What If? Year 2

Chapter 41

"Goldie, time for lunch!" Ara sings, skipping around my bed and shutting all my books.
"Ara! I needed those!"
"You can finish up later!" she says, "I told you to change!"
"Sorry, I had a lot to do," I tell her, "I'll change right now..." I grab some plaid pants and a brown sweater and quickly throw it on quickly. I brush through my hair before Ara grabs it and braids it.
"Your hair is so long," she complains, "but it's so pretty."
"I'm not sure if that was meant of a compliment or... it was backhanded, wasn't it." Ara giggles and ties up the braid.
"There you are," she says, "go have fun, Golds. He's excited."
"Has he been waiting down in the corridor this whole time?" Ara nods and pushes me towards the door.
"Wait! I need shoes!" I grab my boots and tie them up quickly.
"Alright, go get 'em."

As soon as the portrait hole opens, Cedric has me in his arms.
"Oh, love," he says, setting me down from the death grip he has me in, "these are for you." He hands me a bouquet, making me smile. Marigolds, daisies and lilies are tied together with yellow ribbon.
"Thank you, Ced," I say, "I love them." He smiles and traces a line with his finger across my collar bone.
"Is... is that what he did?" I look down and see a pink line across my chest that I didn't even notice before.
"Y-yeah... but it's alright," I tell him, "it's all healed up and in the past." He lifts my chin and winks at me.
"Come on, we've got some seats reserved." I smile at him and offer him my hand. He takes it and squeezes it before leading my to the Great Hall. We sit down on the edge of the Hufflepuff table and he looks over his shoulder at someone.
"What are you doing?" I ask him, as he mouths something to someone. He turns to me and grabs my hands.
"Don't worry about it, love," he says, giving me a wink, "just some nice service with a little help of my friends." Tricia comes up behind me and smiles to me.
"We have strawberries, salad, blueberries, turkey sandwiches, ham sandwiches, and ice cream sandwiches." I look at Cedric and he chuckles.
"I'll have some strawberries, with a ham sandwich," he orders, "please." Tricia nods and turns to me.
"What about you, Miss?"
"I'll have a salad and a turkey sandwich," I say softly, "thanks, Tricia." She nods and walks off. I stare at Cedric, who is just all smiles.
"How much did you pay her?" I ask.
"I paid off all their tabs at the Three Broomsticks during the last Hogsmeade trip," he whispers, "bunch of heavy drinkers the lot." I giggle as Micah and Max run up behind Cedric. They whisper something to him and hand things to him behind his back.
"Nice to see you, Goldie," Micah states before grabbing Max and running off. He pulls a box of chocolate from behind his back.
"You're crazy," I tell him. Now Jack and Allen run behind him and give him something else.
"Love the sweater." Jack giggles before him and Allen run in opposite directions
"I don't know how I feel about the amount of thought you've put into this," I tell him, "what have you got now?" He smiles and looks down at his lap.
"I don't know... maybe you don't want it."
"Don't be such a tease," I say, "you know I love your schemes." He smiles and hands me a little deer stuffed animals.
"Aww," I whimper, "it's so cute." I hug it to my chest and Cedric chuckles.
"I thought you might like plushies," he says, "and you seem to like deer... and you have an actual cat, so."
"I love it, Cedric," I tell him, "thank you, love." He nod and reaches over to grab my hands again. He tells me about his week and how all the Hufflepuffs were so confused when they were forced into the Great Hall in the middle of the night.
"Yeah... well I can tell you that none of the Gryffindors were confused about that part. More confused about waking up to screaming." Cedric chuckles and rubs my hands lightly.
"Well, don't worry, I'm not ever leaving you alone again. Either you'll be with me, Ara, Harry, or Hermione. I love you and don't really want your life to be threatened every other day." I smile and nod to him.
"Yeah... my bad." Tricia sets food down in front of us and I smile at her.
"Anything else?"
"No, I'm alright... thanks." I grab a water pitcher and pour it into my glass. Cedric says something to her and she nods. We eat in peace and he occasionally pops in questions about my classes. We talk back a forth once we're done with out food.
"How are you feeling about mid-terms coming up?"
"Fine, actually," I reply, "I understand everything... even though I've missed at least a week of classes. How about you?"
"I mean... we're just working towards O.W.L.s, so they said that out mid-terms won't be to hard." I smile.
"That's good. How about your O.W.L.s? Are you feeling alright about them?"
"I think I'll be ready once they come along," he answers.
"I'll help you with whatever you need," I tell him, "I can make flashcards and all sorts of stuff!" Cedric chuckles.
"You're welcome to do that if you'd like," he says, "but you don't have to."
"You helped me study, so why not? I also... like making flashcards." He laughs and shakes his head.
"Of course you do, love." I smile and he gets up and offers his hand.
"Are you up for a small adventure?"
"Are... are we going outside?" I ask, as I take his hand.
"No, just a wander around the inside of the castle." I smile and get up besides him.
"Good... I'm not a big fan of the outside right now."
"I've heard, but we can do stuff inside."
"Like what?" He gives me a dangerous smirk before pulling me after him.