Title: Different Journeys
Rating: G
Pairing: Cedric / Hermione
Word Count: 4,609 approximately
Disclaimer: None because they're useless
Notes: AU fic written at the request of people who kept saying my other fics were too angsty and depressing ;) This fic has nothing at all to do with The Boy Who Died or Flying Lessons so you don't have to have read those. If you want to read my other stories, please click on my user name which will take you to a link to my livejournal which contains all of my stories.

This is my first attempt at an AU fic for this pairing. My next au attempt is actually an 'if he had lived' based on "The Boy Who Died" sounds a bit contradictory, I know. :)

Hermione sat in the carriage of the train staring out the window, Luna's copy of the The Quibbler lying on her lap.

The farewells had been extremely protracted that morning. Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Moody, Tonks and Lupin had all been there on the platform to see Harry off. To be honest although they were there for his protection, Hermione rather thought that the presence of so many adults to see off one boy was a little conspicuous. Accordingly, she had been rather relieved when the warning whistle had sounded and students still on the platform started hurrying on to the Hogwarts Express.

As usual Mrs Weasley had looked extremely emotional at the farewell. The large black dog that was Sirius had reared on to its hind legs and placed its front paws on Harry's shoulders as a gesture of farewell but Mrs. Weasley had shoved Harry away towards the train door, hissing, "For heaven's sake, act more like a dog, Sirius!"

With Harry, Ron and Ginny she had waved goodbye out of the open window as the train began to move. The figures of Tonks, Lupin, Moody and Mr and Mrs. Weasley shrank rapidly but the black dog was bounding alongside the window, wagging its tail; blurred people on the platform were laughing to see it chasing the train, then they rounded a bend, and Sirius was gone.

"He shouldn't have come with us," Hermione had said in a worried voice.

"Oh, lighten up," said Ron, "he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke."

The twins had gone away to discuss 'business', no doubt more on their appalling business venture, Hermione thought darkly. She had no doubt that her year as a prefect was not going to be easy at all with the Weasley twins there to make an already difficult task more hellish.

She winced again as she remembered Harry's face when he had suggested going to find a compartment. Ron and Hermione were meant to go into the prefect's carriage and not surprisingly, Ron had left it to Hermione to be the one to tell Harry of this fact. She had done so, awkwardly and with much embarrassment in her face. As she had spoken, Ron had appeared to be extremely fascinated by the fingernails on his left hand.

"I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey," she had said quickly. "Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time."

To his credit, Harry had seemed to handle it all right. He hadn't shouted like he had at number twelve, Grimmauld Place. There had just been a look in his eyes, a certain quiet hurt which he had hidden swiftly before he had gone with Neville and Ginny to find a compartment.

Hermione and Ron had exchanged rueful glances before dragging their trunks to the prefect's carriage. Harry, Ginny, Neville had found a carriage with Luna Lovegood of all people and an hour later when Ron and Hermione turned up, Harry, Ginny and Neville had finished their pumpkin pasties and were busy swapping Chocolate Frog Cards.

Luna Lovegood as usual had spoken in her vague dreamy way, uttering baffling things that no one understood and usually had no connection to anything else that was being said. At one point, Harry's eye had been caught by an article in The Quibbler about Sirius. Seeing the panicked concern in his eyes when he saw that his notorious godfather was once more in the news, Hermione had hastily said:

"The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that".

"Excuse me. My father's the editor," Luna had told her bluntly, looking extremely offended.

"I - oh," Hermione had said, looking very embarrassed. "Well… it's got some interesting… I mean, it's quite…".

No one had come to her aid, all pretending to be fascinated by the cards they had found in their Chocolate Frogs and Hermione had done her best to mend fences. By the time Draco Malfoy barged into their carriage obnoxiously, Hermione had little patience for him and had sent him packing with abrupt ease. Despite her dismissive words to Harry, the article in The Quibbler article had continued to trouble her. Finally she had risen to her feet.

"Where do you think you're going?" Harry and Ron had demanded, looking up from where they were playing chess.

"I'm just going for a walk. Need to stretch my legs," Hermione had said lightly. She had looked at Luna's copy of The Quibbler. "Is it all right if I borrow this?" she had asked. Luna had looked up with surprise pushing her her straggly, waist-length, dirty blonde hair back from her face.

