Chapter 19
The halls were practically buzzing with excitement. It was finally Friday, there was a Hogsmeade trip the next day, but most importantly: It was Valentines Day. Taylor had been up practically before the sun, much to Ella's irritation, as she had forced on all of the lights in order to work her hair into a gorgeous arrangement of curls.
After they had attempted to salvage the remaining hour or so of sleep, Ella and Corinne pulled on their uniforms and followed Taylor down to the Great Hall which was, as usual, decorated in beautiful rows of pink and red bows and shimmering golden glitter.
"Alright, where's lover boy?" Ella asked as they stepped into the warmth of the Great Hall, most of the tables already nearly filled with hungry students.
"I would guess Eddie Carmichael's at his usual table-" Taylor hissed as Ella's slap landed on her arm, though it did nothing to stifle the blonde girl's laughter as they started towards the Gryffindor table.
"Morning." Cedric whispered near her ear just seconds after they had sat down, sounding very much as though he'd only just woken up.
"Morning." Corinne smiled up to him, scooting over on the bench to make room.
"Happy Valentines Day." He smiled, sweetly, beginning to pull a large helping of breakfast onto each of their plates.
"Oh, is it?" She teased, reaching for the mug of steaming coffee that had appeared before her.
"Pretty sure." He shrugged, reaching into his bag at the floor and sliding over the largest box of chocoballs that Corinne had ever seen.
"Oh, Godric... I'll be puking for days!" She said, though a grin had already spread across her lips.
"Well, you don't have to eat them all at once." He laughed, and Ella shot him a look.
"But she will."
"Any plans for Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Cedric asked the girls across the table.
"I fear I'm going to be all on my own, since surely Ella will have plans with-"
"Taylor." Ella snapped, and Cedric smiled politely, meeting Corinne's eye for a split second.
"Well, you're both welcome to join us."
"I'm not sure about that..." Corinne cut in, "This could be the last real date I'll get with you before your next near death experience, seeing as you've already had..." She pretended to count off her fingers one by one before he shoved her easily down the bench.
"If you've got no faith in me, just say so." He grinned, starting on his breakfast as Ella practically dove into her steaming black coffee across from them.
"We should get to class..." Corinne said, eyeing her watch and taking a last swig of her coffee before looking back to Cedric. "You still coming tonight?"
"You're coming to my party?" Taylor perked up, her grin practically overtaking her entire face as Cedric chuckled.
"Course I am." He nodded, half to Taylor and half to Corinne.
"How is a Valentines Day Party your party?" Ella asked, turning towards Taylor. "It just happened to fall on a Friday, they have one every year-"
"Well, I planned most of it! And I got all the liquor for us!" She pointed out, though Corinne bit her tongue before reminding Taylor that batting her eyes at the seventh year students didn't quite count as 'getting the liquor.'
"I'll see you all at 9 then?" Cedric confirmed, Corinne nodding and leaning into his kiss before standing up. "I love you."
"I love you more."
"Actually disgusting." Ella muttered as they climbed up from their seats.
"Oh my God, Eddie Carmichael, coming this way, giant bouquet of flowers!" Taylor called, her voice much too loud for Ella's liking as the blonde skipped just out of reach before Ella would have surely sent her falling to the floor.
It was thankfully not raining, yet, though from the look of the sky, it was due to downpour at any moment, and from the frigid temperatures, Corinne was sure it would be snow, if not sleet. The girls hurried over the frosted grounds towards the greenhouses, careful to avoid the patches of ice they had nearly memorized by now.
"So, are the boys giving you and Cedric the room tonight, or do you need ours?" Taylor grinned, Corinne's eyes going wide before her friend continued. "I mean, I'm sure I could convince Ella to spend the night at Eddie's-"
"I'm going to strangle you." Ella muttered.
"I might help." Corinne laughed as they finally neared the greenhouses. "He hasn't mentioned a thing, and I'd prefer not to discuss this over herbology, thank you."
"That's why I said it outside. Duh." Taylor said with a slight eye roll, though the girls fell silent as they noted the Weasleys. Neither of them were in their usual spot, and George's eyes met theirs first as Taylor neared the familiar tables.
"Sprout wants us with our partners from-"
"Ah! Girls, I think that's everyone! We're going over the fanged geranium today, a lot of them have molted their teeth and while they seem to be in a decent mood lately, I don't want a repeat of our events with the Tentacula..." She shot a bemused glance towards Fred.
"No promises, professor." He teased, his eyes falling back to the scattered notes laid out before him.
