Heartache
Elsie and George did not speak about her breakdown. Elsie was surprised by this and she was very grateful. It turned out that Cedric had a great time with Cho, which she was happy about, but it also turned out Fred had a great time with Angelina which she wasn't too thrilled with, but she didn't say anything, and spent more and more time in the library or with Myrtle. On the day of the second task, she went with her friends to the boat shed, where they boarded one and were taken magically to a large tower in the middle of the lake.
"So, Els I didn't ask whether you had a good time with this prat?" Fred says and Elsie swallows hard and smiles,
"Yes, it was rather enjoyable."
"You don't seem too convinced." Fred jokes but she doesn't say anything apart from,
"So are you both still holding bets?"
"We have to don't we, we've lost all our money." George says grumpily.
For the spectators, the second task isnt as exciting as the first, but Elsie is pleased when Cedric emerges from the depths with Cho first.
"Go Cedric!" she cries loudly as she claps her hands furiously and the twins exchange annoyed looks. Harry comes last with Ron but also with Fleur's little sister and Dumbledore announces that because he got there first, the judges have awarded Harry second place, meaning he is tie with Cedric.
"I wonder what the third task will be." Elsie ponders as she gets into a boat with the twins,
"Maybe giants." Fred says,
"Or a vampire or two." George teases and she sighs exasperated. During charms class the next day, Elsie congratulates Cedric readily and he grins at her,
"I thought you would be supporting Harry as he's from your house."
"I support both of you. You represent our school." She replies as she helps him with his summoning charm they are revising for their exams. Over the next few weeks, Elsie passes her apparition test with distinction, as well as Fred and George who learned pretty quickly considering they weren't really listening to the instructor half the time. They sit their N.E.W.T exams and Elsie believes they went extremely well for her, but her friends are less joyful.
"I doubt we even got one question right." Fred says as they walk to the common room after their last exam,
"Well you do deserve it, I've been warning you they were coming for months but you didn't listen." She says sternly.
"Oh well, anyway, the third task is coming up soon. We think Harry may win." George interrupts before Fred can say something snide back to her.
"Yes… or Cedric. I hope it's either one of them." She says thoughtfully but she doesn't enter the common room,
"What's wrong?" Fred asks her curiously,
"I've forgotten something, I'll be back later." She says running off down the moving marble staircase until she reaches Myrtle's bathroom.
"Myrtle, you havent seen…" she begins only just noticing the ghost crying in a corner,
"What's wrong?" Elsie asks befuddled,
"Someone came in and said mean things to me." She says morosely,
"I'm sorry." Elsie says finding her lost book by the sink,
"They were trying to take that book but I stopped them."
"Thank you Myrtle." Elsie says looking up at her sadly, "Do you know who it was?" Elsie asks,
"No I don't know who it was! I hardly walk around the castle and sit in classes anymore do I?" she shouts angrily,
"I'm sorry, I just thought you might have seen her in here before."
"It was a Hufflepuff, that's all I know." She replies dejectedly turning and floating around near the ceiling,
"Don't listen to them Myrtle, alright?" Elsie asks her and after a long silence she heads back to the common room.
When Elsie enters she finds only a few people inside, and Fred Weasley is shouting loudly at Angelina.
"So after taking you to the ball you're going to go off with Roger Davies?" he shouts at her furiously,
"I'm sorry, Fred! It just wasn't working out!" she replies quietly,
"I can't believe you! We've been friends for years and you're just going to blow me off like this?"
"Look Fred, we can still be friends. It's just that Roger and I really clicked…"
"Oh save it." Fred says pushing past Elsie and hurrying from the common room. Elsie looks at George who hurries after him and then she catches Angelina's eye and she looks at her sadly but Elsie turns nervously and follows her best friends out the passageway. She finds them talking in an abandoned corridor and when she nears they look at her quickly,
"I'm sorry Fred." Is all Elsie can say, trying to get her brain to stop jumping for joy.
"It's just… I've really liked Angelina for a long time and…" he begins cutting off as Elsie looks down at the ground, her heart deflating again.
"Well mate, you can do better if she's leaving you for a tosser like Davies." George says bracingly and the two of them laugh before they head down for dinner, Elsie feeling upset but ecstatic at the same time.
The day of the third task brings much excitement, and after dinner Fred, George and Elsie head down with the other students to the arena.
"Bloody hell." George says as they sit in the stands looking out at the giant maze sweeping along the valley.
"Oh, I do hope they've learned the point me spell, that would be very handy when it comes to…" Elsie begins but Fred places a hand over her mouth to stop her ranting. After the breakup, Fred and Elsie became good friends again, mainly due to the fact that he wasn't speaking to Angelina, Alicia or Katie who had all sided with Angelina.
"Do us a favour Els, and shut up?" he tells her as she shrugs him off. When Cedric appears and takes his place she waves at him and he returns it smiling nervously.
"I do hope there are dangerous creatures in there." George says with venom,
"George! Don't say such things, besides, I thought you were friends with Harry?" Elsie asks him reproachfully,
"I am, but it would make it much more exciting." He says and she bites her lip angrily. The champions enter the maze and they sit and wait. After a while red sparks appear in the sky, and some teachers hurry off to go and save whomever it is, but they don't appear with the hurt champion.
"I wonder who it is?" Elsie asks worried,
"I bet it's Fleur." George says,
"Why, because she's the girl?" Elsie demands,
"No, because she's been last in each task." Fred explains simply and Elsie bites her lip, unable to argue anymore.
