It was 10 a.m on Saturday morning and Ginny was getting dressed for her…'date' with Cedric. She wasn't certain she could call it a date, but he had kissed her so she wasn't sure what that meant. It was a cool-ish day so she was wearing tight fitting jeans, a loose, purple top and a blue sweater to match. She only added a little bit of make-up and went to the Entrance Hall. Hermione was up and writing an essay at one of the common room tables as she giggled, "You're looking very girly this morning." Ginny crossed her arms irritably and asked, "What? Am I never girly-looking?" Hermione rolled her eyes and commented, "Oh just relax, Gin. It's a compliment. You're obviously dressing up for someone is all I'm saying."
Ginny sighed and sat down next to her friend before replying casually, "Fine. I'm going out with Cedric. Happy?" Hermione's brown eyes lit up and she giggled a very un-Hermione-ish laugh, "Oh Ginny! That's so exciting! Maybe you and Cedric can come on a double date with me and Viktor!" Ginny raised an eyebrow and giggled herself, "So you're officially with Viktor?" Hermione blushed and shrugged her shoulders, "We don't talk much." This caused Ginny to erupt into fits of laughter and Hermione playfully smacked her arm, "Gin! It's not funny!" She gasped for air as a familiar voice asked, "What's not funny?" This made Ginny jump as she saw Harry walking down the stairs still wearing his pajama's.
Ginny suddenly felt awful. It was the first time she'd been almost alone with Harry ever since Cedric mentioned Ron being jealous. The entire week she had become distant from him, and she knew he had noticed it. He'd been shooting her sidelong glances of confusion when she'd cut him off. It's not that she wanted to, because she loved her friendship with Harry, but it was because she decided that Cedric was right. She needed to put some distance between them for Ron's sake. Ron had also been cold towards her, but by separating herself from Harry, it had given him more time with Ron.
Harry sat down and blinked at them, "You're looking nice, Gin." He commented. She knew this was a friendly compliment, but it made her feel bad about how she'd been towards him all week. Ginny grimaced, "Thanks Harry," she said before glancing at the Grandfather's clock and announcing, "Right, it's time for me to go!" She got up and walked out the room. However, she didn't get very far as Harry shouted after her, "Gin! Wait up!" She sighed and turned around to face him grumpily, "Yes, Harry?" she asked. He grimaced and replied, "I…I've just noticed you've been avoiding me. Is it because of Cedric?" Ginny thought quickly. Maybe the easiest way was to lie and tell him that it was about Cedric. If she told him it was about Ron, he'd probably wave it off. But if she told him it was about Cedric, he might actually take her seriously.
Ginny was never the type to lie, but she felt in this case it was necessary. So she grimaced and replied, "Yeah. This is all about Cedric. I feel like…maybe we should keep our distance from one another if Ced and I are going to date. Everyone thinks that we're together enough as it is. I don't want people to think that I'm cheating on him." Harry raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, "It's not cheating. At all. Would you not be allowed to friends with Hermione?" Harry raised his eyebrow questioningly and Ginny sighed and shook her head in exasperation, "It's not the same Harry and you know it! Everyone thinks we're a couple." It was actually the only thing about being friends with Harry that troubled her. He sighed and questioned, "So Cedric broke up with Cho?" Ginny shrugged and replied, "Um…well he's explaining that to me now." He grimaced and shook his head, "I think you're making a mistake getting involved with him, Gin. He seems like a complicated guy."
Ginny rolled her eyes dramatically and snapped, "And you're not? Harry you're my best friend! You should be supportive of this!" He stared at her with his green eyes with a look she'd never seen before, until he replied, "Yeah, except when it will affect our friendship."
She sighed and shook her head dismally, "I'm sorry, Harry. Let me just hear what he has to say. It's not even definite that we're in a relationship at this point so I'll see you later." Harry turned his back on her without another word. She supposed she couldn't blame him, but if it meant he and Ron could have a better friendship, then she was willing to put some distance between them. If it also meant that she would distract Ron from her interest in Cedric, then good. Harry would more than likely tell Ron about their relationship and it wasn't something she could trust him with-if she was going to be in a relationship with Cedric that is.
Ginny arrived in the entrance hall to find Ced waiting for her, with a picnic basket and holding a blanket as well as some flowers. She blushed considerably as she reached him and she felt like she'd been staring into his warm eyes for too long as she asked, "What's all this?" He grinned at her and replied quickly, "Well it's a picnic basket…so my surprise is that…we're picnicking!" Ginny giggled as he pulled a purple flower out and put it in her hair. He handed the rest of the bouquet to her and she shook her head in disbelief, "This is amazing! Where did you get these?" She smelt them and loved the scent. He chuckled and shook his head, "It's for me to know and for you to never know." She rolled her eyes but smiled all the same and replied, "Come on. You've got to tell me!" He shook his head and grinned. Ginny sighed and enquired, "Where exactly are we headed?" He grinned at her and replied, "To the lake!"
