Chapter 21

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and co. I created Melissa.

Mel was thanking Merlin she took good notes and had good study habits. The end of year exams were nightmares normally, but the third task was only a few days away and she was having trouble concentrating. Cedric was helping her study and stay focused as best he good, despite her telling him he should be practicing for the task. He said going over the material was just as helpful as looking up new spells. Mel, however, thought it helped to distract him and calm his nerves for a bit.

"History of Magic needs to be one of the first exams," Lindsey said as she and Mel walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. "We're so burnt out by the end of the week, it's impossible to remember all that boring, dry information."

Mel nodded her head in agreement, silently wishing she could rewind time and go back to the beginning of the week. Today was the last day of exams and the day of the third task. Mel had thought of at least a hundred different ways to change the fast-approaching events. She had not had any visions as of late. In fact, she had never seen that Voldemort was coming back tonight. However, she had the visions once the Tournament started, which made her believe his return was tied to the Tournament. As tonight was the last night of the Tournament, it made sense he would come back tonight. How Harry and Cedric got from Hogwarts to a graveyard was still unknown to her. She had a feeling Destiny was blocking it from her due Mel's defiance of the natural order.

Lindsey waved good-bye to her and went to sit by Anthony. Mel walked a little further along the Hufflepuff table to where Cedric, Ryan, and Drew were sitting. Angela was running late that morning.

"Morning," Mel said, sitting down next to Cedric. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm great," Cedric said, smirking slightly.

"Don't be the 'worried girlfriend,' Mel. You're no fun then," Ryan teased. "Besides, he's going to win."

"Been giving him a pep talk, have you?"

"Yes, they have," Cedric said between bites of food. "And I am now convinced that this task will be the easiest of them all, and so I will win."

Mel rolled her eyes. She then took a quick look at the Gryffindor table. She saw Harry picking at his food, and, as before the two previous tasks, he looked very nervous.

"Well, maybe they should just give you the trophy now then," Melissa said, playing along. "No point in embarrassing the other champions."

Ryan struggled to find a retort. Drew and Cedric laughed as he failed. Mel smirked and helped herself to some eggs and toast. She had to eat quickly: her Care of Magical Creatures exam was right after breakfast. She was surprised she was even able to eat. She supposed all the studying and worrying had made her hungry enough to get past the nerves.

"I'm going to head down to class," Mel said, pushing her plate away from her. "See you later, ok?"

"I'll walk you down," Cedric said, standing up. They were halfway to the door when Professor McGonagall stopped them.

"Mr. Diggory, the champions are meeting in the chamber off the Hall. Your families are here," she told him.

"Oh, all right. Thank you, Professor," he said. She nodded and went to tell Harry the same thing. "I guess I will see you later, then."

"Have fun," Mel said, kissing him on the cheek before she left. He watched her leave the hall, and then followed Harry into the chamber where their families were waiting for them.

XXX

"That was horrible," Angela said.

They had just finished their History of Magic exam. In all honesty, the exam itself was not that hard. They only needed to be able to remember facts; there was little to no analysis needed. The worst part about it all was the amount of facts one needed to know. That is what was so horrible.

"But it's done now," Mel said, letting herself feel a small amount relief. "And only one more year of it."

"Oh gee, that's really what want to hear," Angela said, her voice every with sarcasm. "How are you doing by the way?"

The third task was about three hours away. Mel repressed a shudder of fear, and nodded in what she hoped was a convincing manner. Angela patted her back reassuringly and said the password for the Hufflepuff common room. They were changing before heading to dinner. While the days had been pleasant, it was still getting fairly cool at night. Mel slipped on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a light sweater. She grabbed a small messenger bag from her trunk and put three potions in her bag. She had made the third one between exams early in the day. If needed, it would delay the effects of the Living Death potion. She also slipped her wand in the bag.

"Ready?" she asked, turning to face Angela.

