JENNIFER

"Mr. Blotts, I have a question for you."

"Yes, Potter?" he asked, looking up from his accounting book. The shop was dead. We hadn't had someone come in all day, and the prospects of making a sale didn't look too terribly promising today. Tomorrow was Valentines Day after all, and the alley was full of snow. We were probably one of five shops open right now.

"I was curious if I could have a half day tomorrow."

He looked up at me, frowning. "Why?"

I turned pink. "Erm, well, tomorrow is Valentines, and I'd really like to go surprise my boyfriend at work." His expression didn't change much. "He works at the Ministry, and he's been so overworked, I hardly ever see him. I know it would mean the world to him if I showed up."

Mr. Blotts looked me over, and then nodded. "Certainly. In fact, take the whole day off. I don't think we're going to be getting any customers. Just get through cataloging the Herbology section today, please."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Blotts," I said, grinning. "I'll get right on that."

I sped through my cataloging, finishing right before closing. Blotts checked everything over and seemed satisfied, so I left work smiling. I was already making plans for tomorrow, trying to work out the best surprise I could for Cedric. He deserved something great, especially after last Monday when he had been out all night and most of the morning fighting off a hoard of Inferi that had come out of the Thames. He could use a reason to smile.

I entered the Ministry with caution. The last time I was here, we were battling Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Now, I was flushing myself down a disgusting toilet into the atrium, where I had to check in with a guest registry, get a badge, and have my wand examined. Then, there was the matter of even finding Cedric's office. I knew he worked in the Beings office, which was a part of the Creatures division. I jumped on the lift, hoping that it would prove useful. At the fourth floor, the voice said, "Division for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creature," so I got off and started looking for some signs. I followed twisting corridors, listening to squawks and growls that intermingled with human voices. The sound of several goblins having an argument drifted out of one office, and I finally made the last turn to the hallway that said, Beings in big, bold letters. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and headed inside.

I came across Cedric's office fairly quickly – the letters on the door read Cedric Diggory – Head of Dementor and Inferi Removal Squad. So official. I knocked, but no one answered, and upon inspection, his office was empty.

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

I nearly jumped at the voice. A man hardly a few years older than me was looking at me with impatience and suspicion, his arms full of papers and his glasses slipping down his nose.

"I'm looking for Cedric."

"Obviously. Who are you?"

I was slightly annoyed he didn't know who I was, but then again, I didn't have a scar on my forehead. "Jennifer Potter. I'm his girlfriend."

He frowned. "You'd better check in with Desdemona, I don't know when Cedric will be back."

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and followed him further down the corridor to a much larger office. The man pushed open the door with his foot and led me inside.

"This girl is here looking for Cedric. Claims to be Jennifer Potter," he said in almost a bored voice.

"Excuse me?" I asked, my face heating up. "Girl?"

"Thank you, Lewis," the older woman whom I assumed was Desdemona replied. Lewis nodded and left, and I crossed my arms. "So, you say you're Jennifer Potter?" She looked up at me from her letter, studying my face.

"I don't know who else you could confuse me with, my mother is dead," I said crossly, trying to keep my temper under control. I'm sure Cedric wouldn't appreciate it if I yelled at his boss.

"Hmm," Desdemona said, lighting a pipe. "And why are you looking for Mr. Diggory?"

"Because it's Valentines Day and I'd like to have lunch with my boyfriend," I replied, holding up my bag. "So surely you can tell me when he'll be back."

"I'm not sure, Mr. Diggory is teaching a class right now," she responded coolly. This was infuriating. All I wanted was a nice lunch with Cedric, but no— "Perhaps you had better—"

"Desdemona, I'm—Jennifer!"

Cedric walked in the door, pulling me into a tight embrace when he saw me.

"What are you doing here?"

"Surprise," I said.

"Desdemona, we're all set. Everyone from Muggle Artifacts passed, as did Magical Accidents," he said, handing her a file folder. "I've got the entire Transportation department later this afternoon."

"Excellent. Thank you for the report," she said, and Cedric steered me from the office.

"Were you waiting long?" he asked, pushing open his office door. "Sorry for the mess, let me draw you up a chair…"

"It's fine," I said, watching him shift papers around his office. He pulled out his wand and conjured another chair to sit opposite his own at his desk. I set my bag on the desk and took his hand, pulling him into a kiss. "Happy Valentines."

