Chapter 12: Returns

Harry ducked behind one of the headstones as he heard Voldemort's curse crack against the stone. He turned to Cedric, who was bleeding from a head wound, but still up and fighting. Harry fired off two stunning curses, which Voldemort easily deflected.

"You will need to do better than that," he called out, pacing through the graves.

"Alright there Harry?" Cedric asked, trying to smile, but the motion never reaching his eyes.

"Alive," he replied, looking at his burned left hand and peeking over the gravestone to fire another jinx at the dark lord. "Any ideas?"

"If we can get back to the cup, reckon it'd take us back to Hogwarts?"

"Probably," said Harry, ducking down to avoid another blow. "But dunno if we could, not without getting cursed."

"Come on out boys," said Voldemort, shooting another spell at them. "I promise I won't prolong the move. Dying could even be painless, I wouldn't truly know. I've never died."

"Summon the cup, Harry."

"What about you?" asked Harry, worried.

"Hurry now! No time to talk!" said Cedric before steadying himself.

His face grew grim for a second before he smiled brightly and winked at Harry. Then, he stood up tall and aimed right at the dark wizard.

"Bombarda Maxima!" shouted Cedric.

Voldemort deflected the curse and Cedric rolled away, landing only feet from Harry, who moved to try and get a clear line of sight on the portkey that had brought them here.

"Sort of died once!" shouted Cedric, who apparently felt far braver than Harry did, as he fired off another curse. "Same kid who did it to you is here, too!"

Voldemort sent a curse towards Cedric, who dove out of the way.

"Tell me! Did you dying before take away the nose, or were you born without it?"

"Crucio!" shouted Voldemort, showing anger for the first time since they'd appeared in the graveyard. "You insolent little brat! You don't understand the call for a greater world!"

Harry finally had a clear line of sight to the cup and pointed his wand at it.

"Accio portkey!" he shouted. "Cedric!"

Cedric ran to Harry as quick as his feet could carry him, dodging a stream of curses. Right as he reached Harry, the cup finished its flight towards them. He turned to look at Harry and right as their eyes locked, Harry saw a jet of green lightning hit Cedric right in the back. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for a few seconds.

Harry saw the lights leave Cedric's eyes, and Hufflepuff boy slumped over Harry's shoulder, still smiling at him.

"CEDRIC!"

At that second the portkey activated and they vanished. The travel was almost instantaneous, but Harry felt like it took years, all the while his dead friend was hanging off of him, unable to do anything. They landed near the quidditch stands and Harry instantly screamed, not knowing or caring who was around him.

It took a few seconds for people to understand who had suddenly appeared before them, and a few more for anyone to come check on him and Cedric. Once they did, the word slowly got out. Harry Potter had reappeared, and Cedric Diggory was dead. Unable to control himself, unable to do anything, Harry wept, clinging to Cedric's body.

"You stupid, stupid idiot," he mumbled. "Why'd you have to fucking fight him?!"

Cedric could not and did not answer. At that moment, he felt a set of rough hands grab him and he turned to see Mad-eye Moody half-walking half-carrying him back towards the castle.

"Come on now lad!"

"But Cedric…"

"Nothing you can do for him now, Potter. We need to see to you."

An hour later, Harry stood in Professor Dumbledore's office, tears still streaming down his face.

"Professor… where are Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?"

"They are with Professor Sprout… she was Cedric's head of house… and knew him best."

Harry sat in one of the armchairs and placed his head in his hands, shaking against his will.

"There was nothing you could've done Harry. Almost no one lived once Voldemort decided to kill them. That you even escaped is remarkable."

"I… I made him take the cup, and he fought Voldemort off so that I could… I could get the cup… I think he knew he was going to die."

"Harry, you cannot blame yourself for this. Cedric did what he knew to be right and he…"

"And he died," said Harry, firmly. "He's dead, professor. My mum and dad are dead, Cedric's dead. I don't want to see more people die just so I get away!"

"Harry," said Dumbledore, gently. "You cannot make the choices of those around you. You did not force Cedric to defend you, and I doubt you could've stopped him if you'd tried. You did not know that Voldemort awaited you when you took the cup. You had no way of stopping his death. There is only one person to blame for Cedric's passing, and that is Voldemort."

Harry stood and kicked the headmaster's desk, hard.

"This is such shit!" he shouted. "Why is me, professor? Why? I… I need to know. Now. I should've known from my first year, and you said I would know when I'm older. I don't like this, but I do need to know now."

"Harry, my boy, you are still only fourteen…"

"And I've just fought Voldemort! He told me about the prophecy too I think I deserve to know what the hell he's talking about."

Dumbledore sighed and pulled out his pensive.

"I suppose you are, quite right Harry. I would not choose to tell you this when you are still so young in life, but… it is important that you know it, I suppose. Please understand Harry, that if there was anything I could do to change things, I would."

