Walking to the reception of the hospital I clutched a big pile of quidditch magazines tightly to my chest. I was about to pass through the reception when I recognised the woman sitting behind the desk and decided to drop by to say hello. Seeing my approach, she gave me a warm smile.

"Back again sweetheart?" She asked and I nodded my head.

"You know how lonely he gets in here."

"Well, I've heard from some of the doctors that he should be able to check out by the end of the month."

"Really?" I asked, feeling my lips curl up into a smile. Sure, it might have only been the first day of the month, but he'd been in here for so long that it seemed as if a month would pass by in the blink of an eye. "That's fantastic."

"I thought you'd be happy." She glanced around the reception clearly looking for someone, "Where's your mother?"

"It's Wednesday," I said as a way of explanation and she understood instantly.

"She's working the evening shift in Gringotts today, then?" At my nod, she looked down at some of the papers on the desk in front of her. "Your father was moved into a different room at the start of the week, do you need me to tell you the room number?"

"No it's alright," I said with a small shake of the head. I might have had a bad sense of direction but I could still remember room numbers at least. Besides, the hospital had signs up everywhere so the chances of me getting lost were little to none.

Bidding her a goodbye, I made my way through the corridor. Room 102. That was the room I was looking for. Turning into the right corridor, I glanced at each of the door numbers until I found the right one. Opening the door, I stepped into the room.

"Dad?" I called out, my eyes scanning the room to look for him.

"I think you're in the wrong room." An unfamiliar voice called out, "I don't think it's even possible for me to have a daughter your age."

Well, it looked like my sense of direction and memory really were that bad. I had managed to forget the room number overnight. I didn't look at the occupant of the room in order to minimise my mortification as I tried to leave the room.

"I'm just going to go," I said awkwardly, turning towards the door.

"Wait," He ordered as I took a step close to the door. I looked over my shoulder at the occupant of the room and felt my eyebrows rise slightly.

Cedric Diggory was lying on the hospital bed, watching me from my position by the door. He was lucky to be alive right now. The Triwizard tournament had put him through the wringer, especially if you believed Dumbledore's words about the return of Voldemort. And I did.

Potter arriving with a seemingly dead body had sent a wave of horror through all of the spectators. Everyone had believed him to have been dead but they had managed to find a weak pulse and he had been shipped off to St. Mungo's in order to receive specialist care. He had missed the announcement of him co-winning the tournament and had been tucked away in this hospital for the last month or so. He'd missed the end of the school term and the first two weeks of the summer holiday.

Over the course of the past year, I had been in and out of this hospital hundreds of times. But this was the first time that I had seen him.

I schooled my features back into a neutral expression.

"Yes?"

"You go to Hogwarts, right?" He asked, motioning me over towards the bed.

"I do," I answered making my way slowly towards the bed.

He pushed himself up to sit, leaning against the pillows. He winced slightly as he sat up. "Why haven't I seen you around before?"

"I don't know," I said shrugging slightly as I came to a stop beside his bed.

"You don't talk much do you?" He asked curiously, looking up at me.

"No I don't." I bit my bottom lip nervously. What could possibly be the harm in talking to him? Besides, we had all been curious about what had happened to him as a result of the tournament. "Why are you still in here?"

"I'm paralysed." He said the two words so easily as if they were nothing more than a passing remark. His announcement shocked me into sitting in the chair beside his bed. He smiled at my obvious shock, "Only temporarily that is. The run in with Voldemort had broken my legs to such an extent that they couldn't be fixed again; they had to operate to remove the bones and then regrow them again. I'm supposed to be getting therapy soon to learn how to walk again – if that's even possible that is."

My mouth parted in shock, "Diggory-"

He brushed my words away with a wave of his hand, "Don't worry about me. Why are you here? You're obviously visiting someone."

"I'm here to see my dad." I sighed as I set the magazines onto the small table that was between the bed and the chair I was sat on. "He was attacked by the death eaters during the quidditch world cup."

"And he's still in here?" He asked, his sympathy blatant.

I nodded but gave him a small smile, "They say that he should be well enough to go home at the end of the month."

"That's good." He set a hand on top of the one I had left on the table. "Getting attacked by death eaters; that's horrible."

I pulled my hand slowly out from beneath his, "It's not as bad as getting attacked by Voldemort himself." Diggory looked at me curiously then and I looked away from him, "What?"