"I'll switch you..." Ella said softly, looking between Corinne and Fred, who had thankfully not looked back yet. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind, I can explain to her-"
"No..." Corinne muttered, pulling her bag tighter over her shoulder and pretending not to notice the obvious tightness in Fred's shoulders as he stared forward. "It'll be alright." She started towards the table, thinking back to the last time she had even spoken to the red-head.
She dropped her bag to the ground with a loud thud, mostly to let him know she was there, and the brown eyes finally met hers for only a second before she moved to pull her book from the bag, setting it carefully beside the fanged plant which was thankfully sitting very still, it's usually fanged mouth shut tight.
"Hi Corinne." He finally spoke, and she could feel his eyes on her face even before she looked.
"Hi." She tried for a smile, pulling her sweater tighter around her. Despite the fog of the glass windows proving it was warmer inside the greenhouses, she still felt as though the cold was eating it's way in.
"How are you?"
"I'm good, how are you?" She asked, politely as the chatter around the room picked up, students flipping open their books to remind themselves how to correctly retrieve the teeth from the plants, and what to do with them afterwards.
He didn't answer, though Corinne hardly noticed. "You're doing alright after... the lake? I'm surprised you lot all didn't wind up with matching colds."
Corinne let out a small scoff of a laugh and shrugged. "Madam Pomfrey whipped us right into shape."
"Did you get to see... like... what it's like down there? At the bottom of the lake? I've never really thought about it. Was it scary?"
She looked up from her work, meeting the honey brown eyes easily as she slowly shook her head.
"They put us in some... trance... I didn't see anything down there. I woke up when... the air, when we got out of the water I guess." She knew better than to mention Cedric. Not when everything seemed so civil.
"Oh... probably for the best." He nodded, though his lips had pulled into a small smile.
"What?" She felt her eyebrows pull together in confusion, though she tried to keep her voice level despite the feeling that he was somehow making fun of her.
"Nothing..." He shook his head quickly, scratching at the back of his neck a few times.
"Weasley, what is it!"
"You just... smell like strawberry again." The smile had all but faded now, the ghost of it left near the corners of his lips as his eyes returned to hers. "Think you've got a slight addiction to those chocolates."
"Are you secretly a werewolf? Razor sharp sense of smell?" She pressed her lips together self-consciously. She had only had two... maybe three of the chocolates from Cedric, though she supposed it wasn't a common post-breakfast snack.
"You're right next to me, not my fault." He grinned, his eyes tracing over the tight line where her lips had turned nearly white with pressure. "You're quite distracting."
She felt her heart skip at his words, clearing her throat without thinking and pulling her notes closer to the edge of the table.
"Sorry, I just take my lessons very seriously... I can't have you disrupting my project." He clarified, grabbing for the long tweezers from between their two plants and leaning over the table, his eyes finally off her face.
"Right, of course. Go right ahead, I forgot I was working with the top of our class." She rolled her eyes, knowing he wouldn't see. "Just don't expect me to walk you to the infirmary this time around."
"I'm not making that mistake again. Really wounds my ego... getting attacked by plants."
✵
"Finally, this day felt never ending." Taylor whined, flinging herself onto the couch beside her friends, not seeming to care that she had lost nearly half her drink in the process. Judging from the number of eyes that had followed her the walk over, Corinne figured Taylor would have a new drink in under five minutes time.
"How can any day feel never ending to you, you barely have 5 classes on your roster."
"Uh, five is plenty for me!" Taylor shoved at Ella playfully.
"Listen, I need someone to come along to steal their fair share of your annoyances, so could you make us a sketch of your mystery boy already so we can all be on the look out?" Ella grinned as Taylor's jaw dropped.
"Maybe my soulmate knows I want a bit more time to play before I'm tied down." She shrugged, her eyes scanning around the room and lingering on a dark haired boy near the drink table who was wearing a deep maroon sweater.
Ella had just opened her mouth with what was sure to be a well thought out come back when the phonograph in the corner screeched out a low note, moving quickly into a familiar song nearly drowned out by the cheers filling the room.
"Yes! Lee's finally shown up. Let's dance!" Taylor grinned, pulling the girls up with her and marching straight through the crowds of students to get closer to the music. There was already a large group surrounding Lee who was laughing along with something one of the Gryffindor Quidditch players was shouting in his ear.
Corinne scanned the crowd of dancers quickly, finally letting Taylor pull them into the circle at the lack of red-heads gracing the dance floor.
She sipped her drink slowly with Ella as Taylor threw her nearly empty cup into the air, waving for Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet to come dance. Corinne shared an eye roll with Ella as a familiar Gryffindor a year or two below them appeared beside Taylor, offering her a new drink with a shy smile.
