Not A V-Day Ficathon Fic: "Needles And Pins", Chapter 2
Greetings again fellow Harry/Cedric slashers! It is my very great pleasure to present you with Chapter 2 of "Needles And Pins". Thanks to all who have commented so far; writing is continuing apace and the end is in sight.
Chapter 1 might have been G-rated, but as promised, this chapter is, um, not. I'd give this a strong PG-13 rating, for, well, slashy mush. Or is it mushy slash? Slushy mash? You decide! Enjoy, twoseekers!
--Seven
Needles And Pins, Chapter 2
Without a word, Cedric led Harry up into the entrance hall, past the huge double doors leading to the Great Hall and down a corridor that Harry recognized as leading to both the kitchens and the Hufflepuff Common Room and dorm area. The older boy stopped in front of a life-sized portrait of a big blond fellow in a suit of armor and a heavy gold crown, who drew himself up at the sight of them, and said archly, "Passvort?"
"Kedgeree," said Cedric quietly, turning to Harry and putting out a restraining hand out towards him as the portrait swung open. Inside was a cozy-looking room, decorated in dark browns and old gold, with six desks arranged along the walls with folding screens between them. A large round table with five or six chairs stood in the middle of the room, and on the other side of the room, there was a sizeable fireplace with an aged sofa and three armchairs arranged facing it. After scanning the room briefly, Cedric smiled broadly at Harry and said, "Okay, come on in. Just wanted to make sure we would be alone." He shut the door behind them, then moved over to one of the desks, dropping his bag behind it and flipping over two or three envelopes that had been left on the desktop.
Harry walked over to the table, admiring the room, and dropped his own book bag onto one of the chairs. "Nice," he said. "What is this, a miniature Hufflepuff Common Room?" he asked.
"Sort of," said Cedric, smiling at Harry and coming back round from behind the desk. "Hufflepuff Prefects' Lounge. Nice place to do homework, or just, you know, be alone." He looked at Harry a moment more, then turned away. "Want some tea? Or a Butterbeer?" Cedric paused by a long, low cabinet under a window.
"Yeah, Butterbeer would be great, thanks." Harry already felt himself relaxing into Cedric's company, glad that he had worked up the guts to send that Valentine. Cedric came back with two cold bottles in his hands, and gave one to Harry. Their fingers brushed briefly, and Harry looked up into those clear grey eyes. He thought he saw a brief flicker of heat there, but then Cedric looked down and clinked his bottle soundly against Harry's.
"Here's to Valentine's Day, huh?" He took a swig, not taking his eyes off Harry. Harry smiled wholeheartedly. "Yeah, Valentine's Day." He drank from his own Butterbeer, realizing that for the first time he could remember, he was actually glad of the holiday. He looked around the room appreciatively once more. "This is really great. Between this and that bathroom, it might almost be worth becoming a Prefect."
Cedric chuckled for a moment. "I have to admit, the privileges are worth the responsibility." He smiled winningly at Harry again, then moved over to the sofa and flopped down casually. "Speaking of being a Prefect - sorry about what happened down in the dungeons. I saw an opportunity, and took it in a way that hopefully won't make people ask too many questions." He looked at Harry for a moment, then looked away, seeming uncomfortable for the first time. Harry laughed softly, moving over to stand by the fireplace. "S'okay. I know a way you can make it up to me." Cedric's eyes snapped back to Harry again, and that time Harry definitely saw the heat in his gaze.
A mischievous look settled onto Cedric's face, as he raised an eyebrow and said quietly, "And what would that be?" He flickered a quick look up and down Harry's body and Harry suddenly felt that hot prickle down his back again. He thought of a number of responses to that question, then decided on the safest one. With a smirk, he replied, "Take a point from Slytherin too."
At that, Cedric threw back his head and laughed out loud. "Oh, Harry! And here I thought you were going to say - " He cut himself off quite suddenly, and looked away, that nervous look back on his face. Harry had to ask. "Say - what, exactly?"
Cedric shook his head and smiled again, to himself this time, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Finally he looked back at Harry and said, "Never mind. It was - it was stupid." He raised the Butterbeer to his lips and drank again, and so did Harry, neither of them looking away this time. Another short but loaded silence followed, until both of them spoke at the same time.
"Figured out your egg, then - ?"
"Thanks for the note - "
They both burst into giggles, and then Harry said quickly, "Yeah, I figured out the egg. Thanks for the tip. I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do about the second Task, but - um - " He gathered his courage again. "I really don't wanna talk about the Tournament. Right now." And he quickly took another swig of Butterbeer to cover up his nervousness.
