Chapter 7
Hermione and Rosella looked at each other. They were both still in shock about Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire. They waited in the Great Hall before the champions came out. Hermione looked at Rosella and told her, "You greet him first." Rosella nodded her head before approaching Harry.
"Ella." He said as Rosella hugged him.
Cedric watched on beside Hermione and couldn't help the feeling inside of him. He was feeling jealous. But he knew that he shouldn't. She was just good friends with Harry. He had been there for her when he couldn't. He needed to just respect her decision.
"Are you okay? I know you didn't put your name in there." Rosella told him.
"I'm fine. I'm still trying to figure out what happened. Have you seen Ron?" He asked.
"He left right after we were all excused. I'm sure we'll figure something out, Harry." She said.
"I hope so, Rose. It's getting late. We should all probably head back to our houses. Catch up with you later?" He said as he hugged her.
The two walked over to where Cedric and Hermione were standing. Rosella and Cedric said their goodbyes and goodnights to Hermione and Harry before walking away. The two friends walked towards the basement of the castle. "Congratulations, Ced." She said as he looked at her.
"Thanks. Thank you for coming with me and for waiting for me too." He said.
"No problem and who said I was waiting for you? I could have been waiting for Harry." She joked as he laughed.
"We need to get you to stop hanging out with Hailey" He chuckled.
"She's my roommate so that might be a little to impossible. How did it feel to hear your name being called as Hogwarts Champion?" She asked as he tapped the barrels.
"I was a little in shock since I didn't think it was going to be me. But excited at the same time." He said as the door to their house opened.
"I'm sure you'll do great, Ced." She said as they heard loud noises in the common room, "Looks like there's a party in here."
"Looks like it." He said.
"I think I'm going to call it a night. It's been a really long day for me. I'll see you in the morning. Congratulations again, Ced and don't go having too much fun." She said kissing him on the cheek.
"All right. I'll try not to." He said winking at her.
The next morning…
The next morning, Rosella got up early so that she could write a letter back to her mom. She reached for the photo album that sat on her nightstand. Opening the photo album, she couldn't help but tear up at all the memories in the photo album. She was becoming overwhelmed that she shut it close and placed it back on her nightstand. Walking over to her trunk, she grabbed her uniform and went to the restroom to get dressed. A few minutes later she was out of the bathroom ready to start her day. She walked out of her room slowly trying not to wake up her roommates.
Meanwhile at the same time, Cedric had woken up early to get some breakfast and to go to the library to study for some upcoming exams that had had. He walked out of the room and noticed a familiar figure walking gracefully ahead of him. There was just something off about her walk to him though and that made him realize that there had to be something wrong with her. Hermione stopped Cedric right before he could reach the familiar figure in front of him.
"Something up, Hermione?" Cedric asked.
"Professor Dumbledore would like to speak to you in his office right now." Hermione said.
"Oh okay. Thank you." Cedric said.
"No problem! Ella!" Hermione called out to the figure as she walked away from Cedric.
Rosella turned around when she heard her name. She was somewhat surprised to see Cedric there standing next to Hermione. Hermione came over to her and hugged her.
"How are you feeling, Ella?" Hermione asked as Rosella smiled at her.
"I'm a bit better still feel a little hurt here and there. But you know that's understandable." Rosella said.
"It definitely is. Where are you headed to?" Hermione asked.
"I was thinking of going to the library to write my mom a letter. I haven't really responded to any of her letters lately." Rosella said.
"That's good. Not going to get breakfast first?" Hermione asked.
"I should probably do that first." Rosella said.
"We can walk together then." Hermione said smiling as they headed towards the Great Hall.
Cedric made his way to Professor Dumbledore's office. He knocked on the door and waited. The door opened and he stepped inside. Professor Dumbledore was looking at the books that were on his shelf. At the sound of the door closing, he turned around.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Cedric asked.
"Oh yes indeed, Mr. Diggory. Mrs. Reyes had a letter and a package that came in this morning." He said.
"A letter from Mrs. Reyes?" Cedric askd.
"Yes you know Rosella's mother? She had asked that I personally hand the letter and the package to you. I presume she didn't want Rosella to know that you had received a letter from her mother." He said.
"I mean I know her but it's weird for her to have written me a letter." Cedric explained.
"Maybe she has some important matters to discuss with you." Professor Dumbledore suggested.
"But that still wouldn't be right. I mean if anything she would tell Rosella to tell me." Cedric argued.
"What if it's something that Rosella doesn't know?" Professor Dumbledore said.
"It possibly could be but I don't know what they could possibly want to tell me." Cedric said.
"Well you'll have to definitely read the letter for those answers, Cedric. It may really help you out and if you ask me, I believe it's of great importance for you to know. Seeing as Rosella and yourself have known each other your whole lives." Professor Dumbledore said as he handed the package and envelope to Cedric.
"I will and thank you, sir." Cedric said as he took the envelope and package.
Cedric walked out of the room as he held the package in his hand. It was weird that was for sure. Mrs. Reyes giving him a letter and a package. He made his way to the courtyard to read the letter. He wasn't sure if he should have asked Rosella to read the letter with him or if he should read it alone. He decided on the latter option. He wasn't sure how Rosella was feeling today after what happened to her last night. Cedric sat down on one of the benches and opened the letter.
Dearest Cedric,
Hi Cedric! I know it must be weird hearing from me especially since the last time I saw you was when Rose and you had left for Hogwarts. You've grown so much though from what I've seen and from what Rose tells me. But also through the pictures your parents send to me. I remembered when you used to be the little boy who didn't want to let me take your Rose away from you. I always thought that was so cute. And now look at you two all grown up. Reminds me of your father and me. We were pretty inseparable when we went to Hogwarts.
