#meldric

Cedric kept a tight grip on his fiancée’s hand - no, his wife’s hand. He didn’t want to let go. If his grip slackened even a little he corrected it. He wasn’t going to lose her, not when he finally had her. He was glued to her side; pressing his nose into her up-do, caressing her cheek, rubbing his thumb against her lower back, placing chaste kisses to her cheek and mouth when he just couldn’t control himself.

He laced their fingers together as they walked past their guests and to the adjoining garden on the grounds. The reception could wait. They wanted to bask in the moment, be enveloped by the love of their friends and family and the overwhelming love they had for each other that day.

Melanie would stop their walk from time to time to stand up on her tip-toes and lay a kiss on him. And a few times he had to force himself pull away or else they would be late for their own reception. He didn’t want it accidentally documented that he didn’t get a few leaves out of his hair or that Melanie’s once white-dress had been smudged with dirt. They had a lifetime to be together.

“I can’t wait to eat,” Melanie mumbled against Cedric’s shoulder as they shared their first dance. It was to a slowed down, piano arrangement of Ellie Goulding’s Love Me Like You Do. As soon as Melanie had heard it on the radio one day she knew it was perfect for them. He couldn’t agree more.

“I can tell,” Cedric said with a laugh. “I heard your stomach as you walked down the aisle.“

“I didn’t have time. With some of the bridesmaids getting into a fight and the DJ showing up at the wrong place originally and having to deal with a crasher—”

“Shush.” Cedric kissed her. “We can cut the cake early if you want. I know you’ve been eyeing it since you walked in.”

“Oh god. Can we do it now? Please?” Melanie begged, her green eyes widening at the thought. She even bounced on her toes a little. Her heels were long gone, opting to go for comfort over fashion for the rest of the day. It was one of the many things he loved about her.

“And disrupt the rest of the reception?” Cedric asked in a mocking tone. “One that people have flown in for?”

“I don’t care,” Melanie replied. “This day is about us, isn’t it? It’s supposed to be a happy day and all and if you want the bride to be happy you’ll let me eat some cake.”

Cedric rolled his eyes and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He heaved a sigh. Leave it to her to not want to do anything that followed protocol. “Okay. let’s wait until the dance is over, at least. I’m not ready to let you go yet.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you be so romantic,” Melanie remarked.

“Eh, I feel like I need to put in the effort. I can’t exactly go around slapping your ass can I?”

A twinkle appeared in Melanie’s eye and she asked with a smirk, “Who says you can’t?”

“Don’t tempt me.”

They held each other close, eliminating any space between them as they swayed and rocked to the music. All too soon the first dance had ended and Cedric had to take the microphone and make the short announcement that they were going to cut the cake due to Melanie’s hunger. Their guests tittered at the news but nevertheless still got into position to take pictures as they both grabbed the knife and cut the first slice of the cake.

Flashes went off in Cedric’s eyes, causing him to be blinded enough not to be prepared for when Melanie, who had started to lift a piece of cake up to Cedric’s mouth, smashed it against his cheek. Her finger dragged across the skin, smearing the frosting and leaving a bright red streak in its wake as their guests laughed and more flashes went off.

“Oops,” she cooed and licked frosting off her finger. “I missed.”

“Oh, I’m sure you did,” Cedric replied, his green eyes turning to the cake in his hand. He blew a strand of his long blond hair out of his eyes. Her eyebrows twitched as he looked at the cake piece in his hand. He put it down, cackled, and then grabbed the top tier of the cake. Before she could move he stepped forward and smashed it against her neck and collar bone.

She screamed, but it didn’t match the large smile appearing on her face. She pulled her veil out of her red hair, grabbed the cake piece that he had set down and then smashed it into his face, taking the extra measure to rub it in. Their guests hooped and hollered with laughter.

Melanie grabbed his face with her sticky fingers, used her thumbs to get cake and frosting away from his eyes, and kissed him. She ran her tongue across his mouth to lick off the extra icing and beamed up at him once she pulled away.

“I love you,” she whispered.