But Cedric appeared to understand him, and he offered Harry a warm little smile and patted the seat on the sofa next to him. "Fine with me. Sit down, Harry, make yourself comfortable." As Harry took a seat at the other end of the sofa, Cedric slouched down in his own seat a bit more, set his bottle down on the floor and crossed one arm over his chest, placing his chin in his other hand and looking at Harry intently. "What would you like to talk about, then?" he asked quietly.
Harry took a deep breath. "Thanks for the Valentine. Note, I mean. I, um. I wasn't sure whether you'd reply at all. But thanks, it - it meant a lot to me. I mean, mostly Valentine's Day sucks for me, getting all those Valentines from girls who hardly know me, who just want to go out with me or, or snog me or something, just because I'm - "
" - Harry Potter?" Harry only realized he was babbling when Cedric interrupted him. He nodded silently, the previously unstoppable stream of words now suddenly dammed up in his throat. The expression on Cedric's face was something between a rueful smile and a wince as he continued, "Yeah, I know the feeling. Surely you can't have missed all the ones I got. I mean, I try to be nice and appreciative, and I am grateful that so many people seem to admire me, but - what?" He interrupted himself this time, seeing the incredulous look on Harry's face.
Harry didn't know what to say. He hadn't ever considered that Cedric might feel about all his Valentines exactly the same way that he did about his own - embarrassed rather than pleased. Cedric was looking at him almost warily, and Harry realized he was still expecting him to say something. So he said what was uppermost in his mind. "I thought you loved getting all those Valentines!"
Cedric snorted. "No more than you do, apparently. I mean, at least you can be glad that people admire you because you've done something worthwhile, defeating You-Know Who and all." He gave a little sigh, running a hand back through his thick honey-colored hair. "People only like me because I'm cute." The bitterness in his voice as he said this was unmistakable, and it tugged at Harry's heartstrings like nothing else Cedric had ever done or said.
Yanking himself out of his astonishment at Cedric's admission, Harry spoke again. "Cedric, that is not true. I mean, I can't speak for other people, but…" Harry paused for a moment as the other boy's sharp gaze pierced him yet again, but soldiered on bravely. This had to be said. "When I first met you, you remember, last year, I thought of you just the way most other Gryffindor boys did - I mean, they thought you were just, you know, a Hufflepuff pretty-boy." Cedric snorted again and looked away, the irritation and hurt plain on his face. It hurt Harry equally to see it there, so he continued on hastily. "But I didn't know you then, I only knew what other people had told me. After I - well, you know, after that match, I was really surprised to hear that you had wanted to forfeit. And then when you came up and talked to me about it the next day, well, you were just so nice about it. And you were - well, it was so easy to talk with you, and you just made me feel so much better about everything. I really appreciated that, and I realized that you were really a nice person, and then at the Quidditch World Cup, it was just so nice to be with you again - you just have this way of making people feel comfortable with you, you're so easy to talk to, and you're funny and smart and cool and - and all of that, and as far as I'm concerned, having people like you because you're a wonderful person, and, yes, okay, gorgeous, is much better than having people like you because of some ugly scar across your forehead from something that you can't even remember!"
Harry finally ran out of words, so he just sat there, catching his breath, and as he did so, he noticed several things. First was the look of astonishment that now resided on Cedric's face. Second was the fact that he had scooted much closer to Cedric on the sofa than he had been before - and third, that his hand was gripping Cedric's thigh, just above his knee. He quickly removed it, and would have scrambled back into the other corner of the sofa, except that in the same moment, Cedric's hand descended upon Harry's own thigh. Harry gulped with excitement and apprehension in equal measures, but he had the presence of mind not to pull away.
The surprise hadn't disappeared from Cedric's face, but it had softened into a delighted smile. He finally seemed to pull himself together enough to say something, something that surprised Harry right back. "That - I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, Harry. And, you know - " He stopped abruptly, swallowed, and licked his lips nervously. Harry couldn't resist darting a glance down to watch the tip of that tongue slide over those full, pink lips. But he looked right back into Cedric's eyes when the older boy continued, "I got a lot of Valentines today, but yours was the one that was most special to me."
