Evidence of Things Not Seen

iii.

"Glad you could make it," said Moody. "Shut the door, would you? I don't want any eavesdroppers."

Cedric did as he was asked. Moody had stopped him on his way to Transfiguration and asked to him to come by his office as soon as class was over. Cedric had a good idea what this was about. He had received full marks on his last essay, so Moody probably didn't want to discuss his performance in class. That left the Triwizard Tournament. He sat down in the chair opposite the desk and waited.

Moody did not disappoint him. "Have you made any progress with that egg of yours?"

"I feel like I'm closing in on the solution, sir." He had to be; he and Luna had spent the last three days checking the wailing against various archaic dialects of Goblin, Centaur, and Giant. They were running out of languages.

"You might want to think about taking a bath. Take the egg with you, think things over."

"Sir?"

"Take a bath with the egg," he said slowly, as if he were speaking to a child. "I can't put it more clearly than that. Dumbledore thinks we teachers should be impartial." He laughed bitterly. "As if Karkaroff and Maxime aren't doing everything they can to make sure their champion wins."

Cedric fidgeted. Dumbledore had a point. It was one thing to ask a teacher a specific question, as he had with Binns, but quite another for Moody to volunteer information. "Have you told Harry? It doesn't seem fair --"

"Fair?" Moody growled, his magical eye whizzing madly. "The Triwizard Tournament has never been fair. Delacour has Maxime. Krum has Karkaroff. Even Potter has the Granger girl, and she's one of the cleverest witches I've ever seen. Who do you have?"

"Luna Lovegood has been helping me."

"I've seen you with the Lovegood girl. If you want to win, you need someone who can actually help you. All she's done is feed you half-baked ideas that she gets from a two-bit rag that makes the Daily Prophet look respectable."

Cedric scowled at him. "She has been helping me. If it weren't for one of those 'half-baked ideas,' I'd still be on the wrong track."

Moody seemed to realize that he had overstepped his bounds, and his tone softened. "All I'm saying is that you need all the help you can get. Promise me that you'll think about what I've said."

"I will, sir." He decided if Moody's advice helped him, then he would pass it on to Harry. He owed Harry for telling him about the dragons. The Tournament might not be fair, but he would be.

"Well, run along. Stebbins is waiting for you outside, and I wouldn't want him to get suspicious."

Clive Stebbins was indeed lounging against the opposite wall when Cedric stepped into the corridor. He fell into step beside Cedric. "What did old Mad-Eye want?"

"Nothing." Moody had seemed to want their conversation kept private, but, knowing Stebbins, it would be all over the school by dinner. "Why were you waiting for me, anyway?"

Clive stared at his shoes. "Can't a bloke be curious about the people he shares a dorm with? I just wanted to know what you were up to."

"You know, that would be a lot more convincing if you'd look me in the eye when you say it."

Clive grinned sheepishly and met his eyes. "Fine. Some of the others wanted to know who you're going to take to the Yule Ball. Nobody wants to step on the toes of a champion."

It was Cedric's turn to grin sheepishly. "I haven't actually asked anyone yet."

Clive gaped at him. "You haven't asked anyone yet? But half the girls in school fancy you. I have it on good authority that Patricia Stimpson signs all her notes The Future Mrs. Diggory."

"She does not. I think she's spoken three sentences to me since she came here, and one of them was to ask me where the nearest toilet was."

"Perhaps I was exaggerating a little. Still, half the girls here would trade their broomsticks for a chance to go to the Ball with you. Tomorrow's the last day of term. Tick, tock, Ced."

They passed a group of Gryffindor girls in the corridor. Cedric nodded in greeting, and two of them broke into giggles. Cedric flushed, which only made them giggle louder. Clive smirked at him. "I don't see why you don't ask one of them. The one on the left was certainly fit enough."

"It's not about that." It wasn't that Cedric didn't like girls. He'd spent most of his fifth year going out with Samantha Fletcher, a Slytherin two years his senior. She had been funny and unafraid of telling him when he was being a prat and hadn't laughed at him when he said he wanted to join the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after leaving Hogwarts. He hadn't been in love with her, not really. He could talk to her, though, which was almost as good. Most of the other girls seemed more interested in showing him off like a prize horse or dragging him behind the Quidditch stands for a quick snog than in any kind of relationship. If he was going to spend four hours with a girl, he wanted it to be one he could hold a conversation with. It was a pity that Sam was in Peru. "Just haven't seen anyone I wanted to ask."

"That's your trouble. You're too picky. What about Cho Chang?"

