I'll Take My Chances

The castle was completely silent as I carefully crept out of the Gryffindor common room, carefully not to trip over the portrait hole. The corridors were dimly lit by glowing torches, casting eerie shadows against the stone walls. I patted the front pocket of my plain black sweatshirt, making sure I had remembered to bring my wand. I doubted I would need it tonight, but then again, you could never be too sure with Hogwarts. I might run into Peeves, or worse, maybe a Slytherin.

My footsteps seemed unnaturally loud as I quickly moved through the castle, towards the Astronomy Tower. I wished I would have asked to borrow that map of Harry’s or at least his cloak. Then my chances of getting caught would have been slim to none. But since I hadn’t asked him, all I could do was hope I’d make it to my destination without running into any trouble. I almost snickered at that thought. It seemed almost impossible. Wherever I went, trouble never seemed far behind.

Surprisingly, though, I made it to the stairway that led to the tower without any incident whatsoever. I glowed triumphantly before taking the spiral staircase two at a time. I was out of breath before I even reached the top, stopping to lean against the wall and catch my breath every couple of minutes. You would think after all these years Hogwarts would have developed a more convenient way of getting to the Astronomy room without having to climb this never ending mountain of stairs.

Finally, though, I reached the top and felt extremely relieved to see the familiar wooden door in front of me. I swallowed hard and tried to catch my breath before entering the circular room. If Cedric was already there, I didn’t want to look a fool and burst into the room sweaty and out of breath. It seemed like a very bad idea. So I waited until my breathing was even once more and ran a hand through my dark hair before pushing open the door and quietly stepping into the room. It was fairly dark inside, the only light coming from the glow of the moon and stars.

I searched every inch of the room with my eyes, but the Hufflepuff boy was no where in sight. Was I early? Or maybe extremely late? I had no way of knowing. I let out an obvious, irritated sigh and flicked my wand to light the torches that lined the walls. Instantly, a warm glow filled the room. Much better. I stood awkwardly in the center of the tower, unsure of what to do now. My choices seemed limited, really. All I could do was wait for Cedric to show, or not show.

I ventured over to the nearest wall and leaned against the ledge, looking out at the night sky and the large stretch of grounds. In the lake, I could clearly make out the ship belonging to the Durmstrang students, as well as the giant squid basking in the moonlight. Hogwarts always seemed even more magical at night for some reason. I rested my chin in my hands, propping my elbows up on the ledge. That Cedric Diggory better show tonight. If he didn’t…well…I narrowed my eyes at the thought. He would be very sorry that was for sure.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

I let out a shriek of surprise and whirled around, my heart hammering in my chest. Cedric had somehow managed to quietly sneak into the tower without me knowing it. He had an amused twinkle in his grey eyes, laughing as he took in my shocked expression.

“Bloody hell, Cedric!” I gasped, slumping against the wall and placing a hand over my erratic heartbeat. I sent a glare in his direction. “Did you have to do that?” I demanded, clearly irritated.

Cedric, however, merely laughed against and leaned against the wall next to me. “You made it too easy, Arison.” He smirked, giving me a small wink.

I glowered at him, ignoring the swarm of butterflies that had suddenly erupted in my stomach at his presence. “Creep.” I muttered under my breath, turning back to the window I had been gazing out of just moments before. I stole a glance at Cedric to see a tiny smirk on his lips. “You’re late.” I added.

“Yes, well, we can’t all be perfect, now can we?” Cedric said in a teasing voice, turning to face me. “And anyways, I doubt you’ve been waiting much longer than maybe ten minutes. You don’t seem like the type of person to willingly show up early to everything.” He added, his gaze lingering on me.

I couldn’t help but smile a little. “I hate being early to anything if I can help it.” I admitted to him. I turned to look at him and noticed his smile had grown, as if pleased his assumption about me had been right. “So what else do you think you know about me?” I asked, perking a single eyebrow.

Cedric smiled and rolled his eyes. “That was just a guess. Some things about you are easy to pick up on. Others, I really have no idea.” He added, situating himself into a sitting position on the tower floor, as if trying to get comfortable for what he planned on being a long conversation.

I crossed my arms over my chest, moving a few paces away from him. “Like what happened yesterday.” I said, not a question, but a statement. I slid against the wall into a sitting position as well, facing Cedric.

“Exactly.” He agreed, nodding his head.

“Well let’s start off with what you think you know about me.” I challenged, raising both eyebrows. I had to admit, I was curious now. To most people, I was a little cryptic to read. Unexpected really. No one really ever know what I would do next.

Cedric’s lips curved into a smile. “Okay then.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked thoughtful for a moment. “I noticed when you’re nervous or uncomfortable, you don’t like to make eye contact. You also get very touchy, too, and get more defensive. People like you because you’re funny, but at the same time, some people are nervous around you because you have mood changes where one second you’re very bubbly and the next you’re pretty bitter. I guess for certain people, you’re hard to follow. It’s hard to figure exactly what you want, and better yet, what you’re thinking.”