"Thank you so much! How sweet are you?" The blonde squealed, accepting the cup and stacking it into her empty one, reaching for Corinne's hand and spinning her around with a familiar warm laugh that couldn't be drowned out by the music. "Where is prince charming?" She called, as if Corinne wouldn't have been able to hear her from how close she had leaned in.
Her eyes flashed around the room as she danced, starting first at the doorway where a steady stream of students had been rotating through all night, though none of them had the sandy brown hair she was searching for.
"He should be here anytime..." She said, though Taylor couldn't have heard her over the music. Her sentence trailed off as she noticed him, perched on the edge of the arm chair near the fireplace. George was beside him, nodding along to some story one of the Quidditch players was telling at his side, though Fred didn't appear to be listening, his dark brown eyes fastened on Corinne on the dance floor before he quickly pulled them away, back to his friends at his side, plastering on a fake smile with practiced ease.
"You having fun, gorgeous?" The voice was nearly as warm as the breath on her neck as she spun into Cedric's arms, a grin pulling to her face, Fred's sad gaze long forgotten.
"I was looking for you! How'd you sneak in?"
"I'm not sure it's considered sneaking if you've been invited." He shrugged, pulling her closer and vanishing the empty glass in her hand before replacing it with the full one he had brought over. "I would have been here sooner if I'd known you'd look this gorgeous dancing on your own."
"On my own?" She laughed, her eyes flashing towards her friends.
"Without a date, I should say." He corrected, using his free hand to pull her closer by her hip until she had practically crashed into him, his thumb trailing lazily beneath the hem of her sweater, earning himself a giggle, silent beneath the music.
✵
"I'll be back." Fred lied, standing abruptly in the middle of Kirke's sentence, though he hadn't noticed. He shrugged his way through the crowded common room before finally reaching the portrait hole and climbing through easily into the silence of the empty corridor. He hesitated for only a moment before turning left and marching towards the familiar uncovered alcove near the end of the hallway. He'd been coming here quite often in the last few weeks, attempting to give Corinne some space as Ella had suggested. It was her common room too, and he didn't much feel like watching as her smile fell from her face anytime her eyes met his.
He shut his eyes, letting his head fall against the stone wall behind him and not caring that it had hurt. He wanted to stop seeing it. Her smile falling from her face when she saw him. Her dizzying grin when she had spotted Cedric at the party. His fingers running easily along her waist and sneaking beneath her sweater...
Fuck.
"Never known you to turn down a good party." George's voice was low in the quiet of the corridor, and Fred was thankful for that.
"Oh? What makes this a good party?" Fred quipped, letting his eyes open again at last and looking up at his brother.
"Well for starters... there's booze." George shrugged, trying for a grin even though Fred wasn't matching it. "And there's girls... and it's Valentines Day... and I guarantee I can find you one that's more miserable than you are."
"You've got your work cut out for you." He mumbled under his breath.
"Oh, come on... Alicia's been eyeing you all night, but I'm sure your despondent demeanor is scaring her away."
"Good. I'm not sure I'd be very good company for her."
"Fred..."
"I'm not in a Valentines Day mood, Georgie." He lied. Truthfully, he thought himself very much in a Valentines Day mood. It was just rather unfortunate that the girl he'd love to be dancing with was wrapped up in another guy's arms.
"I know that. You haven't been in a Valentines Day mood in months."
"Caught on to that, have you?" He asked sarcastically. "Go on back in, I don't want you to miss the party."
"I don't want you to miss the party." George sighed, running a hand over the top of his head. "I just think you ought to try... with someone, anyone. Alicia would be good. She's fun, you've got loads in common, you like her? You don't have to love her, come on... It's never been an issue before."
"What's that s'posed to mean?" Fred grumbled, though he knew quite well.
"I've never seen you like this. And I know... it's different. And it sucks. But, Fred, at some point... I think you've made great progress... you know, leaving her be... no more pranks. But you and I know the next step isn't closing yourself off, sitting out here all alone... Eventually, you're going to have to-"
"No."
"You have to move on!"
"I won't." He promised, not out of spite, but out of certainty. "I won't. And what's the point then? Just going to make some more girls hate me because I won't commit. Not like I'm going to enjoy anything with them... I'll be thinking about her the whole time."
"I don't think dancing with Alicia's going to make her think you're in love with her."
"George." Fred looked up again with a stern glare. "Just drop it. I don't want to go back in there... with them... I don't want to see him..." He dropped his head back to the stone again. "I'm alright. Promise. You dance with Alicia for me."
"Yeah, alright." George tried for a chuckle. "Not sure I'm going to have enough hands to satisfy the entire year of Gryffindor women without you, mate."
"You'll manage." Fred smiled at his words, nodding a goodbye as his brother started back through the portrait hole again, the music vanishing from earshot as the frame swung shut.