I Know And I Don't Care (Cedric Diggory x Reader)

Chapter 25

I was wrong to think that it was just a bad feeling. I was also wrong to think the worst thing the letter could do was poke sharply into my hand. It wasn't just a bad feeling. I was right to be scared. The words written on the cutting paper did a lot more than the paper itself.

The second I saw the words "Read Alone" written in thick ink and all caps, and on the front of letter so I'd know before even unfolding it, the bad feeling grew to a new weight. Settling in my stomach, the anxious thoughts I had hunkered down as I prepared to sit still for a while, too, already seeing the full page Dad had written.

I didn't even make it two sentences before having to physically sit, the new weight of my gut wrenching feeling and the jarring words causing my knees to feel weak.

The introduction, or the lack thereof, reiterated my fears. My name appeared nowhere. Darling, his nickname for me, wasn't even used as a replacement of my name. Dad wasn't the most formal of writers, but he also wasn't one to put pleasantries past him. Unless something was more pressing than making sure his daughter was ok.

Like telling her about everything that wouldn't make her ok.

I didn't know what was worse. Him telling me something bad was going on or him knowing I already knew it.

There's something going on with the tournament. Something dark. Writing this I thought it might scare you but I have a feeling you already know about it.

Flashes of the woman dying at the World Cup and of my teachers debating Harry's acceptance to compete mixed in with images of the Triwizard Cup turning a deep orange, the urgency of Sirius' voice in the fireplace and Professor Moody (which confused me at first and still confused me minutes later) appeared in my head when I read those words.

When Dad didn't elaborate on what had cast a fog over the competition, I was ready to accept Snape coming to mind if it meant more information.

But Dad thought I already knew enough. He told me so.

It's not right that you know these things, darling.

He wasn't saying it to be mean. Reading my nickname actually made me smile. He was saying it apologetically, like he always did. He felt bad that I had to live with knowing so much. He knew how much fortunes messed with my life. For a long time, he was the only one who knew. The good, the bad, he knew all of it.

He was also the one to tell me how fortunes were never going to go away.

But you can't ignore what you know. Especially not when it might have something to do this. Write back immediately. Use any owl. Don't use the same one twice. Dad.

Despite the word love lacking before him writing his name, I felt the love behind the letter. He was looking out for me. While whatever had a hold on the competition, was looking out for me too apparently.