The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 4: Grief

August 2nd, 1995 - 9:00 am

The last month was pure torture. I haven't seen anybody since the incident; I've barely talked to my own family. It was like every ounce of joy I had was sucked out of me. There was no saying when I would've been happy again.

Watching his dead body lie there... all frozen... and emotionless, the image replayed on a constant loop in my head. I remembered screaming. I remembered running, and pushing past everyone in my way. I remembered the way I hung onto his body, and cried into his chest. It used to be a comforting feeling, crying into his chest. Especially after a long day, just crying and letting all of my sadness go. But this time was different... there was no letting it go, just pain.

"Dawn," a voice stated, "Dawn, get up."

I slowly opened my eyes to see who called me. I couldn't exactly see who it was, but the figure took the shape of some sort of man. He looked familiar, very familiar.

"Cedric?" I stammered, "Cedric, is that you?" 

Maybe what happened in June was just a bad dream. Yeah! It was all just a bad dream. The third task never happened, You-Know-Who never came back, and Cedric never died. In fact, I was still at Hogwarts right now! I was in my dorm, and my bed was right next to Hermione's, just like it always was. Cedric had come to wake me up, and sneak us into the astronomy tower, so we could fall asleep together watching the stars. Just like we've always done.

My eyes refocused on the mysterious man in my room, until the blurb was now an identifiable figure, and to my utter disappointment, it was Draco.

"Do I look like Cedric to you?" Draco snapped.

"No," I groaned, "Sorry, I just thought..."

"I know," Draco sighed as he turned around to walk out of my room, "Father said to get packed, we're going on a holiday."

"Why?" I snapped.

"Dawn, we always go on holiday during the summer?" Draco questioned, "I understand that you're grieving right now, but perhaps the coast might cheer you up."

"I'd rather stay home," I muttered, "Tell father that I'll stay home with Bipsey."

"There's no way father's letting you stay home," Draco scoffed, "You and I both know that."

"What makes you say that?" I questioned, "Father doesn't even like me, he'd rather have me stay here anyways."

Draco rolled his eyes, and bit the inside of his cheek. He suddenly shut the door to my room, and got close to my face.

"Look," He whispered, "If the rumors are true about... well, you know... father wants us to stay out of the Ministry's radar, and we both know why. The Ministry knows we go on holiday every year, and they know that the house is always empty. If they see that the rest of us went on holiday, and that the only Gryffindor in our family is at home, they'll get suspicious again. So if you could do the rest of us a favor, stop mulling around, and pack your shit, we'd all be grateful. Just be glad that it was me that came in here instead of mother or father."

Draco stormed away from my bed, and walked towards my bedroom door. He stopped in the doorway before turning around.

"And take a fucking shower," Draco seethed as he looked around with his nose scrunched, "It smells like something died in here." He then walked out of my bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

As much as I hated to admit it, Draco was right. Not only about the shower thing, but the other thing he said. If You-Know-Who was actually back, like Harry said, our family was now under the Ministry's radar. 

Father was accused of being involved with him during the First Wizarding War, but during trial, father was proved innocent. Nobody has said anything about it since then. Mother had a long history with the dark lord, but through her sister. She claimed to not be a part of it herself. 

I dragged myself out of bed, and to the bathroom to get ready. One flip to the light, and I gasped at the horror that lied in front of me, it was me! I looked as horrible as I felt, maybe even worse. I couldn't remember the last time I had washed my hair, let alone brushed my teeth. 

Maybe the holiday was a good thing. It was a chance to get my mind off.... Cedric. I missed him. I wish I had gotten one more chance to say goodbye, one more chance to hug him, kiss him. Just one more- STOP IT!

I spent the next few hours picking myself up, and cleaning my room for the first time in weeks. This was the first time I had put makeup on since the- NOPE, NOT GOING TO THINK ABOUT IT!

"DAWN!" someone, probably Draco, shouted from the floor below, "HURRY UP!"

"I'M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN! GIMME A FEW MINUTES!" I shouted back.

I quickly grabbed my things and threw them into my trunk. When I went to shut the lid, I saw it there in plain sight.

Cedric's scarf. 

I grabbed it and quickly felt tears fall from my eyes. There was no stopping it, they'd just started coming out. I clenched the scarf, and buried my head into it. I missed Cedric so much, it should have been me, not him. I shouldn't have convinced him to put his name into the goblet. He never wanted to compete in that stupid tournament anyways. He never wanted any of that. Yet, I was the one who convinced him to do it, I was the one that set him up for failure. It was my that fault he was gone, and there was no changing that.

"Fucking hell," a voice from behind scoffed, "You're going to ruin the only thing you've got left of him with your snot."

I turned around to see Draco standing in my doorway with his arms crossed; He looked annoyed.

"You're making us late," he spat as he walked towards me, "Now you're going just like that, mascara running down your face and all." 

He laughed at me as he zipped up my trunk, and grabbed it as he made his way to the door. He suddenly stopped in the doorway, and walked back over to where I was sitting. He reached his hand out to mine.

"Come on," Draco sighed. I reached for his hand, and he pulled me up into a hug. 

This was surprising as Draco never hugged me, it felt nice. He let me go, but our hands and eyes remained contact. His slight smile transitioned into an annoyed frown.

"Now let's go." Draco said coldly as he yanked me out the door.