I have just recently fallen in love with this pairing and, of course, it is incredibly rare. No one writes anything for it. Although I am horrendously bad at updating, I will try my best. I have summer holidays coming up in two days, so I can hopefully spend more time on my stories (really, just this one, haha). I hope you like it.

Title: Unforeseen Circumstances
Summary: She's plagued with dreams about Cedric Diggory. Except they're not ordinary dreams… Hermione sees him die. As she tries to hide the truth, Hermione's relationship with Cedric grows, and her dreams become worse. But what can she do to save him? CDHG.

Preface

No one understood their relationship, and she didn't expect them to. How could they? She was the bookworm Gryffindor, and he was the popular Hufflepuff. Everyone had expected them to stay well away from each other, and they had kept to these expectations for a while, until unforeseen circumstances had brought them together.

Looking back on it now, Hermione realised that she'd never really been happy. She was always alone. Being a girl with two male best friends got the best of her sometimes. It didn't help that their interests were completely off par. Quidditch was something she could watch quite comfortably, but if anyone thought they could force her onto a broomstick, they were sorely mistaken.

At the time, she would have given anything to be well-liked. Like him. Hell, she would've given anything to get out of her nerdy reputation. She guessed that's what drew her to him in the first place. Hermione didn't even like to study; she liked to be knowledgeable. In fact, she couldn't let something go if she didn't know everything there was to about it. Hermione always liked to have the upper hand, and he seemed to understand, and even appreciate that about her. It felt like no one else did.

So what was she doing here, now? Saving him? It wasn't even determined that anything bad would happen, and yet, she felt her legs propel her forward. Unlike her normal self, Hermione didn't feel her pace slowing, or her chest aching. Instead, she felt like her veins were on fire. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she brushed against dense vegetation, scraping her arms on wry twigs, and feeling the sting but not acknowledging it. Every inch of her being longed to see him; her need was overwhelming and at that moment, she knew. Hermione knew she had to save him, whether she came out alive or not.

CHAPTER 1 – Overwhelming

Sometimes, Hermione really didn't like being a girl; even more so when her two best friends treated her like they did now. The nerve of them to even think of making her their messenger! The muggle saying, 'don't shoot the messenger' came to her mind, and at that moment, she wished the opposite.

"This is ridiculous. I'll never get anything done while I'm this frustrated." Hermione huffed to herself, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face. She slammed her book shut, and rested her head upon it, sighing as she closed her eyes. Staying there a few moments, she finally calmed herself as she sat upright. Opening her eyes, she breathed deeply. Muttering to herself about the pettiness of the male species, Hermione opened her book and began to continue searching for the information needed for her two-foot Potions essay. Normally she wasn't a violent person, but Hermione really wanted to hurt Snape, badly, for giving them an essay even she couldn't do on a Monday.

In the end, Hermione did one thing she swore she would never do at school: give up. Hermione just didn't care anymore. With all her other school work, unfinished, Harry and Ron's petulant fight, unresolved, Harry's entry in the Triwizard Tournament, unexplained, and Cedric Diggory's lingering presence in her mind, unhelpful, her focus was waning. It seemed she had reached her breaking point.

"Need any help?"

Speak of the devil.

Her thoughts of Cedric came to the forefront of her mind as she snapped her head in the direction of the intruder. Stormy grey eyes met golden brown as Hermione gazed at Cedric. She quickly broke eye contact, afraid that he would see what she knew. It was incredibly important that no one find out, or Hermione would be classified as mentally insane, and shipped off to a muggle mental hospital in the middle of no where.

"No, I'm fine, thank you." Hermione's parents had always taught her manners first and foremost, regardless of her feelings toward a person. However, as she spoke, she heard an edge of nervousness in her voice. Cedric was an observant person, she had noticed, and he hadn't missed it either.

His eyes squinted slightly as he tilted his head to the side.

"Is something… bothering you, Granger?" he said, taking a step forward.

