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Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Cedric Diggory (

kedavrad) & Bella Swan (

dazzledbylight)
What: Cedric shows Bella the way to the kitchen & unintentionally messes with her head thanks to being her bf's CLONE.
When: Evening of June 4th.
Where: Starting on the Third Floor;
Rating: PG most likely.

Bella was nervous. She had closed that talking book only a few moments before stepping into the hallway, anxiously folding her arms over her chest in an almost defensive posture as she waited for Cedric to appear out of no where, or beam down and whatever it was he was supposed to do. This was all turning out to be a little more than she could take in at once; suddenly waking up in a strange place and talking to cats and finding out that a lot of other people knew that werewolves and vampires and apparently, witches and wizards, actually existed.

Not to mention that this Cedric Diggory guy sounded exactly like Edward. Edward, whom she was missing fiercely already, and who had probably already gone near insane with worry upon finding she was missing. Hopefully he hadn't done anything rash yet. She winced at the thought, leaning against the wall. If she was lucky, Alice would see where she was and calm him down. There was no need for a repeat of the Italy Incident.

In any case, knowing that she was about to meet someone who could possibly also look just like her boyfriend was a bit unsettling. Bella hoped she wouldn't creep him out too much...

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Cedric wasn't really sure what to expect. The first newcomer he'd had a conversation with since Cho disappeared happened to be someone whose boyfriend sounded exactly like him, apparently, and quite likely looked exactly like him as well -- but their conversation had continued anyway and now he was accompanying her to the kitchen. What would happen when they finally met face-to-face? Would she take it well? Would she find it too weird and take off, or something?

Well, the only way to find out was to stop hypothesizing.

Standing from his desk chair, straightening out his white shirt, Cedric focused on the hallway he was supposed to Apparate to. All the hallways looked the same, so it was a matter of envisioning a door with a name plate, also identical to everyone else's, but with her name on -- Bella Swan. He focused himself a little further back from her doorway so he wouldn't land on her, as she'd said, by accident, took a steadying breath and turned on the spot.

With a CRACK! he appeared not a second later in the third-floor hallway, eyes closed for a moment as the uncomfortable feeling of Apparition passed. When he opened them it was to a girl about his age standing by her doorway not a few feet from him.

"Hello," he said warmly.

Not prepared for the loud noise that accompanied this so-called Apparating, Bella's hand flew to her chest as Cedric appeared out of no where in front of her. She was startled enough for a few moments that she manage to choke out a "H-holy crap, you--!" before her eyes actually took note of him.

It was Edward. But not Edward, at the same time. There were no disarming amber colored eyes, and no dark bruises beneath them. Somehow, that other worldy aura was missing, and he lacked the natural finesse and grace that Edward always managed. But to Bella, he was still beautiful and were she any sort of normal girl, she might have even found Cedric more attractive than her own Edward. There was human color in his face, blood pumping in his veins, and life in his eyes. It was almost like looking at Edward before he had become a vampire.

Still reeling, Bella finally realized she was staring open-mouthed and flushed at a boy who probably thought she'd lost her marbles. Snapping her jaw shut, she blinked once and stumbled forward, the warmth in his voice, that voice that was so familiar, giving her goosebumps up and down her arms. Extending her hand to him, Bella somehow managed to smile at him. She couldn't help it.

"Bella. Nice to officially meet you, Cedric. Uh," she paused, searching for the right words. "I'm sorry to stare. You look just like him. My brain's kinda having a hard time adjusting."

Cedric's smile may have faltered slightly when she started staring at him, but he did his best to understand the predicament -- showing up in a completely different place, all alone, and meeting someone who not only sounds like someone very close to you, but looks like them as well? It would certainly throw him for a loop, too. He put his hands in his pockets as he watched her look him up and down, let her get her bearings. She had this look in her eyes that he couldn't quite put a name to, and Cedric wasn't sure if he was comfortable with it or not. But she was pretty, he thought privately, vaguely amused look turning into a smile again as he stepped forward, took her extended hand and shook it firmly.

"Don't worry about it," he affirmed. "And it's nice to officially meet you, too, Bella. Sorry if I startled you -- Apparating isn't exactly the most subtle mode of transportation."

At least his accent was something different to focus on. While Edward had an old fashioned way about speaking, Cedric had a full on British accent. It was kind of charming, and it made Bella smile a little bit more. She shook her head in veiled amusement, not at him, but herself, as he apologized for making her jump. "Sorry if I startled you, more like. Having some stranger stare at you like I just did couldn't have been a comfortable experience," she flushed warmly again, wincing a little.

Shaking her head again, Bella did her best to re-focus on something else. It shouldn't be too hard. This was the first time she had ever met a wizard, after all. "So, that was Apparating. I'm a little jealous. Being able to do that would make my life a whole lot easier," she smiled dryly.

