Shining, Shimmering
A/N and warnings: For QLFC round 4. This round's task was to write about whatever you want whilst portraying your given emotion in your fic. You cannot explicitly tell the reader what the character is feeling. I was given the emotion 'surprise' which was actually pretty tricky to convey. Thanks for betaing this, Jordi.
Summary: Cedric is getting frustrated when the Golden Egg doesn't cooperate with him. Moody decides to give him a hint. Would taking a bath really help?
I feel the migraine approaching as I rub my temples and try to keep the pain away.
Trying to figure out the clue of the Golden Egg had been like trying to expect the unexpected. Like trying to solve a very tricky puzzle. Opening the Egg didn't work – the high-pitched wailing broke out when I tried and the sound hurt the ears of everyone in hearing distance.
The Egg has kept me on my toes for weeks and the day of the Second Task is approaching. I know the Egg contains some sort of clue for the next task and I need to get it. I'm getting frustrated and I can't sleep well. I have tried opening the Egg in the moonlight. I have tried opening it under a heating charm. I have even tried breaking it. Nothing so far has worked.
It isn't my fault if this Tournament keeps me awake during nights. Even Cho noticed my tiredness at the breakfast and told me to get more sleep. I must have snapped at her too harshly because she walked out of the Great Hall. I wish she would understand. She is important to me – so important I would die for her – but this Tournament is important as well. She doesn't care if I win or lose but I do care. That's why the Golden Egg comes first. I hope she'll forgive me.
I yawn loudly when Professor Moody dismisses us. I don't get far when I hear the professor calling me.
"Diggory."
I grimace intentionally. Had he perhaps noticed I had snoozed through his class?
The professor hobbles next to me, looks around suspiciously, and takes a quick sip of his flask.
"Professor Moody?" I ask when the professor glances over his shoulder, as if there would be someone listening to us. "May I help you somehow?"
Moody ignores my question completely. Instead he puts his hand my shoulder and squeezes. "Tense muscles," he grunts, gripping tightly. I clench my fists around the strap of my bag. "Are you stressing out this competition?" Moody continues emphatically, not letting go. "Have you figured out the clue already?"
"No, Sir," I stutter out, shaking my head and feeling the remains of my fatigue fade. "I haven't yet –"
The professor nods knowingly and removes his hand from my shoulder.
"I suggest taking a hot bath," he says in a gruff voice. "Could surely help you to gather your thoughts. I suppose that–" he winks his normal eye, "–it could be a very eye-opening experience to bring the Egg with you."
He pats my back before walking away.
I hadn't even considered getting help from Professor Moody, or any other professor for that matter. Even less had I thought he would help me with this task. After all, he's a professor; it could be considered cheating to take his advice. But had I anything to lose?
I run my fingers over the cool surface of the Egg and sigh. My legs are already dipped into the warm water. I'm sitting on the edge of the bathtub in the Prefect's bathroom, ignoring the staring, giggling girl ghost at the other end of the filled pool. I remove the towel from my shoulders.
I breathe in, sink into the scented water, and twist the Egg open.
My eyes widen in bewilderment when instead of the expected obscure screaming there are harmonious sounds, so vibrant and clear – like nothing I had ever heard before –bursting out the Egg like bubbles filled with music. The melody resonates in the water and hits my senses like a tidal wave.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground…"
The Egg slips from my hands. I break the surface of the water, gasping for air and coughing out the offensive liquid out my lungs.
What I just experienced exceeded my wildest fantasies of the clue. I had never seen anything like it. The astonishment I felt couldn't be compared to any Christmas or birthday. I had expected something to fall out from the Egg. I had never thought there would be a song.
I push my hair out of my face. I take a deep breath and slowly sink under the surface. I reach down for the Egg and twist it open again.
The lights glimmer in front of my eyes. Shining and shimmering and lighting up. It's such a magical, wondrous sight. I would watch it the whole day and never get tired of it. The voices sing and I hold my breath. I know I need the whole clue.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And recover what we took,
But past an hour — the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
I feel the grin stretching my grin. I sit there in awe, the closed Egg in my arms, breathing in and out. I feel excited and giddy.
That is it. That is the clue. I get the second clue. Now I only need to find out what the song means and I'm one step closer to getting through the Second Task.
I have History of Magic in the morning and it's hardly possible that Professor Binns would notice my absence so skipping a class wouldn't hurt. It's the eternal glory on stake, after all. And if I figure this out today I can spend the whole weekend with Cho.
I look around the pool; there are still plenty of bubbles left. The hour can't be too late. Moaning Myrtle is sitting on the embrasure, grinning at least as manically as I am.
I sink into the warm water yet again, this time knowing what to expect, and twist the Egg open.
"Come seek us where our voices sound…"
QLFC Round 4 – Getting Those Feelings Out
OPTIONAL PROMPTS:
1. (style) First Person POV
2. (word) Burst
3. (word) Skip