▬▬ nineteen; the duel
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THE DARK LORD WALKED AROUND ANNOUNCING HIS DISAPPOINTMENT THAT NEITHER OF HIS FOLLOWERS HAD CAME EARLIER TO BRING HIM BACK, BUT LAUREN REMAINED BY HER BROTHER'S BODY. Only when her best friend began screaming she stood up. She glanced with red eyes at Cedric, he was gone. But she wiped her wet cheeks and held her wand tightly. Harry wasn't gone. She could still save him.

"Crucio!" The curse was followed by Harry's screams and groans as he struggled on the ground. He was strong. 

As the Dark Lord lowered his wand, the boy still fought to catch his breath. "Attaboy, Harry. Your parents would be proud. Especially your filthy Muggle mother."

"Expelliar—" Harry tried to hit him with a spell but the Lord was quicker, mirroring Harry's actions.

"I'm going to kill you, Harry Potter. I'm going to destroy you. After tonight, no one will ever again question my powers," he said and kneeled down closer to Harry. "After tonight, if they speak of you. . . they'll speak only of how you. . . begged for death. And l, being a merciful Lord obliged. Get up!"

Harry saw a window to escape at least for a moment, so he ran behind the big grave statue. Lauren sat waiting for him, holding his hand tightly. 

"Don't you turn your back on me, Harry Potter! l want you to look at me when l kill you!"

"I'm sorry Lauren. . . This is my fault, and Cedric—"

"It's not your fault," she whispered back as she started crying again. "It's mine. We'll get out of this together. Come on, Harry."

"l want to see the light leave your eyes!"

The two friends were brought into this together, more committed to it then they understood. They stood up and walked out from the shadow and faced Lord Voldemort with his wand high in the air as his Deatheaters stood behind him.

"Have it your way," he said as he exhaled deeply. He wasn't scared, and he wasn't nervous. Neither of them was. They were revengeful. 

But to their surprise, the Lord lowered his wand and stared at Lauren as if he hadn't noticed her before as she had been sobbing loudly. "The Brave Lauren. Maybe if you'd embrace the power and choose the right side, then maybe you wouldn't have to meet the same faith as Harry Potter will."

"Burn in hell," she spat.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry pushed Lauren away from sight as his red force fought against the green one that was lead by Voldemort's wand. She squeezed her eyes slightly to try to see through the bright light but it just pushed her body further and further away. She crawled to her brother's corpse and saw the Portkey and just wished Harry had the same plan as her.

Lord Voldemort had the upper hand in this duel, but as the green force neared Harry's wand he pushed it away and Harry's Expelliarmus was concerning the dark side. But the Lord didn't let his weakness show and shouted to his followers, "Do nothing! He's mine to finish! He's mine!"

Lauren saw how the two were surrounded by something she had never seen before. It was like a force-field around them that formed from where the two wand's spells met. 

Like blue shooting stars, ghosts shot out from Voldemort's wand as Harry held his grip steady around his wand. Cedric Diggory, his best friend's brother looked at him with a blank face. And an unfamiliar old man stood on the other side. Behind him, on each side of him, stood his parents. . .

His father placed a hand on his shoulder, a hand that Harry couldn't feel, and said, "Harry, when the connection is broken, you must get to the Portkey. We can linger for a moment to give you some time. . . but only a moment. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded as he fought the weight pushing against him.

"Harry," said Cedric, getting his attention. "Take my body back to my father, will you? And take care of Lauren, let her know I'm always with her."

"I promise," Harry managed to get out as a whisper as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Let go. Sweetheart, you're ready. Let go! Let go!"

The connection broke and Lauren saw Harry Potter running towards her as she held her brother tightly. Blue lights blurred the Lord's vision long enough so that Harry could shout the spell, making the cup land in his hand at the same time he held onto Lauren and Cedric. 

She opened her eyes to meet the sunset light and trumpets. And after that everything was blocked out. 

She cried loudly and laid over her brother's limp body. She felt Harry around her shoulders, but she couldn't bring herself from letting go. She pulled the yellow shirt and stroke his dirty cheek, she wished she could wake him up. But his eyes wouldn't flatter open, his chest wouldn't move.

"Let me through! Let me through!" She shot up her head as her father pushed past the Headmaster and Professor that had gathered closely. "That's my son! That's my boy! lt's my boy!"

Mr. Diggory tried to wake his son but quickly came to the realization that he wasn't waking up. He looked up at his daughter and brought her into the tightest hug she'd ever received and at the same time, he held his son's hand close to his chest.

Draco Malfoy and Alastor Moody arrived at the scene, but Draco wasted no time and ran forward. He didn't care that his friends saw him, all he could care about was Lauren. As she noticed him sitting down behind her she fell into his embrace. He held her tight as she sobbed into his shoulder while glancing at Cedric's lifeless body.

He was gone. And it was because of her.

▬▬ author's note ▬▬

Hello guys. This was sad to write, so I won't blame you if you cried. I'm sorry Cedric faced such a dark faith, but he died in the original movie and as bad as it sounds; his death will actually make Lauren's journey like ten times better. 

Oh, and sorry it's short. I wrote actually a very long chapter but I split it in two because I wanted to (?) so that's why the next chapter also will be a bit short.
Have a nice day / sleep tight. Love you!

[ last updated; 10/5/20]
Stay tuned, thank you! <3