The Real Him

He had to get out of there. The air, the people were slowly driving him insane. The way Cho, who had been so sweet when he asked her to this stupid thing, was prancing around. Practically rubbing it in everybody's faces that she had been asked by both of the Hogwarts champions. It disgusted him. But he couldn't say anything; of course he couldn't. He was Cedric Diggory. The golden boy of Hogwarts. The boy who could do no wrong. Not even when he wanted to. The need to be seen as the real him overpowered him like the heat from a fire or the snow of a blizzard. Right when the Weird Sisters were between two songs, he left Cho on the dance floor. She didn't notice. She was too busy sticking her tongue down Eddie Carmichael's throat.

Shaking his head, Cedric made his way out to the courtyard. It had been magically heated by Dumbledore, and it wasn't even chilly though it was December. A low exhale of breath told him that he wasn't alone. He stepped farther out and saw the figure of a person standing in a dark corner, illuminated in the moonlight. He could make out that the person was of the female gender, and just as he wondered who it could be, she spoke.

"Are you going to stand there and stare at me all night?" Her voice was low and raspy. Like she had a nasty cold or something. Cedric cleared his throat.

"No, I was just trying to figure out who you are."

A soft chuckle, and the burning end of a cigarette made its way up to a mouth. It glowed bright red as she inhaled, and then a puff of smoke coiled out in the air.

"And what have you come up with?"

"Not much so far."

He took a few steps closer to her, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Now that he was closer, he could see her better. She was shorter than him, the top of her head only going slightly past his shoulder, and dressed in a red dress that left her arms and shoulders bare. Her feet were stuck in a pair of black combat boots, and Cedric could see the cigarette butts on the ground, pressed deep into the dirt. His glance turned upwards, and he laid eyes on her face for the first time. Her face was heart-shaped, with big brown eyes that were looking out over the grounds. Her hair was brown with a blunt fringe and curls that tumbled down her back.

"You still don't know who I am, do you?" she turned her head to look at him, a smirk playing across her lips.

"Sorry, no," Cedric said sheepishly. She looked to be his age, but he thought he recognized all the seventh years. Apparently not.

"Nothing to apologize for. We don't exactly run in the same circles, if you know what I mean." She had a twinkle in her eyes he hadn't seen before, and he held out his hand.

"Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff."

She stuck her cigarette in her mouth and shook his hand. "Mara Harvey, Slytherin."

"I thought it was forbidden to smoke on school grounds."

Mara laughed at this. She had a very melodic laugh, Cedric noticed. "They're not going to kick me out. I know all the right people." She noticed that he looked confused at this, and explained. "Professor Snape is my uncle." A look of disgust came across Cedric's face before he could stop it. Luckily, she didn't seem offended by it. "Don't worry, I'm used to it. He can be a right bastard sometimes."

"So what, you call him uncle Snape?" the last words were hard for Cedric to get out, the whole concept seemed absurd.

"Not really. I call him Professor in class and Severus in private."

"Now I remember; you're the one who always beats me in Potions every year."

"Well yeah, I'd be ashamed of myself if I wasn't at the top of the class. I grew up with a Potions Master, after all."

A comfortable silence spread between the two students. Cedric closed his eyes and breathed in the crisp, winter air. It was refreshing, and he felt his head clear up. Glancing down at Mara, he followed the movement from her hand and up to her mouth as she took a drag of her cigarette. Mara noticed his eyes on her, and she held out her cigarette towards him. He took a drag, but then broke out in a series of coughs. Mara only laughed, and rubbed his back.

"It's obvious you've never smoked before."

"What tipped you off?" He joked, breathing in big gulps of air. He heard the clock strike 11, and looked down at the mysterious girl, no, woman, at his side. "You want to go inside?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You do realize that being seen with me is social suicide?"

"Yes, I realize that. Maybe I don't care."

"Living on the wild side, I see. Hell, why not? My friends are probably starting to wonder where I am anyway."

Cedric couldn't help the next question that came out of his mouth. "What about you date? Isn't he wondering where you are?"

"No date," Mara replied, throwing away her cigarette. Then she whipped out her wand and waved it around herself. The smell of smoke disappeared, and she put her wand back into the bodice of her dress. "What about your date? Isn't she missing you?"

Cedric shook his head. "She busy trying to reach Eddie Carmichael's tonsils with her tongue."

Mara snorted. "That's classy."

Grinning shyly, Cedric held out his arm. "Shall we?"

Mara smiled. She liked him. He felt real, unlike the other douchebags that went to Hogwarts. Crooking her arm with his, she nodded. "Yes, we shall."

They went inside, and Cedric tried to ignore the way that people were staring and whispering at them. He didn't know how Mara dealt with it. She seemed unaffected by it though, and clasped his arm a little tighter. When the entered the Great Hall, Cedric motioned at the dance floor.

"Do you want to dance?"

