Sober, With Love: Part 2

[pixiegerms]

II.

Plastering a wide smile on his face, Harry opened the door.

“You're here early,” he said calmly, hoping against hope they couldn't tell what he'd been doing being they'd arrived. Ron and Hermione's faces were grim, but Harry kept his smile up nervously.

“Harry, we need to talk,” Hermione said.

Harry's face instantly fell, as he remembered the last time she'd said that same thing. He was instantly defensive.

“Yeah, what about?” he said.

Hermione chewed her nail, a habit she had been desperately trying to break since their days at Hogwarts. This caused Harry to worry a bit and he said, “Well?”

“It's about Draco.”

Harry was short. He'd long accepted this as fact.

But yet when he'd come back from his summer holiday at the Weasleys to start his fourth year and realized that not only were most boys in his year taller than him, but little Colin Creevey now was too, he'd been shocked. Colin was not so much taller that he had to tilt his head to look at his face, like he had to with Ron and Blaise, but enough that it put Harry in a bad mood for most of the first week he was back at Hogwarts.

“Cheer up, there are plenty of girls still shorter than you,” Colin said cheerfully, smiling at him.

Harry didn't look up and continued stirring his porridge glumly. “Shouldn't you be getting back to your own table, Colin?” Harry said flatly.

Colin just laughed and said, “Why would I sit with the Hufflepuffs when you're over here?”

Harry groaned but didn't fight it. They'd had this conversation at least once a week, every time Harry sat with the Gryffindors, for the past three years.

“You're still taller than the first years, Harry,” Seamus said, grinning unhelpfully.

Colin's face got impossibly brighter. “Oh! That reminds me! Have you met my brother Dennis?”

Harry immediately buried his head in his hands. “There's two of you?”

Colin merely laughed again, impervious as ever to Harry's constant rejection. “He was sorted into Hufflepuff with me, though he wanted Slytherin, I'm sure.”

Ron looked up from where he'd been stuffing his face with the sausages and eggs that topped his plate. “Slytherin? Why in the world did he want to be sorted into Slytherin?”

Harry suspected he knew why. His fears were confirmed when Colin said, “To be with Harry, of course. I've told him all about Harry. I myself begged the Sorting Hat to put me in Slytherin, but it said no.”

Ron frowned and said, “Maybe if Harry had been in Gryffindor, like he was supposed to, you'd have been sorted with him.”

Hermione nodded her head, looking up from her book. “You wouldn't fit in at all in Slytherin, Colin. I'm sure the hat could have found room for you in Gryffindor.”

It was common knowledge now that Harry had almost been sorted into Gryffindor. It was the topic of many long rants from Ron and lots of laughter from the Slytherins.

“Honestly, Harry, you in Gryffindor?” Draco had said when Harry told him.

Harry had bristled and pointed out to him that most of his friends were Gryffindors, but Draco had just rolled his eyes and said, "You wouldn't last two minutes in there.”

Harry had been about to protest when Blaise spoke up saying, “You like breaking the rules too much.”

All the Slytherins that had been in earshot had laughed. Pansy had looked up from where she was braiding Daphne's hair and drawled, “Disregard for the rules isn't entirely Slytherin, you know. Gryffindors get themselves into trouble as well.”

Blaise pondered that for a moment, then said, “That's because they don't think before they do things. Harry loves getting his way too much to ever get caught.”

Harry blushed, but didn't deny the sentiment. There had been no small amount of times Harry had sneaked out after hours, armed with his invisibility cloak and the Marauder’s Map Fred and George had given him. Though there had been many close calls over the years, Harry had only ever been caught once by Snape, sneaking food back from the kitchens.

Colin was rambling on about something or other, but Harry soon started drifting off. Before he knew it, he was jerked sharply awake to sniggers all around him. Colin and Hermione were the only ones not grinning.

Hermione asked, “Are you getting enough sleep, Harry?” as Colin used his hand to wipe porridge off the side of Harry's face.

Harry blushed furiously, casting his eyes down to the table in embarrassment. Honestly, of all times to be getting these feelings, he thought, frustrated. He wasn't as confused about why he was more attracted to boys than girls as he had been, but getting those butterflies every time any male touched him was starting to irritate him.

The clearing up of the confusion he'd started feeling in his third year had been mostly because he'd spent half the summer flirting with Ron's older brother, Charlie. They'd even kissed a little bit once, before Charlie had broke the kiss off, mumbling nonsense about Harry's age.

