Ch. 15

The day of the Third Task, Rita Skeeter's newest article came out. It made Hermione furious, but Harry took it in good stride. The woman had been warned repeatedly to be careful of what she said when it pertained to him or the Mars family. Instead of saving her own hide, she had to write a nasty article about how Harry was "disturbed" in the head from his scar, only to be published in a tabloid since the Daily Prophet wouldn't have anything to do with her.

"How does she get this information!" Hermione seethed. "She wasn't even allowed back on Hogwarts grounds after the first task!"

"It doesn't matter, Hermione. After this, she'll either be fired, or found floating in the lake." Harry said. "She's angered a lot of people."

"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," McGonagall said as she walked over to him.

Harry started. "I thought the task wasn't until tonight."

"The families of the champions are allowed to come and wish them luck. I'm surprised we were able to keep Tori away for as long as we had."

Harry grinned as McGonagall walked off. He asked if Hermione could pass a message to Sloane that Tori was here for the day and he left to see his mom.

In the chamber, the other champions were talking to their families. Cedric and his parents stood by the door while Fluer and her parents, plus her little sister, were on the other side of the room. Victor Krum and his parents talked in rapid Bulgarian, though Krum's eyes kept drifting over to where Tori stood.

Tori was a sight. She wore thigh-high leather boots that laced up the side from ankle to thigh. The heels of her boots were stainless steel and clicked every time she moved. Her pants were the same color leather as her boots, giving the illusion that the boots melted into the pants. She wore leather bodice for a top. All in all, Tori looked like a cross between a biker and a fantasy warrior.

Harry grinned and then he noticed who was standing next to his mom. Remus Lupin waved, a smile on his face at the look of surprise on Harry's. Lupin was wearing new robes and didn't look as tired as he had when Harry had last seen him.

"Mom, Professor Lupin!" Harry called.

"Surprise, sweetie! We're here to cheer you on!" Tori cried, hugging him.

"Mom, you look - well, uh -" Harry stammered.

Tori grinned. "Don't worry, I'll wear proper robes for tonight. I was informed of this at the last minute and just got off a quick training run with your cousin. I didn't want to take the time to change, in case there was a time limit to when I could get here. Besides, I think Remus likes it."

"Be thankful, Harry. You should have heard all of the other clothes she said she could have been training in." Lupin said, sliding one arm around Tori's waist.

"So, are you two dating?" Harry asked.

Lupin let his hand drop off Tori. "No, Harry. There are still obstacles in our way."

"Namely my feelings for Sloane's father," Tori said. "Remus understands how I feel. We're just friends."

Just then the door opened and Mrs. Weasley and Bill walked in. Mrs. Weasley frowned when she saw Tori, but then ignored her and walked right to Harry. Bill smiled and waved to Tori, blushing slightly when she waved back.

"Surprise, Harry! We're here to cheer you on!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's great to be back here," Bill said, looking around.

"I think Harry has the largest cheering section," Tori commented. "Guess I don't have to break out the cheerleading outfit and pom-poms."

Lupin gave a choking sound which made Tori laugh. Krum's family turned as she laughed, looking surprised to see her. It was kind of like turning around and realizing that your idol was standing in the room with you.

"How about a tour, Harry? Show us around the old place." Tori said after she promised that she didn't bring a cheerleading outfit or pom-poms.

Harry spent an enjoyable morning showing his guests around the grounds. Mrs. Weasley reminisced about how it was like when she went to school there, while Tori and Lupin told Harry stories of things they had done. There was a slight tense moment when they had run into Snape on their way back to the Great Hall for lunch.

Snape and Tori stared at each other before Snape turned and left. Harry was almost positive that Snape was blushing, but that could be the blood rising from anger instead. He realized that it might have hurt his professor to see a woman that he obviously liked in the company of another man, even if they were just friends. As much as Harry wanted his mom to stay with Lupin, he felt sorry for Sloane's father and Snape.

Harry was a little worried at lunch that Tori would have taken Rita's articles to heart, but it was Mrs. Weasley who had. When Hermione joined them, Mrs. Weasley was cold towards her, while Tori gave her a huge hug. Once Harry explained that Hermione was never his girlfriend, Mrs. Weasley warmed up to Hermione.

Sloane walked over and joined them. Tori asked him how he was enjoying Slytherian, and Sloane let her know that he was very happy. The Mars family members started planning for summer, talking in rapid Italian. Lupin surprised them by joining in. He had learned Italian in those years between the Potters' deaths and Harry's return. It hadn't been too hard since he was already fluent in French.

Harry spent the rest of the day talking and walking with his guests. Tori suggested that since Harry spent part of the summer with the Weasleys, then how about Ron joining them for summer instead. She even said the invitation was extended to Hermione. It took some persuading, but Mrs. Weasley relented.

Too quickly, it was time for the Third Task. The champions met up with Bagman outside the maze. They were told that if they needed help to send up red sparks and they would be rescued.

"Let the Tournament begin!" Bagman yelled in his magically magnified voice. "Tied in first place with eighty-five points are Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts!" There was a thunderous applause, and Harry could hear Tori and Sloane yelling his name. "In second place with eighty points is Mr. Victor Krum of Durmstrang! In third place is Miss Fluer Delacour of Beauxbatons!"

