Harry's heart pounded as the little group walked out of the room, and he followed them to somewhere he had never seen before. It was a small room, whose very energy itself seemed to radiate grief. For a moment, Harry had second thoughts - how could he bring himself to say goodbye to someone whose fearful, frozen, lifeless face would never get out of his memories? But the thoughts left him as soon as they came; he needed to do this for Cedric, to promise him that despite what came, he would continue to fight. Cedric should have lived a long, happy life; he deserved so much more. Cedric had taught Harry to never take life for granted ever again.
When Harry entered the room, he immediately noticed the bed contained inside. Bracing himself for the inevitable, Harry bolstered his courage and approached with slow, measured steps.
There he was. Cedric lay on the bed, covered in a white sheet. His gray eyes, which had stared up at the sky without seeing it, were closed now, but his face still showed the look of profound fear he had worn in his last moments. Rooted to the spot, Harry forced himself to look into it. He needed to be staring directly at him to make his promise, and he hoped beyond anything that wherever Cedric was now, he was no longer afraid.
"I'm sorry, Cedric," Harry whispered, his heart pounding so hard and his eyes watering. "I-I'm sorry I never really got to know you. I'm sorry that this happened to you, and I wish ..." He choked back a sob. "I wish I could have saved you. I swear, I ... I will fight for you. I promise."
And with that, Harry had to look away. He knew it had been the right thing to do this, but seeing Cedric again had sapped all the strength from his body. He suddenly felt lightheaded, and saw spots dancing in front of his eyes.
"Harry! Harry! Oh, sweetie, can you hear me?" Mrs. Diggory's voice seemed to come from a great distance away. "Harry, honey, it's going to be all right."
"We should not have let you do this. It was too much for you," came the stricken voice of Mr. Diggory. "Merlin, I'm sorry."
Harry opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. The spots grew bigger and bigger in front of his eyes, and everything started to fade. The last thing he felt was a pair of strong arms catching him in their hold.
Then, Harry knew no more.
....
Still under the Disillusionment Charm, Sirius Black watched with heartache as Mr. Diggory dropped an unconscious Harry onto his bed in the regular part of the hospital wing. Gently, Mrs. Diggory tucked the covers around him, making sure he was comfortable, even though Harry was past seeing or hearing what was currently going on. Minerva McGonagall hurriedly walked to Madam Pomfrey's office to retrieve her, so she could take a look at Harry, even though it seemed as though his unconscious state was due to his mind simply shutting down, unable to process any more.
At that moment, Sirius would have given the whole world just to reveal himself, to rush to his godson's side, to hold him in his arms and take all the pain away. But he knew he couldn't; he had to keep himself hidden in order to keep himself safe. After all, what good would he be to Harry if he slipped up now? He would never forget the pleading quality in the young voice as Harry begged him to see reason, and it was the only thing keeping him afloat now.
Madam Pomfrey moved quickly into the room, and immediately ran her wand over Harry. She kept a brisk manner about her, but it was plain to see that she had also been affected by the events transpiring around her. She gave a relieved sigh as her examination finished. "He will recover," she said softly. "Everything has just caught up with him. He needs to sleep for a while." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a potion vial. "This will help him stay asleep for several hours," she said as she uncorked it. "It's not one for dreamless sleep, as his mind is too troubled for that to help him, but this one should allow him to regain some of his strength."
Sirius sighed as he saw Mrs. Diggory prop Harry into a sitting position, and she gently opened Harry's mouth so the mediwitch could pour the potion down Harry's throat. He was relieved that she had understood the problems Harry had been through with the Dreamless Sleep potion. Being a trained Healer, she had spotted the signs when she had seen Harry right after waking this morning. However, Sirius was afraid of the horrors that would stalk Harry as he slept now, but he also knew his body could not handle being awake for the next while. Even though he had known logically that this had been the reason for Harry's fainting episode, he was infinitely thankful for Poppy's confirmation of it.