Unfortunately for him, Fred and George noticed his blush and Fred gave a little wolf whistle, while George said, “Harry, isn't he a bit young for you?”

Harry's blush deepened and he said, “Don't encourage him,” at the same time Colin said, “I'm only a year younger.”

Harry saw people gathering their things for class and exiting the Great Hall and he quickly moved to follow. Colin bounded up behind him, asking, “Harry, will you sit at my table with me during lunch? I want you to meet Dennis.”

Harry looked at Colin's hopeful face and inwardly strangled himself as he nodded in agreement to the request. It hadn't seem that bad the first time Colin had suggested it, but he quickly learned that Draco and Blaise got particularly huffy with him whenever he sat at the Hufflepuff table.

It was partly due to a general dislike for Colin's muggle heritage that they didn't approve, but mostly an intense, burning hatred for Zacharias Smith. He apparently shared some history with Draco, dating back to their days in what Harry learned was the wizard version of primary school. Harry would never say it aloud, but he found it quite amusing that Draco despised someone who was so similar to himself. The one time he'd even alluded to the fact, Draco had refused to talk to him for the rest of the day.

Lunch came and went relatively peacefully. Harry met Colin's brother Dennis and was pleased to find that he was very much shorter than him. He wasn't nearly as pleased about the fact that Dennis was basically a clone of his brother, though shorter and lacking the camera.

Some of the Hufflepuffs had wolf whistled when Harry had sat down at their table. Despite the copious amounts of blushing and reassuring Colin and the others' that it wasn't like that, they continued teasing him. Harry was immensely grateful the person in question they were teasing him about was sitting with the Gryffindors, talking Quidditch with Ron.

The term went by without incident, and before he knew it, the time for the Triwizard Tournament was upon them. Sirius had been uncharacteristically gloomy the past week, but Harry didn't pry. He knew the anniversary of his parents' death was approaching and he hated talking about that with his godfathers. He much preferred to hear stories of the happy times they'd had in Hogwarts, rather than the horrible way their lives had ended.

Harry started getting nervous when the day came that all the houses and the students that had come from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were allowed to start putting their names in the cup. Cedric had told him he was going to enter his name and Harry was worried.

Harry and Cedric had started being friends the year before. Harry had never paid him much mind, only passing him in the halls sometimes and seeing him at the Hufflepuff table when he sat with Colin. It might have stayed that way, but Harry ended up going to support Ron and Ginny in the first match of the year that was meant to be Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. He'd met Cedric after the match when the Hufflepuff team and the Gryffindor team had all been allowed to go to Hogsmeade with their friends.

Really, Harry was grateful that Draco had gone and gotten himself bitten by Buckbeak, because he'd inadvertently brought him and Cedric together in a friendship that might not have been otherwise.

That part of his third year was a surprisingly fond memory for Harry. He remembered bringing Draco bags and bags of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans to comfort him as he lay in his death throes in the infirmary. That was Draco's side of the story, anyway.F

Harry distinctly remembered that Draco had planned to have his father get rid of the poor Hippogriff. But when Harry had threatened to tell Professor Vector exactly which Ravenclaw had been writing his Arithmancy essays, he'd soon changed his mind.

He sometimes wondered if it would have been different had he not been sorted into Slytherin with Draco. He couldn't imagine whom Draco would have spent most of his time with. He seemed fond of Crabbe and Goyle, as they were good at backing him up when he picked fights with people, but Harry didn't think they'd make good conversation partners.

Blaise was friendly with Draco as well, but he'd started becoming more and more introverted that year. It was as if Harry had become the only common factor the two of them had between them anymore.

There was also Theodore and the girls, but the girls mostly stuck to themselves, gossiping about the sixth year Ravenclaw boys and girls from other houses. Draco wasn't friends with Theodore, but then again not many people were friends with Theodore, who was always either reading down in their dorm or studying in the library.

Remus had told Harry once that he thought that without Harry there to tell Draco off for the things he did, Draco might have turned out as a little carbon copy of his father. Which was not a good thing, he was told.

“You're going to get fat, you know,” Harry had said casually, looking at Draco over his cards.

Draco had looked up at him over his own cards and said incredulously, “Me? Fat? You've lost your marbles. I can eat as many as I want and I won't gain a single pound. Speaking of, go get me some more, I'm nearly out.”

Harry had smirked and said, “I've always thought you were just vindictive, selfish and manipulative, Draco. But it turns out you just want people to pay you some attention.”

