Koala's Thought Bubbles

Title: Flying Lessons (PG)
Author: koalathebear
Rating: PG
Pairing: Cedric / Hermione
Word Count: 5,936 approximately
Disclaimer: None because they're useless
Notes: Another take on how Cedric and Hermione might have got to know one another. Although it has nothing to do with The Boy Who Died or Mirrored Hopes, like those two stories, it is set during the events of Goblet of Fire - a non-canon pairing but constrained by canon events.

Unbeta'd. I'll fix things as I find out about them. My muse currently wants me to write Cedric/Hermione fic but I don't know how long that will last. I might hit the wall with a splat any time soon so I must keep tapping away while the Muse is still here! :) Icon makers' names are in the file name - please right click to view

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"No!" Hermione exclaimed loudly in protest and denial, extremely upset.

Professor McGonagall looked at her severely. "Miss Granger, I really had no idea that your flying skills were so very bad. Most students have mastered the skill of flying in their first year," her face very disapproving.

"That's just the point, professor," Hermione exclaimed looking embarrassed. "It's a first year class! Please don't make me take additional lessons," she pleaded. "If the news gets out I'll never live it down!"

"You may be top of all your classes young lady, but when you graduate from Hogwarts, you will be able to fly a broom competently like all other students. We would be failing in our obligations if I allowed you to continue ..... as I saw you flying today," Professor McGonagall said, giving a delicate little shudder. The expression on her face was as though she had eaten something that had gone bad.

"But professor," Hermione protested.

Professor McGonagall held up a hand, forestalling Hermione from continuing in her protests. "Furthermore, you are bringing shame to the ancient name of Gryffindor house," she said hurrying off. "In particular at this time, the honour of Hogwarts is at stake ...." she said referring to the presence of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang for the Tournament. She cut herself off, her face getting a very pinched look as she quivered in outrage which she could scarcely contain. "I will be speaking with Madam Hooch about remedial classes for you - starting immediately!"

Hermione flinched at the word "remedial" and managed to stop herself stamping her foot on the ground, but only just. In their first year Madam Hooch had taken all the first years in flying lessons. Neville had been injured in the first lesson and it was during that lesson that Harry's skills as a Quidditch player had been discovered. Through the years though, Hermione had admittedly kept her flying time to an absolute minimum. For her, flying was a means of getting from A to B. Technique was unimportant as far as she was concerned.

That afternoon, Hermione made her way slowly to the grounds for her lesson. Shame made her steps heavy and slow. Even Neville appeared to have mastered the basics of flying whereas she was forced to take classes with the "R" word. She walked down the sloping lawns towards a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. Even the trees appeared to be mocking her with their swaying, she thought darkly.

As she didn't own her own broom, she had been given one of the school brooms for practice. Like most students she didn't really like the school brooms, some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left. The broom she had been given was positively ancient, the twigs sticking out at odd angles and it looked as though it was going to fall apart at any moment.

She had toyed with the idea of asking Harry to borrow his Firebolt but that would have led to questions about what she was doing and the embarrassment of confessing to Harry and Ron that she was having remedial flying lessons was just beyond humiliating. Ron in particular would have just been insufferable.

She sat on the grass looking mournful, broom in hand, staring out into the distance.

"Granger?" A voice called out and Hermione turned and wanted to die or at least be swallowed up by the ground. It was Cedric Diggory, captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team, prefect and top student of his year. Furthermore, he was one of the champions of the Triwizard Tournament. She wasn't sure if her sense of humiliation could have been any worse.

"Oh, it's you," she said looking pained.

She noticed that the burn on his cheek which he had received several days ago from the first task was almost completely healed. As always, Madam Pomfrey had done her work well.

"Quidditch World Cup, right?" he asked her pleasantly and she nodded.

"Yeah, I was with the Weasleys and Harry Potter," she told him.



"Great match but the after match entertainment was ..... pretty bad," he said grimacing, setting his own broom down on the grass beside hers.

He looked at her. "They told me they had a remedial flying student for me. Aren't you a fourth year?" he asked her curiously, sitting beside her on the grass, his expression kind and not judgmental in the slightest.

