Spared [Open]

[theboywhodied]

"Reducto!"

Cedric had found a spot in the grass of this strange city's park from which to work on his spellcasting, starting with some target practice. He'd pushed back the sleeves of his plantsuit as far as was possible and made long movements with his wand, alternating between creating fast streams of bubbles and shooting them down. The almost childish game of bubble-popping was a simple diversion from the stream of thoughts that was flowng just as fast, one that hadn't stopped since the moment he realized he was alive: I'm about to die. It was hard to comprehend, when it seemed like his life had been going so well just hours ago.

Yet these Ohm had thrown everything off balance. Cedric had gone straight to Stacy to ask for his memories restored, as he'd never rest until he knew the truth of what happened. It had been just as hard to remember as that unicorn princess had predicted. Sure, the curse that was meant to kill him had been thrown off by another attack, but he'd heard awful yells. Harry's. When the sedation had worn off and he'd opened his eyes, he'd had to struggle not to scream.

That was what had happened to disrupt the course of history. For now, he had been given days, weeks, maybe months or a year or two to live, that long until he left this crew behind and met his fate. People had talked about their worlds being restored after the war. The Ohm were supposed had something that would fix things as they were meant to be, and 'meant to be' was his death. If he didn't die during the war, he'd be meeting his end immediately afterward. Time couldn't be changed, not even with a Time Turner. It had to happen.

Cedric was living on borrowed time. No one knew how long it would be until they won. They were going to win, he was sure. A small selfish part of him hoped that it would last a while, that he would have time to finish his unfinished business and learn more, but that was unfair. He couldn't allow the needless deaths to hang over his conscience any longer than necessary. The countless innocents killed during the Ohm's attack needed to live, not him. Billions of lives resurrected in exchange for his death, that was fair. He was the spare, not them. No matter what his father said or the Goblet decided, he wasn't special in the eyes of the universe, was he? He was just...

The spare who had been temporarily spared. A bubble waiting to be popped. Pop, pop, pop went the bubbles as his wand moved more precisely. If this was all the life he had left, he might as well do it right.

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[tetsuwan-atom.livejournal.com]

Atom was flying through the City, dipping to plunge through the branches of a leafy tree or tap a passing flagpole, when he spotted Cedric surrounded by bubbles. The rocket thrusters at the bottom of his boots flared as he slowed mid-air, popping a bubble with his hand.

"Hey!" he said brightly. "What're you doing?"

[theboywhodied]

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden voice in the sky. Was someone out playing Quidditch? Cedric looked up, expecting to see a broomstick in the air, but the person above him was flying without one. How odd. That was a thought he was thinking quite often lately. Anyway, he'd best say hello.

"Popping bubbles," Cedric explained. firing a few shots from the long stick in his hand to demonstrate. "It's target practice. I shouldn't let myself get rusty."

[tetsuwan-atom.livejournal.com]

Atom watched Cedric fire spells from his wand with great interest. "Hey, neat! How'd you do that?"

He was only asking because his sensors couldn't identify it as any sort of conventional weapons fire.

[theboywhodied]

"I could ask the same question. I haven't seen anyone fly without a broom before." Cedric turned his wand to hold it in both hands, displaying it for the flying boy to see. Using his magic in public wasn't so bad---at least not so far.

"This is a wand. I'm a wizard, I cast a spell to pop them."

And he waved his wand in an arch, summoning an even bigger stream of bubbles to demonstrate.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Jr. wasn't so much focused on the bubbles (though they were fun to watch when one drifted over and close enough to his face) as much as he was focused on how Cedric was popping them. His movements made his wand noticeable enough, and Jr. hadn't met anybody else on the ship who actually used wands for magic aside from Remus. Usually everybody else just ... did it. And Jr. himself didn't need wands for casting Ether.

He wondered if Cedric was new, or if he had just never seen the boy practicing before. "Maybe some wind'll pick up and speed the targets up a little bit."

[theboywhodied]

Another visitor. Cedric pushed his hair back over his brow, managing a little smile. "I don't know a spell for that, though. I'll have to settle for a heavier target. I won't be able to keep going as long, but I could use the practice."

Cedric was well aware that this was going to look silly, but he didn't care. He stood back, pointed his wand at a collection of small rocks on the ground in front of him, and said "Wingardium Leviosa!"

They floated into the air before them, waving back and forth with his wand as he scrambled them a little. This way and that, and then he wrenched the wand upward to drop them.

As they fell, he cast shrinking charms on every rock he could hit. His accuracy could definitely use some work, but he had time to do that.

