Here it is! Finally. I've been pretty busy so I know this has taken longer than usual to update. I hope you enjoy it! Happy reading!

CHAPTER TEN

"So what's new at Hogwarts?" Tonks leaned back in the rickety old chair creaked alarmingly, but she didn't seem to notice. I suspected the chair was older than Hogwarts itself and would eventually crumble under the slightest provocation.

I eyed her over my butterbeer curiously, I had noticed her decline since Sirius had died, and I was starting to suspect that it was about something unrelated. It had been almost a year and I still wasn't used to the absence of her vibrant pink hair. There was something else there, behind her eyes. A sort of lost and dejected look I felt familiar with. She seemed... heartbroken. I shrugged and looked down at my tankard, rubbing at a questionable smudge on the glass with my thumb. I hadn't exactly been thrilled to meet at the Hog's Head, but at least the bleak surroundings mirrored my mood. The Three Broomsticks would have been too cheerful to me at the moment.

"Ginny and Harry are a couple now apparently," I noted, "And Ron seems to have found a way to detach his face from Lavender Brown's."

Tonks managed a grim smile at this and shook her head, "Thought I heard something about Harry and that Malfoy kid."

"They got into it in a bathroom. Snape found them, he was shockingly vague about what happened," I replied and frowned at the thought, "I don't know much about it really. Been busy."

"What's going on with you then? You're looking a lot less shiny than usual."

I raised an eyebrow, "You're one to talk. You're looking a lot less pink than usual." I gave her mousy brown locks a pointed look.

"Touche Diggory," She raised her glass to me in surrender.

I glanced out the window, but it was so dingy on the outside I also caught my bleary reflection. I did look rather less like myself these days. I didn't remember making a conscious decision not to shave my facial hair, but it seemed at some point I had stopped. I rubbed the rough stubble on my jawline absently. My hair was definitely more unkempt than normal, it seemed I had also stopped grooming it carefully as well. My clothes were wrinkled, as though I couldn't be bothered to care for them properly either. Mostly I just looked tired, pale with darkening circles under my eyes.

"Not to say you're not still handsome," Tonks noted absently, "S'pose you'd have to go to a lot of trouble to accomplish that."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm blushing."

"No problem, Scruffy."

I smiled at her, "Maybe it's good that I don't look like myself. Like Cedric Diggory. Cedric Diggory the golden boy, the prefect, the do-gooder..."

"What's this about?" Her brow knit together as she looked at me.

"There was a time when everything was simple," I laughed humorlessly, "I knew who I was, I knew who I was going to be, I knew who I would probably end up with. Not anymore. I am altered beyond all recognition. Suppose my outside appearance should reflect that, in case people get confused and think I'm still Cedric Diggory the former."

"Who were you supposed to end up with Scruffy?" She was giving me an odd knowing look.

I chuckled, "Cho Chang. Or someone very much like her. Beautiful, kind, intelligent, shiny and uncomplicated."

"But you fell in love with Louisa instead," She laughed at the sharp look I gave her, "Oh please. It's more than just the two of you spending time together that tipped me off. You look at her like... I don't know. Like everything else is black and white and she's the only drop of color in the world. Or something, it's hard to describe."

I scratched my nose, "Yeah, well. She's too complicated it seems."

"I thought the feelings were mutual. Looked that way at least."

"Doesn't matter. You see, Louisa has decided that I am too good to be tainted by her... complications," I laughed coldly and took a sip of butterbeer, "What I want doesn't matter."

Tonks was giving me a very strange look now, her head cocked to one side thoughtfully. That's when I saw it, the look in her eyes was one that I had seen in the mirror over the past few weeks. We were both basically strays that had been tossed out into the cold and rain, rejected. I wracked my brain to think of who it could be that had don it to Tonks. Surely not Sirius? No, she was too good for Mundungus... Kingsley? Doubtful. Then I thought back to when we would have meetings about Lupin going underground with the other werewolves. I remembered the concern she had showed, the constant worry after.

"Remus?" I was surprised at how perplexed I sounded and I looked down at my hands sheepishly at the look she gave me.

Tonks snorted, "Seems we're in a similar boat Cedric. Though, I think mine is a bit more hopeless."

Yeah, it certainly put my relationship woes in perspective. Louisa was worried about bad blood but she wasn't about to turn into a monster anytime soon. She was also only two years younger than myself. Whereas Remus, while one of my favorite people, was a werewolf. I didn't much care what he was, but I could see the reasoning behind not wanting to have to put that burden on someone else. It was an unavoidable issue, one that would crop up around the same time every month. Then there was the age difference as well, he was quite a bit older from what I could tell. Though I knew that Remus looked older than he actually was, he seemed to get grayer every time I saw him. Was that a werewolf thing? Probably not. This didn't make me feel more hopeful, it just made me more annoyed. Louisa and Remus both deserved to be happy, but refused to see that. They were both running away from it, punishing themselves for things out of their control. It was stupid, and made me quite cross.

