Hi!

Been a while since I last updated, but I've got a good reason- started up my final year now for school. Wrap that in 1 sentence- teachers rock, love my classes, everything's perfect in life.

I've been working on this all day, so let's get this chapter started. Again, I don't anything of the Harry Potter world unless it involves the Carlett family.

Ch. 7 The First Task

Ced's POV

I don't think I could have been anymore nervous in my life. The first task was less then a week away, and I still had no clue about what to do. Sure, thanks to Potter, I found out that the first task involves dragons. But I still can't figure out what to do with it. I've even been up late at night, trying to figure it out.

But there is something good that I've got out of this- I've been spending more time with Sammi. She's been staying up late with me, helping me with my homework and the task.

Flashback

"I give up!" I exclaimed, roughly shoving my Potions book shut. Sammi jumped. She pulled out her headphones from her ears, turned off her iPod, and turned to me.

"What are you talking about Ced?"

"This stupid assignment, that's what!" I snapped at her.

"Whoa there, buddy! Take a chill pill. Just cause you're stressing about everything, ya don't need to bite my head off!" she shot back at me. I closed my eyes as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"You're right. I'm sorry." I opened my eyes and looked over to her.

"Hey it's no prob," she said as she put her books back in her bag. Suddenly, she looked at the broom cupboard in the corner of the empty common room, and I noticed that there was a gleam in her eyes.

"I got an idea," she said as she got up and headed over to the cupboard, where she extracted two brooms.

"What are you doing?" I asked her as I got up. She smiled as she tossed a broom at me and walked over to a window.

"You have been working too hard. You need a bit of fun!" she laughed before jumping on her broom and kicked off out the window. I smiled as I followed her out.

End Flashback

,:~:,

"See those ones over there?"

"Yeah."

"See how they make a hippogriff?" Sammi asked.

"Oh yeah!" I said as I looked more closely at the stars. It was the third time this week that we had flown around the school a couple times before I chased Sammi to the Quidditch pitch. Now we were just lying on the ground, making shapes out of the stars.

It felt so right to have Sammi beside me. It was like… words can't even describe how I feel when I'm near her. At first, I thought I had just liked her as a friend, but now, I can't get her off my mind. I close my eyes- she's there. I go to sleep- she's always the main part of my dream. I haven't really been thinking about the Tournament lately, but I don't care. Being around Sammi just seems to take away all my problems- like there is nothing in the world except the two of us.

"Hey Ced?"

"Hmm?"

"I was reading the Daily Prophet the other day you know…" Sammi started.

"So? What about it?" I asked. Annoyance starting to bubble inside me at the mention of that bloody thing.

"Well, I read that article about the Triwizard Tournament, and it said something about you liking someone. Is it true?"

I was thankful for the darkness. It hid my blushing face. And also, this was NOT the way I want to tell her how I feel. "Umm, no. No- I don't really like anyone here. It was just something I said to distract Skeeter," I said, hoping she'd by it.

"Oh," Sammi said as she sat up.

"Why'd you ask me about that, Sammi?" I asked her.

"Oh, it's nothing!" She sounded a little too cheerful when she said that- like she was forcing it. I was about to ask her about it, but she cut me off. "Come on, we need to get back to the school. And by the way, I just learned how to help with the dragon- distract it." Then she just grabbed her broom and flew off, leaving me far behind.

,:~:,

Well, it was the day for the first task, and I was quite a mess. I was losing track of my school work, I've been working later then usual practicing transfiguration- but worst of all was that Sammi was hardly talking to me anymore. Was it something I said?

Mr. Crouch had already made us draw from the small sack which dragon we were to face, and I got the blue-grey Swedish Short-Snout. It looked vicious, but it was nothing compared to the Hungarian Horntail that Potter got.

"Mr. Diggory, at the sound of the cannon, you may-" Professor Dumbledore said, but Mr. Filtch had already launched the cannon.

Sammi's POV

The cannon had sounded and I watched as Cedric was the first champion to come out. I was sitting halfway up the stands, but somehow, I could see every single thing as though I was in the pit myself.

Suddenly the Short-Snout sprung up from behind Cedric, and it's roar started shaking the whole stadium! Cedric was only just able to dodge the fire that dragon spewed out as he ducked behind a large boulder. He kept on ducking behind boulders, trying to get near the nest of eggs, but the dragon kept getting in the way. Then he shouted something I couldn't hear, and another rock turned into this huge brown dog, which caught the dragon's attention. That was all Cedric needed.

