𖤐One Kiss and A Quidditch Match — Chapter 12: Truth𖤐
Prologue (recommended to read)
Pair: Cedric Diggory x Male Slytherin Reader
Summary of the book: You and Cedric Diggory hate each other. It has always been this way. But everything changes one night when you kiss each other at a party. Now, it seems you can’t escape each other — from being partnered up in Herbology for an important project to having to help Cedric during the Triwizard Tournament.
Summary of the chapter: After you and Cedric manage to sneak your way out of the cafe, you leave him in order to change outfits and talk to Elsie and Winnie. On the way to the dorms, you bump into someone who was looking for you.
Notes: Please comment on anything I should change to improve this. Also, I am not British, so I am not 100% sure how to correctly write people from the UK.
Content warning: Swear words, an argument, and mention of BOOMBAYAH.
!PLEASE DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION OR CREDIT TO ME!
Your heartbeat drummed through your ears as you paced around the bathroom, hands running through your hair. Did they see you? Why were they here? Did they know about the date? You were going to tell them about your relationship with Cedric at some point in the near future, but not while you were covered in love bites.
The man who gave you the marks hummed, “So your friends are sitting in the cafe having a chat? Sounds like a coincidence to me. Why would they want to spy on our date if they are in clear sight?”
“I don’t know!” You hissed, “I’m actually more concerned about how we’re gonna get out of here. I mean, what would they think if they saw the both of us walking out of the bathroom looking like this?” You gestured to your reflections, “And even if we didn’t, it’d be suspicious if we were in Madame Puddifoot’s without anyone else.”
Cedric hummed, “Fair enough. I guess we’re gonna have to sneak out.”
You glanced at him, “Yeah, how? We can’t use magic since we’re not on Hogwarts grounds, and the cafe can’t exactly hide people quite well.”
“Calm down, love.” You flinched when he placed his hands on your stiff shoulders, “Deep breaths; you need to calm down. We can get through this, I promise. I know a way out. There’s a backdoor near the kitchen.”
You chuckled, heart racing and a lump in your throat, “And how would that help? We can’t get to the kitchen because of the staff, and what about the candy you bought me?” Once the words left your mouth, you quickly shut up. The back of your neck heated up in embarrassment; why on Earth did you bring up the goddamn candy bag as if it were more important than getting out of the fruit-smelling bathroom without the three girls spotting you?
Instead of rolling his eyes, Cedric smiled softly, “I know some of the staff. The waitress with a dark bob is a friend of mine from a few years ago. She graduated a while back, though.” He brushed a strand of hair out of your face, “She’ll let us out, and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind getting the candy for us.”
You averted your eyes in nervousness and, after a moment of consideration, responded, “That’s actually a good idea.”
“What do you mean ‘actually’? Aren’t all my ideas fantastic?” Cedric teased.
You scoffed, “Well I was going to point out that it would mean that your friend would know about our relationship but I guess the fact that we are in the literal cafe known for serving couple would have given that away either way.”
“Cool. We’ll sneak out when your friends aren’t looking and I’ll talk to her. Don’t you worry your silly little head.”
You swatted playfully at the hand reaching to pat your hair, “Me? Worried? Never. You know me, always performing calmly under pressure.” You joked, the weight of dread tugging at your heart slowly lifting.
Cedric grinned at you, but suddenly, you noticed his smile falter, a look of serious yet kind concern clouding his grey eyes. “But seriously, (Name), you gotta chill out sometimes. I mean, it’s like, whenever I get to see you, you’re always on the lookout for something.” He glanced at your fidgeting hand. “Like you’re hiding something from me. Something important.”
Your jaw tensed up and stopped fidgeting, “I don’t think these type of conversations should happen in bathrooms.” You coughed, finally noticing all of your nervous habits and remembering all the moments you were stressed or only half focusing on your boyfriend while keeping an eye out for unwanted attention.
Cedric looked down, “Okay. But please tell me at some point if you feel comfortable.”
