Chosen & Hated (HP) {Book 2 of the Wild & Free Series}

34. Barty Crouch Jr.

"Liana!"

"Liana, come back to me, please..."

"No!"

"Liana, I can't lose you... please..."

"Cedric!"

"Just open your eyes... please..."

"He's dead!"

"Please don't be dead..."

"Is Liana dead, too?"

"Please!"

I opened my eyes with a loud gasp.

"She's alive!"

"Liana!"

I looked around. I saw Harry and George kneeling next to me, both crying uncontrollably.

"Where is he?" I asked them. "Where is Voldemort?" I heard people gasp at the sound of that name and I realised we were back in front of the maze and the stands; the Triwizard portkey cup laid useless next to me.

"We're safe, Liana," Harry said, sighing in relief. Tears were still streaming down my face. Why was he crying? I was alive, wasn't I?

Then I heard someone else coming over, screaming in agony. I saw Amos Diggory, Cedric's father and the realisation hit me.

Cedric is dead...

"Cedric..." I whispered and tears began to stream down my face, too. I sat up and saw Cedric's body laying beside me; Amos Diggory and Lucy were bent over him, crying and sobbing.

"I thought you were dead..." George whispered and hugged me tightly to his chest.

"What happened, Liana?" Dumbledore asked me. His grey eyes looked saddened.

"Voldemort's back," I told him. "He was torturing me and... something happened..." I wasn't quite sure what had happened. I know I had seen my parents... but how?

"You saw them, didn't you?" Dumbledore asked, seeing right through me. I nodded weakly.

"Long exposure to torture can break a Memory Charm," Dumbledore muttered to himself. "But that can wait. We have to take care of Cedric now..." 

I felt someone grab my hand and looked up: Harry looked at me sadly. I wanted to ask him what had happened after I passed out. How had he escaped?

But I knew this wasn't the time to discuss those things. I let go of George and crawled over to Lucy, pulling her into a hug. She sobbed into my shoulder uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry..." I told her. She didn't answer, but just cried. George threw his arms around us both and we sat there: all three huddled on the ground, next to Cedric's body.

"I love you," George muttered into my ear and kissed me on the head, "I thought I lost you and the first thing that came to my mind was that you didn't know that I love you."

I stared at him, thunderstruck.

"I love you, too," I told him and leaned back against his chest, pulling Lucy even closer.