**Disclaimer** I do not claim to own anything that's not mine (J.K. Rowling wrote these amazing things before I could even dream of them). I do claim my main character, Dee.
I sat in the library, reading a book called; Martha Stewart's Christmas. It had several recipes in it that I was considering using for the upcoming Christmas. It was still months away but I wanted to be prepared. Mrs. Weasley had insisted that Da and I join their family for Christmas at the Burrow this year. I felt I needed to bring some dish to contribute to the festivities.
Time flew by, closed in at home. I was starting to feel like a caged bird. I had spent every day at home with Con learning about cooking and laundry and the works. She taught me how to do everything by hand, without magic. Then when I had learned it that way, she taught me the spell for it. I grew frustrated with this method of learning but she would just remind me every time with eyebrows raised and hands on her hips;
"You can't appreciate the spell if you haven't done the work to know what its doing." Which I had to agree was true. I think I was just getting grumpy. I hadn't seen George very much since he started back at the shop. Usually he visited but he always showed up grumpy with a headache.
"Those two bicker ALL day. It's so frustrating." He vented to me one day as I rubbed his shoulders.
"Why don't you just fire her?" I asked.
"I wanted to but Fred argued with me that she was great at her job and that he didn't want to have to retrain someone else."
"If she's great at her job, what do they bicker about?" I questioned, running my fingers through his hair.
"Nothing important, just stupid stuff. I don't—"He dropped off his sentence and turned to me suddenly grinning. "They like each other!" He exclaimed excitedly. I smiled at his excitement. It did kind of make sense.
"So, whatcha gonna do about it?" I asked. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head.
"I think it's time that Fred and I had a house warming party." I laughed at the idea.
"So you and Fred are going to plan and host a party at your place?" I asked dubiously.
"Well, we'll need a little help…" He looked to me expectantly. I raised an eye brow at him in challenge. "Maybe Con could—"I cut him off.
"Con is leaving in two days. No way could you organize a party that fast." I said, hoping he didn't take it as a dare.
"Oh! I got it!" I saw a light bulb click on in his brain, I was nervous. "You could be my invisible chef! Those who didn't know about you will stay just as ignorant and think it's just a brilliant spell and those who know you will shower you with compliments on your amazing food!" He suggested with a lot of enthusiasm.
"Not even married and already you're treating me like a hired servant…" I mumbled grumpily. George looked at me sharply.
"What did you say?" He asked with a weird look. I stuck my tongue out at him with a smile. "I heard you… Don't say that naughty word ever again." He said with a short laugh. I looked at him confused.
"What, 'naughty word'?" I inquired, completely baffled.
"Married…" He answered. Instantly I became upset. He didn't want to get married? I thought to myself, feeling hurt. How can he love me like he does and not want to get married? I felt tears start to well up in my eyes. My silence and stillness caught George's attention and he looked at me. He frowned as he saw the first tear leak out and drip down my cheek. "No, no, no… Don't get all sad on me. It's not how you are thinking. I love you. I do want to marry you some day, I swear. It's just that I'm worried about other people hearing you say the word. I don't want it to get back to Mum and have her freaking out on us. She's already upset that Bill and Fleur are getting married. She thinks they are too young too and they are older than us." He quickly explained, seeing where my mind had traveled. He reached up and wiped the few fallen tears away and I smiled at him.
"Sorry… It's just how it sounded. Thank you for explaining. I'm so silly sometimes. Can you imagine what would have happened if you hadn't explained so quickly?" I mused with a watery smile. (**)George seemed to play out in his mind what might have happened and frowned.(**) After a moment of silence he smiled at me again.
"So, how about it? You gonna help me do this party and get Fred and Verity to be a happy couple like us?" He said with pizzazz. I laughed.
"I suppose so…" I grudgingly agreed.
