Diggory Is A Loser

14- Embarrassment

Madam Pomfrey was able to patch Celia up in a thrice, leaving her with no damage from her midnight excursion.
But this did not mean that Celia was feeling any better, emotionally.
Several hours alone in the Forbidden Forest were enough to rattle anyone.
She knew that she needed to sleep, but thoughts of the woods kept drifting into her mind every time she closed her eyes. And she also kept hearing Cedric's angry voice in her head.
In the end, the matron had to drug her with a sleeping potion to get her to fall asleep.

When Celia woke up she saw several figures standing at the end of her bed.
Although she wanted to feign sleep, to avoid facing up to her actions, Celia knew that she wouldn't be able to do that forever.
She yawned loudly and pushed herself up on her bed, letting everyone know that she was now awake.
Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick all turned their heads in unison to look at Celia, making her feel like a goldfish in a bowl.

"How are you feeling Miss Diggory?" Asked Dumbledore, who had a concerned look on his face.
"I'm fine" insisted Celia.
"That is good to hear" replied Dumbledore.
"What time is it?" Questioned Celia, who wanted to know how much of the day she had lost.
"It's just gone 12" answered Professor Flitwick.
Celia's face fell when she realised that she had lost half of the day.

"We wanted you to have a good nights sleep, to rest your body after such a traumatic experience. We were all very worried about you last night" explained Dumbledore.
"But surely I can't be the only person who's gone into the Forbidden Forest, even though it's against the rules" admitted Celia, as her thoughts turned to Harry and the Weasley twins, who were always getting in trouble.
"While it's true that many students do sneak into the forest, seldom enter alone at night and without their wands. You are also not a rule breaker or someone who thrives on the adrenaline that dangerous situations provide. Which is why we were so concerned for your wellbeing" informed Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry I made you all worry, and come into the forest after me" apologised Celia, as she lowered her eyes awkwardly in embarrassment.
"You did not ask us to do so, which is why you must not feel guilty. I do not wish harm to come to any of my students, which is why I sent out search parties after you... Now, despite the forest being out of bounds, I do not intend on punishing you for entering there last night" informed Dumbledore.
"Thank you Professor" mumbled Celia.
"However, I do want to know what drove you to run into the Forbidden Forest. As entering there isn't something anyone takes lightly"
"To be honest I didn't mean to go in there at all".

"But you did mean to flee the castle. So, what prompted you to run away? What made you so unhappy that you wanted to run?" Asked McGonagall.
"What exactly did Cedric tell you when he told you I'd run away?" Questioned Celia.
"Mr Diggory told us that the two of you had gotten into an argument, which ended with you running off into the forest" answered McGonagall.
"He wanted to help with the search, which I of course had to forbid. Since I didn't want to put another student at risk" admitted Dumbledore.

"The poor boy has been up all night worrying about you. He even sat outside the door, so that he could be close to you. He's there now, waiting for you to wake up, so that he can talk to you, and make sure that you really are O.K, even though we assured him that you were" revealed Professor Sprout; Cedric's head of house.
"I don't care. I don't want to talk to him" Celia said firmly.
"There must be a reason for such resentment. What exactly did the two of you argue about last night?" Questioned Dumbledore.
Celia sighed as she realised that there was no way she could put it off any longer.

"Cedric saw me kissing Benjamin Taylor, one of the Beauxbatons boys. He got all possessive and pushed Benjamin off of me, saying that he didn't want anyone touching his sister. Me and Cedric argued and when Benjamin tried to stick up for me, Cedric punched him in the face. I obviously yelled at Cedric, and in return he said that Benjamin was only with me because I was the sister of one of the champions. He said that Benjamin was only looking for information on Cedric that he could pass on to Fleur, to ensure that Beauxbatons win the tournament. My own brother said to me that he didn't think someone could ever like me, and that the only reason Benjamin went to the Yule Ball with me, was to gain information on him. Cedric's obsessed with this whole Triwizard Tournament thing, that's he's forgotten about me and my feelings. Merlin knows what he'd say if he found out that I was friends with Fleur, who actually is the Beauxbatons champion" admitted Celia.

The teachers all stared at Celia for several moments, processing what she had told them.
"Who else knows that I ran into the forest apart from Cedric, and I'm assuming Benjamin?" Continued Celia.
"As far as we are aware, no one else knows, as we don't want the whole school to discover what happened" answered McGonagall.
"However, it is entirely possible that your brother may have told someone else" added Dumbledore.
"I expect that he hasn't told anyone, as he'd hate for me to bring shame upon the family name. Although Cho probably knows, since she was there with us, watching from the sides" admitted Celia.

"Your other roommates may have also noted your absence and discovered that you ran away" informed Flitwick.
"I doubt that they would even notice if I went missing for a whole week" sighed Celia.
"I'm sure that's not true" replied Dumbledore.
"It is. I don't exactly have many friends. I'm normally very good at being unnoticed... Have you told my parents what happened?" Asked Celia.
"Yes. We didn't think they would have been awake last night when these events took place, so we waited until this morning to send them an owl" answered Dumbledore.

Celia groaned and placed her head into her hands.
"Great, so now I have to get yelled at by my father as well" moaned Celia.
"I'm sure Amos is very concerned about you, and will want to make sure that you don't risk your life like that again" admitted McGonagall.
"Oh, he doesn't care if I risk my life. He will be annoyed that I risked sullying our good name and bringing negative attention towards the famous Cedric Diggory- Hogwarts champion, Prefect, Quidditch Captain blah blah blah" replied Celia, as she took her head out of her hands.

"Now you are just being silly. All parents care about their children" insisted McGonagall.
"Most do, but mine does not. I guarantee you that if you asked my father, what his children were up to, he would not mention me once" informed Celia.
"I'm sure that doesn't mean that he does not care for you" Dumbledore said softly.
"Maybe he does love me, but maybe he doesn't. I will never know, because he will never show me any affection or tell me that he's proud of me. That's just what my life is like, growing up with an older and immensely more popular and likable brother. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, being second best. But there are times when everything just gets too much for me... I'm sorry that I ran away last night. Don't worry though, because it won't ever happen again. I've learned my lesson, and I don't ever want to step foot inside that forest, ever again" admitted Celia.