Suddenly, Harry and Cedric appear at the entrance of the maze, clutching the Triwizard cup. The crowd applauds loudly but Elsie realises something is wrong and Dumbledore and the Minister for Magic hurry around Harry and Cedric. Fleur screams nearby and Mr Diggory hurries down before kneeling beside his son, and Elsie gets a better look at the scene. Cedric is lying pale and glassy eyed on the grass and Mr Diggory begins to wail. Elsie screams, realising what has happened, and she breaks down in tears, letting them for the first time in her life flood down her face. Fred wraps an arm around her looking dumbstruck and she sobs into him. Her best friend. Cedric Diggory. The boy that stuck by her through all these years. Dead. The staff bustle the students back to their house common rooms and Elsie lies in bed, her hangings drawn as she sobs into her pillow. He was her best friend, and had always been despite her continually refusing to go out with him. She had watched him grow from a bumbling boy into a super cool, popular guy, but he hadn't changed to her. She wanted to know how he died. She wanted the truth and she wanted to avenge him, whatever it took.
The days passed and the good weather seemed to mock her and her friends. The twins were very respectful for once, they comforted Elsie, knowing how much he meant to her, and as the rumours emerged that Lord Voldermort was resurrected and that he was the one that killed Cedric, more rumours emerge. Mad Eye Moody was a death eater using Polyjuice potion to make sure that Harry was transported by the cup to a graveyard where one of you know who's servants used Harry's blood to perform a dark, old ritual to bring him back. The death eater in question had the Dementors kiss put upon him by a dementor that escorted Cornelius Fudge to where the man was being held. He was worse than dead. The real mad eye was being cared for in the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey and he was expected to make a full recovery. Elsie didn't know what to believe anymore, and it was only on one mournful day towards the end of term did she get her head in order. She sat in between the twins in the great hall, the tables had been replaced by rows of benches and Dumbledore got up at the front of the room and began to speak, silent tears slipping from Elsie's eyes. She wasn't only unbearably sad, she was also scared for the first time in her life. With he who must not be named back, then she, being a mudblood was more at risk than most others.
"Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair-minded, and most importantly, a fierce, fierce friend." He begins and Elsie reaches for the twins and they take her hands in theirs.
"Therefore, I feel you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered, by Lord Voldermort. The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so I feel would be an insult to his memory." Their headmaster bellows and Elsie sniffs loudly, looking down at the floor, remembering her first Potions lesson in first year with Cedric.
"Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, and, reminds us, that though we may come from different countries and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of the recent events, the bonds of friendship made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that, and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain. You remember that, and we'll celebrate a boy who was kind, and honest, and brave, and true. Right to the very end." Dumbledore finishes and Elsie breaks down completely, leaning into Fred as she does so.
Later that afternoon, Elsie stands alone in the deserted common room. She opens up an old Daily Prophet lying by the fire, waiting to be used as a fuel. Inside she finds an article on the Triwizard champions and she stares at the picture of Cedric, smiling nervously at her. Tears spring to her eyes and she sets it down quickly.
"Els?" a voice asks her timidly and she looks up and finds Fred standing looking awkward.
"Hi." She chokes,
"I'm so sorry."
"He-he was my best friend. And- and I never told him that… and now I never will. Voldermort killed him, and he's back and he's going to try and kill me because I'm a mudblood."
"You are not a mudblood!" Fred exclaims,
"Yes I am! I am and I'm proud to be one! Maybe then I'll get a shot at killing him off and some death eaters if they come for me! Then I can get them back for killing…" she says unable to say his name and Fred hurries forward and hugs her tightly as she tries not to cry into his chest. After a few minutes they pull back slightly, their faces inches from each other. And without thinking, they both lean forward instinctively and press their lips together. Even through the pain inside her heart, Elsie cannot help feeling a burning erupt inside of her, and she presses her hands to his chest, taking in the smell of him that she loved so much. They break apart, looking confused and embarrassed, and silently, Elsie retreats backwards before hurrying up to her dormitory.
She fumbles around in her trunk for a leather bound book and she opens it, turning each page of her and her father, her and Hermione and Ginny, her and the twins, until she finds the only photo she has of Cedric. Bronze haired, tall and muscled, standing beside her, making her look even smaller and weirder. They both are waving and laughing. She shuts the book lightly, before holding it close to her chest,
"I'll never forget you Ced." She whispers to the air around her.
On the Hogwarts express, Elsie sits in a compartment with a third year girl with long blonde wavy hair and large protuberant eyes. She comes across as someone quite lonely, but dotty as well and they sit in silence for a while.
"So, what's your name?" Elsie asks and the girl looks up in shock at being addressed,
"I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood." She says,
"I'm Elsie MacDonald." Elsie replies in a friendly manner,
"Why are you being nice to me?"
"Why shouldn't I be?" Elsie asks puzzled,
"Most people are rude to me. Almost everyone calls me Loony." She says picking up a pair of bright glasses and putting them on, making her look like a multi coloured owl.
"That's not very nice."
"No, but it's all good fun to them really." She replies matter of factly. Elsie looks at her reading the Quibbler for a while before noticing Fred and George walk past the compartment. When they see her, Fred looks away embarrassed, but George waves. Clearly Fred didn't tell George what happened, and Elsie is secretly pleased.
"Why are you so sad?" Luna asks and Elsie looks back to her,
"Lots of reasons." She replies airily,
"What are they?" Luna Lovegood asks her looking at her inquisitively.
"Cedric Diggory was my best friend." Elsie stammers, saying Ced's name for the first time in weeks.
"He still is your friend. Just because he's not here anymore doesn't mean he's gone." Luna says and Elsie feels her heart lifting slightly because of this lonely, other worldly girl.
"You know, you're probably the only person I've met without Wrackspurts in their head." Luna says looking around in the air and Elsie smiles at her, not even caring what Wrackspurts were,
"Thank you."