Mr. Bagman blew his whistle and Harry and Cedric ran in. They stayed side by side until they came to their first fork in the road. After wishing each other good luck, they parted ways.

Harry ran for a ways, his lighted wand held high so that he could see as far ahead of himself as he could. He had yet to run into some kind of obstacle, and it was unnerving.

He turned a corner and came face-to-face with a Dementor. Without thinking, Harry called his Patronus, and watched as the Dementor tripped. It was a boggart, and easily defeated.

He kept running, moving closer to his goal. Ten minutes later, he found himself facing his second obstacle - a really huge Blast-End Skrewt. Its stinger was curled against its back, looking like a large scorpion.

"Good Bob," Harry said. "Easy, Bob! It's me, Harry!"

Since Harry and Sloane had named their Skrewts, they had actually trained them during class to come to them when they called. Hagrid was surprised, and had soon forbid Harry and Sloane to go near Bob and Mary Sue. Now Harry knew why.

The Skrewt got closer to Harry, but something was amiss. Bob was purring! Could Skrewts purr, Harry wondered as he watched in astonishment as the large thing rubbed against his leg, looking for attention. Poor Bob had been lonely ever since Mary Sue got pregnant. Hagrid was thrilled, and the Mars Brothers owed Hermione dinner.

Harry patted the Skrewt, telling it that it was a 'good boy'. Then he ran off, hoping that he was going in the right direction. As he ran, he heard Fluer scream and saw red sparks. One champion was down.

"What do you think you're doing!" Cedric's voice cut through the night. He was one hedge over from Harry.

And the, Harry heard Krum's voice.

"Crucio!"

Cedric's screams made Harry jumped. There was no easy way of getting to Cedric. Harry used a Blasting Curse to make a hole in the hedge and quickly went through. Cedric was twitching on the ground with Krum standing over him.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, knocking Krum out.

Harry ran over and helped Cedric up. Neither one of them could believe that Krum had attacked Cedric. They had thought that he was all right, but it just went to show that you never really knew a person.

"I guess we should send up red sparks or he'll be eaten by Bob or something." Harry said.

"Bob?"

"The Skrewt." Harry answered, sending up red sparks.

Cedric snorted. "You named the Skrewt?"

Harry grinned. "No. Sloane did. I had Mary Sue."

They parted ways and continued on. After a few dead ends, Harry found the center of the maze. He saw Cedric on the other side, the trophy between them. They both darted forward, wanting to get the trophy first.

Harry saw a dark shape detach itself from the hedge and move towards Cedric. The other champion wouldn't see it in time.

"Cedric!" Harry cried. "On your left!"

Cedric barely dodged as a huge spider stepped on to the path. It had to be ten feet high with hairiest legs Harry had ever seen. Cedric was trying to Stupefy it, but it wasn't working.

The spider suddenly lurched sideways towards Harry. Harry yelled as he felt the spider's pinchers grip his leg. He had to do something or he'd loose his leg, and most likely bleed to death.

Harry raised is wand and yelled out a spell that he had heard his mom use several times when they had spiders in the house. He only hoped that it worked on something this big.

"Morire Ragno!" A gold beam shot from his wand and hit the spider. The spider dropped Harry to the ground before it shuddered and then curled up into a ball, dead.

"What spell was that?" Cedric asked, his voice low in awe.

"Literally, it means 'die spider'." Harry said. "Guess it works."

Cedric ran over to Harry. They could see by the light of their wands that Harry's leg was pretty bad. He could barely stand without the leg shaking.

"Go on, Cedric, take the trophy." Harry said, balancing on his uninjured leg.

"No, you take it, Harry. That's twice you've saved me." Cedric said.

"That's not how this works. You got here first, and there is no way I'll be able to out race you with this leg. The trophy is yours."

Cedric shook his head. "You deserve it, Harry. You told me about the dragons. You helped the hostages in the Second Task. You saved my life twice here in the maze."

Harry sighed. He thought about the victory that the trophy would bring. Surely, Cho would look at him the way she did Cedric if he won. However, standing next to Cedric with the trophy a few feet away, Harry knew what he had to do.

"Both of us," Harry said.

"What?"

"We both take the trophy at the same time. It'll still be a Hogwarts victory, and save us the time of trying to convince the other that he deserves it more."

Cedric nodded and helped Harry over to the trophy. They counted to three and grabbed a handle at the same time. Suddenly, Harry felt a jerk on his navel and the maze vanished.

The ground came rushing up and Harry's leg protested the second he crash-landed. He and Cedric were no longer in the maze, but in a graveyard. This was unexpected. Hadn't they just won? Was this some kind of tiebreaker round?

Harry's scar exploded in pain as a hooded figure appeared, carrying a bundle of robes. He fell to his knees, unable to think or do anything while he was in such agony. His world was nothing but blackness and pain.

A cold voice whispered past the pain inside Harry's head, "Kill the spare."

A second voice, barely heard through the pumping of Harry's blood and his cried, sounded. "Avada Kedavra!"

There was a blast of green light, and Harry turned in time to see Cedric fall. His lifeless eyes fixed on Harry as his wand slipped from dead fingers.

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A/N: Well, any reviews? I'm so lonely. And a note on Tori's outfit: She is a very tame version of another character of mine (who will soon have her own story to shine and terrorize in). That was a total "Angel Darkstar" outfit and I didn't have the heart to change it.