Misfire » Cedric Diggory | Draco Malfoy

30 - Candle in the Wind

Chantal couldn't fish through her thoughts when the massive stands erupted with cheers. Her eyes shot to the middle of the field. Everything that followed felt like took hours, however, it took only minutes.

Harry had slammed into the ground with Cedric, the Triwizard Cup in Harry's hands. Chantal didn't waste any seconds looking left or right. She stared at Cedric.

The eruption of the stands felt defeating to Chantal as she could feel her heart drop. A gut-wrenching pain flared through her body as she looked at Cedric. However, the cheers did not stop.

She watched as Professor Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge rushed to Harry. The boy bellowed something to Dumbledore and the crowd suddenly died down. Chantal stood, in silence, as people began shouting and crying the words she had been most afraid to hear.

She could have broken an ankle by the speed she ran down the stairs. She didn't look at Cedric before throwing herself on the ground beside him.

Chantal's face shriveled, seeing Cedric's still look. She placed her hand on his face, keeping her calm.

"Harry, let go of him," Cornelius Fudge said while Harry tried to get a hold of Cedric.

That only broke Chantal, as the reality began to fix in.

"Harry, you can't help him now. It's over. Let go,'' Dumbledore kept trying to say.

"He wanted me to bring him back," Harry cried out. "he wanted me to bring him back to his parents... and you..."

Harry looked at Chantal. That only broke her, as reality sank in.

She cried out the pain inside her which echoed in the field. She was now clutched onto Cedric, as Harry had been pulled away after resisting for a while.

"That's right. Harry,'' Dumbledore tried to calm Harry down. ''just let go now...''

Chantal, at that moment, felt like no force could make her let go of Cedric. She held onto him, her face pressed into his chest.

''Please, don't do this to me, Ced... please,'' she whispered.

Professor Dumbledore bent down next to her, looking at Cedric.

''No! YOU CAN'T TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!'' Chantal cried in a harsh voice. ''you can't...''

Her cries were staggering, her lips were soaked in her tears. Her head was pounding as the voices above her kept screaming and saying the same words over again.

"He'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Cornelius Fudge said. "he's ill, he's injured - Dumbledore, Diggory's parents, they're here, they're in the stands...''

Chantal didn't want to look at them, in fact, at that moment, she couldn't understand half of what people were saying.

"I'll take Harry, Dumbledore, I'll take him-'' someone was saying.

"No, I would prefer-"

"Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running... he's coming over... Don't you think you should tell him - before he sees-'' another voice asked.

"Harry, stay here- Chantal-''

People around were still yelling, but Chantal didn't want to look up. Cedric's shirt was soaked in her tears as she held onto him.

''I'm not going to leave you, Cedric, I'm not... I'm here,'' she quietly whispered, crying even more from her own words.

"It's all right, son, I've got you... come on... hospital wing... " someone said to Harry.