Disclaimer: This is based upon J.K. Rowling's series of novels, Harry Potter, mostly drawing from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

A/N: It's time for another update. I caught the writing bug and must write. Please review, it helps me catch the writing bug faster… And I hope you enjoy the chapter! And Thank You guys for writing all of the positive reviews! I love them. In answer to a fairly recent review, I'm sorry, the only good stories with Cedric/Harry are the few out of the many on fanfiction. Like I said earlier, this genre of fanfiction is lacking. And for your first question, you'll just have to read to find out! -

Chapter 3: The Night of Fear

Harry couldn't believe that he had actually believed Cedric. He felt so used, so stupid for thinking that Mr. Perfect Cedric would ever want to spend time with a little wretch like him. He knew it made no sense. He knew that no one like Cedric would, in his right mind, talk to Harry. He knew he shouldn't have hoped, but he had anyway.

For a few brief moments, he had felt a genuine happiness for the first time in a long time. But he shouldn't have hoped so much, opening himself up to this—pain, this heartache. Although he didn't know Cedric very well, he wanted to, he dearly wanted to. He wanted someone to love, someone who would love him back, but he had proven to himself once more how hard it was to love himself. As he gave up waiting for Cedric, and went back inside the quiet tent, feeling an immense sadness.

The tears started pouring out his glistening green gemstone eyes, flowing down his pale cheeks. He thought no one was there to see him, but someone was.

Hermione had been studying for Ancient Runes, and was sitting quietly in the main room of the tent. She felt bad for Harry, seeing him cry so much, and allowed her curiosity to get the best of her.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione, her eyes gazing at Harry. Harry's eyes darted in her direction, he felt exposed, his innermost feelings on stage for all the world to see.

"N-nothing Hermione. I'm fine. Sh-shouldn't you be in bed?" said Harry, continuing to walk towards his room.

"I got caught up in this book," replied Hermione, snapping her book shut, sending a rather large dust cloud high into the air.

"Harry, come back here!" beckoned Hermione, "I know you're hiding something. You're crying—you've always worn your emotions on the sleeve of your robe. You know that you can tell, Harry. Absolutely anything. I'm you're friend and I'd like to help. Let me." Hermione's offer was beyond kind, but could Harry handle telling Hermione about—about—everything, right now of all times? He had just come out to himself, he knew it was a little soon tell others.

But this is Hermione, he thought, and she will love me no matter what. But even with that in mind, Harry couldn't tell her. Not yet anyway. It was too soon for that. So he lied, as much as it hurt him too.

"Really, Hermione, it's nothing," answered Harry, trying to wipe away a tear. "I just fell and practically broke my arm. Don't worry, it's nothing."

Hermione looked at him, thinking. "Can I look at where you fell? It could be—"

"No, it's fine. I've taken care of it," said Harry, cutting Hermione off.

"Oh, I see," she said. Those words hit Harry like a bullet. Hermione had seen through him, seen through his veneer of shallow lies. But he couldn't tell now. Not now, not so soon.

"I-I have to go," he said, rushing into the guy's room.

"Okay. Well, I hope you fell better!" she said.

Harry could feel the guilt weighing down his soul, and the sorrow inundating his face. He fell down on the bed, feeling the tears recommence. He lay restlessly on the covers. He couldn't fall asleep like this.

So he lay and though, his mind deep in turmoil over the pain, the hurt, and the sorrow.

Cedric raced through the woods, trying desperately to get to Harry as soon as possible. He felt awful for being this late, even though it wasn't his fault.

It had been his father, of course. His father had kept him for so long, showing him off to all of his friends at the Ministry, telling them all how wonderful his son was. And of course, everyone ate it up, smiling at the amazing Cedric.

Sometimes, Cedric felt like his father was too proud of him. He knew his father could be too proud, especially when he took hours to do things like this. But moreover, he knew his father could be too proud of him because—

The crashing of a falling tree branch interrupted his thoughts. He initially thought nothing of it and kept running. By now, he had ran out into the open campsite.

But when he heard screams in the distance, fear rose in him. He paused for a second, and then he ran.

Harry heard the screams and jumped of bed. He tried to shake Ron awake, and after a few growls and grumbles, Ron's eyes finally opened.

"Wha-what is it?" asked Ron, rubbing his eyes.

"Listen," said Harry.

Ron's drowsy eyes widened in fear.

"Where's that coming from?" asked Ron.

"Outside," said Harry. "Come on, we've got to go?"

"Why?" asked Ron. "Why aren't we safe here?"

"Do you really—just, let's get to others," said Harry. Ron jumped out of a bed reluctantly. He threw on a jacket on the two were out in the middle of the tent, where they met a panicking Hermione with the rest of the Weasleys.

