Time Is Life

madness

The day after the second task, Harry wakes up to the worried gaze of his mate. He tries to smile but fails miserably, as a sharp stinging in his right leg has him reeling. He still feels weaker than he normally would and his magic isn't humming beneath the surface like it does given any other time.

"What happened, Harry? Do you know how scared I was after seeing you like that in Theo's arms?"

Harry grimaces slightly, "Sorry... But you see, there was that monster and I was just trying to distract it so Fleur could get away. I didn't know it fed on magic. Also, I had to help you with that warming charm, knowing you, you weren't even thinking about the possibility of getting hypothermia down there."

"And yet I didn't and you almost died down there. I don't know what I would've done without you... It was so hard to stay calm and not to smother you instantly where you were. I don't want Dumbledore to know about us! I'm terrified of what he might do to you!" Tears stream down his face. Harry motions him over to the bed. Cedric complies and tugs Harry into his side as he buries his face in the crook of Harry's neck.

"Ced, if anything, then Dumbledore will use you against me, not the other way around. Why do you think he wants you out of the picture? He has no use for you, but he knows that if we stay together we'll be too strong for him to take on. And I can't lose you again, you don't know how frightened I was. How much I had to pretend that I was fine in the year that followed... I...I just can't live through that again. I don't think I can take that pain again. Cedric, I love you too much to lose you all over again!" His voice becomes barely audible, his body shakes in contained sobs, the pain of loss just pooling over him.

Cedric rocks them back and forth.

"I won't die, not this time. With your knowledge and our combined magic, we can overcome anything the headmaster throws our way. I'm not someone who needs to be babied or protected. Don't forget that... I may not be as old or experienced as you but I have my own share of encounters with death and loss."

Harry looks up at him with curious green eyes. "In what way?"

"Do you remember professor Reyes?"

Harry nods but doesn't know how to connect the dots. What about the young professor?

"During my first year, pretty much at the end, a student from Ravenclaw was killed by the killing curse. That student was professor Reyes' best friend called Rowan Khanna, his death struck the entirety of Hogwarts. He threw himself in front of the killing curse meant for a friend of mine in Gryffindor in the same year as professor Reyes and Khanna.

They had come to a confrontation with a member of a crime organization called R, Khanna was killed by a witch named Patricia Rakepick. In search to avenge Khanna's death, Samuel Reyes, Ben Copper and Merula Snyde formed their own secret organisation called "the circle of Khanna". The twins and I joined after the founding, well I got invited to join by Ben Copper. And we mainly trained duelling but also searched for the final cursed vault. We were trying to take down R and with that avenge Khanna.

I was a later member but it helped me get close to the older students and that also included Beatrice and Penny Haywood.

Also, Charlie and Tonks were founding members of the circle of Khanna, thought this might help to know in the long run.

The duelling lessons were quite arduous but they helped me get ahead in my studies. But that's pretty much all you need to know for the moment." Cedric rubs the back of his head while holding Harry close.

"The circle of Khanna and the DA share quite a lot of similarities then."

"And what may this DA be?"

Harry mischievously grins up at Cedric, tears forgotten. "Short for Dumbledore's Army, it was Granger's idea and she persuaded me to teach the practical part of Defence against the Dark Arts. It was during our fifth year, Dolores Umbridge became the new DADA professor and was going to teach us merely the theoretical part of DADA, we were forced to take matters into our own hands and learn for ourselves. Your death being one of the major catalysts to promote the initiation. We also learned duelling and were trying to help against the Death Eaters and also the ministry. Umbridge's regime at Hogwarts was one of the worst years we had. During detentions with her, we were supposed to write lines with blood quills. I ended up having a scar that said "I must not tell lies" etched on my hand till the day I went back in time during early 2002."