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CEDRIC DIGGORY WASN'T ONE TO be so easily ignored or overlooked. He was notoriously known as Hogwarts' Golden Boy, the newest Hufflepuff House quidditch team captain, and a star pupil and prefect – an all-around complete jock, but with the heart the size of the ocean. He had gotten most everything he's ever wanted; being a single child, his parents spoiled him, and within school, he could get anybody he fancied without much fuss. The boy was extremely handsome, smart, athletic, and sweet to boot. And he was kind and genuine and would do anything for his friends and family. So he'd be damned to let one of them be alone in times of need – and when Rebecca didn't show up for dinner last night, nor for any other meals or her classes for the day, a red flag went off in his head.
In an instant, as the rest of the day dwindled away, the Hufflepuff was abandoning his table-mates and stalking over towards the Ravenclaws. He reached the somewhat-familiar faces of his best friend's roommates, kneeling momentarily on the bench in front of two of them and by the other ones.
"Where is she?" was all Cedric had asked, his face etched in pure concern as he looked between them all; though they understood fully without much more regardless.
"Hasn't left the dorm," Rosie spoke up softly, a frown curling her lips downward, "not since yesterday – not even to go to the kitchens for food."
"What happened yesterday?" He questioned, a bit taken back as he tried glancing towards the Gryffindor table in search of Adrienne, turning back promptly, "did you lot see something happen?"
"McGonagall came in during Defense," Lisa explained quietly, "said the Headmaster needed to speak with her, and it's the last we saw of her until we got back to the dorm last night."
"She's pulled all the curtains shut around her bed, stuck them like that with a charm," Abby added with a slight grimace, "and you can hear her music from her earbuds – she's gonna ruin her hearing."
Cedric felt his stomach drop slightly, churning uncomfortably at the thought of her having a belated conversation with Professor Dumbledore before he was sparing a mumbled 'thanks' to the four girls and promptly moving towards his blonde best friend laughing amongst her own friends. She had clocked his figure as he neared, smiling and waving before even gesturing him over to sit at her side. When he had reached them, he didn't sit though, doing the same as he did with the Ravenclaws and kneel a knee on the bench.
"Ced, you know Angie and Ali and –"
"Extremely charmed," The Hufflepuff cut her off, still trying to flash a pleasant smile to the other girls but keeping her gaze on her solely, "we need to talk."
"We are talking," Adrienne frowned, slightly taken back at the unusual rudeness of the badger.
"Yes, but we need to go talk more in private," Cedric insisted, gesturing a hand towards the Great Hall's exit, "it's important."
"I'm kinda busy here, Ced," She flashed an easy smile to her friends momentarily, just to ease their confusion, turning back to the awaiting Hufflepuff, "I'm sure whatever it is can wait till dinner or something?"
"It can't."
"What's it about then?"
"You'd find out if you come along," He folded his arms over his chest, looking her expectingly, "you'd also know already if you had spent about five seconds being observant of your surroundings."
"Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of them, Cedric," Adrienne pursed her lips, copying his actions and crossing her arms.
"And if you had any sense of the situation, you'd know I can't–" Cedric only let out a scoff, letting his arms drop back down to his sides when she looked at him blankly, "You know what, nevermind then," He uttered lowly, "have fun with your poorly-stimulated conversation."
Adrienne watched in utter shock as Cedric suddenly pushed away from the table, his figure growing smaller and smaller before he disappeared from the Great Hall. She waved off her friends with a hand, acting indifferent about the whole ordeal before she was trying to stimulate another round of chatter between them to cover the awkwardness left in Cedric's wake.
The Hufflepuff was already on his way up the final two staircases to the Ravenclaw Tower by the time the bell tower rang for the next and final class. And while he had paused momentarily at the sound, he pushed on till he came across the large door with the eagle-head knocker.
"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?"
Cedric paused, cheeks growing slightly red as his embarrassment briefly riddled his bones – the answer lost on his tongue, "can't you give me a pass?" He questioned the door lowly.
"What goes up, but never comes down?"
"Like thats any better," The Hufflepuff murmured dejectedly to himself.
"Age," A voice answered the door's riddle with ease, making him spin around quickly.
"I –"
"You're Carrow's friend, right?" The brunette girl questioned, gesturing him inside the drafty common room before following after him, "I'm sure I've seen you in here with her and that one blonde girl before."
"I am, do you know which –"
"Dorm 14, nearly to the top – should be on your left side, can't really miss it."
"Thank you –"
"Sara," The girl answered the silence, smiling briefly before leading him over towards the two separate staircases, "I'll stand on these so you can get up."
Cedric only smiled a bit wider, nodding his thanks before watching Sara climb up onto the first few steps. He stepped onto the one below her, making sure they wouldn't change into a swirly slide before he was climbing the rest of them to the third-floor landing. He gave a wave to Sara at the base of the stairs, ducking down the hallway and towards the numbered doors. He reached Dorm 14 in just a few seconds, letting out a breath and bringing up a hand to lay a few sharp knocks upon the door. There was no answer. He frowned, repeating his actions once more.
