HP: Becoming a Maiden Heartthrob

"What would you like for dinner, Lillian?"

After changing in the locker room, Cedric tilted his head to look at Narilian and asked, his gaze falling from the top of her hair to their holding hands. He moved closer to her without making a sound, bringing them closer.

"I don't know," Nalilian looked confused.

Is there anything else you can eat at Hogwarts?

"Then can I cook for you today?" Cedric asked gently.

When he was taking care of Nalilian this summer, he discovered that she was really picky about food.

She doesn't show it when Kston is around, probably because Kston will control her and not let her be picky about food. But once Kston is not around, she loses interest in food and gives up after eating a few bites, which makes her thinner than her peers.

Her wrist was so thin that most of his fingers had to be left exposed when he held it, which made him very worried about her health.

Nalilian nodded in agreement.

Cedric took a secluded road and led Narielen to the Hufflepuff common room.

"Ced, there's something I forgot to tell you." Narilian said as they walked down the street, "I'm going to help the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

She agreed to Senior Wood because when Kston gave her the sample book, she asked him if she could give the book to someone else. Kston told her that she could give the book to anyone and tell anyone about it, because they all needed publicity.

Since she was avoiding Ced at that time, she asked Toxton to ask Ced. After all, this book was the result of his and Ced's hard work. Giving the book to Hermione was equivalent to giving it to Gryffindor.

Kerston had told her that Ced didn't care, but now that she was with Ced, Nalilian decided she needed to ask him in person.

Cedric didn't say anything when he heard this question. He had received information from Kston before.

He didn't mind what she wanted to do with the book, and was even happy that she was still thinking about whether he would be angry and let Kerston explain to him.

But now...

He looked at Nalilian with a smile in his eyes.

If he doesn't agree, will she be very anxious?

After Nalilian finished speaking, she didn't get a response from Seide, so she couldn't help but look at him, feeling a little nervous.

Did Sede care about this?

"If you're unhappy, I'll go and reject Senior Wood," Nalilian said anxiously.

"Won't this embarrass you?" Cedric asked, frowning.

"What does that matter?" Nalilian blurted out.

If this made him unhappy, she would do anything to make amends.

Cedric felt relieved and smiled. "Now that you say that, I don't mind, Lillian."

"Ah," Nalilian paused, looked at him in confusion, and then reacted, "Were you kidding me just now?"

She was both angry and amused. She broke free from his hand and didn't want to pay any attention to him.

Cedric took her hand slowly again and softened his voice to coax her, "Then we'll be rivals from now on, Lillian."

"Well," Nalilian responded seriously, "I won't lose to you."

Cedric's smile widened, "I'm looking forward to it."

The two young wizards walked all the way into the basement, passing by the large wooden barrel that led to the Hufflepuff common room.

Narilla thought Cedric was going to take her to the Hufflepuff common room, but Cedric led her past the large wooden barrels and down the stone underground corridor to a painting of fruit.

"Where is this?" Nalilian asked curiously.

“An interesting place.”

Cedric said, gently tickling the pear in the painting, and the pear laughed and turned into a green doorknob, which was pulled open by Cedric.

"Slow down," Cedric warned, holding onto the top edge of the door frame. The place was not big, and the aisle was dim, so it was easy to fall.

Nalilian responded and slowly walked in under Cedric's guidance.

It was a large, high-ceilinged room, and bright light streamed in from the tall windows, illuminating the surrounding stone walls and making the neatly arranged copper utensils gleam.

A group of house-elves were busy on the stove under the kitchen utensils. They brought the prepared meals to the four large dining tables in the center of the room, and the dishes disappeared.

Seeing Nalilian and Cedric, they stopped and looked over.

Nalilian realized that this was the kitchen of Hogwarts. She remembered there was such a place, but she didn't expect it to be like this.

"You're here again, Mr. Diggory," said one of the tall, thin house-elves.

"Good afternoon, Qiqi. Sorry to bother you. I'll cook next time. You guys can do your own thing. Don't worry about us."

Cedric said, causing the other house elves to nod and return to their busy work.

He pulled Nalilian to sit at a small dining table and said, "Wait a moment, I'll go cook."

Narilla saw Cedric walk up to the tall and thin house-elf whom he called Kiki. The other party moved aside the stove for him, then took a light yellow wild flower from the flowerpot next to him, the kind of flower that could be seen everywhere outside the lawn of Hogwarts, and walked up to her.

"Beautiful lady," it held out the branch to her, "may I have the honor of knowing your name?"

Nalilian couldn't help but smile and accepted the small wild flower. "Hello, Qiqi, thank you for the flowers. My name is Nalilian Ende."

"So you are Mr. Diggory's partner," Chichi said, sitting opposite Nallylian.

Although he had big bulbous eyes and pointed hairless ears, like a molting mouse, he gave Nalilian a gentlemanly feeling, so she had no resistance to him.

"I'm so sorry to bother you," Nalilian began.

"You don't need to apologize. It's our honor to serve you," Qiqi said. "And every time Mr. Diggory comes, he always shares some delicious recipes with us. We all welcome Mr. Diggory."

Nalilian paused and looked at Cedric who was cooking. He was dicing tomatoes. He always made desserts of many flavors for her as if using magic, bringing her surprises.

But she seemed to have forgotten how much practice it takes to produce a finished product.

"Mr. Diggory is very attentive," said Chichi. "He is much better than my former master at pleasing his partner."

"The former male owner?" asked Nalilian.

"Yes, a husband who allowed his partner to give birth at the age of 40 and abandoned his sick partner at home for several years without caring about her," Qiqi sighed.

"That doesn't sound good," Nalilian said diplomatically.

Qiqi shook his head. "It's more than bad. My poor former mistress lost her life before she was fifty."

Nalilian opened her mouth, looking at the house elf with grief in his eyes. She didn't know what to say, so she could only comfort him, "My condolences."

Qiqi looked at Nalilian and said, "I shouldn't talk too much about my former master's life, but Miss Ende, please forgive me for being frank. A man who cooks to please a woman is truly worth cherishing."

Nalilian was startled, then nodded solemnly and said, "Thank you, Qiqi."