(no subject)
Title: Denial
Characters: Zacharias Smith/Cedric Diggory (one-sided), implied Harry/Cedric (one-sided), Cedric/Cho, Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan.
Rating: PG-13, for some language.
Warnings: Language, angst, a lot dialogue.
Word Count: ~1,780.
Summary: “I am not insanely insecure!” Zach protests, fighting to keep his voice down so Pince doesn’t throw them out. “And I am not obsessing, and I do not have a crush on Cedric!”
Prompt: "What I like about you."
Disclaimer: They're all JKR's kids and/or the kids of JKR's kids; I'm just playing with them.
A/N: Written for awdt's Valentine's Day quickies fest.
Famous Harry Potter never needed to be more famous than he already undeservedly is - or, at least, that’s Zacharias Smith’s none-too-humble opinion on things. He never needed to do any of the bloody things he’s done to save the school, he never needed to be hunted by that deranged madman, Sirius Black, and he certainly fucking never needed to be so goddamn good at Quidditch. Honestly, though, if you ask Zach, Famous Harry Potter isn’t that good at Quidditch. All he is, when it comes to most things, including Quidditch and staying alive, is lucky. He’s bloody lucky and that’s all there is to it. Nothing else. At all. He doesn’t deserve to get the credit for helping Gryffindor win as many matches as they have since his and Zach’s first year. Obviously, all the credit should be going to Oliver Wood, even though no one else thinks so. Alright, so he was only about the most efficient Quidditch captain to ever grace the Hogwarts pitch; clearly, Zach is committing some big crime by thinking that he deserves the credit for that match more than Famous Harry Potter does.
Zach was at Famous Harry Potter’s first Hogwarts Quidditch match - he had to be, really, since it was his first Hogwarts Quidditch match, as a spectator; Ernie, Justin, and Hannah nearly held him down and taped his mouth shut for constantly informing them that Aidan Lynch and Barry Ryan played better than their classmates, and that, were he still alive, Dangerous Dai Llewellyn would have shown everyone what it really meant to play Quidditch. And, having been at Famous Harry Potter’s first Hogwarts Quidditch match, Zach thinks he has every right to take issue with an egregious oversight that consistently occurs whenever people discuss how talented Famous Harry Potter is. What everyone seems to forget about the stupid spectacle that was the prat’s first match is that Famous Harry Potter only caught the Snitch because it nearly choked him to death. Nothing amazing, nothing special - he nearly died for the most ridiculous reason ever and everyone but the bloody Slytherins got busy acting like he was some Quidditch prodigy.
It was the same thing with the Hungarian Horntail. So he bloody used a Summoning Charm and did a bunch of pretty pirouettes on an expensive broomstick. Big bloody deal. Zach could’ve done that too, if he’d been in Famous Harry Potter’s shoes - and he bloody could’ve done it without having to learn how to do a Summoning Charm at the last minute. Maybe everyone else has forgotten the fact that Famous Harry Potter couldn’t do a stupid Summoning Charm after all the weeks they spent on it in Flitwick’s class, just because he miraculously pulled one out of his arse in time for the First Task, but Zach sure hasn’t. And, if Ernie and Hannah hadn’t tried to make him shut up again, he would’ve made it heard that the judging was completely unfair. Cedric did a bloody better job at the Task than Famous Harry Potter did, and Viktor Krum did as well - even that idiot French bird did better than Famous Harry Potter did. But, of course, Famous Harry Potter wound up with more points. Because he’s Bloody Dumbledore’s fucking favorite.
Cedric disagrees. Of course he would. Of course everything that makes him an amazing, brilliant human being would prompt him to be “fair” about Famous Harry Potter when that stupid git has more than enough “fairness” going around in his life. What’s worse is that Cedric never bloody shuts up about how brilliant Famous Harry Potter is. Zach wishes he would shut up. The only time he doesn’t like hearing Cedric’s voice is when it’s talking about Famous Harry Potter. He beat Famous Harry Potter at Quidditch, and he’s better than Famous Harry Potter at absolutely everything, and he’s better looking than Famous Harry Potter, so why does he have to acknowledge that Famous Harry Potter got lucky?
