**A/N: As always all credit goes to J.K. Rowling. I only borrow things from her including the few things I quoted for accuracy to the scene, which will be found in Italics. Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy my newest chapter post.**
The next morning, the day of the final task, Harry woke particularly anxious. He got out of the sleeping bag and slipped into his tournament gear. He knelt next to Daphne and kissed her forehead gently, "Daphne, baby, it's time to get up. We have to head down to the tournament," he said softly.
Daphne's eyes fluttered open as she looked up at his with a soft smiled on her face. She nodded and got up and put her skirt back on and reached her hand out to him, "I'm ready. You are going to do great today. Just remember, stay safe, and I love you."
He took her hand and led her out of the Room of Requirement and down to the Quidditch Pitch where the final task was to be held. The Quidditch Pitch looked nothing like it normally did, instead it was a massive maze intended for the champions to navigate. He walked her to her seat in the stands, kissed her goodbye. Harry left to take his place alongside the other champions in the champion tent.
Hermione took the seat to the right of Daphne as they smiled forced, anxious smiles at each other, but remained silent. Hermione scanned the crowd for Draco, knowing if he was there, he wouldn't be too far from her. Yet, as all the seats around her filled up, no sign of Draco anywhere. She chewed her lip in fear. 'Where could he be?' she thought inwardly. Anxiety for her boyfriend and her best friend filled her.
Daphne looked at the girl beside her, also having noticed the absence of one Draco Malfoy, and saw the fear and worry etched in her face, "Hermione," she began, getting the other witch's attention with a small unintended jolt.
"Yes, Daphne?" Hermione asked shakily though she tried desperately to cover her fearful voice with a small smile.
"He's a brilliant wizard, you know. Draco, I mean. I'm positive he could handle almost anything that were to be thrown at him." Daphne finished with a soothing look on her face and a calming tone in her voice.
"Thank you, Daphne. You're right. He is a brilliant wizard. I'm sure he's fine, whatever he's doing." Hermione said perking up a bit. A small true smile gracing her her beautiful face.
Harry sat in the chair designated for him just as the headmasters of the three schools and Ludo Bagman stepped into the tent. "Gather 'round, everyone." Bagman commanded jovially.
The champions all huddled around Bagman to listen to what he had to say. "In this task, you will face things you may have never faced before. Should you feel the need to exit the maze, you need only send up red sparks. You have two hours to discuss with your headmaster what strategies you might implement. Good luck." Bagman finished and turned and walked out to wait outside to announce the champions when it was time. Each champion went to their designated area of the magically expanded tent and closed their flaps and began talking in hushed toned with their headmaster. Harry and Cedric were each with Headmaster Dumbledore.
Harry was not impressed with his headmaster's ideas. He would surely end up dead if he was only using defensive spells. He shared a look at Cedric who looked just as flabbergasted at Dumbledore's plan.
Two hours later, Headmaster Dumbledore stepped up to the podium in front of the the stands. "SILENCE!" Dumbledore shouted with his wand to his throat making his voice boom throughout the stands. Every person within the stands fell silent immediately. "We welcome you to the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament! I would like to introduce Ludo Bagman to introduce our champions with their rankings and the task." Dumbledore finished.
As Dumbledore finished speaking, Bagman was already standing next to him, bouncing on the balls of his feet, ready to introduce the task, its rules and the champions. Dumbledore stepped aside seeing the eagerness on the man's face and Bagman stepped to the podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Ludo Bagman began, his voice magically amplified to be heard in all corners of the stands. All eyes were on him. "Today we watch our champions enter a maze full of magical creatures and obstacles they may have never faced before. The maze is full of danger and will test their ability to think on the go and knowledge of magical creatures. Please allow me to introduce our champions starting with our third place champion, Fleur Delacour, from Beauxbatons Academy," the crowd in the stands cheered for her as she took her place in front of her entrance into the maze, "and in second place with eighty points we have Viktor Krum from Durmstrang Institute," the crowd went wild as they watched him take his place in front of his entrance of the maze.
"And tied in first place with eighty-five points are Cedric Diggory," Bagman said before the crowd could even finish cheering, they got even louder, chanting 'Cedric, Cedric, Cedric' over and over as Cedric took his place in front of his entrance to the maze, "and Harry Potter both from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The crowd continued to cheer for Harry as he too took his place in front of his entrance into the maze. "Since we have two tied for first place, they will enter first. Followed by Mr. Krum five minutes later. And lastly by Ms. Delacour five minutes after Mr. Krum. So champions, good luck. You may enter upon the whistle. Be very wary and keep your wands at the ready." He said as he finished up and stepped away from the podium. Harry and Cedric's entrances opened first revealing the massive, daunting maze to the two champions. The whistle sounded and Harry glanced at Cedric who was disappearing into the maze.
