Angelus Candidus

AN: Here's the promised chapter three in record time! (Well, for me at least!) I really hope you enjoy it! It was very hard to write!

Angelus Candidus Chapter 3:

Over the next few days, Cedric watched Harry and Ginny wherever they went, always waiting for any opportunity to patch up what had happened by the lake.

However, nothing turned up. They were both avoiding each other as much as possible, and in a castle as big as Hogwarts, that wasn't very hard. Cedric couldn't believe how stubborn they both were. It wasn't even close to normal.

It was time to take extreme measures, no matter how dangerous they might be and no matter how much he'd hate himself for doing it afterwards.

~*~

"Cedric wants to know about what really happened in Harry's second year." Lily's voice was anxious as she gave the news to her husband.

"Why? How would that help him?" James asked with evident curiosity.

"He's planning on using the information about Ginny and Tom Riddle's diary. He's heard rumors but he needs the complete truth. The question is, should we give it to him and what exactly will he do with it?"

James' brow furrowed in concentration. "Huh..."

"Huh?! Is that all you have to say about this?!" Lily exclaimed in annoyance.

James returned to the large leather tome he'd been writing in. "Yes."

Lily glared at James' back. "James Thomas Potter!" she shouted. James flinched. He hated when she called him by his full name like that. It usually meant he was about to be very sorry. He turned around once again, this time very slowly, so as not to anger or startle the wild beast.

"Yes, love?"

Lily's eyes flashed as she descended upon him. "Do you mean to tell me, that this doesn't bother you at all?!"

James swallowed nervously. Anyone watching this scene would have been very amused to see one of the greatest Fire-Bearers cowering before such a beautiful and graceful Emerald. Of course, anyone watching was not on the receiving end of Lily Potter's wrath, and so, they could laugh all they wanted to.

"Lil', it's not that it doesn't bother me. It's just that, out of anyone, I can understand extreme measures and what they require. And, like you said, we have to trust Cedric. He has the potential to become one of the Brilliants of his Order. I don't think he realizes quite that he was more or less made for the job. His heart is in the right place, he's intelligent and loyal. What can I say? He's a Hufflepuff in every way possible. And besides," James finished, as though this would settle the matter, "he's an incredible flyer."

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's always about flying with you, isn't it? Well, you're not the one that's going to have to sit down with Vera Weasley and explain why her granddaughter has to go through everything all over again. No! Of course not.That will be me! Always the diplomat. You have no tact, do you know that?"

"Yes, and it's one of the things you love most about me, right?" James smiled sweetly up at his wife then crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

Lily sighed and shook her head. "No tact, whatsoever. Honestly, it's a wonder you didn't drive anyone crazy when you were in Hogwarts along with Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail."

James raised his eyebrows. "Oh? So quick to forget Sir Cadogan, then? He was quite sane and a very good knight besides, before Padfoot and I flushed him down Myrtle's toilet. He was never quite the same afterwards..."

If she'd been down below, James had a feeling Lily would have had a remarkable headache by now. "Oh, all right," she said at last. "I'll send him everything. I hope that boy knows what he's doing, though. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go retrieve the memories and secrets from the Golds, and they won't be very happy to give them to me, you know. This is all your fault." She said as she walked out the door.

"Love you!" James said, scrunching up his face and sticking out his lower lip in the best impression of a puppy face he could manage, which was quite good.

Lily sighed. "You're impossible."

~*~

"Somniaddo! I need you, answer my call!" The night was crystal clear and freezing cold, as far as Cedric was concerned, as he stood in an open glade not far from Hogsmeade, the dew just beginning to form on the blades of grass, a couple of hours before dawn. He stood shivering in the dark, the only glow cast by his wings, which he currently had wrapped as tightly around himself as he could.

For a while nothing happened. Then a faint twinkle appeared in the darkness before him, which slowly spread upwards and downwards until it was in the vague form of a man. A voice, as of a tinkle of bells, rang clear in the silence.

"Who has summoned me and what is your purpose?"

Cedric sighed as he began to feel sudden warmth seep into his every being. He unfurled his wings and stood proudly before the Giver of Dreams.

"My name is Cedric and I am an angel of the White Order. I've summoned you because I need your help Answering one of my cries."

