POV: Rose Weasley

I continuously tapped my fingers on the table in a bored manner and looked to my parents. They shrugged. I sighed and continued with my rhythm. Finally, loud footsteps were heard pounding down the stairs and Hugo appeared in the kitchen.

"Are you ready to go?" Mum asked him. He nodded breathlessly and I saw Dad smirk from the corner of my eye.

"Then let's go now!" I blew out a puff of air to show my aggravation. Mum smiled and held out her arm for me; I gladly accepted and we were swept up in the sickening feeling of Apparition.

When we landed, Hugo had his hands on his knees and looked slightly green. He hadn't quite gotten used to Apparition yet. I looked around the Burrow; the same self-washing dishes, same family member clock (although this one was ginormous because of our
amount of family members), same knitting needles sitting on the table. Same Grandma rushing to greet us with hugs. I hugged her back happily.

"Ah, food," Dad sighed before going to sit at the table and digging into Grandma's wonderful cooking. Hugo joined him.

"How's Dom?" Mum whispered to Grandma.

"Better. Angie says that at breakfast she acted like nothing happened and when she asked her about it, she said that she didn't want to talk about it and if we could all not make a big deal of it."

Mum and I frowned but Mum nodded.
"Of course. She deserves her privacy."

This was one of the things that I loved and hated about our family. They always had your back and always supported you, but they were also always up in your business. It was extremely hard to keep something to yourself. But Dom was especially secretive.
The only person who seemed to know any of her secrets was Roxy.

I wish I had that relationship with someone. Your best friend who you could see all of the time. Who always knew what you needed. Who you could confide anything in. Not that I had anything to hide, just that I'd like the option of having a main person
to go to for support. I was a bit of a loner. Everyone knew that I was a rule-follower. I was a prefect, I had perfect attendance, I hated pranking. But does that mean I shouldn't have someone?

"Rosie!" Fingers snapped in front of my face and I turned to see Hugo trying to get my attention. "If you don't eat now, it'll be gone," he said, referring to the food that was already half gone on the table. I quickly sat down and made myself a plate
of bacon, toast, fruit and some oatmeal.

"Thank you for making breakfast, Grandma." I kissed her on the cheek and she waved away my thanks.

"Anytime dear." She smiled softly at me and I returned it before digging into my food.

"AHHHHHH!" Dad and Hugo screeched in unison. My spoon went flying and I jumped out of my chair. I looked over to see what was causing the commotion: a large spider had landed on the table.

I hastily backed away, accidentally knocking over my chair on the process. I pressed my back against the wall to get as far away as possible. I whimpered and saw Mum shake her head and then she smashed the thing with a shoe... Right on top of my food.

Dad, Hugo and I tried to calm our breathing and Hugo once more, put his hands on his knees. I walked over and rubbed his back. Sometimes, he got really bad panic attacks so I had seen him in this position before. He settled after a few minutes.

"I'm sorry about your food, Rosie. Would you like some more?" Grandma offered. I shook my head.

"I've lost my appetite. But thanks Grandma."

We stayed at Grandma's for a while, after we woke up Grandpa (courtesy of Dad and Hugo's girl-like screeches). I decided to take a walk when we got home. I pulled on my tan jacket and told Mum that I was going for a walk in the woods.

I started on the path that led into the woods behind our house. I often walked in here when I needed to be alone or to clear my head. I listened to the crunch of the leaves under my shoes and the whistling of the wind in my ears. I started to speed walk,
and soon enough, I was jogging.

I loved the rush of adrenalin that flowed through my veins, the strain my muscles felt when I ran for hours at a time. My jog turned into a fast run.

All of a sudden, I heard a twig snap behind me. I skidded to a stop and whipped my body around to see what caused the noise. I saw nothing but a slight fog through the trees so I pulled out my wand and held it in front of myself. I crept closer to the
noise.

"Hello?" I continued forward at a slow pace. "Who's there?"

I reached out my hand cautiously. I saw a figure dart away through the fog; I pursued it.

