Chapter 13
Seeing Sirius Again
The rest of the day went by quickly, and soon it was the next morning. I went down to breakfast with Pansy, and we ate our food at a leisurely pace. Soon, it was time to meet Cedric by the Entrance Hall doors. I headed that way after saying goodbye to my Slytherin friends. I saw Cedric waiting for me by the front doors. Smiling, I walked over to him and gave him a quick hug before saying anything.
"What do we have planned for today?" I asked as we headed out the doors, hand in hand.
"I was thinking we could grab a drink at The Three Broomsticks, then whatever you wanted to do." He answered with a smile.
"Sounds great." I squeezed his hand, and he squeezed mine in return. We walked chatting about classes until we reached The Three Broomsticks.
We found ourselves a small table in the corner, where we sat next to each other still holding hands. I figured this would be the best time to tell Cedric about Sirius, and with the pub being so noisy it would be hard for anyone to overhear us.
"Cedric, there's something I wanted to talk to you about." I started to say a little nervously.
"Sure, what's on your mind?"
"I haven't really told you much about what happened last year, and I think it's time I do. What I am about to tell you, you cannot repeat it to anyone." Cedric agreed to keep everything secret, and I took a deep breath to prepare myself. "I guess I'll start at the beginning."
"What can I get for you two?" Madam Rosmerta asked just before I could get into the story.
"Oh, uh, two butterbeers please." Cedric answered with a smile at the owner of the pub. Shortly we received our drinks and I was able to start telling Cedric about last year.
"Ok, so, last year a lot of things happened. My brother and I were told we needed to be careful, more than usual, because of Sirius Black. At first we didn't really understand why, but eventually we overheard Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, Cornelius Fudge, and Madam Rosmerta talking about our parents. It was then that we found out that Sirius was our godfather."
"Are you serious?" Cedric asked, surprised.
"Yeah, but there's more. Everyone was under the impression that Sirius had told You-Know-Who where our parents were hiding, that he betrayed them. According to them, Sirius had escaped Azkaban to finish what You-Know-Who started, hence why Harry and I needed to be more careful when it came to leaving the castle after dark and what not.
For a good portion of the year, Harry and I believed what we heard. That Sirius told You-Know-Who where our parents were, and that he killed our parents' friend, Peter Pettigrew."
"I've heard that story, that Sirius Black blew up a street killing twelve muggles and Pettigrew. My father told me about it last year when the news broke that Black escaped." Cedric said.
"Right, except that none of that is actually true." Cedric's eyes grew wider in surprise. "Let me explain," I said before he could interrupt me again. "Harry was given a map that shows all of Hogwarts including the people in the castle and what they are doing. One night he saw Peter Pettigrew on the map and tried to find him. He wasn't able to find him, but was caught out of bed and forced to give the map to Professor Lupin."
"He saw Peter Pettigew on the map, in Hogwarts?"
"Yes, but we thought it was a mistake. How could Pettigrew be at Hogwarts if he was dead? Lupin, who apparently knew the people who made the map, said that the map never lies, but that was all he told Harry."
"What were you two using the map for?"
"We were using it to leave the castle to visit Hogsmeade. Our aunt and uncle didn't sign the consent forms for us to visit the town. But that's not really the point."
"How were you two not seen in town? I mean, everyone knows who you guys are, you'd be hard to miss."
"We also have an invisibility cloak that belonged to our father. I got it as a present for Christmas our first year."
"No way! Can I see it?" Cedric asked, excitedly.
"I'll have to get it back from Harry. Let me finish my story.
Towards the end of the school year, the day that Buckbeak was sentenced to be executed, we learned the truth. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I had gone down to visit Hagrid before the execution to give him some comfort. There we found Ron's rat, Scabbers. Scabbers had been missing, presumed dead, for a while by this point so it was a surprise to find him hiding in Hagrid's cabin."
"What does the rat have to do with anything?" Cedric asked curiously.
