Title: Just Like Magic

Summary: Similar heartbreaks have Hermione seek Cedric at the Yule Ball and, after a string of uncertainties, ultimately bring them together. But with Voldermort's return can it truly last? A "what if Cedric lived and fell for Hermione" story.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.

We stood in front of the door of 12 Grimmauld Place. We weren't sure what would be awaiting us behind this door but we only hoped we would be safe here. Harry stepped forward and tapped his wand on the weathered surface of the door and a serious of metallic clicks sounded before the door swung open with a creak. The gas lamps sprung to life, illuminating the narrow cobwebbed hallway. We looked around before Harry stepped forward.

"Severus Snape?" A voice called out.

"Mad-Eye?" Harry answered.

Just then a great rush of cold air swept through the hallway and then we all jumped. Something shifted in the shadows, rising from the carpet, before it rushed towards us. The shadow looked vaguely like Dumbledore—only ghostly and worm-eaten as if it was a corpse come to life—empty eye sockets, sunken face, and all. It raised its want before exploding in a cloud of dust and drifting back to the carpet.

"What was that about?" Ron asked.

"Mad-Eye's doing, I'd guess. In case Snape decided to come snooping."

The sound of a floorboard creak caused us all to stiffen and I slowly raised my wand, peering in the shadows.

"Harry?" a voice called out. "Hermione?"

A figure stepped out of the shadows and revealed itself. Sirius stood there, wand at the ready, before smiling and opening his arms for his godson. Harry didn't waste a moment before propelling himself into his arms. We all breathed a sigh of relief before making our way down the corridor.

"What are you kids doing here?" Sirius asked when Harry finally released him. "It's dangerous to be here."

"We could ask the same of you." Harry reminded.

"Cedric, how could you let them come here? Snape knows of this place if he chooses he could very well walk through here and snatch Harry up."

"I wasn't aware of where we were headed until Harry apparated us here. By then it was too late and I thought it best to seek safety."

"Well, you're here now. How about some tea?" Sirius offered as we made our way to the kitchen.

"I'll make it. If I remember correctly, you're a bit out of practice after all those years in Azkaban." Cedric stated as he walked to the store and readied the teapot.

We sat around the table and explained to Sirius of the Death Eater's invasion at the wedding and our little fight at the café. He could tell we were clearly spent. Ron asked me for my purse and I handed it over as he pulled out one of his father's radios. He turned it on and it hissed to life as the daily report began to read the list of dead and missing.

Sirius didn't seem to want to think of such things. "Harry, I've been meaning to ask you something and I think it's now or never since every time I've tried, fate took you away. I want to adopt you. Of course, only if you'll have me."

"What?" Harry asked as tears pricked his eyes.

"I know I can't offer you much now. And I've only got a year left before you're eighteen and a legal adult. But I want you to know you have family and I'm willing to be part of it."

"Yes." Harry answered. "I'd actually love that."

"Great." Sirius smiled. "Now that's settled. Any luck with Dumbledore's mission?" Harry turned towards me and I reached into the purse and pulled out the locket. I handed it over to Sirius who opened it and read the folded up parchment to himself. "So, I assume you are searching for R.A.B.?"

"Yes. Any ideas?" I asked.

"Cedric. Are you too caught up in this beautiful witch to help her out?"

"Excuse me?" Cedric asked as he handed us all our cup of tea. "Am I supposed to know who R.A.B. is?"

"If I'm not mistaken, you should. You stayed in his room." We all stared at both of them in shock. "Come. I'll show you."

The four of us trailed Sirius to the second floor. Sirius stood in front of a narrow doorway, beyond which is a cramped bedroom with walls that are covered with eerie scrawling and symbols of Dark Magic.

"Lovely." I state sarcastically. "You stayed in here?"

Cedric nodded but still seemed confused. Sirius pulled the door shut and affixed to the outside is a small sign. The hand-lettered sign reads: "Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black."

"Regulus Arcturus Black?" I read aloud. Suddenly I gasped as I realize what that means. Sirius nodded and extended his hand and tapped the first letter of each name on the sign. "R.A.B."

"R.A.B. was your brother?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately."

"Did you ever see him with anything like this?" Harry dangled the necklace.

"Sadly, my brother and I lost touch over the years. I can't be much help in that department." He ushered us away from the doorway. "It's been a long night why don't we head to bed and we can search through the house tomorrow."

Sirius showed us rooms that we could sleep in and he left us for the night. Cedric and I were attempting to sleep but I could shake the feeling that the first Horcrux could be very close by. Didn't it at least warrant a search party? We still had five more to search for.

