Forever Yours, Forever Mine

Chapter Six: Not a Deranged Fangirl

A/N: I'm so, so, SO sorry this took so long to come out! It was done a long time ago, only my computer decided to act up a bit, and my beta reader was busy. So, don't expect Chapter 7 anytime soon either, though if it does come out soon, Chapter 8 will be the one delayed. I have finals for the rest of this week, and the next, I leave for Science Camp—as in I'm a counselor. xD

By the way, Bagman's commentary isn't cannon, and to make up for this, let's just say Cho was much to into watching the first tasks to properly hear what he was saying, yes?

Disclaimer: All J.K's, kthx.

With classes more demanding than ever, and Hogsmeade trips to keep her busy, time passed amazingly fast, and the day of the tournament came fast and with great excitement. The day promised to be a good one, with the sky bright and class letting out early. Packs of people swarmed into the stands, waiting in breathless anticipation for the tournament to start.

When a group of very harassed looking wizards dragged a very unhappy looking dragon—blueish-gray one with the shortest muzzle Cho had ever seen-- everyone gasped, either in horror or in excitement. It sat very carefully and very lovingly on top of the eggs, not noticing that there was a gold one sitting among the white ones.

"Today," the booming voice of Ludo Bagman announced. "Our champions will be retrieving their golden egg from a dragon. They will use any means to get their egg, and will be judged according to their performance by our judges. Going first, against the Swedish Short Snout, is Hogwarts' one and only… Cedric Diggory!"

A wordless roar boomed from the stands as all the Hogwarts students, even the Slytherins, stood and cheered. Cedric looked very impressive, his yellow and black uniform emphasizing his tall, bluntly good looks. His face was pale, but set, and as he drew close, the dragon, which had been eyeing him suspiciously, spat out a line of fire that he leapt out of the way of. Cheers rose in the crowd as he very narrowly missed getting caught on fire. He had a change of mind as he trained his wand on a good-sized rock, his face contorted in concentration.

"What is he doing?" Lisa hissed, her hands clutching the railing, knuckles white.

"Shh! Just watch!" Marietta snapped, diverting her attention to the blonde haired girl for a single moment and then riveting it back on Cedric, her hand once again squeezing the blood out of Cho's entire right arm. Cho was returning the favor, her free hand clutched around the arm Marietta was grabbing her with.

The rock seemed to give a great shudder and it grew four limbs, a tail, and a bark. It yipped cheerily, a tan Labrador was sitting on the rock, its tail slapping against the rocks. The crowd cheered excitedly and held its breath as the dog taunted and teased the Swedish Short Snout until the dragon, with an exasperated roar, got off it's eggs and chased after the dog. Slipping around the creature, Cedric sprinted across the rocks to the eggs. Cho crossed her fingers, watching him, her eyes wide and her face drawn.

The dragon saw him. For a moment, it seemed to consider which to go for, it turned its head to the dog, but right when Cedric got at the nest, it emitted a wall of flame, catching the side of his face in fire. Cho shrieked, and leaned forward, but Cedric put it out and scooped the egg, cheers erupting in the crowds. Immensely relieved, she clutched at her chest, all her friends looking equally awed.

He left the stadium, and Short Snout was dragged off, which took longer than placing it in the stadium, for the animal was distressed and angry. But the dragon finally was pulled off and Cedric reappeared, a thick, orange paste smeared around the side of his face that had been burned.

Madame Maxime sat for a moment, frowning, but her hand went up, and a ribbon shot out of her wand and arranged in a seven. Dumbedore's wand let out an eight, Crouch and Bagman giving the same score, while Karkaroff's gave him another seven.

After another round of tumultuous applause, Cedric disappeared again, and another dragon was placed on top of another nest, this one green and dainty, as far as dragons go.

"Very nice, very nice. Now, against the Welsh Green dragon, we have, from Beauxbatons, Miss Fleur Delacour!"

