DISCLAIMER: I really hope you are not under the impression that I wrote the Harry Potter series. Especially when the only thing I've got published isn't a book, but a short story in a magazine (still so happy!!). All I own of this is the writing style (perhaps) and, well, more or less nothing. Anything you recognize from the book is not mine, nor do I want it; I'm quite happy to be writing my own stories, thank you very much, and while HP is a grand idea, it is not mine and never was, nor will it ever be. I hope you enjoy this retelling of the events of the Triwizard Tournament. ~DF~
For the First Task…
For the first task she was worried, but she cheered him on, laughing and clapping and even running down to hug him when he won. He smiled at her, let her shyly kiss his cheek, and insisted he was fine when she inquired about the burn on his face. Seconds later, after his scores were given, Madam Pomfrey dragged him into the Medical tent, leaving Cho to wave to Cedric and return to her seat to watch the rest of the Champions.
For the Yule Ball, Cho was excited. She was going with Cedric (he had finally asked her out!) and she couldn't wait. She had felt rather sorry that she had to turn Harry down, but it wasn't his fault that Cedric had asked her first. She really wouldn't have minded going with either of them, to be honest…
But when she took Cedric's offered arm and met his sparkling grey eyes on the eve of the ball, her breath hitched pleasurably, and in that moment she wouldn't have changed her 'yes' to Cedric for anything.
For the second task she was asleep. Professor Dumbledore had called her and three others (Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and a young French girl she had never seen before) to his office and explained what was going to happen. He had then placed them all in a deep sleep.
When she woke up once more, with her head above the water, she was in Cedric's arms. He smiled his wonderful smile at her and helped her get to the shore. When they were both on dry land he accepted a towel, and wrapped it around her before accepting a towel for himself. Teeth chattering, he asked if she was alright. She smiled at him, her own teeth chattering, and replied that she was fine. He kissed her forehead gently, and then they surrendered to warming and drying charms.
For the third task she was excited, eager to see the outcome, to know who would win. She was worried for Cedric, of course, but she was confident that he could overcome whatever challenges awaited him in that maze.
So when Harry Potter, a huge trophy cup, and Cedric himself appeared on the grass, she took in breath to cheer for her boyfriend and the Hogwarts victory—and stopped short when neither moved. Screams rose around her, shouts of confusion, and she set off running, desperate to get to Cedric, to find out what had happened, to know why he hadn't moved yet…
Pushing through the crowd she lost track of what was going on, lost sight of the two Champions. And then—
"He's dead!"
"He's dead!"
Her heart caught in her throat. No, please no, oh please, Merlin, please, no…
"Cedric Diggory! Dead!"
And with those three words, her heart froze.
She pushed through the crowd all the more desperately now, sobbing, trying to get to Cedric. He would hold her, he would kiss her forehead, he would laugh and tell her that of course he was not dead, he would never leave her, not ever…
But they kept repeating it, kept repeating those awful words…
They were lies, lies! They had to be!
But then she finally managed to push her way to where Cedric was, and she saw his still body, his blank, staring eyes…and she knew.
Cho screamed, sobbing and sobbing, unable to stop. She sank to her knees, still sobbing, unable to think, to breathe.
At the end of the third task, her heart broke.
A/N: Strange, isn't it, how almost every canon oneshot I write has some sort of sadness in it...
And, just in case--being bookverse, Cedric has dark hair and grey eyes. I kid you not.
Au revoir (sort of),
DawnFire
PS: Apologies for the rather dry disclaimer, I just couldn't seem to make it more interesting. It's hard, when you're disclaiming something that is not only canon, but rather sad as well. ~DF~
PPS: I have just now decided to take up the practice of ending each posting of a chapter/oneshot with a quote, so here is the first one:
What is a friend, but a single soul in two bodies?
--Aristotle
And with that I shall finally end this.
~DF~
Feb. 22, 2010: A/N edited for length because of annoyance. :D ~DF~