My jaw fell open slightly and I quickly shut it. “Not bad.” I composed myself, shrugging my shoulders. “And by the way, I am NOT moody.” I shot back.

Cedric simply smirked and continued. “You’re happiest when you’re playing Quidditch or around your friends. That’s when you’re the most laid back and you’re always smiling.” He spoke, his grey eyes never wavering from my own gaze. “Now, you’ve always been standoffish towards me. Ever since we first met, you always seemed like you never liked me much, which really just made me curious and made me want to try harder. And you let me keep trying, which was why I never got tired and stopped. I knew, there was a apart of you that maybe didn’t feel as hostile towards me as you put off.” He said thoughtfully, shrugging his shoulders. “And I think yesterday, I sort of broke through that barrier because the smile never left your face and it was the first time I could actually made you laugh.”

It was silent after that. I wasn’t sure what to say, but I continued to hold Cedric’s gaze. Had he really noticed all this about me? Though I was a little stubborn about admitting it, he was right. It made the butterflies in my stomach multiply by one million. I could tell he was waiting for an answer and licked my lips carefully. “You’re very observant.” I noted.

Cedric let out a laugh. “I guess you could say that.”

He was still waiting for another response and I let out a sigh of defeat. “I guess it’s my turn to do some explaining now.” I said with a small smile.

He nodded.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the inner wheels of my mind come to life. Was I really about to reveal the depth of my thoughts to Cedric Diggory? I knew the answer to that question even before I had asked it. Yes. I was. I averted my gaze to the floor as I began to speak. “I always acted like I didn’t like you, when really, I didn’t even know you well enough to feel that way. All I saw was this boy, that was so smart, so athletic, so nice, so…handsome,” I blushed slightly before continuing. ‘that there was no real way he could be as kind and warmhearted as everyone said. And I think, the reason I acted that way and forced myself to think that way, because I knew if I got to know you, I might actually like you…Really like you. It scared me a little.” I trailed off, my heart hammering inside my chest. I chewed my lower lip and concentrated on the patterns engraved into the stone floor. I had never said that aloud before, to anyone. Not even to Emily, or Hermione. I never thought I would, but here I was, spilling it all to the one person it all centered around.

I heard a soft shuffling noise and glanced up to Cedric standing and crossing the room. He dropped the ground next to me, his grey eyes burning with an intensity I had never seen before. “You don’t like people getting close to you, do you? You’re afraid to be hurt.” He said. I nodded slowly, concentrating on the warmth and fire in his eyes. He smiled gently. “Lexi, you don’t have to be afraid with me.”

I swallowed hard. “I know,” I started. “but there was something else too.” I played with a hole in the knee of my jeans, fiddling nervously. “I mean, I always thought to myself why in the world someone like you, would even look twice at someone like me. I didn’t think it was possible for you to feel like that towards me.”

Cedric shifted slightly next to me. “Someone like me?” He asked, sounding slightly perplexed.

I glanced up at him to see his curious expression. “Well, yeah! You heard everything I said before. You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re good at Quidditch, you’re ridiculously good looking, and to top it all off, you’re nice and you care in ways most people don’t.” I exclaimed, though I wasn’t really surprised Cedric hadn’t caught on to all this. Another one of his attributes, he was modest and blissfully ignorant to just how amazing everyone thought he was.

I was surprised, though, when Cedric let out a laugh. “Wow. You must see me a lot clearer than I do, because that was way off compared to anything I ever would have said.” He chuckled.

I felt my cheeks heat up and turned away to stare at the floor once again. “It’s true.” I mumbled.

“Well true or not, there is one thing you said that was completely false. It was wrong all over.”

I furrowed my eyebrows together and glanced back at him. “What was it?”

Cedric sent me one of his crooked smiles and my heart jumped wildly in my chest. “About someone like me, feeling a certain way about someone like you.” He said quietly. “It is completely possible. I know, because it’s happening right now.” I felt my cheeks flush with color once again, but before I could look away, Cedric moved his hand and placed it on the curve of my cheek, keeping my eyes glued to his. “You should really open your eyes more. I don’t think you realize what a rarity you are.”

For once, I was at a loss for words. My mind was wiped blank and all I could concentrate on was Cedric, sitting just inches away from me, and the warmth of his hand against my cheek. It was like the dam holding my feelings back inside me had burst, because all traces of the feigned dislike and opposition had been flushed away. And still, I was struggling for something to say, anything at all.

“Well this is new, Lexi Arison tongue tied.” Cedric teased. I grimaced and he laughed softly. “It’s alright. I have something different in mind, anyways.”

And with that his lips pressed gently against my own.