She had raised her very pale eyebrows and her pale protuberant eyes had been very wary.

"I thought you said it was rubbish," Luna had said with a note of accusation in her mild, vaguely dotty voice. Hermione hadn't been able to stop her gaze from flicking to the wand that Luna had tucked behind her left ear for safekeeping.

"Luna I'm sorry about that, it was very thoughtless of me," Hermione had said sincerely, fully aware that she was guilty of sometimes speaking without thinking about things first. Luna's hands had gone to play with the necklace of Butterbeer corks around her neck and then she had smiled in a satisfied fashion.

"All right - happy reading," she had said dreamily, handing Hermione the magazine. Hermione had left them then in search of an empty compartment. Alone in the swaying carriage she had read the article, frowning to herself. It couldn't be a coincidence. The month she had spent with the members of the Order of the Phoenix was a stark reminder that despite the seeming normalcy of returning to Hogwarts, everything was different this year.

Now as she stared out the window, her thoughts were very troubled. Of the three of them, Ron was the most light-hearted and carefree. Harry was a changed boy. Since the third challenge in the Triwizard Tournament, she knew that his nightmares had increased in frequency and intensity. Although his anger and resentment hurt her, she could understand its causes. Harry was a boy who had far too heavy a burden on his shoulders. He had witnessed far too much evil in his young life.

The door of the compartment slid open and Hermione looked over, interrupted from her reverie. She stared in astonishment when she saw who it was.

"Oh," she said without thinking.

It was Cedric Diggory, the second Triwizard Tournament Champion. Like her, he was dressed casually and was not yet wearing his Hogwarts robes. He was very tall and quite as good-looking as she recalled. His joint winning of the Triwizard Tournament with Harry had brought a glory to Hufflepuff House that it hadn't seen in decades yet just like Harry, the achievement appeared to have brought him absolutely no joy or happiness. Like Harry, there was a shadow in his eyes, the look of someone who had seen something so horrific that the memory of what he had witnessed haunted his daylight and not only his nightmares.

Unlike many of the other students, Hermione knew what Cedric had seen and knew of the darkness that lingered in his memories. Harry had told her and Ron, described it in minute detail - what it had been like to look into the face that had haunted his nightmares these past three years. A face whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snakes with slits for nostrils . . . In a sense, Harry had been prepared for the sight of that horrific face - over the years, Harry had seen that face in person and in dreams. He had battled evil many times. The young Hufflepuff prefect with the laughing grey eyes had not.

When had had put his name in the Goblet of Fire in search of a challenge, he had not realised that he would be struggling for his own life. He certainly hadn't realised that he would be one of the unfortunate few to witness that Voldemort had risen again and that he would be one of the first to see evil's true face.

After the Tournament, the jubilation had been muted by the information which the two champions had to share with the Wizarding World.

"Have you heard? They say that You-Know-Who has Returned ..."

The excitement and happiness that should have surrounded the conclusion of the Tournament was subsumed by the news that the Wizarding World was once more at peril. Harry and Cedric had reacted in different ways. Harry had become angry and resentful, frequently lashing out at his two dearest friends. Cedric on the other hand had become very quiet and introverted.

"Anyone sitting there?" Cedric asked her, indicating the seat opposite her. Before she could reply, he said hastily,"I don't mean to stay, it's just ... I need a moment of quiet ...and everywhere else is full," he told her bluntly.

Hermione shook her head. "The others are all in a different carriage. Like you, I just wanted a quiet moment ... I thought I'd just sit in here for a moment".

"Sorry ... I'm interrupting then," Cedric said apologetically and made as if to leave. Hermione shook her head.

"No ... please sit," she said nodding politely at him. He hesitated then slide the compartment door shut and sat down in the seat opposite her.

There was a moment's silence as both glanced out the window. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep.

"I'm ..." Hermione started to introduce herself and Cedric laughed in a friendly fashion, his eyes lightening.

"Hermione Granger. I know who you are. We move in all the same circles after all," he said with a smile. "Besides, we were introduced the morning of the Quidditch World Cup, remember? You're one of Harry's best friends - I know all about you. He told me that he would never have managed to get through the Tournament without your help". Cedric's voice was warm with admiration and respect.

Hermione flushed scarlet and didn't know how to respond to such a compliment. Over the years she had grown more accustomed to mockery and teasing.

