DISCLAIMER: Anything that you recognize and have read before belongs to our beloved JKR, and I do not intend to use it for my profit except for scores in QLFC.

Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Round 9 (Of Ghosts & Portraits), as Beater 2 of Falmouth Falcons.

PROMPT: Sir Cadagon (Portrait)

Optional Prompts:

# (song) 'Hello' by Evanescence
# (song) 'Forever Young' by Jay-Z ft. Mr. Hudson

WORD COUNT: 2104

A huge thanks to Tigger and Arty for looking through it!

A Lamenting Tale of Love

—oOo—

I'm still here

All that's left of yesterday

—oOo—

"Sir Cadogan." Hidden in an alcove, she heard the wheezy voice of once mighty Godric Gryffindor, and her heart broke. She watched as the knight kneeled by Gryffindor's cot with his head bowed. "If I have taught thee well, then I ask something of thee."

Cadogan nodded. "Anything, Lord Gryffindor."

"I will not last long. Swear on thy magic: Hogwarts shall be protected in need by thee."

"I, Alekzandër Cadogan of Albania, swear on my magic and knighthood to serve Hogwarts until the end."

Bells chimed from the Great Hall of Hogwarts as it accepted her protector, and the old man's face broke into a serene smile. Gryffindor raised a bony, wrinkled hand and pressed it to Cadogan's hair. "Rise, my son. My wealth will be passed on to the men I have sired. But you, Sir Cadogan, will be the heir to the Hogwarts' House of Gryffindor." Clasping the other hand around the sword that lay by his side, he offered it to the young man who stood in front of him. "Courage shall be the fiercer, heart the bolder, for those who wield this sword I present to you. Only a true Gryffindor can unsheathe it: rise, and pull it out!"

Cadogan stood up and ran his hand over the sheath woven in red and gold leather. Finally, resting his hand on the hilt, he pulled the blade out. The goblin-made weapon caught the single beam of light coming in through the gap in the curtains and reflected it in the corner where she stood in the shadows, forcing her to close her eyes.

"This sword shall never lose the wielder a battle unless the blade tastes innocent blood. Remember this: for the price otherwise will be heavy." Extending his hand toward Cadogan, Gryffindor continued, "I have one last task to perform from this sword if you will." The pale hand clashed against the rubies embedded in the hilt, and with a ferocious agility, Gryffindor raised the sword. "This blade will absorb the magic of the life it takes; henceforth, my magic shall protect a Gryffindor in the direst of need."

And before she or her knight could open their mouths, the founder of Hogwarts plunged the sword into his chest. Blood splattered onto the floor, and a shriek left her lips; unseeing eyes were looking in the direction she stood as if Gryffindor had forever known she was hiding there.

—oOo—

"Sir Cadogan!" she cried out, and moments later, the Defence Professor rushed into the Hall, bowing as he halted before her. "The wards have been breached; Hogwarts is under attack," she said.

"No harm shall come to Hogwarts, milady."

"I trust thee," she replied with a small smile.

She watched, her wand ready, as the magic of Hogwarts sealed all windows to prevent the intruders from entering. The other professors guided the students to their dormitories and joined her side as they stood in anticipation of the enemy, her knight in the lead.

The grounds shook and the walls of the castle rumbled; Hogwarts prepared to defend itself and its inhabitants against the enemy as he came in sight.

"Zoti-i-vdekjes," Cadogan greeted the intruder in his tongue, the latter sneering in reply.

She froze as she stared at the black-haired, blue-eyed man who had once been a friend. That was a past long forgotten—so distant that the only memories she had of him were painted in her mind like the caricatures drawn by a child.

But it was his name she remembered—Simões Slytherin—her brother by blood.

"Sister," he spoke, a smirk on his face: one she wished to wipe off forever.

"I am no sister of thee. Thou lost the right by following the commands of thy father. Leave! Leave by the command of the heiress of Hogwarts. There is no place here for thee."

"I am the heir as much as you are," Simões challenged.

