A Comfortable Silence [C.D.]
Cedric Diggory x Fem Hufflepuff Reader
TW: some shouting and aggression, some swearing
A/N: Hiii! I had this idea today, and I just had to share it with you guys! I hope you enjoy! A couple paragraphs in, I really liked the name Lacy for this character!
Your legs danced in anticipation as Professor McGonagall placed a beaten and weathered hat on your head. It slipped down your face and covered your eyes, then shouted “HUFFLEPUFF” with no hesitation. Loud cheers erupted from a table with students in yellow and black robes, but your face fell as you stood up and trudged over to an empty seat next to the house ghost. The fat friar congratulated you and welcomed you to Hufflepuff, “the best house of them all” with a wink. You mustered a weak smile and watched as Diggory, Cedric was sorted and ran over excitedly to join your ranks.
You felt an elbow nudge you and you jerked back into awareness as your charms partner scolded you for zoning out. You glanced at the ravenclaw emblem on his robes and squared your shoulders. “Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you have to be a bloody git about it.” you lashed. Your partner’s jaw dropped to the floor as you perfectly performed the charm he had been hopefully practicing, and failing, for the past 15 minutes. You grinned smugly at your partner’s shock and watched as Professor Flitwick stood atop his pile of books and assigned homework. He dismissed everyone, and you gathered your books, shouldering past a group of giggly Gryffindor girls.
“Wait! Lacy!” You looked over your shoulder and saw a hufflepuff boy running through the crowd, trying desperately to catch up to you. You rolled your eyes as you recognized him. Cedric Diggory. The boy who never gave up on trying to unearth your “sweet side” or whatever the hell he saw in you. Annoying as shit, really. You picked up your bag and quickly shoved your books in it as you heard Cedric’s shouts get louder. You broke into a sprint and ran to the moving staircases. They’re dead useful for trying to shake off someone who’s chasing you, you thought to yourself.
Not this time though. As you were taking the stairs two at a time, you didn’t notice all of your quills falling out of your bag. You had gained significant ground on Cedric, and looked down at him, three flights below you. But your plan of gloating was quickly squashed, and your face quickly turned to that of fury when you saw Cedric grinning at you and waggling one of your quills at you, a flashy grin spread across his face.
You walked down the three flights of stairs and crossed your arms, looking at Cedric expectantly. “Give me my quills back Diggory.” He smiled and handed them to you, and before you could stop him, he slipped a warm ball of foil into your bag and ran down the moving staircases, taking them three at a time “Enjoy the brownie Lace!”. Infuriated, you unwrapped the foil to see a steaming hunk of some sort of chocolate dessert, apparently called a brownie. Must be some muggle recipe. “Don’t call me Lace!! And stop being nice to me!!” you wrapped the brownie back up and shoved it back into your bag. You’d give it to one of the girls in your dormitory or something, they all loved Cedric.
You proceeded up the stairs to your last class of the day, Tranfiguration. You earned a disapproving look from Professor McGonagall when your pin turned into a wasp instead of the assigned bumblebee. Your mind had been on the brownie currently burning a hole in your bag, and your confusion over the boy who gave it to you burned a hole in your head.
a couple years passed, and ever since that day with the brownie, you avoided Cedric like the plague. He never stopped trying to get you to open up, and for the past month, every time he came near you, you put a silencing charm on him. Your friends always got a kick out of this, and you ignored the hurt look on his face. They were all in different houses, and after you started hanging out with them, you quickly earned a reputation as the “mean hufflpuff” Your roommates avoided you, which you were fine with, and you always snuck over to the other tables for meals. Your housemates didn’t talk to you, you didn’t cheer for them at quidditch games, and the only thing that still tied you to them were your yellow robes. You compensated for this by getting a stick-and-poke of a coiled snake on your neck.