The day was steadily coming to a close. The light from the bright orange sun was slowly dying as it sun beneath the horizon line and splashed the sky with golds, pinks, and purples. Up and down the street the residents were sitting on their porches, enjoying the warm night of the dying summer days but one home was leaking light that bathed the front lawn in a yellow glow. The sounds of laughter, shrieks of glee, and conversation—those of which were punctuated by a rapid piece of French—drifted out into the slowly darkening night as the guests inside the house drifted from room to room and conversation to conversation. If a snapshot were taken at that precise moment it would seem as if everyone were having fun. Everyone except for one teenage girl.

The flame-haired, green-eyed girl had a scowl on her face that only a teenager could acquire when being in a place they did not want to be in. Yes, she agreed to attend the Hen Night because she was on somewhat good terms with the bride-to-be but she wasn’t ecstatic about it. She’s heard stories about these sort of nights and it was something that she always wanted to avoid but, being a former Beauxbatons girl like the bride-to-be, she felt obligated to show her face.

Melanie Crowe’s appearance at the party was briefly noted before she faded into the background once more, taking sips from her sparkling drink every now and then as she watched the other guests go about and talk about their marriage and their tales of past heartache and butterflies. Things that she wasn’t familiar with so she just listened to them all go on and on, taking sips of their martinis all the while. She had turned her attention to the almost-bride’s, Faith’s, little brown and white Pomeranian and thought that she had been officially forgotten.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind Faith walked—or, more precisely, stumbled—into the kitchen and started giggling once she spotted the red-head. “Melanie, what are you doing in ‘ere? Ze party’s out zere! I invited you as my guest, not Sweetness’s.”

Before Melanie could respond another girl, someone a few years older than Faith’s twenty-years of age, came in giggling uncontrollably. She was saying something about the entertainment having arrived. Melanie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. They already played the games and given over their gifts, as far as she knew there was no other sense of entertainment that could be had besides watching them all stumble around and bump into each other.

“Ah…I think I’ve had enough party for one night,” Melanie said as she slowly got to her feet, feeling her knees creak slightly. “Thank you for having me, Faith, but I’m just going to—“

Faith shot out her hand and pressed her finger to Melanie’s mouth, causing the younger girl to make a face. “Enough,” she slurred slightly. “You are not allowed to leave until I say so. And I say you will stay and have fun!”

Melanie didn’t have a chance to even utter a simple sound of protest when the two women grabbed her hands and pulled her into the living room where the rest of the women sat. Suddenly they were all reapplying their lipsticks, fluffing their hair, and checking for wrinkles in their clothing. Melanie took a seat near the back of the room, letting out a long, slow breath and began thinking about what she would do once she was finally allowed to leave.

All at once wands were put away and replaced with a combination of wizard money and muggle money. That astounded Melanie in the first place, a bunch of pureblood witches having access to muggle money. What use would they have for that? It confused her that much more.

Suddenly all of the giggling and talking stopped at the sound of a knock echoing from the large foyer. No one dared to move, as if the first person to get up would get stunned. Finally someone rushed to the front door and then the nervous chatter began. Faith was asked by someone in the hallway to approach them. Melanie couldn’t hear much from where she was sitting but she thought she caught something about a noise complaint.

And then everyone started screaming. Melanie’s hand flew to her wand as a first reaction, thinking that someone had gotten hurt somehow. “Oh for the love of—“ she mumbled when Faith walked back into the room, someone wearing a muggle police uniform following her. Faith sat down in the solitary chair in the center for the room and from there it went downhill. The women’s faces turned red as they screamed, their eyes shining as if all the stars in the sky had collected in them. Hands flailed, hands covered mouths, and hands waved money in the air. Their hands wouldn’t stay still, especially when the music started quickly followed by the dancing from the man.

She had had enough. The screaming was beginning to give her a headache and she was beginning to feel secondhand embarrassment from the ladies. Melanie went back into the kitchen and started picking at the miniature quiches and crab puffs that were left around as the house-elves scurried around preparing the dishes for dinner that night. If they would ever get to the dinner was another question in its own. They’d all probably pass out before the hour was up.

“Do you do anything for fun?” Melanie asked the head house-elf in particular as he used his small hands to try and roll out some dough.

“Penelope does not have time for fun, miss,” the house-elf responded as she pulled the rolling pin back towards her small body. “Penelope does not know what fun means. Penelope cooks and cleans and washes and organizes all day, miss.”

