Chapter 11

The morning of the First Task, Rosella woke up feeling super nervous and most certainly scared. She hadn't seen or spoken to Harry in what felt like weeks. If she did get a chance to speak to him it was only for a few minutes. But she was most certainly concerned about his safety. But she wasn't just worried about him. She was definitely worried about Krum and Fleur. She was more than willing to admit that she was scared for Cedric as well. But they still weren't talking to each other. Hailey found Rosella in the bathroom finishing braiding her hair. "Ella, we've got to go." She said.

"I'm almost done. I just need to finish this one side." She said as she tied her single fishtail braid.

Grabbing her belongings that she had brought to the bathroom, the duo headed out of the common room and towards the Entrance Hall. The First Task wouldn't be till after lunch and students had to go to their morning classes. Walking towards the Entrance Hall, the room was somewhat quiet but students were still having normal conversations. Hailey and Rosella sat next to Noel, who sat across from Joel and Mark. Rosella looked around the room for Cedric. He was usually with Joel and Mark as they were inseparable. "Where's Ced?" Hailey asked reading Rosella's mind.

"Having an argument with Cho." Mark said as Joel rolled his eyes.

"Oh?" Rosella said, "Everything okay with them?"

"Not really. She's been getting angry at him since he's been spending a lot of time trying to figure out the First Task and what he's going to do." Mark said.

"Well that's unfortunate." Noel said as Hailey snickered and Rosella shot the two girls a look.

"Be nice." Rosella said as Mark and Joel looked at her.

"We seriously can't understand how you can sit there and not complain about her, Rose. Like the girl is literally trying to control his life. Doesn't it bother you? He's been your best friend since you two were little. You two haven't hung out with each other in so long. Doesn't that bother you?" Joel asked as Mark nodded his head.

"It bothers me but there's nothing I can do to change anything. If he loves her, he loves her. If he's happy then I'm happy for him. Who am I to tell him whom he can and cannot date? I'm just his best friend." She said as Cedric came into the room.

"But if you tell him how you feel, he'll most likely listen to you." Mark said.

"I doubt that." Rosella said as Cedric sat across from her.

"Hey." He said the group said their hellos to him.

"Are you nervous about today, Ced?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah but I'm trying not to freak out." He said as he ate his food.

"I'm sure you'll do great! You've been practicing what you're going to do a lot." Joel said as Mark nodded his head.

Rosella somewhat avoided looking at Cedric. She still didn't want to speak to him and she was pretty sure he knew that. She could see him looking at her trying to get her attention but she ignored him. She was still finding it hard to see him with Cho. Though she rarely saw them together because she avoided them at all cost, it still hurt to even be thinking about it. She quietly excused herself saying that she needed to head to class to help Adisa with homework. The group said they would see her later and she walked away from the group.

Cedric sat at the table listening to his friends catch up. He was definitely nervous and he could barely eat anything. His thoughts had gone back to the day that Harry had told him what their first task would be.

Flashback…

A few days ago

Cedric sat in the Middle Courtyard with his friends. His mind was still wondering about how Rosella was doing. To his dismay, she still ignored him and spent more time with Krum. He couldn't even call him by his first name. That was just how angry he was that she was spending more time with him. He wouldn't have cared much if it were Fleur. That would have been a different story. But it wasn't. He technically didn't even really have the right to be angry with her. They weren't dating each other and he was dating Cho. So he couldn't really speak to her about her hanging out with Krum.

His mind was pulled back when he heard his friends starting to shout some things. "Read the badges, Potter!" He heard as he shook his head and saw Harry walking towards them.

"Could I have a word, Cedric?" Harry asked as Cedric's friends mocked him.

If it wasn't obvious that no one was really supportive of Harry, Cedric's friends weren't afraid to show that they didn't appreciate him stealing Cedric's thunder. This was probably one of the reasons why Cedric often times preferred to hang out with Joel, Mark, and the girls. They were a little more considerate of others. Cedric stood up and followed Harry.

"Dragons. That's the first task. They got one for each of us." Harry said as Cedric looked at him in shock.

"Are you serious?" He asked as Harry nodded his head, "And do Fleur and Krum, do they…"

"Yeah. They know." Harry said.

"Come on, Ced! Leave him!" Cedric's friends shouted, "Read the badges, Potter!"

