I've Been Waiting (Cedric)

Cho sighed, sitting on a bench that was in the prefects bathroom. She was waiting for Cedric, and him being a prefect she knew that this was the one place they could get away together. Granted it was awkward if they were seen walking out together. But Cho did not care anymore, Cedric was her boyfriend and she would spend as much time with him as much as they could. She also...had something to tell him...but she just wasn't sure how.

She didn't know if she wanted to tell him...maybe she would just get rid of it and act like it never happened. But Cedric would know, her love always had a way of seeing straight through her to her core. And sometimes she loved it, but other times she just wanted to ram his head into a toilet!

Leaning back into the wall she rested her hands on her belly...and cringed...maybe she just needed to take another test. Maybe she was ill...maybe-

"Cedric!" she said shocked. "You scared me!"

Cedric looked at the note in his hand. It sounded so urgent, and he knew that he had to go to find out what Cho wanted. She wanted him to meet her in the Prefects bathroom, so that's where he was going. He hurried though the corridors to his destination, slowing only when he passed class rooms that had their doors open. Even though it was evening, there could have been a teacher inside the rooms and the last thing he needed was to have to explain that he was running to meet his girlfriend. They would give him detention for sure.

He took a staircase to the fifth floor three at a time, and moved as quickly as he dared to the Bathroom door. He said the password, panting hard from his rushing as he did.

Once inside, he closed the door and looked around for his girlfriend. He finally spotted her across the room, sitting on a bench and looking sick and nervous. He crossed over to her and sat next to her. She told him that he'd scared her, and he smiled.

"You wanted me to meet you here, so here I am. What's wrong, Cho? You look ill."

Cho looked up at Cedric weakly and took his hand. She didn't know how she was going to tell him this. How she was going to tell him that she was pregnant with his child...and that soon he would be a father before graduation. She just did not understand...well that wasn't true...of course she understood...but she did not understand HOW Cedric would love her after realizing what was growing inside of her.

"Ced...I...I'm not ill..."

Closing her eyes she leaned back against the wall. She did feel really sick, but it wasn't that kind of sick. It was because she was suffering from morning sickness. She hadn't thrown up yet, but she knew that she was about to. She just...she didn't want Cedric to be burdened with this.

Turning to him she rested her head on his shoulder and shivered against him. She knew that morning sickness was supposed to be bad, but she didn't know that it would be this bad. She thought that the woman pregnant would just vomit and it would be done with. She didn't know that it felt like a full on fever.

"I...I have to tell you something important...though..." she whimpered.

Cedric was worried even more now. She said she wasn't sick, but she had to tell him something. He hoped that she wasn't going to break up with him. He didn't know if he could stand that. Seeing her in the corridors and knowing that she didn't love him anymore?

He nodded and braced himself for the worst. He would do his best to handle it if she told him she wanted to break up, although he would be crying his eyes out in his dorm that evening.

"Cho," he started. "I want you to know that I love you, and whatever you are about to tell me, I will listen to it, and whatever your decision, if there is one to be made, I will go along with it."

He took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. He had to hope that she wasn't going to tell him she didn't want to see him any more, or he would go crazy.

Cho bit her lip and looking up at Cedric felt tears roll down her face. She just loved him so much, and she knew that she would never be able to live with herself if she killed their baby. She was going to keep it, and raise it, but she wanted to be sure that Cedric knew that it was his child.

"C-Cedric..." she whimpered. "I...I'm pregnant."

The tears began to fall faster and faster and soon she found herself sobbing against him. God he was going to leave her now! Why hadn't they used better protection?! Why couldn't they be more careful!?

"I...I am so...so sorry...Cedric!"

Cedric was so relieved that she wasn't breaking up with him that it took a moment for what she'd said to sink in.

Pregnant? She was pregnant?! His eyes opened as wide as they could go. He felt himself start to panic a little. How? He'd always been so careful about wearing a condom with her. Always! How could she be........ He knew in his heart and head that the baby was his. He knew that she would never be unfaithful to him.

He pulled her to him and kissed her temple, a new feeling coming over him now. Happiness. It had to be. He was happy now! He was going to be a father.

At seventeen.

He shook his head. That didn't matter! What mattered was that their baby receive the love that it deserved, and he planned on being one of the ones to give it to him or her.

"Cho, this is wonderful! I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous and scared, but anyone would be. I'm hoping that you want me to help you raise the baby, because I plan on being there through everything. I want to be there for all the firsts- the fist kick, the first contraction, the first smile, steps, word. I want to be a father to my child."

He lay his hand on her stomach and kissed her.

Cho had tears in her eyes and wrapping her arms tight around his neck buried her face in his shoulder. She was so happy that he wanted to be there for the baby, but she was also mortified that this was even happening to begin with. Everything was different now. Everything was going to be harder, and Cho was going to have to deal with both her parents and Cedric would have to deal with his. She was going to have to find a place to live, because Cho knew that her parents were going to disown her the moment they found out.

