DUSK; Cedric Diggory

Chapter 43

The two weeks after Cedric's birthday wasn't all that interesting, if Ophelia didn't count Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. The morning of the 21st, Ophelia woke up to the familiar bed in the Hufflepuff dorms, curled up next to a soft snoring Cedric. Ophelia had made Cedric watch The Outsiders with her last night. Although he might've gotten slightly annoyed at Ophelia sighing every time Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe appeared on screen, he did admit to himself that he enjoy the movie.

She felt a stirring next to her, and gradually sat up to put her hair in a ponytail. "Morning," Ophelia yawned as Cedric winced at the beam of light shining through the curtains. "Guess we fell asleep." she said sheepishly.

Cedric groaned and stretched his arms back, one of them twisting in an odd way so that he could check the time on his bedside table. Although she should probably be going back to the Gryffindor common room to change into her robes, she laid back down and snuggled into the sheets.

Just as she closed her sore eyes and let sleep engulf her again, Cedric suddenly shot up and turned to her with wide eyes. "Fee," he shook her. "Wake up!"

"Mmm?" she mumbled, blinking her eyes open again to see a small velvet box in front of her. "Um...Ced, I'm sorry to break it to you, but I'm not ready for marriage."

"Marriage?" Cedric spluttered, rubbing the back of his head.

Ophelia took the box from him and sat up and pecked his cheeks. "I'm just joking, Ced. What's this?" she asked as she opened it. Inside the small box was a small cheetah charm. "Ced...what's this for?"

"It's your birthday present," Cedric tilted his head in amusement. "Do you like it?"

Ophelia had completely forgotten that it was her birthday. They had stayed up until twelve last night, made out for a while, then must've fallen asleep. "I love it." Ophelia smiled, tracing the cheetah charm in awe. "You didn't have to,"

"I saw it this summer in muggle London, and I instantly thought of you, since your patronus is a cheetah..." Cedric said shyly. "And... I thought that you could add it the charms on your necklace."

Ophelia cooed, sometimes he was just too cute to be true. She tackled him into a hug so they both fell down on the bed and so that she was straddling him. "I could kiss you right now." she laughed, taking the gold chain off her neck so that she could slip the charm on.

"And I wouldn't object if you did," Cedric replied cheekily, his arms resting behind his head.

Ophelia pushed herself off of him and cast a spell so that the necklace clasped around her neck again. "Sorry love," she teased, slipping on her shoes. "Morning breath."

"I don't care about morning breath."

"Thanks for the gift, Ced. I really love it." Ophelia grinned genuinely. "You better get your lazy ass out of bed, we've got class in 15." she then slipped out of the curtains that surrounded the bed, laughing when she heard Cedric groan softly when she left.

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Apart from the birthday wishes and gifts—her favorite was still Cedric's, despite Luca's gift of supplying her with a year long supply of her favorite muggle snacks that ranged from Doritos to what Ophelia liked the most, authentic asian snacks that were hard to find in America. The twins had gifted her with a fireworks show and hilarious pranks on most of the school.

Ophelia, Harry and Luca were in a game of exploding snap in the Gryffindor common room when Cedric whisked her away to the lake. By now, it was already dark and past curfew and the moonlight was dancing on the lake's reflection.