A War at the End of the World

Amelia Wrenswift sat under a large fir tree by the lake watching the moonlight pour over the water until it was nothing but ripples of silver and liquid noises that didn’t quite follow a beat, but still settled a sense of ease she didn’t often feel at Hogwarts. Not since Cedric has died. When the Darklord killed him, he might as well have blasted a hole through the center of the circle for all the difference it would have made to Amelia. She had loved Cedric more than she thought was possible. More than she had intended when they had first started seeing each other.



It was supposed to be something casual, something simple, a bit of flirtation, only a spot of jolly good fun. “Nothing more serious than shaking the hand of the prettiest girl in the room,” Cedric had said. They had done so much more than shaking hands. And that had been all right. Then there was Cedric’s flirtation with Cho Chang. And for a moment she had been upset. And she had had to laugh at herself.

Who was she to get upset if Cedric had himself a good time with another girl? It shouldn’t have mattered to her. And it didn’t. Or at least that’s what she told herself. And kept telling herself. Especially after he had asked Cho to the Yule Ball and not her. Not that she could get upset. Nor did she. In fact she went to the Yule ball with some other girls from her Dorm and had the best night of her life to that date. She laughed, she danced, and she even managed a drink or five with one of the boys from Victor Krum’s school whom had managed to sneak in a flask of Giant Spirit’s. It tasted terrible, but didn’t take much to build up a girl’s confidence.

She had danced with one boy after another and never once bothered to look at Cedric and when the Ball came to an end she was the last to leave the dance floor even though she danced all by herself. It was a magical evening and she hadn’t needed silly handsome and very charming Mr. Diggory to enjoy it. Thinking about Cedric had made her stay on the dance floor through one more song and then she had headed for her dorm hoping the stairs hadn’t decided to change that night since her head wasn’t in the right order to figure out a new way to the dorms if she had to.

She made it halfway down a hallway when she felt a hand clench tightly over her wrist and yank her into an abandoned classroom. She tried to scream, but found the sound muffled by a pair of lips that had fastened over hers. The mouth had a slightly sweet taste to it like barely sweeten chocolate and there was a hint of honeyed wine and mint smokers. Amelia had pushed Cedric off of her and given him the full weight of a very unhappy glare.

“And who do you think you are to be grabbing girls in the dead of the night to have your way with them?” She had asked with mock outrage. She was fairly sure he had thought she was Cho and from the honeyed wine she had tasted she could even understand the mistake. She and Cho were similar in size and build though Cho was a bit frailer though Amelia supposed others were call that “delicate”. He had gone to the ball with Cho tonight and so she would be his bit of fun. Maybe tomorrow if he was not too tired she would persuade him for a quick romp in the Owlery, but even as she thought it she rejected the idea. The Owlery was cold and drafty and the last time she had been sure she had gotten frostbite in some pretty uncomfortable places, but had refused to go to Pomfrey, because she had no intention of explaining how those bits of herself had been exposed to the cold. That wasn’t the reason she rejected the idea though, but it was easier to use that excuse then to simply say she didn’t want Cho’s sloppy seconds. Still, it didn’t mean she couldn’t give him a hard time about it. He deserved it.

Cedric had his own look of outrage all over his face. Real outrage.

“What am I doing? What the hell are you doing? Gallivanting and carrying on as you have tonight. I thought you might like some more personal attention since you seemed to be asking for it all over the ball.”

Cedric’s words stung sharply and she felt the sides of her face glow a hot uncomfortable red.

“That’s real sweet of you Cedric. I think I’m going o go now.”

Amelia had turned to leave then, but found herself grabbed again and spun into another frantic kiss that this time had just the tiniest bit of desperation about it.

When Amelia finally managed to pull herself out of the kiss she backed up to the far side of the room. “What was that?”