Harry started to walk away not really finding the need to say anything to Cedric after that. He had just wanted to inform him of the First Task since Fleur and Krum knew. It was only right for Cedric to know as well so that he didn't go into the First Task not knowing anything. Cedric stopped him though to tell him, "About the badges, Harry. I've asked them not too wear it but …"

Harry cut him off and said, "Don't worry about it."

And with that Harry started to walk away again until the two heard a familiar voice calling his name. Both Cedric and Harry turned to see Rosella rushing over to Harry. She held a badge in her hand contemplating what to do with it. She tossed it to Cedric's friends. She didn't think it was right for her to be wearing a 'Cedric Rules, Potter Stinks' badge. She had just come over to try and talk to Harry. Harry pulled her away before even more tension formed between Cedric and Rosella.

End Flashback

That was Rosella for you. She was always going to be loyal to her true friends. He knew she would refuse to wear the badges. His friends wanted to call her a traitor but they knew how much she meant to Cedric. So they held their comments back. He felt a hand reach over to him. He looked up to see Noel looking at him. "You okay, Ced?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm sorry. I guess my mind was just somewhere else." He said.

"You got this, Ced. We believe in you." She said as he smiled at her.

"Thanks, Noel. I appreciate that. I'm going to head to my class. I'll see you guys later." He said as the group waved goodbye to him.

The First Task

Rosella stood in the bathroom of their dormitory fixing her braid. She took a look at herself in the mirror. She felt like a restless, hopeless girl who was confused about herself. As much as she wanted to avoid Cedric, she wanted nothing more than to be there for him. She wanted nothing more than to be his support system while at school. But she was so afraid still. So afraid to be there for him as a friend. She shook her head as Hailey stepped into the bathroom and looked at her, "You're still not done? Hermione's waiting for you." Hailey said.

"I'm almost done! Just had to do a quick retouch up on the hair." She said tying her braid once more.

"Okay let's go." Hailey said dragging her best friend.

Hailey and Rosella met Hermione and Noel in front of the Hufflepuff house entrance. Hermione and Rosella had planned to head over to the tent to wish Harry luck. Rosella was so nervous for all four champions. This was the first time she would have to really actually possibly speak to Cedric. Hailey and Noel were going to save Rosella a seat after she said good luck to everyone. Hermione and Rosella rushed to the tent as Hermione called for Harry. Harry walked over and she slightly opened the tent as Rosella stayed back. "Harry? Is that you?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"How are you feeling? Okay? The key is to concentrate. After that, you just have to…" She started to say but he cut her off.

"Battle a dragon." He responded.

She pulled the tent open and wrapped her arms around Harry before they pulled away. She looked at him and said, "I've brought someone who's been dying to see you."

Harry looked at her before watching as Rosella stepped into the tent. He smiled when Rosella appeared in front of him. "Ella." He whispered.

"Harry!" She exclaimed wrapping her arms around him, "How are you holding up?"

"Nervous." He whispered.

"Don't be. I have faith in you, Harry." Rosella said pulling away from him.

"Thanks, Ella." Harry said as he noticed her looking at Cedric, who was deep in his thoughts, "I think you should talk to him."

Rosella looked back at Harry. She didn't know what she would say to him. It had been weeks since they had last spoken and the last they had seen of each other was this morning. She didn't know if she wanted to speak to him just yet. "Maybe I'll talk to him after I greet Fleur and Krum." She told Harry, who nodded.

Harry and Hermione spoke to each other while Rosella made her way over to Fleur and greeted her with a hug. "How are you holding up?" She asked Fleur.

"I'm scared." Fleur replied as Rosella took her hand.

"Don't be scared. You'll be fine and I'll be up in the stands cheering for you. You can do this." Rosella told her.

"Thank you." Fleur said.

"Your welcome and good luck." She said before turning to look at Viktor.

Viktor smiled at her as she rushed over to him. He pulled her into a warm embrace before setting her back down on her feet. Cedric watched on feeling jealous. "You came." Viktor whispered to Rosella.

"I told you I would come to wish you luck." She said smiling.

"Thank you." He said.

"No problem. I'll be up in the stands cheering for you like I said I would." Rosella said.

"Thanks, I'll see you later then?" He asked.

"Of course." She said hugging him one last time.

