A/N: Finally, the all-important third task is here! It has been one of the most difficult parts to write, and I hope I have not made too much of a mess of it. Please be sure to tell me if/when you notice any major blunders. Of course, now at the latest, the switch to A/U has finally taken place, so there's no need to point out that there are things happening that don't fit in with the books…
Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers out there who have been giving me valuable tips and ideas. Special thanks to my dear friend WickerBasket for the cute Sphinx's riddle – I've never been any good at rhyming.
Chapter 29 – The Third Task
June 24th, 1995
This morning, in contrast to the usual proceedings, Maxime told us to go up to the castle for breakfast.
"The champions' families have been invited to watch the final task," she said to me, "and you'll meet them after breakfast."
Now I really didn't care much about seeing my mother, but I assumed "family" included Gabrielle, too, and this was something, at least.
In the Great Hall, the excitement was almost tangible, although everybody tried to pretend it was just a normal day. Harry and the others smiled at me briefly, before they went to sit down at the Gryffindor table. Again I noticed how pale and tired he looked.
Presently, the post owls delivered their letters, and I saw Hermione's surprise as she looked at her newspaper. It was clearly something she didn't want the others to see, but Ron grabbed it, and from his expression and the way he looked at Harry, I knew it must be another of those articles by that awful Skeeter woman. It was no use trying to hide the paper from Harry, though, as the blond boy from the Slytherin table was waving his copy at him, grinning gleefully. Of course Harry noticed, and grabbed the paper in spite of Ron's resistance. I watched him carefully while he was reading. When he had finished, I could see that he was angry, and trying hard not to show it when he talked to the others. After a couple of minutes, Hermione got up from the table, and shortly after that, the Gryffindor head of house approached Harry and said a few words to him.
"Time to go in there, I guess," Cedric said to me another few minutes later, and so we rose and went over into the small chamber where we had all met at the very beginning of the tournament, which suddenly seemed ages ago.
The small room was pretty crowded, and it took me a moment or two to survey all the people there. Cedric's parents were just next to the door, and he was immediately captured in his mother's embrace, while his father somewhat awkwardly patted his shoulder. In front of the fireplace, there were two red-haired people, a middle-aged woman and a young man, very obviously relatives of Ron's, which surprised me as Ron was definitely not a champion. (Even now, after I have got to know him better, the idea of him being champion seems ridiculous!) Over in the corner, Viktor Krum was standing with his parents, their postures somewhat cool and distant, especially as compared to Cedric's family. And over on the other side of the room, there was my mother, with Gabie holding on to her hand (or, perhaps, the other way round).
I went over to them, and first bent down to Gabie to hug her tightly. It felt so absolutely wonderful to really hold her again after all these months, and I wished I'd never have to let her go. But maman's cool voice put a stop to it soon.
"Bon jour, Fleur," she said quietly, and I felt the fleeting touch of her lips on my cheek for a moment. "I hope I find you well. And well prepared, too."
"Naturellement, maman," I replied, trying hard to keep my tone as neutral as possible. "My friends have been helping me a lot with all sorts of hexes and counter-curses…"
Suddenly, Gabrielle was jumping eagerly, and waved. I followed her gaze and saw that Harry had walked into the room. He waved back at her. When he saw the two Weasleys, his face, that had been listless and dejected, lit up, and he went over to them, smiling broadly.
"This is Harry Potter, maman," Gabrielle said happily, pulling at mother's hand and pointing. "He pulled me out of the lake, you know." I had the impression she was being deliberately childish, and when she grinned at me secretly, I was sure.
"Harry Potter?" There was quite an unusual note of interest in mother's voice. "Have you come to know him better?" She looked at me directly.
"Oh, you know," I started, hoping desperately I wasn't blushing, "we have been talking now and then, nothing important, I don't think this can be called knowing him…"
I checked myself. The last thing I want is my mother to know about my feelings for Harry. "We are competitors, after all," I finished, a bit lamely.
"Well, as long as you win, it doesn't matter, I expect. I AM a bit disappointed in you, of course; was there really no way you could end up better than you did?"