"You'll see. Anyway, we left Hagrid's cabin just as some old guy, Dumbledore, and Fudge arrived with the executioner and we started to walk back to the castle. Scabbers bit Ron and tried to make a run for it. Ron, being an idiot as usual, chased his rat and was able to catch him. Then, a big black dog came out of nowhere and lunged at Ron. The dog grabbed Ron's leg and dragged him to the Whomping Willow, where he took Ron and Scabbers through a tunnel at the base of the tree."
"There's a tunnel under the Whomping Willow?"
"Mmm-hmm. Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, pressed a knot at the base of the tree which made the Whomping Willow stand still and we were able to enter the tunnel to go after Ron. We followed this tunnel until we reached the Shrieking Shack, here in Hogsmeade."
"Seriously? The Shrieking Shack? What was it like?" Cedric had so many questions I felt like I would never finish the story in time to go see Sirius.
"No more interruptions, I need to finish telling you the story." He nodded in agreement.
"Ok, so now we were in the shack, and we found Ron laying on a bed, his leg was broken and bleeding all over the place. He started telling us we needed to leave, that the black dog was actually Sirius Black. At that point it was too late for us to escape and we were face to face with Sirius. Sirius looked like the life had been drained out of him, I suppose that's what happens when you've been in Azkaban for twelve years. Hermione disarmed him, and Harry was about to kill Sirius for revenge for our parents when we were interrupted by Professor Lupin.
Professor Lupin and Sirius it turns out were friends. They embraced each other and started saying things that didn't make sense to us. Hermione accused Lupin of being a werewolf, and after feeling betrayed by Lupin, we calmed down enough to hear what the pair of them had to say.
While Lupin was a student at Hogwarts, his best friends, our dad, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, became animagi so that they could romp the grounds with Lupin at the full moon. Lupin was also the reason for the Whomping Willow to be planted and a tunnel made to the Shrieking Shack, where he would turn into a werewolf once a month. They explain how Snape once followed Lupin toward his transformation site in a practical joke set up by Sirius, and was rescued narrowly by our dad.
Now, just before we had gone into the tunnel under the tree, Harry dropped the invisibility cloak when we ran to chase Ron. Professor Snape had followed us underneath the cloak and revealed himself before Lupin and Sirius could finish their story. He accused Lupin of helping Sirius into the castle, to which Lupin denied having helped him at all. Harry, Ron and Hermione cast the disarming charm at the same time and knocked him unconscious.
Lupin and Sirius then explained that the real murderer of our parents was not Sirius, but Peter Pettigrew, who had been presumed dead but really hidden all these years disguised as Scabbers. Lupin transformed Scabbers into Pettigrew, who squealed and hedged but ultimately confessed, revealing himself to be You-Know-Who's servant, and Sirius to be innocent. This all came as a shock to us, but it had to be the truth. We decided to take Pettigrew up to the castle where he could confess to Dumbledore and the Minister, which would have freed Sirius. Harry and I would have been able to go live with him instead of our awful aunt and uncle. But, fate wasn't on our side.
Lupin forgot to take his potion that night, and it was a full moon. He transformed into a werewolf, and Sirius tried to protect us. He turned back into a dog and fought Lupin. Harry and I followed Sirius after he drove Lupin away to the lake. He was injured, and the dementors were coming to get him. Earlier that year, Lupin taught us the Patronus Charm, however, we weren't very good at casting it. We were overwhelmed and then, all of a sudden, a stronger Patronus came from across the lake and saved us all. We fainted and ended up in the Hospital Wing.
When we realized what happened, we talked to Professor Dumbledore. We told him everything that happened and that Sirius was innocent. Even though he believed us, there was nothing he could do. He suggested to Hermione to use her time-turner and take us back in time to save both Sirius and Buckbeak.
We were able to get Buckbeak just before he was supposed to be executed, and then we just waited. Eventually we saw the events at the lake unfold. The dementors were attacking us, and the powerful patronus that saved us, well it was Harry. He cast a patronus that appeared in the form of a stag. He saved our lives. Then, Professor Snape came and got us and took us to the castle.
