Losing the Game

Five

Oliver

Cho was really quite a laugh. I’ve never met a girl that got angry so easily.

I pushed open the double doors of the boys’ locker room was greeted by sunshine on the Quidditch Pitch. I breathed in the scent of fresh green grass—I knew it was much more refreshing than if I’d stayed in the locker room and shagged Cho senseless. We both would have felt gross and sweaty. Not that I object to feeling gross and sweaty, but as much as I tried to fool myself, I just couldn’t get that raw feeling with a girl. Most definitely not with a small girl barely above five feet tall, like Cho Chang.

The truth is, if I was already getting tired of Cho after a few weeks, Merlin knows I wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer. I owed her immensely for getting Cedric and me together, but there’s only so much she can do for me. I’d always foreseen that my situation with Cho would turn into one of dependency. She’d start begging me for sex daily and I wouldn’t always be around for that. There are other girls—and now guys—in the world. Besides, it wouldn’t be much longer until Puddlemere started training brutally for the Cup, and I wouldn’t want to waste my energy on Cho. She was old and unexciting, and a bit annoying as well—Cedric was most certainly something I wanted to taste again.

I really can’t explain what it is about Cedric Diggory. I’d always thought he was a pansy. Maybe that’s what I needed—instead of a bossy little Asian girl driving me up the walls with her animalistic screams—I needed a quiet, passive lover who didn’t have to do much to make me orgasm.

Maybe I’m gay, I don’t know. Whatever it was—I needed to find out soon. There was a burning desire deep in my heart that longed to have the imprint of Diggory’s body on mine.

The mundane chime of the castle rang, which signaled that lunch was over and classes were beginning. I walked briskly toward the Hufflepuff common room, suspecting that Cedric was making his way back there before class.

Climbing up the moving stairs, I smiled and waved at my former classmates. Most of the people who saw me said ‘hello’ and started whispering to their friends. I was a bit irked—no doubt Cho had let her big mouth loose and told everyone she was making me screw her. She probably made herself sound like big woman on campus as well. I sighed. Big woman on campus, indeed—that was going to end extremely soon.

Finally making my way out of the massive crowd of gossip, I stepped up toward the Hufflepuff common room. I leaned coolly against the wall near the double doors until they burst open, only seconds upon arrival.

It was Diggory.

He was wearing his robes like a perfect gentleman. Shirt was tucked in neatly, cuffs were perfectly folded, collar was down, tie was straight and not a hair was out of place. He viewed me with the coldest gray eyes I’ve ever seen. I was determined to breathe some hot fire into those eyes and to pull that tucked undershirt right from his toned body.

He was the first to speak.

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, Oliver, but I’m warning you to get out. I’m not going to be a pawn in this power struggle you’re having with my ex-girlfriend. You can shag her all you want—I don’t want to know about it.”

I smirked.

“Hey. Cedric, it’s not like that. To be honest with you, I’m quite finished with Cho.”

Cedric raised an eyebrow.

I noticed that other people were beginning to stare and probably assumed we were in a rumble about Cho. To hell with Cho—I wanted some privacy.

“Cedric, might I walk you to your next class? I don’t want to make you late, and besides, there are too many people staring ‘round here.”

“Probably thinking you’re going to beat me to a pulp.”

Hmmm. Maybe in bed.

“Nah. Not at all. I wanted to talk to you, clear the air about things. Definitely letting you know, I’m done with Cho.”

Cedric looked down as he walked and clutched his books tightly to his chest. “Does she know that?”

“She will in time. You’re absolutely right about her, mate. She’s got a knack for thinking she’s in control. But how are we, two tall and strong blokes, going to be controlled by a little five foot tall Ravenclaw.”

And for the first time, I saw him smile. I had to stop my brain from thinking about crashing my mouth onto his.

“I really do care for her though, Oliver.”

“But why??! You shouldn’t—she treats people like dirt. She cheated on you and she treats me like I’m lower than her. We should both hate her.”
Cedric and I climbed down the stairs. Fewer people were in the hallway and we both knew Cedric wasn’t going to be on time for class. I knew that he was probably an uptight arse about getting to class on time, but judging from the slow pace of his walk, it seemed to me that he accepted his imminent tardiness. I took this as a good sign. I only wished that Cho was here. She wouldn’t be able to handle the fact that I was getting him to talk to me. I was laughing like a madman deep inside.

