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The gray November sky finally broke, unleashing a pour that turned the Hogwarts grounds into a mixture of mud and mist.

You ran toward the shelter of the clock tower arches, your breath coming in ragged gasps, your robes soaked.

You were trying to get away from him-Cedric.

The argument had started because of a creeping, insecurity that had been developing for weeks, despite the fact that you and Cedric were already together.

Being the girlfriend of the Hufflepuff Golden Boy was harder than your heart had anticipated. He was constantly surrounded by people-laughing with fans, huddled with his friends, or being pulled into conversations by prettier girls who seemed so much more confident and talkative than you.

Just so today, you had reached your breaking point.

You had been waiting for him by the fountain when you overheard a group of girls casually wondering aloud why someone as popular, handsome, and brilliant as Cedric Diggory was dating a quiet girl who always seemed to disappear into the library corners.

The harsh words cut deep, confirming every doubt you already had. When Cedric finally walked up, eager to see you, you panicked.

In a desperate attempt to hide the ‘truth’, you blurted out that you felt like a ghost beside him and that he belonged with someone who actually fit into his bright world.

Before he could even process the words, you turned and bolted into the storm.

Cedric had stood frozen for a single, stunned second before pure desperation took over. He didn't care about the rain or his friends calling after him.

All he knew was that the person he loved more than anything was running away from him, hurt and believing a rumour that broke his heart for him to even think about.

He had chased you through the rain, his heart hammering with the sudden realisation that his own life had accidentally made you feel small and possibly unwanted, and he was determined not to let you slip away from his fingers.

"Wait! Please, just stop walking!"

His voice cut through the roar storm. You spun around right in the middle of the courtyard, unable to run any further as the freezing water blinded your vision and weighed down your robes.

Cedric caught up to you, completely ignoring the rain. He stopped just inches away, standing fully out in the open rain, completely drenched.

His usually curled hair was sticking to his forehead, water dripping down his face, and his chest rose and fell rapidly under his soaked shirt.

His grey eyes weren’t filled with their usual calm, gentle warmth, they were bright and overwhelmed by the rain and the emotion tearing through him.

He looked angry—not at you, but at the frustration that you would ever doubt what you meant to him.

"Why are you running away from me?" Cedric demanded, the rain splashing off his shoulders as he stepped closer. The usual composed, polite image he wore was completely washed away.

"Because I can't do this anymore, Cedric!" you cried out, your voice cracking as your emotions spilled out. "I don’t want to keep guessing where I fit in your life! Everyone looks at you, everyone wants a piece of you, and I feel like I'm just holding you back. It hurts, and I'd rather you just leave me than keep making me hope for something that isn't real!"

Cedric froze, his jaw tightening as the storm raged around the two of you.

Then, he took two long strides, completely closing the distance right there on the grass.

He reached out, his large, warm hands firmly but gently gripping your shoulder, holding you steady in the middle of the rain so you couldn't turn away from him.

"How can you think this isn't real?" Cedric yelled over the storm, his voice thick with a desperate honesty.

He shook his head, water flying from his wet hair to mix with the rain (or perhaps tears) on your face.

"You think I’ve been playing games? Merlin. I've been a complete mess for months because of you! Every time I try to talk to you, my throat feel like it’s stuck because I'm terrified I'm going to say the wrong thing and scare you away!"

He leaned down, his face centimetres away from yours, his eyes drilling into yours with intensely while the rain poured down over both of your faces.

"It's you!" Cedric confessed, the words tearing angrily out of his throat like a secret he could no longer hold inside, loud enough to echo through the storm.

"It has always been you! There is no one else. There never has been! Every time I’m on Quidditch pitch, every time I look up from a book in the library, I am looking for you. I am completely, utterly losing my mind over you, and it drives me crazy that you can't see it!"

The subtle force of his words left you breathless, the freezing rain suddenly feeling entirely irrelevant.

Your heart hammered against your ribs like a trapped owl. The anger in his eyes melted instantly, replaced by a pleading look that broke your heart.

His grip on your shoulders softened, his hands sliding up to cup your wet face, his thumbs gently brushing over your cheeks, ignoring the streams of rainwater runningdown his fingers.

"It's always been you," he repeated, his voice dropping to a rough, breathless whisper against your lips.

"Please tell me you know that."

"I know," you whispered back, your hands instinctively reaching up to clutch his wrists.

