C O Potter
Year Three
Chapter 14
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After 24 months in the house, it almost seemed odd to be back in their room. The runes stopped glowing as they stepped away. It was still very early in the morning, the time that they would normally awaken to go for a run. Ced looked at Cici, and she looked at him.
"Let's get changed and workout in the chambers!" Cici suggested enthusiastically.
"Okay, we can practice against each other," he replied with a shrug of indifference.
After changing, they felt the familiar tug and then they were in the Chamber of Secrets. They walked over to the combat training area, selected their side and began casting spells at each other. Going easy on each other at first, just little flicks of their wands. Running, rolling, sidestepping, conjuring walls, and anything else they could think of. They tried causing the ceiling to cave in on the other. They used whatever they could, to try and distract the other to gain the upper hand. The rumblings, the explosions, the shaking of the walls, they all grew in intensity as they used more magical power to defeat the other. Time lost it's meaning as they worked out against each other, their mental shields firmly in place. The beads of sweat would fall into their eyes, to be wiped away with the back of a hand. The noise shook the walls and the other obstacles in the chambers. Neither of them heard or saw the others arrive. The two combatants were focused on winning. They would cast a mixture of hexes, and keep moving. Never in the same place for more than a second. They would zig and hope to catch the other in a zag. Their opponent would try to guess where the other would be and cast a spell hoping to catch them unawares. The ferocity of the battle climbed, the intensity, was beyond what any of the spectators had ever seen in their short little lives. Then they watched as first one would disappear and reappear, the other would do the same. The clothes on the combatants clung to their bodies as if they had been painted on. The definition of their powerful blood-filled muscles stretching the clinging cloth. The mass of the conjured walls had been increasing steadily through the fight, the power of the spell hitting them had increased also to overcome the defences of their opponent. The walls, as quick as they could be conjured, turned to dust, revealing no one behind them. The combatants were to equally matched. Time that had lost its meaning? Soon became all too real.
"HEY! ARE YOU TWO Having fun?" Fred yelled trying to get his friends attention over the noise they were creating.
Faster than they had started, Cedric and Cici quit. Their illusion of Cici being in the hospital had turned to vapour just like so many walls had.
"What are you doing here?" Cici asked through heavy breaths. Fred and George were both focused on her heaving sweaty breasts.
"Fred, my eyes are up here," Cici told him bluntly.
Blushing, Fred told her, "I'm sorry, it's just that you are just so incredibly pretty!"
"Thank you. Now, why are you here so early in the morning?" she asked him again, bent over hands on her thighs, trying to catch her breath.
"We could feel the floors shaking slightly. So, we decided to come and check this place out." Rose told her. "We've been watching you for close to two hours!"
"What time is it!" Ced asked apprehensively.
"It's after 8," Rose told him. A look of confusion on her face. "Why?"
"Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital wing?" Angel asked her.
"Yes, and that's the problem," Cici told them. "I need to be there when Ced comes to check up on me and play the boyfriend in despair, so we can catch whoever it is that wants me dead." She said anxiously.
"We'll talk more in the hospital wing," Ced told their friends just before portkeying out of the chambers. "see you there."
With a tug behind their navels, they were gone. To reappear in their room. Quickly they shed their sweat-soaked clothing and rushed into the shower. With each of them washing themselves, they were in and out in less than 10 minutes. Drying spells on their bodies and hair helped cut the time it took to get to the hospital wing. Maco had their clothes on the bed ready to go. Breakfast was sitting on the table for them as if she knew what they needed before they knew what they needed. The two teens inhaled their breakfast. With a kiss goodbye, Cici portkeyed to the hospital ward.
With a look of despair, Cedric exited the married quarters to start the long slow trudge to visit his poisoned, near death, girlfriend in the hospital. His friends watched as he dragged his feet towards the portrait hole to leave the common room. The girls hurried over to him, to give him hugs of support as they joined him for his long walk, tears in their eyes at the possible loss of their friend. The others in the common room watched as the group left, looking like they were part of a funeral procession, grief written all over their faces. The portraits in the halls watched in sorrow as the group trudged their way through the halls on the way to the hospital ward. The occupants of the portraits gossiping amongst themselves at the state of the teens. The other students in the hallways moved aside so they could go and see the girl that was dying. The grief and the despair emanating from the group seemed to radiate outwards making those they passed in the halls sick with depression. Inside the hospital ward, they went to the bed that was surrounded by the ridged curtains. Slipping inside the curtains Ced quietly cast the charms to ensure their privacy.
The girls exchanged hugs with Cecilia. "Did he do a good job of playing the grief-stricken boyfriend?" Cici asked her friends, mirth filling her eyes.
"Yes, all of us played the grief-stricken part on our walk here." Angel told her, "I just hope that we didn't over do it!" she said chipperly.
"Well, I was watching the other students that we passed in the halls, and they seemed to get almost as depressed as we looked!" Fred told her, with a smile on his face.
"Yeah, you should have seen the portraits gossiping!" George added. "They were rushing from one portrait to the next, trying to get a good look at Ced."
"You guys should head on down to the hall, so you don't miss breakfast, it's getting late. I need to stay here with Cici, I'll meet you for lunch." Ced told the group of good friends.
