Two Times the Flame | Draco Malfoy [2]

Chapter 6 ~ Unexpected Visitors

The Death Eaters attacking the campsite was all over the Daily Prophet. Mrs. Weasley was so relieved once she saw all of us walk in through the door. She hugged all of us tightly and let us go upstairs. Somehow, all of our stuff didn't get burned to ashes and it was waiting for us in our rooms. I was happy that none of my letters from Sirius got burned. I wanted to keep them.

"Well, that was a fun trip," Ron said as we entered his bedroom. "What do you think, guys?"

"I thought the trip was very eventful," I replied.

"Way to be negative, Max," Ron scoffed.

"Well, when you have a bunch of Death Eaters coming after you, 'fun' isn't the first word that pops into your mind," I told him as I walked past him and plopped onto his bed.

"Hey, they were after me, too, you know," Harry added. "Besides, aren't you forgetting about your kiss with Cedric?"

I groaned and stuffed my face in a pillow. "Ugh, can't you guys just drop it already?"

"Why? Was it not worth your while?" Ron smirked.

"Do you guys like to torture me?" I asked them.

"We just wanted to know what it was like," Hermione answered this time.

"I've already told you about a hundred times now that it was good. Why do you guys keep asking me about it? It's not that big of a deal."

It was true. So it was my first kiss, what was the big deal? Hermione was never going to kiss him. Not trying to be mean, but I didn't think she would ever get a chance to kiss him. And it wasn't like Harry or Ron wanted to kiss him. Unless there was something that I didn't know about.

"Sorry, Max, but having a guy like Cedric kiss someone like you is kind of a big deal," Harry told me.

What the hell did he say? "And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked him in an irritated tone. Was he really bashing me like that?

"Well, he's a popular guy, Max. And here you are, hanging out with blood traitors and Muggle-borns."

"Why should that matter? Even if you guys were in Slytherin, I don't think Cedric would care. He likes me for me, Harry! And I feel the same way. I wish you could get your head out of your arse for once. Then maybe you'd understand." I stood up from the bed and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind me.

I just couldn't believe that Harry would say that about Cedric. He was a good person, unlike certain people like Malfoy. Cedric liked me for me. He might've been a popular guy, but that shouldn't matter once we became a thing. That was if we ever became a thing. I huffed a sigh and walked into Ginny's room. She wasn't in there, so she wouldn't mind if I was in there. So I grabbed my stuff from outside, put them beside her door, and collapsed on the bed.

I started thinking about Cedric and how nice he was to me at the Quidditch match. He didn't seem like someone who would ditch me because I was at the bottom of the social chain. I knew that there was one at Hogwarts.

I wanted to tell Sirius about all of this, but Harry was probably going to tell him. About the kiss, the Death Eaters, and our argument. Plus, it would take him quite some time to write back, since he was still on the run. Screw Harry, I'd just do it later. My next plan was to just sit in bed and continue thinking about Cedric, but my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of people laughing and talking coming from downstairs. I left the room and crept quietly to the top of the stairs. It was Mr. Diggory and Cedric.

Everyone was still in their rooms, so I was the only one that knew he was here. Then he started heading upstairs. I backed away from the stairs and leaned against the wall. I looked down at my feet and started playing with my hair when he came up. I didn't say anything or move from where I was standing. After a while, he cleared his throat and I looked up at him, smiling. He smiled back as I moved a piece of my hair behind my ear.