Lessons Learned

JKR owns it all, I own nothing. Thanks to freedachicken for checking it over for me.

Cedric was making his rounds. He had confidence in all the prefects, but he wanted to set a good example. He felt better knowing he was doing more than lounging lazily in the Head Boy's quarters, twiddling his thumbs.

Not that he'd actually been twiddling his thumbs or being lazy. He'd been immersed in an Advanced Runes assignment, which in turn was giving him a massive headache. To Cedric's eyes, the entire assignment was about as indecipherable as to why Professor Hagrid had felt it necessary to breed manicores with fire-crabs. He shivered; the result of that little experiment had certainly been nasty.

It was no surprise that Professor Babbling's class was creating problems for Cedric. He'd struggled through Intermediate Runes the previous year as well. Before he'd begun dating Cho, who was quite proficient in Runes, she had volunteered to tutor him, an offer he had been more than happy accept. Because of her, Cedric had managed to achieve an "E" that year with little to spare, but achieve it he had, and it been all due to her.

As way of thanks, Cedric had accompanied Cho to Honeydukes and told her to pick out whatever she wanted; it was on him. Smiling shyly, she'd pointed out several pumpkin pasties, a treat he'd noticed she'd purchased on the Hogwarts Express countless times. Unfortunately, taking into account their recent attempts at studying in the library, asking for her assistance in this instance was out of the question. It was a shame because he knew she'd have been a great help.

Charms and Transfiguration were by far his best subjects, so he had no concerns there. Advanced Potions was turning out to be a tad tricky, but although Professor Snape had snarkiness down to an art form, he knew his stuff. Cedric could only hope that an "E" would suffice as far as grades go; he needed to do well in Snape's class, as it was a requirement of the ministry's Auror Program.

History of Magic was tiresomely tedious to say the least. The majority of the students slept through the entire course, but Cedric managed to keep his eyes open long enough to soak up some of the facts on Goblin Rebellions and Wars. It would be relatively easy to get an "O" in Boring Binns' class.

Advanced Arithmacy was problematic, which made sense seeing that it was very similar to Advanced Runes. Thankfully, Professor Vector had made it clear that tutoring lessons beyond those of the classroom were being offered and strenuously encouraged for those pupils whose performance in this field was less than stellar.

Cedric's opinion on Defense Against the Dark Arts was ambivalent. Professor Moody certainly had a unique vision on how to properly educate them; unorthodox venues were constantly utilized. The now-retired Auror knew, really knew what it was all about, had been in the trenches so to speak. Experience was by far the best teacher, and Moody had it in spades. Yet, there was a sinister element to his ways that Cedric could not help but find slightly repulsive. Cedric could also admit that while he wondered about his teaching methods, he greatly admired Moody's undoubted mastery.

Rubbing his temples, he continued down the vacant corridor. Nothing but his soft footfalls could be heard. Generally, the prefects patrolled in twos, but Cedric wasn't frightened at patrolling alone; he'd done so numerous times without incident. Those thoughts no sooner passed through his head than he heard a noise. Startled, Cedric pulled his wand. A flash of Moody bellowing, "Constant vigilance!" raced through his head.

Cedric had it drilled into him from a young age by his mum to always carry his wand and have it within easy reach. Cedric was aware that Hogwarts was one of the safest, if not the safest place to be, but he still thought his mum's advice sound.

Edging his way down the hallway to an ajar door, Cedric slowly manoeuvred himself until he could peer through the open space. The sight that met his eyes should not have surprised him, but it did.

Potter was waving his wand around and rather awkwardly at that. Cedric wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish until he heard an exasperated voice admonish him.

"No, no, no, Harry! Pay attention or you'll never be able to call your broom for the first task."

Call his broom? The first task? Now, this sounded interesting Cedric thought. He felt a twinge of unease at eavesdropping, he was a hardly a Slytherin after all, but he decided to hang about; his conscience be damned.

Potter lowered his arm, an overwhelmed look on his face. "We've been at this for hours, Mione." Potter did, indeed, look exhausted. "Can't we give it a rest?"

Granger stepped into Cedric's line of vision. Placing her hands on her hips, Hermione answered in a stern but sarcastic voice, "Do you think the dragon's going to take into account that you're tired?"

