Chapter 2
They had been studying for an hour and a half when there was a loud, rushed knock on Cedric’s door.
“One second.” He gets up from his chair and twists the knob. Link Lawson stands, clearly out of breath.
“Cedric, you have to come with me right now!” The boy waves his arms frantically, enunciating every syllable.
“What’s going on? I’m kinda busy at the moment.” He nods his head back toward Kate as if to say, this is a big deal.
“I know, mate, but we think we figured out the first challenge… we need our champion ready for battle.” He reaches out and claps Cedric on the shoulder.
Kate sees Cedric’s posture grow stiffer. He gives Link a curt nod. “Just give me a minute.”
Link turns to go, calling “We’ll be in the common room” over his shoulder.
“I’m sorry.” He says, closing the door and turning back to where she sits on his desk.
“You have to! I get it, Ced. Don’t worry about it.” She hides her disappointment well, actually quite sad the night has ended.
“Just wait here, okay? I will be back soon, an hour tops.” He offers, but she knows he is just being polite.
She waves him off, starting to gather her books: “It’s getting late already, I should prob–”
“Kate.” He stops her by placing his hands on his shoulders. She looks up at him, he looks a bit serious: “Wait up for me.” He says. She hopes he cannot see her attempting to decipher every meaning that sentence could hold. To him, her expression is still laced with skepticism, so he puts on his best puppy dog eyes and adds “Please?”
Those goddamn eyes.
“Fine.” She huffs and he grins. She shrugs his hands off of her shoulders and sits on the edge of his bed. “Don’t be so excited.” She says stubbornly, trying to ignore the hope that erupts in her chest… he seems so happy that she is staying. Shoving that thought off, she crosses her arms and juts her chin out at him: “I require a blanket for my troubles. Your room is freezing.”
“I know… I tried to charm it back to a normal temperature, but I’m a bit daft and made it worse.” He shyly runs a hand through his hair, embarrassed.
“Idiot.” She laughs and he gains a sense of pride in his confession. At least he made her smile.
“Incredibly dense.” He agrees. He walks to his cupboard and grabs his quidditch jumper. He tosses it to her and his cheek’s flush at the image of Kate, on his bed, in his jumper.
“Do you think I’d make a good seeker?” Her casual question snaps his mind out of the gutter.
He clears his throat: “Bloody brilliant.”
She beams at him. He looks away before he does something stupid like call her pretty. That just wouldn’t do it justice; she’s… He hasn’t a clue how to describe it. It feels like he needs to invent new words to capture the wave of electricity that hits him every time he catches her in a moment of unexpected pleasure.
“I should–”
“Yeah, probably.” Her voice is quiet.
His gaze falls on her again and she stares at a particularly fascinating section of flooring before acknowledging it. They stare at each other for seconds or hours. Regardless, it’s a beat too long. He is across the room, but the heat between them feels as though he is right beside her, leaning in just enough…
“You’ll be late.” She cuts the tension and clears the air.
“Yeah.” He sighs, glancing back at Kate once more before walking out the door.
Then he’s gone. Kate releases the breath she didn’t realize she was holding and lies back on Cedric’s bed. She reaches up to move her hair off of her face and breathes in Cedric’s cologne from the sleeve of his jumper. It fills her with the same warmth you get after lighting a candle during a thunderstorm.
“Perfect bastard.” Kate whispers to herself.