DUSK; Cedric Diggory

Chapter 38

It got dark quicker than they had expected, but thankfully, Ophelia and Cedric were happily cuddling on the couch listening to a mixtape Cedric had made for her whilst Mr.Diggory was smiling at the couple from the kitchen.

The song they were currently listening to was Fade Into You by Mazzy Star on full blast through their charmed earphones, and the whimsical, airiness of the song set the perfect mood for a chill night in, away from the craziness of the Irish crowd outside. Ophelia had closed her eyes contently, her head rested on Cedric's chest, sighing into the every rise and fall from his chest.

"My dear boy! Ophelia!" as loud as the song was playing, Mazzy Star's voice was definitely softer than whoever was screaming at them. "Get up now! Hurry!"

Ophelia shot up from Cedric's chest, rubbing her eyes groggily to find Amos Diggor's face peering at her. "Uh...Mr. Diggory, what's going on?"

By now, Cedric had sat up too, smoothening his messy hair out. "Dad? Wha—"

"No time for questions!" Amos Diggory panicked, pulling the two teenagers up to their feet. "Stay close to each other, at all times!"

Ophelia and Cedric looked at other in confusion, then quickly slipped on their shoes before following Mr. Diggory out of the tent.

There were groups of people stumbling into each other, and it looked like they were running away into the woods. Ophelia gripped onto Cedric's sleeves tightly at the sight of the burning trees and the sounds of cackling laughter and drunken yells.

"Mr. Diggory, what's happening?" Ophelia asked.

"There's no time to explain!" Amos Diggory repeated, pulling them towards screaming crowds and into the forest.

At that moment, a flash of green light shot up into the sky, and a crowd of wizards wearing hoods and masks marched together tightly across the field with their wands pointing at the sky.

"That's disgusting," Ophelia whispered as she caught sight of the hovering figures high up in the sky, their bodies twisted in all types of different ways. "Oh my," she whispered, covering her hand as the green light lit up the faces in the sky. "Is that..."

"Mr. Payne!" Cedric finished in a whisper. "and his family..."

More masked wizards began to join the marching group, lifting their wands and moving the No- maj's around like they were puppets.

"Look away," Cedric said softly, covering her eyes with his hands. "I don't want you to see this."

"I'm going to go help the Ministry!" Mr. Diggory shouted, taking his wand out of his pocket. "You two, get in the woods and stick together! I'm sure the Weasley's will be there too, so try and find them!"

"C'mon," Cedric said, taking her hand in hers to join the scrambling crowd in the woods. Where the colored lanterns were before were gone, instead replaced by people pushing them back and forth. "Stick with me!" Cedric yelled, gripping her hand even tighter.

A stream of people bursted next to them, and as tight as Ophelia was holding Cedric's hands, the people were pushing them too hard—she stumbled and tripped over a branch, falling straight down to the dirt ground.

"Ophelia!" Cedric yelled, trying to push through the panicking crowd to get back to her.

"Get out of the way, boy!" someone yelled from the crowd. "We're trying to get through!"

Ophelia had stood up by now, and shuffled through the crowd to get back to Cedric. "There's too many people!" she yelled over the noise. "Find the Weasley's!"