The approaching Tuesday sent the school into a flurry of excitement. The upcoming first task was the topic of all conversation, and the champions were hardly starved for attention. Fleur Delacour seemed to be unscathed by the insurmountable challenge of the first task, and walked through corridors as though she owned Hogwarts, most often with a crowd of boys gawking after her. Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang champion, seemed also to be unaffected- when he wasn't in the library, he loped through the corridors with hunched shoulders and a surly expression on his face. He reminded Cho of a big dark eagle, fierce-eyed and quite unapproachable. Harry, of course, walked alone in the halls, accompanied only by the jeers and taunts of his fellow students. He always kept his head held high and his eyes dead ahead, despite the amount of feet that were stuck out to trip him up as he walked by.

And Cedric was often to be seen wandering around the corridors surrounded by a group of excited fans, Cedric himself always looking nervous but cheerful all the same. If she passed him in the corridor, he would always make an effort to stop and yell out, "Hi Cho! How's it going?"

So often was he surrounded by a crowd of people, in fact, that it came as a surprise to Cho when she found him huddled in the corner of the library on Monday after dinner, all by himself. She herself was in the library researching slow-acting venoms for Potions class. She walked along the shelves trying to find the right book, passing tables occupied by a few students valiantly struggling to concentrate on homework, when really all they could think about was the Tournament on Tuesday. She came to the very last shelf and began moving along it, reading the spines, when she heard a frustrated sigh to her right. She peeked around the shelf to see Cedric sitting there, running a hand through his hair, which flopped insistently down onto his forehead. Cho's breath caught in her throat- it was such a perfect picture. It was amazing, the way he looked- with the

If Cho had been someone else, someone like Lorla, with guts, maybe she could have approached him. If only.

He's so beautiful, Cho mused, as she watched him flicking quickly through the book open on the table before him. How is it he doesn't have a girlfriend?

He probably does. You're just hoping he doesn't because-

"Cho!" Cedric had looked up and spotted her staring at him. He had a delighted grin on his face. Cho was horrified- he must think I'm a total idiot! Wait, I am an idiot! How could she have let herself stand there gawking at him like that? She couldn't remember being so embarrassed.

Cedric, however, didn't seem to mind at all.

"Come here!" he said, pulling out the chair next to him and patting it. "Come talk to me."

Cho backed away. "You're busy- it's all right. I didn't mean to distract you-"

He just laughed. "You're a very welcome distraction, believe me." He raised his eyebrows as he saw her skeptical expression. "Please? I could use the company."

Shyly, Cho came and sat next to him, feeling a blush spreading up her neck and into her face, and desperately wished she had inherited her father's dark olive skin tone so that it wouldn't be so obvious.

Cedric immediately closed his book, marking the spot with a quill, and turned towards her. "How's it going?"

"Fine. You?"

"As I fine as I can be, I suppose." Cedric said, rolling his eyes. He gave her a puzzled expression. "Do I have something on my face?"

"What?" Cho said.

"You're staring at me."

"Oh!" Cho cried, and blushed deeper.

Damn you, capillaries, she thought furiously. "Sorry, I didn't mean to, I…didn't realise."

Idiot! she chastised herself. She'd been mesmerised by Cedric's perfectly sculpted jawbone. Cedric laughed softly. He must know how good-looking he is. He must realise the effect he has on girls.

Or more to the point, you. I don't see anyone else staring at him like an idiot.

"Well…" Cedric said, after a bit of an awkward silence had passed between them, in which Cho had searched desperately for something to say. "Well. Tomorrow's the big day."

"For you," Cho agreed, nodding. "Are…are you nervous?"

Cedric bent his head a little, and his dark hair flopped onto his forehead again. "Nervous? No. I guess I'd describe the feeling more as…" he paused and considered. "Bloody blind panic," he said slowly. He looked at her and grinned, and Cho managed a smile back. "Yeah," he said thoughtfully, picking up a bottle of ink and spinning it along the table. "Bloody blind panic."

"So you still don't know what it is?" Cho asked.

"I'm not sure I'm supposed to," he answered, perplexingly. Cho looked at the book on the table in front of him. A large title adorned the leather front cover- Advanced Transfiguration, by Horatio Henrik. She decided to change the subject.

"Are your parents coming in to watch the first task?"

"Ummm, no," Cedric said, seeming a little caught off guard by the question. "No, they decided it would be better to have a students only event. Fleur's parents are in France,

Viktor's are in Bulgaria, and Harry, well…doesn't have any." He laughed, then stopped. "I'm sorry, that was a little insensitive of me, wasn't it?"

"Well, no one's being especially sensitive toward Harry lately," said Cho, shrugging. "It's not like you're on your own."

Cedric regarded her quietly for a moment or two. "It's stupid," he said suddenly. "Harry's all right. He's not out to hurt anyone- except maybe himself. I wish everyone would leave the poor kid alone."

"I'm sure he only did it as a joke," said Cho.

"But he told me he didn't put his name in at all," Cedric said, warming to the subject, "He was really insistent about it."

Cho looked at her hands to avoid his luminous grey eyes. "I don't know. I guess only Harry knows the truth."

