A/N: Cho's perspective of the final task of the Triwizard Tournament and Cedric's death.
If You Dare Challenge - #629 (Guilty heart)
Are You Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge - #106 (Cho Chang)
Character Diversity Boot Camp - #24 (spark), Cho Chang
Build A Zoo Challenge - Hippos (Cho Chang)
Conversation Starter Prompt Challenge - #35 (Set your story outside.)
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Cho didn't know whose brilliant idea it was to have the students come and watch the hedges for the Final Task of the Triwizard Tournament. She was severely concerned for Professor Dumbledore's mental health, for the yellow-cloaked professor had managed to come up with two tasks where the students ended up watching a) a still, dark green lake where the only form of excitement for a whole hour was the occasional blue bubble bursting at the surface or b) enormous hedges where they were quite literally watching the grass grow.
When red sparks burst from somewhere in the center of the maze, Cho was quite honestly relieved. She needed some kind of mental stimulation after all of that... But when the excitement they pulled out from the maze turned out to be the unconscious forms of Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion, and Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang champion, Cho felt a tad concerned. The blonde girl's face and limbs were dark purple, bruised and cut up. The Durmstrang Quidditch player, Krum, had a red slash across his head and a strange look in his eyes. They were both out cold, and as Madame Pomfrey, it didn't look like they were waking up anytime soon. What had happened to them? Her stomach churned. Not only did she feel concerned, but guilty as well. When her boyfriend and Harry Potter were inside the maze, the one whose well-being she thought of was the dark-haired boy with the lightning bolt scar. She had slowly but surely gotten more and more bored of Cedric Diggory, the loyal Hufflepuff, and focused further on the young hero. Of course, she hadn't meant for it to happen. She loved Cedric, it was just... He could be quite predictable.
She felt quite guilty about it, in fact. She wished herself to fall back in love with Cedric, but that was not the way feelings worked. She liked Harry now. Now, when she was watching the extremely boring hedges, she actually felt herself grow anxious with worry and shame. She told herself to think about Cedric. He needed her now more than ever. However, her mind slipped to Harry. She liked his raw bravery and vulnerability. "Stop it," she whispered to herself, and she nearly slapped herself as her Hufflepuff friend Leanne looked over in confusion at her.
"You alright, Cho?" she asked, frowning.
"Fine," Cho lied, and she clasped her own hands tightly, twisting the ring on her middle finger. Surely Cedric would understand if they broke up after the tournament, wouldn't he? He was a Hufflepuff, after all. They were known for being quite easy to break up with. She just didn't want to be with him any longer. His kisses never led to anything below the shoulders, his dates were always in the same spot... She wanted to be with Harry. It was decided. She'd give him a week or two after the Tournament and then she would let him go gently. Surely, this would be very easy. Cedric would understand. Part of her wished that she had never dated Cedric in the first place, because then it would be far easier to move on to someone else. If he moved, if he was dead—
Cho's eyes widened, and she clapped her hand over her mouth. Had she actually just wished for Cedric to be dead? She honestly needed to get out and play some Quidditch or something to get her stress out. This was getting out of hand. She began to strike up a conversation with Leanne and Katie Bell concerning an new, orange broomstick she had spotted in a Hogsmeade shop window to distract herself. "Don't you think—"
There was a loud crack as if someone had Apparated and then a thump. And there he was... Harry, the champion. He was clutching the colorful Triwizard Cup in his dirty hands, and Cho rose to applaud him, an automatic reaction. She scanned the area for her yellow and black-clad boyfriend, but did not find him until—
Someone screamed, a bloodcurdling cry that cut off all sounds of cheering. It wasn't until Cho felt Leanne jerk away from her that she discovered the sound had emitted through her own lips. She screamed again and again and again until her shrieks turned into sobs. She hardly knew what was going on inside of her mind...
There he was... Cedric, the Hogwarts Hufflepuff boy. His brown hair was scraggly, sweaty, and clumped together in spots with clots of blood and dirt. His skin was abnormally pale and his eyes were as wide as she'd ever seen them before. His mouth was open and his head was tilted so that his blank stare was directed at her. His neck was stretched unusually, and his Adam's apple protruded a bit more from beneath his white skin. His yellow and black shirt was torn and covered in splatters of blood, revealing more cuts and bruises beneath his clothing. What shocked her most was her expression; it was as if he knew. It was like he knew she didn't love him anymore.
The guilt racked her so badly that she began to retch, throwing up near Leanne's feet. She could barely breathe between the vomiting and the sight of Cedric's corpse and Harry, who had latched onto the older boy's dead body with the strength of a giant. "No!" he keened, his voice no longer like a champion's, but rather like a child's. "No! No!"
She could hear Amos Diggory as well, and his screams: "My son! That's my son!"
And the little second year in front of her was crying and clutching his older sister..
And she was on the floor of the stands on her hands and knees, unable to look away from Cedric's haunting stare, and retching until she had nothing left.
It was all her fault, she knew it. She had wished him dead only moments beforehand; Merlin had granted it.
She had killed him.
She had killed Cedric Diggory.
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