Harry walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Harry tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of his mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt.[...]

It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowed screamed...yelled...gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. [...] And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse...Horrible pictures formed in Harry's mind as he heard: "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow"... "He's taking risks, this one!"... "Clever move- pity it didn't work!"

J. K. Rowling- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Chapter twenty, The First Task. Pages 351, 352 U.S.A. paperback edition.)

~*~*~

I saw you asleep beside a hole
Your skull inside a hole
Your eyes blankened by the sound
And the thought of God
Where should I hang my head?
Where would you like for me
To hang my head
One absent truth
The one horrible thing I saw
What you truly wanted to become
And who you thought I was
The fall, the fall,
Afraid, the blood
Runs deeper than the grave
It goes all the way down those tracks
Everybody bow your head
For the greatest inspiration
A complete contradiction
Of ways.

In This Hole- Cat Power (What Would the Community Think)

She ran. She ran but she didn't seem to get any closer. She was in what seemed to be a laberynth of bushes. It was death silent. She kept running, not knowin exactly what she was looking for. She ran for what felt hours. She ran and she ran, until she didn't realize she was running. Curiosly, she didn't seem to get tired.

Finally, she arrived to a clearing somewhere in the middle of the whole place. A sob broke free from her throat and suddenly everything turned from dirty green to pitch black. A light appeared ahead. Curious, she got closer. An imaginary wind played with her blue robes and her red hair. She tripped over something. A cold thrill of fear ran through her whole body making her shake. There was a body, white as the paper. His eyes where open and his face distortioned by fear. A drop of blood ran from his mouth, through his cheek down to his neck. Everything was dead still. A clock sounded somewhere. All the masks were down, all pretention disappeared. A red mask, standing out from the rest, was to stay forever.

Ginny realized it was Cedric's corpse.

~*~*~

She woke with a start. She was scared of even closing her eyes, afraid that maybe the image of Cedric's body could appear again. Her face was wet, she had really cried. The dream had seemed so...real. She even thought she could smell the wet plants and soil. Trying to forget it, she shaked her head. It hurted. She realized she had a terrible head-ache. The clock was still playing somewhere. Terrified and delibarated she turned her head. It was only her clock that her mother had given her last Christmas. "It's really special, Ginny" Molly Weasly had said motherly "Every time it plays, it sounds like little bells. It had been mine, now I give it to you."

"Great" Ginny thought "I can't throw it away."

She threathed waking with that sound until she was old enough not to carry it to school.

She turned to the calendar right to the clock... It was November the twenty-forth. The world seemed to fall over her. An invisible force pressed her chest. It was the day of the first task.

Unwillingly, she got up and started to get dressed.

~*~*~

Yesterday

All my troubles seemed

So far away

Now it looks as though

They're here to

Stay.

Oh I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,

I'm not half the man

I used to be.

There's a shadow

Hanging over me.

For Yesterday

Came sudenly.

Why she

Had To go?

I don't know.

She wouldn't say.

I said something

Wrong now I long

For Yesterday.

Yesterday,

Llove was such

And easy game to

Play.

Now I need a place

To hide away.

Oh I believe in Yesterday

Yesterday- The Beatles

He hadn't slept well, not at all. Every sound had made him jump from his bed. He tried to focus on the task that was just some horrible short hours from him, nbut he just couldn't. Everytime he closed his eyes she would appear in front of him, beautiful and...untouchable.

Why? A dragon was waiting for him and all he could think of was her. Yes, he knew what he had to do but what worried him was to do it wrong...both about the dragon and the girl.

When had love become so complicated? When had a girl changed his life completely?

He sighed deeply and rolled in his bed. He had promised her he wouldn't hurt Cho but, even though she was attached to him, he wanted to have Ginny. He wanted to make her his…

He rolled again. Deciding he wouldn't fall asleep again, he got up.

***

"Please Ginny, please."

"No, I told you this only can not be!"

And she left him, standing there. It felt like the only thing missing was his own rainy cloud.

My personal Demon.

***

I've got every reason on earth

to be mad, 'cause I've just Lost

The only girl I had.

If I could get my way,

I'd get myself locked up today,

But I can't so I cry instead.
I've got a chip on my shoulder

That's bigger than my feet,

I can't talk to people that I meet.