The next two minutes were spent in silence, trying to catch the attention of the dark-haired girl, Skylar. Cedric introduced you two, and you discovered she was the older sister of one of Cedric’s roommates, Luke Walker. You weren’t quite familiar with him, but remembered seeing him a few times getting teased by your Slytherin peers for being Muggle-born. Sky was much calmer than you remembered Luke being, but you saw the bags under her eyes, recognised the tired look that both Luke and Brian got for being of Muggle descent.
Cedric was right. You should tell him about everything. Being Half-Blood, Alistair, just be completely honest with your feelings with him. He’d understand, wouldn’t he? “No. He’s a Pureblood. A respected one. He’d never understand.” Hissed a small voice in the back of your head. “All of them are the same. Always judging us for our ancestry.” You brushed away the comments it made, but you didn’t feel any lighter. Instead, that familiar pit in your stomach formed once again.
Skylar and Cedric finished their short conversation, and the young woman directed you towards a back door of a pastel pink kitchen, and headed back in to get your candy bag.
You breathed out a sigh of relief, watching a puff of vapour leave your lips. Cedric pressed his hand on your fidgety ones. “Please don’t stress yourself out, love. Just breathe in. If you want, we don’t have to talk about this. We can stroll around town and then head to our dorms later on, okay?”
You chewed your inner cheek, eyes downcast, and nodded. “I’m sorry if I’m ruining everything Ced.”
“It’s fine, but I just hope that one day you’ll be able to share whatever’s bothering you with me, okay?” He smiled, placing a hand on your shoulder. “You wanna walk around some more or go back to the dorms?”
Your heart fluttered at the idea of spending some more time with Cedric. But then you thought back to Winnie, Elsie, and Destiny in the shop. Having to hide from them. For as long as you had known them, they were quite accepting, from not caring about your magical descent to always having your back when you and your current boyfriend were in your rivalry. Was keeping this secret really fair to them? Should they be the source of your worries? Your closest friends?
Slowly, you removed Cedric’s hand from your shoulder, placing it in between yours, “Actually, I’m getting pretty tired right now, and I’ve got some work to catch up on.” It hurt to see your lover’s grin slowly fade, but you told yourself that once you had become truthful with your friends again, you’d figure out how to make it up to him.
“But… a-and your candy, can’t you wait just a bit longer,” Cedric stammered, pulling you closer by the waist. “And what about, y’know…” he gestured to your crotch and your bite-covered neck.
Your cheeks flushed red, and you puffed up your coat so that the marks wouldn’t be visible“I’ll take care of it on my own, don’t worry! And I don’t mind the lack of candy; I did eat most of it already and the best part of today was spent with you, Ced.” You kissed him tenderly on the cheek. “But I really have to go.”
He whined but did not stop you as you peeled his hands from your waist, reluctantly kissing you goodbye when you were sure no one was watching, before you slowly headed back to Hogwarts.
You stepped onto the dark steps leading to the Slytherin’s dorm, eyes downcast, and your arms wrapping your coat tighter around your body as you descended into the dark staircase.
You already had it all planned out in your mind: you’d get changed into a turtleneck, and when the girls came back from Hogsmede, you’d pull them aside in the dorms to talk to them about Cedric, then you’d find Brain at some point after the conversation. A simple question popped into your mind: did he go to Hogsmede with someone else, or had he stayed in the castle?
You bit your lip thoughtfully, speeding down the steps, and staring at your quick feet.
As you neared the bottom, you passed someone going up the stairs, too focused to recognise the individual until he called your name.
“(Name)? I thought you were at Hogsmede?” The gruff voice asked. You jumped, shivers running down your back at the sudden call.
Brian gave you a puzzled look. Although you were his roommate, rarely did you see him out of his uniform, much less without a coat, so it took you a while to respond as you stared at his faded red turtleneck.
“I hope you remembered to put your uniform into the laundry room. I don’t wan’t you smelling like an unwashed teen all day.” You commented with a short, surprised laugh.
“I shower, you eejit, and I own multiple uniforms for that exact reason, you know that.” He sneered coldly, crossing his arms. “I wanted to talk to you later, but now works fine, even if we’re in the middle of the staircase. After all, we don’t seem to be bothering the lack of people crossing through here.”
“Oh! What a coincidence, I was planning on speaking to you too!” You smiled and leaned on the wall. Although you were planning on telling Winnie and Elsie first, as they were more loving and easier to talk to than Brian, you didn’t mind flipping the order of things. He was your friend, after all.
