I've had some very very lovely reviews and it got me all motivated again! I'm not completely happy about the flow of this chapter but I decided to just upload it so we could move on finally. More reviews are definitely helpful and you have no idea how big of a motivation they are.
CHAPTER 13
It was early in the morning. I had gone down to breakfast extra early so I could quickly eat something and then head up to the library again. We were getting so close to O.W.L's. Felix had recommended a particular book to help me study Jupiter's moons but I was afraid it was already in use by someone else as I couldn't find it.
As I was going over the spines of the books with my index finger, looking for Staring at Stars by Stéfanos Alcor I was suddenly taken by surprise by a set of hands on my waist. My instinct was to jump, shriek and spin around but it was still early and my brain must've been on a slow path still as I concluded that it could only be one person and that there was no need for an embarrassing freak out, before said freak out actually happened.
His lips were at my neck. 'You weren't surprised.' Fred's voice said, the vibrations of his words against my skin making a shiver run through me. 'Who else could it be?' I asked, my mind having difficulties formulating words as his hands reached over my stomach and pulled me closer. He murmured a bit. 'I enjoy startling you.' He said, his lips still on my neck.
How things had changed. A couple of months ago I could only imagine ever being kissed by a boy but here I was, frumpy Cecilia Wiggleswade, a handsome quidditch player kissing my neck. And that wasn't even an irregular occurrence at this point anymore! 'I really should find this book and study.' I said shyly and I felt him grin. 'I came here just to find you.' He said and I blushed. 'Are you blushing again?' He asked and I curtly shook my head. He chuckled.
He pushed at my hips so I'd turn around and smiled down at me. 'Red suits you!' he joked. I obviously flushed an even deeper red while he leaned into me and kissed me.
Before I knew it I heard the bell go and I broke away from our snogging session to quickly scramble back to my table to get my bag. 'Meet me back here for lunch!' Fred called after me and I waved my hand, indicating that I had heard him. Oh what had happened to me in this short month?
I never did end up finding Staring at Stars but I did end up hurrying to Care of Magical Creatures. Luckily professor Hagrid was still putting the lesson together and the class, made up of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor fifth years, was standing close together near the fence, staying clear of whatever he had prepared. I pushed through the students to where I saw my friends stood. 'Oh excuse me!' I murmured as I accidentally bumped into Katie Bell. 'Don't worry about it.' She said, a smile on her lips.
'I would ask you where you were but I think that hickey on your neck tells me enough.' Mathilda said as I came to stand by her. My hand quickly went to cover my neck. Aurora stepped closer and peeled my hand from my neck, inspecting the bruise closely. 'By Circe, doesn't that hurt?' She asked. I slapped her hand away. 'It's fine.' I said.
'Come on with me to the bathroom; I got the new Gemma Glitter Zit-Stick.' Aurora said. 'I'll cover for you.' Mathilda said. Aurora and I hurried to the castle so we could hide my hickey behind a layer of make up in the safe environment of the bathroom.
We looked up, both startled, when the door opened but it turned out it was Cho and Marietta. 'What a coincidence!' Cho said with a smile. 'Shouldn't you be in Care of Magical Creatures?' Asked Marietta and we nodded. 'I'm just getting rid of the physical evidence of Cecil getting a hickey.' Said Aurora and they both "oooh-ed".
They inspected my throat. 'It's a proper one too! Who's responsible?' Asked Cho and I shrugged but Aurora proudly said 'Fred Weasley!' and Cho clapped her hands. 'Good on you, he's fit! I know you two snogged already but you were still unsure of it all so I didn't know if you still were. Snogging I mean. Didn't you have a crush on him since early fourth year already?' She shrieked in one long sentence out and I shrugged again, not knowing what to answer otherwise, red in the face.
'I don't know if I ever told you but I'd always wait with coming out of the changing rooms after quidditch matches till the other team came out and looked out for the beaters in particular. They would've just showered so they were just wearing a sleeveless thing and because they're constantly swinging those bats they have these wonderful arms and although I don't know which one was Fred or which one was George, they'd both look hot.' She said in a string of words. Marietta laughed. 'You did tell me that.' She said and I chuckled too. 'I don't think you told me.' I answered. 'The Slytherin beaters too by the way.' She added and with a grin she said 'although none as great as Cedric!' and we all laughed.