“Think you're smart because you know big words, Potty?” Draco had said, sneering at him. He popped another bean in his mouth and said, “I would have just had Father get rid of that feral creature if I'd known this was the kind of abuse against my character I would be suffering.”

“Lucky you're in here instead of playing against Cedric Diggory, Draco. I don't think your ego would have survived any more public humiliation,” Blaise had said from where he'd been sitting at the foot of the bed, laying down his cards next to Draco's feet.

“You should be the last person telling anyone about their egos, Zabini,” Draco said, laying down his own cards. Harry, listening to the banter, belatedly realized he'd won the card game. “Here I am, lying in the hospital wing with my arm practically falling off, and all you two can do is criticize me.”

Thanks to Draco's theatrics, Cedric had ended up going to the Quidditch World Cup with him. As he lived quite close to the Burrow, where Harry had been staying last summer, they'd all gone together. It was one of the most fun times Harry had ever had, camping out and cheering on their favourite teams.

Harry liked Cedric a lot, and they'd gotten much closer over their time after the World Cup, when Cedric had come back to spend the rest of it with him at the Weasleys'. After all that business with Charlie, Harry had thought Cedric would be a welcome distraction, but Cedric had ended up being another confusing factor in his life.

It had only gotten worse when, after the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament at the beginning of the term, their relationship had slowly begun to change. Every time Cedric would talk about putting his name in the cup, Harry would scrunch up his nose and complain. Then Cedric would grin in that annoyingly heart fluttering way and say something along the lines of how cute Harry was when he was worried.

It was subtle things, like this weird flirtation, along with Harry's burgeoning sexuality, that Harry suspected was the cause for the shift in the dynamic of their relationship.

Harry had planned on sitting at his House's table for the Hallowe'en feast, but here he was, sitting next to Cedric at the Hufflepuff table, chewing his lip nervously as he waited for the Goblet of Fire to choose the champions.

Viktor Krum, from Durmstrang, was chosen. Everybody cheered loudly, as most everyone in the school had been obsessed with the Quidditch star from the moment he'd stepped foot on Hogwarts grounds.

Without much thought, Harry's hand found Cedric's under the table and he laced their fingers together. Cedric look down at Harry in surprise, but he smiled nonetheless. Harry, despite his fears about the tournament, felt a little light-headed when Cedric started rubbing nervous circles into his palm with his thumb.

Then, Fleur Delacour was chosen from Beauxbatons. She stood up, cheeks flushing in delight, as she was applauded. The cheers were noticeably mostly male, and Harry felt a cold stab of jealousy travel up into his throat. His fingers were still interlaced with Cedric's own as he glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw that Blaise and Draco were still busy talking to Viktor Krum.

Finally, the Hogwarts champion was about to be announced. Cedric's name was called and Harry felt his tension deflate. He was scared for Cedric, but he was glad the anticipatory wait was over. He glanced over at the Slytherin table again and saw that the sixth year Slytherin who'd put his name in was scowling over at Cedric.

After the feast ended, everybody filed out of the Great Hall, chatting loudly about the Tournament champions. Harry had assumed that he and Cedric were going to part ways once they reached the hallway, but to his surprise Cedric pulled him by the arm around a corner and into a deserted classroom.

Heart beating wildly, Harry looked up at Cedric, having to tilt his head back a bit to look him in the face. Cedric looked nervously at Harry and asked, “Are you okay?”

Harry was a bit taken aback. “Yes, why wouldn't I be?”

“Well, I know you were hoping I wouldn't be picked.”

Harry frowned slightly at him and said, “I'm happy for you, Cedric. I'm just worried.”

Then, to Harry's complete surprise, Cedric leaned down and kissed him.

Harry's eyes shot wide open and Cedric's hands wandered down to his waist to hold him as they kissed. Hesitantly, Harry kissed back, hoping Cedric wouldn't realize that Harry's only experience with kissing had been an utter disaster behind a shed. He seemed to be doing alright, because Cedric moaned a bit into the kiss and deepened it.

Shyly, Harry brought his arms to wrap around Cedric's neck. Cedric made a little noise and ran his tongue across Harry's bottom lip. Harry guessed what he wanted and opened his mouth a bit, giving way for Cedric to slip his tongue inside to touch Harry's own.

Just as Harry started feeling overwhelmed with how aroused he was, someone burst through the door. Harry and Cedric leaped apart, panting, as Harry heard Draco's voice say, “Harry, are you in here?”

