LIKE LIGHTNING | Harry Potter x Reader Fanfiction

⁕ the end ⁕

OMNISCIENT POV

When he looked back, even a month later, Harry found he had only scattered memories of the next few days that occurred after the Triwizard Tournament. It was as though he had been through too much to take in any more. The memories he have were very painful, and the worst was perhaps the meeting with the Diggorys that took place the following morning. 

They did not blame Harry for what had happened; They both thanked Harry for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview and Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be so beyond tears that she seemed numb. 

"He suffered very little then," she asked, when harry had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos... he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy." 

When they got to their feet, Mrs. Diggory looked down at Harry and said, "You look after yourself, now." 

Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table that he had won. 

"You take this." He muttered to her, "It should've been Cedric's. He got there first, you take it-" 

But she had backed away from  harry and said, "Oh no dear, it's yours, I couldn't. You keep it." 

Then Harry had returned to Gryffindor Tower the following evening. From what Hermione, Y/N, and Ron had told Harry, Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Harry alone, and that nobody was to ask Harry questions or badger Harry to tell the story of what happened in the maze. Most people, Harry noticed, were skirting Harry in the corridors, avoiding his eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as he passed by them and he guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article. It was about how disturbed and posisbly dangerous he was, insinuating that he had killed Cedric. It was a morbid theory and Harry decided that he didn't care so much about what everyone had to say. 

He liked it best when he was with Y/N, Ron, and Hermione and they were talking about other things that could take their minds off of the elephant in the room. It had taken most of Harry's energy not to run off and find Y/N when he had found out she was safe. And now Harry felt as if he could not bear to be without her. She was a safeline, and her presence alone made a blanket of calm over him. They did not need to speak words, simply actions like holding hands or a short hug would make things feel like they were still real. 

He felt as though the four of them had reached an understandng that they didn't need to put into words. Each of them was wating for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside of Hogwarts. It felt as if they had been holding their breaths. The only time they touched upon the subject was when Ron told Harry abou ta meeting Mrs. Weasley had had with Dumbledore before going home. 

Harry's POV:

"She went to ask him if you could come straight to us this summer. But he wants you to go back to the Dursleys, at least at first." said Ron. 

"Why?" I asked. 

"She said Dumbledores's got his reasons. I suppose we  have to trust him, don't we?"

They only person apart from Ron and Hermione that I felt able to talk to was Y/N. As we had no more Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, they had those lessons free. They used the one on Thursday afternoon to go down and talk at the lake. 

"I knew he was going to come back." Y/N said to him, "I just wish- I wish I could have seen the signs. If there were any." 

"Yeah, me too." I agreed with her. Threading my fingers in between hers. The crystal bright lake water rippled at the edge of the shoreline and a slight breeze blew through the grounds, lifting up her hair. It was almost the end of the school year, and Cedric's memorial was coming soon. But first they had to pack up their trunks and prepare to get on the train. 

It was a heavy heart that I packed up my trunk in the dormitory on the night before my return to Privet Drive. I was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration, but was now a memorial. I  had avoided eating in the Great Hall when it was full ever since I had left the hospital wing. Preferring to eat when it was nearly empty was better, so I could avoid the stares of my fellow students. 

When the four of us entered the Hall, we saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. Normally decorated with the winning House's colors for the feast, tonight there were black drapes on the wall behind the teacher's tables. I knew instantly that they were for a mark of respect to Cedric. The staff table now lacked the fake Mad Eye and now the real was sat in his place. His wooden leg and magical eye back in place. He was twitchy and jumping every time somebody spoke to hum. Harry couldn't blame him. His fear of attack was bound to be increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. Madame Maxime was still there and she was sitting net to Hagrid. 

Further along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, was Snape. Why was Dumbledore so convinced that Snape was truly on their side? 

My musings were ended by Professor Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was, became very quiet. 

"The end." said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year." 

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Word Count: 990

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