With hugs, all around the group of friends left for breakfast.
"It's so sad to see them like that." Wailed Rose, "They were so happy together!" she sobbed out as they left the hospital ward.
As they entered the Great Hall, the two brothers were comforting their sisters.
Sitting down, Angel wept as she said, "He'll probably die of a broken heart!"
Back in the hospital wing, Ced and Cici waited another 30 minutes before transfiguring another Cecilia, this time in a hospital gown, and an I.V. drip, at the coaching of Madam Pomfrey. With a kiss goodbye, Cici portkeyed back to their room. Ced cancelled the privacy charms, put on his face of despair and moped his way back to the Gryffindor common room.
Keeping a watch out of the corners of his eyes, he noticed that he was drawing more attention from the female students than he had earlier. Was it because he was alone now?
"I don't know babe. It could be because you're alone. Maybe the group of girls that you scared off earlier was because you were in a pack." Cici thought to him.
"I think it's still too early in the game for the culprit to make their move. After all, they only poisoned you last night." Ced thought back to her.
"I know, but that was a great two years in the house. Who knows, in another two years, you might actually be able to cook!" Cici told him cheekily.
"Oh! You just wait! I'll be home in a minute, and then you'll get what's coming to you!" he thought back to her, sarcasm lacing his thoughts.
"Ooo, I'm so afraid! What are you going to do? Spank me?" she thought back with her mirth laced thoughts.
"You could only be so lucky!" he returned her thoughts to her.
"Oh, you jus…" she started when he cut her off.
"Quiet, can you feel that? Someone is following me!" he thought to her, seriousness drowned out their fun.
He had taken a longer path back to the common room. He had to put the bait out there for all to see. And he was the bait. Had they attracted the predator so soon? He moped along, deliberately ignoring who was following him. He seemed to be wandering the halls lost. Just as he turned the corner into an empty hall of classrooms, he heard the footsteps rush towards him. Before he could turn, he was shoved roughly, knocking him to the ground. He rolled just as he had been taught. He came up, wand in his hand to face his attackers. The group of four, formed a crescent moon shape from wall to wall, hoping to block any chance of escape.
"Weasley, haven't you learned?" Ced told him almost in a whine.
"What's wrong Potter?" he sneered at him. "Don't have that witch girlfriend of yours to fight your fights?" the leer on his face almost comical.
The group of them all had their wands out, but not all of them had their wands pointed at him. Some of the wands were pointed towards the floor. Weasley had his wand pointed at him, and so did another that Ced didn't know.
Wiping his left hand on his robes, like he was wiping the sweat off of his hand, Ced transformed his robes into a shield.
"Who's the Hufflepuff?" Cici thought to him.
"I don't know. A new recruit?" he thought to her.
"A new recruit for what?" she thought back. "He needs to be interrogated so we can learn more."
"I agree. We'll have to inform Professors McGonagall and Vector when this is over." Ced thought to her as Weasley droned on with his threats.
"What? Are you scared, Potter?" Weasley said.
What had he been talking about? He had been talking to Cici about the new guy in the gang. "Whatever Weasley. I'm not scared of you or your friends." Ced told him.
Weasley had a confused look on his face. Looking at the others, Ced noticed that they looked confused also. Had he answered wrong? Did he miss something?
"What's wrong Weasley? Did I miss something here?" Ced almost spat.
"I was saying that, even though I hate you and your family for what they did to my dad, and I can't stand that filthy mudblood girlfriend of yours. Her dying like that is wrong, and we're willing to help you find out who did this." Weasley repeated himself.
What! Weasley has a sense of honour? "What are you talking about Weasley?" Ced probed for more information.
"We want to help find out who poisoned your girlfriend. If they'll poison her, then they'll poison anyone." Weasley explained.
"It's okay. The profess…" then he heard the sizzling sound coming down the hallway behind him.
Dropping and rolling, the red coloured curse past over him. Keeping his eyes on the curse as he rolled forward, he watched as the curse caught Weasley and the Hufflepuff in their arms. Both of them dropping to the floor. Ced cast a counter curse as the red-cloaked figure retreated back around the corner. The two curses, one red the other blue, looked purple as they traversed the distance, they were so close together, blasting a chunk out of the corner of the walls. Weasley's two remaining mates fled the scene.
A small crowd had gathered at the scene of the commotion.
Pointing at one of the students, Ced told him, "Go get the professors!"
The student turned and ran.
Looking at another student, "Go get Madam Pomfrey!" he told her.
Ced took off down the hall to see if the culprit had hung around to see their work. Nope, they were long gone. He walked slowly back down the hall.
"They got away." Ced groused at Cici.
"What'd you expect?" she almost scolded him.
"What I expected was to fight Weasley, not for him to offer to help because of you." Ced thought to her. That was the craziest thing he could ever think of happening. Weasley wanting to help him.
"Think it was a setup?" Cici asked, suspicious of the circumstances.
"It almost feels that way, but I don't know. He was almost sincere in his offer of help. It almost seemed to offend him that someone had tried to poison you." Ced thought to her.
