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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:
Floristry: Floral Design: Task 4 - Write about a romantic gesture.
Ultimate Battle Competition: High tier Write about a Hufflepuff Accessory Prompt (AU) Everyone Lives
Character Appreciation: (character) Percy Weasley
Amber's Attic: (action) holding hands
Angel's Archives: Magicians Red (trait) Gryffindor student
Scamander's Case: (character) Cedric Diggory
Film Festival: (color) Red
EnTitled: The One Where Ross and Rachel...You Know (prompt) Write about moving a relationship forward.
Unlucky Month for Weddings: (object) bouquet of flowers
National Ice Cream Month: Chocolate Chip (word/emotion) Sweet
Romance Awareness Month: Percy/Cedric
Friendship Week: Percy&Fred
Gryffindor Characters: Percy Weasley
August Auction: Day 14, Auction 4 (colors) gold
Monthly Challenges for All:
Link Maker: Same fandom (Harry Potter) 3,299 words
Firework Factory: Easy (Gryffinpuff or Huffledor) 3,299 words
Warning for Everyone Lives!AU and a slight bit out of character. Word count is 3,299 words. I hope you all enjoy One Golden Ring.
Percy sat behind his desk at the Ministry of Magic with his head in his hands. His and Cedric's fourth anniversary was coming up and he no idea what to get the love of his life. He and Cedric shared everything with each other. But what could he get the man that had everything for a present?
He looked at the picture he'd had taken during their first date. It was a picture of the two of them dancing at the Yule Ball during Cedric's last year at Hogwarts. Percy in his dark dress robes that he'd bought with the money he'd saved from work. Cedric his caramel brown locks gelled back in his suave looking dress robes.
"What can I get you that will make you happy?" he asked the picture, watching as the two of them danced together in an endless loop.
Cedric had seemed a bit off lately. Probably due to the latest rash of weddings among his friend group. The chaser of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team during Cedric's run as Seeker had just got married to her long term boyfriend. Percy could have sworn that Cedric was jealous when all the single ladies were called to the front of the room for the throwing of the bouquet.
Strangely enough, the gold and silver bouquet of flowers had flown over the heads of the ladies in the crowd and landed in Percy's arms. He'd gallantly gone over and handed the bouquet to Cedric who was beaming. Was that what Cedric wanted?
A knock sounded at the door and Percy jumped before remember that he had an appointment with his Undersecretary Hermione Granger. Composing himself once more he called that she could enter.
Hermione Granger was one of the only people that Percy felt comfortable speaking about his relationship in the Minister's office. She was practically family, after all. When she'd finally settled down and was waiting for the meeting to begin he figured he'd get her opinion on the matter of what to do for his and Cedric's anniversary to make it special.
"Before we get to the matter that I truly called you here to discuss," Percy said, sitting back in his chair and watching Hermione, "I would like to ask you an important question."
Hermione looked intrigued by this statement and leaned forward. "You can ask me anything," she said, watching him as he watched her. "What do you want to know, Perce?"
Percy didn't correct her familiarness with using his first name. They weren't talking as Minister and Undersecretary right now. They were talking like a man and someone who was like his sister.
"You know that Cedric Diggory and I have been dating since the Yule Ball in your, Harry, and Ron's fourth year, right?" he asked, trying not to sound nervous.
Hermione nodded. "We all see how happy the two of you make each other," she said, smiling at him.
"Well, then you know that our fourth anniversary is coming up soon?"
Hermione nodded, a look of understanding crossing her face. "You don't know what to get Cedric for your anniversary, do you?"
"I don't have a clue," Percy said, thanking everyone he could think that Hermione understood what he was saying. "I know that during the last wedding we went to he looked jealous when the bride threw the bouquet."
"The one that landed in arms after flying over the heads of all the ladies there?" Hermione asked, in that all-knowing way of hers.
"Percy nodded. "That's the one," he said.
"Have the two of you been thinking about or discussing getting married recently?" Hermione asked, surprising Percy with how much she knew.
