Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Caught in the Dust ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: StarX

Chapter 3

The next few days passed by uneventfully. Luna had discovered that she was extremely tired and couldn't get up at night and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to get out of the warmth of her bed. She was half afraid that Cedric wouldn't be there next time she went to see him. She was afraid that maybe everything had been a dream and that the most exciting thing that had ever happened in her life didn't exist. Too bad she couldn't see him during the day, after testing it in the daylight again, she discovered what she had originally thought was true. The knob only appeared at night for sure; on top of that, the door might even appear at a certain time at night.

A pile of unfinished homework sat in front of her. It was nearly 8 o'clock, and Ginny wanted her to finish her homework today so they could spend tomorrow, Sunday, together. It quite put her out that Ginny rarely missed a homework assignment, if ever, and expected her friends to be the same way. Today, she was meeting Harry in the library. In fact, she was meeting him in a few minutes, according to her clock. She wanted to know more about Cedric, but she didn't know whom to ask about him. Earlier, she had tried to ask Cho about him, as politely as she could, but got no answer and was laughed at by all of her friends. She had tried to comfort Cho when Cedric died, but was told to bugger off. But, Luna forgave her; she was going through a rough time, but after the funeral Cho had changed. She was more emotional and needy, and she pushed people away she had been nice to before. People like Luna.

The Great Hall was still packed when she arrived, not that she cared, she just plopped herself in between two of her housemates, who looked none-to-pleased. In fact, they got up and left within seconds, whispering something about not wanting to sit by Loony Luna or any insane person as they walked away. Quickly, she grabbed some cheese, eggs, toast, sausage, and a ketchup-like substance. Out of it, she made a breakfast sandwich. People stared at the red goop that covered her eggs, but they didn't say a word, or at least, not in ear shot. Shoving the rest down, she grabbed a normal untoasted piece of white bread and spread butter over it. Over that, she evenly spread some sugar. Milk was normally used for the cereal that was served, but she dipped her sugary bread in it, receiving stares now from nearly all the people in the Hall. There weren't that many people in the Great Hall anymore, anyway, most had been halfway done when she arrived.

In her opinion, her breakfast was positively delectable and delicious, but other people probably thought differently, if the expressions on their faces were any indication. Someone shot a spit wad at her back and erupted into a fit of laughter. She could feel it sticking to her robes, the saliva level so great that it started to sink through her clothes. `Sticks and stones may break my bones, but spit wads will never hurt me…or something like that.' She thought to herself as she headed to the library to meet Harry Potter.

Harry was already waiting, gazing openly at Cho Chang, who sat at a corner table, studying with her boyfriend. Luna knew what he was thinking and it wasn't thoughts of undying love for the girl. It was pity for her boyfriend to have to put up with such an emotional head case.

“Hello Harry,” she greeted, slightly waving a hand in front of his face.

“Oh, erm, hi…Luna,” he replied, leaving an abnormally long pause of silence.

`That seems to happen a lot when I'm around,' “What did you want to see me for?”

“Cedric Diggory,” she said directly, he looked confused, “I want to know about who he was. What he was like.”

Harry stared, “Why not ask Cho, she's in your house?” In truth, his fourth year had been one of his hardest and he found himself trying to repress all the horrible memories that had gone along with the Triwizard Tournament. Or, more important, the visual of Cedric's death.

Shrugging, Luna replied, “I tried. She didn't answer me.”

Harry sighed and flinched, recalling some now-painful memories before starting, “He was what I have been told you girls like and consider a Prince Charming. He was smart, strong, good at quidditch, and handsome, I suppose. He was also loyal and brave. Every bit of him screamed Hufflepuff. He had a strong sense of justice. He dated Cho Chang.”

“He was utterly boring, then.” Luna cut in.

“What?”

“It seems as though he has no actual personality, so far. Nothing to make him different, no quirks. Saying he's too perfect is the proper description.”

“I-I suppose,” a slightly confused Harry said, although a smile lit his face at the thought of Cedric Diggory, aka Prince Charming, being a boring person. Most of the Hogwarts population would strongly disagree, calling him the picture of cool, “He-oh, I don't know. Didn't you see him at the Triwizard Tournament?”

“Yes. It was all very lovely besides the fact that he died.”

“Erm… ok,” Harry didn't know how to talk to this strange girl half of the time, she made him nervous.

“Was there anything that set him apart from others?”

“He helped me…with the Triwizard Tournament. He was a good friend.”

“Very well,” Luna said, standing up, “Thank you for giving me this information, Harry.”

`That was no true help. I already knew all of that.'

Luna sat in her common room, staring at the blazing fire before her. She felt herself smiling for no reason at all. The flames entertained her with their constant moving and cackling. It reminded her of her father. Last summer he had taken her to Africa, searching for `Ancient Magic'. They didn't find anything like that, but the tribal people had become their friends. They had even christened her Moon Child, for her strange looks and blonde hair. Her favorite person had been the Wise Woman, she taught her things about the spirits.

People started to go to their dormitories, tired from their free day, but sleep didn't come to her. Visions of last year's Triwizard Tournament swept through her mind. The majestic dragons, ugly, but strangely beautiful mermaids, and the horrifically huge maze; the maze that had killed Cedric. Luna could remember sitting in the stands, waiting for someone to win, just as excited as everyone else, and the dead seventh year turning up, Harry's body spread over him protectively, sobbing. Her father told her that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back; he was one of the few that would always believe Dumbledore, and she believed in them both.

It had scared her when she had learned that one of Hogwarts's own students was dead. The thought had finally hit her that any of them could die, you could never go back to thinking that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was dead. You had to realize you could be killed, just like everyone else. Anyone could be killed. But, what had surprised her was that hardly anyone believed Dumbledore when he said that he was back. No one believed the most powerful wizard in the world.

Now, the war had started and everyone believed Dumbledore. She didn't know why people didn't believe him in the first place. Ginny said it was because people didn't want to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back, but that didn't make sense. At least, not to her point of thinking, they could have prepared if they believed him. They treated Dumbledore like they treated The Quibbler, like they treated her. Not the Hogwarts students, for the most part, except for the Slytherins, but society. It stung her to know someone else was treated like her, not comfort her, like people may have thought.

Somehow, she found herself wandering the halls, dodging Filch, and going up the stairs that were becoming even more familiar to her than any others. Cedric was standing at the door when she entered the enchanted room, slightly grinning. “I figured you were coming.”

Luna didn't say a word. Instead, she sat on one of the cushions surrounding the table. He followed her, walking as if he were still alive. “What's it like being dead?”

He stared at her, “I'm not quite sure.”

“But, you're dead.”

He flinched, “I try not to dwell on it.”

“But-“

“That's the end of the subject. That's what my statement meant. `I try not to dwell on it' translates to this closes the subject.”

“Which conversation, this one or that one?”

“What was that one?”

“Which one?”

Cedric started laughing. “Never mind.”

“You know, I remember you from before you died. You were never cruel to me. At least, not to my face.”

Cedric shook his head, “I never did understand why people called you Loony. Being different wasn't ever a crime in my book.”

“I would very much like to read your book sometime, Mr. Diggory.”

“Maybe I'll lend it to you sometime. The point is, I remember you Luna. You were never a bad kid.”

“Thanks.”

When she left, Cedric sat with a slight smile plastered on his face. It had been a long time since he had talked to anyone this interesting.