I Know And I Don't Care (Cedric Diggory x Reader)

Chapter 18

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The answer was my dorm mates. When they woke me up by ripping back my bed curtains and sticking their heads in my face, they resembled a cerberus lipstick. Half of me found it as funny as Snape in Neville's Boggart, while half of me found it as terrifying as a cerberus with the way three heads were suddenly in my face.

The laughing half of me was defeated by my fright as I jumped straight out of my skin.

"Merlin! Are you attempting to give me a heart attack?" I exclaimed, a hand clutching my sheets over my chest.

"Just a touch of one." Parvati, the slightly more cordial of she and her best friend, smiled down at me.

"I appreciate the kindness." I laughed, sitting up and running a hand through my hair. It was still tied up in a messy bun from last night. I had stayed in the library late into the night and had only left when Madam Pince threatened detention.

Her first warning hadn't met my ear due to either my complete concentration on the book in front of me or from the exhaustion slowly shutting down my hearing. The word detention had woken me up. Actually, Cedric had woken me up.

Ever the gentleman and ever the worried, he had stayed up with me to think of possible ways to lure a fortune toward me. He hated seeing my stress over something I didn't need. Cedric had figured out his strategy to steal the golden egg. Using a (hopefully) successful transfiguration spell, would Cedric bewilder the dragon. He had planned to distract and so had I. I know I didn't need a fortune, Cedric would be fine, but the process of trying to receive a fortune helped keep my mind off a possible fortune. Looking for one was easier than understanding one.

"Easier" to distract myself with, that it. It was near impossible to find a way to find a fortune. We had looked through the whole library and had found nothing other than a couple Divination books that talked about seers and their abilities. How those abilities were conjured, I'd never know. And I was a first hand source.

But I had been a second hand listener when it came to Madam Pince. Half asleep, Cedric nudged me harshly under the table in an effort to wake me without telling the librarian I was napping in her treasured library.

"You've got to be more careful about where you shut your eyes." He had whispered in my ear as we cleaned up our table. Madam Pince was watching closely as she found refuge back in her desk.

"Maybe being half asleep and half awake in my prime fortune-receiving time." I retorted.

"And maybe being half bruised and half unconscious is your true stature." Cedric responded, pulling me out of the way of a bookshelf that I swear wasn't there when I began walking.

"I would say the same for you." I gave him a nasty look, one he only returned with a light laugh. It would've been endearing if it hadn't caused him to knock over a pile of books on one of the library carts lined up in front of Madam Pince's desk.

One look at her face and I could see she didn't find it endearing either.

"And I, we," I elbowed Cedric harshly in the ribs to stop him from laughing and pay attention. "Would like to say goodnight."

"Yes." Cedric cleared in throat as if it would stop him from laughing, which made me stifle my own chuckle through a tight smile. "Goodnight Madam-"

"Night!" I called, pulling him by his sweater when I got too impatient to let him finish his kind departure!"

"Are you trying to get me detention before the biggest day of my life?"

"Just about." His sweater, the same one he was wearing when he found out I was a seer, which was supposed to help us find more information on seers, hung loosely in my arms. Trusting Cedric with my parchment and papers, I had skipped ahead of him in the quiet corridor.

"Just," Cedric pulled me back by the arm, capturing me with his hand in mine. "Glad you didn't succeed."

I forced a small smile and batted my eyelashes dramatically as I looked up at him. "How kind of you to support my endeavors."

Cedric mirrored my happy expression and titled his head. "I'll be your biggest supporter if you'll be mine. You're going to be there tomorrow, right?"

My lips pursed at the thought. For the last few hours, I'd had my happy distraction. I'd joked, talked and wasted my time away with Cedric without thinking about the task the next morning. It was welcome, wanted more than anything, and yet it had just disappeared. I knew that distractions only took my focus for so long. I just wished it had lasted a few more hours.

"Anybody up there?" Cedric asked, gently knocking on my forehead. I must've missed him saying my name. "You'll be there?"

"Of course." I'd gotten used to the gut wrenching feeling when I faked happiness with Cedric. It was different from the feeling I'd get when I'd pretend to act shocked when a fortune played off. My stomach twisted and I felt like the floor had just dropped beneath me. But no, I was still here. Meaning I'd still be there tomorrow. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

And now here I was, missing it. Missing it for nothing as important as the world.

The realization hit me like a truck and suddenly I was jumping out of bed, attempting to unravel the jeans crumpled on the floor next to my bed. Apparently I had been so tired last night that I had lost respect for the library and keeping my room clean.

"Don't want to miss anything, do you?" Lavender giggled, throwing one of her sparkly sweaters at me.

"Not really." I mumbled sternly, letting her piece of clothing bounce off of me. I had woken up late from a restless sleep, hadn't showered and wouldn't have time to and was on the path to being late to see two of my best friends fight a dragon. On top of all this, I had just noticed Hermione wasn't in the room, her bed already made and empty, her presence was suddenly dearly missed as I had to deal with all these feelings, as well as Lavender's childish behavior.

"Of course she doesn't!" Parvati loudly whispered. "She has to give Cedric's sweater back."

"What?" I scoffed, pulling my sock the rest of the way up my shin. I smoothed my jeans back over it before reaching to grab my shoes.

"You're right, Parv." Lavender whispered. Her hand flew to her mouth but her snicker escaped before she could hide it. Not that Lavender was trying to hide her glee. I'd bet good money she had put her hand to her mouth in attempt to bring her to my attention. Good money that'd she be winning as my hands dropped the shoe to the ground to fold over my chest.

"What are you going on about?" I sighed, my irritation and exhaustion coming out as aggravation.

The pair of best friends shared a look, one that I could only describe as 'gossipy', before remembering I was in the room. Parvati, the quieter of the two, allowed Lavender to let me in on their secret.

"Since when do you sleep in his sweater?" Following her words, her eyebrows raised in question at my chest.

I didn't even have to look down to remember our farewell last night, which happened to include him putting the sweater on me.

"Now you have to come. So I know you didn't lose my sweater."

I definitely didn't lose it. But I definitely lost this conversation. And boy, does Lavender knows it.

"Ever since I've been running late, actually." I declared with a sharp shove of my foot into my boot. "It saves a lot of time. No need to pick out an outfit that doesn't look good. You should try it."

With that, I grabbed my coat and exited the room. It was a miracle. Both the creation of the comeback and the delivery.

What was more of unwanted miracle was my ability to lose everything I wanted. I lost track of the time, my confidence as well as my promise to Cedric.

At least you have the sweater, popped into my head like an annoying mosquito that flies into your face. Still, I look down at the sweater, the single white and stripe drawing my hands up to it to trace.

Yeah, I still have the sweater.

His sweater.