"We've talked about it," Percy said, wondering how she could have known such a thing without him telling her. He hadn't mentioned talking about getting married to anyone. Not even his own family. How could Hermione know this? "But I want to establish myself before settling down and starting our family. I don't want Cedric to…"
He stopped himself before finishing because he was happy with the life he had growing up. Sure his family was poor but they always had what they needed or wanted. He wasn't going to tarnish that once more by speaking of ill the way he was raised.
"But what about what Cedric wants?" Hermione asked, making him think as he stared at the gold-framed picture on his desk. "Is waiting for you to get established and settle down what Cedric wants? Is going to be worth the risk of losing him if you do?"
Percy had a lot to think about during their meeting. Not just the work stuff but the personal stuff as well. Not that he'd ever admitted to thinking about personal stuff during work. He'd never admit to that.
It was during their conversation about a celebration for the ending of the war that he got the idea for what to do. He'd make their fourth anniversary a celebration for them and all their friends. During this celebration, he'd give Cedric the one thing that he knew would make Cedric happy now. He was planning on proposing to his boyfriend of four years. That would be the night that he did it.
Percy started to put together the pieces of his plan. He would have to get Cedric out of their shared flat for the day. The idea he'd gotten from listening to Ginny and Luna's talk was perfect. He'd send Cedric out for a day of pampering. He'd pay for everything. A perfect day at the salon and spa was just the thing that Percy needed to get the flat ready.
"Happy anniversary, babe," Cedric said, leaning down and kissing Percy to show that he was awake. "I love you."
"I love you too," Percy said, looking up into the most beautiful cappuccino-colored eyes. "Happy anniversary, sweetheart!"
"What are your plans for today?" Cedric asked, sounding hopeful that Percy had something fun planned for their special day.
Percy smiled, half wanting to tell Cedric about the celebration and half wanting to wait and see the look on his face when he walked in. He looked at the clock and pretended to be concerned. He'd come up with the perfect excuse too.
"I was going to spend the whole day with you but something horribly important came up at work that need immediate action taken on it," Percy said, feeling horrible about lying to Cedric but also knowing that it would be well worth the lie. "I did, however, plan for you, my sister, sister-in-law, and their friend Luna to go and have a spa day. Doesn't that sound fantastic?"
Cedric's smile fell and looked dejected as he nodded his head. "That sounds great, Perce," he said, not truly sounding like it sounded great at all.
"When I get home we'll have a fantastic dinner together," Percy said, smiling as he felt the ring box that was in his pocket. "Then I'll give you my present for you."
"You didn't have to get me a present," Cedric said, watching as Percy got out of bed. "Just spending the day together with you would have been enough for me."
That felt like a punch the stomach to Percy. But the plan was the plan and he couldn't alter it now even if he wanted to. He was going to stick with his plan and he hoped that Cedric would be happy in the end.
He walked out of the flat and then went across the street, pulling on the invisibility cloak that he'd asked Harry to borrow as he went. He didn't enjoy lying to Cedric but he couldn't very well just up and tell him about the celebration. That would ruin the surprise and then what fun would that be.
He waited until he saw Hermione, Ginny, and Luna take Cedric out for his spa day. Then he took off the invisibility cloak, tucking into away in his briefcase to return to Harry later on. He set off down the street to gather the party supplies that he would need for later on. The perfect place to do that would be the party supply store where Fred was supposed to meet him. He couldn't set up a surprise celebration all by himself, now could he?
"You're running late, brother," Fred said, motioning for Percy to follow him into the store. Ever since Percy had mentioned this being a hush-hush operation, Fred had been acting like this was a game of cloak and daggers as the Muggles would say. "We don't have all day, you know? Where do we start?"
Percy for a couple of minutes. Where did they start? Maybe a surprise party wasn't the best? He wasn't exactly known as the life of the party but he'd also wanted to make Cedric happy. This was what would make Cedric happy. He was sure of it.
"Perhaps go for party cups and plates first?" he suggested.
"A theme," Fred said, smiling. "This party needs a theme."
