I felt a new sensation this time when I broke free of my dark cage. My whole body was tingling. It felt unbearable but at the same time it felt like relief. I found that once again I couldn't move my body. I felt someone stroking my hair again.

"Mione, can you hear me?"

Mione. It was Cedric. Thank God it was him. That means he got us out. What did we go through? Who was that man, and how did Cedric know him?

I groggily opened my eyes to find myself in white room with sunlight shining brightly through the window blinds. My head felt so heavy. I slowly looked around and found I was in a bed with white cotton blankets and sheets. I soon found that I had tubes stuck in my arms. I swallowed and it felt like I was swallowing a plastic tube. The slow beeping I heard made me realize I was in a hospital.

"Mione?"

I slowly turned my head and there he was. Cedric Diggory sitting next to me gently holding my newly wrapped bandaged hand. The way he was staring at me scared me a little, he had a mixture of fear, anger and relief in his eyes.

I opened my mouth to speak.

"No, Mione, don't talk."

Cedric grabbed a plastic cup with a straw in it from the bedside table.

"Drink this," he suggested.

With Cedric holding the cup, I slowly sucked on the straw. The water felt cool and refreshing but it tasted like grass. I groaned at the aftertaste.

"Are you okay?" he asked me after he placed the cup back on the table and placed his hand on my cheek.

"What happened?" I asked my voice hoarse.

"I'm so sorry," Cedric apologized. "This is all my fault."

I stared.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "How is this your fault?"

Cedric just continued to stroke my cheek. I raised my hand and laid it over his.

"Cedric, you're scaring me, what is it?" I asked looking straight into his eyes.

Cedric sighed as lowered his hand and rose to his feet.

"My summer wasn't exactly normal," he began to explain.

I nodded slowly as I listened.

"I did some hunting," he continued.

"How is that not normal?" I asked. "A lot of people go hunting."

"Not that kind of hunting, Mione," said Cedric.

"I don't understand," I said. "What sort of hunting did you do?"

Cedric sighed again as he walked over to my bed, very carefully sat down, placing my injured hand in one of his hands while tracing my oxygen tube with the other.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated as he looked down at my hand. "If I would've known this was going to happen, I would've never…" he stopped.

I raised his eyes to look into mine. He smiled.

"Okay, I need you to keep an open mind," he said.

I nodded slowly again.

"During the beginning of the summer, my family and I traveled to Scotland to visit some of my Mother's family."

"So, that why you left school early?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Anyway, while I was there, I met someone. He showed me around, introduce me to some of his friends and soon we became our own little group, kind of like you, Harry, and Ron only we didn't have a name for ourselves." He stopped, looking down at my hand again, his hands shaking around it.

"Go on," I encouraged. "It's okay."

"As time went by things got weirder. There would be nights when Malone would call us out to join him and we would end up following certain people and when we would catch up with these people we would…" He was shaking more than ever.

I gently placed my hand on his cheek. "Cedric, it's okay," I repeated. "You can tell me."

Cedric sighed shakily. "We would kill them,"

I felt as if my oxygen supply was cut off. I became light-headed,

"Mione?" Cedric asked with concern, my face now in his hands.

I slowly brought my hand up to my face and slid off one of his hands.

"You killed someone?" I asked with difficulty. "You were killing people?"

"No, no," Cedric said franticly, his hand back on my face. "Mione, look at me," he ordered when I found I couldn't look at him. "Please, look at me."

With tears shining on my face, I looked up. He didn't wipe them away.

"I would never ever do anything like that," he told me firmly.

"But, that's what you meant by hunting, right?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Yeah," Cedric whispered.

I lost oxygen again as I stared.

"Mione," said Cedric, sounding frantic.

I didn't answer.

"I'll get a doctor," Cedric said as he rose from the bed.

"No," I gasped, grabbing his arm before he could go any further. "I want to know."

"Okay," said Cedric as he sat back down. "But, I need you to calm down."

"I'm calm," I said, still gasping.

"Okay." He paused. "I never really saw anyone die, I was always on lookout. "

"Then how do you know people were being killed?" I asked.

"Because of the way Malone would say to me 'I took care of them in my own special way,'" Cedric explained in an Scottish accent.

