102A/N: Written for the Hermione's Nook Rare Pair Soulmate Fest 2020. I wrote two of them. This is the angsty one. This one does not have a HEA.
If you want to read them BOTH, you should read this one SECOND, because in the other one the trope comes as kind of a surprise, and knowing it ahead of time from this one will vaguely RUIN it.
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If you close your eyes, you can see what your soulmate sees.
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Cedric's first memory is from when he was two. He had been put down for a nap and was lying in his bed, trying to fall asleep, when the back of his eyelids had exploded with color.
There was a woman holding him, suddenly, her mouth moving as if she was cooing. He couldn't hear anything, but from the way the scene in front of him focused and unfocused, even at two, he knew enough and was excited to realize what had happened.
His soulmate had finally been born.
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Hermione has never understood the odd visions she sees when she closes her eyes.
Many of them are innocuous enough – she is playing with chickens, she is doing chores around a strange house, she is playing with a stuffed dragon.
But some of them are odd.
She is watching a woman stirring a cauldron the size of a desk.
She is flying on a broomstick, her feet skimming the grass on the ground.
She is on a street full of people dressed funny, all wearing weird dresses and robes.
Her parents think she has an overactive imagination. They don't believe her when she tells them that she is seeing through someone else's eyes, that there is someone out there who is actually living through these things.
Her parents don't listen to her, so Hermione stops telling them. She stops talking to them as often, choosing instead to sit alone in her playroom.
She just watches through the other's eyes instead.
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Cedric is shocked, horrified, and secretly tantalized by the fact his soulmate is a Muggle-born.
He has purposefully closed his eyes for long periods of time throughout the day, to see whatever she is seeing. He sees a muggle house with no evidence of magic, he sees what must be muggle primary school, and he sees electricity and cars and other mystical muggle things.
He also sees books. Many, many books. His soulmate clearly likes to read, and often when he closes his eyes, her eyes are just focused on whatever book she is reading.
One day, when he closes his eyes to see through hers, her vision is swimming, and when it clears, he realizes she is on the ground, with people laughing above her.
Bullies.
Her palms are scuffed from the ground and her knees are bleeding, he can see. She runs away while the bullies laugh after her, and once she gets behind some bushes, her vision swims again as she cries.
Cedric is young, only nine years old himself. He cannot find his soulmate, and he cannot tell her everything will be okay. His soulmate is young, vulnerable, and he does not know how to help her.
He promises himself that he will grow strong for her so he can protect her from bullies one day. When she gets to Hogwarts with him, he will make sure he is powerful enough to make sure she is safe.
He will make sure with him at her side, she will never have to be alone.
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Hermione's visions change as she gets older. Instead of random visions from a child playing, she now sees what she thinks must be a school. She sees students in uniforms (but weird, cloak-like uniforms) and books and classes. She knows enough to recognize a school, no matter how odd the details.
And the details are odd.
There is a wand in her hand at times, making a feather float. She is standing over a cauldron, watching something green bubble inside. She is in a large hall with candles floating over her, with odd foods spread out on the table at her fingertips.
Hermione is too old to believe in magic, she knows, but she cannot help it, with these visions she sees.
She devours books on witches, wizards, magic, and everything of the sort she can find. Nothing of what she finds adequately describes or explains what she sees, but she keeps trying anyway.
None of her classmates at school have visions like this. They laugh at her and call her weird, leaving Hermione even more isolated and alone than before.
But Hermione knows it is real, even if she is all alone in her belief.
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The day Cedric gets his 3rd year letter for school, he closes his eyes excitedly to wait. He knows what is coming, and he is beyond excited for it to finally happen.
It takes over an hour, but his soulmate is playing outside when an owl swoops down from the sky, dropping a letter at her feet.
Miss Hermione Granger
The lavender bedroom
84 Cherry Court
Kensington, England
Hermione Granger. He has a soulmate, and her name is Hermione Granger.
Cedric can't wait to meet her in September.
