tell me you love me (cedric and draco)

twenty seven

No I don't.

I stare at the ceiling, not able to sleep with Hermione laying next to me. Her soft snores fill the air and I envy her for a moment, wishing that I too could find sleep. But my thoughts rarely allow me to sleep now days, and when they do, my dreams are too vivid for my liking.

I gently slide off the bed, careful not to wake Hermione. She stirs in her sleep and I hold my breath, having no excuse for slipping out at this time of night. As I'm about to lie back down and forget this, she returns to her snoring. I slip on a shirt over my bra, goosebumps dancing along my skin. I open the door, thankful that it wasn't one the creaked, and step into the hallway. I close the door behind me and lean my forehead against it, the coolness contrasting with the warmth of my skin.

I decide to wander a bit, and draw my wand, murmuring "lumos" under my breath. The light ignites at the tip of my wand and I start, going down the staircase from the room I'm staying in. I open a door to a room off of the living area and decide to go in, closing it behind me so I don't have to worry about waking anyone else up, especially Mrs. Black. I could never live that down.

Then I see him. Laying in the corner of the room, his eyes wide open, his mouth moving but saying nothing, his eyes wide in shock and pain. I back into the corner of the room farthest from him, china plates shattering as they fall from the cabinet behind me, but I don't care. I fall to the ground with them, the shards sticking painfully into my skin.

Blood falls out of his mouth and I just stare at him, willing myself to say anything, but saying nothing. Dirt is smeared all over him, his yellow and black shirt now brown, his fair skin muddy.

"You see me?" he croaks, moving a hand in my direction. "You did this, Lulu, you killed me. This was all your fault," Cedric chokes, more blood coming from his mouth and spilling onto the floor.

I'm frozen. "No, no, no, you're not real, you're not Cedric," I whisper, a tear slipping from the corner of my eye. In the midst of my fear, I'd let my wand drop across the floor, and I now reach for it again, the spell on the tip of my tongue.

"You wanted me to go into the tournament, you were the one who distracted me that night. This is your fault, Lulu. How can you live with yourself? How can you-"

"Riddikulus!" I sob, finally reaching my wand, my chest heaving, but the spell doesn't work and he laughs, but not like Cedric used to laugh. It sounds maniac and terrible, not like him at all. "You're not real!" I shout, choking on my words. He looks so realistic- his skin pale, his cheeks rosy, and hair fluffy. The door bursts open and Cedric starts to morph into something else, the boggart taking a new form.

"Riddikulus!" I hear, and the boggart is pushed into a cabinet and locked. "Oh fuck, Lauren, it wasn't real, it wasn't him," Fred murmurs, seeing me crying. He gets on his knees to brush the tears off of my cheeks and he leans back to take a look at my face.

"He looked so real, Freddie," I whisper, another tear escaping, looking at him. He embraces me, tucking my face into his neck and holds me, gently rocking back and forth.

"What in the- Lauren? Fred?What's wrong, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asks, coming into the room, followed by Mr. Weasley, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, George, and Sirius, all in their pajamas. Well not Sirius, and I refuse to believe he even owns pajamas.

"Boggart," Fred answers, not taking his eyes off of me. "Pretty bad one, too. It took the form of Cedric, and I'm not sure how long she was in here until I came in here. Damn, I wish Harry were here right now," he curses under his breath, bringing a hand to my face. Thankfully, he blocks my body with his and nobody else can see me. "Okay, everyone out," Fred says, his voice loud in my ear, his arm still around me. I'd started shaking, and he moves his hands in circles on back soothingly, pulling me even closer to him.