Cedric's head jerked up. Dragon?! The first task involved a dragon? Cedric knew the tasks would be difficult, no one had ever accused him of being daft, but dragons! Weren't they just a tad too dangerous?

Hermione continued, "It's not going to say, why sure Mr. Potter, sit down and take a rest on that rock right there, and hey why don't you slip off your shoes and give your poor weary dogs a break while I practice my fire-breathing skills over yonder."

Cedric would have found that funny except he was still trying to wrap his befuddled head around the fact that he was going to have to deal with a dragon.

"That dragon is going to roast you alive..."

"Thanks, Mione, you really know how to make a bloke feel good about himself."

Potter sounded both angry and despondent. Cedric knew he should break up this little to-do; it was after all way past curfew, but curiosity and the possibility of gleaning pertinent information kept him glued to the spot.

Cedric watched as Granger approached Potter, took his wand hand in her own, and slowly guided him through the proper wrist motions for the spell.

"Think you've got it now?" This time her voice was much less strident and more encouraging. "Here, let me show you one more time, and then we'll pack it in for the rest of the night, okay?"

There was a note of cajoling now and that did make Cedric smile. Granger was a tough bird, that was for sure. Then he heard something that really disturbed him.

"I bet Fleur and Krum have it all figured out." Potter sounded glum. "What with Madame Maxime and Karkaroff being adults and all."

They knew about the dragons too?! What is this? Would he have been the only one unaware and therefore unprepared for the first task? Cedric's sense of fair play was outraged.

He wouldn't have had a problem with Potter having a bit of an edge. He needed it; he was still just a kid for Merlin's sake. But Krum and Fleur? They were adults in the wizarding world and had a much larger arsenal to use in the way of charms and spells than what Potter had access to.

"Maybe," was Granger's supportive reply, "but you have me, and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you."

It was said with such conviction that Cedric couldn't help but believe her himself. Potter gave what sounded like a choked sob and threw himself at his friend who grabbed him up into a tight bear hug, soothing him like Cedric's mum used to sooth him whenever he had a bump or a bruise.

Cedric was dumbstruck at the sight of the two embracing. Dumbstruck and what? Was this jealousy twisting at his gut, snaking stealthily between his ribs, causing an actual pain? Cedric placed an unsteady hand on his stomach as if to ease the ache that had taken up residence there, but it did not abate.

What must it be like to have someone, a friend, hold you like that? Hold you, without the end result being a bout of serious snogging or hot sweaty sex, but instead, with a straightforward, heartfelt caring? He was once again made glaringly aware of the contrast. Cedric, knowing it was wrong and feeling like a dirty voyeur, continued spying on the pair.

Granger pushed Potter's perpetually messy hair off his forehead exposing the infamous scar; her fingers grazed over it then trailed down Potter's cheek where she patted him lightly.

Clearing her throat, she said, "One more time, Harry. You can do it, I know you can. Let me show you and then you give it a go."

Potter nodded and watched closely as Granger brought her own wand before her, the sleeve of her robe fell back revealing her fine, delicate looking wrists and forearms. With a swish of her hand, she stated clearly and with absolute certainty, "Accio pillow."

She was a bloody marvel, Cedric thought as he watched the pillow rush toward her, stop about a foot away and just hang there until Potter plucked it from the air.

Potter was equally impressed. "Wow, 'Mione! Maybe you should brew another batch of Polyjuice and complete the first task in my stead."

Cedric was reeling. The surprises were certainly running rampant this evening. He had to have heard Potter wrong. There was no way someone in fourth year could have brewed a potion with such difficult components.

"I doubt I could have handled a basilisk, Harry. Besides," Hermione mumbled, "I didn't exactly brew it right, now did I?"

Cedric did a double take. Everyone knew that Potter had tangled with a basilisk his second year, so that would mean ...he was speechless. That would mean that Granger had actually produced a Polyjuice potion two years ago?! No... no bloody way! Impossible!

A huge grin split across Potter's face. "Believe me," he snorted, "I'd have much rather been a cat than one of Malfoy's brain dead-body guards."

Cedric assumed Potter was referring to Goyle and Crabbe, and Cedric had it on good authority via Ernie Macmillan, who shared several classes with Malfoy's cronies, that Potter was correct in his assessment. Ernie had remarked more than once that they were both idiots of the highest order.

