In the Melancholy Moonlight

Chapter V: I've Got You

CEDRIC:

I felt guilty drinking the dreamless sleep potion Madam Pomfrey had given me, knowing what my sister was going through that night, but I drank it all anyway as soon as I returned from dinner. I knew it was the only way I would get any sleep at all, and I had a Herbology test the next morning. I needed to be awake for that, even if it was one of my best subjects.

I slept clear through the night until the sun was up. I rushed to get ready and practically ran to the Great Hall, anxious to see Lucy. Anxious to see that she had made it through the night too.

She wasn't there yet. Very few people were, really. Fred and George waved at me, so I waved back and made my way to the Hufflepuff table, striking up a conversation with my favorite roommate and the Hufflepuff Keeper, Henry, while constantly looking over my shoulder for any sign of my sister.

"You alright, mate?" he asked at one point. "You look like you're about to bolt."

I nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, sorry."

"Nervous for the Herbology test?"

I nodded emphatically. "Must be."

As I walked from the Great Hall to the greenhouses without seeing Lucy, I tried to offer myself what consolation I could. Maybe she was just tired and resting in her dormitory. Or maybe she was in the Hospital Wing, and she was genuinely sick. The wolfsbane potion had never made her so physically ill before, so maybe she merely had the stomach flu or something along those lines. She was fine, I kept telling myself. She had to be.

I stumbled through the test. Despite my attempts to reassure myself, my hands were shaking so badly my writing was more or less illegible even to myself. When it came to the practical portion of the test, I nearly overwatered my puffapod, saving myself at the last possible second. I was about to begin to trim it when the greenhouse door opened and Professor McGonagall walked in. My heart dropped to my toes. Lucy's Head of House. Something had happened.

"Professor Sprout?" she called, her eyes flicking to me then back to the front of the room where Professor Sprout was helping a student. "Professor Sprout?"

She turned around the second time, beaming. "Why hello, Minerva! What brings you here this beautiful September morning?"

"May I borrow Mr. Diggory, please? It's quite urgent."

"Yes, of course!" Professor Sprout replied. She turned to me, and I could see in her eyes she was thinking the same thing I was. "See me later about finishing your test, will you, please?"

I smiled and nodded before turning to follow Professor McGonagall. My mouth was too dry to speak.

"Your sister has not returned from the forest," she said as soon as the door was safely closed behind us. "I didn't want to have to bring you out of class, but Professor Dumbledore insisted that you should go into the forest with Hagrid to find her. We're quite sure she's fine, perhaps more tired than we expected, but just the same, Professor Dumbledore wanted you to know. Hagrid is already in there searching. Poppy, I mean Madam Pomfrey, will be waiting near Hagrid's hut for you when you return. I must return to my class, though I am sure the headmaster is having a fair bit of fun teaching Transfiguration again."

I nodded. "May I run?"

"Of course, go."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall," I said as I sprinted ahead in the direction of the forest. I burst into the trees and immediately began screaming my sister's name. The forest quickly grew dark and cold. I tried not to run through the list of the dangerous creatures in the forest, but I couldn't help it.

Trolls. Acromantulas. I had even heard whispers of dragons.

I kept shouting for Lucy, but no reply came. I stumbled deeper and deeper into the forest, past spider webs and dark holes in the ground. I drew my wand for the first time, feeling more and more afraid, for both my sister and myself.