“Surely there has to be something that you’d like to do if you had the time. What if you were free? What would you go?”

“If Penelope was free?” The female house-elf’s eyes widened, if that were possible. Her eyes already seemed to the size of dinner plates. “Penelope would cook, miss. Penelope likes to cook. Penelope wishes to own her own restaurant for house-elves, if that were to be possible one day.”

Melanie smiled. “Well, I think that’s something to look forward to one day.”

“That’s very kind, miss.” Penelope picked up a strawberry that sat nearby and held them out to the girl. “Please, take one. As a thank you for your kind words.”

“Thank you, Penelope.”

Melanie’s teeth had barely sunk into the fruit when the door burst open again and Faith came in, her cheeks flushed and her hair disheveled. It was a far off look than the normal put-together attire and air she usually wore around her. “You are such a spoilsport, Melanie!” She said while stamping her foot on the ground, reminding the red-head of a child who wasn’t getting their way.

“You can have your party any way you want. I’m not taking you away from it,” Melanie pointed out.

Faith shook her head. “You’re such a prude! This is nuzzing but fun. You’re making a big deal out of nuzzing. Come in here and give him some money and then you may leave if you wish. Though I do wish you stay. Lighzen up a leetle.”

“Faith, I really don’t think—“

“Come, Melanie. Come.”

Faith grabbed Melanie’s hand and yanked her out of her chair. Despite having alcohol moving through her system Faith still had strength to her that was enough to pull Melanie all the way back into the room where the man was going around the circle, talking to a few women while others stuffed wads of money into his black man thong.

Faith slapped some money into her hand and shoved the young girl over to the man, urging her to put the money in his thong. Melanie didn’t want a thing to do with it but she knew it’d be easier just to go along with it so everyone could move on.

Letting out a breath she yanked on the waistband of the man’s thong when his back was to her and she shoved the money in, giving his ass a slap for good measure. “Happy now?” She demanded while turning to look at Faith. But she was struggling to keep herself up by leaning against the doorframe of the room, giggling. Melanie turned around only for her eyes to grow wide, almost as wide as Penelope’s when something clicked in her mind.

“Cedric!?”

  *  * *

  “Geeze, Mel, let go!” Cedric grunted as he was dragged into a room by the small girl by his ear. She closed the door behind them and locked it with a flick of her wand. She turned around to see him rubbing at his ear and grinning at her. “If you want a private show all you had to do was ask.”

“Explain,” she demanded while rubbing her forehead.

“Well, because of you, I didn’t exactly have a stable environment waiting for me after we graduated. I needed to do something to make sure I wouldn’t end up poor.”

“So you…take your clothes off for people?”

Cedric’s eyebrows lifted. “You seem to have a problem with my choice of occupation.”

Melanie scoffed. “That’s not an occupation! That’s…I don’t even know.” She paused and then pointed an accusatory finger at his face. “Ah ha, so I was right when I said you sold your body for money.”

Cedric grabbed her finger and lowered it out of his field of vision. “I’m hardly ‘selling my body’, Melanie,” he explained. “I’m merely selling the Forbidden Fruit idea that everyone seems to feed upon the days leading up to big changes in their life. Commitment, holy matrimony, that sort of thing. One last hurrah, you could say.” He placed his hands on his hips, probably so used to the fact that he stood around in a man thong that he didn’t even bat an eyelash about it whereas Melanie was making it a point to look at anything in the room besides him. “My face is over here, Sweetcheeks.”

“This doesn’t bother you at all?” Melanie asked while jerking her thumb in his direction, still not looking at him. “Not even in the slightest?”

“Well, it’s not my first choice or anything. I wanted to be a Healer but no one will take the Artimus name seriously anymore so here I am.” He gave a non-committed shrug. “It’s easy money.” He twisted his mouth to the side. “And what have you been up to since graduation? Having a lot of adventures with your magical creatures?”

She made a face at him, finally looking in his direction as she felt her cheeks grown warm. She didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to have to explain why, even though she was officially a Magizoologist, she had to work hours at St. Mungo’s cleaning up after everyone just to get any source of income. It was embarrassing. She had worked hard, harder than anyone she’s ever known in that field; to obtain the moniker she always wanted to have attached to her name. Hell, it was the first word she ever spoke when she was a child. She dedicated all of her time, skipped countless parties, lost many nights of sleep and for what? To have nothing happen. To have her end up feeling like a failure, a loser, a joke.

