AMAZE ME

On the morning of June 24th, Cedric couldn't tell if he was absolutely terrified or uncontrollably excited. It was the day of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament and there was one thing that Cedric did know: he was glad that the Tournament would soon be over. The stresses of this past school year all culminated to this day and Cedric knew that no matter what, he was ready for this Tournament to end.

Cedric got up, dressed, and breakfasted quickly before running up to the seventh floor to meet Hermione in the Room of Requirement before he had to be at the Third Task with the rest of the champions. As the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy came into view, so did the bushy light brown hair of his girlfriend. She was dressed casually in a pair of khaki pants, and a pink sweater with her hair pinned away from her face. She smiled sadly as Cedric closed the distance between them.

"Good morning, love," he said to her, lowering his head and kissing her on the lips.

"Morning, Cedric," she said, that same sad smile on her face after he broke away from her.

As they stepped inside the room and Cedric closed the door, he turned to her asking, "What's the matter, love?"

"Cedric…promise me you'll be safe today. I don't know what I would do without you."

Cedric looked into her sad eyes and noticed they were brimming with tears. She closed her eyes and a tear rolled down Hermione's cheek. Cedric used his thumb to brush the tear away as he kissed her eyelids lightly.

"Hermione Jane Granger, I promise you that I will be careful today. Don't worry. I'm coming out of that maze. I promise you I will come out of there. And when I do, I'll wrap my arms around you and kiss you and I'll never let you go again," Cedric told her, holding her close to him.

Hermione smiled weakly and thanked Cedric quietly.

"You know," she added quietly, "if it's not too much to ask, could you make sure Harry's all right in there as well?"

Cedric chuckled softly and nodded, smiling at her. He knew how important Harry and Ron were in Hermione's life and he knew that he would never take their place in her life.

After their meeting in the Room of Requirement, Cedric took Hermione's hand and guided her down to the Great Hall. There, they collected Harry and took him to the side chamber where he and Harry had gone when their names had come out of the Goblet of Fire. There, Harry went to speak with the Weasleys who had sown up to support him while Cedric, still holding Hermione's hand, went to speak to his parents.

"Hullo Mum, Dad," Cedric greeted his parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, it's nice to see you," Hermione greeted them awkwardly. Turning to her boyfriend she tried to wrench her hand free of his grasp and said, "Cedric, why don't you talk to your parents. You don't need to have me here. I'll see you before the task begins."

Cedric started to protest, but Hermione nodded at him encouragingly before going to join Harry and the Weasleys and Cedric turned back to his parents.

"Well, son, here we are!" his father exclaimed excitedly. "Can't say I'm surprised. I knew you could do it, Ced."

"Be careful, Cedric," his mother warned him, fussing over his black and yellow Triwizard kit.

"Yes, Mum, I've been told that already today. Thanks."

Cedric smiled tightly before looking distractedly around the room, his eyes resting on Hermione as she talked with the Weasleys. His parents' voices fell to a murmur as everything else seemed unimportant compared to what he was looking at. Cedric watched Hermione as she tucked a lock of her light brown curls behind her ear as she smiled and nodded about something that Harry was saying to Mrs. Weasley. Cedric would never tell her, but he was scared. He had promised her in a heartbeat that he would be careful, but he honestly had no idea what awaited him in the maze. He didn't know anything except that he was scared. The only thing that had gotten him through this tournament was her. He had to pull through this last task. Not for his father, not for the honour, but for Hermione. Yes, he loved his father and he would love the idea of being named Triwizard Champion, but he knew that even if he came out of the maze today without the Cup, at least he would still have Hermione.

Slowly, Cedric came out of his revelry and his father clapped a hand on his shoulder ans said, "Good luck, son. Make us proud."

"Be safe," his mother reminded him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Cedric assured her he would be and said his goodbyes as the families began to file into the stadium for the task. Cedric felt someone standing behind him and turned, smiling and realizing that it was Hermione.

"I love you," she told him.

Cedric pulled her into his arms and brought his lips to hers for a searing kiss that left Hermione breathless when they finally pulled apart a few moments later.

"I'll see you soon," he whispered in her ear.

Hermione nodded, tears filling her eyes again as Ron wished Cedric good luck and wrapped a comforting arm around Hermione, guiding her out of the room and towards the Quidditch pitch.

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Cedric, Harry, Krum, and Fleur all waited anxiously in the tent by the Quidditch pitch as Dumbledore introduced them. They stepped out into the bright sun of the sunset and waved to the crowd, smiling. Cedric's eyes found his parents and gave them an acknowledging nod before scanning the crowd for Hermione. His eyes fell on her sitting between Ron and Seamus Finnigan and their eyes met briefly as if to silently say, "I love you."