"It's very convenient," he admitted, nodding once, somewhat glad to get away from the previous topic. "Not very comfortable, though. I prefer flying, but, well, it's rather conspicuous." He scratched his head before raking his fingers through his tangle of brown hair.

Bella silently appreciated Cedric's very casual dismissal of her strange behavior. She didn't along with 'normal' people very well sometimes. Then again, she was talking to a wizard. And was strangely fascinated, even beyond the fact that said wizard disturbingly resembled her boyfriend.

"I really want to see this flying thing sometime," she admitted, looking rather curious as she spoke.

Cedric nodded towards the staircase, silently suggesting that they start walking.

"Hermione's got a third broom that she's working on, so, tell you what," he said, thinking it over as he went -- he still wasn't sure if he'd be able to fly properly without the depth perception that being able to see with both eyes granted, and, quite frankly, didn't want to test the broom and end up flat on his ass. Especially in front of Bella; he did have some pride. "She's asked me to give it a go when she's finished, so if you'd like..."

Edited 2008-06-05 21:04 (UTC)

Bella began walking beside him towards the stairs, throwing a sideways glance in his direction and raising an eyebrow. "Will you let me try?" she asked, against her better judgment. As accident prone as she was, getting on a flying broom was potentially suicidal, but her own foolish curiosity always got to her in the end, anyways. As long as certain people didn't find out.

"You don't look much like a wizard, you know," she added a moment later, not insultingly, but with a slightly playful tone. "And what do you all call people like me? A Muggle?" So her painfully normal condition had a name after all. Everyone around her was cooler, she knew it.

He grinned, admiring that curiosity. "I'm not sure if you'd be able to try it on your own," he said, mostly concerned for her safety and not completely sure that a Muggle would be able to get a broom off the ground anyway, "but there might be room enough for two. I'm a fair flyer." He ignored the potential awkwardness that might come from doing so -- thought that letting her experience flying would be worth it.

Cedric's grin stayed as he glanced at Bella, raising an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's a wizard supposed to look like?" But he listened to her second question, nodded. "Yeah. I've never really liked that name, myself, but that's the usual wizarding term for those without magic."

Blinking a bit in surprise, Bella's lips tilted into another smile, unable to help herself when faced with Cedric's boyish grin. Riding tandem on a broom had to include some rather interesting seating arrangements, she imagined. It was nice of him to offer, especially considering their potentially awkward... situation.

"Oh, I don't know," she smiled. "I was sort of expecting a big pointy purple hat, and a wand with a glowing star on the end. Maybe that's just fairies, though. I get you 'supposedly' mythical beings mixed up sometimes," she admitted with another wry smile, a little bemused with herself for being this candid with someone she had just met. It was that familiar face that was throwing her for a loop, and she knew it. She had already fought the urge to reach out and touch him more than once.

"Don't worry, I'm used to it," she shrugged a little dismissively. "I'm dreadfully boring."

Cedric actually laughed at that. He knew that the Muggle world, the one that had no idea his kind existed, had the most ridiculous ideas about magic and wizardry sometimes, although -- "The 'pointy purple hat' part's not too far off. I'm fairly sure that my father worked with someone at the Ministry of Magic who wore one." He was pleased to find that thinking about back home didn't hurt as much anymore. "I'm afraid the wand's not that exciting, either." He took his out of his pocket and showed it to her -- twelve-and-a-half inches long, made out of ash wood.

When they came to it, Cedric opened the door to the stairs, held it for her.

Cedric's laugh was bright and cheerful. It made Bella feel warm, and it was different than Edward's, which made her feel a little more comfortable. Thank goodness. Seeing his actual wand was rather interesting to her, however, and she admired it appreciatively, looking up at him with that same curiosity again. "Well, that just confirms that everything I've been told about things I'm not supposed to know exist is completely wrong," she smirked a little. She shouldn't have been surprised by that, at this point.

Once they were walking down the stairs, she glanced over at him again. "Can you do some magic? Right now?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

He smiled at her. "Apparating doesn't count as magic?" He asked teasingly, but he rolled his wand over in his hands, thinking of something to show her. Looking around the stairway for some discarded thing he could Transfigure, he was inspired to do otherwise when they reached a window on a landing. Cedric stopped, opened the window with a flick of his wand before sticking his head out to see what was below.

"You haven't got a fear of birds or anything, have you?" he said, looking back at her, and he smiled.

"You know what I mean," she shot back, wrinkling her nose a little in amusement. "Humor the Muggle, won't you?" she folded her arms over her chest, watching him patiently as he walked towards the window, blinking as it flipped open all on it's own. That must have been extremely handy.

"Not as far as I know," she shook her head, waiting to see what he would do.

He nodded. "Good."

Cedric raised his wand, pointing it towards the ceiling. "Avis," he said, flicking it tightly, and four plump, yellow canaries seemed to fly straight out of the end of his wand. They flew around their heads for a moment, twittering, before they seemed to take notice of the open window and disappeared into the sunlight.