I didn't care to answer, just like her again, to come up with something like that. Any other mother would have been encouraging, but not her, no!
To hide my anger and disappointment, I looked over to where Harry was standing with the two Weasleys. The woman, obviously Ron's mother, was fussing over Harry, who seemed to enjoy it very much. The way she was treating him must have been the closest to the mother that he has never known. The young man, probably Ron's brother, was dressed in a rather flashy way, too much of a show-off for my taste, in tight fitting leather clothing under his robes, his red hair tied back in a pigtail, and earrings of what looked like dragon's fangs or something. Harry was looking more relaxed than I had seen him for a long time, and I felt happy for him, although a bit jealous, too. I mean, she isn't even his real mother… Presently, they moved over towards the door, exchanged a few words with Cedric and his family, - I noticed Cedric was annoyed with something his father said to Harry, - and left the room.
"… your moonstone," mother was saying. I hadn't been listening.
"Excusez-moi?" I stammered.
"I was saying you shouldn't forget to take your moonstone along," she repeated impatiently. "It has certain qualities that might assist you in your task."
"It has?" I was very surprised hearing that.
"Such as guiding you to your aim in the maze," she told me shortly. "It will glow brightly when you are heading in the right direction."
"But-" I began, but checked myself. She would never understand that it was not my idea of fairness to use such a thing.
"What?" she said sharply.
"Nothing," I answered lamely, "I mean, why did you never tell me?"
She didn't bother to answer.
"Why don't you go for some last minute practising?" she said after an uncomfortable (for me, not for her, I'm sure) pause. "There are a few people I need to talk to. You can stay with Fleur, Gabrielle."
With these words, she strode out of the room, not giving us another glance.
"Well, I guess we can leave, too," I said to Gabie. "Is there anything you'd like to do?"
"I'd love to meet Harry," she said promptly, "but I expect he will be busy preparing. So how about going back to the carriage?" She paused shortly. "Don't be too upset, Fleur, please, you know how she is, don't you?"
"You're right, as always," I said hoarsely, blinking back my tears and drawing her towards me. "Let's get out of here."
I didn't do any 'last minute practising', if only so as not to obey my mother's orders, so we walked alongside the lake some time, and then had our lunch in the carriage, carefully avoiding talking about the impending task.
"I think you should take the moonstone along, you know," Gabie told me after the meal. "She might even want you to show it to her before you go into the maze, see? You don't have to use it, of course," she added seeing my expression. "But it would be a wise thing to do."
Again I had to agree with her. There can't be any harm in taking it with me; I'll just wear it under my robes and forget about it.
It's seven o'clock now, and we are to go up to the feast in the Great Hall. Afterwards we'll start the Task. So I'd better finish this entry; I'll be back as soon as possible after everything is over.
June 25th, 1995
10 a.m. - I guess it's alright for me to write this. Fleur is still unconscious in the infirmary, and she said to me to make the entries for her if … Did she guess something would happen to her? Oh I do hope she'll be all right soon!
But I think she'd expect me to record what happened as carefully as I can. I am not so good with this memory quill, I'm sorry. So I won't be able to tell everything so beautifully as she always does. But well, the facts are these:
Dinner was great, and I loved it a lot; after that, just as the sun was going down, we all went down to the maze. Maman and I took seats in the stands around it, and Fleur and the other champions went over to the entrance. There were some speeches, but I could not understand what was said. One after the other they disappeared in the maze. It looked dark and dangerous, and I couldn't help feeling frightened.
Time went by. I could not see much, only some dim lights moving through the hedges. I was starting to feel bored, and the air was getting cold too. "Stupid!" I remember thinking. "What are we doing here? There is nothing to be seen, anyway!"
Suddenly, there was a scream.
"Maman! It's Fleur!" I shouted, pulling her at hand.
But she was not irritated in the least. "She will manage," she said calmly.
The next minutes, there were various flashes of light, I think they were spells and curses, but I could not see anything at all. After a while, a shower of red sparks appeared. Two wizards entered the maze and came out a bit later carrying a person between them. He was obviously unconscious.