As Cedric spoke, the twinkling stardust before him had begun to take clearer shape and that shape began to solidify until a tall, wizened old man stood before him, the man's wispy white hair floating and blowing in a wind that wasn't there. His gray eyes pierced everything, much like the Gray Lady's did. He had a crooked nose and was very thin and knobbly, yet he gave off an air of being quite strong and capable of anything...

Somniaddosmiled kindly. "A White angel! Ahhh... Yes, I help your kind quite often. A soothing dream here, a little memory there... Yes..."

Cedric smiled as well. "I know, that's why I called you. Only I'm afraid the dream I want, or dreams you might say, aren't going to be exactly of the pleasant sort."

Somniaddofrowned. "Unpleasant, you say? And pray, how would an unpleasant dream help you Answer a cry? It seems to go against logic, if I do say so myself, although logic has never been something I really cared for. Much too logical. Unpleasant? Whatever for?" Somniaddo looked pleasantly puzzled.

"I know it seems strange, and it isn't usually the sort of thing that you like to do, but please, I really need your help."

"Well, of course I'll help you. A nice little boy such as yourself..."

Cedric strongly sensed that anyone would be a nice little boy (or girl) to Somniaddo, so he didn't say anything.

"Well, what are the components?" The Dream Giver held out his withered old hands.

Cedric pulled out everything he needed and handed it to him. As Somniaddo rifled through the various memories, secrets and general facts, he muttered disapprovingly to himself.

"My, my... Unpleasant indeed. Not the type of dream I usually like to prepare. Terrible to even think about. I wouldn't want such a dream, don't know who would, but then, of course, you can't account for taste. Let's see, Terror, Danger, Death, Sickness, Secrets, Evil... My, my... And you want them all in one dream, you say?"

Cedric had been holding his breath. He nodded uncertainly, still not very happy with what he was doing.

The old man furrowed his brow in thought. "Well, yes, I can do it, of course. I'm ordered to give out these sorts of dreams every night, you know. I don't like it, but I do it. That's how orders are. You have to do them no matter what. But as a request? Such a dream, such a dream..." He trailed off into muffled muttering.

Cedric had come prepared. "Yes, I knew you wouldn't want to, so I brought a gift-" buthe wasn't allowed to finish.

"A gift?! A gift! No, no, no, no, no... I don't need a gift, dear boy!" Somniaddo chuckled. "Very nice of you to think of me, really. A very kind gesture, I assure you, but no. I'm quite fine and happy with what I have. I don't need a gift at all! What gem could you give me finer than the stars? Or blanket softer than the deepest night? What song or poem could surpass the sound of the wind in the trees? No, no gift necessary at all. I'll do it for a White, I will. And a White as generous as yourself? A gift! Ha! How thoughtful! Now let me see, where was I? Ah, yes. My, my, what an unpleasant dream..." With that, Somniaddo pulled out a small black velvet bag and reached inside. When he brought out his hand, Cedric saw that he was holding a handful of glittering green stardust. "Tsk, tsk. Has to be green, it does, for a dream like this one..."

He threw the handful into the air, where it stayed, suspended in place. Slowly, one after the other, Somniaddo took the components for the dream and added them one by one, muttering under his breath the whole while. The dust began to take shape and as each new component was added, it became more twisted and vile to look at until Cedric nearly couldn't bear to watch anymore. At last, the Dream Giver was done.

"Well," he said with a sigh, as he stood back to look at his work, "a work of art in it'sown right. It's well built, no need to worry about leaks or anything of the sort. Not very pleasant to look at, though, is it? No, well, of course not. I'm terrified myself, quite, quite, and I put it together! Everything's in there, no need to worry, though whoever's getting it ought to worry very much. It won't help, of course, worry's no medicine, and come to think of it, there's no medicine for worry, really, if you know what I mean..."

Cedric nodded, unable to speak. He wished there was a medicine for worry. He'd do anything for some right now...

"Well, now! You'll need something to carry it in, won't you? Yes, I have just the thing..." he opened his black velvet bag again and began rummaging through it. Cedric was surprised when he pulled out a rather large black marble. "Ahh! This will do well! Yes, yes..." He threw the ball up into the air, where it remained. The now transformed stardust glided up and surrounded the marble and suddenly, wasn't there anymore. The marble flew back down into Somniaddo's outstretched hand.

