Just Like Magic (Cedric Diggory and Hermione Granger Fan fiction)

Chapter 19: Joy

Suddenly I felt us being torn apart and I quickly wrapped my arms around myself at the pull. When I looked over I saw Umbridge staring at us smugly. With a quick peep of her annoying sound she sauntered away.

"I better get back on watch." Cedric said solemnly.

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"As always, Miss Granger."

I looked on as he walked away. Just as I was about to turn to go inside I heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Harry walking towards me with a blissed out grin on his face. It was almost too much to contain my excitement. I waited for him to reach me and together we walked into the Common Room where Ron was sitting alone by the fireplace. He looked up at our entrance and we sat by beside him. No one said anything for a long while. That was until Ron broke the silence.

"Well, how was it?" He asked as curiosity got the best of him.

"Wet." Harry answered and then thought better of it. "I mean, she was sort of crying."

"That bad at it, are you?"

"I'm sure Harry's kissing was more than satisfactory. Cho spends half of her time crying these days."

I remembered when I walked in on her crying in the girl's bathroom during lunch one day. She cried harder at my entrance and I had half the mind to walk out but my manners got the best of me and I asked her if everything was alright. She had been heartbroken over her denial of Cedric and confused with her emerging feelings for Harry. Seeing him beyond happy with me was confusing her about their own relationship. There was nothing I could really say besides that her feelings were accepted by Harry and she should give him a shot. That seemed to stop her tears for a while.

Ron ever the one for subtlety responded. "You'd think a bit of snogging would cheer her up."

"Don't you understand how she must be feeling?" When no one answered I continued. "She's confused with her new feelings for Harry, conflicted because Umbridge might sack her mum from the Ministry, and frightened about failing her OWLs because she's worried about everything."

"One person couldn't feel all that. They'd explode."

"Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon..."

Harry held up his hands. "What do I do now?"

"Well, how did you leave it?"

"I told her I'd see her after holiday. She seemed happy about that."

I smiled. "You're fine, Harry. Just do what feels right."

That seemed to suffice and before long we all went to our respective bedrooms. Ginny was already fast asleep when I got into mine and I began to worry how she would deal with the news of Harry kissing another girl. Her crush on Harry wasn't a secret around Hogwarts and even though she was with other boys I was fairly certain she still held a spot for Harry in her heart.

Sleep found me quickly but shortly after my head hit the pillow I was abruptly waken by the sound of Professor McGonagall waking up Ginny. Her voice was rushed and distraught and in a worried voice she told Ginny that something had happened to her father at the Ministry and all the Weasley children were being sent home to be with him. Between Ginny's frightened tears I heard Harry's name and I wondered how he was involved.

Shortly after Ginny and McGonagall left I threw on my robe and wandered downstairs. Harry was sitting in the dark and had I not been holding a candle of my own I wouldn't have seen him. He didn't react to hearing my footsteps but that was probably because he was deep within his own thoughts. Harry was staring straight at the unlit fireplace and I gently sat beside him and put a hand on his thigh.