"Not since the House of Ravenclaw banished you. Hogwarts sees no heir but me," she replied, ignoring her knight who had been staring hard at her since the proclaimed 'Lord of Death' had called her his sister.

"I will own Hogwarts—be it by my birthright, or by a fight. I challenge thy knight to a duel. If he wins, I shall retreat. If I win, my men will kill each who bears tainted blood."

"Fool!" Cadogan cried. "Certainly, thy brain did not inherit the wit thy mother possessed. How do you plan to keep the magic strong if we do not embrace each of our kind? Courting between families shall cause the magic to die out! See what thy sire turned a blind eye to, or perish by my hands."

Before she could tell him that Simões was not a man of his word, spells were being spoken and wands were being wielded. Curse after curse was thrown and dodged; an array of deathly fireworks illuminated the night sky.

Her knight had the upper-hand, and then, the enemy's reinforcements entered. Five wizards with the same dark aura that Simões possessed; six wands pointed at Cadogan; a spell thrown she knew not of, and Cadogan fell to the floor, writhing and screaming. It took all her will to not step in the path of the cursed light; she could feel the already exhausted magical core of Cadogan flicker in a feeble golden light, and her heart thumped against her chest.

Then, as one, she and her professors turned to the opponents, the rules of duel long forgotten, and two of the wizards fell back.

With a shudder, Cadogan threw off the curse and stood up. "A steed!" he cried. "I need a steed!" With a wave of his wand, the nearest gargoyle transfigured—not into a horse but a pony, and a fat one at that.

She and the others became immersed in a duel with the three wizards as Cadogan unsheathed his sword, charging at Simões on the back of his pony, the goblin-forged blade deflecting the curses one after the other.

The name 'Godric Gryffindor' glared at the enemy from the sword which glittered gold, throwing Simões back to the ground. The pony closed in, covering the last few steps, when suddenly, Simões was hissing. Knots of snakes slithered in, snaking around the hooves of the pony, tugging and pulling at the command of the Parselmouth.

She sighed. Her brother had forgotten she, too, had inherited the tongue of snakes from her father—one she had always seen as dark magic and had sworn to forget, but Cadogan needed her help. She gave commands of her own to the Slytherin mascots. It was a fight of wills between her brother and her—until a snake broke free of their influence and bared its fangs to bite the pony.

A flash of light reflected off Cadogan's sword as he moved, beheading the snake who had positioned itself to kill its prey.

A shriek escaped her lips: no doubt the snake had meant harm and was a pebble in Cadogan's victory, yet, it had been acting in its nature. Innocent blood rang through her ears when she realised that Simões had dropped his command on the snakes. Hastily, she commanded the serpents to retreat, but as she turned back, instead of the relief she had expected, dread filled her heart.

In her ignorance, she had forgotten the cards Simões held; just like her father, he was a master of Legilimens.

And in front of her, he was using Legilimency to shred Cadogan's brain to bits. She could see the pain in her knight's face—the one she had once seen in the face of her father's enemy. He was making Cadogan remember the worst of the pains, the saddest memories, the most terrible moments he had faced, all at once.

It was her wand that collected her hatred for her father and her brother and poured it out as a jet of killing green light at Simões, who fell to the ground, dead. But the damage was done.

Sir Aleksandër Cadogan turned, his eyes glazed, no recognition in them. He began crying profanities at all those who were present, his sword slashing through the air.

The battle had been won, yet she had lost the love of her life to insanity.

—oOo—

With the lightest of footfalls, she crept into the room her ailing mother stayed in. Wordlessly sending a numbing spell her way, she walked to the table that sat beside her mother's cot. She picked up the black box that held the treasure she had intended to steal. Trembling fingers removed the lid, and her lips silently read the words, Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure, that were etched on the surface of the ornament.

A single tear fell from her eye onto the embedded sapphire, and she mumbled an apology to her mother.

