Undying Devotion: A Weasley Love Story.

Chapter 9: Fighting.

Orange and yellow leaves slowly littered the ground as September faded into October and October faded into November. Mass hysteria consumed the castle with the fear of Sirius Black and his unknown whereabouts. I found it rather amusing until he managed to get inside the castle and slash of the portrait of the Fat Lady. That sure wiped the smirk off my face.

Things with Fred were at an all-time low. We rarely spoke. I admit, I missed him terribly and I did still have a lot of feelings for him. I know he must have had them for me too because he couldn’t look at me. He always turned away with a sad expression that always made me feel guilty. George and I had many late night talks that I was positive Fred did not know about. George had, on more than one occasion, literally begged me to forgive Fred and get back with him just so our group did not break up. I knew he understood why I could not just get over it, and I also knew why he desperately wanted to pretend like nothing had happened. It was really hard on all of us.

            Cedric and I became joined at the hip. We weren’t exactly dating, but we may as well have been. He always ate meals with me at the Gryffindor table and I went to all his Quidditch practices. On weekends we enjoyed the nice weather by sitting at the edge of the lake playing guitar. I had started to teach him. He was actually getting quite good. When we weren’t playing guitar, we were kissing, which was interrupted by Fred a few times. He was notorious for sneaking up, shooting a curse a Cedric, and pretending that nothing had happened. I was torn on how to feel. I was annoyed yet it secretly made me happy to know that he was jealous. Then again, I also felt bad for still having feelings for Fred when I also had them for Cedric, who returned them. It was all a big mess in my head.

            Mid-November finally arrived and it was our first Hogsmeade visit. I had promised Cedric I would go with him what seemed like forever ago. After breakfast Cedric and I made our way to Hogsmeade. It was starting to get very chilly outside; I shivered which did not go unnoticed. Cedric immediately took off his jacket and draped it around my shoulders. I gazed adoringly at him. He was, in every sense, perfect.

            Our first stop was Zonko’s. Even though I wasn’t with my usual prankster crowd, I still enjoyed a prank or two. Peeves had actually taken a liking to me so he always pleasantly agreed to do my bidding. I greatly enjoyed when he disrupted my History of Magic class to help me get out early and undoubtedly avoid the boredom to come. And considering I was far from sneaky, having him drop dungbombs on Filch’s cat really saved me from countless detentions. After restocking on dungbombs and other essentials, I led Cedric to the Three Broomsticks for some Butterbeer.

            Both Cedric and I took seats at the back of the crowed pub. Cedric had got us our drinks. We both lazily gulped down our Butterbeer eying everyone around us. Erik and Tyler were a few tables down laughing alongside three Hufflepuff girls. I smiled across at them and Tyler returned the gesture with a wink. I looked down at the table, silently chuckling. Right then, Cedric lifted up my chin and stared me right in the eye. My stomach erupted into butterflies.

“Let’s go somewhere a little quieter.” Cedric whispered pulling me off my chair and leading back out to the chilly, autumn air.

“Where are we going?” I asked pulling his jacket tighter around me as a strong gust of wind hit me.

“You will see.” He smiled down at me leading me up to a wooden fence. “It’s the shrieking shack. It’s supposed to be haunted so nobody ever comes out here.” He added quietly. I looked up at him with a clearly confused expression. And the explanation came before the question could escape my mouth. He pulled a beautiful lily out of his pocket and grabbed my hand pulling me as close to him as possible. His hazel eyes burned into mine, “Guinevere, I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I feel like I have known you my whole life. You’re my first thought each morning and last thought each night. I feel like my life has centered on you. I don’t know what I would do without you, and I don’t want to ever have to think about it. Guinevere, I’m in love with you and I want us to be official. I don’t want any more guessing about us. I want you to be my girlfriend.”