surprised by this advice, then gave Cedric a brilliant grin.  Cedric ignored the tight, cold little ball in his belly.  "You really think she'd go with me?"

"Yes."

"Thanks, Cedric!"  And obviously buoyed, Harry burst through the doors into the Great Hall.

They were the last ones in.  "Diggory!  Potter!" Moody called.  "Where've you two been?  Plotting world domination?"

Harry was grinning.  "Maybe we were," he replied, cheeky with his good mood as he plopped down between Hermione and Ron.  There was no room there for Cedric, who drifted over to join his denmates.  He wasn't first in Harry's life.

Later that evening after the meeting broke up, Cedric saw Harry talking to Cho.  He looked embarrassed but determined.  She looked pleased but shy, and was nodding her head, smiling.  Cedric left the hall feeling ill.  Spectacular birthday present.  His ex-girlfriend was going to Hogsmeade with the boy on whom he entertained an impossible crush.  

5. The Chosen One

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