But she couldn’t let him know what was going on. He’d just laugh in her face; tell her like all the others that she had been wasting her time all throughout school. That it was a dead-end job. “I, uh…I’ve only been staying in Canada. Haven’t had a chance to expand just yet. But it’s alright; I can spend more time with Aiden and Colette so…” She kicked at the ground and tug her toe into the plush carpet until it lay flattened.

He stuck his tongue into the side of his mouth as his eyelids lowered. “Uh-huh,” he muttered, arching one eyebrow. “What, no bragging? Usually we couldn’t get you to stop at school and now it’s as if a cork has been shoved in your mouth.”

She gave a tight lipped smile. “I learned to have some tact,” she responded. “I know, it’s very shocking,” she commented at the look of surprise that filled his features.

“Nah…I’d have to say the shocking part is that we’re having a normal conversation without you being sarcastic, rude, or slapping me,” he responded while counting on his fingers.

“Oh you’re giving me a lot of good material right now if that’s what you want. I can see that you’ve missed it,” Melanie said while letting her eyes travel up and down his body. “Starting with your baby-smooth chopsticks for legs.”

Cedric chuckled before grabbing her shoulders and pulling her to his chest as and rested his chin atop her head. “Ah, Crowe, how I’ve missed your annoyingly unnecessary sarcasm,” he said with a sigh.

“Get—off—me!” Melanie growled while trying to push at his body to get him to let go of her but he held on tight. “Artimus, I’m not joking!”

“I missed you too, Red,” Cedric continued as he squeezed her tighter, grinning all the while as she struggled against him. Finally he let her go and he laughed at the look of fury in her eyes.

“Fuck you!” She spat.

“Oh yes, I do miss that part as well,” he added while tapping his chin. “Now I can’t fuck on the job but I can give you the Gold Price of my show if you really want…” he thrust his hips in her direction for good measure and chuckled at the way her eyelid began to twitch. “You need to relax.”

“That’s impossible when my blood pressure skyrockets whenever I see you,” she responded dryly. “Here I thought as soon as I graduated I didn’t have to worry about this.”

“Oh don’t pretend like you’re not happy to see me,” he responded while rubbing at the back of his neck. “Because I’m happy to see you. Honest. It’s weird…not seeing you every day anymore.” He chuckled. “So imagine my surprise when you stuffed money down my pants. Trying to cop a feel?”

“Oh shut up! I didn’t even know it was you and Faith forced me.”

He blinked. “Who?”

“The girl you probably worked into a tizzy. The soon-to-be bride.”

“Oh, her!” A lazy grin formed on his face. “Yeah, she paid well—oof!” His hands flew to his abs where she had punched him. It surprised him but it didn’t hurt. “Come now, Melanie, that’s not nice.”

Melanie didn’t have a chance to respond when she heard the distinct sound of someone’s palm striking the door and then the doorknob wiggling. “Melanie! What are you do-eeng in zere? Are you ‘aving ze private show? You should ‘ave told us! We would ‘ave split ze costs!” The more Faith’s slurred words came through the door the redder Melanie’s face turned until her head almost resembled a ripe tomato.

“Hey…let’s say we get out of here, yeah?” Cedric asked, er, blurted really. So suddenly it made Melanie whip her head around to look at him to be sure that he actually spoke. “This kind of party…it doesn’t seem like your thing,” he continued while clearing his throat slightly. “I’m just thinking of your sanity, here. If you want to be driven mad—“

“Let’s go.”

  *  * *

  “Shut up.”

“You know it’s true.”

“Shut the fuck up. That’s some bullshit that you’re spewing.”

“I swear on my sister’s life.”

“Please, that only happens in your dreams.”

“How do you know what I dream about?”

Melanie rolled her green eyes and took a lick of her strawberry ice cream which sat on a large sugar cone. “Lies, all lies,” she commented once the dessert melted on her tongue and slid down her throat. “I have a very good memory, that didn’t ever happen.”

Cedric shrugged. “What makes you think I didn’t alter your memory?” He asked before lifting his spoon to his mouth.

“Because you’re not that much of a jerk.”

