Cedric ran as fast as he could to get away from the biggest blast-ended screwt he had ever seen. It shot forward a bit and sparkles came out from its back. Without seeing what he was doing he pointed his wand over his shoulder.
"Stupefy!" he panted. He heard how the spell hit the screwts' armor with an almost metallic clang. But the screwt kept on running. Once again, Cedric pointed his wand and shouted "Stupefy!". This time though, the screwt froze immediately, and Cedric understood that he had hit the screwts' soft underside. He threw a quick look over his shoulder and saw that the screwt was lying on its back with all its crooked legs spread up in the air. Cedric had got away from it without any serious injuries, just a small burn injury. He slowed down and walked with quick steps around a corner where he met the other Hogwarts champion, Harry Potter. Cedric warned him about the screwt and kept walking.
He almost hadn't believed his luck when the Goblet of Fire had chosen his name out of all the other students. Of course, Harry Potter had also been chosen, no one knew how that could have happened, but it didn't matter. Cedric had everyones' support, even though he didn't like the way they treated Potter. Potter was a nice boy; he had helped Cedric through the first task. Cedric had helped Harry though the second one, so now they were quits.
But Cedric didn't really care about if he had the others support or not. The only one he wanted to support him was Cho. Cho Chang. She was a year younger than him, and so beautiful. The thought of her warmed his heart. When he got out from the maze, as a winner or not, he would celebrate with her. With a smile he turned left and a new sight met him. The path was empty, and with quick steps Cedric started to walk. He was almost at the end of the path when he heard something from behind. When he turned around he saw Viktor Krum standing there, with his wand raised and a strange look in his eyes.
"What are you doing? What the hell d'you think you're doing?"
"Crucio" Krum said with a dark voice and Cedric was hit by a jet of red light.
He felt as if he had been thrown in a cauldron filled with fire. His body shook in spasms. Every piece of him wanted to die, and he screamed out his pain, his fear and his frustration in not being able to make the pain go away.
Then, the pain disappeared. Cedric felt a bit dizzy, and his body ached. Next to him, with face down in the grass, was Krum. Standing above him was Harry.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked and grabbed Cedrics' arm.
"Yeah," Cedric said and looked at Krum in disbelief. "Yeah… I don't believe it… He crept up behind me… I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me…"
Feeling week but determined, Cedric got up to his feet and gave Krum another look.
"I can't believe this… I thought he was all right…" Harry said.
"So did I."
Cedric and Harry kept talking a few moments, then they said goodbye to each other. Cedric went to the left and Harry to the right.
Cedric ran in to many other creatures, including a boggart and a hinkypunk, which tried to lead Cedric in to a dead end.
Suddenly, he thought he saw a weak light at the end of the path, and he started to run. The path lead to a broader path, and there, at the end of the new path, he could see the Triwizard Cup gleaming tempting. He ran faster, and he could see Cho look at him inside his head. He didn't see the gigantic spider coming towards him, but then he heard Harrys' voice:
"Cedric! On your left!"
Cedric looked to his left, and to avoid colliding with the figure, he threw himself past it. He fell on the grass with his face down, and just a moment after, he felt how the spider was on top of him. In the fall Cedric had loosened his wand and he felt very helpless without it. He couldn't breath; the creature pressed all air out of Cedrics' lungs. Things started to float away, if he didn't get air soon he would die! Like from another world he heard a voice, and suddenly, the pressure on his back was gone. Cedric took deep breaths and got up to his feet. He could see the spider a few meters away, and it was holding Harry up in the air with its front legs.
"Stupefy!" Cedric yelled, but it had no effect. Then Harry shouted something Cedric didn't hear, and the spider let go of Harry. He fell down on his leg that seemed to be injured, but before the spider got a chance to attack him again, Harry lifted his wand and pointed it towards the spider. At the same time, Cedric got an idea. If one spell couldn't stop the spider, how about two spells at the same time? Cedric looked at Harry, and at the same time Harry opened his mouth, so did Cedric, and they both yelled "Stupefy!".
The spider started to fall, first slowly, then faster. It hit the ground with a dull bang.
"Harry!" Cedric shouted. "You all right? Did it fall on you?"
"No."
Harry got up to his feet, and Cedric could see that he was bleeding from a wound on his leg. It looked pretty bad, and Harry had to lean against the hedge to be able to stand up.
"Take it, then" Harry said bitterly. "Go on, take it. You're there."
As Cedric looked at the Triwizard Cup, pictures of a smiling Cho, looking at him as he held the Cup up in the air flashed by. He thought of the one thousand galleons the winner would get, and the look on his parents' proud faces.