Aurora finished up with her foundation, the skin-coloured substance charmed to make skin blemishes invisible to the naked eye. 'We should head back to Care of Magical Creatures.' She said and we said goodbye to our dormitory mates. 'I'm so glad we didn't pick that class; having the morning off like this feels wonderful.' Said Marietta. I was almost jealous.
At half past noon we strolled down to the Great Hall after Defence Against the Dark Arts. It had once again been a testing class. 'Moody really is mad, isn't he?' Aurora said as we all recalled the Imperius he had put us through at the beginning of the year. 'I hope next year we get someone competent again. Lupin was pretty good last year, too bad he was a werewolf.' Mathilda said.
We sat down at the Ravenclaw table and almost as soon as we sat down we were joined by Adrian Pucey, lazily followed by his best friend Cassius Warrington. 'How are you doing?' He asked Mathilda after kissing her deeply. Mathilda narrowed her eyes at him. 'What, why?' She countered and he held up his hands. 'Can't a fellow enquire after his girlfriend?' He asked and Mathilda turned her body so she faced him. Aurora and I eyed each other warily and Warrington looked bored by the whole ordeal.
'There's something wrong, I can tell!' She said, her voice slightly raising. He tried to grab her hand but she pulled it away. 'Oh come on, Tilly, it's nothing, really!' He said soothingly but she waved her finger in his face. 'Aha! So there is something!' She shrieked triumphantly.
I quickly made myself a sandwich, hoping to finish it quickly so I could make my way up to the library, all the while listening to the lover's spat next to me. Eventually they made up, Mathilda telling him that she'd keep an eye on him. Her adrenaline was up though and her hawk's eyes turned to me. 'By Circe, are you trying to win a race?' She asked me.
I took a moment to swallow my bite but then shook my head. With a shy look at the two older Slytherins sitting with us I softly said; 'I'm meeting Fred up in the library during lunch.'. 'Fred?' Asked Adrian and Mathilda quickly turned to him. 'Fred Weasley. Cecil has a thing going on with him.' She said and Adrian laughed. 'A thing?' He asked sceptically and I felt my face burn. 'What does a thing mean?' Asked Warrington and Aurora quickly jumped to my defence (which admittedly was a bit pathetic on my part). 'They just haven't defined it yet.' She said and both Warrington and Adrian roared with laughter.
'You're his hook up.' Said Adrian and Mathilda slapped the back of his head and although he made a face at her, it did nothing to stop his amused grin. 'What is that supposed to mean?' Asked Aurora defensively. 'That the Weasel knows exactly who to go to when he wants a good snog.' Warrington supplied and Adrian snorted, nodding along.
'That's highly..- well I don't know..!' Aurora tried to say but she was at a loss for words. I only looked down at my plate, the half-eaten sandwich forgotten. 'Merlin almighty, way to crush a girl's self-confidence, you twats!' I heard Mathilda say, followed by two hits (in turn again followed by two "ow!'s"). I felt her hand on my shoulder and she leaned down so she could see my face.
'Don't listen to them, whatever it is you have with Fred Weasley is between you and him.' She whispered to me and although I appreciated the sentiment I just shrugged. 'I think I'm going to stay here after all.' I answered her softly. 'Are you sure?' Asked Aurora and I nodded.
'I'm sure he won't even notice I'm not there.' I said, only half-jokingly. Mathilda and Aurora shared a look. I was looking down so I didn't see it but I simply knew them well enough that I know they did but then they both leaned back in their seat and allowed me to simmer in my own soup for a bit. I looked down at my sandwich.
Is that what I was to him? A hook-up as Adrian and Cassius Warrington had called it? He didn't seem to have much interest in anything else concerning me, if I was being perfectly honest with myself. We never really did anything other than snog. No, that wasn't true; he joked around with me as well, trying to distract me from my work. But he joked around with everyone and after distracting me we'd always end up snogging again. He never invited me to sit with his friends nor did he ever sit with me and my friends. I felt much like crying but I refused to and instead continued staring holes into my ham sandwich.
I didn't meet Fred in the library nor did I show up to dinner. Instead I convinced Mathilda to bring up some food to the common room. She eyed me knowingly as I spun my story on how I wanted to study quietly and how the library had too many people now and that going to dinner would break my concentration. 'Whatever.' She just said. She did bring back a leg of chicken and a slice of plum pie. An odd combination but I was pretty hungry.