“Because he’s not an insanely insecure git who is clearly just obsessing over a perceived unfairness because he has an unrecognized crush on Cedric?” Ernie offers as an explanation, not even looking up from his Transfiguration textbook.
“I am not insanely insecure!” Zach protests, fighting to keep his voice down so Pince doesn’t throw them out. “And I am not obsessing, and I do not have a crush on Cedric!”
“You just said that he’s better looking than Harry,” Hannah points out.
“Yeah, because he is better looking than Harry. Everybody knows that.”
“But why is it so important?”
“Because it is, Hannah. Obviously.”
“And that’s obviously about the worst line of reasoning I’ve ever heard,” Ernie sighs. “Just admit it, Zach: you have a crush on Cedric. It’s okay, we all know that you’re… what’s that phrase you like?”
“Queer as a silver Snitch,” Zach and Hannah say in unison.
“Yeah, exactly. We all know that you’re queer as a silver Snitch, and we’ve all known since you started pining over Viktor Krum after Christmas hols last year-”
“I was not pining!”
“You stared incessantly at that stupid poster, you almost never took off that bloody jersey, and you came back from Russia making starry eyes and babbling like an idiot about how brilliant he was in that match against the… whatever you call ‘ems-”
“The Moscow Manglers,” Zach huffs. Honestly. How in the Hell Ernie can make it through life not being able to effectively differentiate between Quidditch teams is beyond Zach.
“Yeah, them. So, all the other stuff you did, and, on top of it, you wouldn’t just bloody shut up about Viktor Bloody Krum, even though Justin and I threatened to hex your ears off. You were pining.”
“I was not, and you know it, and, furthermore, that’s a slanderous accusation to make.”
“Well, whatever you think about it, the point’s the same.”
“Oh yeah, what was the point? Aside from the fact that you wanted to make me sound stupid.”
“I don’t have to make you sound stupid, Zach; you do that very well on your own.”
“Oi! Not on!”
“Would you keep your voice down?” Hannah hisses at him.
“At any rate, Zach, my point was that we already know that you fancy blokes, and you already know that we still like you-”
“Even though we probably shouldn’t because you’re a big-headed, obnoxious git.”
“What Hannah said. So why won’t you just come clean about having a crush on Cedric?”
“Because I don’t!”
“What’s his favorite sweet?” Hannah asks lightly.
“Peppermint Mice,” Zach answers smugly. What a stupid question. Any idiot would know this. “Because they have the right balance of flavor and interesting charms.”
“What’s his favorite color?”
“Indigo, halfway between blue and purple, and the color of his favorite sweater from his mum, which looks amazing with his eyes, by the way.”
“What kind of broomstick is he riding?”
“A Nimbus 2002. It was a present for his sixteenth birthday, and he was riding it when we trounced Gryffindor last year.”
“What does he do before every Quidditch match?”
“Trick question - he doesn’t believe in pre-match routines because they encourage superstition and false confidence. He does get himself ready by stretching and rubbing the back of his neck, though.”
Hannah and Ernie give each other one of their knowing looks, and Hannah says simply, “Yeah, you have a crush on him.”
“I do not!”
For all his protesting, though, Zach knows that Ernie and Hannah are right - but how can someone not have a crush on Cedric Diggory? Aside from the fact that he’s gorgeous, he’s sweet, he’s intelligent, he’s funny, and, in general, he’s some kind of god left on Earth. It’s impossible not to love him. Even Ernie and Justin have to love him, and, of course, they’ll never admit it to themselves, but they have to love him. The world just wouldn’t be working right if someone who was otherwise ostensibly in his or her right didn’t love Cedric Diggory. Famous Harry Potter loves Cedric Diggory, even if he maybe doesn’t know it yet. The only reason anyone would ever go after Cho Chang - a miraculously wonderful failure that got passed around by the bint’s best mate, Marietta - is because she’s been declared by popular opinion to be Cedric’s girlfriend, and that someone clearly wants to be closer to Cedric.
