Cedric/Hermione Fic: minisinoo's Ice & Strawberries Fic Challenge
I was sitting at work this afternoon waiting for some documents to come through.
I peeked in LJ-land and my eye fell on a challenge over at cedrichermione that had been issued by minisinoo over here.
I normally don't (actually, I can't) write answers to fic challenges (because I'm a spaz) but as I love strawberries and I love ice so a fledgling thought popped into my head and I've just scribbled it down. My response to minisinoo's Ice & Strawberries Fic Challenge is below. Set during Goblet of Fire.
Ice, Strawberries and Detention (PG)
Icon credits: The strawberry icons by chaton_de_neige posted here and legomymalfoy posted here. The ice icons were by solus_aetas posted here.
Hermione watched as the strawberry levitated from her plate and hovered several inches from her nose expectantly. With great concentration she managed to keep it steady, the small fruit providing a splash of vivid colour against the air. Some people liked meditation, she found levitating objects to be rather restful and it allowed her to collect her thoughts when she had something on her mind. Since the first challenge and Harry's very narrow escape with his life, Hermione had had a lot on her mind.
"Accio strawberry," a voice said unexpectedly and she spun her head around as she looked for the source of the voice - and her missing strawberry.
Cedric Diggory was standing across the table, apparently on his way out of the Great Hall after the meal. Fresh after the triumph of the first challenge, it was unusual for him not to be surrounded by his usual crowd of adoring fans and loyal friends.
He was holding the strawberry lightly between finger and thumb.
"No one ever taught you not to play with your food, Granger?" he asked her quizzically, a mischievous expression in his eyes.
"I think you're taking your prefect duties a little too seriously, Cedric. I'd like my strawberry back, thank you very much," she said grimly and looked at him witheringly when she watched him lift another strawberry from her plate and made that hover in front of her face.
"That's already my strawberry. When I ask you to return my misappropriated strawberry, I expect you to give the same one back - and not give me something else that already belongs to me," she said repressively, her brows brought together in a fearsome frown. With a bit of a snap, she dropped the second strawberry back down onto the plate.
"Possessive little thing, aren't you?" Cedric remarked appreciatively. "Harry's already made it through the first challenge. I doubt that floating strawberries are going to help him much," Cedric said casually, making the misappropriated strawberry do merry loop the loops and somersaults through the air as they spoke.
"Who says this has anything to do with Harry?" Hermione demanded, her frown growing as the strawberry did a tantalising flyby pass her head.
Cedric raised an eyebrow, his light grey eyes filled with questioning laughter.
"Am I wrong?" he asked her quizzically, inclining his head towards her. "Think I don't know the Power Behind the Potter, Granger?"
"Harry's very capable in his own right," Hermione said loyally and a disturbingly admiring smile curved Cedric's mouth as he surveyed her slowly, an unreadable expression dawning in his eyes. The look on his face made it seem as though he was seeing her for the first time.
"Stubborn and loyal as well as clever. Potter's lucky to have you on his side. Hope he knows that," he said.
Hermione wondered if she was imagining the slightly wistful note to his voice and she found herself blushing. She demanded hastily.
"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" She had seen Cho gesture at Cedric as she had walked out of the Great Hall and had also seen Cedric shake his head. Cho's gaze had flickered back and forth between the two of them and her face had been expressionless as she left.
"When I see Hermione Granger sitting here completely enthralled by gravity-defying fruit, I make it my business to come over and make there's nothing going on," he said with a seriousness that was completely unconvincing.
"There must be a reason why you were gazing into this thing as if it held all the answers to the universe," he said, staring down at the strawberry with playful whimsy. "If you sat there any longer, you would have had mould growing on you".
"You're poking fun at me".
"Yeah. A bit. D'you mind?" he asked her and his smile made her stiffen.
"You've had your fun. Strawberry back, thanks. Or I'll find myself having to take drastic measures to repossess my property," she told him, holding her hand out for the strawberry.
