Spectrum
Or
Rainbow after the storm
Disclaimer: Do not own anything. All credit goes to JKR.
A/N: I am taking a break from writing my multichapter and have come up with this: This one-shot is in Cedric Diggory's POV as he dies in the graveyard.
They say that your life passes you by as you die, that you see flashes of past events as you take in your last breath. I always thought of that as silly, what I mean to say is that how do they know? Have they ever spoken to a dead person? I highly doubt so. But as I watch the strange fat man draw his wand from his jacket pocket, little do I know that it will all become very clear.
Time seems to stop as the man shouts, "Avada Kedavra", the curse echoing through the dark and empty graveyard. A flash of green nearly blinds me and the next thing I know, I am tumbling in a blend of colours.
My vision is blurry at first until it focuses onto a scene from my childhood. My younger self is sitting on the porch steps with my father, crying. Everything is in black and white with the exception of my shock of violet hair. I remember that that was the day on which my powers had first appeared, I was eight. "Why did it have to happen at school? Everyone was laughing at me… Laughing because it turned purple…"
"But, Cedric, it's a wonderful thing, your magic is nothing to be ashamed of. Whichever form it decides to take shape in when it does come about… Whether it comes in the form of purple hair or blowing up your father's library," My father says softly. His face does not have as many wrinkles and his head is much less balder than now.
"But everyone was laughing at me… And Michelle was laughing too; she says that she hates the colour purple… She says that it is a dull colour that only tomboys like. She likes pink."
My father is amused, he puts his arm around my shoulders and gives me a small squeeze, "Everything will be fine once you head off to Hogwarts, you'll see."
I feel my heart leap, as if someone had pushed me at my chest followed by a thunderous heartbeat sound. I am pulled away from this memory and I find myself at King's Cross, watching my eleven-year-old self and my father bidding our farewells before my very first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I notice that my hair is no longer purple, nor is it the normal dark muddy brown colour. It is actually grey. I notice how in my other memory, the only thing that stood out was the colour of my purple hair. I wonder what the key object in this memory will be.
I see myself hug my father, a blur surrounding us consisting of bustling students hurrying up to find an empty compartment, "I'll miss you, daddy…"
"We'll see eachother at Christmas, Ced. It's just three months from now…"
"No, it's four, I counted."
"Okay, it's four."
"That's a long time, dad."
"Everything will be fine, you will find friends and you will have the most wonderful time of your life." A long sharp whistling sound is heard, "The train is going to leave, you should head on up and find a place."
"I'll miss you dad," I give my father one last hug before running off into the train, running right through my older self. It feels weird, weird having someone walk right through you. I turn around and the bright red almost blinds me, the red of the Hogwarts Express. All those years of overlooking it, I now appreciate the beautiful scarlet colour.
Another shove at the chest and another heartbeat sound, this time harder. This time, I am standing in the Hufflepuff common room. I can see much more in this scene as the whole room was dripping with bright yellow hangings and the more softer shade of yellow for the rug. I can't help but smile. This is my house and that room had given me pride in who I am. Hufflepuff had always been known as a place for sissies with no real talent, but I had proven them wrong.
A prefect is leading the first-year students, one of them me, over to a closed door which revealed a corridor. I follow the group, slowly making my way down with my younger self and the other four first-year Hufflepuffs.
"Alright, your rooms are just down there at the end of the corridor. The toilets and showers are here on your right; I hope that you enjoy your first night here at Hogwarts…" The prefect said before disappearing out into the common room where he was most likely going to hang out with his friends.
I look down at myself, the yellow of the room making my grey eyes gleam with a yellowish shade, the only colour that I can see on myself. "Were we supposed to bring our own shampoo?" I ask a boy next to me who I recognize as my best friend Jeremy.
"I don't know but my mum packed some just in case for me," I burst into laughter at this, the future Jeremy has a very low voice as opposed the small one that I see which has a very high-pitched tone. "You can share mine if you'd like…"
"Thank you…"
The punch at my chest is so hard this time around that I almost lose my balance, falling back a few steps. I rub the painful spot as I open my eyes to find myself in the Great Hall, it is dark and all I can see was the blue flames from the Goblet and the silhouettes of students' heads. It is choosing the three champions.
I watch as it spits out a large fire ball and down floats a small piece of parchment. I see Headmaster Dumbledore snatch it from the air and bring it closer to his face so he can read it better under the dim bluish light. "And our Hogwarts champion is… Cedric Diggory!" he announces.
I divert my eyes to the Hufflepuff table where my friends are cheering for me and watching the girl that I love congratulate me.
I smile as I watch my twin skip up the stone steps and into the antechamber where they were keeping the other two champions.
This one proud moment of mine was cut short by another tremendous beat to the chest, this one was so forceful that it knocked me over on my back. I wince in pain and as I open my eyes again. I am on the gravelly ground, I stand back up and realize that I am in the dragon arena. The people in the stands are shouting and gasping, and looking directly at me. That cannot be possible, I am invisible to them. I know that I cannot be back to normal because I had already lived through this and I can still only see black and white.
"Cedric!" I hear Cho scream. I spin around and jump back just in time to dodge the long spiked horns of the Swedish Short-Snout as it swung its head. It seems weird but it seems as if the dragon noticed how ineffective this attempt was and turned his head to shoot a jet of orange flames from its nostrils at me. I tumble out of the way, the bottom of my robes singing a little bit. I remember the tactics that I used previously and shouted a transfiguration charm to change the rock next to the dragon into a Labrador.
The dog barks and the dragon is distracted, diverting its hot orange flames to the dog as opposed to myself. I run up to the nest to grab the Egg and prevail. I am so caught up in this that I completely forget that the dragon takes this time to spit its orange flames at me.
The moment that I feel the antagonizing burning sensation on my cheek, I am hit so intensely at my left shoulder that I flew about two meters off the nest and smash into the stadium walls.
I open my eyes this time and find myself pressed up against the tree trunk of the great oak next to the Black Lake, kissing Cho. At first, I am motionless, not knowing how to react to this but the moment that I feel her fingers run through the hair at the back of my neck, chills are sent down my spine. My arms hold onto her more tightly and I kiss back with such intensity that she loses her balance on the hill and we are tumbling down it laughing, our arms tightly around eachother.
When we have stopped rolling, she is on top, her arms on either side of me. I wish that I could see her pink cheeks contrast against her pale face and her beautiful almond-shaped brown eyes sparkle down at me, but the most I could see was her shadowy grey face peeking from under her luxuriously soft black hair. Swinging down from her neck was the necklace that I gave her for Christmas, the indigo – bluish purple – jewel pendant reflecting the sunlight.
I prop myself up on my elbow, my neck extending to place my lips onto her collarbone. She releases a small gasp of pleasure which makes me want to never let go of this moment. "I love you," she whispers, her warm breath against the cool march air makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
"I love you too," I whisper back into her ear, I get up into an upright position and kiss her on the forehead. She smiles and places her head on my shoulder, I place my arms around her, never wanting to let go. My body is tingling from this purely happy moment as I watch the sun sink under the indigo lake.
Suddenly, I am overcome with a choking feeling in my throat, I feel as if my heart is about to split apart, that it is going to jump right out of my body. I am tumbling once again in a blur of colours and I am back in the graveyard.
The green light is coming at me and I am hit. I breathe in my last breath and then, white. The storm has been calmed.
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- xXTomOrliXx
