enchanted • draco malfoy

Year 4: Goodbyes

Felicity's POV

All I could hear was someone sobbing as strong hands grabbed my arms and pulled me away, further and further from Cedric's body. His dead body. Someone was whispering, talking soothingly into my ear, but their words were meaningless and jumbled. I just shook my head, over and over. No. No. He promised he would come back, he promised he would be okay. My body shook as I realized that I was the one crying.

Dalton steadily led me into the castle, one hand wrapped around my waist and the other holding my arm around his neck to keep me from stumbling. I fought to go back, to see if there was some way Cedric was alive, but I knew there wasn't. "Shhh, it's okay, Felicity," Dalton murmured. His voice was shocked but steady, as steady as his hands holding me up. "You can't say that," I suddenly snapped, though it was more of a whimper, "You don't even know him." I felt bad, taking my anger and grief out on him when he was only trying to help, but he wasn't fazed. "I know that he is... was a good person," he replied evenly.

He took me into the Great Hall, which was empty, and, I realized, one of the only places he knew in the castle. He sat down with me on one of the benches and pulled me into his arms, allowing me to sob into his shoulder. "I-I don't-" I tried to say.

He cut me off smoothly. "It's okay, don't talk," he said quietly, "You'll be fine, I promise." I could only whisper, "You said he'd be fine, too." His grip around my shoulders tightened, but he didn't reply. He rocked me back and forth soothingly.

There was so much I still needed to tell him, needed to talk about. I still had jokes that needed telling, advice to be asked for, and now... now there's nothing. Nothing else I can do, nothing else he can do. I gripped Dalton's arm tightly as thoughts rushed in and out of my mind.

Finally, my breathing slowed and my tears subsided. I slowly pulled myself away from Dalton's embrace. He brushed a strand of hair from my cheek before cupping my face in his hands. His thumbs traced under my eyes, wiping away any tears. "You are strong, Felicity Longbottom. If there's one thing I've learned this year, it's that. Now, let's get back to your friends."

Dalton dropped me off in front of Gryffindor Tower after I showed him the way. He bid me farewell with a kiss on the cheek, but there were no butterflies in my stomach this time. I trudged through the Common Room, unaware of how late it was until I noticed the clock on the wall that read 2 hours past midnight. Was I really in the Hall with Dalton for 2 hours? I continued up the stairs and opened the door to my dorm quietly.

Hermione's head snapped up and the froze from her pacing, before launching herself at me. "Felicity Longbottom, where have you been?!" she demanded. I blinked slowly before answering. "In the Great Hall, with Dalton," I croaked, my voice hoarse. Mione pulled back, looking me up and down as if to check whether or not I was injured. "When I turned back to look at you, neither of you guys were there, and then we couldn't find you, and I was afraid that maybe Dalton was a Death Eater too, and-"

"Hold on, hold on," I interrupted, "What do you mean, 'too'?" Hermione pulled me to my bad and we sat down, facing each other. She put a silencing spell around it so as not to wake the other girls and told me everything Harry had told her. About the Cup being a Portkey, Wormtail bringing Voldemort back from the dead, Voldemort being able to touch Harry, Harry fighting with him before returning back with Cedric's body, Professor Moody pulling Harry aside, only for Harry to realize that Professor Moody wasn't actually Professor Moody and was really Barty Crouch Jr., one of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. She finished her story by adding that Harry was now resting and Barty Crouch Jr. had been taken into custody.

I stared at her in shock. "Huh," I finally said. "'Huh'?" Hermione replied, "That's all you can say?" I turned my gaze to her sharply. "Look, Mione, I'm really tired and would appreciate some shut-eye, okay?" I snapped. Her gaze softened as she pulled me into a hug. "I'm so sorry about Cedric," she whispered, "I know how close you two were." No tears pricked my eyes like I expected them too, as if I had run out. I only nodded as she pulled away and retreated to her own bed.