FIC: Land of the Blind
Challenge:Thrilled to be the first one to figure out what to dowith his egg, Cedric offers his help to all of the other champions inturn - for a price.
Title: Land of the Blind
Beta: Thank you very much, simons_flower!
Pairing(s): Crouch-Moody/Cedric, Cedric/Fleur, Cedric/Viktor, Cedric/Cho, Cedric/Harry
Rating: R
Summary: Some lessons hurt more than others, but Cedric knows they are necessary.
Length: 1435 words
Warning(s): slash, het, cynicism, voyeurism, occasional dubious consent alluded to
A/N: For the record, I haven't got a thing against anyone in Hufflepuff House (Barty Jr and I don't share a worldview).



The original </a></b></a>triwizardfqf post of this fic is right here.





"Tsk,tsk, Diggory. Clearly, you aren't interested in winning the second task-- or the Triwizard Tournament. Very well. This school still has achampion. I believe he won't squander his chances so foolishly."

Mywooden leg creaks angrily against its bindings as I stand, leaningheavily back in my chair. It had taken me days to learn a proper gait,and even longer to get used to the abhorrent clicking and tapping andthe pain of scarred, tender flesh against wood as I walked, making thiscrippled remnant of a body my own. There is a certain pleasure inknowing that under all the twisted meat and gnarled bones, I remainwhole and strong. There is a certain pleasure in knowing that under thesure skin and confident smile of the boy who stands in my office,confusion, fear and anxiety make their nest; his fingers clench andunclench reflexively behind his back.

He knows I see throughhim. He can sense me etching into the tiny cracks in his careful facadeof white teeth, success and sharp cheekbones. I am leeching past thecocky grins and the shiny badge and the endless parade of friends,right into the cold, shivering center of him where he has nothing. Deepin that special, lonely spot, Cedric Diggory is just a Hufflepuff, andeveryone knows what that lot's all about. He may be captain of hisQuidditch team, he may be Prefect of his corridors, but like they say, in the land of the blind... he knows the rest. Of course, they're a friendly bunch, never travelingalone, but with packs of mates and pals, because a whole lot ofnobodies almost adds up to a somebody. A Triwizard champion,that's almost a somebody all by himself, regardless of House. ATriwizard winner -- well, that's a great big somebody, especially for aboy from a village on the Otter river, small enough not to make it ontomost maps.

We know all this, Cedric and I, and so he remakes his decision, spelling shut my office door, his grey eyes gone hard.

"You must be tired and hurting, Professor Moody. Why don't you sit back down - there you go - and let me take care of you."

Hekneels in front of my chair -- oh, how he loathes being on his knees,even if it means standing just a smidgeon taller later -- and begins tounlace me. When his breath tickles across the head of my cock -- ascarred, bent root -- I allow myself a contented sigh. When his mouthcloses around me, I begin to talk.

On his knees, pre-comedribbling onto his tongue, Cedric learns. His eyes are closed, and hemoves perhaps a bit faster than I'd like, but I cannot blame him forcounting the seconds in anticipation of the end. He learns about costand humiliation commingled with strategy and victory, and he swallowsit all without gagging, for which I allow him a little bonus.

"Onemore thing for when you get the egg open. You don't want to misssomething -- someone -- ordinary. Make it a beauty, a brain, a talent-- you deserve nothing less."


~~~~~~~~


Later thatnight, I watch him in my foe-glass, which doesn't distinguish betweenenemies great and small. He has learned his lesson quite well; theblonde French girl laves him expertly with her little pink tongue as hebreathily tells her how to cast a proper Bubblehead charm. As he pullson her hair, making sure she dares not spit, I momentarily feel proudof Cedric -- and to a lesser extent, my teaching ability. Perhaps Iought to approach the boy with a consolation prize after he's thetournament runner-up and the Dark Lord has Potter. The Dark Lord and Icould always use another apt pupil.


~~~~~~~~


"Why would you help me?" the Bulgarian asks suspiciously. "You want win, no?"

