Stay - Mattheo Riddle

Remember Cedric Diggory

*1 Month Later*

When Kirra looked back, even a month later, she found she had only scattered memories of the next few days. It was as though she had been through too much to take in any more. The recollections she did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Diggorys that took place the following morning.

They did not blame her or Harry for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked Harry for returning Cedric's body to them and thanked Kirra because they were sure that she had done everything she could to protect their son. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears.

"He suffered very little then," she said, when Harry and Kirra had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos . . . he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy."

When they got to their feet, she looked down at the Potter twins and said, "You both look after yourself, now."

Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table.

"You take this," he muttered to her. "It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it —" Kirra smiled softly at Harry, proud of his kindness and sympathetic of the guilt that she knew he was feeling... the guilt they were both feeling

But she backed away from him.

"Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't . . . you keep it." She went to walk away but Kirra stepped forwards once more, tears in her green eyes as she gazed up at the woman

"Im sorry," she whispered once more. The woman threw her arms around the Hufflepuff, small sobs falling from her mouth as Kirra wrapped her arms tightly around the woman, allowing her to cry into her shoulder. 

She had gone back to her own dorm after that. She rarely went there, her bed was made and her draws were practically empty since most of her clothes were in the bottom draw of Mattheos set of drawers. She didn't want to see the boys tonight, she wasn't in a good shape. Her eyes and cheeks were puffy and she was breaking into a harsh sob every few minutes. 

It had only been the day after her talk with the Diggory's that she received a letter from Sirius. 

Hey Em,

Sorry for leaving so quick the other day, I know you're going through a lot right now and I wish I could be there for you. I hope you're doing okay. I wanted to let you know I'm back at Grimmauld Place. The Order of the Phoenix is back in action too. It's like a reunion, a lot of the old gang is gathering again, but there's some new recruits joining. Even Andromeda's kid is joining, she's pretty cool, a little clumsy but she's a real trouble maker.

With the holidays coming up, how about you skip the whole Privet Drive torture session and come stay with us at Grimmauld Place? It might not be the coziest place, but it's safe, and you'd be among friends who genuinely care about you. Plus, I know you would want to miss out on any of the order stuff. You're one of the best of us Stripes and leaving you in the dark about this would be stupid. 

Now, here's the tricky part. Dumbledore and the Order think it's best if Harry doesn't know too much about our business and all the danger that goes with it. So, if you decide to join us again, don't spill the beans to Harry about the Order stuff. Dumbledore insists on keeping him in the dark, at least for now.

Let me know what you think, and I'll make all the arrangements. Moony is here too. We've missed you Em, and it'd be great to have you back. We've got lots to catch up on.

Take care, and looking forward to your response.

Cheers,

Sirius