“Fantastic, then you wouldn’t mind if I started?” He rushed and, before you could even formulate a response inside your head, he continued, “Great. So, I don’t mean to pry or to be invasive or even to be rude or anything of the sort, but what on Earth does Diggory have that we don’t?”
Silence envelopped the empty stairwell, and your thoughts dissipated like clouds on a sunny afternoon.
You blinked, trying to process what exactly he said. “...Excuse me?” You mumbled in confusion, “Could you repeat that?”
He swallowed some saliva, and his jaw tensed — an observation you made by noting how his body seemed more rigid than it usually was. After a moment of hesitation, he continued, much slower, articulating all of his words to get his message across. “I was asking what Cedric Diggory has that we don’t. And by we, I mean Elsie, Winnie and I. Hell, even Tina! I mean, you’ve barely known the guy as a friend for a few months, and now you’re last-minute ditching us to go to Hogsmede with him. We’ve been friends since the beginning of our years at Hogwarts. I don’t understand why you never want to hang out with us. You’ve literally hated Diggory for years. What is it? Do you hate us now?”
You gaped at him, mostly stunned, somewhat flabbergasted, and slightly irritated. “Hate you? What are you talking about? I’m not even that close to Ced—”
“Does he know that you’re a Halfie like me?” Brian cut you off, careful to keep his voice low, but still loud enough for your heart to skip a beat in fear. “Are you that close with him?”
You hesitated. A muscle tightened in your jaw. “Maybe. Why would you care about who I tell my secrets to?”
“I don’t want him to hurt you.”
You let out a short laugh. “Why would he hurt me? What proof do you have that Cedric would hurt me. He has been nothing but nice to me — to all of us — and now you want to spit in my face and tell me how untrustworthy and supposedly evil he is? Where on Earth did you get that idea from?”
“Oh don’t act sassy with me; I’m the one with the outside point of view on your relationship with him.” Groaned Brian.
“Outside point of view my ass! Maybe instead of being wary of Cedric, I should be wary of you.” You huffed.
“(Name), don’t be dramatic—”
“Me? Dramatic?? You should hear yourself and all your crazy theories—”
“Alistair and I are just trying to look out for you—”
“Oh, so he’s involved in this?” You laughed, your head so hot that you swore you could feel steam puffing out of your ears, “No wonder you’re thinking this fucking insanely!”
“I get it, so now you get to control whom I can and can’t talk to?” Brian raised an eyebrow. His face was impossible to read, but you knew from his tone that he was mad.
“Brian that was clearly not what I was saying—”
“Make buddies with that oaf of a Hufflepuff—”
“Don’t you call him that!—”
“— and cut off one of our closest friends just cuz you want me to—”
“Brian, there’s a reason why we don’t talk to Alistair—”
“No, there’s a reason why you don’t talk to Alistair–” he uncrossed his arms, jabbing an accusatory finger in your direction, “–and a stupid one at that.”
“What are you even talking about?” You yelled, running your hand through your hair.
“I’m talking about the fact that you cut him out just because he didn’t trust Diggory.”
You chuckled sarcastically, stepping closer to him, “Oh, and where did you get that information?”
“From Alistair obviously, he’s told me the story multiple times—”
“I didn’t even cut him off for that reason!”
“But you did and you’re probably going to do the same for me!”
“Okay, that’s it, you’re mad—”
“No, I’m concerned for one of my closest friends and worried that the state of our entire group’s relationship might change because someone we all hated decided to pretend to be buddies with us—”
“Ugh! He’s not pretending—”
“People don’t change that quickly!”
“You clearly haven’t been around many people then!” You hissed in Brian’s face, tapping him in the chest accusatorially with your index finger.
He sneered at you, “That’s it! I’ve had enough of you and your bullshit!”
“BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!”
Your heads swivelled to look at the three ladies slightly above you on the staircase. Winnie was covering her ears, confusion etched in her features, while Elsie’s cheeks were turning red and her hands were on her hips like a pissed off mother.
“Any of you care to explain what was happenning?” She raised an eyebrow, gesturing to each of you.