She looked outside to see that it wasn't particularly hot or cold. She was glad she bought her sweater with as it was a bit breezy. As he opened the double doors for her, he commented softly, "You look beautiful, Ginny." She blushed again and replied, "You look good yourself, Ced." She wasn't just saying that. He was wearing a white, tight fitted shirt which emphasized his minimal muscle and over it he wore a pastel green cardigan with denim jeans. He knew how to dress well. The green shade bought out his milk-brown chocolate eyes.
As they walked down to the lake she asked, "How has your week been? I feel like I've hardly seen you." He nodded and replied tiredly, "It's been stressful-mostly because of the tournament but also because of…of other things." Ginny sighed and looked up at him, "Cho things?" She said the girls name somewhat bitterly and he seemed to pick up on that when he grimaced, "It's…it's complicated, Gin. Her parents are in the middle of divorce and it's an ugly one." Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise and whispered, "Oh…I wasn't expecting that." He nodded and sighed, "When I tried to end it the other day…she basically broke down and told me that if I left her she'd have nothing left."
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Ginny sighed as they reached the lake. Cedric placed the blanket on the ground and put the basket on top. He sat down, leant on his right arm and she sat down beside him. He sighed and shook his head, more serious than she'd ever seen him. He whispered, "It's bad, Gin. Like really bad. I've never seen her so…so self destructive before. I'm not an expert so I have no clue how to handle it."
Ginny nodded and watched his brown eyes tense around the edges. She whispered, "I'm so sorry. I didn't think that whatever she's going through would affect you so much. I wish I could give you advice on what to do. How is the divorce bad, apart from the obvious?" Ginny could never imagine her parents getting divorced. They were made for each other.
Cedric grimaced and replied, "I'm not supposed to tell anybody but her mom cheated on her dad." Ginny's eyes widened in surprise and she whispered, "Oh. I'm sorry. So who's getting custody?" He shrugged and replied, "That's just it. They're fighting over her. She doesn't have a sibling, and it seems like her dad will win. But Cho is much closer to her mum and she'd rather be with her, even if she cheated." Ginny shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry. That really is awful." She truly meant it. It made her worries seem so trivial. She sighed and whispered, "So basically…you're her shoulder to cry on?" He nodded and sighed, "And it's not helpful when I try and end it now, in the middle of this. It will crush her."
Ginny bit her lip and grimaced, "I get it. So basically we hold off whatever…this is…until when? When she's more stable?" His eyes were sad as he looked at her seriously, "I don't know Gin. I don't know how long it will take for her to become 'stable,' probably not for a long while. And even if she does become stable, who says it will make it any easier to break it off with her?" She grimaced, not liking the sound of where this was heading. She slowly asked, "So…where does this leave us?" Cedric shrugged his shoulders and responded morbidly, "I wish I had an answer. I wish I could tell you I want this enough to break up with her and be firm about it. It's just…not in my nature to let someone struggle. I also know I'm being extremely unfair to you too, by trying to be your friend." Ginny couldn't help but giggle at that as she replied, "Because you're a Hufflepuff. You're too kind to everyone. Not just Cho." He grinned and raised his eyebrows, "Because kindness isn't such a bad thing. We need more of it in the world" She nodded and sighed, "I know. I guess I'm just used to being tough, growing up with six elder brothers and all."
Cedric sat up then and grinned, "Yeah, you're the toughest girl I know." She blushed in embarrassment and replied, "It's not something I usually throw out there." He chuckled and nodded, "I like it though. You're independent and strong willed. It's the total opposite of Cho so it's nice and refreshing to me." She laughed and couldn't resist asking, "Let's arm wrestle? I can bet you ten nuts I'll win!" He grinned and nodded, "You're on!" She placed her fingers in his hands and immediately realized that this was a big mistake. Even though she was strong, Cedric's fingers were bigger and stronger than hers. Much stronger. She couldn't even compare.
The second her hand was in his, and they were lying opposite each other, he crushed her to the ground in a matter of three seconds flat. He chuckled as she looked put out and he grinned, "I won! Best of three?" Ginny laughed, "You're on!" The next wrestle Ginny won, and the following one Cedric won again. She sighed and groaned, "Fine! You win! I surrender!" He chuckled and winked, "Of course I did! I'm the Triwizard Champion!" This caused Ginny to burst into giggles and he laughed with her.
She sighed happily and shook her head, "It's so easy to be with you. I'm not used to easy." He suddenly turned serious and sat up before asking, "Why?" Ginny sighed again and whispered, "My friendship with Harry never came easily. It's had problems from the get go." Cedric frowned and replied, "I would never have said that, watching you guys now." Ginny shrugged her shoulders as she chewed on a grape and replied, "He's not the problem. It's me." Cedric grimaced and asked, "Care to explain?" Ginny took a deep breath…
Author's Note: Dum, dum, dum…cliffhanger! I'm so sorry guys for taking so long with this chapter! I had most of it written on Friday but I felt like it needed to be edited and have more meaning. It didn't feel right to post it until I finally sat down and edited it today! Also it's about double the length of a normal chapter so I hope you guys like it! Will try and post another one soon! Hope you all had a great Valentines day!