Cedric didn't talk to her after that. He had to sort out his relationship with Cho before he did. He didn't want to lead anyone on. But the longer he waited, the harder it got. He pretended it was fine and acted normal but inside he felt sick. He wanted Hazel, but he didn't want to hurt Cho. And before he knew it, the final task had arrived.
He stood by an archway alone, waiting to be called over. His father was waiting further ahead for him. He took this moment to try and think this through. But before he could, Hazel was in front of him.
"Hi." She greeted him awkwardly.
"Hi." He repeated, staring at her beauty.
She was wearing a simple yellow and black dress with yellow heels and a black bow in her red curls. "I thought I would come and support you, even though it's obvious you have made your choice." He stared in horror.
"No. I swear I… I just can't…" She smiled and placed her hand on his lips.
"It's okay Ced. I just came to say good luck. And to do something I never thought I would do." His eyebrow was raised. She kissed him long and hard, but when she pulled back she whispered three words which made his heart sing.
"I love you."
His name was then announced and he looked at her apologetically and ran. But he quickly turned, kissed her long and hard and told her,
"I love you too Haze."
Cedric had been in that maze an awfully long time. Hazel began to worry that that had been the last time she would see him. She knew that it was going to be extremely dangerous, but he had promised that he would do what he could to live… For her. But she could feel her whole body shake. George wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close, noticing her worried face. Then Harry appeared crying over a body.
A body she knew well.
Cedric.
Her heart broke then and there. Everything crumbled down around her. No one had even noticed the body Harry was hugging was in fact dead. But she did.
The second his corpse hit the ground she wanted to rip out her heart. George and Fred watched her with confusion and then realised. The cheerful music continued to blast as Hazel walked slowly to the body. Harry was still clutching it when she reached him. Her eyes looked at him with tears filling them, blurring her vision. Cho was watching her carefully. Hazel knelt down and the music stopped. Harry began to be dragged away, but it all became a surreal event. Hazel touched his cold cheek and then all the emotions she was feeling just exploded and she collapsed on his body, crying and screaming.
Fred and George ran to her. Cedric's father was crying in his friend's shoulder, whom was none other than Arthur Weasley. Fred and George managed to pull her from the body kicking and screaming before she allowed it and let George hold her against him. Fred hugged her back and the whole world stood still in that moment.
The year ended with more drama and death, but Hazel didn't care. Not now that everything was screwed up.
Sirius greeted her as she got off the train, in his dog form. She ran so him and hugged his body, clutching onto his dark fur.
"I missed you dad." She whispered. Sirius whined and licked her cheek. She laughed for the first time in weeks and managed a smile.
Grabbing her bags, she followed him out of the station and to the black car sitting out front. He shifted back immediately and helped her with her bags. His face was slightly worn from all the worry of the impending doom. She climbed into the passenger seat and he drove in silence until they got to a strangely random road.
With two waves of his wand, Sirius made an apartment appear between two others and opened the door. She stared in awe.
"Welcome home." He grinned.
The place was beautiful and large. It was dark and old, but she immediately felt at home, which wasn't a normal feeling for her. Then she saw a painting. It didn't move like the others she had noticed. It was a beautiful painting of the same family in the photo she had given to Sirius. She stood in front of it and stared at it, tears in her eyes.
She had done a lot of crying recently. She wasn't one to allow herself to feel, but after the death of Cedric Diggory, everything broke inside of her. Sirius wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smiled at her. She rested her head on her father's shoulder and they remained like that, staring at their past selves.
Over the summer more people entered the house and it became more crowded. Hazel got over Cedric's death quicker than she should've, and that upset her. Cho continued to mourn in her home, crying each night. But Hazel had managed to get through it, and come out the other side smiling. It had only been a few months, which made things worse.
Sirius could tell his daughter was suffering, but every time he reached out to her the Order of the Phoenix (A secret wizarding society who is against Voldemort, who had returned) got in the way. Sirius never had time for her, which made Hazel worse. The only thing getting her through this was her two best friends, Fred and George.
"Just place the trap down under the chair leg." George instructed carefully. The leg clicked into the trap and balance itself.
"Perfect." He encouraged Hazel, who carried on with each chair.
Fred placed disgusting bombs on the lights hanging from the ceiling.
George then put a self-locking charm on the door.
After finishing, Mrs Weasley came in and patted Hazel's cheek.
"Your father and the Order will be down her in a few minutes so you'll have to leave." The three pranksters looked at one another and quickly left.
They watched from the staircase as the adults entered the room. Then Arthur Weasley closed the door behind the final member.
They heard the smashing of chairs, then the bombs hitting the floor. Someone was struggling with the handle as they laughed hysterically.
"That'll teach them to treat us like useless children!" Fred proclaimed, high-fiving George. The two of them kissed Hazel's cheeks and smiled.
"Good job Haze." They admired in unison.
"That trick with the chairs was brilliant. How did you think of it?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. But you made it real. Congrats you two."
Fred and George were in their final year at Hogwarts. It was going to be strange for her not having them there. But they had to move on, and to be fair no one had expected them to graduate at all. But everyone was proud that they had made it this far. And Hazel, or Aria as she also went by now, was only one year below them. She just knew she would miss them when the time came.
The next morning, they were all heading back to Hogwarts. They all packed up their things and headed downstairs. Hazel met Sirius by the door. He held her tightly, and kissed her head for good measure.
"I know we haven't had a chance to talk yet, but I will see you for Christmas. And we will talk then I promise." She nodded and began walking.
"Don't forget to write!" Her father shouted just as she walked through the door.
She smiled and then headed to Kings Cross with the others.