"It's Krum!" I heard people gasp around me, as he was carried off towards the castle.
Then nothing at all happened for a very long time. I don't think I was the only one to get impatient. A low murmur that kept getting louder and louder was running through the crowd.
I was cold and tired, and I believe I dozed off a bit, too.
A loud bang and a blinding flash woke me. A deafening shout from the crowd followed, and everybody started to rush forward. Of course I could not see anything in the middle of all those people who were rushing madly down towards the entrance of the maze.
This is why I can only write what mamantold me later. It seems that Harry suddenly appeared at the edge of the maze out of thin air, only half conscious, clutching the Trophy, and – I still cannot believe it – Cedric's BODY!
Yes, Cedric is DEAD!
Nobody seems to know what happened inside the maze, as Harry was taken to the infirmary at once, where I think he still is.
And Fleur? Nobody thought of her, I believe, everybody was so shocked about what had happened. It must have been at least half an hour later that two wizards went into the maze to look for her, and presently they returned carrying her limp body between them.
The first thing I remember clearly again is the panic rushing through me. "Fleur!" I screamed and rushed over to her. "Est-elle…" I could not finish. I was choking with tears.
"She'll be ok," the huge gamekeeper said with a pitying glance. (Or I think this is what he said, I guessed it from the tone of his voice.) Then she was also carried up to the castle.
I turned to Mother.
"What happened?"
It was so dark I could not see her expression.
"I don't know. But she must have made some mistakes. And she has not won." Her voice was cool and calm as always. You wouldn't have guessed that her eldest daughter had just been carried off lifeless. Oh I hate her sometimes! Why can't she…?
Pull yourself together, Gabrielle Delacour! Fleur would not want me to become all hysterical. I know my mother, don't I?
"There is nothing you or I can do," she went on. "They will do everything that is necessary for her, and she will wake up in due course. It is late, and you should go to bed."
So she took me to the chambers that we had been given in the castle and put me to bed. But I could not sleep for a long time.
In the morning, we were allowed to see her in the infirmary. She looks very pale, but she is breathing deeply and regularly.
Maman spoke to the nurse and then told me what she had said. They have no idea what happened to her. It may have been a Stunning spell, but this does not explain why she is still unconscious after more than twelve hours. Mother does not seem to be worried though. In fact, she wants to go back home tomorrow at the latest. Oh I do hope Fleur wakes up so I can talk to her before that!
Harry has been taken to a separate room, and only special people can go to see him.
Wherever I look, I see people whispering and I hear his name all the time. If I could only understand English! But I have not the slightest idea what they are saying.
"It's only stupid gossip," maman says impatiently when I ask her. "They don't know anything, so they are inventing the most absurd ideas. An unfortunate accident, nothing more, and nothing less."
At least I have been allowed to stay by her bed; while I am writing this, I keep watching her silent form under the blankets, waiting, hoping for her to wake up soon. What if… no, I can't bear to even think of it…
5 p.m. – I've never seen writing my diary as a horrible burden, but now I do. What would I give to go back in time and reverse all the horrible things that I had to witness, perhaps even am responsible for! Still, as Gabie so very sensibly points out, it is something like an obligation – to Cedric's memory, if nothing else…
When I woke, I had a hard time realising where I was and what was the matter. The first thing I really felt was Gabie throwing herself at me, sobbing desperately, her small body shaking violently. How I wish I could have remained in that daze for longer! But all too soon everything came back to me…
I didn't listen to the silly speech that the ministry official was holding again, I just heard all our names, as if through a thick curtain. Standing at the entrance assigned to me, I watched the three others disappear into the maze, one after the other, at the sound of the whistle. Harry, pale and tense, still gave me a smile before he entered, together with Cedric, who waved encouragingly at Cho, whose face was a pale blur in the stands. Then it was Krum's turn, and he slouched off in his usual manner, as if he was going to watch an extremely boring show or something. Finally, it was my turn.
If it had been dark outside, it was pitch black inside the maze. The high hedges cast shadows that I couldn't think were natural, and the stars from the night sky were the only sources of light. The noise of the audience disappeared immediately, and I had never felt so completely isolated before.
