Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

By Your Side

When she thought back to the events of Valentine's Day, Hermione could not decide if the fact they had been interrupted could be considered a good thing or not. Maybe, it had been for the best.

After all, all things considered, she knew she was not ready for such a huge step in her relationship with Cedric and in her life. Not when she still had difficulty in knowing how much of her attraction to Cedric was natural of Fates-induced.

It was as if Cedric had been able to read her thoughts and had heard her decision, loud and clear. The latter had immediately renewed, with increased passion, his intense appraising of Hermione's upper body as his fingers caressed her heated body. She could die of spontaneous combustion for she had never felt so feverish. But it was the best kind of fever. And the best cure to her fever was the feel of Cedric's lips on hers. Cedric's lips however also ignited a fire inside of her. A roaring fire of need and want. Of him. She needed more from him.

But before anything more serious happened between the two of them, they both heard someone call their names. They hurriedly righted themselves, stood up and turned to look at the figure approaching them. It was the Professors McGonagall and Sprout. The two Head of Houses had their wands out and were alert. As if they expected to be attacked the next minute.

"Miss Granger! Mister Diggory!" The Hufflepuff Head of House exclaimed.

"Thank Merlin! We need your help!" Hermione's Head of House said as she scrutinized the surroundings while the Professor Sprout was looking at the pair of them strangely.

"What can we do to help you, Professor McGonagall?" Cedric inquired while he smiled at his Head of House who was still eyeing them speculatively.

"We've received news from the Order that an attack could occur today and we've decided that it was safer to cancel the Hogsmeade weekend until further notice." Professor McGonagall answered as she turned towards them and took in their appearance. "What happened to the both of you?" She asked raising an eyebrow as she regained her stern attitude.

"Now's not the time to discuss the love-lives of our students, Minerva! Right now, we have more pressing matters." Professor Sprout said. "So if you can reign in the hormones for the time being and escort the younger students back to the castle, we'll have no need to discuss anything later. Are we clear? Hermione? Cedric?" The Hufflepuff Head of House asked sternly.

"Yes, you're right, Pomona." Professor McGonagall said levelling both with a look that plainly said that any answer in the negative would be deeply regretted.

"Of course, Professors. We will handle this task accordingly. Won't we, Cedric?" Hermione asked the tall Hufflepuff Head-Boy next to her.

"Yes," was Cedric short answer.

The four of them thus made their way into the heart of the Wizarding village and explained their tasks to the other prefects and the Head-Girl. The general consensus of the student population, at least those above third year whom had been granted permission for the Hogsmeade days, was disappointment. But as all the Head of Houses and all the other teachers with the notable exception of Umbridge had come into the village to assist them, the students understood that it was a not a laughing matter. Even those who did not believe that Voldemort was back did not protest.

Cedric had not left her side even when his Hufflepuff friends had found him and helped them. He had often grabbed her hand halfway up to the castle ignoring the speculative looks from his friends and the other students. When Hermione had turned her head to look into one of the side alleys of the quaint little village, her eyes had found Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe's murderous glares. She only arched an eyebrow in return and continued looking around trying to see if there wasn't any fishy activity going on in the shadows.

When all the students arrived at the castle's double doors, Filch had already begun checking names on his list. However, everyone standing in front of the double doors could see that Miss Toad, who was watching the proceedings from the top of the grand staircase, was quivering in anger. The Heads of House were royally unconcerned as they concerted amongst themselves. When every student had been properly accounted for, Cedric and Patricia Stimpson, the Head-Girl, asked every prefect to patrol around the castle for the remaining hours before the start of dinner in the Great Hall and after to report back in the evening in the Heads office before their last patrol. Many students however lingered in the Great Hall waiting for Umbrige's reaction. They all watched with trepidation as the squat pink nightmare marched to the four Heads of House who were still talking in hushed tones but now in the middle of the Entrance Hall.

"Hem, hem," Umbridge faux-coughed to get their attentions. When the four Heads acknowledged her presence, she drew herself to her full height but still remained unimpressive next to the imposing stature of the Head of House of the Lions. "What is the meaning of this, Minerva? Why have the students been ordered back to the castle? Don't they have the full day to enjoy their Hogsmeade outing?" Umbridge anger was evident as she did not even use that sickeningly false-sweet tone that they'd all been accustomed to.

"The Headmaster has decided to cancel the Hogsmeade weekend." Snape announced.

"Why would he decide such a thing?" Umbridge asked regaining her sugary tone.

"That is something that you must discuss with the Headmaster, Dolores. If he decides that it's safer to cut the day short for the students, we will follow his orders and directives. After all, it is the Headmaster who runs Hogwarts and not the Ministry." Sprout said levelling the Toad with a condescending glare that surprised even Hermione. The Hufflepuff Head of House had always been rather easy-going and jovial. The only exception that Hermione remembered was when Harry had been declared a Triwizard champion along with Cedric.

"For now," Umbridge answered ominously with a smile before she ascended the stairs and marched towards her office.

Cedric had gone after Hermione when he learned that she had left the castle grounds along with Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ron and Ginny Weasley. It was the only logical thing that he thought of doing. He did indeed promise her that he'd do anything to keep her safe and it was impossible for him to do so if he was waiting for her in the castle.

The Diggory's had stayed neutral during the last Wizarding War unlike his mother's family, the Boneses, which had paid a heavy price for their very public opposition to Voldemort's and his cronies. For Hermione, the Diggory's had decided to officially support the war effort against Voldemort. And luckily for him and unluckily for Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix, his parents' loyalty had always been to their family and not to any other groups. Thus, his parents had told him what the Order was guarding and where. He knew instantly where Potter had coaxed his Hermione to go; London. Into the Ministry of Magic and its Department of Mysteries.

After he learned from his cousin, Susan, what had happened to Hermione, he rushed to the only place that had a Floo connected to the outside world; Umbridge's office. He burst into the office and grabbed a handful of Floo powder but before he could throw the powder in the fire, a hand had captured his wrist. He whipped out his wand in return and pointed it in the face of his best friend, Scott Summers. He lowered his wand as he realised his best friend who had been with him when Susan had told him what happened had followed him.

"What are you doing Cedric?" Scott asked him wheezing from the quick run from the dormitories to the second floor Defence Against the Dark Arts' office that was used by the newly-appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts.

"What do you think I'm doing, Scott? I'm going after her of course!" He said as calmly as he could.

"Hermione means that much to you, Cedric?" A female voice asked a little breathlessly. It was Susan who had also followed him.

"Yes and much more. She means much more to me, Sue!" Cedric exclaimed. He realised that the more time they spent talking, the more danger Hermione might find herself in.

"And you're going to join her in whatever shit she's been dragged into, Ced?" Scott asked him. "You know how much danger she's been into with Potter and Weasley and you're going there without thinking it thoroughly! You know that despite what happened to you, you are still not immortal, Cedric." Scott warned.

"I know that, Scott! But I owe her my life. I owe her that much for saving me!" He blurted out without thinking and when his eyes widened as he realised what he'd shared with his best friend and his remaining cousin.

"So it was Granger that brought you back from the dead and not a blotched Killing Curse!" Scott said in an accusing tone. Cedric knew that his childhood friend was hurt that he had kept such a big secret from him but he did not have time to make any apologies. Time was slipping away fast.

"Look, I don't have time to explain everything right now. I need to get to her and protect her. We'll talk later!" Cedric said with finality as he threw the Floo powder in the fire and walking into the green fire and saying loudly, "Ministry of Magic atrium!" A last glimpse of his friend and of his cousin told him what he already knew. They would be following him. Even though he should be scared for their safety as they did not owe Hermione anything, he was pleased to know that he was so important to them that they willingly risk their lives to accompany him.

Like he'd predicted, Scott and Susan stumbled out of the Floo mere seconds after him. They did not talk, they felt no need. They silently agreed that they needed to be cautious. The three Hufflepuffs whipped out their wands and hurried past the empty security booth to the elevators and impatiently waited for one of the jangling metallic cages to arrive. The trio did not even spare a glance at the Fountain of Brethren. Being purebloods, they'd been in the Ministry of Magic with their parents or family and had already seen the wonders of the headquarters of the government of the Wizarding world of Britain.

Cedric knew where the Department of Mysteries was located thus, as soon as he entered the elevator, he stabbed the number nine and waited silently with his two companions for the elevator to begin the descent. When the elevator stopped abruptly when reaching the desired floor, Cedric took a long breath in order to gather his courage. He thought that the Triwizard Tournament had been a test of his bravery but he knew that if he wanted to stay by Hermione's side, he would need to dig deep for every ounce of courage that his body held and that his mental could conjure.