"Bee," He began, pressing his ear against the wooden plank to try and hear anything, "I know you're in there – can I come in?"
There still wasn't an answer, so Cedric only grasped the handle, peeking his eyes through the smallest crack he made. The dorm was pretty much immaculate, save for one of her dormmate's side, where there was clothes strewn across it's boundary and the bed left unmade. He stepped in after a moment, standing like a lemon in the doorway before he was easily spotting the four-poster bed with each side of the curtains pulled in – just like Abby had said they were. Cedric carefully stepped over to the bed, gently grasping one edge of the curtain – only to find it stuck and unmovable. With pursed lips, he weighed his options; coming to the conclusion of simply reversing the spell and withdrawing his wand.
Cedric was able to pull back the curtain then, letting fresh, and fading, sunlight into the abyss of a bed. Rebecca only flinched slightly at the sudden light, shielding her eyes as she was slowly turning over. When her eyes focused, she found the solemn look of her best friend – and immediately she couldn't force herself to meet his gaze, her stomach churning and mouth running dry as she laid back down to try and avoid his eyes once more.
"What happened yesterday with the talk with Dumbledore?" Cedric asked softly, taking a seat at the very edge of her mattress, "was it about the boggart?"
Rebecca only shook her head, tucking her arms beneath her pillow to curl further into it's soft embrace – her eyes being to well up once more and salty tears stinging her irises.
"If not about the boggart, what was it then?" He frowned, turning slightly and bringing a knee up onto the bed to try and lean forward, "you know you can tell me anything."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, hoarse and weak, "I just don't wanna talk about it."
Cedric didn't want to pry, the last thing he wanted was to make her feel worse – but in his mind, he couldn't begin to make her feel better without even knowing what was wrong.
Still, he only nodded, then remembered she wasn't looking at him, "okay," He murmured, slowly kicking off his shoes to sit cross-cross on her bed, "whenever you're ready, I'll be right here."
In a turn of events, he watched as Rebecca slowly turned to lay on her back. Her eyes were bloodshot, leaking a continuous stream of tears on either side of her face. Despite the inclination to try and smother her with comfort, or even just a hug – Cedric only smiled reassuringly. Rebecca sniffled slightly, bottom lip wobbling as she met his concerned gaze. He offered his hand, and to his surprise, she had set hers in his and immediately laced their fingers. He closed his other hand atop hers, squeezing her hand between both his with another look of reassurance.
*
Remus Lupin was a new man after the weekend was over. Or rather – he was the same man as before, only now further plagued by the pain of his returning memories. Memories that felt both new and nostalgic at the same time, bringing him past happiness and current sorrow. He honestly didn't really know how to feel – he didn't know if the choice he made would end up being the right one.
He hadn't wanted to go through with the countering of the Obliviate. Not at first. He had enough pain to last him the rest of his lifetime and more, and he had obviously done it to himself for a reason back then – he didn't want to have that return. Why would he bring back the very demons he had worked so hard to push away? But then he had seen reason through Madam Pomfrey; of course, he had owled her after the first appointment with Healer Rossum. He knew he had to counter the spell, she had told him as much in her letters, but he also didn't want all the pain of the past years to return tenfold.
'It's better to feel it all than feel nothing,' She had wrote to him, practically speaking to him through the parchment, so clearly he could picture her wrinkly, know-it-all, encouraging face, 'bare it and feel, take back what's yours – whatever may come.'
Remus was terrified during the first session, having say in the middle of a white room, only him and Healer Rossum. The man had pulled his wand out at him, pointed right in the middle of his forehead before he was muttering incantations. A blue wisp was leaking from the tip of the wand, wrapping itself around Remus' head and entering his ears and smoking out his eyes so they burned slightly. And then he saw it – like it had happened just the day before. Remus saw himself, stood in front of the dusty bathroom mirror back in his dusty old flat that he would spend the next twelve years in. His wand in his hand, shaking and his grip loosening and tightening in suspense. Then the wand was pointed at the mirror, at the reflection of himself.
He had whispered it so softly, almost not there at all, even in the silent house – Obliviate – and the spell rebounded from the mirror, striking Remus in the center of his forehead, immediately erasing the last few years from his mind. Erasing any bad memories from his school years. Anything he deemed sad or upsetting, anything that brought pain to his chest and made his throat swell close, it was taken away. Locked in a vault and the key was tucked away and hidden from himself.
It had taken two more sessions, three in total, before Remus Lupin was back to the person he was twelve years ago; the person he was at the end of a war and back alone once again. He could remember most everything, able to put the memories back together and piece the timeline into a single flow. And all the deja-vu he had been experiencing was put into light as well, though, he still needed more time to be at peace with what he knew now. With what he remembered, it came at a price. And he wasn't so sure he was willing to pay it so soon.
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