"Diggory! Diggory! Diggory!"
"Please be safe" Aurora whispered under her breath as the crowd cheered on around her.
"Did you say something?" Gabriella asked.
"Nothing" Aurora quickly shook her head, "I just want this to be over and done with already"
"I'm sure they're picking out their dragons right now" Gabriella commented, "I wonder which one Krum's going to get. Hopefully the easiest one. I want Fleur to get the most difficult"
"Is there any real safe dragon out there?" Devery countered.
"I guess not" Gabriella shrugged, "I wonder how Diggory and Potter are going to hold up. They better make a good representation to this school"
Aurora sighed as she continued to let Gabriella drone on and on about the mindless crap that she's been going on all morning. She couldn't really concentrate on anything else but Cedric's task at hand. She even tried to see him before the match but the Hufflepuff entrance was already crowded up with his posse that she couldn't possibly slip by unnoticed. A canon suddenly exploded, making Aurora jump and shake from the unexpected sound. The Diggory chants started up again as Aurora looked over to her best friends. She expected her friends to exchange a glance of worry to some sort but instead, Devery leaned forward with a dark smile on her lips as Gabriella cheered as the wizard made the dragon more life- size.
"Oh, bloody hell" Aurora let out as she recognized the dragon.
"Look! That's Diggory's dragon! The Swedish Short-Snout!" someone from behind her yelled out.
"That one's going to be a tricky one" another boy commented.
"Great!" Devery squealed, "I want to see someone burn tonight"
"I hope he gets scorched!" a Slytherin said.
"There's no doubt about it!" a Ravenclaw student replied, "The short-snout has an extremely hot fire breath, possibly one of the hottest from all dragon breeds. If Cedric even thinks about running off with a broom, this dragon is the fastest one upon record. He's a dead wizard walking, that's for sure!"
Aurora's blood ran cold as the crowd grew silent as the dragon stalked around the arena, waiting for something. If she wasn't watching the entrance, Aurora wouldn't have noticed Cedric slink over to the big boulder on the left and hide, her heart sank as she could see from where she was sitting his bright yellow coat. Her eyes glanced over to the dragon who seemed unaware of the boy but could feel the danger of someone wanting to take the golden egg. It was very clever and cruel that the Ministry would allow a golden egg to be the object a dragon should protect; either a dragon egg or gold would do but a golden egg just seemed to put more of an adrenaline surge to the dragon. Aurora looked back to Cedric but gasped when she noticed that he had already moved from his hiding spot.
"Where did he go?" Aurora whispered to her friends.
A flash of yellow ran from the left side of the arena, catching both the dragons and Aurora's attention as the dragon let out it's fiery breath. Aurora gasped so much and hard that it nearly hurt her lungs before she noticed the thing running was actually a yellow dog. She leaned in closer as she noticed Cedric was running from the right. The path he was taking was more difficult but better off not being seen.
The dog kept barking and running around faster and zig- zagging on the opposite side of the arena, but dragon's attention spans aren't as grabbing as one would seem. The dragon turned back to the egg and immediately noticed Cedric was getting closer and closer to its prized possession. It let out a stream of fire in his direction as Aurora couldn't help but let out a scream as she couldn't see him through the blue flames.
Devery screamed out, "He's dead! No one could survive that!"
"Look, look! There he is!" Gabriella grabbed onto Devery's arm and pointed off to the side.
Cedric staggered into view, violently patting his arm to stop the flames from spreading. He turned and zeroed in his focus on the golden egg that wasn't far from him at all.
With one final sprint, Cedric ran into view of the dragon as flames erupted around him before he picked up the egg and turned to the dragon.
It immediately shrank down into pocket size as Dumbledore announced, "Cedric Diggory has caught the Golden Egg!"
"That was brilliant! I can't wait until the next one! I reckon you won't come" Devery cheered after the 1st Task, "You nearly screamed your lungs out when Cedric was about to get scorched by the dragon's fire"
"So I got a little bit terrified" Aurora rolled her eyes.
"A little? You nearly fainted" Gabriella laughed.
"Oi, Gabriella! Wait up!" a boy yelled from behind the three girls.
Just as Gabriella and Devery turned around to see who was calling her, Aurora ducked herself out of the hallway and hid in one of the dungeons' entrances. Aurora held her breath for a little bit as if her friends would be able to hear her breathing. But as they walked by, Aurora noticed that Gabriella was too busy flirting with the boy to realize that Aurora wasn't there. Aurora slipped out of the hallway and found the quickest way out of the dungeon and started to make her way over to the Infirmary Wing. Her heart was beating out of her chest as her hands started to tremble and shake as she revisioned Cedric rolling on the ground with a small patch of his robes on fire as he cupped his face which was severely burned. Aurora turned the corner and skidded to a halt as she nearly collided with Draco and his two friends.
