A/N: I am, once again, very sorry for the slowness in my posting. I do have a reason now though. It's May (or at least it was when I wrote this), which means that at my school, everything stops for all of the standardized testing. So I've been very busy. But now pretty much all of my testing is done, so I should be posting a lot (Actually, I'm done with school for the year, but I've just been really lazy.). Especially because I realized it's taken me three years to finish one year of the story, and I don't want to be doing this forever. So expect regular posts. Also, I've set up a facebook page for FarSideOfTheRoom. If you do the facebook thing, you should "like," it! Also, I have a twitter, and if you guys are interested in the mundane things I do and random updates on my stories, you should follow /ali_gator628. That's me! Just send me a message on here to let me know you read my stories so I don't accidentally block you. Now that I'm done plugging my websites, and I hope you haven't minded, please R&R and enjoy chapter 36!
Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception if Celia and Mick, are the creation of J.K. Rowling or the creators of Lost.
Chapter 36:
Worry About Hexing You
"Hey," Cedric whispered hoarsely to Celia.
It was late. How late, Celia wasn't sure, but past midnight. She and Cedric's parents had talked Madame Pomphrey down from insisting they spend the night in a bed, and were determined to spend the night in the Hospital Wing. Celia's mother had returned home to tell her father what had happened. Ernie, Justin, Susan, and Mick had all been up, and they, along with Hannah had long since retired to the Hufflepuff dormitories, wishing Cedric well. Fred and George had made sure that Celia was okay before checking on Harry. They had recently returned to the Gryffindor dormitory. Cho had turned up as well, but her attention was focused on Harry. Once the two girls had tended to their loved one, they had seen to each other, and wished the other and her boyfriend well.
"Yeah?" Celia whispered.
"It's fine that Harry won. I owed him way more anyway."
Celia furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"
"Don't… promise me you won't freak out. Don't worry. It's okay. I'm okay. But… telling me about the dragons wasn't the only time he saved me."
"What?" Celia was confused.
"Tonight, in the maze, Harry… saved me."
"How?"
"Krum… attacked me."
"What?" Celia hissed.
"Don't worry! But, in the maze, he attacked me, and… used the cruciatus curse on me. I don't remember much about it, but I remember screaming, and then the pain stopped, and Harry helped me up, and I saw that he had stunned Krum. Harry… saved my life."
As Madame Pomphrey had predicted, Cedric spent the next several days in the Hospital Wing. Celia's exams had finished the day of the Third Task, and so she had plenty of free time to spend in the Hospital Wing with him. The continual presence of Ron, Hermione, Cho, and often the twins, kept Celia company for a few days, but after Harry was allowed to leave two days after being admitted, the overall noise level in the Hospital Wing decreased significantly. One Hufflepuff well-wisher or another was frequently found in the hospital, and one of Celia's friends, Aaron, and Mick were often found in some combination with her. After the third consecutive day of Celia spending several hours in the Hospital Wing with Cedric, he commented on it.
"It's a gorgeous day outside. Why are you still in this stuffy Hospital Wing with me?" he smiled at her.
"I don't want to leave you," she stroked his hand.
"You're done with exams, almost all of your friends are outside. It's so nice out. You should go be with them. I'm not going to heal any faster just because you're abstaining from having fun."
"I am having fun," she objected.
"How? How is this fun?" he grinned.
"I'm going to start thinking you want to get rid of me."
"I love having you here," he kissed her, "I really do. But half the time you're in here, I'm asleep, and the other half the time, I'm nearly always groggy with medication. I'm not exactly the life of the party. And you spend half your day in here! So go outside, see Hannah, make sure Mick isn't harassing Alex or something, but go do something fun."
"I don't know…"
"I'm going to sleep. I'm not going to be any fun. So go. Go do something fun. I'm sleeping now," he flopped down onto the pillow in an overly dramatic way and shut his eyes tight. She laughed. He kept his eyes shut tight for several seconds, before opening his right eye to see if she was still there. When he saw she was, he shut it again. He repeated this two more times before she sighed and kissed him.
"Oh, alright. What has gotten into you?" she laughed.
"Like I said, probably all the medication. Got me acting all funny."
She kissed him again, a longer kiss this time, and departed.