"Looks like I'll be busy," he almost laughed.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Hey, not bad," Jr. said as he watched. Hitting things in mid-air was a tough task, though Jr. excelled more at coins than rocks.

"You're the second guy I've ever seen on this ship who uses one of those." He pointed to Cedric's wand.

[theboywhodied]

Cedric flashed an embarrassed grin, though he let himself feel a little pleased. There would be plenty of time to keep practicing and get even better.

"Was it Professor Lupin? He said others have been here before, but he's the only one who's been here a while."

[head-heldhigh.livejournal.com]

Cedric had been witness to Harry quietly freaking out about their circumstances before the young man trundled off alone to cope and to frantically look for his loved ones. Now after having that time to catch his breath, Harry was marginally calmer.

Somewhat.

The ship had a way of putting him on edge. The whole thing reeked of something arcane and awful, like it was all made of dark magic.

In any case, it had occurred to him that he couldn't be lost in his own private world of turmoil over the war. Cedric was here, and Harry wanted a word with him, wanted to apologize.

It took quite a while for him to find him, but there he was, in a park in the city (Harry had to marvel at a whole city being on the ship) popping bubbles.

"Cedric?"

[theboywhodied]

Cedric wasn't quite sure how he felt when he heard the next voice. Harry's. To him, it hadn't been all that long since they had escaped the maze and entered the graveyard. Where he'd died, and he had a suspicion that something terrible had happened afterward. On that day and in the years since.

He couldn't leave Harry alone, not with all of that going on. Cedric offered a spot on the grass beside him, dispelling his bubbles for the moment.

"Hi Harry. What brings you out here?"

[head-heldhigh.livejournal.com]

"I wanted--" It was hard to figure out what exactly to say. "I just wanted to talk to you."

He took a seat next to him.

Yeah, this was awkward. Incredibly awkward. So what did he say? What had he wanted to say all this time? That was easier to figure out. It was broaching the subject that was difficult.

How did you apologize to someone for them getting killed when someone had been gunning for you.

"I think," he said slowly, "that if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but I wanted to tell you how sorry I was. About...you know what about. They were after me, and I was the one that suggested we take the cup together..."

[theboywhodied]

Cedric's heart fell. Yes, he knew this was going to come up. Harry looked like he was really worn down by guilt. That wasn't entirely a surprise.

Looking at the other teen's face made Cedric realise that the whole situation weighed on him too. It was painful, he didn't want to face it, but he knew he had to. Maybe this talk could help him move along and start doing what he was supposed to. Training for the war.

"No, I'll talk," he promised. He listened to Harry trail off and start to blame himself, turning the pieces over in his mind. They'd both spent a while arguing about who should get the Cup, they were as stubborn as each other. And Harry had said just moments before the attack that he hadn't known about the Portkey. He could see the point in the what ifs---if he'd just let Harry take the Cup himself, he might've lived, but what if that changed something that then led to Harry's death? Blame just wasn't simple like that.

"You hadn't cast the Imperius Curse on me, Harry. We argued, I agreed, we took it. You didn't kill me either." So it wasn't his fault. He was prepared to argue this point if necessary.

"I just want to know...what happened after? You got out of there alive, obviously, but there's more than that."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard's used to floating around the outskirts of places, staying out of sight unless he doesn't care if he's seen. With all the new people around, he's a little more shy and guarded, so he's keeping to the shadows. From behind a tree, he watches Cedric pop bubbles.

It's a child-like action, bubbles, like the bubble wands kids used to use back in the summer or get as party favors. It's almost unfamiliar that way - blowing bubbles for the hell of it belongs to a carefree time before The Rest of Howard's Life, before everything went crazy. Maybe that's why he doesn't seem to find it odd that Cedric doesn't have a look of delight or enthrallment on his face. Cedric looks pensive, almost angry, and it takes several minutes for Howard to realize that's unusual.

And furthermore, that Cedric seems to be using an actual wand instead of a bubble wand. Magic. That could be dangerous.

Howard figures it's best to come out of hiding and be friendly than to risk being seen and potentially viewed as a threat, so he walks out from behind the tree as if he'd just arrived. "Something on your mind?"

[theboywhodied]

The steady stream of visitors was almost comforting to Cedric by now. This was the company he was going to have for the rest of his life, so he would get used to them and be kind. It was the least he could do while they were all fighting together.

"A lot of things," he said wearily, watching the last of the current round of bubbles fade away. He didn't bother to pop them. "Just can't believe this is the rest of my life."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard raises his eyebrows at that. Something in Cedric's tone sounds familiar. You don't say this is the rest of your life unless 1) your life sucks or 2) you are expecting to die. Given the caliber of people Stacy collects it could very well be either reason, and Howard could find it in him to empathize with both.

