CHAPTER FOUR
↳ hopelessly devoted

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The following week had been... quite eventful to say the least. The group, after hours of bickering about whether they'd see Grease or Star Wars, decided to watch both films, Grease on Monday and then Star Wars on the Wednesday. Elara was pretty indecisive when they did a vote, Grease was just amazing and Star Wars was as well. But, Gaia bribed her with Skittles to chose Grease and Elara loved Skittles so naturally she gave in ( Cedric was beyond annoyed and refused to talk until Elara decided to throw some water at him )

It was now Friday, the group had seen both films and tonight was their last night and then they'd leave and go home ( much to Elara's dismay ). But, yesterday was the full moon so the whole group ( after they raided the old boxes up stairs and tried on some old clothes ) decided to bake Remus some nice sweets while he slept. They had gone and used some of Gaia's spare money she got for her birthday and went down to the local shop ( took them ages and Morgan got a lot of weird glances because he was still wearing the skirt he tried on some of Sirius' old clothes ). When they got back, Lois and Morgan bickered a lot about whether they'd make cakes or chocolate cookies.

"Cookies are way better!!" Morgan tried throwing an egg at her, only for Cedric to hold him back. Lois stuck out her tongue and yelped when Gaia smacked her over the head.

Sighing, Elara shook her head, picking up the packet of flour and placing it on counter. "How do we resolve this?" She asked Daphne who was busy searching the drawers for any pots and pans.

"Make both?" Daphne couldn't care less about resolving this argument. She really did enjoy watching the siblings argue, it was her favourite past time.

"P-P-Pefect!" Wisteria clapped her hands together, jumping up and down in excitement.

Within an hour, Sirius had to come down and tell them ( more specifically Morgan who was constantly yelling at Lois for eating his Haribos ) to be quiet so that Remus could sleep. Elara would just wave him off and he'd be back upstairs to comfort his boyfriend.

Gaia was a pretty good baker. She actually did baking quite a lot with her mamgu ( that's welsh for Grandma ) and mam who taught her a lot. In Cardiff, her mum ran a bakery in the local town centre that made an assortment of sweets. Gaia often helped in the summers when she wasn't at Elara's and tried bringing sweets in on the first week ( she often couldn't ). Right now, she was busy whisking the icing, watching carefully as Elara rolled out some fondant icing and Wisteria cracked some eggs in a pan, trying to make Remus a nice cooked breakfast to cheer him up.

"My dad always tells me and my mam that us women need to stay in the kitchen because we belong there and I totally agree," Elara furrowed her eyebrows. "Because the kitchen is where the knives are kept," Elara choked back a laugh as Gaia said it so nonchalantly. She had a point.

Wisteria seemed extremely focused, watching as the eggs boiled and finally flipped them, making sure they were runny and then taking them off the stove. She had decided to make some egg on toast for Remus, preparing him before dessert. Cedric and Morgan were too focused on eating the cookie batter, Cedric wrapping his arms around Morgan's waist as he continued sneakily eating the batter. In the background, 'Good Old Fashion Lover Boy' was playing on Elara's record player, the whole group humming along. Occasionally, Sirius would come and check on them, paddling in and yipping as he stole some of Gaia's icing she was making, much to the dark skinned girl's displeasure as she scolded him harshly how unhygienic it was. He couldn't care less.

Daphne seemed to be having some trouble, considering halfway through mixing the cake batter, Pepper decided to steal her spoons and so for the majority of her time, she was trying to tackle the Niffler and take the spoon back.

The whole group, for a while, was pretty peaceful. Minus, the constant pleading from Daphne to have the spoon back, everyone was minding their own business. Soon, they had finished putting all the cakes and cookies into the oven and were packing up everything.

Morgan, having just washed his hands, went to go reach for his beloved Haribos, only to see they weren't there. He eyed his sister suspiciously as she licked the spoon clean. "Lois, where are my haribos?" Morgan asked, looking for his packet of starmix. He pulled up the cloth he had been wiping the counter with.

Pursing her lips, she looked away for a moment. "I don't know," she placed the spoon in the sink, where Gaia was cleaning the dishes. Gaia groaned, mumbling how Lois needs to do her own stuff and shouldn't depend on her all the time.

Morgan wasn't at all convinced. "Yes you do,"

"No I don't," he placed her hands up in defence, Morgan deathly looking at her.

Morgan was sighing in exasperation, running his hand through his hair and Elara had a feeling that this was about to get a bit loud, so she interrupted their staring competition. "Morg I'm sure we can find them, there's absolutely no need to-" before she could finish, Morgan grabbed a fistful of flour and threw it at his sister. "Oh shit,"

When the flour had hit her, Lois shrieked out and wiped where the flour had smeared all over her face, spitting out some that got in her mouth and blankly looking at him. "You little shit," she grabbed an egg and threw it at him, it narrowly missing him and landing on Daphne who was still trying to pry a spoon off Pepper.