I have to admit, I wasn't very proud of how I acted in those weeks. There had been several times when Louisa and I had fallen out in the past, and most of those times it had been her avoiding me. This time the roles were reversed. I was the one avoiding her in the halls. Sure, part of it was because it made me angry. I was angry at her for not having a real conversation with me, for making this decision 'for my own good'. Mostly though, it just hurt too much, every time I saw her sitting with her friends out on the grounds it made the ache in my chest considerably more noticeable. I felt listless, and it was only now that I realized how much I had come to revolve around her. Over the past several years I had been working to gain her approval, ever since that first meeting on top of the hill around that moldy old boot. I had always wanted her to think well of me. I didn't regret it, not really. I thought I was better now. Now I knew what it meant to fight for something, I knew there were more important things than popularity. I knew that breaking the rules could be fun and even good.

I remembered what I had promised Dumbledore, that I would look after her, but I didn't know how. When I met Louisa before the World Cup she had been funny and confident and strong. She was still all of those things, but the self doubt Dumbledore had warned me about had been increasing. I had seen it, watched it get worse, I saw her struggle against it. I hated that I had no idea how to help her. She was unbelievably stubborn once she had made her mind about something. I had no idea how to get her to change her mind, to back down from a decision once made. Louisa had decided that she was 'tainted' with darkness, and I had no idea how to convince her otherwise. I figured I would have more luck convincing Snape that he was a pretty pretty princess.

I was useless. My patrols of the castle whenever Dumbledore left made me feel somewhat useful, but not really. I couldn't imagine how anything could happen inside those ancient walls. Hogwarts was a fortress. it was safe, even with Dumbledore absent, because he would always be back. It seemed silly to worry. My other patrols had been pretty dull, at most I would find a few kids sneaking out of their dorms after hours. Nothing sinister. On those nights I would mostly just see the others professors doing their own patrols. Tonight was going to be no different.

I stopped and peered out the window onto the grounds absently. Darkness had fallen and the moon cast the peaceful scene in a soothing silver glow. The black lake was so still that it looked like a huge slab of glass, reflecting the clear sky and the twinkling stars. A breeze rustled over the leaves of the Forbidden forest and swept ripples across the surface of the lake. I watched as the stars reflected on the surface danced over the little waves in the brief moment of chaos. Then all was still and quiet again.

"Cedric... are you all right?"

I looked up, wondering how long I had just been standing there, and looked right into those dark eyes I was so familiar with. "Yes, fine. Why are you not in Gryffindor Tower?"

"Something's going to happen tonight," The way she said it, I believed he. Then again I could hardly remember a time when I hadn't.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, we're guarding the Room of Requirement. I saw you on the map and thought we could use some extra help." Louisa turned to start walking back the way she had come.

"Who's we?" I followed her without hesitation.

"Basically the same gang from the Ministry of Magic last year, except without Harry. He's with Dumbledore trying to find a horcrux."

"A... what?" Apparently I had been further out of the loop than I had thought. Aside from Hagrid's giant spider friend dying I hadn't really kept up to day with Louisa and the others, I had been too busy avoiding her.

"Can't really go into that right now. That is a whole other conversation," She assured me, speaking quickly but calmly, "Whatever it is I think it's going to happen tonight. Harry was on his way to Dumbledore's office when he ran into Professor Trelawney..."

"Sybil? Did she have another prophecy?"

"No, nothing like that," Louisa shook her head, "She had been trying to hide some things in the Room of Requirement only she heard someone celebrating in there. When she asked who it was they threw her out. You can see the obvious conclusion we came to?"

"Draco has finally fixed whatever it was he was working on in there."

"Exactly and with Dumbledore gone it would be the opportune time to strike. He hadn't come out of the room, we're sure of it. Whatever his plan is, it's happening tonight."

"How could Draco Malfoy possibly do anything?" I shook my head quickly but kept pace with her.

She stopped, we were almost there, "I don't know. I just have a bad feeling. Something bad is going to happen. It's too quiet."

She was right, it had been too quiet, too peaceful it was like the breath before the storm, "And you wanted to protect me from the big bad Draco Malfoy?" I couldn't help a grin and she rolled her eyes at me dramatically.

"Well, you do have a habit of almost getting killed. It's sort of your thing."

"I thought being pretty was my thing, and the only thing I had going for me if I remember accurately." I teased.

"The damsel in distress needs to be attractive Cedric," She replied easily, "Otherwise why would we bother?"

I laughed, "You're awful."

"Shut up."

We had gotten serious again by the time we rounded the corner where the little ragtag group had assembled. I had to stay, seeing them all together again definitely made me nervous. I was thinking about the last time they had all had an adventure together. They all still seemed pretty healthy, they were all standing upright at least so that was a major improvement. Then again we were two short of what I had expected, Luna and Hermione were nowhere to be seen. Hopefully five of us would be enough for whatever Draco had planned. Ron, Ginny, and Neville were all standing at the ready and looking serious.

"Luna and Hermione went to keep an eye on Snape's office, just in case," Ginny volunteered when we rounded the corner.