Brian looked back at you, then scoffed, “I don’t have time for this.” He made his way out, pushing past Destiny and disappearing behind the girls, knocking Destiny into Winnie. The stairwell was so silent between the four of you that you could clearly hear his steps getting further and further away.
Elsie turned to the blonde, murmuring something to her before squeezing her shoulder with an oddly reassuring expression — a very uncommon expression of hers, especially right after she had screamed at Brian. Destiny glanced towards you, then back at the girl in front of her, nodded, then waved bye to the lot of you as she carefully walked up the stairs.
Then, Elsie turned back to you, her usual pointed look back on her pale face. “We’re going into my room. You’re telling us whatever the fuck is happening.” She pushed past you, towards the doors of the Slytherin dormitory. Winnie quickly hopped after her when she heard her name called as well.
You followed reluctantly, heart beating as fast as your thoughts. You were planning on speaking to the girls, but now you felt nude, unprepared for the conversation, especially after that argument with Brian. When did he talk with Alistair? Was that the true reason he hated Cedric? How long had the girls been listening? To be honest with yourself, you were grateful for the intervention — you weren’t sure how long you would last until an actual physical fight would have ensued with Brian. You’d never physically fought with any of your close friends, with the exception of Alistair — even if he no longer counted — when you’d wrestle during Quidditch training, but it surprised you that you actually nearly did. Was your fraction with Brian that breakable? You’d done something wrong, hadn’t you?
“After you.” Said Winnie, holding the Slytherin dorm door open for you to enter.
You mumbled a thanks and continued to follow Elsie to her room, Winnie blocking you from backtracking as if you were a prisoner.
When Elsie pushed open the door leading to her shared dorm, you realised you’d never been there before. It was much more personalised than the room you had with Alistair, Brian and Ziggy: posters stuck to the wall, a stack of letters neatly organised on one of the many beds, which varied in colour, and a few articles of clothing were scattered around the otherwise relatively clean floor. You awkwardly averted your eyes when you spotted a bra that Elsie quickly shoved under what you supposed was her bed.
Winnie ran past you and flopped onto said bed, and Elsie sat on the edge, one leg over the other, and her hands crossed onto her lap.
You stood awkwardly until Elsie motioned you to sit on the bed next to it, which you assumed was Winnie, as a framed photo of her family was placed next to the night lamp.
The girl kicked off her shoes and sighed, still lying behind Elsie.
You fidgeted with your hands. Averted your eyes.
“Nice neck, who painted it for you?” You heard Elsie mock.
Oh shit. You had forgotten about the hickies. You quickly stammered out an excuse about mosquitoes, pulling your collar to hide them as best as you could, which wasn’t very well. You’d have to change your outfit when you get back to your own room.
“I totally believe you.” Elsie scoffed. “Anyway, what was that argument about? I’ve never seen Brian so pissed.”
You let out a breathy laugh, not meeting her eyes, “Me neither. He was just…” Your mouth formed shapes, but no sound came out until you could finally sum up whatever happened into a relatively short phrase, “Well, he’s just mad that I spend a lot of time with Ced, and he’s also mad that I’m mad Alistair — no offense, Winnie —” you could hear said girl whisper something and assumed you said that she was okay with your comment, “even though I totally have a valid reason, but he just won’t believe me and says that he’s just worryied for my safety, which is exactly what Alistair keeps saying to me.”
After a moment of unresponsiveness, you glanced up, but, when meeting Elsie’s eyes, quickly looked back at your hands.
“What’s the situation with him?” Elsie asked you.
You looked back at her, eyebrows furrowed, a perplexed look on your face. “Brian? I just told you the situation. Unless you want a timeline or something.”
Elsie let out a short chuckle before rephrasing her question. “No, no, not Brian. Cedric. What’s up with the two of you?”
A small knot built in your stomach as you caught her eyeing your neck. You slowly pulled up your collar again to hide whatever marks remained when, suddenly, you caught her gaze. You recognised that look. That smug, knowing look. That’s when you knew she knew.
“You know what’s up with the two of us.” You replied carefully.
Elsie raised an eyebrow, “I want to hear you say it.”