They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past and Hermione glanced over at Cedric who was far away in a world of his own, his thick dark hair fall over his face. No matter how much he combed it, it always seemed to flop down - although it was far more manageable than Hermione's own bushy locks, she thought with an internal sigh.

"I heard you're a prefect this year. Why aren't you wearing your badge?" Cedric asked her curiously, his eyes resting on the S.P.E.W. badge that she had pinned to her coat.

"It stands for ..."

"The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare," Cedric told her. "I know". He smiled, leaning back in his seat and regarding her steadily. "I told you, I already know all about you, Hermione Granger. Vigorous opponent of elf enslavement".

"It goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now," she told him with her standard spiel of outrage.

"You know that they don't want to be liberated though, don't you?" he asked her gently.

"They've been brow beaten and bullied into submission. Years of oppression have crushed their spirit," she told him, her hair almost bristling with indignation.

"How many members are in the society?" he asked her.

"Ron, Harry, Neville and myself," she told him.

His lips twitched. "That's all?"

"All movements for change take time," Hermione told him coolly. "I've heard all the teasing before so you might as well stop now," she told him, crossing her arms and staring out the window.

The carriage rattled for several minutes as the occupants were silent, Hermione glaring out the window in outrage and Cedric watching her face with quietly restrained amusement.

He broke the silence first.

"I'll join," he told her and she turned back to stare at him, her eyes widening sceptically. She clearly didn't believe that he was in earnest.

"Seriously," he said. "How much?"

"Two Sickles to join, that buys a badge... " she told him.

He handed her four Sickles. "That's two for the badge and an extra two so that I don't have to liberate any house-elf who doesn't want to be liberated". He told her.

She stared at him very warily. "Is this some kind of joke?" she asked him. "Are you going to turn around and mock me in the Hufflepuff Commonroom because if that's the case I can do without your Sickles," she told him tartly.

Cedric held out his hand. "My badge please," he told her.

She learned forward, her brown hair swinging about her face, her eyes intent as if by staring at him she could tell if he was mocking her. Cedric looked amused and also leaned forward to meet her gaze. Their faces were so close he could see the stubborn point of her chin, her long lashes, her pert nose and light freckles.

"Getting any verification of my sincerity from my eyes, Granger?" he asked her quietly. She could see herself reflected in his eyes, could see his brilliant grey eyes staring into hers, saw his eyes darkening. Her expression remained dubious and very unconvinced and she continued to stare into his eyes. "I'm quite serious you know. The only condition is that the house-elf has got to wantto be liberated". She scowled with concentration, still staring into his eyes. He started to grin, extremely amused by the perplexed expression on her face. The train jolted abruptly and their foreheads banged together painfully.

"Ouch!" they exclaimed, falling back in their seats and rubbing their heads at the same time.

"Badge?" he said holding up his hand, indicating that she should throw it to him. She exhaled and pulled a badge out of her pocket and threw it at him. He caught it easily, examining it with interest before pinning it to the front of his robes. She stared at him in disbelief and he looked up after he had finished pinning it.

"Problem? I'm supposed to pin it higher? Lower?" he questioned, glancing down at the badge. His eyes were filled with laughter, much lighter and less shadowed than when he had first entered the compartment.

She shook her head. "It's just right," she told him softly.

"There you are," a voice with a gentle Scottish accent said as the compartment door slid open. "I've been looking for you everywhere". Cho Chang stood in the doorway, her long back hair pulled back from her pretty inquiring face.

Her gaze fell on Hermione's face and there was a flicker of confusion in her dark eyes before her gaze moved to Cedric's face. Cedric didn't move. "Sorry, we're deep in a discussion of Elvish Welfare, Cho," Cedric told her. Cho's eyes dropped to the badge that was pinned to the front of Cedric's robes disbelievingly and returned to stare at him questioningly.

"We wanted to know if you were ..."

"I'll be here a bit longer thanks," Cedric said briefly, making no move to get up.

"Right," Cho said nodding, her face expressionless. "I'll see you a bit later then," she said and left, giving Hermione a forced smile before sliding the compartment door shut again.

Hermione looked puzzled but didn't want to ask.

The train rattled onwards, speeding them out into open country. It was an odd and moody sort of day that couldn't decide what it wanted to be. One moment the carriage was filled with sunlight yet the next they would be passing ominously grey clouds and the occupants of the compartment were shrouded in shadow.

