The Bad Touch Trio & the Goblet of Hilarity Presents:
The Second Task (where's the first?)
Or:
That one time Cedric was nearly choked to death in a lake!
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Cedric stood directly next to Fleur Delacour. The beautiful girl gave him a side glance a nervous gaze which held his for nearly a minute before her blue eyes trained themselves on the murky lake water. Fleur was always nervous, he thought, since the beginning of the tournament though she'd never mention anything about this nervousness at all, not to him and not to Krum.
Cedric looked towards the stands trying to catch sight of that one special person he'd wanted to see since the moment he'd woken up that morning only to find her absent from the stands. Well, he might have missed her since his eyes went directly towards the section of teenagers wearing yellow and black. His flint gray eyes slid from the cheering Hufflepuff's, gliding over the fussing Ravenclaws and the gregarious Gryffindor's' and stopped when he reached the hushed whispering Slytherin's elegantly seated in the stands. His eyes caught those of Gillian Beilschmidt who waved excitedly at him, her shoulders shaking enough to jostle a dozing Draco awake. Draco, whose annoyed expression softened for a fraction of a moment caught Cedric's eyes as well. He nodded in greeting, turning his attention to the Durmstrang boy seated beside him.
There were Blaise and his Merry Band of Morons (as the Hufflepuff's had taken to dubbing them and using capitols as it seemed appropriate.) He could see fellow grade-mates and underclassmen but as for the one he sought...
Where the bloody hell was Pansy Parkinson?
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It was times like this that Lovina really really hated being an older sister. Feliciana had this ability to make her eyes impossibly huge in order to get anything she wanted. It might have been a good thing that Feli didn't seem to understand that this was an evil super power that she could use to her advantage whenever she wanted-Feli didn't and probably wouldn't if she weren't so dim. It wasn't in her character.
Lovina had to admit that yes she herself would have used to her own advantage. Maybe then, she wouldn't feel the way she feels, the horrible heart ache rushing upward causing her throat to close and eyes to water whenever she thought of Antonio.
Stupid Tomato Bastard and his stupid silent treatment!
It'd been a few days since she'd been dumped and already there was this intense need within her to run and beg and apologize-she wouldn't. No way in hell would Lovina Vargas apologize. Ever.
But looking at Antonio now, seated ever so closely to Angelina Johnson, she had to fight the urge to scramble her way down the stands and over to Antonio and demand that he take her apology seriously and take her back.
Take what back?
That was the question.
"I seriously don't want to be here..." She mumbled to her giggling sister. "Why the hell did I let you talk me into this?"
"Ve~ Lovi don't be mad! I wanted to spend time with you."
Feli turns her large eyes on Lovi who had no choice but to try and smile (it comes out pretty terrifying-as a matter of fact, Zacharias Smith actually yelped when he saw it).
"Isn't this exciting? Ve~ I hope Cedric wins this one!"
"Whatever. Who cares, its not like Hogwarts is going to congratulate Hufflepuff house, they'll just congratulate Hogwarts. If it were Gryffindor then they'd congratulate Gryffindor or any other house...bastards just don't get that our house is just as good as any other."
Feli nods in agreement along with the other Hufflepuff's seated nearby
When the competitors jumped into the Black Lake, the Hufflepuff students stood tallest and cheered the loudest of anyone else, Cedric's name a loud proud war cry ringing through the air from their direction. The other houses and visiting student's gave the otherwise quiet Hogwart's house a surprised stare before they joined. Gryffindor's, Ravenclaw's and even Slytherin's cheering proudly for their chosen champion.
"Cedric! Cedric! Cedric!"
Lovina pumped her arms half heartedly for Cedric as her eyes fell on Antonio who cheered the loudest the proudest of any of the Ravenclaw's. He seemed unaffected and happy as he usually ever was.
It begged the question;
Was Lovina the only one affected?
She refused to call the pain in her chest heartache.
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It took Cedric less than a handful of seconds to summon a bubble-head charm thought it did take a minute for him to let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the lake. He seemed lost for a moment, staring at the tufts of sea weeds and miscellaneous debris floating about.
'Just what am I supposed to be looking for?'
Krum had taken a left while Fluer had taken to the right, both having known what they were supposed to look for. Apparently it was only Cedric who had absolutely no idea what to look for. He wasn't missing anything important. Had his wand, knew where all his clothes and school books were tucked away in his trunk. Just what could they have taken that was so important?
'Something I would surely miss...something I would miss? What would I miss? Nothing at all. I think perhaps, the only thing I have missed is Pans and...and...'
A light bulb lit over his head (to use the muggle metaphor) and Cedric high tailed it, going neither right nor left, still unsure where to go. Of course he should have suspected, the moment he didn't see Pansy in the stands. He realized he hadn't seen Fluer's sister nor Hermione Granger and both were very easy to spot in a crowd, white blond waves and bouncy wild mess of brown curls.
'Of course!'
He would kick himself later for not figuring it out, of course, he might not half to kick himself. If he knew Pans well enough (and he had learned quite a bit) was that she had a temper. Being held underwater via magical enchantments and possibly ruining her make up would turn her temper vile which would mean pain for Cedric.
'Merlin,' Cedric thought, 'I love that woman!'
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He found her, scowl in place as she floated between Hermione Granger and Fluer's little sister Gabrielle, whose silvery hair clouded about the small child's head in an eerie smokey shroud. Cedric ticked off the time it had taken to finding the girl's. Under an hour, surely, but just barely. He needed to get Pansy free and to the surface before the others showed up. Whipping out his wand, Cedric cast a non verbal spell cutting the long rope like weed holding Pansy in place. He took her into his arms, reveling in the moment of holding her without her yelling obscenities in his ear or hitting him and found himself missing the abuse.
