After walking back up from dinner they paused seeing the huge crowd that had accumulated outside the common room. Curious, Tanwen pushed her way through the other students. At the front she stopped abruptly and stared.
The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait and her canvas had been slashed viscously so that small pieces littered the floor.
Tanwen knew what was coming next as she heard Dumbledore's voice beside her. She knew before Peeves said his name but it still somehow seemed a shock and at his name she staggered back. Someone steadied her and she heard them say something but she just couldn't make out the words. How could this be true? Her Daddy- she thought it was sort of strange calling him that still, but she had never been through that stage where you start calling your Daddy Dad. To her he was still the same Daddy who sat with her on his lap in front of the fire, the same Daddy who took her to the park and pushed her on the swings. Had he really done this? And if he had, then why?
Her mind reeled and nothing seemed to be real as she felt herself steered round back down the route she had come. Someone was saying her name. With an effort she shook her head trying to clear it and looked up. Jon had his arm linked through hers and she had never seen him look quite so serious.
"I'll be fine Jon," she tried to reassure him, "honestly, it was just the shock." It sounded so feeble in her ears by itself, but she couldn't really tell him why it was such a shock. She had given her word.
But he seemed to accept it easily enough; most of the Gryiffindors were silent during the long walk back to the Great Hall anyway. It was only when the other houses joined them about ten minutes later looking bewildered that voices began to break out again.
As she stood their watching everyone Cedric, Will and Lizzie came over to her. She forced a smile as the approached.
"What's going on?" asked Cedric before he paused for Dumbledore's announcement.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you'll need to spend the night in the Hall. I want the Prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the Hall and I'm leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately, send word with one of the ghosts," he paused as he was about to leave the Hall and moved the tables to the wall and conjured many squishy purple sleeping bags.
As soon as he left the others turned their attention back to Tanwen. "The Portrait that guards the entrance to our common room has been attacked-slashed," she told them dully, "Peeves was there and he said he saw Sirius Black do it."
"Sirius Black?!?" exclaimed Will, "No wonder Dumbledore's taking this so seriously!"
"I wonder where he's gone. I can't believe he was in the castle after all the extra security!" added Lizzie.
Cedric was watching Tanwen very closely as she stood their, mute.
"I don't know, don't ask me to fathom the mind of a mur-"
"Don't!" said Tanwen, interrupting Will and putting her hands over her ears.
"What?" Asked Will, confused, "don't what?"
"Just…" she searched for the words, "just don't." She turned round and walked away from them.
"What on earth was that about?" asked Will in bewilderment. Lizzie shrugged.
"Wait," Cedric caught up with her and turned Tanwen to face him, "What's up? I know that something's wrong, can't you tell me?"
"No," she turned her head away, "I can't, I just can't!"
He frowned and stooped so that his eyes were on her level, "Tanwen, please, I want to help."
"Oh I know you do," she said with feeling, "and believe me I wish you could. But-"
"But I can't, right?" he interrupted. Tanwen nodded and took a step forwards, wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "Shhh, shh, it's ok," he soothed as he held her close, stroking her hair, "everything'll be alright."
'How will it?' Tanwen asked herself silently, 'how will it? I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.'
"Err, Cedric?" Percy cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Yeah, I know, which entrance do you want me to stand at?"
She had forgotten Cedric was a prefect.
"Join those three over there," replied Percy importantly gesturing to three prefects who stood by one of the doors.
"Right," replied Cedric and Percy walked away to give out more orders, "you going to be ok?" he asked her holding her face in his hands. She nodded, "get some sleep," he advised as he kissed her lightly and walked away.
Tanwen smiled to herself, he really was very attractive. Still smiling she went to pick up a sleeping bag. She didn't really care much where she lay down; she wasn't really in the mood for talking. Cedric had helped settle her but she didn't think she could bare people's thoughts on how the 'murderer' got in.
She settled near to Harry, Ron and Hermione who too were discussing how they thought Black could have gotten in. She lay down and tried to ignore them. Lying on her back she looked up at the stars glittering in the enchanted ceiling above and wondered like many where he had gone, but unlike others she also wondered how he was. That picture of him had shown him in poor condition, she couldn't bear to think that he was suffering. Again the image of the torn portrait appeared in her mind. What had possessed him to do that, it was so- violent. Not exactly the actions of the man she had known. Maybe his time in Azkaban had changed him, maybe he was…different. She pulled the sleeping bag up to her neck, she hoped not.
For hours she stared up at the ceiling her mind going over the same questions with the same answers. Sometimes she would remember how things had been when she was a child, when he was still with her, and she wondered again and again if this could be the same person. From time to time her eyes would drift to Cedric who stood talking quietly to the other prefects. It was odd how just the sight of him could make her feel comforted.
She couldn't really keep track of the time as she lay there deep in thought, but some time in the early morning Professor Dumbledore returned to search out Percy. She listened as they talked and were joined by Snape.
"It seems- almost impossible- that Black could have entered the school without inside help," Snape was saying. For a split second she thought that he meant her; that Lupin or Dumbledore had said something to him and he thought that she'd done something to help him get in. But she soon banished that thought from her mind. "I did express my concerns when you appointed-"
"I do not believe that a single person in this castle would have helped Black enter it," interrupted Dumbledore firmly.