Harry walked into the maze quickly, wand ready. He saw nothing ahead of him. It was quiet and ominous inside the maze. It seemed that the sky darkened to night the further he walked into the maze. He quietly used the handy "point me" spell that Hermione had shared with him the previous week. He knew the center of the maze was his destination and it was north east of where he entered. Lighting his wand with a quick Lumos spell, he took the first right he found and continued walking.
After facing most of the maze, Harry saved Cedric from an Imperiused Viktor Krum. Cedric and Harry stayed together in the search for the cup. It helped to have two wands to defeat the blast-ended skrewts and other monsters the maze threw at them.
Finally, Harry and Cedric came upon a Sphinx, who had a riddle for them to answer. The Sphinx moved once they worked out the correct answer, and they finally caught sight of the trophy cup. Both teens took off running in toward it, as the hedges of the maze collapsed behind them.
They stopped and looked at the cup then at each other. "Take it," Harry told Cedric, "you helped me."
"No, Harry you earned this, you take it." Cedric told Harry.
"Together?" Harry suggested.
"Together." Cedric agreed.
They each took hold of a handle at the same time and suddenly in a whirlwind they were whisked away from the maze. They landed with a sickening thud in what looked like a graveyard.
"Where are we?" Cedric mused for a moment, "It's a graveyard, the cup, Harry the cup was a portkey. Did you know the cup would be a portkey?"
Harry looked around and heard a door open. He saw a figure step out from the mausoleum, just in front of them, dressed in black robes with a hood to hide their face. The figure was short in stature and carrying what looked to be a baby shrouded in black cloth. The figure stopped only feet from the teens, standing stock still just to the right of a massive marble headstone. Harry and Cedric looked at each other, confused. At that moment, pain, like fire, filled Harry's head right where his scar was. He dropped his wand and covered his face and his knees buckled from the pain.
Through his pain, he heard a cold, raspy voice say, "Kill the spare!" Followed by the swish of a wand and a second voice, "Avada Kedavra!" Harry heard a loud thud only a few feet beside him, he fought the pain in his head and he looked up to see Cedric laying sprawled out and pale on the ground, mere feet away from him. Cedric's eyes were open in horror even in death. Harry knew those eyes would haunt him the rest of his life.
"No!" Harry screamed, as he stumbled to Cedric's side.
Before Harry could process what he was looking at, pain overwhelmed him once more. The figure, set his bundle down on the ground, grabbed Harry by his collar, and dragged him toward the grave by which he first stood. Harry caught a glimpse of the name inscribed on the huge headstone just before he was turned around and shoved against the cold unforgiving marble.
TOM RIDDLE
The man conjured cords and tied Harry tightly to the headstone. From neck to ankles, Harry was tied up securely. When he struggled against the ropes, the man slapped him across the face with a hand that was missing a telling finger.
"Wormtail!?" Harry rasped out.
But now, finally finished tying Harry up, Wormtail did not respond, rather he checked to make sure that Harry could not move an inch. Once he was sure of the tightness of the ropes, Wormtail took a piece of cloth from his cloak and stuffed it into Harry's mouth. He silently turned and rushed behind the headstone and out of Harry's sight. Harry could not hear or see what Wormtail was doing. He couldn't even turn his head to gain a better perspective. He could only see what was right in front of him, the dead, lifeless body of Cedric and a ways past him glinting in the sunlight was the Triwizard Cup. He could see his wand at Cedric's feet. The baby-like package Wormtail had been carrying was close to him, near the foot of the grave, and it seemed to be shifting petulantly. As Harry watched it, his scar began to burn with pain yet again, and suddenly Harry had a feeling he did not want to know what was in the baby-like package. He was sure it wasn't a baby at all.
Harry could hear Wormtail working his way back, pushing what sounded like something very heavy across the grass. He finally made it into Harry's sight, and he saw him pushing a stone cauldron that was large enough to fit a fully grown man inside. The cauldron was full of what looked like water, but Harry wasn't sure if it was water or not. Wormtail began to work beneath the cauldron, lighting the fire. The cauldron began bubbling at an alarming rate. Harry could see the bundle on the ground becoming more and more agitated as Wormtail worked. Then he heard the cold, raspy voice once more.
