Cedric shrug. "Supposed to doesn't really matter," he said. "I don't think I was supposed to talk about my ex-girlfriend, and a lot of people probably wouldn't mention their 8-month-old daughter at home. If it works for you, and me, then it's fine." Cedric had quite a lot of experience dating - he liked dates, getting to know people and taking a pretty woman out to dinner. The opera wouldn't have been his choice. Then again, boating wouldn't have been either. He knew some people found dinner dates boring, or too formal, and presumably Lockhart was trying to avoid that, but Cedric would really have preferred a nice restaurant. He chuckled. "I have been told I have very good shoulders for crying on." He bumped his shoulder against Mary-Anne's in a playful offering. "On the whole, I think I'd rather you were smiling."
Cedric hardly thought his actions merited gratitude, but he smiled and told Mary-Anne she was welcome. "So my first date is a trainee and my second is a Weasley cousin," he observed. "Which means Fred and George will devise some horrible embarrassment if they think I made you cry. Assuming Xavier doesn't tell my mum first. Maybe we'd better stick to that story about the opera. This can be our little secret."