They continued to talk for a while but Tanwen wasn't really listening anymore. She was thinking that what Dumbledore had just said wasn't entirely true. Would she have helped him? She thought that she probably would have, she didn't know what he wanted because she was sure that he didn't want to kill Harry. She'd been there after all when she and Harry had played together with her father and his parents- it was strange but she couldn't really remember her mother. Just a vague image of a woman with long, dark hair and soft hands, but she knew that her mother was beautiful and that she had- and maybe if she was alive still did- love her.
The way things were at the moment meant that she spent a lot of time thinking about her father, but she never forgot her mother. Ever since she was little she had felt like she was waiting, waiting for her mother to come back and take her in her arms. She knew it was stupid, she didn't even know if she was still alive, but she couldn't help how she felt.
She sighed deeply and turned over on her side with the intention of getting at least a little sleep. Just as the ceiling above showed the early morning rays lacing through the clouds she drifted off to sleep.
The next few days felt like some sort of torture that the rest of the world had concocted for her as the rest of the school could talk of nothing but Sirius Black. Cedric somehow seemed to sense that this was not a subject that she wanted to talk about and when she was with him he never mentioned it. Her friends on the other hand were just as eager to muse over the various theories about her father as the rest of the school and so she found herself spending less and less time with them and more with Cedric.
During breaks and lunchtimes she would find him and they would wander round the grounds just talking until it was time to go to lessons. And after lessons had finished for the day she would often find him waiting outside classes for her. She never understood how he always managed to finish before her. Sometimes they would go flying but more often than not the pitch was booked for team practices. Of course Cedric had practices too and when he did she would walk around the grounds on her own despite the worsening weather or go to the library rather than face the bustle of the common room.
One day she was just standing by the lake watching the tiny ripples that occasionally disturbed the surface, when she heard the sound of someone running up behind her. She turned just in time for Cedric to run into her lifting her off her feet as they staggered back a few paces. Laughing she kissed him and asked how his practice had gone.
Face flushed from the practice session he set her down and explained breathlessly, "We're playing you, well Gryiffindor, on Saturday!"
"Why? What happened?"
"Well apparently Slytherin's seeker is suffering from injuries and so our matches have been swapped round."
"Oh I see, do you think you're ready?"
"I think so, I've picked a different team this term and…" he paused and turned to grin at her, "I don't think I should be telling you this," he began seriously, "after all you are the enemy."
"The enemy?" she poked him playfully in the stomach, "How dare you call me the enemy?" She looked at him in mock outrage, "anyway just because I wish that your team gets a sound thrashing..." she jumped out of the way as he made a lunge at her, "…doesn't mean that I won't be giving you my full support as your loving girlfriend." She laughed and ran up the lawn away from him as he chased her towards the castle.
The morning of the match dawned cold and wet. Tanwen was glad she wasn't playing in this weather. The rain lashed down in torrents and the wind howled outside her window. She watched as the trees fought against the wind, their branches streaming out behind them like banners.
"Rather you than me," she told Alicia as they made their way down to breakfast.
"Yeah, it doesn't look like ideal conditions does it?" she replied peering through the windows in the common room.
Clem glared at Tanwen on the way past, she didn't understand what she had done, but Clem had never really liked her. Tanwen did her best to avoid her, she didn't like confrontations, maybe she should have talked to her about it or something, but it didn't really bother her that much. Only sometimes.
"She's just jealous," Marcia whispered to Tanwen.
"Jealous?" asked Tanwen in surprise, "about what?"
"Cedric of course, she's always had a bit of a thing for him, well a lot of people have."
"Oh, but she never really liked me even before that," Tanwen replied, confused.
"I wouldn't worry about it," said Lou coming through the doors, "let's just go to breakfast. And I'd worry more about having to sit out doors in this weather."
After breakfast they came up to get their cloaks, they needn't have bothered really though, either way they were going to get soaked. Tanwen hadn't seen Cedric yet, feeling a little disloyal she hoped he was going to be alright.
Heads bowed against the wind they followed the crowd headed for the pitch, battling against the wind. They found seats half-way up the stands,
"There they are," shouted Cassie above the wind, pointing as the scarlet clad figures emerged from the changing rooms. The Hufflepuff team were already on the pitch wearing canary yellow robes.
Somehow the teams heard the whistle and took off. The crowd strained their eyes and ears to see the play and hear the commentary over the noise of the storm.
"I've never known it to be this bad," shouted Dom, who had Lou sheltering under his cloak as well.
But any real attempt at conversation was useless as their words were lost in the wind. Tanwen searched the sky for the two seekers; in an odd way she felt her loyalties were divided. Cedric was obviously her boyfriend and she knew him much better than Harry, but Harry-well she had known him since he was a baby and she had promised his parents that she would look after him.
She'd never played in conditions like this and could only imagine what it might be like to be up there.
