PRANKSTER [1] ↝ C. DIGGORY

fifty-four

Clary nearly trampled over a small group of third year Ravenclaws in her haste to reach the Hospital Wing, hardly hearing their shouts of surprise as Newt quickly shouted apologies to the young students, he, Vasantha, Fred, and George hot on Clary's heels. By the time they reached the Hospital Wing, Clary noticed the double doors were already open, her view of the bed at the end of the room obstructed by a small sea of people gathered around.

The first people she noticed were Amos and Anne, who must have arrived shortly after Clary had left for dinner, as was their usual time upon leaving the Ministry at the end of the work day. A few St. Mungo's Healers milled about the room, as well as Madame Pomfrey, who stood near Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, Snape, Trelawney, and Flitwick. Katie still stood near Cedric's bed, everyone gathered around simply appearing to be watching and waiting.

Clary stepped further into the Hospital Wing, Amos and Anne noticing her first as she reached the far end of the room. Anne pulled her into a tight hug, the woman unable to keep the smile off her face, a smile that had been absent since Cedric had returned from the maze. When she turned to look at Cedric, taking a few steps towards him, he simply appeared to be sleeping, the normal color having returned to his cheeks and his chest rising and falling regularly with each even breath.

Clary's breath caught in her throat as his eyes opened, blinking a couple times in response to the bright lamps of the Hospital Wing. When his vision finally focused, he searched frantically around the room, his eyes first landing on the professors before shifting to his parents, and they finally found her, a confused smile crossing his features.

"And here I thought you ditched me," she said, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth as she took his hand in hers, and he squeezed her hand softly.

"Never," he assured her, his voice coming out in a small croak, and she quickly reached for the glass of water on the nightstand, raising it to his lips and helping him take a drink as the Healers stepped forward, wands out to take his vital signs. "What happened?"

"You won," Newt said, taking one of the seats next to Cedric's bed again, though keeping enough space between them to allow the Healers to move around. "You and Harry won the Triwizard Tournament."

"Come now, everyone," Dumbledore said to the rest of the professors and the Healers as soon as they'd finished monitoring Cedric. "I believe it's time we let Mr. Diggory rest, and be with friends and family."

As the staff filed out of the room, Amos and Anne took their seats, nearly collapsing with relief as they took their son's other hand, tears falling freely from their faces. Anne leaned forward, kissing her son on the forehead while Amos muttered over and over how proud he was of Cedric, and all he'd accomplished.

"Gave us a right good scare there, mate." Fred said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall behind him and George.

"How long has it been?" Cedric asked. "Since I..."

"About two weeks," Clary told him, the color beginning to drain from his face in shock.

"Two weeks?" he asked in disbelief. "I haven't spent this long in the Hospital Wing since I got knocked off my broom back in third year, and even then, it was only about a week and a half. What all have I missed?"

"Well, Fred and George broke a window in Flitwick's class today." Vasantha said, an amused grin crossing Cedric's face as he looked back over at the twins.

"Why am I not surprised?" he asked, chuckles emitting from his visitors, happy to see the boy talking and smiling again.

Cedric's parents left about an hour later, promising their son they'd be back first thing in the morning, and Vasantha, Newt, Fred, and George announced their departure a moment later, claiming they'd give Cedric and Clary a chance to catch up.

"Oh, wait!" Clary protested quickly. "Stay with him quick, I'll be right back."

Clary had left without a word, leaving her friends confused in her wake and taking the steps two at a time to reach the seventh floor of the castle. When she reached her dormitory, she knelt under her bed, retrieving a package and carrying it back to the Hospital Wing with a proud smile, brandishing the case of Butterbeer for everyone to see.

"Alright," she said. "You guys are free to go now."

Their friends chorused their goodbyes as Clary took her seat next to Cedric, taking two bottles from the case and popping the caps off before handing one to Cedric. He took the glass bottle with a smile, clinking it softly against hers before taking a sip of it.

"Y'know, when you said we'd be drinking Butterbeer after the Third Task, this isn't quite what I had in mind." Cedric said, smirking.

"Wasn't exactly what I pictured, either." Clary admitted, and Cedric studied his girlfriend's face, the strained expression that remained after the weeks of sitting next to his unconscious body.

"What all happened?" Cedric asked, the smirk fading from his face. "To me, I mean."

"What do you remember?" she asked, trying to figure out a place to start.

"It's foggy," he admitted, growing silent for a moment as he racked his brain for anything from that night. "I remember the maze. Harry and I found the cup together, but I told him to take it, because he saved me when he didn't have to. He insisted we go together, and make it a tie, but the cup turned out to be a Portkey that took us to some old graveyard. There was another man," he said adamantly, the memories starting to return to him. "And then I... I died, didn't I?"

"One of You-Know-Who's followers was masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody this year, and keeping the real one hostage in his office." Clary began to explain, struggling to keep her voice steady. "He's the one who rigged the tournament and entered Harry. He orchestrated this elaborate scheme to bring He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named back by making the cup into a Portkey to take Harry to the graveyard, where another one of his followers was waiting. They just weren't expecting you to show up, too."

"What happened to me?" he asked. "How am I alive? The killing curse, it..." he trailed off, confusion lacing his tone.

"It didn't hit you directly." she continued on. "You dove behind a grave, and the curse bounced off before it hit you. It absorbed enough of the impact that you were able to survive."

"I remember feeling lost," he said, taking another drink of his Butterbeer, "and then, all of a sudden, you were there. I couldn't see you, but I could hear you. You were saying something about the dangerous components of garlic, and how there was nothing more relaxing than drinking blood under the moonlight."

"So you could hear me," Clary muttered, cursing softly under her breath.

"I just walked in the direction of your voice," he continued, "and then, all of a sudden, here I was."

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," she said, leaning forward and kissing him softly before resting their foreheads together.

"I think I can guess," he said with a soft smile, a small yawn escaping from between his lips.

"Get some sleep," she told him, giving him a swift kiss on the cheek before leaning back in her chair again.

He nodded. "Clary?"

"Yeah?"

"You get some sleep too." he said. "An actual night's sleep this time. I'll see you in the morning."

Clary nodded softly, rising from her chair and slinging her bag over his shoulder. "See you in the morning."