And then Harry felt something in his hair, and he instantly realized that it was Cedric's other hand. The two of them were so close now, Cedric didn't have to do more than whisper to make himself heard. So he whispered to Harry, "I remember that afternoon, at the Cup - your hair was so soft, and your skin - and your eyes, the way you looked at me - God, your eyes -" He stopped suddenly and, to Harry's surprise, gently removed his glasses and set them down on the end table behind him without looking away. Harry didn't move, still unsure what exactly was going to happen here. Cedric's hand promptly returned to the back of Harry's head and gave a little tug, and just like that, they were knee to knee on the sofa, their foreheads touching, looking so deeply into each other's eyes that neither of them could see anything else.
"I remember that day, too," Harry whispered back. "I don't think I'll ever forget it. In fact, that was sort of why I sent you the Valentine, you know - I just wanted you to - um - " Harry faltered, but Cedric was right there to catch him.
"To what, Harry?"
Once again, Harry took a deep breath and blurted out what he had to say. " - to finish what you started." He put his own hand back on Cedric's thigh and squeezed gently, and in the next instant, they were kissing. Harry slid his lips against Cedric's, then decided to really take the plunge. He relaxed his mouth, allowing just the tip of his tongue to touch Cedric's lips, which parted slowly and delicately, seemingly with infinite care. Without breaking the kiss, Cedric sat up slightly, moving the hand that had been on Harry's thigh to cup the side of his face. He tilted his head to one side and opened his mouth against Harry's, and suddenly Harry found his own mouth full of Cedric's tongue.
Harry had never French kissed anyone, boy or girl, but of course he had heard about it. It had always sounded kind of gross before, but here and now, with this beautiful young man, it was exhilarating, exquisite, magical. Their tongues slid together, wet and hot, slick and rough at the same time. Cedric made a little sort of moaning noise into Harry's mouth, and Harry was instantly, irrevocably hard. He had a sudden, wild memory of that afternoon at the Cup, seemed to smell once again the scent of pine resin, to feel once again the prickle of pine needles against his skin along with Cedric's fingertips ghosting along his jawline. And Harry knew that he had been waiting for this moment since that one.
He grabbed onto Cedric's shoulders with both hands, not wanting to break the kiss any more than Cedric had, but desperate for more contact. He needn't have worried; by now both Cedric's hands were holding Harry's head in place, his thumbs brushing Harry's earlobes, his fingers twined in Harry's hair, his lips crushed against Harry's, his tongue stroking the roof of Harry's mouth. Confident that they wouldn't be separated all that easily, Harry shifted up onto his knees and pressed his body against Cedric, who gave another, deeper groan and allowed himself to be pushed back into the sofa, his thighs parting to allow Harry to nestle between them. As their hips made contact, Harry was astonished by the heat generated between their bodies. He instinctively ground his pelvis against that of the older boy beneath him, and - God, oh God, Cedric was fully hard too. They both made noise that time, though Cedric's was half grunt and half gasp, and Harry's was more of a high-pitched whimper than anything else.
Cedric took advantage of their new position to wind his arms around Harry, running his hands up and down Harry's back and pressing their bodies even closer. Harry felt Cedric toe his shoes off and curl his feet around Harry's calves. He ran his hands over Cedric's chest, feeling the well-developed pectoral muscles of the habitual flier. He could also feel the uneven rhythm of Cedric's breathing, his thumping heartbeat, and even - oh. Two hard little spots that seemed to catch themselves between Harry's forefingers and thumbs, even through robes, jumper and shirt, making Cedric whine. Nipples. Harry thought dizzily that their hot kisses, even the feeling of lying between Cedric's legs and grinding against him, was nothing compared to the eroticism of that noise, and of feeling Cedric's hard little nipples under his fingers. He hadn't thought his cock could get stiffer than it already was, but apparently he was wrong. Suddenly he had to feel those nipples without the interference of clothes in between, he just had to. He moved his hands to Cedric's tie, fumbling frantically for a moment, before deciding it was too much bother. He shifted to one side, propped himself up on one elbow, and slid his free hand inside Cedric's robe, up under his jumper, and yanked at the bottom of his shirt.
That proved the undoing of their kiss, as Cedric pulled away for a bit, drew a quick breath, and gasped out, "Wait, Harry, wait a sec. Stop."
