Stone [Cedric Diggory]✔

meeting

The moment she had read through the letter her head starts spinning in circles as the realization hits her.
Blaise.. loved her. All this time he had been in love with her. And she didn't even notice.
She felt thrown back and forth between feeling guilty for making him fall for her, her damaged self, and feeling touched by his sincere words.

But answering per another letter felt.. wrong.
She was only a week away now from taking on the NEWT's. Two days later the basic test for the job she wanted to learn. Three days later she'd have her apparation test so she was legally allowed to do it. After that, depending on how good her grades would be, she would leave for her new job. The next day was to be a saturday..
Maybe....

She felt incredibly nervous and had decided to cover her identity for the moment. Her hooded cloak is wrapped around her and the hood pulled into her face as she sits at the window in the 'Three brooms'. She hadn't been in Hogwarts for almost a year by then. It still looked the same. But it felt cold. It didn't feel like home anymore. It probably never would again. Her eyes spot her friends walking as a group. They too looked frozen. As if they too had realized that nothing was ever going to be the same again and that things would only get worse. She drinks down the rest of her excellent coffee and moves outside. Suddenly her tongue feels like its glued to the roof of her mouth. So instead she uses her limbs. Forcing them to move forward. Still unable to say a word she simply throws her arms around Pansy who is walking the closest to her. "Who in the bloody hell..." The girl freezes in the middle of her cursing and begins shaking, before she throws her arms around Chrys's waist, pulling her as close as possible. "What's happening?", Crabbe asks. And for once he and Goyle weren't the only two confused. "Is it really you?", Pansy asks with a shaky voice. Since she doesn't get an answer she brushes back the hood. Bleached blonde hair with ebony roots. Immediately the boys around them realize just who was standing in front of them. The blonde is shaking as she cries softly into her friends neck. "I've missed you.", she finally manages to get out and only slowly steps back. Chrysoprase Lapis had lost weight. A significant amount of weight. The softness of her face had been fed away from the starvation she had put her body through. Her eyes were still dull and had sunken a bit into her sockets. Dark circles framed her eyes, looking almost like a very bad attempt at a smokey eye. All in all she looked terrible, but not as bad as they had feared. She was alive. And not dead. That was quite a good thing. She offers a weak smile. "Surprise." "Come here! What are you doing here?!", Draco laughs, now taking his turn at hugging her. "I thought I'd come see you before I leave. One week and two days. Then I'm gone.", Chrys admits, taking a deep breath of the comforting scent her friend had about him. "So soon?", Goyle asks, giving her a gentle hug, soon followed by Crabbe and then Theo. "Yes. I'll have the NEWT's in six days and three days later I'll have my apparation test, to see if I am capable enough to do it and all that bullshit. You know.. the usual stuff.", she says, then glances at Blaise. Without a moments hesitation she steps into his arms, allowing herself to get wrapped up in his embrace.
"And where will you be going, little badger?" Her heart skips a beat, being reminded of how he feels about her. But right now she felt like being selfish and she felt good in his arms. "I'm going to work in either Greece or Romania.", the girl admits, stepping back only slightly so she can have eye contact. "Romania? Greece? Salazar. What are you doing there?!" "I'm going to be working with magical creatures either way. If I get the  lower qualification, I'll be working in Romania, becoming a dragonologist. And if I get the higher qualifications, which by the way are an average of ninety percent to hundred percent, I'll become another kind of magizoologist, but in a Chimaera sanctuary in Greece, working with, you guessed it, Chimaeras.", Chrys admits. "But don't you need the basic skillset to work there?" "I have that in eight days as well. I've studied hard on both of those. But again: hopefully I'll only need to worry about the Chimearas." "Why dragons? And why in Merlins name Chimaeras?!" "Dragons because I hold both admiration and fascination for those creatures. And Chimaeras because I have a very strong connection to them. My wand core.. is the only one known that has a Chimeara fur core." "Wait.. really?" "It's my spirit animal. My favorite so to speak. It's also.. It's also my Patronus." "You can produce a corporal patronus?!" "I can." "Can you show us?" "I guess... I've been given permission to use magic for studying purposes.. I think this can count." Stepping away from them for a few steps she recalls the time she had spend with Cedric. All the love, the kisses they shared. Moving her hand elegantly while keeping her eyes closed she casts the charm without parting her lips to do so. Silvery whisps leave her wand and she opens her eyes, watching as the Chimaera takes shape, roaring. The magical beast hunts through the air and circles around her as if to physically shield her from all the stares she was now receiving. The lions head of the beast touches hers, their foreheads seemingly resting against one anothers, before it jumps and disappears inside her chest, filling her body with warmth for a moment. "CHRYS!!!!!" Eleanor Free sprints over to the girl and throws her arms around her, breaking out in tears. And so does Chrys. "I missed you so much, baby girl.", the older girl laughs under tears. "I missed you too."

Reuniting with her friends feels good. Even though her heart feels guilty for beating happily and steadily. She felt as if she were forgetting about Cedric. Maybe it was time for another way to keep his memory close to her.

Finally, when they all need to return to the castle she hugs them all goodbye, assuring them that she would tell them where to send her mail as soon as she'd know herself.
The last one for her to say her goodbye to is Blaise. She jumps up and wraps her arms around his neck. "It might take years. It might even never happen. Are you sure you are willing to wait?" "I told you I've got time, didn't I?" She smiles sadly at him, then steps back. "I'll write you soon. Take care." With that she leaved to the Hogs head, when she is stopped by three people. "You are back?" "I came to say goodbye." With that she walks past them into the shop and takes the floo powder, leaving with a flash of green flames.