Warnings are on first chapter

My Infinity- Chapter 25

"What happened?" Hermione nearly attacked him with as he came through the portrait. Harry pulled her aside when he saw that they were not alone; a few Gryffindor scragglers were still hanging out and in a low voice he stated that he needed a summoning charm. Hermione smiled as the thought of a new 'quest' to concur and Harry smiled back because he knew that look and knew that she would come through for him. Every time she tackled a new subject or a hard spell that was far advance for her age she stuck to it till it was mastered. "Make sure you eat enough food at breakfast because tomorrow we're skipping lunch. Now get up to bed and get a good night's sleep." And so it was; with the tournament just a few days away Hermione had snuck into the boys' dormitory and quietly dragged Harry out of his bed. They went down to breakfast, having to wait for five minutes along with a couple of more students and a few professors from the upper years because it was too early for the food to appear just yet. Once it had Hermione made Harry stuff his pockets with sweet rolls and sausages then led him up to an empty class room. Harry was hoping he had a chance to see Cedric but not even he would be down at such an ungodly hour. Once they were there Hermione explained to him as best as she could the 'accio' spell. She stated each and every item to be practiced on: an ink bottle, a book, and a few other light-weight items.

Each of them would come floating to Harry as he said the spell but about half way to him they would tremble then fall to the floor. "Focus Harry," Hermione said gently. "Clear your mind and put each of the things…" an empty bottle that was more than halfway to him and was sure would make it all the way had suddenly dropped and disintegrated on the floor. Harry growled in frustration because he had felt his grip on the magic weaken and didn't know how to hold on to it. They stood quiet for a moment as Hermione watched the other seethe with anger. "Harry, its ok…you just need to keep on practi"- Harry rubbed two tightly gripped fists up and down his face till it was red and said, "How am I supposed to concentrate on anything when all I can see is monstrous creatures that want to turn me into a little shish-ca-bob morsel!" His friend felt for him. For each school term he had completed Harry had to deal with near death experiences and this year was no difference. She just hoped that he'll come out of this in one solid-abled piece. "Harry," she said in a stern voice. "Continue"- He tried to cut her off but she put her pointing finger against her tight lips. "You will continue to practice until you have mastered this spell and not a moment before." The boy sighed in resignation and began again. He thought that maybe he should skip his next class so he can continue to practice and said so but Hermione stated that she had never missed a class before and wasn't about to start now.

So they continued till it was time for their next class. Harry couldn't really concentrate and with Professor Trelawney predicting yet again deaths-violent and sudden for the month of July, he was getting stressed out even more. He was becoming a bit angry as well as he quietly tried to summon a wallet out of the back pocket of a fifth year who sat in front of him, but when he heard what the professor had said his head whipped up and spat, "Well isn't that-just-great! If this first task won't kill me at least I know to expect it for that month. Happy fuckin birthday to ME!" he sneered as the rest of the class stared in stunned silence. "Can my life SUCK ANY MORE than THIS?!" he shouted as he slammed his fist onto his desk. He wasn't reprimanded and he thought it was because the professor was a bit afraid of him at the moment, but she did take off points for the offending language. As soon at the class was over he stomped out and down the stairs, ignoring the whispers around him. Hermione met him at the bottom of the stairs and instantly knew that something was wrong. Harry began to explain in a stressed tone as they entered through the door for dinner when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hi," came a voice he'd been hoping to hear. Harry turned his head then smiled. "Cedric…" he said and suddenly felt a bit of the tension drift away. "Missed you at breakfast," the Hufflepuff stated gently but before Harry could respond Hermione cut in. "We had some stuff to do-so we skipped it," she stated as she looked at Cedric strangely. The taller boy quickly pulled away as if noticing the girl's presence for the first time then smiled. "Oh, hey Hermione," he greeted, giving the object of his affection a quick glance. She returned a somewhat half way smile as she continued to eye him curiously. "Are you going to join us for lunch?" she had suddenly asked him and the way she put it he knew it wasn't meant as an invitation. "Oh, um…" Cedric looked back at the girl and read defiance behind her eyes. Mocking a smile he shook his head and turned towards Harry. "I just came to say good morning, see how you were doing and all…" Hermione continued to eye him as Harry frowned a bit. "You're not going to join us?" he asked and the other shook his head with a quick glance to the girl. "I can't-I promised my house buddies that I'd eat with them today-besides…I've been at your table one too many times, people will begin to talk that I might turn Gryffindor," he chuckled dryly as he stepped back. "Cedric"- Harry tried again but Hermione cut him off.

