The Tale of Guinevere

Nothing Will Be The Same Again

Married life. It wasn't that much different than how we were the months before, except the honeymoon phase hasn't stopped yet and we were married for over three months now. We were just packing up our things at the cottage in Australia to head to Azia, ready for the next part of our adventure. We had a goodbye party with our muggle friends the night before, and Cedric was showering to get refreshed after the long night.

Suddenly I felt arms circling around my waist from behind and a nose nuzzled my neck. "I'm going to miss this smell." He said breathing in.

"Smell?" I frowned.

"The smell of the sea." He reassured me. "When does our portkey leave?"

"In an hour." I placed my hands on his, and leaned back. "I'm going to miss it here."

"Me too." He kissed my neck. "Think we have time to say farewell." He kissed the sensitive spot behind my ear. I turned in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck. Just as I went to lean in, Charlie's Patronus appeared, the mystical dragon opened its mouth.

"Gwen, Cedric." Charlie's voice came, it was shaking a bit, which made me worry. "Dumbledore is dead. I'll explain later, can you two come to the sanctuary. We need to talk."

"Dumbledore's death." We whispered in astonishment as the dragon vanished.

"What does that mean?" I asked, fear in my eyes. "What's going to happen?"

"I don't know." He caressed my cheek. "Nothing good, I presume. With you-know-who back and Dumbledore gone..." He shook his head lightly. "But we have each other that is all that matters."

I leaned my head against his chest. "So, change of plans."

"Yeah. I'll change the Portkey. You go get our things and we'll leave in ten."

"Right." I nodded and went to step away from him, but he pulled me back and kissed me passionately. He took a few steps until my back ended up against the wall, his hand was still on my cheek, and he guided my head to the side. The kiss was not just filled with passion, but with worry. With knowing that things would never be the same again. Their peaceful life, full of travel, just the two of them was going to end in ten minutes and their life would never be the same again.

With one last look at the cottage, and the beach behind it where we got married, we disappeared with a pull behind the navel. Another familiar cottage came into view a few seconds later, but this one was surrounded by mountains and trees. Bash was pacing in the kitchen nervously, biting his fingernails while Charlie was writing at the kitchen table, his head bent low and crease between his brows. We placed our things on the floor, the little thump made them look up. Bash stopped his pacing and came over quickly and engulfed me in a hug.

"Can't breathe." I gasped as his grip was tight.

"Sorry." He muttered. When he pulled back, he looked pale and worried. I cupped his cheek. "I'm okay." He took in a deep breath. "Just worried."

I pulled him back in a hug. As I looked over his shoulder, I saw Charlie greet Cedric and whisper something to him.

"So, what happened?" I asked once we all sat down at the kitchen table, Cedric held my hand firmly, giving it an extra squeeze when the married men in front of us shared a look.

"Snape... Snape killed Dumbledore." Bash finally said.

"What?!" Cedric and I nearly shouted in shock. And so, Charlie and Bash told us what happened the night in the castle. How the order came to the castle after death eaters broke in. How Harry had seen it all. How... how Bill was attacked. After the story it was silent for a long time. The tea in front of us, untouched, already turned cold.