"It's about Cedric and my relationship," Percy said, wishing that he'd thought better of asking for Fred's help without George. They always seemed to balance each other out. Then again that could have been someone else he was thinking of too.
"What about the theme being Cedric?" Fred asked.
"That's actually a good idea," Percy said, trying not to sound surprised. It wasn't the first time that Fred had come up with a good idea by himself. After all, it was Fred's idea for him and George to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team even though Percy had tried to talk them out of it.
"What are Cedric's favorite things?" Fred asked, looking around the store. "Maybe that could help us out here?"
"Quidditch," Percy said, looking deep in thought. "He liked being a Hufflepuff too."
"We've got a color scheme in mind?"
"I was thinking yellows, golds, browns, and reds," Percy said, grinning from ear to ear. "That way its a blend of both of us. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor coming together to form one party and all that, you know?"
"Like the two of you…." Fred grinned as something seemed to have dawned on him. "You're going to ask Cedric to marry you at this celebration of yours, aren't you?"
Percy blushed and nodded. "Is it that obvious?"
"Not until you said the part about Hufflepuff and Gryffindor coming together and that," Fred said, continuing to grin like crazy. "I always knew that the two of you would end up married. You just had to get around to asking. It's what Cedric's been hoping for for a while now."
"It is?" Percy asked, picking up a packet of gold napkins and examining them to make sure that they were perfect. Everything had to be perfect for tonight. Everything!
"You didn't know that?"
"I only just recently had that fact brought to my attention," Percy said, feeling like the hugest idiot in the world. How could he not have realized before his conversation with Hermione that Cedric wanted to get married? How could he have let that slip past his mind? "I guess I can be pretty oblivious, can't I?"
"Only in matters that count."
"That kind of hurt," Percy pointed out.
"Sorry about that," Fred said, picking up a set of red and gold plates.
Percy picked up a set of red napkins as well. He then set his eyes upon some yellow and brown streamers that looked like they would be fun to have. Picking them up he headed over to a set of party hats in varying colors and picked them up.
"We can give this to Cedric after you propose to him," Fred said, walking over holding a gold crown with the words Bride to be set in the plastic. "Although I would magic it to say groom to be and not bride."
"That's a wonderful idea, Fred," Percy said, taking the hat in his own hands. "Maybe we can get one for both Cedric and me?"
"That's a great idea, Perce!" Fred said, going back over to where he found the gold crown.
By the time they left the store, they had bought up almost everything party related in at least one of the colors from either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. The two brothers headed back to the flat that Percy and Cedric shared to begin setting up for the celebration.
Percy stood outside in the corridor waiting for Cedric to get back from his spa day. That had been the first part of the plan that he'd come up with. He'd wait in the hall then take Cedric up to the rooftop garden a place he thought was pretty romantic. Then he'd pop the question and hope to Merlin that the answer would be yes. Not that he didn't think that the answer would be yes. He just still had a bit of the old insecurities in regards to his relationships with people.
"Percy," Cedric said, walking up to him with a smile on his face, "what are you doing out here? I figured you'd be inside waiting with dinner?" Cedric went to open the door and Percy knew he had to act fast.
"I was hoping that we could go up to the rooftop for a nice walk in the garden before dinner," Percy said, stopping Cedric in his tracks. "Wouldn't that be nice?" He put his hand in jacket pocket once more feeling the black velvet box that surrounded the gold ring with the diamond setting in it.
"That would be nice," Cedric said, smiling as he slipped his hand into the hand that wasn't in Percy's jacket pocket. "It's been a while since we went walking in our little garden paradise."
Percy smiled as they made their way up to the rooftop. He could picture their little garden paradise that had started out as a side project for Cedric when he wasn't trying out for Quidditch teams.
He could picture the little garden with the vegetables and the little corner for the flowers. The golds and the yellows, and the pinks and the reds, and all the different flowers and bushes that were planted. He'd even come to love tending their little garden himself after a while. Cedric had made the whole thing seem so much more fun. Plus it was always nice to work side by side with someone you loved.