I shuddered as I remembered Malone saying those exact words so close to my ear. Then I remembered something else Malone had said, it had been running through my mind, but I had forgotten about it with Cedric's story now ringing in my ears.

"What did Malone mean when he said I was the one who captured your heart?" I asked not looking Cedric in the eye.

There was a pause. I could feel him staring at me.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

I took a deep breath. "Before you showed up Malone was hovering over me, tracing my body with his fingers, I thought he was going to rape me."

Cedric stiffened.

"While he was tracing me, he said, 'So, you're the one who has captured Diggory's heart,'" I explained, again shuddering.

Now it was Cedric's turn to take a deep breath.

"During one of our so-called hunting trips, I watched him do a kill when I was supposed to be on the lookout. I soon realized he wasn't killing dark people as he led me to believe." He stopped. Clearly what he had to say to next was difficult to put into words.

"What was he killing?" I asked, my stomach getting tighter with every passing second.

"Unicorns, centaurs, goblins, and even a few witches and wizards," he said, tears streaming from his eyes. I carefully wiped them away. "I asked him why he was doing this and he told me that if I didn't stay out of his business, the one I love would suffer."

I felt my stomach tighten again, but from nerves instead of fear.

"How would he know who your loved one is?" I asked.

"I don't know," said Cedric.

There was another pause.

"And who is it that you love?" I asked nervously.

Without looking at me he answered. "The girl lying in the hospital bed in front of me."

My stomach tightened even more as I felt a smile form on my face.

"Cedric," I said as I pulled off the blankets and sat carefully between his legs, laying my head on his chest. He hesitated for a second before he securely wrapped both of his arms around me. "How long?" I asked.

"Since the day I saw the Sorting Hat cover your beautiful eyes," Cedric answered as he stroked my cheek.

I playfully swatted his arm.

"What, you don't believe me?" Cedric asked with slight surprise.

"No, it's just that I've treated you like dirt and you can still say…" I trailed off.

"I love you," Cedric said but it sounded more like a question.

"You do?" I asked slowly.

"More than you will ever know," he repeated.

Cedric was looking deep into my eyes as he slowly brought his lips to mine. It was the first kiss I had ever received. It was an amazing sensation that I never wanted it to end. As I was still kissing Cedric, I turned my body to get more comfortable, but I then I felt sharp pain.

"Ow!" I hissed as I turned away and I grabbed my left elbow.

"What's wrong?" Cedric asked concerned.

I carefully rolled up sleeve.

"I'm bleeding!" I gasped as I watched the thick red liquid seep rapidly out of a tiny hole in my arm.

"I'll get a doctor," Cedric said quickly as he headed for the door.

As I waited for Cedric to return I kept a firm gripped on my arm to stop the bleeding, but it didn't work, more and more blood just seeped through my fingers, as I watched the blood I became lightheaded again, but I wasn't sure if it was from the amount of blood I was loosing or from watching the blood.

"Hermione," said Cedric. I wasn't even aware that the door opened.

Cedric carefully sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around me. I weakly leaned against him and shut my eyes.

"Oh, my," said a nurse when she saw the state of my arm. "It looks as if Miss Granger is a free bleeder."

"Why is she bleeding?" Cedric asked.

"It appears that Miss Granger has somehow managed to pull out her IV," the nurse explained. "Could you lay her back on the bed so I can reinsert the IV?"

"Of course," said Cedric. He carefully picked me then gently laid me back down. "Will she be all right?" he asked the nurse as I weakly opened my eyes again. "She looks awfully pale."

"Not to worry, dear," said the nurse. "She hasn't lost that much blood. There we are." I wasn't even aware that she inserted the needle. "It appears that Miss Granger doesn't like the sight of blood."

Cedric chuckled as he stared at me.

"I have to go," said the nurse. "But, if you need anything, just hit the call button." She gestured to the button above the bed.

"Thank you," said Cedric.

When the door closed, Cedric returned his gaze back on me. He smiled.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I don't like blood," I said simply.

Cedric chuckled then grinned widely.

"What?" I asked.

"You're going to have some visitors," he said.

"Who?" I asked.