Welcome Home
Warnings: Major angst, depression etc.
Notes: Winner of Kamerreon's Birthday Contest! Woohoo!
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It was so quiet. Peaceful.
I didn’t want to open my eyes.
If I opened my eyes, it would all be real. I would be in the Hospital Wing, Voldemort would be alive, and Cedric would be dead.
Cedric.
My Cedric.
“Harry.”
The voice sounded so familiar.
No... It couldn’t be.
“Harry?”
Even more insistent. Should I ignore it? Was it a trick? It couldn’t be real. I wanted it to be real. I wanted it to be real so much.
I opened my eyes wearily, to see Cedric smiling down at me.
“Hey Seeker,” Cedric leaned down to give me a kiss on the forehead. “Time to get up, lazybones. You can’t lie around here all morning, you know. It’s an important day.”
Cedric. Here. Now. Alive.
“Y-you’re dead.” I was starting to cry. I couldn’t stop the tears falling down my cheeks. Why were they doing this to me? Hadn’t I suffered enough?
Cedric frowned. “Harry? What’s wrong? I’m here, baby.”
I shook my head. “You’re not here. This isn’t real. He killed you.”
I wanted to go back to sleep. Why were they taunting me? My Cedric was dead. Gone. Murdered.
“Harry, I’m here. It was just a dream. I’ll never leave you. I told you that, remember? I will never leave you.”
I wanted to believe him. I really wanted to believe him. I closed my eyes, praying to whoever was listening that it was true.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Do you promise?”
There was no answer.
I opened my eyes again and Cedric was gone. In his place was...
Me.
I looked into... my... eyes.
Avada Kedavra green.
A blast of green light. Something heavy falling to the ground. Scar. Pain. Cedric. Dead.
I tilted my head and considered myself on the bed.
“I did it.”
It was so quiet that I couldn’t really hear it very clearly. But I knew what was said, because... I said it.
I held up my palms.
Red. Blood.
Drip.
Drip.
Crimson blood falling to the cold, white hospital floor.
“I did it,” I repeated louder. I smiled a humourless smile. “I killed him.” I went on. I felt colder with every word I said. “I loved him, and I killed him.”
“N-no!” I denied, shaking my head, tears streaming down my face. “I didn’t do it! It was Voldemort! I didn’t do it!” I was sobbing by now.
I shook my head, smile still in place. “No,” I whispered. “It was me. It’s my fault. I killed him. He’s dead and it’s my fault.”
“N-no-“
“It’s my fault.”
“-It-”
“I killed him.”
“-I-I-”
“It’s my fault.”
“It’s my fault.”
XXX
“It’s my fault. It’s my fault...”
Minerva McGonagall entered the Hospital Wing to find Harry Potter sitting up in the bed, knees clutched to his chest, rocking back and forth, staring blankly ahead. As she got closer, she could hear him muttering to himself.
“...It’s my fault. It’s my fault. It's my fault...”
XXX
I felt happy.
Why did I feel so strange about feeling happy? Shouldn’t I just be happy that I’m happy? Why did the emotion feel so unfamiliar?
I turned to find the reason for my happiness. My heart skipped a beat.
My Cedric was lying in bed next to me. I sat up and looked around the room. We were in the Hufflepuff dorms. Cedric smiled at me.
“What happened?” I asked.
Cedric looked confused. “What do you mean, what happened? You just woke up,” he answered. “It’s the third task tomorrow. Are you looking forward to it?”
I nodded uneasily. Something was not right.
Cedric sighed. “Do you remember that night after the second task?” he asked.
I smiled. “Do you mean when Dumbledore told us that we were each other’s thing that we’d sorely miss?” Cedric nodded. I closed my eyes contentedly. “That was the first time you told me you loved me.”
“I meant it,” Cedric whispered in his ear. “Every day, I mean it.”
He burrowed down under the covers and put his arms around me, gathering me up to him. I leant my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
Da-dum.
Da-dum.
I tapped my fingers against his chest in time with the beats.
...da-dum...
...da-dum...
...da-dum...
XXX
Madam Pomfrey came to check on her patient. She noted that he was staring straight ahead, his fingers tapping against the bed in a steady pattern. She frowned. A muscle spasm? That would need to be checked.
The door to the Hospital Wing opened and she saw the Headmaster walk through.
“Poppy?”
She left the Gryffindor and met the Headmaster halfway across the room.
“Well?” he asked.
She shook her head. “It’s not good, Albus. He is suffering from extreme psychosis. His hallucinations are becoming worse. His friends have been to see him several times. He does not even acknowledge their presence. The only time he ever speaks is to ask for Diggory.” She looked at the Headmaster, searchingly. “Did you know, Albus? About Potter and Diggory, I mean.”
Dumbledore bowed his head. “I did, Poppy. I had never met two people that were so much in love at their tender age.”
The two of them sighed and looked over at the bed of the boy in question. What they saw froze the blood in their veins.
Harry Potter was gone.
XXX
“Cedric? What’s the matter?”
I was confused. Why didn’t Cedric answer me?
After another few minutes of walking, Cedric stopped.
“Do you know where we are?” he asked, without turning around.
I looked at where we were. I was so busy looking at Cedric while we were walking; I hadn’t noticed where we were going.
We were at the top of the Astronomy tower.
Cedric turned around and held his hand out to me. I took it and he led me over to the ledge, looking out over the grounds below.
“Do you remember?” he asked.
I did.
This is where it all started. Him and me; me and him. Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter.
We had been coming up here for months, talking, kissing, and making love. This was our place.
“Do you want to be with me?”
I frowned.
“B-be with you?” I was confused. “I am with you, aren’t I?”
Cedric shook his head, his eyes never once leaving mine. “No. We can’t be together until you do something for me.”
“Anything!” I pleaded. “I will do anything, Cedric! I want to be with you. I need to be with you. My life is nothing without you.”
Cedric looked at him steadily for a few moments. Then he leant closer and whispered in my ear. “Then join me.” His thumb brushed my cheek. “You know what to do.”
I did.
I knew what had to be done.
I climbed onto the ledge and looked down. One more step, and we would be together. That was all it would take. Just one little step. Nothing much, really.
I took a deep breath and took a step closer to my new life.
I didn’t hear the door open and voices scream, “Harry! No!”
I only heard one voice.
“Welcome home, baby.”