"Good idea I suppose," Louisa sighed and glanced toward the entrance to the room, "Any activity?"

"Not yet," Ron shook his head.

I bit my lip, "Maybe I should let some of the other members of the Order know what's going on. Several of them are here to help guard the castle while Dumbledore is away..."

"I hear something!" Neville said and sprang away from the entrance with his wand raised.

We all looked at the door as if holding our breathes. I had an absurd idea that Dobby would come teetering out with his tea cozy hat and this would all have been for nothing. Just a ridiculous idea. It seemed silly to hope that nothing bad would happen. Particularly with this assortment of individuals. Yet I knew, I had been foolish to think it would be a normal night. Everything I had learned over the past few minutes lined up a bit too perfectly for a disaster. Then again Harry Potter wasn't present so maybe the disaster would wait for his return. It would seem odd for anything dangerous to happen without Harry around, seeing as he was the magnet for all the trouble in the first place. Did bad things ever happen before Harry came to Hogwarts? I couldn't remember anything, at least not in my school career.

The door was thrown open and out came Draco Malfoy, his pointed face set in a determined expression and a grotesque rotting hand held high above his shining blond hair. that was about all I could observe before his other hand moved slightly and it all went black. This was easily the deepest darkness I had ever encountered. It seemed unreasonable that I could still move and breath freely in it. I heard the others shouting for each other and trying different spells to try and provide some light, I figured it wouldn't. This must be the Peruvian Darkness Powder from Fred and George's shop, they were too good to have a product that could be so easily fooled. I wished they hadn't sold any to Draco Malfoy though. Speaking of, I could hear his voice calling out above all the rest.

"This way!" I heard him shouting andI tried to place where it had come from.

I took a few halting steps into the nothingness with my arm raised in front of me. I felt my fingers make contact with someone's face. My index finger touched something slimy that I knew was an eye and my thumb had gone into their mouth as they cursed in pain. I recognized the voice.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Neville!" I said quickly and retracted my hand. Then I felt a very large person ram into my side and they shoved me so hard that I fell back onto the stone floor. That definitely hadn't been anyone from our group. Malfoy had done it, he had found a way to get Death Eaters into the castle and was leading them through the darkness with that horrible hand! I hissed when someone stepped on my fingers and moved to jerk away in case it was an enemy.

"Cedric?"

"Louisa!"

"Take my hand," She grabbed my ear awkwardly before I managed to get up and put my fingers through hers. Louisa was pulling was quickly through the darkness and she placed my hand against the cool stone wall of the corridor, "Follow the wall! We have to get out of the range of the darkness powder!"

I nodded, which was pretty stupid since no could see but I figured it was implied. I groped my way along the wall of the corridor as quickly as I dared and I just hoped I was going in the right direction. I stumbled out and blinked at the sudden light of the corridor, even though it was relatively dim the stark contrast from how I had just spent the last few minutes was alarming.

"Where did they go?" Neville looked around with wide eyes.

"We have to alert the others!" I said quickly, "Now!"

They all nodded and we started to sprint down the corridor with our wands still drawn and ready in case we encountered the Death Eaters again. It didn't take long until I was met with the very welcome sight of Remus, Tonks, Bill, MacGonagall, and Flitwick all looking at us in alarm.

"Death Eaters, Malfoy got them into the school!" I said quickly.

"Where were they going?"

"No idea, we lost them, darkness powder." I panted and glanced at Louisa who was scouring the map in her hands.

"I see them! Heading toward the Astronomy tower!" She exclaimed suddenly and then we were running again.

Malfoy looked much more surprised to see us this time when we met them in the corridor, and he certainly wasn't prepared this time. The corridor stayed lit and the shock of seeing us with reinforcements was clearly etched on his face. There was very little time to register all of this, all out war broke out almost immediately. I found myself fighting next to Tonks against a very large blond wizard who was sending curses flying around the chamber like they were fireworks.

"Protego!" I blocked a spell that ricocheted off a suit of armor and had been heading for my head.

A flash of light to my left gave me warning to duck and I felt the crackling of magic pass over my hair a little too close for comfort. I looked around frantically through all of the chaos, automatically seeking her out. Louisa was with Remus, that made me feel better. So I turned back to our opponent in time to block another curse that he sent my way. Between the dance we were having to do in order to avoid the curses he was raining down at on us willy nilly he was able to block most of what we sent at him.

"Filius! Alert Snape!" I heard MacGonagall shouting from somewhere behind me, clearly she was concerned that we were going to lose this fight.

"Avada Kedavra!" The blond wizard send off the green curse into the corridor and I followed it to see it dart between Louisa and Remus and strike a Death Eater in the chest. The Death eater collapsed at the foot of the staircase leading to the tower, that was suspicious, but I didn't have much time to try and think of what that meant.