Dumbledore stood in front of the crowd and spoke:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each – Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School! In second place, with eighty points – Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute! And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" (pp. 620-621, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).

Cedric took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. When his name was called, cheers filled his ears and he waved victoriously and smiled. He winked at Hermione who only gave him a tight, worried smile in return.

"I'll see you soon, Hermione," Cedric thought as if to send the message to her through their thoughts.

After the champions received their last minute instructions for the maze, they went to their respective starting points. Cedric glanced over at Harry. Harry smiled nervously at him and Cedric gave him a reassuring nod. He took another deep breath and then…

BOOM!

Filch's canon signaled Cedric and Harry to begin. Cedric took his first steps into the soft ground of the maze and took a deep breath.

"Here goes," he thought to himself as he trudged along inside the maze. Before he knew what was happening, Cedric's kit singed and he looked to the ground to find Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewt lying at his feet. Only it took a moment for Cedric to realize what it was because it had grown to such a massive size in such a short amount of time. He pulled out his wand and shouted, "Reducto!"

As the spell hit the insect, it shrank to the size of a caterpillar and Cedric merely stepped over it and walked away. He looked behind him and saw the Skrewt beginning to grow back to its original size and Cedric picked up his pace, not eager to cross its path twice.

Looking at his singed kit as he turned a corner, Cedric looked up to realize that he had come to a fork in the maze. He laid his wand flat on his palm and commanded, "Point me!"

His wand spun to the right.

"If you say so," Cedric muttered to his wand and started toward the right just as Fleur Delacour came into view. But it wasn't the sight of Fleur that took Cedric by surprise, it was what she was holding. There she was, right in the middle of Cedric's path…holding the Triwizard Cup.

"Fleur, what are you doing here?" Cedric asked her skeptically, but she didn't respond. A huge smile was plastered to her face as she held the Cup lovingly in her arms before hoisting it over her head triumphantly.

"Fleur, you've gotten the Cup!" Cedric said a little bit louder, totally flabbergasted. His heart seemed to sink in his chest as he reacted to her winning in a way that he never thought he would. He was disappointed. He had so wanted the Cup to be his. Then, something occurred to Cedric as he looked at her suspiciously.

"Hang on a moment. If you have the Cup, why haven't I seen the green sparks in the air? We all should have been transported out to the beginning of the maze again."

Cedric stood before the half-veela Champion, dumbfounded for a few moments before he considered, "Unless…"

Pulling his wand out of his robes, Cedric pointed it at Fleur and shouted, "Ridikkulus!"

As he did so, the spell hit Fleur in the chest and the image of her and the Cup were blasted away, clearing the path for Cedric once more.

"Well, that's new," Cedric murmured to himself, surprised at this new Boggart as he continued on his way.

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Cedric trudged along the seemingly endless path when suddenly, he heard a twig crunch behind him. Cedric jerked his neck around to look behind him and there stood Krum. His wand was pointed at Cedric and he had an odd sort of glow in his eyes. Before Cedric could say anything, Krum shouted, "CRUCIO!" and Cedric fell to the ground, writhing in pain and yelling in anguish. As he twitched and cried out, thoughts began to run wild in his head.

"This is it. This is how I'm going to die. Goodbye, Mum and Dad. Goodbye, Hufflepuff. Goodbye, glory. Goodbye, Hermione. I love you."

He continued to thrash about, the pain overwhelming when all of a sudden, it stopped. Harry bent down next to him repeating his name as Cedric shivered in pain, his whole body shaking on the ground.

"Harry…" he managed. "Thank you."

"I made some promises of my own, you know," Harry said, a relieved smile sweeping across his face. "What happened, mate?"

"Krum…He crept up on me…had his wand to my back…couldn't fight him off…" Cedric told him as his teeth chattered together as if freezing cold.

Harry took Cedric's arm and, bending down, draped it across his shoulders as he helped Cedric to his feet.

"And I thought he was okay," Harry told Cedric as they looked at Krum's motionless body. Cedric nodded in agreement.

"He got Fleur too," Harry mentioned before asking, "So do we just leave him here?"

"We're meant to send sparks up. But he'd deserve it if he got eaten by one of Hagrid's Skrewts."

Even as he said it, Cedric lifted his arm shakily and shot red sparks in the air, marking the spot where Krum lay. After standing in momentary silence, Cedric broke it saying, "Well, good luck then, mate."

"You too," Harry said to him before they turned in opposite directions and walked away from each other. Cedric listened as Harry's footsteps died away.

