Lillian 'Anna' Potter || Goblet of Fire

Chapter Forty-Seven: Potter and Malfoy

It had been a month.

Thirty-two days since Voldemort had returned and Cedric had been killed. Anna still had yet to cry.

Sure, she grieved by herself - choking on sobs muffled by the blanket she had shoved into her mouth, where she mourned in the wee hours of morning when no one could hear her.

But those tears had been selfish. They were shed because while her fate had been uncertain before, it was now as sure as the rising morning sun coming a new day.

She would die by Harry's hand. Whether it was in one year or twenty, her name had already been written in the book of death.

Anna still wasn’t sure what to feel about Cedric. When she thought about him, and their time spent together, an odd numbness took over her chest, and Anna never could seem to summon any kind of emotion at all.

Cedric didn’t deserve to die. Anna had needed him to live. She had needed time to process what he had done to her. She had needed to gather her thoughts one by one until she was strong enough to harness them all and give Cedric the scolding he needed to hear and she needed to say.

But he was dead, and only Anna was left to hear the scathing arguments concocted inside her own mind.

And the others didn’t make it any easier.

Harry had broke down in her arms - apologizing over and over again for his death. Hermione and Ginny sent her looks of sympathy and pity, giving her many comforting pats on the shoulder. Ron gave her lots of one-armed hugs - along with the rest of the older Weasleys whom she now thought of as older brothers.

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Anna.” They would say. “You two looked so good together.”

And Anna had no choice but to smile sadly and pretend to be the grieving girlfriend everyone expected her to be.

Draco was the only one who knew the truth, but his reaction was probably the worst of all.

He never left her side - even when Harry came to talk to her, or when Hermione confronted him about spreading the rumors in Rita Skeeter’s reports. Draco still stayed faithfully right beside her.

He didn’t say anything about Cedric - mostly he would offer jokes and information about the next coming year, give her reassuring squeezes when she needed them and mainly just lending her strength just by being with her.

But what hurt Anna the most was when she saw the undying adoration in his eyes.

It was always there - pulsing in his silver gaze. All the emotions he felt for her, shining all for Anna to see. She knew he loved her - so much for whatever dumb reason she couldn’t quite fathom - yet she knew and he knew she couldn’t return it.

Everything she had once shared with Cedric was gone. If she lost everything she had with Draco shared, Anna simply wouldn’t be able to bear it.

She knew Draco’s plans for the future. He wanted to be married young - have children and live with his spouse to the end of their days.

An ordinary future, yet a beautiful one.

And as much as she wanted that future, Anna knew it wasn’t hers to have.

At the moment, they were all waiting at the train - saying their goodbyes to classmates before they all left off for the summer.

Anna shifted awkwardly in her shoes as she looked up at Draco. “You know, Draco. You can’t be my knight in shining armor forever.”