Amortentia (OC / Draco / Fred Weasley Love Triangle) (A HP Francise Fan Fic)

Chapter Twenty-Two: The End of Fourth Year

Every once in a while the common room door would open, and all the heads of the Hufflepuff students would stare at it, but were only met with disappointment when different prefects would enter.

"Where's Professor Sprout?" Justin asked.

"She's with Cedric's parents." Olivia, one of the house prefects, responded.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" Gwen spoke, her voice cracking.

"I don't. I'm sorry." Olivia took a seat in an empty loveseat. "Maybe it would be best if we all got some sleep."

"How are we supposed to sleep?" Zacharias mumbled, not breaking his gaze from the fire.

"Zach," Hannah whispered.

"What? Don't act like I'm the only one who thought it." He snapped.

"Let me go get some blankets and pillows and we can all stay out here." Olivia stood up and went to collect them.

"Here, I'll help." Matteo sniffled as he walked with her.

The rest of the students remained sitting in silence. No one knew what to say. The silence was finally broken by a gasping breath from James.

"It's okay." Susan who had been leaning against him began rubbing his back.

"It's not," He sobbed. Gwen had never seen James cry let alone upset in the slightest. He was always the life of the party. When James was around there was rarely a dull moment and he could rally a crowd like no other. "It's all my fault."

"James, how could you even think that?" Susan frowned.

"I told him to enter into the tournament." James sobbed deeply.

"James," Ernie turned his head to address him.

"No, I did. I-" He gulped. "I got my best friend killed." His whole body continued to shake.

"This is not your fault. He would have entered even if you didn't tell him to." Gwen assured him.

"I didn't even say something nice to him before." James choked between cries. "I told him that if he'd better win or he'd permanently be seen as another Hufflepuff disappointment. Why did I say that?"

"You didn't mean it." Susan said, trying to comfort him.

"I still said it."

"He knew you were joking. I don't think Cedric had a doubt in his mind about it." Gwen sniffled.

"Why couldn't I just have said something nice?" James' voice broke.

"Because that would have made him think you were possessed." Zach replied. There was a small laugh that released from a few students' noses. It was the only moment that even felt close to normal all night, but it was short lived as they returned to the silence. Soon after Olivia and Matteo had returned to the room with blankets for everyone and hot chocolate, however no one really drank it. They just remained huddled together, now bundled in blankets. Over the next few hours more and more of the students began to drift to sleep. The sound of sobs turning to soft snores the later the hours grew.

That night Gwen didn't dream at all. Her mind felt numb. Even in her dreamless sleep she felt exhausted.

"Gwen, dear." A voice whispered close to her. Her eyes flickered open. She saw Professor Sprout standing above her. She craned her neck forward, it was stiff from leaning onto the couch behind her as she slept.

"Professor?" She whispered.

"Cedric's parents wish to see you."

Gwen's heart panged. The reality soaked into her skin again. "Oh, of course." Gwen stretched and stood up carefully as not to disturb her friends who were still asleep next to her. She was still wearing her clothes from the day before, along with everyone else. Most people in the room were still sound asleep, but some of the students from the night before had gotten up and left their blanket behind on the floor. Gwen looked at the watch on her wrist: 11 am. She wasn't surprised to see most of them still asleep, as most of them hadn't fallen asleep until close to five in the morning.