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Cedric continued his quest through the maze for what seemed like hours and the sky began to grow dark. Cedric lifted his wand, "Lumos" on his lips when he saw something else providing light. He squinted to try to see it better. Were his eyes deceiving him? It couldn't be! But it was. There, with only about a hundred yards between, was the Triwizard Cup giving off a blinding white light.

Cedric took off toward it as fast as his legs could carry him when suddenly, he heard Harry's voice shouting, "Cedric! Look out! On your left!"

Cedric saw an immense dark creature coming toward him and jumped out of its way, just barely missing it and tripping, sending him hurtling to the ground, his wand flying out of his hand while the creature continued to come at it. Cedric heard Harry shouting spells at it, which seemed to get the huge spider away from Cedric, but only more interested in Harry. Cedric used this distraction to his advantage, scrambling to his feet and grabbing his wand off the ground. As he turned toward the spider, he saw that it had Harry in its huge pincers while Harry continued to shout spells at it. Cedric started to hurl spells at it as well, but nothing seemed to stop the spider, which had Harry's leg clenched tightly in its pincer.

Before Cedric realized what was happening, Harry was falling at least 12 feet to the ground and as he hit the ground, he crumpled up in pain. Both boys pointed their wands at the spider and shouted, "Stupefy!" at the exact same moment. The power of the two spells combined and sent the spider hurtling backwards, knocked out.

Cedric ran to Harry's side and asked, "Are you all right?"

"My leg," Harry said, wincing as Cedric noticed his leg was twisted at an unnatural angle.

Cedric helped Harry up as the boy had done for him only a little while earlier. As they rose to their feet, the Triwizard Cup shone in front of them.

"Well?" Harry asked him, looking at Cedric.

"Take it," Cedric told him as Harry removed his arm from around Cedric's neck and managed to stand on his own.

"You take it. You saved me from the spider. If I hadn't been here, it would've been yours."

"If you hadn't saved me from Krum, I would be dead on the ground back there…and it would be yours," Cedric reasoned.

"Stop being noble, Cedric. I know you want this. I heard you talking to your parents," Harry said to him, wincing a bit as he shifted his weight to his good leg.

"If it weren't for you, Harry, I wouldn't have known about the dragons. I would've been dead in the first task. Harry mate, all I want is to get out of here," Cedric told him truthfully. "I just want it to be over. You won fair and square."

Cedric shook Harry's hand in a good sportsman-like manner and stepped back as Harry looked at him again and they nodded at each other, smiling. As Harry's hand closed around the handle of the Cup, Cedric felt a tug at the back of his stomach and in a flash of light, he was hitting the soft grass outside the maze.

As he got to his feet and brushed himself off, Cedric looked around.

"Where is Harry?" he thought to himself.

He looked in the stands at the hundreds of expectant eyes on him as he scanned the crowd for the only three pairs of eyes that mattered to him. But before he found them, Professor Dumbledore stood in front of him, his hands on Cedric's shoulders.

"Mr. Diggory, where is Mr. Potter?" the headmaster asked him.

"I dunno, sir. He grabbed the Cup and we were Portkeyed like you said, but he's not here. Where could he have been Portkeyed to?"

"I do not know, Mr. Diggory, but we will find out. Go and sit in the stands. We shall tell you as soon as we get more information."

Cedric nodded curtly at the headmaster as they broke away and while Dumbledore headed towards the other judges, Cedric continued his scan of the crowd. His eyes fell on his parents and he dashed up into the stands. Several people patted him on the back, giving him sympathetic congratulations for finishing, but Cedric only nodded politely. When he reached them, he hugged both his parents, glad that he had come out all right.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Cedric said to his father when they pulled away from their hug.

"It's all right, son. I'm just glad you're all right."

Cedric's mother hugged him tearfully happy that her son was still in one piece. But Cedric excused himself quickly as he saw Hermione out of the corner of his eye. He climbed through the students as she did the same and they met in the middle on the stairs. Hermione had tears streaming down her face as Cedric wrapped his arms around her, picked her up, and kissed her, twirling her around.

"Cedric, thank Merlin you're okay," Hermione said breathlessly as he wiped her tears away with one hand and twirled a lock of her curls around one of his fingers.

"I had a promise to keep," Cedric told her, kissing her lightly on the nose.

"Where is Harry?" Hermione wanted to know.

"I don't know. We were meant to be Portkeyed back here, but I don't know where Harry got Portkeyed to. Dumbledore says he'll let us know as soon as they have more information."

Taking Hermione's hand in his, they sat down on the steps. As Hermione leaned against his strong chest she said quietly, "I hope he's all right."

