Aha, a few days late, but I've been pretty busy with the rest of the holidays, and only get the chance to update now! Anyway, the third event is finally here! Not much longer to go...
Disclaimer: Yeah, still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail
"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's finally here! The moment you've all been waiting for - the third and final event of the 1994 Triwizard Tournament!" Ludo Bagman announced.
The stadium erupted in loud cheers, colourful flags being waved all over the place.
"Now our competitors! Currently in first place, with a total of twenty points: Mahoutokoro Academy of Magical Prowess!" Erza and Rogue ran out onto the Quidditch Pitch - or rather, the part the wasn't covered by a giant maze. "In second place, we have Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with a total of ten points!" Harry and Cedric joined them. "And last but not least, Durmstrang School for Young Witches and Wizards, who currently have no points!" Viktor and Petya walked out onto the pitch, and when they reached the others, Bagman explained what was happening.
"In the centre of this maze, you will find the Triwizard cup! Whichever team finds the cup first most likely win - gaining ten points. Second and third place will also be awarded according to points - so you Durmstrang boys also have a chance to win! However - it won't be that easy. This maze is filled with monsters, traps and puzzles of every kind, and if you meet your fellow competitors, you must engage in battle! As the current leaders, Mahoutokoro will enter first, followed by Hogwarts five minutes later and Durmstrang five minutes after that. If you are in mortal peril, shoot red sparks up into the air, but know that this will mean immediate disqualification from this event, and therefore, no points! Ready? Set! GO!" Rogue and Erza rushed towards the entrance of the maze.
Hermione craned her neck, trying to see anything in the maze, but she couldn't.
"What's the point in this if we can't see anything - I mean, why don't we just wait inside for the champions to finish if we don't know what's happening inside the maze!" Lucy moaned, and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Plus, what if anyone's actually injured?! How the hell can you see the red sparks?!" Lisanna pointed out. Hermione's shoulders tensed up immediately, and Lisanna's yes widened in realisation. "Damn...sorry, Hermione! Rogue will be fine, I'm sure of that - he's a dragon-slayer, remember? They're practically indestructible!"
Lucy laughed. "Yeah - and trust me, I would know! I'm pretty sure Natsu doesn't know what 'giving up' means!"
Hermione smiled at her friends. "You're right! Rogue can handle anything this stupid maze can throw at him! I guess I should be more worried for the other teams that meet him and Erza!"
"Woooooo! Go Erza!" A voice yelled from the left of them.
All three girls turned as one, sweat dropping when they saw Natsu and Gray. The two boys were wearing jackets that depicted Erza's face and waving scarlet pom-poms around.
"Do they even realise how ridiculous they look?!" Lucy moaned, putting her head in her hands.
Levy skipped over. "Ah, don't worry Lu-chan! Odds are, Erza'll beat them for it when she gets out! You know what she's like!"
"Oh, hey Levy. Are the others here somewhere as well?" Hermione said, greeting the blunette.
"Yeah, they saved a couple of rows over this way. C'mon, I'll take you to them." The girls followed her to where everyone bar Rogue, Erza, Natsu and Gray were sat.
As they grew closer, they could hear yells and a few thumps. "What the hell are they doing?" Hermione asked, and Levy rolled her eyes.
"When I left, they were fighting, our lot were fighting with Draco, Ginny, Blaise, the Weasley twins, Luna and Neville about whether Mahoutokoro or Hogwarts was going to win. Then they started yelling about who's going to be the individual champion. Fairy Tail - and Jellal, of course - were saying Erza, Sabertooth saying Rogue and your lot were all for Harry," she sighed, shaking her head.
Hermione laughed. "Well, I don't think we'll be bored, at least, waiting for the task to finish."
Lucy nodded, guiding them towards the least rowdy row. "Hey, Minerva! Yukino!" She said, spying the other girls. "Have you seen Wendy?"
Yukino nodded, gesturing to the box where all the teachers were sat. "Porlyusica came over for the final event, and Wendy wanted to catch up with her." Seeing Hermione's confusion, Lucy rushed to explain.