I lit my wand and advanced slowly and cautiously. After a few twists and turns of the path, I rounded a corner and stopped dead. A short distance away, there were – of all the unexpected things, - two persons standing in the middle of the path, in a tight embrace, kissing passionately. I took me a couple of seconds to recognise them: Harry and Hermione, snogging, as if there was no tomorrow! I couldn't understand it; what was she doing in here? She was supposed to be outside among the spectators! How had she come in and found Harry? And, weirdest of all, why was she not assisting him with the task, but, on the contrary, distracting him? The way they were going, there was no chance he would ever find the Cup within the next century or two!
That's when it clicked. If I knew anything about Hermione at all, it was that she would never act like this in such a situation. I felt a huge lump fall from my mind, as I realised what this must be, - a boggart!
"Riddikulus!" I shouted, and laughed happily as I watched Harry's glasses getting entangled in Hermione's bushy hair and flying off into the darkness. There was a crack, and a wisp of smoke, and the image was gone.
Greatly relieved and in high spirits I went on. If this was all they could come up with, I remember thinking, it would be ridiculously simple.
The next few minutes there was nothing, just a few dead ends, and I was just beginning to consider using the moonstone for directions, when I turned another corner, and there was a SERIOUS obstacle, at last – a sphinx!
Now, sphinxes are not uncommon in Egypt, but to bring one over to Scotland just for one task in the Tournament was quite extraordinary, and I silently revised my flippant earlier comment. In a way sphinxes are quite harmless, of course, if you just walk back the way you've come, you're perfectly fine, however, if you need to get past them, they are extremely dangerous, and the only way is to solve the riddle they will set you. There is no spell of any kind that can help you against a sphinx. Of course I knew all this from books only, as I had never seen a real one before.
She looked beautiful to me: Her lion's body was covered in sleek and smooth golden fur, and her long tail was draped elegantly over her front paws. Yet, there was no mistaking the sharp pointed claws extending from those paws. Surprisingly, her head was not oriental, as I would have expected; though of a deep tan, her features were European, and her eyes, as I could see when I approached her cautiously, were a deep blue. Perhaps the most surprising thing, however, was her long mane of fair hair, the colour of a cornfield in sunlight. Somehow her features seemed strangely familiar.
She looked at me with interest, but without any visible emotion, not aggressively, but not friendly either.
"You are very near your goal," she said, and her voice, too, sounded familiar. "You know my rules: Answer my riddle, and I'll let you pass; remain silent, and you can walk back, unharmed; but answer wrongly, and I will – must – attack."
"No harm in hearing the riddle, I suppose."
"Of course. This is it:
Joy of the world,
But sad in his heart;
Saviour of all
Destroys the Dark Art;
Enduring though weary,
Hard face, never teary,
Forever forced to take part."
My jaw dropped.
"Can you repeat it?"
She did, and I listened with bated breath.
"Sad in his heart… so it's a person… a male person… joy…" I looked at her hesitantly. Did I see a smile playing round her lips? "Saviour, and destroys… forced to take part?"
And then it hit me like a flash. I knew that hard face, although I had seen it teary, too.
"Harry!" I shouted, "Harry Potter!"
The sphinx smiled at me openly now, and I was absolutely sure I had seen her face before, though I didn't have the vaguest idea where.
"Well done," she said with a catlike purr in her voice. "You may pass." She rose, stretched her elegant body and stood aside.
"Thank you," I said, somewhat mystified at the choice of riddle. The boggart could be explained easily, these creatures sense our deepest fears better than we ourselves do, but how did the sphinx, or whoever had chosen the riddle for her, know about my feelings?
But I had no time to muse on these questions. I rounded another bend and froze. What was easily the ugliest creature I had ever seen was in front of me: Most similar, if to anything, to a huge scorpion, at least four metres long, but with larger pincers, a long curved tail raised above its back, with a cruel looking sting at the end. At the moment I turned round the corner, it was with its back to me, apparently threatening something, - someone! – in front of it. At the same instant, I heard a shout of "Impedimenta!", and a jet of blue light flashed at it from the unseen person, but glanced off harmlessly from the beast's thick armour.