Cedric kissed her on the top of her head before placing his chin on her head and whispering, "Me too, love. Me too."

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The crowd waited with bated breath for Harry to return. About a half hour after Cedric had come back, there was another flash of light as Harry hit the ground and the Triwizard Cup rolled out of his grasp. He was bloody and mangled and his kit was ripped past repair.

Cedric and Hermione sat bolt upright and Cedric pulled Hermione to her feet. They made their way over to Harry as Dumbledore and Moody did the same. Cedric and Hermione made it there first and they bent down next to Harry as Cedric asked, "Harry, what happened?"

"Professor Dumbledore…the Cup…Portkey…Tom Riddle…" Harry panted.

"What happened, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked him again.

Hermione was starting to weep again and Cedric hugged her before Ron said from behind the couple, "Hermione, come on, let them talk. We'll talk to Harry in a moment."

"Thanks," Cedric said, smiling at Ron and urging Hermione to join him and the other Gryffindors. As they walked away, Cedric turned back to the conversation.

"Professor Dumbledore, the Cup was a Portkey to somewhere else. Harry's touching it made it Portkey me back here, but it must have Portkeyed Harry somewhere else," Cedric tried to explain to the headmaster.

Dumbledore nodded before saying, "Mr. Potter—"

But there was no one there. Cedric looked around frantically to see Harry being hauled off by Professor Moody.

"Headmaster, Professor Moody is taking Harry somewhere," Cedric said, but Dumbledore was in conversation with the other judges.

"Headmaster!" Cedric said more urgently, "Professor Moody has Harry!"

Dumbledore turned to look at Cedric and then at where Cedric was pointing.

"Stay here," he told Cedric firmly as he and Professor McGonagall took off after them.

Cedric watched them leave when he heard a very angry, "Ron! Let me go!"

He turned to see Hermione running toward him.

"Where did Professor Moody take Harry?" she asked breathlessly as Ron came to join them.

"Dunno."

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Later that night, Cedric, Ron, and Hermione sat quietly in the hospital wing. Hermione had her head on Cedric's shoulder as the three of them watched Harry sleep. Cedric was still stunned at the news he had received earlier.

"I can't believe—"

"—Moody's an imposter," Ron finished for him.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "Just when you think you can trust someone."

"Like Krum?" Cedric offered.

"Exactly," Hermione said, stifling a yawn

"Do you suppose he'll be all right?" Ron asked, gesturing towards the motionless Harry.

"I hope so," Cedric and Hermione said in unison.

As the night wore on, Hermione fell asleep on Cedric's shoulder and Ron tried hard to stay awake with the older boy. Before long, the early morning sun began to shine through the windows and Cedric noticed Harry stir.

"Harry?" he asked expectantly.

Hermione stirred awake and Ron also became more attentive as the three of them peered at Harry. Slowly, the boy's eyes opened and he took the glasses that Cedric held out for him.

"Thanks," he said weakly as he tried to hoist himself up to a sitting position and wincing.

"Oh, Harry, thank Merlin you're okay!" Hermione said, getting up, taking Harry's face in her hands, and kissing him on the cheek.

"Oy, Hermione. Thanks, but I think you're going to make your boyfriend jealous," Harry said, wincing at the quick movement.

"Are you kidding, mate? It's good to have you back," Cedric told him, smiling.

"Very good," Ron agreed. "I don't know how much longer I could handle it with these two," he said jokingly as Hermione slapped him playfully on the arm.

"What happened last night, Harry?" Cedric asked him as he scooted his chair closer to the bed.

Hermione helped Harry position some pillows behind him so that he could sit up properly before she sat down next to Cedric again.

"Thanks," Harry said to Hermione before turning to Cedric. "When I touched the Cup, I was Portkeyed to a graveyard, one that's been in my dreams for awhile now. And I don't really remember a lot of it, but the important part is this: Voldemort's back."

The three listeners winced at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but were all in disbelief.

"Back?" Hermione asked, the first of the three to speak.

"Yeah, and that's why Barty Crouch Jr. told me about the dragons and told you, Cedric, about the egg, because he knew that you would tell me. And he was the one that Imperiused Krum to use the Cruciatus Curse on you and Fleur. It was all a plan—"

"—To get you to the Cup and eventually to the graveyard," Hermione finished for him.

"Right," Harry concluded, nodding at his friends.

The four of them sat in silence for a few moments, absorbing everything that had actually happened in the past year. Cedric was the one that broke the silence as he inhaled deeply and then exhaled in a long, low whistle.

"Well, that's some game."