"Do you think he has a crush on me?" she thought back to him, yuck! Ced could almost see her eyes getting wide at the thought of Percy Weasley having a crush on her.
His brow furrowed in concentration, "Maybe. He could have a crush on you. If he did, would he ever admit to it?" Ced thought back to her.
"Mr Potter! What has happened here!" Professor Vector demanded.
"I was walking back to the common room from the hospital ward, after visiting my girlfriend. I turned down this hallway by mistake when Weasley and his friends wanted to have a talk with me. While we were talking, someone in a red cloak tried to hex me. I ducked, and Weasley didn't." Ced told her the modified truth.
"Why is Mr Jefferson here with Weasley?" the angry Head of House asked.
"I don't know. I didn't even know his name until you mentioned it to me." Ced told her truthfully.
"Who hexed him?" she asked as the Matron arrived.
"When I ducked, the hex went over me, and it went between the two of them hitting both of them in their arms," Ced responded to the question.
"That's supported by the evidence that I can see." Madam Pomfrey told the angry professor.
"And the damage down the hallway?" she asked sternly.
"When I got back to my feet. The person wearing the cloak had turned and ducked down that hall. I missed them but hit the wall." Ced replied to her. "When I went to check, the hallway was empty."
"Come with me." She directed him. He followed her down the hall to the corner. With a flick of her wand, she repaired the damages that had been done. "Any idea who's behind this." She asked him lowly.
"No, but Weasley was offering his help to find out who poisoned Cici." He replied just as quietly. "Him and three of his mates. Two of them ran off just after Weasley and Jefferson were stunned." He reported the facts to her
"That's odd. It's completely out of character for him to behave this way." Professor Vector thought out loud.
"Kind of like a Hufflepuff and a dark Slytherin to be working together to find out who poisoned what they called a 'filthy mudblood.'" Ced told her, letting the confusion in his thoughts come out to her.
"Professor Slughorn, would you please help me get your student up to the Hospital Wing?" Madam Pomfrey asked the heavyset older Head of House.
"Yes, yes!" the old potions professor said. "Mr Potter, are you okay? Do you need someone to talk to about all of this excitement?"
"No, no, thank you for the offer. I'm just, just going to go to my room and take it easy for a while." Ced answered the old wizard.
"Okay, okay, well if you need someone to talk to, my door is always open to you!" the professor told him as he levitated Weasley.
"Thank you again, professor. I'm just going to go to my room for now." Ced reiterated his plans.
"Let me walk with you, Mr Potter. I want to check on the common room anyway." Professor Vector told him.
"Thank you, professor," Ced replied to her offer/demand. He really didn't have much of a choice in it anyway.
As they walked through the halls. Ced noticed students staring at them. Was it because he was walking with the professor? Or was it because he wasn't walking with Cici?
"Good question babe." Cici thought to him. "You need to let me know if she is coming in here. I've taken off all of my clothes, and have been laying on the couch reading a book, in front of the fire. I miss my tan." She thought to him sadly. He could tell that her lower lip was out in a pout.
"We're almost to the common room." Ced thought to her.
As they entered the common room, they were swamped with questions about what had happened? Who would do such a thing? Was Cedric going to need to hire bodyguards? Why did Potter stun Weasley? They spent about half an hour answering questions before Professor Vector wanted to talk to him in his room.
"We're coming up mi amour." Ced thought to her. She had about thirty seconds to get some clothes on.
"It's okay, I pulled my school robes on." She thought back to him.
Ced waited until the gryphon had slid back in place before escorting the professor into his quarters.
"Lady Potter." The professor greeted her.
"Professor." She replied cordially.
Cici moved over to kiss Cedric, and then she took his hand in hers. It had been a couple of hours since they had been together. It was getting to their limit on being separated.
"Do you know why Mr Weasley would be concerned with your health?" the Transfiguration professor inquired.
"No, no I don't," Cici answered her. Her arm sliding around Ced's waist. "He has always ignored me. Then after Ced and I bonded he has become unfriendly towards me. Like he's taking his hatred of Ced and his family out on me also." Cici told her.
"Please professor, have a seat." Ced gestured to a chair.
As the professor sat, Ced and Cici sat also. She chose to sit across his lap, her long, toned, shapely, brown legs hanging over the arm of the chair.
"Maco!" Ced called.
Pop! "Yes, my Lord." The elf said with a bow.
"Refreshments for our guest please," Ced asked the elf.
Professor Vector quietly noted to herself the level of respect shown to the house elf.
With a pop, the elf was gone. In a moments time, pop, and the elf had returned with drinks and snacks.
"Thank you, Maco," Cici told the elf.
Hum, the professor thought. They both show an abnormally high level of respect for a house elf. These could be genuinely good people.
"Other than what has just happened, has anything else out of the ordinary happened today?" the professor asked of them.
"No, this is the only thing that's out of the ordinary, so far," Ced answered.
"I've just been laying around reading a book, staying out of sight. I did go to the hospital wing earlier. Before Ced was attacked." Cici told her. "I portkeyed into the area that is concealed by the curtains, and I portkeyed out," Cici added quickly.
"I left and took my time walking back to the common room. That's when I was attacked. I was taking a longer than normal route." Ced added.