Cedric continued walking with me, leading me toward the astronomy tower. I was assuming he had Professor Trelawney’s joke of class—Divination. “Oliver, why are you really here? To tell me you’re done with Cho? Because quite frankly, I don’t care what she does, nor do I care if you’ve dumped her. I suppose it serves her right.”

No, I have an entirely different agenda in mind. “Cedric, you don’t suppose! Try being a real man and not the soft pansy you are—you hate her. Go on, say it.”

“I don’t hate her.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I don’t.”

“She cheated on you.”

“Yeah, but I st—“

“YOU HATE HER!”

I flapped my arms wildly in the air and danced around Cedric.

He actually laughed for a brief moment.

“Well, I’m done with her too, Oliver.”

I patted Diggory’s back and the mere contact had the flesh of my hand searing.

“And how else do you feel? You don’t have to be a gentleman, Cedric. Remember,” I said, leaning in close to him, “she doesn’t control you.”

“Nobody said she did.”

“She said that you were the easiest of her ‘conquests’.” Alas, I am being a bit cruel. Cho didn’t ever say that to me about Diggory—at least not aloud. It matters little anyhow, I wanted Cedric for myself and the only way to get him was to paint Cho in a horrible light.

“No, she didn’t. Cho genuinely liked me—she was a bit controlling, but she wouldn’t have the heart to be that cruel.”

I bit my tongue, but the dark side inside of me was taking over. “Well, mate, I’m telling you what she told me just this morning. I think it’s my duty to tell you.”

Cedric looked into my eyes for a long while and I once again had to restrain myself from jumping on top of him. He paused for a moment before speaking again, “Well. Who knows. She’s unpredictable sometimes.”

On the contrary. I could predict her every move—that’s why she was so boring.

Cedric suddenly stopped walking. I noticed we were standing before the great astronomy tower. High up in the trees, we were invisible to everyone else. What a perfect scenario to take him right there, but I couldn’t. I saw the pain in his eyes as Hufflepuff’s golden boy realized how deceptive Cho Chang really was. We walked through the double doors of the tower. I was doing him a service by actually verbalizing the feelings that Cho would never divulge.

I licked my lips and spoke, “There’s no one here, Cedric.”

“We’ve a good ten minutes or so before the fourth years have Divination.”

“So you wanted some privacy, huh, Diggory?” I grinned.

Blushing a dark shade of crimson, he replied. “Yeah. I knew this was deserted, Cho and I used to come here to meet before her Divination class.”

Sneaky, sneaky. He’d brought us there to be alone.

Cedric continued, “There’s a reason I’ve never truly been happy with Cho. And now I’m hurt even more because I know she used me. Even if what you say she has said about me never really crossed her lips, I know that’s how she feels about me—that I’m just something to be used for her own pleasure. There are many other blokes here that have gone through the same thing. But, I have to tell you, Oliver,” Cedric swallowed and I felt my heartbeat increase, “ever since I saw you again, I haven’t cared as much about the fact that Cho cheated on me.”

I chucked softly.

“There’s a reason,” Cedric cleared his throat, “that I act like a ‘pansy’.”

I placed my hands firmly on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Cedric. Because I think I am too.” He didn’t want to say it aloud and that was all right. “Cho isn’t nearly as exciting as you. And I’m tired of her thinking she owns the both of us. There really is not a ‘threesome’. I’d rather it just be us.”

Cedric looked up at me and I could detect the faintest, most inconspicuous smile stemming from the corner of his mouth. Yet he said nothing.

I broke into a devilish grin, stretched, and took in the scent of pine trees lingering in the fresh air. It was the most beautiful day I’d seen in the long time.

Checking that the doors were fully shut behind me, I turned to Cedric and gave him my cheekiest expression, “Well, mate, we’ve got ten minutes.”

Cedric nodded and started unbutton his shirt. My insatiable desire for him increased in intensity. I licked my dry lips before placing them on his.

Cedric grasped my shoulders and guided my hands down his torso and to the waistband on his pants. We broke contact abruptly when we heard the double doors of the tower suddenly burst open.

Cho was standing there with a very blank expression on her face. Cedric and I were still embracing one another.

I saw that Cho took a heavy swallow. She titled her head back slightly because I knew she was fighting the impending tears. Her voice seemed to echo sadness when she finally spoke.

“Cedric, you’re missing class.”

Cedric traced the lean line of my jaw with his fingertips.

“I know.”