"You're threatening me?" Cedric asked her disbelievingly and then laughed as another strawberry rose from her plate and hovered menacingly in the air. A sound not unlike a tiny snarl emerged from the little, red berry.
"Truly a fearsome weapon, Granger," he remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Behold me trembling in my shoes," he said and defiantly popped the strawberry he had taken from her earlier into his mouth. He made a great show of chewing slowly and provocatively and then choked as the second strawberry hurtled towards his face at top speed. He stepped siwftly to the side and the strawberry made a sound of irritation and then aimed itself square at his chest, exploding in a satisfyingly juicy fashion.
"You little ...." he exclaimed in laughing belief as she glared at him triumphantly, trying not to dwell on the fact that she had just thrown food at a prefect.
He looked at her. "Ever thought of trying out for Quidditch? Beater, I think" he told her. "Now say you're sorry".
"Shan't," she said mulishly, aware of how childish she was being.
An ice cube flew out of her tall glass of chilled water and slid down the back of her neck, making her smother a shriek of shock as she jumped up to her feet, trying desperately to retrieve the ice cube.
Then she went rigid, turning scarlet with embarrassment as she realised that although she had succeeded in knocking the ice cube away from the back of her neck, she had inadvertently pushed it to the front of her blouse where it was hovering expectantly at the base of her throat.
Cedric's brows shot up in astonishment but then he started grinning wickedly, clearly thinking that it might be a bit of a lark to tease the bookish Hermione Granger. The ice cube made a slow and steady descent down her school blouse, melting as it slid down between her breasts which she was aware were embarrassingly small. At least the ice cube didn't have eyes she found herself thinking as she resisted the urge to make a grab for the ice cube. To her shock, she giggled instead.
The cold cube was sliding across her smooth skin slowly, almost caressingly and at the laughter that escaped her, the expression in Cedric's eyes had changed yet again. All playfulness had vanished and there was an awareness in his eyes that made Hermione feel as though the flush burning in her cheeks was now raging through her entire body.
Before she knew what had happened, she had flung the remainder of her glass of water at Cedric, leaving him standing there spluttering as the water trickled down his dark hair, his soaked robe dripping pools of water onto the ground.
"Cedric Diggory! Hermione Granger! Detention for the both of you!" Snape's voice was like a whip but neither Cedric nor Hermione bothered to turn to look at him. Hermione's ice cube had long since melted and the water soaking Cedric should have been sizzling with the heat and tension swirling through the air between the two of them.
Hermione bit her lip and Cedric's gaze dropped from his contemplation of her dark eyes to study her mouth.
"Do you hear me? Have you both gone deaf? Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Snape demanded impatiently as he strode towards them, a thunderous expression on his saturnine face. "Detention for the rest of the week!" he said furiously, frustrated by their lack of response. "Fifty points from each of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor!"
That made them both stop staring at one another and turn around and stare in consternation at Snape.
"But it was my fault!" they both exclaimed at Snape at the same time and then snapped their heads back and stared at one another in wide-eyed shock and consternation.
"Touching, but the confessions are completely unnecessary given that I witnessed the entire incident," Snape bit out.
Hermione shook her head at Cedric as if to protest but he was smiling at her, a tender look in his eyes. He looked deliriously good-looking despite his wet clothes and dripping hair - and the strawberry squashed against the front of his robes.
"I'm sorry, I really don't know what came over me" she whispered, mortified as Snape frog-marched them to his office, several paces behind them, his face dark with anger - an anger to which both were completely oblivious. "Resorting to violence is simply appalling," Hermione berated herself.
"Got to admit that a detention isn't my idea of a great first date," Cedric whispered.
"Did I give you brain damage when I threw that water at you?" she demanded in a fierce whisper.
"Maybe the strawberry got me in the heart - is that where you were really aiming?" Cedric teased her.
"Will the pair of you please keep your mouths shut!" Snape bellowed at them.
"You're insane!" Hermione mouthed but it occurred to her that notwithstanding the glowering, omnipresent Snape looming over them like a giant mutant vampire bat, being put on detention might not be so very bad after all.