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When Hermione gets her Hogwarts letter, her parents think it is a joke. But Hermione knows, she knows, that this is her chance, that everything she's seen is real, and she anxiously awaits the promised professor to introduce her and her parents to magic.
She doesn't quite expect the woman to turn into a cat, but she does.
It is undeniably magic.
Her parents agree to let her go.
The magic street Hermione has seen before in her visions spreads out before her, and Hermione is skipping next to her professor.
I've seen this before, she says. I've seen this sometimes, when I close my eyes.
The professor gives her a fond smile.
That was your soulmate, she tells Hermione. When you close your eyes, you can see through the eyes of your soulmate.
A soulmate, Hermione thinks, the word leaving her awed.
Despite having no idea who it is, Hermione feels warm at the thought of having someone matched to her, someone to be with, so she'll never be alone.
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On September 1st, Cedric is practically vibrating in his boots. His father is looking at him proudly, indulgent, and his mother gives him a fond smile as he says good-bye. They both know today he will meet his soulmate – she's all he's talked about for half the summer – and they both fondly remember the day they finally met each other. They are excited for him to have this moment, and Cedric is excited to take this step into becoming a man.
The Hogwarts Express moves beneath his feet as he explores the train, asking around for a Hermione. Has anyone seen Hermione Granger?
He finally finds her far down the corridor, helping a boy look for a toad. New to this world, and his soulmate is already helping others. She must have such a warm heart, he thinks. She must be so kind and gentle.
Hermione?, he asks
The girl turns.
She is so small, so young, even though she is not much younger than him. Her eyes are hazel, and her brown hair spills over her shoulders in riotous curls. Her front teeth are too big for her mouth right now, and she looks like she's practically swimming in her new school robes.
She looks beautiful, he thinks. His soulmate. She looks perfect.
She also looks surprised and suspicious.
How did you know my name, she wants to know. I've never met you before.
Cedric takes her hand and tugs her into a nearby empty luggage compartment, ignoring her loud objection and demand to know what's going on. Once inside, he closes the door and turns to her, anxious.
Close your eyes, he tells her. Close your eyes and tell me what you see.
Hermione's eyes go wide for a moment in realization before they snap shut, and Cedric makes sure he keeps his own eyes open and looking at her, watching for her gasp.
Her eyes snap back open, full of wonder.
It's you, she says. It's you whose life I've been glimpsing.
Cedric offers her a grin and a hand.
I'm Cedric Diggory, he introduces himself. I'm your soulmate.
Hermione ignores his hand in favor of throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him as close as she can. Though his face blooms a bright red as she babbles on about wondering who he was for so long and being so glad she finally gets to meet him and how she always felt so alone, Cedric knows he wouldn't change this moment for the world.
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Hermione has difficulty making friends.
Making friends is hard in school for her, no matter what the subject matter. Transfiguration class is no different from Grammar class; her classmates still shoot her ugly, dirty looks when she answers the teacher correctly.
Show-off, they mutter under their breath. Teacher's pet. Suck-up. Know-it-all.
Hermione does her best to not let it get to her. But it's hard. Once again, she feels isolated and alone, not able to even get her bearings around her before people start picking on her.
But then…
Cedric comes.
Hermione knows it is stupid and immature to idolize him so, but she admires Cedric and already likes him so much. He finds her after classes to help her get from place to place, he helps her study and answers questions for her homework, and he scowls and shoos off the bullies who harass her.
Thank you, she tells him. Thank you for telling them off.
He smiles at her, and her heart skips a beat.
Always, he tells her. You're my soulmate. We're meant to be together forever.
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Soulmates are a touchy subject amongst Hogwarts students. Not everyone has one, after all, and those who do not are incredibly jealous of those who do. Because of this, most people do not openly share that they have soulmates until they are formally courting. It's almost considered bad luck, to a degree. And many people do not share them at all.
