To Bedlam and Partway Back

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters

Chapter Thirteen

Thankfully she was there.

"Mother!"

Lauraine Elspeth-Diggory was just as blond and grey-eyed as her only progeny, although her face was a perfect oval, and very intelligent looking. There was a slight sternness about the set of her mouth, but it was gone the moment she saw her son.

"Eric," she murmured, "thank Merlin." She touched his blond crown, so similar to her own. Then she turned to Harry, who immediately blushed.

"He-hello," he stuttered out.

Her smile widened. "Is he always this endearing?" she asked her son teasingly.

Cedric sighed, and slipped his arm about the pink-faced boy. "Unfortunately so," he said. "He is quite irresistible, and doesn't even know it." That only made Harry blush harder.

Lauraine smiled, but the expression quickly faded. "Come, let us go where we can talk in private. We are far too open out here." She led them to the Three Broomstricks, where she hailed Madam Rosmerta down. "A private room, please. We are not to be disturbed, and you did not see us," she cautioned, sliding an unseen number of galleons across the bar.

The woman's eyes widened at the amount, and then nodded eagerly. "Of course, mum." She pulled a key from her pocket. "Down the hall, and to the left. It's my own private room. It's locked and warded and everything."

Lauraine smiled faintly. "You have my thanks." She swept past Rosmerta with such grace that the woman barely even spared a glance at the two boys following her.

The three of them quickly settled in the room. It was basic, but clean, and there was a Charmed drawer full of Butterbeers. Cedric pulled two bottles out for Harry and himself, but conjured up a goblet for his mother to drink from.

"Now that that's taken care of," Lauraine said, "tell me, how are the two of you faring?"

The two boys glanced at each other, and then Cedric said, "Things have been fairly quiet after last Sunday's fiasco-" Lauraine laughed softly "-but it's only a matter of time before someone else tries something." He waffled briefly, and then tried again. "Father-"

His mother's face tightened. "You cannot return home. Should he send anything to you, burn it immediately. He doesn't know it, but all the legalities with the Ministry and Gringotts are handled in my name. Your father is remarkably good at talking, but inept beyond words at documentation." She smiled faintly. "That is a boon for us, at least. Any letter he must draft must go through me. He cannot disinherit you or even pull you from Hogwarts without my knowing." She narrowed her eyes at him. "But you knew he was going to try that already, didn't you?" Neither boy had reacted at all to that.

Cedric gave her a sickly smile. "Bernard Fleet approached me."

"Bernard?" she echoed, astonished. "Herbert's twin? But-"

"He said he wasn't doing this for Herbert, but-" Cedric shrugged. "Anyways, he's offering us his home as sanctuary. They want to force Father out into the open. They're going to charge him with a suit of negligence and no-confidence. If he's found unfit as a guardian-"

"-then all his titles fall to you," she murmured, considering. Her grey eyes flickered over to her son. "It is a good plan," she admitted, "one that has a high likelihood of success. If we're lucky, he might even bring Dumbledore down with him. The Darker contingents will vote against him, and I've heard Malfoy is considering this a personal vendetta. Even the ones in Dumbledore's camp will be troubled. They are traditionalists, and this is the oldest of all the Oaths. To show that he would so openly disregard this one, and for no good reason that anyone save him can fathom-"

"What I'm worried about is if Dumbledore tries to press that he had cause to disregard the Bond," Cedric confessed, glancing apologetically at Harry. The boy clenched his jaw, but said nothing.

Lauraine glanced curiously between them. "What do you mean?"

"Remember the Howler Father sent?"

She rolled her eyes. "How could I ever forget? The ridiculous thing."

"Well, Father seemed to be under the impression that Harry had an ideal childhood and a loving family he'd been placed with." Harry was tensing up more and more, and Cedric ran a comforting hand down his back.

Lauraine nodded, showing that she remembered. "Yes, and I think I wrote saying that you would have hardly taken these drastic measures to be flippant." There was some sympathy in her eyes as she studied the younger boy, and, slowly, he relaxed. Harry had been afraid Lauraine wouldn't believe him, would call him out on that.

"That's exactly it," Cedric continued. "Harry didn't have a happy childhood. If Dumbledore presses that issue, however, all the sordid details are going to have to be aired."

"You want to protect him." It wasn't a question, but Cedric nodded in answer anyways. Harry was blushing again.

"It can't be helped, Cedric," she told him sadly. "In some ways, I think that's what Dumbledore's counting on, that you won't out Harry like this so publicly. If you have no proof that he had unfit guardians-"

"-there stands a chance that he'll charge me for illegal endangerment," he growled. Harry looked alarmed.

"Would he go that far?" he whispered. "So far he hasn't tried to attack you, just me-"

Lauraine glanced at her son, and took in his pinched expression. So there was no need to voice Amos's plans out here where the child would fret. Cedric already knew what was planned for him should he go home. She didn't wonder how he knew; he'd already mentioned how the Fleet heir had approached him, and nothing was a secret in the Ministry. Fleet's father was in a much higher position than Amos, and would have probably known about those plots the moment they were conceived.

"The best way," she said carefully, "is to get Amos to overreact. When he is angry, he lashes out. Sometimes physically."

