Wrap Me in Light
1st September 1993
When Cedric Diggory was fourteen years old something curious happened to him. He fell asleep gazing into a crystal ball in the middle of Divination class.
Cedric Diggory did not fall asleep in the middle of class. Ever.
But who could blame him? He'd been up late the night before finishing a potions essay that he'd put off in favor of trying out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team earlier that day. When he'd finally fallen asleep, he spent the whole evening plagued by misty dreams of a girl with wild curly hair and a sparkling mind.
He didn't know her, but he dreamed about her every night since the beginning of term, and there was always a huge lion following along behind her. She did not notice it, but Cedric did. He tried to call out to her, to tell her there was a beast stalking her. She didn't hear him, she never did. But the Lion would look at him, and then follow silently behind her.
She was always on her own, except for the lion. Cedric wanted to know why. Sometimes he'd see her crying in the corridor, once in a girl's bathroom, and even after she had friends, sometimes she'd curl in on herself at night and weep. By the end of his third year, he knew her name, the whole school did.
When Cedric Diggory was fifteen years old, the Chamber of secrets was opened and Hermione Granger…the muggle-born, golden girl of Gryffindor was petrified by the Heir of Slytherin. He had nightmares for weeks. Of her stiff and unmoving as a stone statue or of her writhing on the ground, twitching in agony.
Her screams echoed in his head while he slept, and sometimes long after he awoke. She was surrounded by darkness, trembling on an icy cold marble floor. Bright scarlet blood ran down then length of her forearm. She was pale, tired, and looked so much older. He feared for a moment that she was going to give up. "HELP HER!" He yelled at the lion, her constant shadow. "DO SOMETHING!" There was a loud crash, a bright flash of blinding light, and then silence.
Eventually, Cedric would wake, coughing and gasping for breath, as if he'd been held under water for too long. What harm had the poor girl done anyone that she deserved such a fate? 'Nothing,' answered his mind, 'Nothing but stand in the way of the darkness.'
oOoOo
When Cedric Diggory was sixteen years old, he caught the Gryffindor Princess in two places at once on multiple occasions. Once he saw her tucking a golden chain underneath her blouse. He followed her that time, but she only went to her next class.
His dreams tortured him with wormholes, fixed points, and minds lost to time. His girl trapped in a war-torn Muggle England with no way to get home. Of her gaining everything only to lose it all. She was sick and alone, with no one to care for her.
Apart from his dreams, the dementors and a mass-murderer being on the loose, it had been a quiet year; filled only with his OWLs, Quidditch, and keeping a steady protective eye trained on Hermione Granger.
It was quiet until the end of term. The Golden Trio were in the hospital wing…again.
Rumor had it that Ronald Weasley fell off a hippogriff and broke his leg. Sirius Black was Potter's father, and that the Whomping Willow had whomped Professor Snape, breaking several ribs. Potter eluded a werewolf and fought off a swarm of dementors in the Forbidden Forest. Apparently, Potter could perform a fully corporeal Patronus. Hermione hexed Crabbe and Goyle, punched Malfoy, and broke her hand…so said the rumor mill of Hogwarts…
It wasn't until the summer that his dreams spilled over into his waking hours. They were so different, the visions. Before, Cedric only ever saw Hermione, and the lion. At first, they were completely unrelated, or so he thought. He saw broken tumbling castle walls that were surrounded by fields swathed in emerald green dotted with bright yellow and purple flowers. He heard the clash of swords wielded by two boys in silver chainmail and red tunics. A prince, usurped and on the run. An ice wall that chilled him to the bone, a woman…a white sorceress with eyes black as coal and lips as red as blood, and Hermione, freezing to death once more in a dark chamber.
One day it changed, and he saw a huge birch tree, Hermione laying beneath it. She was older, almost a woman, pouring over a pile of books with her head in the lap of a young man who wore a silver crown. That was the day the words came to him…haunting and hopeful all at once. He recorded them and then understood. Hermione was a child of prophecy.
oOoOo
Today Cedric Diggory turned seventeen. He knew the second he'd awoken that morning that he was going to die. He didn't know when, but he knew it would happen. He rose out of bed feeling solemn. All night long his dreams tormented him. Visions of green flashes of light, blood-curdling screams, the sounds of sobbing students and faculty rang in his ears. He saw her face in the crowd. Silent tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked as if someone had torn her heart to pieces. His heart broke for her.
