Aria Ashborn and the Goblet of Fire (A Harry Potter fanfiction)

Chapter 12: The Beginning

The castle was silent. The Leaving Feast had been turned into a Memorial Feast for Cedric. Every student sat in front of empty plates. The Beauxbatons were present with their headmistress and Durmstrang was present despite the absence of Karkaroff. The room, for the first time, felt cold. Dark black drapes were in place of the winning house's banner. There was no magical sky above the student's heads but simply the rafters of the Great Hall. Aria sat next to Harry who hadn't said much since the task. Ron and Hermione sat across from them. Dumbledore sat in his chair behind the podium and all looked to him.

"Today, we acknowledge a really terrible loss." Dumbledore said, standing up from his chair and making his way towards the podium,"Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard-working, infinitely fair-minded and, most importantly a fierce, fierce friend. Now, I think, therefore, you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort!"

Aria felt herself fighting back tears. She would not cry. She would not cry. Every word said by Dumbledore weighed more and more on her heart.

"The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this." Dumbledore continued, "But not to do so, I think, would be an insult to his memory."

Harry nodded in agreement to this and Hermione had her head bowed, thinking on Dumbledore's words. "Now, the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me and reminds us that while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. ln light of recent events the bonds of friendship we've made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that, and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain."

Aria looked over to see Harry's jaw flexing, as he fought back tears as well. He looked over at her right as she looked away. She looked back to Dumbledore as her vision became blurry with tears. Suddenly, she felt a warmth on her hand. She looked down to see that Harry had grabbed her hand, though he did not look at her. It was a simple gesture, but Aria was thankful for it and she held Harry's hand back and a single tear slipped down her face.

"You remember that," Dumbledore continued, "and we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true, right to the very end."

No one ate much at that feast but merely nursed their water or wine. No one really spoke either. They sat there, silent in remembrance. Afterward, all the attendees raised their wands. The tip of Aria's 10 ¾ in Hawthorne wand shone a small light for her deceased love.

Later, everyone went back to pack their things and say goodbye to Hogwarts for the summer. Aria had everything packed already, yet she couldn't bring herself to leave. Not after everything that just happened. She couldn't go back to the world and just pretend like nothing ever happened. And so, after everyone had left, she lingered in the common room, deep in thought. The only one still around, to her knowledge, was Harry who was having a conversation with Dumbledore in his dormitory.

The clock in the corner ticked ever so quietly. The curtains of the window were drawn just a bit to let the evening sunlight in. The portraits in the common room, were silent, for they knew of the events that had taken place. Aria sat, in her robes, in front of the unlit fireplace and just stared. Her mind, on Cedric.

Albus Dumbledore made his way down the stone stairs of the boys' dormitory and walked towards the exit of the common room. He stopped when he saw Aria. She didn't turn to face him. He sighed. He knew exactly what to say but he knew it wasn't meant to come from him. He heard Harry's footsteps coming down the stairs and he smiled sadly.

"Good day, Aria." said Dumbledore before leaving the common room. Again, Aria did not turn around. She couldn't let Dumbledore see her like this. Harry entered the common room and when he saw Aria, silently took a seat next to her. He didn't say anything for quite a bit as he wasn't really sure what to say. If she looked at him, she would cry.

"I'm sorry about Cedric." Harry said after a while. Aria could feel a few tears running down her face and her nose began to run.

"Me too. Me too." she laughed at herself embarrassingly and wiped her eyes, "I feel guilty for crying. What you went through.. I can't even imagine."

"You don't need to put on a brave face." Harry said and Aria met his eyes. Harry knew he was somewhat of a hypocrite because that's exactly how he been for the past few days. "It's okay to cry."

Aria nodded and let more tears stream down her face. Slowly, she put her head on Harry's shoulder and held his arm. He loved the feeling of her warmth and put his head on hers and they just sat there, comforting each other for a while. It was a bittersweet feeling for Harry. He liked that Aria was there for him and vise versa but he knew the circumstances were terrible and would haunt the both of them the following summer.

"Everything's going to change now, isn't it?" Aria asked, softly.
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It was the end of a long year at Hogwarts, and the Beauxbaton girls and the Durmstrang boys had all said their goodbyes to their new Hogwarts friends. The Hogwarts students watched as they loaded into their boat and carriage. Ron and Hermione had just begun wondering where their friends were when Harry and Aria showed up behind them.

"Do you think we'll ever just have a quiet year at Hogwarts?" Ron asked as the four caught up together.

"No." Hermione and Harry both said.

"No, didn't think so." Ron said and the four began to walk across the bridge, "Oh well, what's life without a few dragons?"

Aria smiled. She now appreciated her friendships, even more, wanting them to last forever. "Promise you'll all write this summer?"

"You know I won't." Ron joked.

All the Hogwarts students had gathered on the left side of the bridge where the Durmstrang ship was sinking below the waves and the Beauxbatons carriage was about to take flight. There was no room for Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Aria to see.

"We should stand over here." Aria said, pointing to the right side of the bridge, "We'll have a better view in just a moment."

And so the four of them made their way to the right side of the bridge and leaned over the edge. The black lake was calm and the whole view was beautiful and serene. They could hear the pegasus neigh as they flew over the bridge into view. The carriage then flew into the distance, over the hazy mountains lit by the evening sun. Aria took a deep breath, savoring this moment of peace.