Cedric suspects that there are several Slytherin families that would deny they have a non-pureblood soulmate to their deathbed. He wonders if the defections throughout the years from the old families were related to love and having a true soulmate to bond to.
Though Cedric does not tell anyone, it is obvious to anyone who looks; he protects Hermione, he guards her from danger, and he holds her when she cries after class one day on Halloween, upset from another boy calling her insufferable.
Why are they so mean, she wants to know. All she was doing was what the teacher asked.
Cedric strokes her back and soothes her. He doesn't know, he tells her, but it doesn't matter. She's brilliant and she's going to take the world by storm, and he's going to be beside her every step of the way.
He holds her as she cries in the Hufflepuff common room, both of them missing the feast.
The loud thuds of a misplaced troll in the hallway go unnoticed.
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Hermione and Cedric meet regularly. They are never far from each other's side.
Hermione makes a couple friends in her own House, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Friendship is slow to come, but Cedric's gentle encouragement gradually helps her open up.
Cedric helps her practice the practical parts of her classes. Hermione is already brilliant and the top of her class; Cedric's help put her on par for being able to skip a year, if she wanted.
Over the years, Hermione confides in Cedric everything; how she is terrified of being alone, how she's scared of the dark, how she secretly feared no one would ever truly love a freak like her. Cedric reassures her that he's there for her, how he'll protect her from creatures in the dark, and how he loves her just the way she is.
Once Hermione's of a proper age, he kisses away her worries, too.
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Cedric has confided in Hermione his wish to make his mark on the world, his wish to stand out, to be recognized for who he is, not just "that handsome Hufflepuff". Hermione encourages him, knowing how important it is to feel seen, and it is with her cautious support that he enters his name for the Triwizard tournament.
When he's chosen as Hogwarts champion, Hermione beams and claps for him, and he's on top of the world.
Harry being thrown in as a mysteriously ominous fourth champion is a krup in the kettle no one expected, but Cedric rolls with it. Harry will be working more to keep himself alive than actually win, and Hermione is happy to continue cheering for her soulmate while helping Harry learn enough to survive.
Cedric scores well in the tournament. He does well in the First Task, he promptly saves Hermione in the second, and he is tied with Harry for first for the start of the Third.
The evening is bright and clear. Cedric gives Hermione a kiss for good luck before moving to outside the hedge maze, stretching his legs, and double-checking his wand.
Cedric feels good.
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Hermione is anxious.
She has always worried about Cedric during this tournament, though she did her best not to show it, wanting to be as supportive as she possibly could. Cedric dodging the dragon had her on edge, and she was glad she got to sleep through the second one, but this…
Something just feels wrong. There is something tense lurking in the air.
The cannon goes off, and Hermione immediately shuts her eyes. Watching a hedge maze is stupid, but Hermione can watch through Cedric, watch and see what he's doing and making sure he's safe.
Cedric starts out strong, fighting Blasted-End Skrewts and navigating around a Venomous Tentacula. But mid-maze Viktor Krum attacks him, and Hermione gasps as he fights for his life.
She's relieved to see Harry come out of nowhere and stun Krum. She sees Harry talking to him – she only shares his eyes, not his ears – and eventually they seem to settle on sending up red sparks and continuing on.
The sense of something wrong grows and Hermione watches Cedric go through the maze. When he encounters Harry again with a scuffle near the end, they are both moments away from grabbing the Cup, and she can tell they are arguing over who should take it.
She can read Harry's lips: "Both of us?" and watches as they both reach out, counting to three. But instead of loud triumphant music and green sparks erupting into the air, she sees the world whirl around Cedric before he crashes to the ground in a dark graveyard.
Hermione feels sick to her stomach. Surely this isn't still part of the task…?
Cedric lights his wand to look around, brave as always, Harry scared on the ground next to him, and out of nowhere there's a flash of green light that hits him, and the back of her eyes go dark.
Dark.
Dark.
There's nothing to see…
Hermione's soul-wrenching scream echoes long throughout the night.