A/N: Hey all, I just wanted to pop in to thank you all so, so much for reviewing and supporting this story. This chapter is going to be pretty long, and I hope you like it. There will probably be 6 or 7 more chapters to go after this, maybe more. As a side note, don't pay attention to the dates, because I figured out that I screwed a lot of them up, so yeah, lol, but I don't feel like taking them out. Once again, thanks so much to my reviewers, and to the lurkers. Hope you like this chapter!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 24th, 1995
"You have to promise me you wont do anything stupid or heroic in there Cedric" Bridgette told Cedric an hour before the 3rd task.
"I promise," he said, smiling. "Everything is going to be fine, Bee, don't worry about it."
"I'm sorry..."Bridgette said softly.
"Don't be sorry," he told her, kissing her softly.
"I'm just scared. We need you...this baby and I need you" she told him, placing his hand on her abdomen.
He rubbed her belly gently and sighed. "I know," he whispered. "I'm more than prepared for this task, I'm sure it'll be a piece of cake."
"I hope you're right," Bridgette said softly.
"Cedric, Dumbledore needs you down at the maze," Professor Sprout said, walking up to the Hufflepuff table.
Cedric nodded and kissed Bridgette passionately before following the Professor out.
Once he was gone, Bridgette took the letter he gave her out of her pocket and turned it over in her hands, tears escaping her eyes.
She got up and ran to her dorm. She found Tina and Diane sitting on one of the beds and shoved the letter back into her pocket.
"Hey sweetie, you ready?" Tina asked. Bridgette wiped her eyes and nodded. They all got up a few moments later and made their way to the stadium.
As they took their seats, Bridgette saw Cedric standing at the opening of the maze, gazing up at her.
She smiled down at him, blowing him a kiss softly and giggling as he reached out and "caught" it, holding it close to his heart.
"I love you," he mouthed, smiling at her.
"I love you more!" she mouthed back.
"Never," he mouthed to her, giving her a look that made her fall in love with him all over again.
"Students, teachers, honored guests..." Dumbledore began but Bridgette paid no attention, running down to where Cedric stood and kissing him fiercely.
"Ms. Peterson! Please return to your seat this instant!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she clung tightly to Cedric, tears falling out of her eyes.
"I don't want you to go!" she whispered.
Cedric placed his hands on her shoulders and held her at arms length, gazing into her tear-filled eyes. "Everything is going to be all right," he whispered. "Bee Bee, listen to me, I will be fine, ok?"
"Remember...you promised me you wouldn't do anything stupid Cedric. You be a goddamned chicken if you have to," Bridgette whispered.
"I will," he said, kissing her forehead lightly. "Now go back to your seat, the sooner the task gets started, the sooner I'll be out of there!"
"The sooner we can move on with our lives," Bridgette sighed, kissing him softly before heading back to her seat.
Dumbledore began his speech again and then the cannon sounded and the four champions went into the maze.
Bridgette began to cry as soon as Cedric disappeared from her view, biting her lip softly to hold back most of the noise from her sobs.
Tina put her arm around her daughter as she cried, her shoulders shaking with the intensity of her sobs. "I d-don't want him t-to d-die!" she exclaimed.
"Shhh, honey it'll be ok...everything will be just fine," Tina said softly, stroking her hair.
After a while, Bridgette calmed down, though her face was bright red from crying.
"Hey Bridge," Alexis said from behind her, walking down from her seat at the top.
"Hey, Lexi," Bridgette said softly.
"How are you holding up?" Alexis asked.
"Ok I guess. I'm scared to death for him Lexi," Bridgette said softly.
"I know...but Cedric's strong and brave, he'll make it through," Alexis told her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"He's too brave, that's the thing that worries me," Bridgette said.
Suddenly, red sparks were shot up from somewhere inside the maze and Bridgette held her breath.
A strong gust of wind brought out the Beauxbatons girl, Fleur Delacour, who looked pretty beaten up. Bridgette let her breath out as more tears filled her eyes.
The same thing happened shortly after, but this time bringing out the Durmstrang champion, Viktor Krum. Bridgette found herself even more distressed now for some reason.
Almost two hours passed and Bridgette started to panic. "Where is he?" she whispered to herself.
"Bridge! Look!" Alexis exclaimed, jumping up as suddenly two people fell into the center of the stadium.
Bridgette jumped up and started to cheer, seeing Cedric. Confusion flooded her mind a second later as Harry Potter kept hovering over Cedric, who was lying down on the ground.
Suddenly, an ear-shattering scream cut through the crowd's cheers.
Bridgette's heart skipped a beat as suddenly all of the teachers hovered around Harry and Cedric.
"Oh my God," she whispered, running down to the large crowd around the two.
"Let me through!" she exclaimed to no avail. She was probably the shortest person in the crowd and they weren't budging.
"Is he breathing?" she heard someone say. She let out a cry and shoved her way through the crowd.
"Oh my god! What happened?" she cried, falling to her knees next to his pale body, her hands shaking as she touched his cold face.
"The cup was a portkey," Harry said. "It...It took us to a graveyard and...Voldemort, he tortured Cedric..." but the rest was drowned out by Bridgette's crying.
"I told him not to do anything stupid," she cried, her face completely wet from the tears as she rested her head on his chest.
She felt hands trying to pry her away from Cedric but she clung desperately to him. "I won't leave him!" she sobbed.
