Chapter 3
As he promised, Cedric has his door in sight sixty minutes after leaving Kate to go discuss the peril he would be in two days from now… he would fight a dragon. How was he meant to prepare for that? He regrets nodding off during fifth year defense against the dark arts, but it did give him a reason to spend hours in the library with Kate to catch up. She would chastise him about the importance of academic integrity and how these spells would come in handy if anyone dared call her a mudblood (Cedric rebuffed this by asserting that he would just resort to brute violence) before begrudgingly handing over her notes. Despite the terror that he may be injured or make an ass of himself, his most present fear is that Kate will not be where he left her. She said she would wait. Kate never broke her word.
Upon entry, his room was dead silent and dark. “Lumos,” he said, using his wand for a small light. He assumes that Kate left a while ago, and moves to flop on his bed in a dramatic show of disappointment, but finds Kate asleep instead. He jumps, surprised and oh so very happy to be shocked… she stayed. She stirs at the creak of the floorboards as Cedric’s weight shifts to his left foot, but returns to her peaceful state immediately. Cedric mutters a curse and sits by Kate on his bed as silently as he can. “Nox.” He whispers, allowing the room to be cloaked in darkness once again. He gently moves a strand of hair that was covering Kate’s face behind her ear and smiles sheepishly at her. “Never took you for a side-sleeper.” he jokes under his breath. She shifts slightly before her eyes flutter open and look at him.
There is a brief flash of startled recognition that she was asleep in his bed before Kate utters an accusation: “Oh, so you’re a git who lies on your back, are you?” Her voice is still engulfed with exhaustion, kind of slurred and hoarse.
Cedric laughs a little at her inability to miss a chance to make a jab at him. He playfully taps her forehead: “You stayed.” He says quietly and with a note of admiration.
Kate nods slowly, trying to gauge if he means anything by his sincere tone. She can’t tell his exact expression with the lights off, but she gets the sense that the way he’s looking at her would take away her breath in broad daylight.
Cedric sighs and lies beside her (on his back, of course), leaving a small gap of space between them. Without thinking, Kate closes the gap and rests her head on his chest. She blames the delirium after her nap for this lapse in the amount of caution she usually displays when it comes to how close she lets herself get to Cedric. It’s a slippery slope that she fears she will never climb up again if she slides all the way down.
He hesitates for a second before letting his arm wrap around her shoulder. It feels nerve-wracking and strange to let himself collapse into something he’s thought about for so long…but it also feels so inexplicably right to hold her. He exhales, turning his head into Kate’s hair. He breathes in the lavender perfume he seeks out in every room. She exhales, trying not to make a big deal out of the hammering of her heart. She feels hope bubble up, but lets it dissolve into the leftover grogginess of sleep and the rising of Cedric’s chest.
“What was the challenge about?” she asks, praying she seems nonchalant.
He absentmindedly runs strands of curly brown hair through his fingers: “Oh, um…” He clears his throat, well aware she won’t like the prospect of him being fried in front of the student body. Choosing his words carefully, he settles on deflecting: “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Okay, so what is it?” She presses, noting how oddly vague he is being.
“Promise you won’t freak out.” He says, seriously.
“Shirking the question is only increasing the anxiety that would cause a freak out, Ced.” Kate starts fiddling with a loose thread on the sleeve of his jumper and realizes she is still wearing his jumper. She would laugh if there wasn’t an interrogation afoot.
He sighs, frustrated at what he knows is coming. “Just… stay like this, please. I’m too beat to calm your nerves as well as mine and this is… well, it’s; it’s nice, Kate.”
She softens at that, taking a few moments to check her own emotions before putting them onto Cedric. She takes a deep breath and agrees: “Okay, tell me.”
“I’m meant to fight a dragon in two days.” He blurts out.
He feels Kate go rigid against him. “You’re fighting a dragon?” She didn’t know what to expect, but it was not that.
“Yes, but you agreed to stay calm about it.” He gently reminds her.
“I did.” She wants to toss out any commitment she made to collect herself because she would have never assumed– a dragon! Who in their right mind deemed this was an acceptable feat for children over a silly cup and a worthless title. It was barbaric, it was ludicrous, it was– causing Cedric a great deal of stress. Kate is not the one facing something so daunting, even though someone she… cared very deeply for was.
“Are you alright?” She asks him, shifting so she could see some of his face to gauge his reaction. Cedric would never admit to a negative emotion if she could not use his expression as evidence.
He frowns a little, contemplating the question. In truth, he was not alright. He was scared and about more than just reviewing his notes on dueling. It’s funny, the idea of facing 10 dragons seemed less frightening than looking into Kate’s big brown eyes after admitting the only secret he’s ever managed to hide from her. He turns onto his side so they are face to face lying down. “I’ll be okay, Kate. Don’t worry.” He assures her. He reaches a hand up to brush her cheek, but Kate takes it in hers before he makes it.
“I’ll try not to worry.” She swears, already consumed by what will happen next.