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ღ chapter forty six ( remember cedric )
NUMB. WARM. SLEEPY.
A sudden pain ripped through her body and she awoke with a start to find herself once again secluded in the hospital wing, a white curtain draped around the bed. She clenched her shaking fingers as yet another spasm ripped through her muscles. She carefully sat up and reached over to pour herself a cup of water, yet her hands were shaking so badly that she ended up dropping the cup, the plastic clattering to the floor.
Harry's face peered around the edge of the curtain, bronzed skin pale, sweat beading on his forehead. "Aunt Cordelia!" he called out. "She's awake."
Cordelia and Sirius in the form of the scruffy looking black dog rushed over, Cordelia pulling the curtain away from her and planting a kiss on her forehead. She poured Jules water and handed it to her to sip through a plastic straw. She'd presumably braided Jules' hair back into two neat plaits that rippled past her shoulders in the morning sunshine.
"What happened to Barty Crouch?" Jules asked. "Is he in Azkaban?"
A funny look passed over Harry's face. "It's so stupid. A dementor came in with Fudge and kissed Crouch, so he's useless now. Plus Fudge does not believe Voldemort returned so he thinks we're all liars. And best of all, Mrs. Weasley now knows Sirius is innocent, and Dumbledore made him and Snape shake hands. He mentioned something about the old crowd."
Sirius let out a disgruntled bark at the mention of Snape and Cordelia offered him a warning stare. "We're all on the same side here Padfoot. Even that greasy-haired git."
Jules returned to Ravenclaw Tower the following evening. From what Hermione and Ron told her and Harry, Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Harry alone, that nobody ask him questions or badger him to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people, she noticed, were skirting Harry in the corridors, avoiding his eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as he passed. She guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous he was.
Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died.
They both liked it best when they were with Ron and Hermione and they were talking about other things, or else letting them sit in silence while they played chess. She felt as though all four of them had reached an understanding they didn't need to put into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Hogwarts — and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain. The only time they touched upon the subject was when Ron told Harry and Jules about a meeting Mrs. Weasley and Cordelia had had with Dumbledore before going home.