Cedric and Harry both came out from the shadows of the corner. Seeing Harry, Draco said, “There you are. I know you like the Irish team, but...” Draco trailed off, seeing Cedric standing behind Harry.

Cedric smiled awkwardly and said, “Goodnight, Harry.” He exited with a nod at Draco who looked suspiciously at Harry.

“What were you two doing in here?” Draco asked.

Harry shook his head quickly and said, “Nothing, we weren't doing anything. What were you saying about the, erm, Irish team?”

Draco obviously didn't believe him, but he continued, “Viktor Krum was signing autographs for some people, but he's probably gone to bed by now. I got one for you.”

Harry nodded his thanks, too rattled to be surprised at Draco's uncharacteristic thoughtfulness, and they went back to their common room, then to bed.

-

Harry felt wet and cold. He could hear a dull roar going on somewhere above his head, but it was faint enough that it didn't really bother him. And then suddenly, it did.

His eyes shot open and his lungs filled gratefully with air he didn't know he was lacking, to be greeted with the sight of the back of the neck of a panting, dripping wet Cedric Diggory. Before he had time to ask what was going on, Fleur came out of the water as well, carrying what looked like a smaller version of herself on her own back.

“The second task?” Harry asked weakly above the noise of the crowd, feeling like he could barely get the words out through the air rushing into his lungs. Cedric didn't answer as Viktor Krum also popped up out of the water with Hermione at his side.

Contrary to the confusion Harry felt, Hermione was positively glowing. Harry didn't understand until Hermione said faintly to Viktor, “Did it take you very long to find me?”

That night, Harry pouted and slid down further in his seat at the dinner table as Cedric laughed next to him and said, “Goodness, Harry, it's not like you were about to die.”

Harry looked up at him furiously, “You don't know that. The least you or Hermione could have done was tell me what was going to happen.”

“Hermione told me and Ron not to say that she'd told us.”

“Ron knew too?”

Cedric sighed and said, “Hermione thought that if we told you, you'd tell someone in Slytherin and they would tell Viktor.”

Harry pouted some more and said, “That doesn't even make any sense. So what if Viktor knew?”

“She said it might have given him an advantage in the competition, but I suspect she just wanted him to be surprised when he saw her floating there.”

Harry smiled a bit at this, but remembered himself and frowned again. “You still should have told me.”

Cedric leaned down next to him, putting his mouth close to Harry's ear so only he would be privy to what he said next. “How about I make it up to you? We could finish what we started at the Yule Ball.”

Harry flushed and said, “Don't talk about that here, Cedric.”

Cedric only grinned at him and continued his dinner.

The Yule Ball had started out as the perfect night. Then, Draco had ruined it.

Ever since he had almost caught them in the abandoned classroom, he'd taken to following them around and generally making it impossible for Harry to have any alone time with Cedric. He kept showing up wherever they happened to be, cronies usually intact.

This lack of privacy was also making it almost impossible for Harry to discern the true nature of their relationship. Sure, they'd kissed a few times and Cedric seemed to really like him, but they'd yet to sit and talk about it. Did people even sit and talk about their relationship status? Harry didn't know and couldn't find out because Draco was always breathing down his neck.

Harry had been a bit tipsy from the punch Fred and George had managed to spike beneath the adults' noses, so when Cedric had whispered in his ear about wanting to go somewhere more private, Harry had agreed. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Draco had excused himself from his date, Pansy Parkinson, and followed them outside.

Cedric and Harry had collapsed in a fit of giggles against a tree, and as they kissed Harry found himself being braver with his hands than he'd ever dared to before. Cedric seemed to like this turn of events because Harry could feel his erection pressing into his hip. The hands that were covering his bum squeezed as Harry's hands wandered under his shirt to feel toned Quidditch muscles.

Their kissing got more intense and Cedric parted their lips only to whisper heatedly to Harry, “Let's go up to my dorm. Everyone's at the party so it'll be empty.” Cedric hadn't waited for an answer and instantly starting leaving soft kisses all over Harry's face, slowly trailing downwards.

Unfortunately for Harry, as soon as Cedric had ducked his head to suck on his neck, he saw over his shoulder the quite shocked face of Draco Malfoy staring at them. But, unlike a normal person, Draco hadn't turned away from the intimate scene in embarrassment. Instead, he'd cleared his throat loudly, causing Cedric to jump away from Harry in surprise. “Blaise is looking for you, Harry,” Draco had said plainly, then turned and walked back to the party.