In the following weeks I managed to keep avoiding my crush. Every time I saw him pop up at the end of a corridor (thank Merlin he was tall and ginger) I'd turn to the opposite direction and I stopped studying in the library, now preferring to only pick up the books I needed or have Mathilda do it so I could study in the dorm. It was not nearly as convenient but the thought of dealing with this situation that Adrian Pucey and Cassius Warrington had pointed out to me was too frightful.
Before I knew it, it was another Hogsmeade weekend. I was supposed to meet Aidan and his new girlfriend in the Three Broomsticks for lunch. I was not looking forward to meeting Nina. Not because she couldn't very well be a nice person but because I wasn't very good with meeting new people. Or any people if I was honest with myself. Fortunately Aidan would be there too and he always knew how to make me feel more comfortable. I did look forward to seeing Aidan. I loved my brother very much.
I wasn't the only one looking forward to seeing Aidan. Mathilda had been gushing over seeing him soon ever since I got the owl that he was going to be in town and Adrian Pucey was getting increasingly sensitive about it. My other dorm mates were also giggling the evening before. It was exceedingly embarrassing for me. 'Can we just go to sleep?' I groaned as I put a pillow over my head, tired of hearing another confession of any of them about how they were wildly in love with my older brother back in first year or whatever. 'Why don't you just go to sleep Cecilia, we don't need you for this.' Mathilda said with a joyous laugh. The others laughed too and I let out another groan. 'So I stayed over at Cecil's for a sleepover and when I went to the bathroom in the morning he came out in only a towel!' She continued to tell the other girls, who shrieked in response to this revelation.
That morning though I made my way to Hogsmeade after a late breakfast, together with Aurora and Marietta. Mathilda had gone off with Adrian (promising me she would come say hi during lunch despite my protests) and Cho and Cedric had gone on a date as well. 'Tomes and Scrolls?' Aurora suggested and we both agreed.
We hung around there for a while, Marietta buying a novel, and we sat outside by the fountain for a bit too, but then it was time for me to go to the Three Broomsticks to meet Aidan. Aurora and Marietta said they'd meet me later and disappeared into Honeydukes but I had a feeling that they had plans to sneak in together with Mathilda at some point.
I walked into the crowded pub but bumped into someone as I opened the door. I looked up the tall stature to find that it was one of the Weasley twins. I instantly felt my head turn red. 'Uhm hi.' I said softly and I pushed past him. Why did this happen now? I managed to successfully stay out of his way for this long and then I just run into him!
His brother was standing next to him and caught my arm as I tried to escape. 'Cecil, what are you running off for?' He asked and I concluded he must've been Fred. 'I'm supposed to meet someone.' I murmured and he grinned at me. 'Oh, are you on a date?' He asked, an amused glint in his eyes. I quickly shook my head. What did he even mean by that?
'I haven't seen you in a while! You're not avoiding me, are you?' Fred asked and I again shook my head. 'Of course not.' I lied. He raised his eyebrows. I wasn't a great liar and he must've noticed. 'So I can count on seeing you around soon again?' He asked once more and I nodded timidly. I wasn't looking him in the eyes but he put his index finger underneath my chin and pulled it up so I was forced to look at him. 'Maybe I'll visit you while you're studying in the library somewhere next week.' He told me. My heart did an excited leap at the thought but my brain, my reason, dreaded it.
'Fred, Lee's waiting.' George Weasley said, poking Fred in the side and he nodded. 'Well, you heard my partner.' He said to me. 'You better find your date!' He said with a wink, a cheeky smile on his face and my stomach churned at that heart-warming feat before the twins disappeared outside. I took a deep shivery breath. What was I supposed to do with this? I shook off the meeting for a moment to concentrate on the next one; my brother and his new girlfriend. I walked further into the room so I could survey the room better.
I looked around the Three Broomsticks to see if they were already there and noticed someone waving at me at the far end of the pub. It was of course Aidan. I pushed myself through the crowd of people to reach the two. Aidan stood up to greet me and next to him stood up a pretty woman with remarkably light blonde hair. She had a friendly smile on her face and eyes to match it. When I arrived at the table I noticed I was a little taller than her.
First things first though, I hugged my brother. I grabbed onto him tightly, feeling his familiar tall and muscular frame and took a deep breath, smelling that scent of home. He kissed my hair. 'You alright?' He whispered into my ear. I just nodded. He let go of me, looking me over. 'You look good.' He said. I looked at him.