"I guess," she half-whined. "I was trying to do something cute with my hair."

"Your hair looks fine. Let's go. Lindsey will need to tell you all about the 'flying' lesson Rickett gave her."

"Oh, you mean the kind of 'flying' lessons Cedric gives you?" Angela teased as they made their way to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Hey, we really do fly and play quidditch," she said defensively. "But I'll admit that's not all we do."

"Oh, I know," she smirked.

"Shut it. You have no room to talk," Mel muttered. Angela laughed and followed Mel into the Hall.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Diggory. How are you today?" Mel asked, sitting next to Ryan and across from Cedric and his parents.

"We're fine, thank you," Mrs. Diggory said giving Mel a kind smile. "We're very excited for this evening's events."

"And proud of our son," Mr. Diggory added, thumping Cedric on his back. Cedric grimaced slightly, causing Mel and Ryan to smirk into their bowls.

"How were exams, you two?" Mrs. Diggory asked.

"Same as always," Ryan said. "Absolutely miserable. I'm sure we all passed though; we usually do."

"If only so you're eligible to play quidditch?" Mrs. Diggory asked knowingly.

"Well, let's hope we have it next year," Mel said. "Otherwise, we'll be treated to another month's worth of how much time you wasted studying and don't even get to play quidditch."

"It's a valid opinion," Ryan said, pretending to be offended. Mrs. Diggory laughed and shook her head at them. Mel caught Cedric's eye and gave a small smile. He returned it. She watched him as he tried to eat: He was paler than normal and a bit fidgety. Watching him made her own nerves resurface.

"Hey mum, dad, can you find your way down? I need to talk to Ryan and Mel before the task," Cedric asked, pushing his plate away from him.

"Sure. Good luck," his mother said, kissing his cheek. His father patted him on the back before he got up. Mel and Ryan followed him out of the Hall. Ryan sent Mel a curious look to which Mel shrugged. She had no idea what he was up to.

"Mel, I need to talk to Ryan alone. Will you go wait for me by the entrance?"

"Sure," she said tentatively, yet going to wait for him nonetheless.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Cedric turned to Ryan. "I need you to promise me something."

"Er, ok," Ryan said, growing more concerned than confused. He had never seen Cedric look so desperate.

"I'm hoping it's just nerves, but I have a really bad feeling about the task," he said, lowering his voice so passersby would not overhear him. "If something happens, I need you to promise you'll look after my parents and Mel, mainly Mel. She doesn't have anyone to take care of her, and sometimes that's all she needs. Well, you know how she is."

"Ced, what's going on? It's a game, not a battle!"

"Just promise you'll look out for her and make sure she's ok, if something happens," Cedric pressed.

Ryan sighed. He could tell Cedric was not going to explain any further, and that he was serious. "All right, if something happens to you, I'll do my best to look after her. I swear."

"Thank you," Cedric said, letting a small sigh of relief escape him. "I need to go talk to Mel."

"Sure. Good luck," Ryan said, still looking at his friend warily. Cedric nodded his thanks and went to meet Mel, while Ryan went back inside the Hall.

Mel was waiting by the entrance doors, shifting nervously from foot to foot. She finally saw Cedric calmly walking toward her. His manner made her even more nervous. He did not say anything when he reached her, just motioned for her to follow him outside.

"Cedric, you're really starting to scare me," she said, slowly walking behind him. He gave a humorless laugh and stopped walking.

"I think we're all a bit scared right now," he muttered. Mel sighed and fumbled with her bag. She handed him the Living Death potion and the delay potion.

"You'll want to take the light blue one now. Its effects will last for four hours. It will delay the onset of the Draught by one minute. It's another precaution," she explained, her voice shook as she spoke. He unstopped the vial and drank the blue potion. When he was finished, he handed her back the stopper and vial. She slid them back into her bag.

"What about yours?" he asked.