Louisa was now dueling Draco and it looked as though she was winning, I remembered being impressed with her instinct for dueling last year at the Ministry. Clearly Draco had not been gifted with the same sort of fierceness. He was stumbling back away from her after she fired curses at him unrelentingly, her wand flying through the air like a sword. I turned and fired a few spells at at the Death Eater dueling Ginny. Then a red curse bounced off the wall and started toward me. I ducked to the side but I felt it brush against me and it knocked me back. I didn't get the full force of the stunning curse but it was enough to leave me quite dazed for a moment. I blinked my eyes slowly everything seemed to be blurring around me, all of the chaos made no sense.

"NO!" Her scream cut through it all and I looked up to see Louisa turning from Malfoy to where a dark figure had someone pinned to the ground, "Inpedimenta!" She cast and Fenrir Greyback was thrown off of his prey. The glimpse of red hair mixed in the blood told me it was likely one of the Weasleys.

Malfoy was taking his opportunity, "Stupefy-"

I aimed at his feet, "Reducto!" The stone blew up and knocked him off balance so that the curse missed Louisa by only a finger length at most.

Louisa was now locked in a battle with another Death Eater and I turned to try and help Tonks contain the large wizard once more. He was the one causing most of the damage and was the most worrisome at that point. I didn't have high hopes that he would continue to take out his own by accident. I was more worried about what his curses would do to those around us who were too busy fighting for their lives to pay attention to the curses he had shattering the windows around them.

"Neville!" I heard Louisa shout suddenly and I turned, Neville was laying on his back on the floor and looking very unwell. Most of the other Death Eaters seemed to have gone up into the tower.

I glanced at Tonks, who was holding her own very well and I hurried over to where the others were trying to break through some sort of magical block they had put on the entrance to the tower. Remus kept trying spells to bring it down but nothing seemed to be working. I remembered the Death Eater I had seen coming down from the tower and felt some hard and cold settle in my stomach. Something was wrong, very wrong. Snape swept past me in a flurry of dark robes and greasy hair, the others let him pass and he moved through the block without any trouble at all. A spell narrowly missed Remus so I turned my attentions back on the remaining Death Eaters quickly to help the others. Louisa had moved from Neville who was still prone on the floor and was kneeling in a puddle of blood by Bill's side trying to stop the bleeding.

I nodded, someone needed to make sure that our fallen were looked after, Louisa was a fighter but I knew she wasn't willing to count them out just because they were injured. She would protect them and keep them alive if she could. Bad blood... what a load of rubbish. I danced out of the way of a curse and sent one in the direction of my opponent when I saw Snape an the silvery head of Malfoy streak past me.

"Malfoy!" I called suddenly, that was wrong, Snape shouldn't be helping Malfoy escape. He had caused all of this! I turned to stop them when someone tackled me. I was hit by the sickening and metallic smell of blood and a very inhuman snarl in my ear told me that Greyback had re-entered the fray and decided not to let me pursue Malfoy and Snape.

I stabbed my wand back until I felt it make contact with him, "Impedimenta!" He went flying back off of me and I scrambled to my feet in time to hear the sound of the ceiling collapsing. I dove toward the wall quickly with my hands over my head and felt a sharp pain against my temple. That was soon forgotten as I blinked through the dust filled corridor trying to find her. Louisa was dueling a Death Eater with Ron, blood soaking into the knees of her robes and her left arm clutched awkwardly against her side. She was hurt. My stomach lurched and I forgot all about Snape and Malfoy. A rogue curse shattered the window to my right so I turned and cast at the large wizard, really losing patience with this one man wrecking crew.

"Harry!"

I looked back suddenly and saw Harry, who seemed to have come out of nowhere knocking the wizard Ginny had been dueling back and take off full speed in the direction Snape and fled. He wasn't far behind the blond wizard and two other Death Eaters, the kid was determined to get himself killed one way or another it seemed. I knew how this went, Harry went running off recklessly and Louisa was right behind ready to act as human shield if need be. Sure enough she noticed and was now sprinting down the hall after him. I groaned inwardly as she disappeared around the corner and I started after them. If they managed to catch up with them they would be outmatched, particularly with Louisa hurt.

I caught Remus' eye as I barreled past and he gave a short nod. They could hold their own here, someone had to go make sure the Trouble Twins stayed alive. I skidded around a corner and hurried toward the exit, I doubted they would be making a run for the vanishing cabinet at this point. It would be too risky if they thought we had managed to block it off. Had we? I didn't think they had sent anyone back to guard it, still. Front doors it was then, I ducked into a lesser known passage and skidded down the stairs at a dangerous rate of speed. When I burst out into the Entrance Hall Louisa and the large blond wizard were dueling. A curse missed her and shattered the giant Gryffindor hourglass, sending the rubies pouring out onto the floor like blood.

"Stupefy!" She aimed at him quickly but he blocked it and sent a curse that knocked her back sharply.

I slid over the rubies to her side as he raced out the door and knelt down. She was already trying to sit up, her arm still held tightly against her side. It was broken, that much was obvious, it must have happened when someone had caused the roof to cave in during the battle. The blood that coated her fingers and stained her clothing seemed to all belong to Bill as I couldn't see any more than few scrapes on her. I was pulling her to her feet quickly when I heard Harry's voice.

