Chapter 1
George
George's hand twisted aimlessly through his hair, leaving it spiking up as he walked towards the Quidditch pitch. He hoped that it would be empty during the early morning hours he had chosen to wake up at. It had been a very stressful week for him, leaving him winded due to a combination of his mother's constant push for him to do great in school like his older brothers had and a self-discovery that left him with multiple questions and concerns. But right now all he wanted to do was clear his head and enjoy the crisp morning air with no one around to bother him. With him he had the muggle "walkman" his dad had given him for his 16th birthday and a couple of the tapes from the collection he had amassed over his summer holiday. Among his favorites were Combat Rock by the Clash, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars by David Bowie, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me by the Cure, and Rio by Duran Duran. Since discovering the joys of muggle music, George had thrown himself into it, playing his tapes whenever and wherever he could, and Fred called him mental for it. As he left the changing room, the third track of Ziggy Stardust, one of his personal favorites Moonage Daydream began to play. The cool air hit him as he went outside, slightly blinded by the rising sun. Looking up at the pitch, he inwardly groaned, spotting another student flying above him. He squinted a little, realizing that it was Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain and Prefect, and Hogwart's resident golden boy. George froze up a little, Cedric was so pretty, his cheeks reddened by the chill of the November morning and his eyes bright, sparkling with the light from the golden sunrise. No, he had to stop thinking like this, it wasn't good for him. Christ, George what is everyone going to say when they find out you're fucking gay, what is Fred going to think, George's thoughts raced as his breathing hitched.
A couple of months earlier, at the end of his fifth year, he'd realize as he sat at the Slytherin-Hufflepuff Quidditch match, intently watching Cedric Diggory flit about looking for the Snitch. He wanted him. Cedric Diggory was the prettiest boy George had ever seen, he had lovely grey eyes, and George wanted to run his hands aimlessly through his messy brown hair. He also wanted to grab him by the shirt collar and snog him senselessly. George hated himself for having these thoughts, he couldn't look at himself in the mirror for weeks after. But alas George did have them and there wasn't anything he could do about it. And Cedric had a girlfriend, Cho Chang (George hated her), so he wouldn't ever notice George. Yet at the start of this week, he had witnessed a screaming match between the 2 of them in the Great Hall and a day later, he had heard rumors that they had called it off (Cho looked a wreck at meals during the week and internally George cheered a little).
"Oi! George!" Cedric's voice broke him out of his prison of scattered thoughts and brought him back to the pitch where he had surely been standing for a while, silently embarrassing himself, "You alright?"
"Oh, uh yes" George's words stumbled from his mouth, blushing as he clicked off the walkman and his brain stopped being able to form a sentence, "Suppose I'm just lost in thought, you know? What's up?"
"Sure is early, innit? Why are you out here?"
"uh" Bloody hell, he was fit, "Just clearing my head, it's been a long week, you know? What about you?"
"Same as you, this week has been a living nightmare, I'm sure you've heard," Cedric laughed sadly,"
George was dazed briefly, "Umm, yeah, are you ok? Because of what happened I mean,"
"S'alright, mate, I'm not a huge fan of the gossip though. People have been coming up to me all week, either calling me out or supporting me and I don't even know half of it. Some second-year bloke told me that he was proud of me for coming out as queer and some Ravenclaw girls have been hexing my bag to break anytime I put anything in it. And of course, everyone wants to know why I broke it off with her, you know 'Hogwart's Golden Couple' and all that bullshit,"
George's breath hitched again, "oh..err yeah that's odd, what do you even say or do about it?"
Cedric laughed again, this time a little less sad, "Well why I broke it off with her? Personal choice I guess, I told her I fancied blokes as well, and she was upset, I told her I also fancied girls too, but she didn't believe me, I broke up with her, you know? So I guess the second-year who asked me if I was queer was right" Cedric winked as he said this.
It was too much for him and George instantly blushed, "Oh" he breathed out softly
"Mhm, yeah. Well, anyway, would you like to play 1 on 1 with a quaffle? And maybe you can tell me why your week was bad?"
"Sounds alright, yeah," George coughed out, his ears turning bright red as he mounted his broom, chasing after Cedric into the sky.