Harry looked up, feeling as dazed as if he had just resurfaced after being in the lake for an hour. He looked at Cedric, at his sultry, heavy-lidded eyes, his flushed cheeks, rumpled clothes and mussed-up hair; his rosy, swollen lips, still glistening wet with kisses. Harry had never seen anything more alluring in his life, and stopping was the last thing he wanted to do, but Cedric had grasped both Harry's hands in his, and stilled them against his chest. Then the full weight of what they had been doing together fell upon Harry; he realized how bold he had been, even aggressive, and he instantly felt guilty. Finally, he gathered his scattered wits enough to stutter, "Sorry - God, sorry. I don't know what - I'm sorry. We'll stop if you want to." He made as if to lift himself off of Cedric, not without a certain amount of regret. But to his surprise, Cedric pulled him close again.
"I don't want to stop, Harry," he whispered, brushing his lips against Harry's again in a tender kiss. "Not if you don't. But I do think we should lock the door." He gave Harry that intimate little smile again, and this time, Harry recognized the seductive expression for what it was. He smiled back, trying to mirror that expression as well as he could.
Harrys' heart soared again; the guilty feeling vanished with hardly a trace. He said, "Oh, right, good idea. And no, I don't want to stop. I don't think I ever want to stop," Harry admitted with a breathy little giggle. Cedric giggled back, and the sound of it was so entrancing Harry had to kiss him again. "I have my wand right here - "
But Cedric stopped him, hitching himself upright a little more and pulling his own wand out of the breast pocket of his robes. "No, wait, I'll do it," he said, and cast a charm that Harry was unfamiliar with. "We have a sort of code - I mean, the Hufflepuff Prefects. If there's a certain locking charm on the door, it means that one of us is, well, looking for privacy. It's quite handy, really. I understand the other House Prefects have similar traditions." He smiled up at Harry, running a hand through his now very untidy black hair again.
Harry blinked, surprised at this news. "Wow. Well, even if there weren't any other reasons to become a Prefect, I think I'll definitely be one now, just for that. There are so many times I'd love to just be alone, but it's so hard to find privacy in the Castle. Well, comfortable privacy, anyway," he added. He closed his eyes and pushed his head into Cedric's caressing hand. "Mmm, that feels good."
"Mmm, good," whispered Cedric, continuing the soothing strokes. After a moment, he said, "Harry," in a tone of voice that made Harry open his eyes and look at him. "Are you sure you - sure you want to do this? I mean, I know what you said about 'finishing what I started' - and believe me, I was thrilled to hear it - but if you don't think you're really ready for, um, further intimacies, I'll totally understand. I mean, after all, you are only - ah - fourteen," he said, almost wincing, as though expecting Harry to take offense at being reminded of his age.
But Harry couldn't be bothered to be upset about it. He had more important things on his mind at the moment. Instead he just said, rather casually, "Closer to fifteen, now, really. And thanks for asking, but who was just pulling up whose shirt, here?" He watched with satisfaction as Cedric bit his lip and flushed a deeper red than he had been a moment before. "I think I'm ready for anything else you want to do. Well, okay, maybe not actual, you know, sex. Not yet anyway," he said, as evenly as he could. "But just about anything else, sure, let's go. I mean, here I am snogging the hottest boy in the whole school, do you really think I'm about to change my mind now?" He leered down at Cedric, who laughed at the expression. "So, yes, let's keep going. And no more stopping, okay?" He faked a menacing glare, and Cedric laughed again.
"No more stopping, got it," he said, his hand now moving to caress Harry's face again. There was a comfortable silence for a moment as they looked at each other affectionately, then Cedric lifted one eyebrow and spoke again. "Hottest boy in the whole school, huh? Mmm, I'm not sure about that. I think I've got some pretty stiff competition," he said, wriggling his hips up into Harry's again and making Harry gasp with the sudden sensation. Harry retained his wits just enough to ask, "What do you mean by that?"
Cedric stilled, looking up at Harry with good-natured exasperation on his face. He sighed and said, "Honestly, Harry. Do you really think you get so many Valentines just because you're the bloody Boy Who Lived?" At Harry's blank look of surprise, Cedric said gently, "You're very attractive, Harry," his thumb coasting along the younger boy's cheekbone.
Harry had been told before that he was good-looking, mostly by Hermione, but he still didn't really believe it of himself. To hear it from someone as undeniably gorgeous as Cedric, however, was something else entirely. He swallowed, then remembered his manners and said, hoping his voice wasn't shaking, "Really?"
Cedric smiled the sweetest, most disarming smile Harry had seen on him yet, and whispered back, "Really." His fingertips were now running along the ridges of Harry's ear, his thumb caressing Harry's cheek and jaw. The smile faded, to be replaced by a look that Harry had seen on Cedric's face only once before, a look that Harry had previously interpreted as desperate anxiety, but which he now recognized as desperate desire. "You're so beautiful," Cedric whispered. And this time, Harry believed him.
