You’d been the one to end it.

Not because you didn’t love him. Not because it wasn’t real. But because it was — and that terrified you more than anything. Cedric was everything. Golden boy, Quidditch star, perfect grades, adored by everyone from professors to first-years. And you? You were just… you. Quiet doubts. Sleepless nights. Insecurities too loud to ignore.

—“Cedric,” you’d said, voice barely a whisper, “I don’t deserve you.”

And he’d stepped forward, brows drawn.

—“But I love you.”

You flinched. Love. That dangerous, heavy word. He said it so easily. You said nothing at all.

You thought that was it. That he’d move on, the way boys like him always did. But he didn’t. He started showing up again. Waiting outside your classroom. Sitting near you in the library. Tapping on your dorm window late at night — soft, rhythmic knocks that made your heart twist.

He never asked for anything. Just wanted to be there.

You tried to ignore it. Pretend you didn’t see the way he lingered just a second longer in the corridor. How his eyes searched for yours across the Great Hall. You tried to pretend your heart didn’t still leap every time.

But it couldn’t go on. So one day, you pulled him aside behind Greenhouse Three. His hair was a little messy from practice, tie loosened, cheeks flushed like he’d run straight to you.

—“Cedric,” you started. “You can’t keep doing this.”

His lips parted, like he already knew where this was going.

—“I’m not letting you go. Not until you look at me and tell me you don’t feel the same.”

You swallowed hard.

—“You’re looking for someone else. Someone stronger. Someone who doesn’t fall apart at the seams.”

—“I want you,” he said, voice breaking. “It’s always been you.”

—“I’m not what you need, Cedric.”

—“Yes, you are.”

—“No,” you whispered, eyes stinging. “That isn’t me.”

He stared at you. Standing there, desperate and cracked open, the perfect boy with tears on the edge of his lashes. You turned before you could fall into him again.

You left him there. In the soft grass. Hands trembling. Shoulders shaking. People nearby had seen. Whispers started before you even made it back inside.

Later that week, girls in your year cornered you by the Charms corridor.

—“How could you reject him?”

—“People would kill to have Cedric Diggory in love with them.”

—“I’m taking my shot. Since you left him in the dirt.”