"Do you know how embarrassing this is?" she asked him gloomily. "It being a first year subject and all. Why are you teaching it?"



"Madam Hooch is out teaching first years to fly ....." Cedric began and Hermione cringed again. He laughed, his grey eyes looking amused. "Well you have a choice - you either get remedial flying lessons with yours truly, or you have to go and join the first years. The choice is yours".

To be honest, Hermione didn't know which was more embarrassing.

"Well let's see your moves," he said. "You're not going to learn how to fly sitting on the grass, you know," he encouraged her, setting her broom on the ground with a flourish.

Hermione rolled her eyes. She stuck her right hand over her broom. "Up," she told her broom and the broom jumped up into her hand at once. Cedric walked around her. Her posture and position were perfect as was her grip. She had studied the textbooks in great detail, unfortunately the textbooks couldn't teach you to actually fly well.

At his signal she kicked off from the ground hard, trying to keep her broom steady. She moved extremely slowly as usual and her path was wavering and more than a little unsteady.

After a few moments of observing her silently, Cedric waved her back down to the ground again. His face was very curious. "How on earth did you manage to um ... hide ..."

"The fact that I'm so rubbish at it for so long?" Hermione demanded shortly, glaring at him. "We can't all be Quidditch champions you know, some of us had more important things to do like study," she said scathingly. She knew she was being unfair. He was a good student, studying for his NEWTs, he wasn't just a pretty face although his face was undeniably pretty.

He merely laughed. "We'll make a Quidditch player of you yet, Granger," Cedric said getting on his own broom. "Your parents are Muggles right?" he asked her as he flew into the air.

"Yeah, what of it?" she asked, feeling the wind billowing through her hair and wishing she could be as effortless as Cedric on her broom.

"Well I'm guessing that on the hols you don't practise much - you'd live in a Muggle area, chances are it wouldn't be the wisest thing to be flying around on a broom," he said indicating that she should follow him on his maneuvers.

She followed at a much slower pace. "You know, my grandmother flies considerably faster than you," Cedric couldn't stop himself saying and Hermione turned around and flew back down to the ground without another word, her face mulish and annoyed.

"Granger, I'm just joking," he called out after he as he followed her down. "Don't get so narky about things - you should learn to relax!"

"How is it that you got stuck with this - shouldn't you be preparing for the challenges?" she asked him.

"I guess they're making sure that I don't get too big for my boots. I think Madam Hooch's words were: 'Champion or no, you still have an obligation to make a contribution to the school'. Besides, it's still only the end of November - the next task isn't until February," he said with a shrug.

"Are there any other students taking remedial flying classes?" she asked him hesitantly and he smiled encouragingly at her.

"There are".

"Wouldn't it be easier for you to make us all fly in one class? It's less time consuming for you after all."

He smiled. "I was given that choice, yes but I thought this way - separately - was less .... embarrassing for you all .... given that none of you are first years anymore ..."

"But it's a lot of extra time and effort for you," Hermione pointed out.

"You're the most troublesome of the lot," Cedric teased her and Hermione laughed, acknowledging that what he said was probably true.

He got back on his broom again and took off into the sky. His arms were spread out wide as he soared through the air. "Come on Granger - you're never going to learn to fly if you're afraid to fall," he called out encouragingly.

The sun was behind him, shining brightly and his dark hair was tousled, his face laughing and he was the happiest and most appealing boy she had seen in her life.

With a wry smile she got on her broom, took a deep breath and followed suit.

****

"This is so beyond stupid," Hermione said beneath her breath as they walked back out to the grounds together with their brooms, robes fluttered in the breeze.

"Why so?" Cedric asked her.

"Just think about it. I'm never going to need to use my broom. There's Floo Powder, there are port-keys and when I'm old enough I'll Apparate - broom flying's only for stupid show-off Quidditch players," Hermione said grudgingly and Cedric laughed.

"Thanks so much, Granger. Now this is why you don't fly well. Your attitude's all wrong. You should see flying as fun. It's liberating!"

