Chapter Eight: The First Task

"Harry?" Holly timidly approached the table where Harry was studying. He looked up.

"Oh, hi, Holly. Listen, sorry about the other night. I'd just found out that Ron thought I'd put my name in the goblet."

"He knows you didn't. And you and Dumbledore were both right, I have underestimated you. I'm sure you'll do fine in that Tournament, no, better, you'll win it. Trust me." Holly winked at him. He gave her a wan smile.

"Yeah, win the Tournament," he said with grim laughter. "Like that'll ever happen."
"Oh believe me, it will. You know that biblical story—"

"David and Goliath?" Harry asked.

"No, the Tortoise and the Hare," Holly replied.

"That's not a… Never mind." Harry laughed as he decided not to contradict her.

"Anyway, you're like the Tortoise. He had a disadvantage to the hare: he was slower. You also have a disadvantage. But remember who won in the end?"

"The hare?" Harry guessed with a smile. Holly rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," she said, sarcastically. "The hare."

"There has to be another reason you're here," Harry said after a moment of thought. Holly sighed.

"You know me too well," she said.

"Well?"
"Ron."

"I thought so…"

"Harry, you know you have to make up with him sometime." Holly pulled up a chair and sat next to the boy.

"You sound like Hermione…" Harry muttered.

"Well then I'm glad! She's smarter than I am, anyway." Harry chuckled. There was a brief period of silence. Finally, Harry spoke.

"I like Ron. Really, I do. But I just can't believe he'd think I'd do something like that. And I thought he knew me…"
"Better than you knew yourself?" Holly asked. Harry smiled with irony.

"Yeah…" he said, then added, with his smile disappearing, "But he doesn't." Holly nodded, understanding.

"I know someone like that," she said. "And now he's mad at me and won't ever forgive me. You don't want to ruin this whole friendship over some silly Tournament thing."

"Yeah. But it just hurt when he accused me of it. He hated me at that moment, Holly. He really did. I never thought I'd ever see him hate me. And don't even try to tell me he didn't!" Harry added as he noticed Holly open her mouth to do so. "He thought I was an attention seeker! Well I'm not! It's not my bloody fault!" Harry's anger was rising. Holly laughed nervously.

"Calm down, Harry, we are in a library."

"Doesn't he know how dangerous this thing is? Doesn't he realize that I've already risked my life one too many times than I'd have liked already? I don't need to add the Tri-Wizard Tournament to my death wish list! I have enough on my mind as it is!"
"Harry, you need to see it from all perspectives. Put yourself in Ron's shoes. Just think about it. He's always living in your shadow. He has always been the best friend, the faithful sidekick, the one you can rely on. Well, don't you think that job can get a little tedious after a while? Don't you think he's the slightest bit restless? And now, you're in the Tournament. How do you think he feels?" Harry closed his eyes and waved absentmindedly.

"Go away, Holly," he mumbled. "Just go away."

"Fred, George, can you do me a favor?"

"What kind of a favor?" Fred and George said together.

"I need you to talk with your brother." They laughed.

"We've already done that!" Fred cried.

"Countless times!" George added.

"It doesn't work," said Fred.

"Not a bit," George agreed.

"Hermione was even there and tried to convince him…" Fred shrugged.

"We don't know what else to say! He doesn't want to make up with Harry," George said.

"Likewise where Harry's concerned," Holly sighed, sadly.

"They'll get over themselves eventually," Fred assured her.

"I just hope they make up before Harry gets killed in one of these tasks…" Holly muttered.

"Oh God, what is this rubbish?!" Holly exclaimed as she looked disgustedly at the front page of the Daily Prophet.
"I'll tell you what it is. It's Rita Skeeter, that's what it is," Cho replied, fed up with the whole thing.

"This isn't Harry at all! Who does she think she's kidding?"

"She didn't even mention Cedric's name in here!" Cho cried. Holly sighed.

"Someone needs to sue this woman."

"No kidding."
"Can you do me a favor, Cho?"

"Anything, Holly." As she said this, Cho scrunched the paper into a small ball and tossed it in the bin.

"Please don't give Harry a hard time about this…" Holly was looking towards the Slytherins, who were in hysterics. "Be nice to him about it." Cho smiled.

"Of course, Holly."

"Cedric? Cedric… Cedric! Slow down!" Holly scrambled after the Hufflepuff as he picked up speed in the hall. "Cedric, I want to talk to you. Cedric, please!" Cedric continued to walk briskly down the hall. "Fine. You don't have to talk to me. It's Harry. I need you to look out for him during the Tournament. That can't do you much harm, can it? Please, he's only a kid." Cedric halted and Holly nearly ran into him. He said nothing, so Holly continued. "He was dragged into this by someone. It wasn't his idea and I just want you to make sure he doesn't get hurt." Cedric took a deep breath and sighed.

"OK," he said, and continued walking. Holly smiled, slightly. He had said two letters to her. It was a start.