"I'll take it when you enter the maze. Its effects have a short lifespan," she said, rubbing her sweaty palms on her jeans. Her heart was pounding and she could feel a lump in her throat. Cedric wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"Hey," he whispered. "You promised you wouldn't do this, remember?"

Mel nodded, her head buried in his chest. She remembered their talk in the hospital wing: it felt like lifetimes had passed since then.

"I know, I'm sorry," she said, pulling away and wiping her eyes. She took a deep breath, hoping it would somehow calm her. It did not, but her voice was a bit steadier. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said before kissing her. It was urgent and raw and Mel could hardly breathe, but she dreaded the moment he would pull away.

"I'm coming back, alive, I promise," he said, breaking away from her and looking her in the eyes. The lump in her throat had returned; she could only nod.

They walked to the quidditch pitch in silence. Cedric wrapped an arm around Mel's waist and she did the same to him. He kept looking at her, trying to memorize every detail of her. He had every intention of coming back, but, if something went wrong, he wanted to be able to clearly see her in his mind. Mel paused when they reached the edge of the stadium.

"What is it?"

"I need you to be selfish," she said. "Don't worry about Harry. He'll get back fine. I want you to make sure you come back."

Not waiting for a response, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She pulled away, whispered 'I love you,' and ran off into the crowd with only one look back. He felt her absence and wished she could have stayed until he entered the maze. But he understood she could not have kept it together in front of the school or have let him enter if she had stayed that long. After a minute of standing frozen in place, he gathered up what little courage he had left and walked over to join the other champions.

The other champions were more relaxed than Cedric had seen them before the start of a task. They thought this maze was nothing: Get past a few obstacles and to the cup first, then it's all done. They did not even suspect how drastically things were going to change by the end of the night.

Dumbledore instructed them to shoot up red sparks if they needed help in the maze, warning that they would forfeit the tournament if they did. He then turned to address the crowd. Yet again, Cedric found himself unable to really hear those around him.

Focus on the maze. Don't worry about anything else, he thought to himself. It's just another game.

The whistle blew, signaling for him and Harry to enter the maze. Silently, they followed each other into the dark maze, each lighting their wand as they did. They walked together for about fifty feet when they reached the first split in the path. Cedric went right, and Harry went left. Cedric considered telling Harry what was going to happen, but when he turned around Harry was already gone.

Cedric's path was eerily empty. He had not encountered anything by the time Fleur entered the maze. He walked slowly and as quietly as possible, thinking it would either allow him to hear something before he saw it, or at least keep him from walking recklessly in front of whatever was in the maze with him.

Every so often, he would pause and look behind him. Cedric could swear he heard something behind him. He never saw anything when he looked though. He walked another twenty feet before stopping and looking behind him. This time, he used his wand to look. The light fell on a hairy, grey, large-headed being. Startled by the light, it ran at Cedric. Cedric suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of despair. Thinking there was no point in fighting this thing, he almost dropped his wand. But, at the last minute, he shook himself out of the fog.

"Stupefy!"

The large-head thing froze mid-run. Cedric stared at it a minute, wondering what it was. He was pretty sure he had never seen it in a textbook before. He shrugged and continued walking. While it was pretty easy to defend against, he did not want to risk it following him again. The feeling of despair it projected would make him an easy target for whatever else was in the maze.

Cedric began running into dead ends. The Point Me spell would only get him so far and then he would hit another one. He ran into five before finding a clear path. Though what he soon ran into made him wish he had not. In front of him stood a ten-foot long Blast-Ended Skrewt. It was not tall enough that he could walk under it without being spotted, and it was too big to walk around it. He tried shooting a stunning spell at it, but it was pointless. The spell rebounded off its armor-like shell, and now it was paying attention to him. He ducked as it swung at him with its giant claw. He shot several more stunning spells, but they all rebounded. Giving up, he blasted a hole into the hedge on his left and pushed his way through it. He ran into Harry on the other side.