"Me too professor," Harry said. "I would've died a hundred times over to save Cedric."

"I know you would Harry, please do not suffer under the delusion that you are the only one who lives with the regrets of the dead on their shoulders."

Harry looked at the old wizard, confused. When he saw Dumbledore in that moment, he suddenly seemed much, much older. As if he'd aged a hundred years in the span of a second. The next moment, Harry felt sure he'd imagined it, because the headmaster looked just as he always had.

Dumbledore tapped the memories in his pensive twice and the form of Trelawney rose from the basin.

That night Harry spent the evening in the hospital wing, no matter how much he tried to avoid it. Daphne was there the moment Madam Pomfrey stopped fussing over him, and she embraced him, which hurt his heart all the more.

He'd heard the prophecy, in it's entirety, and now he knew. He knew that it didn't matter what he said or did. It didn't matter what he learned, who he met, or what he tried. Ultimately, it would come down to him or Voldemort. There really was no other way that it could be.

To top it off he was going back to the Dursleys… Maybe death by Voldemort could be a relief from that if nothing else.

Still, he knew this meant he would have to break things off with Daphne. Cedric was all-too perfect an example of what happened to those who were with him, and he couldn't stand it if anyone else died because of him. No matter what Dumbledore said about choice, Harry couldn't allow others to die because they were near him.

"I was so worried about you," Daphne whispered into his ear. "I'm so sorry, Harry."

She kissed his cheek and pulled away, still holding his hand. Harry found he was starting to cry again. He didn't want to leave Daphne. He didn't want to abandon Ron and Hermione either. He didn't want to push Tracey and Neville out of his life.

Neville… how easily the prophesy could've meant him. He'd been spared Harry's life… to a degree maybe, now that Harry knew what had happened to his parents. Still, he couldn't let anyone get hurt. He could almost see the dead bodies of Tracey, Ron and Hermione lying around him. He could see Daphne, lifeless and smiling just like Cedric. Shuddering, he pulled his hand from her grasp.

"Harry?" she asked, confused.

Harry looked into her beautiful eyes, and reached up to touch her cheek, feeling her incredibly soft skin under his fingertips.

"Daphne… we need to break up."

The words hurt him, but they were nothing compared to the tears that showed up in Daphne's blue orbs.

"W…what?"

"Voldemort's going to come after me, now that he's back. It's going to get bad… really bad. I can't let you get hurt. I can't… handle that. You'll be far safer away from me."

Understanding shown in her face, and she glared daggers at him.

"Absolutely not."

"Daphne, you don't understand…"

"No Harry, you don't understand! I love you, Harry Potter. I want to be with you, dark lord or no dark lord. I've faced bigger assholes than him in my common room! You really think I would turn away from the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me just because of Voldemort?"

He closed his eyes and wrung his hands together.

"Daphne I can't lose you too!"

"So don't push me away," she said, placing her hands on his head and forcing him to look at her. "Harry I can't stand being away from you, and if you don't want to lose me… stay with me… please."

"I… I can't."

"Then you damn well better have a better reason than a dark wizard, because I refuse to accept that. There's only one thing I care about, Harry Potter! Do you love me?"

He looked at her, and opened his mouth slowly. He could lie. He could just lie to her, but as soon as the idea crossed his mind, he rejected it. She could always tell when he was lying anyway.

"Yes."

"Then don't you dare try and leave me behind. Voldemort will try and kill anyone opposing him Harry, and I intend to do that whether you're being hunted or not. So you really only have one question you have to ask yourself. Do you want to hurt me for no decent reason?"

"No! Of course not, but…"

"No buts Harry. I love you and you love me and that's better than anything he can ever do. How was it Dumbledore said it? Death is just the next great adventure? Well, to me that makes love far more powerful than death, and I have no intention on giving you up without one hell of a fight."

"But you'll be in danger…"

"Harry James Potter," she said, looking him dead in the eye. "What house am I in?"

"Slytherin."

"Which is the house of what?"

"Cunning and ambition."

"Precisely. We do anything we can to achieve our goals. My goal is you. I don't know what that means in the future. Perhaps we could drift apart in a couple years or perhaps we'll end up married one day, but it certainly does not include your leaving me for a dark lord. I promise you this, if you try and end our relationship on behalf of him again, I will use every ounce of that cunning and ambition to make you so into me that you'll never be able to give me up. Now, that's the last we'll talk about that. You're going to kiss me and hold me and let all tonight's shit pass away. We'll handle it all in the morning."

Harry looked at her, waiting for her to break, but she seemed completely serious. So, he mentally sighed and kissed her softly on the lips and leaned back in the bed while she climbed in it next to him, and pulled one his arms around her.

He still didn't know what to do, but he felt pretty sure Daphne wouldn't let him do it without her.