Summary: Hermione feels as though she's lost her friends and is alone. Cedric suffers from unanswered questions and surviving the TriWizard Tournament. Together can they bring life into each other's lives or will they fall to pieces.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line.
"Frozen Hearts"
Chapter One: Midnight's Torture
The frozen breeze whispered around her; thoroughly tangling her hair into an untamable mess. She absently ran a numbed hand through her tresses and then brought a finger to her lips. They were blue and lined in a deep purple, but she didn't care. Hermione didn't feel the cold much anymore. Even if she did she wouldn't have cared. This was her only time to be a lone, and she would not waste it simply because it was the dead of winter.
She loved her friends, truly, but she needed to get away from Ginny and Luna's fashion and boy talk, and Harry and Ron's elaborate games of Wizard's Chess and Quidditch discussions. Hermione had never been interested in fashion or the lasted trends, and boys never talked to her romantically so why should she chatter away about things that meant nothing to her. Of course, she pretended to care when her group of friends sat around the common room or in the Great Hall; she had even persuaded herself that she liked those things at times just to see her friends smile and continue their prattle. She loved them all deeply, but found that she could no longer relate to them as she once had been able to especially now that they were all together. Harry had Ginny and Ronald and Luna. So who did Hermione have. Hermione Granger had no one to love her like that. It pained her to think about and so she tried not to. The biting cold helped quite a bit.
And so, every night since the beginning of her fifth year, Hermione Granger crept out to the Black Lake. Sometimes she would swim around for a bit and other times she would simply stare out at its dark glittering expanse and wonder at its depth and of herself. But tonight was different. Tonight it was freezing and she felt like she was on fire. Tonight she was exhausted and filled with adrenaline. Tonight she longed to be held and comforted not left alone in the dead of night.
Slowly she rested herself down into the untouched snow and began taking off her fur-lined boots and heavy socks. Staring out into the lake she closed her eyes and pressed her toes into the snow. A gasp escaped her lips and she shivered. She proceeded to wrestle herself out of her cloak and scarf. These she placed in a pile with her boots and socks. As Hermione walked to the lake's single wooden old dock, she removed her hat and gloves and strode unto the dock in naught but a dark red tank top and black sweat pants. With each step she took the dock creaked ominously and she felt her heart stop with every sway the structure took under her faint weight. She felt herself beginning to shake uncontrollably and internally slapped herself for allowing such a weakness. I'm stronger than this. She thought as she made her way to the edge of the dock.
Why do you care so much? The more reasonable part of her mind inquired; the part of her mind that could still find company with people. Hermione hated this part of herself. It constantly reprimanded her every time she snuck out of the castle to come to the lake.
I don't know. I just do. That was the only response she ever gave. It was the only thing she would ever tell that annoying little voice.
He won't come to your rescue if you don't tell him, you know? Hermione started to stop on her trek to the dock's end. Where had that response come from? And who was this He that was mentioned? He'll never love you if you continue to lie about your happiness for him. If you persist to come out here alone as if you're unwanted. The relentless voice continued. Let him love you or move on.
Hermione could take it any more she loathed this insufferable half of her. She hated how it knew her like no one else did. " I HATE YOU!!! " She screamed loud enough for a few lights to flicker in the towers that held student dorms. Hermione didn't even notice as she sank down onto the snow and dirt laden dock and sobbed; her tears almost instantly freezing against her wind-torn face.
A/N: I promise that the romance comes in during the next chapter!! Please Read and Review!! I hope that you enjoy!!
Next Chapter Preview: Why did he see Hermione Granger whenever he tried to remember the hours after he came out of that damn maze after the Third Task? Why her? What did the Gryffindor Golden Girl have to do with him, Cedric Diggory Hufflepuffs' own "Hero"?