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Cedric never truly took notice of Harry Potter, the famed Boy-Who-Lived.
He was a third year when the other boy first arrived at Hogwarts, and while Cedric was interested at first, he quickly lost interest as everyone else crowded around Harry Potter. He didn’t think Potter needed the extra attention and focused on school.
Of course, Cedric heard all the rumors about the Boy-Who-Lived and all of the alleged adventures he had. Cedric was undeniably skeptical of the claims, including the rumors of Potter fighting a basilisk.
Cedric first took notice of Potter after that Quidditch game in his fifth year and Potter’s third. It would be a lie to say he didn’t feel good about winning against the other though that joy was belied by the circumstances around the game.
It felt cheap, like that was the only reason he won. Cedric wasn’t sure if he could win against, but he would give it his all, and if that was the result, he would accept it. Cedric couldn’t wait for a rematch against him.
However, it seemed like he wouldn’t get that rematch, at least not at Hogwarts.
The Triwizard Tournament was a great opportunity, although a very risky one. Winning the tournament could bring much recognition and the prize money would help once he graduated Hogwarts.
Cedric didn’t really care about all that. The prize money would be nice and getting some recognition for both himself and his fellow Hufflepuffs was also a bonus. He just wasn’t sure if he was willing to risk his life for it. Eventually, Cedric just succumbed to the peer pressure from his housemates and entered the tournament, deciding he would be happy if he was chosen and only a little disappointed if he wasn’t.
However, he never expected Harry Potter to be chosen as well.
It threw Cedric for a loop when the other boy stumbled into the room where the champions were gathering. At first, he thought the boy was coming with a message from Dumbledore as strange as that would be, and then he heard what was going on.
Harry Potter, the already famous Boy-Who-Lived, was the fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament.
Cedric’s first thought was outrage. Potter was already famous, what reason did he have to join the tournament? He was already rich too!
His second thought was more reasonable. It was filled with pity. Potter already had a lot going on, and if the rumors were true, had already been on many dangerous adventures. Now, he was once again thrust into danger with no choice, it seemed.
Cedric agreed with Mad-Eye Moody on one point: someone clearly wanted Harry Potter dead.
The famous boy looked so… sad. Potter was pale, and he was hunched over on himself. His hands were trembling so badly, it was a wonder no one else noticed.
It was this picture that made Cedric make a split decision as he was leaving to head back to the Hufflepuff Common Room.
“Hey, Potter,” he called out, trying to catch up to the other boy who had all but sprinted out of the room.
Potter stopped and flinched at being called out before straightening to face Cedric. He looked frightened but firm, as if ready to withstand whatever Cedric was about to say.
“Sorry,” Cedric said sheepishly, “I didn’t mean to frighten you. Are you okay?”
Potter looked confused at his words. He opened his mouth as if to speak but quickly closed it, nodding yes to Cedric’s question.
“I just wanted to say, sorry for doubting you. Uh, I know this situation isn’t… It’s not the best. Just know, I believe you and I’ll try to get others to back off, ya?”
Potter stared at him as if he hadn’t seen him before. He looked so taken aback by Cedric’s words that Cedric wanted to take them back, though he meant it with full sincerity.
“Uh, yeah,” Potter muttered, rubbing his arms nervously. “Thanks. For believing me and everything.”
Cedric nodded firmly. “Of course.”
Potter offered him a small smile before turning to head back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Cedric walked slowly to the Hufflepuff Common Room, not looking forward to what was coming.
It was worse than Cedric could imagine.
Overnight, Potter had become a pariah to many. Although Cedric talked to the Hufflepuffs, many still blamed Potter and shunned him. The Ravenclaws seemed to follow their example and the Slytherins delighted in making Potter miserable, with their ‘Potter Stinks' badges.
The Gryffindors seemed divided, happy to have a Gryffindor champion but also clearly jealous and resentful that Potter was that champion.
Cedric tried to curb the harassment Potter faced as much as possible, but everyone had already formed their own opinions and there was no changing them.
The whole situation made Cedric both sad and angry. To him, it was very clear that Potter wanted none of this, but nobody was willing to listen. Potter — Harry , because that’s all Cedric could call the boy now — always looked so sad now. Cedric had taken to observing him when he had a moment.
Harry hardly ate. He would eat maybe a piece of bread or something and just pushed food around on his face. The boy was paler than ever, almost sickly. Cedric wondered if he was getting any sleep.
The only reassurance Cedric had was that there seemed to be a few people on Harry’s side. Hermione Granger remained steadfast even as Ron Weasley abandoned his best friend, the famed Golden Trio broken. The Weasley twins also stood by Harry, often glaring at anyone who said something offensive and pranking those who wore the ‘Potter Stinks’ badges.
For Cedric, it all came to a head when he saw some Hufflepuffs he didn’t really recognize talk to the boy. Some of the things they said, Cedric didn’t want to repeat. His blood boiled with rage.
“Hey!” he called out.
The Hufflepuffs and Harry turned to look at him in surprise. They seemed frightened, which made Cedric wonder what kind of face he was making.