"Fuck, here we are acting like bloody Gryffindors!" Scott words properly summed up the situation as Susan snorted and Cedric's lips tipped upwards.

He knew that he could be regret bringing his best friend and little cousin in this situation but he felt oddly appeased knowing that he would not be alone. He turned to the two Hufflepuffs and only had two words to share to them that were definitely appropriate at that moment.

"Stay safe," he warned them looking at them and only when they nodded their understanding of his words did he turn to the unknown task ahead of him. The three of them cautiously walked along the dimly-lit, long corridor towards a plain black door that stood in front of the elevators door. He did not hesitate one second as he threw the door open to stand in a large, circular room with identical black walls interspersed with branches of candles with flames burning blue as well as identical black doors. Nothing lay marked. Nothing to distinguish one door from the other.

When Susan closed the door behind them, Cedric understood why. Disorientation. The Department of Mysteries really lived up to its name. After blinking for what seemed a lot of time the blue streaks in his eyes caused by the spinning candles, Cedric ran towards the nearest door but he heard shouts coming from the other side of the room. He swiftly moved towards the door from which he thought he heard the shouts and opened the door just a crack to hear someone yell 'WE'VE GOT HIM! IN AN OFFICE OFF-'. It was followed by Hermione's voice crying 'Silencio.'

He pushed the door opened and signalled to Scott and Susan to follow him and he rushed into the side-room to see a Death Eater raising his wand silently in direction of Hermione but before he could cast any spell, Cedric shouted in rapid succession, "Expelliarmus! Stupefy!"

The Death Eater surprised did not have time to block his spells and he fell backwards Stupefied as his wand was knocked off his hands by the disarming spell. Scott rushed to the two disarmed Death Eaters and bound them before he turned to the fallen Luna Lovegood to check if she was alright. Cedric heard Hermione's gasp of surprise as he turned to look at her finally. He silently assessed her with his eyes to check if he could find any injuries on her before he walked to her.

"Cedric! What are you doing here?" Potter asked as he listened worriedly for any suspect movement.

"What do you think we're here for, Potter? We were merely visiting the wonderful world of the Ministry of Magic!" Scott sarcastically answered.

"Are you alright?" Cedric asked Hermione as he stared at her. She nodded before she hugged him.

"Thank you for coming." She whispered in his ear.

"How about we get out of here before more baddies come for us?" Susan suggested after checking Neville Longbottom's broken nose.

"We can't," Potter said, "Ron and Ginny are still out there!"

"Potter, whatever you're doing here can remain a mystery for me but I'll still bet that the Death Eaters running amok here in the Ministry of Magic got something to do with you and not them. So we'll have to get your skinny arse out of here before they actually manage to do what they've been asked to do." Scott countered while Luna Lovegood was finally coming to her senses.

Whatever Potter was going to say was interrupted by a cold drawling voice saying, "You should have listened to the wise words of the … Hufflepuff, Potter!"

As one, all the Hogwarts students turned their wands to the voice of the newcomer. Lucius Malfoy stood triumphantly with his wand raised in direction of Harry while he assessed the threat that they could pose to him.

"Wonders never cease where you're concerned, Potter. What a surprising rescue party you've gathered here! Hufflepuffs!" He sneered in Cedric's direction.

"You've found them, Lucius!" A mocking voice was heard behind Malfoy who didn't turn to see who had arrived in case they took their opportunity to fight. A tall black-haired woman stepped around Lucius and Cedric instantly knew they were in much more danger than he'd thought because there stood the craziest, fanatical follower of Voldemort; Bellatrix Black.

Knowing the history between those two, it should not have surprised him that Neville Longbottom had reacted as strongly as he did with the appearance of the female Death Eater but he was still very surprised. He was also impressed because Bellatrix Lestrange attention was quickly shifted onto the once bubbling son of Frank and Alice Longbottom who was now shooting spells in rapid succession in her direction and was forcing her to take a defensive stance to block his attack.

The commotion however had attracted other Death Eaters who poured into the small room and forced the students to move back into the next room. The ground in the next level was not level with that of the small room and Cedric, Hermione, Luna, Harry, Neville, Scott and Susan being unprepared for that stumbled and lost their footing. And they fell.