"Will you be coming down for lunch Lord Potter?" she asked.
"Yes, I was planning on playing this charade to the fullest. I want to find out who wants to hurt us." He replied to her. "The only thing out of the norm has been Professor Slughorn asking me to talk to him if I needed to," Ced told her with his brows furrowed.
"Professor Slughorn has never spoken to you before?" she asked him.
"Not outside of class no. He did ask me to come to his Christmas party. But I refused his invitation, saying that I wasn't interested." Ced told her. "I wasn't interested in going to a Christmas party held by a professor at that time."
"Okay, thank you for the refreshments. I'll see you at lunch." Professor Vector told Ced. "Lady Potter, thank you for your time."
Ced and Cici both rose and walked their Head of House to the stairs where Cici could stay out of sight from prying eyes below.
When they heard the gryphon, slide closed at the bottom of the stairs. Cici turned to Ced, "Take your clothes off and let's lay down on the couch and cuddle. I'm about to go around the bend!"
"I understand what you're saying!" said Ced as they headed for the couch.
Cici was naked except for her skimpy knickers before they got there. She had dropped her school robes on the walk to the couch, and she was only in her knickers, underneath just like she had told Ced she would be. Ced removed his shirt and his pants keeping his underwear on. He laid down on the couch first, with Cici laying down facing away from him. They lay there and spooned. She summoned her book and started to read again, her head laying on his one arm and Ced's free arm wrapped around her chest cupping one of her breasts in his large hand. Cici was very contented with the physical contact from spooning with Ced. If she had been a cat, she would have started purring. Her soul-mate closed his eyes and listened to her thoughts as she read the book.
"Babe, babe, babe, you need to wake up and go down for lunch." Cici woke him.
When did I fall asleep? He thought to himself. I slept good! I feel better and more rested.
"You fell asleep about an hour or so ago," Cici told him.
"When did you put clothes on?" he said as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes.
"About twenty minutes ago. I want you to invite the girls up after lunch. No, let's get everybody to meet in the chambers after lunch. I want to practice dancing, I feel like dancing. The guys need to learn to dance if they don't know how." She decided forcefully. "While you're eating in the Great Hall, I think I'll have lunch with your parents. I don't want to eat alone, and you need to be seen so we can lure the perpetrator out of hiding." She told him. "Well! Get your clothes on!"
"Yes, mi amour. Give mum and dad a hug for me. And by the way, you look great." He told her.
"Maco!" she called out to the elf.
Pop! "Yes, my Lady." She said with a bow.
"Can you take me to Potter Mansion please?" Cici asked the elf pleasantly.
Maco held out her hand. Cici gave Ced a quick kiss goodbye and then she took the elf's hand. Pop! And they were gone.
Ced finished dressing, and now he didn't have to fake being depressed, he was depressed because his wife went to have lunch with his parents. On the way, down to the Great Hall, he met up with Angel and Fred.
"How you doing mate?" Fred asked him.
"Fine, I'm doing fine," Ced replied.
"You look bad mate. Are you sure you're doing okay?" Fred asked him again.
"I'm just worried about Cici, you know," Ced replied, sounding morose.
Again, the portraits watched him moping his way through the halls on the way to the hall to eat.
At the dining table, Ced sat with his back against the wall so he could watch what was happening at the other tables. He noticed that Weasley was back at the Slytherin table and that Jefferson was at the Hufflepuff table. Flint was missing, but it was a little later than normal for lunch.
Ced cast the privacy spells, "Cici wants everyone to meet in the chambers after lunch. She wants us to start practising our dancing." He told them, "So wear your dancing shoes!"
"Does this mean that we can wear our dresses?" Angel asked getting all animated.
"Yes! Can we?" Rose was getting animated also at the thought of finally being able to wear one of her dresses and her heels.
"I think that Cici would love for you to wear your dresses." Ced encouraged them.
He looked at Fred and George who were busy studying their plates. "Well, mates? Are you going to join us for some dancing?" he asked them.
Then he saw her coming in his direction. Ced quickly dropped the privacy charms.
"Well, Cedric," she said in her husky voice. "I haven't seen Ramos in a couple of days. Did you two break up?" she asked almost hopefully. Without asking she joined their group.
Ced opened his mind fully to Cici letting her hear everything that was happening at this moment in time. The two girls looked uncomfortable with her being so close.
"No, Cici is in the Hospital Wing under, Madam Pomfrey's care," Ced answered vaguely. He could feel his skin starting to crawl.
"I hope that everything is okay with her." She said almost believable, but not quite as she leaned onto the table, closing the distance between her and him.
"We don't know. She hasn't regained consciousness yet. Madam Pomfrey is worried about her." Ced added for dramatic effect as he leaned in towards her. His skin maybe crawling but he wasn't going to let her intimidate him.
"Well, I hope she gets better soon." She said. Standing, she picked a piece of fruit, a banana, and she began to peel it as she left. Ced noticed several of the other guys in the hall watching her eat the piece of fruit as she left. She dropped the peel on an empty plate just before leaving the hall.
"That was strange." Cici thought to him.