"Hurry!"
The surface of the liquid within the cauldron was sparkling now. It seemed like it may have been encrusted with diamonds.
"Master, it is ready now,"
"Do it now," commanded the cold, raspy voice.
Wormtail opened the package and revealed the contents. Harry screamed, though it was muffled by the fabric in his mouth. It was not a baby at all. In fact, it look like a hunched over child, but it looked nothing like a child at the same time. It was hairless and looked dark and scaly. And the face, it was flat and snake-like, with bright red eyes that seemed to stare right into his very soul.
It seemed helpless as Wormtail picked it up and it wrapped its tiny, thin arms around his neck. Wormtail carried the creature to the rim of the cauldron then lowered it down inside; with a hiss the creature disappeared below the surface.
Harry whispered, "Please drown, please drown," hoping that the nightmare would end.
Harry heard the pop of a dozen Death Eaters apparate into the area to watch the ritual. Harry began to struggle harder, his fear rising as he realized who the creature in the bottom of the cauldron was. As the Death Eaters watched Wormtail proceeded to levitate a bone out from the grave as he said "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son." He dropped the bone into the cauldron and took his knife and in one swift motion cut his own hand off, just at the wrist. Through his agonizing whimpers he spoke, "flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master." Wormtail wrapped his bleeding stump of an arm in a bit of cloth he had taken out of his robe.
Then in mere seconds he had cleared the space between himself and Harry. He shakily brought the knife to Harry's arm, but halted upon hearing a voice ring out from behind him, "Stop!"
Wormtail turned to see Bellatrix Lestrange remove her hood and step forward from the group. "I think that since Draco has gotten us this far, he deserves the honor of retrieving Potters blood." she cackled.
Draco and his father both removed their hoods, "That is not your choice to make Bella," Lucius seethed, "The Dark Lord appointed Wormtail, not Draco."
"Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him." she threw back menacingly.
The two continued to argue as all eyes focused on them. No one noticed that Draco slowly moved toward Harry.
"No need to argue like children. I 'll do it." Draco commented haughtily as he walked, knife in one hand and wand slightly hidden in the other. He hissed to Harry, "close your eyes."
Once Draco was within a few feet of Harry, Draco turned and faced his aunt and father and sent a flash of light toward them, which exploded. Draco covered his eyes and Harry instinctively closed his eyes. As soon as the light had settled and effectively blinded all but he and Harry, Draco quickly unbound Harry, and they both took off running as fast as their legs could carry them away from the circle of Death Eaters.
It didn't take long before they had a dozen spell firing Death Eaters nipping at their heels. Both teens had to figure out how to fire spells and run without tripping and falling. It was that moment that Harry remembered the ring Daphne had given him, however he could not remember how to work it. Sparing a moment of thought in the midst of the battle, he remembered her telling him to turn the ring thrice and think of her. So, he grabbed Draco's wrist tightly and turned the ring around his finger three times and thought about nothing except Daphne and how much he wanted to return to her loving arms. Harry and Draco disappeared leaving a group of angry and confused Death Eaters in their wake.
Daphne stood, heart pounding, beside a just as anxious, Hermione watching for Harry.
Hermione was not just anxious for Harry, she was worried for Draco as well. They both watched the maze with fear in their hearts.
Daphne could feel her hand burning; Harry was trying to use the ring. "Come on Harry," she whispered as she chewed on her lip, looking around for him wondering where he'd show up.
Harry and Draco landed in the stands in front of Daphne, who upon seeing Harry in front of her, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Hermione sighed in relief. "What happened to you two!" Hermione whispered sternly to them. A gasp had rippled through the raised stands around them.
"Death- Eaters- Killed- Draco blinded- We ran-" Harry gasped out.
"Sssshhhhhh, Calm down you're safe now," Daphne whispered into his neck as the audience watched them all intently in deafening silence.
"Draco, please what happened?" Hermione quietly asked him specifically, in a hushed tone.
"How about we go somewhere more private?" Harry asked as he tried to regain his breath as the professors, Dumbledore, Ludo Bagman, and Cornelius Fudge came to the four teen's location.
The girls both nodded at them and looked around at all the professors who'd now surrounded them.
"Can someone explain to me what happened?" Professor McGonagall asked with a frown creasing her brow.
Draco moved a few steps away from Hermione, much as he didn't want to, before asking with a frown, "Can someone explain to me who the bleeding idiot was who didn't check the trophy before placing it in the center of the maze? It was a fucking portkey!"