"The Seeker for Ravenclaw?" There was an idea. She had always seemed nice enough on the few occasions he'd spoken to her, and she never giggled at him. "Maybe."

They turned a corner. Two boys stood facing one another in the middle of the corridor. Cedric recognized them as his fellow Hufflepuffs, Summerby and Cadwallader. Summerby sent a roll of parchment arcing into the air, which Cadwallader returned. It was rather like a game of Muggle tennis, except with magic instead of rackets. Several other people had crowded around them, watching with expressions ranging from amusement to irritation. Well, if Summerby and Cadwallader wanted to play a silly game, that was their business, but they should have picked someplace more private. He pushed his way through the crowd. "All right, lads, move along before you start blocking traffic."

Having come closer to the action, he could see that Cadwallader and Summerby were not the only ones involved in this little game. Luna stood off to one side, waving her wand frantically. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she shouted. Nothing happened.

"Stop making my Potions essay fly through the air, if you please," she said more calmly. Cedric's eyes narrowed. This wasn't tennis. It was monkey-in-the-middle.

Cedric didn't think; he reacted. "What the hell do you two think you're doing?"

He darted forward and shoved Summerby's wand arm down to his side. A small part of him registered that he was being overly dramatic. The rest of him remembered how Moody had dismissed Luna and was too angry to care. Without magic keeping it afloat, the roll of parchment fell to the ground with a soft plop. Luna retrieved it and hastily stowed it in her bag. She flashed him a grateful smile.

Cedric scarcely noticed her. His gaze shifted from Summerby to Cadwallader, then back. Caldwaller at least had the good grace to hang his head, but Summerby glared at Cedric defiantly. "We thought," he said, "that we were having a bit of fun."

"By stealing another student's homework and tossing it around like a Quaffle? That was Luna's homework, wasn't it?" After a long moment, Cadwallader nodded slowly. Even Summerby didn't deny it; he merely grimaced.

So, they thought it amusing to swipe Luna's homework. Now the first rush of emotion was past, Cedric allowed himself to relax. His anger was still there, but it was cold, controlled. He had a job to do and he meant to do it.. "Ten points from Hufflepuff for both of you."

Summerby swore. "Are you mental? Taking twenty points will put us in second. Are you trying to cost us the House Cup?" There were murmurs of agreement from the crowd. He had a feeling that he was in for a rough evening when he got back to the common room.

"You should've thought of that before you started bullying another student. If I could, I'd give both of you detention." He turned to Clive. "Make sure Summerby and Cadwallader get back to the common room without causing any more trouble."

Clive saluted. "Right. Come on, you two. The rest of you, clear off. Nothing to see here." The crowd of students dispersed, and Clive marched towards the common room, his two "prisoners" in tow.

Only he and Luna remained in the corridor. "That was a very gallant thing you did," she said. "Not many prefects would take points from their own house. It was almost Gryffindor of you."

He grinned at her. "Don't tell anyone that. They'll probably want to banish me from the house as it is. Anyway, they deserved what they got. Hufflepuffs are supposed to treat everyone the same. How would it look if I let my own housemates get away with harassing you?"

"Then I take back what I said. You aren't a Gryffindor. You're a credit to Hufflepuff."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. I should leave now. Professor Snape won't like it if I'm late."

"Do you want me to walk you there, in case anybody else tries to bother you?" He allowed himself a wry grin and tapped his prefect's badge with one finger. "It's all part of the job."

"I very much doubt serving as my personal bodyguard is part of your job, but I would be glad of the company."

Down they went, past the ground floor and into the dungeons. "There's a new issue of the Quibbler out," Luna said.

"Oh?"

"Yes. There's been a sighting of a new variety of vampire in the American Northwest. They sparkle in the sunlight."

Cedric suppressed a laugh. His father had worked in the Vampire Regulation Division for several years and had often talked to Cedric about his work, hoping his gory and exciting tales would inspire his son to follow in his footsteps. By the time he was twelve, Cedric knew more than he had ever wanted to about vampires. It was next to magically impossible for vampires to sparkle in sunlight. Then again, the existence of the Elder Wand was supposed to be impossible, too. Who knew? Perhaps there really were sparkling vampires running around somewhere. One thing was for sure, no one could ever accuse Luna of being boring.

He stopped. Yes, Luna was certainly interesting. Wasn't that what he wanted in a Yule Ball date? He didn't fancy her, but he didn't fancy Cho Chang, either. Luna had barely missed the cut-off to go to the ball on her own. It seemed wrong that she would miss a once-in-a-lifetime event because of such a small thing. He and Luna could have a good time, he was sure of it. They would dance a few times, and spend the rest of the evening talking and laughing. "Would you like to go to the ball with me?" he blurted out.