He stopped walking and gave her a look. The two had just gone to Florean’s Ice Cream Parlour and were now walking along the congested streets of Diagon Alley. It was still surprisingly busy for the summer having just started but for once Melanie didn’t mind the jostling and the bumping that she had to endure while navigating the busy shopping area. It felt good to be back, even though she knew her days of visiting for school purposes had ended two months prior.

“I’m not a jerk at all,” he responded while jabbing his spoon in her direction. “You were just so focused on the part where I annoyed you; you never even gave me a chance.”

“Because you annoyed me.”

“Because you make it easy.”

“Whatever, Artimus.”

She continued walking, not sowing down or bothering to look back to see if he had moved to follow her. It was odd, them hanging out. She didn’t even know if that term could be accurately used to describe what they were doing. One minute they’d get on fine, the next something from their past would be brought up and then they’d argue about it, and then after that they’d be silent before the cycle started all over again. Their friendship was weird. Mainly because she saw it as a friendship and he refused to classify them as such, much to her confusion.

“How are your siblings?” Cedric asked suddenly. He poked his spoon at his ice cream. He hadn’t really been in the mood to eat it in the first place but she wanted it and felt that it would be weird if she ate by herself.

“Growing bigger every day,” Melanie responded as she sidestepped a cart full of strange looking flowers. One she recognizes was a Talking Trap, a Venus Flytrap that was enchanted so if one person spoke into the open mouth of one their voice would come out of the open mouth of its pair, successfully letting people communicate with each other in without the use of owls or a patronus. “Getting into more things. It’s going to be hard to baby proof the house, there are so many different floors and our dogs and stuff roam everywhere.” She shrugged. “How’s Bella?”

“She’s fine,” Cedric responded. “I visit her as much as I can but it’s hard when your ass of a father tries to have you tailed everywhere you go.” He rolled his eyes and tossed his paper dish into a nearby trashcan, rubbing his sticky hands on his jeans.

“I don’t get it. If he’s disowned you he can’t have this much power over you.”

“Yeah, well, he does,” Cedric grumbled while bringing his hands up to his head to shift the green beanie that he had donned before his ‘shift’ for the night started. “He loves having me on a leash.”

Melanie made a humming sound but otherwise didn’t say a word. She didn’t know what to say when it came to her former-Slytherins complaining about their family lives. She was one of the lucky few in the House to have loving parents that took her well being and wants and needs into consideration as she grew up. It was why she wasn’t placed in an arranged marriage, why she wasn’t focused on how her life would end up after school, and, most of all wasn’t focused on blood but on character. But she knew too much about his life to ignore it. Instead she took another lick of her ice cream while letting her eyes roam the streets ahead of them.

“I can’t wait until I get my own place,” he mumbled.

She turned her head to study the side of his face. “You’re not living with him?”

He laughed. “Fuck no! I’m staying at the Leaky Cauldron. I couldn’t stay with that bastard even if my life was depending on it. That’s why I’m doing…that.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I need to make rent somehow. It’s not my ideal way but…hey, if you’ve got it flaunt it right?”

“That has to be the least confident thing I think I’ve ever heard you utter,” Melanie said in amazement. She was so used to him being so…confident and bold about himself, to the point of being cocky. But now she began to wonder if that was because he, maybe…possibly just wanted attention anywhere he could get it. Good attention that he could control, not the negative kind his father gave him…from what she heard. “You usually always have the right things to say just waiting to be used. Now you actually sound human.”

“Well, I’m not some robot. I have my off days.”

“Not enough of ‘em by my book.”

“Oh, shush.”

He poked her in the cheek and she swatted at his hand. In the backswing he grabbed onto her hand and, suddenly, yanked it so she went stumbling into his side. She had to shift her walk to accommodate with the sudden misstep. He had yanked her out of the way of a surge of people leaving a shop that they had just walked by, brooms in their hands. The group was somewhat rowdy, had she continued to be walking in that path she would’ve either been bashed over the head multiple times with the brooms (which were now being swung around with reckless abandon) or she would’ve been trampled.