"I was right?!" Hermione shouted in disbelief.
Ludo Bagman stood there unable to say anything as he had placed the trophy in the maze himself. He was unsure how anyone could have tampered with it.
"You knew about this!?" Daphne yelled at her.
"I suspected something, but I couldn't find Harry last night to warn him." She defended herself.
"Cedric is dead! Pettigrew tried to bring Voldemort back. It didn't work, thankfully. Fuck this!" Harry screamed.
Harry rolled his eyes as the arguing began. More professors and officials began arguing among each other, Harry began limping towards the staircase unnoticed by everyone but Draco. He needed to get the hell out of here, so he could pass out in peace. He would never forget the death of Cedric Diggory. The professors didn't believe him about the boy's death.
"Wait a minute Draco! Where was it a portkey to?" Hermione shouted, effectively silencing the whole group of arguing witches and wizards.
"Why do you wanna know Mudblood?" He asked as he went back to sounding like his normal silver tongued self.
She rolled her eyes as usual. "Because it has to do with Harry! And you came back with him!" She screamed at him pretending to be angry with him. "Clearly you were there too! And he's managed to sneak away already!" She finished, bringing attention to Harry's disappearance.
Draco shook his head, glad that Potter was able to disappear without anyone noticing. He ignored the professors who were yelling at him. He knew that Snape would find him to find out what happened tonight. He didn't want to relive what he saw. He could only imagine how Potter felt about this. The fucking professors, headmaster and other fucking adults were completely useless in this situation.
Hermione walked into the Gryffindor common room and she saw Harry sitting there in an armchair in front of the fireplace just simply staring into it. She could see the fear and sadness written all over his face.
"Harry? You gonna be okay?" she asked softly getting his attention from the fire.
"Huh? Oh, Yea. I guess." Harry responded.
"Can you tell me what happened today?" she asked, "People are going to want to know. And you and Draco seem to be the only two who will be able to tell us."
Harry looked at her with most serious look on his face, "They tried to use my blood in a potion to bring Voldemort back. The portkey transported Cedric and I to the graveyard in which Riddle's father was buried. When we arrived, my scar almost immediately began to burn, badly. A door to one of one of the mausolea opened and out stepped Peter Pettigrew Carrying something shrouded in cloth. It told him to kill Cedric so he did, then he magically bound me to the headstone that stood over Voldemort's father's grave. I struggled, but it was useless. One minute it was just us, and the next there was a dozen Death Eaters with us there in that graveyard. Hermione, I was terrified. That is until three of them took off their masks. Then I was confused and unsure of how things were going to play out. One of those Death Eaters, Hermione, was Draco. He was with his father." he told her. He took a momentary pause to gauge her reaction to what he had just said.
She smiled simply at him, "I know, he was just doing it to save face until he could help stop his Aunt Bellatrix's plot to bring Lord Voldemort back and quote un-quote "restore his former glory"," she said with a small giggle. She fell silent and waited patiently to hear the rest of his story of the events of the afternoon.
"Well, Bellatrix had been the first Death Eater to take off her mask off, and they watched intently as Pettigrew levitated a bone from the grave into the enormous cauldron. He cut off his own hand, into the fucking cauldron., But the moment he stepped up to me with his knife still drawn, Bellatrix screeched at him to stop. He quickly turned to her, waiting for orders. She stated that Draco had gotten them that far, so he should do it, which incited an argument between she and Lucius. Draco shouted over them telling them he'd do it and stepped confidently toward me. Knife in hand, and what they hadn't noticed was his other hand grasped his wand. The two of them were still arguing and all eyes were on them, so Draco sent a flashing light charm, which landed between his father and aunt, blinding everyone but the two of us., I had closed my eyes, and he had his back turned away." Harry took a breath.
"The magic that held me released as Pettigrew was no longer concentrating on my bonds. I jumped down and we took off running, not even sure how we were going to get back to Hogwarts. Then I remembered the ring Daphne gave me. So, I grabbed Draco's wrist tight and activated the ring just as the Death Eaters had started to catch up to us.
"Oh Harry, I am so sorry that you had to go through that. I am glad Draco was there to help you." Hermione said wrapping her arms around Harry. "I was so worried about you. This could have been much worse!"
"Well, I am safe now. Thanks to Draco, you will have to remind me to thank him." Harry noted, leaning into the warmth of his best friend. For the moment the common room was quiet. But he knew he would have to leave soon. He was still ostracized from the rest of the school. He knew Ron would be after him even more after this.