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

Fifth Year - Chapter 24

St. Mungo's arranged for a Floo Powder transportation connection. Harry followed you as you made your way back to the Janus Ward. You stopped when you saw the room was empty. You were doing your check-up in the same room you had left. It hadn't been taken by anyone and that made you more nervous. Harry grabbed your hand. You both looked at where you were connected. It felt weird. You had switched to linking arms so as not to offend partners the two of you no longer had that you hadn't held hands in so long. He squeezed once and let you know that it was okay. The nurses directed you to the bed and Harry to the visitor chair. The healer repeated the instructions that you actually started to forget. You took a deep breath.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M... N... O..."

The healer smiled.

"Not there yet but tremendously better, you might even get to speak by New Year's. Definitely by the time you need to take your O.W.L.s. We're going to keep you on the same medication for that. Now, we were informed that recovery might not be going as well as we hoped by someone on your school's faculty. Unfortunately, we will have to carry out the Cruciatus test."

You nodded and let them bring in the spider. Harry watched with discomfort as you closed your eyes and grabbed at your skirt, wringing the fabric in your hand. You were sure that you were holding your breath the entire time. The nurse tapped the timer and the healer dropped the spider.

"Well, the concern while well-meaning was unnecessary. You seem to be experiencing slight trauma from the event but nothing we wouldn't expect from a victim of the Cruciatus Curse. You can go back to school now, Ms. Black."

You nodded and jumped down from the desk.

"Is that what they did while you were there?" Harry asked as you walked up the castle stairs.

Being completely silent, not even moving your head gave him enough of an answer. Harry grabbed your hand again and apologized even though he didn't do anything. Hermione ran up to you two when you got to the Gryffindor common room.

"We don't need to keep using (Y/N) as a messenger."

She held up a fake galleon. You tried to convey to Hermione that she was absolutely brilliant. The numbers on the coin weren't the serial numbers but a date. If the meeting couldn't be on Wednesday or had to be at a different time, the coin would heat up and let you know. You just had to check the date change. The galleons were much needed as you neared winter break, the dates started changing more frequently to accommodate for everyone's changing schedules.

Everyone walked into the Room of Requirement feeling weird. The club would be back but it was technically the last meeting of the semester. The room was decorated cutely for Christmas— with a menorah near the front for the Jewish members of the club. At first, you all thought Harry did it but Dobby and Kreacher appeared to flaunt their good work— and their Christmas sweaters. Luna complimented the mistletoe, something about keeping out nargles. You honestly didn't know what nargles were but she seemed to say it was a good thing the mistletoe was there so you agreed. Others were pushing each other underneath the mistletoe and threatening to kiss each other.

Harry wanted to make the last meeting light and special, deciding on teaching the Patronus charm. He told everyone not to worry, they could practice older spells if they wanted to. He would go more in depth on the Patronus charm later. It was meant to be a fun weekend morning. You watched in delight as some people managed to conjure corporeal patronuses. The silver animals danced around the room.

Almost as if celebrating your accomplishments for you all, The Room of Requirement suddenly produced food and drinks from the kitchen— poor Winky the house-elf had been dragged along with one of the trays. She assured you all that she was okay because she was helping serve a bunch of nice students. The club sat down on the floor— the room didn't feel the need to provide chairs— to talk and have a round of butterbeer before people started to pack and leave for the holidays.