To Bedlam and Partway Back

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters

NOTE: WARNINGS FOR SLASH, INCEST, AND CHAN

Sorry for the late posting, guys. RL just caught up with me last night, I'm afraid.

Chapter Sixteen

"Harry-"

"I want to do it."

"Harry, please, there are other ways, surely-"

"Cedric-"

Unfortunately, though, real life had intruded the day after, in the form of a timid Hermione Granger, backed by an oddly stoic Herbie. They still hadn't managed to talk about Herbie's- relationship- with his brother, and Cedric honestly wasn't looking forward to that talk when it happened. He loved Herbie like a brother- not like Herbie's brother!- but this situation was way over his head.

But then he had taken one look at Herbie's haggard face and bit his lip. He had been just as head over his head when he'd entered into his Pledge with Harry, and Herbie had been there right by him the entire time- it was more than he could have ever ask for. Sometimes the situation made him want to cry. What were the odds that two best friends could be bonded by sexual deviation like this?

Hermione had spoken to the healer earlier that morning, and they had managed to come up with a solution to solve Harry's amnesia, which was why they had intruded upon their tiny haven. Mind-diving. It was as simple as that. All she had to do was go into his mind and break down the appropriate barriers that Amos's Obliviate had erected. It was an easy process, quick, and painless- for adults. In children, in formulating minds, it made for a treacherously dangerous process. Children's minds were like their bones; soft, fragile, and utterly easy to snap. For the most part their minds had no structure, would not develop any clear organisational pathways until they hit puberty. It would be nearly too easy to root through his mind and destroy whatever developing structure he had.

At the age of thirteen Harry was just starting to develop the adult organisational matrix of the mind that compartmentalised his life and would allow him to remember things in both chronological and associative order, from the generally associative memory children had. Even at Cedric's age of sixteen, the procedure would still be considered risky. Only when puberty was fully complete was mind-diving generally advised.

"Harry, please-"

"Cedric, will you trust me? I need to know who I am, who I was, to decide who I'm going to be."

Put that way, Cedric had nothing to say.

"Harry, I-" he sighed. "You make me worry about you."

The boy blinked. "I-I'm sorry? You know, don't you, that I don't mean to cause any trouble for you- or your mother." He sighed as well, absently imitating him. "Apparently this sort of thing just happens to me."

Hermione was at his other side, bobbing up and down furiously. "Oh, Harry," she exclaimed, "it really does. We all know you don't go looking for trouble, but somehow you always manage to seem to-"

Herbie looked at her plainly.

"Oh." Her mouth snapped shut, her teeth clacking. "Sorry."

Harry grinned at her. "It's fine. I suppose you were the brains of this outfit, then, at least. Seems like you're the only one with common sense."

"Hey!" Cedric elbowed him gently, "What're you trying to say about Herbie and me?" He caught his friend's eye, and just managed to hold his smile in place.

"Well," Harry said, "you're the one who ended up dating a thirteen-year-old to protect me from the clutches of his dastardly headmaster, and Herbie over there-" his grin brightened. "Well, he can't be too bright if he's stuck by you all this while."

The older brunet laughed, and slung an arm over the boy's shoulder.

"Well, he's right on that account."

Harry grinned up at Herbie, completely innocent. "Se we're doing this?"

Cedric sighed. "You won't let me get in a word otherwise."

Harry laid a hand on his arm. "Cedric-"

"He can get his memory back," Hermione protested. "Surely that's the most important thing."

The sole blond glared at her. "I'd like to have him back mentally intact, if you know what I mean."

Almost immediately Hermione looked abashed.

"She didn't mean it that way, Cedric," Herbie said patently.

Cedric sighed. "I know, it's just…"

Harry reached up, and around his neck, and kissed him. "Thank you."

Behind their backs, Hermione and Herbie exchanged looks complete with raised eyebrows.

"Alright. Alright. We'll- you'll go through with it. I really just- I want to get you back in one piece, that's all."

Harry kissed him again, and again, and again.

"Okay guys," Herbie said. "The healer is waiting next door for your decision."

"I'll bring him over," Hermione volunteered immediately.