"Do you think he actually destroyed the real Horcrux?" I asked.

"We'll find out tomorrow. Come on its been a long day." He kissed my temple. "Get some sleep."

I awoke and peered at the cobwebbed chandelier overhead. I sat up and looked over at Cedric who was sound asleep with his arm dangling over the side of the mattress. In the next room I could hear the sound of the radio hissing and names being read aloud. I hopped into the shower and dressed quickly and gave Cedric and chance before we began our search.

All our wands were lit as we searched through the various bedrooms. Cedric and Sirius were hard a work sifting through Regulus' room and that left the others to Ron, Harry, and me. I passed by a doorway and noticed Harry staring at photograph. The nameplate on the door led me to believe it was Sirius' room. I made my way over to Harry through the ransacked room and looked over the photograph of four young men dressed in Hogwarts uniforms. By studying the photo it was obvious that the men were Harry's dad, Sirius, Lupin, and that rat, Peter Pettigrew. They stood before the Whomping Willow and I looked on as Harry traced his wand across their faces.

Books and papers were all over the carpeted floor. I picked up a book by Bathilda Bagshot and studied her face before noticing a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. I picked it up and called Harry.

"It's from your mother."

His eye lit up. "Read it?"

I opened the paper and read aloud. "'Dear Sirius. Thank you for Harry's birthday present. You'd think he'd been born on a broom. James says he's got the look of a Seeker, but then James would. We had a very quiet birthday tea, just us and old Bathilda, who dotes on Harry. Wormy dropped by late in the day, but seemed down and didn't stay long. James is frustrated being shut up here, but Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak, so he doesn't have much choice. By the way, Bathilda tells the most amazing stories about our old Headmaster. I don't know how much to believe. Can it really be true that Dumbledore—'"

"Harry! Hermione!" Ron called. "Come quick!"

Harry pocketed the letter as we walked over to where Ron was peering out of a curtain. In the courtyard outside, two dark figures stood near a tree and another was sitting on a bench.

"The two clinging to the tree are Death Eaters for sure. Dunno 'bout the bloke on the bench." Ron released the curtain. "Can't see us, of course. But we'll have to be careful coming and going."

Silence passed between us as we made our way down to the kitchen.

"I'm thinking we should go talk to Bathilda Bagshot." Harry mentioned as he gestured to the note. "She still lives in Godric's Hollow. I'm thinking maybe she could help us."

I looked up at Harry and regarded him closely. "Harry. I can imagine why you'd want to go there, but… I don't think Bathilda Bagshot is going to know where Voldemort hid his Horcruxes."

Harry went to respond but frowned instead. I reached out and touched his face lightly.

"Stop! I order you!" Sirius screamed from down in the kitchen. The three of us raced to see a very angered Cedric and Sirius standing in front of Kreacher. Sirius reached out and dragged the house-elf by one ear as Kreacher mumbled foul words. "Been spying on us, have you?"

"Kreacher has been… watching. Kreacher always watches." The house-elf answered.

I said, "Maybe he knows."

The boys glanced at me, realizing what I mean. Harry took the locket and dangled it before Kreacher's massive eyes. Kreacher watched it sway back and forth. "Ever seen this before?"

Kreacher grumbled incoherently.

"Kreacher." Sirius warned. "I own this place and I own you too. Answer him."

The house-elf grimaced before he gave in. "That was Master Regulus' locket."

"We figured that much." Sirius mumbled.

I continued. "But there were two, weren't there?"

Kreacher spun his face ugly and vicious. "Filthy Mudblood—The Death Eaters will soon be coming for you." Cedric snatched Kreacher by the neck and shook him, causing Kreacher to gargle the last few words. "Blood-traitor Diggory—"

"Cedric! Cedric!"

He released Kreacher reluctantly. "Answer her."

Kreacher's eyes widened in surprise before he nodded and answered. "Yes. But Kreacher doesn't know where the other locket is."

"Was it ever here?" Sirius asked.

"Yes. It was here, in this house. A most evil object…"

"How do you mean?" Harry questioned.

"Before he died, Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to destroy it. It was the last thing he asked of Kreacher. But no matter how Kreacher tried, he could not…"

Cedric stepped forward. "Where is it now? Did someone take it?"

Kreacher nodded. "He came in the night. He took many things, including the locket."

Sirius, angered, screeched. "Who, Kreacher? Who was it?"

"Mundungus. Mundungus Fletcher."

We all glanced at one another before Sirius turned back to Kreacher and looked him in the eye. "Find him."

With a crack, Kreacher vanished.