"That, my dear is an understatement." He answered her.
"Who was she anyway?" she asked him.
"Lestrange, Luda Lestrange." He answered her.
Ced looked up at the head table, Professor Vector was missing, so was Professor McGonagall.
He cast the privacy charms again. "Shall we meet in the chambers at two?" he asked looking at each of them. Especially the guys.
With smiles on their faces, Angel and Rose said yes almost in unison.
The guys took a little more motivation, "I'll let you dance with Cici if you meet us there." He coaxed them.
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In the small dining room, Cici was having a pleasant conversation with Hermione when she went quiet suddenly.
"What's wrong?" her mother-in-law asked her uneasily.
"Ced just got real nervous., there's someone approaching that is making him nervous," she told her.
"Do you know who it is?"
"No, I don't, but Cedric does. She's making him really uncomfortable." She relayed the information that she was getting.
Hermione was studying her daughter-in-law closely.
"She just sat down with them, without asking. She's asking about me and where I am." Cici told her in an almost trance-like state. She was getting all of the information that Ced was getting. He had opened his end of the mental link fully.
Hermione just sat there quietly watching and listening.
"Ced told her that I was in the hospital wing under Madam Pomfrey's care. Now she's trying to intimidate him by leaning across the table. She's getting a banana, and now she's leaving. I – I could feel my skin crawling just like he could feel his crawling."
"Has he said who it was?" Hermione asked concerned.
"He told, just told me. Her name is Luda Lestrange. Whoever that is."
"Her aunt is the one who tortured Neville's parents until they went crazy. They have been in St. Mungo's mental ward for most of Neville's life." Hermione informed her.
"Professors Vector and McGonagall were both gone for this exchange, Ced just told me," Cici informed her with a frown on her face.
"He still wants to go dancing with me in the chamber's this afternoon. He's even bribed the guys to dance with us," she told her smiling "saying that they can dance with me if they meet us there." She was smiling at the thought. "The girls are all excited, they get to wear their dresses and heels." She told her grinning.
"You should put a ward on your hospital bed to let you know if someone tries to visit you without Ced's knowledge," Hermione suggested.
"Ced's going to go do that now. He says good suggestion and thanks, mum!" Cici told her. "I think that I should get back to our room, so I will be there when he arrives," Cici said as she stood up to leave.
"Thank you for coming to visit. Harry will be sad that he missed you, but he had business that he needed to take care of personally." With a hug, Hermione let Cici summon Maco.
"Maco," Cici said politely. She was rewarded with a pop!
The small elf, dressed in her uniform with the Potter family crest on the chest appeared. "Yes, my Lady." She said with a bow.
"Will you please take me back to my quarters at Hogwarts?" Cici asked the elf.
Holding out her hand, the elf said, "Yes, my Lady."
Cici took hold of the elf's hand, mouthed "Thank you." To her mother-in-law and was gone with a pop.
In the blink of an eye, she was back in her quarters. Ced had not made it there yet. "Thank you, Maco. I appreciate your help." She told the elf that took care of her and her bonded.
"It is a pleasure to serve the Lord and Lady Potter." With a bow and a pop, she was gone.
Looking at herself in the communications mirror, it was a nice full-length mirror, after all, Cici decided to change into a freer flowing dress, something with a little more leg room for the dancing she was expecting to do. She also looked at her shoes and decided on another pair of platform heels, hoping they would protect her feet from getting stepped on. She didn't know how proficient of dancers George and Fred where. At Christmas, before she got married, she didn't know how to dance, now it was one of the things that she enjoyed immensely. She could spend hours twirling around the dance floor with Ced. She selected a new dress and another set of heels, these where a little taller than what she had on to visit Hermione. Turning around and walking to their bed, Cici laid the dress and set the shoes on the bed. She pulled the dress up over her head and let it fall back to its natural state. She slipped the hanger out of the new dress and hung this one on the hanger. With a flick of her wrist, the dress flew to the closet and hung itself.
"My Lady," his voice said, "you seem to have troubles keeping your clothes on whenever I'm around."
Spinning around she threw herself into his waiting arms. He leaned down to kiss her full lips passionately.
As they separated, he told her, "The wards are in place to alert us to any unauthorised visitors to your hospital bed."
"Good, I was going to wear this." She said as she held the dress up to her body. She wiggled this way, and she wiggled that way.
"I like it, are you going to wear it with a bra? Or without a bra?" was his reply.
"I am going to wear it with a bra. If I go without a bra, Fred won't be able to tear his eyes off my chest. As it is I'm going to have to worry about him getting drool on it." She giggled. "I guess I could use a water repelling charm on myself!"
"Now you're just being mean!" he chided her. "George drools almost as much as Fred!" he laughed.
"I'm going to wear these heels because they have a platform built into them so it should make it harder to step on my feet." She showed him the heels as she sat down and slipped them on her feet. When she stood back up, she was nearly as tall as Ced.
"Oo, I think I like these heels." He told her as he wrapped his arms around her derriere, pressing her hips against his, and pulled her in for another hug and kiss.
"Are you ready?" she asked when they had separated.
"Yes, anytime you are." He replied.