"Out of the way!" Harry leapt down the staircase and cast us a nothing more than a glance before sprinting out the doors quickly.

"All of you get back to your common rooms!" I bellowed out at all of the pajama clad students that were cowering around and looking at us in shock and confusion.

Ernie Macmillon had reached the bottom of the staircase with that obstinate look on his face, he was going to insist on some answers. I didn't have patience for it right now. Especially since the other two Death Eaters were now running down the staircase.

"Ernie make yourself useful or scarce!" I shouted and pushed him out of the way as they started casting curses down at me.

"Reducto!" One shouted and the hourglass for Ravenclaw shattered and I was pelted suddenly with razor sharp shards of glass and gem stones.

I just turned and charged after them into the night, better to fight them out here anyway where there weren't a bunch of students out in the halls that could get killed. Ahead of them I saw Louisa a short ways behind Harry and they were running towards the gates, I assumed the say something I didn't have time to. My focus had to be on the two Death Eaters that were aiming their wands at their backs at the moment.

"REDUCTO!" I bellowed causing the stretch of ground they were running on to explode, sending grass and dirt flying in all directions. They stumbled back and turned to face me and I was locked in a duel with both of them.

"Crucio!" I parried the curse quickly.

"Petrificus Totalis!" The woman went stiff and fell to the ground.

"Avada Kedavra!" The wizard cast at me and I ducked out of the way quickly, by the time I had regained balance he had uttered the counter curse and was dragging the woman along with him.

Hagrid's hut was on fire, I heard him shouting but couldn't make out what the half giant was saying. Silhouetted against the flames Louisa was battling the huge blond wizard again. I saw Harry dueling with Snape not far past them. The witch hit Louisa in the back with something that sent her flying and she didn't get up from where she landed on the grass.

"Louisa!" The shout ripped through my chest, I threw myself onto the grass beside her. She couldn't be dead, I hadn't heard what curse they had used, it could have been anything! I heard Snape shouting in the back of my mind but that didn't matter, it only mattered that she was not dead. I turned her over carefully and fumbled with her wrist to try and pick out a pulse. Not that I could have felt it with adrenaline causing my heart to beat in my ears. I leaned down quickly, I felt her warm breath on my cheek. She was breathing, she was alive. Probably just stunned. I started on the counter curse quickly and her eyelids flickered lightly when I heard the thunderous rush of wings from above. Buckbeak had just soured over us and was chasing Snape away from Harry who seemed to be searching for his wand on the ground quickly.

Louisa hissed in a breath of pain and drew her left arm against her tenderly, I looked back down at her, "Louisa? Can you hear me? It's okay... they've gone."

Sure enough Harry was stumbling back toward us, "Louisa!" He called suddenly in panic.

I shook my head, "She's all right, just stunned. Go help Hagrid!"

He nodded and moved forward as the huge figure came out of the burning house with a huge dog clutched in his arms. Of course, Hagrid had gone in to save Fang. Harry helped Hagrid put out the fire and they started back to the castle after I assured them we would be close behind.

"She needs another moment or two I think," I told them quickly, "The danger has passed I think, for now."

I didn't hear what they spoke about, my focus was elsewhere. It took a few minutes before I felt it was safe to let Louisa stand, still I gripped her waist to help her along as we made our way back up to the castle. I noticed the crowd forming at the base of the Astronomy tower from a ways off. I steered us toward it automatically. They had been trying to get up into the tower, something had happened up there. What? I couldn't imagine. Louisa thought of it before I did I think, her grip on my arm tightened suddenly as the crowd parted to let us in. Harry knelt next to a body, a body that had clearly fallen from the tower. A body with a glistening white beard and half moon spectacles that sparkled in the moonlight.

Louisa sobbed and I just pulled her closer to my side automatically, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. It couldn't be real. How was that even possible? I was waiting for his features to start changing, like when I had looked down at my own dead body a few year ago. The effects of the polyjuice potion would wear off any moment now, and we would all know that it wasn't Dumbledore. How could it be? Yet there was a question that had been humming in the back of my mind ever since I had seen Harry in the corridor. Where was Dumbledore? He could have returned with Harry, he would have known something was wrong at the school. He had returned with Harry, that was the only logical explanation. He had returned to Hogwarts for the last time. if this wasn't the real Dumbledore than he would have burst into that corridor and made quick work of those Death Eaters just like last year at the Ministry. There was no way around, Dumbledore was dead. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks, cutting through the blood and grime that had settled there. Ginny was gently leading Harry away form the body, back towards the front doors of the castle. I swallowed and turned to see that Louisa was looking at me, her own tears shining like silver against her skin.

"Cedric, you're bleeding..." She reached up with her uninjured hand toward my temple, I felt the faint throbbing there, but it was nothing.

"I'm fine. Go with them, you need to have your arm mended. I'll be right behind you." I cleared my throat and to my great surprise she nodded and started after Ginny and Harry.