Harry's voice! Without thinking, I pointed my wand at the back of the creature's raised tail, which seemed to be softer than the other parts of its body.
"Stupefy!"
It was not the cleverest of ideas. The spell only irritated the beast, and made it mad. True, it stopped attacking Harry, which was what I had intended. But what I had not intended was that it turned on me with a speed surprising for an animal its size and anatomy, sting raised high, and pincers clicking furiously.
For a moment, I almost panicked, and I hurled the first spell at it that came to my mind.
"Expelliarmus!"
Of course it was idiotic, and had no effect whatsoever, except perhaps that the creature slowed down a tiny bit. Then like a vision, I remembered the werewolf in the forest. It was worth a try.
"Wingardium leviosa!"
And against all odds, the spell hit home, and the ugly monster was lifted off the ground, perhaps half a metre high.
"Stupefy!"
With his unbelievable Quidditch reflexes, Harry had grasped the opportunity and the spell hit the creature's soft unarmoured underbelly full force, just as the power of the lifting spell began to wane. The beast went limp in an instant, and a moment later came crashing down to the ground in a heap.
"Fleur! Are you all right?"
Harry was by my side in an instant.
"Yes," I said breathlessly. "What on earth is that?"
"Oh, that's one of Hagrid's pets, you know."
"Hagrid?" I smiled weakly. "I might have known. – Thanks for saving my neck, anyway!"
"Don't mention it. You've saved mine a minute before, see? So we're even, I guess."
There was a pause.
"How do we go on with this?" I asked finally.
"Hm, I suppose there can't be any harm in getting away from our friend here. You never know how long a spell lasts on these things."
"Yes; but – we can't go on together, can we? We are opponents!"
"I guess you are right. Looks a bit stupid to me, but – well, how about you turning right here, and me left? Oh, have you seen the others, by the way?"
"No, nor heard anything, either. So, see you, Harry."
And I took the turning he had indicated and lost sight of him at once.
Everything was completely silent again as I walked on. And I was completely unprepared, when a wave of unbearable pain hit me in the back and had me collapsing on the ground, writhing convulsively. The sound of "Crucio!" seemed to hit my ears ages after the pain.
Now, thankfully, I've never before experienced the Cruciatus curse, only learned the theory about it, but one thing is obvious, nevertheless: My reaction was very different from "normal".
I don't know how to express it, but perhaps it's easiest to say that I seemed to leave my body. Not in the way that is mentioned frequently, like looking down on myself from above, and watching all the things happening around my body, no, it was completely different, and I still don't understand what happened.
The thing is, everything went black, and the pain stopped abruptly. And some time later, - it seemed like a short moment, but it may have been hours, I have absolutely no idea, - I was somewhere else altogether, and, - this is the one thing that makes me wonder if it all might have been a dream or a hallucination, after all, - I was a bird, a white owl, from what I could see of my body, and I was flying over a strange dark place.
Perfectly adapted to darkness, as my owl's eyes were, I could soon see the location below me. A cemetery, gravestones scattered across a field of green grass. The place seemed to have been out of use for some time, the grass was long and untended, and several of the stones were not upright any more. In the light of the moon I saw two figures crouching next to one of the stones, and my heart missed a beat, - Harry and Cedric!
They were obviously equally surprised, without any idea what this place was. Just as I wanted to fly down towards them, I saw a hooded figure in black robes approaching them. Something told me that this person was a danger, but I found myself quite helpless to do anything. Watching with rising dread, I saw the dark figure raise a wand. Frustrated with my helplessness I let out a piercing owl's screech, which was the only thing I could do.
At exactly the same second, there was a blinding flash of green light down there, I heard a gasp of horror, and a moment later I saw that one of the two boys was lying motionless on his back, arms and legs spread wide, unconscious or –
"Harry!" My scream came out as another screech, but then I noticed Harry was on his knees, staring down at Cedric – Cedric's BODY. It was only now that I began breathing again.