Harry and I flew Buckbeak up to the room they were keeping Sirius in and broke him out. We flew down to where Hermione was waiting for us and let Sirius take Buckbeak. He's been on the run ever since." I finished the story with a sigh.
"That's… that's a lot to take in." Cedric said, staring at me in awe. "How have I not heard any of this before?"
"Obviously we had to keep the Sirius thing under wraps." I said with a shrug.
"And why are you telling me all this now?" He asked curiously. "I mean, I'm glad you can trust me enough to tell me something this big."
"I…" I lowered my voice even more. Cedric had to lean in to hear my next words. "I want to introduce you to Sirius."
"Is he here?" He whispered back while looking around.
"Not here silly, but just outside of town. He's come to check up on Harry and me. You know, with everything going on."
"Are you sure it's safe?"
"Sirius won't hurt you."
"That's not what I meant. I meant, is he safe coming here? He's still a wanted wizard." I smiled gratefully at Cedric. He seemed to understand that Sirius wasn't a bad man.
"Sirius can take care of himself. So, do you want to meet him?" I asked earnestly.
"When?"
I looked at my watch. "In twenty minutes."
"That's soon. And you're sure he'll even want to meet me? He doesn't know who I am, maybe he won't trust me."
"It would mean a lot to me to introduce you to my godfather. I'll understand if it's too much too soon."
"I just don't want to be the cause of something bad happening."
"Nothing bad will happen if you don't say anything to anyone about this. I'm really trusting you with all this information."
"I won't tell anyone. I promise." Cedric grabbed my hands as he said those words. The look in his chocolate brown eyes told me I could trust him. A warm feeling enveloped my body, and butterflies filled my stomach. It was at this moment that I knew. I was in love with Cedric Diggory.
"So, you'll come?"
"Of course. I would do anything for you Chloe. Anything" He leaned down and planted a kiss on my forehead. I wrapped my arms around his waist and gave him a hug. I felt him move his arms around me and he hugged me back.
"Thank you." I mumbled into his chest as he held me.
"Thank you, for trusting me." We broke apart and finished our butterbeers in comfortable silence.
Soon the time came to meet up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We ran into them a few feet from the entrance of The Three Broomsticks.
"Harry!" I called out, waving my hand to get his attention. He turned around a saw me.
"Chloe, Diggory." He greeted "I assume Chloe has told you what we are doing?"
"She has."
"And we can trust you?" He asked, eyeing Cedric with a bit of suspicion.
"Harry," Hermione said while elbowing him.
"What?" He asked, turning towards her. "I need to be sure."
"Potter, of course you can trust me. I would never do anything that would hurt Chloe." Cedric said while taking my hand.
"Well, alright then." Harry gestured for us to walk with them. We headed towards Dervish and Banges to find a large black dog waiting for us by the stile at the end of the road. Grinning, I ran up and embraced the fluffy beast.
"Padfoot!" Harry exclaimed happily. The black dog jumped up and down, wagging his tail. He barked at us, indicating for us to follow him, and turned to walk. We followed him up to a small cave a little ways out of town, onto the mountain. We climbed over rocks, up a steep winding path for about half an hour before we found a small entrance to a cave.
The cave was small, but had enough room for Sirius to be there with Buckbeak. The big hippogriff eyed us suspiciously when we entered the cave. The four of us bowed low to him, and after regarding us imperiously for a moment he bowed back. Hermione rushed forward and stroked his feathery neck. I looked away to find that Sirius had transformed back into his human form. He was wearing the same ragged gray robes that he was wearing when he escaped Azkaban. His hair had grown longer and was quite untidy and matted.
"Who's this?" Sirius asked gruffly, pointing at Cedric. At the same time he reached for Harry's bag where there was fresh food for him to eat.
"Sirius, I would like you to meet my boyfriend, Cedric Diggory." I said with a gesture towards Cedric.
