A/N: It is best to read this while listening to "Like a Prayer."
Disclaimer: I do not own Cedric Diggory or the Harry Potter series.
"Roxie," a soft voice calls, and a warm feeling overcomes her, and she turns to look. She feels like she's turning in slow motion. She becomes aware of the environment as she does so, a barren meadow with deep green grass and a clear blue sky. It is warm with a gentle breeze to cool her skin, like summertime. She has the sense that she has been here before. This is where she met him.
Smiling down at her, as always, is him. He reaches over to her, and grasps her hand. He covers her hand with his own, and runs it down her face gently. "Roxie," he says gently. His voice is cool like every time she has seen him here before, and even, unwavering. She reaches up and tucks that always rebellious chunk of his hair behind his ear. He is just how she remembers him.
"Cedric," she says slowly, as if she believes saying his name will make her disappear. But when she blinks, he is still there, his hand remaining on her face. She admires his features with her hands, his hollowed out cheeks, the gentle curve of his mouth, his anything-but-boring warm, brown eyes. He seems to be doing the same, but his eyes instead of hers well up with tears. "Cedric…" One single tear falls down his cheek, but they leave it be until it reaches the edge of his jaw. She reaches ahead at the same time his hand reaches up to wipe it away, and their hands meet there, a bittersweet feeling.
"I'm sorry, Roxie," he says gently. She knows her eyes are stinging, but no tears come with her blinking. He takes a step closer, and tilts her chin up to him. He wraps his arms around her, and she closes her eyes to enjoy this, even for just a moment, still fearing he will leave. But his arms are still around her, and he presses his lips to her forehead. He brushes his lips over her eyelids, then down the bridge of her nose. "I love you."
She can feel the weight of the tears on her eyelashes. "I love you," she replies matter-of-factly, and his even breathing breaks in a light chuckle. He presses his mouth to hers tersely before withdrawing, and she lets her eyes open. Thankfully, he is still there. He runs his hands through her now yellow-blond hair.
"I liked you better brunette," he teases, pushing hair out of her eyes.
"I liked you better alive," she replies, and the teasing smile on his face dissolves. "Can I come with you? Please?"
"Please don't ask me, Roxie," he answers quickly.
"But… I'm scared… to live anymore," she tells him quietly, embarrassed to admit it out loud. "You were my shield when things got difficult…and…I don't have you anymore."
"Things will get better," he says, pressing his forehead to hers. "I won't guarantee it soon, but things will get better, I promise." He notices the doubt in her face. "Please believe me, Roxie."
"You aren't coming back," she says, "so how are things supposed to get better?"
He chuckles again, and presses his nose into her hair. "You are still stubborn. Trust me, Roxie. I know."
A few moments of hushed silence pass between them. "Can I please come with you?" she asks, her voice faltering. She tucks her head under his chin so he won't see her crying.
"Roxie, I would never let you, for one," he says, beginning to stroke her hair again. He feels her chest constrict as she takes in a trembling breath, and he loosens his embrace on her. "Oh, don't cry," he says, holding her at arm's length. "You don't belong dead, Roxie. You-you bring too much happiness to everyone to fall over dead."
"So did you," she says harshly, looking away, her curtain of blond hair covering her face so that he cannot see her.
She has him there, and he can only pull her back to him. She presses her palm against his chest, where his heart should be, but there is no thud beneath her palm. At this foreseen disappointment, she presses her face against his chest. He is warm, she notices for a split second, before the tears blur her vision. She closes her eyes before the tears can come out, but some fall out anyway. He feels the wetness on his shirt and sees a tear fall from her face to his arm. "I'm sorry. I should have listened to Palmer." She nods silently, her shoulders vacillating with sobs again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He turns her face up to him, and she sniffles. He smiles lopsidedly before pressing his mouth to her forehead. "You'll be fine. I know it." He kisses her forehead, then her mouth. "Please believe me, Roxie. You'll be OK, I promise." He pulls away and tucks her hair behind her ears. "You'll be OK."
She takes a heavy, slightly shaky breath. He runs a thumb over the wetness of her cheeks. "I'm a hot mess," she tells him. He chuckles slightly. "You're sure I'll be fine?"
"When have I ever broken a promise?" he says, and she smiles. "There we go. I have to go now, but promise you'll believe me when I say you'll be fine."
"I promise I believe you," she says, a little hesitant.
"Like you mean it, please," he says kindly, giving her a quick kiss on the mouth.
"I promise I believe you," she says with a partially fake confidence, partially because she believes him, and partially because it will make him feel better.
"There's my girl, and my girl you will always be," he grins. "And promise that you will be strong for me." She admires his mellifluous voice and his careful elocution of the words.
"It's a promise," she tells him, mussing his hair.
"Do I need to do a pinky swear?" he teases, smiling.
"No. It's a promise."
He leans down, still smiling. "I love you." He kisses her for a few long moments, and pulls away. His hands find hers, and the spaces between his fingers are filled with hers.
"I love you," she tells him, and his eyes well up a little. The grip on her fingers is slowly loosening, and she is only too aware of it. She attempts to distract herself by getting a last look at him. Her own eyes well up a little.
"Hey," he says tersely. "You made a promise."
"Even strong people cry," she replies.
"You don't have to cry for me anymore, Roxie," he says. His fingers are now barely touching hers. "Don't forget that promise."
"I won't," she tells him, sure that she won't.
"Bye, Roxie," he says, the smile dissipating from his face, a tear running the course of his cheekbones and down his jaw before falling forgotten at his feet.
"Bye, Cedric," she says, and his touch leaves her own, and they linger a moment, watching each other. She gets the strange sensation that she's falling towards nothing…