A/N: As always, I don't own any of this.
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"Why?..." Hermione whispered, falling back onto the wall next to the bed.
Ron slowly raised himself up into a sitting position, and looking over to who was laying in the bed across from him, asked, "Who is it?"
"I can't believe it," she started, "I told him not to do anything. He promised…"
"Hermione, who is it?" Ron repeated.
"It's Krum…" she said. "I can't believe he did this. I told him not to!"
"Told who?"
"I told him not to… he promised…" she repeated, rushing to the double doors at the front, tears pooling in her eyes. Ron called out to her, but she had already ran through the double doors leading outside with one though circulating through her mind.
"I can't believe I trusted him…"
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The next day, Cedric went to breakfast like always. Sitting down at the Hufflepuff table, he grabbed a bowl of cereal and began talking with his friends as always. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, that is, until the end of breakfast neared and Hermione had not come into the Great Hall to eat with her friends, who had already shown up. A voice in the back of Cedric's head told him something wasn't right, but rational thought convinced him that she must be too busy in the library studying, or something along those lines.
Getting up and walking toward the doors with his friends, he came upon Ginny and Luna, who had hastily walked in and were looking, searching around the room for something. Seeing Cedric, Ginny walked up and grabbed his arm, pulling him out into the hallway.
"Have you seen Hermione?" Ginny asked pointedly at Cedric.
"No, I haven't. Why?"
"She didn't come back last night from the Hospital Wing," she said, "We can't find her anywhere."
A bell in the distance rang, signaling the nearing of the first lesson. Masses of students began filing out of the Great Hall and moving towards the various classrooms.
"Are you going to go look for her?" Cedric asked.
"I want to, but I can't miss Herbology. We have a big exam coming up, and I need a good grade," she said.
"I'll go look for her then. Where else do you think she might be?"
Before she could answer, waves of students started coming out of the doors and pushing them apart. With one idea as to where she might be, Cedric made with haste to the staircase.
--
After an hour of searching, Cedric became frustrated that he couldn't find Hermione. He had searched every floor, every corridor he could think of that she might be. Classes were about to be released, and he needed to find her before the rush of students filled the hall and made his task almost impossible. Combing his brain for ideas, he managed to think of the one place she was bound to be. Skipping down the staircase in a frenzy, he made his way to the Black Lake.
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As he approached the bank of the lake he could see a girl, sitting on the edge of the water and skipping rocks upon it. Knowing that it had to be her, Cedric rushed over. As he came upon her, he could see that all was not well; her hair was somewhat matted, and her face appeared tearstained. Before he could even open his mouth, she jumped up and began walking in the other direction.
"Hermione, wait!" he exasperated. Running up to her, he put his hand on her arm, only for her to shove his hand away.
"Dont touch me."
"What happened?" Cedric asked, briskly walking to try and catch up.
"Like you don't know." she spat.
"Know what? Hermione, talk to me."
Whirling around and catching Cedric off-guard, she bellowed, "Do the words, 'bloody bulgarian', ring any bells?"
Realizing what she was talking about, he jumped to explain. "Hermione, he was trashing you! For the past week I've heard every kind of rumor about you, and everyone who told me said that it came from him. He wouldn't stop, even after I talked to him about it, so I just thought maybe it would be good if he knew what it felt like to be in your position. What it felt like to be trashed..."
With every ounce of strength in her body, Hermione slapped him across the face with her hand, and screamed, "I'M NOT THE ONE IN THE HOSPITAL BLOODIED UP AND HAVING TO BE FED THROUGH A TUBE!"
Dumbfounded, Cedric just stood there, looking at her.
"Do you realize what you have done? You broke a promise to me! I asked you, begged you not to do anything to him, because it would do no good. I told you that beating him senseless would solve nothing! BUT YOU DID IT ANYWAY!"
Pausing for a moment to calm herself down, she walked up to him and continued, "Honestly, I'm thankful that you care for me that much…"
As Cedric opened his mouth to say something, Hermione looked him in the eye and said sternly, "But let me fight my own battles."
Tearing up, Hermione marched in the direction of the castle, leaving Cedric standing on the shore, wondering what kind of damage he had done, and what kind of damage was to come.
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A/N: Sorry for the extremely long wait. School, exams, band, trying to find a job, and getting my license has eaten up all of my time. Thankfully, school here is over in two weeks, so I should have a huge amount of free time starting then. I know this chapter is really, really short, but that is because it just felt weird leaving this story hanging. I have many ideas for what to do after this, but it might take some time to type it up. Any suggestions? Reviews are always great! Hope everyone liked the chapter.