Chapter 27 – Locking Spells
The twins and Lee were off doing a prank to Merlin knows who, so I was just sitting in the Hufflepuff common room with Cedric, Lyra and Odin, all already in our pyjamas. It's been a while since we were all together without any of the other houses with us. It wasn't like we were doing something exciting; we were just studying as our exams were getting closer. We were sitting at one of the bigger tables near the window. Cedric planted right next to me, while Odin and Lyra sat across from me. It was getting late, and the common room was empty except for the four of them. You could hear each page flip or scratch on a parchment.
Suddenly Lyra closed her book with a loud thump, making everyone look up. "I'm off to bed, can't read straight anymore." She said rubbing her eyes. "Are you coming with me?" She asked her boyfriend. Odin just smiled and packed up his stuff, when he stood, he carried her books, and they said their goodnights before they went to the girls' dorms.
"I don't think they're going to sleep." Cedric chuckled next to me. I groaned and let my head fall down on my open book.
"I'll just study for an hour more, they'll be done by then... I hope." I said as I lifted my head back up. "I'm just going to read up on CMC, I need to refresh on thestrals."
"Alright." Cedric said closing his book. "Do you want me to wait up with you?"
"No. You go to bed; you were up early." I patted his hand with a smile.
"Okay." He kissed my cheek before standing up. "Night, Winnie."
"Good night, Cedric." I answered and Cedric disappeared behind the door to the boys' dormitories.
I cleaned up all of my books except the one for care of magical creatures and dived in. After an hour of studying in dead silence, I closed my CMC book and took out the one on dragons that Bash send over to me, as he agreed to let me come over this summer. I haven't told Cedric, George or Lee my summer plans. Cedric knew I spent the first month at home, but George hasn't asked yet for my summer plans, or to meet up with him. I was going to spend the first month of summer break in Romania, maybe even longer and I wanted to prepare as much as I could. So, I started flipping through the book and researched every dragon that could be find in Europe at the moment. When I started to make notes on healing spells for the creatures, I started to doze off. And when my head bobbed up and down from my tiredness, I decided it was enough for tonight. I closed my last book and stuffed it in my bag and headed towards my room. When I was at the door, I put my ear against it, when I didn't hear anything, I pulled the handle. But the door didn't budge, I tried again but to no avail. I sighed and leaned against the door. The last time I've put a counter spell on it, the door exploded. I picked up my bag from the floor and tiptoed to the boys' dormitory.
I didn't knock when I arrived and slipped in. I walked over to Cedric's side and kneeled down next to him. "Ced?" I gently pushed his shoulder.
"Hm?" He mumbled in his sleep, before turning his head to me and opened his eyes. "Winnie? Is everything okay?" He shot up and his hand went to my cheek to see if I was hurt.
"I'm fine." I smiled at his fussing. "They've put a lock on the door, and remember what happened last time?"
"Yeah." Cedric chuckled. "Sprout wasn't happy about that."
"Can I sleep in here? I'll crash in Odin's bed."
"No can do. There was another reason Odin went to sleep with Lyra, other than..." He wiggled his eyebrows.
I slapped his chest and chuckled. "Oh, grow up."
Cedric gave me a lopsided grin. "One of the first years was dared to break into our dorm and put bedbugs in my bed. But they got the wrong bed. Sprout put a product on it but takes a night to take effect."
"Oh." I bit my lip as I glanced around the room. "I'll just go sleep on the couch in the common room."
"Don't be silly." Cedric pulled his covers back. "Hop in."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Ced."
"I'll be the perfect gentleman. It's not like you can go to the Gryffindor tower right now."
I thought it over for a moment. I knew Cedric wouldn't do anything and I wouldn't do anything to hurt George. I'll just have to explain it to him in the morning. I sighed and climbed in next to him. Without a second thought, I put my head on his chest. Cedric laid there frozen for a moment, as if he didn't expect it. But it was something we did for years, so when he recovered from the surprise his arm curled around my waist.
"Night, Winnie."
"Night, Ced." I yawned one last time before I succumbed to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up feeling safe and warm. I felt a presence behind me, and I froze for a moment, before I remembered where I was. Cedric was lying behind me, his head in my neck, his arm around my waist. I breathed in deep, enjoying it for another minute before I climbed out of bed. I turned to see Cedric's hand searching for me, his brows knitted together. He opened his eyes and scanned the room.
"Morning, sunshine." I chuckled.
"Where are you going?" He said a little disappointed.
"I'm going to see if I can get in my room." I said placing my bag over my shoulder. "And then I'm having breakfast with the twins and Lee."
"But it's still so early." He groaned pulling the covers over his shoulders.
