Apples and Honey

Chapter 13

Cedric places the frame back on his nightstand and sits next to me. "And what about your family?" I turn to him as tears flood in my eyes. I start hyperventilating, unable to see as my chest starts to constrict. 

Cedric's muffled voice is filled with worry and concern. He pulls me into him and strokes my hair, calming me down. 

"Hey, hey. We don't have to talk about them, it's okay. Don't worry." He says gently. "I know you miss them and that's alright. You don't have to talk about them if you don't want to." 

I sit there with him, as he gently rocks me back and forth. After helping me through the 5-4-3-2-1 method I was finally grounded again. "This is stupid." I say, clutching onto him as I cry. "I don't know why I'm crying. I miss them, but I don't understand what's going on." I continue on, willing myself to stop crying.

He gently pulls back, as he places his hands on either side of my face and kisses my forehead.

"It was a panic attack, Jen. Don't worry, I used to get them as a kid."

 "No, really I'm okay. I know it may not seem like it, but I am." I say, trying to express how I really feel. It's just hard because I don't exactly know what's going on myself. 

"Maybe you're just tired. I get it. You've spent this entire week preparing for an exam, and it is getting late anyway. Why don't you get some sleep?" I nod at him, wiping away the tears from under my eyelashes. 

"I don't have anything to wear." I say stupidly.

"Well I've got you covered on that." He says, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. "The sweatshirt was from my second year here, so it has my old number on it, but it should fit you better than the ones I wear now. I'm a foot taller than you, but we'll see." He chuckled. I take the clothes and head into the bathroom.

Looking up at myself in the mirror, I don't recognize the person staring back at me. She has my same brown hair and blue eyes, but her face looks sunken in, and she has bags under her eyes. Not to mention the red eyes from crying.

I shake my head, tearing myself away from my reflection. I pull the sweatpants on, rolling them a few times, then pull the sweatshirt over my head. It smells like him. I fold my old clothes from earlier and place them on the bathroom counter, flicking the light switch off and heading back into Cedrics room.

He's already in bed, waiting for me. I pull the covers back, and crawl into the bed, my back against him. He puts a warm arm around me and with his free hand, tucks a piece of stray hair behind my ear. Before I fall asleep in his arms I feel him kiss me on the cheek then say to me, "I'm proud of you, you know." I smile, letting myself rest.

_

I woke up, entangled in Cedric's arms. He shifted, yawning, then slowly opened his eyes. I sat back, admiring how handsome he looked in the morning. His hair was in a tangled mess framing his face, and his chest was slowly rising and falling with each breath he took.

"Whose the stalker now?" He said, flipping himself on top of me and kissing me deeply.

"Still you." I said, smiling up at him. He rolled his eyes, getting off of the bed and heading to the bathroom.

I sat in bed for just a few more minutes before deciding to get up. Last night was the best I've slept since coming to Hogwarts. I would always wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.

"How're you feeling today?" Cedric asked me, walking out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in hand.

"Ready. I'm going to pass this test today!"

"Good." He started. "I was talking more about last night, though." Oh no. Do I snore in my sleep? Or sleep talk?

"Enlighten me." I say, sitting up in the bed.

"Well I just want to make sure you're okay after last night. Has this ever happened before?" He asked gently, walking back into the bathroom again.

"Only once. The first night I was here. It had never happened to me since before then."

He walked back out of the bathroom now. "Oh Jenny, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. You should've never gone through that alone. "

"Actually, Fred and George found me. It was before you saved me from Draco and almost Filch too."

"I didn't even know. Oh I'm so sorry." Cedric crosses me into the room, wrapping his arms around me pulling me into a tight hug.

"Cedric, listen to me. It wasn't your fault. There was no possible way you could've known that." I said, comforting him back.

"You're okay now, though? Has anything else happened?" He pulled back a bit, looking into my eyes intently as if he could pull the answer out.

I looked up at him and thought about it for a moment. If I really thought about it, I had changed a lot since coming to Hogwarts. I just hadn't realized because so many good things have come with the bad.

"Well, I've been having some, uhm, night terrors. Some really bad headaches, well actually migraines. I've also been feeling a bit sad, like I'm missing something. It really isn't that big a deal, though. I slept well last night too, so seriously don't worry."

"What are the night terrors about?"

"It's usually the same thing. I-I uhm. I can't move and this man walks into my little brothers room. I try screaming, but it's impossible, nobody can hear me. Then, my mom chases after the man and kills her. Then I hear a loud noise and it's my dad coming into his room, but I can't warn him because I wake up."

A choking sound comes out of Cedric's throat as he pulls me close to him again.

"Real or not, I won't let anything hurt you."

"Don't worry about me as we figure it out. We'll understand it sooner or later." I say to him. He nods his head in agreement, but I can tell he's worried. He has that same sad look in his eye as the day Draco tricked him in the library.

_

I got ready for the day, but had to stop in my room to brush my teeth before breakfast. I told Cedric I'd meet him in the Great Hall and left to walk over to the girls dorms.

"Where were you last night?"

"Damn, Ash! You scared me!" I said to her, making my way into the bathroom.

"You didn't answer my question!" She called after me, following me before I could shut the door.

I put toothpaste on my toothbrush and stuck it in my mouth before she could question me any further. Ashley rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, waiting for an answer.

I brushed my teeth for what felt like a million years, until I eventually spit the toothpaste out in the sink. After rinsing my toothbrush off and cleaning out the sink, I finally looked up in the mirror to see Ashley unmoving in her position. I took a deep breath, then told her everything that happened, not including the recent night terrors, but she probably already knew about those.

"... and then I fell asleep in his arms." I finished off.

"That's good! Does he sleep peacefully or is he a snorer? God, I hate snorers!" She ranted. I laughed, recalling the time Ashley had almost suffocated Genevieve with a pillow one night after she had awoken the lot of us with her loud snores.

We walk out of the common room and over to the Great Hall talking about my shift in character while at Hogwarts. "That's so odd, Jenny. Maybe if you and Cedric can't figure out why you should ask Dumbledore. I'm sure he'd know." I nodded, agreeing with her.

We walked in and I looked for Cedric. Ashley caught on and smiled at me, nudging me towards him as she walked over to Genevieve and Isla.

"Long time, no see." I say, sitting down next to him and piling my plate with food. Believe me when I tell you that nobody makes food better than Hogwarts. Cedric looks at me laughing while I shove a pancake into my mouth.

"You don't have the red hair to match, but are you sure you have no relation to Ron Weasley?" Cedric said to me. I smiled at him, stealing a strawberry off of his plate and popping it into my mouth.