Cedric Diggory is rather oblivious to the fact that both Zach and Famous Harry Potter are in love with him. But, then, he’s so modest that he probably isn’t aware of the fact that anyone outside of Chang and his fan club is in love with him. It’s almost adorable, to be honest, even though it’s disconcerting. How can someone so perfect be so unaware of his own perfection? It isn’t right.
“So, aside from the fact that you clearly protest too much,” Ernie says. His nose is still buried in that book, but he hasn’t turned the page in a while, “you’re still a git. A big-headed, obnoxious, in denial git.”
“Which is what we like about you,” Hannah sighs, “even though it’s amazingly counterintuitive.”
“So why are you trying so hard to change the ‘in denial’ part?” Zach huffs. “Assuming that I’m in any denial anyway, which I’m not, by the way.”
“Because it’s not healthy. Denying things’ existences won’t make them go away.”
“Maybe not, but it makes them a lot less complicated.”
“Because that’s clearly all that matters.”
“Yeah, it is.”
In this case, anyway. Things would be complicated enough if Zach and Famous Harry Potter were to admit to being in love with Cedric. First off, the two of them are underage. Then, they’re blokes, and then there’s how they’d have a love triangle, and then there’s Zach’s insufferable, Pureblood Dad to deal with… and, worse still, there’s how Zach shouldn’t be in love with Cedric anyway. Not for reasons of blood, or age, or trying to act straight for his father, but, because, if it’s between himself, and Chang, and Famous Harry Potter, Zach knows that he deserves Cedric least. Chang is pretty, and there’s probably some hidden talent under her and Harry’s faces, as much as Zach doesn’t like it, and Potter must be doing something right for so many people to be interested in him. Like Ernie and Hannah said, Zach is a big-headed, obnoxious git who’s petty enough to obsess over hating Famous Harry Potter, and just because Cedric thinks he’s an alright bloke.
Cedric would never pick him, so what’s the point in even admitting to a crush? He’d just make himself hope for something and be shot down. It’s just not worth it.
Characters: Zacharias Smith/Cedric Diggory (one-sided), implied Harry/Cedric (one-sided), Cedric/Cho, Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan.
Rating: PG-13, for some language.
Warnings: Language, angst, a lot dialogue.
Word Count: ~1,780.
Summary: “I am not insanely insecure!” Zach protests, fighting to keep his voice down so Pince doesn’t throw them out. “And I am not obsessing, and I do not have a crush on Cedric!”
Prompt: "What I like about you."
Disclaimer: They're all JKR's kids and/or the kids of JKR's kids; I'm just playing with them.
A/N: Written for awdt's Valentine's Day quickies fest.
Famous Harry Potter never needed to be more famous than he already undeservedly is - or, at least, that’s Zacharias Smith’s none-too-humble opinion on things. He never needed to do any of the bloody things he’s done to save the school, he never needed to be hunted by that deranged madman, Sirius Black, and he certainly fucking never needed to be so goddamn good at Quidditch. Honestly, though, if you ask Zach, Famous Harry Potter isn’t that good at Quidditch. All he is, when it comes to most things, including Quidditch and staying alive, is lucky. He’s bloody lucky and that’s all there is to it. Nothing else. At all. He doesn’t deserve to get the credit for helping Gryffindor win as many matches as they have since his and Zach’s first year. Obviously, all the credit should be going to Oliver Wood, even though no one else thinks so. Alright, so he was only about the most efficient Quidditch captain to ever grace the Hogwarts pitch; clearly, Zach is committing some big crime by thinking that he deserves the credit for that match more than Famous Harry Potter does.
