Disclaimer-If you like it, assume I don't own it. The Potterverse belongs to JKR, Steve Klowes, Scholastic and WB. Fanon belongs to the multitude...I'm simply paying homage. Most of this scene is from GoF by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made.
Author's Notes—Progress has been a lot slower in this work, but I hope you'll all stick with me anyway. As you all know, I may not own it, but I work hard, and I love it, so if you read it and enjoy it, please review it! Please don't print or post this elsewhere without my knowledge.
Congratulations, all! Book 6 is on the way! Yay!
Rachel Weasley—I hope the story lives up to your expectations!
GiGiFanfic—I'm glad you think the series is picking up. I do, too. It takes a while to build momentum and a feel for the character, but I'm doing my best. I'm glad you enjoyed SoA—I enjoyed writing it—and I hope you keep reading.
Realfanficts—I hate the lag between updates, too. Unfortunately, it takes a while to develop a strong scene…and that's what I hope to produce!
Raiining—Thanks. I loved that description, too. It just tickled my funnybone. I keep hoping for a nice Slytherin, too. I have to admit that the original opus for Blaise as "the nice Slytherin" isn't mine...but hopefully the originator doesn't mind.
Gee-Unit—Thanks! J I hope the story continues to entertain you.
JamieBell—Looking forward to your comments, too. J
J. Rhaye—I agree with you a hundred percent about Bion…he's the kind of guy that really deserves a great girlfriend (I adore him)…and I wouldn't object if Jk borrowed him. ;-) I'm glad you love him, too! hugs (And thanks for always noticing my details…that makes it so much more fun to include them. J ) hugs
EEDOE—I hope Hermione and Ginny do come across as sisters…that's sort of my image of their relationship, too. J Thanks for all your help…hope you like it! hugs
Bill—Hope I haven't bored you already! Looking forward to your comments! hugs
For once, Ginny didn't have any trouble waking up early.
Instead, she had trouble falling asleep, tossing and turning uncomfortably in a fog of dread. It was a relief to throw back the blankets and free herself in the morning.
She sipped at her coffee. Mum's voice in her head listed all the reasons she ought to be drinking pumpkin juice instead, but she really needed the brace of caffeine. She didn't know what the First Task was, but it had Harry and Hermione both spooked, and that was enough to worry her.
Hermione looked even worse than Ginny felt. She had pale purple shadows circling her usually brilliant hazel eyes, her mouth was drawn and shaking, and her shoulders were so stiff and tense, she looked as if she were still petrified.
Ginny shivered at the unwelcome associations her memory supplied, and tried to smile weak encouragement in Hermione's direction. Ron, too, kept shooting concerned glances at Hermione when he thought she wasn't looking. Other than that, he seemed remarkably stoic, but when he began to cut his sausage, the knife rattled against the plate as his hands began to shake.
Harry looked pale enough to be kin to Nearly Headless Nick. Ginny desperately wanted to say something to relieve the pinched look about his eyes, but the lump in her throat would have kept the words wedged in place even if she hadn't been afraid anything she said would sound like a pathetic plea for him to notice her. Her fingers itched to reach out and touch his so strongly she thought he must have felt as if she'd done it, which only added self-consciousness and a half-sick fear he wasn't only unaware of the connection she felt between them, but would actually look at her as if she were crazy in a way she couldn't bear to her hesitation.
None of them looked much better by lunch, but Lee, the twins, and the other Gryffindors seemed completely unaffected. Ginny couldn't help feeling their enthusiasm for the First Task an insult, even though she knew they meant well. They didn't seem to notice her reaction, or the looks that passed between her, Hermione, and even Ron as they began to analyze the Champions' odds. Luckily, Harry didn't have to listen to this, as Professor McGonagall had already arrived to escort him to the Task.
The analysis continued all through lunch and up the stairs where they claimed their gloves, scarves, and hats. The crowd swept Ginny along to the stands, and she was hardly aware of how she had ended up there, tucked neatly between Hermione and Lee. She shivered in spite of her heavy winter robes, her thick gold Mum-knitted sweater, her red-and-gold striped Gryffindor scarf, in spite of the taller spectators blocking the winds and the comforting warmth of Hermione and Lee's presence, for what seemed like hours until Ludo Bagman appeared in the box usually reserved for Lee's commentaries.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Witches, Warlocks, Wizards, and Hags," Bagman boomed, making Ginny and Hermione both jump, "Let the First Task begin!"
"He didn't tell us what it was," Ron complained crossly, but Ginny was staring down at the Quidditch Pitch.
"What's that gathered in the corner? It looks like . . .eggs. Hermione - are those - they couldn't be -dragon's eggs?"
Hermione nodded, clutching at Ron's arm. He let her take it, and put his other hand over hers without really noticing, his own face suddenly shadowed. "But wouldn't that be kind of-"
"And now, our first competitor, Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts, will make his attempt to steal the Golden Egg from a Swedish Short-Snout Dragon!"
On the other side of Lee, Fred whistled softly under his breath, and George clicked his tongue against his teeth the way he sometimes did when he was thinking.
Cedric stood still so long; time seemed to stand still with him. The dragon, pacing before him, blinked slowly, its eyes glowing like coals about to set fire to Cedric. Ginny swallowed hard, her entire body was so tense she was shaking, but if Lee and Hermione noticed, they probably thought she was shivering.
The dragon stalked forward, the stands shaking beneath the impact of its steps, and Cedric lunged to the side, whipping his wand forward.
"Ooh," shouted Bagman, "narrow miss there!"
Ginny's head spun with the sound of his voice, so that when she first saw the dog, she thought she must be hallucinating. "I…a dog…what's…how…"
"It was a rock," said Hermione, her voice shrill. "Cedric transfigured it!"
"Not sure what he thinks it's going to do for him, though," Ron muttered Ginny's thoughts.
But seconds later, the dragon answered the question: stopping, she tilted her head as if listening then turned oh-so-slowly toward the sound of the barking dog. Cedric didn't hesitate, leaping forward toward the nest.
"He's taking risks, this one!" Bagman shouted.
Whether the sound of his voice provoked it, or the dragon understood some measure of what he'd said, she gave a bellow of rage and whipped back around toward Cedric, snapping her powerful jaws in a way that made Ginny cringe.
"Clever move — pity it didn't work!"
Cedric dove for cover, followed by the dragon in a way that brought the Chamber of Secrets, the movements of the basilisk, and Harry's desperate struggle to outrun it back so vividly Ginny could feel the cold stones pressing against her skin, Harry's arms around her…she felt sick. She would have buried her face in Lee's shoulder, but the scene unfolding on the pitch held her attention like a charmer hypnotizing a snake, and she couldn't move.
Cedric got to his feet a little too quickly. The dragon had just let loose a raging breath of fire. Cedric ducked as quickly as he could. The dog yapped excitedly, luckily drawing the dragon's attention again. Cedric ran back toward the cache of eggs, fingers closing around the golden egg just as the dragon roared toward him. The trainers restrained it in less time than Ginny would have believed possible. Everything seemed like a blur of shouting people, flashing egg, and choleric dragon, but she thought she saw Charlie on the field…
"Very good indeed," Bagman announced in a way that made Ginny want to hit him. He needn't sound so smug, it wasn't as if he'd had anything to do with it. "And now the marks from the judges!"
Ginny scarcely paid attention to the cards the judges held up at all, having no idea what they added up to at the end. She was too busy concentrating on the next participant, and the next, and somewhere in there . . . Harry . . . in danger . . . fighting a dragon . . . again. . . .