Hermione watched as Cedric mounted his broom and kicked hard against the ground soared up high into the sky. Air was rushing through his hair and his robes whipped out behind him. She could see the fierce joy on his face, the pure happiness and delight he felt as he soared through the air. In looking at him, it was hard to keep from smiling in shared delight.

"Come on Granger, you're never going to learn to fly if you're afraid to fall!"

Hermione put her hands on her hips. "You said that last time! Do you always repeat yourself?" she demanded.

"I'll say it until you realise that it's the truth, Granger!" he called out laughingly.

She watched as he pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, then turned his broomstick sharply to face her.

"Come on," he urged her and with a sigh she followed him. "Come to where I am," he invited her and she leant forward, grasped the broom tightly in both hands and it shot towards Cedric like a javelin.

"Nice one," Cedric said, looking pleased.

They practised racing one another, Hermione in pursuit of Cedric as he shot ahead of her, evading, diving and swirling. She had to admit that it was rather fun. He made it fun with his teasing, his encouragement and his genuine love of flying.

"When was the last time you actually used flying?" Cedric asked her casually as they both soared across the sky side by side, hair streaming behind them.

Hermione thought for a moment. "Not really since first year .... we were going to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone ...."

Cedric looked interested. "I heard all about that, sounded like a complete blast".

"Blast .... well that's one way of looking at it," Hermione said thoughtfully. The two of them slowed down, hovering in the air, the breeze ruffling their hair gently. Cedric's face was flushed and Hermione suspected hers was, too.

"We were in the Chamber of Keys - it was full of keys with wings which were flying around the room. Only one of them opened up the door on the other side and you had to fly on a broom to catch the key".

"And you flew a broom and caught the key, yeah?" Cedric asked her eagerly.

"No, Harry did," she said, pulling a face and Cedric laughed.

"That's all right. Harry's got a gift, youngest Seeker in history - he's got a knack for flying, but you really aren't so bad yourself, Granger ... you just have to trust yourself more".

One day, he said that they were going to mix it up a little, make it more challenging.

"What do you mean?" she asked him with a look of forboding, her hair streaming about her face in a tangled mass. Attempts to braid it were useless. As soon as she hit the air, the ribbons and elastics blew away and her hair became Medusa-like once more. Cedric thought it was hilarious.

"You're flying's coming along nicely, we just have to make it more interesting". He drew a ball out of the pocket of his robes and tossed it up and down a few times and then grinned. "Granger - catch!" he said throwing it high in the air and Hermione watched in horror as it hurtled towards the ground.

"You're out of your mind!" she gasped as the ball rose and then started to fall. Without thinking, she learnt forward, pointed her broom handle down.

"Control your broom, you're getting close to the ground Granger!" Cedric called out as she was gathering speed. He was right alongside her, ready to catch her if she fell, keeping an eye on her.

She stretched out her hand and caught it, pulling her broom straight straight and Cedric was already on the grass to catch her easily as she toppled gently on to the grass with the ball clutched safely in her hand.

"You did it!" Cedric told her laughingly as she stared at him in disbelief.

"I can't believe!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide in astonishment as he pulled her to her feet and gripped her shoulders firmly

"Believe!" Cedric said exultantly, more delighted with the progress of his pupil than he should have been.

****

"You were voted captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team last year, weren't you?" Hermione asked and Cedric nodded as they were flying through the air together. She had reluctantly grown to enjoy their flying lessons particularly when it was 'free flying', no dives, rolls, turns and stops - just the two of them flying side by side, surveying the countryside and frightening the birds.

"Yes, it was a bit of a surprise - such an honour!" Cedric said enthusiastically.

Hermione shook her head at his modesty and gave a smothered laugh as she remembered something Harry had told her. Something about Angelina, Alicia and Katie giggling about Cedric being the tall, good-looking youth. "The strong and silent one," they had called him much to the irritation of Fred Weasley.

According to Harry, Fred had said that Cedric was only silent because he was too thick to string two words together. Fred had possessed the classic Gryffindor disdain of Hufflepuff, believing them stupid and also a pushover as far as Quidditch was concerned.

