Chapter 29

A/N: Dear loyal readers, it's been a shitty, crazy summer and I'm sorry for the delay (again!). I worked two jobs and was taking six credit hours of classes. In addition, I had a family member pass away unexpectedly. I just haven't felt like writing because of all these things. When I did finally feel like writing again, my mood was more suited for a different story. I will try to have the next and final chapter up within the month of August. I promise it will be longer than this and will bring this story to a nice close. Again, I appreciate your patience and support.

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

Her head hurt. That was the first thing Mel noticed when regained unconsciousness. She didn't think she had ever been in so much pain. She repressed a groan and slowly opened her eyes to see where she was, though she suspected the hospital wing at Hogwarts. It was pitch black; she couldn't see a thing. Was it night? She could swear she felt the warmth from the sun on her skin. She realized something was wrapped around her head, covering her eyes. She reached up to try and remove it, but two hands stopped her.

"Madam Pomfrey doesn't want you to remove that just yet," a gentle, deep voice said.

Mel's brain was moving slower than normal. It took her a few minutes to identify the voice. "Cedric? What's going on? Why is it so dark?"

She heard him sigh and felt him sit next her, his hands still holding hers. "It's…it's not dark. It's the middle of the day. You…you don't see any light?"

"No," she said, panic swelling in her chest. "What's going on?"

He heard the fear in her voice, pulled her closer, and wrapped an arm around her. "It's alright," he whispered soothingly. "It's ok."

"Cedric, what's—"

"You're blind," he said. "Dumbledore thinks it has something to do with the spell you used on Petrov. He's dead, by the way."

"Well, his human self is. You can't really kill Pain, just prevent it from ever resuming human form. I bet this is some form of punishment: Sight with no sight," her voice broke as the tears began to fall. Cedric just held her tighter, knowing there was nothing he could really say. "How am I supposed to help Harry now? How can do any magic?"

"We'll figure it all out, I promise," Cedric said, utterly lost on how they would figure it out. "Harry has two more years of school, I think others will help watch out form him, as they always have. It could be that you only lost your physical sight, and will still be able to help him with visions. Right now, we just need to focus on you and helping you adjust."

She laughed doubtfully. "You sound so confident."

He was glad he did because he wasn't. But he knew he would help her through this just as she had helped him through the last year.

"Harry's been in here everyday, checking on everyone. He's blaming himself for everyone's injuries."

"He shouldn't," she sighed. "No one forced us to help him. Everyone made their own decision."

"Sirius—"

"I know," she said, her voice shaking with emotions she did not want to deal with right now.

"How? Did you have a vision?"

"No, I just…I can just feel it."

They sat in silence for several minutes, each thinking about what was to come. It was only when they heard voices coming from the outside corridor that Cedric disentangled himself from Mel.

"That'll be Harry," he said, looking at his watch. "I think he needs to talk to you. I'll be back in an hour or so," he said before leaning down to kiss her.

"Well, you can still do that," he teased.

She smiled. "Just go and don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Yeah…I'll see you in a bit. Love you."

"Love you too."