Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews. I am so glad you are enjoying the story so much, that is amazing to know.

As far as the Dreamless Sleep potion and the side effects go, I cannot take credit for that idea. I have seen it in many other fics, and it really made sense to me. However, I do have some original ideas concerning Harry's nightmares, and they will show up later.

For now, please enjoy this chapter. This will introduce another element to the plot which will become very integral. I promise we will get back to Harry and Sirius in the next chapter.

Xxxxxxxxxx

In a part of Hogwarts that was near the kitchens lay a room where many devastated, sleepless students were sitting. This room was the Hufflepuff common room, and many of these students had stayed awake all night, stricken with grief and heartache. It was the early hours of the morning now, and they knew rest would be elusive for the rest of the night.

The feeling of excitement and anticipation that had filled this room just twelve hours ago had been completely obliterated, and in its place was an atmosphere of complete anguish, sorrow, and rage. Their shining star, their leader, someone they had all looked up to, who they considered to be the best of them all, was gone, never to return to them.

Susan Bones would never forget the ice-cold shock that had gripped her heart when she had witnessed both Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory disappear from the spot where the Triwizard Cup sat. The crowd had not been able to see what had gone on in the maze, not until the last few minutes when they had reached the cup. Dumbledore had explained that there was a charm on that part of the maze so they could see who won. They had heard Harry and Cedric speaking to each other, arguing over who would take the cup. Susan had known how good-hearted Cedric was, that he had offered to let Harry take it by himself, but Harry had refused. He had compromised with Cedric that they would take it together, and still earn a Hogwarts victory. In that moment, Susan's respect for both boys had risen.

But then, it had all gone wrong. As the boys each grabbed a handle, they and the cup had disappeared, leaving a stunned silence in their wake, followed by a confused, deafening jumble of sound as everyone tried to make sense of what had just happened.

The Hufflepuffs, sitting huddled together, all shared the same fear as the minutes passed. Albus Dumbledore had tried to calm the crowd down, but it was to no avail. As time stretched on and the two Hogwarts champions still didn't return, the crowd noise got louder and louder until it became a roar. Hannah Abbott,sitting next to Susan, had clutched her hand, terror in her eyes, but they couldn't speak their fears out loud. But Susan knew they were both thinking the same thing: something terrible had befallen both boys.

Susan had thought back over the mysterious and unexplained events of the year. She thought about the Death Eaters marching at the Quidditch World Cup, the fact that a Ministry worker, Bertha Jorkins, had gone missing, and Barty Crouch, Senior's strange absences. She thought about Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire, and how most of the school had turned against him. She had thought with disgust of the members of her own house who had participated in the jibes and taunts to him in the corridors. Hufflepuffs were supposed to be hard-working and loyal, but where was the loyalty in turning against someone who had done nothing to them? There had even been a time when she had been furious with Cedric himself, because she thought he was among them. She had pulled him aside soon after the champion selection, and had yelled at him. She could vividly remember Cedric going pale, and putting his face in his hands as he confessed that his ill will towards Harry was because of nothing he had done; it was because he was upset with his father for always comparing the two. All Cedric had ever wanted was to make Mr. Diggory proud, and Harry's entry into the tournament was yet another obstacle. But once Harry had told him about the dragons, which he had explained to Susan, the resentment towrds Harry vanished, and he had tried his hardest to support the younger boy and to stop those in the house from disparaging him, especially when the "Potter Stinks" badges were prevalent. Throughout the rest of the year, he hated hearing anything said against Harry, and Susan was ecstatic when it looked like both boys would be the true Triwizard champions last night..

So, as she had sat in the Quidditch stands, the agonizing minutes had continued to tick by, and then, with an almighty thump, Harry and Cedric had materialized at the edge of the maze. For the rest of her life, she would never forget the sight that greeted her then: Harry, shaking, sobbing, white as a sheet, clutching the Triwizard Cup in one hand, and in the other, Cedric. Cedric, pale and still and lifeless, eyes staring up to the sky, a look of profound shock and fear upon his handsome face. Cedric, who just wouldn't wake up. Cedric, who was dead, gone forever.

The commotion that followed was burned into Susan's memory. She remembered the screams, the sobs, the howls of grief from Mr. Diggory, who Susan now knew loved his son beyond anything in the world. Mrs. Diggory looked like she was about to throw up as she stroked Cedric's face lovingly. Teachers were panic-stricken, trying to herd the students back into the school. Cedric's girlfriend, Cho Chang, bent over him, continuously screaming for him to wake up, wake up, wake up, clutching him to her like a lifeline.

It had been pure chaos, and through it all, Susan would never forget the words Harry Potter spoke. "He's back! He's back! Voldemort's back! Cedric ... I couldn't leave him, not there!"

And now, hours later, a haunted Hufflepuff House sat in the common room. The sound of sobs had punctuated the atmosphere all night long, interspersed with raw, frozen silences. The couches and chairs were taken up by students of all years as they tried desperately to understand what had taken place. Susan and Hannah had sat, and were still sitting, with a first year named Elly Beckitt between them. Elly, who was a Muggle-born, was traumatized by what she had seen. She had been very homesick through her first term, and one of the people who had been so important to her integration into the wizarding world had been Cedric. Hours ago, Elly had confessed that she didn't want to be part of the wizarding world anymore.