"Here you go! A dream that will serve ten. Don't give them all out at once, you, er, wouldn't want to kill anyone... no, not at all. That would be even more unpleasant than the dream. Just one at a time, you simply press the button here." He pointed to a small white circle at the top of the marble. Cedric took the marble and as soon as it touched his hand, the warmth disappeared and Cedric was plunged into icy cold. His eyes went wide as he grimaced and he nearly dropped the marble but had a feeling that might be disastrous, so he held tightly, bearing the sting of the chill.

"Th-thank you," he chattered out, trying to smile at Somniaddo, but finding that his good spirits seemed to be suddenly lacking.

Somniaddosuddenly looked very solemn and serious. "Cedric, be very careful with those dreams. You see the impact they're having on you, imagine what could happen if you let them all loose at once."

Cedric nodded.

The Dream Giver smiled once more and then was gone, though his final words were carried on the wind that suddenly began to blow again.

"Terribly unpleasant business, this. Terribly unpleasant dream..."

~*~

Cedric was having second thoughts. Could he, perhaps, manage this without using the dreams? He wasn't quite sure. He'd answered a couple of small cries before, but never anything on this scale, and never anything that affected him so. Ginny seemed like such a nice girl and he hated to do this to her.

Cedric shivered again as he looked down upon the sleeping form of Ginny Weasley. Her hair was spread out over her pillow, her breathing soft and shallow. Cedric's insides writhed with guilt to disturb any being sleeping so peacefully, but the cold black marble in his hand kept him focused on what he had to do. He lifted it and, as Somniaddo had instructed, pressed the little white button at the top softly. A green mist hissed out and Cedric blew in Ginny's direction, muttering a silent prayer that she'd forgive him for this one day.

~*~

She recognized it immediately for what it was. The tall pillars, the flooded floors, the dirt and grime... And there in the middle, the statue... Salazar Slytherin gazed down upon her with contempt and disgust in his eyes.

Ginny looked around, panic immediately settling in her heart. She remembered everything about that night, or at least everything that she had been conscious for. What had possessed her to return here?!

The torches were lit, though their light managed to chill her to the bone, instead of warming her, or making her feel safe. How had she come to be here? The question echoed through her mind once again. It was a question she had asked herself often. How had she managed to ruin things so completely that year? How had she allowed anything so evil to nest in her heart?

The answer was one she could not bear, yet had been forced to face over and over... Evil begot evil. He had found in her a willing heart and mind... He had found her weak...

Ginny flinched at a sudden pain in her hands. She lifted them up. Letters were forming there, as though cut with a knife, and her blood was the ink...

"My name is Tom. What's your name?"

She cried out in horror, her face contorting. Ginny abruptly looked around herself, frantically searching for something to clean her hands on, but there was nothing. She wiped them on her dressing gown, not caring that she was ruining the perfect white material, as long as she could erase that dreaded name. Gasping, she looked once again.

The letters were gone, the cuts were gone. She looked down at her dressing gown, the blood was still there. How odd.... But just as Ginny was looking away, she saw the red stain disappear, as though being absorbed...

Shaking, Ginny once again lifted her hands.

"My name is Tom. What's your name?"

Ginny screamed. The sound echoed off of the walls and ceiling, resounding, over and over, until it seemed there was nothing else except for her blood, her scream and his words...

Abruptly, it came to an end. Ginny looked down once again. Was she forever fated to have his words incised upon her flesh? His essence burned into her mind? Would she never be rid of the memories?

"Ginny..."

She froze. The whisper had come from behind her, but she was too terrified to turn around. Because she recognized that voice.It belonged to the same monster that had nearly taken her life for his own. Memories of scattered sentences arose, unbidden, to her mind.

"Are you afraid? Don't worry, tell me of all your troubles. Your secrets will be safe, locked away with me, forever."

"It is difficult, I understand. You are alone, here at Hogwarts. You have no one to turn to. But, little one, you can tell me..."

"You'll never be alone, Virginia. Not while I'm around."

Ginny had fallen to her knees and the tears were falling freely. The whisper came once again.

"Ginny..."

Why couldn't he leave her alone?! But she already knew the answer. She'd never be alone. Not while he was still around.

A hand suddenly gripped her shoulder, but Ginny didn't flinch. She had no hope. Why hadn't she died? She could feel herself being turned slowly around. When she looked up, there was no one there. The pressure on her shoulder was gone. But the whispers still remained. They were all around her now, calling her. And there, still engraved on her hands...