Harry had sighed in frustration, his giddy buzz from earlier gone. Another perfect moment, ruined by Draco Malfoy.

“It's okay, Harry, you can go,” Cedric had said, smiling a bit.

Harry had frowned and said, “I just...” He sighed again. Despite his anger at Draco, he'd started feeling guilty again for spending less and less time with Blaise. “Maybe it's important,” he finished lamely.

Cedric nodded and leaned down for one last kiss. And then another, and then a few more until Harry broke them apart. “I should go,” he said and they parted ways.

Harry had approached a Ravenclaw in his year and asked him if he'd seen Blaise. The Ravenclaw had been obviously drunk, but Harry had managed to make out that he remembered Blaise saying he was going to bed a while ago.

On his way down to the dungeons, he'd heard Draco and Pansy talking outside one of the bathrooms. He hadn't planned on stopping to listen, but when he heard his name, he paused.

“The party's not over, come on,” Harry had heard Pansy saying drunkenly.

Draco had sighed and said, “Whoever's idea it was to put alcohol in drinks that fourteen year olds have access to is clearly deranged.”

Pansy either hadn't understood what he'd said or was ignoring him, because she'd just said, “Come back and dance with me.”

Draco had brushed her off saying, “Go back to the party, Pansy. I'm going to bed.”

Pansy had scowled. “You're just going off to look for that silly old Potter again,” she said, sneering at him.

She hobbled off angrily in her high heels and Draco went off in the opposite direction. Harry's eyes widened and he'd continued down the hallway quickly, hoping he could turn the corners fast enough so that Draco wouldn't notice him. He wasn't so lucky.

“Heading to bed, are you, Potter?” Draco had drawled at him, coming up behind him.

“I was about to go see what Blaise wanted, Draco,” Harry had said through gritted teeth.

Malfoy had laughed and said, “Oh, I lied about that.”

Harry's jaw fell open in surprise at the candour of the other boy. “Why would you do that?” Harry had asked, furious that Draco had managed to spoil yet another moment that was supposed to be his and Cedric's.

Draco had just sniffed daintily at him and said, “I was only protecting your virtue, Harry. Who knows what that Diggory would have tried to make you do.”

Furious now, Harry had grabbed a surprised Draco by his robes and backed him up against the stone wall. Though he had to tilt his head to look at the bigger boy, Harry was undaunted. “Cedric wasn't making me do anything. You just hate seeing me happy.”

Releasing Draco's robes roughly, Harry had said, “Stop fucking following me around.”

They continued the walk back to the dungeons, with Draco complaining about Harry's rough treatment all the way. Harry wanted to rip his hair out. Or, preferably, Draco's.

The common room was eerily empty. When they'd got up to the dorm, Harry had seen the outline of Blaise in his bed. The two of them tried to be quiet, but Blaise had awoken, hair mussed, and sat up to squint sleepily at them in the low light. “Is the party over?”

“It's over for us. Harry almost became The Boy Who Was Shagged tonight,” Draco had said, taking off his dress robes to reveal the plain black trousers and shirt he wore underneath.

Blaise had quirked an eyebrow and sat up straighter. “What is he talking about, Harry?”

“Nothing. He's just being a prat, as usual.”

Draco laughed bitterly and got into his own bed saying, “It's not nothing, he and Cedric Diggory have been-”

Harry cut him off, saying irritatedly, “Shut up!” He got into his own bed and pulled to covers up to his chin, regretting not for the first time that his bed was in between theirs.

“No, Harry. Tell me what you and that bloody Triwizard ponce have been up to,” Blaise said. Harry wanted to tell them both to sod off, but for some reason, he had a hard time denying them.

“We're just really good friends.”

“Harry, tell me the truth,” Blaise had said, getting up to sit with his legs hanging off his bed, facing Harry.

Harry looked away from his face, very aware of Draco listening to their exchange.

“We're not... in a relationship, or anything.”

Draco had laughed sarcastically behind him. “Right, so you go around snogging just anyone against trees? And in empty classrooms?”

Harry didn't say anything, but his blush gave him away. Blaise didn't say anything back. He just got under his covers again and turned away from Harry.

“It's not... Blaise, Draco, I- ”

“Shut up and go to sleep, Harry,” Draco had interrupted, his voice not betraying his emotions at all.

Harry didn't know why he wanted to apologize. He hadn't done anything wrong.