“No.” You paused suspiciously. “What do you think is up with us, huh? I’d like to hear your opinion on the situation.”
“Alright.” Elsie uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, a playful twinkle in her dark eyes. “I think you two are shagging.”
“Wow! Okay, insane prediction!”
Winnie pushed off the bed, eyes wide and enlightened, “You two are having sex??”
You gaped at her, horror filling your heart, “No! We’re just dating, what the fuck?!”
“Okay, so what are those?” Elsie gestured to your prominent hickies and attempted to cover her smirk.
Winnie jumped into a sitting position to Elsie’s right in order to get a closer look at your neck. “You have love bites, (Name)!” You slapped a hand over your neck, heat flushing to your face.
“And you claim not to be shagging Cedric?” Elsie challenged.
“Uh, yes you did!” Winnie exclaimed, “You said that you were ‘just dating him’ which means that you weren’t doing anything more, which is also a lie! You lying bastard.”
You groaned into your hands and slid from the bed to the floor, where you pressed your legs close to your chest. “Okay, fine! You win! We did…do that… but I consider him my boyfriend, not just a fuckbuddy, okay!”
“Oh, I already knew.” Elsie responded.
“You did?!” Winnie asked. “Since when?”
Elsie smirked, checking out her red and black nails, “Since before you two even started dating.”
You gave her a puzzled look while your other friend gasped in amazement. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, you’re excused, but you really should be more sneaky with hiding your feelings for someone if you don’t want anyone to know.” She continued. “And I’ve known since the Yule Ball. I could empathize with you because I remember feeling the same way with Alistair.” Her face grew solemn, and you could practically see memories flashing through her mind.
It took around three seconds for Winnie to process what Elsie was saying when she finally replied, “Wait, my brother? Oh, yeah! I remember you mentioning that.”
You felt a pang of pity go through your heart, remembering the hopeless looks Elsie often gave Alistair when she thought he wasn’t looking, the constant ranting where you could tell she felt something for him, and at the party where you kissed Cedric for the first time when Alistair shattered her heart with his wicked comment. That night was the beginning of the end of your friendship with him, the first time you acknowledged the warning signs that previously flew right over your head.
You were frozen in your spot on the floor; you should have been there for her during those times, but instead, you were too busy bickering with your now-boyfriend to do anything. But really, did you really have to pick between two things you loved? What about now? While the argument with Brian wasn’t pleasant, he did make a good point — one that he made before, which you took a little too far by ignoring Cedric. Did you really have to choose between your friends and your boyfriend? Why not have both? You could both spend time with Ced while also hanging with your group.
Things weren’t perfect before, and they would never be — you knew that well — but your goal wasn’t to reach perfection, it was to at least make an effort. And you could start here. Now. On the floor of Elsie and Winnie’s dorm room.
You stood up and sat on your friend’s other side, gently placing your hands on her shoulders.
“Hey, you know, love’s difficult. You’re gonna have heartbreaks and trial and error before you find someone that you truly connect with. Heck, you might have an experience with someone that doesn’t even feel right to begin with, and that’ll make you realise things about yourself.” You nudged your chin to Winnie, who smiled at the mention. “You might find out that girls aren’t really your thing, or maybe in you case boys. Who knows? You have all the time in the world to find someone of your own, Elsie. Maybe the person you’ve been looking for for your entire life has always been by your side, whether friend or foe.”
You spotted Elsie looking down at her hands, trying to suppress her grin but ultimately failing. You thought you had touched her heart until you felt her shoulders shake, the fast inhale-exhale rhythm of somebody laughing. Behind Elsie, you could see Winnie grinning wildly, taping her crisscrossed legs with her fingers in an attempt to control her energy.
“I-I don’t get it,” you looked between the two of them. “What’s funny.”
“You really didn’t notice?” Elsie asked.
You saw them share a playful look. Elsie raised her eyebrow while Winnie nodded rapidly. Your confusion grew by the minute.
“I saw you as a pretty observant person, (Name). You really disappoint me.” Elsie tutted lightly. “But I guess you were too enamored with Cedric to spot anything.”
Elsie gave Winnie her hand, and the latter squeezed it.
“(Name). We’ve been dating since October.”
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