Worried, Hermione hastily started packing away her books, careful not to let anything slip. Cedric, seeing her actions, began to hand her the books on the other side of the study table. As he lifted So You're Having Dreams That Worry You? by Melissa Molina, a piece of parchment caught his eye. Hermione, seeing his gaze, paled dramatically, hoping to Merlin that it wasn't that particular parchment.

"Granger…" Hermione winced at his confused tone, waiting for the inevitable, "why is there a piece of parchment with my name on it?"

Cedric lifted the parchment curiously, reading further. Hermione knew if she didn't stop him now, he would read the whole thing and find out her secret. In a moment of desperation, she snatched the parchment out of his hands and stuffed it in her bag, piling her books on top of it. Cedric raised an eyebrow at her aggressiveness, waiting for her to speak. Hermione did not give him that pleasure.

"Well?" he prompted, straightening his posture as she stood, pulling her bag onto her shoulder.

She stared at him expectantly.

"What? It doesn't mean anything." Hermione said, trying to seem nonchalant. She brushed past him toward the exit to the library, intent on getting back to her dorms and deciphering her dreams there. Maybe if I put some silencing charms up, the other girls wouldn't disturb me for once… her thoughts were interrupted once more by Cedric.

"If it involves me, I think I have a right to know." His eyes bored into her as he came into stride next to her. Trying to get rid of him, Hermione quickened her pace. It was a futile attempt, as he was roughly half a foot taller than her, at just past six feet. She rolled her eyes at his persistence. He continued to pester her as walkers-by stared open-mouthed, until she reached the portrait hole to Gryffindor tower, thankfully in record time. As they came to stand in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione spun around to face Cedric.

"It's just something for the tournament, that's all. Not important at all, so you shouldn't be so concerned." She paused, "Since when do you talk to me, anyway?" He was silent for a moment and she went to turn away, when his hand grabbed her forearm. Hermione whipped back around, hair flying in her face.

"Since you decided to go around writing things about me." Cedric replied, tilting his head in interest at her nervous but irritated expression. They stared at each other in silence until Cedric released the hold on her arm and shook his head slightly.

"I'm sorry... I'm just a bit stressed. It seems everyone wants a piece of me these days." He smiled crookedly. "Literally," he continued, "girls are trying to bite me!" he exclaimed, chuckling to himself. Hermione relaxed her tensed muscles, the nervousness draining out of her at his usual carefree attitude. Cedric had an odd way of making her forget everything else. Stop it, Hermione berated herself, you're only making it worse.

Cedric cleared his throat. Hermione did not feel awkward in the slightest. "I guess I'll see you around, Cedric." She gave him a small smile.

"Goodbye, Granger." He nodded at her in farewell and strode off down the corridor towards the kitchens, where she knew the Hufflepuff common room was.

Before he disappeared completely down the corridor, Hermione turned around to face the Fat Lady, who had been watching the whole exchange. Hermione blushed faintly, muttering the password. The Fat Lady paused before granting her entry to the common room.

"He's a keeper, girl. Don't let that one go." She stared dreamily at his retreating form, just as it turned the corner. Hermione snorted loudly, and the portrait swung open.

As she entered the common room, Hermione was bombarded by Harry, who had obviously been waiting for her... or waiting to hound her, more like. She had forgotten she'd missed lunch.

"Where have you been? I need to practise the summoning charm! You know I haven't nailed it yet-" Hermione interrupted him before he could badger her further.

"Yes, Harry, I know, alright? I just... got held up at the library. Snape's essay was hopeless. I didn't get anything done. I'll help you with the charm in a minute; I have to go up to my dorm first." They were all half-truths, but she figured that she'd never be able to straight forward lie to Harry: he'd see right through her.

Harry seemed shocked at her outburst, but gathered himself just as she ascended the stairs. Hermione sighed heavily as she opened the door to the fourth year dorms, walking to her bed on the left side, and dropping her book bag onto it. The Accio charm could wait, her dreams could not.