"You don't have to come with me." I laughed and shook my head. "You just sleep in." I kissed his cheek. "I'll see you later." I turned and walked out of the room, not seeing Cedric's sad eyes follow me out.
My room was finally unlocked, Odin and Lyra were already gone. I dropped my bag on the chair at my desk and changed into something comfortable. Just before I reached the doors of the great hall, I saw George, Fred and Lee walking down the stairs.
"Morning, boys." I smiled as I caught up with them.
"Morning, love." The three of them said in unison.
"George, can I talk to you?"
George frowned a little, while Fred and Lee shared a quick glance with each other. "Yeah, okay." George turned to the others. "We'll be right there." I took his hand and dragged him to the little alcove around the corner. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes. But I just wanted to tell you something." I saw a hopeful glint in his eyes, and then it hit me that he might think I would say it back. Fuck! "We promised to always tell each other everything, remember?" I saw the hopeful glint disappear and saw a worried one take its place as he nodded.
"Okay." I breathed in. "Last night, Lyra and Odin locked the door from my dorm. And I couldn't put a counter spell on it, because last time it... backfired. I went to Cedric, to ask if I could crash in Odin's bed, but it was being treated for bedbugs. So... so I slept in Cedric's bed. But nothing happened! And I just wanted to tell you, because -" I was rambling hard as my eyes were cast to the floor. George stopped my rambling as he tipped my chin up and kissed me. My eyes turned wide in surprise before I leaned in and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"It's okay. I trust you." He whispered against my lips as he parted just enough to stop the kiss. "I know you wouldn't do anything. I know Cedric wouldn't do that either. And I know that you and he have history, have a years' long friendship where you slept together often. I don't expect you to drop everything for me but thank you for telling me."
I cupped his cheeks with a large beaming smile as my heart burst for him. I traced my thumb slowly over his cheek. And a month and a half later then he told me, the words left my lips. "I love you."
"Y-you do?" George's eyes wide.
"I do. I love you, George Weasley." I repeated, my heart stammering hard and fast in my chest.
"I love you, Guinevere Northon." His smile so wide, I thought it might hurt him. "Gods, I love you." He wrapped his arms around me and pushed me gently against the wall of the alcove, capturing my lips in a searing passionate kiss.
Twenty minutes later, we walked into the great hall. Both looking thoroughly snogged, and with the look Fred and Lee had they knew exactly what happened in the little alcove between them. George had his arm around my shoulder as we walked to the Gryffindor table. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, and I smiled at the look he was sporting. He was smiling widely and happy, his eyes sparkled in the morning sun that came through the large windows. When I looked a little further to the Hufflepuff table, I saw Lyra and Odin cuddled together, and made a mental note to talk about that locking charm later. They probably just fell asleep without unlocking it, but a reminder couldn't hurt. George and I sat down with a goofy smile in front of Lee and Fred. George started loading my plate with my favourites without using any words. I knew from the look Fred and Lee had, that they would pound on us any minute now. So, I thought I would jump in and ask myself what their plans were for this summer.
"So." I started, buttering my toast. "What are your plans this summer?"
"Bad news, Jenny." Lee said as he filled his cup and mine with orange juice. "I'm going with mum to visit my cousins in July."
"Oh." I pouted. "That's the second summer in a row that you're abandoning me." I said dramatically but couldn't help the smile.
"If it's too hard for you to miss me until September, we can meet up in August." Lee grinned with a wink.
"We better!" I pointed my fork at him. "I don't know how I would survive without you the whole summer." I snickered.
"Well, George. It seems like those two have taken over our flair of dramatics.
"I think you're right, Fred. And it feels a bit -"
"Unnatural." The twins said. Lee and I looked at each other before falling in a fit of laughter.
"So, what are you two doing this summer?" Lee asked the twins.
"Probably inventing and creating more products. We need to up our stock, it's selling out quickly." George said.
"Yeah, we can barely keep up with the demand of skiving boxes." Fred added. "And since George and I can use magic now, we're probably visiting muggle London this summer." He shrugged.
"Meeting up with you in August is a given, and Harry and Hermione are coming over this summer too." George said.
It hurt. It hurt that he didn't include me in any summer plans or even ask me. I wanted to tell him my plans but now... I just said those three little words back and he couldn't even ask what I was doing or if I wanted to come to the burrow. Maybe he didn't want his mum to know... I pushed my scrambled eggs around on my plate as the boys started to talk about the prank they did on Filch the night before.
"I need to talk to Lyra and Odin about the locking spell." I said jumping up, looking to George. "I'll see you later." I gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek before turning to the Hufflepuff table. Leaving a stunned and confused George behind. But I didn't look back as I turned my attention to the couple a few feet in front of me, my hands on my hips as I stopped right in their view.