After all that, Harry was of course cautious when the two of them had finally managed to get some alone time. They were behind the Quidditch hut where all the equipment was kept, and Cedric had assured him that nobody would come behind here, much less on a Sunday afternoon.

They didn't immediately start kissing, as Harry would have expected. Instead, Cedric lay his head on the grass, smiling at Harry to join him.

“I swear, Harry, sometimes I think you really should have been in Gryffindor,” he said, as Harry lay down next to him.

Harry looked at him curiously and turned on his side to face him. “What makes you say that?”

“For one, you're here with me now. You're the only Slytherin I know that hangs around people from other houses.”

“How many other Slytherins do you really know?” Harry asked, teasing him.

Cedric flushed and said, “I guess not many, but you're the only Slytherin I've ever seen at our table.”

Harry grinned and said, “I'm like the interhouse fairy. I flutter about from table to table creating joy.”

Cedric laughed and there was a pleasant silence for a few moments, then Cedric said, “I have to tell you something, Harry.”

Harry instantly had what he thought was a mini heart attack, but he thought he managed to keep a calm, Slytherin cool. “Oh? What's that?” he asked nonchalantly.

Cedric chewed his lip for one agonizingly suspenseful moment, before he said, “I really think I can win the tournament, Harry.”

Harry deflated. I don't know why I got my hopes up, he thought dejectedly. “I think so too, Cedric,” he said, trying not to sound disappointed.

Cedric smiled widely and said, “Do you know what that would mean for me? For my family?” He hesitated then said, “For us?”

Despite his disappointment, Harry smiled at Cedric referring to them as “us”. “It's a lot of money at stake. Plus, you'll be famous.”

“It's not just that... I really like you, Harry.”

Harry's smile dropped and his mouth formed a small “o” in surprise at the turn in the conversation. “I like you too, Cedric,” he said hesitantly.

“I know we haven't been friends for very long, but I think... I don't know what I'm saying,” Cedric said, laughing nervously.

“It's okay, Cedric. I understand,” Harry said.

Cedric smiled and pressed his lips down against Harry's. He wasted no time licking at them for entrance into his mouth, and Harry immediately granting him permission. Cedric broke the kiss off momentarily to sit up and lean against the shed, pulling Harry into his lap. Harry wrapped his legs around Cedric's hips and resumed the kiss, all the blood in his body flowing south at the intimate position they were in.

They were alone, kissing behind a shed, and Harry was feeling much older than his fourteen years. Naughty, even. But his confidence quickly disappeared as Cedric took one of his hands in his own and placed it innocuously against the bulge the front of his trousers. When Harry didn't do anything but sit there, Cedric broke the kiss and panted, “Touch me, Harry.”

He pressed Harry's hand down a bit and Harry gasped softly. He wanted to protest, say he wasn't ready, but one look at Cedric's lust filled eyes had him admonishing himself for being selfish. Cedric had won all the tasks so far, he was attractive and everybody wanted to be his friend. But he'd chosen Harry, and Harry would be damned if he let that go just because he was a bit nervous to touch his prick.

It was with that thought that Harry started moving his hand timidly against the bulge. Cedric gasped and threw his head back. “H-Harder, Harry. Press down more.”

Harry did as he was told, using his palm to rub firmly up and down on the outline of Cedric's cock that he felt through the trousers. He was in a bit of a daze, as Cedric unzipped his trousers and pulled his cock out in the open for Harry to touch.

Biting his lip nervously, Harry looked up at Cedric's face. But Cedric was looking down at where Harry had wrapped his fingers around his prick and was moving it slowly up and down. Harry saw some pearly liquid gathered near the top, so on the up stroke he swiped his thumb over the head and spread it down the rest of the shaft.

Harry was startled when Cedric moaned and said, “Oh, fuck, do that again.” He tightened his hand some more and flicked his thumb over the head again, hardly believing he was really doing this. As Harry grew more confident with a prick in his hand, he fell into a rhythm, with Cedric sometimes speaking up to tell him how he wanted it, or to go faster. He heard Cedric's breathing become choppy so he moved his hand quicker, looking in awe at the way his cock had flushed red and was drooling copiously.

Harry looked up and saw that Cedric had opened his eyes. Panting, Cedric said, “I'm close, Harry.” Then, unembarrassed in his aroused state, he said, “Put it in your mouth.”

