Title: Entering Cherise's World
Author: Cooper666
Disclaimer: J.K.Rowlings, like always
Main Character: Cedric Diggory
Summary: Cedric enters his sister's world.
Improve # 2: Ice, Fire, Lazy, Breeze, deadline May 26th 2005
A/N: I'm trying to write a fic for the majority of main characters of a few fandoms and I figured I'd start with Cedric. It's been a while since I read tGoF so if I screwed up who killed who, its not my fault...kinda
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Everything seemed to slow down. One moment I was fighting side by side with the famous Harry Potter and the next minute ...well, I don't know. The next minute is now. I'm trying to open my eyes, take a look around me but so far it's impossible. Is Harry alright? That's what matters most, right, if the Boy-Who-Lived still lives?
Who's Harry?
Something is playing with my mind. I tried to recall what had happened but all I can remember is being afraid, everything being noisy and then numbness. No pain or blinding agony just numbness, like I'd been frozen in ice for centuries and only now was I being thawed out. I think someone called out my name but...what's my name again?
My body must be playing tricks on me, wherever and whoever I am. I tried to force myself to repeat my last memories but I keep drawing a blank, clean slate. Maybe I could ask someone, Dumbledore maybe.
Bumble who?
I think I can hear someone talking. Whispers playing in my head. "Is he awake yet?"
"Shut up, ya lazy git,"
"Blimey, you never give up do you?"
"Not when you're around!"
"Don't know why you're even here; Peter did a much better job."
"Well obviously, Peter never had to deal with you!"
"Shut your big mouth, I think he's waking up,"
"Took 'im long enough..."
The first voice sounded almost soothing, I knew that voice...
Dad?
But why would he be here? Shouldn't he be at work?
Who?
The second voice sounded rougher, like some hard-core female punk that hated every minute of her life. I felt something hot—fire—touch my wrist and I jerked my arm back immediately. My eyes opened at the shock and for the first time I was able to look around me...
...and saw nothing. White, blankness. One man stood to my left, kneeling on the ground, peering at him.
"Dad?" I asked groggily. I felt languorous and dizzy, like I had just stepped off the fastest roller coaster after eating too much cotton candy. "Dad? Mum?"
"Bloody hell, I'm not ya mother. No son of mine would look as bad as you do," the woman said gruffly standing up. I recognized the man somehow. He looked different somehow, but I'm not sure exactly...
"Who are you?" I croaked out, my eyes widening as I saw the flaming torch the woman was holding for the first time.
"None of ya soddin' business, prat," the woman spat at him, waving the torch dangerously.
"Just ignore Hilary, lad, I'm James Potter and you're Cedric Diggory and you're dead." The man said reaching out and helping me stand.
I froze. Did he just say I'm dead?
"I can't be dead!" I said, backing away from his outstretched hand.
"Idiot, yes, you are dead. And according to this, you died fighting the Dark Lord," Hilary said uninterested, staring into her torch. Was she seeing his past in the flame?
Now I'm plain confused. The Dark Lord?
"Who...Voldemort?" I whispered to myself. A shiver ran through my spine. Him, the monster, Death Eaters, Dementors. Harry Potter. Harry Potter! The name echoed through my head. Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape. Cho Chang, hell, she's my girlfriend! Names and faces were whizzing through my mind like the Golden Snitch in a Quidditch game.
"You're Harry's father!" I exclaimed, staring at James. That's why I recognized him! He looked exactly like Harry!
Hilary sighed dramatically and snapped, "No duh. And here I thought you were a smart one. Can't you see I'm busy? Hurry up and get out of here, ya little prat!"
James offered me a hand and I gratefully took it. Suddenly, a popping noise came from besides me and a young man was sitting on the ground, covered head to toe in tweed. Hilary scowle d deeply as she stared at the unmoving body. She waved her torch around for a moment before whacking it into the man's wrist. The man woke with a start, muttering curses of disbelief as he saw Hilary with wide eyes. "Where, where am I?" he asked.
Before I could see what Hilary said to him, James was pulling me along away from them and into the white dreariness. "Hilary can be quite nasty sometimes, you've just got to forget about her, she's not even supposed to be here."
"Where is she supposed to be?" I asked my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Hell."
"Hell?" I asked shocked. "Does that mean this is...is Heaven?"
"Of course this is Heaven, touch slow aren't ya? There was a mix-up when she first died. She got sent here and my wife got sent to Hell."
"Your wife? Harry's mum?"
"Yeah, once God realized what happened he was going to fix it up immediately, and Satan was already dying in his own flames claiming Lily was forgiving all the criminals and helping them so much that if they don't mess up too badly they might be able to get sent up here. The problem is that Lily doesn't want to leave much because being the little devil in disguise, she figures she can change some of the law-breakers down there."
"She—she wants to change them? So they can come here?"
"That's her plan. I see her all the time, course because she comes up frequently and the odd time I'll go down below, and she thinks that the more people she greets with kindness, the more they'll regret doing evil deeds. That's why Hilary is still up here,"
"Oh," I murmured unintelligently. My mum used to speak highly of Lily, even if they hadn't been very good friends. The scenery hadn't changed a bit. Pure white, blindness. Suddenly, something hard hit my nose and shoulders and I jerked back with a cry. "Bloody hell!"
James laughed. "Watch where you're going, mate, you walked into the gate. But don't worry, everyone does it."
I stared at him for a minute before looking at what I had walked into. Now that I actually looked at it closely, I could see fine lines, more like indents, making an archway. But I had walked under it, so why had it hurt?
"Did the force field bang ya up that bad? You look pretty shocked there, Cedric. Oh well, to get through the gate and into Heaven, you have to think of your happiest memory. You got one ready?" he asked.
My happiest memory? Obviously, when my sister was born. My mum has—-had—-a thing with the hospitals. She doesn't like them. So she got a midwife to come in, my aunt actually. Baby Cherise had come out perfectly but couldn't breathe on her own. She'd died minutes afterwards. Her death had spoiled my happiest memory but if I could think of what I'd felt before that...
"I got one," I said to James, trying not to let my uncertainty show.
Apparently it didn't because James put out one arm towards the gate and had a goofy smile on his face. "It was nice meeting you. Go right on in,"
I gulped and muttered some silly good-bye and squeezed my eyes shut before concentrating on Cherise being born. I took a step forward into the gates and then from no where, a slight breeze whirled around me, growing, becoming more and more powerful and still I continued walking.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a girl.
She had long brown hair and large wild eyes. She looked to be only about four or five years old and although I'd never seen anyone that looked like she did now, I recognized her immediately.
"Hello, big brother," she exclaimed and ran over and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Cherise?"
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