Stuck Without You | Cedric Diggory

Chapter IV: the Broom Cupboard

Cedric decided to let Oakley finish their potion. He knew she would do a better job and he wouldn't have to put up with her insults if he stayed back. He waited patiently for class to end, then he grabbed his things and walked into the hallway, but he didn't go back to the Hufflepuff common room.

Oakley took her time getting her things together. Cedric had rushed out, but she ignored it. The last few hours had been weird for her. She couldn't stop thinking about Lily's wild accusation. She didn't know what lead her best friend to thinking that, but she also didn't know why she didn't deny it right away.

 There was no way she could like Cedric. Sure, she always looked for him when she walked in a room, constantly got lost staring at him, and always looked forward to seeing him, but she hated him! She was confused. Did she hate him or did she hate the way he made her feel? 

She absentmindedly exited the classroom and began strolling down the corridor to go back to the Slytherin common room. She was nearly there when she felt a strong hand grip her wrist and yank her into a broom cupboard. She started to scream, but she was stopped by the person's other hand covering her mouth. She looked at her kidnapper and her heart stopped when her emerald eyes met his stormy gray ones. 

Cedric's eyes didn't shift or blink and neither did her's. After nearly 10 seconds of them standing there, staring at each other, Cedric removed his hand from her mouth and aggressively pinned her to the closed door of the broom closet. His strong hands were holding down her arms by the wrists, and his left leg was pushed in between hers, making it nearly impossible for her to move. His face wasn't six inches from hers when he began to speak.

"Now I'm gonna talk and you're gonna listen, Adams," he began. "I don't know what the fuck your problem with me is, but I'm done. You can insult me all you want, but we both know there's a reason you won't leave me alone,"

Oakley stayed pinned to the wall, shocked at the golden boy's sudden actions. She felt his warm breath reach her face when he talked, causing butterflies to quickly make their way throughout her whole body. 

"I-" she started, but was quickly cut off.

"I didn't say I was done," the boy interrupted, looking down at her more intently. "I don't like being interrupted, Adams. Okay? Now, I also don't like being ignored. You seem to do that a lot. Why? Why don't you answer me when I try to talk to you in class? I'm just trying to be nice, but you're starting to make that really bloody difficult,"

Oakley was nearly speechless. Who was the boy standing in front of her? Cedric was widely known as the nicest boy in the school, and here he had her pinned up against a wall in a broom closet going off on her. It had been over a month and the first reaction she got was huge. 

She didn't know how to feel. It surprised her that her whole body was yearning to lean into him, to kiss him, to be with him, but her head was screaming no. This interaction had just began and it already made her realize that Lily's "wild" accusation was right.

"You're an annoying git, that's why," Oakley lied. "Now let me go or my boyfriend will destroy you,"

She mostly said that to verbally remind herself that she had a boyfriend. To remember that she was in a serious, committed relationship, and that she had to stay loyal to him, no matter how bad she wanted to rip the boy in front of her's clothes off.

"Oh your boyfriend will destroy me? I'm terrified," Cedric smirked, clearly amused at the girls remarks. He leaned in closer, his warm breath against her face as he whispered. "I could beat your boyfriend to a pulp and walk away without a scratch,"

He was less than an inch from the girl, his lips in easy range with hers. He found himself glancing from her eyes to her mouth as she unintentionally did the same.