"I've been losing my mind over you, too."A look of relief washed over Cedric's face. The heavy atmosphere that had clouded your hearts for weeks vanished in the moment.

A breathless, radiant smile broke through his exhaustion—the familiar, warm Cedric you knew, but brighter than you'd ever seen him, even when he’s standing completely soaked in the middle of a freezing storm.

He didn't care that you were both drenched, or that the wind was howling across the two of you.

Cedric leaned in closer, his gaze dropping to your lips one final time before he closed the rest of the distance.

The kiss was soft at first, a gentle release of all the thoughts and doubts that had built up between you two.

But as you melted into him, Cedric groaned softly, his hands moving from your face to tangle into your soaking wet hair, pulling you against his chest.

He kissed you right there in the open rain with a deep, consuming warmth that completely blocked out the cold November rain.

It was everything you had ever hoped for—tender, reassuring and entirely yours.

When he finally pulled back just an inch, his forehead resting against yours, both of you breathing heavily as the rain continued to pour over you.

"Thank god," Cedric murmured, his arms wrapping securely around your waist to hold you right against his chest.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

The morning of the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin match arrived with the cold November wind. Inside the Ravenclaw tower, the chatter of students predicting the game’s score filled the air.

On your bedside table sat a neatly wrapped parcel , delivered by a school owl just an hour before.

You carefully untied the neatly tied ribbon, pulling away the brown parchment paper. Inside the parcel lay a thick, heavy, Hufflepuff quidditch jersey, smelling faintly of mahogany and broom polish. The yellow fabric was vibrant, with the name DIGGORY boldly stitched at the back.

Folded neatly inside the collar was a small piece of parchment. You opened it to find Cedric’s handwriting.

The stands get freezing during morning games. Wear this so you don’t freeze out there. See you on the pitch.

-Cedric

This simple gesture made your heart race. The feeling of his thumb gliding over the side of your lips a few nights ago felt like it was still lingering, you felt a flush of heat creep onto your face.

He did mention the match when you guys were talking a few days ago, he knew you were going to go watch the game.

But you usually preferred to blend into the background, but wearing the Hufflepuff captain’s jersey would make that impossible. Still, the thought of turning him down or leaving the jersey behind felt worse than judgmental stares.

You pulled the oversized shirt over your uniform, the sleeves completely swallowing your arms, and headed downstairs.

Walking into breakfast, the effects of the jersey were immediate. The shirt hung halfway down your thighs, the bright Hufflepuff yellow among the sea of blue and bronze at the Ravenclaw table attracted eyes - just as you expected.

Your hands tugged at the hem of the shirt, trying to sink away from the attention.

Padma gave you a smug smirk as you sat down next to her.

“Oh shut up.”, you smiled.

From across the Great Hall at the Hufflepuff table, Cedric was surrounded by his teammates, listening to a last minute strategy talk from up the table.

As if he sensed your presence, his grey eyes lifted, and he saw you in his jersey.

A genuine, quiet smile spread across his face. He offered a small reassuring nod, his eyes lingering for just a second too long before his teammates pulled him back to the conversation. Your face burned a deep crimson as you quickly looked back down to your bacon and toast.

-

The atmosphere of the pitch was electric. The stands were full of exited chatters, divided between green and yellow. You found a spot in the middle tiers, wrapping your arms tightly around yourself to shield against the howling wind.

Below the stands, the two teams marched onto the pitch.

Cedric walked at the front of the Hufflepuff team, his broom resting on his shoulder.

Before he climbed onto his broomstick, he paused, quickly scanning the stands.

Then, he found you.

Seeing you in his massive jersey made him stop completely for a brief second. A small, genuine smile broke over his face, a warm expression meant just for you. He gave a subtle nod before turning back to his team. Your face burned hot despite the freezing November wind.

Madam Hooch stepped into the center of the pitch, her hand on the lid of the wooden crate.

Cedric climbed onto his broomstick, his muscles tensing as he prepared to launch.

With a sharp whistle, Madam Hooch threw the quaffle into the air, cheers echoed across the grounds, and the teams skyrocketed into the air.

The game was brutal, the Slytherin chasers playing with absolute aggression. Your breath hitched as a bludger nearly hit Cedric’s shoulder.

But Cedric remained focused, his eyes on the sky, looping and dodging, moving fluidly and quickly as he commanded his team precisely.

Then, a speck of gold flashed near the Slytherin goalposts.

