Half-Blood Princess Book Four

Chapter 18 - He's Back

Third-Person

Harry slams into the ground with a pale Cedrick and a passed-out Tilly. Harry starts to cry over their bodies, believing them to be dead. The crowd cheers, not realising the seriousness of the issue. Slowly a few realise what has happened and try to pry the boy off.

"No, no! Lily!" Snape hears that name, and it reminds him of himself. Draco pushes everyone out of her way, as does Snape and the two stop and drop to the ground over Tilly's body, as Amos does to Cedrick. Harry hold on for dear life to the last real family he had, hoping for her to come back.

"Till?" Draco sobs as he buries his face in her neck.

"Pumpkin," Snape cries out, shocking everyone. No one has any words, only tears a sorrow.

Tilly knows she'll alive and can feel Cedrick is to.

'Cedrick, you have to listen to me. I have made it so you cannot move at all. You're alive, but you can't move for now.' Tilly explains in Cedrick's mind.

'Why? I have to tell my Father; I'm alright.'

'He will know shortly. But when I bring you back, there will be rules. I have to go now, stay alive.' Tilly opens her eyes and takes in a deep breath, sitting up slightly. Harry is the first to grab her, then Snape and Draco. The three men hold Tilly together, forgetting their differences, only wanting to have Tilly near.

"Till, we thought you'd died." Draco cries. Tilly shakes her head, telling Snape and Draco to give them some room. Harry and Tilly hover over Cedrick's body as Harry cries out.

"He's back. He's back."

"Voldemort's back." Tilly clarifies.

"We couldn't leave him, not there." Harry sobs, like Dumbledore, tries to calm the boy. Fudge scurries around, trying to stop making a scene, but Tilly puts an end to that.

"Amos Diggory! Let the man through!" Tilly yells, and everyone lets the man run down. Tilly knows Cedrick is fine but has to play the part, so cries with Harry as the two fight to get out of the grip Moody has on them.

Tilly started to pant slightly and grow weaker as the hold on Cedrick's life is draining her. Harry scoops her up, holding his little sister in his arms, as his tears drop to her face. The cries of agony from Amos are heard for miles. Harry lies Tilly down on a bench in Moody's office, and he sits on a chair next to her. "James, I have to get back to Cedrick. And my Dad, and Draco."

"You will, but for now, you need to get your strength back. I'm just as surprised as him that you survived that." Harry reasons with Tilly as she slowly sits up. Moody looks at the two and asks.

"What did he do?" Harry sighs, thinking back to only minutes ago when Tilly floated in the air as the curse ran through her body.

"Voldemort used the Cruciatus Curse on her for 30 minutes." Tilly sighs as her body aches from the pain. Moody pulls back each of their sleeves to show the slices in their arms.

"What was it like?" Moody asks, a little too intrigued for Tilly's liking. Harry stuttered for a second, but Tilly tries to cut him off only to have Moody plunge his finger into the cut on her arm.

"It was like we'd fallen into one of our dreams." Harry pauses. "One of our nightmares." Harry's shudders at the memory.

Mood races around, trying to find something as he panicked.

"Were there others? In the graveyard, were there others?" Harry stammers, but Tilly shakes her head, nudging the boy while shaking her head.

"We didn't say anything about a graveyard, Professor," Tilly answers as Moody hobbles closer. Moody yells about how he was the one helping Harry and Tilly as he leans down to be eye level. Tilly watches as the licks his lips once more, but this time she knows exactly who it is.