Cedric leant forward against the baluster of his bedroom balcony. The sun was just beginning to rise and a cool morning breeze ruffled his hair as he watched the tree line, waiting for the light to chase away his nighttime demons.
Then the lion came.
It padded right up to him and sat back on its haunches next to him. Cedric turned his gaze to the majestic beast beside him. He didn't feel scared, but rather brave and at peace. Cedric couldn't tear himself away from the amber gaze. Then it spoke.
"Son of Adam," it purred. Cedric felt a shiver run up the length of his spine. He had the urge to kneel before the golden beast, and did so. "I see you are well-placed under the banner of Helga. She knew the true value of humility, as you do." Cedric looked up. If lions could smile, he was sure this one just had. The beautiful lion opened its mouth and breathed. All of the tension in Cedric's body and mind released.
"Who are you?" he asked. "I know you, but not your name."
"I have many names young one, but you may call me Aslan."
Cedric nodded. "How do you know me?" Aslan chuckled, it was like a clap of thunder, but rolling and warm.
"I formed you, Son of Adam." Cedric remained silent as he contemplated the Lion's answer, he didn't understand, but he found himself believing Aslan's words.
"And what do you ask of me?" The Lion smiled. Again, Cedric wasn't completely sure how he knew that Aslan had a request to make of him. He knew without a doubt that he would do as he was asked. If only to feel this peace forever.
"You have carried much with you these last few years, Son of Adam," Aslan began, his tail flicked.
Cedric nodded. He'd figured it out a while ago. He didn't think that the gift of prophecy ran in his family. It was extremely rare in the magical world, and those who often had it were overlooked and ridiculed for their ability. Cedric didn't begrudge his gift in any way. He just hadn't known what to do with it. All of his dreams and visions centered around one Miss Hermione Granger, and the Great Lion that followed her.
"What would you have me do, Aslan?" he asked once more.
"My Son, do not let the wisdom and understanding bestowed upon you out of your sight. Retain your sound judgment and discretion, they will be life for you, an ornament of my grace around your neck. But when the appointed time comes, you must depart with them and you will move forward into the safety of my kingdom. When you at last, lie down, you will no longer be afraid, but your sleep will be sweet. For all things have their time."
Cedric took a moment to mull over Aslan's words and commit them to his memory. "How will I know the right time to pass on the knowledge that I have?" he asked.
"I will tell you." It was a simple answer. Cedric didn't really like not having the details, but only because he wanted to do it right, for Hermione's sake. He looked into Aslan's eyes once more, searching for an answer. He came up with nothing.
"And Hermione?" he asked tentatively, "Will she be alright?"
"I can only tell you your own story," said Aslan. Cedric frowned, but before he could object the Lion continued. "I have need of her."
"It's going to take her innocence," he murmured, trying to bite back the rest of his defense of her.
Aslan's eyes were warm. "Tell me Son of Adam, have you ever once believed I would bring harm to her?"
Cedric shook his head. "No, Aslan." In fact, Cedric often wondered if the lion in his dreams was her protector. "I just don't want her to suffer. She's been through so much already," Cedric frowned, trying to sort out the many visions he'd had over the last several years, "Or she will anyway..."
"Miss Granger has a journey ahead of her, yes. But I will not forsake her, just as I have been with you…I will walk with her." Cedric felt peace return to him.
After a few moments of silence passed between them, Cedric asked, "It's going to be a hard year for me, isn't it, Aslan?"
"Only if you want it to be, Son of Adam," replied Aslan. "It is better to die having lived and loved well, then to live forever and never know love."
The sun was finally cresting over the tree line. It was blinding, but beautiful and as golden as the Great Lion's mane, soaking the garden and his very being with light. Somehow, Cedric no longer felt afraid to leave this world, he was only sad for those he'd leave behind. Cedric turned to thank the Great Lion, but he was already gone. He sighed and raked a hand through his still sleep-mussed hair.
"Get busy living or get busy dying, Diggory," he whispered to himself with a half-smile on his face. He knew just where to start, he was going to spend whatever life he had left in him, making sure that Hermione Granger knew what it meant to be loved.