Needles And Pins, Chapter 3
Chapter 1 might have been G-rated, but as promised, this chapter is, um, not. I'd give this a strong PG-13 rating, for, well, slashy mush. Or is it mushy slash? Slushy mash? You decide! Enjoy, twoseekers!
--Seven
Needles And Pins, Chapter 2
Without a word, Cedric led Harry up into the entrance hall, past the huge double doors leading to the Great Hall and down a corridor that Harry recognized as leading to both the kitchens and the Hufflepuff Common Room and dorm area. The older boy stopped in front of a life-sized portrait of a big blond fellow in a suit of armor and a heavy gold crown, who drew himself up at the sight of them, and said archly, "Passvort?"
"Kedgeree," said Cedric quietly, turning to Harry and putting out a restraining hand out towards him as the portrait swung open. Inside was a cozy-looking room, decorated in dark browns and old gold, with six desks arranged along the walls with folding screens between them. A large round table with five or six chairs stood in the middle of the room, and on the other side of the room, there was a sizeable fireplace with an aged sofa and three armchairs arranged facing it. After scanning the room briefly, Cedric smiled broadly at Harry and said, "Okay, come on in. Just wanted to make sure we would be alone." He shut the door behind them, then moved over to one of the desks, dropping his bag behind it and flipping over two or three envelopes that had been left on the desktop.
Harry walked over to the table, admiring the room, and dropped his own book bag onto one of the chairs. "Nice," he said. "What is this, a miniature Hufflepuff Common Room?" he asked.
"Sort of," said Cedric, smiling at Harry and coming back round from behind the desk. "Hufflepuff Prefects' Lounge. Nice place to do homework, or just, you know, be alone." He looked at Harry a moment more, then turned away. "Want some tea? Or a Butterbeer?" Cedric paused by a long, low cabinet under a window.
"Yeah, Butterbeer would be great, thanks." Harry already felt himself relaxing into Cedric's company, glad that he had worked up the guts to send that Valentine. Cedric came back with two cold bottles in his hands, and gave one to Harry. Their fingers brushed briefly, and Harry looked up into those clear grey eyes. He thought he saw a brief flicker of heat there, but then Cedric looked down and clinked his bottle soundly against Harry's.
"Here's to Valentine's Day, huh?" He took a swig, not taking his eyes off Harry. Harry smiled wholeheartedly. "Yeah, Valentine's Day." He drank from his own Butterbeer, realizing that for the first time he could remember, he was actually glad of the holiday. He looked around the room appreciatively once more. "This is really great. Between this and that bathroom, it might almost be worth becoming a Prefect."
Cedric chuckled for a moment. "I have to admit, the privileges are worth the responsibility." He smiled winningly at Harry again, then moved over to the sofa and flopped down casually. "Speaking of being a Prefect - sorry about what happened down in the dungeons. I saw an opportunity, and took it in a way that hopefully won't make people ask too many questions." He looked at Harry for a moment, then looked away, seeming uncomfortable for the first time. Harry laughed softly, moving over to stand by the fireplace. "S'okay. I know a way you can make it up to me." Cedric's eyes snapped back to Harry again, and that time Harry definitely saw the heat in his gaze.
A mischievous look settled onto Cedric's face, as he raised an eyebrow and said quietly, "And what would that be?" He flickered a quick look up and down Harry's body and Harry suddenly felt that hot prickle down his back again. He thought of a number of responses to that question, then decided on the safest one. With a smirk, he replied, "Take a point from Slytherin too."
At that, Cedric threw back his head and laughed out loud. "Oh, Harry! And here I thought you were going to say - " He cut himself off quite suddenly, and looked away, that nervous look back on his face. Harry had to ask. "Say - what, exactly?"
Cedric shook his head and smiled again, to himself this time, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. Finally he looked back at Harry and said, "Never mind. It was - it was stupid." He raised the Butterbeer to his lips and drank again, and so did Harry, neither of them looking away this time. Another short but loaded silence followed, until both of them spoke at the same time.
"Figured out your egg, then - ?"
"Thanks for the note - "
They both burst into giggles, and then Harry said quickly, "Yeah, I figured out the egg. Thanks for the tip. I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do about the second Task, but - um - " He gathered his courage again. "I really don't wanna talk about the Tournament. Right now." And he quickly took another swig of Butterbeer to cover up his nervousness.
