Without You

Goodbyes

"It'd be impossible to forget him." Harry whispered to Autumn, "After what's happened, how could I forget?"

The two of them were standing outside the Great Hall, whilst others were packing their things to head home. Harry wasn't too excited to head home, and Autumn had already packed the night before.

Autumn smiled, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Dumbledore was right, Harry. What you did that day was really brave. You did what you could do, and I'm proud of you, Harry. And I promise you, if Cedric was here right now, he'd be telling you the exact same thing."

Harry returned a small smile, nodding. "Thanks, Autumn."

After a while, Autumn left Harry to get her things ready. Besides, Harry had to pack his things before the train leaves that afternoon. Autumn was walking in the hallway, when Cho stumbled into her.

"Oh, sorry..." she whispered quietly. When she looked up, she sighed in relief, "Oh, it's you, Autumn!"

Autumn nodded slowly, "Are you alright?"

The Ravenclaw looked around quickly before shaking her head. "Autumn, I need to talk to you. Do you have the time? I'd prefer to speak to you privately."

Autumn checked the time before nodding. "I'll just get my things, if you don't mind. I'll only take a minute. I'll meet you in the courtyard?"

Cho nodded, before Autumn ran off towards the Gryffindor common room. Hermione must have already left. The room was all clean, the only thing remaining was Autumn's trunk and Cedric's robe. Even the sight of it made her feel uneasy. Autumn could only imagine how Cho felt about all thisㅡ she was in love with the boy. Picking up the robe, the door swung open.

"Hagrid? What are you doing here?" Autumn asked, slightly confused.

The half-giant entered her room, picking up her trunk. "I told Harry I'd get your stuff down with theirs, too. They're waiting for you, and thought you'd need 'elp."

Autumn nodded, "Oh, thanks, Hagrid. Tell them I'll be there soon. I need to talk to someone for a bit."

Hagrid nodded before leaving the room with her trunk. Autumn noticed she was still holding onto Cedric's robe. What was she to do with it?

Rushing to the courtyard to meet with Cho, Autumn arrived breathless. Cho smiled once she saw her, holding out a brown notebook to her. Confused, Autumn still took the book from her. The brown leather notebook had Cedric's name printed in white, with a quill attached to the side of it. It must have been his diary. Cho gestured Autumn to open it, so she did. The notebook had been filled with diary entries, the first written on his first day at Hogwarts. The two girls stood there silently until Autumn came upon a particular page, where she saw her own name written somewhere in the paragraph.

She looked up at Cho, who was smiling with tears in her eyes. "Cedric really liked you, Autumn. He really did."

Autumn looked down at the book, reading what she could. He wrote about seeing her for the first time. How he'd never met someone so beautiful and kind before that day. He had also written about the Yule Ball, and how he was disappointed about Autumn going with Draco Malfoy instead. About how it broke his heart.

"Cho..." was all that Autumn could manage to say. Cho looked hurt and pained, yet she was still smiling.

"He was looking forward to going to Hogsmeade with you, Autumn. He really wanted to win for it."

Autumn shook her head, tears finding its way to her eyes. She couldn't bear listening to any of it anymore. It wasn't helpingㅡ she already felt bad for all she had done to Cedric. The boy liked her, and she had put him into so much struggle. She yelled at him once, accusing him of creating badges against Harry, then cancelled on him for the Yule Ball. And now, he was gone.

It was only a month ago when they had been studying in the library together. Just a few days ago, Cedric was walking through the corridors of Hogwarts just like everyone else. Just a few days ago, he had been very much alive. It pained Autumn to ever think that she'd never see him again, and never have the chance to apologise to him.

"I just wanted to give this diary to you, Autumn. He would have wanted you to keep it." Cho said, smiling again.

Autumn shook her head. She knew she wasn't the right person to give this to.

"I think he would have wanted you to have it. If you think about it, Cho, who was the person he had to save for the second task? Was it me, or was it you?" she asked, "Who did he really treasure the most, Cho?"

Cho's lips parted, however unable to say anything. Autumn was right. Cedric might have liked Autumn, but the person he cared about the most was Cho. She was shaking her head in refusal. Autumn passed the notebook to Cho, along with the robe she held in her arms. After looking at Autumn for a moment, she threw her arms around her.

"Thank you, Autumn." her voice was shaky, but Autumn knew she was trying to be strong. "You don't understand what this means to me."

Autumn smiled, returning the hug.

* * *

"Where were you?" Hermione asked, the three already standing their with their trunks piled up onto each other. Autumn's was on the top, underneath Hedwig's birdcage. "Hagrid told us you needed to speak to somebody, but he didn't tell us who."

Ron smirked, nudging Harry. "It was Malfoy, wasn't it?"

Autumn frowned and shook her head, "What are you talking about? I was talking to Cho Chang, Ron."

Ron nodded slowly, the smirk not disappearing from his face. He didn't seem easily persuaded. That reminded Autumn of Draco; she hadn't seen him since the last feast, and she didn't want to leave for summer break without seeing him again. Autumn looked around herself, and spotted Vincent Crabbe amongst a crowd with Draco at his side.

"I'll be right back..." Autumn said quietly, leaving the group of three.

"Be quick!" Ron called out from behind.

Autumn pushed through the crowd to get to Draco, who advanced towards her when he saw her. A smile formed on her face, contrasting to Goyle and Crabbe's displeased expressions.

"Are you alright?" he asked, as Autumn caught her breath. She seemed to be doing quite a lot of running today, especially.

"Yeah. I just... wanted to say goodbye before we left." she said, avoiding meeting the eyes of his friends.

Draco smiled, nodding. "Me too, Autumn."

He turned, asking his friends to leave for a moment. Goyle and Crabbe looked at Autumn with an irritated look before they walked off in a different direction.

"So this is it, then. The end of our fourth year at Hogwarts," he started, "You're coming back for the fifth, right?"

"Of course, I am. I'd never miss it." Autumn replied.

There was a brief silence before Draco spoke again. He ran his hand through his light hair before looking down at Autumn. He sighed, closing his eyes for a second before his lips parted. "Promise me you won't find someone else during the summer? You'll still like me when we come back, won't you?"

"Are you kidding me, Draco? Of course, I will. I'll miss you during the summer, but I promise I won't find 'someone new'. I'll only be seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione during the break."

He didn't look relieved, "What if Potter falls for you? Or Weasley? Promise me that nothing willㅡ"

Autumn couldn't contain her laughter, "Harry and Ron are my best friends, Draco. You have nothing to worry about. Besides, they know about us already. I promise you, nothing's going to change during the summer."

He sighed, pulling Autumn into an embrace. "If you break your promise, Autumn, I swear you'll pay for it."

Suddenly, a pair of arms pulled Autumn away from Draco's grasp. It was Ron, who frowned at the sight of Draco. Draco scoffed in disbelief, glaring at the boy.

"Malfoy."

"Weasley."

"Come on, Autumn. The carriages are arriving soon. Harry and Hermione are ready, let's go before we miss it." Ron started pulling Autumn away, as Draco rolled his eyes.

And that was the last time Autumn saw him that year.