"We were just about to get you up," said Mr. Weasley, with lines of worry etched on his face, "but figured no one could sleep through the apocalypse occurring outside." Apparently, he had forgotten about Ron, who could sleep through anything.

"We've got to go," said Hermione, anxious to get out of harm's way.

"Yes, you guys get outside, and into the woods, and above all, stick together. I've got to go help the Ministry sort this out!" he said as he left the tent, leaving the terrified group alone. Needless to say, that didn't help their terror.

Hermione took the lead. "Well, you heard him," she said, looking at the others. "Let's go!" Once the opened the flap of the tent, the screams intensified, ringing in their ears. Hermione didn't let the screams scare her and was the first outside.

Hermione led Harry, Ron, and Ginny running towards the woods, the screams from wizards and witches increasing in intensity every minute. Harry couldn't help but notice the throng of people approaching from the center of the camp. He glanced upwards towards the sky only to see a few people flying around. After a bright green flash, Harry saw something. He knew who one of the people was.

"It's the Muggle! The one who was running the campsite!" Harry said.

"And most likely his family," said Hermione, looking over her shoulder.

"That's sick," said Ron, as he watched the group turn the women over, exposing her undergarments. She struggled to keep her dress down.

They heard a laugh.

"That's right, they're after Muggles and people like you, Granger," drawled a voice from the edge of the woods.

"Shove it, Malfoy," said Harry, walking towards the woods.

"Wouldn't want her to be spotted, now would we?" asked Draco

"What are you talking about?" asked Ron.

"They're after all Muggles, if you think that they can't spot a Mudblood like Granger, then stay here."

"Watch it," said Ron angrily.

"Never mind, Ron, let's just keep moving. It'll be safer for all of us in the woods," said Hermione.

"Right," said Harry, moving past Malfoy and past the barrier of trees. As the rest of the group followed, they all heard Malfoy laugh, but none of them took notice. They just kept moving, deeper into the forest, through the thicket.

After a few minutes of running through the dense undergrowth, Harry realized that he had lost everything, from his friends to his wand. He rested against a tree, trying to gain back his breath. But he couldn't rest with so much fear in the air. The screams reached even to that remote location.

He breathed deeply, closing his eyes for a second, thinking. He could swear he heard someone call his name.

"Harry!" he heard in the distance. He though it was in his mind, but then he heard it again.

"Harry!" someone called, approaching him. Harry had to answer, it could be Hermione or Ron.

"I'm over here," he called out, standing back up so that he was in sight of whoever the person was.

After a moment, he realized that it wasn't Ron or Hermione who was running towards him.

His voice is too deep to be Hermione's and—he's much too tall to be either of them, he thought. For a moment, he panicked. He wished that he had his wand with him, so that he could see to better ascertain exactly who was there. The other person read his mind.

"Lumos," the person said.

"Cedric?" cried Harry in disbelief.

"Y-yeah," he panted, looking at Harry.

"How did you find me here?" asked Harry.

"I was on my way to your tent when I heard the screams all over camp. That's when I started sprinting. And I ran into Mr. Weasley. He told me that you went for the woods, so I—" Cedric tried to catch his breath. "So I ran after you into the woods. I don't know how exactly I found you in here, I just ran."

"Well, I'm glad you found me. I've got no idea where I am," said Harry.

"Yeah, I wish I could be more help, but I don't know either. Too busy running to catch up to you," said Cedric, his breathing still heavy. For a moment, Harry forgot that he was mad at Cedric, because it was, well, Cedric. But even so, Harry couldn't help but feel stood up.

"So where were you?" he asked bluntly.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I—" Harry cut him off.

"Sorry really doesn't cut it. You had me waiting aimlessly for hours. I thought you'd come to talk to me. I was actually looking forward to it! You know, some people would consider that mean, telling one person one thing then doing another," said Harry. He was trying his best not to sound too clingy or blatant about his feelings, but was only doing so-so. Harry saw Cedric's eyes bright silver eyes dim slightly.

"I-I'm so sorry. I was really looking forward to talking to you about Quidditch, about a lot of things. I'm really sorry that I didn't show up. It was my father. He kept me, making me talk to all of his Ministry friends. I tried to get away, but he kept a close watch on me. So when I did manage to break free, I ran, trying to catch you before you went to bed," said Cedric.

Harry was tempted to believe him. He had seen how Cedric's father treated him earlier that day. And the cadence in his voice—but still!

"Well, you failed, I went to bed ages ago," said Harry heatedly.

"I know I did, and I wish I could have gotten to you ages ago. I'm sorry," said Cedric.