Harry's eyes widened and looked down, wondering if he could do what Cedric was asking of him, then they flickered up again to glance at Cedric's face, but his eyes had closed again. Harry unwrapped his legs from around Cedric and got down on his knees in the grass. He bent so that he was on his elbows and knees, and was facing Cedric's cock. It looked hard as steel and impatient, as if it were waiting for Harry to get on with it.

Gingerly, Harry wrapped his hand around the base and licked the head of it, finding that the taste was not entirely unpleasant. More confident now, Harry did it again and suddenly found himself with a mouth full of cock as Cedric's hips thrust upwards. Harry choked and pulled back, startled. “Sorry, Harry.” Cedric said, panting.

Harry took the prick back into his hand and brought it to his lips again. He licked a long stripe from base to tip, causing Cedric's hips to jump again. But Harry was prepared this time and wasn't startled when it entered his mouth, resting on his tongue. Forming a sort of vacuum with his mouth, he sucked delicately.

Even though he was the one on his knees, he felt very in control of the situation. I could get used to this, Harry thought contentedly. He increased his suction until the only noises that could be heard were the sounds of wet sucking and panting.

The longer it went on for, the harder Harry got. He found that in this position, he could easily reach down in between his legs to grasp his own hard prick. He rubbed himself through his trousers for a bit, his mouth slowing down on Cedric, then he shoved his trousers and his pants down and wriggled to get them loose.

He felt a bit silly with his bum waving in the air, but mostly he just felt aroused as he started using more tongue on the cock in his mouth. He was already extremely close and he wanted to bring Cedric off before he came. He tightened his lips and sucked harder, his hand a blur on his own cock, when suddenly there was a hand travelling down his back to rest on his arse, kneading softly. Harry moaned his approval around the cock in his mouth, hearing an answering moan from Cedric as the vibrations stimulated him.

Then suddenly a finger was sliding down inside to rest on his entrance. Harry blushed and made a curious sort of noise as it started circling lightly, but he kept his mouth moving. But when the tip of the finger popped inside him, Harry pulled off the cock completely, with a startled. “Oh!” For that, he received a face full of come and his named groaned out from Cedric's lips.

This triggered Harry's own unexpected orgasm and he fell down into Cedric's lap, face next to his still spurting cock.

The two boys came down from their orgasms, breathing heavily. While Harry was drifting off with his head still lying in the other boy's lap, Cedric cast a cleaning charm on the both of them. The tingle of it made Harry sit up and look at him.

Cedric was smiling down at him. Harry quickly looked down, blushing.

“You are the cutest thing, Harry,” Cedric said, laughing. Then, he pulled Harry fully on his lap in their original position. Harry, still not willing to look Cedric in the face after what they'd done together, rested his head on his shoulder, legs coming to wrap around him again.

They were quiet, listening to each other breathing for a while. Harry thought it was the most romantic thing he'd ever experienced in his entire life, just sitting here, cuddled up to Cedric.

Harry only realized he had started drifting off in the other boys' arms, when he was brought sharply back to awareness by Cedric saying against his neck, “I love you, Harry.”

Cedric brought his hands down to lace his fingers with Harry's as he spoke. “I know we haven't been friends for very long,” he said, repeating his sentiments from earlier, “But I've never felt this way about anybody before.”

Looking up into Cedric's eyes, Harry was in shock. Love? Cedric loved him?

Desperately thinking of something to say back that wasn't corny or stupid, Harry floundered for a moment before saying, “I love you too.” There, that was easy.

Cedric's smile widened and he leaned down to capture Harry's mouth in his own in a short kiss. Harry blushed again and pulled away, “How can you kiss me after I... did that.”

Cedric laughed again and said inanely, “I would do anything for you, Harry Potter.”

They kissed again, slower this time and Harry's heart felt full to bursting. This was true love, obviously. They would get married and adopt kids and grow old together.

These were the exact sentiments Harry repeated that evening to Hermione in the library. He knew he was going a bit overboard, but he didn't think Hermione would mind. He looked at her, green eyes sparkling in happiness, for a response.

“I'm so happy for you, Harry,” she said and Harry beamed at her, “But you don't expect he means all that, do you?”

Harry frowned and said, “What do you mean? He said we'd buy a house and get married as soon as I finish school.”

“Cedric is very sweet, but he's still only sixteen, Harry,” she said.

“So what if he's sixteen? My parents fell in love when they were sixteen,” Harry said, feeling oddly defensive.

Hermione smiled at Harry and said, “I just don't want you rushing into things. You have a habit of doing that, you know.”