“What are you doing?” Cedric demanded, crossing his arms to try and look more intimidating. He made sure his wand was close to grab in case they tried to attack.
“We’re just talking,” one of the Hufflepuffs said defensively.
“Is that what talking is now?” Cedric questioned. “Harassing someone? Calling them names?”
“But…,” one boy tried to say before Cedric interrupted.
“I don’t want to see anymore of this, especially from Hufflepuff,” Cedric finished with a glare.
The group nodded solemnly, respecting his authority. Cedric was a revered figure in Hufflepuff. Prefect, Captain of the Quidditch team, and probably Head Boy next year according to rumors. He was Hufflepuff’s pride and almost everyone in the house listened to him.
Cedric felt very satisfied as his fellow Hufflepuffs walked away in shame. He turned to Harry, who looked very shocked but also curious.
Cedric was about to speak when Harry spoke first.
“Why did you do that?” he asked, almost angrily.
“You mean stopping them from bullying you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought that was common courtesy.”
Harry nodded slowly, looking a bit confused. Cedric wondered often, especially after Harry became the fourth champion, what Harry’s home life was like. He was deeply suspicious, but decided to put it off for now.
“I’m sorry about them,” Cedric said, “They’re from my house so it’s partially my fault for their behavior. They’re just… protective, I guess.”
It was a weak justification, but that was the only explanation he could give. Harry seemed to understand which just made Cedric angrier at the situation.
“I’ll talk to them,” he reassured the other boy. “Make sure they truly understand the situation.”
“Thanks,” Harry said. “I’m sorry, by the way.”
Cedric was taken aback by his words before understanding what he was apologizing for.
“It’s not your fault,” Cedric reassured him.
Harry shook his head. “Still,” he insisted, “It is partly my fault. Someone’s clearly after me.”
Harry’s emerald eyes darkened. Cedric had no doubt he was thinking about You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters that followed him. They were the ones who wanted him dead the most, afterall.
“Do you need any help? With the Tournament, I mean,” Cedric asked, hoping to distract the boy.
“Isn’t that not allowed?” Potter asked, clearly taken aback.
“Only from outsiders,” Cedric pointed out. “I’m also a Champion, and it won’t hurt to help a fellow Champion not get killed.”
Harry seemed to hesitate, clearly weighing his options. Cedric sighed in relief when the other boy agreed.
“What are your intentions with Harry?”
Cedric wasn’t sure why he was surprised when the Weasley twins confronted him. The twins grew very protective of Harry after he was chosen as the fourth champion and basically became the boy’s shadows.
This seemed different though. The twins sounded… possessive, almost jealous. Cedric, not for the first time, wondered if there was something deeper than friendship in their relationship with Harry.
“I just want to help,” Cedric said evenly.
The twins were silent as they assessed him. Cedric tried not to fidget under their intense gazes before they finally relented. Cedric stopped the sigh of relief that came after they stopped.
“Okay,” one twin, maybe Fred, said.
“But we’ll be watching you,” maybe George, finished.
It was a brief encounter, but it was definitely the scariest of Cedric’s life. However, he was glad Harry had such people with him.
“Thanks for looking out for him,” Cedric spoke as the twins made to leave.
“Of course,” they chorused together.
“Harry’s our friend,” one twin said, which the other continued.
“And he needs our help—”
“Which we are glad to give—”
“At a time like this.”
Thus, the meeting between Cedric Diggory and Fred and George Weasley ended peacefully.
Cedric isn’t sure when he started to be attracted to Harry Potter.
Maybe it was when he saw Harry flying to escape a dragon. Maybe it was when he rescued the hostages during the Second Task.
Regardless of when, Cedric’s feelings for Harry Potter went beyond platonic.
The two had grown close as the tournament went on. They trained together with Hermione and eventually Ron when he stopped being a prat. They ate meals together, which earned a lot of stares for sitting at either the Gryffindor or Hufflepuff table. The two also just hung out as friends, talking about their lives.
Cedric fell in love with Harry’s bravery, with his loyalty to his friends, with the green eyes that would change shades depending on his mood. He loved how sarcastic Harry was when he was comfortable to do so, with the rare playfulness when they were together or with the twins.
Cedric Diggory was falling for Harry Potter and falling hard.
At first, it felt like a betrayal to Cho, who he was dating. However, after the Yule Ball, they ended up breaking up and becoming close friends instead. Cho seemed to notice his growing feelings for his friend and fellow Champion and encouraged him once they broke up.
He wasn’t sure if it was love yet or the beginning of such affections. All Cedric knew is that he wanted to be close with Harry, to share his troubles and triumphs.
He wanted Harry to live, to be free of his burdens, free from the shadows of Death Eaters and Voldemort. Cedric wanted Harry to laugh more freely, to be open to more people.
It was because of this love he had for the boy that Cedric knew he had to let him go. Cedric wasn’t who Harry loved and he knew that.
It was an accident when he caught them. Cedric was still struggling with his feelings for Harry and was just beginning to accept them.