Daphne wiped where the egg began falling down, mouth agape and a smile on her face. Lois waved sheepishly, slightly nervous as Daphne looked darkly at her hand where the yolk was. "You little fuckers are going to get it now," she grabbed on to the jug of water besides her and threw it toward Lois, it now reaching Gaia who looked absolutely pissed. Elara, narrowly missing being hit in the face with an egg by Gaia, walked towards the record player and restarted the record on side B. Almost immediately, 'Another One Bites the Dust' started bellowing in the room as the teenagers continued their fight, almost syncing up with the music as they all fought.

Wisteria was observing on the kitchen counter, busy eating the cake mixture while they all continued on. They make sure to miss her because they all had a mutual understanding that Wisteria didn't deserve to be involved. She seemed to be enjoying herself, legs swinging back and forth as she dug into the bowl with her index finger, scoping out a bit of mixture and plopping it in her mouth.

For a few minutes, they continued fighting. Flour seemed to be everywhere now, staining the kitchen floor and painting the counters along with the eggs and water. Cedric had fallen flat on the ground after slipping in a puddle of water and eggs, Morgan still trying to murder his sister who was narrowly missing the eggs coming her way, all while rushing to the sink and filling up a cup full of water.

Soon, Sirius came running down the stairs, shaking his head when he noticed Elara sitting on a chair as she ate some of Gaia's skittles. "What on earth is going on?" He breathed out, looking at where everyone was. Morgan and Lois momentarily stopped, looking up with wide eyes as though they were deer caught in headlights.

"Trying to bake?" Elara strained, wincing.

Morgan pointed a finger at Lois, eyes hatefully glaring into her skull. "She stole my haribos!"

Elara nearly choked. Was this really what siblings acted like? "No I did not!" Lois stuck her tongue and her middle finger at him.

"Yes you-"

Suddenly something caught Wisteria's eye as she swung her legs back and forth. She jumped off the counter, scrambling to grab onto the packet of haribos starmix that she had noticed besides her, underneath a rag. "L-l-look t-t-they w-were under s-some ra-rags!" She held the packet of Haribos in her hand.

Blinking, everyone looked towards Morgan, then Lois who gave him a smug look. "I'm not apologising, I still hate you regardless,"

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Remus Lupin was beyond surprised when Sirius Black walked into the bedroom, carrying a tray full of delicious smelling goods. He tiredly quirked an eyebrow at his boyfriend. "Did you make these?"

Sheepishly, Sirius scratched the back of his. "Erm- all Poppet's friends did,"

"Oh so that was why there was a bunch of screaming," he groaned out as he felt a muscle pull when he sat up. Sirius walked towards the bed, setting the food down and sitting besides his pain stricken boyfriend.

"Don't hurt yourself, Moony," he whispered, his voice low.

Remus reached out and grabbed onto a chocolate cookie. "Kind of hard to do when your bones decide to break every month,"

Sirius winced. He couldn't help but feel guilty for not being with him through all the full moons. From his cell in Azkaban, he could faintly see the moon each month it came out. 150 full moons. All alone, all enduring searing pain. "I'm sorry," Sirius placed a cold hand on Remus' scarred forearm.

"Why are you sorry?" Remus winced again, trying to move closer to his boyfriend.

"That you suffered alone,"

Remus took in a breathe as he gulped. "Padfoot, It wasn't that bad," he tried dismissing. Those years alone were probably the worse years of his life, but it was never Padfoot's fault.

Sirius could always tell when Remus Lupin was lying. From the way his right brow slightly raised, to the way the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, he always knew. "Stop lying," Sirius mumbled out. "I know how shit it must've been and-" he bit his lip for a moment, senselessly looking down as he thought about how much his lover must've hated his time alone. "- and we all promised you'll never suffer alone again," the marauders did promise that. 'For our Moony' they had said when they started learning to become Animagi. Sure, being an animagus was cool, but they did it for Remus, not for the laughs of it. "I just can't help feeling guilty, you know?"

Remus' eyes softened, watering at the memory. "I know," Remus almost choked out. He still felt immensely emotional for how his friends wanted to help him. Those moons spent with them were the happiest he's ever felt during the full moon. Adjusting to a life, feral and alone, overthinking about the possibility you'd hurt your child was not easy and to this day Remus Lupin still thought about it. "But you couldn't help what happened and that's how it is. Life's like that, what matters is," he paused, pressing a hand on top of Sirius' trembling one. "That we are together now,"

Looking up, grey meeting green, Sirius Black felt as though he could melt by looking into his lover's eyes, leaning in for a kiss that was laced with chocolate chip cookies and love.

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The sky was now a golden crust and Elara was helping everyone pack their stuff away. It was a solemn moment, considering how they wouldn't see each other until school started. She hadn't experienced those nightmares ever since last week. She tried to play it off as her wild imagination, hoping and praying it was although a dying feeling nagged her and told her that it wasn't a bad dream.

Her record player was playing all their favourite songs. Daphne had opted to listen to 'Papa don't Preach' by Madonna ( she absolutely adored her ) and so they all were packing to that.

"Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep," Daphne sang as she continued spinning around, her green skirt flailing in the air as she danced along to the music. "Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep," this had been gong on for a while, Daphne just singing to Madonna for the past hour. Morgan was beyond sick of it, he felt like pulling his hair out if he had to hear another 'Papa don't preach' again. "But I made up my mind, I'm keeping-" suddenly the record stopped playing and Daphne spluttered out incoherently as she flailed her arms, upset her song was interrupted. "Excuse me?" She snapped her fingers at Morgan, who grinned at her. "Who gave you the fucking-"

She was interrupted by the familiar start of 'Hopelessly Devoted To You' playing and Morgan looking towards them with a grin. "You seriously did not," Lois groaned, falling back on the bed dramatically. She spent ages getting the song out her head these past few days.

Cedric nodded at his boyfriend, walking toward Lois, arms on his waist. "Come on Lo, live a little," Cedric pulled her up. He went and grabbed onto Elara, her laugh infectious as he began spinning her. Elara grabbed onto Wisteria and soon enough everyone was up and cheerful. Morgan couldn't help but look lovingly at his boyfriend as he began mouthing the lyrics.

Walking towards him, he grabbed and pulled Cedric close, swinging in his arms, eyes averted away for a moment. When the beat dropped, they all were up and dancing, The four girls dancing in one circle, Morgan and Cedric together, forgetting their packing and instead indulging with each other for a few minutes. "BUT NOW, THERE'S NO WHERE TO HIDE!" Cedric sang out, twirling Morgan around.

Elara followed up his verse, singing out, "SINCE I PUSHED MY LOVE ASIDE!" She span Wisteria around, the small girl laughing out as they both danced together .

Morgan's eyes gazing deeply into Cedric's, filled with the pure bliss of adoration that they always looked at each other with. The two boys continued spinning each other around, lost in each other's presences as though no one else existed. It didn't matter if no one existed, their worlds were right in front of them right now.

"I'M OUT OF MY HEAD!!" Gaia and Wisteria sang. For once, Wisteria's stutter was hushed out by her singing voice, laughing in bliss as they all danced along together.

"HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU!!"

Caressing his Cedric's cheeks with his thumb, Morgan looked deeply into Cedric's silver eyes, memorising the seas that buried in his gaze. "Hopelessly devoted, to you," Morgan sang in a hushed voice, leaning in and kissing Cedric, his hands pressing on his soft skin with pure love as he captured his lips. For a moment, both boys remained infatuated with each other and only each other. As they continued kissing, they remained in their own world. All the cheesy Star Wars puns, all the little dates and gifts, they were the tokens of their love.

Morgan Holin loved Cedric Diggory with a devoted passion. Morgan Holin wanted to spend every moment with Cedric Diggory, the love of his life, his world, his sun, his light and darkness, his highs and lows, his heart and soul.

Cedric Diggory would always be Morgan Holin's hopeless devotion.

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AHHHHHH MY WOLFSTAR AND CEDGAN HEART IS CRYING- I want a girlfriend so much pls-

sorry about the wolfstar angst- I need angst okay???

THANK YOU ALL FOR 18K- IM SO SO SO SO SO SO HAPPY LIKE AHHHHHHHH THAT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME- everyone of your comments make me smile and for that, thank you! I do hope this book reaches your expectations and that you smile, laugh, cry and experience this journey passionately. I hope you see yourself in my characters and you hear their stories in a new way and get to know and love them just like I love them.

I literally had my mum cut my hair into a bob the day before I went back to school irl and I do not regret it because I very much prefer shorter hair over long hair, at least on me-

TW // ANTI - ASIAN HATE CRIME
also also- in my bio is a link to a page about anti-Asian hate crime that has been happening so much since COVID.
a few days ago, six Asian women were murdered in an obvious hate crime against Asian people. yet, there is obvious exclusion because the murderer is white. 'He had a bad day' doesn't justify murder on a particular minority.

Here's some statistics from the link for you to realise:
• 40% of U.S. adults believe "it has become more common for people to express racist views toward Asians since the pandemic began" (Source: Pew Research)
• More than 1,800 racist incidents against Asian Americans were reported between March and May of 2020, according to a United Nations Report (Source: CBS News)
• Stop AAPI Hate National Report (March 19, 2020 - February 28, 2021) has received a staggering 3,795 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents. (Source: Stop AAPI Hate)

"...HE WAS PRETTY MUCH FED UP, AND KIND OF AT [THE] END OF HIS ROPE, AND YESTERDAY WAS A REALLY BAD DAY FOR HIM AND THIS IS WHAT HE DID," CAPT JAY BAKER OF THE CHEROKEE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE. (SOURCE: THE HILL)

SAY THEIR NAMES. SHARE THEIR STORIES.
SOON CHUNG PARK, 74
SUNCHA KIM, 69
YONG AE YUE, 63
HYUN JUNG GRANT, 51
XIAOJIE TAN, 49
DELAINA YAUN, 33
DAOYOU FENG, 44
PAUL ANDRE MICHELS, 54

The Asian community needs so much solitary rn! as a white user, I'm not gonna stay silent and pretend it doesn't happen. my classmate has literally received racism from white classmates who ive seen post anti racist stuff. stop being so intersectional when you say you're anti racism. pls pls pls check out the link in my bio and make sure you raise awareness on Anti-Asian hate crime.