“Geeze, some people need to pull their heads out of their asses and watch where they’re going,” Melanie mumbled, looking forlornly over her shoulder at having dropped her ice cream done. Sighing she rubbed her sticky palm on her jeans. It was just as well, she felt as if she were cheating on her ‘No Sugar’ regime.  She glanced at her hand in his a couple of times before clearing her throat. “You can let go of my hand now.”

His blond eyebrows lifted, as if he were challenging her. “What if I don’t want to?” It was a simple question but it was so heavily loaded. Her mouth open and closed a few times before he reached out with his free hand, placing it on her chin, and closed her mouth for her with a gentle push of his palm. “You look like a fish, it’s not attractive.” When she didn’t say anything in response he took the opportunity to lace their fingers together, marveling internally how well her small hand fit in his bigger one.

He wanted to go somewhere that was quiet and less crowded, where he didn’t have to worry about losing her in a crowd so he could just, finally, spend some time with her without her fighting back or making it hard for him to get close to her. Things were working out so far, she didn’t act repulsed when he took her hand. Walking ahead he lead her down the street to one secluded place he remembered, near the end of the Southern part of Diagon Alley. There was a fountain, plenty of places to sit, a good place to go if you wanted to think. He remembered finding it after taking a few walk when being cooped up in the Leaky Cauldron began to test his sanity.

It felt almost natural when Cedric moved ahead of her, keeping his tight hold on her hand to lead her through the crowded streets to whatever destination it was that he had in mind. She stayed close to him, gritting her teeth as she was jostled from side to side. Not so much so as she would had she tried to brave the streets herself. Cedric being protective over her stood out in a new way. It wasn’t unusual for the men of Slytherin House to look out for the girls whenever they went on outings but this felt different. Too different. Tummy-tumbling, palm-sweating, heart-racing different.

The kind of different that hit someone all at once.

Finally Cedric had taken her down a side alley to an open space with a large fountain sitting in the middle and benches surrounding it. The two sat down on a bench and relaxed against the wooden planks. Melanie took her hand out of Cedric’s grasp and placed them on her lap, crossing one leg over the other. She watched, somewhat mesmerized, as the water shot out of the top of the fountain in a long and graceful arc before landing in a steady stream in the pool below.

It made her miss the times where she would look out her window one morning and see the large eye of the Giant Squid staring back at her. It made her miss the adventures she’d have in the woods and in the lake, with Hagrid’s supervision of course, as she explored and looked for creatures or plants for him or Professor Sprout. She missed how every day was something new, something different, something exciting compared to the hum-drum of graduated life now.

As if reading her mind Cedric spoke: “Do you miss Hogwarts?”

Melanie nodded. “Sure do,” she responded. “I don’t know what it is about it that I miss but I really wish I were going back this year. I don’t think I miss the classes so much. Not as much as…hmm…”

“The magic?” Cedric supplied. The answer was so unlike him that it made her look at him and flinch slightly to find him staring right back at her, his green eyes trained on her face.

“We’re magic-folk, it’s impossible to miss the magic,” she responded.

“No I mean…a different sort of magic,” he responded. “The kind where…everything’s at your fingertips. You can do whatever you want and be whatever you want. Every single day was a new slate. A new day to be filled with successes and losses, good grades and poor ones, mistakes and stupid decisions…“ he paused to chuckle quietly, turning his eyes to a bird that flew overhead. Melanie didn’t stop looking at him, wondering why now of all times he suddenly became sentimental. He always seemed part of the group that was eager to go and get on with their lives. He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly before looking at her again, the look in his eye having intensified. “Where school wasn’t the important part, but living life was and making sure that you did things that made you happy and made you feel alive in ways that nothing else could.” He reached out and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. On a normal day she would’ve shot back a biting comment, said something about him steadily invading her personal space. But today wasn’t a normal day. She had felt that as soon as she woke up that morning but it didn’t hit her until now.

Her eyelids fluttered briefly at the feeling of his fingers brushing across her cheek, gooseflesh rising on her arms from the simple touch. “I wish I could go back and do it again sometimes, do it right. Make everything better. I wouldn’t have been such an ass to you, Mel. I would’ve been up front about everything, explained myself to you more. But I couldn’t. And getting on your nerves…it was the only way I had a good excuse to be around you. Just…being in the same room as you back then made my shitty day that much better. And I miss that. I just wanted you to know that.”