The End
icons by shadowserenity, manip by elven_mysteries
I peeked in LJ-land and my eye fell on a challenge over at cedrichermione that had been issued by minisinoo over here.
I normally don't (actually, I can't) write answers to fic challenges (because I'm a spaz) but as I love strawberries and I love ice so a fledgling thought popped into my head and I've just scribbled it down. My response to minisinoo's Ice & Strawberries Fic Challenge is below. Set during Goblet of Fire.
Ice, Strawberries and Detention (PG)
Icon credits: The strawberry icons by chaton_de_neige posted here and legomymalfoy posted here. The ice icons were by solus_aetas posted here.
Hermione watched as the strawberry levitated from her plate and hovered several inches from her nose expectantly. With great concentration she managed to keep it steady, the small fruit providing a splash of vivid colour against the air. Some people liked meditation, she found levitating objects to be rather restful and it allowed her to collect her thoughts when she had something on her mind. Since the first challenge and Harry's very narrow escape with his life, Hermione had had a lot on her mind.
"Accio strawberry," a voice said unexpectedly and she spun her head around as she looked for the source of the voice - and her missing strawberry.
Cedric Diggory was standing across the table, apparently on his way out of the Great Hall after the meal. Fresh after the triumph of the first challenge, it was unusual for him not to be surrounded by his usual crowd of adoring fans and loyal friends.
He was holding the strawberry lightly between finger and thumb.
"No one ever taught you not to play with your food, Granger?" he asked her quizzically, a mischievous expression in his eyes.
"I think you're taking your prefect duties a little too seriously, Cedric. I'd like my strawberry back, thank you very much," she said grimly and looked at him witheringly when she watched him lift another strawberry from her plate and made that hover in front of her face.
"That's already my strawberry. When I ask you to return my misappropriated strawberry, I expect you to give the same one back - and not give me something else that already belongs to me," she said repressively, her brows brought together in a fearsome frown. With a bit of a snap, she dropped the second strawberry back down onto the plate.
"Possessive little thing, aren't you?" Cedric remarked appreciatively. "Harry's already made it through the first challenge. I doubt that floating strawberries are going to help him much," Cedric said casually, making the misappropriated strawberry do merry loop the loops and somersaults through the air as they spoke.
"Who says this has anything to do with Harry?" Hermione demanded, her frown growing as the strawberry did a tantalising flyby pass her head.
Cedric raised an eyebrow, his light grey eyes filled with questioning laughter.
"Am I wrong?" he asked her quizzically, inclining his head towards her. "Think I don't know the Power Behind the Potter, Granger?"
"Harry's very capable in his own right," Hermione said loyally and a disturbingly admiring smile curved Cedric's mouth as he surveyed her slowly, an unreadable expression dawning in his eyes. The look on his face made it seem as though he was seeing her for the first time.
"Stubborn and loyal as well as clever. Potter's lucky to have you on his side. Hope he knows that," he said.
Hermione wondered if she was imagining the slightly wistful note to his voice and she found herself blushing. She demanded hastily.
"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" She had seen Cho gesture at Cedric as she had walked out of the Great Hall and had also seen Cedric shake his head. Cho's gaze had flickered back and forth between the two of them and her face had been expressionless as she left.
"When I see Hermione Granger sitting here completely enthralled by gravity-defying fruit, I make it my business to come over and make there's nothing going on," he said with a seriousness that was completely unconvincing.
"There must be a reason why you were gazing into this thing as if it held all the answers to the universe," he said, staring down at the strawberry with playful whimsy. "If you sat there any longer, you would have had mould growing on you".
"You're poking fun at me".
"Yeah. A bit. D'you mind?" he asked her and his smile made her stiffen.
"You've had your fun. Strawberry back, thanks. Or I'll find myself having to take drastic measures to repossess my property," she told him, holding her hand out for the strawberry.
"You're threatening me?" Cedric asked her disbelievingly and then laughed as another strawberry rose from her plate and hovered menacingly in the air. A sound not unlike a tiny snarl emerged from the little, red berry.
