dumbledore during goblet of fire: where are we going to put four deadly fire breathing dragons hmmmm how about uhhh the huge ass forest next to the school
a/n: last chapter, let’s do this! wow what a ride this hs been. I’m sad that it’s over, but now I can focus on requests and one shots, maybe even get another series up and running! I hope you all enjoy.
word count: 2529
warnings: sad lol, some innuendos to PTSD + trauma, mentions of death, mentions of major injuries, mentions of blood + bleeding out, read at your own discretion
summary: while Hogwarts holds a memorial for the loss of one of their beloved students, Y/N mourns two losses in her life.
song recs:beach baby - bon iver, where’s my love - SYML, f song - strawberry guy
It was quiet, the whispers throughout the infirmary were incoherent as her eyes adjusted to the light.
Every muscle, bone and joint was sore and aching the second she tilted her head.
For some reason, she expected someone to be beside the bed in a chair, waiting for her to wake up. But this wasn’t like the movies.
The chair next to her sat empty, a fresh pair of clothes lay folded nicely, probably from Jamie. The table next to her was filled with propped up cards and sweets. She could only cringe at the thought of crowds of students seeing her in her unconscious state while she began her healing process.
The worst was over, the tournament was done. Y/N’s memories from just a few weeks before came flooding back.
She got lost, staring at her hand and her, well, missinghand.
“Oh! Miss Y/L/N, you’re awake. How’re you feeling?” Professor McGonagall flung open the closed curtains, revealing Y/N to the prying eyes of students who followed her.
Y/N must’ve jumped ten feet at the gasps of every student and the loud scraping of the metal rings from the curtains. Her heart rate slowed when Jamie pushed herself to the front, McGonagall ushering her past the curtains and closing them again.
Jamie pounced on Y/N, knocking the breath out of her in a bone-crushing hug. “Y/N/N, I’m so glad you’re okay. You gave us all a scare.” Her voice was muffled in Y/N’s hair.
“Now, Miss Wilson, I think Miss Y/L/N doesn’t need any more injuries.” McGonagall scolded the girl, yet smiled as she did so.
Jamie slowly sat up from Y/N, her chinks pink and she gave out a nervous laugh. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Just a bit tired- exhausted, actually.” Y/N shrugged, barely having the energy to do so as each muscle burned with the movement.
“Madame Pomfrey can give you Wideye, you’ll be discharged soon.” McGonagall spoke from beside the curtain. “I’ll give you two some privacy so Miss Y/L/N can change.”
Soon after McGonagall left and closed the curtain, Jamie was pouncing on Y/N again.
“So, what happened? You need to tell me everything. I mean, you appeared in the arena through the portkey bleeding and Harry was screaming and crying and Cedric was.. um- never mind. It was so scary. Fleur started screaming when she saw you. I don’t know if you remembered but Draco came to help you, you started screaming ‘get away from me!’ It was so scary! You should’ve heard the crowd-“
“Okay, yeah I get it- everyone was scared.” Y/N cut Jamie off, throwing the blanket off her legs and swinging them over the side of the bed, touching her feet to the cold floor of the infirmary. She groaned at the stiffness of her limbs, almost losing her balance as she pushed off the bed and put her weight on her legs.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve known you wouldn’t have wanted to talk about it.” Jamie rushed over, helping her stand and wobble to the folded clothes. “I’ll give you a few minutes to get dressed. Shout when you’re ready.” She pressed her lips to a thin line, backing away and leaving through the curtain, shutting it after her.
Y/N’s eyes immediately started to water. She covered her face with her hand, a dry sob racking her body. Why would this have to happen to her?
~•.*✰
She struggled to get dressed. It was hard enough not falling over every time she shifted her weight, but the newfound challenge of putting on a shirt and pants that didn’t even have to be fastened was frustrating, to say the least.
Jamie had given her a small bag to put all the treats and cards in. She tried to help Y/N tidy up the hospital bed before leaving the infirmary, staying by her side the whole time to the Great Hall.
Y/N wanted to stop and get food, try to make her grand appearance not-so-grand by simply showing up. Much to her dismay, word had gotten out that she was awake, and all eyes were on her the second she stepped into the Great Hall.
“I’ll go get a plate of food.” Jamie told her quietly, leaving her at the entrance to go to the Hufflepuff table.
“I think we need to talk.” A familiar voice spoke behind Y/N. She tensed, turning around slowly to meet the prying eyes of Draco Malfoy.
“Yeah, I think we do.”
~•.*✰
The two teens sat quietly in one of the lesser known courtyards of Hogwarts. Y/N sat on a small bench, only enough room for her, while Draco leaned against a large tree next to her.