Everyone cheered as the veela girl stepped out, her head high, and her hair waving majestically in the wind. She warily approached the dragon, which was eyeing her with distrust. It spurt an burst of fire, which she easily dodged. She pointed her wand at the Welsh Green and mouthed something inaudible. A strange air rose from the stadium, ruffling the whole crowd and lapsing everyone into silence. The beast was swaying, its head bobbing slightly, obviously falling asleep. When the head hit the stony ground, Fleur edged forward.

It snorted, or snored, Cho wasn't sure which, and fire burst out of its nostrils, catching the girl's skirts on fire. Getting rid of it with water, she crept around the animal, only to find that she had forgotten to lure it off it's nest first. She mouthed something else and the nest under the dragon trembled, shooting out from under the beast.

She collected the egg, but the dragon had awoken by then and she almost was impaled by a set of long teeth. They narrowly missed her body, but got her forearm and she had to shoot a spell down its throat to get it off of her. Fleeing, she leapt out of its reach, egg in hand and disappeared into a tent.

The wizards came and pulled the dragon off the rocks, and Fleur emerged, looking slightly shaken. Madame Maxime shot up a nine, Dumbledore, Crouch and Bagman all gave eights to her, and Karkakoff, looking surly, put up a six.

This time, a red and gold accented dragon, a Chinese Fireball, stood majestically on top of its nest, and everyone held their breath, wondering who would go against the dragon this time.

"And now, against the Chinese Fireball, we have Viktor Krum!"

The crowd exploded in cheers again as the internationally renowned Seeker stepped out, staring at his dragon. They stared at each other for a long moment, until Krum lashed out his wand, shouted something, and a line of fire went directly into the Fireball's eye. With a roar of pain, it stamped around in agony, crushing half of its eggs and bristling angrily. Krum ran in, slightly awkwardly and picked up the egg, in the shortest amount of time. The Fireball shot fire at him, but he leapt away and walked off, looking immensely pleased with himself.

He returned, and Madame Maxime, looking a little angry, shot up a six. Dumbledore gave him a seven, and Crouch gave an eight, but Bagman gave him a nine, and Karkaroff, a ten.

Krum was now in first, Fleur in second, and, regrettably, Cedric was in last. But Harry was still left, and Cho's heart leapt and stayed suspended ten feet above her when she saw which dragon he was to have. It looked the fiercest, adorned with giant spikes and eyes squinted in anger.

It was Cho's turn to squeeze Marietta's arm painfully hard as Harry stepped out, his face tight and fearful. He shouted a spell, but Cho didn't hear it, worry weighing her down. But a broom shot through the air, and Harry had swung on it, he was, miraculously, teasing the Hungarian Horntail, flying beautifully to taunt it and dodge it. Cho, still worried, kept her eyes glued on the boy, her knuckles pale around Marietta's arm, which was also looking unnaturally white.

However, Harry's luck couldn't last for long. While he managed to dodge the bursts of flames, the tail of the Horntail swung around, and hit his arm. Cho shrieked, closing her eyes in fear, but when she opened them, Harry was very much alive, and the Horntail was slowly beating it's wings as it lifted off the eggs. Harry dove, quick as lightning, and grabbed the egg. He was… alive.

A scream erupted in Cho's throat and she drove a fist triumphantly into the air, cheering and laughing, and all her friends just as relieved. Harry had done it! He was the youngest, and he had been scared, but he did it! He was alive and he had the best time, and Cho felt as though she could melt. When he reemerged, the judges were all smiling.

Madame Maxime gave him an eight, Dumbledore and Crouch both gave him a nine, and much to everyone's surprise, Ludo Bagman shot up a ten. However, Karkaroff, after a moments pause, gave Harry a four, tying him with Krum.

Fighting through the crowds (she had to go and congratulate Harry for doing such a superb job), she ignored Marietta and her friends trying in vain to follow her. In fact, it was probably better she did this away from her prying friends eyes anyways. She fought her way towards the tent each of the Champions had walked out of, though this took longer than expected, as the crowds, trying to get back to castle were walking in the opposite direction.

Freed of the volleys of bodies, Cho launched towards the tent, and seeing Cedric standing outside of it, waved.

"Good job Cedric!" she grinned. He returned the grin, and the wave, though he laughed at what Cho said.