At the time, Harry had given her and Ron a fairly comical impersonation of Oliver Wood, the rabidly fanatical Quidditch captain of the Gryffindor team. "We were playing in completely different conditions!" Wood had shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. "Diggory’s put a very strong side together! He’s an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you’d take it like this! We mustn’t relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin are trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!" he had yelled, almost frothing at the mouth. Come to think of it, Wood's raving lectures bore a disturbing resemblance to Professor Moody's admonitions of 'constant vigilance!'

"You certainly had Oliver Wood very worried last year," Hermione said with a grin. "I don't think Hufflepuff had done so well in years and it was all due to you, right?"

"Of course not," Cedric said shaking his head modestly. "Our team was strong," he said. "We couldn't have won without a team effort," he said.

"But you were the one who put the team together," Hermione pointed out. "I remember that when you and Oliver Wood faced each other to shake hands, you were smiling but Wood looked as though he had lockjaw and just nodded at you.

Cedric laughed. "Oliver took Quidditch very, very seriously .....I felt bad that match ...." he said.

Hermione grimaced. "It was terrifying, I thought Harry was going to be killed when he fell....."

"I heard that he fell more than fifty feet. I swear I hadn't seen a thing," Cedric assured her earnestly.

"I know, I hadn't seen you - I was too worried about Harry but George Weasley told me that you got the Snitch just after Harry fell - that you hadn't realised that had happened". Hermione smiled at him. "They told me that when you looked back and saw Harry on the ground, you tried to call it off. Wanted a re-match. But Hufflepuff won fair and square … even Wood had to admit it".

"Winning in those circumstances wasn't ideal," Cedric said quietly and Hermione smiled.

"You're a good sport Cedric, but no one in their right mind could ever blame you - not even the Weasley twins," Hermione told him and Cedric looked uncomfortable. Then he smiled.

"So who are you going to the Yule Ball with?"

Hermione glanced up. "More to the point - you're one of the champions, who are you going with? Cho?" she asked and Cedric nodded, grinning cheerfully.

"Cho and I have known each other forever. She's a top girl, she already said yes so that's one thing I don't have to worry about. How about you?" He asked her.

Hermione couldn't believe it herself but she started telling Cedric everything. About Viktor, the library, about the invitation, about Ron and his poor excuse for an invitation.

"You're joking! 'You are a girl?' He didn't seriously say that, did he?" Cedric demanded, looking dumbfounded. "'So you can come with one of us?' Well that's smooth!"

"That's exactly what he said," Hermione said fumingly her hair almost bristling with irritation and Cedric smothered a laugh. The two of them landed, Hermione's landing not quite as smooth as Cedric's. She staggered slightly and he reached out a hand to steady her.

"Your landing still needs a bit of work there," he said with a smile.

"Not very tactful of Weasley," he said commenting on Ron's invitation. "Anyway we're done for the day," he said handing her back her broom.

"Thanks". she said.

"Well I'm off. I'll see you at the ball," he told her and ran back towards the school building. He paused. "Hey Granger!"

"Yes?" Hermione asked inquiringly.

"Save me a dance, all right? At the Ball?" He said with a grin. Then he waved goodbye at her and ran off, running lightly and she watched his tall, straight frame disappear.

****



"It was good of you to help Harry with his egg".

"Well he was a good lad to help me with the first challenge," Cedric told her as they resumed their lessons after the Yule Ball.

"Did you know Moaning Myrtle was ogling you in the prefect's bathroom?" Hermione asked him as he had her practising sharp stops and turns in the air.

Cedric pulled a face, somersaulting through the air gracefully as he kept an eye on Hermione. "Know about it? I spent my whole time trying to cover up my unmentionables," he said with a shudder. "Someone ought to do something about Moaning Myrtle, there's something very wrong about the fact that she watches us when we bathe. Hey what happened to the dance you promised me?" he demanded and Hermione stared at him, pulling up from a turn.

"You were busy with Cho ...."