In an instant, the hooded figure had seized him, dragged him roughly to his feet and pulled him towards a marble tombstone to which he tied him with ropes he conjured from his wand. Finally, he stuffed some piece of cloth into Harry's mouth, so he was completely helpless.
I seriously considered flying at the face of Harry's capturer with beak and talons, but what was left of my reason told me it would be no use. All I could do was watch, and hope for an opportunity to help.
After he had tied Harry to the stone, the hooded man proceeded to drag a large object towards the grave, which I realised was a gigantic stone cauldron. In the meantime, a large evil-looking snake had appeared out of nowhere, and was now coiled at Harry's feet on the grave, now and then hissing nastily.
Presently, the man made a fire under the cauldron, and soon whatever was in it began to send out fiery sparks.
"Hurry!" I could hear a high freezing cold voice that made me shiver inside; it seemed to come from what looked like a black bundle of rags that was lying next to the snake at the foot of the grave.
"It's ready, master!" The man said, pulling open the cloth of the bundle. I still wish owls' eyes were not so sharp, but even from my height of some fifty metres I could see the thing all too clearly. It's impossible either to describe what it looked like, nor the abysmal revulsion I felt looking at it. A festering maggot with thin arms like sticks and a baby's head, but with lidless red eyes is perhaps the closest I can get in my description.
The man immersed the creature in the boiling cauldron, which gave an angry hiss.
Revolted though fascinated I kept watching. I had a feeling what was going to happen was magic of the darkest and most evil kind.
"Bone of the father, unknowingly given," I heard the man chant, "you will renew your son!"
A small cloud of dust, which seemed to come out of the grave, rose and fell softly into the cauldron, which again hissed violently, sparks rising into the air.
Now he stood next to the cauldron, his right hand outstretched over the boiling surface. In his left hand I could se a glinting dagger.
"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master!"
There was a scream, as with a swift movement of the dagger, he cut off his hand, which fell into the cauldron, turning the liquid blood red.
Sick with disgust, I could not have averted my eyes, nevertheless. The man now, obviously in great pain, stumbled over to Harry, his dagger at the ready.
For a second I thought he was going to stab him, and prepared to dive down in a desperate attempt to stop him, but then I heard him chant again, though greatly hampered with gasps of agony.
"Blood of the enemy, forcefully taken, you will resurrect your foe!"
From the way he took hold of Harry's arm, I saw that there was no immediate danger for Harry to be killed, and indeed the man clumsily took out a glass vial from his robes and filled it with Harry's blood, which he took back to the cauldron and poured it in.
For a minute or two the cauldron went on sparkling, but then a dense cloud of smoke arose from it, extinguishing everything around the cauldron. But when the smoke cleared, there was no mistaking the tall outline of a man rising from the cauldron.
"Robe me." I heard the cold voice again, and the man, still nursing his bleeding arm stump (he must have used some charm on it, otherwise he would have fainted with his injury long ago), pulled some robes over the spectre's head. At this occasion, the man's face was clearly lit for the first time, and I felt a cold fear rush through my body: It was the stranger whom I had seen talking to my mother in the garden pavilion!
But at last the figure, now wearing the robes, stepped out of the cauldron, and the whisps of smoke cleared enough for me to see it clearly. And the shock I felt now was the greatest I've ever experienced: There are never any pictures of Vous-savez-qui in any of the books, but I knew beyond any doubt who this was: Harry's deadliest enemy had regained human form at last!
Blinded with shock and disgust as I was, my memory is not very clear of the following minutes. So it was only vaguely that I noticed a group of masked, black-robed figures apparate, obviously supporters of the Dark Lord, returned to his aid. He talked to them at length, and he was angry with some of them and put the Cruciatus curse on them; and I believe I saw him replace his first servant's lost hand with one of silver. I'm not sure, though, because I was too concentrated watching Harry, who had remained tied to the tombstone all the time, barely able to move his head.
My attention was aroused however, when I heard the Dark Lord say,
"Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand."
(The name did not mean anything to me at the moment, but now that I'm writing this, I remember that this is the name of the traitor who betrayed Harry's parents.)