"Blimey, that's today, isn't it?" he said, his face falling. "I'm so sorry, I don't have anything for you—"

"Don't worry about it," I said, "I brought lunch."

He practically collapsed into his chair. "I love you."

I smiled. "I love you, too."

I unpacked our lunch and Cedric ate faster than I'd ever seen him accomplish. When I raised an eyebrow at him, he swallowed the big bite of sandwich and said, "I didn't get to eat this morning, and I came in so late last night I just fell asleep."

I frowned. "Cedric."

"I know, but hey, you're here, and you have food, so that's pretty great." He grinned at me. "Thank you. This is the best."

I blushed a little, but I grinned too and continued to eat. "So what have you been teaching?"

"Oh! I didn't tell you? I'm sorry. I've been training the entire Ministry how to make a Patronus. They only have to make the silvery shield to pass, but I've had a lot of people manage to make a full one."

My jaw dropped in awe. "The entire Ministry…? Cedric, that's so…"

"Daunting?"

"No, impressive." He smiled shyly. "Really though… wow. You're so great."

We finished lunch in a comfortable silence. I waved my wand and packed everything into my bag again.

"What did you think of my coworkers?" he asked, amusement in his voice.

"Well, other than getting called girl and overall being treated like I was a Death Eater…"

Cedric frowned. "I, um, I don't blame them. Someone was killed in the Magical Law Enforcement department two weeks ago. Death Eater was disguised as an obscure relative."

I dropped my gaze. "Oh. I… I hadn't heard about that…"

"It's okay." Cedric glanced down at his watch and sighed. "I'm sorry Jen, but I've got to get back to work." We both stood, and he pulled me into a warm kiss. "Thank you. This was great."

"You're welcome. Will you be home tonight?" I asked, my fingers tangled in his hair.

"I should be. Sometime around eight, maybe?"

"Okay, I'll see you then." I kissed him again, pulling his body closer to mine. God I missed him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

I left his office, leaving him breathless. I hitched the bag a little higher on my shoulder as I walked back through the Creatures department towards the elevator. I had some books at home I was planning on combing through, mostly on Egyptian history. I finally had the time I wanted to investigate the books that Narcissa had purchased, and I figured this would be a good place to start. If Lance was learning some sort of ancient Egyptian magic, then—

Ahead of me, the door to a broom cupboard opened. I heard footsteps behind me, but as I turned, a hand pulled me into the cupboard and the door slammed shut. I started to panic, trying to find my wand in the pitch black.

"Help!" I shouted, and a body moved closer to me. I threw up my hands to defend myself.

"Jen, it's me."

"Cedric? What the hell!" I hit his chest. "This is not funny!"

"Sorry, I just…" His voice was a little deeper than normal, his lips hovering above mine. "I couldn't wait until I got home."

"Wha—"

He kissed me, passion radiating from him as he pushed his body against mine, pinning me to the wall. I moaned loudly when he began sucking on my neck, unable to help myself. He chuckled and stopped for a moment.

"Careful now, don't want anyone to hear us." I nodded in agreement and he went back to teasing me. I bit down on my lip, trying so hard not to make a sound. His hand was under my shirt, running up my back, and I couldn't help but shudder. Dear lord he knew what he was doing. His other hand ran up the inside of my thigh, feeling me, and I dug my nails into his back. He seemed encouraged by this, and lifted me off the ground against the wall. His hunger was almost too much to handle.

I read a book in the living room, waiting for Cedric to come home. It was dark out, nearly eight-thirty, but I was trying to make myself focus on Egyptian history rather than worry about him. He would come home when he could. Dinner would just take a quick reheating. It was hard not to worry about him, but I was trying my hardest.

With a click, the door swung open, and Cedric walked in. He didn't look quite as disheveled as usual, just tired. He locked the door and stripped off his cloak and his work robes, leaving him in jeans and a sweater. I set the book aside and scooted over so he could collapse onto the couch next to me.

"What a day. I taught nearly forty people today. Forty," he said wearily. "That's why I'm late, I had to finish all of the paperwork. It was a mess."

I leaned on him, stroking his hair. "It's okay. Dinner's ready whenever you want it." He looked down at me, and I stretched up to kiss him. His hand rested on my hip, and I moved so that I was straddling him on the couch, one hand resting on his chest, the other on the back of his neck.

