Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

The Knight in Red and Gold Armour (Frank Longbottom)

"Well, let's see the ring then."

"Ring?" Frank repeated, looking questioningly between his mother and me. All I could do was silently lift my left hand towards her and the older woman gasped in delight, reaching out to take a closer look at the ring settled innocently on my third finger.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" mum piped up with a proud smile as we began to settled at the table.

I swallowed nervously, avoiding looking in Frank's direction as he pulled my chair out for me. He made himself comfortable in the chair next to mine and I began to play nervously with the ring.

"Of course it's beautiful," Mrs Longbottom assured my mother. "Only the best for the future Mrs Higgs."

Frank's head snapped towards me and I cleared my throat again. His eyes were heavy on the side of my face and I reached out to take a sip of my glass of water as the food was brought to table.

"Son," Mr Longbottom called out, finally pulling his son's attention away from me. "Is something the matter?"

"It's nothing," he denied with a smile that was supposed to resemble his usually easy going one. "I was just wondering how I hadn't spotted the ring."

Because I'd made sure to hide my left hand from him.

He didn't speak another word throughout the rest of the meal. Instead he would take subtle glances in my direction, watching as I pushed my food around my plate. I'd lost my appetite but forced myself to eat something lest my mum pick up on my odd mood. Once dessert was finished and out of the way, Frank took a hold of my wrist.

"We're going to go for a walk," he declared aloud, pulling me out of the room before I could say a word.

Once we were out of the earshot of our parents and had reached the garden, he dropped my hand. I licked my bottom lip, watching as he began to pace around in front of me.

"Frank," I called out tentatively.

"What's going on? What is that?" he demanded eventually, pointing towards my left hand.

"My engagement ring," I answered quietly, fiddling with the ring.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." He ran a hand through his hair, "Why are you engaged? And to Higgs at that?"

"Our parents decided," I explained steadily, watching as Frank stopped in his step suddenly, looking to me with incredulous eyes. "And Higgs - Elliot - he isn't that bad."

"How can you be so calm about this?" he demanded, walking towards me with quick steps. Taking my shoulders, he shook me gently trying to bring some sense into me. "Are you even attracted to Higgs? Do you like him?"

"We've been owling regularly," I answered quietly, looking up into his eyes. "He's a nice guy Frank, a lot better than I could have hoped for."

"You're unbelievable." Letting out a deep sigh, he dropped his hands from my shoulders to my elbows, holding me close to him. I pointedly ignored the way my heart thumped in my chest. "Do you have any idea what you've agreed to? This is a lifetime commitment. What are you going to do, Rees?"

"I'm ok, Frank," I said earnestly.

"Godric, do you even want to marry him?"

Silence followed his question, making Frank sigh again. I removed his hands from me and instead held one of his between both of mine. He stared down at me, waiting for an answer to his question and I smiled carefully.

"I'm ok," I repeated, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

**********

Boarding the Hogwarts train was odd; I'd sat on this train for the last six years. And now, now that I was preparing to enter my final year at the school, I wasn't sure how to feel. Of course, there was the anticipation of the coming year, the excitement of leaving school but there was also the niggling voice in the back of my head that reminded me that I was a year closer to becoming Mrs Higgs. But, I wasn't 21 yet, there was still time.