Peace and Quiet


your little hand's wrapped around my finger / and it's so quiet in the world tonight

i.

Amos Diggory liked his peace and quiet.

He was always stuffing his fingers in his ears as a boy, trying to block out the noises around him: laughing siblings, radio music, slamming doors, screaming parents. He was the only one in the family who was relieved when the divorce was finalized, and he felt like a terrible son for it.

"It's not your fault," Mummy always told them when they went to stay with her on weekends, just in case her children felt guilty.

Amos would gladly have taken the blame.

ii.

Amos met his wife in the Hogwarts library after she shushed a couple of second years who wouldn't stop giggling.

"Studying for OWLs?" he mouthed across the room, and she nodded.

He held up his Charms textbook and tapped it, as if to say, "Me, too."

She got up and moved to sit at his table. "Charms is my worst subject," she breathed in his ear. "Mind if I study with you?"

Amos smiled and slid his notes toward her.

He never took her out for dinner - never took her out at all, actually - but she said yes anyway when he proposed.

The quiet dates in the library were all they needed.

iii.

When Cedric was born, Amos said goodbye to his peace and quiet forever.

Because his son was born small, but he had a huge voice, and he cried all night long regardless of who came to cuddle him or rock him or feed him.

"Maybe there's something wrong with him," Amos said worriedly each morning. "How can the child of two such quiet people be so noisy?"

His wife shrugged and scrubbed at her tired eyes. "He's a baby," she said. "Babies cry. We'll get used to it."

"I won't," Amos said.

Cedric began to cry again.

iv.

Cedric didn't get quieter as he grew up, and in spite of everything, Amos eventually became accustomed to the noise.

"Come on, Dad, we're going to miss the Quidditch game!" he shouted as a ten-year-old, and Amos hurried down the stairs with his shoes untied to meet his son at the door.

"Why you're so eager to sit in a loud stadium, I will never understand," he said.

Cedric gave him a gap-toothed grin. "It's fun! I like to cheer them on."

"You're an odd boy," Amos said, but when they got to the Quidditch game, he found himself laughing and cheering along with his son.

"I'm going to be a Quidditch player someday!" Cedric shouted in his father's ear.

"And I'll come to every game," Amos promised. "Even if it ruins my eardrums."

v.

When Cedric died, Amos couldn't stop staring at the wall.

His house was quiet.

(His house was anything but peaceful.)


Reposted.

[Character Pyramid Challenge: Amos Diggory; Peace and quiet]

[Greek Mythology Challenge: Poseidon - write about Cedric Diggory]

[2015 New Years Resolution Competition: Major Character Death]