But Cedric appeared to understand him, and he offered Harry a warm little smile and patted the seat on the sofa next to him. "Fine with me. Sit down, Harry, make yourself comfortable." As Harry took a seat at the other end of the sofa, Cedric slouched down in his own seat a bit more, set his bottle down on the floor and crossed one arm over his chest, placing his chin in his other hand and looking at Harry intently. "What would you like to talk about, then?" he asked quietly.
Harry took a deep breath. "Thanks for the Valentine. Note, I mean. I, um. I wasn't sure whether you'd reply at all. But thanks, it - it meant a lot to me. I mean, mostly Valentine's Day sucks for me, getting all those Valentines from girls who hardly know me, who just want to go out with me or, or snog me or something, just because I'm - "
" - Harry Potter?" Harry only realized he was babbling when Cedric interrupted him. He nodded silently, the previously unstoppable stream of words now suddenly dammed up in his throat. The expression on Cedric's face was something between a rueful smile and a wince as he continued, "Yeah, I know the feeling. Surely you can't have missed all the ones I got. I mean, I try to be nice and appreciative, and I am grateful that so many people seem to admire me, but - what?" He interrupted himself this time, seeing the incredulous look on Harry's face.
Harry didn't know what to say. He hadn't ever considered that Cedric might feel about all his Valentines exactly the same way that he did about his own - embarrassed rather than pleased. Cedric was looking at him almost warily, and Harry realized he was still expecting him to say something. So he said what was uppermost in his mind. "I thought you loved getting all those Valentines!"
Cedric snorted. "No more than you do, apparently. I mean, at least you can be glad that people admire you because you've done something worthwhile, defeating You-Know Who and all." He gave a little sigh, running a hand back through his thick honey-colored hair. "People only like me because I'm cute." The bitterness in his voice as he said this was unmistakable, and it tugged at Harry's heartstrings like nothing else Cedric had ever done or said.
Yanking himself out of his astonishment at Cedric's admission, Harry spoke again. "Cedric, that is not true. I mean, I can't speak for other people, but…" Harry paused for a moment as the other boy's sharp gaze pierced him yet again, but soldiered on bravely. This had to be said. "When I first met you, you remember, last year, I thought of you just the way most other Gryffindor boys did - I mean, they thought you were just, you know, a Hufflepuff pretty-boy." Cedric snorted again and looked away, the irritation and hurt plain on his face. It hurt Harry equally to see it there, so he continued on hastily. "But I didn't know you then, I only knew what other people had told me. After I - well, you know, after that match, I was really surprised to hear that you had wanted to forfeit. And then when you came up and talked to me about it the next day, well, you were just so nice about it. And you were - well, it was so easy to talk with you, and you just made me feel so much better about everything. I really appreciated that, and I realized that you were really a nice person, and then at the Quidditch World Cup, it was just so nice to be with you again - you just have this way of making people feel comfortable with you, you're so easy to talk to, and you're funny and smart and cool and - and all of that, and as far as I'm concerned, having people like you because you're a wonderful person, and, yes, okay, gorgeous, is much better than having people like you because of some ugly scar across your forehead from something that you can't even remember!"
Harry finally ran out of words, so he just sat there, catching his breath, and as he did so, he noticed several things. First was the look of astonishment that now resided on Cedric's face. Second was the fact that he had scooted much closer to Cedric on the sofa than he had been before - and third, that his hand was gripping Cedric's thigh, just above his knee. He quickly removed it, and would have scrambled back into the other corner of the sofa, except that in the same moment, Cedric's hand descended upon Harry's own thigh. Harry gulped with excitement and apprehension in equal measures, but he had the presence of mind not to pull away.
The surprise hadn't disappeared from Cedric's face, but it had softened into a delighted smile. He finally seemed to pull himself together enough to say something, something that surprised Harry right back. "That - I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, Harry. And, you know - " He stopped abruptly, swallowed, and licked his lips nervously. Harry couldn't resist darting a glance down to watch the tip of that tongue slide over those full, pink lips. But he looked right back into Cedric's eyes when the older boy continued, "I got a lot of Valentines today, but yours was the one that was most special to me."
And then Harry felt something in his hair, and he instantly realized that it was Cedric's other hand. The two of them were so close now, Cedric didn't have to do more than whisper to make himself heard. So he whispered to Harry, "I remember that afternoon, at the Cup - your hair was so soft, and your skin - and your eyes, the way you looked at me - God, your eyes -" He stopped suddenly and, to Harry's surprise, gently removed his glasses and set them down on the end table behind him without looking away. Harry didn't move, still unsure what exactly was going to happen here. Cedric's hand promptly returned to the back of Harry's head and gave a little tug, and just like that, they were knee to knee on the sofa, their foreheads touching, looking so deeply into each other's eyes that neither of them could see anything else.