Cedric's eyes widened. If he could rile his father up enough to the point where he would strike him, that would almost certainly guarantee a favourable ruling- on his side, of course But his mother– there was a clause in her contract. If he ever struck her, their marriage would be immediately annulled, and all her original assets would be restored to her. The ennoblement, unfortunately, was permanent, but her family would keep the bride price. In a way it was why his father had always been kind to her, but he did love her, in his own strange, convoluted way.

"Mother…" he whispered unhappily.

Harry looked between the two in bewilderment. "What's going on?" His face was white with worry.

Lauraine shook her head. "It is only a drastic measure. I recognise that your father is still a good man. His head just- needs rearranging."

"You aren't planning to get yourself hit, are you?" Harry demanded, shocked.

"Harry-" Cedric began soothingly, but Harry wasn't having any of it.

"This is- this is so much- more- than I-" His head sunk into his arms, although his eyes were wide open and staring at the floor.

Cedric bit his lip nervously. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "It's my fault; I got you involved in all this-"

"No," Harry cut in, "you put yourself in this position, Cedric, you got in over your head. I had nothing to lose going into all this, but you- I can't just sit here and listen to you and your mother talk about getting herself hit for our sakes!"

"Mother can take care of herself," he began, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, but that only incensed Harry further.

"This is ridiculous," he declared heatedly. "What's next, having your father thrash you in the middle of the Wizengamot, just to prove a point? There's got to be a line drawn somewhere, Cedric, and you've already crossed it!" He rose and made his way to the door.

"Wa-wait, where're you going?" Cedric exclaimed.

Harry barely spared him a glance. "I can't sit here and listen to this."

"You listened when we made the plan to out Pettigrew!"

"No one got hurt, Cedric!" he yelled, flinging the door open.

Cedric grit his teeth. "Mother, I'll be right back," he blurted, and then sped out after Harry. "Harry, wait, please-"

The boy had already made it out onto the street. "What more do you want me to say, Cedric?" he burst out. "I can't-can't go along any of this! I just-"

"Sometimes…sometimes…sacrifices have to be made," Cedric mumbled. "For the greater good."

That was possibly the worst thing Cedric could have said. Harry's face lost all colour. "For the greater good?" he repeated hollowly. "I'm sure that's what Dumbledore said when he left me at the Dursleys." The blond's head shot up, eyes wide.

"Leave him alone, Cedric," an unwelcome voice growled, and Cedric whirled, shocked.

"Father!"

Harry didn't seem to have heard his exclamation. "Yeah, leave me alone, Cedric," he repeated bitterly.

The blond turned white. "You can't mean that," he whispered. They had garnered an audience, but neither of them seemed to realise it. Herbie was staring at the three of them, his eyes wide with indecision. Hermione was hovering by his side, horrified by this turn of events.

Lauraine was just emerging from the Three Broomsticks, but when she saw Amos there, she was stunned. Had he followed her here? Did he know of her involvement in all this? She wanted to protect her son, but she could only do that from the shadows. If her husband found out-

Swallowing tightly, and trusting her son to be able to take care of himself and his young Bonded, she Disapparated away.

Harry turned to face him. "Of course I don't!" he snapped. "How could I? You've been nothing but kind to me, Cedric. I just don't want you to have to go to such lengths…"

Ignoring the warnings bells in his head that said leaving his back to his armed and angry father was a really bad idea, Cedric pulled the younger boy into his arms, and hushed him.

"Shhh, Harry," he comforted, running his hands through the wild locks. Harry was clutching at him desperately, so terribly insecure in his youth.

"I don't know how things got this way," Harry blurted. "I didn't mean- you didn't have to- I'm so sorry-"

"I'm not sorry for anything," Cedric declared fiercely, pulling back just enough to let Harry see his face. "And you know why? It's because I found you. Because I have you now. I've got you, Harry. I love you. You know that." Harry's fingers tightened their grip on his robe so much that his knuckles were creaking.

"Let the boy go, Cedric," his father snarled, and he turned, making sure to put Harry behind him.

"He doesn't want to leave, Father," he replied, sounding much calmer than he actually was. "I'm sure you can see that."

Amos Diggory let out an angry growl. "You've warped the boy. I don't know what you were thinking, taking a mere child away from his loving family, telling him your lies-"

"That's enough!" Cedric barked out, feeling the trembling boy at his back.

His father smirked victoriously. "What, can't handle the truth?"

"What I can't handle is how heartless you're being!" he snapped back. "This loving family you're talking about never existed! The only loving family Harry's ever had died twelve years ago!"

And without his even knowing, the gears were put into motion. Bernard shoved his way to the front of the crowd, staring at the scene unfolding with sharp eyes. He immediately looked over at Herbie, who'd been there from the start. "Keep watching," he brusquely ordered. "This is all going in a Pensieve for testimony." Herbie just gaped, not even able to summon up the motor function to retort.

"Rubbish, boy!" Amos barked out. "Dumbledore himself-"

"And how would he know, eh?" Cedric retorted. "He never once came to check up on Harry! How would he know a thing!"