"I lost, Cho," he reminded her.

"Only a point behind Fleur and two behind Harry and Krum," she countered, shrugging. "You can turn the tables over at the other one. Why are you standing around here anyways? Where's Harry, Fleur, Krum and everyone?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Oh, they all left. Pomfrey wanted to keep me longer for a few minutes before she took off that orange paste stuff. I only just got out of the… er… Hospital Wing tent," he said, motioning towards the open flap.

"Did they?" she asked, trying her best not to sound crestfallen. But talking to Cedric wasn't that bad either, her conscience scolded her. At least they talked more than she did with Harry.

"Mhmm."

"That was a brilliant bit of Transfiguration, though," she grinned.

"Was it?" he asked, smiling. But his face immediately morphed into one of complete horror. "Oh no. It's them." Cho didn't need to ask twice, and instead, took him by the arm, pretending to be in deep conversation with him as they wandered off behind the tents, leaving his admirers in the dark again, most of them huffy and angry looking; their quills, ends sparkling with ink, also seemed to deflate and droop over slightly, as if they too realized their owners' disappointment.

When she looked at his face again, he looked grateful, though a slight blush had collected at his cheeks. Cho ignored it, smiling, and dropping his arm as though it had just caught fire. The touch of it sent odd tingles through her body.

"That worked again, though now they might think there's something more than friendship going on between us," Cho laughed. Cedric looked as though he might say something, but he stopped, his blush darkening, and just smiled.

"Thanks again, Cho."

"Don't worry about it," she shrugged off, trying to ignore that silly fluttering sensation his smile gave her. "I like saving you from them anyways. Hey listen, I need to find my friends before they're all over where I got to. Want me to walk you to the castle so they don't bombard you on the way up?"

Cedric nodded gratefully, and the two made their way up, Cho finding herself painfully aware of the pleasant rumbling of his voice and the way she felt impressed, feeling him loom slightly over her. The way he smiled and laughed made her heart flip each time, and each time she looked at him, she felt a strong desire to thrust her arms around his neck and hold him tightly, to feel his body against hers.

Was this how those girls felt every time they saw him? Was she turning into one of them? –Or even worse, one of those mad girls who liked ten boys at once?

"You okay, Cho?"

Cho, jumping like a startled rabbit, looked up at Cedric, and smiled in what she hoped looked reassuring. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking… I was, er, really worried about you two," she covered, hoping he wouldn't catch on.

Cedric, luckily, did not. He smiled wryly, "I almost thought it wasn't going to work, I was so nervous."

"Did you think of that on the spot, then?" Cho asked impressed, this just occurring to her. "That was a good idea! I couldn't have thought up of half as good of an idea if I had an hour with that dragon.

For some reason, Cedric looked flustered. He glanced at her, opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, shut it, hesitated, and then said, "Well, I didn't really think of it on the spot…"

"You knew the first task was going to be dragons?" Cho asked incredulously, cutting him off. "How?"

"Potter told me."

"Harry? But how did he know?"

"No idea," he shrugged. "Just came and told me a while before the tournament. Apparently everyone else knew too."

"Hey Cho!" Mandy's voice called out somewhere off to her left.

"It looks like they've found you," Cedric grinned. "See you later Cho."

"Bye!" Cho fought her way to her friends, who were all smiling widely. "Oh no, not this again."

"I knew it," Lisa smirked. "I knew something was going on between you two. That's why you ran away from us, wasn't it? So you could catch Cedric after the tournament?"

"No—that wasn't it at all," Cho hissed angrily, and almost let slip her crush on Harry. She hadn't told any of her friends about this, and wasn't going to let this little tidbit out. Instead, getting aggravated at her friends knowing smile, she just yelled, "Why can't you guys just get off my back for this one! I mean, honestly, I am not one of those deranged, mad fan girls who follow him around everywhere begging for his autograph. I can't believe you're accusing me of being one of them!"

Her friends continued looking immensely amused, and Cho scoffed, turning on her heel and marching off. To add to her anger, she heard Marietta's and Lisa's voices whisper simultaneously, "She totally does."