Author's Note: Yes I did add three new chapters because I felt the story was going too slow and the chapters were too short so Chapter Seven will hopefully make up for that. If you don't like the way this chapter ends, do not tell me because this story is completely done and I will not change all 200 pages I wrote for one person. So here is lucky number chapter seven, enjoy!
Chapter Seven
Hermione lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling, imagining the swirls on it, spinning around uncontrollably. She thought of how children were dying because they didn't have any food and how they stayed in boxes. She wanted to help them. She wanted to give them food. Hermione rolled to her side. This time she thought about hands and how different they were. How people could crack their knuckles easily and how dangerous they could be at times. She thought her hands were somewhat pretty, but other's hands were sometimes ugly. They were somewhat romantic and-
Someone opened the door. Hermione turned her head slightly and saw Parkinson in her flannels. She expected something a little more sensual, but she made it look like it was the middle of winter. Hermione sat up. "Parkinson…you're up rather late."
"Your one to talk," Pansy said. She stepped in and gently closed the door. Then she flung herself onto the free side of Hermione's bed. She let out a deep breath of air. Hermione was very confused. "Your bed is so much more comfortable than the others."
"The others?" Hermione asked. Pansy looked up and smiled.
"Well, I've lain in Draco's and tested out Potter's while he was gone. But yours feels like it's completely made out of feathers."
"It is…" Hermione said moving the blankets from a free spot. She felt around a little bit and then felt a slight poking in her finger tip. She pulled it out and waved it in the air like a flag. Pansy stared at it and then grabbed it. "Quite annoying really, they stab me all the time."
"Well obviously, look at what you're wearing." Hermione looked down and remembered she was wearing a satin night gown that didn't cover much.
"It gets hot. I put out the damned fire, but it still lights back up." Pansy shook her head smiling and then fell back onto the bed. She stared up at the ceiling. Hermione got back to wondering what made her come in here.
"Why are you in here?"
"I got bored. I usually have someone to talk me to sleep, but sense I'm a head girl now and we don't share rooms, it's like being back at home. Every night was like a sleep over last year." Pansy said, snuggling under one of Hermione's many blankets. "And if you're so hot, why do you sleep with so many blankets?"
"I feel safer." Hermione confessed.
"I see," Pansy said. She seemed so hyper and full of energy. Hermione all the sudden felt weird because of it. "Don't you ever wonder, what life would be like, if Cedric hadn't died." Hermione was confused; she had no idea who Pansy was talking about. She didn't know a single person named….Cedric. Cedric Diggory. Oh, she remembered now. Yes, she remembered.
"I haven't thought about it in a long time, Parkinson." She tried ever so hard to forget Cedric; the way he smelled, the way her touched her…she had tried to forget everything.
"I think it's time to come clean, Granger. I saw you and him, in the winter, sitting together at dinner. And then I was walking to potions and heard you giggling like a goon. I saw you too practically canoodling. He told you to meet him in the Herbology green house that night. So I followed you. Quite young, but it was kind of funny that he deflowered you in a bloody green house." Hermione felt her heart stinging as she relived the night.
Hermione jotted down some notes after her potions class and suddenly felt hands tangle around her waste. Then lips on her neck, traveling up to her ear lobe to nibble on it ever so lightly. She smiled, recognizing his scent right away. She turned and looked at Cedric Diggory.
She had fallen so in love with him ever since the first day of her fourth year. He had played a joke on her and then being the stubborn person she was, she went crazy and yelled at him. Finally he grabbed her and told her that he was sorry. She looked into his eyes and knew he was the one for her.
Hermione giggled as he put his hands on her waste. She kissed him quickly and then pulled away. "Cedric, you know we can't be seen together."
"Why not?" he asked, his lips pressing into her neck.
"Harry would just go…ballistic on me." He pulled away and put his hand on her cheeks and stared at her. His eyes were a greenish hazel color and his face was as if it was chiseled by a master sculptor.
"Then meet me tonight at 7:00, in the Herbology green house, the 3rd one of course. No one ever uses that one." Hermione smirked.
"Okay, I'll be there." He gave her a look, that was so unbelievably happy, but he tried very hard to keep it in.
Hermione checked the clock about a billion times that night at dinner, so anxious to get to the green house. Finally it was almost 7:00. She got up and Harry and Ron stared at her in confusion. "Where are you going?" Ron asked.
"I've got loads of homework." Hermione said quickly and then left the Great Hall. She bit her lip as she exited the school and felt the cool October air on his skin. Hermione had a sense of freeness when she was going somewhere to meet Cedric. He always had a surprise for her.
Hermione opened the door to the humid green house, set her bag down and looked around. There were roses everywhere, all different colors. And candles lit, just barely illuminating the place. Hermione walked towards a patch of peachy colored roses. She picked a few, but the petals instantly fell off.
