"So, she just ran?"
"Hm."
"Was Severus there?"
"I don't know. But if he was, it didn't make much of a difference. Remus, listen; I had to turn into my Animagus form to prove it was me. She doesn't trust anyone, at the moment. What on earth happened to her?"
"I died." My voice spoke simply, my presence unknown as I stepped into the living room, where Remus and Sirius were talking. They both turned to face my, relief consuming my Godfather as he began to walk towards me with open arms. I held my hands up, taking a few steps away, "No, I-...I need to know it's you."
Remus paused, but his eyes were soft and understanding, "Very well. The first Christmas present you gave me was a bracelet made from moonstone. You put a protection enchantment on it."
My breath hitched, succumbing to the relief as I fell into his arms, allowing my tears to fall. After a while of him holding me, Sirius brought me some water, along with a tissue, and we sat down on the sofa to talk.
"When you're ready...please tell us what happened."
Remus' voice was comforting, the reassurance I could do this in my own time. But my nerves did not stop me tugging at my sleeve, suddenly feeling much smaller in the armchair as their concerned eyes watched me.
"I suppose I should start the day of the second trial. Professor Moody-" I suddenly halted, wondering if they knew who Moody really was. Remus leaned forth in his chair, "It's alright. We know he was Crouch's son." How they knew this, I didn't know. But I decided to continue, nonetheless. "Crouch tried to drown be in the Black Lake. But, I think my mum saved me. When I was under the water, a patronus in the form of a dove, the same as mine, came towards me and carried me to the surface."
Sirius appeared perplexed, shaking his head in disagreement, "It couldn't have been Lily's. Her patronus was always a doe and James' was a stag." Remus sent him a side-ways glance, taking a deep breath as his eyes met my own, "Patronus' often take the same form as another person when said person loves the other. Are you sure it wasn't your own?"
I nodded, utterly convinced; I hadn't been able to produce a patronus since before the Yule Ball. The realisation suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks, my chest caving at the thought of those pair of arms to take me from the water and hold me in their arms, reassuring me that they would never let me die...
"Emerald?" His voice was like velvet, but broken and filled with a sadness that made my heart break. Behind me, in the doorway, stood Severus Snape; the uncertainty of his presence evident in his eyes that watched me and waited for me to react. I suddenly felt my entire body tense, my eyes meeting his dark ones. "Let me see your wand."
The man's brows furrowed, yet he did as I wished and presented his wand; ebony, carved exactly as it always had been. Relief began to set in, but I did not take a step closer to him, merely scanning him from head to toe. He truly did look terrible. "What did you do, Severus?" I asked, exasperated. The obsidian eyes averted to the floor, his hands lacing together as he took a deep breath, "I...Split some of your soul and hid it in your mother's wand in the case something might happen to you."
The sudden urge to vomit regurgitated in my stomach, the meaning of his words weighing my shoulders down as I fought to shake away the feeling; and the knowing deep-down, I had not been whole for a while. "You what?" Sirius' voice sounded muffled, as though I had been submerged beneath water and the world around me was slowly fading. "When did you do it?" I asked, my voice trembling as tears began to sting my eyes.
Ashamed and guilt-ridden, Severus finally looked up to face me, but our eyes never met. "I started the process the boxing day following your accident on the Black Lake. I did not successfully complete it until the night you and your brother came to stay at the Leaky Cauldron."
I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief, "That was the night we jinxed Marge." I paused, remembering the morning I woke up to find my appearance had nearly entirely changed. "I asked you what was wrong with me and you knew this whole time! It wasn't the Legilimency, it was you! Taking my life into your hands without my consent!?" The man recoiled slightly at my increasing tone of voice. "How could you!?"
I felt Remus rest a hand softly on my shoulder, forcing me to face him, "Emerald, please. As horrendous as we know it is, Severus saved your life."
Knowing Remus' words were true, and he was in no means trying to justify Severus' actions, I tried to calm myself a little. Sirius, however, appeared enraged with the Potion's Master; eyes deadly and ready to strike if he muttered one more wrong word. "I think you should leave, Severus." He spoke with such hatred it brought the room to a silent stand-still.
Remus sighed, "Sirius, we need to talk-"
"-No," the man spoke, cutting his closest friend short as he closed the gap between himself and the head of Slytherin, standing at my side and placing his hand over my own. "This is my house and you need to leave, now."
Severus nodded, sadness in his guilt-ridden eyes as he turned and began walking towards the front door of Grimmauld Place, closing it behind him. Finally, I felt as though I could breathe. But this felt undeserved- I shouldn't even be alive...
"Emerald, there's a few things you should know about what happened whilst you was at the hospital."
Accepting the cup of tea Kreacher had brought to me, I took a sip and tried to calm my nerves. Both Remus and Sirius explained that Bartemius Crouch Sr was murdered by his son, who was currently missing. Not only that, but Barty Crouch Jr. had managed to transfigure the Triwizard Cup into a portkey, that took Harry to Little Hangleton graveyard. There, Voldemort would use him in a ritual to return. He was successful.
I was silent, trying to take in everything I was hearing. "Where's Harry now? Did you tell him what happened to me?"
"At Hogwarts. He knows bits and pieces but we thought, if he should hear the truth from anyone, it's you. There's only one or two days left of term and Dumbledore knew it would be the safest place for him." Sirius explained, Remus however appeared regrettable. "Emerald, there's something else you should know. I'm not sure if you know a boy called Cedric Diggory...But he was with Harry in the graveyard, that night and...Pettigrew killed him on Voldemort's orders."
The world seemed to cease around me. Not Cedric. Not the boy who was graduating the following year. Who didn't even want to enter the Triwizard Tournament and only did so because he didn't believe he'd actually get picked. Not Cedric who would wish my luck before every Quidditch game and offered to help me with my new Captain role, the following year. Not the seventeen year old boy who had his entire life ahead of him...