They each took hold of her portkey, and they were gone. Falling they landed in the chambers.
Looking around they spotted Uncle Neville. They started walking toward him when he stood up to greet them.
"Uncle Neville!" Ced said with some excitement.
"Ced, Cici, how have you been doing?" Neville asked them.
"Uncle Neville." Cici returned.
"Well, other than a couple of idiots trying to kill Cici, things have been going good," Cedric told him.
"Well, it's good that you remembered to use the spell your mum taught you, that you were aware of your surroundings, and things that are out of place." Neville praised them. "I heard that Luda Lestrange came to visit you at lunch today." He addressed Cedric.
"Yes, she did. You heard that from my mum?" answered Cedric.
"Yes, I did. You need to watch yourself around her. She's definitely a dark Slytherin. She may not be as bad as her aunt. But me? I still keep my eyes on her." Neville warned him.
"At lunch today, when she joined us, her presence made my skin crawl," Ced told him as he shook at the memory.
"That's the good in you trying to get away from whatever is in her," Neville told him. "Enough of this gloom and doom. I also heard that you were coming here to practice dancing! It just so happens that I wore my dancing shoes!" he said as he stuck his foot out so they could see his shiny shoe.
"May I have this dance my Lady?" he bowed exaggeratedly to her as he said it. He held out his hand to Cecilia.
She took his offered hand, with a pearly little laugh, they turned to walk to the dance floor. She slipped her hand into his as she looked over her should at Ced standing there with a smile on his face. With a wave of her hand, the old phonograph started to play a nice melodic waltz. Something easy to dance to.
Ced walked over to the dance floor, watching his not real uncle, Uncle Neville leading and guiding his beautiful young wife around the floor effortlessly. He took a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs and watched the radiant smile on her face. At the end of the waltz, Neville guided Cici to her soul-mate.
"Thank you for a lovely dance." He said to her. Turning to Ced, "I need to be returning home, keep an eye on Lestrange, constant vigilance!" he told them as he activated his portkey to go home.
After watching him leave, Ced turned to Cici, "My Lady, would you do me the honour of having this dance with me?"
"Why yes, my Lord, I would love to dance with you." She told him taking his offered arm.
Ced looked at the phonograph, he thought for a moment, then he ejected his wand and waved it at the old phonograph. The albums changed places, the phonograph started to spin, and the needle set down in the first groove. Another beautiful waltz started to play. Skillfully Ced led Cici around the dance floor, he led her through dips, twirls, and spins. So, engrossed in each other, they didn't notice when the others arrived. It was at the end of the song when they started clapping that Ced and Cici realised that they had an audience.
"This is twice today, that we've not been aware of our friend's presence." Cici thought to Ced.
"Why do you think that this has happened?" he thought back to her.
"Are we too comfortable in the chambers, believing that we are safe in here?" she thought back to him.
"Could be." He answered.
"So, when do we get to start dancing?" asked an excited Rose. She too had chosen a dress with more leg room and a set of platform heels.
"Now if you want," Ced told her, holding out his hand to her.
She took his offered hand and let herself be led out on to the dance floor. This time Cici did the honours of changing the album to another simple waltz. With Rose's hand clasped in his, and his free hand on her waist, they started dancing to the music. Ced noticed that she was a capable dancer and led her through more complicated moves. Her face glowed with radiance as she glided across the floor.
Cici asked Fred and George who had any dance experience. Fred replied that his parents made him and Rose take dance lessons every summer. Cici let Fred lead her out onto the dance floor. Fred showed himself to be a competent partner, and Cici followed him easily around the floor. He was so proud of himself for not stepping on her feet. At the end of the song, the two couples stepped off the dance floor.
Ced and Cici worked with George and Angel for about 30 minutes before turning them over to Fred and Rose for more practice.
The teens would practice for a song, and then they would sit and talk for a bit. Practice for a song and then sit and talk for a while. Ced and Cici would trade out with Fred and Rose as practice partners for George and Angel. They did this all the way until it was dinner time. At that point, they returned to their rooms to change for dinner.
The days drug by with Ced playing the part of the grieving boyfriend. The other girls had started to whisper more. Some of the braver students had come up to him to express their sorrows for his loss. None believed that Cici would ever wake from her sleep. Later in the week, the bravest of the female students had dared to touch him in an effort to console him in his time of need.
At the Gryffindor table, Ced sat with his back facing the wall again. He watched the stage set before him, of the students acting out their parts in this play called life. He noticed Lestrange and Flint talking to each other, and wondered what that could be about. He also noticed that Professors Vector and McGonagall were at the head table tonight. He wondered if this would cause the culprit to stay away.
Then she was on him! She was all over him. Her hands were everywhere! Who is she? Where'd she come from? How did he miss her? He fell out of his seat trying to get away from her, but she was relentless! He scooted and pushed himself away, but she was right there on him. He couldn't move fast enough!
"Oh, you poor baby! Look at you! You're falling apart! Here let me help you!" the girl with the mousey brown mess of hair said to him.
She was relentless, she wouldn't stop!
"Stop! Get away, leave me alone! Please!" he told her almost pleading.
She was on top of him now. Her weight pressing him into the floor.