Hermione crouched down to get the petals, feeling the warmth of another behind her. She stood back up and felt his body so close to her that it gave her the chills. "Hermione," he whispered, his hands removing the hair from her shoulders. She turned around instantly and looked at him. "I need to ask you a question?"
"Ask away, Cedric."
"Do you trust me?" he asked. Hermione was taken aback by this question. Of course she trusted him with her secrets. But was that really the question he was asking? She nodded anyway. He took her by the hand and kissed her. She returned the kiss more passionately with her tongue dancing upon his. His hands lingered on her hips for a bit and then slowly moved up towards her chest. Hermione pulled away and stopped them.
"Cedric…" she started looking at him. He looked confused. "I don't know if I'm quite ready for what it is you have in mind. I…I'm scared. I'm only fourteen, you're so much more experienced at this then I am."
He shook his head smiling, and put his hands on her face. "That's the thing though, I've never done this. I always wanted to do this with someone really special, who means a lot to me, who I loved. Now I know that it's you."
"Are you sure your not just using your pretty eyes and have done this before, or am I really the one."
"I love you, Hermione. I can't lie to you. I lose control when I haven't seen you in two hours. I can't concentrate on anything because I only think of you. I know, I know, I know…your only fourteen, but your something special, unlike the other girls I know. It's odd that-" Hermione put a finger to his lips.
"Cedric, you're talking too much. Use those lips to convince me another way." Hermione said. He breathed a sigh of relief and then tried to kiss her again, but it seemed like he couldn't bring himself to do it. His eyes got teary for some reason. Hermione sighed and turned, moving the roses from the table. She sat down and pulled Cedric in between her legs. She put her hands on his neck and looked at him. Finally she kissed him and he kissed her back with his tongue.
Hermione's hands found their way to his belt and took it off. She then started unbuttoning his white shirt, where she had found another shirt underneath. She wanted to groan, but held it in. Instead, she removed his robes, letting them drop to the floor. Hermione pulled his tie a little and he smirked in mid kiss. Then she took it off and quickly removed his white shirt.
Cedric then moved her hands and got started on her own white shirt and tie. He slowly undid her tie and then started on her buttons. His hands grazed her breasts gently, giving her the chills, which went away quickly though. She was as well wearing a shirt underneath. He took off the white shirt and felt Hermione's lips to his neck. His breathing was heavier than he could control, but he continued his job of taking off her shoes, rubbing her feet out of soreness and then starting on her knee high socks. He pulled those off gently and then caressed her smooth legs.
Hermione stopped him though, by yanking his shirt over his head to reveal his brilliant torso. Her hands explored him so full of curiosity. Her stomach ached more and more, wanting him so badly. He took off his shoes and looked at Hermione. She smiled and watched him slip out of his trousers.
"Off with the shirt, Hermione." Cedric said playfully. But she did so anyway to reveal her navy blue bra. She hopped off the table and then got closer to him again. She kissed him as he started to take off her skirt. But slowly they moved toward a bed she hadn't quite seen when she got there.
Finally he set her on the bed and took a deep breath. He unhooked her bra while they got into deep kissing mode again. She took off the bra and Cedric pulled away to look at her body so far. He was taken away by her perfect curves in just the right spots. She kissed him again, feeling a tad bit shy. She suddenly felt his hand on her leg, stroking it up and down, and then crossing over to the inside of her leg. His hand grazed over her underwear, giving her the chills once again. He played with the hem a little, and then decided to take them off. Hermione did the same thing to him.
He bowed in for one last kiss before entering her body. She moaned in ecstasy. And it continued for the rest of the night, because Hermione did trust Cedric…
"Why didn't he take you to the ball?"
"We sat together at dinner once, which was after he found out that Krum liked me. He felt extremely hurt, like I was going to leave him. I promised him I wasn't going to. But he still didn't believe me. So I went with Krum. He took Cho, just because he could. He didn't know Harry liked her." Hermione tried to swallow her sorrowful voice but it didn't work. She had touched Draco because he was better then a sculpture, because he was the same as Cedric.
"You didn't have a single tear in your eye when you discovered he was dead. You didn't feel depressed? He was the one, Hermione. You did it with him."
"Oh shut up, Parkinson! No one could know…" she said. "You kept it a secret didn't you? What else do you know?"
"You're quite a screamer. He had to put his hand over your mouth to keep you quite. His body was magnificent."
"I loved him, Pansy. I wanted him so bad, I still do."
"I know. You told him, actually you screamed it." Hermione looked at her strangely.
"You watched the whole thing, did you?"
"Not like I could see all of it, Hermione. Too many damn plants."