"Not many people call him by his name," He said as way of answering. "Apart from myself and Harry – I've only met a handful of people that call him by his name."

Neither of us said anything for a few minutes and he reached over to pick up one of the quidditch magazines. He glanced up at me, silently asking me for permission. I nodded my head and he helped himself.

He rifled through it and spoke absentmindedly, "Did you know that he doesn't have a nose?"

"He doesn't have a nose?" I repeated in disbelief. The darkest wizard of all time didn't have a nose. My eyes fell onto the clock and I shot to my feet. "I'm sorry but I've got to go."

Picking up half of the pile of quidditch magazines and leaving the other half for him to read, I made my way over to the door.

"You will come to see me the next time you come to visit your dad, won't you?"

I glanced back at him to see his eyes pleading slightly with mine. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, "Do you want me to?"

"Yes."

"Ok, then I will."

With that I left the room and thought back to my dilemma of room numbers. Maybe room 201? Heading to room 201, I spotted Dad sitting on the bed through the open doorway and walked into the room. Seeing me in the doorway he gave me a smile.

"Sorry I'm late dad," I said as I set the magazines on the table beside the bed. "I got lost and then I got distracted."

"It's fine darling," he assured me as I leaned over the bed to hug him.

Pulling away from him, I gave him a grin. "I've got some good news for you."

It was only three weeks later when we, my mum and I, had been given the best news that I'd heard in a long while. We were waiting in the reception of St. Mungo's after having heard that the doctors had wanted to talk to us.

He had approached us and said, "You can check him out tomorrow, we've been keeping him in observation for the last few days and he seems to have recovered perfectly. He's as good as new."

Mum told me to go ahead without her as she needed to stay and talk to the doctor about any extra care Dad would need when he returned home. I was walking through the large corridors to go to room 201 when I heard someone call my name from one of the rooms that I had passed.

I backtracked and popped my head through the open doorway of the room that I knew the call had come from. "You called?" I asked, giving Cedric a smile.

Grinning, I walked into the room and sat on the edge of his bed. Cedric was sat in his wheelchair beside the bed and he looked up at me with a warm smile on his face.

"You're in a good mood today."

"We've just been told that we can check dad out tomorrow," I said as a way of explanation. "It feels amazing to know that after having to have spent more than a year in here, he can finally go home."

"So I guess that means you're not going to be coming here anymore, huh?" I watched him look down into his lap as he spoke.

"Of course I will," I said, swatting at his shoulder with my arm. "You've finally managed to convince me to be your friend. Unless you're sick of me and don't want me to come and see you anymore?"

"Of course I'm not," he said looking up at me with a roll of his eyes.

"Alright then."

"Are you going to finally let me meet your dad then?" He wheeled his chair closer to where I was sitting on the bed.

"Do you really want to?" I asked uncertainly rising to my feet and walking to stand behind his wheelchair.

"Obviously." I didn't need to be looking at him to know that he was rolling his eyes. "I've been asking for weeks already. Something tells me that you're ashamed to have me as a friend." He teased.

"Oh please, who could be ashamed of having the Hogwarts Heartthrob as their friend?" He snorted at my words as I wheeled his out of his room and into the corridor. "Besides, it was only a few days ago that the hospital staff said you could leave the room."

I wheeled him down the hospital corridor until we reached the closed door of room 201. Cedric leaned forward to knock on the door and it swung open, Mum standing on the other side of the door. She looked curiously down at Cedric and then up at me. Stepping aside, she let us both into the room.

"Hey Dad," I said, giving him a smile as I wheeled Cedric into the room, "I brought a friend with me to meet you."

"Really?" He asked, his voice teasing as he sat up further in the bed, "And here I was thinking that you were ashamed of me."

"If there's someone she was ashamed of sir, it's me," Cedric said, wheeling himself towards the bed.

I rolled my eyes visibly for them both to see.

"And you are?" Dad asked, outstretching his hand for Cedric to take.

"Cedric Diggory, sir," He answered shaking Dad's hand. I saw my dad's eyes widen slightly before he managed to school his features. Cedric's story had been featured on the front of every newspaper in the country.

Mum appeared at my side and nudged me with her shoulder.

"What?" I asked quietly, turning my head to look at her.

"He's handsome," she whispered back.

"He is," I said acknowledging the fact.

