wl_mods (wl_mods) wrote in wizard_love, @ 2009-02-18 02:43:00 |
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Entry tags: | *fic, cedric, hermione |
Special delivery for thesteppyone
Title: Does My Face Ring Any Bells?
Author/Artist: mariangelo
Recipient's LJ name: thesteppyone
Rating: R/Adult/Mature
Pairing(s): Cedric Diggory/Hermione Granger
Word Count: 2,657
Warnings (if any): AU; Wall!sex; foul language
Summary: Cedric runs into a long forgotten one-night stand only to find that she’s the one woman he doesn’t want to forget.
Authors notes: I’ve not written this pairing before, so I hope it turned out well enough to enjoy.
‘Cedric Diggory?’
Cedric looked around, somewhat surprised; he hadn’t expected to be recognised in the middle of Muggle London. He closed the book he’d been perusing and turned to see a woman smirking at him. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite place where he knew her from and as he’d travelled to so many places throughout the years, she could be anyone. The woman was around his age, mid to late thirties, and very attractive, he noted straight away. His pulse quickened a bit as he swiftly looked her over. She was a little more than a head shorter than he, but at 6’3” most people were. Her cheeks were sprinkled with light freckles and long eyelashes covered warm brown eyes in a bemused oval face. She was curvy in all the right spots and Cedric hoped she was the one who called his name, even if he couldn’t remember her.
‘You don’t recognise me, do you?’ She sniggered, and it was light and friendly. Cedric mentally kicked himself for not being able to recall her. He grimaced sheepishly. ‘Well, it’s not that I can blame you entirely. The last time we saw each other it was very dark and neither one of us was very coherent.’
At this, Cedric was shocked. It really wasn’t like him to not be in control of himself and for him to not remember her he must have been truly drunk. He scoured his memory for something, anything, but drew a blank. His frown deepened and she laughed again.
‘Either you remember and are embarrassed or you wished you hadn’t been reminded at all.’
‘Honestly, I don’t recognise you. I’m sorry, because I really wish I could.’
‘Oh, well...’ Her cheeks flushed pink and Cedric couldn’t deny that she looked even prettier like that. She looked up at him through inky lashes and he was almost overwhelmed by the urge to grab her and snog her senseless. Of course, that would be ridiculous as he didn’t even know her and that they were standing in the middle of a crowded book store, but the tingling was racing through every cell and his hands itched to touch her. He tried to remember ever having this strong a reaction to a woman before and somewhere in the murky depths of his mind a faint and faded memory trudged to the surface. It wasn’t clear, but snippets flashed before him.
‘Hogwarts... You were in Gryffindor, a couple of years behind me!’ He was rewarded with a dazzling smile and he knew he was on the right track. He pushed further, trying to remember the incident she just spoke of. More pieces of the past came to him. He remembered her name, Hermione, and that he’d been attracted to her at school, but she had been close friends with Harry Potter and there was some speculation that they were secretly a couple.
‘Hermione... Granger?’ She nodded, smiling brightly. Cedric was relieved that he could recall her, but something was nagging at him. ‘Hermione, why do I keep hearing bells ringing in the distance when I remember you?’
His grin widened as she stepped closer to him. He could feel the electricity pass between them and wondered if she did, too. She was so close. His eyes fell to her mouth where her lips were full and he wanted to lose himself in the softness of them. He was so caught up in trying to restrain himself from grabbing her up that he missed the wicked glint that flashed in her eye. She raised a hand up and let her fingertips softly, slowly trail down his arm leaving gooseflesh in their wake.
‘Bells? Well, that could be because the last time we saw each other was New Year’s Eve, almost nine years ago and the church bells rang at midnight. Or, it could be because you’d had too much to drink’ – and then the memory hit him like a ton of bricks and he wanted to turn and run away – ‘or, because your friend smacked you square in the face with the door as you tried to sneak off the next morning without waking me or saying good-bye!’
Damn! Of course, much too late, he now recalled everything. He’d always been attracted to Hermione, and the eve before his best friend’s wedding, he’d run into her. It was a very low period in his life. Cho Chang had just confided in him how she had use to wish things had turned out differently between them, but then she wouldn’t have started dating Barney Tackle, his friend and dorm mate. As soon as she had started dating Barney, in typical “Cedric fashion” as Barney would have said, he realised that he had had feelings for her, and now she was going to marry the wrong guy!
When he’d run into Hermione at the Bubbling Goblet, it was late and many, many drinks into the night. She’d been out celebrating with her mates, as well, and there was an instant chemistry between them. He remembered them snogging obscenely in the middle of the pub until Barney suggested they go to somewhere more private before they were kicked out. He woke the next morning in her bed, feeling hung over and thoroughly ashamed of what he’d done. He’d never done anything like that before and was mortified that he’d taken advantage of her. He hadn’t meant to slip off soundlessly into the morning, but he was so upset he wanted to ask Barney what to do and as he reached the door, Barney came crashing in, smashing Cedric right in the face. All he could get out was a lame and mumbled “thanks” before Barney jerked him out of the house to get ready for the wedding.
‘I... I don’t really know what to say. I’m truly sorry! I was, well, I wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind at the time... Not that I wouldn’t have slept with you if I was, I would have! I mean, of course, I hadn’t planned to just sleep with you and be done with it... That is to say, I didn’t necessarily want it to be a one-time thing. Damn! Not that all I wanted was someone to have s—‘
‘Cedric, I get it,’ she laughed. ‘I’m not angry... anymore! No, I got over it years ago, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about you and wondered.’ She looked up at him, a suggestive smile tugging her full lips at one corner. A rapid heat washed over him and it was like his memory of that night in the pub. His mouth watered to taste her, his fingers burned to get tangled in her hair and his body begged to be pressed against hers. As if she could read his thoughts - or maybe just his body language as he’d stepped even closer to her – her cheeks flushed lightly again and she bit down on her lush lower lip, effectively driving him mad.
‘If it’s alright, I’d like the chance to make it up to you,’ he said, hoping that she was still single and then, that he’d read her correctly. ‘I’d like to take you to dinner. We could get to know each other properly. I really am sorry about before, I was young and stupid.’
‘Yeah, I’d like that.’