If I could see you now,
I'd try to make you sad somehow,

But I can't so I cry instead.
Don't want to cry

When there's people there,

I get shy when they start to stare,

I'm gonna hide myself away,
But I'll come back again someday.

I'll Cry Instead – The Beatles (A Hard Day's Night)

He went out of the tent, measuring every step he took, every breath he made, feeling like now and then he would just trip on his own feet or puke all over the place.

He stood in the middle. The deepest silence was drumming in his ears. Frantically, he looked for her at the audience.

Every face was blurry, for none was like that of his beloved girl.

And then, he saw her.

There she was, with a dignified look on her face.

Trying hard as she could, not to look at him. Never the less she couldn't help a little peek at what she knew could be the ruin of her great façade. And his great gray eyes pierced her, and he saw what she had feared all along, the worries and fears reflected in her eyes directly from her heart.

In a second, he felt like fainting again and just thought of running towards her and just hug her

And in the next second, her blank face was back. He looked at her, knowing that face would hunt him for the rest of his days till he saw her smile once again.

With that strange beauty in his head, he turned his attention to the dragon.

There it was, big and...dragonish, for there was no better word that would pop to Cedric's head.

Scared and trying not to look like it, he got closer to the dragon. Remembering as hard as he could he said the enchantment but instead of hitting the dragon's eyes it just bounced of her back. It was indifferent to her and he tried again but this time in a different angle.

But just as he was pointing his wand, the image of that silent Ginny crossed his mind and shot a completely different way, crushing half the eggs the dragon was guarding. He could hear the voices of the audience, but they sounded muffled. He could hear and even see and feel the dragon's anger, strange enough he could only hear that little voice that seem to come from the back of his head.

"No, I don't want to!"

And it became louder.

"I said NO!"

The entire world stopped, and he saw her clearly. They say that sometimes, time freezes, but really you just see it with details. An awful lot of details. Cedric saw as everyone around Ginny were indifferent at her and were looking down at him, with their hands over their mouths or with their nails biting furiously at their flesh. He saw as a dark-haired boy was trying to kiss her and how they almost fell from their seats...

And he ran.

Something hit him hard in the back of the head and he fell. A liquid thick and hot trickled from his cheek, down to his neck. A scream and then, everything went black

***

It's a damn cold night
I'm tryin' to figure out this life,
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I'm, I'm with you
I'm with you

I'm with you – Avril Lavigne (Let Go)

He laid still, as though he was a piece of wood. His eyes were tight closed, as though he was seeing something he didn't wanted to see. Her face was looking just as worried, with the big difference that she was awake.

"Really Ginny, you don't have to stay." Said a stressed voice. Cho had insisted that she should leave, with a forced smile, saying he was in good hands. After all, she was her girlfriend.

"Yes, but I'm his friend." She said sternly, feeling it was her fault he was lying there unconscious

"You know, you're unbelievable. First you flirt with him while he's going out with me and now you have the blatancy to come here and act like nothing had happened"

Ginny stood up with as much dignity as she could handle, keeping her feelings and tears at bay.

"Look, I've already told you we had nothing" a feeling rose as she said it again, a lie ", nothing. You should trust him; he's your boyfriend after all!"

"Ugh! You're amazing! I'm going for McGonagall! Maybe she can take you out." And she stormed dramatically out of the room.

A few minutes later, Ginny sat again and looked at Cedric's face.

He stirred once, twice. His eyes started to move. Suddenly, he opened them wide open. It took him some few seconds to recognize Ginny before he calmed down, meanwhile she stood still seeing everything with surprise.

He leaned back and looked at her face directly, suddenly he smiled. And that was more she could handle. Decided, she stood up.

"Where are you going?" He asked hoarsely, smile erased from his face.

"Cho's coming with McGonagall. I better go… she's right, you're in good hands. Sorry I bothered"

"No, please. There's something I've gotta tell ya. Please listen." He said with beggin eyes.

"Ok, but if Cho finds out we're here talking she might kill you."

"I'll take the risk.

"Look, I know we can't be more" he's heart ached even as he said it "but I just can't forget your friendship. Please, can't we just be friends? Just Friends." He felt like crying, but hold it for a little more.

"Cho wouldn't like that." She said unconvinced.

"I can talk to her. After all, I'm still allowed to breath, eat and have friends." He smiled a little too fake.

"Oh, Cedric…"

"Please, do this for me."

She considered it for a moment, then she smiled.