Caught Between

Chapter 30

Harry found himself landing hard on the ground again, and knew he and Cedric had made it back. He heard cheers, but he couldn't look up. He knew he had to, knew he had to explain. They hadn't noticed yet, hadn't noticed that only one of them was still alive. He dropped his head onto Cedric's still chest, beginning to sob. He could hardly process what had just happened...so he cried.

A scream.

They were realizing.

"Harry!"

A hand on his arm made him finally look up at Dumbledore, though it was blurry through the grime, blood, and tears.

"Voldemort's back," he whispered. "He's back."

He began to sob again at the fear that appeared in the headmaster's face. Dumbledore wasn't supposed to be afraid.

"Rebenok."

He turned his head the other way to find Alexei and Severus. His hand clenched on Cedric's shirt as streams of tears streaked his dirt-covered face. "He asked me to bring him back. I had to. He would've been lost there. I had to."

"It's alright, child," Severus said quietly. "You brought him home. He will be okay now."

Harry shook his head. "He's gone."

"We know," Alexei said, "but you brought him home to his father. He can be at peace and his father won't live not knowing what happened to his son."

Harry let his head fall to Cedric's body again, his own body shaking with his sobs, pain, and quickly extinguishing energy. It was all becoming too much.

"It's time to go," Severus said, he and Alexei placing their hands on Harry's shoulders and back.

"Severus!" Dumbledore shouted. "Your help is required."

"Go," Alexei said at Severus' painfully torn expression. "I'll take him. He'll be okay."

Severus nodded. "I will be back as soon as possible. Get some rest, child. Alexei will be with you."

"Come on, rebenok," Alexei said, gently tugging on Harry until he was sitting up. He met the tearful green eyes. "Let's get you home."

Harry nodded and let the vampire help him to his feet. They had only made it a few steps when they stopped. Though he was exhausted and honestly didn't care much about what was going on around him, he looked at Alexei in question, wondering why they had stopped.

"It's Lucius," Alexei said and Harry looked at him with wide eyes. Lucius was back already? Was that a good sign? "He's hurt."

"Help him," Harry said quietly and Alexei looked at him, surprised. "I'm okay here. There's lots of people. I'll wait or get someone else to bring me home. Go help him. It could be bad."

Alexei hesitated for a while before finally agreeing. "Fine. I will come back for you."

"I'll be okay here."

Alexei ran his fingers through Harry's hair in comfort before taking off running. Harry watched him for a bit before turning back to the chaos that was happening behind him. Dumbledore, Severus, and all the other adults were talking in urgent, hushed tones. All the students were crowded in as close as they could be, the majority in tears as they gazed down at the body of one of Hogwarts' own. His own heart stopped as he took in Mr. Diggory holding his son's body close and rocking as he wailed in excruciating grief. He looked away, shutting his eyes tight as more tears fell. He wrapped his arms around himself, feeling like he might fall apart at any moment. How he wished he was with Severus or Alexei or Lucius. He wanted to be with them. He wanted them to be there and telling him everything was okay, even if it wasn't.