"I thought I'd already booked a dance in advance but every time I turned around you were either with Krum or yelling at Weasley, I didn't want to interrupt," Cedric said with a grin. "Did you have a good time in the end?"



When she told him of all that had happened Cedric laughed. "I hope Weasley doesn't see us now - we'll both be done for. Fraternising with the enemy ...... or am I all right because I'm from Hogwarts," he teased her.

"Still the enemy," Hermione said darkly. "You know he had the nerve to ...." she was so irate that she released her grip on her broom as she was about to turn and with a gasp of fright found that she had toppled clean off her broom.

She scarcely had time to scream before she found herself hurtling to the ground, trying to think desperately how to summon her broom to her when suddenly she heard Cedric's voice call out something in a loud voice. Suddenly her fall was broken by what felt like a cushion and she began to drift towards the ground instead of plummet.

Cedric appeared at her side and caught her up in his arms, his face dead white as he stared into her face. "You little idiot, you could have been killed!" he said furiously as he held her awkwardly in his arms, both of them hovering in the air on his broom.

"Are you all right?" he demanded fiercely, glaring into her face as she caught her breath, trying to regain equilibrium. She had never seen him lose his temper before, never seen him so angry. Her dark eyes widened as she stared into his distraught face.

His face changed immediately. "I'm sorry, you're probably terrified and I'm yelling at you like a bloody jerk," he said, cursing himself. He steered his broom back to the grass and lifted her down carefully, settling her down on the grass.

"Do you need a drink? Are you all right?" he asked her and she shook her head wordlessly and then nodded wordlessly, fright still in her lungs and he clutched at his hair, still very overwrought.

"I've never been so frightened in my life - you dropped like a bloody stone," he said, still very white. "I can't even remember what charm I used to slow your fall," he said.

"I'm all right, Cedric," she told him urgently, trying to sit up, conscious that she was sitting on the ground between his legs, pulled up against his chest his arms around her protectively..

"No, rest for a moment. To be honest, I need to rest, too," he told her shakily, resting his brow against the back of her head as his hand smoothed her tangled hair. His hand shook slightly.

"Always concentrate," he told her firmly. "Never lose your concentration when you're flying. Never let go of your broomstick again," he told her, overlooking the fact that he frequently flew without using his hands. She nodded slowly and the expression in his eyes warmed her despite the fact that the air was chilling her skin.

She could feel her heart racing and she wasn't sure if it was from the terror of her fall or from his nearness. Lying back against him she felt Cedric's heartbeat pounding fast.

"All right now, Granger?" he whispered near her ear and she nodded.

"I'm sorry to scare you," she told him.

"That doesn't matter, what matters is that you're all right," he said in a low voice. She turned her head slightly and was achingly conscious that his mouth was just inches away from hers.

"I guess we should call it a day," he said huskily and they rose. He collected his broom and glanced around for where her broom had fallen, summoning it and then handing it to her.

He touched her cheek lightly. "Constant vigilance, remember?" he said with a faint smile, his hair tumbling down into his eyes and she nodded, walking back to the school, aware that he didn't move from where he was standing and that he was watching her. She stopped and turned, looking at him and he was like a statue, his dark hair tousled and windswept.

****

"Congratulations on passing the second challenge," Hermione said as she set out in pursuit of Cedric as he tore off into the sky first.

"Thanks. It'll be nice to have a few months before the next challenge," he called over his shoulder as he teasingly remained out of her reach, his hair windblown as he enjoyed the freedom of flying. She envied him the fact that his hair never got into hideous knots like hers did.

The night she had fallen from her broom had changed things. Something was different even though neither of them referred to it. When Hermione was confined to the hospital wing after hate mail resulting from Rita Skeeter's article, Cedric showed up to visit her as it was the most natural thing in the world.

"How did you know I was here? We don't have a class today?" Hermione said curiously as Cedric handed her a small bouquet of glowing stars. She smiled, looking down at them. She occasionally expressed her regret that they couldn't fly up to the stars and the bouquet was beautiful, each star glowing mysteriously with soft, pale colours. She touched one with her finger tip and watched as it threw out bursts of sparkling colour into the air around her.