His light brown hair was a little longer than I remembered; it was long enough that it had to be swept aside just a little. His eyes, a dark deep brown (always a hit with girls when he was still at Hogwarts and I suspected that hadn't changed after) were as I remembered however; bright and careless as they looked at me. He stepped aside to show off his girlfriend. 'Cecilia, this is Nina.' He said and Nina stuck out her hand.
I shook her hand and she shook mine. 'So nice to meet you, Cecilia, your brother has told me so much about you.' She said as we sat down. Aidan sat next to his girlfriend and I sat awkwardly across from them. 'Yeah, I'm happy to meet you too.' I said. 'You're in fifth year?' She asked, trying to make conversation. Aidan was holding her hand, all the while playing with her fingers and I eyed him. He ignored my stares. 'Yeah, I'm studying for my O.W.L.'s right now.' I answered her. 'Oh, I do hope it's okay for you to take a break for now? I've heard you are really smart though. No wonder you're in Ravenclaw then!' She said with a grin, showing off her pearly whites.
I didn't deal well with compliments and Aidan knew it so he changed the subject. 'How about some food?' He asked the two of us and we both immediately agreed. 'If I dare hazard a guess, the shepherd's pie for Cecil?' He said and I told him yes. 'Me the same please.' Said Nina. He laughed. 'I'll join the majority I suppose!' He said and he shouted towards the bar. 'Madam Rosmerta!?' To which the Three Broomsticks' proprietor looked up. 'What shall it be sweetheart!' She shouted back.
It was funny to see how Madam Rosmerta had always had such an effect on all the male Hogwarts students, despite not being a young woman anymore, and it didn't seem to change much when they left school because Aidan looked immensely pleased to be called "sweetheart". I glanced at Nina and saw her rolling her eyes. 'Three shepherd's' pies and a butterbeer for my sister!' He told her and Madam Rosmerta called back that it'd be right up.
'In what house were you?' I asked Nina, hoping to let her do the talking before she'd ask me all kinds of questions. 'I didn't go to Hogwarts!' She said. 'You didn't?' I asked surprised. 'No, my mother is Norwegian and she wanted me to go to Beauxbatons.' She said. 'Do Norwegians not usually go to Durmstrang?' I asked and she nodded. 'Usually yes, but my mum's mum is Belgian so she wanted her at her old school so the chain continues.' She said with a chuckle. 'My dad went to Hogwarts though. Was a Gryffindor.' She told me.
Turned out Nina was a sweet girl. She seemed to be nervous but unlike me, who froze in the face of nerves, she became giggly because of it, bursting out in laughter every time the conversation stilled or she felt like she had asked an awkward question. It made me feel oddly comfortable with her – she was nice.
Of course did Mathilda show up as promised. We had just dug into our lunch when we heard her undeniable shriek. 'Aidan!' She shouted, her voice full of vigour. Nina looked startled, I put my face into my hands and Aidan stood up from his chair and grinned, catching Mathilda in his arms as she had stormed up and flung herself at him. They hugged each other and then Aidan held her by her shoulders at an arm length's distance, looking her over.
'Merlin almighty, am I blind or have you grown? Almost a woman already!' He exclaimed and she grinned, a blush of excitement on her cheeks. 'Blind, definitely! I've always been like this!' She said cheekily and he laughed. I noticed that behind Mathilda stood a grouchy looking Adrian and the shy looking Marietta and Aurora. Aidan had noticed too.
'You two I have met before, although you must forgive me for forgetting your names.' He said to my two other dorm mates and they reintroduced themselves, shaking his hand. He turned to Adrian. 'I'm Adrian Pucey; I'm Mathilda's boyfriend.' He said and Aidan smiled as they shook hands. 'I'm Aidan Wiggleswade; I'm Cecilia's brother.' He said, imitating Adrian's phrasing. He motioned for Nina. 'Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Nina Bugg.' He said. Nina waved, bursting out in laughter once again. I couldn't help but start laughing as well.
'You want to join?' Aidan asked, ignoring us and sitting back down next to Nina, and all at the same time we said different things. 'No, they have other places to be.' I said. 'We don't want to intrude.' Marietta and Aurora said. 'We were actually just heading off.' Adrian said and, loudest of all was Mathilda; 'Of course we're joining you!'
In no time everyone was sat down at a chair and provided with butterbeers. I didn't speak much again after that. Mathilda wanted to know all about Aidan's new job in the advertisement industry and he happily obliged, his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder. He managed to pull others in the conversation as well, despite Mathilda's strong overtone and everyone had a turn. About an hour later she finally looked my way and I shot her a sharp look.
