Chapter 3
“Professor Lupin.” Edward greeted the man he saw as he sprinted downstairs. He knows that all of the La Push pack are in their home to check on Hermione, but he did not expect his former professor to come too.
Remus Lupin, despite appearing more scarred and tired, tried to smile at him as he ushered the people outside to enter, and by their scents, Edward already knows who they are. “I knew I sent Hermione to the right place. It’s nice to see you again, Cedric.”
He knew that Remus Lupin is a former member of the Quileute Tribe and the pack as he told him that information the moment he found out who he really was after the first time he tried visiting Hermione at her home before her fifth year. Despite being a werewolf himself, his former professor did not hold prejudices and biases upon learning about who and what he truly is. Edward frowned at the realization of his words. “You’re the one who brought her here?” Remus nodded. “Why?”
“Because as of now, this is the only place she can be truly safe,” Remus answered. “No one knows her roots from here, and no one would think to look for her here in America.”
He was about to answer when voices he had not he also had not heard in years were heard. “Cedric?”
He looked behind the former professor and saw Harry, who had just spoken his name, jaw dropped and tears pooling in his eyes, the same as Fleur, a co-triwizard competitor, and what he knew as Bill Weasley. They were all shocked upon seeing him. Well, he can’t fault them. His death became the signal of the Dark Lord’s return. He tried to shoot them a bit of a smile. “Hi.”
Harry swallowed visibly. His breathing became ragged and tears flowed on his eyes before he ran towards him and hugged him, not minding the coldness of his temperature. “Cedric,” Harry sobbed.
Despite still worrying over Hermione, Edward can’t help but smile and pat Harry’s back. Aside from being Hermione’s best friend, Harry has also been a great friend to him. Being chaotic and a bit dramatic aside, Harry has always been supportive of them, and helpful. He is sweet, and totally values his friends, even when he’s being snappish at times. “Hello, Harry,” he greeted warmly. Not long after, he felt another pair of hands wrapped around him and drops of tears on his shoulder— Fleur Delacour.
“We thought you were dead!” Fleur sobbed. “We were all ‘zo devaztated!”
Edward felt warmer by the part-veela’s attitude. He knows veelas and other half-breed creatures are wary of one another, but their friendship throughout the Triwizard competition has kept the part-veela care for him even now that she saw him as a vampire.
“What happened?” Harry said as he let go of Edward. “I-I’m sorry that I forced you to take the cup with me! I thought it would be right! I didn’t know that he would kill you!”
Edward took a deep breath and held Harry’s right shoulder lightly. “It’s fine,” he said. “I was meant to die as Cedric, anyway.” He motioned his hand to show his family behind him. “You see, I have a life here. I only borrowed Cedric’s life.”
“‘Ztil, we are glad that you’re alive! ‘Ermione haz been zo zad when you died!” His blood ran cold. He remembered Hermione.
“I need to go back to her,” he immediately said. He was about to storm off when Fleur held his arm. “You should ‘ztay heer, I guezz you have zome explaining to do to them,” she smiled. “Beel, my husband, and I will look after her.”
“What’s happening, Remus?” Billy asked. “Why does Edward know our Hermione? And what are they talking about?”
Remus sighed and plucked his lips inward and looked at Carlisle for help in which the man understood. “Well, the reason that Edward wasn’t here in Fork for 17 years before he came back here is because he had been given a new life by the Volturi.”
“How?” It was Sam.
“It was one of the gifts of their witch friend that apparently is dead now,” Carlisle explained. “Aro is giving it to those vampires who don’t appreciate the life they are living but Aro sees a potential to. Edward is one of them.”
Seeing as Edward can’t afford to talk, Remus nodded and continued Carlisle’s explanation. “Edward is reborn as Cedric Amos Diggory, he went to school with Hermione in Scotland.” Remus stuck his tongue on the roof of his mouth, thinking of more information he could give, but thought it’s not his to share. What Edward and Hermione had in his life as Cedric is not for him to tell. It’s private.
“Hermione was depressed when you died, Cedric,” Harry swallowed. “She never loved another, never moved on from you.”
Edward looked at him. Of course he knows that. He has been watching over him up to her sixth year, until he had been advised by Professor Dumbledore to stop visiting unless he wants their secrets and his real identity be discovered. Edward being the self-loathing coward that he is, he stopped visiting Hogwarts and her house, thinking that it was for her own safety.
Amongst the silence enveloped them, Edward gathered the little courage that he had and spoke to Remus and Harry. “I want to know what happened.” His voice was hoarse, like it was trapped in his throat a little too much. “Of why did she came here in that state.” It came out of his throat as a growl, anger slowly rising up in his veins.
Remus and Harry looked at each other before Remus nodded at Harry. Remus looked at him, and everyone. “We’ll show you.” Using his wand, he pointed at the center table and muttered a spell. “Revelare illis.”
