Stuck Without You | Cedric Diggory

Chapter V: the Truth

Lily sat alone in the Slytherin stands, waiting for her best friend who should've arrived 20 minutes ago. She was getting nervous as to why Oakley wasn't there. She looked a few rows in front of her and saw William and Pansy; his arm was wrapped tightly around her shoulders. How dare he! Lily thought, him and Oakley are still dating, whether they're talking or not. It's been three bloody days! Oh I am going to- her thoughts were quickly disrupted by her best friend's arrival.

"Hey," Oakley said, rubbing her hands together. "A bit chilly today, isn't it?"

"Where have you been?" Lily asked, concerned. "I've been waiting for you for 20 minutes! Where do you keep disappearing to? You're starting to worry me,"

"No where!" Oakley lied. "I've been struggling in Herbology so I've been getting some extra hours of studying in. Nothing to be worried about,"

"If you say so," Lily said. She was slightly unconvinced considering Oakley was one of the smartest people she knew, but she wasn't going to pry her friend right now. 

"Now, what have I missed?" Oakley asked. Lily filled her in on the game. Hufflepuff was up 10-0. The past 20 minutes had been slightly pathetic in her opinion.

"Macmillion isn't a very good seeker," Lily whispered to her friend with a smile. "I think we'll win. He doesn't stand a chance up against Malfoy,"

Just then, the platinum blond seeker was hit in the chest with a bludger, causing him to spin around on his broom and almost fall off before regaining his balance.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Oakley laughed. Her and her friend watched the game intently, Oakley secretly rooting for a Hufflepuff victory since she knew that would definitely cheer Cedric up...not that she cared, though.

"By the way," Lily started, noticing something different about Oakley's hair. "What's with the yellow ribbon in your hair?"

Oakley blushed and ignored her friends comment, pretending to cheer along with the other Slytherins as the game continued.

-

The weekend was passing uneventfully. William and Oakley were still in a rocky place, though they had finally made eye contact for the first time since the incident. The girl knew she had to talk to him eventually, explain what really happened. Her anger was starting to die down since, as of Saturday morning, Cedric was officially awake and doing better, or so she heard. 

She wasn't going to go see him the hospital, and she prayed Madame Pomfrey wouldn't tell him she had stayed with him all that time. She didn't want him getting any ideas about their 'relationship', if you could even call it that. She knew she had to keep up the I-hate-you act, at least until William calmed down. She didn't want to see Cedric hurt again, especially not due to her not being able to control her twisted emotions around him. 

-

When Cedric regained some form of consciousness Friday evening, he was alone and confused. He was in the hospital wing, but Madame Pomfrey was no where to be seen. She wouldn't just leave him there, would she? His head hurt horribly, so he closed his eyes again and didn't awake until the next morning. A few of his friends stopped by at lunch when they heard he was awake to tell him everything about Hufflepuff's victory the previous night, which made his day a little less dreadful.

Cedric eventually remembered everything that happened up until he got stunned. He knew he was at fault, and he did feel somewhat bad, but then he came to the realization that this was exactly what he had wanted in the moment. He liked knowing Oakley was in trouble with her boyfriend. She had caused him weeks of aggravation, so she could have some minor relationship issues because of him.