He went over to the stone, and cut Harry's bonds. While Harry was struggling to get to his feet, Wormtail went over to Cedric's lifeless body, picked up Harry's wand, and returned to him.
The Mange-morts in the meantime had formed a close circle round Harry and his enemy, and it dawned upon me what this was supposed to become. Vous-asvez-qui, the most feared dark wizard of the era, was vain enough to show off his power against a fourteen-year-old boy, who had barely mastered the basics of magical arts. He wanted to impress his followers, and demonstrate that he could defeat the one who had thwarted him three times before!
I watched on, as the dark wizard went through the duelling preliminaries in a mock-serious way, his bow to Harry a parody of politeness. When I saw Harry bow, I was surprised, but then I realised that he was forced into it by a spell; he would never have given in otherwise.
"And now we duel," I heard the cold voice say softly. And then Harry was writhing on the ground, hit fully by the Cruciatus curse.
That was more than I could bear, and, instinctively, unable to think clearly any more, with the loudest owl screeches I could utter, I dived down, talons outstretched, right into that skull-like, red-eyed face.
. It was crazy, of course, and the curse hit me squarely, immediately when I was near enough, so I don't know if I ever reached my aim, but I desperately hope I did at least put a mark on that hateful visage. Again, an overwhelming pain burned through every fibre in my body and everything went completely black.
Now I'm awake again, and Gabie tells me I've been unconscious foursome twenty hours, and that Cedric is indeed dead.
"But they say Harry is alive!" She said in answer to the question I didn't dare to ask.
He is over there in the next ward, and nobody is allowed to see him. But I'll see if I can't sneak over later in the evening.
"And – maman?" I asked, and I hear my voice tremble as I thought of Wormtail talking to her.
"Oh, you know what she's like," Gabie answered, trying to put a light tone in her voice, but not entirely successfully. "Accidents will happen. And she's disappointed you've not won. And we are to go home tomorrow morning, too. Says there is nothing she can do here, and doesn't want to waste her time."
"Like looking after her daughter, who's almost been killed," I muttered bitterly. Gabie gave me a warm hug, but didn't say anything.
Presently, mother entered.
"I see you are not hurt or anything," she remarked coolly, seeing me sit upright in a chair next to my bed. "I told you there was nothing serious the matter with her," she said to Gabie. "So there is no sensible reason why we should not return back home tonight. There are things to do that cannot be put off…"
With these words she bent down to plant a cold kiss on my forehead that made me shiver involuntarily. "Au revoir," she said, "you will return in a week's time anyway." Then she took my sister's hand and pulled her from the room. The look on Gabie's face made my heart still heavier.
It's 8 o'clock now, and the nurse has brought me some food as well as some potion to "make me feel right as rain", as she put it. She wouldn't tell me how Harry is, though. So I think I'll wait for another hour or two, and then see if I can get to his ward and see for myself.
Midnight. I've just returned from Harry's room. Although I am absolutely exhausted, I must still write this down before going to sleep.
The lights had been dimmed, and the general coming and going had finally stopped. To be on the safe side, I waited for another half hour before I out of my bed and as silently as possible crept over to the door behind which I knew Harry was. I paused shortly to listen, but everything was quiet inside, so I slowly opened the door and entered the small dimly lit chamber noiselessly.
Not noiselessly enough.
"Who's there?" His voice was a hissed whisper. Before I had even adjusted my eyes to the low light, he was already sitting up in his bed, his wand pointing straight at me.
"It's me, Fleur! Sorry if I frightened you…"
"Oh," the relief in his voice was obvious, his posture relaxed and he put his wand away. "You can't be too careful, you know. But, - what are you doing here? Did you get hurt? Did that Skrewt get you after all? You've heard about Cedric, haven't you? And did they tell you about – about Voldemort?"
"Oh, Harry," I said suppressing the sobs that were choking me, "They haven't TOLD me anything, but they didn't have to; I know, because – I was THERE!"
He sat up straight, and his green eyes looked at me with a strange fire.
"You've been WHAT?"