He chuckled as we broke apart. "You're certainly in a mood."

"I was thinking we could finish what we started," I said, my voice low, fingertips tracing over his jaw. I kissed him again, but he laughed again.

"And what exactly are we finishing?"

"Your closet ambush."

He pulled away from me. "What are you talking about?"

I frowned slightly. "When I left, you followed me—"

"No, I didn't."

I felt my entire face drain of color. I untangled myself from Cedric and stood, trying to make sense of everything. It had to have been him it just had to. It was his voice, his body, his—

"Jennifer, what is going on?"

His voice was sharp. I held my head in my hands, trying to filter through every single detail of today. I shook at the memory of Cedric's voice, no, that voice, low, in the darkness, pitched just differently enough—

"Lance."

The word startled me. Then the horror took over my mind, and my body trembled with disgust. Oh god, what had I done?

"What?"

I looked up at Cedric. He was on his feet, shoulders tense, frowning heavily. He was holding in his anger. My mouth was so dry.

"I… it had to have been Lance—"

"That you what, shagged in a closet?" Cedric rarely ever raised his voice. "I can't believe you."

"Cedric, I—"

"You cheated on me."

His words hit me like a knife and I hold myself, trying not to fall, trying keep more than a few tears from falling down my face. I had to fix this.

"Any other times?"

"Y-yes." My voice was broken. I had a hard time getting it to cooperate. "He-he's been sending me these dreams where we're… happy and in l-love, and—" I sobbed. There was no use trying to stop crying. "—once, before I passed m-my Apparation test, he… he cornered me in a w-warehouse and kissed me… I c-couldn't stop him…"

There were a few moments of ragged breathing before Cedric spoke. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice strained, and I didn't have to look at him to know that he was crying, too.

"I—I don't, I don't know—"

"You're still in love with him, aren't you?" he shouted, his voice cracking, and I kept my blurry eyes on the floor.

"Cedric, please—"

"Aren't you?!"

"No, I'm not!"

He laughed mirthlessly. "You've really got me convinced."

I was lost for words. I just sobbed, begging my knees not to give out, for this to stop, for Cedric to just listen to me.

"I… I can't do this." My head snapped up and I saw him reaching for his cloak. "I can't… I can't believe you would…"

"Cedric, I didn't mean to—"

"Didn't mean to what? Break my fucking heart?" I saw him wipe at tears on his face. "I'm leaving."

In one quick motion, he had ripped open the door and slammed it behind him, his heavy footsteps echoing away down the hall.

I collapsed. Pain ripped through me, worse than Crucio, hitting me like every death I had ever experienced. I let myself howl, clutching my chest.

I just wanted to die rather than feel this.

I had no idea how long I lay on the floor, letting myself cry until my head ached. Cedric still hadn't come back, and I didn't want to be here when he did.

If he did.

I had to leave. He wouldn't want me around. I'd done enough damage. I pulled my trunk out of the closet and started throwing all my possessions inside, not really caring how they fit. I shoved books, clothes and potion ingredients inside, wrestled the lid shut, and threw on my cloak. I exited the flat, locked the door, and stood there for a moment, wondering where the hell I would go. Sarlanda was working. Ophilia had no room.

I turned on the spot and Apparated to a dingy building across town. I levitated my trunk after me, not caring if a Muggle could catch me. On the fourth floor, I knocked on number seven. Surely she was still awake…

"Who is it?"

"It's… Jennifer," I managed to say, stuffing my wand back in my pocket. Brittany Chang opened the door, holding a sleepy Diana.

"Jennifer, what's—what's wrong?" she asked, seeing my tear stained, pale face.

"Can… can I stay here? At least, for tonight?"

"Yes, of course… what happened?" She let me inside, and I shook my head. I couldn't tell her, not now. Tomorrow, maybe. Not tonight. "Would you like some tea?" she asked, guiding me over to her loveseat couch.

"Y-yeah, that would be… thanks."

First update from my new computer, so that's cool.

The title is from Up the Wolves by The Mountain Goats, which you can listen to here: watch?v=agbCspmBSWk

Send in those reviews, let me know your feels.

See you next Monday,
-Icamane