Nothing happened until Harry pulled a memory out of his head using his wand and put it in there. The empty air soon filled with colors and it showed Ron, Harry, and… Hermione, in a forest. They were listening on what looked like a portable radio until Harry spoke.
“He’s abroad! He's still looking for the elder wand, I knew it!”
“Harry—”
“Come on, Hermione, why are you so determined not to admit it? Vol—”
Hermione and Ron’s eyes widened as Harry said the taboo. “HARRY, NO!”
“---Demort's after the elder wand!”
“The name’s Taboo!” Ron bellowed, leaping to his feet as a loud crack sounded outside the tent. “I told you, Harry, I told you, we can’t say it anymore — we’ve got to put the protection back around us — quickly — it’s how they find —”
“Hello, beautiful.” Hermione stopped when a man suddenly appeared in front of her, while a few more men began circling them. The man’s gaze remained on Hermione as she gulped. She looked at Harry and Ron before nodding to them and began running. “Well, what are you waiting for? Snatch them.”
The three started running, Hermione much faster than the other two. Running and running and shooting hexes at the snatchers chasing after her until she decided to hex Harry. She rushed towards Harry’s side when he got up, his face already swelling from the hex. “Hermione! He has it! He already got the elder wand!”
The snatchers caught up to them. “Hmm,” the man holding Hermione sighed. Its face doesn’t look human, it looks more of an animal. “What a delicious treat… I do enjoy a tasteful skin.”
Their fists clenched upon watching the scene and one of the snatchers held her face. An emotion in his face no one had liked.
“Who is that?” Edward asked, a growl attempting to escape his throat.
“Scabior and Greyback,” Remus answered. “Greyback is a werewolf like me, he was my sire. More animal than man. Even without the full moon, his wolf is on the surface. He had announced a liking towards Hermione, to have a little time with her before the moon and turning her.”
“What the fuck,” Jacob muttered as they continued watching.
The scenes changed into them inside a house, with more people in it. Edward recognized three of them as the Malfoys. The woman with the raven colored curly hair saw a sword and ordered the snatchers and the werewolf to get out.
“But I want the girl, Lestrange,” Greyback grinned. “Scabior, too. I’m not intent to share but the girl will be turned nonetheless.”
Lestrange grinned back. “After I’m done with her.”
Jasper immediately sensed Edward’s enraging emotions so he sent some calming waves towards him. It wouldn’t make him any better if he would trash things out of rage.
“What else did you take?! CRUCIO!” The woman now hovering over Hermione pointed her wand at her and everyone winced at Hermione’s shattering scream. She then went back in her first position and started carving out a word on Hermione’s flesh and they almost forget how to breathe at the gruesome scene in front of them. Growl can be heard all over the place, more prominent are from Edward and the pack. Hermione has been an unofficial part of the pack since she was a child. While not a shapeshifter, she’s a friend. A family. A know-it-all everyone in their tribe and all of Forks adored.
The moment the vicious mad woman pointed her wand again at Hermione, it zoomed in on her and played the memory on her mind at the exact moment.
𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑑. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛— 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦, ℎ𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝐼𝑠𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑡? 𝐻𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦.
“𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢.” 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟-ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑— 𝐶𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝐷𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑜𝑟y—𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛.
“𝐻𝑚𝑚?” 𝑠ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑒. “𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑜, 𝐶𝑒𝑑.” 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟.
𝑆𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠. 𝐶𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚. “𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢?”
𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝐶𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. “𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑑𝑎𝑦.”
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠. “𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒.”
And just another wave of cruciatus rolls over, the memories in her mind changed for the worst.
“𝐻𝑒’𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑! 𝐻𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚! 𝐻𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚!”
𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝐶𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑐’𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦.
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑖𝑡.
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑤 ℎ𝑖𝑚.
“𝐶𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑐…”
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦.
𝐻𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐶𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑐’𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠.
𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓. 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑏𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠. 𝑆𝑜𝑓𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑏𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐶𝑒𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑐’𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑠, 𝑢𝑛𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑖𝑚.
𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦, 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚.
“𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝!” 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑. “𝐷𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑒— 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑖𝑚! 𝐷𝑜𝑛’𝑡!”
“‘𝑀𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒!” 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑤 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑, ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑’𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠. “𝐻𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑡—𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢.”
𝐻𝑜𝑚𝑒…
𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒.
𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚.
“Cedric,” she murmured as her memory faded, and Edward held his unnecessary breath.
Until her near death, Hermione still thinks of him.
She still thinks of him.
“We have found a temporary solution for now.” They looked up at Bill and Fleur that just came down the stairs just after the events on the air vanished. They still looked contemplated.
“Temporary?” Remus questioned.
Bill nodded grimly. “Yes. Fleur managed to extract the poison out of her but it already managed to go through her system.” He took a deep breath. “She’ll only have… a few days.”
“No!” Harry shouted. “That can’t be! There must be something we can do!”
“There iz,” Fleur answered, and looked at the Cullens. “‘Nd that iz for them to do.”
“Them?” Jacob spoke. “What do you mean them?”
“They need to turn her.”