Serendipity (Fred Weasley HP)

Chapter Seven - Dating Do's And Don'ts

Halley, Alicia, Angelina, Violet, Alex, Ginny and Maisie were all sat together in the Great Hall at lunch, one cold afternoon, discussing the latest goings-on in their world. In other words, boys. 

"My parents gave me the talk when I said I had a boyfriend last year, it was the most uncomfortable thing I'd ever experienced. I'd rather have double potions with Snape." Angelina laughed and shook her head before finishing off her crisps. 

"Dad just about had a heart attack when Dean accidentally held my hand in class. I was just passing him a quill." Maisie grumbled and picked at the chicken sandwich she had on her plate. 

"I had an angry letter from my dad because I'd asked to have Cedric over for a couple of days over the summer, he thought he was my boyfriend." Violet snorted as if nothing could be further from the truth. 

"Speaking of Cedric. I still want to know how the date went." Alex asked with her chin in her hand, staring at her dark-haired friend who turned the shade of Ginny's hair. A chorus of yeah's filtered around the group and suddenly all eyes were on Halley. 

"Which one? We've had three so far." A few people had looked shocked at this new information but the rest simply said the first of course. This made Hal cup her cheeks with her cold hands in the hope that they'd cool down her warm face. "Alright..." 

"Cedric I'm going to trip, I'm really not the most coordinated person as it is." Halley laughed and held her arms out in front of her just in case. Cedric had surprised her by insisting that she wear a blindfold while he guided her to the location for their date. It seemed like a fun idea at first but Hal was growing increasingly nervous about where she was stepping. They weren't in the castle anymore because she could feel the cold wind whipping around her and the ground was softer than the stone floors she was so used to walking on. 

"You really think I'd let you trip over? I've got you." He reassured her and held one of her gloved hands in his. "It's not much further, then I promise you can take the blindfold off." He said close to her ear causing goosebumps to rise up her neck. 

Eventually, Cedric stopped her with his hand and untied the blindfold revealing the Quidditch pitch. "So you're going to dazzle me with your flying skills?" She smiled and looked at him questioningly. 

"No, although I could do that later." He winked which made Halley blush deeply. "My parents always encouraged me to face my fears and when you said that heights was one of yours I wanted to help you the way they helped me. I think it's important to give everything in life a go, even if it ultimately doesn't work out. I don't want to leave this world regretting all the things I never did" He said honestly and picked up his broom. 

Halley didn't know what to say, it was quite possibly the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. She was scared yes, but Cedric was so patient and supportive, I made her want to do it just to be a more confident person like him. "We'll try it and if you still don't like it we'll stop. Then I'll impress you with my flying skills." He grinned and held out a hand as he mounted the broom. 

Halley slipped her hand into his and he showed her how to mount the broom in front of him. He slipped his arms under hers and held the broom with two hands just below where her's were clutching the broom and checked to make sure she was ready before kicking off from the ground hard. 

The dark-haired witch closed her eyes as they rose a few feet and she felt Cedric chuckle behind her. "You can open your eyes, we aren't that far off the ground, I'm just getting you used to the feeling." He kept his grip firm on the broom and kept her close, determined for nothing to go wrong. She very very slowly opened one eye and looked around, her heart hammering in her chest. Realising that they were in fact only a few feet off the ground she opened the other eye and tried to breathe normally. 'You can do this, don't faint.' she thought encouragingly to herself as Cedric made them rise a few more feet.