Misunderstood | Cedric Diggory

xvii

In the morning the sun peaked through the rusty window besides Hagrid's door, and shortly after a rumble sent vibrations through the small hut and woke Alfie with a large gasp. My eyes met with his, who was asleep, and his hair fluffed from sleeping on the pillow of blankets that surrounded me. Before anything could be said, the bedroom door slammed open, and Hagrid's heavy voice sounded through the room.

"Morning!" he called, wandering in and throwing some coals onto the fire, followed by a match that had it roar up in flames. He smiled over, "I'm sure you'll be wanting some 'reakfast before yers head off?" he gave us little choice, placing a cauldron on the fire and throwing several chopped up vegetables and meat into it.

Between Alfie and me, we didn't say much, but both looked up as the giant of a man rambled on, "It's my special 'reakfast stew, probably nothin' as nice as yers get up there, but rather scrumptious on mer own terms."

Hagrid smiled pleasantly to himself, giving the pot a few occasional stirs now and then as he boiled water in a separate pan. A silent mutual decision between Alfie and me was it would be rude not to stay and eat the stew. Hence, as Hagrid handed us pots of a rather odd-looking collection of foods and a cup of tea, we willingly joined him for breakfast, despite the odd flavours that the meal encompassed.

We first spoke to each other when we left the hut, Alfie escorting me to Madame Pomfrey. "Last night." I sighed suddenly, acknowledging the kiss that had happened between the two of us.

"It was perfect," he said, which threw me off guard. I couldn't deny that it was a good kiss, but with the prophecy and Cedric in the back of my mind, it could have never been perfect.

I stumbled on my words, but it would have broken my own heart to have to break Alfie's. So I told him everything, from the forest and the lack of love, but the compassion and the smiles and the regret.

He didn't respond for a while; he seemed to be softly reflecting over it all. A silenced pain, a realisation and an acceptance that tied together with one smile. "What are we gonna do then?"

"I don't know," I breathed. I hadn't even had the chance to fully comprehend what Alfie had said last night about Alissa, my best friend, someone who I gave a second chance despite everything. I felt betrayed, though also the betrayer. It was a cruel, uncomfortable feeling and disgust within myself, yet the kiss I had with Alfie wasn't something I wouldn't have avoided if I was in the situation again.

We stayed quiet, lost for words. I felt a great deal of emotion, one that I couldn't quite pinpoint due to a lack of romantic depth, though still of heartache. As Madame Pomfrey took my temperature, I decided that it was merely an intimate moment between two friends that shared a kiss. A kiss of little romantic importance, only a sign of affection.

Though when Cedric found out, this was the last thing he saw it as. I had been sitting in my dorm reading a book when I heard the shouting, and the voices were all too familiar.

"How dare you, you were meant to be my best mate."

There was a group of girls huddled around the entrance into the Common Room from the dorms as I went out to see what was going on, though I could just see Cedric's tall form shove Alfie. He was physically disadvantaged, but that didn't seem to stop him from pushing back.

"And you were meant to be the good guy, but you left her alone in the cold to die!"

"Didn't give you the right to kiss her!" Cedric growled. I kept trying to push through, but nobody budged. 

"I'm sorry it was wrong, but it wasn't like you were together. It's not like you even are together anymore." I glanced a hint of rage in Cedric's eyes; I hadn't ever seen him like this. There were black bags under his eyes, and his hair was rough and messy.