He kept up his campaign of "you need to get outside more," for the next two days. Each day she begrudgingly obeyed, and spent a little more time outside with her friends. The sixth day of his stay in the Hospital Wing, the day Cedric was scheduled to be released, a letter arrived from Celia's mother. Her mother's owl arrived with the rest of the post owls, and Celia, expecting nothing out of the ordinary, opened it.
Hannah had not seen her best friend all day. Or very much at all over the past week, for that matter. Celia had spent nearly all of her free time with Cedric in the Hospital Wing since the Third Task, and it was only at Cedric's prompting that she had spent more time outside the past two days. Celia had risen earlier than Hannah and the rest of their friends, in fact, earlier than most of the house, presumably to get an early start for the day. Hannah had finished breakfast without seeing Celia, and decided to visit the Hospital Wing to see if she was there. Upon arriving, she found Cedric by himself, who had said that Celia had not been in since she had visited him the night before. Very confused, she made her way back downstairs. She gave the dormitory a quick look-through, and upon looking over the grounds, found that she was not there either. Very confused, she stopped a couple of Hufflepuff first years that were heading for the grounds.
"Hey, have either of you seen Celia? Celia Pace? About my height, blonde, dating Cedric Diggory?" Hannah asked.
"Miss Pace?" one of them squeaked. Hannah sighed inwardly. A few of the first years had the annoying habit of addressing everyone older than them as "Miss," or "Mister." Apparently this was one of them.
"We saw her at breakfast. She looked kind of sad. She got a letter, and when she read it, she looked like she was really upset. Then she left," the other first year responded.
"Thanks," Hannah said, already walking away. She knew where she would find her.
She was right. She could almost hear her outside the door. Hannah had found her friend in the fifth floor girl's bathroom. Hannah rushed into the bathroom and found Celia sitting in one of the stalls, crying very hard. She hurried over to her and hugged her tight.
"Celia, Celia, hun, what's wrong?" Hannah cooed.
Celia continued to shake and sob into her friend's shoulder.
"Celia, I need to know what's wrong."
Celia wordlessly dropped a piece of paper. Hannah picked it up and began to read as her friend continued to shake.
My dear Celia,
I hope you are well, and Cedric is too. Your father expressed great concern when I told him what had happened. Mrs. Diggory wrote soon after her visit with Madame Pomphrey to let us know that he will be all right. I trust you're taking good care of him.
Now, your father and I debated heavily about whether or not we should tell you this, but we decided it was for the best that you knew. You may decide whether or not to tell Cedric.
Your Uncle Desmond called shortly before the Third Task started. He had one of his visions.
He says that had Cedric taken the cup, he would have died. Your Uncle Desmond saw You-Know-Who return. Whatever happened to Harry, Cedric would have been taken there too, only Cedric would not have been as fortunate as Harry was.
I'm very sorry if this upsets you. But we felt you should know.
Love,
Your Mother
Celia arrived at the Hospital Wing late that afternoon. Cedric beamed at her when she arrived.
"Hey. I was starting to worry you were taking what I was saying about spending more time out of here too seriously," he grin barely concealed his concern.
"Sorry. I wasn't feeling well."
"So you decided to not come to the Hospital Wing?" he grinned.
She laughed.
"Yeah, I suppose that sounds silly. I'm really sorry I didn't make it in before."
"Especially since I get to leave today!" he looked very excited.
"Yeah," she said, taking her usual seat next to him, and looking at him seriously, "I love you."
"I love you. Are you sure you're okay?" he furrowed his brows.
"Yeah. I've just been worried, is all."
"Don't worry. I'm right here," he stroked her hand.
Cedric was released from the Hospital Wing later that day. The day afterward, Dumbledore presented the Triwizard Cup to Harry, in what, Celia was sure, was a more serious manner than what one would expect. Afterward, Dumbledore made a speech. He said that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had returned the night of the Third Task.
Desmond had been right.
The next few days were a combination of seriousness and laughter. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were leaving, but they were finishing another year. Friends were separating for the summer, and others were making plans to see each other almost a week after they departed the Hogwarts Express. Inter-school couples were saying goodbye, and inter-school couples were exchanging very physical goodbyes. And still, hanging over them all, was Dumbledore's ominous statement, that You-Know-Who had returned.
