Written for Hogwarts: Arithmancy, Assignment 1

Written for January Fanfiction Scavenger Hunt: Write about any one you didn't do last time (so I chose #12)

Hope you enjoy my first attempt at writing Cedric's character :)

Cedric Diggory isn't very good at hiding, or maybe girls are just very good at seeking.

They find him in the alcove in the library. They find him behind a tree near the Black Lake. They find him in the Hufflepuff boys' dorms. They find him in the Astronomy Tower, and they find him every other sodding place in the castle until he's forced to face the truth:

He can't escape them until he asks one to the Yule Ball.

His friend Edward tells him that he overheard the girls talking about how even though Krum and Potter are a twenty times more popular than Cedric, Potter's sort of young and Krum scowls a lot and Cedric is better looking anyway.

"You're the luckiest bloke alive," says Edward enviously after he relays this information. "Half of Hogwart's ladies after you, and a bunch of Beauxbatons' besides!"

Cedric doesn't feel lucky. He feels overwhelmed and a bit nervous and also wishes he could tell some of the particularly fervent girls to please refrain from clinging onto his arm as he walks into the Great Hall.

But what he really wants to say is that he'd be perfectly willing to go to the ball with just about any girl at Hogwarts, so long as she doesn't spend her day following him around asking him to go to the ball with her.

So when he's hiding in the kitchens, wolfing down breakfast while occasionally chatting with a house-elf named Dobby, and an Asian fifth-year named Cho Chang sneaks in, he's more than pleased that she doesn't ask him to go to the ball with her. Instead, she does a double-take and puts her hand on the portrait again.

"Sorry, am I disturbing you? I just thought - usually it's empty in the mornings -"

Cedric beckons her to stay as she starts to turn. "No, come in. I'm almost finished anyway."

Cho Chang hesitates, a hand still resting on the portrait, before she makes her way to the seat across Cedric, setting her heavy bag on the floor.

Dobby suddenly appears from the back kitchens, beaming at the Ravenclaw. "Miss is wanting her coffee?"

"Yes, please, Dobby," says Cho, pushing a rogue strand of silky black hair behind her ear. "The regular."

"You know," comments Cedric to fill the silence as Dobby bows and leaves, "too much coffee can be bad for you."

Cho gives him a wry smile. "And too little would also be bad, because I'd fall asleep in Transfiguration, and you know how McGonagall is if you fall asleep in her class."

Cedric, taken by surprise, laughs because he can picture the exact thinning of McGonagall's lips, and Cho smiles with him.

"So you come here often?" Cedric asks while forking another waffle onto his plate.

"Every other morning or so," Cho shrugs, thanking the house-elf that returns with her coffee. She blows on the dark liquid. "Do you? I've never seen you here."

They're getting uncomfortably close to the reason why he's hiding here instead of eating in the Great Hall (he knows he should just ask someone to go to the ball, but he can't seem to pick someone who'll be modest enough for his taste).

"Once in a very long while, I come here to take a little break."

"Ah. So it has nothing to do with the fact that there's a cluster of girls waiting outside the Great Hall for you?"

Cedric's head snaps up and he sees a smirk on Cho's face as she sips her coffee.

She must see the blush because she sets down her cup and says, grinning, "Don't worry, they're partly the reason why I decided to come here today."

"Right," says Cedric, flashing her a loose grin. He pushes the plate of waffles and fruit towards her. "You must've not had anything to eat yet, then. Have some of this. I'm stuffed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go ahead. It'd be a shame to waste it."

She positively beams at him, and that's when Cedric realizes that Cho Chang is startlingly pretty, with deep brown eyes and silky black hair and a charming smile.

They continue to chat for a relaxing ten, twenty minutes (he isn't sure, maybe it's only been one or maybe it's been an hour) until Cho, who seems to be much less affected by him than he is by her, starts and says, "Oh, I've got to get to Charms, or I'll be late!"

She frantically starts to pick up her bag. In the process, the coffee mug is knocked over, spilling the last sips on her otherwise pristine skirt.

"Oh, bloody h-" She stops herself, clamping a hand over her mouth. She looks quite mortified.

Barely able to hide his grin, Cedric stands and casts a quick Cleaning Spell on her skirt. "There, no harm done."

"Thanks," she mutters, no doubt worried she'll start spewing out a few swear words again. "Bye, then."

She turns toward the painting. Cedric doesn't understand the disappointment he feels watching her step out of the kitchens until he's following after her. He doesn't understand why it's so important that he reaches her before she enters Flitwick's room. He doesn't know why he's running down the corridor shouting, "Cho! Hey, Cho!" until she's stopped and is staring at him with wide brown eyes and he's stumbling on words even though he's Cedric Diggory, and-

"Cho, I was just wondering - would you like to come to the Yule Ball with me?" he blurts out.

Her mouth parts a little, and her eyes widen. And then she's smiling and nodding and saying, "Yes, of course," and that yes yes yes yes yes is echoing in Cedric's head like a mantra he doesn't want to forget.

"Well, uh, that's - that's - thanks," he says a little breathlessly, grinning widely.

She blushes and smiles at him.

Neither particularly care that they're both late for class by now.