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The Room of Requirement had a strange sort of magic that Cedric could never really figure out. Most of the time, the magic was helpful, conjuring things that students needed. During DA meetings, it provided a secure place to practice spells that Umbridge no longer allowed them to cast in class. It also became a favorite place for Cedric to study, the room conjuring soft chairs and playing soothing music. But recently, the room seemed to have it out for him.
Not all of the time, of course. When Cedric was using the room by himself the room was perfectly innocent, getting him exactly what he needed. Even when he was there with friends, the room seemed perfectly normal, but whenever he got too close to Harry Potter, it was like the magic went haywire.
The first time it happened, Cedric was practicing Expelliarmus during a DA meeting. He had gone to disarm his partner when the floor beneath him lurched, sending him sprawling at the feet of Harry, who had been innocently walking by.
"Cedric, are you alright?" Harry asked, concern in his green eyes.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Cedric said, trying to conceal his mortification behind a bright smile. "Must have tripped."
Harry helped Cedric up, their hands lingering for just a moment before Harry rushed off to watch other people practice. Cedric watched him for a moment, before his duling partner elbowed him in the ribs.
"Stop drooling, or you'll flood the room," His partner said with a smirk.
"Shut up, Geoff." Cedric countered.
The room kept at it though, any time Cedric got too close to Harry, it would trip him up. Sending him nearly crashing into the younger man. Usually Cedric could twist out of the way, but there were a few embarrassing moments where Cedric had ended up on top of Harry, making him avoid the shorter boy for the rest of the lesson.
Ron was the first to point it out to him, catching Cedric after an ill fated lesson, where Cedric had ended up twisted in ropes from a stray binding jinx, the room popping a bow on his head as soon as Harry glanced his way.
"You've been terribly clumsy lately," Ron said conversationally, making Cedric groan.
"The Room of Requirement hates me," Cedric replied. "Anytime I get close to Harry, it trips me into him or sends me spilling into other people's spells."
"The room is pretty intuitive," Ron said, glancing back at Harry, who was chatting away with a few Ravenclaws. "Maybe it's trying to tell you something?"
"Trying to tell me what?" Cedric snorted.
"Maybe the room wants you two together?" Ron suggested, shrugging nonchalantly.
"Maybe the room knows that I fancy him," Cedric said, building off Ron's thought. "And it's trying to help me?"
"Wait...you fancy Harry?" Ron asked, looking like the cat that got the cream.
"You didn't know?" Cedric asked, suprised. "But...Hermione knew all about it last year!"
"She did?" Ron looked surprised. "She never told us anything! I have to go tell Harry."
"No!" Cedric said frantically, grabbing Ron by the arm. "You can't tell him!"
"Why not?" Ron pouted.
"I don't want to make him uncomfortable if he doesn't like me back," Cedric said.
"That definitely won't happen," Ron said with a roll of his eyes. "Come on, Cedric. Harry fancies you too."
"He told me that he fancied Cho," Cedric said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean...look at him."
Ron and Cedric glanced over at Harry, who was still chatting with the Ravenclaws. Cho, who was with them, said something to make Harry laugh. Cedric sighed, looking back at Ron pointedly.
"See what I mean. It's fine, of course. Cho is a wonderful friend, and she deserves every happiness."
"Both of you are hopeless," Ron said. "Trust me, he doesn't fancy Cho Chang."
"But-"
"I know what he told you," Ron interrupted. "I'm also his best mate, and he would be absolutely furious with me if he knew I told you that he likes you. So please ask him out, would you?"
"I'll try," Cedric said.
In the end, he chickened out, so the room paid him back by tripping him on the way out.
Cho was the next person to mention how the Room of Requirement was treating him. It was the next day at breakfast, and she had sat down across from him at the Hufflepuff table.
"So I hear the Room of Requirement is trying to set you up with Harry," Cho said by way of greeting.
"Merlin," Cedric cursed softly. "Where on earth did you hear that?"
