Ella hopped off of the Hogwarts express, holding hands with Cedric Diggory. Katie and Juni followed them, watching the happy couple with a happiness of their own. After Ella's exchange with Fred, Ella had put everything she had into her relationship with Cedric. She had basically cut Fred and George out of her life for the moment being. Ella didn't like to think about it, though, if she put too much thought into it the reality of the situation came crashing down on her and turned her into a mess. She was very happy with Cedric and tried to focus all of her energy onto that. So all in all, Katie and Juni were happy that their best friend was happy.
"You guys go on ahead, I wanna say bye to Ced," Ella said to Katie and Juni.
"Alright," Juni said, pulling his trunk behind him, "just try to keep it PG, okay? We are in public, y'know?"
"Shut up!" Ella said and shoved Katie and Juni, who both walked away to find their parents, grinning and laughing.
Once they were gone Ella and Cedric leaned up against one of the pillars in King's Cross station. "You really didn't have to sit with us on the train, Ced."
"I know," Cedric said and tucked a piece of blonde hair behind Ella's ear, "but I wanna get to know your friends better so they can be my friends too. Especially Katie and Juni, I know they're really important to you."
Ella groaned and pulled Cedric into a hug. "My god, what did I ever do to deserve you?"
Cedric wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, sighing happily. "I dunno, babe, but whatever you did I'm glad you did it."
"Me too," said Ella, leaning her head up to kiss Cedric before they separated to find their parents. They had their arms wrapped around each other so tightly that their bodies were completely pressed together. Cedric's hand found its way into the soft hair at the nape of Ella's neck and held her close to him. They were practically snogging in the middle of the train station.
Ella pulled back, blushing madly, and for a moment she thought Cedric's head was going to follow hers so he could keep kissing her. "We probably should keep the snogging to a minimum while we're in public."
Cedric sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, but I'm gonna miss you over the holiday, I needed something that would leave a lasting impression." He pulled her close to him again.
Ella shoved him playfully and giggled. "Shut up, you idiot. You'll see me tomorrow. You're still coming for my birthday, right?"
"Yep," Cedric said, "Dad pulled a few strings and got our fireplaces connected so I'll pop in around six. Is that fine?"
"Perfect," Ella said. She pulled Cedric down by the lapels of his jacket and pressed her lips against his firmly, catching his bottom lip in between her teeth as she pulled away. She had to laugh at the look on Cedric's face after she had finished kissing him. He looked as if he had just been given a love potion. "I've really got to go and find my ma now, though." She pecked him on the cheek and turned to find her family.
"Wait!" Cedric said, grabbing her wrist and twirling so that she faced her again. It was probably the most graceful thing Ella had ever experienced thus far. Cedric kissed her one last time before letting her go. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, winking at her and walking away.
Ella stood there a moment, completely stunned, before shaking her head and wondering through the platform, looking for her mother and Riley.
"Ewwa!" Riley yelled and ran to his big sister. "I missed you!
Ella scooped Riley up, who was almost four now and groaned jokingly. "My goodness, you're getting heavy! I won't be able to carry you soon!"
Riley looked absolutely horrified by this. "No! No, you have to carry me!" He was gripping his toy wand in his hand and pointed it at himself. "I'll do a spell! I can be light!"
Ella acted as if Riley now weighed the equivilant to a single feather. "Merlin, you are light! You must have been practicing while I was gone!"
"I did! I worked really hard when you leaved for school this time. Right, Mummy?"
"Yes you did, sweetheart," Margaret said and pinched Riley's cheek, then kissed Ella on the forehead. "Hi, baby, let's get you home. Are you going to make me help change your room again?"
"Honestly, Ma, yeah I am," Ella said and her and her mother laughed, Riley, joining in without really knowing what they were laughing about. They walked to their car, a flying car nonetheless, and strapped Riley into his carseat. Ella's mother drove into a dark alley, made sure no Muggles were around and turned on the Invisibility Booster. (A wonderful idea that she had gotten from Arthur Weasley.) They flew off into the sky, beginning the hour and a half ride home to Edinburgh.
"Thank Merlin we don't look like a mess when one of Ella's friends is coming over this time," Margaret said, nervously straightening her already straight skirt again.
"He's my boyfriend, Ma, there's a difference," Ella said, who was too fidgeting with her dress. It was burgundy, long sleeved, flowy, and stopped right above her knees. She wore a simple pair of black heels and had taken extra care in doing her makeup. She still had George's crystal necklace dangling around her neck.
"Yeah, boyfriend," Jackson grumbled. "It would have been nice to know you were dating Diggory before yesterday."
"Well, it's not really any of your business now, is it?"
"It is so my business! And if I had known that he would end up dating my baby sister then when we were at school together I would have —" Jackson was cut off a large green flames erupted from their fireplace and out popped Cedric Diggory, already in his dress robes.
"Hello," he said awkwardly. He was not expecting Ella's entire family to be standing there waiting for him.