Mara looked at Cedric, then at the dance floor, then back at Cedric. "Why not." She answered, and let him lead her out to the dance floor. A slow waltz was playing, and Cedric placed one arm on her waist, and brought the other one up to clasp his hand with hers. He could feel the heat from her body through the fabric of her dress.

Mara couldn't deny that being in Cedric's arms felt amazing. His hand was neither sweaty nor clammy, and the feeling of his hand on her waist burnt through her dress. As they danced, Mara glanced around the room. She locked eyes with her uncle, who gave her a nearly invisible nod. Her eyes continued to wander, and she locked eyes with an Asian girl Mara recognized as Cho Chang. The look that Cho was giving her could kill, and it made Mara think.

"I hope you're not using me to make yourself feel better," she spat, and Cedric looked down at her.

"I'm not."

She met his eyes, and he could see the confusion in them. "I don't have anything you could possibly want."

"I doubt that."

Mara frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I feel more connected to you after half an hour than I have with most of the people I've known for seven years."

"Friends not that great, huh?"

"It's not that. It's just that it feels like they're putting me up on a pedestal."

"They are. Everybody is putting you up on pedestal, even yourself. Haven't you noticed?" Cedric raised an eyebrow at her, but she just shrugged. "I'm good at reading people."

Cedric, who thought that the conversation was getting too serious, cracked a grin. "And how, oh wise one, do you suggest I get off this pedestal?"

"Start by doing something completely uncharacteristic. Which you've already accomplished. Unless talking to random Slytherin girls is an every day thing for you."

He feigned being hurt. "Hey, I'm friendly. It's what I do."

Mara smirked. "Yeah, but haven't you ever just wanted to scream at someone? Or be rude to them? That's where you fall short, because you do what is expected of you."

Feeling rather bold, Cedric pulled her closer to him. The length of their bodies was pressed together, and the feeling of her soft breasts crushed against his chest was divine. A chuckle tore from Mara's throat, and she squeezed his hand a bit.

"Feeling confident? That's good. I'd say you're well on your way to crush that pedestal once and for all."

Cedric inched his head a bit closer to hers. "What else do I have to do?"

Mara grinned, and leaned her head towards him. "All you have to do is let go. Let go of the control you have. Be free." Their faces were mere inches apart, so close that Mara could see the flecks of green in Cedric's grey eyes.

Their lips were almost touching now, and Cedric inhaled deeply. She smelled like wild berries, with just a hint of smoke. Normally, he found the smell of smoke disgusting, but not now. When it wasn't even a quarter of an inch between their lips, and Mara thought she'd go insane if she didn't kiss him soon, Dumbledore's voice sounded, announcing that the clock had struck 12, and that the Yule Ball had officially ended.

With a groan, the two teens pulled apart. Feeling rather shy now, Cedric stuck his hands in his trouser pockets. Mara shook out her hair, sending a new wave of wild berries in Cedric's direction.

"So, what now?" he asked shyly. He wanted to kiss her so badly it almost hurt.

"What do you want?" she was challenging him, he could tell. He knew it was so that he'd let go of his control, his need for perfection. A need he hadn't realized he had until she voiced it out loud.

"I want you," he replied bluntly. He didn't necessarily mean sexually, although the thought of it made a wave of arousal run through his body. People were starting to leave the Great Hall, but he didn't notice. All he could do was to stare into Mara's eyes. That was, until he felt someone tug on his sleeve. He looked to his right, and saw Cho standing there, looking extremely pissed off.

"Are you ready do go?" her voice was sickly sweet, and Cedric wondered why he hadn't noticed that before. He looked up at Mara, whose face spoke clearly of the conversation they'd had. It was a tough choice. Do what he wanted, or what was expected of him. Be the golden boy of Hogwarts, or just be Cedric Diggory. The more he thought of it, the less of a choice did it become.

"Actually, I'm going to escort Mara back to her common room. Why don't you get Eddie to escort you back instead?"

Cho's mouth dropped open. She hadn't realized Cedric had seen her and Eddie. She looked over at the amused brunette on her right, and spat out. "And who are you? Slytherin trash?"

Mara's eyes flashed with anger, but then a cool exterior came onto her face. "I'm Mara Harvey, your worst nightmare. Now, you heard the man, beat it." Cho left, muttering curses under her breath that would have been awful, had she had her wand with her.

Cedric held out his hand towards Mara, and she accepted it without a moment of doubt. Their fingers entwined, and they started to walk towards the exit. The entrance hall were full of people saying good night to their dates, and not many people paid attention to the Hufflepuff and Slytherin making their way through the crowd.

They walked down to the basement, where both of their common rooms were located, still not saying a word to each other. Not sure what to expect, Cedric stopped when they came to the staircase that led down to the dungeons and the Slytherin common room. Mara turned to face him, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Where do we go from here?" he was almost afraid of what she would say.

