Title: Hope
Pairings: Cedric/Hermione
Summary: Why her?
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I can only dream it's mine but we all know it belongs to JK Rowling.
Warning: 15minuteficlets and it's not as good.
It wasn't meant to happen this way. They were suppose to be happy, find that 'happily ever after' moment that they had so much wished for in their war-torn years. In just one second, he was scared. Scared for the children they fought to protect, for the future that was suppose to be theirs. He felt helpless standing guard inside of the Gryffindor Tower. How had it come to this? How could their beloved school fall to pieces? A part of him wanted to die every time he heard a blood-curdling scream.
Turning around Cedric surveyed the first, second, and third years. The fear was evident on their faces as most of them cried while some, like the Slytherins, remained stoic but they couldn't hide their own fears as he watched it grow in their eyes. Having had enough, Cedric went to each and every window in the tower to silence them with a spell before going over each one to make the window opaque and gloomy. Not wanting to watch the battle below them, he turned back and began to pace the room.
As he continued to pace, Cedric grew more and more nervous waiting for the battle below to end. Every noise in the room began to amplify as he felt the tension in the air grow and the sadness cut his heart as he thought of the people who had already fallen with more to come. Yes, they had been prepared, and yes, they had been waiting for this moment but he still couldn't help but ask questions.
Why now?
How could the other professors let them dirty their sacred grounds?
Why her?
Sitting at the bottom of the stairs, Cedric let his head drop onto his hands. Taking deep breathes, he tried to calm his racing heart. It was she who made his heart race even in the midst of a battle. She was the one he was waiting for. Waiting until the moment that would decide whether or not she and her boys will live. It pained him to let her fight, to fight with knowledge way beyond her years but they needed her. Not as much as he did, but still. It seemed that the fate of the world rested on three children's shoulders fighting a war that was as old as time.
"Professor Diggory?" a faint voice wavered.
Looking up and seeing the girl's tie, he could tell that she was a Slytherin.
Etana March, his memory whispered.
"Yes Ms. March," Cedric finally asked.
Her dark blue eyes didn't sparkle today like it usually did, but the grim look on her face told him that they were too young. And yet, it told him that she was too weary and old beyond her 11 years. Taking out a handkerchief, he beckoned her onto his lap and slowly wiped her silent tears that he wished he could keep at bay.
"Are we going to die?" she asked him in a faint whisper so the others wouldn't hear.
Stopping, he was shocked to hear such a question. Scanning the room, his eyes landed on his old head of house and fellow colleague. Professor Sprout was also comforting the other crying students but he had a feeling that Etana had already asked her as well. Looking down, he could see her defeated look. Struggling with his voice, he finally whispered a shaky but determined 'no'.
Getting off his lap, he watched as she walked over to the other first years and comfort them.
Feeling the wards break down, Professor Sprout and Cedric ushered the children up the stairs as quickly as they could. They stood ready at the foot of the stairs to defend their post. The seconds felt like hours before the portrait opened and the intruder came in. He had been ready to strike when Professor Sprout gave a muffled scream. He never knew what came at him but in his rigidity, he sensed another person. A female person. Opening his eyes tentatively, he looked down just a shouts of joy could be heard and his robe started to water.
Her unruly locks were caked with mud and dried blood as he eyes traveled to her bruised and battered body. As she looked up at him, he recognized her brown eyes, shining with tears as her red lips curled and formed the words 'we won'.
He could not believe it. For a second he couldn't see it. Closing his eyes, he thought that he was deluding himself until he felt her lips brush against his own. Feeling its soft caresses, he held onto his piece of hope. Holding onto her war-wrecked body, he knew that he wasn't dreaming. That Hermione Granger had come back battered but in one piece.
Feeling a pair of eyes on him, he looked around the room until his eyes fell onto Etana. He could see her whisper 'thank you', her eyes showing promises of a better future.