Suddenly things seemed to get even colder, Tanwen gasped in horror at the approaching cloaked figures. Already she was beginning to feel light-headed and she could hear the beginnings of the screams and moans that haunted her. Sitting down abruptly she put her head between her legs and tried to fight it. Real screams all around her interrupted her and she looked up through foggy vision to see Harry falling through the air. Heart in her mouth, she stumbled to her feet and somehow pushed past people to the end of the row where she finally fell unconscious.
Coming round seconds later she saw the retreating backs of the Dementors and Harry lying on a stretcher in front of Dumbledore. Knees still weak and shaking she grabbed hold of the handrail next to her and pulled herself to her feet.
'Please let him be alright!' she prayed silently as she staggered down the steps. Without warning her feet gave way and she fell down the remainder of the steps. Somewhere on the way down she heard a sickening crack and a sharp pain shot up her left arm.
She sat at the bottom in a huddled heap, due to the weather and the obvious distress of Gryffindor's seeker, no one seemed to have noticed her trip. Her head was still foggy and her body was shaking, she thought her arm might be broken. The pain was so intense she had to bite her lip to stop from crying out.
Noticing Harry being taken up the lawn on the stretcher she forced herself to stand. Clutching her left arm to her she somehow began to run after them, her mind blank except from the need to go to Harry.
But she wasn't running that fast and Ron and Hermione soon caught up with her. They cast her a sideways glance and then shrugged at one another.
By the time they reached the hospital wing Harry was already lying in bed. Tanwen sank into a chair against the wall opposite his bed.
"Is he going to be alright?" Hermione squeaked, her eyes extremely blood-shot.
"He'll need a couple of days rest but other than that he'll be fine," Madam Pomfrey told them.
Just then the rest of Gryffindor Quidditch team burst through the door and went to crowd round Harry's bed, their faces' still obviously white under the layers of mud.
No one noticed her where she sat and Ron and Hermione seemed to have forgotten she was there. Shivering violently she still clutched at her arm, her face pale except from a bleeding cut on her forehead, repeating to herself, 'he's going to be fine,' barely aware of her surroundings. She felt drained and her arm was throbbing but she just didn't have the energy to draw any attention to herself.
As the team were turned round and shooed out the door they noticed her sat in her chair.
"Tanwen are you alright?" asked Alicia with concern, she made no response, "Madam Pomfrey," she called turning slightly.
"What is it?" asked the matron as she bustled over, "Oh," she said spotting Tanwen, "and what happened to you?"
"Fell," Tanwen managed to murmur.
"Help me get her to a bed," she told Fred and George. They went to take an arm each but Tanwen cried out in pain as George touched her left arm. So he stopped and lifted her bodily to the nearest bed. Tanwen glanced over at Harry's pale form to her left before closing her eyes.
When she came to she heard a voice saying,
"Good to see you awake, how are you feeling?"
Turning her head she saw Cedric sitting at her bedside, she sat up slowly flexing her left arm experimentally.
"Better," she replied, "still a bit weak, but no more pain. How long have I been here?"
"Not long, the match finished about two hours ago," he replied.
"Harry!" she said remembering suddenly.
"Yes?" he answered. Turning she saw him lying in the bed next to her, looking pale and a little depressed, but alive.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright," she told him.
"Mr Diggory, I'm afraid if you don't leave now you'll be late for lunch," said Madam Pomfrey as she came over to check on her patients.
"That's her subtle way of telling me to leave," Cedric grinned as he got up, he kissed her forehead, "I'll see you later."
"Bye." As Cedric left she turned back to Harry who was frowning at Cedric's retreating back, "What happened?" she asked him.
"We lost," he replied dully, "Diggory caught the Snitch just after I fell."
"Oh,"
"Yeah, and my broom's broken," he paused remembering what Ron and Hermione had said and asked, "Why did you come in with the others when I fell?"
"I wanted to make sure you were alright, I didn't really see much of what happened, but I thought for a moment that something terrible had happened."
Harry pondered this; it didn't really answer his question. They were friends yes, but not that close, why had she made all that effort? Ron had said that she was in a pretty bad way.
Tanwen watched him thinking; she had a vague idea what he was going over and wondered just how much she should tell him. Nothing about her father she knew, but she wanted to say something. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry for what he could hear when the Dementors got close; from what she heard she guessed it was something to do with his parents and Voldemort. She wanted to tell him that…
Hermione and Ron came through the door.
"Hi Harry, how are you doing?" asked Ron coming to sit on the end of his bed.
"Feeling any better?" enquired Hermione.
Whatever she was going to say would have to wait until later. She lay back onto her pillows and closed her eyes.
When she woke up several hours later Madam Pomfrey said she was well enough to leave and could go down to dinner. After washing and dressing behind a screen she went to Harry and said, "I'll speak to you later, get better soon," and left.
'Speak to you soon,' pondered Harry, 'what did she have to speak to me about? Maybe I'm reading too much into it and she only meant it in a 'see you later' sort of way.'
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A/N: Thanks Celine! I'm glad someone wants me to keep going, I like this fic so I think somehow I'm going to find a way to keep it going. Although I won't have to sort that problem for ages I've got so much in between what's been posted and what I've written ^__^
Well, hope you enjoyed this chap, I'll try and update soon.