Chapter 19

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and co. I created Melissa.

It was three in the morning and Mel could not get back to sleep. One of her roommates—she had no idea which—had just stumbled in the room, giggling and stumbling loudly. Now that she was awake, the memories from that night were coming back to her, making her nervous and restless. Trying to get back to sleep, she tossed and turned for a few minutes before giving up. Quietly, she got up, slipped on her dressing gown and slippers, grabbed her wand, and left the dormitory. The common room was, thankfully, empty when she reached it. She had to use her wand to get to the portrait hole as the fire had burned itself out.

The corridors were also empty. Even Mrs. Norris and the ghosts were absent on her way to the prefect's bathroom on the fifth floor. She rarely went there. Mel thought it was a bit ridiculous that the prefects had their own bathroom. It was nice—beautiful even; but Mel always felt guilty filling up the pool-sized tub to bathe in. The showers were not as crazy (and more private), so she would occasionally use them. However, she would mostly use the small sitting room to study or practice her seeing skills.

"Pine fresh," she said, reaching the portrait hole. The painting swung open, revealing the giant marble tub. Mel stepped inside and closed the painting behind her. As she walked to the sitting room, which was located behind the pool-like bath, she noticed the bath was full of water. She briefly wondered if someone was in the bathroom with her, but, upon not seeing anyone or hearing anything, she figured someone had forgotten to drain the tub.

Mel cast a spell to ignite the fire in the sitting room when she entered. She then used another spell to turn on the lights. The small room was warm in a matter of minutes. Mel took off her dressing gown, shoes, and even the sweater she normally slept in, leaving her in a tank top and fleece pants.

She paced the room, trying not to think about what Sean had said, but unable to stop herself. She paused in front of the full-length mirror in the corner. She took a few steps closer and looked at herself, really looked at herself. Her light green eyes were tired. There were make up smudges on her face and her was turning into messy, bed head waves as the curls became loose. She was average height, and pale. She was human.

There was no teal-coloured glow about her. She bled. She got sick. She laughed and had fun. She cared about people. She did not hover around with a bunch of glowing forces that influenced people's lives—not anymore at least. She was human, and she was very much attached to it and the people she loved.

The feeling of a vision suddenly overwhelmed her. She felt her legs get weak, and her knees buckle under her. She lay on the ground, unable to move, waiting for the vision. However, instead of the pressure of a vision forcing itself into her mind, she felt a force pulling her out of her mind.

She blinked.

She looked around her: She was in some dark room surrounded by many different colored glowing lights. Out of habit, she tried to grab for her wand, but found she could not. Not only did she not have her wand, but she did not have a body either. She began to panic.

"What's going on?" she muttered. She watched as a blue-white orb moved toward her.

"Do not be afraid, Sight," it said with a female-like voice. "We have only called you back for a visit. You will be returned shortly."

"Who—What are you?" she asked, briefly wondering how she could talk with no mouth.

"I am Destiny and this is Death and his cohort Pain, whom I believe you know from your human life," the light explained as a pure white light, Death, and a blood red light, Pain, floated forward.

"Why am I here?" she asked, finally understanding where she was and whom she was with.

"I felt you needed to be reminded what you are, and what your true assignment is. We only agreed to let you help the humans because Voldemort will destroy too much without our assistance. That is your purpose. You must abandon this plan to save Cedric Diggory. He is too much of a distraction to your human form. You must let him go."

"What?" she yelled. "I can't do that. He's innocent! If you want to stop Voldemort why don't you let me see how he's coming back, so I can stop him?"

"THAT IS NOT THE PLAN!" Destiny raged. "There are events that must come to pass, and this is one of them. You agreed to that before we sent you to earth."

"Well, I don't remember that," Mel replied haughtily. "And why is Pain there? Why did he know about all this?"

"The ones that summoned him knew more than those who summoned you. They have spent the past few years educating him. As for why he was called, we are not sure. The humans probably thought he would help their side. However, his humanity has not affected him as yours as you, and we are not worried about him aiding the wrong side."

"I can't say I agree with you," Mel said, thinking about earlier in the evening.

