The second time Cedric was awake, he didn't think particularly of anything when he opened his eyes. Although, he had to close them soon after he regarded the sight in front of him, as his eyes weren't adjusted to the brightness that was around.

Seeing the bright sunlight that was filtering through the trees around him made his eyes throbbed a little that he groaned groggily.

He drew his knees closer to his chest in an attempt to have a nap again just to regain the comfortable feeling he had before he unthinkingly opened his eyes.

Unreasonably, he feared that the comfy feeling he had got before he thoughtlessly opened his eyes might have been something he couldn't feel again.

Chuckling in the back of his mind, he breathed calmly as his consciousness fading away. It couldn't be helped as he was feeling rather comfy now.

However, it didn't take him long to notice his carelessness.

After a moment of berating himself for trying to have a nap in what might have been an enemy's lair, he cautiously cracked his eyes wide open. Forcing himself to be awake was hard as he was sleepy and feeling like he had gone through three Quidditch matches.

Watching his own breath to focus on something else other than sleeping, he saw that he breathed out an almost invisible cloud of fog from his mouth.

So the temperature was cold, but then why he was warm?

The moment he saw himself, he snorted. An answer was laid right before his eyes. Someone had covered him in a rather thick blanket. Now that he knew, he felt the warm blanket that surrounded him like a cocoon.

Though, the blanket made him nervous. Because it meant that he wasn't alone and that the memories of being in an unknown place, a white-haired man named Jiraiya, and a redheaded girl were real.

It's not like he didn't appreciate the gesture of whoever had done this. He was actually rather thankful to the person who had done this, as otherwise, he would probably be woken up only to feel uncomfortably cold.

Wait a second.

Cedric momentarily paused from sorting through his thoughts process.

He was covered in a blanket. And he could move freely. These things led him to conclude that; he was free and not being tied up anymore.

Abruptly, he sat up but didn't stand as he didn't have the strength to do so. He wearily thought of the white-haired man, but soon he sighed in relief as he thought that no way a kidnapper would let him loose. Maybe the man was helping him.

Relieved but still cautious because he didn't see the man around the campsite, he let himself smile, feeling optimistic about his unknown situation. His hand wandered to his right trousers' pocket, searching for his wand.

But to his muted horror, the pocket was empty.

Soon, Cedric was frantically groping his trousers' pockets ― his entire clothes, even his pants ― and dearly hoping that he didn't lose his wand. His wand was the only thing he thought would bring comfort to his mind.

He really needed his wand right now, as his wand was his sole weapon to protect himself in case the mad-man carrying a deformed baby was around to shoot a Killing Curse to his direction again.

"Let's see... you're awake and not attacking me. Take that Ero-sennin!"

Cedric froze in his place when he heard the startlingly familiar voice spoke again, "What are you doing there?"

Cedric stopped his frantic search for his wand. He stared at the redheaded girl, realizing with dread that he really was not hallucinating the first time he had woken up.

"Cedric," he pointed to himself in an attempt to get her to know his name.

"Eh?"

There's a frown on her face that he automatically frowned back at her.

"Cedric," he uttered it more slowly this name.

The girl's eyes focused to his face, eyes lightened up as she said, "Ceddrickku."

He smiled politely at her attempt.

And when she sent a determined look at him, he raised his eyebrow.

Well, he wouldn't lie, he was a bit surprised that there wasn't a trace of accent coming through when she said his name after her fifth attempts. Her language and English sounded too different, after all.

After she appeared satisfied with her pronunciation of his name, she sent a grin at him and gestured to herself.

"Naruto," she enthused, yet speaking so slowly he couldn't help but concentrating his eyes to her lips when she uttered her name again, "Naruto."

Her name was Naruto. He instantly committed it to memory.

Awkwardly nodding at her, he tested the foreign name, and also trying to mimic the way she had pronounced it, "Naruto."

It didn't sound feminine at all, but somehow it fitted her. It didn't really escape his notice that the girl wasn't a girly girl, as she wore a long-sleeved grey t-shirt and long orange trousers.

Her long, red hair might have indicated that she was girly and not a tomboy, but her hair was so wild he was somewhat curious of when was the last time she had brushed her own hair.

The girl, Naruto, sent a weird look at him after he tried to properly said her name, eyebrows lifted and all. He responded back with a nervous smile of his own, all the while wondering if he had butchered her name or something.

Trying to divert her attention off of him, he looked around.

"Jiraiya?" he slowly pronounced the name, asking the presence of the long white-haired man that had briefly interrogated him or something.

That man might have been his kidnapper or his saviour, seeing that he wasn't harmed and only wandless now.

And also, he didn't see the need to be hostile towards the redheaded girl ― Naruto ― as he trusted his eyes when he registered the concern in the girl's beautiful blue eyes that might have indicated that this girl didn't have an intent to harm him.

But well, if that Jiraiya-guy was a kidnapper, then this girl might be one of his victims or the man's daughter. As he had seen the way the girl had been interacting with Jiraiya, he leaned towards the daughter thing.

"You're looking for him? Well, he said he trusted me to watch over you and proved it by going off somewhere this morning without telling me anything," Naruto grumbled moodily, dropping to sit in front of him with her legs crossed. "Probably to the nearest bar to get 'intel' again," the girl added under her breath.

Cedric made a face, fidgeting in his place. In the back of his mind, he wanted nothing more than to know the language this girl was speaking with. It sounded unique and beautiful, especially as he heard her complaints.

Also, her voice. Her blue eyes. Her impossibly long, red hair. Her calming presence. Her ―

Bollocks, she made him forget that he had lost his wand the moment she spoke to him.

He couldn't believe himself.

Well, on to more important matters.

Cedric desperately needed his wand. His wand could make him understand this girl. He could use a Translation Charm to cross the language barrier and actually talk to her without looking and sounding like a caveman.

Mouth in a grim line, Cedric mimed the shape of his wand to the girl, desperation and a spark of hope shining from his eyes.

"Wand," he said, in case the girl knew what a wand was. Or maybe this girl or the Jiraiya guy had stolen his wand, but this girl ― Naruto ― looked too nice to be capable of stealing.

Well, he knew looks can be deceiving. Yet, looking at the girl, he just knew that she wasn't the one who stole his wand.

Maybe because the moment she started to talk to him in a foreign language, he started to fancy her that he was biased?

Well... maybe.

Naruto wrinkled her nose at him, "I don't get it."

The girl's confused tone was the cue for him to huff in frustration and cursing the Triwizard tournament for existing.