"Boyfriend? Since when do you have a boyfriend?" Sirius said, still staring at Cedric.
"Since the Yule Ball." I said with a small smile.
"It's good to meet you." Cedric said, reaching out to shake hands with Sirius.
"I'll want a word with you, privately, before you all leave." Sirius said to Cedric, ignoring his outstretched hand. "I trust you can keep me and everything you learn here a secret?"
"Absolutely, sir." Cedric answered with a curt nod.
"What are you doing here Sirius?" Harry asked while watching Sirius tear into some chicken.
"Fulfilling my duty as godfather.." He answered between bites. He grinned up at us, and Harry still looked worried. "Don't worry, I've been eating mostly rats so I don't have to steal much from the people in town."
"You've been eating rats?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "That can't be healthy."
"Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray." Harry and I continued to look worried. "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter, well, let's say things have been getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out. And by the look of things I am not the only one who's getting worried." He nodded towards the Daily Prophets laying on the cave floor.
"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?" Harry asked anxiously.
"You're the only ones around here that know I am an animagus." Sirius shrugged while picking the chicken bone clean.
"Look," Ron said, handing the Daily Prophets over to Harry that he picked off the floor. "Say's here that Crouch has a mysterious illness, and a ministry witch has been missing for some time. Crouch hasn't been seen in public since November and his house appears deserted. St. Mungos Hospital has refused to comment."
"They're making it sound like he's dying." Hermione said. "But he couldn't be that sick if he managed to get up here."
"When was that?" I asked curiously.
"Just before the Second Task, I saw him on the map. He was snooping around Snape's office." Harry answered.
"I bet he's missing Winky now. Without her to take care of him, I am sure he's regretting sacking her." Hermione said as she continued to rub Buckbeak's neck.
"He sacked his house-elf?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup." Harry answered. He went on to tell the story to Sirius. How Winky was found holding his wand and was accused of casting the Dark Mark. When Harry had finished, Sirius got up on his feet and started pacing around the cave.
"Let me get this straight," he said after a while. "You first saw the elf in the top box? She was saving Crouch a seat right?"
"Right." I said nodding.
"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"
"No. I think he said he had been too busy." Sirius continued to pace. Cedric looked at me, and I had realized I hadn't told him what happened to us during the World Cup. All of this was news to him.
"Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you left the top box?" Sirius asked.
"Uh," he scrunched his face up in thought. "No, I looked for it when I needed it in the forest. When I put my hand in my pocket it wasn't there." Sirius was staring at my brother intently.
"Are you saying that whoever stole Harry's wand to cast the Dark Mark was in the top box with us?" I asked Sirius.
"It's possible." He said, looking at me.
"Winky didn't steal that wand." Hermione said defensively.
"The elf wasn't the only one in that box." Sirius answered. His brow furrowed as he continued to pace. "Who else was sitting behind you?"
"Loads of people. Some Bulgarian ministers, Cornelius Fudge, the Malfoys."
"The Malfoy's!" Ron exclaimed so loudly that it echoed throughout the cave. "I bet it was Lucious Malfoy."
"Anyone else?" said Sirius.
"No one." Harry answered.
"Yes there was, Ludo Bagman was there as well." Hermione added.
"I don't know anything about Bagman except he used to be beater for Wimbourne Wasps. What's he like?"
"He's okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."
"He what?" Cedric said, taken aback.
"Don't worry, I haven't accepted any help from him." Harry said, turning to look at Cedric.
"Who told you about the dragons then?"
"It was Hagrid, and I had no idea that he was showing me them until it was too late. Plus I made sure to tell you, to even the playing field."
"Alright then." Cedric said.
"I wonder why he keeps offering you help, Harry." Sirius pondered out loud.
"He said he's taken a liking to me." Harry shrugged.
"Do you think he could've conjured the Dark Mark?" Hermione said.
"No way to know." I answered. "He wasn't there in the clearing where we saw Winky."
"What did Crouch do after Winky was discovered?" Sirius asked.