"Oh, it's just a theory Hermione and I have," Cho said, grabbing Cedric's pumpkin juice and taking a sip. "It practically gift wrapped you for Harry last night."
"That was absolutely mortifying," Cedric groaned. "He was probably embarrassed by me."
"Nah, he thought it was cute," Cho said, winking at Cedric, handing him back his pumpkin juice. "You should go for it, or the Room of Requirement might take drastic measures."
Cedric should have listened to Cho's warning, but bravery evaded Cedric anytime those emerald eyes turned on him.
It was the last DA meeting before Christmas break, and everyone spent more time hanging out than they did practicing spells, not that Harry seemed to mind either way. He looked happier than Cedric had seen in a while, and it was a sight to behold.
The Room, sensing their holiday spirit, conjured snow falling in delicate flakes. Everyone got to work making snowmen and having snowball fights. People drifted in and out of the Room of Requirement, just enjoying their time away from the stress of school. Cedric flopped back into the snow, the cold nipping at his exposed skin as he closed his eyes, and enjoyed the people around him.
"I think we're the last ones in here," Cedric heard Harry say, and he opened his eyes to discover that everyone had left without him knowing.
"I must have zoned out there, sorry about that." Cedric said, standing up and brushing off the snow. "Thanks for coming back for me."
Harry grinned up at Cedric, "I'll always come back for you. Happy Christmas, Cedric."
"Happy Christmas," Cedric said, shifting as the floor tried to nudge him forward. Not today, Room!
Harry turned to walk towards the door, the floor giving him another nudge forward, but Cedric took a few steps back to counter.
The snow stopped at that moment, and Cedric could practically hear the room say 'if that's how you want to play, fine' before beginning to absolutely blizzard snow down upon Harry and Cedric.
"Cedric?" Harry rushed back to him, looking around in confusion. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Cedric said. "But I think we need to get out of here!"
Harry grabbed Cedric's hand, and together they ran for the door. The wind picked up, pushing them as hard as it could away from the entrance. They lowered their heads, struggling to keep going.
"Did we break the room?" Harry had to shout into Cedric's ear over the gale force wind, breath warm on his cheek.
"I don't know," Cedric said, wrapping an arm around Harry. The wind may be difficult for Cedric to get through, but it had to be even worse for Harry. "But I'm pretty sure whatever it is is my fault."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"The Room of Requirement is mad at me," Cedric said. "I'll tell you more about it when we get out."
" Surely you realize we're snowed in, right? " Harry asked. Cedric, who had been watching Harry more than he had been looking where he was going, turned to see that the entrance to the room was completely buried in snow.
"Why is the room mad at you?" Harry asked, and as if a flipped had been switched, the winds mellowed out once more, as if the blizzard had never happened.
"Merlin, I'm not going to get out of this, am I?" Cedric asked. He turned to Harry, who was watching Cedric with a curious expression. "You know how I've been a bit more...clumsy recently?"
"Er...yeah, a bit hard not to notice," Harry said with a grin.
"It's the room. It's been tripping me up whenever you're around," Cedric admitted.
"Why would it do that?" Harry asked.
"I think the room is trying to get me to confess my feelings for you," Cedric said, heart sinking as Harry froze up in front of him. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable-"
"You have feelings for me?" Harry asked.
"I think you're the only one that didn't know, honestly," Cedric laughed softly, "Even this room has been trying to get me to act on my crush."
Harry blinked at Cedric, before flying into motion, throwing his arms around him and pulling him into a messy kiss. It was Cedric's turn to freeze, and Harry jumped back as if he had been electrocuted.
"Sorry!" Harry said, panicking. "I've never kissed anyone before, and it was probably-"
"Fantastic," Cedric interrupted. "It was wonderful, I was just a bit surprised, is all."
"Right," Harry looked doubtful still.
"Here, shall we try again?" Cedric asked.
“Yes,” Harry nodded, and Cedric swept him into his arms, pressing a kiss to his lips once more. Behind them, the snow began to melt away from the door.
It would take them half an hour to realize it.