George took off almost immediately after that to go start planning this party of his. I decided I should make a visit to see Cedric. I hadn't seen him since my birthday party and I hadn't seen him much then because there were so many people and he seemed to drift away from me if I was with George.
I popped into the basement of the Diggorys' house with my wand at ready since Cedric is so jumping about people apparating in on him. I couldn't blame him though. As I looked around the basement was empty but within a moment the door to the upstairs opened and I heard footsteps clomp down the stairs.
"Deirdra?" Cedric said as he first saw me. I smiled in response.
"What? No curses this time?" I asked teasingly. He grinned.
"Maybe if George had been with you again…" He said teasing in return. But I frowned at him since I could sense a level of seriousness underneath the teasing. "So, what did you pop in for?" He asked casually.
"Just to visit you." I replied. He smiled, warmth filling his eyes as he was happy I came with only intentions to visit. He pulled me into a hug. "I missed you." I said as he still crushed me in his arms. He finally let me go after a moment, holding me back at arm's length from him.
"I missed you too. Sorry I didn't get to visit with you much at your birthday party. You were always busy talking to someone else and I didn't want to interrupt." He said. I knew that when he said 'someone', he meant mostly George. "So wanna see what I've been up to? I've been practicing like crazy." He offered. I smiled and nodded my head. This should be fun…
I hung out with Cedric for a few hours. He kept making me watch him perform spells he'd learned and challenging me to one up him. I always won. It was funny to see him get agitated over getting beat by me. I knew he'd been practicing hard and felt bad but I didn't want to give him a false security in his abilities.
"That's it! I need a tutor. You could tutor me!" He said excitedly. "It's perfect. I get to learn and spend time with you!" I couldn't resist his excitement and I smiled. He looked at me as if waiting for an answer.
"Okay. I can do that." I said with a smile. "But it won't be all fun and games." I warned him seriously. He whooped in joy, picking me up and swinging me around in a hug. I laughed. What have I gotten myself into? I thought with a smile.
B~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~B
School was back in session! For Hogwarts and a certain Mr. Diggory. We had decided I would give him lessons every evening, breaking only for dinner before continuing into the night until we were tired.
Today was the fourteenth day of lessons and I was about to apparate to the Diggory's when Holly, Trixy and Poppy all flew into my room and landed on my bed. Each had a letter tied to their legs. Apprehension wrenched at my gut and I was very tempted to leave without reading any of the letters. Holly hooted at me impatiently.
I took the letters from them, giving them each a treat. Looking at the letters, I saw that one was from Da, one from Con and one from George. I decided to open Con's first.
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L
Dear Deirdra,
Things are going well here in the States. Annie had a great time over the summer but now she's requesting to come meet you and everyone else after I told her about my summer there and her father. So, maybe we'll be visiting again next summer. I'm sure you and Annie would get along great. She will be of age next year, which makes me nervous. Maybe you can be a good influence on her. She spends way too much time studying and not enough time with friends. Reminds me of Lily Evans… Though she at least spent plenty of time with her friends… Anyways, school has started here but teachers here are quite nervous about the threat of Voldemort, even though he's at large in your country and not here.
Is there any new news on things going on? I do hope things settle down before next summer. How is everyone doing? Are you keeping the house clean? I do miss you very much. Please write back and keep safe.
Sincerely,
Constance Reese
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L
I smiled at the prospect of Con and her daughter visiting next summer. I fingered the other two letters and decided to read George's next.
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L
Dear Dee,
The party plans are under way. Where have you been lately? I've stopped by in the evenings and no one is home. I miss you. Anyways, Fred is oblivious to the fact that I'm using this party as a way to get him and Verity together. He's just as excited about planning the party as I am. Write me back a good time to meet you so we can discuss further plans for the party. I definitely need a woman's help and I'm not about to ask my Mum… PLEASE HELP? I love you.
Love,
George
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L
I laughed at his desperate plea for me to help. I wasn't so sure the party would actually work to get Fred and Verity together, but it did sound like fun. I pulled out a piece of parchment and quickly wrote my reply to George.
