A Change in Fate || Cedric Diggory [1]

Chapter 47: Wounded

With each and every moment that Analeigh Heart and Cedric Diggory spent together since that fateful day that they met, there was no questioning that their feelings for one another had grown incredibly stronger. They had gone from being strangers to friends, to partners in a dangerous tournament, and finally to significant others. If she was to be completely honest with herself, Analeigh even felt quite overwhelmed with how strongly she felt about Cedric recently. It was a far cry from when she first realized she simply liked him, which was already over a year ago — now, it was something more that she couldn't quite put into words just yet.

However, the two of them hadn't spoken to each other at all in the days that followed their fight. For Merlin's sake, they wouldn't even spare a single glance at one another in any of the times that they so happened to cross paths in the corridors or during meals. As stubborn as Analeigh was, she still cared so much about Cedric that she wanted more than anything just make up with him as quickly as possible. She felt as if everything she had built up with Cedric had been flushed down the drain — she scolded herself for being so dramatic, but it wasn't like she could do anything to control her emotions.

She tried to keep her worries to herself for a while, but a certain bushy-haired girl was soon able to pick up on her change in mood. In the end, Analeigh gave in and decided to confide in Hermione, but she made her promise not to tell Harry or Ron because they all had too much on their plates at the moment. She didn't want to add her petty relationship problems into the mix. They already had O.W.L.s and their upcoming detentions with Umbridge to worry about, and Harry still had Occlumency lessons with Snape, too.

It was a gloomy evening when Harry and Analeigh exited the Great Hall together. Harry had yet another one of those dreadful Occlumency sessions, while Analeigh simply did not want to stay in dinner any longer — despite there being hundreds of students in there, it felt as if she could only find herself looking for Cedric. She didn't want to dampen her mood further by doing that knowing fully well that they weren't talking to each other, so heading back to the common room earlier was probably the best idea.

"Leigh," Harry suddenly broke the silence. "How come you haven't been around Cedric recently?"

Analeigh tensed up, not quite expecting that from Harry. She was sort of hoping that he wouldn't notice that she and Cedric had been keeping their distance.

"Oh... we had a fight," she said awkwardly. Harry raised his eyebrows at that. He thought Analeigh and Cedric were perfectly fine, especially since it was only a few days ago that they were learning the Patronus Charm together. That is, before the entire D.A. was caught red-handed.

"What happened?"

"Er, we didn't agree on something about the D.A.," Analeigh replied. She caught a flicker of guilt in Harry's eyes — he had been carrying the weight of everything to do with the D.A. since he was their teacher, after all. "But it's not a big deal, I swear," she said hurriedly just to reassure him.

"I hope you work things out with him," Harry tried. Analeigh bit her lip, feeling as if that wouldn't be happening any time soon.

"Have you talked to Cho?" Analeigh changed the topic. Harry's eyes flitted elsewhere, a clear giveaway that he hadn't.

"No," he mumbled.

"Maybe you should try —" Analeigh stopped short when she noticed that the very girl they were talking about was standing at the other end of the hall.

"Why did you — oh," said Harry in realization, also noticing Cho not too far from them. She looked hesitant as she stood there on her own, almost as if she had been waiting for Harry so she could speak to him privately.