Heaven Above

Heaven Above

"What are you going to do when you get of Hogwarts?" asked Cho softly. She snuggled a bit closer to Cedric underneath their blanket.

"I'm not sure," answered Cedric, gazing up at the clear, starry sky. "When I was younger, I always wanted to be an Auror. Now, I think a nice, quiet job at the Ministry suits me just fine. Especially after all this with the Triwizard Tournament."

Cho smiled. She knew he was only joking; Cedric wouldn't be able to handle anything that was 'nice and quiet.' She followed his gaze up to the starry night sky. "You know," she told Cedric dreamily, "my mother used to tell me that on nights like this, you were looking straight up into Heaven above. She said each star was a person, looking down us." She sighed happily as she rested her head on Cedric's shoulder. She'd always loved that story; it was nice to think that there was someone watching over you, someone there to protect you.

Cedric nodded as he stroked her thick, black hair slowly. "It is beautiful..." he trailed off. Cedric was thinking of other things besides the sky... He placed a few fingers under her chin, tipped her head up slightly, and planted a light kiss on her lips. Cho smiled as he drew back, and snuggled ever closer against Cedric.

"It'll be nice when this is over," Cedric said softly. "When the Triwizard Tournament is over, I mean. I'll have more time to spend with you." He grinned and added, "Considering the fact that we have to skip dinner in order to spend time together now." It was a good thing that the smell of Shepard's pie couldn't drift this far out; Cedric's mouth was watering at the thought of food.

"We can go back in if you want to eat," Cho said suddenly, as though reading his mind.

Cedric smiled down at her. "No, its fine, Cho."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, peacefully calm in their own private world. Cho's smile suddenly drooped, at her thoughts. The last task was tomorrow, what if something happened to Cedric? Cho was pretty sure she was just thinking about it too much, but what if something did happen to Cedric?

Cedric noticed Cho shifting around uncomfortably next to him. He frowned, and looked down at her, concerned. He shifted around so he could talk to her face to face.

"What's wrong?"

Cho looked back at him; then averted her eyes to the ground. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell Cedric what she felt. Her thoughts did seem a bit silly, after all, but there was an odd feeling that had taken refuge in her stomach that refused leave anytime soon.

"I-I- I'm nervous about tomorrow, Cedric. And...I just have this feeling that something's not...right." It had taken awhile, but she got the words out of her mouth. She finally let her eyes drift back up to Cedric's caring face and said more quietly, "I'm worried for you, Cedric."

Cho expected Cedric to hold her, tell her everything was all right. That was exactly what she wanted, to have Cedric cradle her.

Cedric, however, was a complete mess of tangled nerves. He had been kept awake for three nights in a row. Cedric had lain with his eyes wide open, thinking about the last task. He was terrified of doing something wrong, letting his whole school down. But then that little, nasty voice in the back of his head had come along. You're not the only Hogwarts Champion. Then Cedric's thoughts turned to Harry Potter. Harry was a nice guy, sure, but Cedric had always thought of him as his rival. No one could figure out just how Harry had gotten in the goblet in anyway. And what irked Cedric the most was the fact that Harry kept managing to top him, over and over. It was endless. Cedric saw Harry as a much better Champion. Cedric didn't like to think of Harry as his enemy, but he couldn't help it.

Cedric would have loved to forget about the danger looming ahead, but Cho kept bringing back to the surface. He knew it was only because she cared about him, but Cedric's nerves were building up, overpowering him. He needed something to take out his frustration on, and unfortunately, Cho was the nearest thing.

"So you think I can't take care of myself?" Cedric snapped viciously.

Cho blinked several times, trying to take in the fact that she was indeed not being cradled and warmed. "No, that's not what I'm-"

"Let me guess, Cho, you think Harry Potter can do better?"

Cho stared blankly at him; shocked at the way he was acting. "That's not what I'm saying, Cedric. All I'm saying is-"

"What do you care anyway?" Cedric said, his voice rising as he cut off Cho. "You don't even like me, I've seen the way you look at Harry-"

"Stop, Cedric!" Cho rose slowly. She snatched up her blanket rudely, ripping it from around Cedric. "I'm leaving," she said slowly, in a forced calm tone. "You seem to need time to cool off."

Cho turned on her heel and began to stalk back to the castle. She had taken a total of six steps when she felt something land softly yet firmly on her shoulder. She spun around quickly, dropping her blanket as she bumped into Cedric. Cho stared at him as tears of frustration began to well up in her eyes against her will. She wasn't able to read the look on his face; he looked extremely mixed up. They stood for several minutes; Cho stared directly at Cedric, while Cedric kept his eyes upon the ground, seeming to be thoroughly interested in the dirt.

Cho folded her arms and gave a small huff of discomfort. "Well?" she hissed, a bit more angry then she had intended.

Cedric slid his gaze up to Cho. It was dark, and she couldn't quite tell, but it looked to Cho as though Cedric's lower lip was quivering a bit.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, but clearly. "It's just nerves, and frustration and I- shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Cho bent down and scooped up her blanket. She shivered a bit and wrapped it around herself. She gazed at Cedric, feeling herself soften. She sighed and said, "Cedric, I wasn't implying that you can't do this. I know you can. But I just have this feeling that something...." She trailed off, avoiding Cedric's questioning look.

Cedric wrapped an arm around Cho's waist, and together they sat back down, once again rolled in the warm blanket. "Something's what, Cho? What's wrong?"

"I just have this bad feeling about tomorrow, Cedric.."

"Nothing's going to happen, Cho. I'm promise you that tomorrow, after it's all over, we'll do something special, just the two of us, ok?"

Cho smiled, happy to ignore the sick feeling inside her that was her worries. Cedric pulled her in close and they shared, a long kiss. They each gazed up at Heaven Above, after they had drawn away. The two stood slowly, still wrapped up in the blanket and each other, and headed back to the castle on what was, unbeknownst to them, the last night they would ever spend together.

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This my first Astronomy Tower (romance) fic! Enjoy and please review!