A few people slowly stepped out first and Ron and Hermione quickly pushed their way to the front. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Harry in Hagrid's arms and Hagrid sobbed over him quietly, Ron's face went as pale as Draco's, and Hermione looked like she was about to faint. Molly Weasley stepped up beside them and gasped, causing everybody else to leave the Great Hall and stop opposite us, the Death Eaters, leaving a gap in the middle.
That's when I noticed Cedric standing with Pansy just to the side of Ron and I nudged Draco, looking in their direction. Draco followed my eyeline and I felt him physically relax when he saw them, he immediately tensed up again as Voldemort began to speak. Cedric and I shared longing looks and he smiled at me reassuringly. I was questioning a lot of things right now. "Harry Potter is dead!" Voldemort said cheerily and the Death Eaters surrounding us started laughing. Draco gripped my hand and we both grimaced as everybody who hadn't noticed stared in horror at Harry's body. "Well, you must bow down to me now." He said holding out his hand, "Who will go first?"
Nobody moved. Everybody opposite us just glared at Voldemort when to my surprise, a boy I knew to be Neville Longbottom, from Gryffindor stepped forward. Everybody behind him gasped and I immediately knew why... he was quite good friends with Harry, and he was just giving up like that? I noticed now that he was carrying The Sorting Hat.
"Well I must say; I'd hoped for better. Is this truly the best Hogwarts has to offer?" Voldemort chuckled and the Death Eaters laughed, except for me and Draco. I noticed Bellatrix grinning at him and remembered that she was the one who killed his parents, not many people knew that, but Draco had told me when we first met. I could only imagine the rage he was feeling right now; I just couldn't imagine why he was actually handing himself over. "Well, by stepping forward, he lives to see another day." Voldemort said glancing over at everybody behind him.
Neville cleared his throat "I'd like to say something." He said and I glanced over at Voldemort whose brow furrowed. I then looked over at Harry and... I could have sworn I just saw his eyes flicker. I kept my eyes on him but listened to what was happening in front of me, "Very well, I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say." Voldemort said and I saw Neville turn to face the others behind him from the corner of my eye. "It doesn't matter that Harry is gone." He started and I drew my attention away from Harry, intrigued by where he was going with this as a worried murmur rippled through the crowd. "Stand down Neville." Another boy said walking forward, but Ron hesitantly held him back.
"People die every day. Friends. Family. Yes, we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, here..." Neville said tapping over his heart. "And so, is Fred and Remus and Tonks and... all of them. They didn't die in vain." I processed his words; did he mean Fred Weasley? I searched the crowd for George and when I found him, he was in fact alone, my heart stung as I thought what it must be like to lose your best-friend and family member, I had never seen George without Fred. I looked at Ron who was looking at the Death Eaters with disgust.
Neville turned back to the Death Eaters and looked straight at Bellatrix, "But you will." He turned to the three snatchers that caught Hermione, Ron and Harry the other day "And you and you and you will." Then finally, he turned to Voldemort. "And so, will you. Because you're wrong. Harry's heart did beat for us, all of us..." I looked back at Harry now and saw his eyes open, I quickly nudged Draco and he looked at Harry gasping quietly so no one would notice. I looked over at Cedric who was already looking at me and nodded my head, he looked at me questionably and I smiled before leaning closer to Draco. I knew what we had to do, "Harry has a good chance of winning this Draco, we have a chance to be free. You know what we need to do." I whispered looking over at Pansy and Cedric and Draco shook his head, "It's too risky, someone would surely kill us Ris." He said and I gripped his hand tighter, "Wouldn't you rather die knowing you were doing the right thing than die knowing you didn't even try to stand up for what you really believe in? Draco this is wrong, and you know it." I said and Draco looked over at Harry who was beginning to stir and then back at Pansy, he danced between them both before slowly nodding his head, "Okay fine. But if we die, I'm so going to kill you Ris." He said and I laughed a little, "Just promise me you will follow me okay." I said and he nodded. "We're in this together." Now I just had to wait for the right time.