"Harry, we need to eat fast so we can continue what we were doing before…" she said as she placed a hand on his arm but he didn't seem to hear her. "Ced, don't go…at least sit for a couple of minutes with us." Cedric could feel the girl's eyes on him, penetrating the side of his head and he sighed. "I wish I could but…I try to stick to what I say…if not I wouldn't be a man of my word." They stared into each other's eyes for a moment till Cedric closed his for a couple of brief seconds then gave a small smile. "I'll just catch up to you later, ok?" The younger boy tried to smile back but instead just gave a small nod. With that Cedric turned around and headed to his table. "Come on Harry, we need to eat fast so we can practice some more…" Hermione said as she walked to their table. Harry watched the other boy walk away without a backward glance and when Cedric had joined his friends he slowly turned to join his. "Why are you sitting on that side?" Hermione asked when he sat opposite of her instead of next to her. He shrugged and said, "Just want a different view of the hall…" Hermione glanced behind her and frowned as her suspicions were confirmed. When she turned back she saw Harry quickly look away but not before she thought she saw a hint of sadness…

Halfway through lunch Ron stood up from where he had been usually sitting and timidly approached where his two former friends sat. Harry was wondering what had taken him so long to finally do it. "Hi," he said softly, more so to Hermione than Harry. Hermione looked up in surprise then went back to her noodles as if he hadn't spoken at all. "Hermione…I came to say that I'm…I'm sorry. For how I acted. I shouldn't have said those things; I shouldn't have laughed at her." Harry looked at Hermione in question but the girl continued to eat in silence. Taking a chance Ron sat down next to her. "Hermione, please…I truly am sorry, really I am." Hermione took a sip of her drink then turned to him. "That poor girl still flinches at the sight of Malfoy…if she sits too long at any one place her foot falls to sleep so to speeak and she begins to panic…" Ron blushed and felt worst. "All I can say is that I'm really-really sorry." When she didn't respond, he placed his arm around her shoulder and with a pleading voice begged, "Please forgive me?" Hermione stayed quiet for a moment then sighed. "If you ever act inconsiderate like that again, uncaring about other's feelings…I promise you Ronald Weasley, I will never utter another word to you as long as I live." The carrot-top boy smiled and hugged her close. "I won't, I promise," then he looked at Harry and smiled shyly.

Hermione continued to help Harry practice and this time Ron came to help as well. Through out the next days everything was hectic and nerve racking for the champions. As much as Harry wanted to spend time with Cedric he had other priorities, meaning perfecting the accio spell as best as he could. They had fleeting moments in the hall as they passed each other, touching each other's hands; and at dining time (which Cedric still refused to sit with him) the only things they shared were longing looks and half-hearted smiles. When the day of the first task had finally arrived something seemed to have happened to Harry. His entire body seemed to have suddenly to come alive. To him, the only way he could describe it was his body was surging with electricity. Every part of him jittered, his hands couldn't stop trembling, his eyes burned and his head was in a daze. Whenever someone spoke to him it sounded as if they were in a void of echoes. As the trio of friends went down the last flight of steps Harry paused, staring at the castle's wide open doors. People were pouring out, some wishing him good luck, and other's stating negative outcomes that they were sure would happen to him. "Come on Harry," Ron said gently as he watched his friend freeze up. "I can't," Harry said as suddenly his vision turned completely white for a moment. "I can't go out there," he turned blindly to Hermione. "Hermione-I can't! Don't make me go out there, they'll kill me…they'll skewer me with their forked tongues and grind me to bits Hermione!"

"Easy there Harry, easy…" Ron said as he tried to pry his friend's clawed fingers off Hermione's forearms. Hermione felt a lump in her throat and if had to pick a choice of reason for it-sadness for the way he was acting right now or fear for what he was about to go through in few moments, she could not pick. "Sshhh…it's okay, it's okaay. We're going to be right there with you Harry," she stated in a somewhat steady voice so as not to show that she-Hermione Jean Granger was assured that no harm will come to him. They were able to calm down the nerve-racked boy enough where even though his eyes were still a bit wider than normal he at least walked on his own down to the arena. When they got there McGonagall told Harry's friends to find a seat so he could join the other champions in the tent. Ron patted Harry on the arm, wishing him luck and Hermione hugged him fiercely after looking at him with watery eyes. "You will come out of this Harry, I know you will," she whispered, yet not as a fact but instead it came out as a demand. Harry pictured himself indeed actually coming out the first task; but not in the way his friend was hoping for. In his mind he came out in a sack, with some of the larger and more important parts- like his head…leg…torso…deep in the belly of the dragon. The professor led him to a large tent where upon entering saw that the rest of the players were already there. Instantly Cedric went up to him and almost engulfed him in a tight embrace when he saw his face but stopped himself just in time to realize where they were.

