Lillian Potter | Harry Potter's Twin Sister

Chapter 18

I slammed into the grass with a thud, my eyes still closed. I suddenly became aware of all of the physical and emotional pain that the adrenaline had numbed... It seemed so hard to breathe... my head was spinning, my body ached horribly, my scar was still burning dully, my shoulder was throbbing painfully...

I didn't open my eyes. Every breath that I forced in felt like a pang to my heart. It was like I was slipping away into the darkness that I was seeing behind my closed eyelids.

I grabbed onto Cedric's body with my eyes still closed, and the sobs that I had been holding back for so long finally escaped my mouth. I clung to his lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably.

Cheers from the crowd turned into screams. There were footsteps everywhere, but they sounded so distant... I couldn't move, I was paralyzed in shock, paralyzed from the pain of Cedric being gone... I was waiting for someone to do something, to do anything.

I felt someone shake me. I squeezed my eyes shut harder, unable to move. They moved over to Harry.

"Harry! Harry!"

Somebody tried to pull me off of Cedric. I let out another loud sob and flung myself back onto him.

"Lily... Lily!"

Someone turned me over. I dizzily opened my eyes to see the night sky, and saw Dumbledore crouching between Harry and I. I looked over to my right to see that Harry was also clutching Cedric's body, and the Triwizard Cup.

The warm tears streamed down my cheeks as the sound of the crowd moving in on us filled my ears. I couldn't get any words out... I squeezed my eyes shut again.

"He's back," Harry gasped. "He's back. Voldemort."

"What's going on? What's happened?" Fudge said from above me. I opened my eyes to see that he was staring down at Harry and I, his face as pale as a ghost. "My God- Diggory! He's- Dumbledore- he's dead!"

The crowd began repeating Fudge's words, some screaming them, and some gasping them to those around them.

"He's dead! Cedric Diggory is dead!"

The words echoed in my ears, repeating over and over again. Cedric was dead.

"Harry, Lily, let go of him," Fudge said, trying to pry me off of him.

"No!" I sobbed. Harry wasn't letting go, either.

"You can't help him now. It's over. Let go," Dumbledore said quietly. He pulled Harry up with surprising strength, and set him on his feet.

Dumbledore tried to pull me up, but I wasn't budging.

"Lily, it's over," he repeated. "Let go."

"He told us to bring him back," I choked. "He wanted us to bring him back to his parents... we couldn't leave him there..."

"That's right, Lily," Dumbledore said gently. "Let go."

"Move out of the way! Let me through!" a voice shouted.

Fred crouched down beside me, and I turned to meet his eyes with tears soaking my face. He looked at Cedric in shock, and then back at me, his mouth hanging open. He took in the state of my appearance, his eyes wide.

"Lily- what- y-you have to let go, flower," he whispered shakily, cupping my face in between his hands. "Come on..."

I stared at him for a moment, and then finally let him scoop me up. I buried my face into his chest as he held me as close as he possibly could to his body. Not even his arms could make me feel safe this time.