Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Harry Potter!

"They are out of their bloody minds! How can the Ministry allow this?" The frizzy haired girl from Gryffindor huffed and fumed her entire way to the Quiddich pitch where she had heard the Hufflepuff team would be practicing.

Hermione could not believe what Hagrid had shown her. The first task was going to be dragons. Off all the magical creatures out there they had decided on one of the most dangerous and untamable? Did they honestly want someone to die? Even dragon caretakers sometimes died during the job and yet the Ministry thought four teenagers would be able to handle them? Was entertainment these days really worth risking the lives of kids? Harry may have beaten Voldermort and yet he never chose to fight him any of the times he had been forced to do so. This was completely different and even Viktor Krum the famous Quiddich player wouldn't stand a chance against dragons without some warning of what was coming.

That is why Hermione had convinced Harry to tell the other participants about the first task. She knew Hagrid had wanted to give the boy who lived a heads up, but she did not find it fair and so she had nagged at her friend until he agreed the others should be told. He did not agree with her when she assured him they would offer him the same kindness if the roles had been reversed and yet he had never been able to say no to her when she had her mind set on something. He had agreed to tell Fleur and Viktor and she had been adamant about being the one to tell Cedric. It was the reason she had come to the Quiddich pitch in search of him.

A few of the Hufflepuff boys and known friends of Cedric took the time to boo at her and sing that stupid song about Harry they are created as a way to show who they believed to be the true Hogwarts champion. Not willing to fall in to their childish games Hermione rolled her eyes and continued walking past them to Cedric who had obviously taken a break from practice and was lying down on the bleachers with his new fan club surrounding him and girls cooing at everything he said as if he had the answer to the world's problems. As soon as he saw her heading his way he jumped up to great her with that famous Diggory smile.

"Hey Hermione what are you doing away from the library?" He asked as some of his friends laughed apparently taking his genuine question as a joke at her expense. He waved his hand as a way to tell them to back off and give him some privacy.

"You get her Ced." One of his buddies called as they left to go stand a few yards away until he was finished with his conversation with her. His friends must have thought she was one of his fan club and she was half tempted to tell them where they could stick it, but she didn't because that was not the kind of person she was.

Hermione tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "What lovely company you keep. I can see why you followed me around the first week when we were here alone. It must be hard being the only one with brains among your group of friends. I would have hoped for a better group of people, but to be blunt I have met Slytherins with better manners than that lot and that is saying something."

He smiled at her comment about his friends and their manners. "They have some redeeming qualities once you get to know them. If I wanted to compare friends with no manners then all I have to say is watch Ronald Weasley eat and my friends will seem as if they were raised in charm school. I take it you did not come here to discuss my friends and their behavior. Can I hope that you came to see me because you miss our talks and my 'oh so charming' personality?"

She fought back a smile of her own and shook her head. "I came here to speak with you about the first task actually."

Cedric looked back at his friends and motioned for her to walk with him. This was not a conversation he wanted to someone to overhear. "Are you actually breaking the rules by talking about the tournament? You know we are not supposed to be speaking about it, though I have to admit I like this rebel side of you. You should break the rules more often."

"Oh hush you!" The bookworm chastised with a bright blush covering her cheeks. "Here I am trying to do you a favor and all you can do is joke about it. I should just let the dragons eat you and then you wouldn't be joking so much. I would be the one laughing then as they used you as a human marshmallow."

"Hey I happen to find your little rebellious streak very attractive and wait-"He paused suddenly and he started to pale visibly. His lips turned white and for a moment Hermione feared he may pass out. "Did you just say dragons? Are you seriously telling me that our first task is facing dragons?"

"You should sit down since you seem a little sick and I doubt I could hold you up." She told him frankly as she helped him settle on the grass and she sat cross legged next to him. "You are not going to have a panic attack on me are you? Losing your cool right now of all times will not help you. If I had known you would have such a bad reaction to the new I wouldn't have told you. If you die before the tournament I fear I will be ambushed by your admirers."

Her attempt at calming him down seemed to have the desired effect when he laughed. "Well I would hate to be responsible for your death. I just cannot believe that we will be put up against dragons. How can we possibly beat a dragon? Will they want us to kill it? I doubt they would want us to kill them and so that means they are guarding something we will need. All I have to do is incapacitate it long enough to get whatever it is I will need to get. A simple stunning spell will not be enough and we are only allowed to have our wands. I need to go to the library and see what I can find."

When he stood up she stood up along with him. "What about your Quiddich practice?"

Harry had refused to miss practice and so his willingness to go study surprised her somewhat as did his answer. "Who cares about Quiddich when I am going to face a dragon? I won't be much of a seeker if I am dead now will I? Would you like to come with me? You are the smartest witch in Hogwarts and if anyone can help me survive this it would be you."

"You want my help?" She questioned while following him as they headed towards the library together. "Nobody ever really wants my help rather I kind of force it on them."

Cedric shot her that charming smile of his again. He took her hand and kissed the knuckles softly smirking at her pink cheeks. He wondered if it would be possible to keep her permanently blushing if he laid on the flattery nonstop. "Well I am asking for your help because as you stated earlier in more fancy words, I am not stupid. I can get on my knees and beg if that is what you want."

"It would be a start." Hermione smiled brightly thinking she would win until he got on his knees and she quickly looked around before grabbing his arm and forcing him to his feet. "You can be such a bloody idiot at times did you know that?"

TBC…

AN: I hope that you all liked this chapter. I know I have not updated in a while, but I have some personal issues I am trying to work through and it has been hard. I thought this chapter came out pretty well and I do hope that you agree with me. I would love to hear what you would like to see next. I have all the big things figured out, but I can take ideas for chapters and work my ideas in with them. In the next chapter I was thinking it is the day before the first task and everyone is going to Hogsmeade and Hermione forces Cedric and Harry to go since they have been worrying nonstop and in turn that causes her to worry. Let me know what you think about that.

Please R&R like always!