My little Hufflepuff prodigy pulls a bright, toothy grin out of his arsenal.

"Of course, I am goingto win. But I want that uppity Veela-want-to-be to come in last, notsecond. She's got a plan, and she's been practicing all evening. If youand I come in at the top on this one, we'll have the advantage in thelast task -- and we'll go at it man to man, real sportsman-like. Youdon't want to be competing for the win with a girl or a child, do you?What kind of victory would that be? You could beat the fourth-year inyour sleep, whereas I can provide you a real challenge. Besides,"Cedric cocks his head, "I've seen you looking at me, Viktor. Let'scombine the productive with the pleasant, shall we?"

The oldman's cock may be past its peak, but it does what I want in my mangledfist, and I make my strokes hard and insistent. The boys are tangledtogether, a mess of hair and knees and moans, but I chuckle when I seeit's only Cedric's hand around Viktor's prick, even as the latterreciprocates with lips, tongue and throat. Cedric's fingers movemechanically up and down, a regular lackluster wank, even as he slamshis hips against Viktor's mouth for all he's worth.


~~~~~~~~


"You're so clever. I don't know what I'd do without you," he confesses in a toneless voice.

Thegirl is the same one he took to the Yule Ball, an excellent choice,pretty and popular yet studious, and, most importantly, not aHufflepuff. She's not a Slytherin, of course; nothing to be done forit, as no Slytherin girl would ever involve herself with a boy wearingyellow and black robes.

"You're so sweet!" she squeaksenthusiastically, absolutely oblivious to the lack of sincerity inCedric's voice, "want to try it again? Go ahead, on three."

Onher count, he casts another Bubblehead charm over her flushed face. Hedoesn't need the practice, the spell is perfect, but he does need tospend time with her, enough to convince any tournament staff that hewould never let anything happen to her.

"Thank you for helping me, Cho. I think I've got it now," Cedric says, following it up with a "Finite Incantatem"and closing the distance between them. The girl blushes even more,waiting obediently for his arms to wrap around her small frame, for hismouth to land on hers.

After a few moments, he breaks off the kiss.

"Want to try something new?" he asks, pulling her hand to his trousers.


~~~~~~~~


"Nosuch thing as free advice, Potter," he whispers, watching the boyemerge from the pool. Potter is toweling off, his little arse pink fromthe steamy heat of the bath.

"Need some more help, Harry?" Cedric inquires, taking Potter's towel from his hands.

"I...Cedric! You are naked.... I am naked! What are you... Oh fuck, what areyou -- I didn't think you liked me... like that," Potter whispers,red-faced, as Cedric pulls away. "You are with Cho, and... and... I...you did this... thing, with the egg, all this, because you... like me?"

"Ofcourse," Cedric hisses sinuously, wrapping himself around Potter like anude, tanned serpent. "Of course I like you. I'm not in the habit ofkissing people I don't like... catching them naked in the bath..."

Thetowel goes around Potter's shoulders, and Cedric holds both ends,trapping the boy's shivering body close. This is going beyond my lessonand into extra credit. There is a great huge gap between Cedric Diggoryand Harry Potter, the boy from nowhere and the boy who lives in stolenglory, and Cedric knows that closing it is something he'll have to doagain and again.

"I was so jealous of her," Potter mumbles,staring at Cedric's toes. "Why couldn't you just -- I don't know,just," he reaches out and strokes Cedric's chest tentatively,appreciatively, "just tell me?"

"I am telling you now, Harry," Cedric relents, and I cover the foe-glass with a piece of cloth, this part of my task well done.


~~~~~~~~


"The third task, Professor," he says, shutting my office door behind him. "I hear there's going to be a maze."

"Perhaps,"I smile, well aware of the way the skin stretches and pulls across thismess of a face as my mouth opens. Cedric pays it no mind, his tonguecircling his own lips.

"That leg must be such a bother,Professor Moody," he says, closing his eyes for a long moment, and whenhe opens them again, they are iron. "Perhaps you'd feel better if youtook it off and relaxed for a while. Here, let me help you with that."