***
I was permitted to return to Hogwarts, the following day; merely so that I could attend the memorial feast for Cedric. Whilst everyone else had a week to mourn him, I merely had one day. When Remus apparated me to the outskirts, a dark blanket cloaked the school, unlike anything I had ever felt before. Hogwarts had been my home for three years, yet it felt colder than the day I returned with the Dark Mark on my arm. Remus still did not know the truth of that night. I shuddered at the very thought of telling him.
The students were lining up outside the Great Hall, waiting for the feast to commence. Before I even had a chance to join them, however, I found those identical green ones looking sullenly to the floor, walking towards my brother and pulling him into my arms. "I'm so sorry, Harry." I breathed, allowing a tear to fall. It took him a moment to return the gesture, his arms wrapping around me tighter than ever before. "Where have you been, sis?" His voice was weak and mournful.
"I'll explain later, in private. I promise."
"I watched him die. I watched Pettigrew murder him and did nothing." He let out a sob, crying into my shoulder as I rubbed his back and shushed his cries, the other students watching us as, they too, shed a tear. "Please believe me when I tell you there was nothing you could have done." But I could have. I could have told Dumbledore where I was going each week. I had the proof on my left arm. All of this could have been stopped. It was my fault Cedric was dead and Voldemort was back.
"Emerald?" I turned to the voice, leaving my brother's embrace as Draco Malfoy stood before me; his eyes filled with sadness and relief at the same time. "Draco." I sighed, flinging my arms over his shoulder with a little more force than I had anticipated, knocking him back a few steps. "I'm so glad you're alright." Was I, I thought. Draco didn't need to know if I wasn't. I most certainly was not alright, the guilt smothering me like a pillow, making the air suddenly too thick to breathe. But my sadness masked my inner turmoil as we went into the Great Hall and waited for Dumbledore to speak.
No banners decorated the hall, as they usually would, at the final feast. Hogwarts had turned colder, sadder. Everyone felt it. As I glanced towards the staff table, my eyes found Severus', having returned to the school the same day as myself. Something was hidden behind those dark eyes, but I could not distinguish his thoughts in the sea of everyone else's in the room, mourning Cedric's death of which I was the cause.
The real Alastor Moody had been rescued, joining the staff table for the feast. He appeared just unhinged as I felt; not trusting the people around him were who they said they were. The Headmaster stepped up on his podium, addressing the entire school as his voice cut through the air like a blade.
"The end of another year."
Silence ensued in the Great Hall, lingering on his every word. "There is much I would like to say to you all tonight, but I first must acknowledge the loss of a very fine person who should be sitting here," The aging man spoke, motioning towards the pale faces sat at the Hufflepuff table. Guilt. My eyes began to well, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all to please stand and raise your glasses to Cedric Diggory."
The entire Great Hall stood in unison, holding their goblets high into the air. I, however, felt like a fraud even being there; it was my fault. I should have done something. "Cedric Diggory." It felt like mutiny to say his name. Suddenly, I found myself recalling the last night I saw him. The night before my final lesson at Little Hangleton. The night before I died.
"Catch!"
I gasped, quickly grasping the pain aux chocolat he had thrown at me across the kitchen. "Nice! You'd be a good Seeker, you know? Definitely got the reflexes for it." He compliments, casually sprawling himself across one of the armchairs the elves would use on their breaks.
Scoffing, I shook my head in denial, "I'll pass, thanks."
"Why?"
I pondered, taking a bite as I moved his legs of the end of the chair and took a seat next to him. "A. I don't think my brother would appreciate being beaten by his younger sister," The boy laughed at my chest, his chuckle infections as I fought to join in, "B. I like being Keeper." I shrugged, pouting my bottom lip.
"Fair enough."
The kitchens were silent for a moment, the two of us enjoying the silence.
"What are your plans once you graduate, next year?" I sighed, taking another bite.
"Well...My father is planning on getting me an internship at the ministry, in his department. And, do you remember the girl I took to the Yule Ball?"
"Cho Chang, how could I forget?" I laughed, for I had played against her many times in Quidditch. Not the best player but definitely one to watch out for.
"Well, I know she's the year below me, but I think there's definitely potential. I really like her, you know?" He spoke, his eyes glistening as an image of her suddenly projected from his thoughts and into my own. "Wow. You're really smitten, aren't you?" I asked, a genuine smile trailing my lips that distracted me from everything else going on in my life. Cedric nodded, mirroring my expression. "Yeah, I think so."
"He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play."
My gaze drifted to the Ravenclaw table, where Cho Chang sat in floods of tears. He deserved to live, not you. I told myself.
"His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about." My head snapped back to Dumbledore, his blue eyes lingering on my own for a moment longer than the rest. Did he know? I could have stopped it.
"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort." Swarms of whispers in shock and disbelief dispersed the Great Hall, as I felt Draco suddenly turn rigid beside me.
"The Ministry of Magic does not wish for me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified I have done so - either because they will not believe the Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies," I suddenly felt my gaze shift to Snape, whose own eyes were scanning every other part of the room; holding a very stern glare, "and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."
The hall stilled. Silence ensued. "There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death. I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter." Some eyes in the hall turned to face my brother. Others were too scared to leave Dumbledore. "Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort. He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honour him."
I felt Draco's hand instinctively take my own, grasping his goblet with his free one and lifting it into the air. My eyes brimmed with tears as I watched him murmur my brothers name, respectfully, with the rest of the school. I followed in suit, squeezing his hand tightly.
"Every guest in this hall will be welcome back here, at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again - in light of Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." Dumbledore spoke softly, his eyes lingering on the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons table a moment longer, before averting to his sea of pupils, once again.
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."