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“Ced!”
You shake his shoulder to no avail. Bloody hell, the man can sleep.
“Ced!” You repeat in a whisper-shout, shaking his shoulder once more, and this time you’re rewarded with a rousing groan.
You grin broadly down at him as he rolls in our direction, light brown hair thoroughly mussed with sleep, rubbing his eyes and squinting at you in the dim light “Sweetheart, what-”
You swiftly place a finger to his lips, hushing him. “Shh! We don’t want to wake your dormmates, now, do we?”
His brow furrows, frowning slightly in a way that tells you he’s actually trying not to mirror your smile. “Let’s start with what you’re doing in my dorm in the first place, hm?”
“I’m hungry.” Your smile never wavers.
“You’re joking.”
“Nope!”
“You woke me up to escort you to the kitchens two meters from the common room entrance for a midnight snack?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Cedric sighs heavily, slinging an arm briefly over his eyes. “You’re very lucky I like you. Alright.”
“Aw, don’t be silly,” you coo teasingly, handing him his jumper from where it’s slung over the bedpost, “you love me.”
“I do, indeed,” He hums, leaning forward to kiss your cheek before pulling the jumper over his head.
It’s a matter of a few moments before you’re quietly padding down the steps to the common room, fingers interlaced, Cedric still yawning. It hadn’t taken much to convince him, because he knew the veiled reason for your sudden fixation with the kitchens.
It was a nightmare. Another one. He can see it in the way your eyes didn’t crinkle the right way, in the dark circles under your eyes. And who is he to deny his girlfriend anything?
When Cedric covers another yawn with his hand, a twinge of guilt for dragging him out of bed flickers through your chest.
“You could have told me no,” you murmur, pushing open the common room door.
“Nonsense, darling,” he mumbles in reply, giving you a sleepy smile, pieces of his unkempt hair falling across his forehead. The sight has you smiling again.
He squeezes your hand, holding open the portrait of fruits for you like the gentleman he is.
Most of the house elves are asleep, but a good number are still up, preparing breakfast for the students the next morning, cleaning, or stoking the fires. Several heads snap up, owlish eyes blinking at the two of you as you step into the kitchen.
As usual, the elves are more than happy to feed us, pulling up stools by one of the roaring fireplaces, but there’s… a slight confusion to their actions. Two in the morning certainly isn’t when they expect to have random visitors.
“I swear, the house elves are judging us,” you murmur, a warm mug of hot chocolate in one hand, a small fruit tart in the other.
“Let them judge,” Cedric replies, biting into his own tart, “My darling wanted a midnight snack, and so a midnight snack she will get.”
You grin at him, giggling softly, and taking a bite of your tart, some crumbs and filling lingering on the corner of your mouth. He leans forward, his arm coming up to the side of your face, his palm against your cheek and the pad of his thumb brushing the mess away.
“Is it something you want to talk about?” He asked, his brows pinched slightly in concern.
He knows he’s guessed right by the way your gaze flickers, then drops. “Not particularly, no. I’d rather try and forget it.”
Cedric nods, brushing your lips with his thumb again in a gesture that no longer has anything to do with the tart crumbs. “That’s alright, sweetheart. As long as you know I’m here if you need me.”
You sigh appreciatively, leaning your head into his hand briefly before allowing him to withdraw it.
“Um, Mister… Miss…” The squeaky voice catches you both off guard, and you look down to see a rather nervous-looking house elf blinking up at you. “If you’re… quite done, we feel it important to remind you that a good night’s rest is imperative for a productive day tomorrow.”
You and Cedric look up, make eye contact and snort, nodding to the little elf at the same time, eyes glimmering with mirth.
“Told you they were judging us.”