"I've been there, Harry; I've seen everything! His resurrection, and –"
"How do you mean? Have you been dreaming or something?"
"I don't really know myself; but I saw everything! Tell me, do you remember – an owl?"
"An owl? Yes, indeed, now that you mention it… There was an owl's screech when – when Cedric was – "
"Killed."
"Yes. I still find it impossible to believe… And then-"
"When he put the Cruciatus curse on you-"
"A white owl flew straight at his face… How do you know??"
"Because I WASN'T dreaming, now I'm sure of it. Because I was that owl!"
"You? Why did you never tell me you are an Animagus?"
"Because I didn't know! It's hard to believe, but by Morgaine's veil, it's true! I never knew I could do it. And to be exact, I didn't DO anything, it just happened. You see, someone hit me with the Cruciatus down in the maze…"
His jaws clenched.
"Who did it?" he demanded, his voice angry. "I thought he was only after me, but you too?"
"I have no idea, I didn't see them. It was a male voice I seem to remember. Now it can't have been Cedric-"
"Krum! The only explanation! I always thought he was no good… But go on."
"So I was hit by the curse and I remember collapsing on the ground. But then the pain was gone, everything went black, and the next thing I could see was that cemetery; and you and – Cedric. And then the cauldron, and everything… Oh Harry, how I wish it had been a dream!"
I sat down on the side of his bed and put my face in my hands.
"Shh, it's all right," he said softly, putting an arm round me and stroking my hair. I let myself melt willingly against his shoulder.
"No, it's not all right," I said at last, pulling away from him with an effort. "Cedric is dead, and Vous-"
"Voldemort," he corrected gently.
"He is back in his body, and my mother doesn't even care what happened to me…"
"But you saved my life." His voice was calm and matter-of-fact. "That owl, - YOU – distracted him for just the short second that I needed to get my defences up. I still find it hard to believe you were that owl. And – the way he cursed it – you – how come you are still alive?"
"I don't know any more than you do. But they tell me I was unconscious for more than twelve hours. Tell me, what happened after my foolish attack?"
"Not foolish, Fleur," he said softly. "Trying to help your friends is never foolish. – Well, after the owl – after you had disappeared in a flash of blue light, he was tired of playing and hurled the Avada at me. Don't ask me why and how it happened, but at exactly the same moment I replied with the Expelliarmus – the only useful one I know, to be honest. And somehow our spells met in midair, forging a connection between our wands. And then, - it's so completely fantastic, - out of his wand there came the ghosts of all the people he killed…
"Cedric," I whispered.
"Yes, and – my mum and dad!"
"Oh Harry!" And now it was my turn to comfort him.
"They helped me to get away," he stated flatly after a minute or two. "Told me what to do… So my parents saved my life a second time…"
I could not say anything, so I just held him close, feeling him shake in my arms.
"It was Moody!" he said after another pause.
"What?"
"Moody. You've seen him around, haven't you?"
"What's he got to do with it?"
"He was Voldemort's faithful servant. Not the real Moody, of course, a Death Eater, he changed himself into Moody with Polyjuice, see? Anyway, when I came back, he tried to kill me, and Dumbledore was just in time to stop him. And then they brought me here…"
I still don't understand everything, but I thought it wise not to ask any questions.
"But you are alive, that's- " I didn't finish. We sat there silently, in each other's arms, for some minutes until I noticed him relax somewhat.
"Well, I think I'd better be going" I said finally. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
He gave me a sad smile.
"I guess so; good night, Fleur."
Yes, good night, diary. I wonder if I will ever understand it all…
A/N: So there will probably be two more chapters until the end of this fic. But I won't pick up all the loose ends right now, there must be some mysteries left for the next year. I'm still trying to work out an intelligent way to get Fleur to Hogwarts, so if some of you have that brilliant idea that keeps eluding me, let me have it! I don't have any patience with the stupid foreign exchange student programme stuff, though!
As to my story A witch in the family, I'm somewhat stuck with it. I need to know more about primary schools in England to work on it, so if there is some expert on this sort of thing among you, you might tell me about it.