You and I-- Cedric Diggory Book 1

Chapter 4

Cedric's POV

"Last but not least, 37 drops of that and we are officially done with this nightmare!" Jackson exclaimed.

It was indeed a total nightmare. Potions has never been my best subject and the chattering between Tyler and her did not help with my concentration. I was pretty much staring daggers at Tyler the whole time while Jackson did the majority of the work.

Walking up to Snape, we submitted our final product while he gave us an eyebrow raise, which from my point of view, was one of the best compliments he could have given any Non-Slytherins.

"You know Ty has absolutely no feelings for her right? Just thought I'd remind you of that before you manage to kill him." Jackson joked.

"It's not like I have feelings for her too." I replied quickly and perhaps a bit too quickly.

'Yeah, as if you didn't get jealous over your best friend for sitting next to her and being assigned as her partner. You can deny for as long as you want but I know you Cedric, we know you."

To be honest, I'm not sure about the kind of feelings I have towards her. It's pretty hard to describe but she just captivated me ever since that day on the train. And for two years, I've secretly paid attention to a lot of the things that she does, her quidditch matches, her library visits and mostly her. For the last two years, I've been trying to understand why she captivates me like no others do, why I just feel different when it comes to her.

For two years, I've been watching her but avoiding her at the same time, because whenever she's around, I cannot help but stare. I cannot help but stare and do dumb things like tripping over my own feet and zoning out. For two years, I've been content with staying at least 10 feet apart from her so I don't embarrass myself.

And then everything changed. I don't know when or why exactly things changed but I'm no longer content with not talking to her or staying away from her, I want to talk to her. I want to get to know her. I just want to be near her.

And the things I've felt in the last week? I've never felt them before.

I noticed that she was leaving and having packed all my belongings, I rushed out of the room to follow her.

"Hey Taylor," I shouted.

She turned around and I almost tripped over, unsurprisingly.

"Diggory," she acknowledged.

"Are you free to have a chat?"

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

"Sure."

Being near her is nerve-wracking, a good kind of nerve-wracking but nerve-wracking nonetheless. I haven't actually thought of how I'll start the conversation, "Hi, I kind of have been watching you for two years" seems weird innit?

"You okay Diggory?"

That's when I realized, I've been staring at her while I was thinking, which makes me a total weirdo.

"Yeah, sorry bout' that, still recovering from the 90-minute Potions torture." I replied.

" 'Such Antidote cures various poisons, including Doxyvenom. It is an extremely vital potion which requires extreme precision' " she mimicked Snape's tone, facial expressions and hand gestures

"As interesting as Potions is, Snape makes it pretty hard to focus. I don't even know how you guys manage to not fall asleep and tolerate his not-so-subtle preferential treatments." she continued.

"Trust me, it's hard. I guess the only motivation is knowing that I will not have to choose Potions after Year 5."

"Well, lucky you. I've got to tolerate 5 more years of Snape, yay!" she replied unenthusiastically.

"Anyways, enough of me and my love for Snape. What did you want to chat about?" she asked.

"Well, Taylor, I-"

"Ashley." she interrupted. "Call me Ashley."

"Well Ashley, you know how we share Potions and Charms this year? I was wondering if you want to sit together and maybe be partners for Charms?" Finally, the question of the century has been asked.

A few seconds passed when she finally replied. "About that Diggory, I-"

"Ced." I interrupted. "Call me Ced, or Cedric, whichever you like."

"Alright, Ced. I would actually love to sit together if it weren't for the fact that my best friend is probably going to kill me if I abandon her again. Not sure if you know her, but her name's Hazel Vasquez, she's from Hufflepuff too and shares Potions and Charms with us. I'm already in big trouble after leaving her with Matilda Swan just then. Can't bear the risk of being killed twice." she joked.

Operation has failed. I repeat, the operation has failed. Again.

'We could always sit nearby though? If you're okay with it, I'm really sorry about that Ced.'' She apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Sitting nearby is awesome, I would love that." I replied while trying to cover up my slight disappointment.

"Alright, guess I'll see you in class Ced!" she waved goodbye before ascending the stairs.

Ashley's POV

What was I thinking? Honestly, was I even thinking? You don't say no when a cute guy asks to be your partner. Let alone when it's Cedric Diggory. There's countless boys and girls who want to be in my position, to be asked by Cedric Diggory himself to be his partner. And yet my dumb self had declined the offer.

"Catch!". I barely had the time to react when I got hit in the face by a sweater.

"Yikes, I thought chasers have quick reflexes." said the culprit herself.

"Alexandra Conner! Chasers' reflex is for catching quaffles, or for dodging bludgers, not for catching random sweaters."

"Don't call me Alexandra."

"Alright alright Alex, are you happy with hitting your best friend in the face with a sweater?" I asked.

"Yes I am, however I'd appreciate it if you can catch the sweater and not let it fall on the ground next time. Anyways, how was Potions with Hufflepuffs?" she asked.

I was about to answer but someone else had beaten me to it.

"It was alright except for the fact Ash here abandoned her best friend to sit with Tyler Murphy" Hazel jokingly complained.

"My love, you wound me! How dare you accuse me of abandoning you. If it had not been for Sir Snape. I would have sat beside you instead of Sir Murphy!" I explained.

"Wait a damn minute, the Tyler Murphy from Hufflepuff?" asked Alex.

"Yes Alex, the Tyler Murphy who you made out with in year 2 during the good old Truth or Dare and the Tyler Murphy who you shared a Situationship with," I teased.

"Situationship my ass. He wishes he could share that with me." Alex defended.

"Well you can deny that for as long as you want Alex, but we all know the history you two share," said Hazel.

"Next topic, please and thank you."

"So, I actually have something to tell you guys, which is related to a certain Hufflepuff Golden Boy." I hinted.

"Hold my butterbeer. Did he propose?" said Alex shockingly.

"Excuse me? Why would you think that? No! He did not propose." I replied.

And to avoid any further false speculations, I told them everything.

A/N: Chapter 4 heyyyy i know chapter 2 and 3 has been a bit short. I'm aiming at having at least 1000 words per chapter from now on. Also, finally the interaction that I've been excited to cover yay, hope you enjoy it and have a great day:))))