“So, how’ve you been? Haven’t seen you since the arena.” Draco said, short and rather snarky, crossing his arms.
“I’ve been good. You know, asleep for most of it. Coping too, lost a lot that night.” Y/N responded, gazing at the ruffling leaves of the large oak tree Draco was leaning on.
He quietly followed her gaze, looking right above him to see what was so entrancing about the newly grown leaves.
“I just want to know what happened and why you reacted the way you did. So much had happened, I thought I had lost you. Then you suddenly appeared and were bleeding out so I tried to help you, and you just screamed and screamed.” His voice cut through the thick silence, and Y/N jumped at how it echoed throughout the yard.
“I saw your dad.” She said quietly, finally meeting his gaze. Oh, how she longed for those cloudy eyes of his.
“What?” He hissed, simply at the mention of his father.
“In the graveyard. He was there. He who- Voldemort, is back. And your father was there.” Y/N shivered just slightly.
“I know Lord Voldemort is back. And I knew my dad would be there when he made his grand appearance.” Draco said after a few moments of collecting his thoughts.
“You knew?” Y/N questioned, though she wasn’t scared at all.
“Yes. I knew he was coming back and I should’ve told you sooner about who I am and who my family is in relation to him-“
“It’s okay, Draco. Just please stop talking.” Y/N stood, using her hand to cup his face. She almost felt him lean into it, but decided it was just her mind playing tricks on her.
“I don’t want you to hate me. I have to do this for my family. My mother- they’ll kill her. I have to support him.” Draco’s eyes glossed over, and Y/N’s throat began to close just at the sight of him about to cry.
She immediately pulled him into a hug. A warm, familiar, long-awaited hug that she had missed so dearly in the time they had been apart. He shook, silent sobs from what she could tell. And he cried, right into the shoulder of the person he had betrayed the most.
“I don’t want to lose you.” He said quietly, his voice watery and muffled from the tears.
“I just need time. And I know you don’t want to hear that. But I don’t hate you and I never will.” Y/N pulled back from his tight embrace, suddenly realizing his iron grip on her waist.
“Ilove you, Y/N.” Draco spoke the three words Y/N yearned to hear since they first began to date.
“I love you, too, Draco.” She said, giving him a small kiss on the cheek and walking out of the courtyard. From behind her, she heard him snuffle and grunt as he sat down on the bench where she was sitting, picking up and pulling his cloak over his body.
Y/N’s eyes began to water. She didn’t want to lose him just as much as he didn’t want to lose her.
~•.*✰
“Hey, I brought you some food. I saw you leave with Malfoy so I just kept it up here for you.” Jamie didn’t look up from her book as she pointed to the plate of food on Y/N’s nightstand next to her bed.
“Thank you.” Y/N said, her voice quivering from the events of before. It was then when Jamie looked up.
“What happened? Did he say something to hurt you? Oh, I’ll hex him all the way to Pluto!-“
“No, nothing happened.” Y/N cut her off before you could ramble on any further. “He told me he loved me.”
“What?” Jamie gasped. “Well, what did you say? I’m hooked now, you better keep talking.” She shifted herself, putting her book down and laying on her stomach facing the end of the bed.
Y/N plopped down on her bed, feeling the relief of a soft mattress and her silk sheets.
“I told him I loved him. But I also said I needed time.”
“That’s understandable. Was he okay?” Jamie’s eyes were fixated on Y/N.
“Yeah, I think so. He cried. I haven’t seen him like that ever, really.”
“Huh. He doesn’t really seem like much of a crier to me. I think Malfoy really does love you, Y/N/N. I think he might need some time too, I don’t want you to feel like you are burdening him with needing to heal.”
Y/N nodded, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them. She tried to nod, but ended up rolling backwards onto her pillows.
Jamie laughed, glad to see her best friend gaining back her usual happiness.
“I’m sorry for being rude earlier. I can explain more about what happened in the graveyard, maybe it’ll help to talk about it.” Y/N turned her head to look at her friend.
“Only if your comfortable.” Jamie told her, though Y/N could tell she was eager to hear about the gruesome details.
“I think it’ll help. I miss him. Cedric, I mean. Not talking about what happened will only make the explosion of emotions worse.” Y/N said, looking up at the tapestry hung on her bed frame. “I really do miss him. I hope the memorial is worth it, he deserved everything and more.”
“I know he did, and I think he knows that he did the right thing. He protected you and Harry, right?” Jamie said, standing up to lay on Y/N’s bed with her.
“Yeah. He’s a good protector. Was, a good protector. It’ll be weird without him.”