"Are the two of you-" She trailed off when she saw the look I was giving her.

"No mum, that's gross. He's a friend."

"If you say so," she said, clearly not believing me as we both turned to look at the two men in the room.

When I entered the hospital the next time, I was called over by the receptionist. She looked up at me curiously, "I thought that your father had been discharged?"

"He has been."

"Oh," she said all too knowingly. "You're here to see Mr Diggory."

"I am," I said with a single nod. "Is he still in room 102?"

When she confirmed his room number, I walked towards his room. I knew the route to his room like the back of my hand. Approaching the room, I knocked on the door and walked in without waiting for an answer. He was lying on the bed and looked at the door when it swung open.

"You actually showed up," He said, sitting up with a grin.

I rolled my eyes at the small ring of surprise in his voice. Making my way towards his bed, I stood beside the bed and looked down at him. "I made you a promise, didn't I?"

"You did. Will you do me a favour then?" I waited for him to expand on his words and he took that as a sign to slip his hand into mine. Using the hand he was holding, he pulled me down to sit on the bed beside him.

"What is it Cedric?"

"They've decided that I'm strong enough to start my physiotherapy soon."

"And?" I prodded, not knowing him as someone to hesitate so much when there was something he wanted to say.

"Truthfully I'm kind of nervous about going. Will you go to my first session with me?"

"Of course I will Cedric." I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "When is the first session anyway?"

"In about five minutes?"

"Cedric!"

He grinned cheekily at me and I let out a sigh. "Thanks for agreeing."

I rolled my eyes, refusing to let my hidden smile bloom. "What could you have done if I hadn't agreed?"

"Guilt tripped you into going with me of course."

"Honestly."

Not even five minutes later, a medi witch arrived in the room to wheel him away to his therapy. I trailed after the pair of them in silence, watching as Cedric was wheeled off into a room. When we were in the room, I helped him onto table where he was supposed to wait for his treatment.

"You know," he said as I helped him lie down, arranging the pillow behind his head, "If you really wanted to get me into bed, all you needed to do was ask."

"Oh be quiet," I muttered acting as if my cheeks hadn't flushed when the medi witch started to giggle at his words.

I stood to one side as the Healer walked into the room to begin his physiotherapy. Half an hour later, the healer left the tableside to prepare some equipment of some sort. The medi witch went to help Cedric to his feet and I walked to his other side. Looping one of his arms around my shoulder, he pulled himself up. The straining pressure from his arms pulled my face down towards his. He wriggled his eyebrows at me.

"This gives me some ideas," he murmured suggestively and I rolled my eyes as I helped him stand and walk towards the equipment that had been set up.

"You need to start thinking with your higher brain instead of your lower brain," I muttered as he gripped the banisters on either side of him. He looked uncertainly at the mats laid out between the pair of banisters.

"But that's not as fun," He said as I took a few steps away from him. He stood on his own without the support of either the medi witch or me, wobbling slightly.

"Alright Mr Diggory," The Healer said, "I need you to try and take a step for me."

I watched him cautiously as he tried to take a step forward and faltered, and fell. He crashed to the mats below him.

"Cedric, are you alright?" I asked as I approached him, kneeling down beside him.

"Of course I am." He rolled onto his side and grinned up at me. "It's like learning to ride a broom; no one learns how to do it on the first try. You have to keep trying again and again."

That was the last thing that he had said until the end of the session and there was something seriously off about it. After his session we had entered his room and he hadn't said a word for the last five minutes. Staying quiet for so long was impossible for someone as talkative as him. Normally the issues was trying to get him to shut up, not trying to get him to talk.

Sitting down beside him on the bed, I took one of his hands between both of mine. "What's the matter Ced?"

"What makes you think that there's something wrong?" He asked, looking down at the hand I was holding with a weak smile.

"I know you well enough to know that something is wrong."

"Alright." He let out a breath as he ran his free hand through his hair. "What happens if I can't walk again?"

"Oh Cedric." I pulled him into a hug and ran my fingers through the hair at the back of his head to sooth him. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist. "Of course you'll walk again. I know you; you are one of the most dedicated people I've met in my entire life. Trust me, you'll again

"How can you be so sure?" He asked against my shoulder.

"It's like you said Cedric. It's just like learning to fly. You have to try and try again."