"Headmaster Makarov and Porlyusica are married, but they have a...rather dysfunctional relationship, to say the least. When she and her brother turned up a few years ago, Wendy was too young to even attend Mahoutokoro prep, so Porlyusica took her in. She's something like a mother or aunt to her - it's actually really sweet!" The blonde celestial mage smiled. "Yeah, she's always saying how much Porlyusica remind her of Grandeena - her dragon."
"Aww! Who's her brother? Is he here?" Hermione asked, and Lucy laughed.
"Yeah - both of them are! The brother she arrived at Mahoutokoro with was Mystogan Fernandes - the one who's always with Ultear. Her other brother is Jellal." Lucy grinned as Hermione gasped in surprise. "Yeah, I know! The year after Wendy and Mystogan arrived, Jellal and Erza joined. It was kind of obvious that they were twins - I mean, they're identical!"
"How...did I never realise..." Hermione said, her eyebrows drawing together as she thought back on it.
"Don't worry about it! Hardly anyone ever does, which is kinda weird, but we've all gotten used to it by now! Natsu thought they were the same person for an entire year!" Lucy snorted, and everyone laughed.
"Yeah, your boyfriend isn't the brightest, is he?" Hermione said.
Minerva gasped. "Whaaaat?!" She yelled. "You two are dating now?! When did this happen?! Details - now!"
Hermione shared a smug look with Levy. Ever since the slip up at Easter, Lucy had avoided the subject like the plague, and nothing they did would make her talk. Minerva was another matter, however.
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" Lucy cried, submitting to Minerva's torture after only a few minutes. "It was a few weeks before Easter. Natsu, the clueless idiot that he is, got it into his head to ask Mira for date ideas." Everyone shivered at the mention of the demon matchmaker. "We ended up having a picnic in the Forbidden Forest - at night - and it didn't go too well. We ended up in the middle of an acromantula nest, and when Natsu got us out of there, he asked me to be his girlfriend. It wasn't very romantic in the end, but it was still sweet how hard he'd tried. We headed back to Hogwarts and grabbed a bite to eat from the kitchen, and then we stayed up late talking about random things. When I woke up, I was in my bed in the dorm, and the only thing left was this necklace." She held up a pretty silver necklace with a flame-shaped ruby on the end of it.
The group let out a collective aww, and Minerva hugged Lucy. "Who knew he could be so sweet! You've got yourself a keeper there!"
Lucy wriggled out of the other girl's embrace. "What about Sting, hmm? You two did go to the ball together!"
Now it was Minerva's turn to blush and stutter, and the girls descended on her like a flock of hungry seagulls.
For the next hour, everyone was occupied either fighting over who the winner would be or talking about the budding relationships that were happening. So it was a shock when Ludo Bagman finally announced that a team had finally found the cup.
"And it appears we have our first place team, ladies and gentlemen! Having found the Triwizard cup, and therefore completed the task, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry receive ten points, bringing their total up to twenty points! This is a-what's this? Red sparks have been launched from near the centre of the maze! We'll know in a few minutes whether this was Mahoutokoro or Durmstrang..." Bagman blathered on, but Hermione stopped listening as soon as she saw who they were carrying out of the maze. Rogue.
She ran down the steps of the stand, heading towards the medical tent. When she reached it, she barged past the aurors at the entrance and made her way to her boyfriend's side.
"Rogue..." She whispered, and his head turned towards her.
"Hermione? Don't-don't cry! Hey, it's fine, see? I'm here, I'm fine," Rogue said, resting a hand on her cheek.
The brunette burst into tears, burying her face in his chest. "Don't do that! When they carried you out...I thought...I thought something bad had happened to you! I thought you were..." Dead. The thought lay unvoiced between them.
"Don't worry, Hermione. I'm a dragon-slayer - we're hard to kill! Otherwise Natsu would have been dead and six feet under years ago!" The last thing he expected was for his witch to laugh, but she did.
"S-sorry...it's just funny, because that's exactly what Levy and Lucy said earlier!" She smiled at him. "So what happened out there?"
Rogue sighed. "We...my shadows told me we were getting close, and I told Erza...I guess we were just careless. There was a monster, near the centre of the maze, and it...feeds on fear. When we encountered it, it trapped Erza in a nightmare, and she couldn't break free. I...there was nothing I could do. I sent up the red sparks, but then it finished draining her and moved on to me. I'll be fine, I was only under for about ten seconds before the teachers pulled us out, but Erza...two, maybe three minutes." His eyes rose to meet hers. "It...it's like...if you were to take your worst nightmare, and combine it with your worst fears, and then make that all you could see, hear, think and feel. I could smell the blood, Hermione..."
