The Girl who Survived (Fred Weasley)

Ch 4. And so, It Began

~Elodie's POV~

​ It was about an hour before sunset, I packed my bag with the undetectable extension charm so everything I would need fit in there. Maybe even a bit more than I would need, just to be safe. I laced my shoes up and flung my bag over my shoulder then made my way downstairs. I grabbed my jumper from the hook and made my way into Minerva's office.
​ "I'm just about ready, do you need anything before I go?" I asked her as she was working over something.
​ "Fill my cup dear, would you?" She asked using the quill in her hand to gesture to her cup of tea. I grabbed the pot next to me and took it over to fill her teacup. "I made the arrangements for your stay with the Weasley's at The Leaky Cauldron tomorrow night. I'll see to it that your trunk makes it to the castle. If you should find yourself in Diagon Alley I suggest you make a stop at Madam Malkin's, pick yourself up a new uniform skirt." She told me, her eyes barely leaving her work.
​ Before I turned to put the pot of tea back in its place I leaned in close and placed a kiss on the top of her head, "What would I do without you?" I asked her and smiled.
​ "Oh hush," she told me. "Not that jumper dear, the warmer one please. If you and Ginny plan to camp outside, be prepared for a bit of a draft," She said raising her eyebrow at me in a look of suspicion.
​ "You know? Don't you?" I told her, realizing I'd been caught.
​ "You forget yourself, dear. Next time you plan on wandering around you should tell young Cedric over there to be a bit more cunning," She said as she motioned to the tree just across the way that Cedric was hiding behind.
​ "Right, well I'll just tell him to be off then," Placing my belongings down.
​ She gave me a hard look for a moment, and then said "And just what did you two think you were going to be up to all night? My stars, do I even care to know?"
​ "No! I mean, no, we weren't going to be doing that!" I said to her, shocked that she would even think that. She knew me and Cedric were just friends, no matter how much I hated that we were just friends. She looked me up and down and then looked out the window over where Cedric had popped his head out to see if I was coming out yet.
​ "Right, well so long as That isn't on your minds, go on," she told me, and I was actually a bit surprised.
​ "Really?" I asked, and she just gave a small smile and nodded her head. ​"Right, well I'm off." I said from the doorway of her office.
​ "Do wish the Weasley's the best for me, I'll be seeing you at the castle my dear," she told me.
​ "I will, bye Mimi," I said.
"Oh, to be young and in love," I rolled my eyes as I heard her say as I made my way out the door.
I turned to wave at her through the window and then I ran over to where Cedric was poorly hiding behind a tree and leaped into his arms. He picked me up effortlessly and spun me around.
"Oh, how the hours passed have made me crave that beautiful smile, the smell of vanilla and those amazing eyes," he spoke into my ear and I could feel him take in a whiff of my hair.
"Mimi said to be more sneaky next time," I said to him before he placed me on the ground. He looked over at the window of her office and waved. "Come on," I said, pulling his arm and leading him down the trail.
"She wasn't very upset with you, was she?" He asked me.
"At me? Never, just needed to clear some things up," I told him being very coy. I don't even know where I'd begin with that conversation. I reached my hand out and he took it intertwining our fingers, as we approached the Portkey. I never had a problem with aspiration, but I was never able to quite get the landing through a portkey.
He let go of my hand and wrapped his hand around my back holding me close. "One, two, three," and we were off. It always made me dizzy, and then the feeling of falling sank in. I felt his arm tighten around me, and then we were on the ground. I stumbled back a little bit but he wouldn't let me fall.
"You're getting better at that," He told me as he released me from his tight embrace. We walked a bit down from the top of the hill and began setting up the tent, all the while I filled him in on what had happened with Harry and blowing up one of our Aunts.
"It's a good thing Fudge was on Harry's side, would have been terrible if he was expelled." Cedric said, his father and him always had an admiration for the minister of magic, he seemed like a man that saw reason, but I never gave it much thought.
"After you my dear," He said, holding the tarp open so I could step into the tent first. This had become a tradition of ours, ending the summer on the same hill, watching the stars, being in each other's company.
"I must admit, I'm not looking forward to all of the studying I'll be needing to do this term for my O.W.L.S." I told him as I planted myself at the table pulling out a book of charms he had in his pack. "Please tell me that there's something in here to extend the summer holiday," I said as he took the seat next to me instead of across from me.
"Believe me, if such a charm existed I would gladly cast it," He said and just sat there for a moment.
"Lost in thought are you now Mr. Diggory?" I asked him, addressing his unusual behavior.
"Just relishing in this moment," he said and turned to look at me.
"Why, Cedric Diggory, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were absolutely smitten with me?" I said in a flirty voice joking with him. Oh how I wished it were true.
"Haven't I always?" He said to me and raised an eyebrow. I just shook my head and looked away. After a moment I got up from my current seat and went to adjust the record player then take a seat on the sofa.
Did I have the courage in me to tell him that it was indeed I that was completely smitten with him? That every other boy in my life was a friend but I wanted more from him. Only him. That as much as I enjoyed his clasping my hand, I wanted that to be followed by a sea of kisses.
"So you're off to the burrow with the Weasley's tomorrow?" He asked me, as he moved over to sit on the sofa with me, but I was sure I had already told him this.
