Switching Sides | Cedric Diggory vs. Fred Weasley

Chapter 50: Their big day

As Millie felt her feet carrying her towards the Burrow, the cool evening breeze of late July hitting her face, a flood of nerves swarmed her body. She hadn't been there in months, and what if George was already back home for the rehearsal dinner? It would be a lie to say she wasn't apprehensive about seeing him. The tension would be unbearable. 

Millie stared at the door as the sky faded to black behind her. There was a wild hesitation, but eventually her knuckles rapped against the wood.

"Just a second!" she heard Molly's voice calling from the kitchen. Mere moments passed before she creaked the door open with a gasp. "Millie, dear!" she cried. She wrapped her arms around the girl and Millie instantly felt at home. Tears brimmed her eyes as she felt the first motherly hug she had in months, maybe years at this point. Molly pulled back and held Millie's face in her hands. "Oh, dear, you're looking much too pale. Come in, have dinner with us. We were just about to sit down,"

"Who is it, mum?" Millie heard Ginny's voice call out before she came into view. "Millie! You came early!"

"I hope that's alright," she blushed, a slight feeling of embarrassment creeping over her as she realized she hadn't alerted them that she was coming sooner than expected. 

"Of course it's alright!" Ginny exclaimed, running over and hugging Millie.

Looking over Ginny's shoulder, Millie saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, Arthur, Percy, and, much to her surprise, Victoria sitting around the dinner table. Victoria was, at one point, Fred's girlfriend. She'd broken up with him partially because of Millie and she wondered whether or not that almost decade old tension would remain, but all of those worries went away when Victoria waved and flashed her a big, kind smile.

"You remember Victoria," Molly said with a smile. 

"Of course," she smiled back. "It's nice to see you,"

"You too!" she said. Millie was always envious of how sweet and genuine Victoria was. She quickly noticed why she was there as her hand was intertwined with Percy's.

Millie hated the relief she felt with the knowledge that George wasn't there, but even still she wanted to see him. It was torture not knowing how he was doing, not being able to check in on him, not having any contact with him whatsoever. She needed her best friend, even if the idea of seeing him made her nauseous with nerves.

She greeted the rest of the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione before Molly had cleared her a spot at the table in which she sat. It was the best dinner she'd had in months, and a lingering sense of hunger she hadn't known was there was quickly diminished as she sat back in her chair, bloated while a whirlwind of conversation flooded the kitchen table. It was comfortable and familiar and Millie hadn't felt so at home in a long, long time.

As Millie, Ginny, and Harry cleaned up after dinner, they chatted about their jobs and how their summers had been going.

"Cedric and I spent the last month or so together at work," Harry stated. "We've been working on tracking down this group of dark wizards that have been traveling through Wales and some neighboring towns,"

"How's that been going?" Millie asked, shoving her excitement at the mention of Cedric's name out of her brain. It's over, she reminded herself, he chose her. 

"Really well, actually," Harry said sounding a bit surprised. "The two of us have worked together a lot since we're the two highest ranked Auror's in the ministry, and he's usually a lot less...I don't know...happy, I guess. He's just been so much more motivated recently. So much more himself," 

"That's great," Millie managed to say, he voice cracking a bit as her heart melted.

Was he happier because of her? She knew how much of an impact Cedric was having on her, but she didn't realize she was having an impact on him, too. Her body flooded with butterflies at the thought, but they were quickly extinguished as she reminded herself again of the reality of the situation. You told him it was over. He's with someone else. It's time to finally move on.