She rolled her eyes but the message was clear. 'I think we actually need to leave. O.W.L.'s and stuff.' She said vaguely but Adrian eagerly jumped up. 'I'll help you study!' He told her and she raised her eyebrows at him. 'So now you will?' She asked but he rolled his eyes and quipped a quick goodbye to my brother and Nina. 'I'll meet you outside.' He said.
Mathilda hugged Aidan goodbye. 'I'll see you in the summer.' She said with a big grin. 'Maybe we can even manage to ditch that weirdo who keeps showing up.' He said, subtly pointing at me. 'Haha, very funny.' I said dryly, my face unamused.
Once everyone was gone Aidan went to the bathroom and it was just me and Nina. I saw her eyes follow Aidan into the bathroom but then they focussed on me. She leaned forward. 'Okay, Cecilia, I know this seems like a weird thing to say now but I really really like your brother and he really really cares about your opinion, so I was hoping you could put in a good word for me?' She suggested and I blinked. 'I think it's very much up to him.' I said awkwardly. She must've felt uncomfortable as well because a laugh bubbled up and she tried holding it back but I saw it troubled her.
'But,-' I said hesitantly '-I do think you seem nice so I'll tell him that.' I muttered. She beamed. 'I wouldn't dream of asking for more.' She said. 'What are my two favourite girls talking about?' Asked Aidan, sitting back with us again. We both just grinned at him.
Aidan payed our bill and when the three of us walked Nina told us that she'd run to the post office across the street because she still had to owl a letter to her mother. Aidan and I sat down at the wooden bench outside the Three Broomsticks. 'How have you been really?' Aidan asked me after a moment. I eyed him from the corners of my eyes and shrugged. He took a moment to consider. 'You seem different.' He told me.
'It's just O.W.L.'s and stuff.' I muttered. He put his arm around me and pulled me against him. 'Yeah O.W.L.'s..' He agreed but I knew by the way he said it that he knew it wasn't "just O.W.L.'s". I burrowed my face in his jacket and he rested his chin on the top of my head. 'It's just..!' I started to say, my eyes closed, my nose pressed flat against the side of his body. '..O.W.L.'s!' I finished lamely. And then I started crying.
I hadn't seen it coming but all the stress of, yes, O.W.L.'s but also having to decide the rest of my life right about now and the worries of Fred Weasley that plagued me day and night. 'O.W.L.'s are the worst.' Aidan murmured with a soft chuckle, his breath tickling my scalp. I laughed through my tears. He hugged me close and I held onto him tightly. 'If he doesn't appreciate you like he should, he's not worth it anyway.' Aidan said suddenly but I didn't answer. I loved my brother very much.
When Nina came back I quickly wiped my tears with my sleeves and Aidan kissed my temple before he got up to welcome back his girlfriend. 'I can think of another owl to send..?' Nina opted, eyeing me and looking back at Aidan questioningly, but Aidan laughed and swung his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet, swinging her around. 'Aidan, what..!?' She shrieked, a grin spreading across her face and I laughed as well. 'Let's go to Honeydukes, I'm aching for dessert.' He said.
Aidan bought me a whole bag full of sugar quills and a package of Austrian slugger slushes to last me through the O.W.L.'s.
It wasn't till two hours later that I said goodbye to the two. Nina hugged me enthusiastically which took me off guard a bit but after a second I hugged her back. When she had told me how good it was to meet me she went to stand a bit away so Aidan and I could embrace each other. 'I can't wait to see you once the holiday starts.' Aidan said. I smiled.
'You should tell mum and dad about Nina. She's nice.' I told him. He ignored my comment. 'You shouldn't worry about your O.W.L.'s.' He said. 'You're going to do great.' And then, after another moment, he added; 'Nor about this Gryffindor brat you don't want me to know about.' I flushed red. 'I don't know what you're talking about.' I retorted.
We hugged once more, I told him to say hi to mum and dad from me and I waved at Nina and then I hiked back to the castle, hoping to have some shepherd's pie for dinner again.
That evening at dinner Mathilda was all talk about lunch at the Three Broomsticks. 'We were there too, you know!' Said Aurora, who poured some pumpkin juice for Robin who was sat next to her. 'You don't have to recount the whole thing.' She added.