Cedric found himself magically bounded and immobilized before he found himself standing. He could only move his eyes sideways and found that his companions were in a similar situation. Hermione was trying to fight a Death Eater who was bound her wrists and was pressing his wand on her throat. The mask of the Death Eater having fallen, Cedric recognized him as Antonin Dolohov. They were truly in deep shit.

He turned his eyes to see that Harry was still standing holding a small white orb in his hands as Lucius Malfoy predatorily walked to him. Malfoy asked him to hand over the prophecy and threatened him that if he did not do as he said, Potter will be watching the death of friends. Longbottom was still fighting against his restraints and Bellatrix Lestrange walked gleefully and dangerously towards him.

Malfoy seized the opportunity to ask Harry to hand over the prophecy once again before he witnessed the death of Neville but Bellatrix Lestrange changed the bargain by threatening to torture the Gryffindor to insanity or worse. The fighting spirit of the Gryffindor however was not extinguished by the threat as he cried to Harry to not listen to them.

The scream of pain that followed as Neville was hit by the Cruciatus Curse was deafening and Cedric tried to fight off his restraints with no success. When Bellatrix Lestrange raised her wand ending the Curse on the sobbing Gryffindor, Cedric knew that Potter was cornered. Potter would not want to be the witness of his friend's torture or death and thus, he advanced towards Malfoy extending his hand to hand over the object of the Death Eater's desire.

In a last stroke of luck, high above them, two more doors burst open and help finally came. Cedric was quickly released by the former Hufflepuff, Nymphadora Tonks and he fought his way to his friends and Hermione. Hermione was already fighting another Death Eater along with Susan while Scott was having trouble with Dolohov. Cedric joined his best friend's fight and they quickly again incapacitated the infamous Death Eater. A few moments after, Cedric was again by Hermione's side as she disarmed Augustus Rookwood. They did not have time to take even a small breather as three other Death Eaters came to fight them; Rabastan Lestrange, Nott and Mulciber.

Cedric, Hermione, Susan, Scott and Luna who had joined them battled for what seemed an endless amount of time when Mulciber looked up with fear and broke up the fight. He scrambled up the steps to an open door but he was pulled back by an invisible line and dropped down the steps. Looking sideways but not breaking his concentration on the fight, Cedric understood the reason of Mulciber's fear. Dumbledore had arrived. They were saved.

Kingsley Shackebolt came to their aid and they were able to get rid of the remaining pair of Death Eaters fighting them. There in the centre of the room, Cedric saw Bellatrix Lestrange fighting a laughing Sirius Black. The latter was taunting his cousin into fighting him with her best shot and Bellatrix Lestrange yelled, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Sirius Black did not have time to duck and stood still as the jet of green light sped towards him but it was blocked by an invisible shield that had luckily appeared mere inches from the former Azkaban prisoner's body. The green light bounced off the shield and hit the wall behind Bellatrix Lestrange leaving a large hole. The Death Eater was looked shocked as she turned to someone next to Cedric. Cedric, himself turned to his left and realised that it was Hermione who had conjured the shield with the use of a nonverbal spell as her wand was pointed in Sirius Black's direction. Hermione quickly lowered her hand and turned around to see who'd seen that.

Luckily for them, it seemed that all the current fighters were occupied with bounding their opponents and had not witnessed what happened. In the slight moment of inattention, Bellatrix had hurled another nonverbal spell in Sirius Black's direction and the latter fell down the high steps of the raised dais. Potter, who had not seen what happened before but heard the Killing Curse being yelled, apparently thought that Sirius had been killed. He dashed off after the female Death Eater ignoring Remus Lupin's cries while Bellatrix Black deflected a spell aimed at her by Dumbledore.

Hermione in the meantime had rushed down to Sirius and Cedric followed her to shield her from any errant spells. Hermione checked for a pulse and let out a relieved sigh as she confirmed that he was indeed alive but barely. Lupin then came to her side and tried to assess what curse had been cast at his long-time friend. Cedric turned as he heard Dumbledore tell Shacklebolt to keep them there but Hermione had already stood up and climbing the steps to one of the side-doors.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tonks asked her as she was intercepted near the door.

"I'm going to find Ron and Ginny. We got split up in the middle of this mess!" Hermione told her as she tried to side-step the young Auror.

"Oh, no you don't. You stay here and I'm going to find your two friends. There might be other Death Eaters lurking around!" Tonks warned as she went up and disappeared from view.