-

Charlie was home again for thr summer, but to his surprise, Harry seemed to be completely over him. Whenever he wasn't with Ron, Hermione or the twins, he was sitting down somewhere, penning letters to that bloke he'd started seeing at school. He'd spent half his birthday party staring out the window and writing.

This continued for much of the hot summer, but Charlie had noticed that while Harry still seemed to be writing the same amount of letters, owls for him had been coming less and less frequently

One morning, nearing the end of the summer, Charlie had been walking past Ron's room on the way to the kitchen, when he'd overheard a conversation. He wouldn't have normally stopped to listen, but from the sound of it, Harry was quite upset over something.

“...hasn't been writing much, I thought you'd be over the moon when you finally got one,” Charlie heard Ron say, and then Hermione, “Oh, Harry, what did it say to make you so upset?”

Charlie heard sniffling and then Harry's soft voice apparently reading from a letter.

“Dear Harry,

Derek and Cho and I have been having a good time. Yes, I've gotten all your letters, but I've been putting off answering them because I have something I hate to have to tell you.

Cho and I are seeing each other. We were friends since before the two of us started dating, and she always held back from approaching me because I was with you. She told me how she felt, and I've realized that I feel the same way. I've liked her for a long time, but it's all too complicated to explain in a letter.

Just know that I still love you very much and I hope we can always be friends,

Love always,

Cedric.”

Charlie risked looking past the slightly open door into the room and he saw Hermione had her hand against her mouth. Harry was curled up at the foot of the bed and Ron looked absolutely furious.

“I'll kill him!” Ron said, curling his hands into fists. “He thinks just because he won that bloody tournament he can treat people however he likes.”

“Ron-” Hermione started, but Ron cut her off.

“Don't defend him, Hermione! We all know he hasn't had the time of day for Harry since the moment he got that bloody cup. Time for everybody else, though, sneaking out to those stupid Hufflepuff parties, while he's got Harry running after him.”

Harry looked up through his fringe, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. “I was invited to those, Ron,” he said, “I would have gone with him too if Draco and Blaise hadn't forced me to stay in.”

“For once, those gits had the right idea. What were you going to do with the lot of them, Harry?” Ron said.

Hermione nodded and said, “I agree with Ron, Harry. I've heard rumours about those parties. There's all sorts of alcohol at them, and mind altering potions.”

Harry sniffled and said, “Cedric would have looked after me. He'd never do silly things like that.”

Hermione and Ron exchanged a glance and Hermione said tentatively, “There have been rumours though, Harry- “

Harry shot upright and glared at the two of them. “Sod the bloody rumours. Cedric wouldn't do that sort of thing.”

“You clearly don't know him as well as you thought you did, mate,” Ron said callously, receiving a jab in the ribs from Hermione, along with a hissed, “Don't say that, Ron!”

Harry shook his head and said, “It's okay, Hermione. He's right.” Charlie saw him turn his back to the two of them and mumble about taking a nap. They nodded and got up to exit the room.

Hermione said, “Feel better, Harry. I'll come check on you a bit later.”

Charlie hurried along to the kitchen, feeling sorry for rejecting Harry the last summer in the face of this new rejection.

Harry, meanwhile, was feeling quite sorry for himself as well. He was hurt and confused. Why couldn't Cedric have just waited to tell him this in person? They'd be seeing each other in under a week. He traced back the time they'd spent together over the year, trying to figure out exactly what he'd done wrong, or could have done differently.

Harry wanted to think it had only started the week before the summer holiday, after Cedric had won the Triwizard Tournament, but it had been going on before then. With people always around him, it had gotten harder and harder for him to hold Cedric's attention.

He groaned out loud as he remembered he'd have to face Draco and Blaise next term. Draco had become more obnoxious than ever. In place of following them around, he'd gotten himself into the habit of trying to stop Harry from going anywhere in the first place.

If it had just been Draco telling him not to sit at the Hufflepuff table or not to go to Hogsmeade with Cedric, Harry would have just ignored him. But Blaise never seemed to want Harry to leave their sight and their combined efforts was putting a big strain on him. He found himself having to use his invisibility cloak to sneak out under their noses. As if they were his parents! Not even Remus and Sirius minded Harry seeing Cedric. They loved him, he was always polite and got good marks in their class.

No more of that, Harry decided. Blaise and Draco couldn't control him.

Broken hearted, upset and angry, Harry fell asleep, envisioning his fifth year and all the unpleasantness sure to come.

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