"He went looking in the bushes where she was found. But there wasn't anyone else there."
"Of course. Of course." Sirius said, pacing still. "He'd want to pin it on anyone else but his elf. And then he sacked her?"
"Yes," Hermione said in a heated voice. "He sacked her just because she wouldn't stay in a tent to be trampled over."
"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf?" Said Ron annoyingly. Sirius put up a hand to stop Ron from talking.
"She's got the measure of Crouch better than you do Ron. If you want to know what a man is like. Take a good look to see how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." He ran a hand over his unshaven face, evidently thinking hard. "All these absences of Barty Crouch's. He goes through the trouble of making sure his elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't show up. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, then stops coming to that too. It's not like Crouch."
"Do you know Crouch then?" Harry asked.
"Oh, I know Crouch alright. He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban without a trial."
"What?" Hermione, Ron, and I said together.
"You're kidding." said Harry.
"No, I'm not. Crouch used to be head of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Didn't you know?" We all shook our heads. "He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic. He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical, and power hungry." Sirius said. "Never a Voldemort supporter." He added when he saw the look on Harry's face. "Barty was always outspoken against the dark side. But then, a lot of people who were against the dark side, well you wouldn't understand. You're too young."
"That's what my dad says whenever these kinds of topics come up." Cedric said softly. "Tell us anyway."
Sirius smiled at Cedric and said, "Alright then." He walked up and down the cave and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort is powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't. You know he controls people, making them do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week news come of more deaths, more disappearances, and more torturing. The Ministry of Magic's in disarray; they don't know what to do. They are trying to keep everything hidden from the muggles, but meanwhile, muggles are dying too. Everywhere, panic and confusion. That's how it used to be. Well, times like that brings out the best and worst in people.
Crouch started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The aurors were given new powers. Powers to kill rather than capture for instance. I wasn't the only one who was sent to Azkaban without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence and authorized the use of the unforgivable curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the dark side. He had his supporters, mind you. Plenty of people agreed with how he was doing things. And there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic.
When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time before Crouch got the job. But then something rather unfortunate happened." Sirius smiled grimly. "Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eater's who managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."
"Crouch's son was caught?" Gasped Hermione.
"Yep," said Sirius as he flung his chicken bones towards Buckbeak. "Nasty little shock for Barty I imagine. Should've spent more time at home with his family." Sirius started to wolf down some of the bread.
"Was his son a Death Eater?" Cedric asked.
"No idea," Sirius said between bites of bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I found out since I've been out. He could've easily just been in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Did Crouch try to get his son off?" Hermione whispered. Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a bark.
"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione. Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go. He dedicated his whole life into becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again. Doesn't that tell you what he's like? He let his son have a trial where he sent his son straight to Azkaban."
"He gave his own son to the dementors?" Harry asked quietly.
"That's right. I saw the dementors bring him in. Watched through the bars of my cell. He couldn't have been older than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days though. They all went quiet in the end. Except for when they shrieked in their sleep." We all stared at Sirius solemnly.
"So he's still there." Harry said.
"No," Sirius said with a dead look on his face. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died after a year of being in there."
"He died?" Hermione said softly.
"Most go mad in there and stop eating in the end; they lose the will to live. You can tell when someone was close because the dementor's got excited. Because Crouch was an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, carrying his wife past my cell. She died shortly afterward. Grief, wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementor's buried the body, I watched them do it." Sirius threw aside the bread he just lifted to his mouth, and instead lifted the flask of pumpkin juice my brother had brought to his lips and started to drink.
"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made." He continued, wiping his mouth clean. "One moment a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic; the next his wife dead, and the family name dishonored. Since I've been out, I've heard he also dropped in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling sympathetic towards him and started asking how a nice family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the job and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation."
Silence fell over the room as everyone pondered what we had just learned. It was obvious now why Crouch overreacted to Winky. He must have been having flashbacks to when his son was caught and the mess that created.
"Moody say's Crouch is obsessed with catching dark wizards." Harry said.