"What?"

He'd meant to lead up to that, but there was no helping it now. "Would you like to go to the ball with me?" She was staring at him in open astonishment, so he continued, "Just as friends. Champions have to have a date, and I thought you might want to be mine."

She considered it. "No, I don't think so. I'm flattered, but..."

"But what?" Cedric asked softly. He found himself oddly disappointed by her answer.

"I want Ronald Weasley to ask me. It wouldn't be fair for me to go with you and spend the entire evening thinking about another boy."

Cedric stood in stunned silence for a moment. Up until now, he had realized intellectually that Luna was a girl, but it had always seemed almost a throwaway detail. He had always assumed that she was too wrapped up in her extraordinary theories to have a crush on anybody, let alone someone as ordinary as Ron Weasley. "I hope he does ask you," he said and meant it.

She smiled at him. "Thank you. That still leaves you without a date, though, doesn't it? Who will you ask now?"

"Cho Chang." Yes, he would ask her after dinner.

"I like Cho. She has always been kind to me. Don't hurt her, Cedric. I'd hate to be forced to hex you."

He had deposited her just outside the Potions classroom and was halfway back to his common room before he realized she had been serious.

iv.

Cedric emerged from the prefect's bath, his hair still damp. He had done it! He had worked out the riddle of the golden egg. All he had to was find a way to breathe underwater for an hour and rescue Merlin-knew-what from the bottom of the lake, apparently. The thought was only slightly less daunting than the idea of facing a dragon. Cedric shook his head. He would worry about that later; for now, he would enjoy his success.

To his surprise, Luna was waiting for him. He hadn't told her that he meant to try Moody's advice today. "Hello, Cedric. I saw you go in. Have you figured out the secret of the egg?"

"Yeah, I have." He had a sudden urge to take her in his arms and twirl her around. Instead, he settled for grinning stupidly. "Come on, let's go down to the kitchens and see if we can sneak an apple crumble or two from the house-elves. I want to celebrate."

Instead of responding, she stared at him. This in itself was not unusual. Luna often stared. Normally, though, her expression remained vague and dreamy, as if she didn't really see whatever it was she was looking at. Now, she was looking at him so intently that it was slightly unnerving. "What's wrong?"

She blinked. "Nothing is wrong. You no longer need my assistance. My debt to you is repaid."

Her debt? Oh, the bracelet. He'd almost forgotten about that. He laid a hand on her shoulder. His throat tightened a little, and he realized with a shock that he would miss her. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"Of course you could have. You're the cleverest boy at Hogwarts and almost as clever as my father." She smiled weakly at him. "Thank you for saying it, though. I suppose this concludes our... partnership, if that's the right word. Good luck in the rest of the tournament."

Her tone was light, but her body told a different story. Her arms were crossed, though the gesture looked more self-protective then defensive. She was smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes. Was she upset that she didn't have to help him anymore? He would've thought that she had grown tired of long nights fruitlessly searching in the library and casting spells that brought them no closer to a solution. He certainly was.

Then it hit him. He remembered the day that she had turned him down when he had asked her to the Yule Ball. She had said that she was glad that he was asking Cho because Cho was kind to her. She had not said that Cho was her friend. At meals, she always sat slightly apart from the rest of the Ravenclaws. Now he that he thought of it, she was usually alone. He had originally assumed she was off in her own world and preferred not to be bothered. What if she was alone because most of the other students preferred not to be bothered with her? Was she willing to spend long nights researching with him because she was lonely?

She was right in that he no longer needed her assistance. There was no longer a puzzle to be solved. He would spend a few days in the library searching for an appropriate spell, and then he would practice that spell until he was sure he could do it when the time came for the second task. That would be tedious, but he could manage it. If letting her help him would make Luna feel like less of an outcast, then it was clear what he was supposed to do. He smiled to himself. Never let it be said that Cedric Diggory had not done his duty. Keeping Luna around was merely a delightful bonus.

Of course, that was assuming he had read her correctly. There was only one way to find out. "Actually, I might need some help. I have to work out how to survive underwater in the lake for an hour, can you believe it? That could be tricky. Besides, there is a whole other task to prepare for after that, and Merlin knows what they've got in mind. I could use someone to bounce ideas off of. Interested?"

Her whole face lit up, and Cedric knew that he had guessed correctly. "Yes." She looked suddenly doubtful. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Now do you want that apple crumble?"

She nodded. "I'd love one."