What If? Year 2

Chapter 8

"Please don't leave," I whine, my arms and legs squeezing Cedric closer to me. His laughter only makes me want him to stay more.
"Golds, I'll see you next week at Diagon Alley, alright?"
"That's to long. Can't you just stay here till then?" Dad clears his throat, but then I hear him whining around his hair hurting. I look around and see Mum pulling Dad, Sirius, and Remus from the room and giving me a thumbs up.
"You've got ten minutes," she says, making me smile, "Say your goodbyes.. James Fleamont Potter get back in there! It was wonderful to see you again, Cedric!"
"You too, Mrs. Potter. Thanks for having me." Mum nods and shuts the door and we can hear her yelling at all three grown men in the next room. I laugh and press my face to Cedric's chest.
"You do realize that if I'm still here in ten minutes they might kill me?" he jokes. I squeeze him harder, but laugh at him.
"They wouldn't dare!" I snarl, as he scratches my scalp. He lets me stay there, just hugging him for a while.
"You know.. once we get back to Hogwarts, we can spend every evening together." I smile and rock left to right in happiness.
"I'm so excited!" I tell him, "and we can talk without being interrupted by my dad." Cedric laughs and starts to unpin me from him.
"I actually don't mind him," Cedric says, "he's fun.. so are your uncles." I shake my head as he makes me stand an arms length away from him.
"I don't know about fun.. maybe interesting." I reply, trying to get back to hugging him, "let me hug you, please!" Cedric chuckles as I whine and push against his hands.
"But, Goldie," he says, making me stop my struggle, "I have one more think that I wanted to do today." He moves his hands to my shoulder blades and I smile.
"And what is that?" He smirks and moves his hands up to the back of my head. I look up at him and pulls me towards him slowly. I suddenly realize what's going on, and my face turns pink. My mind freezes and I stand, almost stock still. He softly presses a kiss to my lips, making my arms less tense. I close my eyes and lean into him. I feel a smile on his lip as my hands wrap around his waist again.
I love him
He sighs and we pull away. His arms stay around me and I press my ear to his chest. His heart is racing just as fast as mine, which makes me smile. We let go of each other, after a few minutes of just hugging.
"You.. oh, Cedric." I go back to hug him again. He sets his chin on my head and I smile. We let go of each other and I grab his hand.
"I think our time is almost up," he whispers, "I'll see you in a week." I smile and pull him closer to me again. I got up on my tip toes and quickly press my lips to his right cheek. He smiles and lets go of me.
"Bye, Cedric," I say, hugging him again, "I'll see you in a week."
"Bye, love," he says, kissing my hand, "I'll see you in a week." I open the door to the hallway and all four adults are waiting by the door.
"You're early," Dad says, cutting in between us, "this is suspicious.. what happened in there?" I step on his foot, softly, trying to keep the butterflies in my stomach from giving me away.
"We just said goodbye, we were... what.. a few seconds early?" I reply, glaring at my two uncles. Mum laughs and nods.
"Yeah.. I've gotta go," Cedric says, "My dad's probably waiting for me outside, and I didn't want to keep him waiting any longer. Thank you all for having me."
"Bye, Cedric," Mum and Remus say, pleasantly.
"Goodbye, Cedric," Sirius and Dad say, not so pleasantly. Mum and I wack the both of them as Cedric shuts the front door.
"Best birthday present ever," I whisper, hugging my mom. She laughs and hugs me back.
"Hey!" Dad complains, "Where's my hug? I behaved!" I laugh and spin to hug him too. He picks me up and spins me around. We both laugh as he sets me down.
"What about us?" Sirius asks, as Remus opens his arm, "We did good too!" I run to hug Remus, and Sirius joins us as well.
"I mean, we'll see you tomorrow too," Remus says, "we've got a lot of fun thinks planed too." I smile and they let go of me.
"And tomorrow," Sirius leads, "you'll tell us all about your day today?" I smirk and look at him.
"I thought you were always watching," I tease, scrunching up my nose. He chuckles and rushes to me. He tickles me a few times, but gets kicked enough to make him stop quickly.
"I've gotta go talk with Ara," I tell them, "I'll see you tomorrow. I love you!" Remus smiles and grabs Sirius by his leather jacket.
"I love you too, Goldie," Remus says.
"Love you, Golds." They apparate away and Dad pats my shoulder.
"But you'll tell us right?" Dad asks, "We saw, but I'd like to hear about it from you!" I smile and pat his hand.
"I'll think about it." Mum laughs and combs her fingers through my hair.
"Alright.. go talk with Ara."

"Ara!" I exclaim, bursting in her room, "Ara! ARA! ARA!" I jump onto her bed, where she is trying to read. I keep jumping as she sets her book down.
"Yes?" I jump off her bed, and continue my jumping.
"You'll never.. guess what happened." I squeal, but also try to suppress it. Ara laughs at me and kneels on her bed.
"Just tell me," she whines, "You're all excited.. its kind of adorable." I sit down and hug her. My heart is still pounding as Ara rubs my back.
"Your heart is racing.. what happened?"
"I.. I'm too excited," I tell her, getting back up and pacing around her room, "You might just have to guess. I might explode if I try to tell you." Ara laughs, as I shake my heads vigorously and bounce on the balls of my feet.
"I don't know.."
"Just guess, Ara! For the love of Merlin."
"Did your Dad do something stupid?"
"Has nothing to do with him."
"Just Cedric and you then?"
"Yep."
"Wait.. did you guys kiss?" I squeal again and this time she joins me. She jumps up and hugs me. We both jump up and down.
"That's awesome!" Ara says, "you guys are literally so cute! You have to tell me all about it." I nod.
"Well, we.." I hear someone walking up the stairs. I tell Ara to shush and open the door to an upset looking Dad.
"Dad?" I tease, "Your sneaking skills need some work." He smiles, weakly which makes me worry. He always laughed at me jokes, even when they weren't funny.
"I've gotta go into work, flower," he says, "your mother and uncles too. We should be back by the morning, but you guys are going to have to stay at the Burrow tonight." Ara comes over to my side.
"Did something happen?" I ask, as Ara grabs my now trembling hand.
"Someone escaped from Azkaban," he whispers.
"I thought that was impossible," Ara comments, "who.. who was it?" I look at Dad, and there is actual fear in his eyes.. and very uncommon occurrence.
"Peter Pettigrew," he says, "And he's after you, Marigold... and Harry."