Chapter 3: Breaking Up Isn't Hard to Do... It Fucking Sucks
The dull ache in my chest had kept me awake all night. Kelly had roused Kim from sleep (walking quietly through the castle to Hufflepuff, just for me) and the three of us spent the night talking and consoling. Love was exhausting.
Kelly, Kim and I walked down to the Great Hall together, our sleepiness keeping us quiet. Just as we rounded the corner toward the entrance, I noticed Cedric ahead of us, walking quickly with his arms stiffly at his side. His grip on his wand was so tight I thought it might shatter.
George stood at the entrance of the Great Hall, like he was waiting for someone. Cedric noticed this.
Like she could sense a bomb about to detonate, Kelly held Kim and me back behind a corner, where we remained hidden. Before Kim or I could say anything, Kelly pressed her finger against her lips.
Cedric shoved George against the wall, and before George could react, Cedric had his wand at his throat.
"Don't you dare go near her again, Weasley. You hear me?" Cedric shouted. Students milling in the hallway stopped to stare. Even the Great Hall seemed to have hushed.
George was wide eyed, his hands held up as a sign of defeat. "What are you-?"
Cedric gagged George with his wand. It looked like a first year student had run to get a professor. "If I see you talking to her again, I'll hex you into the next century. She's with me, alright? She'll never be with you. Move on."
George looked hurt. His expression crumpled, and any confidence that he had disappeared from his face. "Alright," he said quietly.
Cedric withdrew his wand and stuffed it back in his pocket. When he looked around, Cedric's face reddened at the crowd he drew, and then he disappeared into the Great Hall.
I rushed over to George, Kelly and Kim close behind me.
"George, I—" I started, but George looked furious.
"You could have warned me, huh?" George spat, his eyebrows furrowed.
"George, I had to tell him. He's my boy—"
"Boyfriend, yeah I get that." George rubbed his neck in the spot where Cedric's wand had pressed against. "I hope you're bloody happy together."
"That's not fair, George," my voice was rising, angry at him for being so unreasonable.
George grimaced. "That's what I thought." And then he walked down the hallway, away from breakfast.
Cedric did just as well as I expected in the First Task, but my mind was hardly there to cheer him on. When I saw him in the medical tent, one side of his face covered in goo, I couldn't help but feel a little proud. I kissed him, but it didn't feel the same. And that night at the party, when Cedric and I got drunk enough to make our clothes fall off, fucking didn't feel the same. It felt foreign, and wrong.
Something had changed.
The hickey faded over the course of a few days, but it's not like I needed to hide it anymore. The entire school seemed to know of my infidelity, and the subsequent almost fight it caused. Girls I didn't know were calling me slut, whore, cunt. Guys I didn't know were asking if I wanted to hang out.
It was like someone had taken a wedge to my relationship with Cedric and kept forcing it deeper and deeper. We were trying to resume normality, but the only thing I ever saw in his eyes was reflected in my mind: You really don't love me like you promise.
Not talking to George was worse than watching my relationship with Cedric disintegrate. Past George would have offered me support—or at the very least, a laugh—but now he stayed at least one hundred feet away from me at all times. If I tried to catch his eye, he purposefully looked away.
Exactly ten days after the task, Cedric and I broke up. It wasn't a big, emotional show like I had been expecting. We both cried a little, even though we tried hard not to, and gave each other a kiss goodbye.
"It's for the better," he said solemnly.
"We'll be happier," I agreed, and forced a smile.
If anything, I felt worse.
"I heard about you and Diggory," George approached me after a particularly long Charms class. Cedric had moved from his spot next to Kim to somewhere in the very back of the classroom. We currently weren't speaking, even though we promised to still be friends. That's usually how things go though; I can't remember the last time I spoke to Roger Davies.
I hiccupped, stifling a newfound sob. George put his arm around my shoulder, and rubbed my arm.
"I thought you weren't supposed to talk to me," I joked. But the weight in my chest kept dragging me down; sadness made my entire body feel heavy.
"I think your break up nulls that threat," George reasoned.
I smiled, and wiped my eyes with my robe. "I missed you."
George pulled me into an embrace, and kissed the top of my head. "You don't know the meaning of miss, missy."
Professor McGonagall announced the Yule Ball in her Transfiguration class about two weeks before Christmas. The excitement in the class was split between clearly defined gender roles: the girls were mostly gossipy and excited, and the guys seemed entirely nonplussed. The champions would need to find a date for a waltz before the start of the Ball. I wondered who Cedric would bring. I peeked over my shoulder to see Cedric laughing with Owen, one of his roommates. Cedric caught me staring, and smiled sadly. I turned around too quickly and hurt my neck.
George and I had resumed our normal friendship, minus the intense make-out session. George was so easygoing, and it was nice to not have to try to have fun with him; we had fun on our own.