"At least it wasn't you fault," said Harry. "I mean, you're probably too kind, apologizing for it. It was nice of you to rush to get to me, then try to find me. Really nice. So you really shouldn't feel bad." Cedric's eyes instantly lit up, brightening the rest of his face. His cheeks flushed a slight red. Harry would swear that Cedric was embarrassed.

"Good," said Cedric. His eyes looking down and into Harry's. For a moment, they were all that mattered in the world. And they peered into each other's eyes, getting a glance at the other's soul. But Cedric looked away.

"So," he said, feeling awkward, "what'd you think of the Quidditch match?" It took a second for this to register with Harry.

"It-it was pretty good. Most elaborate match that I've ever seen. Most wizards and witches I've ever seen, too. Didn't know that that many of us existing. It was amazing," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Cedric, "It was pretty amazing."

But not as amazing as you, Harry thought. There was a pause. Silence. Except for the fact that there could be no silence with the approaching screams.

"We better get moving," said Cedric. "Those screams sound like they're getting closer."

"Yeah, good idea. But where to?" asked Harry.

"No idea. How about further into the woods," said Cedric. "Follow me," he said as he began to jog. Cedric's wand dimmed as they kept moving deeper into the forest.

Harry followed close behind him. He was not eager to get separated again. They ran in silence for a couple of minutes, the frightened screams fading, fading until they heard someone shriek nearby. A person ran right into Harry. The first thing Harry noticed was her hair.

"Hermione?" asked Harry.

"Oh Harry! We were wondering what happened to you! I'm so glad that you're safe!" she cried, gasping for breath.

"I think the better question is what happened to you," said Cedric. Hermione squeaked in surprise.

"Lumos," said Hermione, eager to know who said that. Upon seeing him, she started, " Oh, Cedric, it's you. What're you doing here?" asked Hermione.

"I was on my way to talk to Harry when I heard the ruckus going on at the campsite. So I raced into the woods and that's where I ran into him," said Cedric.

"Yeah, I was pretty lost," said Harry.

"It appears as though you still are," said Hermione. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Not really," said Harry. "We were just trying to run away from the screams. But Hermione, what happened to you? You're a mess." Hermione looked as though she had just run through Hell and back. Her garments looked ripped at the edges, her robe had a large tear in the center, her knees were scraped, her face was horribly scratched, and there was a rather large twig sticking out of her hair.

"Well, I sort of tripped and the others were too busy fleeing the screams to notice," she sighed. "So I've been wandering aimlessly for a while now."

"You know you have a twig in your hair, right?" asked Cedric. Hermione blushed and quickly ripped the twig from her hair, causing herself a great deal of pain. Cedric smirked.

"And your shriek?" asked Cedric. Hermione blushed more deeply.

"I thought that someone was after me," she said. "I heard footsteps nearby."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Cedric. "I probably would have been scared too." Hermione beamed when he said this.

Then they all paused for a moment, and listened. They heard someone scream nearby. Hermione looked flustered.

"We better move," she said. "Nox." Her wand dimmed as she turned away.

"Good idea," said Harry, as they proceeded further into the woods. Soon enough, they reached a clearing. They stopped for a moment. They heard footsteps close to them, near the edges of the clearing. Fear rang high in the air, but they kept their cool.

"Hello?" said Harry.

The footsteps stopped immediately. They heard a voice unlike any that they had heard that night, without fear, without anger, a voice that uttered what sounded like a spell.

"MORSMERDRE!"

They stood there, unmoving, unable to move at all.

"Oh my God," said Cedric, looking up into the sky. Rising out of the treetops was a green skull shaped out of flashing green emeralds. Protruding from what appeared to be a fearful toothless mouth was a huge, malicious green serpent that hissed. As the three watched in awe, the skull rose higher into the sky, the formation morphing into what looked like an eerie green constellation, bathing the earth in its green glow. Harry could tell that this was not a good sign at all. He looked at Hermione, startled to see her face so white, so afraid.

"Hermione, what is it?" he asked.

"It's the dark mark! His mark!" she said, terrified.

"Voldemort's—?"

"We have to move," said Cedric. Hermione pulled Harry by the collar, eager to get out of the area. They did not want to stick around to see what happened. They ran as for their lives.

A/N: Originally, this chapter continued for much longer, but it became wayyyy too long. I had to split up the chapter into two, probably to your chagrin. Oh, and it was supposed to be out sooner, but my Beta didn't have time. But don't worry. The next chapter will be out soon enough. Even sooner if I get some good reviews, eh? So tell me what you think of the story so far. Give me some suggestions, or even tell me if you would like something to happen. I have the plot pretty much planned so far, but if you have some ideas, I am open. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And until next time!

Second A/N: Want More Chapters Sooner? Review!