"Yes, from the burrow we're heading to the Leaky Cauldron, then off to the platform. Will you be saving me a seat? I asked him.
"Don't I always?" He told me, and it was true. In my last three years taking the train I'd always boarded with the twins, but somehow always departed with him.
"Yes, you do in fact." I couldn't understand what was happening. He hadn't been this coy all summer and now suddenly...
"Is everything alright?" I asked him, trying to find reason for his strange attitude.
He didn't say anything, he just fidgeted in his seat for a moment and then got up only to relocate in the chair that was next to me.
"So you and the Weasly's get on just fine right?" He asked me ignoring my question.
"Just about, the twins drive me crazy with their antics, but I probably spend more time with them than I do with Ron or Percy. Ginny is fine, but she still keeps to herself a bit." I answered him.
"But you find yourself more inclined to spend more time with the twins, yes? Fred and George?" He asked me to push the issue.
"Would you like a proper introduction? Why do you ask?" I asked him hoping he would catch the growing annoyance in my voice.
"No, but you didn't answer my question," He said lightly.
"You didn't answer mine, what's going on Cedric?" I said I wanting to understand what was happening.
"I just wonder...." He began and then looked away as if he was watching his train of thought pull away.
"Yes?" I said bringing him back to the present.
He shifted in his seat so he was turned to face me, and he reached his hand out to intertwine our fingers, causing me to smile a bit. "I wonder, are you friends with them...or anyone...the way you are with me?" He said in a soft voice sending tingles throughout my body. Could he possibly be asking me if....
"No. Not like this. Only you," I said and watched the corners of his mouth twitch up.
"That's good?" He said, chuckling a bit.
I pulled my hand back, wanting answers before I allowed things to proceed as they were. "Is there a reason for the inquisition?" I asked.
"I'm sorry, I know it seems that way, I just wanted to be sure," he said kindly. It was really hard to stand my ground around him, I wanted to know where he was taking this.
"About how I act in my friendships?" I asked him knowing that wasn't the answer.
"No, more so, how you don't act in your other friendships." He said and looked up to meet my eyes. "Do you remember the other night, when we were in your yard and we saw your neighbors sit outside to look for shooting stars?
"Yes?" I told him, recalling the night perfectly. We had looked at the elderly couple admiring the love that was still between them. Minerva had once told me they had been together for 60 years. It saddened me a bit to think how some people are lucky enough to get so long with their loved ones, and others, so little. That was also the night Cedric had told me he wished to someday find a girl lovely enough to make him want to spend 60 years of his life with. This saddened me further, realizing that he had already met me, and didn't see me as that lovely.
"I've been thinking about that night for a while now. And you see, I feel as though I may have given you the wrong impression," He told me. I didn't understand. His behaviors all night had been the same as they had always been. Nothing he did ever gave me the wrong impression.
"How so?" I asked him.
He raised from his seat in the chair and returned to the sofa, but this time he was sitting a bit closer to me. He turned his body so that one of his knees was on the cushion and he was facing me completely. I mimicked his movements, but instead sat criss cross not minding that my shoes were on top.
"We've been friends for a long time, yes?" He asked and I just nodded. "Well I just worry that I've given you the impression that we want different things in life," He said. This conversation was a bit hazy still. I didn't really know what he was getting at since he kept dancing around the subject.
"And how is that?" The words were almost a whisper, what was happening?
He moved closer, closing the space between us so that our knees were touching. He took both my hands into his massive ones all the while looking down. "Is this alright?" He asked me cocking his head up with a slight smirk on his beautiful lips.
"Yes," I said, barely able to find my voice due to the amount of shock I was feeling.
"You know I would never hurt you, right? I would never let anything bad happen to you," he leaned in a bit as he spoke. I thought about what he just said and it was true. My trust for him was undeniable. I just nodded not knowing what to say.
He leaned into me a bit closer, "Is this okay?" He asked, allowing his breath to wash over my face. Oh how i loved the smell of mint toothpaste.
"Yes," Escaped my lips without me meaning to allow it. Could it be? Was he about to...?
And then suddenly his lips were pressed to mine. Gently at first, the slight pucker of his lips felt like a soft pillow. It felt like my heart stopped beating and a bolt of lightning was flowing through my veins. If i never did anything else in my life, i was glad to have done this.
He pulled away and rested his forehead on mine. I opened my eyes, to see his were still closed. "Was that okay?" He whispered and opened his eyes.
I couldn't think of words, my mind kept replaying the feeling of his lips touching mine over and over again. I looked at him a moment longer and all I could think to say was "What took you so long?" And a huge smile erupted over my face.
He chuckled, making the amazing smell of his breath blow over my face once more. "I just needed to be sure you'd be okay with this"
"I'm sure," I told him immediately. He put a hand on the side of my face, cradling it.
We spent the rest of the night turning the ceiling into a night sky, and exchanging little kisses here and there. When I was tired enough we laid in the little cot in the corner, and we fell asleep. His arms holding onto me as though he never wanted to let me go. When I felt his light snores behind my ear, I wondered would things remain the same tomorrow? Or had we found a new beginning?