"Will you help me?" He pulled away from me then and let himself meet my eyes.

"I'll be by your side the entire time."

"Thank you," he said before there was the sound of a door opening.

We both turned to look at the two adults standing in the doorway. I rose from his bed and stood beside him awkwardly as Cedric's parents walked into the room. I'd never met them before and so was extremely aware of the assessing looks I was getting from his parents. Why did parents always do this whenever they saw their kid with someone of the other sex?

"Mum, Dad," Cedric began seeing the way I was awkwardly not making eye contact. "This is-"

"We don't need an introduction," his mother cut him off, "I already know who she is from the amount of time you spend talking about her."

Ten physiotherapy sessions and five weeks later; he was actually doing it. He was walking, albeit with the aid of the banisters but he was walking. His progress had surprised the healers but I had known that if someone could achieved such a turnaround then it would be him.

He was slowly making his way towards the end of the banisters, his arms shaking slightly as he strained himself. His mother was standing beside me, watching as her son made huge amounts of progress. I was waiting at the end of the banisters to provide him with physical support for when he had to let go of the banisters.

Cedric lifted his head up and locked his eyes onto mine with a grin, "If I get to the end without falling on my face then you have to kiss me."

"Cedric!"

"What?" He was laughing.

"Your mother is here!"

"And she approves of you." And with that he took the final step and wrapped his arms around my waist to support himself.

I lead him over towards his mother and his crutches. His mother handed him the crutches as he glanced over at me.

"Are you going to make good on your promise?"

"I don't remember ever making a promise," I said as I held the door open for him.

His mother led him out of the room and he looked back at me. "You are not being serious."

"Fine," I muttered seeing the smile that his mother was hiding. "I'll kiss you when you start walking."

"But I said as soon as you reached the end." He pouted.

"Tough luck, Diggory."

Somehow over the period of the rest of the summer holidays, the Diggorys and my parents had managed to become really close. So close that they had dropped us off at the station together. They had seen us off and we clambered onto the train, lugging our trunks behind us. He was walking in front of me, leading me down the train and I looked over him. If you didn't know that he had been so severely injured then from the way that he was walking you wouldn't even realise that he had been.

He had been so excited the first time that he had taken his first step. But that didn't stop him from asking for a kiss straight away. I had somehow managed to divert his attention.

"Coming with me?" He asked, looking back at me from over his shoulder.

"Where?" I scanned each carriage we passed for my friends whilst acting as if I didn't see the looks I was being thrown from others. They were all wondering who the unfamiliar girl with the Triwizard winner was. I tended to keep in the shadows and avoid gaining attention but being Cedric's friend didn't allow me that privilege.

"With me. To my carriage?" He dropped back slightly to set a hand on the handle of my trunk as if to pull it away from me.

"With your friends?" I asked, putting a hand on his arm to stop him from taking my trunk. "I think I should find my friends."

He looked up at my words and my hand dropped away from his arm. "I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"Of course you are Cedric," I said giving him a reassuring smile. "But you're probably sick of the sight of me by now and I haven't seen some of my other friends since school finished last summer. I should probably go and see them."

"Your friends that you can see when you go to the Welcoming Feast?" He asked one last time to try and persuade me.

"I'll see you later Cedric?"

"Alright." He removed his hand from my trunk and nodded to a few carriages behind me, "You missed your friends. They're a few carriages behind us."

"Thanks Ced."

"No problem."

He continued to walk further down the train and I turned around to look for the carriage where Cedric had seen my friends. Finding the right carriage I slid the door open and pulled my trunk in after me.

"You and Cedric Diggory, eh?" Terry teased, moving down to make some space for me.

"Oh, shut up."

Once the school term had started again, so had the heavy workload. It was made all the more miserable with the appearance of a pink demon in the disguise of our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher and her ridiculous regulations. The demon and her 'educational decrees' had restricted every part of our lives. We weren't even allowed to be physically near our friends of the opposite gender.

"Long time no see." At the sound of the familiar voice I looked up at Cedric as he sat across from me.

"We can't help that, the toad's decrees restrict girls and boys being seen together."

Cedric rolled his eyes and said with a grin, "Well we'll just have to make sure that we don't get caught then, won't we?"

"I guess we will."

"So what have you been up to then?" He asked, "Apart from acting as though I don't exist, that is."

