A Change in Fate || Cedric Diggory [1]

Chapter 30: A Sliver of Hope

A/N: If you saw some of my many panicked posts/comments about losing this acc, I'm so sorry if I've inconvenienced you these past few days by making y'all follow my back-up acc 😅 I really thought I wouldn't be able to access this one anymore since I swear I couldn't remember my recovery details from years ago, but yay I'm back! Thanks for being patient and I hope y'all enjoy this chapter ❤️

Also, the dialogue in italics later in this chapter are French. I don't want to risk mistranslating them to actual French because I'd only be using Google Translate :')

When Harry was finally allowed to have visitors in hospital wing, Analeigh seized the opportunity to see the green-eyed boy right away. She had already been discharged the day before and seen some teachers and friends since she was allowed to return to her dorm. She even told Hermione and Ron everything that she knew from her end after they had made sure that she was fine. But, she was still worried about Harry's well-being.

Analeigh was in the middle of a follow-up check-up with Madam Pomfrey when she was told that Harry could be visited. The matron said that she also informed Dumbledore, so it wouldn't be long before Harry's other friends came to see him. But since Analeigh was already in the hospital wing at that very moment, she was the first to see the boy since the night of the Third Task. She needed to personally see if he was alright after everything she witnessed in that graveyard.

"Harry!" Analeigh exclaimed when she saw him. Madam Pomfrey tutted disapprovingly from her office, muttering about how she was being too loud at a recovering patient. But, Analeigh couldn't care less. She was too focused on the fact that Harry was somehow alive and well after facing Voldemort of all people.

"Leigh —" Harry made a sound of protest when Analeigh pulled him into a hug. It always surprised him whenever she did that because she wasn't exactly physically affectionate.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get to you on time," Analeigh apologized profusely.

"It's —"

"I should've ran to you faster or something. I wasn't thinking clearly enough."

"I —"

"I really wish there was something I could've done. I'm so sorry."

"Leigh!" Harry practically shouted, shocking the girl. She shut her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. "It wasn't your fault. I'm not even mad at you."

Analeigh sighed and shifted in the seat beside his bed. Even after Dumbledore and Cedric tried to reassure her that she did all that she could, she still couldn't help but feel awful that she had left Harry in the graveyard, even if it was unintentional. While she still felt bad about it, hearing Harry himself tell her that it wasn't her fault soothed her anxiety.

"Wormtail was trying to kill you and Cedric, Leigh," Harry reminded her. "If you didn't leave right when you did, you could've died."

Analeigh bit her lip, feeling guilty all over again but for a different reason — here she was, feeling sorry for herself while Harry had to reassure her that she didn't do anything wrong when she should have been the one comforting him. He had narrowly escaped death yet again and it must have been frightening to see Voldemort in the flesh the way he did.

"How — how did you get out? What happened after we had gone? Did you get hurt?" Analeigh then asked him in a small voice. She still didn't know the details of his encounter with Voldemort aside from what Dumbledore had already told her.

"Wormtail completed whatever dark magic he needed to perform to bring Voldemort back," Harry explained. "It was some kind of potion and spell I couldn't recognize, and then he was... there. It was so strange seeing him as the person he was years ago. Then, he challenged me to a duel."