She leaned forward and embraced him tightly. "It's over now, Rogue. All of it - and I think you're tied first with Hogwarts."
There was a commotion over by the bed Erza was in, and both Rogue and Hermione shot up to get a better look. It was Wendy - she was healing the redhead. Erza groaned and sat up slowly.
"Wh-what happened?" She asked groggily. Jellal grabbed her in his arms, and Hermione could see the tears in his eyes from where she was stood.
"You were...injured, in a sense, in the maze. Wendy just healed you," Jellal said, not loosening his grip on his girlfriend. "Erza...I was so scared. I thought I'd lost you," he murmured into her hair.
Erza's eyes softened as she hugged him back. "It's fine. I'm fine. Don't worry, Jellal. I'll never leave you. You...you have my heart."
Jellal stood up and dropped to one knee. "That's good to know..." He drew out a blue velvet box. "Erza Scarlet, you have been the light of my life ever since I first laid eyes on your pretty red hair. I've already given you one surname...please, could I give you another? Will you marry me?"
Erza gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. "Jellal..." She whispered, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I...yes! Yesyesyes! A thousand times yes!" She flung herself into his arms, tears flowing freely from both of their eyes.
"Thank you, Erza...you've made me the happiest man alive..." He murmured, slipping the ring onto her finger.
Hermione smiled, slipping her hand into Rogue's and leading him outside.
"-with Mahoutokoro having been disqualified in this task, and Durmstrang arriving at the centre of the maze, we can now reveal not only the points for this task, but the overall winners of the 1994 Triwizard Tournament! In last place, Durmstrang School for Young Witches and Wizards, with a total of five points!" There was a loud round of applause and whooping from the Durmstrang students. Viktor and Petya didn't look very happy with the results, but they smiled at Hermione and Rogue anyway. "Next we have a rather unique result - one that has not occurred in a long time! Both with a total of twenty points, and therefore tied for first place, are Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Mahoutokoro Academy of Magical Prowess!" The cheers for Mahoutokoro were almost deafening. "Yes, well done to both teams - however, only one team can win! After careful deliberation, the judges have decided that as Mahoutokoro was disqualified in this round, and Hogwarts in none, the winning school of the 1994 is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
The stadium erupted in noise as Cedric grabbed a shocked Harry, laughing as he hugged the younger boy.
"Yeah! Go Harry! Go Cedric! Hogwarts for the win!" Hermione yelled, and Harry shot her a grin.
"Now that we have our winning team, all that is needed is to announce the individual champion! Tied in fifth, each with thirty points are Viktor Krum and Harry Potter! In fourth, we have Petya Krum with thirty five, in third Cedric Diggory with forty five and in second Erza Scarlet with fifty points!" Bagman said, and Hermione turned to stare at Rogue.
"Rogue...this means..." She whispered, and Rogue nodded, completely speechless.
"Which means in first place, with a whopping seventy points, we have Rogue Cheney of Mahoutokoro Academy of Magical Prowess!" Bagman's final announcement was greeted with such noise that it made all the other reactions seem tame!
Mahoutokoro had started up a steady chant. "Rogue! Rogue! Rogue! Rogue!"
Hermione hugged her boyfriend, and kissed him deeply in front of the whole crowd. When they broke apart, there were more than a few wolf whistles, and the couple blushed bright red, staring into each others eyes.
"Well done..." Hermione said, smiling at Rogue.
He smiled back at her, and draped an arm around her waist before dragging her over to where their friends were waiting.
A/N - Did you like the results? I wanted Mahoutokoro to win, but I also wanted Rogue to win, and it was kind of unfair for the same school to win both categories! I kept Hogwarts as the winners because why the hell not, and I had to add that little Jerza scene in there! Can you practically hear the shippers chanting now? One more chapter - the final one, and Hermione and the other Hogwarts students have to say goodbye to their new friends *sniffle*.
We may be at the end of this fic, but I still welcome your reviews with open arms!•^_^•