"I remember that day, too," Harry whispered back. "I don't think I'll ever forget it. In fact, that was sort of why I sent you the Valentine, you know - I just wanted you to - um - " Harry faltered, but Cedric was right there to catch him.
"To what, Harry?"
Once again, Harry took a deep breath and blurted out what he had to say. " - to finish what you started." He put his own hand back on Cedric's thigh and squeezed gently, and in the next instant, they were kissing. Harry slid his lips against Cedric's, then decided to really take the plunge. He relaxed his mouth, allowing just the tip of his tongue to touch Cedric's lips, which parted slowly and delicately, seemingly with infinite care. Without breaking the kiss, Cedric sat up slightly, moving the hand that had been on Harry's thigh to cup the side of his face. He tilted his head to one side and opened his mouth against Harry's, and suddenly Harry found his own mouth full of Cedric's tongue.
Harry had never French kissed anyone, boy or girl, but of course he had heard about it. It had always sounded kind of gross before, but here and now, with this beautiful young man, it was exhilarating, exquisite, magical. Their tongues slid together, wet and hot, slick and rough at the same time. Cedric made a little sort of moaning noise into Harry's mouth, and Harry was instantly, irrevocably hard. He had a sudden, wild memory of that afternoon at the Cup, seemed to smell once again the scent of pine resin, to feel once again the prickle of pine needles against his skin along with Cedric's fingertips ghosting along his jawline. And Harry knew that he had been waiting for this moment since that one.
He grabbed onto Cedric's shoulders with both hands, not wanting to break the kiss any more than Cedric had, but desperate for more contact. He needn't have worried; by now both Cedric's hands were holding Harry's head in place, his thumbs brushing Harry's earlobes, his fingers twined in Harry's hair, his lips crushed against Harry's, his tongue stroking the roof of Harry's mouth. Confident that they wouldn't be separated all that easily, Harry shifted up onto his knees and pressed his body against Cedric, who gave another, deeper groan and allowed himself to be pushed back into the sofa, his thighs parting to allow Harry to nestle between them. As their hips made contact, Harry was astonished by the heat generated between their bodies. He instinctively ground his pelvis against that of the older boy beneath him, and - God, oh God, Cedric was fully hard too. They both made noise that time, though Cedric's was half grunt and half gasp, and Harry's was more of a high-pitched whimper than anything else.
Cedric took advantage of their new position to wind his arms around Harry, running his hands up and down Harry's back and pressing their bodies even closer. Harry felt Cedric toe his shoes off and curl his feet around Harry's calves. He ran his hands over Cedric's chest, feeling the well-developed pectoral muscles of the habitual flier. He could also feel the uneven rhythm of Cedric's breathing, his thumping heartbeat, and even - oh. Two hard little spots that seemed to catch themselves between Harry's forefingers and thumbs, even through robes, jumper and shirt, making Cedric whine. Nipples. Harry thought dizzily that their hot kisses, even the feeling of lying between Cedric's legs and grinding against him, was nothing compared to the eroticism of that noise, and of feeling Cedric's hard little nipples under his fingers. He hadn't thought his cock could get stiffer than it already was, but apparently he was wrong. Suddenly he had to feel those nipples without the interference of clothes in between, he just had to. He moved his hands to Cedric's tie, fumbling frantically for a moment, before deciding it was too much bother. He shifted to one side, propped himself up on one elbow, and slid his free hand inside Cedric's robe, up under his jumper, and yanked at the bottom of his shirt.
That proved the undoing of their kiss, as Cedric pulled away for a bit, drew a quick breath, and gasped out, "Wait, Harry, wait a sec. Stop."
Harry looked up, feeling as dazed as if he had just resurfaced after being in the lake for an hour. He looked at Cedric, at his sultry, heavy-lidded eyes, his flushed cheeks, rumpled clothes and mussed-up hair; his rosy, swollen lips, still glistening wet with kisses. Harry had never seen anything more alluring in his life, and stopping was the last thing he wanted to do, but Cedric had grasped both Harry's hands in his, and stilled them against his chest. Then the full weight of what they had been doing together fell upon Harry; he realized how bold he had been, even aggressive, and he instantly felt guilty. Finally, he gathered his scattered wits enough to stutter, "Sorry - God, sorry. I don't know what - I'm sorry. We'll stop if you want to." He made as if to lift himself off of Cedric, not without a certain amount of regret. But to his surprise, Cedric pulled him close again.