Zach was at Famous Harry Potter’s first Hogwarts Quidditch match - he had to be, really, since it was his first Hogwarts Quidditch match, as a spectator; Ernie, Justin, and Hannah nearly held him down and taped his mouth shut for constantly informing them that Aidan Lynch and Barry Ryan played better than their classmates, and that, were he still alive, Dangerous Dai Llewellyn would have shown everyone what it really meant to play Quidditch. And, having been at Famous Harry Potter’s first Hogwarts Quidditch match, Zach thinks he has every right to take issue with an egregious oversight that consistently occurs whenever people discuss how talented Famous Harry Potter is. What everyone seems to forget about the stupid spectacle that was the prat’s first match is that Famous Harry Potter only caught the Snitch because it nearly choked him to death. Nothing amazing, nothing special - he nearly died for the most ridiculous reason ever and everyone but the bloody Slytherins got busy acting like he was some Quidditch prodigy.
It was the same thing with the Hungarian Horntail. So he bloody used a Summoning Charm and did a bunch of pretty pirouettes on an expensive broomstick. Big bloody deal. Zach could’ve done that too, if he’d been in Famous Harry Potter’s shoes - and he bloody could’ve done it without having to learn how to do a Summoning Charm at the last minute. Maybe everyone else has forgotten the fact that Famous Harry Potter couldn’t do a stupid Summoning Charm after all the weeks they spent on it in Flitwick’s class, just because he miraculously pulled one out of his arse in time for the First Task, but Zach sure hasn’t. And, if Ernie and Hannah hadn’t tried to make him shut up again, he would’ve made it heard that the judging was completely unfair. Cedric did a bloody better job at the Task than Famous Harry Potter did, and Viktor Krum did as well - even that idiot French bird did better than Famous Harry Potter did. But, of course, Famous Harry Potter wound up with more points. Because he’s Bloody Dumbledore’s fucking favorite.
Cedric disagrees. Of course he would. Of course everything that makes him an amazing, brilliant human being would prompt him to be “fair” about Famous Harry Potter when that stupid git has more than enough “fairness” going around in his life. What’s worse is that Cedric never bloody shuts up about how brilliant Famous Harry Potter is. Zach wishes he would shut up. The only time he doesn’t like hearing Cedric’s voice is when it’s talking about Famous Harry Potter. He beat Famous Harry Potter at Quidditch, and he’s better than Famous Harry Potter at absolutely everything, and he’s better looking than Famous Harry Potter, so why does he have to acknowledge that Famous Harry Potter got lucky?
“Because he’s not an insanely insecure git who is clearly just obsessing over a perceived unfairness because he has an unrecognized crush on Cedric?” Ernie offers as an explanation, not even looking up from his Transfiguration textbook.
“I am not insanely insecure!” Zach protests, fighting to keep his voice down so Pince doesn’t throw them out. “And I am not obsessing, and I do not have a crush on Cedric!”
“You just said that he’s better looking than Harry,” Hannah points out.
“Yeah, because he is better looking than Harry. Everybody knows that.”
“But why is it so important?”
“Because it is, Hannah. Obviously.”
“And that’s obviously about the worst line of reasoning I’ve ever heard,” Ernie sighs. “Just admit it, Zach: you have a crush on Cedric. It’s okay, we all know that you’re… what’s that phrase you like?”
“Queer as a silver Snitch,” Zach and Hannah say in unison.
“Yeah, exactly. We all know that you’re queer as a silver Snitch, and we’ve all known since you started pining over Viktor Krum after Christmas hols last year-”
“I was not pining!”
“You stared incessantly at that stupid poster, you almost never took off that bloody jersey, and you came back from Russia making starry eyes and babbling like an idiot about how brilliant he was in that match against the… whatever you call ‘ems-”
“The Moscow Manglers,” Zach huffs. Honestly. How in the Hell Ernie can make it through life not being able to effectively differentiate between Quidditch teams is beyond Zach.
“Yeah, them. So, all the other stuff you did, and, on top of it, you wouldn’t just bloody shut up about Viktor Bloody Krum, even though Justin and I threatened to hex your ears off. You were pining.”
“I was not, and you know it, and, furthermore, that’s a slanderous accusation to make.”
“Well, whatever you think about it, the point’s the same.”
“Oh yeah, what was the point? Aside from the fact that you wanted to make me sound stupid.”
“I don’t have to make you sound stupid, Zach; you do that very well on your own.”
“Oi! Not on!”
