"Wormtail, kill the spare."

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

I barely had time to brace myself. This was it, I was going to die. I just hoped Harry would make it out alive.

There was a flash of green light and someone leaped out in front of me. A moment later, Harry's dead body went limp beneath my feet. His green orbs faded from bright emeralds to dark grey. He had sacrificed himself for me.

My eyes refused leave Harry's sad, lifeless face.

Luckily for me, I was woken from my daze by Wormtail's snort of laughter. I dove for the cup, grabbed onto the handle and was sucked into oblivion as I heard Voldemort's menacing cackle fade away. I began to see the bright lights of the quidditch pitch and I crashed onto the grass.

My ears were filled with the joyful shouts of Hogwarts students, they had won the tournament! Hogwarts March was playing and I started to comprehend what had just happened. Harry Potter was dead. Voldemort was back. And it was all my fault.

My vision started to fade, but before I passed out I heard my father's proud voice shout through the crowd. "My boy! My boy has done it! He's won the tournament!"

I woke up in the hospital wing, my father was sitting next to me, tears in his eyes.

"W-what happened?" I asked.

"You won! You did it son!" My father looked so happy.

My eyes began to tear up as I remembered what happened. My heart dropped faster than Sally's grade in English in the third quarter of eighth grade.

What had I done? If only I hadn't grabbed the cup with Harry, maybe he would be here. Maybe he'd still be alive. That spell was directed towards me, Harry was only killed trying to save my life.

"I- Harry..." I whispered, a single tear rolling down my sharp cheekbone, so sharp that it could puncture the hull of an Empire-Class Fire Nation Battleship, leaving thousands to drown at sea.

"I know, Ced! You beat him!" My father interrupted gleefully. He frowned. "He does seem to be missing though, everyone is quite distressed."

"He... he's gone." I murmured as tears began to spill furiously over the lower lids of my eyes. "He's gone!" I was sobbing now. My father stopped moving, his jaw hung open and a panicked look began to build up behind his silver eyes.

I struggled to breathe, my nose blocked up with tears, and I slowly drifted back into unconsciousness.

I woke up a few more times, but I don't remember it well, everything was fuzzy. When I finally woke up for good, a girl with black hair and intense dark eyes was leaning over me. I instantly recognized her. Pansy Parkinson.

We were the best of friends while growing up, before she started at Hogwarts that is. Our families both owned summer houses in the same seaside town in the north of Scotland.

"Pansy, wait!" I panted, trying to keep up. I sprinted down the road after her, my surfboard balancing on my head. My younger friend was much faster than me, which was one of my only problems at 10 years old. I rounded the corner of the road to face the sea, the salty ocean air hitting me in the face.

Pansy was waiting for me by the postbox painted gold. Her dark hair was whipping her in the face; a strong easterly wind was coming off the shore.

"Slowcoach!" she laughed, jokingly making fun of my speed.

The rubber of my wetsuit squeaked as I ran the rest of the way towards the beach.

"I brought you a butterbeer."

I was brought back to reality by the soft sound of Pansy's voice. This was unusual, since we grew apart after she started Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin.

She became better friends with Draco and Blaise and ended up getting caught up in their stupid house rivalries. The trio refused to be friends with anyone who wasn't in Slytherin, so whenever I bumped into Pansy, she would speak to me with a cruel and condescending voice.

"Cedric?" she whispered. I gazed up into her worried eyes. She tucked her shoulder length dark hair behind her ears and passed me the drink.

I took a sip. The sweet nectar coated my tastebuds and the warmth of the drink filled my empty stomach. I let out a small sigh, feeling better already.

"Where's my dad?" I asked.

"Your father refused to leave your side until a few hours ago, Pomfrey insisted for him to sleep. He'd been up for days, never leaving you for more than a few minutes at a time." She bit her lip. "Have... have you heard the news? About Potter?"

I sucked in a breath. "So, they've figured it out, huh? That he's not just missing?"

She paused, almost debating if she should tell me or not. Then her eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute... how do you know?"

"What, you think I killed him or something?" I let out a short laugh.

Pansy glanced around, checking to make sure no one was paying attention to our conversation. She leaned closer. "Well, did you?" she asked, a spark of something lighting up her eyes. It almost looked like excitement.

"Pansy- no, of course not." I leaned away from her, slightly concerned. "I would never want him dead! And neither should you!" Pansy seemed so different from when we were younger, like she had picked up some of Draco's sadistic tendencies. I hoped it wasn't for good.

She stared at me for a moment, then giggled. "What? No, I was totally messing with you, silly!"

"Okay... Where is Cho?" I asked.

Pansy sighed. "Right, your girlfriend. She left about half an hour ago, I think Dumbledore wanted to talk to her or something." She waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, you should go back to sleep, you're not completely healed yet. Oh, and drink this." She handed me a foul-smelling bottle. I uncapped it and downed it in one. My eyes began to close, and I started to drift off, staying conscious just long enough to see Pansy give me a rare smile before walking away.

Crack (ish)