AN: The time has come, this is the last chapter. I'm sad its come to an end, but I'm excited to start working on the sequel, and I'm even more excited to mark this book as complete. Finally I will have a completely finished book. I hope you guys are excited for the sequel, I know I am, but make sure you enjoy this last chapter. I love and appreciate all you readers, yes, even the silent ones. Remember to vote and comment. :)
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Chaos. The stands are filled with chaos, and the sound is deafening. People running about, scared for their lives, everyone trying to talk at the same time, Cedric Diggory's friends and father yelling and crying, girls screaming, myself included. I can't stop screaming. My father is back, he knows I'm alive, he'll surely be coming for me, and that means my adoptive parents and Sylvia, not to mention all of my friends could be in danger very soon.
"Potter come with me." Mad Eye says, pulling Harry to his feet and basically dragging him away from Cedric's body, inside the castle. I notice Lani and McKenna following them, out of the corner of my eye, but I can't worry about that right now. I have to talk to Dumbledore.
I close my eyes, willing myself to stop screaming. I manage to clamp my mouth shut, but I can't stop the tears that are continually streaming down my face. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrap around my waist and pull me to my feet, I hadn't even realized that I had been kneeling next to my friend's body. I turn around and am not surprised to come face to face with Fred.
"Come on, Vanessa, we need to get you out of here." He says. I nod slowly, not being able to acknowledge anything other than the fact that he's just said my full name, which he hasn't done since we first met.
Fred leads me through the chaotic crowd and into the castle, I walk with him silently. We make it to the Gryffindor common room and sit down in the red velvet chairs by the fire.
"I'm dead." I say, as the realization suddenly hits me.
"No, you're not, Vanessa." Fred says quietly.
"It's only a matter of time before my father comes for me, and then I'll be dead." I say.
"I'm not going to let that happen. I'll protect you, I promise." Fred says, kissing my forehead.
"He killed Cedric." I say darkly.
"I know, but there's nothing we can do about it now. If there was, I'd have already done it." Fred says.
"I know but it's just so frustrating. My father killed my friend, I just... I want to do something about it, I want to avenge Cedric, but I can't. It makes me want to scream, again." I say in tone filled with pain and frustration, my voice cracking occasionally.
"I'm sorry, Vanessa." Fred says quietly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
Suddenly, the portrait hole opens and Professor McGonagall climbs through it.
"Ah, there you are." She says, mostly to herself. "Miss Redwood, I'm afraid I need you to come with me. Your friends, Miss Davidson and Miss Riot, have been injured. They're in the hospital wing."
"What?" I exclaim, standing up. "What happened?"
"I don't have time to explain it to you, but I can take you to them." McGonagall says, pity in her voice. I've already lost Cedric, I can't lose Lani and McKenna too!
I nod and follow the Professor out of the common room and down to the hospital wing without a word, Fred trailing behind. Madame Pomfrey insists that only I am allowed in to see them, and McGonagall leaves, while Fred waits outside the doors. I follow Madame Pomfrey to the two beds where two of my best friends lay, unconscious.
"What happened?" I ask for the second time today.
"Your friends followed Mad Eye Moody, who led Harry Potter to his office. I assume they were suspicious of him, and they burst into the room, expecting to save Mr. Potter's life, I'm sure, only to find that they weren't dealing with the real Mad Eye, but with Barty Crouch Jr., an escaped deatheater, who promptly crucioed them. They passed out from the pain, and hit the wall as they fell over. Dumbledore, and a few other teachers found them and Harry in 'Mad Eye's' office." Madame Pomfrey says rather quickly, while tending to Lani, McKenna, and two other patients. I mentally slap myself. I saw them heading off after Harry and Mad Eye, and yet I did nothing to stop them.
"But they'll be alright, won't they?" I ask desperately.
"Yes, they will be fine. They only have minor concussions." Madame Pomfrey says while buzzing around the room, tending to her patients. I breathe a sigh of relief, and take the hands of my two friends in my own. "I'm afraid you'll have to go, though. You were brought here so that you would be aware of the situation, and brought up to speed while the teachers had a meeting with the headmaster."
I nod respectfully, thanking her for the information, and for letting me see my friends, and then let go of Lani and McKenna's hands, and head out the wide double doors.
"Are they alright?" Fred asks when he sees me.
"Yeah, just unconscious." I say, feeling exhausted. "They followed Mad Eye and Harry, and it turns out it was never the real Mad Eye teaching us, it was a deatheater. That stuff he was always drinking was polyjuice potion. Anyway, when Lani and McKenna showed up, he crucioed them, and they passed out from the pain."
"How did you just say all of that so calmly?" Fred exclaims as we start walking back to the common room.
"I'm not calm, I'm just too exhausted to blow up with anxiety and anger right now, but trust me. I'm not okay with this." I say.
*
The Great Hall is silent as Dumbledore stands to give his final speech of the year. This is Cedric's funeral, or as close as the students of Hogwarts will ever get to his funeral, as his father is taking his body back to their hometown. I hug Lani and McKenna, who sit beside me. At least they're alright, and have been released from the hospital in time to be here with me.
"Cedric Diggory was a fine lad, the perfect example of a Hogwarts students, and his death was a tragedy." Dumbledore says solemnly, his voice echoing, bouncing off the walls of the barren Great Hall. "And I think you all deserve to know how he died. Cedric Diggory was murdered, by Lord Voldemort." Everyone in the large room seems to turn and stare at me when he says this, but I pay them no attention as he continues. "Now, the ministry does not wish me to tell you this, but I believe not to do so would be an insult to his memory. We all lost an honest, true loving friend when he died, and we should all remember him as the bright young lad that he was during his time at Hogwarts, may he rest in peace."
There was a murmur of agreement, and the meeting comes to an end. The students are dismissed. I link arms with Lani and McKenna as tears roll down my face freely, and we begin to make our way out of the Great Hall. A tap on my shoulder makes me stop, and I turn to find a third year girl staring at me nervously.
"Dumbledore wishes to speak with you." She says quietly.
"Alright, thank you." I say. The girl gives me an awkward, crooked smile, and shuffles away into the crowd.
"I'll meet you in the common room later." I say, now turning back to Lani and McKenna.
"Alright, don't get yourself into too much trouble." McKenna smiles sadly.
"Don't you either." I scold teasingly, the smallest of smiles playing on my lips. Lani giggles shyly, and McKenna pushes me away from them.
I wipe away my tears and make my way up to Dumbledore, who is still standing in front of the staff table.
"Miss Redwood, thank your for joining me." He says, his eyes twinkling even with the gloomy mood surrounding us. I nod in acknowledgement of his words and he continues. "Your house in the muggle world will no longer be safe for you now that your father has returned, as I do hope you have already realized. Because of this, I have made arrangements for you to spend the summer in the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters, it will act as a safehouse for the time being."
"What about my family?" I ask quietly, despair settling on me once more.
"Your father may torture them for information, and I would hate to see them hurt. You may bring your sister with you, but your parents will have to stay, and it's best if they don't remember anything about you, that way they can be safe." Dumbledore says, pity and sorrow in his voice.
"My parents will have to... forget me?" I exclaim, frustrated and mentally exhausted.
"I'm afraid so." Dumbledore says apologetically.
AN: That's it! It's so weird to be finished with this book, but the idea of the sequel is exciting! I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this book as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I'll see you guys in the sequel!!
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