She slowly shook her head and he wondered if he had said something wrong…again. He wasn’t so sure he had, he just…laid everything out there. Just in case this was the last time he was to see her. He didn’t know how long he’d keep doing this, how long he’d stay in the Leaky Cauldron without a plan. But just in case it all came crashing down he had to get it off of his chest. He felt like he was floating already with the weight gone.

“You have…an odd way with words,” she finally spoke.

He blinked. He didn’t understand what she meant. He never did. But he didn’t have t ask her about it. He couldn’t because she had invaded his space, but in a good way. In a way that he wanted and that he’d been dreaming about for ages. He lifted his hand and held the back of her neck as he covered her mouth with his, his eyelids slipping shut. Their mouths moved together in a slightly-off synchronization, but it worked. Every time he pulled back slightly just to kiss her again she’d eagerly close the gap between them, melding their mouths together. The taste of strawberry from the ice cream lightly clung to her tongue, making her whole mouth taste sweet. He could taste her all day if he had a choice but, before he knew it, night had completely fallen and a golden glow from the windows from the shops surrounding them washed over them, alerting them of how much time had passed.

“Uhmm…” Melanie mumbled as she pulled away from him, her cheeks held a light dusting of red on tem. “Where to?” She asked while standing.

Cedric stretched his arms above his head, frowning slightly at the loss of not having anything to hold onto at the moment, and stood himself. He glanced at the watch that sat on his wrist. “Do you want to get something to drink at the Leaky Cauldron?” He asked, praying that she’d say yes. He didn’t want her out of his sight, his company just yet.

“Uhhh, sure.”

He had to fight the urge of clicking his heels in glee. He took her hand again and lead her back down the alley and out onto the streets. It wasn’t as crowded as before so now they could walk next to each other. Cedric couldn’t help but look down at their hands every now and then; smiling each and every time he did so. He lifted his eyes to her face but found the normal expressionless mask that she usually held. He wished he could read her mind to see how she was handling things. But they must be good, right? She didn’t laugh at him or shove him away or anything. And she did kiss him back.

He became so wrapped up in his thoughts, his doubts and second guessing that he almost walked past the Leaky Cauldron once they arrived. He frowned at the sign. It was too short of a walk. Was he even walking? He swore he could’ve been floating on Cloud 9 momentarily.

“So…we’re here,” he stated while motioning at the slightly swinging sign above the door. He reluctantly let go of her hand. “…Let’s go in.”

“Cedric,” she said, stopping him by the door.

“Yes?” He asked while turning around.

“We just went out on a date.”

He blinked. “…What?”

“We talked, we had dessert, we talked some more, we held hands—I actually enjoyed your company—we, um, we kissed, and now here we are at the Leaky Cauldron where you just walked me to. This was a date.” She said it slowly, as if the past few hours had just registered in her mind. Was that what she was thinking about this whole time? He shoved his hands into his pockets and began to rock on his heels slightly.

He ran his tongue across his dry lips. “You…you say that like it’s a bad thing,” he mumbled. He hoped it wasn’t.

She pursed her lips and then shook her head slightly. “It’s an observation, that’s all.”

He nodded shortly. “Right.”

She forced a smile. “You finally got that date, eh?”

He chuckled. “After three years of trying.”

She blinked. “Three years?”

“Yeah. I asked you out when you first transferred. You said that I should stick my head in a pile of horse shit.” Melanie brought her hand to her mouth to keep from letting her smile shine through. “Yeah, you didn’t know that I understood you at that time, knowing French really well. That was one of the more colorful things you’ve said to me.” He released a breath and scratched at the back of his neck. “So…if this was a date…maybe…if you want…you’d want to do it again?”

She dropped her hand and he saw a smirk on her face. She stepped forward and lightly tugged at the collar on his blue button-down shirt. “Starting from you showing up and stripping?” She asked while raising an eyebrow. Her eyes held mischievous sort of glow in them.

A slow smile formed on his own face until he felt like his cheeks were going to explode, his arms looping around her waist. “Well, if you really want me to I could. Just for you this time,” he said and lowered his head, gently nuzzling her nose with his own. “Free of charge.”

“Free of charge you say?” She asked as she returned the gesture. She tilted her head causing her lips to lightly brush against his. “Lucky me.”