Title: Nedric
Author: Smurf
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Nedric (Neville Longbottom & Cedric Diggory- obviously).
Summary: Set during the Order of the Phoenix. Neville misses Cedric, with all of his broken heart; however, an overheard conversation helps him to move on; even if just a little bit.
Disclaimer: We the serialhugger collective do not own Harry Potter, or any of the trademarks and copyrights related there of. Smurf, as a part of the collective also does not own Harry Potter. No infringement is intended.
Warning: This fic contains spoilers, as have the other parts of this trilogy.
Note: When speech is shown in italics it means that it's not being said in the present, meaning that it is a conversation, phrase, etc. from the past, almost like a flashback of sorts.
Dedication: this fic is for Dead Uchiha who deserves some offering for her birthday, even if it is late, and hopelessly sad.
Nedric
Part I: Unshed
Neville Longbottom had not had the best of years. His boyfriend- though, he couldn't really call Cedric his boyfriend as they had only shared a confession and an all too brief kiss- had died. He had been murdered during the last challenge of the Triwizard Tournament by the epitome of evil, Lord Voldemort. Then he had been forced to deal with a sobbing Cho Chang, a guilt-ridden Harry Potter, and a well meaning Ginny Weasley.
Ginny wasn't so bad, she had simply placed her small hand on his shoulder, gave it a light squeeze, murmured a quiet, "I'm so sorry Neville," and said good-bye before heading home with her family where she would spend the summer- or so he assumed.
Harry had been out of sorts, but seeing someone die right before your eyes could do that to a person, and so Neville hadn't minded (too much) that the green-eyed boy hadn't bothered to notice that he was in pain too.
Cho was an all together different matter; she was a complete mess. Neville was positive that she hadn't stopped crying since she had found out about her dearest friends death, and he had found himself offering her words of condolence, and watching to make sure that her friends were there to comfort her, before he left to where his Grandmother was awaiting him.
Neville had cried as well, but he didn't have the luxury of having people to comfort him in his grief, after all, no one other than Ginny, his parents, and perhaps that tall Slytherin boy he had stumbled into- Warrington, he believed- knew of his deep seeded affection for the deceased Hufflepuff lad, so he refused to cry in public. His tears could wait until he was locked away in his bedroom, or when he was snuggled up against his mother in the hospital room she shared with his father. He knew that she wouldn't mind it really if he cried while resting his head in her lap; he'd done it before when he was younger, and even in her debilitated mental state she had offered him comfort, allowing him to lay there, with tears trailing down his round face, as she hummed an odd sort of melody he couldn't quite recognize.
Who better to offer a child whose heart was shattered solace than their mother…
Thus ends Part I of Nedric, the next installment should be ready in another few weeks. I would like to apologize for not having this up sooner, as well as for the shortness of this chapter.
Please review. It makes me happy, and criticisms make me work harder, so I'd appreciate those as well.
Hugs and Oreos!
Smurf