"Can we not talk about this, Pansy?" Hermione asked, looking at her hopefully. Pansy then saw the true brokenness in Hermione's eyes. She saw her dying and it almost made her want to cry. She nodded.
Hermione lay back down and stared the ceiling until she fell asleep. She fell into a deep stir of dreams, first about Ron, then about her and Cedric's night in green house. It hurt to relive it, even in her dreams. Then about Draco. Then about Harry and Ron trying to save Pansy in the darkest hall of Hogwarts. She woke up in a deep sweat, sitting bolt up right. Pansy was staring at her laughing.
"You do get hot when you dream. Do you dream about Draco often?"
"Wha'?" Hermione asked, swallowing over and over again.
"You screamed his name out, like you did Cedric's." Hermione looked around, ignoring her and saw that it was morning. "Then you screamed my name. I had no clue you liked girls, Granger." She smiled at Hermione and then tapped her cheek.
"I wasn't doing it with you, Parkinson. You were dying." Hermione said quietly. Pansy's smile vanished and she sat down.
"Quite a coincidence that you and Potter have the same dreams. I heard him screaming too, he said the same thing." Hermione shook her head in disbelief.
"It's just…it's nothing, Pansy."
"Yeah it is, Hermione. I know that Potter has these dreams and that they can predict the future. Weasley told me yesterday, when I talked to him. I asked him if he had a crush on you. He said he did and then we got into the whole conversation about dreams. He said it hurts for Harry."
"It does…Harry's mind is far different from any of ours."
"I noticed."
"Cedric's was different too. He was unlike any man I've ever met. But he was darker then anybody knew. He had these thoughts of-" Hermione was interrupted when Harry burst in with Ron by his side. Ron didn't look at Hermione though; he looked at Pansy, with a passion.
"We need you." Harry said.
"Put some clothes on though. No one wants to see that in the morning." Ron said jokingly. Hermione picked up her pillow and threw it at him. She nodded and then they waited outside.
"Sorry, Pansy. But we're onto something and we can stop that dream from happening if you let us go."
"You can't stop what you see in the future. Because every turn you take leads you to what you saw." Pansy said. Hermione knew what she was saying. Even if you tried your hardest or didn't try at all, somehow the future would find its way. But Hermione shook off the feeling. The dream was just a dream.
Hermione pulled on her uniform real quick and then her robes. She went out to the common room and they were talking to each other about girls of course. "That would be weird, we'd be like brothers." Harry said. Harry had been caught many times looking at Ginny, but hadn't touched her in forever. Hermione could tell he really wanted to be with her again.
She stood in front of them, as Pansy walked to her room. Ron watched her like a hawk. Cedric did that to Hermione a lot. But he got caught by Malfoy who had come out of his room with a book. He threw it at Ron, and it just missed his head. Hermione gasped a little.
Harry looked at him like he was crazy. He was a tad bit confused on why he had thrown the book in the first place. "Keep your eyes off of her, Weasley." Draco warned. Suddenly Harry knew; he looked at Ron and his jaw dropped.
The three of them walked down to breakfast, because the boys only really needed her for that reason. Harry couldn't get off the fact that Ron had a thing for Pansy though. It was somewhat odd to Hermione as well. "I can't believe it, Ron. First you go from Fleur, to Hermione-" Ron elbowed Harry in the ribs as hard as he could. Hermione smirked as Harry coughed. "To Parkinson?" he said, still coughing. "That's just…gross." He then remembered Pansy in Hermione's room this morning. "Wait, are you two friends now?"
"Harry…she's nice. I can talk to her about stuff."
"Stuff?" Harry and Ron both asked in unison.
"Yes, stuff."
"Like what?"
"Cedric," Hermione blurted. Her eyes widened in disbelief that she had actually just said that. They continued walking though, Harry and Ron looking at each other with questioning eyes. They then looked at Hermione.
"Cedric?" Harry asked. "Cedric Diggory? Why would you need to talk about him?" Hermione swallowed and walked a little faster.
"She…uh…used to like Cedric."
"Yeah right, she and Malfoy have been together forever. Did you used to like Cedric?" Ron asked.
"No," she said quickly, walking even faster.
"Hermione, you're not telling us something." Harry said, speeding up beside her.
"Just…leave it alone, Harry." Hermione snapped.
"Tell us," Harry insisted, getting angry.
"Harry, I told you to let it go!" Hermione said.
"Hermione…tell us!" Harry said, grabbing her wrist. She stopped and glared at him. "Tell us."
"Fine, you wanna know so badly? Cedric and I dated secretly…" Hermione said.
"That's not all, Hermione." Ron said. "I can tell when you're lying." She bit her lower lip to stop its trembling. Tears filled her eyes for the umpteenth time in the past two days.
"Cedric and I…" she swallowed and looked around. "Cedric and I, we, uh-"
"Oh just say it already!" Ron said.