Hermione blushed. Cedric thought the colour rather becoming; it gave her complexion a sweet, rosy glow. He noticed other things about her appearance as well. Her hair was a mass of curls bunched up into an untidy knot at the back of her head, and he thought it didn't look half-bad, cute actually. She definitely wasn't conventionally pretty, but she was fascinating to watch. The more he watched, the more he was intrigued, and this latest revelation only made him more so.

"Harry," Granger began in a hesitant voice. "Maybe," she paused, "maybe you should tell Cedric about... you know, the dragons."

At Potter's flummoxed expression, which probably was a mirror image of his own, Granger added anxiously, "It's hardly fair that all the champions save Cedric know."

When Potter didn't answer she rushed on, her face filled with exasperation, "Come on, Harry." Potter flinched as Granger's voice rose in volume. "How would you like it if you were the only one left in the dark?"

Cedric thought she had a valid point, mainly because he was the one left in the dark and it sure wasn't a fun place to be. Still, it was mighty decent of Granger to suggest it. Cedric felt a warmth where earlier he'd felt that stabbing ache; this was a much more pleasant sensation. Granger would have made a fine Hufflepuff; she was a good sort!

Cedric was highly interested in Potter's response. Would he follow his friends' advice? Would he put aside the House differences and all the ugly insinuations and remarks that his fellow Hufflepuffs had been throwing Potter's way?

Cedric had to admit that his house was carrying this rivalry with Potter a bit too far. The buttons had been the last straw, and Cedric had told them all point-blank to stop wearing them. Privately, Cedric felt that it only served to tar the reputation of their own House, but Scott had said that they felt justified in what they were doing. Potter had cheated, and cheating was cheating and that was all there was to that.

Scott failed to mention, although Cedric knew it, that the suggestion of cheating was only part of the reason. His friends and even Professor Sprout, their head of house, were outraged that Potter had stolen Hufflpuff's glory, their moment to bask in the sun. An excited voice broke into Cedric's thoughts.

"Well done, Harry! Well done!"

Granger was currently jumping up and down in uncontained excitement. Potter beamed from ear to ear, looking as if he had just won the lotto.

"I'm so proud of you." Granger gushed.

But Potter's face fell quickly at Granger's next suggestion, delivered with what she hoped would be contagious enthusiasm. "Now that you've done it, you shouldn't have any problem doing it again."

Apparently, Potter was more than able to fend off the enthusiasm contagion bug, for he looked far from enthused to Cedric's amused eyes. Cedric had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out-right.

Judging Potter's downtrodden, irritable appearance correctly, Granger sighed as if she had the weight of the world on her slender shoulders.

"Fine, fine... but on one condition, Harry."

Potter bucked up considerably at the thought of quitting this evening's lesson. He would agree to just about anything at this point, Cedric surmised.

"Sure, fine... whatever."

Wagging her finger at him as if he were a wayward child, Granger stared pointedly at him while saying, "You must tell Cedric about the dragons."

It came out as a demand, not a request, but Potter ignored that little detail and with a loud groan mumbled, "Awww... 'Mione."

"Harry!"

Potter pocketed his wand all the while glaring at Granger, which she studiously ignored while pulling back her robes to place her own wand in an interior pocket.

Cedric's eyes followed the flow of her robes which when pulled back gave an enticing glimpse of her knees. Giving them the once over, Cedric decided that they were lovely knees indeed, well rounded while not being too fleshy.

So caught up in his ogling, Cedric barely had time to scramble back when he heard them approaching the door, thankful his seeker reflexes served him well. He flitted down the corridor with nary a peep and pressed himself against wall. He was tempted to steal a look from where he was hidden but did not dare.

Cedric stayed where he was for at least five minutes, wanting to make sure they were away before making his own way down the hall. He found himself in front of his quarters far sooner than he would have thought possible, but then, he had been indulging in some seriously deep thinking.

Reading himself for bed, Cedric followed his nightly toiletry routine before turning back the yellow and black duvet and climbing into the welcoming comfort of his four-poster bed. Though extremely weary, Cedric found himself unable to sleep. Who could blame him with visions of dragons, essays, and Granger running amok inside his head?