"That was a great match wasn't it?" Draco asked, "I really wished that Potter had gotten last place but seeing him being thrown around by the dragon was fair enough. I almost felt bad for the poor lad"
"It was pretty intense" Aurora agreed, "They were all pretty clever in their own rights. I especially loved the way Fleur used the Sleeping Charm on her dragon. I didn't think the girl had it in her. No doubt you will say that your favorite was Krum's performance so I will avoid asking the question"
Draco smirked before his eyebrows furrowed, "Where are you off to?"
"I left my scarf out on my seat" Aurora lied.
"I'd hurry if I were you" Draco told her, "The Squib will most likely take it for his own"
Aurora gave her best smile and a nod as she continued down the hallway. She noticed that only Ravenclaw and Slytherin students were out and about as the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students went eagerly over to their common rooms in hopes of hearing the clue for the next task. Aurora dashed into the Hospital Wing and started to burst out for a run as she looked at all of the beds. Some kids were in there because of being sick while others suffered from other wounds. Aurora burst open the door at the end of the hall and noticed Cedric sitting on a chair with orange paste covering the left side of his face.
"I thought you would've already been at your common room by now" Aurora choked out as she closed the door behind her, "Or at least be drowning in a bunch of Hufflepuff students. How's your burn? You should've gone for a Phoenix, not a labrador!"
"I would've but that was the first thing that came to mind" Cedric smiled, "You came in here very quickly"
"I was scared for you" Aurora countered, "Is that such a crime? That dragon is way too dangerous and should've never have been a candidate for a task like this"
Cedric glanced up from his burned arm and stared at her with his alluring grey eyes, "I mean that much to you?"
Aurora took a step back, "I should go"
"No" Cedric quickly got up and blocked the door, "Answer the question"
"I'm not going to have this conversation with you again. You can't decide my fate" Aurora looked up into his eyes, "I'm expected to marry someone from the Slytherin House. I can't involve myself with anyone else"
"I wasn't asking you to marry me" Cedric said, "I was asking what I meant to you"
"You know I can't answer that. I don't know how I feel about you"
"Then why did you come?" Cedric questioned, "You have to have felt something for me in order to barge through the door like that"
"I wanted to make sure that you were okay" Aurora said as she felt dizzy as it suddenly became very hot.
"So you checked to see if Fleur, Harry, and Viktor were okay too?" Cedric shook his head, "I don't think so"
"Just let me get out of the room" Aurora tried again.
Cedric grabbed onto the doorknob, "Not until you answer the question. Be honest with yourself for once in your life"
"You don't know what you're asking of me" Aurora felt her throat tighten up again, "You don't want to be associated with someone like me. People are terrified of me here"
"But I'm not," Cedric said lightly.
"Why?" Aurora had to ask.
Cedric walked over to her, cupped her face with his hands and then leaned down and placed his lips on top of hers. Aurora gasped as her eyes widened as she noticed that Cedric's were completely calm and closed as he enjoyed the moment. Aurora couldn't do anything but close her eyes and slightly kiss back. Cedric pulled his lips away from her but kept his head close to hers as his hands remained on her face.
"I've had feelings for you more than you realize" Cedric whispered to her, "I see something in you that's been longing to come out for a long time now"
Aurora let out a little sob as she crashed her lips back onto Cedric's as he openly accepted it. Her lips started to quiver which caused Cedric to wrap his arm around her waist in a firm hold. Aurora broke the kiss as she felt tears running down her cheeks as a wave of emotion was circulating around her.
"You can't save me from the dark," Aurora whispered.
Cedric stroked his hand through her dark brown hair as his breath caressed her face. He placed his lips on top of her forehead and kissed her for a couple of seconds before he bent down his lips toward her ear.
"I can try," Cedric told her.
"Why are you so confident that you can successfully pull me out of the path of a Death Eater?" Aurora asked.
"Because I know you want it" Cedric told her, "Even if you don't think that would be your answer today"
Aurora took in a deep breath as she watched Cedric's face for any sign that this was a prank, it's happened before. Boys would see who was the brave one to try and date the insane Death Eaters daughter, it drove her mad and away from everyone but this was different. He looked just as happy to see her as he did at the Triwizard Tournament, she could practically sense how genuine his feelings were for her. A stern voice was heard near the door as Madam Pomfrey insisted that whoever was having visitors was to leave as she checked on the girl's illness. After hearing the woman's voice, Cedric stepped away from the door, giving Aurora space to leave.
"I should probably leave before Madam Pomfrey comes back" Aurora whispered.
"I'll be seeing you soon" Cedric smiled at her as he finally let her go out of the back room with a small smile on her face.