"Truly a fearsome weapon, Granger," he remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Behold me trembling in my shoes," he said and defiantly popped the strawberry he had taken from her earlier into his mouth. He made a great show of chewing slowly and provocatively and then choked as the second strawberry hurtled towards his face at top speed. He stepped siwftly to the side and the strawberry made a sound of irritation and then aimed itself square at his chest, exploding in a satisfyingly juicy fashion.
"You little ...." he exclaimed in laughing belief as she glared at him triumphantly, trying not to dwell on the fact that she had just thrown food at a prefect.
He looked at her. "Ever thought of trying out for Quidditch? Beater, I think" he told her. "Now say you're sorry".
"Shan't," she said mulishly, aware of how childish she was being.
An ice cube flew out of her tall glass of chilled water and slid down the back of her neck, making her smother a shriek of shock as she jumped up to her feet, trying desperately to retrieve the ice cube.
Then she went rigid, turning scarlet with embarrassment as she realised that although she had succeeded in knocking the ice cube away from the back of her neck, she had inadvertently pushed it to the front of her blouse where it was hovering expectantly at the base of her throat.
Cedric's brows shot up in astonishment but then he started grinning wickedly, clearly thinking that it might be a bit of a lark to tease the bookish Hermione Granger. The ice cube made a slow and steady descent down her school blouse, melting as it slid down between her breasts which she was aware were embarrassingly small. At least the ice cube didn't have eyes she found herself thinking as she resisted the urge to make a grab for the ice cube. To her shock, she giggled instead.
The cold cube was sliding across her smooth skin slowly, almost caressingly and at the laughter that escaped her, the expression in Cedric's eyes had changed yet again. All playfulness had vanished and there was an awareness in his eyes that made Hermione feel as though the flush burning in her cheeks was now raging through her entire body.
Before she knew what had happened, she had flung the remainder of her glass of water at Cedric, leaving him standing there spluttering as the water trickled down his dark hair, his soaked robe dripping pools of water onto the ground.
"Cedric Diggory! Hermione Granger! Detention for the both of you!" Snape's voice was like a whip but neither Cedric nor Hermione bothered to turn to look at him. Hermione's ice cube had long since melted and the water soaking Cedric should have been sizzling with the heat and tension swirling through the air between the two of them.
Hermione bit her lip and Cedric's gaze dropped from his contemplation of her dark eyes to study her mouth.
"Do you hear me? Have you both gone deaf? Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Snape demanded impatiently as he strode towards them, a thunderous expression on his saturnine face. "Detention for the rest of the week!" he said furiously, frustrated by their lack of response. "Fifty points from each of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor!"
That made them both stop staring at one another and turn around and stare in consternation at Snape.
"But it was my fault!" they both exclaimed at Snape at the same time and then snapped their heads back and stared at one another in wide-eyed shock and consternation.
"Touching, but the confessions are completely unnecessary given that I witnessed the entire incident," Snape bit out.
Hermione shook her head at Cedric as if to protest but he was smiling at her, a tender look in his eyes. He looked deliriously good-looking despite his wet clothes and dripping hair - and the strawberry squashed against the front of his robes.
"I'm sorry, I really don't know what came over me" she whispered, mortified as Snape frog-marched them to his office, several paces behind them, his face dark with anger - an anger to which both were completely oblivious. "Resorting to violence is simply appalling," Hermione berated herself.
"Got to admit that a detention isn't my idea of a great first date," Cedric whispered.
"Did I give you brain damage when I threw that water at you?" she demanded in a fierce whisper.
"Maybe the strawberry got me in the heart - is that where you were really aiming?" Cedric teased her.
"Will the pair of you please keep your mouths shut!" Snape bellowed at them.
"You're insane!" Hermione mouthed but it occurred to her that notwithstanding the glowering, omnipresent Snape looming over them like a giant mutant vampire bat, being put on detention might not be so very bad after all.
The End
icons by shadowserenity, manip by elven_mysteries