User blog:The Vaudevillain Veteran/Second Chance: Chapter 11

"Oh no." Cedric thought to himself, he was back at that cursed graveyard again, lifeless and misty as the same day he first met his end.

Cedric checked his pockets for his wand and just as before, nothing. Making sure to make as little noise as possible Cedric slowly moved from tombstone to tombstone to not get surprised by any would-be attackers.

A silent murmur filled the air of the barren cemetery, which slowly evolved into a more audible noise. Out of instinct Cedric followed the noise. When Cedric approached the source of the murmurs and not wanting to be seen, hide behind one of the many large tombstones. Peeking out to see what was currently unfolding Cedric saw two people pinned onto two giant crosses that stood on an empty patch of grass. Standing around these two crosses were a group of people all draped in black cloaks. When Cedric inspected the two people on the cross further he noticed it was-

"MOM! DAD!" Cedric yelled, attracting the attention of the hooded individuals. Without thinking twice Cedric beelined towards the group and attempted to fight them with his fists. He managed to punch the first hooded individual and was about to attack another, when he felt his body go numb.

"STUPEFY!" An eerily high cold voice called out.

Cedric collapsed to the ground like a ton of bricks, his body held down by a force he couldn`t break out of

"Damn you!" Cedric cursed while two of the hooded men picked him up and held each of his arms. The others moved aside to let a bald man with deathly pale skin and a slit like nose approach Cedric.

The man chuckled upon meeting Cedric`s hateful eyes "You didn`t learn the first time did you Diggory? Spares like you should stay dead, and that`s why you will meet the fate of young Harry here..." the man sneered as with a snap of his fingers one of the hooded men dropped a corpse in front of Cedric.

Cedric`s eyes widened, this was Harry`s corpse in front of him.

"You`re an evil bastard you know that?" Cedric sneered.

"This is what happens when you cross the Dark Lord Diggory. AVADA KEDAVRA!" the Dark Lord screeched as a blinding green light enveloped Cedric`s vision.

"Cedric! Cedric!" Sasha called out to Cedric who was thrashing about on the bed. Cedric quickly shot up from the bed drenched in sweat.

"It`s the same dream again...." Cedric muttered as he was hugged in a firm embrace by Sasha, Aldana and Yuriko.

"Sasha was the first one to speak up. "Cedric it`s not real, please don`t stress yourself like this."

"I know Sasha but I just can`t stop thinking of my parents and how they are still not safe." Cedric said weakly.

"We will do whatever it takes to make sure your parents are safe and sound Cedric." Aldana reassured as she pecked Cedric`s neck with kisses.

Later:

"Is this the place?" Cedric asked the Lich as they stood in the middle of a meadow.

"Yes. do you see that tree in the distance? That`s where Aphrodite is." the Lich explained and with a small pop, disappeared.

Cedric made his way toward the tree and was almost immediately greated by the tiny fairies that inhabited this realm.

"Hehehe another boy!"

"What brings you here stranger?" one of the fairies asked.

"I`m here to meet with Aphrodite little one as I need to ask her something." Cedric answered.

"Oh ok. Neechan is currently inside her tree with her husband." the fairy said to Cedric who then proceeded to fly towards the tree with Cedric right behind her.

"Neechan! A man says he`s here to see you!" the fairy announced.

Cedric walked inside the tree to see a blonde woman with purple eyes sitting on a giant beanbag with a small sleeping child on her lap.

"Hello miss Aphrodite, I am King Cedric of Lescatie." Cedric greeted Aphrodite

"Nice to meet you too Cedric, to what do I owe the honour of meeting you?" Aphrodite asked.

"Do you by any chance know of any uh.... Titanias that are still single?" Cedric asked sheepishly.

"Hmmm lemme think. If I remember correctly Desdemona is still single. Why what is the matter?" Aphrodite asked whilst stroking her husband`s hair.

"A friend of mine by the name of Harry Potter was orphaned at a young age and I believe he needs a big sister to be there for him." Cedric explained.

"That`s very sweet of you Cedric. I will inform Desdemona as soon as possible." Aphrodite stated.

"Thank you so much Aphrodite." Cedric thanked as he walked out of the tree until he realised something.....

He didn`t know how to get back to Lescatie.

Rather embarrassed at forgetting that he can`t apparate between different dimensions Cedric headed back to Aphrodite`s tree.

"Hey uh Aphrodite I just realised that I uh... can`t apparate out of here so is it ok if you can help teleport me out of here?" Cedric asked.

Aphrodite chuckled. "Sure thing Cedric just close your eyes and I`ll begin the spell.

2 Weeks Later: 14 September 1995

To say that Cedric had buttterflies in his stomach was an understatement, he was truly anxious as today was the day he was going back to his former world to rescue his parents......and Harry. Today also just so happened to be his 18th birthday so ironically one could say this was one of the greatest birthday presents one could recieve; being reunited with family after being separated from them. In the throne room sat Cedric and his three wives waiting for Druella to arrive.

The large doors to the throne room were swung open by two Dullahans accompanying Druella.

"It`s time. It was very tricky but we managed to create an interdimensional portal to your world Cedric. Now we just need to go the Crossroads of the World." Druella announced.

"Ok. Although I`m not going alone, I will need Sasha, Yuriko and Aldana to accompany me just in case any unforeseen circumstances arrive while I`m gone." Cedric stated.

"That is fine, now let`s go shall we?" A powerful white light engulfed the throne room. Once the light ceased Cedric was inside this giant chamber that had a bluish green portal in the middle.

"Welcome to the crossroads of the world Cedric." Druella announced cheerfully.

"So this is it huh?" Cedric asked; staring at the portal in awe.

"Yep. But before you go you'll need these boards to traverse through the crossroads." Druella advised as she tossed six boards to Cedric, Sasha, Aldana and Yuriko, with Cedric and Sasha each carrying one board on their back.

"One more thing, our estimates reveal that the portal will only be open for a maximum of 12 hours before it closes permanently. So please finish this as quickly as you can Cedric. Also when you enter the portal you will drop about 10 metres. Below you there will be three rails that can only be traversed by the boards I have given you so make sure that as soon as you enter you place the boards beneath your feet." Druella warned.

"Got it, we'll be as quick as we can." Cedric stated confidently.

Without any further due Cedric ran into the portal with his three wives not far behind him.

Cedric was not prepared for the kaleidoscopic patterns that bombarded his eyes. He noticed that he was falling and upon looking down saw what appeared to be the three rails made out of light. Citing Druella`s advice Cedric immediately placed the board underneath his feet just before he landed on the central rain and proceeded to follow it.

5 minutes later:

The last 5 minutes were more than likely the longest 5 minutes Cedric had ever experienced in his life. The crossroads of the world was far more bizarre than he had expected. The flashly bright colours had distracted him and many times he had nearly fallen off. Thankfully the hallucogenic trip had finally ended and the quartet had landed onto a grassy field.

Cedric scanned his surroundings and almost immediately spotted his house. A mixture of nervousness and excitement built up inside of Cedric, the portal worked, it actually worked!

"Well guys welcome to my world, just down the road is my house. Let me do the talking as my dad tends to be on edge when strangers are near." Cedric announced with the women paying rapt attention.

"Well, here goes nothing." Cedric remarked dryly as approached the door to his old house and knocked on it.

"

'A/N: Thank you again Ore-samma for allowing me to use Aphrodite! The Crossroads of the World was inspired by the Teensie Highway level from the video game Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc'