Chapter 1

To be brave

Both Hermione and Ginny cried once again over they're dead friend. This would be the last day that they would cry over the memory of there beloved friend. After this day, they would be strong and think only good of Harry Potter.

They laughed at this, because there were only good things about Harry Potter. How he had laughed with them. How he had sacrificed himself for the good of mankind. Like he had done since he first came to this world.

They remembered the time that he had run of to protect the Philosophers Stone from Voldemort in his first year. How he had saved Ginny and the whole of Hogwarts from Voldemort and the Basilisk in his second year. How he had finally found Sirius and fought of a bunch of Dementors in his third year. And how he had finally passed all three tasks in his last year at Hogwarts. He had battled a dragon, freed Ron and Gabriella and finally made it through the maze, only to end there and to never return.

"You know we still have to talk to Cedric tomorrow," Hermione said through her tears.

Ginny took a deep sigh to control herself. "Poor Cedric," she said and nodded. "He must have it so hard, witnessing it all. But at least he has Cho and his parents to comfort him."

Hermione nodded. "True," she said. "All we have are drunken fools," she yelled down the stairs and Ginny and herself laughed sadly through they're tears.

"Hey," came a smoldered cry up the stairs. "I resent that!"

Ginny smiled. "Oh, really? Then how come I can smell the mulled wine from the kitchen every night."

Someone was laughing in another room. "Yes and I can smell the whiskey coming from your breath every evening," Hermione yelled too. Now it seemed the whole hall was laughing.

They heard footsteps coming up the stairs and so Hermione and Ginny quickly closed the door. They heard two people talking in hushed voices and some giggling. Ginny and Hermione looked at each other and nodded at the same time. Sirius and Remus were planning something. They stepped away from the door and silently locked it.

"Oh girls," a voice, that was unmistakably Sirius' voice, said through the door in a high crack. "Can I come in? I have some cookies for you."

Hermione and Ginny grinned at each other. Hermione got a sudden idea. She put her finger to her mouth, saying that Ginny was not to say a word. Ginny looked at her in question, but nodded all the same. "You are not our mother. Because if you were, your paws should be white."

It seemed that Sirius and Remus had to rethink there acting and were now probably planning something else. "So if you are our mother," Hermione continued, with a high pinched, sheepish, voice. "Please let us see you're paw." She grinned and ordered to Ginny that she had to hide under the bed. Ginny did as she was told, but still shot confused looks in her direction. Hermione stared at the floor. A white paw showed under the door. She grinned. Her plan had worked.

"Please let me in," a voice cracked through the door. Hermione wrestled herself under the bed. She smiled at Ginny and let the door fly open. In the doorway stood a dog with one white paw and Remus Lupin. The dog changed in to Sirius Black. Both were neatly shaved and dressed in old fashioned suits.

"Come out; come out, where ever you are!" Sirius called, as his comrade smelled the air.

Remus grinned evilly. "We know where you are," he said in a singing voice as he walked around the bed. With Sirius on one side and Remus on the other, the girls had only one way left to go.
They were slowly shifting towards they're only exit.

"NOW!" Hermione yelled and both of them stumbled out from under the bed. They made it halfway, before they were tackled by the two 'grown' men.

Mrs. Weasley found them in a tickling contest, laughing like they're life depended on it. "Well, it's good to see you four are finally laughing," she said with a little smile of her own. You could see by the puffed red eyes that she had been crying just moments before.

"It's no use to keep crying," Ginny said wisely, but still all they're smiles faded.

"Try to cheer Ron up too," Mrs. Weasley nearly begged, as she laid down the laundry on a chair. They all looked at each other as she left.

Before anyone could say another sound, there came a loud crash from down the steps. "Tonks' home," Sirius said, smiling at Lupin.

Hermione grinned. "Oh, sweetheart," Ginny called with a singing voice.

"What are you all on about," Lupin said, his face turning a lovely shade of red. He got up and walked down the stairs, leaving behind a howling Sirius and two red and laughing girls.

After the laughter died down a little, Sirius spoke up. "Let's drag Ron from his room and see what is for supper then? Maybe we can find the two lovebirds, so we can make fun of them."

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They had dragged Ron out of his room. God knows, he really needed to get out of there. His hair was all messy and tangled together. His eyes were red and lay deep in his face. His cheeks were red and his pyjamas looked like they could use a wash. Lupin and Tonks weren't kissing or doing anything of the affection they were hoping to see.

All the Weasley's were in the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was cooking; Mr. Weasley was in conversation together with Bill and Percy. The twins seemed to be talking together about something of importance, because they seemed to be in deep thought. Charlie was talking to Lupin and Tonks was laying the table for dinner. Mundungus seemed to be half asleep and Dumbledore was in light conversation with McGonagall.

"Ah, better," Dumbledore said smiling sadly as the rest of them entered. "I have news. As Harry's will is yet to be recovered, Sirius will be holding on to his possessions till it is made clear who gets what."

A silence had fallen over the room for the moment. Mrs. Weasley was sniffing again as were Hermione, Ginny, Tonks and Ron. "The Diggory's have rejected the money of the triwizard winnings and have placed it into your care, Arthur and Molly. They wanted to give it to the closest family Harry had and since the Dursley's have cut all bonds, the moment Harry never returned they will not inhere a thing. I have talked about this with Sirius and Remus and they both agreed that you would be best to take the money."

They seemed to have wanted to protest in the beginning, but after Mr. and Mrs. Weasley heard the reasons, they fell silent and nodded in agreement. "Also, for happier news, we have evidence to clear Sirius." The small kitchen exploded with sound and within seconds Sirius was covered with everyone who wanted to hug him.

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Hermione and Ginny were gripping each others hands tight. Ginny had tears in her eyes, but she didn't know if it was because Hermione was gripping her hand so tightly or that she had to face Cedric in a few moments. She looked sideways. It seemed that Ron was having a harder time than her.

Her mother stepped up behind them. "Are you children ready? Hermione, I think you're gripping they're hands to tightly."

Hermione seemed to snap out of her daydream and realized that she was nearly squashing the hands of both her friends. She quickly let go. "Sorry," she muttered and looked down in shame.

"Don't worry about it Hermione," Ginny said, her voice nearly shaking with emotions. "We're all a bit nervous." Hermione looked at her and smiled weakly.

Mr. Weasley came to stand next to his wife. "Well," he said. "I'd love to stay and stand here all day, but Cedric may be waiting for us. So, let's move in, shall we?" The three friends nodded, Hermione already sniffing and Ginny trying to blink away her tears. Ron stepped through the portal to St. Mongo's first, followed quickly by Hermione, and the rest of the Weasley's.

Mr. Weasley, clearly tired of all the stopping, quickly walked to the desk, to ask which floor they had to be in. "Come on children," he said turning around. "We have to be on the fourth floor."

Ron, Hermione and Ginny both sighted and turned, with the rest of the family, towards the stairs. Slowly all the Weasley's and Hermione climbed the stairs, each of the children wanting to talk about what happened, but all too scared to do so. They arrived in the wide hall with on each side different rooms.

"Here we are," Mr. Weasley said. "Now only a few may go in at a time, so why don't you three go in first before the others." Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and nodded.

"Let's go," Ron said in a raspy voice. He hadn't talked for a long time. He reached for the door and opened it. A stream of sunlight filled the hallway for a few seconds, before they closed the door behind them.

Cedric was lying in a big hospital bed. He had some bandages around his head and arms, but he seemed to be healing pretty well. When the door closed behind the three he looked up from where he had been staring at the ceiling.

He smiled a little. "I was wondering when you three would come." His voice sounded like Ron's. As if he hadn't used it in days, weeks even.

Hermione took a seat left of him, Ron in the chair beside her and Ginny on the right. "How are you?" Hermione said carefully.

Cedric smiled again. "Better then I was." Ginny took a good look at him. He no longer was that handsome seeker from the past year. His face looked like Harry's had done. Small and fragile. And his eyes seemed too hollow.

"Do you get many visitors?" she asked to keep conversation going.

He looked at her and she sensed his hesitation. "My parents and Cho." He struggled with his shoulders, as if saying that it wasn't much. A short silence followed. "You didn't talk much to them did you?"

Cedric looked at her in shock, but then shook his head and looked away. "So what are you all doing here?"

Ron swallowed and stared at the floor. "We wanted to know what happened." Ron looked up at him, but now Cedric looked down. He almost looked ashamed.

The Hufflepuff seeker looked at his hands, as if looking for the right words. "It's hard to forget, but it's even harder to remember sometimes. What I remember most of all, was his voice. Before it all began. Voldemort," It seemed strange to hear it from his mouth, but no one shuddered at the name. He seemed to have accepted it. "Made me watch. Watch how he came back; watch how he summoned his Death Eaters. Watch how he…" His voice died a little.

Ginny took her chair and placed it closer by the bed. She took his hand in silent support. He looked at her and slimed thankfully. "I saw everything and although it is getting harder to recall, I can still hear Harry's voice in my head. Not how he told me about the dragons. Not even how he yelled at me to watch out for that giant spider. No, it was more of a soft, reassured whisper. Be brave, he said to me. Be brave and calm. He got tortured after that. But maybe I should start at the beginning.

"We laded in a graveyard after we took the portkey. We reached both for our wands. We thought it was part of the maze. Maybe an extra assignment. I was so surprised when another man came towards us. Harry had collapsed and I was trying to help him. He whispered that we had to get out of there, but it was too late. Within seconds we were tight up against one of the gravestones. The man and Harry seemed to know each other, because Harry called him Wormtail." Ron cursed and Hermione breathed in loudly.

Cedric and Ginny looked at the pare. "What?" Ginny looked at them with stern eyes. "Did you know that man?"

Hermione nodded and removed her hands from where she had clapped them against her mouth. "That was the man who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort. Wormtail aka Peter Pettigrew is the reason Harry has no parents."

Ginny and Cedric looked at Hermione in shock. "What? Is this true?" Ginny looked at Ron, with fire in her eyes.

"But I thought Sirius Black was the one who betrayed the Potters?" Cedric asked.

Ron and Hermione shook they're heads. "No, Sirius was never the secret keeper of the Potters. Everyone thought he was, because he was the most logical choice. But Peter became secret keeper, because no one would ever guess it was a weakling like him. But it seemed that Peter had been working for him all along."

Now Cedric and Ginny both looked horrified as well. "No wonder Harry called him a traitor," Cedric whispered.

"But what happened next?" Hermione, Ron and Ginny both looked at Cedric again.

"Well, we were tied up of course and Wormtail started a ritual. He used Harry's blood too." Cedric shuddered. He seemed to be recalling everything that happened. "And then," he swallowed. "And then, he came. From the cauldron. Voldemort. He looked like a snake. And those horrible red eyes."

Cedric turned away, closing him eyes as if trying to rid himself of the memory. Ginny looked at her brother desperately. She wanted to hear the rest, but she just couldn't force Cedric to continue.

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When the three of them had given up hope that Cedric would talk again, did he open him mouth. "He laughed at Harry's whimpering," Cedric whispered. "Harry was in so much pain already and when the Death Eathers came, they hurt him even more. Called him names and tortured him. And still Harry kept looking at me, with those eyes. They were filled with hurt and hope. I could do nothing, nothing to help.

And then, with the last of his strength he threw the Portkey to me. I still don't know how he did it. It must have hurt so much. And I think he was at the last of his powers. His wand lay broken on the ground and he was on fire. I still don't know how he did it."

Ginny was in tears. No longer could she restrain them. "He suffered so much. Even as a child. It's just not fair."

This time, it was Cedric who grabbed Ginny' hand. "Don't worry," he said. "He wouldn't want us to cry. He would want us to fight, to be brave." Ginny nodded and smiled her thanks.

"We have to go," Hermione said softly.

"You may see me in the next school year," Cedric said with a watery smile. Ron raised his eyebrows in question.

"I didn't get to finish my exams," Cedric answered his unspoken question. "I'm allowed to come back for half a year and do my exams in December, if I finish everything on time."

Hermione smiled. "Good luck then and then we'll see you at school." Cedric smiled and waved his goodbye.

The three of them stepped onto the hallway again. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley seemed to have gone. "I think they're in the restaurant," Ron said. They all silently agreed to move further up the stairs towards the restaurant.

"It really opened my eyes, you know," Ron said. "If Harry was brave enough to stand up against Voldemort, then we all can be brave enough to except him death." Ginny looked at her brother in admiration.

"You're right," Hermione said. "We can be sad forever, but we have a monster walking around who is trying to kill everyone. We had better prepare for the worst and grieve later. That didn't sound right did it?" Hermione looked thoughtful.

Ginny laughed and Ron slimed. "You're right," Ginny said with a smile. "It didn't sound right at all, but we understand the meaning of your words and that is what matters."

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And that is how the three of them arrived in the restaurant and how the two Weasley elders found them. All three with smiles on their faces and joking about different things. It's not what they had expected, but it was sure a whole lot better that the last few weeks had been.

A/N: now, for the record, Ginny knew Sirius was innocent, but didn't know who it was that betrayed the Potters. That is why she reacted like that. So I entered a few pharagraph's on good luck. I'll try to mind them from now on and I'm sorry for cousing so much trouble.