"I wonder if anyone will ask me," Kim thought aloud. We were sitting at dinner at the Hufflepuff table, a few nights after the big announcement. Hogwarts had gone into a date-finding frenzy, almost like a zoo: people were darting about, trying to find the ideal mate.
"Probably," I reassured her. Kim had a crush on a tall and silent Durmstrang boy named Thom. He sat with the Slytherins, and stared at her hard enough in Defense Against the Dark Arts to give her the creeps. (The good creeps, she assured us.)
"We need dresses more than we need men," Kelly interrupted Kim's oncoming self-loathing.
"This is a fact," I agreed. Kim smiled weakly. Too late.
"Hogsmeade Trip this weekend. We're going?" Kelly asked, but it was already decided in her mind. "We can try on slutty dresses and then have a pint at the Three Broomsticks. We'll invite the boys. I'm sure they'd love to get drunk with us."
"The boys" were Fred, George, and Lee. Even though all of us were still underage, they always manage to swindle booze from the barmaid whenever they wanted it. They said it was because of their impeccable charm and dashing good looks. I couldn't deny that they were all very good at flirting and flattering.
"I don't know…" Kim sounded nervous. Her face turned red enough to match her short, curly hair.
"I think it's an excellent plan. Sluts ahoy!" I held my goblet in the air. Kelly laughed, but Kim buried her face in shame.
"We can all learn from you, Michelle," Kelly quipped, and Kim giggled behind her palms.
"How about this one?" I emerged from the dressing room in a black lace cocktail dress. A silver ribbon tied around my waist, accentuating my curves.
The excitement of dress shopping had quickly worn off. Kelly had settled on a slinky floor-length black and white gown right away, and Kim had flailed back and forth between a purple or lavender colored cocktail dress before settling on the darker color. Both girls were sitting on a couch in front of the dressing room, looking a little bored.
"It's beautiful, love," Kim smiled, but her enthusiasm was long-missing.
"They've all been beautiful," Kelly corrected, sounding irritated. "George would go nuts if you wore a burlap sack. Buy whatever one you like best and let's go."
My face turned red, and I tried to sound defensive, but my voice squeaked with excitement, "Who says I'm going with George?"
Kelly rolled her eyes. "Oh, silly me."
"Yeah, he's only been telling everyone ever that you guys are going together," Kim added. I couldn't tell if they were being serious or not.
"He hasn't asked me yet," I said, as if that cleared up the confusion. Apparently not.
"He doesn't need to." Kelly stood, and stretched her limbs.
"What if I said no?" I argued for the sake of arguing.
"Then someone needs to close the hole in the Space-Time Continuum. Is that your dress?" Kim asked. She too had joined Kelly in the purposeful standing.
I looked at my torso, surprised to see the black cloth still covering my body. "Yeah, this is pretty right?"
Kelly and Kim both nodded. Kelly said, "But the burlap sack would be cheaper."
Thanks to my never-ending dress search, we were late meeting the boys. Fred, George, and Lee welcomed us a little too loudly, with too tight embraces, and too much alcohol on their breath.
"You promised you'd wait," Kim whined. Lee passed her a glass, and she smiled kindly at him. "Thank you!"
Lee flashed a charming grin, hoping Kim would notice, but she had already stuck the glass in her mouth.
"Michelle had a funny idea back at the store," Kelly announced, stripping off her jacket. Fred pulled out a chair for her, and she sat in it, next to me.
"What's that?" Fred asked. George looked especially eager for the answer.
"She thinks she isn't going with George to the Ball," Kelly explained. She poured herself a glass of Firewhiskey and took a sip. "Shit, put enough whiskey in this?"
"No, that's not what I said," I argued weakly.
George looked amused. "What did you say?"
"You didn't ask me," I said pointedly.
"I thought the hickey was a contract?" Fred mused, and the table erupted in laughter. My face got hot from embarrassment.
"An Unbreakable Vow," Lee laughed.
"Yes. If you don't go to the Ball with George, you'll die," Kim said ominously, and the table was in fits again.
"Well fuck, seems like I have no choice," I groaned dramatically. George's smile flickered a little.
The conversation broke off onto the other side of the table, when Fred began to pick on Lee for not having a date. Lee looked hopefully at Kim, who once again was too busy downing her drink.
George leaned across the table, placing our heads close together, and asked, "You do want to go with me… right?"
I glanced at the other side of the table: the focus was still on tormenting poor Lee, who was now burying his face in his hands. I quickly kissed George on the cheek, and then sat back against my seat before anyone would notice.
"It's in my contract, right?" I winked, and he beamed.
"Cheers!" he raised his glass, and took a large swig.
A/N: Oh hey, all of you Story Alerters. I see you there. Why don't you leave me a little love note saying why you like this story? I promise I don't bite. Hard. 3