I didn't look around at the stunned and grieved crowd, I just thought that I needed to do something for Dumbledore. So I conjured up a silk sheet with my wand and laid it over him carefully before I walked slowly back inside the castle. I entered the Hospital wing while they were telling Harry what all had happened, I could see by their faces that they had been informed that Dumbledore was dead. Louisa sat on the edge of a bed with Madam Pomfrey working to mend her arm quietly but with tears streaming down the woman's cheeks. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had soon joined us and the uncertainties of Bill's future were made clear. Then Fleur did something very surprising, Bill had been very handsome. Needless to say he probably wouldn't be anymore, not with the scars his injuries would leave. To my great shock she didn't care, got angry at the suggestion. Huh, I really hadn't expected that. I felt almost bad now for thinking of her as being nothing but shallow and vain. Well, she was still vain, but she was in love for real it seemed.

"You see!" Tonks had rounded on Lupin now, "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different," Lupin replied tensely, "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely-"

"But I don't care either, I don't care!"

I didn't pay attention to how people were reacting to this new drama, I was looking very steadily across the bed at Louisa. She was watching the exchange with a bit of surprise etched on her face and and she didn't seem to notice my gaze. Not at first at least, when she did she cast her eyes quickly down to her hands while the others spoke.

"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," Professor McGonagall was saying and the hospital doors opened and Hagrid came in, but Louisa had snapped under the pressure before he could say anything.

"Stop it Cedric!" She nearly shouted and finally looked up at me again, "These are hardly the same..."

I laughed, "Yes, exactly. You're not exactly a werewolf Louisa! No offense Remus... I mean it's..."

"Worse! I'm so much worse!" She jumped up from the bed and moved around Madam Pomfrey, "I have centuries of evil flowing through my veins. My ancestor put a giant killer serpent in a school to kill muggle borns! And what did you think of my family Harry? You got a good look at the Gaunts? Pleasant lot aren't they?"

"That is such rubbish!" I snapped, everyone had gone very silent was staring between the two of us carefully, "I know and Dumbledore knew that it didn't matter that you weren't..."

"Dumbledore trusted Snape and it got him killed! Voldemort is my grandfather!" She wiped angrily at the tears in her eyes.

"You are so hung up on your 'bad blood'." I shook my head angrily and took a long breath before I spoke next, "Dumbledore once told me that Voldemort will always have something to kill for, but he will never know what it is to have something to die for. I watched you throw yourself in front of Harry last year. At the Ministry. You put yourself between that killing curse and Harry. You tended to Bill despite a war going on around you! You almost got yourself killed again trying to keep Harry safe! Those are the things that I care about Louisa. Those are the things that tell us who you are, not a family tree."

Louisa just stared at me as if trying to think of something to say, I could see her struggling with how to respond. Then I think we remembered that there were other people in the room. I looked around them defiantly, it suddenly occurred to me that they might take issue with her lineage. I would argue my point with them as well, I would remind them when she had fought for them, been hurt for them, just let them try to tell me that she was tainted. Louisa was looking at Harry though, I could see the fear there. She thought he would cast her aside, that he would hate her now. I tensed, readying myself for his reaction, I might have to punch him.

Harry swallowed, "Cedric's right. It doesn't matter and... I really don't care," he shook his head and shrugged, "Doesn't make a difference to me."

"Yes. Miss Black has proven herself as a Gryffindor," MacGonagall said suddenly, "Although I doubt anyone in this room would hold this secret against her I think it best that perhaps it stays between all of us, for her own protection." Then she turned to Hagrid, "Have you finished? Have you... moved him?" Her voice faltered but she did her best to remain calm.

Hagrid nodded, "Professor Sprout's got the kids back in bed. Professor Flitwick's lyin' down, but he says he'll be all righ' in a jiffy, an' Professor Slughorn says the Ministry's bin informed."

"Thank you, Hagrid," MacGonagall stood at once and turned back to all of us, "I shall have to see the Ministry when they get here. Hagrid, please tell the Heads of Houses - Slughorn can represent Slytherin - that I want to see them in my office forthwith. I would like you to us too." She watched as Hagrid left and then turned to Harry, "Before I meet them I would like a quick word with you, Harry. if you'll come with me..."

"See you in a bit," Harry said as he stood and gave Louisa a tired smile before he followed the Professor out of the Hospital wing.

Mostly everyone had just been silent since Louisa's revelation and now she slumped into the chair Harry had vacated looking deflated and exhausted. Harry and McaGonagall had decided that her secret didn't matter, but there were a lot of other people in the room. Remus just moved over and put a hand on her shoulder with a kind smile. It was only then that I remembered Sirius had made him her godfather. It had been that last summer in Grimmauld place I heard them talking in the kitchen. About if anything happened to Sirius, he had wanted Remus to look after her. It made sense, Louisa and Remus had always gotten along better than most. Ron was giving her a very confused look as though he was thinking very hard about something.