"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewt," he explained, shaking some leaves and twigs out of his hair. "They're massive."

Harry nodded, and they parted ways, each taking a path that went in the opposite direction from the skrewt. Cedric walked for several more minutes without meeting anything. Then he heard a gut-wrenching scream. It was Fleur. He paused and tried to figure out from which direction the scream came. He waited to see if he heard her again, but the maze was silent. He gritted his teeth and continued. She was probably fine, just startled by something she had stumbled upon.

He had only gone about thirty more feet when he was attacked from behind. At first, he was just thrown off his feet. He twisted on the ground and saw Krum standing over him. Cedric had barely a moment to register that Krum's eyes were blank and fogged over.

"Crucio!" Krum said, his voice a whisper.

Cedric's body contorted in pain. It felt like he was being burned and stabbed by thousands of knives all at once. Cedric had never felt pain like this before. He could not hear anything, but he was sure he was screaming. He did not care. He just wanted the pain to stop.

Then it did.

Panting, Cedric sat up slowly. Krum lay stunned on the ground by Cedric. He kicked Krum's wand away from him, then looked up. Harry stood a few feet away, his wand half-raised.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Cedric said, pushing himself off the ground.

"He was imperiused," Harry said, more to himself than to Cedric. "You think he attacked Fleur?"

Cedric shrugged. "I suppose it's possible. Come on, let's find the cup and get out of here."

Harry nodded, and for the third time that night, they split up. Cedric was wondering if he should have just stayed with Harry. It was a Hogwarts victory either way now.

Cedric ran into a pod of doxies, which were easy enough to fend off, and an occamy, which was a bit more difficult. Stunning it was ineffective. He tried the body-binding spell. It did not stop it entirely; more of made the occamy move in slow motion. But it was enough for Cedric to maneuver around it and continue on the path. He rounded the corner, and there was the cup.

The path was clear. He could get to the cup and this would all be over. He and Harry could be done with this tournament. Maybe they could avoid the horrors Mel had seen. He sprinted toward the cup. He was so close, and then he heard someone call out his name.

"Cedric! Look to your right!"

Without thinking about it, Cedric looked. He was running straight for a twenty-foot tall giant spider. At the last minute, he threw himself to the ground and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding once of its pincers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red and the spider turn toward Harry. Harry shot another stunner at it, but it was useless. Cedric watched as the spider picked Harry up as he continued to shoot spells at it. Cedric grabbed his wand and ran over to help Harry. After several tries, their stunning spells hit the spider on its underside, effectively stopping it. Its legs crumpled beneath it as it fell to the ground. Careful not to trip over its giant limbs, Cedric made his way over to Harry.

"Harry, you all right?" Cedric called.

"Yeah. My leg's broken though."

Cedric skirted around the last leg and found Harry leaning against the hedge. His left pant leg was torn and he was bleeding. Cedric noticed the leg itself was at an odd angle.

"Can you just go get the cup, so we can get out of here?" Harry asked. Like Cedric, he was exhausted and done with this 'game.'

"Nope," Cedric said. He bent over and helped Harry get to his feet. "We'll do it together. It's still a Hogwarts win, right?"

"Right," Harry grinned. They slowly walked over to the cup, Harry practically hopping on his one good leg.

"On three," Cedric said when they stood in front of it. Harry nodded in agreement.

"One…two…three."

They each grabbed a handle, and then were pulled off the ground and into nothingness.

AN: Ok, I owe you a couple apologies. 1) Sorry for taking two weeks to update. 2) Sorry for the cliffhanger, but this chapter was already very long and I felt I needed to post something. I will try to get chapter 22 done asap; and I may just go ahead and post it when I finish instead of waiting until next Friday (unless that's when I finish).

Warning: Updates will continue, but may become less timely. In the next couple weeks I have a lot of company visiting and going back to school. I will finish this story, just please be patient if I don't update every week.

Thank you to everyone reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it :).