I looked over at Cedric who was watching me suspiciously and I mouthed to him, "Forever right?" His eyes widened for a second before he nodded his head, "Always" he mouthed back, and I smiled. He had no idea what I was going to do but even I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to pull it off. If I died at least I was following my heart, I couldn't die knowing I was still 'following' Voldemort. It wasn't right, it never was. There was a time when I had fully supported him but that wasn't me anymore... and I knew it wasn't Draco either.
Neville took a step forward and looked Voldemort straight in the eye, daringly he spat at Voldemort's feet and I had to give it to him... this boy had guts. I remember when he got stuck to the chandelier in Defence against The Dark Art's class once after being carried there by Cornish Pixies. He'd certainly changed a lot. He reached into the sorting hat and I suddenly realised what he was doing, "This isn't over." He said and Voldemort's eyes turned to slits as he pulled out his wand. Quickly, Neville pulled out his hand and revealed The Sword of Gryffindor, Bellatrix gasped, and Voldemort haltered lowering his wand slightly in shock. This was my chance.
I squeezed Draco's hand before letting it go and nodding at him, "See you on the other side I guess, thank you for everything." I said reaching up and kissing him on the cheek before making eye contact with Cedric who looked confused. I took a deep breathe, stepping forward before running, "Cedric!" I shouted before running to his arms as he caught me, he held my tightly and protectively "Parisa, why would you do that?" Cedric whispered in my ear and the Death Eaters gasped, I ignored them and nodded at Draco who looked absolutely terrified.
Everybody was staring at me but then Harry jumped from Hagrid's arms and Voldemort went after him as I saw Draco reach into his pocket... he had Harry's wand. I saw realisation flash across Draco's face, and he moved away from his mother, "Potter!" he shouted as he threw Harry's wand to him. Narcissa and Lucius gasped as Draco ran over to me, Pansy and Cedric. He instantly wrapped his arms around all three of us and I could tell it took Cedric by surprise. "Well done, Malfoy!" Ron said to Draco and then turned away whispering under his breathe, "Can't believe I just said that."
Harry fired the Confringo charm at Zabini but it didn't do anything and Harry ducked as Voldemort fired a volley of curses at him. Harry ran towards Ron and Hermione, "The snake! We've got to kill the snake!" he shouted and then Neville gasped, "Harry! Look out!" he shouted, and Harry dodged another spell fired by Voldemort.
The students of Hogwarts and what was left of The Order start firing back and the war started again, Harry and Voldemort disappeared into the building with Ron and Hermione chasing after them. Cedric gripped me tight and I finally had a chance to comprehend what I just did, "Parisa are you stupid! You could have been killed!" Cedric shouted and I saw Draco smash his lips into Pansy's behind us, "But I wasn't! I'm here, we're together." I said and Cedric rolled his eyes, "It was still really dangerous" he said before grabbing my hand and leading us around a corner away from the spells flying back and forth.
Cedric grabbed my face and pushed his lips against mine kissing me in a way he never had before, "I thought it was over... I thought I'd lost you forever." He said pulling away only to say the words before kissing me again.
"Okay guys, very cute but we need to hide properly." Pansy said clearing her throat from beside us and I pulled away from Cedric and looked at Draco, "We did it!" I said running up to him and he hugged me, "Yeah but we're not free yet Ris, we need to make sure Harry wins." I nodded, "Let's fight then!" I said getting excited that I was finally on the right side when Cedric came up behind me, "Yeah I don't think so, I'm keeping you safe now, forever." He said and I rolled my eyes, "No we need to help, Draco and I need to prove ourselves. You can still protect me of course." I said and Cedric thought about for a moment, "Fine." He said before I grabbed his hand and we ran back in the direction of the fight.
Draco and Pansy followed us as we walked back into the chaos, Pansy gave Draco a wand she had found and the rest of us got ours out. We all threw a few spells and I was forced to let go of Cedric's hand when there was an explosion and we all had to run away. I slowly stood up, slightly dazed and coughed into the cloud of dust trying to look for someone. The dust cleared and I looked everywhere for Cedric, but I couldn't see any of them.