"Get off of me!" he cried out.
The rest of the Gryffindors were spectators watching him crawl backwards trying to escape the fanatical girl that had gotten on top of him.
Then he stopped. His wand in his hand and pressed against the girl's chest. "Get off of me, or I'm going to stun you." He said coldly, laying there on his back.
Fear was in the girl's eyes. Slowly she got off of him. She stood up slowly, her eyes focused on the tip of his wand. How could he reject her? He needed her!
Ced stood up and put a little distance between them. He retracted his wand. "Please, just leave me alone. I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine." He told her calmly.
"But that's not what I was told." She told him, her lips quivering with fear.
"Who told you what?" he asked her. "Here sit down over there, next to where I was sitting and talk to me."
After they sat down again. Ced offered her a pumpkin juice. Wordlessly he checked her juice and his, both were safe.
"Now, can you tell me who told you what about me?" he asked her politely. His mental link was fully open.
She looked around, scared of somebody or something.
Ced cast the privacy charms around his small group. "These are mine and Cici's friends." He told her. "We trust them explicitly." He reaffirmed to her. "Can you tell me if it's more than one person?" he asked her.
"Th-th-they t-t-told m-me that you were falling apart since Ramos had left you and that you needed me to take care of you and your needs." She managed to get out.
"Okay, so we're getting somewhere. There was more than one of them. Was there more than two of them?" he asked the girl.
"Y-y-yes, there was a group of them. Maybe four or five could be six." She answered.
"Were they all boys?"
"No, there were boys and girls."
"Were they all students?" the thought just popped in his head.
"No, there was a couple of adults."
"How do you know they were adults?" he asked her, his curiosity piqued.
"Their size and their voices. They were all wearing cloaks so I couldn't see their faces. But just guessing, I would say that there were at least two adults or seventh-year students." She said more coherently.
Now, this was interesting because not a lot of magicals go all the way to their seventh-year, they just don't see the need to get their Masters certificate. Many of them don't want to even take their N.E.W.T.s.
"What colour were their cloaks?" he asked just to keep the conversation going.
"Red."
If she said anything after that Ced didn't hear. He was lost. How could a terrorist organisation get into Hogwarts? Who were they targeting? His thoughts and questions raced through his head.
Then, "She's your only connection to them." Came into his head.
"What?" he thought. Did he really just think that?
"She's your only connection to them." The thought returned to his head.
He blinked like an owl. "She is my only connection to them." He blinked owlishly.
"That means, that she's your new girlfriend, my love." The thought said in his brain.
"NO! I don't want a new girlfriend!" he yelled in his thoughts. "I don't want a new girlfriend!"
Then he felt someone take his hand. Instinctively he jerked it back. It wasn't the right person taking his hand in hers'.
"You need to let her hold your hand." The voice in his head told him.
"No. I don't want her to hold my hand. I want you to hold my hand." He protested.
"I want to be the one that is holding your hand. But to find out who did this. You need to let her be the one to hold your hand. We also need to find out if we can trust her. Right now, we don't even know her name." she told him.
"How far do we take this lie?" he thought to her, coming back to his senses.
"As far as we need to." Cici thought to him. "All the way, if it comes to that."
"But what if I don't want to go that far?" he couldn't bear the thought of being with someone else. His heart began to ache for his bond-mate at the thought of not being with her. The pain. The pain was growing in his chest. The pain that was growing in his chest would never be vanquished by this girl sitting in front of him, no matter how hard she tried she would never be able to make the pain go away.
He put his hand back out so she could hold his hand. The others in the group watched as she took his proffered hand. He cancelled the privacy charms, and he stood up. Instinctively he held her chair for her.
"Let's go for a walk." He told her. "Let's go someplace where there aren't as many people."
He looked up at the head table to catch the two professors look away at that moment.
As they left, hand in hand, the Great Hall exploded in whispers.
"Let the rumour mill begin." He thought.
He led the girl out of the hall and then out of the castle, out on to the grounds. He led the group on a familiar path to the Black Lake.
"I don't even know your name," he told her.
"My name?" she looked up at him, admiringly. "My name is Vicky. Vicky Vane." She told him.
"Hi, Vicky. I'm Cedric Potter." He told her in his best polite voice, sarcastically.
"I know that silly!" she chided him, filled with mirth. This was nice she thought.
Pointing to the others, he introduced her to Fred, George, Angel, and Rose. All of whom had masks of stone on their faces.
As they approached the lone tree by the lake. Ced noticed that Vicky was getting winded. "Here, let's stop here and talk." He suggested. He knew that the others could easily run around the whole lake. He looked around and found a spot to sit.
"So, tell us about yourself." Ced encouraged her with a smile.
"Well, I'm 13 and a second-year student. Although I feel that I'm more mature than my age. I'm in Ravenclaw, so that could be why we've never met, although I have seen you all over the school!" she threw in there. "And I've watched you play Quidditch several times!" now I sound like I have a crush on him she scolded herself. "I keep to myself, and I like to read books." She finished.
"What's your favourite subject?" Ced asked her trying to keep the conversation going.
"I like Astronomy, Arithmancy, and Transfiguration." She told him counting off the three classes she liked the most.