The two sat in silence for some time, both staring out the window at the countryside. Hermione saw that Cedric's jaw was very tense but she waited until he was ready to speak again.

"You know don't you that some people don't believe that You Know Who has returned," Cedric said unexpectedly and Hermione stared at him in shock. The darkness had returned to his eyes.

"They don't want to believe that Voldemort has returned," she corrected him. Cedric stared at her, an arrested expression in his eyes, a faint smile curving his mouth.

"You've picked up Harry and Dumbledore's habit of calling You-Know-Who by name ..." he said with a hint of respect in his voice.

"Sometimes," Hermione told him, grimacing slightly. "Sometimes I call him You-Know-Who, too ..."And I believe what Dumbledore said last term - 'that in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemorts gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open'.

"'We are all facing dark and difficult times'", Cedric finished quoting for her. "You memorised what he said, too."

"Because it's more important than anything else," she said firmly.

Cedric ran his fingers through his hair. "Since the Tournament, I've wanted to explain what we saw ... I've wanted to tell people of the horror that I witnessed in the graveyard that night with Harry ... but ... even Cho doesn't want to know ..."

"It's too frightening," Hermione told him.

"But you know, don't you?" Cedric asked her and Hermione nodded.

"Harry's told me everything".

Cedric closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the seat. "I take it you've read The Daily Prophet?"

Hermione nodded. "Dumbledore's an idiot and you and Harry are liars - stirring up trouble, trying to get attention and cause panic ..."

"My mum and dad believe me. I feel so bad for them, they were so frightened... these holidays they've treated me like I was made of glass, like I would shatter at the slightest touch ..."

"You're their precious son," Hermione said, swallowed hard. "They almost lost you"

"Harry saved me," Cedric said, not opening his eyes. "If he told you everything, he'll tell you that he saved me that night". Hermione's throat tightened in sympathy. When Voldemort had discovered that Harry was not alone, it had pleased him to torture them both, to see if they could be made to use their magic against one another.

Imperio.

With an unconscious and grievously injured Cedric slumped on the ground, Voldemort had returned his attention to Harry who had stared in horror at what he had done under the influence of the curse although he had managed to resist the curse's hold to the extent that he had not delivered a killing blow. It was only later that he realised that by grievously injuring the young Hufflepuff, he had in fact saved Cedric's life - and ultimately his own.

"And I know you saved him, too," Hermione said grimly. "You were badly injured yourself but you kept your head. I'm surprised you managed to regain consciousness let alone lucidity. If you hadn't used the Disarming spell on Voldemort to make him drop his wand after Priori Incantatem - there is no way Harry could have made it back to the port-key with that injured leg of his ... you saved each other, Cedric. It's just like Dumbledore said - we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided".

Cedric's hand tightened and he stared at Hermione. "I'd always thought that You-Know ... Voldemort," he said with a bitter smile,"was a nightmare, a story told to frighten children and that night I found myself living the nightmare. The nightmare that Harry's been living with for the last three years".

"Harry told me that that night you endured two of the Unforgivable Curses ... "

Cedric's eyes were very bleak and he nodded. "This is an important year Granger," he told her.

In a way he was changing the topic. He clearly didn't want to discuss the fact that he had been subjected to both the Cruciatus and the Imperius Curse and had narrowly escaped being a victim of Avada Kedavra. .. the Killing Curse.

"Your final year at Hogwarts and NEWTs?" Hermione asked him and he smiled faintly.

"Yes, there's the NEWTs ... but more importantly, we all need to learn how to protect ourselves".

"You mean Defence Against the Dark Arts?" she asked him, staring at him narrowly.

He nodded. "You know my dad works at the Ministry?" Hermione nodded.

"He's heard stuff. The Ministry's official line is that it's a lie that Voldemort has risen - which is why everyone including the Daily Prophet believes that rubbish."

Hermione displayed no surprise and he smiled. "You really are a cool one, Granger," he commented.

Hermione hesitated and then spoke. "After it happened .. the two of you arrived back ... horribly injured and traumatised ... none of us saw what happened in the maze… we just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and ...then before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how the two of you are nutcases and Dumbledore's going senile..."

