Fleur whirled at the sound of frantic footsteps growing louder. She stood inches away from a rustling hedge. Damn maze! She turned again as Cedric rounded a corner. The panic in his eyes cooled as he recognized her, and he stopped abruptly, panting. His face was blotchy red; he'd been running.
"You seen anything yet?" he asked her, doubled over with his hands on his knees.
She shook her head. They hadn't been in the maze ten minutes, and already it was getting to her.
"Me neither." He straightened slowly, and made to move on, but Fleur found herself with a hand on his shoulder before he'd made two steps.
She took her hand back carefully, blushing a little. "Be careful."
Cedric smiled, but it was hard to tell whether his face got any redder. Fleur couldn't stop herself. She lurched forward and hugged him tightly. "Don't die, will you?" she choked out with some attempt at a good attitude.
Cedric wrapped his arms around her and squeezed once before stepping back. A small yet irrepressible smile clung to his lips, seeming to tell her they'd finish this later, and he turned and kept running.
It was the last time she saw him alive.