"So... four years ago... when Harry was hearing the basilisk in the walls... and you were actually an heir of Slytherin..." He said suddenly and Hermione gave him a sharp look before looking for Louisa's reaction.

Louisa laughed, "Yes I heard it too. I also understood him when he told that snake to leave Justin alone." She shrugged, "I just had the sense not to go around telling everyone. I knew then, who my grandfather was, I was afraid, but I knew I wasn't doing it."

"Blimey..." Ron shook his head, "Then the next year we all thought your dad was going to kill Harry. Been a weird few years for you hasn't it?"

Louisa nodded, "S'pose it has."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, eyeing her thoughtful expression.

"Oh I'm just trying to remember my first year here, what happened at Hogwarts before Harry Potter showed up?" She shook her head.

I smiled, "You mean, besides education?"

She smiled at me, "How dull."

Mostly everyone laughed faintly at this exchange and then Mr. Weasley moved forward quite abruptly as if he had been thinking about something and had come to a decision. He cleared his throat and looked down at Louisa with an easy smile, "You and Harry are always welcome in our family. I always hoped you marry one of the twins..." he glanced at me uncomfortably, "But that's hardly a requirement. I think I can speak for the rest of my family when we say that we are honored to have the two of you in our lives. Not just everyone would have gone to the trouble of checking on Bill when he was wounded like that, not with all that was going on around you... thank you."

"I think Dumbledore would be quite pleased," Ginny noted to me, looking over everyone, "A lot of love tonight."

"Good, we'll need it," I replied and just watched them. I knew then, even as we listened to the pheonix singing it's heartbreaking son, none of us really understood that we was dead. We knew it, but it hadn't really become a reality yet. In our minds we still pictured him up in his office with those blue eyes twinkling at us. Yet none of us would ever see it again, we would never have him swoop in and save us all ever again. The reality of his passing hadn't set in, but I felt what it meant. The war just got a lot harder, there was no longer anyone that Voldemort really feared on our side. I remembered watching the two of them duel in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. It had been spectacular, I didn't know anyone that could keep up with him now. I hoped Dumbledore was right, I hoped that love really was this great weapon against him. There was certainly no shortage of it in this room, but I wasn't sure if it was really going to help us win out in the end.

The funeral was a huge affair, I suppose it would have to be. Witches and wizards came from all over, and many of the students had stayed. I sat next to Louisa who was on the other side of Ron on their row of chairs by the lake. She gripped my hand tightly but discretely, we hadn't really spoke about it since that night. I wasn't really sure what was going to happen between us, but I had the feeling she wanted to keep it between us. I remembered the twins once saying that when we were actually a couple that Louisa would deny it, maybe that was true. The mermaids came to the surface to pay their respects, the centaurs came to the edge of the forest even Grawp came out. It was certainly a good turnout, and I thought Dumbledore would have been very thrilled by all of the magical creatures, probably more so than all of the people. The sight of Dolores Umbridge and her forced expression of toadlike sadness made me feel angry. Especially since I could feel the ridges of the scarred words on the back of Louisa's hand as I held it. I focused on the water, glinting brightly in the sunlight. It was a beautiful day, warm and pleasant. Seemed odd. I thought it would have been gloomy out, but then again Dumbledore probably would have preferred this. I didn't really try to listen to the man that got up and spoke. My mind was on the future, we had a hard war ahead of us.

When it was over Louisa immediately stood and pulled me with her away from the others, she looked at me then her eyes were now dry, but the residual dampness of tears were on her cheeks. She gave me a very determined look, a strong look, "I'm going to help Harry. I know him and he won't come back to Hogwarts next year. We've got Horcruxes to find."

I had been filled in on that, and the fake Horcrux that we now had in our possession as well as what Horcruxeswere, "Okay. Then I'm going with you."

"Okay," Louisa nodded, "I think we can do it Cedric. I really do."

"Yeah... it's going to be awful though," I swallowed, "Without Dumbledore alive to scare him who knows what his next move will be?"

"Not all awful, hopefully," Louisa noted and grabbed the front of my robes, tugging me down so that she could kiss me. It was short and sweet and exactly what I remembered, with the fireworks being set off in my chest, "We've got a wedding to look forward to. I love weddings."

"I know you do," I smiled, "So we should probably start planning ours don't you think?"

Louisa rolled her eyes, "Don't push your luck Diggory."

She glanced toward the lake shore and her expression set into an angry one, she pulled her hand free from mine and started down to where Harry and Rufus Scrimgeour were talking. I knew what their conversation over Christmas had been like and I had an idea that now that Dumbledore was dead he expected Harry to just fall into league with the Ministry. I was only a few steps behind her and we seemed to catch the tail end of the conversation.

"Released Stan Shunpike yet?" Harry challenged the minister.

The Minister looked angry, "I see you are -"

"Dumbledore's man, through and through," Harry finished for him, "That's right."