"We have to get him to the hospital Ms. Peterson, please," Dumbledore said softly to her, "he'll need to be transported immediately to St. Mungo's."
She reluctantly let go and looked up at Dumbledore. "I'm going with him," she said sternly.
"Ok, as long as it is fine by your parents," he told her.
"Of course it is," Tina said, forcing her way through the crowd.
He nodded solemnly and everyone made a small circle before being transported to St. Mungo's a second later.
Later that night, Bridgette sat next to Cedric's bed, gazing at his still, pale body.
The doctor's had done all they could, but it turned out Voldemort had used the Crucio curse on him for too long...he would be in a comatose state probably the rest of his life.
She breathed a shattering sigh, pulling the letter he gave her out of her pocket. As if on cue, the seal magically disappeared and she dropped the letter in surprise, a gold locket falling out of the envelope and onto the floor with a soft clink.
She bent down to pick it up, feeling her hands shake a little. She opened the locket and started to cry, seeing a picture of her and Cedric dancing. The picture moved and Afterglow by INXS started to play in her mind.
She pressed her eyes tight together and clasped the locket firmly around her neck before, with shaky hands, taking out the letter and reading it.
My Dearest Bridgette,
If you're reading this, it means I didn't survive the third task...of course, you already know that. Wow...this is harder than I thought it would be...I guess I'll get right to it...
I believe that I met you for a reason...you taught me how to love and be loved, the greatest thing that anyone can learn. I thank God (or whatever greater power is out there) everyday that I have you in my life. You stole my heart from the moment I first saw you, in a dream I had in my third year...you were only a baby in the dream, but I knew I had to meet you and spend the rest of my life with you. I've already told you this many, many times but I feel the need to say it again: I love you.
I love everything about you...your eyes, your lips, your heart, your soul, your mind, your kindness. Whenever I see you, everything around me just disappears. Whenever I think about you, my heart skips a beat. Every time we kiss, I swear I can fly. You are all I ever think about. You are my sunshine on a cloudy day...my rainbow after a thunderstorm...you are my everything. I would do anything for you...I would climb mountains, build bridges...anything you want, I would find a way to get it to you. You are the most beautiful person in the world; don't let anyone else let you think differently. You are always so understanding...even after everything we've been through, you have always been right there beside me, loving me like no one ever has before. My love for you is a journey; starting at forever and ending never.
I have to admit, the first few months of our relationship were absolute torture. You have no idea how much I just wanted to rip your clothes off and ravage your body. I knew what you had been through and understood your reluctance toward sex but really...you don't know what you do to me, Bee. Being around you is like...I don't know...a natural high. Your voice makes me tremble inside and your smile is an invitation for my imagination to go wild. Our first night together was like a dream come true. Sex with you is something new every time...I never know what to expect.
Trust is a very hard thing to earn...after I saw you with Brent back in October, I didn't know if I would ever trust you again. I did sleep with Cho after you and I broke up but, to be honest, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I realized that loving you...it's like breathing, how can I stop? It got so bad that I went to Professor Sprout and requested to tutor you. It was the only way I could see you, talk to you. After that day in the dungeon, I knew that I needed to be with you. The second task convinced me completely when it was you I had to save instead of Cho because, in reality, you are my one and only treasure.
The night of the Yule Ball when Afterglow started to play, my mind immediately went to that night at my friend Kyle's when we danced to that song. Cho made me dance with her, but my eyes were on you the entire time. I saw how pale and thin you were and my heart shattered into a thousand pieces. I wanted to take you into my arms and let you know that I loved you and everything was going to be all right. I am so sorry, Bee...you will never know how truly sorry I am for putting you through that living hell.
Although I want nothing more than anything for you to be happy, it scares me to think that you will move on and find another man that you'll love more than me. I don't want you to ever forget me...I know I'll never forget you or the love that we've shared. Nevertheless, you need to live your life and I do not want to stop you...you are so full of life and potential, one of the many things that made me fall in love with you.
The best kind of love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds...that is what you have given me and what I hope to give to you, whether I am in this world or the next. If I die in this tournament, know that what we had was real. More real than any love that anyone has ever had before.
Do not think of my death as the end of our love but rather, a new beginning. Remember this: I will never ever leave you. I will be with you in your dreams, your heart, and your soul. Our hearts are one; they always have been and always will be. I have once heard it said that love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle. That is what our love did, Bridgette, and what it will continue to do even though I am not in this world any longer. Our love can conquer anything, even death.
Well, I think I'd better wrap this up...I'm meeting you in the Great Hall for dinner in a few minutes. I just wanted to let you know that I love you and I'll never leave you. A part of you has grown in me, and so you see, it's you and me, together forever and never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart. I think my feelings for you can be summed up in a song I heard a few summers ago at a party:
Every time our eyes meet
This feeling inside me
Is almost more than I can take
Baby when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I've never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts
I can see your dreams
I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you
The smell of your skin
The taste of your kiss
The way you whisper in the dark
Your hair all around me
Baby you surround me
You touch every place in my heart
Oh, it feels like the first time, every time
I want to spend the whole night in your eyes
Every little thing that you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you
You are the shining star of my life that lights my way to guide me...I will keep loving you forever until the infinite road ends. Goodbye my love, my angel, my honey, my baby, my sweetheart, my Bee Bee, my everything...I love you.
I'll be seeing you,
Cedric