The figure was fast, but my body was faster; all those years of sprinting through the woods definitely payed off. Once I got closer to the figure, I grabbed at its hand. It immediately stopped, but I had too much momentum built up that I crashed into
it and we landed on the ground.

I stood up and wiped the dirt from my cheek. The figure stood too, and I could see it clearly now without all the fog. It was a young man. He was extremely handsome, though there was something... Different about him.

He had black hair, but upon closer examination, I realized it was an extremely dark brown. His skin was a dark tan and his eyes were an alluring hazel color. I noticed that he was wearing nothing but tight, black pants that left little to the imagination
(not that I was complaining). His torso and arms were strikingly muscled and toned and it took me an embarrassingly long time to stop staring. When I did, I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks.

I cleared my throat. "I'm not going to hurt you."

He shied away slightly though there was a calculating glint in his eyes. "Who are you?" His voice was as soft as velvet and as rough as bark at the same time.

"I-I'm Rose. Rose Weasley. And you are?"

"Cedar," he replied. He had a magical air about him, but I could tell he wasn't a wizard.

"What are you?" My tone wasn't offensive, it was simply curious.

"I'm not supposed to tell humans."

"I won't tell anyone." Why wouldn't he be able to tell humans what he was? What was he?

He looked around for a while and finally said, "Not here." He took me by the hand, much to my surprise, and guided me over to a secluded area. We sat on a large log and when we sat, he scooted away from me a bit.

"I'm a nymph," he whispered. My eyes widened in shock.

"Nymphs are real?"

"Obviously." He laughed. Merlin's beard! He had a lovely laugh. I caught myself gawking at him again and internally scolded myself.

"What are nymphs, exactly?"

"I... Shouldn't tell you."

I pouted. "I won't tell anyone. You can trust me, I swear." He still looked uneasy. "How about, you tell me about yourself and I'll tell you about me?" It wasn't exactly a fair trade but I really wanted to know.

"Uh, okay. Um, what do you want to know?"

"Where do you live?"

"That's kinda creepy, you know," he joked causing me to blush. "I like in there." He pointed to a large cedar tree.

"You live in a tree?" I was amazed.

He nodded. "Every tree has its own nymph that guards it from harm. Some have multiple." I stared dumbstruck at him. I shook my head to regain my senses (again!).

"Do you have magic?"

He nodded again. "It's a lot different from your type of magic." He showed me his hands, palms up, to demonstrate. Wisps of green and blue energy streamed from his hands. I stared in awe as the magic wrapped around the trees, which made sort of canopy,
and brought them apart, allowing the sunlight to pour in. The sun was pleasant, not too bright, and it warmed my skin blissfully. Cedar used his magic to produce small floating flowers that glowed a beautiful golden/purple color. The effect could
only be described as simply magical.

I smiled brightly at him, my astonishment clear in my expression.
"Wow," I sighed. He winked at me. My heart started beating furiously in my rib cage. I realized that we had both stopped admiring the beautiful scene around us and now stared at each other.

His eyes roamed my body and, for the first time, I didn't feel self conscious at all. I allowed my eyes to do the same to him. We both leaned forward, our noses nearly brushing. The air around us glowed gorgeously and I felt that this was too wonderful
to be a dream.

But it wasn't a dream, I reminded myself. This was reality and in reality, one does not go around kissing beautiful strangers. Before we could get any closer, I pulled away awkwardly. I realized that I had lost track of the time and my parents would probably
be wondering where I was.

"Can I meet you again?" I asked. I reasoned that I still had to fulfill my part of the bargain and tell him about myself; but, in all honesty, I desperately wanted to see him again.

"Of course." He didn't seem out off by my rejection at all. He simply smiled at me. Cedar closed his hands which caused the tree boughs to snap back and the beautiful flowers that floated mid-air disappeared.

His gently picked up my hand and brought it to his lips. "Until next time, Rose," he said, kissing my hand like a gentleman, before placing a soft object in my palm. The way he said my name made me melt and before I could reply, he was gone, leaving me
sitting alone on the log, a single rose pedal sitting on my hand.