"Word travels. Try to be more careful when opening your mail, Granger," Cedric said, concern in his grey eyes and Hermione nodded. "I want all of my remedial flying students graduating this year," he said and she groaned.

"Sssshhhhhh, someone might hear you," she scolded him and he laughed and left.

He gave her an easter egg at easter - making her dive for it and laughing with pride when she managed to catch it - although she did crack it in the process. That hadn't mattered, after they had both landed, they entertained themselves by eating cracked easter egg together, feeling rather sick from the surfeit of chocolate and fudge.

In the weeks that followed however, their lessons were fewer. "I'm helping Harry with his spells," Hermione told him, explaining why she couldn't always show up for flying lessons. There was regret and wistfulness in her dark eyes.

Cedric's smile told her that he understood. Bagman had warned them that the maze would contain jinxes and hexes. Most possibly beyond what Harry had studied in class.

"That's good you're helping him," Cedric told her. "He's only in fourth year and it's a bit worrying," Cedric said with a frown as he thought about all the things that could be in the maze. "There's a few books in the library I can show you if you like that might be useful - just some tips. Don't tell him I helped you but you know it might be handy. Gotta look out for Hogwarts after all," Cedric said with a smile.

His assistance had been more helpful than Hermione could have imagined but Cedric had brushed off her attempts to thank him. "Hey if I don't get to see you over a broom, the next best thing is over a spellbook," he told her with barely a whisper of teasing in his grey eyes.

Hermione took the book from his hands. Their fingers brushed lightly, cool, fleeting and tantalising and she stared up into his face, her dark eyes wide-eyed.

"Come on, I'll help you carry these," he told her, indicating the heavy pile of books.

****

On the day before the last challenge, Hermione was sitting in her History of Magic exam when suddenly a note materialised on her desk. She glanced around warily and then cautiously opened it.

Last flying lesson, Granger for old time's sake? It can be your graduation ......

C

A smile curved her mouth and she appeared on the grounds that evening with her broom in hand. Cedric was already there, sitting on the grass waiting for her. He looked much more serious than usual, his hair tousled as usual, his grey eyes rather dark and his jaw very stern. It was strange to see Cedric without a smile in his eyes, curving his mouth and a laugh on his lips.

"Your last flying lesson," Cedric said with an oddly twisted smile and Hermione nodded.

"Will there be an exam?" she asked him.

"Actually I was thinking that maybe we could just talk," Cedric suggested hesitantly and Hermione nodded and they sat on the grass together. "Granger - I have a confession to make," he told her haltingly, not quite able to meet her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked him, mystified.

"All of my other students finished their flying classes weeks and weeks ago .... " he told her.

Hermione gasped in horror. "You're saying I'm the worst of your students?" she demanded in panic and Cedric found himself laughing despite the darkness of his mood.

"Always the competitive little witch," he said shaking his head, reaching out to tug her brown hair lightly. "No, Granger. Your flying tutorials could probably have ended weeks ago as well. You're a pretty good flyer now," he told her, his eyes very warm and approving. Hermione's eyes widened.

"Then why ... ?"

"I enjoyed our classes, Granger," he said simply, looking down at the grass so that he didn't have to look into her wide, questioning gaze. He plucked at blade of grass and turned it into a tiny glowing star and handed it to her whimsically. "I looked forward to them, I didn't really want them to end". He told her. "But there's actually nothing more I can teach you," he told her, smiling down at the grass. His hair fell over his face and he looked a little pale.

"Cedric, are you .... nervous about tomorrow?" she asked him and he smiled, a very forced smile.

"Would you think the less of me if I told you I was?"

"Of course not. I've thought this whole Tournament was a dangerous display of stupid theatrical heroics from the start and it had to be idiotic bravado that made you put your name in the cup in the first place", Hermione said very disapprovingly, her small face looking very cross and Cedric laughed, his features, lightening.

"Careful Granger, you look a bit like Professor McGonagall when you do that," he teased her and she laughed and pretended to glare at him.

"You know ... I was thinking ... " he started to say.