"Nevertheless," Destiny said, "you must agree to stand aside, and not save this boy. If you don't, there will be grave consequences for you from both Death and myself, as it is our paths that you will have disrupted."

"I can't do that," Mel said firmly.

"We know, but you needed to be given the choice," Death said. "Pain will stay with me for a time, but he will be sent back soon. He needs to be…reigned in."

"But I can go back now, correct?" she asked.

"As you wish," Death said.

"Remember our warning," Destiny murmured.

Mel eyes shot open and she coughed from inhaling to deeply. She was back in the prefect's sitting room. She sat up slowly, which helped her to stop coughing. She looked herself over for bruises and scrapes, but she seemed to have missed the furniture in her fall. Mel sighed and wiped the wetness from the corner of her eye.

She could not let him die. Especially since she knew how to save him. Saving him could not mess up the grand design too much, right? Even as she thought it, she knew it would. She understood how fragile the grand design was. They were right: she was too human. She sighed and pushed herself off the ground.

"Mel, what are you doing here? Are you ok?"

Mel turned to see Cedric standing in the doorway. His hair was wet and he only had a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Fine, I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep," Mel said, nervously tucking some hair behind her ear. "You?"

"Er, well, some the guys had guests over and I thought this was a good place to go. I could shower and sleep," he said, running his hand through his wet hair. She noticed he was looking at the corner of the room where, she saw, there was a pile of clothes.

"Oh," she blushed. She did not really need to know what was going in the boys' dormitory. "Cedric?" she asked, walking toward him.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think I'm human?"

"Of course," he said, eyebrows furrowed. She stopped in front of him, struggling to keep her breathing calm. "Why?"

"No reason," she whispered.

She threw arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Water seeped through her clothes from his skin. Her fingers knotted in his hair as she pushed herself closer to him. He broke the kiss and pushed her back a bit by her hips.

"Mel," he said, his voice thick and husky. "What, er, how—you sure?"

She stepped backward and slipped off her pajama pants, leaving her in her underwear and now wet tank top. She stepped in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck again. "Yes."

This time Cedric pulled her to him and initiated the kissing. He lifted her up on the back of the couch. She wrapped her legs around his waist in response. She moaned as he kissed her neck. His towel slipped off, causing him to finish helping her out of her clothes. He paused before slipping of her underwear, to see if she was still sure. She slid her hands down his arms and guided his hands.

XXX

Mel lay on the floor, snuggled next to Cedric. She was tired, but she did not want to fall asleep just yet. If she had not defied the powers before, she really had now. She had just tied herself to a human, and the one they wanted her to let die. She laid her head on his chest and lightly traced the lines of his muscles with her fingers. He stirred, his arm instinctually wrapping around her.

"You ok?" he asked, his voice groggy.

"Yes, my love, please stop worrying," she said, kissing him lightly. He reached up and grabbed a throw blanket it off the couch and placed it over them. Previously, they had only been covered by his towel and her dressing gown. He shifted so he was lying on his side, and began playing with a strand of her hair.

"You're not thinking or overanalyzing anything, are you?" he teased.

"Only thinking good things, promise," she smiled. He gave a half-smile and kissed her forehead. "One question," he whispered into her ear. "Why now?"

"Because I love you," she said simply.

"Yes, and while I've known that for a while, you only just said it for the first time earlier tonight," he said. "And this was after the big Sean revelation. I just want to make sure in the next twenty-four hours you don't freak out on me and regret this."

"The only thing Sean did was make me realize how much I love you," she said, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "I just decided you should know that, really know that."

"Trust me," he smirked. "I do."

"Good," she said, leaning up and kissing him again. "Now lay down and shush. I'm exhausted."

Smirking, he did as she instructed. She scooted up next to his side, so she could lay her head on his chest again. She fell asleep, feeling safe and calm as she listened to his steady breathing and strong heartbeat.

AN: Happy late Fourth! I know this chapter is short, but I don't feel like anything else is needed. Anyways, the next few chapters will probably decent length as I am going to try and finish up the tournament soon.