"I won't have you talking about a great man like that, Cedric! I thought we raised you better than this-"

"You didn't raise me at all!" Cedric shot back, losing his head. "You only ever saw in me what you wanted to see- no wonder you and Dumbledore get along so well!"

In retrospect, Cedric really should have seen that coming, but there was nothing he could do to avoid the furious backhand across his face, with the handle of Amos's wand no less.

"Cedric! Cedric!"

He coughed, spitting out several teeth and gobbets of blood. His right cheekbone was broken, and his jaw was dislocated. Eyes teary with the pain, he shoved his jaw back into place with a gasp.

"You bastard! What the hell did you think you were doing!"

To his horror, Harry was confronting his father now, wand out and green eyes blazing. Amos was backing off, looking startled even at himself at the amount of damage he'd managed to do, but mostly because he didn't want to accidentally hurt the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Tell me, what kind of loving family lets a child sleep in a cupboard under the stairs for ten bloody years!" the younger boy snapped, tearing into the man. "And don't tell me the bloody great Dumbledore didn't know, because he is all-knowing, or isn't he?" he mocked. Harry was beside himself with anger.

"All the bloody Hogwarts letters were addressed there, and of course nobody gave a rat's arse when the next letter was addressed to 'The Floor', but since he's in line with someone like you, that's hardly surprising, is it?

"Come on, tell me next how much you love children!" he spat.

Their circle of spectators looked shocked and horrified, but Amos clearly hadn't been listening to a word the boy had said, instead worrying about how to get him out of his face without hurting him.

"Argh, y'know what, you're better of forgetting all of this bollocks anyways," he mumbled. Cedric just caught the words, and his eyes widened.

"Ngoh!"

Harry just managed to raise his wand when the spell caught him point-blank in the face.

"Obliviate!"

Cedric only managed to catch the boy before he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"'arry?" Merlin, it was a bitch to talk, but he needed to see some sort of response from the boy, needed to know he was still there. "'arry, pweash-"

He was clearly unconscious, and wouldn't be waking anytime soon. Cedric glanced up at his father, seething with anger. "You bashturd-"

"Stupefy!"

Cedric instinctively ducked, but the spell hadn't been aimed at him, and had come from more than one direction. Several jets of red light hit his father from various angles, and the man crumpled in the dirt. Herbie was immediately at his friend's sight.

"Bloody hell, Cedric, what the hell happened? I thought you were meeting your mother-"

Cedric shook his head to indicate this really wasn't the time to be talking about this- not that he could quite talk. The entire right side of his face was swelling black and blue, and the pain, forgotten in the adrenaline of the moment, was beginning to wear at him.

Herbie managed a messy grin. "He'll be stripped of his titles, sure as can be, once this Pensieve memory gets out," he said. Herbie really was his best friend, but Cedric could've strangled him at the moment. This really, really, wasn't the time for this discussion. He gestured at the comatose boy in his lap.

The brunet's eyes widened, and he swore. "Merlin. I don't even know how I could have forgotten about that. We have to get you to St. Mungo's- but I don't trust sending you back to the school to Floo. Merlin only knows what will happen if you go back up there. Your mother-"

Cedric shook his head again. He didn't believe his mother would have stayed if she had seen his father appear. They were both safe only as long as Amos was kept in the dark about her involvement.

Herbie seemed to understand that too, for he next said, "I could Apparate him to St. Mungo's," he murmured, "but you need to go there yourself."

"I'll take him."

Abrupt as always, Bernard was at his side. Herbie's mouth tightened, but he said nothing.

"H'mione," Cedric managed to gasp out.

"She's with the rest of the Third-Years," Herbie assured him. "They'll keep her safe."

Bernard looked at his twin sharply. "She is the other confidant?"

Stiffly, Herbie nodded.

"Then she'll want to be pulled from Hogwarts as well," Bernard concluded. "Diggory, I'll Apparate you to St. Mungo's first, and then I'll come back and get her. I'll drop her off at the hospital as well, and then make arrangements to have all your things brought to the Fleet manor."

Bernard didn't give Cedric enough time to answer, not that he really could, just popping away.

They reappeared at the St. Mungo's foyer, where the Fleet heir quickly called for a healer. Herbie Apparated in holding Harry in his arms, scowling at his twin. Once Bernard saw that Herbie was here, he left all the arrangements up to his twin and Disapparated back to Hogsmeade to pick up Hermione. Once the four of them were in St. Mungo's, he nodded briefly to Cedric and returned to Hogsmeade.

They were quickly settled into a private room. Cedric's jaw was healed, although he'd have to regrow his cheekbone. The entire side of his right face was covered with a herbal poultice to keep it from aching, but the smell made him dizzy. Hermione was still stunned by this extraordinary turn of events. Harry was unconscious, and they couldn't force him to wake in case that would further damage his memory. They would have to wait for him to naturally regain consciousness before determining just how much of his memory was gone.

"Bloody hell," Herbie rasped, summing up their day.

Cedric had never felt more like crying.

We all need a memory loss cliché somewhere, don't we? Hopefully le drame of it all made up for the predictability (o: Cheers. Just five chapters to go. Hang in there guys.