"Awake?"
"It feels like I had a nightmare."
Cedric opened his eyes and stared at Fred, who was peeling an apple beside him and eating it himself. For a moment, he had no idea what to say.
"Want some?"
"Where am I? Did you save me?"
"Hogwarts."
George took the knife from Fred and began peeling an apple for himself as well.
"Once we got the news, we contacted Albert and pulled you out in time."
"Tell us what happened," Albert said, setting down the latest newspaper.
"It was Walad. He betrayed me and told the Death Eaters everything." Cedric closed his eyes, his expression complicated.
"Walad was probably under the Imperius Curse. Your luck really is terrible." Fred sounded faintly amused by his misfortune. "Of all the rotten things to happen, you had to run into this. I honestly don't know what to say about you."
"This is for you... It can ease the effects of the Cruciatus Curse." Albert placed a bottle of potion in front of Cedric. "Do you need our help?"
"Or should we get Cho to feed you?"
"Those bastards are unbelievable. I was already cooperating with them, yet they still used the Cruciatus Curse on me." Cedric cursed under his breath. The experience had been awful. "If I get my hands on them, I'll make them taste the Cruciatus Curse too."
"Using the Cruciatus Curse is illegal," Lee Jordan kindly reminded him.
"Also, we avenged you," Fred added.
"The people who captured you will probably all be dead in a few days." George smiled reassuringly. "Anyway, you don't need to worry about revenge anymore."
"How many secrets did you reveal?" Albert asked directly.
"I told them the location of the safehouse, that you'd returned to Britain, and... about joining the Defence Association." Cedric looked