The minister turned angrily and was met with Louisa who smiled, "Though perhaps I can help explain something to you Minister. We are all loyal to Dumbledore, but the reason Harry won't help your ministry is more about honor and nobility," She told him pleasantly, "Because he has those things and you obviously don't. Harry will never endorse a Minister who puts innocent people in jail just to look like he's doing something. How about you stop trying to appear like you're a good and honorable man and actually try to be one. Without all the smoke and mirrors and politics. You can raise the morale all you want, but at the end of the day that won't stop people getting murdered." She glanced over at where Umbridge stood with the other ministry officials, "Dolores Umbridge is a cold hearted woman. You would be wise to cut ties with her. She only cares for who is the most powerful at the time and her loyalty will switch from you to someone else in a second. Surround yourself with good people Minister, that's the only hope you have."

He was now quite purple in the face and was eyeing her uncertainly before he just huffed and turned to limp off back toward his people. Ron and Hermione caught up with us soon, there was some discussion about punching Percy that Louisa seemed partial to but in the end Hermione would allow it. I wasn't entirely opposed to the idea either, but I decided not to get on her bad side. Then, as Louisa had predicted Harry made the announcement that he wouldn't return to Hogwarts.

"I'm going back to the Dursley's once more, because Dumbledore wanted me to," He said, "But it'll be a short visit, and then I'll be gone for good."

"But where will you go if you don't come back to school?"

"I thought I might go back to Godric's Hollow," He noted, "For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves,I'd like that."

"And then what?" Ron asked uncertainly.

"Then I've got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven't I?" He nodded and glanced back toward the white tomb, "That's what he wanted me to do, that's why he told me all about them. If Dumbledore was right - and I'm sure he was - there are still four of them out there. I've got to find them and destroy them, and then I've got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort's soul, the bit that's still in his body, and I'm the one who's going to kill him. And if I meet Severus Snape along the way," he shrugged, "So much the better for me, so much the worse for him."

"We'll be there Harry," Ron said after a long pause.

"What?"

"At your aunt and uncle's house," said Ron. "And then we'll go with you wherever you're going."

"No -" Harry started to argue.

"You said to us once before," Hermione cut him off, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"

"We're with you whatever happens," Ron agreed, "But mate, you're going to have to come round my mum and dad's house before we do anything, even Godric's Hollow."

"Why?"

Louisa lost her patience, "The wedding! We can't miss that. Plus we'll need time to prepare, I've got some ideas of how we can travel and stay hidden. I'm sure Hermione can help me out with this."

Harry looked at her and she rolled her eyes, "Harry, we're family. Of course I'm coming with you. Cedric too. I know it's a hard concept for you to grasp, honestly I've struggled with it myself. But you're not alone Harry. That's sort of the point isn't it? Love being our advantage? Then let it be our advantage."

"S'pose you're right," Harry grinned at her, "No sense in arguing with you is there?"

Before Louisa could respond I spoke, "No. Don't even try it."

She gave me a stern look but there was a smile in her eyes, she took my hand again.

"Just... don't go around snogging in front of me okay?" Harry said eyeing us uncomfortably and then he glanced at Ron, "Sorry mate, now I know how you felt."

Louisa laughed, "Fine, we'll snog in secret..."

"Or when your back is turned." I added and she laughed.

It was a beautiful day, and I had a feeling it would be one of the few beautiful days we had left. Even if it was tinged in sadness. As the others walked ahead of us back toward the castle I felt Louisa slow down beside me. I didn't mind, I wasn't eager to go back inside. I wanted to hold on to this moment by the lake, with the water reflecting the sun, and a gentle breeze carried the scent of honey and lavender through the air. Then she stopped completely and I looked at her. I saw it again, there was a secret just under the surface and she was about to share it with me.

"I think I might tell Harry, but I wanted to tell you first. It's about Dumbledore, he did meet with me once again, alone after the Triwizard Tournament. There was more to the story than what he told us together, more to do with me..."

She hesitated and I saw the flicker of fear there before her eyes met mine, blazing with determination, "Cedric there was a -"

Snape panted, sweat beading over his forehead and he lowered his wand, giving me such a perplexed look that I felt myself grinning at him in response. He had been trying for days to get past that point in the memory, but I had put my walls up well around it. No, he didn't get to have that secret. I watched as he turned and strode out of the room, I had known Draco Malfoy was waiting for him outside. I had seen his feet pacing anxiously in front of the door, casting shadows beneath it into my prison. Now I closed my eyes, exhausted but triumphant, and listened to their exchange.

"He won't let me see what comes next," Snape was saying, "He's spent ample time distracting me with all of these memories that he was able to secure that one. I don't think I'll be able to break through."

"What else can you do? They want answers!" Draco sounded afraid.

"I think I will skip past it, keep going down the time line, perhaps there is something else there."

Their voices and their footsteps were fading away down the corridor. I smiled and started to let myself drift off. The image of Louisa by the lake still fresh in my mind. The water reflecting light into her dark hair, those chocolate eyes looking up at me. I was prepared for Snape, let him keep trying, I wasn't letting that secret go. Not as long as I could help it. It may not change the fates of anything, but it could, mostly it would just put her in more danger. I couldn't have that.