Hermione nodded to herself as she sat on one of the steps and turned to him. She gave him a small smile and Cedric sat down by her side. They silently watched as Lupin cast spell after spell to relieve Sirius of the damage the curse he'd been hit with had created. Scott was checking a bruise on his arm and Susan was standing near him still alert.

"I'm glad you came, Cedric," Hermione's soft voice interrupted his observations. He turned to her and looked at her noticing a small cut on her cheek. He lifted his wand to her cheek and he was happy to see that Hermione did not even question his actions. That only proved to Cedric how much Hermione trusted him. Only when he was happy to see the cut properly healed did he answer her.

"I could not have done otherwise, Hermione! If you had been hurt and that I did not do anything to at least prevent it, I don't what I would do! I owe you that much and more." He told her in earnest as he caressed her cheek tenderly.

"Thank you, Cedric." She turned her head to look at Scott and Susan as though she was asking herself what they were doing there.

"They know about you and me and they weren't going to let me go alone." He answered her unasked question. She just nodded in response not even questioning their loyalty.

"I need to make sure Harry is o.k!" She announced standing up.

He did not even stop her but grabbed her hand and they took off ignoring Shacklebolt calls. The only advantage they had was that many doors were wide open now in the Department of Mysteries and they did not have any trouble finding the exit in the circular room. To Cedric's surprise, they were again followed by Scott and Susan. But this time also by Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom. They silently got into the elevator and waited patiently.

The chaos that reigned in the Atrium should have surprised them but they were probably still dazed by the battle that they'd been party of merely a few minutes before. It was the first they'd all seen him. Voldemort. He stood facing Dumbledore before he vanished out of sight. That was when Cedric saw Potter move from behind a statue but Dumbledore told him not to move. Then as though he'd been hit by an invisible spell, Potter tumbled to the ground. Hermione gasped and made to move but Cedric stopped.

"Wait!" Cedric warned.

When Potter in a cold voice asked 'Kill me now, Dumbledore …' Cedric knew what had happened. The young Gryffindor was being possessed by Voldemort. Hermione's soft cry alerted Dumbledore and Voldemort in Potter's body of their presence. Then as if something cracked, Potter screamed and Voldemort was once again standing in the middle of the Atrium while in the background he saw people emerging from the Floo network and from the Apparition points.

Voldemort grabbed Bellatrix Lestrange who was trapped under the statue of the witch that had once been a part of the Fountain of Brethren statuesque and Dissaparated with his faithful follower. Cedric stayed silent as Hermione ran to Harry and ensured that her best friend was feeling well or not. He listened as Fudge, in his usual bumbling and portly manner, still tried to deny the evidence that had stood in front of him but was forced to finally see the light.

When his aunt, Amelia, gasped and ran towards Susan and him, he knew that he would most probably be getting an earful from his parents but it did not matter as long as he knew that Hermione was safe and sound.

It was all that mattered.

Author note:

The chapter title is inspired by the song By Your Side by Sade (Lovers Rock).

Originally, I still wanted to off Sirius but I've changed my mind. But I still don't what I'm going to do with him now. The inclusion of the Hufflepuffs was a last minute addition to the chapter as I've always thought there was a shortage of characters from the House of the Badgers in the HP verse. So this will be the last chapter on Hermione's fifth year and we will start back on the summer holidays and some more serious stuff.

Of course, I'm awfully sorry for this very late and rather short update though I'm feeling very satisfied with the chapter. I won't make any promise on the next update because as soon as I give myself a deadline, it seems that I jinxed myself.

Thanks again go to the reviewers (I've answered your reviews by pm): Irmorena, Aly-Child, Arabellagrace, Cuacuaro, , Drew Secrets, Angel897, LeonaMasha, Pyra Sanada, Hikari-Kawaii, Anmarie, Treavellergirl and Unseen Wonder.

Treavellergirl: They'll manage very well. But we're not there yet.

Unseen Wonder: I'm not giving up on this but I've waiting for some free time to write this filler chapter as well as I've wanted it to be. And I'm rather satisfied with the result. Lemony time will drop by in the next chapter

Next chapter title: Come Away With Me.

Thanks everyone for your patience and your reviews. They mean a lot to me and they inspire me to get going with my story.

Take Care and Love to all,

Ludo