Frantically, I looked around until I saw Pansy doing the same, I ran up to her, "Are you okay? Where's Draco and Cedric?" I said and she shook her head looking around worriedly, "I'm fine, but we got split up and I can't see them anywhere." She said and I panicked, immediately regretting my decision. We should have hidden instead like Cedric wanted. "Come on we need to get out of here, we'll find them." She said grabbing my hand and leading me into the castle.
Spells were flying everywhere, and the floor was dotted with bodies both Death Eaters and students. "We need to hide!" I said and Pansy nodded as we ran into the closest door. We ended up inside of a broom closet, "I can't believe I let him go." I said the tears returning, "It's okay Parisa, they're fine, we'll find them it will be okay." She whispered but I saw her eyes glaze over too... there was no way to be sure of that. Just then we heard someone walking past outside and Pansy put her hand over my mouth to muffle my sobs as they hesitated momentarily outside of the door, we both stared terrified at the door and prayed that whoever it was wouldn't find our hiding place.
Cedric Diggory's POV:
The explosion went off and I pushed Parisa away from it to protect her, I quickly stood back up my ears ringing and tried to see through the smoke and dust. I couldn't find her and even when it cleared, I couldn't see her through all of the other people. I looked around for Pansy and Draco, but they were nowhere to be seen either. I shouted her name over and over again getting more desperate each time, but she didn't come to me. I ran behind a wall and sank down against it for a second, out of sight. I put my head in my hands and sobbed quietly, I had only just got Parisa back and I'd already lost her, she could be dead for all I knew. God why did I push her away? Why didn't I just shield her instead? I cursed at myself and cried softly before wiping my tears away. No. Parisa was fine. She was probably with the others and had got away... yes, she was fine.
I told myself this over and over again as I forced myself to stand up and walk into the castle. I would find her and then everything would be okay again, I would hold her and never bloody let go again. I walked past a broom closet and hesitated outside of it for a second, did I hide and wait for it to be over and find her then? No, I needed to protect her, that was the most important thing right now, I looked at the door one last time before heading deeper into the castle. I ended up at the big staircase that lead to the fourth floor and decided to not go up, no one in their right mind would be going up... Hogwarts would most probably collapse soon it would be a death wish.
I walked through a door way and quickly had to dodge a spell, "Expelliarmus!" I shouted but the Death Eater reflected it and to my horror my wand went flying out of my hand. I walked backwards but tripped and landed on my back with a thud, I groaned in pain, forcing myself onto my elbows and moved backwards until my back hit a wall and I had nowhere to go, the Death Eater walked towards me and loomed over me smirking. I gulped and closed my eyes; I was helpless and now it was over. Why did I keep making all the wrong choices today?
I closed my eyes and bit back a sob as I thought about Parisa... I just kept breaking our promises. "Any last words?" he sneered, and I glared up at him, "I hope your defeat is painful." I said spitting at his shoes, and he sniggered holding up his wand, I closed my eyes again and pictured Parisa... she was the only thing I wanted to be thinking about when I died...
"Confringo!" I heard someone shout and to my surprise I wasn't met with pain... or death. I opened my eyes as the man in front of me exploded into hundreds of pieces and I grimaced momentarily. Then relief flooded my system when I realised someone had actually saved me, I could still get back to Parisa. I looked up at my saviour and felt even more relieved when I saw Draco.
"Get you saving a helpless little Hufflepuff." I said and Draco rolled his eyes playfully holding his hand out to me, "Couldn't let you die now, Parisa just got you back, now could I? I'd never hear the bloody end of it." He said chuckling as I took his hand and he helped me up, I rolled my eyes playfully, "Cheers, have you seen her?" I asked and he shook his head looking down, "How about Pansy? Have you seen her?" he asked, and I shook my head, "No but I'm sure they're together – I know they can both look after themselves... Pansy absolutely terrifies me." I said and Draco laughed smirking at me, "Me too mate."
End of Cedric Diggory's POV.
authors note: You KNOW I had to give Draco the redemption he deserved too! This chapter and the next one i think are my favourites, I will be posting it later, ahhhh i'm so excited for you guys to read it! Thank you all so much for reading and please VOTE!!!