"I've never really understood the point of that charm," he said, finally, after watching the birds disappear, smiling lopsidedly. "It seems to be perfect for showing off, though."

Although she was waiting for something related to birds, Bella still ducked a little, watching the canaries with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open. Vampires, wizards, werewolves. This stuff would never stop being amazing.

When she glanced back over at Cedric, her heart nearly stopped in her chest when her eyes landed on the smile that was on his lips. It was so reminiscent of Edward's crooked smile, the one that made her stomach plummet to her knees with butterflies, that she almost couldn't breathe for a moment. Hopefully, Cedric mistook her speechlessness for surprise over his magic, and she shook her head, yanking herself from her daze.

"That was pretty amazing," she admitted, smiling a little again. "They teach you that stuff in school? Seems unfair! All I get is chemistry."

Cedric did, in fact, mistake it as such, and so he looked away and closed the window again -- he didn't particularly like showing off or drawing attention to himself or his abilities, and so dealing with the reaction after doing something well was not one of his favourite things to do. He returned his wand to the pocket of his jeans, looked up when she spoke again.

"Chemistry?" He hated being ignorant of Muggle things, though he thought he had a vague notion of what that was. "That's ... chemicals, right?" He searched for the words, feeling a little thick. "Matter and ... reactions?" He laughed. "The grass is always greener, I suppose. I'd love to learn about that stuff."

Edited 2008-06-05 23:41 (UTC)

Whew. No crazy looks or backing away from her yet. That was a good sign, and Bella breathed a soft, inaudible sigh of relief. Freaking out her only- friend in this place so far wasn't exactly on her agenda for the moment.

She couldn't help but smile curiously at his lack of knowledge on something as simple to her as chemistry, but she assumed she looked just as stupid to him with all of her pointy hat questions. "That's right. Maybe I can show you a little, sometime," she offered as they began to walk again. "Since you've been so willing to show me magic."

He walked alongside her, lit up a little at her offer.

"Really?" He imagined it must've sounded a bit odd to her, approaching Muggle science as she did magic, but it was also an interesting contrast in a way - and one of the reasons why Cedric had always been interested in a job that involved liaising with Muggles. There was so much to learn. "I think I'd like that." Oh, he must've been coming off as such a swot, he thought jokingly to himself, but he didn't really care.

"Of course. I'm not all that great at it, just to forewarn you," she added with a grimace. English was more her forte. At least he didn't want to know about Algebra. Then she would have been in real trouble.

"What other things do they teach you at Hogwarts, anyways?" Bella asked, glancing back up at him. Cedric looked like any normal student to her. A little fancier dressed than her, but she was used to spending time with the always fashionable Cullens by now.

"That's all right," he affirmed.

Feeling her eyes on him, Cedric tugged a little at the collar of his shirt before taking his hand down to tick the subjects off on his fingers. "Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Potions, Herbology -- those are the main classes that everyone needs to take. There's also, ah ... Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Divination, Muggle Studies..." He glanced at her halfway involuntarily at that last one, wondering what her thoughts on that particular subject might be.

Bella had no idea what a few of those entailed, but her eyes flickered back to his as he mentioned Muggle Studies, raising her eyebrows in vague amusement. "Really. You study us? Boring little magicless people like me?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, a little perplexed. Why would anyone want to study someone so normal?

Her mind also lingered on Defense Against the Dark Arts. And Potions. Was that for real? It was starting to sound like some fairy tale again.

Cedric laughed a little, now gaining a particular realization for how silly the whole thing seemed, studying Muggles and their way of life -- he was talking to one, had been living with them for nearly three months now, and they weren't nearly as different as a lot of wizards made them out to be. Of course, in a way it was like studying a different culture, which wasn't that odd.

"That class studies Muggles, the way they live, the ... aha, 'resourcefulness' with which you do things since you can't use magic." Cedric smiled. "It's getting to understand you, really, which, unfortunately, a lot of witches and wizards don't." The Quidditch World Cup 'muggle camouflage' came to mind, and Cedric chuckled to himself.

Edited 2008-06-06 01:09 (UTC)

Bella's lips quirked into another little smile as she thought the whole thing over, imagining a class full of wizards learning about 'normal' people like her. It was an amusing idea, and for the moment, Cedric seemed to partly agree.

"Funny how you call it 'resourceful,' since it's all day-to-day stuff to us, huh," she mused. "But I suppose that makes sense. We don't understand you. Most don't even know you exist, I'd imagine. I certainly didn't," she admitted.

"You're not supposed to, really," Cedric said, taking note of the floor they were on -- not far now. "Most Muggles aren't exactly hospitable when it comes to things like magic - you've probably heard about witch-burnings, right? - so we're basically sworn never to do magic around Muggles, never interfere, leave that world as they like it." He paused for a moment, thought on his words.

"Not to say that we have to hide completely. There are hundreds of people at my school who have one or both parents who are Muggles."