Author's Note: First, thank you for reading and reviewing. Second, this is short to just focus on Harry's experience in St. Mungo's. However, it is also coming with another chapter (which is why the inordinate length of time between my last post and this one).

Also, since this chapter serves to put some finality into Harry's dealing with Cedric, going forward he is going to have a different outlook on things and chapters will not be as heavy as they have been.

Standard disclaimer about not owning anything; I am so thankful for JKR and all that she did for us. She gave us one of the greatest gifts, and so many people have taken to this site and played brilliantly with her creation. We should have a JKR day and it should be a global holiday!

Harry walked alongside Sirius and Charlie as they made their way through an empty hall in the Janus Thickey Ward of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. This was where they put long-term patients and some of them had in fact been here for many years. Oftentimes, the only way a patient was able to leave was if there had been a miraculous discovery that led to a cure for their ailment; otherwise, death was the more likely route.

Since it was later in the day when they had finally arrived, visiting hours would be over in just about an hour. But Harry had wanted it that way; he didn't want other people to be around. He thought that he would have a hard enough time just focusing on not chickening out to worry about running into other people, let alone meeting Mr. and Mrs. Diggory. What would he have said to them? What could he have said to them?

As it was, the steps that he was taking grew smaller and smaller the closer he got to where Sirius was leading them since he had been here before.

Harry couldn't help but be apprehensive during his approach.

This was the first time that he would be seeing Cedric's body since it happened, and he wasn't sure if he was really ready for it. True, he knew from his long talks with Charlie that this would help him get on with his life – but at the same time, he was worried that he would get over what had happened to Cedric. He was afraid that in letting Cedric go that he would forget about him. Or worse, become paralyzed again.

It was all so overwhelming but Charlie assured him that this was the right thing for him to do and that he had people that were with him, supporting him. Above all, Charlie emphasized to Harry that he wasn't going to do this alone.

Thinking about it in that way was helpful. For he knew that he had to fully come to terms with what had happened, but Cedric had been his first romance and it was a very difficult thing to let go of.

When they arrived at the room, Sirius went in first – more so to make sure that they were indeed alone or at the very least be able to give Harry a heads up if other people were there.

While they waited, Charlie closed the distance between himself and Harry and hesitantly reached out and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"You ready?" he asked with genuine concern sinning in his eyes.

Harry didn't trust his voice at this moment. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth to speak then he would lose the control that he currently had over his emotions.

So he turned to look up into Charlie's face and nodded.

Harry could see everything that he was feeling reflected in Charlie's eyes. It was a great help knowing that Charlie was one of the few people who really understood what he was going through. He didn't know if he would have come so far without that support.

Together they moved towards the entrance to the room just as Sirius returned to the hallway.

"No one else is here," he said gently.

"You ready for this, pup?"

Harry nodded again, though was able to muster the courage to speak.

"Can I have a few minutes alone?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Sure, pup. Take as long as you need." Sirius was able to get out amidst the flurry of emotions that he was dealing with at seeing his Godson have to deal with all of this and still find the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. He was so proud of him that his heart was breaking.

Harry walked into the room and left Charlie and his Godfather to close the door to give him some privacy. While they waited, the two leaned up against the wall – each lost in their own thoughts.

With the door closed, Harry slowly walked towards the bed that was against the far wall and underneath the window. His first thought was how similar everything looked to the hospital wing at Hogwarts, where things really started to develop between them.

Just that very thought was enough to break the control that he had over his emotions, and tears began to spill down his cheeks.

Harry made it to the bed and saw Cedric lying there. But he knew at once that it wasn't really Cedric. For one thing, Cedric looked different. Sirius had warned him that patients often lose muscle mass very quickly when confined to long periods of inaction, such as being in a coma.

But that wasn't what Harry had first noticed about Cedric's changed appearance, for none of the spark that made him Cedric was there. There was no light or life in any of his features besides the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered. "I should have been quicker – or it should have been me. I should be the one in your place."

The one piece of advice that Charlie had given him over and over again was that while it was normal to blame yourself and have survivor's guilt, it often never was the actual case. And the older Weasley had reiterated that to him but warned him to be prepared to feel that the hardest in his presence.

And boy was he right.

All Harry wanted to do was to throw himself onto Cedric's supine form and take his place. But that little voice that had been Charlie's, which had started out small, kept getting bigger and bigger and it allowed Harry to keep his wits about him.

Sure, this was one of the worst moments of his life; seeing his former boyfriend cut down before he had ever really had a chance to live.

Former, that word really stuck to Harry. Thinking about how there would really never be a future for them was something that he had known – but now he was forced to come to terms with its truth.

Suddenly, Harry felt like he needed to sit down because he no longer trusted his legs to hold him. But instead of the chair, which looked to be uncomfortable, Harry chose to sit on Cedric's bed and wasn't even thinking as he reached out for his hand.

It was warmer than Harry had expected to be – Cedric's blood was still pumping and Harry could feel his pulse if he focused hard enough.

His fingers tightened in response to feeling the life that was still keeping Cedric alive when, suddenly, he was back in the graveyard after having just seen his mum.