"I like Transfiguration also." He told her encouragingly.
They sat there chatting on the grass until just before curfew. When an awe-struck Vicky said fearfully, "I-I really need to be going. It's getting late, and I don't want to be caught out after curfew."
"Okay," Ced replied looking at how dark it had become.
The group stood up and started the walk back to the castle. They walked her to the bottom of the stairs at Ravenclaw tower. They all wished her well and headed for their own common room.
Ced knew that there would be several questions about what had happened in the hall and then where they had gone after that.
Angel gave the password to the Fat Lady, and she swung aside with a glaring look at Ced. Then, as if he had orchestrated it, the verbal assault began. He answered questions for a half hour before he motioned for his friends to join him in his quarters.
"We're coming up." He warned his wife.
"I'm dressed." Was all she said.
After they had all entered the sitting area of the married quarters, Cici hugged him and kissed him eagerly.
Once they all were seated, Maco had brought them drinks and snacks. Cici led what was basically a mission debriefing. Who saw what, who heard what, and what did each of them think. What were their gut feelings about what was happening?
None of them liked that Ced had held her hand. They felt that it was a betrayal of Cici's trust.
Cici scolded them gently, telling them, "If it comes down to it, Ced has my permission to kiss her! He better not like it!" she threw him a humour-filled look. "But he better makes it believable." She finished in a hard tone.
The other question they all had, was, how much did Vicky know about what was going on. Was she playing us as we're playing her?
With their friends gone, Ced and Cici entered the house. On the walk to their room, Cici looked at Ced, "GEEZ! These people in your world move fast!"
"What are you talking about?" he asked her.
"It was just last week that they poisoned me!" she told him.
With a smirk, he told her, "It's only been a week, hasn't it?"
"Yes," she said, "You should be in the hospital wing grieving over my still body. Not out holding some girls hand at the lake! Why're they moving things so fast?"
"It's been a week, and nobody believes that you will ever recover from the poison." He told her seriously.
"Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse, I guess."
He gave her a questioning look, "Well, you do have a good-looking body." He told her.
"It was something said by an old American actor, a heartthrob, I think. I think that he died in a violent car crash." She told him thinking about the irony of the words and the cause of death.
"Well, if I told you that you had a good-looking body would you hold it against me? Comes to mind for me." He recited an old song to her.
She spun around, pressing her body against his, he leaned forward and kissed her with all of his love. He encouraged her to jump, and then he lifted her up so she could wrap her strong legs around his waist, her muscular arms around his neck. As they entered their room, Cici released a hand and waved it at the huge tub, it began filling rapidly, he carried her the remaining distance to the huge tub. Carefully he stood her up so they could strip down. Hand in hand they entered the tub, they sat there talking and cuddling, sweet kisses helped fill the gaps. At some point, Ced was leaning against the wall of the tub, and Cici sat between his legs, her back leaned against his strong muscular chest. His arms and legs wrapped instinctively around her, holding her to him. They lay that way, still talking, their O.W.L.s were coming up in a few weeks. They talked about how so many of the students were going into panic mode with their studies. Some of the students even looked like they were going to have panic attacks! Then sometime later, Cici wiggled free, Ced knew what she had planned. He leaned forward so she could wrap her legs around him, her pelvis pressed into his, her breasts pressed into his, then her lips were pressed into his.
"Why don't you think that we've made love yet?" she thought to him as they kissed.
"Because I don't think that we need to. It's not time for us to make love to each other." He thought back to her. "Do you think that we need to make love to each other?" he asked her back, breaking their kiss.
"No, I was just wondering why you've never tried to take it that far." She replied thoughtfully.
"Why do we need to make love to each other when we share everything else?"
"Normal couples would have been having sex a long time ago." She said cheekily.
"We're not a normal couple." Shaking his head, "Besides, didn't the book say that, the bond would discourage us from having sex until we were both of age?"
"Yeah, your right. I just didn't want to think that you don't want me that way." She told him, almost sounding insecure
"What way?"
"You know, that way. Physically." She said sheepishly.
"My love." He paused for effect. "You are the most beautiful woman in the whole world. And yes, I would love to make love to you, when the bond lets us," he told her, his love flowing through their link.
Blushing, she hugged him tight again. "I love you too." She told him.
"I love you." He said. "When the time is right, I'm pretty sure that the bond will encourage us to consummate our marriage, but until that time, I'm very content to do what we're doing."
With their lips locked together, Ced laced his hands together under her bum and stood up. Supporting her weight easily, he turned and climbed out of the tub, the water sheeting off of them, to carry his wife to their large bed. With ease, Cici dried them both off. Tonight, she chose to put her hair into a braided ponytail. Ced sat her down on the bed, he then crawled into bed, laying on his back with his arms open to his wife. She rolled over and into his waiting arms. With a flick of his free hand, the lights went out, the only light in the room coming from the stars and the moon in the clear night sky. It was well past midnight when they had gotten in bed. Both of them tired, he kissed the top of her head, joined her in thought, letting sleep overtake them.
A/N: At this point, chapters 1-14 have been reproof read and updated. Please review!
And again 12.31.2018