Then he took his eyes of the cup and looked at Harry. He was leaning against the hedge, panting and holding his leg with his hands. He had been the object for Cedrics' classmates' attacks, they had whispered mean things to him, and they had pushed him as he walked past in the corridors. Would he have endured that for a second place in the tournament?
After taking a deep breath he opened his mouth. "You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here."
Harry seemed to be irritated. "That's not how it's supposed to work. The one who reaches the Cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg."
"No" Cedric said.
They kept debating about the Cup, until Harry got a slightly dreaming look on his face. "Both of us" he said.
"What?" Cedric looked at Harry with surprise.
"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."
"You – you sure?"
"Yeah. Yeah… we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together."
Cedrics' face split in a grin. He would still be a winner, just not alone.
"You're on. Come here."
He helped Harry towards the Triwizard Cup and then put his hand above one of the handles. He looked at Harry and saw how the light from the Cup was glittering in his eyes.
"On three, right?" Harry said. Cedric nodded and stared at the Cup. "One – two – three."
At the same time they grasped a handle, Cedric felt a jerk in his stomach. He understood that the Cup had been a Portkey, but not why, and not where it was taking them. He couldn't see anything around him, just swirling colours and Harry on his side. Then, suddenly Cedrics' feet hit the ground so powerful that his legs gave way and he fell on the grass.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, but Cedric just shook his head. He got up, and as he helped Harry up to his feet, Cedric looked around.
They were standing on a graveyard. Cedric could see the silhouettes of headstones in the fading light. At the end of the graveyard he could see a church. The grass looked like it hadn't been cut in years, and everything seemed to be overgrown. On a hill to their left was a house.
Cedric turned his eyes down and looked at the Triwizard Cup.
"Did anyone tell you that the Cup was a Portkey?" he asked Harry. His voice sounded unnaturally loud in the silence that pressed against his ears.
"Nope. Is it supposed to be part of the task?"
"I dunno." Cedric felt nervous. The silence, the empty graveyard… He felt creeps run across his back. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"
"Yeah."
Cedric looked intensively in to the shadows. Something didn't feel right; it felt as if someone was watching him and Harry. Suddenly he heard Harry voice in the falling darkness.
"Someone's coming."
Cedric turned his head in the same direction as Harry, and indeed, he could see someone coming. It looked as the person was carrying something and it was wearing a cloak. Cedric gave Harry a quick look, and saw the same confusion in his eyes that he was sure could be seen in his own. The person was coming closer, and now Cedric could see why he had found it so hard to discern the persons face; the person was wearing a hood that was covering its face. Cedric could also see what it was that the person was carrying. It looked like… A baby?
Suddenly, Harry fell down on his knees. He held his hands pressed against his forehead and screamed as if he was being tortured, he screamed and screamed and Cedric tried to make his voice heard over Harrys' screams.
"Harry! How are you? What's happening?" Cedric wasn't sure that Harry could hear him; he didn't get any answers. Instead, Cedric turned his head to the figure that seemed to be the cause of Harrys' breakdown. It stood still and stared at Cedric. Then, a voice came from the bundle in the persons' arms, a voice that was cold and high. It didn't sound human, and once again Cedric felt how he got creeps across his back. "Kill the spare," the voice said. For a moment, Cedric wondered if it was he or Harry that was 'the spare', then a mans' voice said "Avada Kedavra".
Cedric saw how a jet of green light flashed towards him, and he understood. He was going to die. Pictures rushed through his mind, his home, his friends, Hogwarts, his parents, Cho…
The curse hit him in his chest, and he fell.
Lying in the grass was a handsome boy, only 17 years old. His beautiful, grey eyes, staring unseeing up in the sky, and his mouth half-open in surprise. He was dead. He had fallen for Lord Voldemort's hand, but, after all, he had died as if he just had won the Triwizard Tournament. Just like he would have wanted.
Author Notes: Well, it's pretty long, don't you think:) I chose to publish this oneshot today, on June 24th 2006 because today it was 11 years ago Cedric Diggory was murdered. I've taken the dialogues from GoF, to make it as… 'Potterish' as possible! Haha, funny word , I'm very very insecure about the last sentence, the part about 'Voldemorts' hand'. I guess I wanted to sound professional, but I don't know how well I managed to do that… Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Special thanks to awn, who helped me find things in the book and who helped me when I found it hard to keep on writing. I always appreciate critics and suggestions about what I shall write about next. R/R!