"Why did you want to come up to the garden?" Cedric asked, breaking Percy's thoughts as they finally arrived at their spot. "Was there something specific that made you think of this spot today of all days?"
Percy couldn't ignore the hopeful tone that came out in Cedric's voice when asked the question. It was almost like he wanted to ask another question. Almost like he was asking but not asking when Percy was going to ask Cedric to marry him.
"I just figured that it had been a while since we've been up here in our little garden together," Percy said, pulling out the answer that he'd thought up when going over every possibility that could happen tonight. "I just figured that you'd want to be able to see our special spot on our special day."
"Oh...um….yeah," Cedric said, trying not to sound disappointed as he wandered over to his favorite plant in the bunch. It was not a plant one naturally found in nature. It was an orchid that had been magically colored gold. Percy had found a way to make it possible and he'd done it to Cedric's delight. Cedric knelt and smelled the golden orchid.
"There was something else that I wanted to do too," Percy said, gathering his courage for what he was about to do. He wasn't sure what Cedric's answer to his question would be but he hoped that it would be yes.
Cedric looked up the look of hope crossing his face once more. Percy knew right at that moment that he could expect the answer to be yes. That he always could have expected the answer to his question to be yes.
"What's going on, Percy?" Cedric asked, going to stand back up but stopping in his tracks when he noticed Percy's hand in his jacket pocket.
"There has been something that I've been wanting to do since that bouquet of flowers landing in my arms at that wedding," Percy said, feeling the velvet of the box as his fingers closed around it and the golden treasure that resided within.
"What's that?" Cedric asked, sounding a little bewildered. He stared at Percy as though he was speaking another language but one that Cedric could listen to forever.
Percy pulled the little velvet box out of his pocket, helping Cedric into the lounge chair that they'd set up here for when they were working in the garden. He got down on one knee in front of Cedric.
"I know we've been dating for quite some time now," Percy said, smiling as Cedric nodded. "We've been dating since the Yule Ball during you're last year at Hogwarts and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I love you so much!"
"I love you too, Perce!" Cedric said pulling Percy into a kiss.
"I couldn't imagine my life without you in it and I don't want to have to imagine a life like that. I know that today didn't go exactly the way that you wanted for it to go and I'm sorry about that. But…"
"I'm happy with the way that the day is ending," Cedric said, smiling as he held onto Percy a bit before sitting back and patting the seat next to him. "Why don't you take a seat and enjoy the garden with me?"
"I will," Percy said, trying to calm his nerves as he opened the box. "But there is something very important that I want to ask you first."
"What's…" Cedric's eyes fell on the golden ring with the diamond setting that was sitting in the black velvet box. His eyes started to tear up a bit as he gasped in surprise. It was apparent that when the day started he'd never have imagined this being where it would end up at.
"Cedric Andrew Diggory, I was hoping beyond hope that you would make me the happiest man on this planet," Percy said, holding the ring out to Cedric. "Would you marry me?"
Cedric nodded enthusiastically as he held out his hand for Percy to slip the ring on his ring finger. The smile never slipped from his face and Percy could see that this was all that Cedric had been hoping for from the start of the day.
"Yes," Cedric finally said, voicing his agreement. "I will marry you, Percy."
After a few minutes of just being together up in their rooftop paradise, Percy and Cedric finally walked down the stairs to their flat. Percy stopped before opening the door and smiled at Cedric knowing he couldn't be anymore happier than he was right now.
"There's one more surprise before the night is over," Percy said, opening the door and leading Cedric into their living where all their friends and family were waiting to celebrate with them. "Do you like the surprise?"
"More than you can know," Cedric said, throwing his arms around Percy's neck and looking around at all the people that were there to celebrate him.
"Here you are," Fred said, handing both Cedric and Percy each a golden crown that said groom to be. "Congratulations! Also, it's about time!"
"Congratulations!" everyone cheered.
There had never been a merrier party in Percy and Cedric's flat ever before. Percy smiled as he watched Cedric show off his gold ring and all was right in the world.
I hope you all enjoyed One Golden Ring as much as I enjoyed writing it.