Mathilda glared at her. 'I haven't seen him in nearly a year!' She defended herself. 'He's Cecilia's brother and since Cecil and I are practically sisters, he's practically my brother too. It's natural to miss a brother!' She said with a wink. Before I or anyone else could say anything, Adrian let himself fall on the bench next to Mathilda. 'Tilly?' He asked and she was about to say "yeah?" as she turned to look at him but he shut her up effectively by pressing his lips against hers. For a moment we watched the couple but seconds into that moment it became uncomfortable as they commenced a full blown snog session.
When they finally parted both their cheeks were flushed. 'I don't want to hear about him again, alright?' He muttered and it was one of the rare occasions at which I witnessed Mathilda to be speechless and she just nodded in reply. Adrian then stood up and went back to the Slytherin table. Mathilda turned back to us. 'That was not a dream, was it?' She asked us and I burst out in laughter, shortly followed by Aurora and Robin.
Mathilda and I left the Great Hall together, yanking each other's arms as we goofed around and I, my heart being decidedly lighter than it was before meeting Aidan in Hogsmeade, forgot to keep an eye out on my surroundings. I didn't notice my crush at the end of the hallway till it was already too late. I was only just in time to hiss 'Don't leave me with him!' at Mathilda before he had stopped us from going up the stairs.
Mathilda looked extremely puzzled as Fred Weasley leaned against the bannister. 'How was your date this afternoon?' He asked cheekily. I gaped at him. Date? 'Oh, uh, it was good.' I said. 'It wasn't a date.' I added. He rolled his eyes. 'How about we get a private study session going in the library?' He suggested and I could tell my face was red. I didn't know what to say. Thank Merlin for Mathilda Goodfellow.
'Sorry to disappoint but I need Cecilia for something else!' She said, pushing me up the stairs. I looked behind me to see Fred Weasley standing upright, his eyebrows raised, looking after both me and Mathilda. She kept pushing me till one last push toppled me over so I fell down on my bed back in the Ravenclaw dorm. 'Now tell me.' She said.
She sat down with me on my bed and drew the curtains around us. 'I don't want to be a "hook-up".' I told Mathilda, my cheeks flushed. She groaned. 'You are not listening to those idiots, are you?' She said and she was about to say more but I sat up and shook my head. 'They were right.' I said to her, looking at my hands. I fidgeted with the hem of my robe. 'What do you mean?' She demanded.
'I asked Fred.' I murmured. 'When?' Asked Mathilda. 'Last Hogsmeade weekend. You were wondering what was wrong and I wouldn't tell.' I reminded her, briefly looking up to her before looking back down.
'I asked him if we were, I don't know, together I suppose and the look in his eyes, Tilda; I just knew what he was going to say.' I told her. She took my hand in hers. I took a deep breath, rubbing my wet eyes with my free hand. 'I didn't want to hear him say it so I kissed him before he could. But he doesn't like me like that.' I sighed.
However brash and upfront Mathilda could be, I knew her to be one of the sweetest people in the world. She climbed across the bed to sit next to me, giving me a fierce hug. 'Let's not ever mention Mr F again.' She said. 'He helped you learn more about yourself and your body and your sexuality-' I groaned but she went on '-and we can thank him for that but now it's enough, okay? Let's just focus on the other things in our lives.' She said and I didn't fail to notice how she kept saying "we". She always saw my problems as her problems.
'Remember when Adrian and I were fighting over Easter?' She suddenly said. I nodded. 'I was mad at him because he told me to "ditch those nerds", that's an exact quote, when I was going to study with you and Rory.' She told me. 'He didn't really mean anything by it but I just got so angry with him. First I thought "that prat can't talk about my friends that way" but the more I thought about it the more I thought that I felt like he was talking about me because I'm also one of "those nerds".' She explained to me.
'And then I felt just terrible because I always feel like I'm different to you guys. It all doesn't come as easy to me. I know I'm not an idiot but you are going to do great on the O.W.L.'s and I really don't know if I am.' She admitted. I put my arm over her shoulder. 'Aren't we insecure?' I said mockingly and she chuckled. 'When the O.W.L.'s start in a couple of weeks, we'll do them together okay? You'll help me study for them more? And when Mr F pops up for another snog, we'll walk away together too.' She said. 'We're strong and clever.' I smiled at my best friend. 'That's a deal.' I answered.
The story involving Fred has not ended yet at all, if you're worried! Like I could ever say goodbye, let alone like this haha!
I hope Aidan did not disappoint by the way? We haven't seen much of him yet of course but he's very important to Cecilia. And we all need a Mathilda. Don't we just?