Cedric stared at her deadpan and then suddenly started to move about the room in a flurry of dress robes and muttered curses. When he was done he stopped in front of Amelia and gave her a very serious look. “You do realize I’m terribly in love with you right. You’re being like this because you don’t love me, right? Because that would make you unbelievably thick, but would be infinitely more tolerable than you getting it and still being like this. So which is it? Are you thick or just not in love with me and a bit of a bitch on top of it all?”

Amelia couldn’t have been more stunned if she had been struck with hex right at that moment. Cedric loved her? How long had he been in love with her? Why didn’t he ever say anything? Why was he all over Cho Chang? Did he just call her thick?!!

Amelia could feel her temper moving about her like a storm. It was official Cedric Diggory was the worst human being on the face of the wizarding world. On the face of the muggle world. He was a giant insensitive git who didn’t realize when he had a good thing and then thought it was alright to go around telling girls that had fallen in love with him that they were thick just because they hadn’t figured out that the feelings they might have been having for him were returned. She was going to say all that plus more to him, but as soon as she opened her mouth Cedric had swooped in for another kiss and this time he didn’t stop until all thoughts angry, confused, or coherent existed. When the kiss ended Amelia leaned her head against Cedric’s chest and just listened to the sound of his heart, marveling at how like hers it sounded. Two hearts one beat. That sounded right to her.

“So we’re dating now, right? Proper dating and all that?” Cedric sounded confused and not the just the tiniest bit loss.

Amelia didn’t say anything, but she did smile. It was hard not to and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to stop.

“Does this mean you’ll try anal?”



Amelia smiled at the memory. Cedric always did know how to say the perfectly wrong thing at the most inappropriate time. But that was what she had loved about him. They were going to tell their parents that they were seeing each other over the summer holiday and had plans for moving in together after she graduated. They had even decided what part of London to move to, a little muggle flat not too far from Diagon Alley. But then the Tri-wizard tournament had happened. Harry and Cedric disappeared, but only Harry had come back.

Amelia hadn’t known what to do. All of her plans for the future had been destroyed in a bright flash of green and silly four years sniveling over a boy he hardly knew, over her boy that he hardly knew. The hardest thing about it though was that no one understood why she was so sad. No one had known about Cedric and herself. It wasn’t like it was a secret they needed to keep, but it had made it fun and interesting for them. Giving them reasons to sneak out at night and explore. They had honestly done more exploring than anything else. Well, not more, but certainly more than most people would have expected out of a new relationship. The adventure was the thing they both loved and the thing that took Cedric away. Amelia found it hard to make a lot of sense out of it all and so didn’t bother trying. All she needed to know anymore was that Cedric was gone and she had to move on.

Which was what she had come out to the lake to do. The spot under the tree had been the first place they had…well it had been the place where she learned that Cedric had an interesting birthmark on his inner left thigh. But more than that it was the place that they had gone on the their first real date after the Yule ball. While everyone else went to Hogsmeade they had sat under the tree and had a very quite and tame picnic lunch. Nothing special or terribly interesting, just two people enjoying the others company.

It had been the best day.

The tree by the lake was where they had begun together and now it was going to be the place they ended. Cedric would have wanted her to move on. For months she had been holding onto Cedric for dear life not letting the ache in her heart heal, constantly stabbing at it so that it bled just a little bit to remind her of how much she had loved Cedric. Amelia unwrapped the scarf she wore from around her neck and held it in her hands, running her fingers over the rough fabric. It was Cedric’s scarf. The only thing she had left of him: a forgotten item during one of their more hasty meetings. Amelia had worn the scarf all summer and also during the fall term. Most people had thought she was being at worst, strange and at best, eccentric. No one could see that she was hurting and was trying to close the wound with a scratchy scarf.

A scarf that Cedric hadn’t even liked that much. Amelia laughed at herself and thought about how much Cedric would have teased anyone else for doing what she had done. She was going to burn the scarf. Burn it and move on. Oh she wouldn’t get over Cedric tonight and maybe not ever, but at least she was proving to herself that she was going to move forward with her life instead of holding onto something that should have been long since discarded.

