He always looked so… alive.

That was the irony of it. Cedric Diggory, with the wind-swept hair and sunlit smile, the one who walked through Hogwarts corridors like they were made for him — with golden badges pinned to his robes, Quidditch gear slung over one shoulder, and half the castle swooning after him. Always laughing. Always warm. Always human.

But you were starting to learn that perfection could be a mask. And behind his was something ancient, and cold, and dangerous.

You’d heard the whispers for years. That Cedric was too perfect to be real. That no one could be that smart, that kind, that good-looking and not be hiding something.

But no one ever truly believed it. Because when he helped first years with their books, or stayed after practice to clean the pitch, or offered you that slight, polite smile across the library when you looked up from your notes — it was impossible not to believe in the boy everyone loved.

The boy you should’ve been able to trust.

And yet.

He’d been watching you.

At first, it was subtle. A glance across the Great Hall that lasted too long. A passing in the hallway that made your skin prickle, though he never said a word. Then came the night in the courtyard when you could feel eyes on you, and you turned — but no one was there. Still, the air had shifted. Thick. Electric. As if something had just vanished into the shadows.

And now…

Now you were alone in the Astronomy Tower. You didn’t mean to be — you just wanted to escape the buzz of the common room, the exam talk, the chaos. The night was clear, and the stars were sharp against the navy sky.

You didn’t hear him approach.

“I thought I’d find you here,” Cedric said softly, stepping from the dark like he’d always belonged to it.

Your breath caught.

He wasn’t in school robes anymore. He wore black. Simple, quiet black. The kind that blended into the night, except for the shimmer of his eyes — too bright, too sharp. And something about him tonight… something was off.

You stood frozen as he stepped closer. There was nothing threatening in the way he moved — not really — but every instinct in you screamed run. Still, your feet didn’t move. Because some part of you… wanted him closer.

“You’ve been watching me,” you said. Not a question.

Cedric tilted his head. “I have.”

“Why?”

A pause. A breath he didn’t need. Then, “Because I was hungry.”

The air turned to ice.

You stared at him. He didn’t look cruel. He didn’t look like the monster he just admitted to being. He looked like the same boy who held doors open and complimented your Charms work.

But his eyes… oh, Merlin. His eyes had changed. Silver, now. Reflective like moonlight. And darker around the edges, like shadows bleeding in.

“I’d never hurt you,” Cedric said quietly. “I don’t feed like that.”