"I don't want to stop, Harry," he whispered, brushing his lips against Harry's again in a tender kiss. "Not if you don't. But I do think we should lock the door." He gave Harry that intimate little smile again, and this time, Harry recognized the seductive expression for what it was. He smiled back, trying to mirror that expression as well as he could.
Harrys' heart soared again; the guilty feeling vanished with hardly a trace. He said, "Oh, right, good idea. And no, I don't want to stop. I don't think I ever want to stop," Harry admitted with a breathy little giggle. Cedric giggled back, and the sound of it was so entrancing Harry had to kiss him again. "I have my wand right here - "
But Cedric stopped him, hitching himself upright a little more and pulling his own wand out of the breast pocket of his robes. "No, wait, I'll do it," he said, and cast a charm that Harry was unfamiliar with. "We have a sort of code - I mean, the Hufflepuff Prefects. If there's a certain locking charm on the door, it means that one of us is, well, looking for privacy. It's quite handy, really. I understand the other House Prefects have similar traditions." He smiled up at Harry, running a hand through his now very untidy black hair again.
Harry blinked, surprised at this news. "Wow. Well, even if there weren't any other reasons to become a Prefect, I think I'll definitely be one now, just for that. There are so many times I'd love to just be alone, but it's so hard to find privacy in the Castle. Well, comfortable privacy, anyway," he added. He closed his eyes and pushed his head into Cedric's caressing hand. "Mmm, that feels good."
"Mmm, good," whispered Cedric, continuing the soothing strokes. After a moment, he said, "Harry," in a tone of voice that made Harry open his eyes and look at him. "Are you sure you - sure you want to do this? I mean, I know what you said about 'finishing what I started' - and believe me, I was thrilled to hear it - but if you don't think you're really ready for, um, further intimacies, I'll totally understand. I mean, after all, you are only - ah - fourteen," he said, almost wincing, as though expecting Harry to take offense at being reminded of his age.
But Harry couldn't be bothered to be upset about it. He had more important things on his mind at the moment. Instead he just said, rather casually, "Closer to fifteen, now, really. And thanks for asking, but who was just pulling up whose shirt, here?" He watched with satisfaction as Cedric bit his lip and flushed a deeper red than he had been a moment before. "I think I'm ready for anything else you want to do. Well, okay, maybe not actual, you know, sex. Not yet anyway," he said, as evenly as he could. "But just about anything else, sure, let's go. I mean, here I am snogging the hottest boy in the whole school, do you really think I'm about to change my mind now?" He leered down at Cedric, who laughed at the expression. "So, yes, let's keep going. And no more stopping, okay?" He faked a menacing glare, and Cedric laughed again.
"No more stopping, got it," he said, his hand now moving to caress Harry's face again. There was a comfortable silence for a moment as they looked at each other affectionately, then Cedric lifted one eyebrow and spoke again. "Hottest boy in the whole school, huh? Mmm, I'm not sure about that. I think I've got some pretty stiff competition," he said, wriggling his hips up into Harry's again and making Harry gasp with the sudden sensation. Harry retained his wits just enough to ask, "What do you mean by that?"
Cedric stilled, looking up at Harry with good-natured exasperation on his face. He sighed and said, "Honestly, Harry. Do you really think you get so many Valentines just because you're the bloody Boy Who Lived?" At Harry's blank look of surprise, Cedric said gently, "You're very attractive, Harry," his thumb coasting along the younger boy's cheekbone.
Harry had been told before that he was good-looking, mostly by Hermione, but he still didn't really believe it of himself. To hear it from someone as undeniably gorgeous as Cedric, however, was something else entirely. He swallowed, then remembered his manners and said, hoping his voice wasn't shaking, "Really?"
Cedric smiled the sweetest, most disarming smile Harry had seen on him yet, and whispered back, "Really." His fingertips were now running along the ridges of Harry's ear, his thumb caressing Harry's cheek and jaw. The smile faded, to be replaced by a look that Harry had seen on Cedric's face only once before, a look that Harry had previously interpreted as desperate anxiety, but which he now recognized as desperate desire. "You're so beautiful," Cedric whispered. And this time, Harry believed him.
Needles And Pins, Chapter 3