"Dragons?" Holly looked at Hermione, in surprise. Hermione nodded. "I have to see this." She and Hermione made their way across the grounds to witness the first task. "How did you know it was dragons?"

"A little bird told me," Hermione said, mysteriously. Holly smiled.

"You have your sources and they can't be revealed. I understand."

As they approached the area, Holly decided she'd go and wish her brother luck. Waving goodbye to Hermione, Holly walked over to the tents where the champions were supposed to be. But she was stopped.
"Don't go in there, Miss," said Ludo Bagman. Holly's eyes widened.

"You!" she cried. "You're the one that owes money to Fred and George!"
"Oh dear…" Bagman bit his lip. "Why don't you go and see the champions?" Holly grinned.

"Thank you!" she said, and walked into the tent. Harry looked up at her and smiled. Cedric looked up, smiled weakly, and then looked back down again. Harry looked over at him.

"I think he's just been nervous over the past few days. We've all been nervous…" Harry stopped talking as he noticed someone else enter the tent.
Cho Chang poked her head in and looked around. She smiled when she saw Cedric. Harry's heart skipped a beat as he heard Holly whisper to the girl.
"Hey, Cho," she said.

"Hey, Holly," Cho replied with a polite smile. She then turned to Cedric again. "Hello, Cedric." She walked over to the boy and Holly sighed. She turned back to her brother.

"You'll do great in this, Harry. Remember, you're the tortoise!"
"I'd rather be the hare, at the moment," Harry muttered. "Then I might be able to dodge that dragon quicker…" Holly looked surprised.

"How did you know there were dragons?" Harry stuttered.

"Um, well, I guessed, see, because I heard about— Oh, just forget it, Holly!" Harry threw his hands into the air and added in a harsh whisper, "They all know!" Holly nodded.

"Well, you'll beat them anyway!" she cried. "Dodging danger is your specialty!"

"Right." Harry rolled his eyes. "It seems to me that getting in the way of danger's path is my specialty." Holly laughed, briefly, but her face became serious.

"Do you have a plan, then?"

"You'll see."

"What's that supposed to mean, 'You'll see?!' I want to know that you'll be OK?"
"I'll be fine, Holly!" Harry reassured her. "Trust me." Holly sighed and nodded.

"OK," she said. "I trust you." As she left, Harry let out the breath he had been holding.

" 'Trust me!' Yeah, how can she trust me when I don't even trust myself?"

Holly didn't like the look of this task. It seemed positively brutal. The twins were enthralled by it. Holly smiled as she heard the name 'Cedric Diggory' ring throughout the field. The Hufflepuff was concentrating hard, and though Holly couldn't see him from that far back, she could have sworn she saw him smiling.

Cedric immediately stunned the dragon, but as he approached the nest to recover the golden egg, the Swedish Short-Snout had shaken off the spell and Cedric retreated. Biting his lip, he noticed a rock and instantly transfigured it into a dog, a Labrador, which barked at the reptile.

"Clever," Holly heard Lee mutter behind her. She nodded, fascinated. She had forgotten how wonderful Cedric appeared when he was smiling. He was so courteous and patient with her. He was sweet and would listen to her constant complaining without saying a word. He'd give her advice on whatever she needed. He was the most tolerant and compassionate person Holly had ever known. And out there with the dragon, he looked so brave and strong and…

"Oh God…" Holly put her hand to her mouth in shock. She stood up. "I can't believe it!"

"Can't believe what?" George asked, uninterested, eyes on Cedric. As people stood up to cheer, Holly whispered the answer to George's question quietly to herself.

"I'm in love with Cedric Diggory!" The greatness of the mistake she had made slowly sunk into Holly's skin and as her eyes began to glisten, she muttered, "It was a mistake. All a mistake!" She blinked away her tears. She finally realized it, and accepted it. She was in love with Cedric Diggory.

As this startling revelation sunk in, Viktor Krum came out. And as he battled with the Chinese Fireball, Holly noticed Hermione whispering something to Ron out of the corner of her eye. Dismissing it, Holly turned her attention back to the task. Viktor eventually retrieved the golden egg, but the dragon had smashed several of its own eggs in pain from the curses Krum had thrown at it.

As Fleur Delacour came out from Beuxbatons to face the Welsh Green, Holly decided to do some unintentional eavesdropping. Noticing briefly Fleur's plan of attack (some kind of sleeping spell), Holly tuned into the conversation between the two fourth years.

"I guess it is kind of dangerous…"

"Kind of dangerous? Ron, are you watching this? Harry could be killed in this match, and you would have never told him how much you missed him!"

"Please don't say that, Hermione. Please don't say that. Please." The strange whimper Holly heard behind the whisper broke her heart. He was on the verge of apologizing, she could tell.

"So are you going to tell him or not?" Ron paused and as he opened his mouth to speak, a roar from the crowd drowned out his response. Fleur had retrieved the egg, her robes partially burned. Holly grinned as Harry came out and marveled, as she once had at his Quidditch games, at his flying skills. But she couldn't get that thought out of her mind…
"I'm in love with Cedric Diggory…"