When Ginny woke up, she had a horrible feeling in her stomach. It was nerves combined with the dream she had had that night. In the dream, Cedric had been brutally injured in the task and it had been her fault. He'd gotten distracted by her somehow-she couldn't remember the details-but he had been on the verge of death. It made her feel nauseous.
She got out of bed, and went to go and have a warm shower to calm her nerves. She checked her watch when she came back and saw that it was only five thirty in the morning. Ginny went down to the common room and found Harry sitting in his usual spot opposite the fire. She walked over to him and whispered, "Hey," he turned immediately and forced a smile, "Hey Gin. Why are you up so early?" Ginny sighed as she sat down beside him, "Bad dream. Not Riddle related though." Harry frowned as he wrapped an arm comfortingly around her shoulders and pulled her close to him before asking, "What about?" She shivered and shook her head, glad for the comfort of his arms before she whispered, "Cedric…he…he died in the task."
Harry sat up, eyes wide and he asked quietly, "How?" Ginny shook her head, feeling tears falling down her cheek and she replied, "I don't know. I really don't know. All I know is that I distracted him and…" Harry sighed and finished the sentence for her, "It was your fault?" Ginny nodded as she wrapped her arms around Harry's waist tightly and she said, "Yes."
Harry lifted her face up so she could look at him and he murmured, "Don't you see, Gin? This is inadvertently a Riddle dream. You're remembering the chamber, and how you thought you were going to be the cause of my death. You're projecting what happened in the chamber into this situation. I think that could only mean one thing." Ginny raised her eyebrow and asked, "Which is?" Harry shrugged and smiled, "You must really like Cedric. It's how you felt about me back then." Ginny blushed and he chuckled at that before she whispered, "I do like him. A lot."
Here she sat up and turned to him, "Why are you comforting me when you're the one whose life is on the line?" Harry shook his head and smiled grimly, "I think you're being a bit dramatic, Gin. I don't think I'm going to die today." She shrugged her shoulders and whispered, "You never know. I don't know what I'd do without you." He smiled happily and pulled her back into a hug before saying, "I don't know what I'd do without you either. Those two weeks we were fighting were some of the longest I've had at Hogwarts."
Ginny sat up again and asked curiously, "What do you mean only at Hogwarts?" He shrugged and replied, "I've had far worse at the Dursley's. She narrowed her eyes and commented, "You never speak about them." He nodded gravely before saying, "There's a reason for that. They are horrible people." Ginny asked quickly, "How?" Harry shrugged and sighed, "They're filthy rich and they treated me like dirt. They make me cook and clean and do the laundry without so much as a thank you. My room used to be the cupboard under the stairs, even though they used to have a spare room that no-one used." Ginny's eyes widened in horror and he grimaced, "I really don't like talking about it." Ginny shook her head in disgust, "I'm so sorry Harry, that's awful! If I ever meet them…I will Bat Bogey Hex them into oblivion!"
This caused Harry to chuckle and he shook his head, "Don't worry about it. When I'm seventeen I can move out and hopefully move in with Sirius." Ginny loved seeing the smile light up on his face when he spoke about Sirius. It made him seem so carefree and young- something she didn't see often in him. 'This was how Harry and Cedric are so different,' Ginny thought to herself, 'Cedric is careless and worry-free, whereas Harry has faced too much in such a short amount of time.'
Ginny heard someone calling her name and she blinked her eyes rapidly before asking, "Hmmm?" Harry laughed at her, "What were you thinking? You were lost in thought for a second there." Ginny laughed and replied, "I'm glad to see you so happy." He shrugged and said with a smile, "I just want to get this tournament over with." Ginny nodded in agreement, "I think they whole thing is dangerous and not worthwhile. It's too risky."
Then she suddenly asked, "Do you still like Cho?" Harry raised his eyebrows, "Yeah…why?" They had never actually spoken about it with each other before which was probably why he was sounding skeptical. Ginny replied, "Because she finally broke up with Cedric." A mixture of emotions flittered across his face and he settled on serious, "I do, but not so much that I feel like I need a relationship right now, do you know what I mean? I'm guessing Hermione told you?" Ginny nodded sheepishly, "Yeah, she did. Okay, I thought I'd just let you know."
They heard footsteps on the stairs and they turned as Hermione herself walked down. Ginny giggled, "Speak of the devil!" Harry turned and smiled at her. Hermione was rubbing her eyes and still wearing a night gown as she sat down beside Harry. She smiled tiredly at him and asked, "Hey, how are you feeling?" Harry shrugged and replied, "Quite relieved that it's going to be over with soon!" Hermione nodded and leant her head on Harry's shoulder before yawning, "I will be glad when it's over, too. We're all worried about you." He shook his head and replied, "You don't need to be."
Ron walked down at that moment and he laughed, "Is this a pre-task meeting or something?" Ginny shook her head and grinned, "Nope. It's just an incidental one." Ron laughed lightly as he joined them and asked, "How you feeling mate?" Harry smiled and replied, "Excited for it to be over with!" Ron nodded and suggested, "Well since you're going to be winning the tournament this afternoon, I'm going to challenge you to a round of chess, just so I can say I at least won something today!" Harry laughed, "You're on!"
The boys played a game of chess and Ron won in about five moves. Hermione giggled, "Ron, I swear you're getting better if that's even possible!" He grinned and nodded, shaking Harry's hand, "Well done, mate! Now you can go and win the tournament!" Harry shook his head with a grin on his face, "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I better go and get ready."