Perhaps this diadem held the answer to her woes; perhaps this object would rid her love from the insanity her brother had caused—the brother she had slain by mere thoughts.

No, this wasn't robbery, she told herself. She was just borrowing the object she would rightfully inherit from her mother for a good deed. Of course, her mother would forgive her.

Thinking thus, she left the room, muttering a counter-curse to the numbing charm she had placed on Rowena Ravenclaw. Withdrawing her wand from the pocket of her robes, she charmed her glove to transport her to Albania—the residence of her knight.

—oOo—

Three days had passed since she had eaten a morsel or sipped a drop of water; the sobs that escaped her parched lips were heartbreaking enough to make a stone heart melt. It was then that her betrothed—whom she had no knowledge of—approached, two servants in tow.

"Lady Helena," said the man, bowing deep, to which she curtsied. "I, the Baron of Bachuil, carry a message from thy mother. She offers to forget thy crime of thievery to see thy face before she dies."

"Tell my mother I'm in mourning and I cannot return," she replied, turning back to the painting she had been staring at. "If thy men could do me a service, could they carry this painting to the castle of Hogwarts?"

"Of course, milady." The Baron nodded to one of his men who picked up the painting. "May I ask who's demise has caused this sorrow for thee?"

"My fallen knight: Sir Cadogan, the warrior I loved," Helena replied in a thick voice. She missed the rage that flashed across the Baron's face.

"Thy grandfather set a betrothal for thee, milady. Thou art destined to marry me," the Baron roared.

She looked up, her grey eyes darkening in anger. "I know not of any betrothal, and I shall not bow to the command of any man—be it my father, grandfather, or you! I love Sir Aleksandër Cadogan, who fought to protect me and my castle—"

"The castle that was built on the land owned by the Baron of Bachuil—my grandfather," the Baron interrupted.

"—and lost his sanity," she continued, ignoring the Baron. "When the castle and your betrothed were attacked, where were thee?"

The Baron growled. "If I cannot make thee mine, I shall not let another man fill thy mind." Drawing a dagger, he plunged it into her heart, and there fell Lady Helena, three days after her lover's family had killed him in the name of mercy from the everlasting torture of mind.

—oOo—

"You let Sirius Black, a murderer, inside the Gryffindor tower!" Minerva McGonagall shrieked, her wand pointing to the portrait of Sir Cadogan. "You have let Gryffindor down!"

Cadogan dropped the sword he was holding, and it fell to the ground with a clunk. "Let Gryffindor down?" he mumbled to himself, his eyebrows scrunched up, as if recalling some distant memory.

The Grey Lady floated forward and pressed her palm to the painting, looking expectantly at her knight. Maybe, just maybe, he would recognise her now. "Sir Cadogan," she whispered.

He looked up, a brief flash of something crossing his eyes, before jumping down from his pony. "Who dares challenge Sir Cadogan?" he cried. "Back off, you rogue ghost!"

If ghosts could have cried, she would have had tears in her eyes—tears of sorrow, with a sliver of hope. She would hold onto the hope for now; after all, she had forever to live, in her frozen youth.

With a last look at the portrait, she floated away, a smile appearing on her face for the first time in centuries.

—oOo—

Some additional information:

# It is a general belief that Sir Cadogan was a knight at the round table in the time of King Arthur, but if I went by that hazy detail of history, this story couldn't have been written. So, the believers of that line of History can consider this as an alternate history of Sir Cadogan.

# The name Aleksandër is Albanian version of Alexander, and the title Zoti-i-vdekjes means 'Lord of Death' in Albanian.

# J.K. Rowling the Persian last name Salazar as Slytherin's first name. The name Simões comes from a similar background.

# Barony of Bachuil: This Barony was created in Scotland between fifth and ninth centuries. In the story, the Bloody Baron held the title of the Baron of Bachuil.
The Castle of Hogwarts was built here, and Rowena Ravenclaw's father had promised the marriage of his granddaughter to then heir of Barony of Bachuil in exchange of the castle of Hogwarts.