"My name is Tom. What's your name?"

The blood was seeping out of the cuts faster now and was dripping over the sides of her hands, pooling on the floor. There was so much blood...

She heard frantic footsteps behind her and turned to see Harry running into the chamber, glancing back and forth, searching for something.

"Harry!" she cried out, but he ran straight past her, without seeing her, as always... She got up and followed him, still calling to him, but it was as though she wasn't there. Harry began to run faster and Ginny had to work harder to keep up, but it seemed as though he was just getting further and further away. She gave one last burst of speed and finally caught up enough to reach out and grab his shoulder. She pulled him back and turned him around abruptly.

"Hello, Virginia." Tom Riddle grinned down at her. Before Ginny could scream again, Tom clasped his hand over her mouth tightly. "No, no, my dear. We can't have you throwing a scene." He laughed,a sound that made tears of agony shine in Ginny's eyes. He was completely mad. There was no other way to describe him. The touch of his skin on her face made her shudder in repulsion. She bit down on his hand in desperation to get away and she tasted blood. His blood.

"My, my," Tom removed his hand, but didn't let go of Ginny. "You've grown more adamant, I see. Nothing like how I remember you. You were quite willing then..." He laughed again. Ginny tried to get away but his grip was like a vice. The way he'd said that last sentence made her want to vomit.

"What do you want?!" she asked, practically screeching in the hysteria that threatened to envelop her.

"What do I want?" His eyes opened wide in wonder. "Don't you already know? What I've always wanted, Virginia... You. I remember in your first year... what a scrawny little thing you were then..." Tom shook his head. "But now- my, my. You've become as luscious as I always knew you would be." Tom reached down and took Ginny's hand, lifting it to gaze at the inscription that was still there. Then he took the bleeding hand that Ginny had bit and pressed it to hers, mingling their blood.

"You see, Ginny?" he whispered, his head close to her ear, his breath like ice on her neck, "You're mine."

"No. No..." Ginny struggled again, but in Tom's grip she felt herself growing weaker and weaker, just like with the diary.

"I have a gift for you, Virginia." Tom began pulling her towards the other end of the chamber, the area where everything had taken place in her first year. "Haven't you ever wondered," Tom asked as they went, "what really happened the night I came out of the diary? You were unconscious... Didn't you ever wish you could have seen how- valiantly," the word was dripping with sarcasm, "the Potter boy fought for you? I thought I'd show you... What do you think?"

Ginny could barely hold her head up anymore. But she remembered what Harry had looked like when she'd come to at last, and she remembered her horror that she had caused it. He'd looked terrible, covered in blood and grime... he'd almost been as weak as she'd been, yet he'd helped her all the way back... She felt fresh tears forming in her eyes and she finally spoke up. "No, please, I don't want to watch, I don't want to know... stop..."

"Oh, Virginia, why ever not? I find it fascinating. Didn't you ever want to know how Harry Potter died?"

Tom's words hit her like a pile of bricks and she felt the blood leave her face. "D-d-died?! No, he's not- he didn't-"

Tom shook his head again and grinned. "Can't you remember, Virginia? That night, Harry Potter died trying to save poor Ginny Weasley... Remarkable effort, really, but against me? The boy was a joke." Tom snapped his fingers and suddenly before them, a huge basilisk towered up and there, not three feet in front of Ginny stood Harry, bleeding badly from his shoulder, his glasses dangling and his sword, his sword broken...

"Harry-" Ginny whispered, but even she could barely hear herself. And even as her heart cried out for him, the basilisk lunged downwards to kill its prey. Ginny shut her eyes as tightly as she could, but that didn't hide the sounds of Harry's defeat.

"No... Harry..." Riddle let go of her, but it didn't matter. He knew she had no strength left. Even if her body had been capable of movement, her soul was quickly sinking into despair. He was gone. Harry was gone. "Harry..." Ginny curled up on the floor, sobbing.

"Poor, poor Virginia..." Riddle's voice mocked her from above. "I told you. You're mine."

She was his. Tom's. The thought sapped her of even more strength and little by little, she began forgetting everything. She had never been anything but his. And still, a small though raged inside her, trying to get free. Harry... But no. Little by little, that too was fading away until- until...

Until she didn't know who Harry was at all.

