The Golden Quartet (Harry Potter x Reader x Cedric Diggory)

Fourth Year - Chapter 13

To no one's surprise, certainly not Cedric's, Harry was outside the Hufflepuff common room in the morning. You scratched at the back of your head and looked at Cedric. The older boy was confused when you didn't start immediately walking in between him and Harry.

"Will you, um, will you tell Professor Snape that I'm sick? I'll get a note from Madame Pomfrey later."

"Sure?" Cedric said with a raised brow.

Even Harry looked at you confused. You didn't miss class and you would never miss Potions. Without any prompting, Harry took your hand and led you away. You followed him outside the castle and to the quidditch field that wasn't seeing much use— most of the teams felt too discouraged to even practice. Harry grabbed the new Firebolt that Sirius bought him last year. He sat you on it.

"This always helps me clear my head. Don't talk, not till you're ready," Harry said. "Just fly."

He held your hand and walked you around the quidditch field. Flying never got old to you but you couldn't enjoy it as much this time. Harry was being patient. He didn't speak even after starting the third walk around the field. You finally sighed and he took that as a cue to stop and lead you to the bleachers. You sighed and put your head on his shoulder.

"Do you ever regret asking questions, Harry?"

"All the time. Why?"

"I had been pestering my dad since summer to tell me about my mum, been begging Uncle Remus too. They both finally gave in and wrote one really long letter, practically a novel."

"That's good, isn't it?"

You shook your head. You pulled the very thick letters out of your cloak. Harry looked at them in your hands. He didn't actually read the words but paid attention to the wet marks and could easily assume they were tear stains.

"Uncle Remus lied to me. My mom did go to Hogwarts, that's where my dad met her, not when she was visiting Diagon Alley."

"But why would he lie?"

"Because she left when people found out her father was Oliver Hornby... the boy who teased Myrtle until she ran into a bathroom and died. They fled to France in her fifth year and she told dad not to look for her, that his life was better without her."

Harry scoffed. "Because her father was a bully once? That's a—"

"Because they said he was a disgrace to wizards. We're banshees, Harry! Like Seamus' boggart last year. We're cursed."

"(Y/N)..."

"My grandfather yelled at Myrtle, he said he felt weird afterwards and accidentally spilled his cup of water at lunch. Four hours later, she's dead in a bathroom. His mother was mute for years to avoid it. She passed by Hepzibah Smith and said she felt devastated when she passed by a mirror and realized she lost her pearl necklace. Three days later, Lord Voldemort killed Hepzibah Smith and Salazar Slytherin's locket goes missing from her shop."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"My mother yelled at Professor Snape when he said something about her parents when everyone found out who her dad was. That night, he almost died because of my dad's stupid prank with the Weeping Willow... She yelled at your dad for being late to my birthday party. She wasn't even angry, it was a joke and they all thought it was funny. She had to step outside for a bit because her head hurt and then the next month your parents died... I'm so sorry, Harry."

Harry pushed your head off of his shoulder, grabbing both of your hands in his. "Look at me. You're not cursed."

"My mistake, we curse everyone around us. Banshees are dark omens, Harry."