He ran to the nest filled with dragon eggs and that one golden eye. He would have gotten out of this task with only a couple scratches- if that stupid dragon hadn't changed it's mind and left the dog. It shot another ball of fire at Cedric and it hit him.

"CEDRIC!!" I heard screaming, only to realize that the screaming was coming from me. I didn't care to watch as the dragon wrestlers got the dragon under control. I jumped out of my seat and headed down to the champions' tent, where they were carrying Cedric off to.

"I'm afraid you can't come in Miss," one of the medics said, but I didn't listen. Instead I just pushed past him and headed over to Cedric's bedside. What I saw made me start to cry.

Cedric was alive, thank Merlin, but he looked really bad. His champion uniform had been torn in places and burned in others, and all along the right side of his face, it looked like a really nasty shade of burned red. His right eye was shut, but the other was looking at me.

"Oh, Miss Carlett. Perfect, you can help me with Mr. Diggory here," Madame Pomfrey said as she came to the bed, holding a bottle of some orange paste. "Would you please help Mr. Diggory site up?" she asked. "Sure," I said as I walked closer to the bed and helped Cedric sit up. Once that was done, Madame Pomfrey got to work, and Cedric and I kept quiet the whole time.

Madame Pomfrey was almost finished spreading the paste over Cedric's burnt skin when they then brought in an unconscious Viktor Krum.

"Oh dear. Miss Carlett, would you please finish helping Mr. Diggory while I attend to Mr. Krum?" she asked me. I simply nodded as she handed over the paste and cloth to me and walked out of the room. I moved to sit down on the bed beside Cedric and continued to apply the paste.

"Cedric I just want to-" "Sammi, I want to say-" Cedric and I both started. I laughed slightly at this, but stopped.

"Ladies first," Cedric said to me.

"Cedric, I want to say I'm sorry. I was a real bitch to you. I guess I was just upset about…" I trailed off. How am I supposed to tell him?

"Upset about what?" Cedric asked me. Come on Samantha! It's now or never!

"Well, you remember the other night when I asked you about the article?" I said. Cedric nodded slowly, like he was nervous. "Well, I was hoping that you did like someone. Even as just a 'friend' like, not 'girlfriend' like."

"Actually, I lied about what I said," he said. I looked up at him to see his grey eyes staring intently at me. "You see the thing is Sammi, I do like someone?"

"Oh?" I whispered. "Yeah, I do. Sammi, I like-"

"How does it feel now, Diggory?" Madame Pomfrey asked from the doorway. I jumped back from Cedric- I didn't realize that I had been so close to him- and stood up.

"I feel better, Madame Pomfrey, thank you," Cedric politely answered.

"Alright then." And then she just walked off, leaving Cedric and I in a seriously embarrassing situation.

"Well, I better go back to the-" I said as I made my way to the door to follow Madame Pomfrey out.

"Sammi, I really like you!" Cedric exclaimed at me. I stopped in my tracks.

"What?" I asked as I spun on my heel to look him in the eye. He was rising up from the bed, with a load of difficulty, I might add.

"Cedric, no! Sit down, you goof!" I said as I rushed back to his side, trying to make him sit down. Instead, he wrapped me in his arms, with mine stuck in between us, my hands resting on his chest. He raised his right hand to my face, and laid his hand on my cheek lightly.

"Sammi I like you- a lot. At first I though it was just a friendship thing, but now, I feel like I could have known you for years. I really do like you, and I really hope that you like me too," he said looking in my eyes.

I felt a smile spread on my face and before either of us could realize it, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down, placing my lips on his.

I've dreamt of kissing Cedric for a long time now- in a romantic moonlit park to simply in the common room, but I never thought it would be like this.

After what felt like days- possibly even months- I pulled back enough to look at Cedric. He seemed really shocked about what I did, but not in a bad way. Actually, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"How do you think I feel?" I asked him. His smile grew- if that were possible- before he picked me up and twirled me around, both of us laughing happily. When my feet touched the ground again, it wasn't for long since Cedric lifted me up in his arms again, shutting me up with a passionate kiss.

Yay! They feel the same way about each other! But of course they would- I'm writing this story. So what do you think? Like it still? Not as much as you use to? PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ! Read & Review! I'll even take flames- though I don't really like them.

Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)