~*~

Ginny opened her eyes to the light of her room. It was actually the middle of the night, but compared to the blackness she had just felt in her heart, nothing seemed dark. She sat up, her heart pounding frantically, her breathing erratic.

"Oh, God..." she whispered, putting her face in her hands and trying vainly to steady the terrified breaths that kept coming out in uneven gasps.

It had been so long since she'd had a dream about that night. What had triggered this?! Why did she deserve this? Hadn't she suffered enough? This one had been the worst by far. None of her nightmares had ever been so clear or so life-like; as though she'd really been there.

Shaking, Ginny lifted her hands and nearly cried with relief when she saw they were clear of the awful inscription. Yet Ginny could still hear Riddle's voice, she could feel his breath, as though he were still beside her. Ginny looked wildly around the room, to be sure there was no one there other than her room-mates.

Then a terrible thought suddenly struck her. Harry.

She climbed out of bed and ran out of her dormitory, not even bothering to put on her dressing gown. It couldn't have been true, could it? He was fine, Harry wasn't-

Fear gripping her very soul, she rushed through the common room, where the fire was just beginning to die out, and up the stairs on the other side, staying as quiet as she could the entire time. When she reached the top, the room that she knew belonged to the fifth year boys, she stopped, unable to continue.

What if it was true? What if Harry Potter really was dead? What if everything up to now had been the dream and tonight had been reality?

Ginny pushed the door slowly open, terrified of what she would find. She tiptoed into the room, looking to and fro at the sleeping boys in their beds. There was Neville, snoring softly and Seamus and Dean across from eachother. And there was Ron, arm dangling over the side of his four-poster, mouth wide open. Ginny reached the last bed, holding her breath.

It was empty.

Ginny stared, disbelieving. It couldn't be. He should be there, asleep, dreaming peacefully. Where was he?

He was dead.

Ginny fell to her knees next to the bed, burying her face in the covers, unable to stop her tears yet trying to muffle the sounds of her grief so she wouldn't wake the others. Riddle was right. Harry was gone, dead, and she was alone.

A door closed softly behind her and then there were footsteps, but Ginny was so caught up in crying that she didn't hear anything until the person behind her spoke.

"Ginny?"

She froze. That- that voice. Slowly, she lifted her head and turned around. Harry was standing there, clad in a pair of tartan boxers and a T-shirt, looking down at her with an expression of bewilderment. At first she thought it was his ghost, but then reality sank in. He was really there. He must have just gone out to the bathroom or something of the sort... But the relief she felt was still as great as though he'd died and come back to life. The feeling had been so real...

She lifted a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide and shining, filled with hope. "Harry," she whispered at last, and not waiting for a reply, she flung herself forwards and hugged him as hard as she could. "You're alive, oh God, you're alive!" She cried into his shoulder, and she could feel his gasp of surprise and then the quickening of his heartbeat.

Harry stood awkwardly for a moment, as Ginny hugged him, but then he spoke quietly and his voice was reassuring and calm. "Ginny, shhh," he said, smoothing her hair, and it felt so good to have him hold her. "What are you talking about?"

Ginny didn't pull away, but spoke from his shoulder, her words slightly muffled. "I dreamt you were dead, it was so real... Harry, don't ever leave, please!" she pleaded, hugging him closer.

She felt Harry's hand under her chin as he pulled her face up to look at him. His eyebrows were drawn together in worry, though he spoke with complete sincerity. "It was just a dream. I'm not dead and don't worry, I won't leave, I promise..."

Ginny searched his eyes and she knew he was telling the truth. And she believed him.

"You're alive," she whispered one last time, and then, because she couldn't hold back any longer, she pulled him down and kissed him.

~*~

Warmth. Such warmth as he hadn't felt for so long seeped through Cedric's very being. And the pain that hadn't let up since the cries had begun almost disappeared. It was still there, but it was barely noticeable after the torment Harry had been putting himself through. In one moment all of the horror had disappeared to be replaced with- Cedric didn't know quite what to call it. It was odd feeling someone else's happiness, so different than what he felt like when he was happy. The feeling spread to his fingertips and Cedric basked in the sudden relief. He'd been carrying around Harry's burden for so long now,it was almost a shock to see how different everything was when it was almost gone.

Cedric was almost finished. Just a bit more sorting out here and there and he'd be able to let Harry alone.

And Harry would be able to let himself alone as well.