NOTE : this chapter will go much more faster and less detailed. It will probably cover the whole year in just one chapter. I just want to give you a gist of what happens, just a set up for Part III.
Delilah stepped on to the Hogwarts Express once again, something she didn't expect to do ever again. This time she was more lost than ever, she didn't know what she was doing there. She didn't know how to get out of this. All she knew was that she didn't have another option.
Making her way through the isle, her feet led her to their old compartment and her mind processed it much later. Unfortunately, it was too late to turn back now.
"Can I sit here?" The boy turned around and smiled at her before his face turned to a frown, "you're-" He started to say but never completed his sentence.
"-yeah. It's a long story" Delilah sighed.
"Ah. Well you're most welcome to sit here" He smiled, "I don't know if you remember me,"
"Oh yeah Of course I do, we played Quidditch together. Captain of Hufflepuff team, Cedric Diggory"
Cedric turned a little red and smiled at her sheepishly, "Yes, exactly. And you're Delilah Rose, the most amazing seeker I've seen"
"I beg to differ, Harry's pretty good"
"But Oliver only had eyes for you" Cedric grinned.
"Had" Delilah emphasized.
"Oh, I'm so sorry- I didn't mean to assume and I shouldn't have" He panicked a little but Delilah gave him a reassuring look.
"You're good puff boy"
Cedric seemed like a good person. They both talked about school and he never once questioned her why she was there. She was thankful that he didn't invade her personal space but also felt a little guilt inside of her.
"Aren't any of your friends going to join you?" Delilah asked once the train started moving from the platform.
"Well, my two friends are prefects so they are in the other compartment, and well that's it"
[yes I know Cedric was prefect too but this is a fanfic soooo....]
"What about those other hundred Hufflepuffs you hang out with?" everyone knew Cedric Diggory, he was pretty boy Diggory, as some called him.
"They are more of acquaintances than anything" He shrugged.
"Well I can give you company this time"
"I'd like that"
The Tri-wizard Cup, eternal glory, and a thousand Galleons. But this wasn't what Delilah was looking at, she was to focus on her first task.
"I want you to put Harry Potter's name in the Goblet" Igor Karkaroff told her.
"No way! I am not doing that!" She crossed her arms over her chest.
"You have to"
"Why can't you?"
"I am an ex-deatheater, I could be a suspect"
"No" She said stubbornly. Karkaroff pointed his wand at her neck and sneered at the girl.
"Listen young lady, just because I don't have the permission to finish you off right here, doesn't mean I can't harm you" He threatened, "Your daddy can't protect you all the time you know"
"I-"
"This is a task, you better complete"
When Harry's name came out of the goblet, Delilah almost had a heart attack. She didn't think it would actually work. She couldn't believe she had just put his life in danger. So, when she went to congratulate Cedric who had become a rather good friend of hers, she decided she would just tell him everything and ask for his help.
She was careful not to be near any other students and Cedric was very confused, "What's happening?" He asked.
"I-I have to tell you something, something really bad!" she said in urgency.
"Are you alright?"
"I-" She never got to say it. Karkaroff walked up from behind her, eyeing her eerily, "Delilah! How good to see you, let's chat shall we?" everyone assumed Delilah knew Karkaroff and Viktor Krum because of her brother and parents, which didn't make it all that suspicious of him to just want to 'chat' with her.
Delilah often spent her time in the Hospital wing, where Jesse was interning under madame Pomfrey. She had lied to him about why she was staying back and he didn't seem to question it. She sat there when she didn't have classes and talked to him about everything that she could. At this point, he was the only one keeping her from going insane.
They were chatting one day when his owl swooped in with a letter, "Who's that from?" she asked.
"No one important, I'll read it later"
"You're a horrible liar"
"It's from Oliver"
"Oh...you can read it..it's okay" Jesse hesitantly picked it up and opened to see what was written in it. Delilah couldn't help but wonder how Oliver was, if he thought of her, if he completely hated her.
"He would've completely lost it if he was at Hogwarts this year with no Quidditch" she chuckled and Jesse nodded.
"He says he's been practicing a lot and haven't had the time to do anything else"
"Does ever talk about me?"
"Umm...no.." Jesse awkwardly shook his head, "what happened between you two? It was going perfect. He didn't say anything about it and neither are you..."
"It just didn't work, Jes"
"But-"
"-I have class"
The first task was scary. Every time Harry even came close to the dragons, Delilah felt her guilt grow more and more. She shouldn't have done that, she should've just left, told someone, done something.
Cedric was another one Delilah was beyond terrified for. He had become a great friend of hers and she spent most of her time with him. She had grown to care for the Hufflepuff boy and if anything happened to him, she wouldn't be able to take it.
When the announcement for the Yule Ball happened, Delilah knew at once that she wasn't going. She didn't deserve to enjoy it. She had tampered with Harry's life.
"Are you going to the ball with anyone?" Cedric asked her.