Days passed as we waited for Kreacher to return. We were all in the kitchen. Ron fiddled with the radio as it whistled eerily in his attempt to find a signal. Cedric and Sirius pored over newspaper articles. Harry lay on his side and studied the Snitch in his palm as its wings flapped slowly.

"They have flesh memories." I told Harry. "Snitches. They're never touched by bare skin until the Seeker captures it. Even the wizard who fabricates it wears gloves. That way if there's a dispute, the Snitch can identify who first touched it."

"You mean…" Harry pondered, "It remembers me?"

I nodded. "When Scrimgeour first gave it to you, I thought it might open at your touch—that Dumbledore had hidden something in it."

Before Harry could answer a crack sounded and pots begun to crash as Mundungus tried to pry Kreacher and Dobby off him. Dobby is banged into the wall opposite Mundungus and scrambles up. He stopped and smiles at Harry.

"Harry Potter! So long it's been—"

Dobby gets pulled back into the fight before they tumbled from one side of the kitchen to the other, flying apart. Mundungus rolled to his feet, dripping wet, wand flashing.

"Expelliarmus!" I screamed. Mundungus' wand soared into the air and right into my hand.

"As requested. "Kreacher drawled. "Kreacher has returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher."

Dobby piped up. "Dobby has also returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher."

"What are you playing at?" Mundugus yelled. "Setting a pair of bleedin' 'ouse-elves on me!"

"Dobby was only trying to help!" Dobby cried. "Dobby saw Kreacher in Diagon Alley, which Dobby thought was curious. And then Dobby heard Kreacher mention Harry Potter's name, which Dobby thought was very curious. And then Dobby saw that Kreacher was talking to the thief Mundungus Fletcher, which Dobby thought was very, very—"

"I'm no thief, you foul little git! I'm a purveyor of rate and wondrous objects—"

"You're a thief, Dung." Ron sneered. "Everyone knows it."

"Master Weasley!" Dobby exclaimed. "So good to see you again."

Ron nodded and eyed the bright red shoes on Dobby's feet. "Wicked trainers."

"Listen," Mundungus reasoned, "I panicked that night, all right? I never volunteered to die for you, mate. Can I help it if Mad-Eye fell off his broom—"

"Stop lying!" I screamed in a frustrated voice. I had begun to move towards him until Cedric grabbed my shoulders.

"Let's not rehash the past, okay?"

Sirius stated, "Moving forward. When you decided to steal from me—and done deny it—you found a locket, am I right?"

"Why?" Mundugus asked. "Was it valuable?"

"You've still got it?" I asked in shock.

"No." Ron answered. "He's worried he should have got more money for it."

"Wouldn't be difficult, would it?" Mundungus began. "Bleedin' gave it away, din' I? There I was, pitching me wares in Diagon alley when some ministry hag comes up and asks to see my license. Says she's of a mind to lock me up and would've, too, she hadn' taken a fancy to that locket."

"Who was she?" Harry asked. "This witch."

Mundungus' eye caught a newspaper picture. He pointed. "Well, she's right there, in't she? Bleedin' bow an' all."

We walked over and saw the toad face of Dolores Umbridge.

As Mafalda Hopkirk passed by the doorway Harry zapped her with a spell to render her unconscious and caught her just as Ron lifter her legs and carried her in. We already had the three other Ministry workers needed for this to work. I was pouring the Polyjuice Potion into the four cups to prepare the dangerous mission we were about to get ourselves into.

"Right." Ron said as he propped Mafalda up between the other three. "So let's do it. Who gets who?"

"Well," I responded, "unless one of you fancies wearing a skirt…" I leaned over and plucked a hair from Mafalda and placed it into my cup. Ron frowned as he surveyed the remaining three wizards who weren't exactly the most handsome bunch.

Cedric grabbed the hair of the tall wizard and dropped it into his drink. "Remember what Sirius and I said. Keep your eyes down. Don't speak to anyone unless absolutely necessary. Act as normal as possible. Just do what you see everyone else doing. We do that—and with a bit of luck—we get ourselves inside. And then…"

"It gets really tricky." Harry finished.

"Correct."

We all looked up on the stunned wizards before us as Ron and Harry grabbed hair from the remaining two.

"This is completely mental." Harry stated.

"Completely, utterly, without question." I shook my head.

"The world's mental." Ron responded. "Come on, drink up. We've got a Horcrux to find."

A/N: Snuck Sirius in there! I wasn't originally going to have Cedric accompany the trio but it seemed I didn't have any other choice since I'm not ready to let him disappear just yet.