Plopping herself onto her bed after removing her outer robe, Hermione dug into her bag and pulled out her various books, only one of them meant to help with Snape's essay. She pushed it off the bed in disgust. Pulling the closest book toward her, she slowly opened You're Scared Your Nightmares Will Become Real by Robert Bigglescott. There wasn't much that helped her, but a couple of sentences caught her eye.

There are many different types of seers. There are both good and sinister seer abilities. Some seer types are very rare. An example of this is the Death Seer, easily identifiable, and an ability considered evil, but which only occurs once every two hundred years.

The vagueness of the passage frustrated her. After looking through the other books she had found in the library, including So You're Having Dreams That Worry You? by Melissa Molina, that was the only reference to anything similar to her dreams. But Hermione couldn't be a Seer. She didn't believe in that sort of thing, anyway, so it was a moot point. Weren't seers meant to forget their predictions? She remembered hers... if they even were predictions. There had to be something else to explain her morbid dreams… morbid dreams involving Cedric.

Maybe it was just her. Just because they were rather dark dreams didn't mean they were bad, or that she was a Death Seer. I don't remember them that clearly anyway, and the book said they were easy to identify. Hermione thought to herself. No, the whole thing's ridiculous. There must be another logical explanation.

"Another dead end." Hermione sighed, closing all the books around her and putting them back into her bag.

"A dead end to what?" a voice came from the door. Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin as she snapped her head to the door. She sighed in relief at who she saw.

"Parvati! You nearly scared me to death!" Hermione exclaimed. Parvati waited for an answer. "Oh! It's just some extracurricular research I'm working on for Professor McGonagall. Nothing you'd be very interested in." Hermione laughed lightly, trying to subtly cover up the summaries of her dreams as Parvati walked over to her bed. She finished shoving all the papers in her bag when Parvati spoke again.

"The Fat Lady was going on about you having a boyfriend. Who is it, Hermione? Is he good-looking? Ooh, is it Ron Weasley?" Parvati said excitedly.

"What?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"Your boyfriend; who is he?" Parvati prodded impatiently.

"What are you talking about? I don't have a boyfriend!" shrieked Hermione, embarrassed that the Fat Lady had assumed her and Cedric were together, but flattered that she had seen her as good enough for him. You're distracting yourself, again. A voice piped up in her head. Hermione tuned back into the present.

"-if the Fat Lady saw it, I'm sure it was true. It's about time, Hermione! You really need to get out, let loose, have some fun! Oh, can Lavendar and I do your make-up for dates? We can have a girl's night sometime this week, it'll be great. Then you have to dish out the details. Have you kissed yet? What-"

"Excuse me!" Hermione interrupted. Everyone was getting on her last nerve today, and it seemed they were all shocked at her for doing something about their annoying behaviour, as Parvati's eyes widened. "I do not have a boyfriend, Parvati. The Fat Lady saw Cedric Diggory follow me, that's all. And I don't need to 'let loose'!"

"Cedric Diggory? Cedric Diggory? He's your boyfriend?" Parvati squealed comically. "Nice catch, Hermione!"

"What? No!" protested Hermione, but her roommate wasn't listening.

"How did you meet? Who asked who? Why have you kept this secret? Oh, this is juicy, Hermione! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Parvati insisted, looking a little hurt.

"Because it's not even true! All he did was ask me a question, and when I couldn't answer, he pestered me until I did; that's it. Nothing more, nothing less." Her tone suggested finality, but it seemed Parvati would not give up.

"That's so awesome! I wish he'd speak to me. With his dreamy smile and great big blue eyes… you're so lucky, Hermione." She sighed dramatically. Hermione didn't bother to correct her saying that his eyes were in fact a dark grey, and smoldered when he was passionate about something, or lightened when he was amused, and that he had the most adorable squint when he smiled- You're sounding exactly like them, that voice spoke up again, get a grip, Hermione!

It's just the dreams, she replied to the voice, they're making me think of him, plaguing my thoughts. It's only natural for me to be attracted to him, too. I mean, he is good-looking.

Stop right there, the voice said again, don't even think about it.