They all went to go and get ready for breakfast and walked down together. Ginny had her arm looped in Harry's and Hermione's. When they reached the Great Hall, the Gryffindor table stood up and applauded for Harry. He was blushing in embarrassment and Ginny searched the Hufflepuff table for Cedric. She found him beside Sophie, Stephen and Justin, wearing the Hufflepuff colors. Cedric he winked at her discreetly. She beamed at him and felt Hermione pulling her towards the table.
When she sat down beside Harry, she saw Romilda Vane sitting with Rebecca and Julia a few people along, all three of them throwing filthy looks at her. Colin was sitting with them, but he was somewhat ignoring her. Fred and George sat opposite and Fred was saying to Harry, "You better win, mate! I could lose a lot of money if you don't." Ron elbowed him from the other side and protested, "Hey! That's your own problem! Also I have no doubt Harry's going to win.
Ginny looked at Harry. He was wearing the Gryffindor colors in his chosen outfit for the third task. He seemed a little nervous now so she whispered in his ear, "Don't let the twins intimidate you. Just do your best." He smiled and relaxed before saying, "Thanks, Gin. They're making me feel nervous." She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "They're Fred and George. What else do you expect?" Harry shrugged and slowly ate his breakfast. Ginny waited for him to finish before she got up.
She was about to walk out of the hall with him, when Cedric intercepted them at the door, his eyes shining at her and he said, "Good luck for today, Harry. I hope it goes well." Harry held out his hand, "Good luck, Cedric. Thanks for the help." Cedric smiled and replied, "Same to you, mate. Gin,mind if I have a word?" Ginny shook her head and she told Harry, "I'll be back in a sec." He nodded and she followed Cedric into a deserted passageway.
Ginny asked worriedly, "You're not going to say that last night was a mistake…?" Before she had even finished her sentence, Cedric's lips were softly kissing her own. She didn't know how he had moved so fast, but she didn't care-it was all the confirmation she had needed. She felt him kissing along her jaw line and onto her cheek, her forehead, her nose and her lips again. When he pulled away, she sighed in contentment and wrapped her arms around his waist. He chuckled and pulled her closer before saying, "I dreamt about that a lot last night." She felt herself blushing and was grateful that he couldn't see it against his jacket.
Ginny giggled, "It's your good luck kiss, not that you will need it. I have faith in you." She looked up and realized that was probably the wrong thing to do-her cheeks were pink. He ran a finger over her cheek and sighed happily, "I like it when you blush." This made her cheeks redden more and it almost felt as if they were burning. Ginny beamed and said, "How are you feeling?" He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm okay, thanks. I just want it to be over with." Ginny couldn't help but giggle, "Same as Harry." He grinned and said, "But I can promise that I won't go out without a fight." Ginny nodded as leant up and kissed his cheek, "I'm counting on that, Ced."Suddenly he said, "I don't want to wait for a month. I want to do what we want to do. Ginny, will you be my girlfriend?" Ginny's eyes widened in surprise and she rocked back and forth on her heels before beaming, "YES! Yes I will Ced!" He kissed her softly again and he tasted of coffee.
At that moment, they heard voices and so they ran out of the corridor and laughed in adrenalin. They walked down to the entrance hall with him, her hand in his and Ginny felt so elated-happier than she'd been in a long, long time. It was as if all of this time waiting for Cedric to make the move was finally worth it, and all the painful agonizing over him had been worthwhile too. She was grinning at him and she felt his warm hand squeeze her own. It was all so new and exciting and Ginny felt light headed. She couldn't wait for the tournament to end, just so he could make her blush and she could spend one-on-one time with him.
Harry still waiting there for her in the entrance hall, Hermione and Ron beside him now. Ron rolled his eyes, "Finally!" then he seemed to realize she was with Cedric and his expression turned frosty.
Cedric turned to Ginny and whispered, "See you later," before releasing her handing, turning behind to look at her with his Cedric-smile on his face, his eyes full of excitement and life, and he turned to leave. Sophie and Stephen ran after him out of the entrance hall and she guessed they were going to walk down together.
She turned to Harry and whispered, "Sorry about that. He just wanted to ask me something before the task." Harry raised an eyebrow skeptically before shrugging his shoulders. Ginny turned to Ron and asked, "What's the matter?" Ron clenched his fist and murmured, "Nothing," under his breath. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.
Eventually, they reached the arena, which and Harry frowned in confusion as he asked, "It's…it's a maze?" He looked at Ginny and she frowned as she looked out at the massive growth of hedges which lay ahead of them. Professor Dumbledore, Mad-Eye and Professor McGonagall were already there and waiting for the students. Ginny turned to Harry and whispered, "Good luck. Just be safe." He nodded and she threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek, "See you later," she whispered. She saw Cedric standing beside Krum and Fleur. Ced was looking cute in his black pants and yellow checkered shirt. Ginny winked discreetly at him, causing him to grin at her and her heart skipped a beat. Then she filed into the stands, Ron and Hermione following her. There were four screens situated around the stands so that everyone could see. Each screen depicted a champion. Harry looked nervous, Cedric looked excited, Krum looked…vague and Fleur looked worried. Dumbledore gathered the champions around in a circle and spoke to the about the task. When he finished, he turned to face the audience, raised his wand to his voice box and his amplified voice said, "Champions, good luck! Let the third task begin! Mr Diggory first, please!" Cedric turned to look at Ginny one last time, winked back at her, and entered the maze.