a rose by any other name

chapter fourteen ❃ mystery man

I opened the letter hesitantly.

Dear Parisa,

I know you have not forgotten about the upcoming events, and I am sure you are as excited as I am proud. I am sure that you know by now that Draco will also be receiving this honour on the same day as you. I heard that you are sticking faithfully to your true friends again, and this is very good. I see that you have got over your silly questions and finally understand how lucky you are. What I would have given at your age to be chosen. I am sure you are also aware that there is something special about around your birthday, I cannot tell you what over letter, but all will become clear very soon.

Lucius and I have arranged for you and Draco to be sent home on the morning of your birthday at 9am. The 14th of January will be a very special day for all of us and I cannot wait to see the new you. It is very important that you make it clear who's side you're on, during the final task of the Triwizard Championship. Please do not ask questions, as I cannot give you answers. Just ensure that you do this.

Your Mother and I look forward to seeing you. Please burn this immediately.

I held the parchment in my hands and read over it again and again. It was like It suddenly became real again, I'd blocked it out mostly, especially now I was with Cedric. But here it was in writing, staring me right in the face, and I couldn't ignore it anymore. I grabbed my wand and whispered "Incendio." The letter burst into flames and I watched it burn on my window sill until there was nothing left but a pile of ash. I got into bed and was out immediately.

I woke up and it was still light out, I checked the clock on my bedside table, and it read '10am' I had slept for almost twenty-four hours. I looked at my bedside table again and noticed a box that I hadn't seen before, and I had no idea how it got there. I sat up and grabbed the box. On top was a piece of parchment, I unfolded it and it read.

-For my Angel,

so I am with you, no matter what happens.

My heart almost melted right on the spot. I opened the letter and inside was a necklace. The most gorgeous necklace I had ever seen. It was a golden pair of angel wings, on the front in the middle of the wings was a small emerald. On the back was a yellow diamond, which could only be seen when you turned it over. It was perfect. I got up and walked over to my dressing table, I clasped the necklace at the back and the wings sat perfectly in-between my collar bones. I admired them. "Oooooo, who's that from, does Ris have a mystery man?" I quickly turned around; I had completely forgotten about Pansy. "You slept for a whole twenty-four hours Ris, what have you been doing?" Pansy laughed and I didn't say anything. "Fine, be all mysterious, but I'll find out one day and you know it." I laughed back, soon there wouldn't be anything for her to find out, so I wasn't worried. "So, what did I miss?" I asked her to change the subject. "Oh, nothing much, you know what the weekends are like around here, everybody's always asleep." I chuckled; she was right. "Although, I did hear a rumour" oh pansy and her gossip, "Apparently Cedric Diggory, You know that Hufflepuff who's in the Triwizard Tournament?" I smiled to myself and nodded, she had no idea how much I knew him. "Yeah, so apparently Cho Chang thought she was his girlfriend, but they had a whole dramatic argument at dinner last night because Cedric told her he didn't like her at all, apparently he's in love with someone else." I didn't know what to say really, but I knew I had to pull myself together, I was absolutely dying inside. He was in love with someone? Of course, I knew who that someone was but he actually loved me? "Wow, Pansy this need to know all the gossip is getting bad, being interested in Hufflepuff drama? What would Draco say?" I laughed and she laughed back. "Oh, you know me, and you know Draco will love to use that against her if she ever beats him at quidditch." We both laughed because we knew it was true. Draco loved gossip just as much as she did, he was worse than a girl sometimes.

Pansy's mention of dinner reminded me that I hadn't eaten in a long time, and my stomach rumbled. As I was getting ready for the day, I noticed the small pile of ash on the window sill and the contents of my father's letter came back to me. He was proud, and I knew that should have made me happy but how could it? He was proud of me for all the wrong reasons. Everything was just so wrong. I needed to tell Cedric about when I was leaving, but I didn't want it to affect our last week's together. I decided it would be best if he didn't know until after the final challenge. He needed to focus on that completely. From what Krum had told me, and from what Dumbledore had said, this final challenge would be the worst of them all, the most dangerous, the most life threatening. I was almost dreading it more than my birthday. I just wanted Cedric to be safe.

authors note: aweee Cedric's such a sweetheart bless him. I think, since you're reading a Cedric fanfic right now, we can all agree that dating Cedric would be a dream. Parisa should be calling him Angel. Thank you so so much, for reading! Please VOTE <3