So you must be wondering why I'm writing to you. Your parents already know about this and I told them that I would like to be the one who told you the news. I don't know how exactly to say this because it's hard for me to say but Rosella's father has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma Brain Cancer. This means that even if we try to fight this disease, it will be very difficult because it has already spread to different organs or parts of his body. The doctor's also told us that he's only got a couple of months to a year to live.
Now I don't want Rose or you to worry. I just wanted to let you both know what was going on. Especially you since you're life family to us. We look at you as if you were our son. But my husband may never get a chance to say this to you, Cedric but he hopes that one day you and Rose will be together. He's only ever wanted for you to become our son-in-law. All he wants is for our Rose to be happy and he believes that she's the most happy when she's with you. Regardless of what happens now, he wants you to know that she's not in your safety and protection, Cedric. He wants you to take care of her as you have for the past seventeen years of your life.
The package that you received is a wedding ring. It was my mother's wedding ring then my wedding ring. It is only custom in our family that Rose would be the next one to take the ring. When you are ready, Cedric, you know what to do with the ring. The ring can always be sent back to me if you don't believe that you are the one for Rose. I trust you to hold the ring though, Cedric. Take good care of it.
I must end the letter here. Thank you, Cedric, for taking care of our Rose. Thank you for being her best friend. I'm sure Rosella tells you this with every letter that I give her but I love you as if you were one of my own, Cedric. Happy belated birthday, my dear sweet boy! Be safe and take care of yourself.
Love,
Aunt Mira
Cedric put the letter down. The puzzle pieces were beginning to connect in his mind. The reason Rosella had her nightmare, the reason for her mind not being there last night, for her choosing to speak to Harry, and for being more quiet. Her dream had led her to seeing what he would presume was what life would be like without her father. And Cedric hadn't been there to protect her as her family had trusted him to do so. As his family had trusted him to do so. He should have been there to protect her. He should have been a better best friend.
Cedric picked up the package that was sitting on the table. He opened it and saw a ring inside. It was a platinum, single-hearted 1 karat diamond ring. He shut the box close and looked around the courtyard. People were going into the Great Hall to have breakfast and some were leaving to finish exams and assignments. Walking to the Great Hall, he found Hailey and Noel sitting beside Rosella while Joel and Mark sat across from them. He slipped the package into his robe before he made his way over to them and started to pick what he wanted for breakfast.
He slowly began to eat his food and decided that he would steal Rosella away from the group when he knew that were both done eating. He watched as she slowly ate her food but kept her left hand on the necklace that she wore. He wondered where the necklace had come from and if he had missed seeing that last night. From what he could see, it looked really beautiful. Hailey and Noel caught her attention every now and then. They got her to laugh a few times with some of the jokes that Mark and Joel were making. He looked down at his plate and realized he was done. He looked up at her and asked, "Rose, can I have a word with you?"
Hailey and Noel looked at her and nodded their heads.
"I suppose." She said standing up and following him outside.
Cedric led them back to the courtyard. He let Rosella sit down on the bench first before taking the seat next to her. She kept her hand on the necklace while looking at them. "So you wanted to talk?" She asked.
"That's a beautiful necklace." He said as she looked down at the necklace.
"Thanks my father gave it to me." She said.
"You know I know what happened." Cedric said.
She looked up at him and asked, "How do you know what happened to him?"
"Your mom wrote to me." He said pulling the letter out from inside his robe.
"I can't believe she told you." She said as Cedric gave her a puzzled look.
"Why? You didn't think I had a right to know?" Cedric asked.
"Well you didn't seem to care about me yesterday morning when you were getting so angry at me for talking to Harry." Rosella said.
"That was before I even knew what was going on with you. You wouldn't even tell me anything that was going on with you. You trusted him more than you trusted me if I may say so." He argued.
"Because you weren't around half the time, Ced. You've been so focused on having Quidditch practice and the other half of the time you're snogging some girl. Then when I did get a chance to talk to you some other girl was pulling you aside to talk to you. Or your teammates had stuff to ask you. Or you were too tired to even want to talk to me." She said.
"Why didn't you talk to me about this, Rose? I would have listened. I would have made time for you." He said reaching for her hand to hold.
"I guess I was afraid." She said as he looked away from him.
"Afraid of what?" He asked.
"Afraid to lose you. Afraid that maybe when the time was right and you found the right person, you would forget about me." She said.
Cedric remembered Hailey's words from a few weeks ago: "She's scared to lose you."
"Rosella Gracie Reyes, look at me." He said as her brown eyes met his grey eyes, "You will never lose me. I'm your best friend. I know that I haven't been there for you the past couple of days but the letter that your mom wrote played a part in my decision right now. I'm going to make it up to you and I'm going to prove that I'll always be by your side. You're my best friend and you will be for the rest of my life. And I will be your best friend for the rest of your life. You're stuck with me forever whether you like it or not. I love you, Rose."
Rosella felt her eyes watering and she whispered, "Oh Cedric, I'm so sorry! I've been acting so selfish and stupid these past few weeks. I've been such a horrible friend to you. I should have told you what was going on earlier rather than keeping it away from you. I guess I just thought that it would be better if you didn't have to worry about me. You do have a life of your own and I don't want you to always be worried about me." She said as her tears started to come down her face.
Cedric wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. Kissing her head, he said, "Rose, I'm always going to be worrying about you no matter what. Let's just promise from here on that we'll find time for each other and that we're never going to keep secrets from each other."
"I promise." She said looking up at him with a smile on her face.
"And so do I." He said as he held her close.
"I love you too, Ced." Rosella said.
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who is reading this story! Thank you for all the reviews! I appreciate it all! I only own anyone who appears unfamiliar to you.
