stages of denial

ch 6

"it's good to see you on your feet." harry's voice surprised isabel as he stumbled behind her.

"it's good to see you." she smiled softly at him, now walking in sync with him to class.

"do you want to talk about what happened?" his voice was cautious, not wanting to push her.

"maybe later?" she glanced over at him apologetically.

"no rush." he nodded, opening the door for her as they headed into snapes classroom.

she hadn't told anyone what happened that night as dumbledore had told her not to.

walking into the class she was warmly welcomed by hermione and ron.

"it's so good to see you." hermione took her in a gentle hug, a huge smile pressed on her lips.

"i missed you." isabel spoke quietly, returning the hug before looking to ron, "and i missed you too."

he laughed before giving her a quick one arm hug and retuning to his seat.

her eyes wandered the classroom before landing on the boy she longed to see.

"hey beautiful." a small whisper fell into her ear, her head quickly turning to see a smiling cedric behind her.

"hi." a bubbly giggle fell from her lips, her heart growing a smile at the sight of him.

"how are you feeling?" his voice held genuine concern.

"better."' she nodded her head at him.

"come see me tonight?" he glanced at the door, making sure snape was still absent.

"where at?"

"hufflepuff common room, after hours." he gave her forehead a quick peck before finding his way back to his seat.

the smile lingered on her lips even after he walked away, her eyes darted the harry and hermione who were both playfully wiggling their eyebrows.

before she could even react a loud slam sounded as professor snap stormed through the door.

"pages 234, now." he sat as his desk, glaring at every non slytherin student.

isabel's eyes darted to the book, quickly flipping to the page.

"banshee's, is our subject today." snapes voice was harsh and stern.

some of the classmates eyes darted to isabel, especially draco's, his glare growing more rapid.

"the wailing women," snape continued, looking at every student except isabel.

her heart sank in her chest as her classmates eyes remained on her.

"at night they are told to foretell the soon death of someone, they believe spirits provide this warning, they hear voices, or whispers, have dreams." snapes eyes finally landed on isabel, watching as her cheeks grew red, her head in her book.

isabel was slowly taking in every word, knowing, it all fell back to her.

—

"okay, now we have to talk about it." hermione clung to isabel's side.

"there's nothing to talk about, professor snape educated you on the whole thing." isabel pushed pass her, storming into the great hall and taking her seat at the gryffindor table.

the lesson felt as if it were a personal attack on her, she was upset, devastated, she didn't want to believe she was actually predicting her friends death.

"i'm sorry, i didn't mean to push." hermione took the seat beside her, frowning.

"he shouldn't have done that." harry shook is head, ron agreeing with shortly after harry nudged him.

"it doesn't matter, everyone knows now." isabel spoke softly, looking down at the plate of food with no desire to eat it.

she could feel eyes on her, hear harsh whispers about her, she tried her best to block everything out.

—

it was after hours, isabel laid on the couch of the gryffindor common room, studying her thoughts, analyzing the dreams.

slowly she got to her feet, sneaking her way around the halls until she found a distressed cedric sitting in his common room.

"cedric?" she spoke softly, stepping inside the room.

"isabel, hey, how are you?" he hesitated when he spoke.

"you don't have to play dumb with me, i know you heard the rumors, and snapes lesson." she sighed softly taking the seat beside him.

"so, you are, then?" he gave her a gentle look.

"i'm not sure what i am." she shrugged her shoulders, leaning her head back.

"it doesn't matter what you are, and it's no one else's business." he took her hands in his.

"thank you, cedric, really." she smiled at him, leaning her head into his chest.

his arms wrapped around her and in this moment, she felt safe.

"you make me crazy." he spoke his mind before he could even stop himself.

"crazy how?" her head rose from his chest, looking between his eyes with concern.

"you're in my head, all the time now." he smiled gently at her, shaking his head.

"you're in mine too." she nodded her head, cupping his face in her hands.

"and i miss you, when i'm not with you, " his fingers traced the side of her face, "and i want you," his thumb tugged carefully at her bottom lip.

"i'm yours." she spoke softly, her breathing growing more staggered.

"good."

his head leaned forward, his eyes coming to a complete shut as his lips met hers. slowly she began moving her lips in sync with his. her hands finding way to his hair, tugging gently at loose strands. this earning a hum from him in return, his hands tugged at her waist, wanting to pull her as close as he could.

slowly she pulled away from him, her eyes still shut, in awe of what just happened.

"come here." he spoke softly, opening his arms for her.

she wrapped herself around him, her head tucked into his chest, his arms fell around her, holding her.

"you should get to bed." she spoke softly against his chest.

"would you like me to walk you back?" he helped her up from the couch, smiling down at her.

"no, that's okay, get some rest." she looked tiredly at him.

"will you be able to?" he spoke concerned.

"dumbledore gave me something to help," she smiled at him "ive dreaded sleeping for the past 10 years, and now, i'm excited to go to sleep." she chuckled, looking down at her hands.

"i'm glad, goodnight beautiful." his lips met hers one more quick time before they parted ways.

after a long walk, isabel found herself back in her dorm.

after getting ready for bed, she took what dumbledore had recommended to her to silence the dreams for a night, and slowly, she closed her eyes.