"Cedric," she cried, into him. "I...I am so sorry....I am so sorry that this happened! I wish...I wish that this wasn't going to burden you so much...I wish I could fix this..."

But she couldn't, because Cho was completely against abortion. She wanted to have the baby and keep it, especially if it was a girl.

"I love you...I love you so much," she sobbed. "But what am I gonna do Cedric. My parents will never let me come home like this! You know them, you know how strict they are! They will make me leave! They will not want anything to do with me!"

Her sobs became more frantic and she soon found herself making herself sick. Pulling away from him she rushed to one of the stalls and dropped to her knees in front of the toilet.

Cedric didn't hesitate when he saw that she was about to be sick. He got up and went to her side, kneeling next to her. He stroked her long black hair from her face so that it wouldn't be in her way when she became sick. Rubbing her back lightly, he waited for her to finish and handed her a towel for when it was over.

He'd not thought about what they were going to tell their parents. He knew that hers wouldn't be happy at all, and probably would kick her out of the house. But he also knew that his own father wouldn't let her into theirs. He would be so disappointed in the both of them. But Cedric wouldn't run from his responsibility. This was his child, and he intended to care for it, love it, and raise it until it was ready to go out into the world. He wanted this child!

There was only one possible solution. They would move into a place together. This made Cedric's mind go into overdrive at the possibilities. He knew that it meant one or both of them would have to get a job, and he decided that it should be him, since she was going to have more than enough to deal with with the pregnancy, and the stress of her parents making her leave.

"Cho, I have an idea. Why don't we move into a flat together? And for future reference, you and the baby are in no way a burden on me, and never will be. It is my choice to be with you, and it is my choice to be a real father to our child. And I will never regret it. Ever."

Cho retched into the bowl and felt the contents from what she had eaten for breakfast and lunch come up and land in the bowl. God this was going to suck, she absolutely hated vomiting. But she knew that no one really enjoyed it, unless they were bulimic. Shaking her head she wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve and turned her face so that it was in Cedric's chest.

"I feel horrid." she whimpered.

And then she heard it...she heard the question...

"Really, Cedric?" she asked gently. "Oh my Lord! Of course I would love to move in with you! I could never want anything more!"

Cedric was elated. She had said that she wanted to move in with him! And if his father woudn't let her move into the Diggory house, that's exactly what they would do. Cedric wouldn't have the mother of his child be homeless. And he had the feeling that his parents would not let her live with them, even though she carried their grandchild. He would not leave her, even if he was threatened with being disowned.

He didn't know where they would move yet, but he would look for a place for them this weekend. He wanted her to have a home when her time came, and he wanted to be with her every day before, and after that. He knew that he would love her and their child until the day he left this world.

He smiled happily at her, wrapping his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"I will go look for a flat for us this weekend, Cho. I want to find one for us a soon as possible as I don't know what to expect from my father. I don't know if my parents will allow you to live in their house, so I'm just going to find us our own home. You, me and the baby."

He lay his hand tenderly on her stomach again.

Cho snuggled into Cedric and held his hand on her belly. She just could not believe that there was a little person growing inside of her. She was so happy that they were going to have a baby together, it was something she had dreamed about for years. Of course she had thought this would come after a lavish wedding and a beautiful ceremony...but if Cedric was willing to be with her through this then she was happy to go through it.

"I want it to be a girl, Cedric." she whispered. "Our first baby...I would love for her to be a girl."

Taking his hand she gently squeezed it. She knew that if they had a baby girl she would be destined to be a daddy's girl. Cedric would be wrapped around her little finger. Just as she would be wrapped around their babies finger also. She would hold their hearts in her little palm.

"Ced? I...I think I want to lay down...just for a bit. Please stay with me?"

Cedric picked her up and carried her to the bench that he'd found her sitting on. He left her only long enough to get a stack of the fluffy towels and brought them back to her to add some cushioning to the hard seat. When he'd finished with that, he lay her down and sat on the floor by her head, stroking her hair with one hand, and lightly rubbing her stomach with the other. He already felt so much love for the baby that was growing inside her.

He looked down at where his hand lay, smiling. Soon, in a matter of a few months, he would be feeling his child moving there. And he was overcome by a new emotion that he had never felt before and tears came to his eyes. One slid down his cheek. He didn't even bother wiping it away, he just sat there, with his hand over where their baby was now growing. He closed his eyes, letting this new feeling wash over him, then looked at Cho.

"I already feel like I'm a father," he whispered. "How did it happen so fast?" He bent down and kissed her cheek.

"I believe that if you want the baby to be a girl, it will be. And I will do everything in my power to protect both of you."