I Will Love You Until Death

“You work too hard, you know.” Laila Ravenclaw “great times eight” aunt said in her literally-ghostly whisper. Laila sighed, shook her head, and dipped her quill in her ink so she could continue to write her essay. The Ravenclaw common room was already empty for the night.

“I know. You only say it about ten times a day.”

“It’s true.”

Laila ignored The Grey Lady now and tried to focus, but the chill the old ghost carried with her lingered on Laila’s already sour mood.

“What happened to that nice boy you were always around? Cedric, wasn’t it?”

“I broke it off.” Laila answered shortly, still refusing to look at her aunt.

“Why is that? It seemed like he made you so happy.”

Laila shrugged, “it just wasn’t what I wanted,” she replied with as much chill as the air.

“I don’t believe that’s true.”

“Why not?”

“You loved him.”

Laila slammed her quill on the table. She started to turn towards the ghost, “Look, I didn’t ask to be grilled about-” she stopped mid-sentence, jaw hanging. Through the translucent apparition that was her ancestor, she could make out the tall figure of Cedric Diggory.

“Laila?” He said quietly. “Can we talk?”

Laila, still trying to get over the initial shock of seeing Cedric here, while they were alone, wasn’t able to speak. All she did was look to The Grey Lady for help.

“I’ll let you be,” she said gently before gliding out of the room. Cedric and Laila were really alone now.

Silence ensued. Cedric rocked awkwardly on his heels while Laila remained frozen on the couch. She wasn’t sure how to act. Cold? This was her ex after all. Friendly? He had never done a thing wrong, she had been the one to end things. Relaxed? Flirty? Bitchy?

Out of all the options, awkward seemed to be prevailing.

“Can I come sit?” Cedric gestured to the couch. It was enough to snap Laila out of her trance.

“Oh! Yeah. Sure.” She said, confused. She shifted to give him some room.

More uncomfortable silence. Laila nervously played with her quill.

“I’m not quite sure how to act or what to say,” she admitted. Cedric nodded knowingly.

“Nor do I.”

“Why did you come?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think its an explanation I want... I think it’s just... well... I don’t know, really.”

“Oh. Well... Ok then.”

The silence weighed down harder and harder this time. Cedric couldn’t take it anymore.

“Can I tell you a story?” He asked suddenly, taking Laila by surprise again.

“I mean... sure, I suppose?”

He drew in a deep breath. “Once upon a time,”

“Are you really going to start it that way?”

Cedric blushed, feeling just a little less nervous now that the ice had cracked, if not broken. “No I suppose not.”

“Sorry to interrupt. Please, continue.”

“Right. Ok then. Well, a long time ago there was this witch. She was practically royal in our world. Beautiful, too. Long, straight hair the color of pinewood. Eyes of a striking blue like a robin’s egg.”

Laila blushed and self-consciously tucked one of her own long, straight hairs of that very same color behind her ears. Her eyes, that same striking blue Cedric described, beckoned him to continue.

Cedric boldly, nervously, laid his hand upon Laila’s.

“So many people were drawn to her beauty, her mystery, and her status. But it frightened her. She didn’t understand nor did she like the impression it left on others. She didn’t like the attention. She didn’t want the attention... So, she refused it. She locked her heart and her love and her smile away so she never had to feel misunderstood.”

Laila focused on his words while musing over how warm his hand felt over hers. It was soft and comfortable.

“She was like a statue- stoic, still, and most of all cold. But she wasn’t necessarily unhappy this way, no... She just never really took the chance to know what true happiness could have been.”

He gave Laila a moment to let this sink in. She nodded thoughtfully.

“What happened to her?” She whispered like a young girl hearing a fairy tale for the first time.

“Well... when her time came, she found herself truly frozen, I suppose.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was a ghost.” Laila’s aunt said as she floated into the room once again. She wore a sad smile. “I was a ghost, I should say.” She turned to Cedric. “Thank you, young man. You told my story beautifully. Respectful and poised.”

Laila was confused. Her aunt had become a ghost because she spent her whole life being lonely? Could that happen? If she were to avoid feeling happy, would she too be destined to spend eternity unable to find it?

“I spent my life alone, so in death that frigidness took me over inside out. What I would give now to be in your shoes again... to feel anything besides... cold. Not even air.”

The ghost went to put her unreal hand on her niece’s shoulder. All Laila felt was a shiver run up her spine. Cedric’s hand, however, was pulsing and alive on her own.

She looked to him, his shy smile, and his undying admiration for her. “I don’t want to be a ghost,” she said quietly near tears. “I don’t want to be cold anymore.”

“I know,” he smiled. “I guess that’s why I came here tonight.”

“I really do love you, I just... I don’t want to have to live up to my name.”

“You never do for me. As long as you live you will be more than Laila Juno Ravenclaw. You will be my world- and you will always be enough for me. And I solemnly swear, I will love you until death.”