"Hello, Cedric," Margaret said warmly, shaking Cedric's hand in a very friendly way. "I'm Margaret, Ella's mum. You can call me Ms. Ross, Ms. R, or Margaret. Whichever you prefer."
"It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Ross," Cedric said, shaking Margaret's hand and making sure to be very respectful. Ella watched him proudly and had to bite her lip to keep from smiling too much.
"Cedric," Jackson said very sternly, drawing up to his full height and burliness. He shook Cedric's hand much harder than Ella's mother had. It reminded her of when Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint shook hands before a Quidditch match.
"Jackson," Cedric said, not even flinching at Jackson's handshake. "How've you been since you left Hogwarts?"
"Oh great," Jackson said, still eyeing Cedric unhappily. "Life's much easier when Snape's not in it."
Cedric laughed at that. "Yeah, I would imagine it would be. And you must be Riley," Cedric said as he kneeled down in front of Ella's little brother.
Ella bit her lip even harder to keep her grin from growing.
"Hello, I'm Cedric," he said and shook his hand out for Riley to shake, his hands were a great deal bigger than Riley's.
"Hi, Cedwic," Riley said very shyly, he still had a lot of trouble pronouncing r sounds. When he shook Cedric hand, Cedric's entire hand closed around Riley's entirely and Riley watched it happen as if it was the most amazing thing in the world.
Then Cedric finally said hello to Ella. "Happy fifteeth birthday, Ell," Cedric said, bowing dramatically in front of her and kissing her knuckles.
Ella blushed furiously and shoved at one of Cedric's shoulders. "Oh stop it, you. You're so embarrassing!" Cedric grinned at her, clearly amused.
Margaret held her wrist up to her face and looked at her watch, checking the time. "Well, we better get going, we don't want to be late. Cedric, have you ever been to Kelpipe Avenue before?"
Cedric nodded. "I've been a few times with my dad."
"Brilliant. We're going to the Kelpipe Smokehouse for dinner tonight, so I hope you like steak. You can take the Floo with Ella so you don't get lost."
Jackson and Riley went first, then Ella's mother, so it was just Ella and Cedric standing in Ella's living room, which was abnormally large for such a small house. Cedric pulled her to him immediately and kissed her harshly, good thing Ella had decided not to wear lipstick tonight. When they pulled back they were both panting and looking hungry for something that wasn't steak.
"You look — so incredibly beautiful, Ell," Cedric said smiling at Ella as if she was the most precious thing on the planet.
Ella smiled right back but tugged him into the fireplace. "You don't look too bad yourself, but we have to go before they get suspicious! I don't really want Jackson beating your face in tonight." Cedric laughed as Ella scooped up some Floo powder and said, "Kelpipe Avenue," very clearly.
The dinner that night went amazingly well. Jackson wasn't being as stoic as usual, probably because he was now allowed to legally order his own mead, and was actually making conversation with Cedric. Riley had also taken an interest in Cedric, even though he couldn't say his name correctly, and Cedric was brilliant with Ella's little brother. It made her heart swell for him even more than it already did. He was very respectful of Ella's mother and listened intently to every story she would tell him.
Cedric and Ella held hands under the table for the entirety of the dinner and he refrained from laughing as best as he could when the Kelpipe Smokehouse staff placed a hat that had tiny fireworks shooting out of it upon her head and sang "Happy Birthday" to her very obnoxiously. They wandered about the avenue a bit more, Ella showing him the areas in which he had never been before. It was an amazing night, really.
They took the Floo home and Ella's family retreated back into their own rooms to give Cedric and Ella some privacy before Cedric went home. "Here," Cedric said, pulling a black velvet box out of his robes and handed it to Ella, "I got you this."
"Oh Ced, you shouldn't have!" Ella said, tears coming to her eyes as she opened the box. What laid inside was a beautiful small heart pendant made out of Onyx and surrounded by tiny white crystals that hung from a thin silver chain. "Oh my god, Cedric!" Ella said her hand covering her mouth and the tears very close to spilling. This — this is beautiful!"
"A beautiful necklace for a beautiful girl," Cedric said, mimicking one of the first compliments he had ever given her from when they ditched class together almost three months ago now. "May I?" he asked, indicating that he wanted to put the necklace. Ella turned around and Cedric took the necklace out of the box and carefully clasped it around Ella's neck after taking George's necklace off and setting it on the coffee table.
When George's necklace left Ella's neck it felt like a part of her was leaving with it. But there was no way she would ever admit that.
Ella turned back to face him and her hand clutched the Onyx pendant. "I love it, Cedric, thank you so much." She cupped his jaw with one of her hands and stood on her toes to kiss him gently. "How about you come over on Monday and I'll give you your Christmas present?"
"It's a date," Cedric said and kissed her once more before stepping into the fireplace. "I'll see you later, love," he said, and then he was gone in a flash of green.