Cedric
Cedric smiled wryly as he twisted through the cool autumn air, grimly remembering why he was out on the Quidditch pitch at the crack of dawn. He needed to get away from everything, all the stares everywhere he went, the constant questions, the endless speculations. Cedric couldn't handle it anymore, the cracks in his golden boy visage had begun to show and he was so close to shattering completely. Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang had been going out since their fourth year and by the time they had made it to sixth, he was losing his mind. He liked Cho, he did but he didn't love her, he never really could, and when they had started some small part of him knew it but ignored it. He felt horrible about it looking back, but there wasn't much he did or could've done differently. She was pretty and he knew it, with her raven-black hair cascading down her back like a midnight waterfall and she was funny, he genuinely enjoyed being around her he wished so deeply that it could've been different, that they could've been friends if he hadn't fucked up so badly if she could've understood. A year prior it had registered with him that he liked blokes, not entirely but still a part of him did like blokes. But he liked Cho too and he was so bloody confused about what to do about it. Then the summer between his fifth and sixth years, he met Pam, a muggle girl from his village who had essentially taken him under her wing, explaining that he could like blokes and he could like Cho and other girls at the same time, it didn't have to be one or the other. He wasn't sure Cho would see it this way so he went on with his life, snogging her in the hallways, going on Hogsmeade dates, and doing general things every couple did. And it's not like Cedric and Cho were some irrelevant couple too, they were the Hogwarts couple, everyone saw them as this shining example of true love and a perfect relationship and Cedric began to hate every second of it. He broke things off with her after he'd explained the term bisexual to her, promising he still loved her (he really didn't) and she did not take it well, to say the least. She had cried, claiming that he would leave her for a man and she started saying horrid things to him and he finally snapped. The golden boy was nothing without his golden girl by his side, that's how everyone saw it. Hell, his father even sent him a fucking howler about it, screaming that he had mucked up the family name and their reputation, he really could not care less. But then George Weasley marched out onto the pitch, with a strange device in his hand and cords in his ears and the morning got a little more interesting
George took him up on his offer to play 1 on 1 and they were getting into it. Cedric loved Quidditch and obviously, the red-headed boy felt the same, because they started to get competitive about it. It was truthfully helping Cedric dig his way out of his mind a little and the sight of George's small smile warmed his heart. The other boy signaled for a break and Cedric followed him down to the ground.
"That was fun, eh?" George said, taking a seat on the bleachers
Cedric followed suit, sitting down next to George and smiling, "Yeah, really helped me get out of my head and focus on the game." If he looked close enough he thought he could see the smallest amount of blush rise on George's face. Cute, Cedric thought and immediately blushed, surprised at himself for thinking something that forward. Admit it Ced, you think George is cute.
I"'m glad, it seems like what you're going through is rough, and honestly same I feel a bit better now," George laughed gruffly as he fiddled with the cords of the strange device he had.
"What is that thing?" Cedric asked, gesturing to George's hands.
"Oh...uh it's this muggle listening device, called a walkman, my father gave it to me for my birthday last year. It plays music through a tape and a spool-like thing, I don't understand how it works to be completely truthful, but I enjoy the muggle music I've heard."
"Bloody hell, that is so neat! Can I hear something?" George's mouth opened slightly in surprise and Cedric immediately added, "If that is ok with you of course?" He let out a small smile.
"Of course yeah, sorry for the weird look, most people just pass it off as me being odd you know? Or they call me a weirdo and a blood traitor, all because I have the horrible audacity to use a muggle listening device." He spat out the last part.
Cedric cracked a grin and turned to look a George, who looked as though he was about to burst into laughs, and as they made eye contact the both of them couldn't hold it in anymore, and their laughter echoed through the otherwise empty pitch. "Those tossers," Cedric finally got out as he shook with laughter.
"Yeah I mean who in bloody fucking hell gets upset over one boy listening to music?" George giggled a little
Cedric blushed at the raspy noise leaving George's mouth and internally his stomach did a flip. "Pureblood shitheads, that's who,"
"I'd drink to that mate" George laughed, raising his arm in an imaginary toast,
"As would I," Cedric drawled, still laughing a little, "So George...what brought you out onto the pitch this morning? If you don't mind me asking..."
"Oh, fuck uhh... it's nothing really, just my extremely overbearing mother and the discovery that I'm gay eating me up inside. You know, normal stuff, innit?" George laughed with no humor behind it
Cedric choked a little in surprise,George Weasley was gay?? and stuttered out, "Oh...err congratulations? I think? I'm not entirely sure how to respond to that."
"It's fine mate, it's just a bit exhausting sometimes, you get it? Being so alone because you're afraid to tell anyone for fear that they would be angry or upset."
"...Yeah. Well, you can always talk to me, I promise I'll be there for you," Cedric smiled softly, painfully thinking about what George was going through internally.
George looked genuinely touched. "Thank you, Cedric, that's really sweet of you, I'll always be there for you too." Somehow Cedric knew that he was telling the truth.
The morning bell rang just then, telling them that it was time for breakfast, "Oh shit I'd better go before Fred wakes up and notices I'm gone. Fuck, I never played something for you on my walkman!" George spoke frantically
"Well I guess we'll have to do this again, won't we pretty boy?" Cedric asked, winking again as George blushed deeply, his ears turning tomato red. With that, Cedric turned, ready to leave a blushing George in a stuttering mess behind him, when he felt a slight tug on his hand.
"Cedric wait. I'd like that...hanging out with you I mean," He smiled a little as he clarified what he meant.
"Well then Mr. Weasley, it's a date,"