oh, cedric

i promise

(muggle AU where they're childhood friends)

It was an uncharacteristically warm day in London. Dandelions and daisies fluttered lazily in the summer breeze as two small children relaxed on a lawn. 

Basking in the sunshine, a (nearly) eight-year-old Cedric Diggory lay on the grass, his belly full and eyes sleepily half-lidded. A six-year-old little girl lay beside him, her curls tangled in the blades of grass, equally lethargic. 

Rolling onto his side, Cedric spoke: "Hey, Mi?"

Hermione closed her eyes contentedly. "Yeah?"

"You know when grown-ups go out together?"

"Yeah. A date, right? My mum and dad do that a lot."

"Well..."

"What is it?"

Cedric rolled back on his back. "What do they do on them?"

Hermione opened her eyes, gazing boredly at the pinks and oranges of the sky. "I don't know."

"Do you want to go on one?"

There was a pause. 

"Sure, when we're grown up," she mumbled.

Hermione had fallen asleep on the grass, and Cedric watched her, smiling. "I promise to take you on one when we're grown up."

He, too, soon fell asleep.

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The next month, Hermione's mum announced that they were moving to France. Her father and mother had both found jobs there, and Hermione would be going with them.

She begged and pleaded, but had no choice but to follow. She left her home with many a tearful goodbye.

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Nineteen years later, Hermione sat at her kitchen table, hair sloppily pulled up on her head, glasses crookedly perched on her nose. She had moved back to London a while ago but lost contact with Cedric many years earlier. 

Her doorbell rang, and she got up from her chair.

She pulled her door open with a yawn. "Hello?"

Her eyes opened to reveal a sheepishly smiling young man with sandy hair, holding a bouquet of roses. "Miss Hermione Granger?"

"Yes?" she glanced at him suspiciously. That face looked rather familiar, but she couldn't place it...

"These roses are for you," the man smiled, handing her the bouquet. There was a note attached to it.

In minuscule handwriting, the note read, 

I said I would take you out for a date when we were grown-up.

Hermione looked up to see the man grinning at her.

"Cedric?" she whispered.

He nodded slightly, with open arms. She ran into them ecstatically. He bent his head and whispered in her ear:

"How about that date, then?"

oh god i haven't written in so long

i SWEAR i planned to discontinue this

but i was like oh goodness i need to write something that's less crap or else i'll never redeem myself

i know i've said this a lot, but wow

thanks to everyone who read this steaming pile of garbage

it really doesn't deserve the attention it's gained and wow oh my goodness thank you

okay i'll shut up now

thanks and fistbumps,

caitlin