Cedric nodded grimly. "I know," he said. "But you know what's what. You know that you should do whatever you can to prepare yourself for what's waiting for out there. When you've faced him, you realise that it's not enough to memorise a bunch of spells and throw them at him, like you're in class or something ... Until you face him, that's when you realise that there's nothing between you and dying except luck, guts and whatever skills you've managed to pick up along the way ... " The intensity in his voice made Hermione stare at him.

Cedric smiled. "I spent my vacation practising how to throw off the Imperius Curse completely .. how to produce a Patronus ..."

"Better than me, I spent half of my vacation cleaning away mould, getting rid of Doxys and throwing away items of dark magic," Hermione said ruefully and Cedric laughed.

"Well I've done my fair share of getting rid of Doxys and Garden Gnomes for mum," Cedric said with a sympathetic grin.

Their whole conversation had been like that, a strange mixture of darkness and light, gravity and levity. She had watched his eyes, sometimes shadowed and sorrowful, sometimes light and playful. She wondered what he saw in her eyes. She wondered why she cared.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder and far less familiar. The orderly fields had vanished. Instead, her vision was filled with dark, mysterious woods, twisting rivers and strange green hills. Hermione glanced outside the window briefly. There was no moon but she could see the faint outline of mountains and forests under the dark sky.

The train appeared to be slowing down. A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

"I'd best go," Hermione said at least, a note of reluctance in her voice. "Time to change into school robes and all ... and the others will be wondering where I am ..."

"Same," Cedric said.

Neither of them moved. They continued to sit in their seats, facing one another, staring into one another's eyes as if memorising every feature.

Cedric smiled. It occurred to Hermione that she had memorised all of his smiles and his laughs as well as the expression in his grey eyes when he was considering something. She had lost track of the time, the conversations, the quiet laughter and the still silences. It had been the silences that had been the most speaking of all, the rattle of the train being the only sound as they had stared at one another, waiting for the other to speak but not caring in the slightest if the silence continued.

"Say Granger. Do you remember coming here as a first year? Scary and exciting, yeah?" Cedric asked her suddenly.

Hermione nodded, a smile curving her mouth. "Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course".

"It feels like an age since first year," Cedric reflected.

The train began to slow down and Hermione rose. "I really should go". She stared toward the door but hadn't managed to slide it open when Cedric spoke again.

"Granger," Cedric said suddenly and Hermione paused, glancing back at him questioningly.

"Yes?"

"Good luck for the new term ..."

"You, too ..." she said and her pulse quickened slightly as she realised that there was no darkness in his eyes. The shadows and fear had been replaced by something else. Suddenly he was the laughing, clever boy she remembered from last term with the smile in his eyes, a warm smile that all of a sudden was for her and her alone.

"And ... all of a sudden it doesn't quite look so bleak. It's not all doom and gloom after all - you know?" Cedric said, grinning boyishly.

"How so?" Hermione asked. The train compartment suddenly felt rather warm. Cedric rose to his feet, unfolding his long legs and coming to stand just inches from her. He was very tall, she thought, much taller than she had realised and she tilted her head back to look up at him. She tried not to breathe, tried not to breath the clean cool scent of him...

"New things to learn ... people to get to know," he said in a soft voice. He hesitated and then allowed his hand to touch her cheek lightly, just tracing the line of her jaw, then moving to touch her tangled brown hair. Hermione shivered as his cool fingers smoothed along her skin.

"Yes .. absolutely . ..." Hermione said breathlessly, her dark eyes very wide as she stared up into his eyes.

Outside there was the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready to get off. Hermione knew that she was supposed to assisting in the supervision but she couldn't move, all that she could see were Cedric's eyes looking down into hers, the way his dark hair fell over his brow and he was staring into her eyes.

She raised her hand as if to touch him back but hesitated.

"It's all right, I won't bite," he told her and she reached up and brushed the hair from his eyes, her fingers lingering in his thick, dark hair.

"I hope we see a lot more of each other this term ..." he whispered.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. "Firs'-years! Firs' years over here!" Hermione could hear Hagrid calling on the outside.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat. "Well you know ... I've always been in favour of ... inter-house ...unity," she said.

Cedric smiled.

Hermione found herself smiling back. Yes there would be dangers and evils to overcome this term, but there were also possibilities and tiny glimpses of hope. The Hogwarts Express might have reached its destination but somehow it felt as though this journey was just beginning.

The End