In the Light Lies Shadows

It hit me like a ton of bricks. "You're not my father," I replied so quickly even I sounded unsure of myself. The grin that grew across his face was sickening. He knew the game he was playing so well; he often created his own hand of cards.

"I'm your father, Eleanor. You were perfectly placed, right where I wanted you. Until that filthy muggle watched you shoot sparks out your fingertips. You were then sent to the Potter's. If only I'd prevented it. You wouldn't have been like an orphan for fourteen years of your life. For that, I'm truly sorry."

His story sounded almost perfectly articulated, as though he had thought about what to say to me, his daughter. There was nearly no evidence to back up this man's story, yet I felt in my soul that he was telling me the horrible, gut-wrenching truth.

I felt sick to my stomach. In this moment of acceptance, I remembered my precious, stupid brother that is pinned to the gravestone next to us.

"Harry," I whispered softly, a single tear slipping away from my eye, "please don't hate me." I saw the terror in his eyes, along with the pain and confusion. We were lost.

Cedric lied on the ground, his chiseled face motionless and cold like marble. He always looked a bit like marble, I thought, with his light hair, light brown eyes and pale skin. Voldemort let Harry down from the gravestone for a duel to the death.

We readied our wands, prepared for the worst. The two cast their respective spells, creating a large bubble of light. Souls began to fly around the circle, though the words that were said, I could not hear. I was outside the bubble, practically useless to Harry.

Just as the spell nearly touched Harry's wand, the bubble broke in a burst. Harry ran to Cedric's body, yelling, "Accio, portkey!" The cup shot to them, leaving me behind in an old graveyard, with a terrible man claiming to be my father, with no way to get back to Hogwarts.
Started: September 8, 2023, (OG April 23rd, 2020 as "When the Augury Cries")