Rosella looked back to meet Cedric's eyes. He had been watching her this whole time. Part of her wanted to wish him luck and part of her didn't at all. But somewhere deep inside of her, she found the courage to want to speak to him. Walking over to him, she surprised the both of them by hugging him. Cedric wrapped his arms around her as they both took a deep breath realizing how much they had missed each other. "Please be safe out there, Ced." She said as she leaned her head against his chest, "Good luck."

She stepped away from him and walked back over to Harry's side just as Rita Skeeter made her way into the tent. She gushed at the sight of seeing Hermione and Rosella in the tent. She babbled on about young love before Krum told her that she had no business being in the tent. That the tent was meant for champions and their friends. In that moment, Rosella realized how close Cedric had moved to stand somewhat in front of her. Almost like he was protecting her from Rita. Professor Dumbledore and all the leaders of the other school came into the tent. Professor Dumbledore did a double take when he saw both Hermione and Rosella.

"Miss Granger and Miss Reyes, what are you two doing in here?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"Sorry, we'll just go." Hermione said grabbing Rosella's hand and pulling her out of the tent.

The two girls made it back to their respective sections. Hailey and Noel each took a hold of Rosella's hands when she got back. The girls listened as they announced that Cedric would be going first. Cedric came out as their house cheered for him. Rosella couldn't help but smile because she was proud of him for doing something like this. To her, he was bravest person that she knew. She watched on as he looked for the dragon before locating it. He knew what he was going to do. When he found a rock that he wanted to use, he transfigured it into a dog in order to distract the dragon. The dragon focused its attention on the dog rather than Cedric. Thus allowing Cedric to retrieve the Golden Egg. But little did Cedric know that the dragon had lost interest in the dog and turned its attention back to him. 'Cedric, turn around! Turn around!' Rosella screamed to herself.

"Oh my god he doesn't know." She heard Noel mutter.

"The dragon, Ced!" Hailey screamed as Cedric finally turned to see the dragon focused on him.

But it was too late, Rosella held her breath as the dragon burnt Cedric on the side of his face. Her grip on Hailey and Noel's hand tightened as she watched her best friend try to get out of there.

"Ella, you're hurting us." Hailey said as she loosened her grip when she saw that Cedric was okay and that he made it out safely.

Rosella apologized just as their house cheered loudly for him. Proud that he had survived and made it. Rosella took a seat. If she had been so nervous for Cedric, how was she going to survive watching the other three? She was afraid that she wasn't going to be able to watch. She needed Hailey and Noel to tell her what happened. Fleur was up next just as Rosella remained seated in her spot. She listened to the crowd cheer after a couple minutes in. She looked up at Noel. "She managed to get the egg though her skirt got caught on fire. But she put it out." Noel said as Rosella nodded her head.

Following Fleur was Viktor. Rosella closed her eyes and prayed that all would go well. There were still a lot of cheering and she knew that Krum was going to be just fine. In the back of her mind, she couldn't stop worrying about Cedric. She wondered how he was holding up. She hoped that everything with him was okay. She wanted to be with him instead of sitting here in the stands. She listened as crowd cheered louder and louder. Rosella looked up at her two friends as Hailey looked down at her and said, "He got the egg but they're saying he's going to lose points for something that we couldn't understand."

"That's good." She said looking down.

Noel placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Why don't you go visit him? No one will notice that you left." She said.

"Why should I visit him? After everything that he and I have been through, why should I still see him?" Rosella said as the two sat down beside her.

"Because no matter how many times we tell you this, he's still your best friend, Ella. He's been your best friend since you were little. He's been there for you constant times in your life where neither of the two us was there for you. He was there when you first heard about your father having cancer. He's even admitted to me that you're like family to him and to be honest, Ella, right now you're the only family he has here. His parents aren't here. Now go and we'll tell you if Harry won." Hailey said as Rosella stood up.

"Okay." She said walking out of the stands to go to the Hospital wing.

Hospital Wing…

Cedric lay on one of the hospital beds not even wanting to see what he looked like right now. Of course he was proud of himself for getting the egg but he was so angry with himself for nothing thinking his idea through. How could he forget about the dragon? He should have thought of another solution for this task. He heard Madam Pomfrey talking to someone and when he realized who it was, he was surprised.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has been following and leaving reviews for this story! I really appreciate all the support! From all the reviews, the follows, and most especially the favorites! I only own anyone you do not recognize.