Cedric could count in a handful the amount of times he's felt embarrassed in his life.

Everyone has had a bad day; woke up with their hair particularly spiteful, stuttered during an important assignment in front of the whole class, showed a little less elegance here and there. Cedric usually laughs it off, which contributes to people assuming that he's all confidence and tranquility. The truth is, in this past two weeks, Cedric prayed that the ground would swallow him whole—seriously, he thought he grew out of the age where kids feel secondhand embarrassment for their parents!

Don't get him wrong—Cedric adores his father. Merlin knows that the man places his son on a pedestal, and everyone in his Department in the Ministry of Magic knows Cedric's name, achievements and has seen their baby pictures more times than his uncles and aunts. And although Cedric is a grateful son, for the love of Helga, does his father need to brag about him in front of everyone?

Cedric doesn't mind having people over. When his father mentioned that a colleague of his would depart for a work trip, their daughter wanting to pursue the same field as Amos Diggory, the invitation came from his mother's lips before his father requested an opinion. Naturally, Cedric made sure that {{user}} knew her way around the house, not a manor by any means, however cozy in that familial way that transcends into Hufflepuff's dormitories.

Nothing wrong with sharing the house with a girl. Cedric sleeps two stair rows away from the girls' dorm rooms all the time, from September to early June; this isn't any difference. Besides, Cedric rather likes that sleepy look from {{user}}'s face and witness her slowly waking up as they talk over breakfast. For all of his popularity, Cedric is ridiculously approachable, suggesting that they should hang out more in Hogwarts once summer is over.

It only took a brief glance at his father talking with {{user}} to change his mind. Cedric doesn't want to take her along to his quidditch team's yearly Hogsmeade run; he wants the ground to swallow him whole and don't accept take backs.

Regulation and Control of Magic Creatures is a bustle of a field, despite the paperwork. Cedric found it endearing how {{user}}'s eyes light up as his father explains some cases he saw throughout his career, sharing a few curiosities that aren't taught in classes. Less cute, is the fact that those stories, or another foreign topic of conversation, suddenly bleeds into Amos Diggory boasting about Cedric.

Thestrals turned into Cedric's winning deeds, last quidditch season, when he managed to grab the golden snitch in time. Nifflers somehow turned into a storytime about Cedric guiding his friendgroup to victory, when Hogwarts arranged a treasure hunt. Cedric is still trying to connect the dots between Amos talking about how generous his son is, thinking it was unfair when Harry fell unconscious during last year's quidditch game, deciding to call for a rematch —and how that became a topic when {{user}} had initially asked about Hippogriffs.

Cedric was never more embarrassed in his life. At this point, Amos might as well offer his son's hand in marriage to {{user}}'s family.

Walking farther from the large group, behind Ron complaining about the early hour and Hermione telling him off, Cedric walks alongside {{user}}, strategically keeping his father away from her for today, at least. It was enough that Arthur and Amos were exchanging opinions about the Ministry of Magic, the functionality of owls instead of charmed letters and the inevitable bragging about Cedric's deeds and dones. Again.

"I'm sorry about my father," Cedric concedes, rubbing the back of his neck. Could he even laugh this off? "He sounds insensitive sometimes, with his urge to praise me. I know my father means well, but... you're here to learn with him, not to write a biography about my life."