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L
George,
I miss you too. I love you too. I will drop in soon and we'll discuss the plans. Sorry, I've been helping a friend out in the evenings. I'll tell you more when I see you.
Love,
Dee
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L
I quickly attached it to Holly's leg and she took off. I then looked with dread at the letter Da had sent me. I really didn't want to open it. The senses of foreboding I always got were always right. I bit my lip and debated tossing it in the fire without reading it but I knew I had to read it… I ripped it open quickly and read.
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L
My Dear,
Hogwarts is lonely without your whisper soft footsteps. My favorite spy is needed once more. I think our young Malfoy needs to grow a tail. Write back if and when you may come.
Love,
Da
L~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~L
I groaned. I didn't want to have to go spy on Draco Malfoy, but if Da needed it, how could I refuse? I had my obligations already to Cedric, helping him tutor and to George, helping him plan his party and get Fred together with Verity. I would have to put the situation to them and see what they say. I didn't want to bail out on them. Da would have to wait. With all the letters read, I left to see Cedric.
B~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~B
Cedric shot a stunning spell at me as I apparated into the room but I invisified so it went right through me.
"Not fair!" He complained. I laughed.
"It's not really good to stun your teacher. Though I'm sure many students would like to. Besides, this isn't a game. Real life isn't fair." I chastised. He frowned at me. "Sorry, I guess you know about life not being fair already." I apologized as I turned visible. He was like a cat on the prowl though and he pounced.
"NaAero!" He shouted and I grasped at my throat as suddenly I couldn't breathe. A moment of panic came over me but I pushed it away. I silent cast the counter spell while Cedric's eyes widened in fear for me. I pretended to still be choking and silent cast a binding spell on him. He dropped to the floor like a rock. I invisified before he could release himself from my spell. He jumped up and looked around the room, not seeing me.
"I could take you down so easy Cedric. You really need to learn how to silent cast. It really helps with the element of surprise. Plus, it allows you to cast faster because your brain doesn't have to worry about telling your mouth what to say." I advised him.
Our lesson continued this way for another hour before Cedric called a truce and we took a short break. Finally I could talk to him about going back to Hogwarts.
"So I got a letter today from Da. He wants me to come back to Hogwarts and spy on Draco Malfoy." I said casually, nervous about Cedric's reaction. He frowned.
"When does he want you to be there? And why Draco Malfoy?" He asked.
"Whenever I'm ready. And I supposed Draco is up to no good. I didn't ask more and the letter didn't say more." I replied.
"So are you gonna go?"
"I was considering it. Da needs me, but I already made other commitments…" I answered, indicating that Cedric was part of my other commitments.
"Well, your Da wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important, right?" I nodded my head. "Well, maybe you can go keep an eye on Draco and we'll move our tutor sessions to weekends and late nights whenever you can make it." He suggested. I smiled. "What? Did you think I was going to be childish, stomping my feet and saying I didn't want you to go?" He chuckled as we embraced. I shook my head no into his chest. We stayed like that for a while. His embrace was so comforting. Yet, at the same time, it didn't feel quite as good as George's….
***Hope you liked this chapter. I just changed the ending to this one today because I decided I didn't like it. I typed up the original content ending to this one and am going to post it next with a deleted chapter that was supposed to come after it before I changed it. Please don't be confused. If you don't want to chance being confused, I'll understand if you skip reading the next chapter I posted. Thank you for Reading. Thanks for all the Reviews! Thanks for following! I wanted to say that I was going to do a special thing for the 100th reviewer, but… some anonymous person was an ornery git… So, ya… anyways. I would like to say that I just bought a special prize for a reviewer that I am going to give away at the end of book 6 time period. I'll let you know more about how to have a chance to win it in the chapters closer to when I'm gonna give it away. Thanks everyone! Loves ya!