"What?" Hermione asked curiously, her dark eyes staring at him inquiringly.

"That if by some stroke of luck I got through the maze tomorrow ... and if fate was on my side and I was the champion ... I might pluck up the courage to ask you if you'd consider ... going out with me".

Hermione stared at him. "Why would you think it would be dependent on you getting through the maze?" she demanded. "Do I act as if I've ever cared about the Tournament?" she asked him.

Cedric smiled. "Always blunt. I guess you're right".

"What about Cho?"

"We're friends, we've been friends for a long time. I'll be friends with her forever but everything's different now".

Hermione looked at him steadily. "Yes, everything's different ...."

"That night when I saw you falling from your broom - you could have died. In a blink of an eye, you wouldn't be have been in my world anymore. It terrified me and that's when I knew ... I'd felt something before, but that night .... I knew...."

Hermione nodded. "It was the same for me," she said simply.

"So if I get through the maze tomorrow .... and if I'm the champion .."

"No," Hermione said flatly.

"No?" Cedric asked, looking a little taken aback. He wasn't an arrogant youth but the expression on Hermione's face had made him believe that she didn't regard him with aversion.

"I don't care if you're the champion or not. I just want you to finish safely," she told him. "That eternal glory stuff is just rubbish," she told him. He laughed. Prickly, acerbic, indomitable Hermione. The star he had given her hovered up to float around them with interest and he tucked it into her hair.

"Don't hold back how you feel now," he teased her and reached out and took her hand in his.

"So if I ask you out after the Tournament, you'll say yes?" he asked her.

"There's one condition," she told him coolly.

He frowned. Hermione didn't seem like the kind of girl to impose conditions.

"What?" he asked.

"You are never, ever to let anyone know that you gave me remedial flying lessons," she told him intensely and he laughed and nodded.

"Word of honour as a Hufflepuff," he told her. "Come on, this if remedial flying class after all - let's see if you still remember everything I taught you?" he teased her.

He sailed off into the sky, turning his head to laugh down at her.

"Slow poke, what's taking you so long?"

"Maybe I'm a little bit afraid after all," she said, smiling up at him hesitantly from the ground.

He smiled back at her. Jubilation and sheer happiness at her earlier answer to him made him laugh. At this moment, the knowledge that she returned his feelings made him feel as though he was the master of his own destiny and happiness was spilling from him. It was almost tangible.

"Come on Granger, you'll never learn how to fly if you're afraid you're going to fall," he called out to her.

The wind was blowing through his hair, his grey eyes were alight with exhilaration and emotion as they rested on her face. She would always remember him thus. Full of life, joy and anticipation.

That was how she wanted to remember him.



****

"Kill the spare."

"He was just rubbish to him," Harry had whispered brokenly. "The spare ..."

No. Never, Cedric was more precious than anyone could ever know.



Hermione stared at Cedric lying on the ground unmoving, his arms were flung out defencelessly and his eyes were open and staring blankly up at the sky.

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

Cedric's beautiful eyes were staring high into the sky, beyond her to the stars......

There's actually nothing more I can teach you ....

Hermione's reddened eyes stared up at the blue sky, straining for a glimpse of someone she knew she'd never see again. For a moment, she could have sworn that she could see him silhouetted against the sky, that laughing, loving, clever and happy boy ...

It felt as though over the weeks ... months she had only managed to catch a glimpse of him ... there was so much more about him that she would never know - and then his light had been extinguished and in that instant he had disappeared from her world forever.

Hermione frowned up at the sky. The laughing figure smiled down at her. His grey eyes were very tender and warm, telling her not to be afraid to fall.

There's actually nothing more I can teach you .....

Hermione smiled and her smile was a perfect combination of happiness and sorrow. "That's where you're so wrong...." she whispered knowing that although she would never be a Quidditch champion like Harry, she was always going to associate flying with Cedric.

When she flew, she would always see that boy with the laugh in his eyes, his arms flung out against the sky, calling for her to follow him. Her throat tightened and ached in the knowledge that the boy had now gone where she could never follow him.



The End

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Link: Other Cedric/Hermione fic by me