#shared suffering

After your first year of studying at Hogwarts, the feeling of being sore or even in pain at times was a common occurrence for you.

It took a while, but you had soon deduced that your soulmate was an athlete. There was no other possible explanation besides them being a big klutz. But even then, who periodically gets hurt like that on a timely manner?

Having deduced this, you had always made sure that you were always careful not to add to their existing constant soreness.

It didn’t mean you were happy with this situation though.

The frown on your face deepened as you sat up.

As you slowly moved around to get ready for the day, the sound of knocking on your door halted your actions.

“Good morning, (Y/N)!” 

Tracey stuck her head into your room, her signature bright smile adorning her face.

“Not a good morning,” you responded, shaking your head a small smile on your face.

“Whaaat?” Tracey asked, bouncing her way in. She immediately made herself at home in your room. “Is it your soulmate again?”

You nodded. “I’m literally sore everywhere. Maybe I should have stayed in bed today.”

“You promised to come with me to watch the Quidditch match though!” Tracey protested. “Should I beat up your soulmate when you find out who they are? They deserve it for putting you through so much pain.”

“Appreciated. But then I’d feel it too,” you said.

Tracey made a face. “Unfortunate. Well, we should get going!”

You stifled back a yawn as Tracey looped her arm around yours. “Where do you get all your energy from?”

Tracey just laughed as she pulled you off.

Through the flurry of breakfast and chatting with other friends, the morning went by quickly as your soreness faded. Lucky for you, your soulmate must have decided they had enough training from yesterday.

It wasn’t long before Tracey and your other friends noticed the time and hurried you all off to the Quidditch field where the match was going to take place.

Slytherin vs Hufflepuff.

Pulled into the already busy stands that were filled with yellow and black, you looked around. You honestly weren’t too big on sports, so in the first few years of Hogwarts, you would drop by to watch the odd match. Ever since finding out your soulmate was potentially an athlete, you began to show up more frequently. 

You knew enough of the game to tell when a team scored, and that was good enough for you. 

A blur of robes flew by the stands, causing everyone around you to erupt in cheers. 

“Here we go!” Tracey exclaimed, hanging onto you.

With the excitement in the air, you watched the game in quiet awe as the players soared around the field. Points were being scored and the game was looking rather close.

It was drawing close to late game when a sparkle caught your eye - the golden snitch.

Clearly that was when the seeker of the Hufflepuff team noticed it as well, as he went after it quickly. 

Cedric Diggory - the Hufflepuff prefect, Quidditch team captain, and the ideal student. 

Someone like him always felt pretty distant with how much he was accomplishing despite how friendly he was with everyone.

Sure, he was captivating and managed to catch a lot of attention. And right now, he had your full attention. 

Or at least the attention you could manage after feeling like you’ve been punched in the stomach and the wind knocked out of you.

“- and Diggory is hit by a Bludger, yikes, that one looked rough...”

“(Y/N)?” Tracey asked, noticing you bent over and hugging your stomach. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you wheezed, keeping an eye on the Seeker. He had placed a hand on his stomach and had a grimace on his face, but was already getting himself back into the game. “I think I found my soulmate.”

“We won!”

“Woohoo!”

The cheers of the Hufflepuff house filled the entire stadium and continued into the Common Room as everyone celebrated the victory. 

Cedric felt his teammates clap his back as they congratulated him for catching the snitch that helped win the game.

“Sorry about the Bludger, mate,” Anthony apologized. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Cedric reassured. 

Anthony shook his head with a smile. “Your poor soulmate.”

Cedric awkwardly laughed. Caught up with Quidditch practice and games, he often let it slip past his thoughts that his soulmate experienced his pain too. 

Making his way through the Common Room with quite a bit of trouble from the excited Hufflepuffs, he managed to leave the room only to bump into someone else.

The figure in front of him had moved back and the sound of them banging into something filled the air.

It wasn’t the noise that caught Cedric’s attention. Rather, it was the jolt of feeling as if he had run his elbow into something. 

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized, reaching out to stabilize the girl he bumped into.

She looked up, (E/C) eyes meeting his. “It’s fine, Cedric, I wasn’t really looking where I was going either.”

Just out of the corner of his eye, he could see she was cradling her elbow. 

The same elbow he had felt hurt - even if it was temporarily. 

You awkwardly waited as Cedric still held onto you at an arm’s length. Accidentally bumping into him was not part of your plan. In fact, you weren’t sure what your plan was let him know you were his soulmate.

After apologizing to you, the head boy had simply frozen in front of you. 

“Um, Cedric?” you quietly asked.

Your voice broke him out of his trance as he took one of your hands in his own.

“Come with me.”

Without any additional warnings, he pulled you off. You could feel your cheeks heating up as you noticed others were noticing the situation you were in as the two of you maneuvered through the hallways. If this kept up, everyone would soon be talking about how the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain dragged a girl - you - off somewhere after winning the match.

Once the two of you were away from everyone else, Cedric took a step towards you. 

Flustered, you halted, watching the situation unfold.

“Your elbow...” He quietly gestured towards the elbow that you had bumped earlier with a nod of head. “Sorry about that.”

Hearing this made you immediately realize that he knew. He had felt it too. 

He knew.

“I’m sorry about before as well - you felt that during the game, didn’t you?”

You were hesitant, but you gave him a small nod.

“It’s okay though,” you immediately reassured him with a wave of your hands. “I know to expect these feelings.”

You could see the downward tug on his lips that made his charming face look sad. Before you had the chance to even think of another way to reassure the Hufflepuff Head Boy, he pulled you into a warm embrace. 

“I’m sorry I put you through all that,” he murmured.

The sound of his heartbeat racing and the genuine tone of his voice made you melt. Slowly lifting up your arms, you held onto him. Once Cedric felt this, you could feel him relax as well. 

Perhaps finally finding and being with your soulmate stirred up feelings in you, but at the moment, there was no where else you would rather be. Being so close to him, you could smell his sweat from just winning the Quidditch match, along with something else you couldn’t name, but whatever it was, it was very calming.

“Have you known long?” Cedric asked.

You shook your head. “That Bludger today was actually what made me realize it was you.”

Cedric made a mental note to thank Anthony later. 

“Take it easy during practices please,” you mumbled into his chest. “I was so sore this morning.”

Your soulmate leaned back so he could look at you properly. You were his soulmate and nothing could make him happier. Even though he had just met you, Cedric knew that this was going to be the start to something beautiful. The smile he had on his face - one you would soon learn that it was meant only for you - lit up the dim hallway.