"No, I don't think I'm going" she told him, "I have to focus on school"
"Oh come on! You should go! We can go together, as friends of course"
"Thanks Ced, but I think you should take Cho, I'm not going"
Delilah sat in her dorm with a gown staring at her, urging her to be worn. Her aunt had sent one along with her but Delilah didn't want to go to the hall. She looked at the dress, walked over to it, felt the fabric but didn't wear it.
It taunted her the whole day. Maybe a part of her did want that fun, that carefree night to do what she wanted before she completely messed up her life.
It was about 10 minutes before the ball and she couldn't help herself. Putting on the red dress, she looked at herself in the mirror. She wished for a miracle, like in books, she wanted Oliver to show up, take her to the ball. She wanted to kiss him again, hold his hand, dance with him. She remembered that he was a great dancer, it would've been nice to go with him.
The second task was with mermaids. Her father had been oddly off contact. He hadn't told her what she was supposed to do and she was relieved he didn't. But it also meant that he was probably planning something big.
Relief washed over her when Cedric errupted out of the water with Cho. She ran over to the edge and pulled Cho out handing her a towel and then moving to help Cedric. She enveloped him in a tight hug, "thank Merlin you're alive!"
It was the final task and Delilah couldn't have been more nervous about it. Her owl had swooped into her dorm and dropped a letter from her father.
Be at Hogsmeade station right before the third task.
She didn't know what was going to happen but it wasn't going to be good. She went to the Quidditch field where they had made a giant maze and wished Cedric good luck.
"Please be careful" she told him.
"Don't worry Lil, I'll be fine! I'll be back with eternal glory and everything" he grinned at her and she nodded.
She hadn't been this terrified before, especially with a letter from her father.
"I'll see you at the end"
She made her way to the station which was dark and empty. There was no train at the station and she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do next. Her eyes scanned around for anything or anyone only to see red sparks shooting into the air. Someone had called for help.
"Delilah" she whipped around to see her father standing there.
"Father" she replied bitterly.
"I didn't think you'd come, but I'm impressed"
"You would've threatened me to come anyways" She rolled her eyes, "what do you want for me?"
"It's time for your initiation" He smiled at her.
"Initiation?" Delilah asked in confusion but then it dawned on to her. She couldn't possibly be a death eater, there was no way she was going to do that. Voldemort wasn't even alive, Death eaters didn't exist, "No, thanks" she turned around and made her way back to school but was stopped by her father, "You don't have a choice, dear."
"It was better when you were in Azkaban! when did you become a death eater!?"
"First Wizarding war, of course" Delilah would've never guessed that her father was a death eater, but she never really knew him well enough, did she? The girl had no words for her father as she made her way to the village.
"Don't even try to go back, you know you won't win this duel" Her father raised his wand at her.
She knew that she would lose in a duel with Artemis Rose, but she still tried. After beign thrown to the ground multiple times and her wand being knocked out of her hand, Delilah was left pretty helpless. And so, there she was in her fathers' grasp, ready to apparate out of Hogsmeade.
They reached an eerie looking graveyard. It was dark and empty and confused the girl immensely, "What are-"
"You'll see, just stay quiet" Her father told her and she had no choice but to listen to him.
It was only a few seconds later that someone appeared from the shadows on the other end. There were two figures approaching their direction and as they got closer, Delilah started recognizing the two people. Harry and Cedric.
There came a point where they were close enough to recognize her, "Lil- what are you-"
"Cedric!" she managed to squeak out.
Delilah knew something was going to happen. She wanted to warn him, tell him to get out,take Harry with him but it was too late.
"Wormtail, kill the spare" and everything after that was a blur to Delilah. She could see his eyes starting back at her, his voices ringing in her mind. Cedric Diggory was dead. Voldemort was back and Cedric was dead.
Harry had reached for his wand at some point, she wasn't sure what had happened. He pointed it at Voldemort who shot a killing curse at Harry. This was all her fault, if she hadn't put his name in the goblet, this wouldn't be happening right now.
"Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was as you all know, exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair-minded and most importantly a fierce, fierce friend. Now I think therefore you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this, but not to do so I think would be an insult to his memory."
Delilah felt like her insides were being ripped out of her body as rage and guilt enveloped her. Her eyes had shed too many tears to cry anymore, her jaw was clenched and her hands in fists.
Delilah should've considered herself lucky that Harry was too occupied in the graveyard to notice her or recognize her but she didn't. She wanted him to call her out and wash that guilt away. No matter what she did to fix it, she would always have a hand in the murder of Cedric Diggory.
A/N
Okay. So this chapter was kinda meh. It was just skimming through the whole year to give a little background. I would call it more of a filler over a chapter but it is kinda important since it sets the base for the next few chapters.
Thanks for reading my book! I can't believe that we have 20k views on this! Like WTF! I really love writing this book and I appreciate all of you reading it!
It does require a lot of editing but I'll get on it once I've finished it.
Thanks so much!
<3
Aisla Wrenn