"It's kind of overwhelming, when you think about it. Everything's free here. Not many places you can say that about."

[theboywhodied]

Cedric hadn't even thought about his lack of money, except for the exchange with Rarity. He still wanted to visit her shop and get some proper clothing, as he really hated this plantsuit. Would these people have taken a few sickles and knuts?

"I've been offering to help out. I can't just take things without repaying. I know there's a clothing shop, but what else can you get around here?"

[hadabrother.livejournal.com]

Jake spent most of his time down in the city or in the media center, doing as much research as he could and trying to get his thoughts in order. The Ohm had to have a weakness somewhere. Something he - they - could exploit. Not that he'd been able to find much. Even the dalgig didn't know that much about them and they weren't sharing much of that. How surprising. So he walked - just walked - and tried to think about everything that had happened. His brother, Iniss, his mother coming back, all the people he'd met. Making suring everyone made it home alive.

Could he really send Rachel and his brother back, knowing they'd just be facing death?

He paused - someone else was down here. Not that he expected anything else. Jake ran into people down here, others just walking and exploring, or gathering thoughts. Or target practice. Jake watched Cedric for a moment, taking him in. He knew some sort of magic or had some sort of ability, judging by the way he was simply creating bubbles out of thin air. It reminded him of a wizard from a picture-book - a magic-wand, some magic words and hey, presto! You could do anything.

Sometimes he wished he had something like that instead of being able to morph.

"Sorry to interrupt," He finally nodded and spoke, "I've just never seen anyone do something quite like that."

He smiled - he'd seen a lot, but the fact that creating something out of nothing could still surprise him and make him think was pleasant. Even if the smile didn't quite touch his eyes.

Belatedly, he added, "I'm Jake."

[theboywhodied]

These visitors! So Cedric had learned that the city park was a busier place than he had expected. He did love the atmosphere, though, and the people weren't so bad. It was nice to be able to talk about things.

"It's magic," Cedric explained unnecessarily, but he still smiled when he said it. He'd grown up in the wizarding world, around magic all his life, but the things he'd learned to do with it were still impressive. "We're usually not allowed to cast it around non-magical people, but I'm not supposed to hide here."

He got to his feet and tucked the wand into the pouch he'd forced into his plantsuit sleeve, offering his hand. "I'm Cedric. It's good to meet you, Jake. Are you just wandering around, or are you headed somewhere?"

[hadabrother.livejournal.com]

That sounded familiar, but also different in a way. With Jake, it'd been him and five friends, all incredibly paranoid. Cedric just sounded like it was expected of him. Jake nodded slowly, "Magic? I don't think we have that where I'm from. Although... we do have some impressive technology. And aliens."

He shook the offered hand with a shrug, "Walking, mostly. Thinking. The city's a big place, so it's easy to get lost in."

[theboywhodied]

"I've seen that. Got turned 'round by the river a few times, and now I'm not quite sure how I'll find the transport tubes again. But I'll work it out."

Cedric waved another stream of bubbles in, this time simply watching them drift off. "Anything you're thinking about?"

It would be a distraction, at least, from what he was thinking about.

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"You're improved from what I remember," his former professor said as he approached.

Cedric might have expected Lupin to occupy himself solely with Sirius, but the truth was that he thought of himself as something of a caretaker for all the wizards on this ship. As the one most used to this situation, he had a duty and a privilege to guide and aid the others here.

[theboywhodied]

Professor Lupin's voice. Cedric stowed his wand away out of habit and looked up, definitely surprised. It was just that kind of day, wasn't it?

"I had to get better, sir," he started to explain. "I wasn't going to survive the tournament without some more practice. Harry and I just barely made it."

And the rest, as they knew, had all been horrible. "Anyway, I have to keep it up for the fights ahead. Once I'm done, I'll try to figure out which spells might work on the Ohm.

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

"Ah yes, you had mentioned the tournament, I'd forgotten. Amazing to think they had brought it back." James would have been selected for Hogwarts, he couldn't help but think. Sirius would have tried, and certainly he himself would have put his name in simply to make them happy, but it would have been James who took the honors.

"There is no Hogwarts here and we're sort on classrooms, but I enjoyed teaching enough that I wouldn't mind taking it up again, if you'd like that."

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Remus!"

Jr. tossed him a wave. And though he was always good at looking happy, he looked a little more happier than usual. And after meeting Cedric, it seemed like the both of them weren't alone anymore.

[myboggartismoon.livejournal.com]

He lifted a hand, smiling. "You look cheerful today. Found someone you know?"