Time slowed as Harry focused on the scene before him. He had come to awareness just as Pettigrew had taken some of Cedric's blood – the life force of a magical being – and used it in part to resurrect the Dark Lord to a new body.

From what Harry had read in one of the many books that had kept his thoughts on other things, he found himself becoming angry that a part of Cedric now lived in the person that he was destined to either kill or be killed by.

Just thinking about that caused Harry to come back to the present, red with anger.

"Why can't that part of you that lives in him come back!" he said in a hopeless rage before thinking over that statement.

Not many people, besides himself and Dumbledore, were aware of everything that had happened that night. What if, and it was a very big what if, that part of Cedric that had gone into the Dark Lord could be reversed?

Harry's heart was beating quickly now; even though he was contemplating what seemed to be impossible. However, ever since he had come to the wizarding world he had seen the impossible become possible every single day. How was this any different? And for the first time in a very long time, Harry was filled with a sense of hope that this awful situation could be fixed.

And then it came quickly crashing down. If that had been possible, Dumbledore would have suggested it. Right?

The more that he thought about it, the more that he became certain that it just wasn't possible at all. For one thing, Harry didn't know that much about the spell that Voldemort had used or the true nature of a wizard's blood; he just knew that it was important. Besides, he didn't actually think that a part of Cedric's soul now lived within his sworn enemy. It had just been an erratic thought that had given him hope; wishful thinking some might call it.

However, the thought that any part of Cedric lived within the Dark Lord was unacceptable to him. Even without the prophecy, Harry had more than enough reason to make sure that whatever part of Cedric now resided in that unholy asshat was set free.

And it might not have been the same feeling of hope that had coursed through his veins when thinking that he could have transferred a part of Cedric's soul back – but it was enough to make him one-hundred percent glad that he had visited Cedric.

"I will make sure he is defeated, Ced," Harry said with a quiet determination. To add to what he had just said, Harry squeezed Cedric's hand, just on the offhand chance that buried deep down in the body before him, that Cedric could hear what Harry was saying.

"I will defeat him."

It was strange, that little statement was powerful. He had known about the prophecy and had processed it – but now he had something to fight for besides just himself. That thought emboldened him and gave him a new purpose besides just trying to survive. Going forward, Harry wanted to make sure that Voldemort didn't do this to anyone else. If it was going to come down to the Dark Lord and him, well, then Harry was going to find a way to make sure that it was him that came out on top.

After resolving to find a way to win, Harry remained by Cedric's side for a few more minutes. He didn't think that he could keep coming back here – he knew that it would have been too hard – but he did want to take a few moments to look at Cedric's face, to cement what he was going to fight for in his mind.

He noted the innocence of Cedric and how unfair it was that evil had been allowed to triumph in this situation. For he wasn't a fool, Harry knew that the future was going to be difficult. There were going to be very dark times ahead and he wanted a way to be able to remember that he had a very good reason for never giving up, should the future ever get to that point.

When he was finished memorizing the way that Cedric looked now, compared to what he had looked like when he had been so full of life the last time they had kissed, Harry started to pull his hand away from Cedric's.

However, the Claddagh ring that Cedric had given him on his birthday got caught against Cedric's wristband. For the first time in a while, Harry looked down at it.

The heart was still pointed inward, still proclaiming that Harry belonged to someone. That realization had made this all the more poignant.

Harry didn't belong to Cedric anymore because Cedric wasn't able to claim him. But instead of getting morose at the thought, Harry finally was at a place where he could say that it was over. Harry was finally in a position where he could let Cedric go.

And as a single tear spilled again onto his cheek, he moved to turn the ring in the other direction with the heart pointing out. Now it didn't mean that he was actively looking for something, but it was an important step for him in realizing that his future, if it involved someone else at all, wasn't going to be with Cedric. Though, the ring would stay with him at all times because it would help him to remember Cedric and what he was fighting for.

"Goodbye, Cedric," Harry said with as much feeling as he had ever felt. "I won't forget you."

Then he walked towards the door, feeling better about this than he had thought that he would.

Harry opened the door and met Charlie and Sirius in the hallway. Both had been talking quietly from on the floor and had stood up immediately to greet Harry.

"How are you doing, pup?" Sirius asked, concerned.

"Better than I thought," Harry said honestly. There was a strength in his voice that helped make it believable.

"I'm glad I came; it was time." He said as he grabbed his jacket from Sirius' hands and made to put it on as he started walking in the reverse direction that they had come in.

When Harry was out of eavesdrop, Sirius turned to Charlie as they started walking slowly behind Harry.

"What are your thoughts?" He asked. All he knew was that Charlie had been through something similar, and that he was helping his Godson, so he was interested in thinking what the young redhead thought about all of this.

However, the answer was in Charlie's eyes, but he responded to Sirius anyway.

"He finally made peace with what happened."

"Hmmm," Sirius nodded. As each day passed that he was blessed to be Harry's Godfather, he was more amazed at what Lily and James had created. For even after all these years, he was still not over their deaths.

Let me know what you think! Again, many ways to go about this – but I chose to go with something I felt a stronger connection with.

Hope you enjoy the next chapter too!