"Yeah, I've heard it's become kind of a mania for him." Sirius said, nodding. "If you ask me he thinks he can regain his popularity if he catches one more dark wizard."
"And he was snooping in Snape's office." Ron said triumphantly, staring at me. I glared back at him, unwilling to think Snape was a bad wizard.
"That doesn't make sense at all." Sirius said.
"Yeah it does." said Ron, looking at Sirius. Sirius shook his head.
"Listen, if Crouch wanted to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the Tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."
"So you think Snape is up to something then?"
"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape." Hermione interjected. I gave her a grateful smile.
"Give it a rest Hermione. I know Dumbledore is clever and everything but that doesn't mean a clever dark wizard couldn't fool him." Ron said annoyingly.
"Then why did Snape save Harry during our first year?" I argued.
"I dunno, maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out." Ron argued back.
"What do you think, Sirius?" Harry said loudly.
"I think they all have a point. Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated with the Dark Arts, he was famous for it when we were going to school. Slimy, oily, greasy haired kid he was. Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than seventh years. And he was part of a gang of Slytherin's who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters." Sirius went on to name some Death Eaters that Snape was friends with at school.
"As far as I know, Snape was never accused of being a Death Eater, not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught, and Snape is smart enough to keep himself safe."
"Snape seems to know Karkaroff as well, but he wants to keep that quiet." Ron said.
"Yeah, you should've seen his face when Karkaoff showed up in class yesterday." Said Harry quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he said Snape had been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried, he showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."
"He showed Snape something on his arm?" Said Sirius, looking bewildered. "Well, I've no idea what that's about. But if Karkaroff is genuinely worried and he's going to Snape for answers." Sirius stared at the cave wall. "There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape. And I know Dumbledore trusts a lot of people others wouldn't. But I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he ever worked for Voldemort."
"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen on getting in Snape's office then?" Said Ron stubbornly. I felt like punching him in the face.
"Well, I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his defense against the dark arts seriously. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all. I will say this for him, he never killed when he could help it. He never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though, he's a different matter. Is he really ill? If he is, why did he make an effort to drag himself to Snape's office? If he's not, what is he really up to?"
Sirius fell silent, staring at the cave wall again. We all stood there, taking in everything he had told us. Cedric and I gave each other looks, we would have a lot to talk about now.
"You said your brother is Crouch's personal assistant? Anyway you could ask him if he's seen him?" Sirius asked Ron.
"I could try." Ron said, doubtfully.
"Then try. Let me know what he says." Sirius said. He turned to Harry and me, "You guys be careful. Especially you, Harry, we still don't know who put your name in the Goblet and you still have one task to complete." Harry nodded solemnly. We started to head out of the cave and back to Hogsmeade, when Sirius reminded Cedric he wanted a word. I gave Cedric a reassuring squeeze and left him to talk with Sirius.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I waited for Cedric outside the cave. It was only a few minutes before Cedric came out, pale in the face, and said he was ready to go.
"Everything ok?" I asked, letting Harry, Ron, and Hermione get far enough ahead so they couldn't hear our conversation.
"Yeah," said Cedric.
"What did he want to talk to you about?" I asked curiously.
"He wanted to make sure I was treating you right, and that if I did anything to hurt you then he'd kill know, basic fatherly protection." He sighed heavily.
"He wouldn't actually kill you." I said, trying to reassure him. "He's missed out so much on my brother and my life. I think he just wants to feel like he's doing something for me now that he can."
"I understand that." Cedric said, giving me a small smile. "It's still not easy being threatened by someone you were told was a dark wizard, only to find out that isn't true. It's nice to see that you have someone who cares about you a lot."
"I know you had a lot to take in today. I am here for you if you want to talk about it."
"I appreciate that. I don't really have questions right now, but if I do have some later, I will let you know."
"Okay." We walked back up to the castle, thinking about everything we had learned that day.
AN: Once again, thanks for reading this far! Please leave a review on what you think about this fic.