Cedric spotted it, going into a nearly vertical dive, targeting the snitch. The Slytherin seeker diving right after him, trying to shoulder-push Cedric off his broom, but Cedric didn’t even flinch. With a sudden shift to the left to avoid another bludger, he extended his arm and clasped his fingers around the golden ball just inches before hitting the ground.

The Hufflepuff stands rised into a deafening celebration to their massive victory.

Down the pitch, Cedric’s teammates sprinted towards him to throw their arms around his shoulder, but before they reached him, Cedric did something that made your heart skip a beat.

He raised his arm holding the golden snitch high into the air, his eyes shooting directly up to where you were sitting.

Through the sea of yellow, he looked straight at you, giving you a bright, breathless grin, tilting the golden ball slightly towards your direction, like he was saying this was for you, before his team slung their arms around him in celebration.

The crowded, roaring celebration was a bit too overwhelming for you, so you slipped away from the stands early, wrapping Cedric’s shirt around you tightly as you walked back to the quiet, stone corridors towards the Ravenclaw tower.

The castle was almost entirely empty, the distant echoes of the victory celebration slowly fading into the background.

A sudden sound of hurried, heavy footsteps echoed from around the corner. You stopped.

You turned to find Cedric, still breathing heavily from the match. He was still in his muddy quidditch trousers, his hair messy from the wind.

When his eyes locked on you, who was still wearing his jersey, he stopped running, a look of pure relief on his face, his exhausted expression replaced with that same warm smile.

“There you are,” Cedric breathed, stepping closer.

The corridor suddenly felt small, he was just a few feet away, he smelled like rain, and the familiar scent of sandalwood.

“You left before the lap of honour,” Cedric said quietly. His grey eyes dropped down to his jersey, which still swallowed you whole, the hem reaching past your knees. “I was scared that you wouldn’t want to wear it.”

“It’s….comfortable.” you murmured, your voice barely above a whisper. Your fingers nervously tugging at the sides of the sleeves of the shirt. “Congratulations for the win, you were brilliant.”

Cedric let out a boyish laugh as his hand scratched the back of his neck. A faint flush that definitely didn’t have anything with the cold crept up his cheeks. “To be honest, I almost missed it, I kept looking at the stands…I wanted to make sure you were still there.”

Your heart swarmed around your ribs. You looked up, meeting his eyes.

“Cedric. I-.”

“I’m really glad that you wore it,” he interrupted gently, taking one step closer. The distance between the two of you closed.

He reached out, his long fingers lightly brushing against the yellow fabric, smoothing out a wrinkle that wasn’t really there.

“Seeing you there, watching me, really did something to me today. I don’t think I would’ve caught the snitch if you weren’t watching.”

The air between the two of you grew thicker, Cedric leaned down slightly, his eyes dropping to your lips for a second and suddenly lifted back to your eyes with intense gravity.

The distance between the two of you felt like inches.

Cedric looked down at his boots, letting out a breath before looking up to you like he had just resolved something deep down inside.

“Actually, I’m sorry,”Cedric said softly, the nervous sound in his voice was gone, replaced with a quiet,steady courage. “I don’t want to act like I don’t notice my own feelings, I don’t want to keep on guessing.”

You held your breath, your heart hammered inside of you.

“I’ve liked you for a very long time,” he said, the words coming out with a rush of honesty. “not just because you wore the jersey today. Every time you’re in the library, every time you’re giggling about something funny, every time you’re focused on a book, I’ve been trying to gather the courage to tell you for ages.”

Your jaw dropped slightly, the pure shock of the popular, Hufflepuff golden boy confessing to you making your mind go completely blank.

"Cedric... I—I've liked you too. For ages."

A massive, smile broke across Cedric's face, making his eyes crinkle at the corners. He looked relieved, as if a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders.

"Yeah?" he asked, stepping closer towards you, a playful but gentle spark in his eyes.

"Yeah," you whispered, a small smile finally breaking through your face.

He reached down, his warm hand gently sliding into yours.

Cedric didn’t say anything more, he just held your hand, letting the mutual feelings settle between the two of you.

"Come on," Cedric whispered, tugging you gently towards the corridor toward the Great Hall.

"Let's get some food. You can keep the jersey .But you're sitting next to me at the feast."

⋆a/n : idk how to describe a quidditch match my bad 😕 i hope yall like this one! reblogs and follows will be much appreciated!