Amelia dropped the scarf to the ground and brought her wand out readying the incidio charm when she heard two loud pops followed by other more distant ones.

“Apparating through ‘em wards is nasty business I tells you. Thought I was gonna splinch my liver for sure.” The man stretch himself out and twisted the upper half of his body, trying to work out a kink.

“Never would have happen mate. That Scrimgeour knew what he was doing. Mucks about with some strong magics that one does. If he said you’d make it through with everything in place he meant it.” The man tapped his chest and Amelia could hear the smile in his voice. “And look here we are safe and sound and with all our pieces in tact.”

“Still say we should have come in by broom. Not so chancy that idea was.”

“Fah!” the second man said waving his hand. “Could have been seen and that would have ruined the Prime Ministers plans for sure. And the last thing you’d be wanting to do is be the reason the Prime Ministers plans don’t come about. For all we know we could have been seen even with us apparating in.”

The other man donned a horrified expression and looked around wildly. Amelia held her breath in the shadow of the tree, praying that the darkness was enough to hide her. She heard the one of the men laugh and slap his knee.

“The look on your face,” he took a deep breath and let out another deep laugh. “Priceless.”

“Haha!” The second man said unhappily. “S’not a game is it? We’re here to on business and this ain’t no time to be playing the funny mucky muck. We have’ta sterilize the castle before anyone can get words out for reinforcements. Got to make this look like the Deatheaters came through and had themselves a smashing good time killing Dumbledore’s lot. Can’t let it get traced back to the Auroras.”

“No, no. You’re right. That would be bad and this is no time for jokes,” the man said. He paused. “Still the look on your face.”

“Come on you,” the laughing man’s companion said, the roll in his eyes audible in his tone. “We need to meet with the others and we’d best not be late.”

“Right then. Let’s move.”

Amelia felt herself starting to turn blue as the men started to make their way towards the castle. They were Auroras? They were going to sterilize the castle? That couldn’t be right. But, she had heard them and they didn’t sound like they had been joking around. At least not about that bit. They were going to sterilize the school. They were going to kill all her friends. She had to do something. But she couldn’t get back to the castle without crossing the two men who were still close enough that she could hear the sounds of their footfalls. She couldn’t apparate within the castle boundaries either like the men had done. She almost felt helpless, except…except there was one charm that she knew that would let her alert the rest of the school. The only problem was it would attention to her. A lot of attention.

Amelia hesitated for a moment and wondered if she should wait until the men were farther away from her before she cast the charm. By the time they ran back to where she was now she would be half way to the boundary and once she crossed she could apparate to safety. Good plan. The only problem was that further away from her meant closer to her friends. Closer to their targets.

Amelia took a deep breath.

It wasn’t really a choice. Or at least not much of one. Amelia bent down and retrieved Cedric’s scarf and wrapped it around her neck like it was the last piece to a suit of armor and not a scratchy, ugly, slightly smelly thing she should have burned the first time she saw Cedric wearing it. She thought about the brave boy once and stepped out of the shadow of the fir tree and lifted her wand to the sky, shouting her charm.

It was a spell Cedric had taught her. He had told her it was a bit like the Patronus in that it shaped an animal out of light and magic. The animal couldn’t do much against a dementor, but it could carry a message. The louder the message the bigger the animal. Cedric had shown the charm to her when they went to explore the shrieking shack. His charm had taken the form of a bear, a bear that had dwarfed the shack, and shouted, “I love this Woman!” It had been so loud she had been surprised no teacher’s from the school had come to investigate. And then she had been eternally grateful to whatever power was responsible for keeping the teachers away when the bear added no less loudly, “She’s absolutely stunning in the sack!”

Most inappropriate thing. The worst time. But she’d still kissed him and had him teach her the charm.

She sent a thank you to Cedric as she poured everything she had into the charm not saving anything for herself. A brilliant blue light appeared at the end of her wand and began to grow brighter until their were no shadows anywhere to be found and Amelia’s eyes watered from the brightness. When she thought she could take it no longer the light exploded from her wand and shot into the air breaking apart and becoming hundreds of little individual lights. Hundreds of little wrens.

