DRABBLE: Hope Leaves; Or, Subliminal, Part Five (Cedric/Petunia)
Title: Hope Leaves; Or, Subliminal, Part Five
Pairing: Cedric/Petunia
Rating: PG
Word Count: 486
Summary: Petunia's curiosity leads her to an unsettling discovery.
Author's Notes: (Somehow I managed to get exactly the same word count as the last time around without even trying... crazy!) Title comes from the Opeth song of the same name. This is the final installment of the Subliminal Series, huzzah! I've had more fun with this pairing than I ever could have imagined. :D Also, I am willing to write more Cedric/Petunia if someone throws me a particularly exciting prompt. XD
Previously: Subliminal | Aftereffect | Further Speculation | The Residue of Yesterday
It only took one dream to destroy your natural routine - one dream intended as a message, a warning, a reminder. And since that first dream, you have had many subsequent to haunt you in your waking hours.
They were not nightmares - no, they were the most pleasant of dreams. You crave them, in fact, just to see that beautiful lad's face, for your memory does him no justice in the daytime.
This is not, by any means, normal behavior - which you always had insisted was right and proper before now.
What has happened to you, Petunia Dursley?
Your mind is out of control - this obsession is not healthy, and you know that, yet still you feed it. It is what drives you to ask Harry the question you were afraid to say aloud before: you march up to him and demand, "Who is Cedric?"
Harry stares at you, utterly nonplussed.
"Who is Cedric?" you repeat, your tone unnecessarily sharp and threatening.
"How...?" he croaks, eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment. Hardly a beat passes, and then his nostrils flare, his lips are set firmly in a thin line, and his eyes are a murderous green. Curtly, he mutters, "What did Dudley tell you?"
You are taken aback. Dudley? What did Dudley have to do with anything?
Having no reasonable explanation, you remain silent. But just then, Dudley himself dances into the room.
"Tell her, Harry," he says nastily, snickering, circling around Harry - who is glaring back at Dudley with intense dislike.
"Tell me what?" you ask, searching both their faces for an answer.
"Tell her you've been having nightmares. Tell her... he's your boyfriend."
"HE - IS - NOT! I thought I told you never to bring this up again, Dudley!" Harry seethes, pushing towards him violently.
You step between Harry and Dudley. "Then who is he?"
"Why are you suddenly interested?"
"Just - tell me!" The words come without thinking - you simply side-step the issue, because you honestly do not have any idea why you are interested in Cedric, other than the obvious and irrational reason.
"FINE!" Harry bellows, exploding completely. Both you and Dudley jump backward in shock. "Fine! You want to know about Cedric? He's dead. Voldemort murdered him."
Everyone stills, tense and stunned - except for Harry, who simply sinks into a chair, exhausted. You do not want to believe his words, yet you feel deflated and dazed and deceived.
Perhaps you had thought you would get to meet Cedric in person one day. Perhaps you thought that if you dreamed about it, it would come to pass. But you were kidding yourself; that hope is crushed.
For as long as you have known him, Cedric only ever lived in your head. You will never know the real Cedric. Keep your head, though, and you will keep your fantasies - and you can still visit Cedric as often as you want.
Cedric Diggory is not dead. Not to you.
Pairing: Cedric/Petunia
Rating: PG
Word Count: 486
Summary: Petunia's curiosity leads her to an unsettling discovery.
Author's Notes: (Somehow I managed to get exactly the same word count as the last time around without even trying... crazy!) Title comes from the Opeth song of the same name. This is the final installment of the Subliminal Series, huzzah! I've had more fun with this pairing than I ever could have imagined. :D Also, I am willing to write more Cedric/Petunia if someone throws me a particularly exciting prompt. XD
Previously: Subliminal | Aftereffect | Further Speculation | The Residue of Yesterday
It only took one dream to destroy your natural routine - one dream intended as a message, a warning, a reminder. And since that first dream, you have had many subsequent to haunt you in your waking hours.
They were not nightmares - no, they were the most pleasant of dreams. You crave them, in fact, just to see that beautiful lad's face, for your memory does him no justice in the daytime.
This is not, by any means, normal behavior - which you always had insisted was right and proper before now.
What has happened to you, Petunia Dursley?
Your mind is out of control - this obsession is not healthy, and you know that, yet still you feed it. It is what drives you to ask Harry the question you were afraid to say aloud before: you march up to him and demand, "Who is Cedric?"
Harry stares at you, utterly nonplussed.
"Who is Cedric?" you repeat, your tone unnecessarily sharp and threatening.
"How...?" he croaks, eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment. Hardly a beat passes, and then his nostrils flare, his lips are set firmly in a thin line, and his eyes are a murderous green. Curtly, he mutters, "What did Dudley tell you?"
You are taken aback. Dudley? What did Dudley have to do with anything?
Having no reasonable explanation, you remain silent. But just then, Dudley himself dances into the room.
"Tell her, Harry," he says nastily, snickering, circling around Harry - who is glaring back at Dudley with intense dislike.
"Tell me what?" you ask, searching both their faces for an answer.
"Tell her you've been having nightmares. Tell her... he's your boyfriend."
"HE - IS - NOT! I thought I told you never to bring this up again, Dudley!" Harry seethes, pushing towards him violently.
You step between Harry and Dudley. "Then who is he?"
"Why are you suddenly interested?"
"Just - tell me!" The words come without thinking - you simply side-step the issue, because you honestly do not have any idea why you are interested in Cedric, other than the obvious and irrational reason.
"FINE!" Harry bellows, exploding completely. Both you and Dudley jump backward in shock. "Fine! You want to know about Cedric? He's dead. Voldemort murdered him."
Everyone stills, tense and stunned - except for Harry, who simply sinks into a chair, exhausted. You do not want to believe his words, yet you feel deflated and dazed and deceived.
Perhaps you had thought you would get to meet Cedric in person one day. Perhaps you thought that if you dreamed about it, it would come to pass. But you were kidding yourself; that hope is crushed.
For as long as you have known him, Cedric only ever lived in your head. You will never know the real Cedric. Keep your head, though, and you will keep your fantasies - and you can still visit Cedric as often as you want.
Cedric Diggory is not dead. Not to you.