I went to answer but there was a soft call of Cedric's name. Cedric looked over his shoulder at one of the other seventh year Hufflepuff boys who was sat a few tables away from us, surrounded by more of Cedric's friends. He gestured Cedric over but Cedric shook his head and turned back to face me.

"Go over to them," I said with a slight smile. "It looks like they have something they need to say to you."

"I'm sure it can wait." He settled down properly in his seat, pulling out his parchment and prepping his quill. "Besides I'm here to talk to you."

"Don't worry about that Cedric," I said with a glance at the clock. I was late for my patrol. Seeing the time I started to gather all of my things, "But I've got to go now anyway."

He watched me in silence as I stood from my seat to leave the library. Before I could take a step away from the table he asked, "Have I done something wrong?"

I looked back at him in confusion, "What?"

"Have I done something wrong?" He repeated, "It's like you're going out of your way to avoid me whenever you can."

"You're just reading into things Cedric," I said dismissively. "It's not a big deal. I'm just really busy."

But that was a lie. I was avoiding him but not because he had done something wrong. But rather it was just the fact that where he went, he was being watched by everyone else. He drew attention to himself and I spent my life avoiding gaining the attention of masses of people. Being with Cedric when in Hogwarts was different to being with Cedric when in the hospital. In the hospital room we were alone with no one else watching us, or on occasion, with his parents there. But in Hogwarts it was as if the entire school was watching.

A week later my patrol had returned and I walked to the designated place in the castle where I was supposed to meet my patrol partner for the night. I came to a stop at the place when my eyes landed on the boy leaning against the wall. Catching sight of me he pushed away from the wall and walked towards me.

"Cedric?"

"I swapped shifts with your patrol partner for tonight," he said, answering my unvoiced question.

"Well I guess I have the pleasure of patrolling with the head boy."

"I guess you do," he said with a smile that was unlike his normal one.

"Why did you swap shifts?"

"I wanted to talk to you," he said dropping into step beside me. "There hasn't been much of a chance to talk to you."

"Alright then," I said as we started to patrol the castle. When it was just the two of us it was so much easier to spend time with him.

We continued to talk throughout the patrol but as the patrol came to an end I noticed him become quieter and more drawn into himself. I was thinking over how to ask him what was wrong when he beat me to it.

"You've been avoiding me from the moment we returned to Hogwarts." He was looking at me and I remained looking ahead so as not to meet his eyes.

"You keep saying that but I really-"

"Don't try and make excuses. We both know that that's what you've been doing." He tugged on the sleeve of my robe, "Come on, I'm walking you to your common room."

Leaving me with no chance to protest about the distance between our common rooms, he laced our fingers together and pulled me closer to his side. I glanced down at our interlinked hand but made no comment.

"I'm going to ask you again and this time I don't want a bullshit answer, alright?" He glanced at me before looking away again, "Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I just-"

I cut myself off wondering how to explain it to him. By the time that I realised it, we were already at the entrance to my common room and he was stood in front of me, waiting for an answer that I didn't have.

"Look," he said with a sigh when it was obvious that I wasn't going to answer him, "I need you to stop avoiding me. Over the summer, without even knowing it, I came to rely on you."

"Cedric"-

"I mean it," He insisted with a deep breath. "For some reason I couldn't let my friends visit me over the summer because I wouldn't let them see me like that and pity me. And then you walk in, completely free of pity, and I relied on you without even knowing it. Just don't shut me out from your life."

"I-I won't."

"Good."

He swooped down then and brought his face close to mine. I flinched at the sudden proximity and he let out a gentle laugh at my reaction.

"If I remember correctly, you made me a promise not so long ago."

"I did," I agreed cautiously, seeing what he would do next.

He closed the remaining distance between us and kissed me. I melted against him, letting out a muffled gasp when his hands moved to the small of my back and pulled me flush against him. He pulled away first and watched me.

"Will you go out with me?"

"What?"

"Will you go out with me?" He repeated again, slower this time as if he thought that I hadn't heard what he'd said. But I had heard but I was wondering if I had misheard what he said.

"Yes."

The word was barely out of my mouth before he slanted his lips over mine again. The second kiss was shorter than the first and when he pulled away, he was looking down at me contemplatively.

"What?" I asked quietly.

"We're going to have to figure out a way to overcome that stupid decree. I am not spending days and weeks away from you again."