“Lacy! Lacy” you rolled your eyes and shoved your hand into the pocket of your robes. “where’s my wand?” you muttered to yourself, then smacked yourself for leaving your wand at Care Of Magical Creatures. There was nothing you could do to avoid him. The moving staircases were being cleaned for the next hour, your wand was gone, and your friends were no where to be found. Cedric ran up to you, panting, trying to catch his breath. He looked warily at your hand in your pocket, and your heart panged with guilt. You held your hands up, showing your wandlessness. “left it in care of magical creatures” you said, and he quickly looked much more relaxed. Cedric pulled out his wand and before you could stop him, he muttered “silencio”, then grabbed your hand. You recoiled and shot him a look full of icy daggers. He pointed his wand at you again. “I don’t usually use tactics like this, but you’re a special case Ozwald.” he winked at you. Your heart fluttered. WHAT WAS THAT you screamed at yourself internally and responded to Cedric’s wink with your usual grimace.
“Come with me or I’ll hex you.” you stood unmoving, not impressed by the popular hufflepuff boy’s threats. Cedric held out his hand once more “Come with me and I won’t tell Professor Snape who used his squid ink for a stick-and-poke tattoo.” he said with a look of triumph. You wearily took his hand, and he led you to a quiet spot on the hogwarts grounds. He threw a handkerchief on the ground beneath a tree and transfigured it into a soft blanket. Then you both sat down, and you gave him a look of impatience. Cedric smiled and apologized. “I’m sorry for blackmailing you and hexing you, but I need to talk to you. And even if you don’t know it, i think you need to talk to me too.” He paused, then continued. “I’m going to cast the counter-charm now, because I want you to talk to me. Why do you push everyone away and pretend like you don’t care about anyone?”
Cedric raised his wand and braced himself for the shouting fit he knew you were about to have. “finite incantatem.”
You touched your throat and looked over at Cedric, who dragged you all this way. Just because..
why did he drag you all this way?
"That desperate for a date Diggory?" you spat, not stopping there. “Desperate enough to drag the ‘mean hufflepuff’ down to the lake for picnic by blackmailing her, then you forget to bring the food” Cedric looked at you, speechless. His gaze fell back to his shoes. “I dragged you down here because ever since that day when we were second years, i knew that you needed me. You need me because the sorting hat chose you for a reason. And I know that you, Lacy Ozwald, are a kind person underneath the walls you’ve built to shut everyone out.” He leaned back on his hands, then smiled at you. “and you’re not the ‘mean hufflepuff’ Lacy. You never were. You just need a real friend.”
You glanced at Cedric, then laid on your back and stared at the clouds. You both sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Watching the clouds as you gathered your thoughts. Then, finally, you spoke. “I push everyone away so that they can’t know me. If no one is close to me, then they won’t know the real me. No one can know that I-” you picked at the hufflepuff crest adorning your sleeve, “don’t deserve this. Hufflepuff’s characteristics are Kind, Loyal, Patient, and Hardworking. That’s not me. That’s my parents. That’s you. My whole life, both of my parents have told me how great Hufflepuff is, and how proud I should be when the hat hits my head and I continue their stupid legacy in the greatest hogwarts house. But obviously that’s not how it happened. As soon as the hat shouted Hufflepuff I knew that i was in over my head. I don’t deserve to be here, I’m a terrible person, and i’ve ruined my parents’ ‘legacy’” a single tear slid down your cheek, and you quickly wiped it away.
Cedric’s heart broke for you, as he watched your walls slowly crumble. When you had finished, he saw the tear before you could wipe it. He didn’t hesitate to go over to you, and sit down next to you. He held out his arms, welcoming you into his embrace. You looked at him warily, then curled up against him and let your tears flow onto his grey Hogwarts sweater. Cedric watched you and gently played with your hair. “I’m so proud of you for finally telling me Lace. The sorting hat chose you for a reason. The sorting hat chose you because it knew that you are a hufflepuff, and if you weren’t then you wouldn’t be here. Additionally, all that stuff about not ‘deserving to be here’ is bullshit. Hufflepuff welcomes everyone with a good heart. Your parents shouldn’t have put that sort of pressure on you, you’re not them.” Cedric lifted your head and wiped away your tears, then kissed your cheek.
You sniffled and wiped your nose. “That was pathetic Diggory.” you laughed. Then kissed him before he could register his shock, your lips dancing together. “thank you” you said. Cedric smiled and squeezed your hand. You sat together in a comfortable silence.
Hi thanks for reading! Be on the lookout for part two!
have a magical day loves! 💛