"But-"

"There won't be anything for you to do there, anyway," Herbie reasoned.

"Riiiiight…."

Those were the last words Harry was able to get out before Hermione carted him off. "Don't worry, I'll stay with him the entire time!" she called back.

Herbie turned back to Cedric when they were alone, and smiled sprightly, although it looked somewhat sickly in the dim light.

"Well. You've progressed fast."

Cedric looked at him sharply. "I'll say."

The smile faded from Herbie's face.

"I-I'm sorry," Cedric said, biting his lip. "I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay. I- that was unexpected, I understand."

"It was," Cedric said slowly. "I didn't see that coming. Is that why-"

Herbie shrugged. "Sort of. I guess you could say that. We- we'd- well, y'know, for so long, but it wasn't possible. It still isn't, but at the same time-" he sighed. "I don't know how to explain it. It's just always been there in us. We were inseparable when we were kids. After- after that incident, nothing could have happened without consequences."

"Your parents-"

"They know nothing. Either that or they want to know nothing."

"Where are they now, anyway?"

Herbie sighed again. "They're busy, setting up Harry's case. It isn't like they're around often enough to know anything anyways."

"They do send Bernard those Howlers," Cedric said reasonably.

Herbie sighed. "I was their back-up heir, and the two of us stand to inherit two full-time positions. My mother isn't on the Wizengamot, but she does hold a hereditary office at the Ministry in the Minister's office. That was supposed to be mine. Now she has to find an heir. I think she was more annoyed by that than anything else."

"I'm sorry," Cedric said awkwardly.

The brunet shook his head. "It sounds awkward and callous, but that's the way they are. Efficacy all the way."

"You don't sound happy about that."

"They sometimes blame him for things they shouldn't have," Herbie said carefully.

"You don't think Bernard is to blame for the ritual."

"It didn't matter to me," he said flatly. "That was trivial. None of that mattered to me. I could have found a way."

"You love him," Cedric said softly.

Herbie turned to him, a lost look on his face. "You could take everything away from me, but that would never leave. It can't."

"He's your brother," Cedric whispered.

"He's more than that. He's everything to me. He always has been."

"Then that cold war between you two?"

Herbie sighed, and sunk his head into his hands. "He was an idiot. I hated him for not believing me. Even more than that, I hated him for not trusting me to love him more than- than anything else in this world. I couldn't even look at him. But I never stopped- I couldn't-"

Cedric managed a smile, and rested his hand over Herbie's. "That's important to you. I can see that now."

"Thanks," the other boy said softly.

A knock on the door caught their attention. "Hey guys?" It was Hermione. "The healer's put Harry through the procedure, and he's in a Dreamless Sleep now. She said that he should wake in the morning, and she'll be back then to see how it's affected him."

Cedric sighed. "More waiting."

Hermione gave him a tremulous smile. "Hopefully he'll wake up this time and things'll all be better."

"Hopefully." Cedric said, glancing up in the sky. It stood with the full moon in Capricorn, of all things.

A full moon by itself was already unimaginably powerful, and was probably the charge behind the insane passion that had been wracking the Fleet Manor. But the other 7 planets were also lined up in the Grand Cross, stretched taut across the heavens. Long-heralded resolutions, in the form of their chaotic relationships, Harry's amnesia, and this bloody court case, were all brewing. They could only hold on to each other and ride the shockwaves out, hoping not to emerge too battered. Despite the immediacy of the resolutions looming over them, Cedric still felt out of balance. Something told him that even if the court case concluded, this muck wouldn't be over, not by half.

Well, since the last time I tried this I came out with 'Old Hearts Remember', I'm going to try this again. I'd like to offer a story for my 300th reviewer (assuming that I reach that many, of course, before the 18th and final chapter). It could be for any pairing of your choice, het or other, but I'm afraid I won't write Harry with Ron, Draco, Ginny or Snape, out of sheer principle (o: Everyone else is fair game though, and it doesn't have to be Harry-centric, although that would be easier. It may be a oneshot or chaptered fic, which in that case I'd have to ask for your patience as I complete it (o: Cheers, guys, and best of luck.