I'm fairly pleased with the way this has turned out. Pottersgirl91, the 200th reviewer, makes a cameo appearance in this chapter as Megan! I hope I did well with it.

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Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter. Because if I did, the guy who played Remus Lupin in the third movie would have been hot.

Chapter 14

"Hey, Hermione!" She turned, curious as to why fifth year Hufflepuff Megan Parker, also known as Seamus' girl for this month, was calling for her. The fifth year in question was dashing down the hallway towards Hermione, and barely managed to skid to a halt in time.

"What's wrong?" Hermione raised her eyebrows and adjusted the strap of her book bag, where it was digging into her shoulder. The out of breath Hufflepuff took her time in replying.

"Just… ran down here from Trelawney's. She's been making her predictions, you know?" Hermione nodded, she did know. "Well, she made a really creepy one..." the girl trailed off, and Hermione stared wildly down into forest green eyes in horror. Megan looked up from her bent over position and slowly straightened. "A really, really creepy one."

She'd never been one to do things on impulse. Especially when Professor Trelawney was involved. But there was something in Megan's voice that spoke of more than just the usual "I sense grim things in your future!" that Trelawney usually spouted off. There was something in her voice that told Hermione that she didn't want to know the truth, but that she had to.

Fearing the answer, Hermione asked, "How did she say it?"

Megan shook her head from side to side, something many people were known to do after emerging from Trelawney's seedy opium attic den. "She went on about how the prize would lead to doom on the night of glory and how the Dark Lord would rise again and how the bone of the father, blood of the enemy, on and on like that."

The cold seeds of dread took root in her belly, and Hermione steadied herself enough to repeat her question. "I meant how did she say it, not what did she say."

"Oh, that." With a shrug of carelessness, the brunette fifth year answered. "Her voice got all authoritative and deep. It was weird."

Hermione found it very hard to breathe in those next few moments. It was just like how Harry had described Trelawney's prediction about Sirius in their third year. What could Voldemort be planning this time?

"The creepiest thing was, she made the prediction about Cedric."

An icy hand gripped Hermione's heart. "Where is he?"

The look of pity Megan shot her made Hermione realize that Megan knew about their relationship. But she had no more time to think on things like this.

"He's up in the North Tower still, on one of the landings."

Hermione was off, not waiting to hear whatever else Megan might tell her. She left so quickly that she forgot her book bag, but the Hufflepuff understood why. She watched the fourth year Gryffindor sprint down the hall toward one of the moving staircases, knowing exactly why she went so quickly and urging her to move even faster. "Ah, Hermione, I don't think you quite understand how much he needs you right now."

She was out of breath by the time she reached the correct floor, and the stitch in her side was really starting to ache by the time she reached the correct corridor. By the time she was bounding up the north tower's stairs, she felt like if she moved any farther she was going to die. But still she took the stairs two at a time, hauling herself up with the sheer power of what seemed to her to be almost insanity. She would get to Cedric or die trying.

She was rounding one of the many landings when suddenly she collided into something that shouted "Oof!" and fell backwards. She tripped and landed on it, causing it to make another odd sound in distress. For a moment Hermione just lay there, desperately trying to breathe as her entire body screamed for more air. Judging by the nonexistent attempts to move her, the person she was lying on could only be Cedric. Hermione allowed herself to relax, resting her head on his chest as she tried to catch her breath.

She'd just about succeeded when his arms came up and around her, pulling her tightly against him. She squeaked at the sudden pressure but did not struggle, knowing he needed comfort right then. They lay like that, holding one another, until finally he spoke.

"Can we sit up? My back's getting a little sore."

She rolled off of him and he carefully sat up, wincing slightly. There was going to be a large bruise on his back come morning, but right now that didn't matter. He just needed some reassurance.

It came in the form of hardheaded, stubborn mouthed Granger. "That old bat is a fraud!" she cried, and he took her small hand in his own.

"I know, Granger, I know." But Hermione knew he was still worried. Whatever Trelawney had said had shaken him badly. It was obvious in just the way he had held her. "Who told you I was up here?"

"Megan." Cedric chucked quietly, both of them keeping their voices low, neither quite knowing why.

"Leave it to a childhood friend to come to my rescue," he mused, and smiled. "But how would she know that… of course."

Hermione was confused, not just by the way Cedric had suddenly answered his own question, but as to what the answer to the question was. Seeing the confused look on her flushed face, he grinned slightly and answered it for her.

"Megan's a seer." Seeing Hermione's skeptical face, he laughed. "No, not a fraud like Trelawney, but the real deal. It made playing those childhood chance games with her pretty lousy, but she's saved my butt loads of times. She can see people's futures, and she knew we were both going to end up in Hufflepuff before we even got our Hogwarts letters. I asked her to tell my fortune once."

Hermione tensed up at this, knowing that if the fortune in any way matched up with the prediction that Cedric might be in serious trouble.

"She told me I was going to be happy. That I'd be satisfied with my life, that I'd be good and kind and fair and strong. That I'd be honorable and make people happy. She told me that I would have everything I ever wanted right before I died, and that though I'd be terrified I'd go out with a smile on my face."

Hermione lost her temper right then. How dare you tell someone how they were going to die? She raged at the brunette fifth year for knowing how people would die, the when and where and what. For daring to tell people how it was going to end. But in an instant her rage cooled, for she realized that knowing how your friends were going to die couldn't be something one wished for.

"I asked her more about it." Cedric said, still talking in spite of a lack of response from Hermione. "She told me it wasn't right for me to know. That it would just hurt me." He put no inflection on his words, not speaking in monotone yet keeping his voice neutral.

She nodded, understanding all in a rush how true seers must feel, knowing the future. Cedric's hand gripped hers harder for a second before releasing it.

"I just wanted to know, so I didn't have to worry about it. So I could just look at whatever life threw my way and say, 'This isn't going to kill me.' I wanted the perspective it would give me; I wanted to know. Do you think that was wrong of me?" His voice had been kept carefully level and under control, the tone sounding merely curious. "Do you think that was wrong of me, to ask my friend to tell me how I was going to die?"

She shuddered. To have a gift like that... she knew she personally would not be able to bear it. She wasn't strong enough to handle knowing people's futures. It was one of the things that had driven her away from Divination, and it had made certain that she was never going to explore the possibilities of Time-Turners and the future. Sometimes too much knowledge was a bad thing. In this sort of case it was terrible.

Hermione couldn't answer his question right then. So she laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her, and they sat like that until the next set of classes began. If Cedric believed what Trelawney had said he didn't say so, yet even after she left Hermione still knew he was worried. And rightly so; the next task was in two months.

The night of glory was approaching.
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