An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Fifty-One

For the remainder of time until Valentine's Day, I spent every waking moment possessed with a new energy to learn mermish, dive into any cultural account that could be remotely helpful in crafting my approach with them and the centaurs, and to devote any spare time or energy into things like the DA, WWHRS, and giving kids the most fun muggle remedies for the pain that stupid biggot Umbridge inflicted. Once Valentine's finally rolled around, however, I tucked away all my materials and stared myself down in the mirror. I would take a break for this weekend (and this weekend only) to enjoy time with Cedric, who I barely got to see anymore with our busy schedules. I'd never admit it to them, but my friends were right. If I didn't take at least a little break to spend time with the man I loved, I'd go crazy because of my best efforts to avoid that fate by being busy.

By the time dinner rolled around on Friday, actual Valentine's Day, I'd put the last of anything "work"-related away, and resolved not to touch it again until Monday.

Instead of heading to the Great Hall with everyone else on Friday night, I headed for the Astronomy Tower. Cedric and I planned to meet there for our Valentine's Day kickoff, with a nice, romantic dinner. When I walked in, however, I found two people already there, cuddled up together on a beanbag watching a movie.

"Jackson? What are you-"

He glanced over at me with a bored expression on his face, and Adrian didn't even look away from the screen. He cut his eyes towards a point over my shoulder, and I stifled the desire to drag him out of that chair and send him on his way long enough to turn around.

Cedric stood behind me, a slightly sheepish grin on his face. I raised an eyebrow and stepped a little closer to him, then whispered in his ear.

"Give me like, two seconds and I can throw Jackson out of here. I've gotten to know his weak points really well in sparring, it won't take very long."

Cedric laughed and shook his head, tugging me back towards the stairs with him slowly.

"That won't be necessary, love. We can just go somewhere else, alright? I have the perfect spot in mind."

I paused to think for a minute, then sighed. "Fine. I don't want to waste too much time on revenge against Jackson on our one weekend off. And I don't necessarily want to disturb Adrian, either."

Cedric beamed and laced his fingers with mine as I finally gave in and we headed down the stairs together. With my free hand, I grabbed my wand and angled it backwards, fully intending to hex Jackson just a little bit on my way out for stealing our date, but Cedric snagged it out of my hand just before I could.

"You're too predictable with that one, love," he teased, leaning into me with his shoulder. I huffed, but smiled all the same.

"Clearly I'm gonna have to work on that."

Cedric laughed, and his good mood was absolutely infectious as we wandered through the castle together. I had no idea where he was taking me, but he didn't seem half as bothered by the rough start to our weekend as I had been. Cedric was normally fairly easygoing, but still. This seemed above the normal. I decided to trust him, though, and as we at last got within sight of the greenhouses, I got the feeling Cedric really did know what he was doing.

He shot a grin back at me as we arrived at the door of one of the first year greenhouses, then he pushed the door open and led me inside. Immediately, the inviting warmth of the greenhouse wrapped all around me, and the glow of floating fairy lights overhead cast everything in a magical golden glow. Towards the back, a little fort of blankets and pillows had been set up, with a full dinner and a few different wizard games sitting ready next to it. My mouth dropped open a little, and when I finally lifted my eyes to look at Cedric, he beamed back at me.