He's remembering the first time he met her, really met her. He'd seen her before, of course, and the legend of Hermione Jane Granger was certainly a popular enough one at school. She-Who-Knew-No-Fear. Best friend of the Boy Who Lived, the brains of the operation, noteworthy crush of Viktor Krum (as any fool in the library could see) and just simply the smartest witch to grace the doors of Hogwarts in decades- if not centuries. Only time would tell to see if she would strip Minerva of that title.

She's with Viktor, of course, looking soft and shy in her periwinkle robes, lovelier than ever. It amuses him to watch the startled looks of recognition of people's faces as they realise who the mysterious beauty is.

He's always known, of course, as long as he's known her.

He sat down in his usual chair, at his usual desk, in his usual spot. He clenched his jaws at the twittering of girls as they flitted between one desk to the next, coyly stealing glances between himself and the Bulgarian champion, Viktor Krum. They giggled to the left and sighed to the right, and Cedric was seriously contemplating blowing up half the library and making a quick getaway. When it became abundantly clear that even that extreme sort of action was unlikely to rid the library of the idiotic girls, Cedric instead picked up his books and stealthily made his way toward the back of the library. There was a table with two chairs and just enough space to stack his books on in the back.

He was supremely surprised to the desk was occupied by a short girl with long hair. He started to back away, only to turn around and see that his departure had been noticed; the girls were beginning to sniff around, searching for their lost prey. Cedric was torn. He could brave the Hufflepuff Common Room and be deluged with questions about the tasks; he could sit in the front and be driven to insanity by the gaggle of girls; or he could sit in the back with the stranger and finally study for his potions exam in peace.

'Do you mind?' he asked softly, gesturing towards the empty chair.

'As long as you don't bring that flying dragoon of chickens with you,' she said, quickly gazing around the top of her book and over his shoulder in irritation. 'If they squeal anymore, the windows are going to shatter.'

'Will that be before or after my eardrums start bleeding?' Cedric asked, sticking his finger in his ear.

'You'll be well dead before then,' the girl said, never looking up before her book.

'Oh really?' he asked. 'May I ask why?'

'Because I'll have tossed you out the window in an act of merciful benevolence,' she said lightly. 'I'll be right after you.'

Cedric laughed, stuffing his fist into his mouth to keep the sound from spreading.

'I'm Cedric,' he said, sliding into the chair.

'Yes, I know,' the girl said quickly. She looked up, and Cedric recognised her as Harry Potter's best friend, whom he had seen before the Quidditch World Cup. 'I don't think there's a person here who doesn't know who you are. You've become quite the celebrity.'

'Yes, I know,' he said genially. 'Unfortunately, that won't help me pass my potions exam.'

'If it's as bad as I hear it is,' the girl said quietly, 'nothing short of a miracle will be able to save you.'

Cedric laughed again.

'What's your name?' he asked, not quite remembering.

She looked up at him and smiled softly.

'Oh,' she whispered. 'I'm no-one in particular.'

She walks with grace, if not style, and she is gracious enough to ignore the looks of disbelief on the faces of her classmates. He steers his date past her. They both nod politely at one another, but Cedric's stomach clenches slightly, because it seems to him that they're both paired off with the wrong person.

He takes Cho in his arms and they dance the opening scene, just like he's supposed to. He has, on his arm, one of the most beautiful girls in the school. And Cedric smiles at her, because Cho is lovely, and charming, intelligent and gifted. There's nothing wrong with Cho.

It's just that she's not right.

He watches Viktor sweep Hermione off her feet, and for a moment, Cedric and Hermione share a glance. Very quickly, very simply, and before anyone can blink, Hermione's looking at Viktor and Cedric is gazing down on Cho. All is as supposed to be.

So why does he feel like he's moving farther away from what he wants as Cho moves closer and closer?

He watches Hermione dance off and away, proud, beautiful, wane, scared.

He wonders what Viktor sees in Hermione. Obviously, she's pretty, and she's intelligent too. But how does she captivate him?

Hermione crossed her feet neatly at her ankles, swinging her legs back and forth, forth and back, reading a copy of Sixteen Ways to Scourgify Your Salamander. Cedric was scanning a copy of his Charms notes, marking down relevant bits in a spare bit of parchment.

