Switching Sides | Cedric Diggory vs. Fred Weasley

Chapter 37: the Locker Room

"Fred?"

"Hey, Mills," he smiled nervously.

She looked behind him to see her mother sitting on the couch with a small box in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, stepping further into the house.

"I came to give you your Christmas present, but I didn't know you weren't here," he stated. "I was about to leave,"

"You got me a present?"

"I put it together over the summer," he said wearily, staring down at his hands. "Didn't want it to go to waste,"

"That's sweet. Thanks, Freddie," she said with a small smile.

He looked back up at her and nodded.

"I- uh...I'll get out of your hair. I just wanted to drop it off," he said.

"Are you sure?" she asked out of a feeling of obligation. "I could get you some tea, or-"

"No, really...it's alright," he smiled softly. "I'll see you back at school."

"Bye." she said, watching as he walked straight past her and apparated off her front porch. She turned back to face her mother who was looking back at her. "That was odd,"

"Come get your present," Lucinda said with a smile. "You should open it in your room. This seems...personal,"

"Oh," Millie started, a confused look on her face as she walked over and grabbed the box. "Alright,"

She walked up the stairs slowly and entered her room. Killian lay on her bed, asleep. He looked peaceful for the first time in weeks. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt and she subtly checked his wrists, assuring herself he had been okay for the last 12 hours in which she'd been gone. When she was sure there was no new damage, she left him to sleep in her room and made her way into her dad's emptied office where she could open the present in peace.

She looked down at the box. It was poorly wrapped in Christmas themed wrapping paper. The image of Fred struggling to wrap it himself brought a smile to Millie's face. She began unwrapping it and was met with a cardboard box. She opened it to see a collection of things, but above all that were three envelopes, labeled 1, 2, and 3. She picked up the first one and opened it, reading it carefully.

Millie,

You left yesterday. I'm worried about you. I miss you. I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am for our argument; I shouldn't have said some of the things I did, but first and foremost you should know that you're right. As much as I wish we could, we could never be together after Cedric. It's not that I'd never be able to forgive you for it, it's just that I would never be able to forget that at one point or another you chose him over me. You know how difficult I can be, and as long as I can't forget it you wouldn't be able to either.

If you're going to get back together with Cedric (even though I think that's a horrible idea), I just want you to promise me you'll be cautious. I can't live with myself knowing you're out there unhappy. I know that when you were with him before everything went down you were, and you're one of the most forgiving people I know, so I won't be surprised if you get back together with him. I promise I'll be okay if you do as long as you're okay too.

You said to me the other day that every time you looked at me, you heard me telling you I don't love you anymore. That's never once been true. When I said it I was under a love potion, and even then my love for you was completely overpowering. I loved you then I love you now and I'll love you until the moment I die. I just need you to know that, even if you don't love me or if you love Cedric more or if you end up hating me because I can be such an arse sometimes: you need to know there will never be a day when I don't think about how much I love you.