Antonio had mentioned that the more passionate she was about hiding her feelings for him meant the more profound her feelings for Cedric had to be. He took Antonio's words as good as gold. Antonio was a Ravenclaw after all (if Lovina had ever heard Cedric say something like that she would throttle him for his lack of common sense. Antonio was intelligent only in the bookish sense in life, not so much.)
Gripping the Slytherin's waist tightly with his right arm, Cedric looked up towards the surface and with his feet kicked upward as fast as he could. The nearer he got to the surface the easier the cheers were heard and he smiled at the thought of winning and most importantly, he smiled at the thought of breaking the waters surface and Pansy waking from her petrification in his arms.
It was just a bit romantic.
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They broke surface, the air crisp and cold sending a sweeping of goose flesh through Cedric's skin. The cheers reached his ears, all at once a wave of praise hitting him and sending his already erratic heart racing and swelling with pride. He smiled brightly, right arm tightening around Pansy's shivering waist...
'Shivering?'
He turned his thousand watt smile on Pansy, giving a happy cry at her lips pursed, blue gray eyes narrowed dangerously the way he loved.
"Pans I-"
Her fist connected with the side of his face sensing Cedric's head whipping to the right at neck breaking speed (and it was really close to neck breaking!) He righted his head, bobbed awkwardly in the water but had yet to let her go, holding tighter to her as her hands wrapped themselves around her neck.
"You. Bloody. BASTARD!" Pansy shouted grinning maniacally as Cedric's normally handsome face turned puce and he began to wheeze.
From the stands Sam Winchester snapped a picture smiling, beside him Cho winced.
"Merlin! Someone stop her!" She shouted over the laughter and cheering wolf whistles. "She's killing him!"
No one seemed to care that Cedric was being murdered by what he had 'sorely missed,' had begun to clap loudly. Krum and Granger for their part, seemed completely horrified as Cedric turned purple, swimming as far from the couple as they could manage.
"They're flirting. ¡Qué lindo!" Antonio clapped his hands together. Francis, who managed to break away from the rest of the cheering Gryffindor's, squeezed between Antonio and a flushed Angelina.
"Oui. Cedric must be very...happy?" Francis took in the passionate couple for a moment and turned to Antonio. "Mon Dieu! She really has a hold on him."
"Si, she's very strong." Antonio peeled his eyes away and took in Francis. Somehow it felt like they hadn't spoken in ages and really, if he thought about it, they hadn't, not since the Lovina/Cho/Ivan debacle. "How are you amigo?"
"Good, very good." Francis smiled. "I have something I want to tell you actually. You will be very very excited to know."
"¿Sí?"
Francis leaned into Antonio, blue eyes glittering with amusement as his handsome friend fidgeted where he sat. Antonio was always so easy to excite so easy to please...
"Gilbert est venu." He said.
"¿Qué?" Antonio asked. "I'm not so good with French, amigo. You know that."
"Mon Dieu...I thought you were learning."
"I'm sorry!"
It wasn't like Antonio hadn't tried to learn. He knew, perhaps, a handful of phrases which for Antonio was an accomplishment. It had been hard enough learning proper English and even then he still had trouble. "I am getting there. Cálmate amigo. What is it you wanted to say?"
"Gilbert is coming."
"¿QUÉ?"
"Gillian is beside herself with excitement, me too!" Francis grinned, all teeth very unlike his usually sultry grins. The entire row behind them, boys excluded, swooned. "How much fun we will have once Frère aîné is here!"
The last time Gilbert, Gillian, Antonio and Francis had been together...well, the boys couldn't technically remember the whats and the hows but somehow they'd woken up in Sweden, mouths tasting fuzzy with major hangovers in a pent house. Anytime with Gilbert usually surmounted in shenanigans and trouble, but the good kind. It was like being back home causing ruckus in their small town being the infamous Bad Touch Trio they were known for...
"When does he get here?"
"I don't know. Gillian said something about-"
Whatever else Francis may have said had been cut off by a rather large and terrifying explosion in the water. By this time Cedric and Pansy were with the others staring from beneath their towels as the Giant Squid rose from the dark freezing depths of the lake like a large stage. A tall and handsome youth wearing ceremonial robes (a confectionery of colors and beads the like of which even Dumbledore would wince at) and a tall obnoxious pointed hat.
"Eins-Zwei-Drei-Vier!"
"Ah! ¡Ahí está!"
A concert, apparently, atop the Giant Squid and the students went wild, cheering at the strange German man who sang and jumped erratically, Gillian Beilschmidt cheering loudest.
Ludwig Beilschmidt felt a migraine. He stood, trudged down the stands to leave stopping for a moment to glance at his insane older brother.
"So...it has begun." He whispered. "Mein Gott...it has begun."
A loud crashing wave of applause and bright burgeoning light from Gilbert';s fireworks (how and when did that happen) illuminated Ludwig's back as he ran towards the castle intent on changing rooms with anyone who would be willing to hide him from the horror of his other insane and possibly sociopathic older brother.
'Good Luck Ludwig, you're gonna need it,' is probably what you are all thinking and rightly so. I know I am.
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Muse: This chapter...kicked my ass! I'm sorry for taking forever! No excuses (Blame Teenwolf, blame it) no excuses at all. Anyway, Gilbert's here. Poor poor Hogwarts and Ludwig. This won't be easy on them, on the plus side though, the Giant Squid has apparently gained a new friend. That's always good.
Well not for the grindylow or for the merpeople of the lake of course but good for the squid, who was otherwise, a pretty lonely guy.
Will update as soon as I know what to update with. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy wand information on...whichever character you choose in your review.
See you all soon (I hope)