"It's going to be alright Harry, you're going to come out of fine," he said, almost echoing the words of Hermione. "I'm scared Cedric," Harry whispered hoarsely. "I know"- "I'm so scared that I'm sure I won't know what to do when the time comes to confront it. One look at the thing and I'll freeze…I'll freeze Cedric and it'll gobble me up-or even worst"- at this he grabbed a hold of the taller boy's biceps, "it'll swallow me hole and I'll have to live in there till it's stomach's acids will eat away every part of me till there's nothing left!" He said it loud enough where he drew the attention of the others that were there as well. 'Screw what the other's think,' Cedric thought and placing both hands gently on each side of Harry's face he leaned in close and said softly, "Nothing will happen to you Harry. You will go out there, confront the damn thing and do what it is that we need to do with it"- "it'll eat me"- "It won't-it won't! I promise you it won't…" Harry searched the grey eyes and saw that Cedric really believed what he was saying. "We will be all surrounded by people. The ministry would never let anything happen to us, not with so many witnesses out there they won't." He was about to say one more thing but Mr. Bagman called them over just then. He explained what they had to do and after picking out a miniature dragon of their own with a number on it to state whom will go first a loud whistle blew. Harry turned to Cedric for he was the first one to confront the horendous things.

The poor boy had a greenish tint coloring his face, and although he tried to hide it Harry could read panic setting in his eyes. Before he stepped out of the tent he turned once more to Harry and smiled. "I'll see you in a bit," he said and gave a reassuring wink. Harry sat there through out the entire thing, listening to screams, gasp's, commentary from Bagman, the roars of the beast and finally another kind of roar, this time it was of many, many voices screaming with victory. He stood by the entrance of the tent, waiting for Cedric to come back but he never did. Fleur was next then Krum. Both had gone through it and had gotten the egg. Now it was Harry's. His body began to tremble. He tried to take a step towards the opening of the tent but he couldn't move. A hand on his shoulder startled him enough that he jumped with a small yelp. "Harry, you need to try to calm down. It is your turn now and everyone is waiting," McGonagall said gently to him. "You will be safe out there, I promise." Harry swallowed thickly and nodded. 'If the other's made it through, if Fleur made it through…then so can I,' he thought and taking a deep ragged breath he stepped out to what he hoped was not his doom. He received a gash on his right arm, a burn on the back of his neck; along with the smell of burnt hair and had twisted his ankle just before he shouted the spell he had been working so hard on to retrieve his Firebolt. The whole thing took no more than ten to fifteen minutes, the fastest one of the four champions.

He limped way to the tent where Madam Pomfrey was waiting for him. After fixing him up in his own cubicle as best as she could she ordered him to rest a bit and left. Harry turned onto his side and closed his eyes, replaying the horrific scenes over. A moment later he heard the muffled sound of feet on the grassy floor then suddenly someone had crawled into his cot and wrapped their arms around his waist from behind. He quickly turned around then smiled. "Cedric…" Gently Cedric kissed him on his forehead. "I was so worried bout you," he stated. "I was going nuts listening to those roars and the screams of the crowd. I was about to run out there, wand in my hand when Professor Moody held me back, the bastard…" Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Where you really that worried over me?" Harry asked and Cedric furrowed his brows. "Of course! I care about you Harry, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Harry grinned goofily at him. "How about we celebrate for living through the first task?" he suggested as he gently ran a hand through the other's hair. Cedric smiled back at the thought. "What did you have in mind?" Harry leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. "Oh, just the two of us…maybe some butter beer, a few edibles to nibble on and some music…" Cedric liked that idea very much. "I think we can do that…but the only thing I'll be nibbling on is you." Harry grinned and wrapped his arms around his neck and said, "Oooo…nibble away Diggory, nibble away…"

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Author's note- Now I know a few of you's will question on why Harry was freaking out the way he did; it's because he's human…i mean what normal person will not freak out when it comes to those dragons? It seemed more realistic if he did instead of acting the way he did in the book. Anyways…that's my p.o.v on him even though other's will think differently…