“Tell me about the graveyard? I’m here to protect you just like he did, I promise.” Jamie sat up, offering her a sympathetic smile. Y/N nodded, sitting up and sighing quietly.
And she told Jamie about everything that happened that night.
~•.*✰
The Great Hall was eerily quiet. Y/N had never heard such a quiet sound, her ears were practically ringing.
She sat on the left side by the Gryffindors. She wanted to stay close by Harry. Jamie was sat at her side.
She turned around in her seat to look at the entire Hogwarts student body and every Beauxbatons and Durmstrang student sitting within the crowd. Y/N noticed a few eyes on her, so she quietly turned back around and shrunk into her seat.
Dumbledore sat for a moment at the head of the hall, looking distressed. He spoke after a few more moments of the deafening silence.
“Today, we acknowledge… a really terrible loss.” He stood.
“Cedric Diggory was, as you all know… exceptionally hard-working, infinitely fair-minded, and most importantly… a fierce, fierce friend.”
The emotion in Dumbledore’s voice sparked up sniffles within the crowd. Next to Y/N, Harry grabbed her free hand and squeezed it without looking away from Dumbledore. She could tell he was crying, and she could feel the hot tears running down her own face.
Draco was choked up from across the isle. He scowled at Harry grabbing Y/N’s hand, but soon realized she was crying and he wasn’t there to comfort her.
“Now, I think, therefore, you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see… Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort!”
There it is, Y/N inhaled sharply.
Gasps filled the halls, murmurs echoing off the four walls.
“The Ministry of Magic does not wish for me to tell you this. But not to do so, I think, would be an insult to his memory. Now, the pain… we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me- reminds us.
-while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events, the bonds of friendship we’ve made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that, and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain. You remember that. And we’ll celebrate a boy who was… kind and honest and… brave and true, right to the very end.”
~•.*✰
Students huddled together on the Black Lake that same night. Many were sending lit candles on small paper boats from the shore.
Y/N teared up at the sight of so many different students coming together to honor just one, especially right before summer where everyone would go their respective ways.
Many professors had checked up on the four remaining champions, especially Y/N and Harry.
They split their winnings, Harry receiving the most. He gave his earnings to the Weasley twins so they could start the fund for their promising joke shop.
Y/N gave her earnings to Amos to help bury Cedric just the way he wanted. The Diggory’s were so kind to her, even though they were suffering just as much as her.
It hurt, losing him. Y/N often found herself turning to him in the common room just before she would leave, but only found a portrait of him.
“I miss you.” She would say to the portrait.
“I know you do. But you need to move on for me, okay?” Portrait Cedric said back.
She cried every time she heard his voice. The most she would get from him was the painting, but it was more than anything she could’ve asked for.
Draco kept tabs on Y/N throughout the summer. He continued to give her time, wishing and praying that one day she would come back to him.
The beginning of fifth year rapidly approached. Y/N’s summer was a blur, she couldn’t remember what had happened. She healed mentally and physically, and was prepared for the upcoming year.
Within the first week, Draco and Y/N decided to go their separate ways but stay close to each other. Maybe one day they’d find their ways back to one another. Right person, wrong time.
Y/N would always walk into the common room to see a newly sorted first year speaking to the portrait. Cedric was always good at giving advice, and continues to be even in the afterlife.
She had finally grieved. Yes, she missed him dearly. But she knew he would hate for her to mull herself around feeling sorry for herself.
Cedric protected Y/N and Harry, and that was enough sacrifice for everyone to understand.
Although Y/N didn’t get the perfect love story or the perfect ending to her fourth year at Hogwarts, she was glad to have been able to call Cedric her friend.
And that was enough for her.
~•.*✰
final a/n: okay ouch LMAOOO so the ending kind of was a bit confusing so I’ll explain it. during some movies based off of real stories it’ll show what the people are up to nowadays during the credits, so that’s what I was going for! I took the hc about the portrait of Ced in the Hufflepuff common room and put it into this part, I cannot for the life of me remember who made the hc but it was absolutely adorable and I needed to put it in.
if anyone wants blurbs, please request them! I’d be more than happy to show what happened to Y/N and Draco because of the right person wrong time, or what the rest of her Hogwarts years looked like! I’m so so so overwhelmed with the support from this silly story idea I had a year ago. I’m glad you guys enjoyed it just as much as I did, and I’m glad you were able to see things from my perspective. wow. I just cannot believe it’s really over! it’s so crazy. but thank you so much. I don’t think I could’ve asked for better followers + supporters in my life. you all mean the and more. I love you I love you I love you