“Would you keep your voice down?” Hannah hisses at him.
“At any rate, Zach, my point was that we already know that you fancy blokes, and you already know that we still like you-”
“Even though we probably shouldn’t because you’re a big-headed, obnoxious git.”
“What Hannah said. So why won’t you just come clean about having a crush on Cedric?”
“Because I don’t!”
“What’s his favorite sweet?” Hannah asks lightly.
“Peppermint Mice,” Zach answers smugly. What a stupid question. Any idiot would know this. “Because they have the right balance of flavor and interesting charms.”
“What’s his favorite color?”
“Indigo, halfway between blue and purple, and the color of his favorite sweater from his mum, which looks amazing with his eyes, by the way.”
“What kind of broomstick is he riding?”
“A Nimbus 2002. It was a present for his sixteenth birthday, and he was riding it when we trounced Gryffindor last year.”
“What does he do before every Quidditch match?”
“Trick question - he doesn’t believe in pre-match routines because they encourage superstition and false confidence. He does get himself ready by stretching and rubbing the back of his neck, though.”
Hannah and Ernie give each other one of their knowing looks, and Hannah says simply, “Yeah, you have a crush on him.”
“I do not!”
For all his protesting, though, Zach knows that Ernie and Hannah are right - but how can someone not have a crush on Cedric Diggory? Aside from the fact that he’s gorgeous, he’s sweet, he’s intelligent, he’s funny, and, in general, he’s some kind of god left on Earth. It’s impossible not to love him. Even Ernie and Justin have to love him, and, of course, they’ll never admit it to themselves, but they have to love him. The world just wouldn’t be working right if someone who was otherwise ostensibly in his or her right didn’t love Cedric Diggory. Famous Harry Potter loves Cedric Diggory, even if he maybe doesn’t know it yet. The only reason anyone would ever go after Cho Chang - a miraculously wonderful failure that got passed around by the bint’s best mate, Marietta - is because she’s been declared by popular opinion to be Cedric’s girlfriend, and that someone clearly wants to be closer to Cedric.
Cedric Diggory is rather oblivious to the fact that both Zach and Famous Harry Potter are in love with him. But, then, he’s so modest that he probably isn’t aware of the fact that anyone outside of Chang and his fan club is in love with him. It’s almost adorable, to be honest, even though it’s disconcerting. How can someone so perfect be so unaware of his own perfection? It isn’t right.
“So, aside from the fact that you clearly protest too much,” Ernie says. His nose is still buried in that book, but he hasn’t turned the page in a while, “you’re still a git. A big-headed, obnoxious, in denial git.”
“Which is what we like about you,” Hannah sighs, “even though it’s amazingly counterintuitive.”
“So why are you trying so hard to change the ‘in denial’ part?” Zach huffs. “Assuming that I’m in any denial anyway, which I’m not, by the way.”
“Because it’s not healthy. Denying things’ existences won’t make them go away.”
“Maybe not, but it makes them a lot less complicated.”
“Because that’s clearly all that matters.”
“Yeah, it is.”
In this case, anyway. Things would be complicated enough if Zach and Famous Harry Potter were to admit to being in love with Cedric. First off, the two of them are underage. Then, they’re blokes, and then there’s how they’d have a love triangle, and then there’s Zach’s insufferable, Pureblood Dad to deal with… and, worse still, there’s how Zach shouldn’t be in love with Cedric anyway. Not for reasons of blood, or age, or trying to act straight for his father, but, because, if it’s between himself, and Chang, and Famous Harry Potter, Zach knows that he deserves Cedric least. Chang is pretty, and there’s probably some hidden talent under her and Harry’s faces, as much as Zach doesn’t like it, and Potter must be doing something right for so many people to be interested in him. Like Ernie and Hannah said, Zach is a big-headed, obnoxious git who’s petty enough to obsess over hating Famous Harry Potter, and just because Cedric thinks he’s an alright bloke.
Cedric would never pick him, so what’s the point in even admitting to a crush? He’d just make himself hope for something and be shot down. It’s just not worth it.