Early Sunday morning, I found myself wandering through Dover Castle and staring out across the ocean from a perch along a wall. Thankfully, there were very few muggles around, so I didn't feel quite so strange bundled up in an ancient fur cloak as wind whipped around me.

I desperately clung the fabric, pulling it tight in an attempt to keep warm.

"Oi, Rue!" a voice called, the wind carrying the sound past me.

I turned in my seat to see an old friend making her way over to me. She too was wrapped up in a warm ensemble, a crisp set of robes billowing behind her.

"Mind if I join you?" Rose asked, already taking a seat next to me and pulling her robes around herself like a cocoon.

"Doesn't seem that I have much say in the matter," I smiled gently. "How'd you find me?"

"Your mum said I'd probably find you here since you weren't around the house."

"Ah."

"So, tomorrow's the day, yeah?"

I nodded. "As it were, yes."

Rose leaned towards me, nudging against my arm. "I promise you, it's not going to be so bad."

I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, "Yeah, did the tea leaves tell you that?"

She threw back her head and laughed.

A comfortable silence fell over us then as we looked out at the sea below. The waves crashed against the cliffs. The sound was the most relaxing thing I had experienced in the past three days, and I sighed contentedly.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you he was dating someone when I saw you at Klaus' wedding," she murmured weakly.

I froze before slowly turning to face her, "What?"

"What?" she repeated, confused.

"He was dating her then?" I could feel my throat constricting.

She cowered slightly, "George didn't say?"

"No," I choked out, desperately searching Rose's eyes for an indication that she was only joking.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you hadn't heard about that, actually," she trailed off.

My hands pulled at the fur along the hem of the cloak.

"Rue, c'mon, you're both adults now, and you knew this was bound to happen."

I shot her a look.

"Aren't you dating that American bloke anyway?"

I huffed, rearranging the cloak around myself.

"Well, you'll have to explain that to me at some point, but..."

I tugged on the neckline in an attempt to distract myself from the anger that was, once again, bubbling inside me.

She cleared her throat, "So you still wear his ring, then?"

That was the final straw. I looked down at the atrocious silver thing before I pulled it from my finger and threw it as hard as I could with my left hand, finally finding the strength to rid myself of it.

Rose's jaw dropped as she stared after it. "What the bloody hell'd you do that for?" she cried.

"I've had enough of this nonsense, Rose," I hissed.

"Oh, you don't mean that," she scoffed. "Surely you still love him?"

"When I love that bloke again, Hell will surely have frozen over and Voldemort will be having a go at a third-coming."

Rose shook her head before pulling her wand from within her robes. "Accio ring," she said firmly. And wouldn't you know it, the bloody thing landed right in her extended gloved hand a few seconds later.

She offered it to me but I sneered and turned away, sliding down from my seat.

Rose rolled her eyes and followed closely behind me, "Well, when you decide to swallow that nasty pride of yours, you should put it back on."

I didn't respond as I began down the spiraling stairs. Her voice echoed off the walls, "Chin up, Rue. No one, not even Oliver, could fall back in love with you when you're a right mess like this!"

I slammed the front door shut and unbuttoned the cloak from around my neck.

"Next time, Mum," I bellowed as I hung the cloak on a hook, "don't tell just anyone where they might find me."

"Am I considered 'just anyone,' then?" a distinctively silky voice said from behind me. I nearly fainted when I turned around and came face-to-face with a bloke who certainly was not "just anyone."

"Clancy, hello!" I cried, throwing my arms around him. He laughed warmly as he lifted me off the ground and spun me.

He set me down, and I saw my mother leaning against a doorframe, a knowing smile on her face. "I figured I would just have him wait here instead of sending him off to the castle," she said. "Lunch'll be ready in an hour, should the two of you care to join me."

"Where's Dad?" I asked, slipping my hand into Clancy's.

"He had a meeting to attend, nothing to worry about. He'll be back to see you off."

I nodded before leading the way up three flights of stairs to my room.

I sat curled against the arm of a chair in my bedroom, hugging a throw pillow to my chest. Clancy was stretched out along the length of my couch, having made himself feel quite at home.

"And the bartender says, 'Sure, but why the big pause?' and the bear replies, 'I'm a bear!'" Clancy held his hands out in what appeared to be a mime of paws before he went into a fit of laughter and settled back into his former position.

The view from where I sat was something any female would appreciate as Clancy Burke lay there with his hands behind his head, nonchalantly displaying his V-shaped torso that still made me drool like a silly teenager. He had a mop of black, curly hair that fell in his sterling eyes which were framed by dark lashes. He was almost always clean-shaven, something I greatly appreciated when we were dating.

"So," he said, rolling over onto his side and looking at me seriously, "what's the real reason that I'm here, Rue? Has your midlife crisis come early?"