Hermione gulped nervously. She hadn't even realised Parvati had kept talking, telling her about all the possible ways Hermione could introduce her.

"Yes, yes, I'll try and mention you. He probably won't even talk to me again." She stood up and walked to the door, leaving a bubbling Parvati behind her. Hermione groaned at what she had to do next; Harry would have her head for making him wait.

As the week progressed, Hermione found herself immersed in her studies. She had found avoiding Cedric, Parvati, Harry and Ron very tiring. In fact, Hermione was pretty much avoiding everyone.

Her grades were suffering, even though she put all her effort into it. It seemed her attempts were fruitless. She had to get to the bottom of her dream situation before anything else. Not to mention squashing those rumors of her and Cedric together. Hermione had got the feeling he was trying to confront her about it, and remained inconspicuous for the majority of the time.

It also seemed her inner turmoil was no longer private; Professor McGonagall was catching on.

"Miss Granger, stay please." She said after the last class on Friday afternoon. Harry looked at Hermione worriedly, but she just waved him off, and calmly walked over to McGonagall's desk where she was seated.

"I'm afraid that your standard this past week hasn't been the usual." the Transfiguration professor waited for an explanation. When she received none, she continued.

"Is there anything you'd like to tell me, Miss Granger?" she tried to catch Hermione's eye, but she was looking away to the bookcase on her right. She was silent.

"Very well, but should the desire ever arise, you are more than welcome to talk to me, Hermione. Just don't let whatever this is affect your school work again. I don't want to see my best student slip to a mere second." Hermione looked to her, and Professor McGonagall smiled. "You are excused, Miss Granger."

I should've said something, now she's bound to be suspicious, she thought as she left the classroom. Her thoughts were interrupted as she walked into someone. She nearly fell over, but a pair of large warm hands steadied her as they latched onto her arms. Her eyes were level with a broad chest, so Hermione tilted her head so she could see who she had bumped into.

Oh, for Merlin's sake.

"Granger."

Hermione winced.

"I've been meaning to have a word with you." He paused, "What's this talk of you being my girlfriend?" She noticed that his hands remained in place. She relished in the feeling.

"I- uhh… well, the thing is… the Fat Lady- she, that is to say, kind of thought we were… together… the other night." Hermione's stuttering ceased, and she saw Cedric open his mouth to argue, "Don't even ask why! I have no idea how she could've thought you would go out with me." Her tone was slightly bitter.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cedric asked, slightly angered at her tone.

"Well, you're the popular Hufflepuff Triwizard Champion. I'm muggle-born bookworm Hermione Granger. Apparently those two things don't mix." Hermione replied, looking away.

Cedric looked down at her for a moment, seeing a girl that did not look or seem two years younger than him. No matter how hard he tried, Cedric could not figure Hermione out. He would keep trying, though. Cedric liked a challenge.

He suddenly removed his hands, as if noticing their placement for the first time. He did not take a step back.

"Who says so, Granger? I don't."

She looked up at him for a moment. "Neither do I." Hermione replied quietly. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Hermione realised where she was and stepped away.

"I keep telling people it's not true, but… they won't listen to me." She gathered up her book bag, which had fallen to the floor during her stumble.

Cedric sighed. "They'll get over it eventually."

Hermione looked away, and Cedric could see the tell-tale signs of a good sob coming on. He placed his hand on her shoulder in comfort.

"Hey, don't cry." He said softly. Seeing someone like Hermione Granger cry was big; such a strong person didn't do it very often.

She threw her arms around his waist and pushed her face into his chest. He staggered a little, but regained his footing and wrapped his arms around her small frame. A perfect fit.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled, bringing her hand up to wipe away her tears, although more followed. "Everything's just so overwhelming. School, friends, nightmares, and now this." Hermione sniffled again. "It's like it's never going to end." She croaked.

Cedric was silent for a minute before he said anything.

"I know exactly what you mean."

He tightened his arms around her.

Well, what do you all think? Good start? Please review, I'd like to hear from you! I hope to update in the next week; last day of school tomorrow, yay.

PheeCullen