"We lost our virginity together!" Hermione said in a loud whisper. Harry let go, and both of their jaws dropped.
"Why didn't you tell us, after all this time?" Harry asked, his voice getting even angrier.
"I couldn't, Harry. Ron and you were already angry with each other, I couldn't have both of you be mad at each other and then be mad at me, just because I loved Cedric. You would think I had traded sides."
"You did though, he was Harry's competition and you just…you gave him your body to make him feel all confident and when he was done, he could come back to you and make even more love to you."
"That's not what it was like, Ronald! It only happened once. Krum started liking me, he thought I liked Krum. Then the Yule Ball came and he and Cho were considered a couple."
"No, Hermione, he just wanted to get in your knickers and then go off to do Cho." Harry said coldly.
"You guys weren't there. You don't know how it happened." Hermione said becoming very hurt.
"It's too late to hold a grudge anyway, he's dead." Harry said dryly.
"How can you say that? He told me he loved me, Harry."
"It's just words, Hermione! He didn't mean it. He was 17 and you were only 14. You were naïve."
"I was not!"
"Yes you were, Hermione. You didn't know the difference between love and lies, you still don't."
"Oh shut up, Weasley. You're pretty naïve too; to believe you have a chance with Pansy." Draco said coming up behind them. "Go get some breakfast or something." Harry and Ron scoffed and then went off. Hermione was shaking and staring at Draco.
"You heard everything?" Hermione asked. He nodded.
"I heard you screaming his name in your sleep, Granger. Come on," They walked back to the dorms, where Pansy sat, drinking hot cocoa, even though it was perfectly warm in and outside. She sat down and wiped her wet face. Pansy summoned a platter of eggs and bacon on the coffee table with three cups of pumpkin juice. Draco sat next to Pansy.
"I knew that was gonna happen," Pansy said. "Them finding out about Cedric and going totally crazy. It's not that big of a deal, really."
"Well if they could have been there the last time we talked, before he died or even when we broke up, they would have known." Hermione said grabbing some juice off the table. Draco started on the eggs. "I never thought that I'd have you coming to my rescue."
"Oh, but under Pansy's order of course." Draco said, teasing her. Pansy slapped Draco on the shoulder.
"You talked to Cedric before he died, did you say?" Pansy asked. Hermione nodded. "What was it about?" Hermione tried even harder to get rid of this memory.
Hermione was the last one in the Great Hall as usual. It was even quieter than the library at times. And at other times, some meaningless and/or rude 17 year olds could come in and ruin it. She tried to ignore him and continue doing her homework.
"How's Krum?" he asked.
"I don't know, Cedric, why don't you go ask him." She said cruelly, reminiscing on their bad break up over the Quidditch star.
"Hermione, this isn't fair."
"What's not fair is how you broke up with me because you thought I had done stuff with Krum, because of Rita Skeeter's interviews. Rita Skeeter?" she smirked. "Cedric, I am not the type of girl who just gives up her body and forgets about somebody who told her that he loved her and truly meant it. I was hoping you were the same. Apparently you just wanted me for the sex." She started packing up and stood up to leave him there, but he grabbed her and looked at her.
"I am, Hermione. I did love you that night and you know I still do. I am nothing without you. I would die for you, Hermione."
"Prove it, Cedric." Hermione said, feeling her eyes becoming glazed over with warmth. "Die for me, Cedric." She laughed. "Yeah right, no one would actually die for someone they loved."
"I would, though, Hermione." His eyes were becoming watery as well. "I really would."
"Then do it, Cedric! Stop talking and do it!"
Hermione swallowed. "And then he did. Sometimes, I wonder if it's really my fault that he stayed behind, just so he could die, or if he really had a heart of gold and wanted to stay with Harry to help him. I wish I could bring him back, every night, I pray that he would come back, so I could tell him I was sorry. I know this can't happen though." Draco looked at Pansy, questioning his thoughts.
"Voldemort could bring him back if he really wanted to. If someone convinced him enough." Draco finally said. Hermione almost didn't want to believe this. Cedric wouldn't be the same; it wouldn't be the same at all. She would have a guilty conscience knowing that he died and it was possibly even her fault.
"I could probably get my father to do it." Pansy said. "If you really wanted it."
"I don't know. It wouldn't be the same." Hermione said softly.
"He would be though. He would know that he died. Voldemort's like God in a way, Hermione. He can make anything happen." Pansy told her. "Cedric would come back in a daze and then slowly remember who he is and what happened in his life. He might be a little bit…well darker in the mind, but he'd be back."
Weeks had passed as Hermione thought about this and they still hadn't given Slughorn his watch back. Finally, her needs overcame what was right and what was wrong. Hermione needed Cedric and didn't care if it was wrong.