I threw my pillow at him, hitting him square in the chest. "No, you tosser, I just wanted some company is all," I said softly.

He sat up, planting his feet on the hardwood floor and cocking his head to the side.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah," I said lamely, rubbing the back of my neck as my mind raced to come up with some segue into the introduction of my plan.

He hummed a response. I was about to open my mouth to ask him if he'd give us another go, but Nellie appeared in the doorway and announced that lunch was ready.

My mother fawned over Clancy at lunch, much to my embarrassment. She had gotten this idea in her head that Clancy and I were indeed soon to be engaged, as Witch Weekly had reported. Apparently, the photo had also leaked in the United Kingdom, and now she shamelessly dropped wedding hints to the poor, rather confused bloke.

I did feel somewhat bad that I was going to be using him, but I wasn't going to be upfront about the whole thing and say, "Clancy, you're only here because I want to make my ex, the one who has been impossible for me to get over, jealous. He has a girlfriend and has evidently moved on, and I need to show that I've done the same with you. Even though I haven't, really, but I'm working on it and you're my top choice!"

Obviously, that would be the wrong way to go about doing things. No, manipulation needed to be subtle. As subtle as it could get. Because I really did like Clancy, that wasn't a lie. And, yeah, I'd be more than willing to give him another go. And he definitely was a great comfort to me being there and all. As far as his end went, he just had to act as I predicted he would when I set my plan into action, and he'd get to date the lovey-dovey Rue he so loved and cherished for a bit longer.

On the flip side, should he realise that the whole thing was a scheme that really only served to uphold whatever dignity I had left and keep it in tact for just one more week, well then, I wasn't sure what would happen. Either he would continue to go along with it, as I so desperately hoped, or, as things had turned out with Tristan during my sixth year at Hogwarts, I would be left all high and dry and embarrassed.

"Rue, darling?" my mother asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

I looked up from my plate to see Clancy flashing me with a brilliant smile from across the table, his dimples making him look somewhat like a child on Christmas. I returned it before I looked at my mum.

"Yeah?"

"Some post came for you, from Sean."

"Lovely," I rolled my eyes.

Clancy snorted, knowing full well how I felt about my manager.

"It's the name of the town you'll be staying in, with the name of the hotel."

"And?" I asked, sipping the soup from my spoon.

"You'll be staying in the wizarding hamlet Piddle Twitten at Trenthide Downs."

"Where, exactly, is that?" I asked, setting my spoon down on the table and exchanging a confused look with Clancy.

"North of Dorset, in a town called Piddletrenthide."

"Come again?" Clancy asked, trying to cover up a laugh. "Piddletre-what?"

"Piddletrenthide," my mum said more slowly.

I couldn't help but to laugh at the barmy name, and Clancy soon joined me. Mum muttered something about immaturity, but I couldn't hear her over our laughter.

"Clancy, please come to Piddle-diddly-hide with me," I begged, slipping my shrunken luggage into my pocket. And, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't help but to be amused by the town's unfortunately silly name.

He folded his arms over his chest, looking stern, "Rue, I've got work."

"It's just one week. Please?"

He raised an eyebrow, but I had already known I'd won. "Gimme one good reason."

I paused for effect and bit my lip.

"Because I missed you," I said softly, swirling the golden claddagh he had given me around my ring finger. I prayed to Merlin that he saw I was no longer wearing Oliver's ring. Only his.

And it appeared that he did.

Clancy reached for my hand and took it in his own, looking down at the only ring I wore. "You're ready to give us one last try then?"

I nodded, looking up into his eyes lovingly. Damn, I should have been an actress or something.

"Alright, then I'll stay just this once, since I did take a week off of work," he sighed. "Piddletrenthide can't be that bad, right?"

"Not with you," I smiled cheekily. I was rewarded with one of his dazzling smiles.

"Besides," he said, tapping the claddagh with his wand so that the crown and heart flipped, "I've got to keep an eye on that Wood guy and make sure he doesn't try to make a move on my woman."

I nodded and laughed in response, and he gently pulled me after him down the stairs to bid my parents farewell and floo to Trenthide Downs.

I couldn't help but smirk to myself. My plan was off to a flawless start.

So there's chapter six. You know what that means- chapter seven and, more importantly, Oliver are right around the corner. Sorry if you found this boring. I wanted to bring Rose back for a bit, and it was essential that I introduced Clancy. And Rue's back to her scheming, evil ways. And the joke Clancy tells Rue is one of my favorites, as silly as it may be... I'll probably have the next chapter posted tomorrow since I'm bedridden for another few days. As always, Jo Rowling owns the Wonderful World of Harry Potter; I own that which you do not recognize. Be the lovely people that you are and make this ill author happy with the healing power of reviews! Yours.