Suddenly, Susan was pulled out of her thoughts by Zacharias Smith, who abruptly stood up from the couch he was occupying. "We need answers," he said, and Susan could see the fierce light of rage gleaming in his eyes. "Something needs to be done."

"I know, mate," Ernie McMillan said from next to him. "I want to know, too. What are we going to do?"

At this question, the anger in Zack seemed to intensify. "I was right all along," he fumed. "I knew that bastard Potter was bad news. He took Cedric from right under our noses, murdered him, and brought him back here claiming You-Know-Who has returned, and it's a complete crock!" His hands clenched into fists, and he stared into the room, daring anyone to argue with him.

"Now, wait just a minute," Justin Finch-Fletchley said fiercely. "I knew you'd jump to this conclusion, and you just can't."

"Yes, he can," snarled Melissa Parrick, who was one of Cedric's best friends. She stood up too, doing nothing to hide the tears streaming down her face. "Are you blind, Justin? It's completely obvious! I've been telling Cedric this whole year not to trust him, and I was right! Because of him, MY BEST FRIEND IS DEAD!" She slumped back down into her seat, burying her face in her hands.

Melissa's boyfriend, Jacob, wound his arm around her in comfort, but his tone begged her to see reason. "Lissa," he said softly, "listen to me. We've accused Potter of terrible things before, and we couldn't have been more wrong. When he came back last night, did you truly see a murderer when you looked at him? He certainly wasn't acting like one."

"That's the point, Jake," spat Zach, glaring venomously at the older boy. "He was faking it, can't you see that? And the stuff he was spouting about You-Inow-Who ... does he really expect us to believe that crap? He was lying, pure and simple. Cedric trusted him, and look where it got him."

Susan felt sick to her stomach as she gazed around at the students in the room. Many, unfortunately, were nodding in agreement to Zach's outburst. But she did have hope when she looked at some others, who looked severely doubtful.

From beside her, Elly made a frightened noise, terrified by all the talk of murder and death around her. Susan tightened her arms around her, and whispered comforting words in her ear. On the other side of Elly, Hannah Abbott stood. Susan wondered what she was going to say, especially because two years ago, she had been one of the people who mistrusted Harry during the Chamber of Secrets debacle. She and Susan had gone for months without speaking to each other, because Susan was disgusted by her attitude. When the year had ended with Harry as the hero, however, Hannah had reconsidered her conclusions, and had tried to redeem herself. The two girls finally renewed their friendship, but it had taken a long time.

"Listen," Hannah said quietly, but her voice seemed to carry through the whole room. "I know we're all horrified at what happened to one of our own, and we're all going to miss him so much. But blaming Harry isn't the answer. I'm ashamed to say that I was one of those who accused him two years ago." After she said this, she looked down to the floor, and Susan knew her assumptions back then still haunted her. "But I'm not going to accuse him again. I was wrong about him before, and the way I acted still upsets me. Please, don't do this. And it's not ..." She shuddered and let out a sob. "It's not what Cedric would want." Ernie nodded in understanding and agreement. He, too, had been awful to Harry two years ago.

"Fine," Zach snarled, stamping his foot in fury. "If you're not going to avenge Cedric, then I will. In the morning we're going to the hospital wing, and we're getting answers. I don't doubt Potter is staying there. Who's with me?"

The sickness continued to roil through Susan's stomach as she saw many of her housemates raise their hands, signaling that they agreed. "Please don't do this," she said softly, her arm still around a weeping Elly. "It's not going to make anything better. Innocent until proven guilty."

"Fine, but next time someone dies in this school, it'll be partly on your head," sneered Malcolm, who was one of Cedric's roommates.

Susan, whose eyes had been dry for some time now, felt tears enter them again, and they streaked her face even as a firm resolve grew within her. She was not going to let this happen. She could see it all clearly now, especially with how the Ministry ran. She knew how this would go, and her stomach lurched.

Her aunt, Amelia Bones, worked as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, and Susan knew a lot about the Ministry from her. Many were already scared of Harry and what he could become, and now, they would surround him, and hunt him like a pack of wolves. They would rather believe him a murderer than the fact that Lord Voldemort had returned. And with nothing but vengeance on some of these students' minds, they would be all too happy to help them. Some had parents who worked in the Ministry, as well.

And Susan knew what she was going to do as she mouthed a few words to Hannah. Hannah nodded, and Susan got up to go to the dorm room, leaving Elly in Hannah's care. She was going to write to her aunt right now, and tell her what had happened. Harry would need people in his corner in the days ahead, and Susan knew with a bone-deep certainty that she was going to help him.

The grief for Cedric Diggory was almost unmanageable, and his shocked, frozen, lifeless face flitted before her eyes, but she was not going to let an innocent boy take the blame for it. She thought of Harry, alone, cold, starving, shaking, in an Azkaban cell, and sobs shook her body as her dorm room came into sight. She was not, absolutely was not, going to allow that to happen.

As she began to write to her aunt, her hands shook, but the words she wrote were crystal clear in her mind. Because she knew one thing, and one thing for certain: Harry Potter did not murder Cedric Diggory.