The day the exchange students left was a particularly sad one for Celia's friends. She and Aaron were sure that they would see Alex soon, but they would miss her all the same. Mick and Alex had also become very close, which concerned Celia. Sarah and Aaron had promised to stay in touch, and Sarah was trying to hint to Aaron that she would like him to come visit her. Aaron was not getting the hint. Susan was exchanging very physical goodbyes with the boy from Durmstrang that she had gone to the Yule Ball with, and was being frequently reprimanded for it. His English had improved somewhat, and now Susan was almost certain that they were a couple. Almost.
The day after the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students had left, Celia found the opportunity to speak to Harry that she had been looking for. It seemed almost as if he had been avoiding her; he would not look at her at mealtimes, when they passed each other in the hall, he would hurry past, and when they accidentally caught each others eye, he looked away. This time, they were completely deserted in the Entrance Hall, save for a few Slytherins going to the dungeons, and Harry was certainly not going to talk to them.
"Harry?" Celia called.
"Yeah?" he turned around, not realizing who was calling him, "ah," he said, seeing her, "uh… hey… Celia."
"Harry, I want to talk to you," she said, walking over to him.
"Uh… right. Listen, I'm sorry about the result of the tournament, I just got to the cup before Cedric, I'm not better than him-"
"I'm glad you won," she cut across him.
"What?" Harry said, completely taken aback.
"I'm glad you won. Cedric… Cedric told me… you saved him."
"He… he did?"
"Yeah. And… if you hadn't gotten to the cup first, if he had, or something, then, he could have died. And you faced You-Know-Who. And you must have been so brave. So I'm glad you won."
Harry was not sure how to respond.
"Well… thanks."
"And thank you. For saving him. Twice."
"He would have… done the same for me."
Celia nodded.
"He would have. And I'm glad you saved him."
Celia hugged him tightly.
Everyone welcomed the end of term. Students poured out of the front doors with their luggage, owls hooting in their cages and cats mewing loudly. Celia and Cedric, now almost fully recovered, drug their things up the stairs from the basement and out to the grounds. People were moving slowly towards the Hogwarts Express. Finding an empty compartment, they deposited their things and tracked down the rest of their friends. With them, Hannah, Ernie, Justin, and Mick, it was a tight fit in the cabin, even more so when Aaron stopped by to visit. Cedric left the cabin periodically to see to his prefect duties, but returned for the final portion of the trip. When the train finally shuddered to a halt in Kings Cross, the group continued their conversations as they rose and pulled down their belongings and drug them onto the platform.
The group made plans for the summer as they searched for their parents, and, one by one, they separated. They hugged goodbye, and finally it was just Celia, Aaron, and Cedric left. They found their parents at the same time, as the Paces and the Diggorys had been conversing. Celia, Cedric, and Aaron made the rounds, hugging first their own parents, then each others. Claire Pace hugged Cedric as tightly has she had hugged her own children, then patted him on the cheek.
"Good to see you're alright," she smiled.
"Celia barely left my side until I got out of the Hospital Wing," Cedric smiled at her.
"She's a good girl, Ced," Amos Diggory smiled at her too. Celia blushed.
"Well, we were just talking about plans for the summer," Anne Diggory smiled at her son and the two young Paces, "Mr. and Mrs. Pace were gracious enough to invite us to their house for a few weeks this summer," she said, more so to Cedric, "and I'm sure this more than meets your approval," she smiled at them all.
"Really?" Celia turned to her parents. They nodded and smiled.
Celia and Cedric looked thrilled; Aaron however, looked a little dismayed.
"Great, another two weeks with these two together. Like I don't have to deal with them enough at school," he smirked, half joking, half serious.
"Of course, your father and I can't stay there the whole time, your father's got work, and your uncle needs help moving, so we'll be helping him with that. So the majority of the time it'll just be you at the Pace's, Ced," she smiled at her son, "so you'll have to be on your best behavior. I've also given Mrs. Pace permission to hex you if you get too out of hand," she laughed.
"It's Celia's Uncle Sawyer you've got to worry about hexing you," Claire laughed.
Cedric's smile faded very fast.