"Yeah," said Cedric slowly. "You're right." A sigh escaped him, a sigh that was hard to place. "I dunno, Cho…" he said, and Cho subconsciously registered the use of her name, "I just think…it's all going to come to pieces, you know? I've been reading about the Tournament and…there's such awful stuff involved."

"Like what?"

"Like cheating, and bribery, and…not all the deaths in the past happened by accident either."

Cho blinked. "Arranged killings?"

He looked at her gravely and nodded. Cho looked down at her hands again, unsure of what to say. She knew very little about the Triwizard Tournament, and her only interest in the present event was the fact that Cedric was in it. She wasn't sure why he was telling her this.

"Are you…worried?" she asked hesitantly. "Do you think they'll try to…hurt you?"

He turned and looked at her again, this time with a much softer expression on his face. "Yes. No. I don't know." He looked away. "I'm not sure. All I know is, I know something I shouldn't know and I don't know what to do about it. The smartest thing to do would be to take advantage of it and just not worry. But I can't help it." He sighed, and it was a sigh of pure anxiety. "The tournament's already riddled with lies and cheating. And now I'm a part of it."

He was talking more to himself than Cho now. But she thought she knew what he meant. Cedric must know what the first task is. Somehow he's found out. And he feels bad about it…

She almost smiled despite herself. Of course. Cedric would be the only person to feel bad about gaining an advantage. That's the kind of boy he was.

And I like that. I really do…

"You know what the first task is?" she said, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was gazing at his face again and shaking her head slightly, to gain control. Cedric looked at her. The expression on his face was unreadable- for a moment Cho thought he looked annoyed, and she immediately panicked- I shouldn't have accused him of that. I'm probably wrong and now he hates me- but then he sighed again, and rested his face in his hands. "Yes," he murmured.

For a moment Cho had to fight an irrepressible urge to put her arms around him and give him a reassuring squeeze. He looked so worried, so anxious and tense- and Cho forgot that he was older than her, and a school champion, and a beloved Quidditch captain and prefect- because for a moment, he was human. She recognised feelings of worry and strain- she felt them before every exam, every Quidditch match- she knew how it felt.

It was somehow strange to know that Cedric could feel the same way she did.

She reached out her hand and placed

it gently on his shoulder, unable to help herself- instinctively, she just wanted to offer him some comfort. He looked up immediately at her touch, and she drew her hand away. She blushed again as Cedric gave her a look both questioning and concerned.

"Sorry," she murmured. But Cedric didn't appear to have heard her.

"Cho," he said, "I'm sorry. I don't

mean to lay this all on you. I've been dying to tell someone though, and…well, I guess you seemed ready to hear it." He gave her a pale smile. "You're a good listener. I'm sorry. Have I made you uncomfortable?"

"N-not at all," Cho stammered, surprised by the question, "Why would you?"

He shrugged those wonderful strong shoulders. "I don't know." There was a pause, as Cedric placed his sad grey eyes on her again and smiled ruefully. Cho smiled back, feeling uncertain. He seemed to be about to ask her something else. She tried to think of something to say and wished desperately for Lorla's wit. Her best friend could always think of something clever and cheering to say- which would have been perfect at the time.

"Do you think any less of me now?" Cedric blurted out.

Cho stared at him. He was looking at her anxiously, waiting for her answer as though it actually meant something to him. It seemed unreal- as though Cho's opinion of Cedric actually worried him?

"What?" she managed to say.

"Don't make me say it again," Cedric said, wincing slightly. With a start, Cho realised he was blushing.

"No! Not at all!" she stammered. "God, no! I mean, if anything, the fact that it worried you has…has only given me a, a higher opinion of you!"

"Oh. Really?" Cedric was smiling again- his broad, easy smile.

"Yes!" Cho cried, desperate to convince him. She blushed, almost immediately, as she realized what she'd said. Cedric was smiling at her still, and Cho felt incredibly stupid. Oh no. What's he thinking now. "This idiot of a school girl thinks her opinion matters to me"? That's probably it. I'm so STUPID.

"Well, I…" she started, and cleared her throat. "I don't really know you, though."

"Ah. No. That's right." Cedric said, his smile fading a little. Cho wanted to leave before she said anything else stupid, and wondered how to excuse herself in a way that wouldn't leave her bereft of any more dignity. To her utter relief, it was Cedric who looked at his watch and raised his eyebrows.

"Blimey- I'd better go, anyway." He started piling up his books. Cho got to her feet, quickly, and tucked her chair in under her table. Cedric paused in his packing up, straightened up a little and looked at her. "Cho?"

Cho looked up at him quickly as she tucked her hair behind her ears. Cedric was fiddling with the corner of his dog eared text book, bending it back and forth and not meeting Cho's eyes.

"Are you…" he said, then paused. "Will you…cheer for me tomorrow? Even though you know I'm not…facing it honestly?"

Cho paused. How to answer this without sounding too desperate to reassure him? She straightened her face, and cleared her throat to gain control.

"Of course I will, Cedric," she said calmly. There was something odd to Cedric's smile this time- something a little off that made him look…sad? Disappointed?

"Thanks, Cho," he said, turning to pack up his things again. Cho scurried out of the library without her potions books, before any more mistakes could be made.