As an answer to his question, she leaned up and pressed her lips against his. For a moment he was shocked, before he came to his senses and started to kiss her back. His eyes drifted closed, and he wrapped one arm around her waist and rested the other one on the back of her head. Her arms found their way up around his neck, pulling him closer to her. As the tip of his tongue parted her lips and tasted the inside of her mouth, he felt himself being backed up against the wall. His senses kicked into an overdrive, and he couldn't get enough of her.

He gently squeezed her side with one hand while the other rested against her cheek, stroking the skin softly. His mouth left hers and instead started to trail kisses along the curve of her neck, feeling the soft and warm skin beneath his mouth. Pulling his face up to hers, Mara pressed her lips against his again.

"I want you," she mumbled against his mouth, grasping his hair tighter.

"My room?" he questioned, and she nodded. They walked fast towards the Hufflepuff common room, both of them too focused on each other to notice the students they passed. Cedric led her towards his room, glad now more than ever that he was head boy. This situation would have been much harder, no pun intended, if he shared a dorm with other boys.

The moment the door shut behind them, Mara had her wand out. She cast a locking spell and a silence spell over the door, and a smirk covered her lips. Tossing her wand on the dresser that stood next to the door, she toed off her shoes and a smirk covered her face.

Cedric crossed the room in three strides, and pulled her into his arms. Their kiss was smouldering, frenzied. A mixture of tongue and teeth and hot breaths. His hands settled on her hips, grounding his hips into hers. He pulled up the fabric of her dress, and groaned when he felt bare skin under his fingers.

Cedric's robes were the first clothing that was removed. As they moved towards the bed, Cedric felt his belt being unbuckled, and he kicked off his shoes to help. Then she was gripping him through his boxers, and it was the single most amazing feeling ever. He growled into her mouth and gripped her thighs tighter. When the feeling almost became too much, he pulled her hand away. Without noticing it, she had managed to unbutton his shirt, and it hung from his elbows. Releasing her hips, he shrugged of his shirt and let it fall to the floor, and then pulled off his trousers the rest of the way.

Cedric smirked. "You're wearing entirely too many clothes."

Mara let a similar smirk grace her lips, and she reached behind her and unzipped her dress. It fell into a pool around her feet, and Cedric felt himself grow even harder. She wasn't wearing a bra, only black, lace boyshorts.

"You're beautiful," he mumbled.

She didn't give a verbal response, but instead pulled him to her. Cedric slid his hands from her hips around to her lower back, caressing the skin. Mara pushed him towards the bed, until his knees hit the edge and he sat down. He crawled up to the center of the bed, and motioned for her to join him. Mara got on all fours, and crawled up towards him. Sitting back on her heels, she quickly shed her underwear, tossing them to the floor. She crawled up in to Cedric's lap, straddling him. Her skin was hot against his, and he could feel sweat starting to break out on his brow.

When the burning in her lungs became too hard to ignore, Mara pulled away from the kiss, and rested her forehead against Cedric's. Their eyes met, and she could see the desire in Cedric's grey eyes.

"Are you ready?" her voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

Cedric nodded, and pulled her in for a kiss. His hands settled on her hips, and groans left their mouths when he sunk her down onto him. They started to move against each other, in a rhythm known to lovers for hundreds of years, mouths never parting. In a fraction of a second, Cedric had flipped them over. His movements became harder, still slowly building up his pace, but with more definite strokes.

Mara didn't know how long it took until she started to feel the coil inside of her stomach. It could have bee minutes, hours. All she knew was that with every movement the coil tightened, and she knew it would snap any minute now. When it did she buried her face in Cedric's neck, and felt his body stiffen as he followed her over the edge.

After a few minutes catching their breaths, Cedric pulled out and lay down at her side after pulling the covers up over them. Mara curled up against him, leaning her head against his chest.

"Have I crushed the pedestal yet?" He asked with a smirk on his face. He felt…free, in lack of a better word. Like nothing mattered anymore. Not his friends, not his family, and not the tournament. All that mattered what laying here with Mara.

"Yes Cedric, you have," she replied, brushing her sweaty bangs from her face. "We'll deal with the rest tomorrow. Goodnight Cedric."

He placed a kiss at the top of her head. "Goodnight Mara."

Two months later she was being pulled out of the black lake, and gave him a cutting remark of being a lovesick puppy. The words weren't serious though, since they had confessed their love to each other the night before.

In June, she waited anxiously for him to come out of the labyrinth, chewing her nails down so they almost bled.

She didn't cry when they buried his body in the ground. She only stared at the white casket, a cigarette in her mouth and Snape's hand on her shoulder.

She hexed Malfoy when he made a remark about Cedric's death, and it took St Mungo's two months to cure him. The amount she had to pay for it was insignificant. As she told her uncle, she would do it all over again if she had the chance.

Lastly, she thought about him on her wedding day ten years later. Thought about the boy with the crooked grin who had needed her in so many ways. He had melted her heart, and as long as she lived; she would never forget him.