Cedric had said it was appropriate the first time she had cast the charm and multiple little birds had appeared instead of one larger animal. She had been annoyed. The birds hovered above her fluttering around for a moment waiting for something. Waiting for her. Amelia stumbled and fell to her knees exhausted from the casting. The birds continued to mill about not sure what to do without direction.

It was another sore point for her with the charm. Cedric didn’t need to direct his bear, but the wrens were helpless without her.

Too tired to stand Amelia waved her hands towards the castle and croaked out, “Go! Warn them! The Auroras have come to kill them!”

The wrens hesitated for a moment and then as one shot off into the night, a flock of shooting stars, and with one voice they called cried out, “GO! Warn Them! The Auroras have come to kill them! GO! Warn Them! The Auroras have come to kill them!

GO! Warn Them! The Auroras have come to kill them!”

Amelia, for a moment, felt a sharp twist of vexation, but then decided it was good enough. The message was out. Amelia put her hands on the ground to steady herself and pushed herself onto her feet determined to at least try to put as much distance between herself and the Auroras she had listened to earlier. As soon as she was standing upright she could hear the two men running back toward her. Amelia turned intent on running, but was instead just in time to see a harsh green unforgiving light fly out of the shadows in her direction.

Amelia closed her eyes and turned her body away and prayed that it wouldn’t hurt, but instead of feeling the impact of the curse, she felt herself embraced by strong arms and the scent of mint smokers. Amelia opened her eyes and looked up into the large goofy smile and prettiest boy she had ever met.

“Cedric,” she half cried, half sobbed. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Cedric smiled at her and if there was something in the smile that seemed a bit sad Amelia didn’t notice. “I did. I always knew I’d see you again. Maybe not this soon, but I always knew.”

Amelia tried to say something but couldn’t through the tears. There was so much to process. So much to realize, but she couldn’t. All she knew was the Cedric was with her again. And for now that was all she needed. “Don’t let go of me Cedric. Don’t let go. I don’t want to wake up and find out this was a dream.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t. Not ever. It’s you and me now Amelia Wrenswift. You and me for now on.”

Amelia leaned against Cedric’s chest and did what came naturally. Amelia smiled.



Jervis and Sean came to a stop right where they had seen the Echoing charm come from.

“Do you see any body Jervis?”

“No. Nothing Sean. Where the hell could they gotten off to.”

“No where gentlemen. She has gotten off to no where.” The words sounded as if they had been uttered on a breath so cold it made them both shiver a bit.

The two men turned toward the fir tree and watch as a tall woman whose hair was so blonde it was almost white in the moonlight emerged from the shadows.

“Sena.” Jarvis’s tone was flat. “I know someone set off that charm now where are they?”

“You’re standing in her Jarvis.”

Jarvis looked down and saw nothing but dust and a uncomfortable looking scarf. Suddenly Jarvis realized what happened and danced uncomfortably out of the dust remains.

“Really Sena?” Jarvis asked without a hint of pity but chock full of annoyance. “Not even enough to identify. How will we inform her family?”

“She was alerting the castle. I didn’t have time to pick and chose the way she was going to die.”

Jarvis opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Sean’s rough voice.

“She wasn’t going to. She did. So if you two are quite done with this little pissing contest let’s get to our post before we screw the mission up any more than it already is.”

Jarvis and Sena watched each other for a moment and then without a word Sena turned and started a quick march toward the castle. Sean followed after a warning look at Jarvis. Jarvis looked down at the remains again. The man made a promise to figure out which student had died so that the family could be told for sure that their child had died and not have to wonder if he/she had survived what was about to come. As he followed his companions Jarvis once again wondered at the wisdom of the auroras allying themselves with creatures like Sena.

Still orders were orders and Jarvis had his. And Jarvis had never once failed to carry out an order. No matter how much he disliked it.