'This isn't going to work,' Hermione said after a while.

'Yes, it will,' Cedric said absentmindedly. What was the incantation for wand sparks again?

'Cedric,' she said sternly, 'as fun as this may be, we really cannot sit on the top of a library shelf for this long.'

They had nestled on a particularly wide shelf, at the very top, after Cedric had fended off several various hopeful girls. After the last one had threatened to hex his as-yet unknown date to Siberia, he had decided that perhaps it was not so wise for Hermione to be seen with him. However, he wanted to sit with her, as she provided very good company, and now they were hidden away on a bookshelf. Hermione sat on Cedric's lap, and both had to bow their heads to read, unable to sit up straight.

'Here comes Viktor again,' she said after a while. They both watched the round-shouldered boy go by, desperately shuffling away in an attempt to elude his fanclub.

'Poor boy,' she said, laughing slightly. 'He actually came and sat with me a couple days ago, trying to hide from everyone. He's quite polite.' She squawked when someone ran into the bookshelf, grabbing Cedric's knees in an attempt to not fall over.

Now she's talking with her best friends, and Cedric is sitting with Cho, talking politely and filling her cup. It's nice; Cho is so smart and good at Quidditch, so she doesn't fawn, but rather discusses general strategy.

He clenches his fist in his lap, where no-one can see it.

He's got to do this.

He's going to ask Hermione to dance when Cho goes off to powder her nose or wax her lips or whatever it is girls do in the loo.

Cho gets up.

Cedric gets up. He hears arguing in the distance as Cho tells him she'll be back in a while, before she leaves arm in arm with a girl named Marietta.

Cedric turns around, walks towards the group.

Hermione is gone.

Damn.

Where is she?

He walks around for a while, nodding to people, talking to people, but not really hearing or seeing them. He leaves the Great Hall for a moment, and sees Hermione standing in a corner. Angry, with red eyes and clenched teeth.

Is this what Ron sees?

'Hermione,' he says softly. 'It's me, Cedric.'

'Oh, hullo,' she says in a rather strangled voice. 'Are you having a good time? It's been rather nice, hasn't it?'

'It's been,' he says. 'It would have been nicer if I could have taken you instead, though.'

Hermione stops and stares at him.

Cedric shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning on the wall. It was time to bite the wand, so to speak.

He had been trying to think of a way to do this for days. He was going to ask Hermione to the ball.

It wasn't like there was a complete dearth of available dates. At times, it seemed there were too many options, but none of them really struck his fancy. Some were nice, some were pretty, but none were capable of engaging his fancy like Hermione. She was swift, dry, and could switch from political to serious to amused like a flash of fire.

She was impossible to keep up with, but he found himself running after her anyway. Perhaps it was the thrill of the chase, but perhaps it was because they fit perfectly.

He smiled as Hermione came up to him, smiling slightly.

'What's up?' he asked her, grinning.

'Viktor asked me to the ball,' she said simply, her smile beatific. Cedric's heart did a strange tumble as she told him how Viktor had been building up courage for ages to ask her.

'He saw that I'm a girl,' Hermione said happily. She looked up at Cedric. 'Isn't that great?'

Cedric swallowed. She looked happy, almost peaceful, in the new-found knowledge that someone acknowledged her place as a female. He smiled slightly at her glow.

'That's great, Hermione,' he said. 'But you've got to save a dance for me.'

'Of course, silly,' she said. 'I'll save two, if you ask nicely.'

'You... you were going to ask me?' she asks quietly.

'I was getting ready to, when you told me Viktor had asked you,' he whispers, letting his fingers trace imaginary shapes on her cheeks. 'But you were going with him, so I asked Cho.'

'Oh,' she whispers. She looks up at him. 'So,' she says. 'How about that dance?'

'Here?' he asks. 'Why?'

'Why not?' she says. He breaks into a huge smile and whisks her away into a corner, periwinkle floating and mixing with the candlelight as they move in circles, laughing.

This is right.

Cedric doesn't know what Ron sees in Hermione, or Viktor, or Harry. Do they see her as he does?

Did you see what I did?

He smiles. He doubts they did, but that's okay.

As long as he knows, then all will be right.