Cedric's POV
It had been a few days since my last date with Allison, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Her gorgeous smile, how she felt so calm with me, how she danced. Everything about her was perfect. She made me feel something, unlike others had before.
The days seemed to come and go, each day getting closer to the last task. To get the upcoming stress out of my mind, me and my friends sat at the Hufflepuff dining table after dinner one night, enjoying company with each other.
After about an hour of talking we decided to go to the courtyard to relax and spend time together like we normally did on nights like these.
Nights where the sky was tinted dark purple and black clouds just covered beams of moonlight. It was dead silent other than my friends loud obnoxious noises.
I sat down on a lichen covered rock and spread my legs out in front of me, letting myself get comfortable. I let my head fall back and look at the sky, when my slight moment of peace was interrupted.
"So, it's Allison now, huh?" my friend William asked.
"Yeah." I nodded, making my tone rather blunt.
The boys oohed at this, snickering and giggling with each other.
"I'm being serious, guys. I love her." I said in an attempt to calm down the group.
"That's what you said about the last one mate. Too bad that she didn't come back this year." Ernie spoke up.
"I bet if Cho came back this year you'd drop the side chick in a heartbeat."
My face started to twist with rage. What did he think he was doing?
"'So desperate' he told me on the train. He said he'd date the next girl he saw. Soon enough Allison walked into his cabin. Got over Cho pretty quickly, didn't ya' mate?" Ernie mocked, looking awfully proud of himself.
After those words escaped his mouth, I leapt off of the rock I was sitting on. Red spots of rage speckled my vision, and with several large steps I walked up to Ernie. I took a large breath in and clenched my fist.
I punched him in the nose. Hard.
Immediately after the impact, blood started to gush uncontrollably from his nose. He let out a cry of pain and clenched his nose.
"What the hell was that for?" he shouted, looking almost confused at my sudden outburst.
Generally I was a calm, good natured person. Violence was never a trait I was well known for.
"Don't talk about Allison that way." I fumed through clenched teeth, drawing out each word.
Ernie stumbled to a standing position, and brushed off his clothes, blood stains still littered all over his grey sweater vest. All of my friends seemed to be scared, not knowing how to react to this situation. Ernie took a step towards me, attempting to seem tough.
His braveness was short lived, as I towered over the boy.
I grabbed him by the collar and forced him down to ground again. Holding his arm behind his back and pushing his head to the ground, Ernie was shifting underneath my tight grip.
"And for the record, Allison is not a side chick."
I let him go and walked away, trying to get some time to myself to process everything that had just happened.
Allison's POV
Side chick. Side chick?
The words stung me. Is that what Cedric and his friends really though of me? As some sort of sloppy seconds? When I heard the words that I was his second resort, my eyes got teary.
My footsteps echoed through the cold hallways, the dizzying sounds of voices filling my head. I ran back to the deserted common room and sat by the fire, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself.
He told me he loved me. He tells me all the time. If he didn't mean it, then why did he say it? Is what Ernie said true? My mind became cloudy and I couldn't think straight.
My thoughts were disturbed by none other than Cedric entering the common room.
"Hello, love." he began, seeming slightly tired and agitated.
"Oh please, don't call me love, call me my real name. Side chick." I scoffed.
His face went blank and pale.
"Where did you hear that?" he asked, taking a small cautious step towards me.
"Oh, I heard it when I was walking by you and your snobby friends." I replied.
"'Oh, Cho is so lovely. If she showed up this year then Allison wouldn't even exist to me.' Is that what you thought? Is that what you talked about? Because it seemed to sound like that to me!"
"You said you loved me. You looked me in the eyes and you told me that, but in reality I was second choice." my voice started to raise, and was affected by the tears running down my face.
Cedric came closer to me and closed his eyes.
"Allison, you need to calm down. What you heard was Ernie being a jerk. I punched him in the face after you left. Sure, at the beginning of the year I was still hung up on Cho. But that was before I developed feelings for you. That was before I loved you." Cedric told me.
At this point the real waterworks came, all of my words slurred and high pitched, and loud choked breaths hurting my chest. Cedric pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me and whispering sweet nothings into my ear.
For the rest of the night, Cedric held me close to him by the fire, telling me he loved me over and over again.