He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but just before he was about to go and greet Harry and the twins, he heard what was going on.
“Do you like me or George?” Fred was saying. Cedric only knew it was Fred from what he said.
“We’re fine with whatever you say. We won’t be hurt if you choose one of us and not the other,” the twin, who must be George, insisted.
Harry’s mouth hung open a bit as he stared at the Weasley twins. Cedric knew he was not much better. He knew the twins had feelings for Harry, but he wasn’t sure how Harry felt. Clearly, Harry must have shown affection for one of the twins for them to confront Harry like that.
Harry seemed to struggle with what to say. He opened and closed his mouth several times before groaning in frustration.
“I like both of you, okay?” he finally blurted out.
Cedric didn’t hear the rest of the conversation after that. His head was filled with white noise, unable to process whatever was going on.
Harry Potter liked the Weasley twins, maybe even loved them. Cedric was too late.
Now that Cedric thought of it, did he even have a chance? Cedric knew the twins and Harry were always close so it was just natural to develop feelings along the way. The thought was a bitter one.
Cedric didn’t bother to say hi and instead went back to the dorms. His classmates tried to question him when they saw how upset he was but he ignored them.
Harry Potter wasn’t Cedric’s to love and he had to learn to be okay with that.
Everyone was in chaos around him, and Cedric felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He had let Harry take the Cup. It seemed like just moments ago that they were arguing over who should take it before Cedric pushed Harry towards the dang thing.
Now, Harry was missing.
No matter how hard he tried to breathe, he couldn’t. His heart was beating so fast, Cedric could hear it beating over the crowd’s panic.
“Cedric! Breathe!” a commanding yet soothing voice called from beside him.
Hermione, he vaguely recognized. She was trying to show him how to breathe, and he tried to follow along until he finally felt better.
“Thanks,” he said, getting up. “What’s going on?”
“The Cup was a portkey,” Hermione replied, anxiously wringing her hands. “They’re looking for the culprit now. They still don’t know where Harry is.”
Hearing her last sentence almost made Cedric panic again, but he forced himself to remain calm. Hermione looked like she had more to add so he let her continue talking.
“The twins are not… doing okay,” she said carefully. “They’re madder than I’ve ever seen them. They looked so devastated before they started demanding answers.”
So that was it. Cedric sighed, looking around to spot red hair and chaos. He knew Hermione wanted him to calm them down, probably a bit frightened by their anger and also knowing they listened to Cedric more than anyone else.
The relationship between Cedric and the twins was a bit complicated. All three of them were in love with Harry and wanted the best for the boy, but it was obvious Harry loved the twins and not Cedric. The twins were a mixture of jealousy about how close he is to Harry and sympathy because Harry had already confessed to them.
It ended up as a weird friendship between the three of them. The twins listened to Cedric more than others as a sign of respect and Cedric let them get away with more things.
“Hey,” he said forcefully as he approached the demon duo.
Fred and George turned to face him with matching expressions though that seemed to soften a bit as they saw him. Cedric had long learned to distinguish them after months of friendship.
“Calm down. You scared Hermione,” he lightly scolded.
“It’s not our fault,” George said.
“Yeah,” Fred continued.
“They’re just being incompetent—”
“And unagreeable—”
“Don’t forget unsuccessful—”
“Just stop,” Cedric sighed, rubbing his forehead to stave off a headache.
Before Cedric could go on, there was another commotion. Cedric hurried over and felt he couldn’t breathe all over again.
Harry was back. He was bloody, clutching one of his arms which was bleeding heavily. His leg didn’t look much better but he was alive. Cedric then paid attention to what Harry was saying.
“Voldemort,” he was gasping, “He’s back.”
Cedric’s world stopped.
In the aftermath, Cedric wasn’t sure how he managed to make it to the Hospital Wing. He sat beside Harry, who was finally asleep after all that happened. The twins were caught up by their mother and said they would join him soon.
Cedric laid his head on Harry’s sickbed as he thought back to everything. Mad Eye Moody turned out to be Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise, and he was the one responsible for putting Harry’s name in the Cup.
Cedric wanted to punch him when he heard that, even though he wasn’t usually so violent. Thankfully, Crouch was Kissed by a Dementor soon after, which no longer made him a threat to Harry.
Unfortunately, Minister Fudge didn’t believe Voldemort was back. Cedric knew he was doing this out of fear and ignorance, but it made his blood boil all the same.
Harry had gone through so much, and Fudge just dismissed it like it was nothing. All the pain and suffering Harry went through, not just this year, but also in his other years at Hogwarts was just discarded.
There was nothing Cedric could do, however. He was just a student who wouldn’t graduate for a year. It made him feel helpless, but that quickly turned to determination.
Cedric would continue to protect Harry, no matter what. He would be his support and make sure others couldn’t harm him with their words or their wands.
Harry would never return his love and Cedric was still learning to move on, but Cedric would continue to be a good friend and protector.
This would be enough for him.
A protector to the end.