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News of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries had already spread to the entire student body by the time they got back. Sirius had been posthumously pardoned of all his crimes, an obituary written by Lupin running in the Daily Prophet.
Students clamoured all eight of them, dying for answers as to what that night was like, all of them finding solace in each other's presence on a large table in the Library.
With the sacking of Umbridge and the reinstatement of Dumbledore, Harry was allowed back on the team, though he didn't come back that year. The sadness of both Sirius dying and his last few days at school before going back to the Dursleys filling him like an unending abyss, a void that could never quite be filled, no matter how hard he tried.
The last match of the season, between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, was extremely close, Cedric's team winning 240-230, despite his girlfriend catching the Snitch right under his nose.
Had it been any other year, Lori would have been honoured to lift the Cup, but with the recent death of Sirius Black, and the return of Voldemort that no one, not even Seamus, could deny, she never wanted to see the damned thing again.
Angelina and Alicia would both be gone the next year, the twins already having left in their brilliant broom display, so the Gryffindor Quidditch team was rather empty.
Their dormitory felt suffocating, Lori and Katie joining Leanne, Ellie and Cedric on the sofas of their yellow Common Room, often staying the night. The rest of Hufflepuff house had absolutely no intention of reporting them, instead welcoming the other six from the Battle of the Department of Mysteries to their comfy armchairs at night.
The end of term feast, that was usually met with such enthusiasm from everyone, was a rather sordid affair. Most people didn't eat or talk, just thinking about the rise of the Dark Lord.
Clad in their uniforms as students climbed off the carriages (which they could now see were pulled by Thestrals), Cedric, Lori, Hermione and Ron walked down to the train with Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna.
"I've been thinking about something Dumbledore said to me." Harry began.
"What's that?" Hermione asked with a smile.
"That even though we've got a fight ahead of us, we've got one thing that Voldemort doesn't have."
"Yeah?"
"Something worth fighting for."
The prefects helped chivvy the students onto the train, shoving luggage into compartments and reuniting lost trunks with their owners.
"I never thought I'd actually say goodbye to this place." Cedric mused, wrapping an arm around Lori as they boarded the Hogwarts Express for the last time together.
Lori ruffled his hair, pressing a kiss to his cheek as they found the compartment where Cho, Leanne, Katie and Ellie were, sliding into two seats next to each other as the train hooted and pulled away from the station.
Tears slid down Ellie's and Cedric's cheeks as Hogwarts disappeared from view, the towers of their old Scottish home folding beneath the rolling, green hills.
*
It felt like they were walking on a tomb as they arrived back at Grimmauld Place, the family tree of Black almost harrowing as they went upstairs to their rooms, lugging their trunks behind them.
Not a word passed between Cedric and Lori as they both unpacked into his room, folded clothes making their way into drawers.
"It's going to be so weird not seeing you every day in your little yellow tie." Lori smiled.
"And it's going to be so weird not seeing you every day in your little red tie." he chuckled lightly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling him into his chest, "I'm gonna miss you."
She looked up at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "I'm gonna miss you too."
