V2

The First Task

"Second Lieutenant!" came the General's voice on that bright, sunny day. I looked up to see his bright blue eyes smiling at me, his tanned skin like a map on his face and his grey hair a halo around his head. "It is time to move down to the grounds. I trust that you are ready for the First Task?"

Wait a moment...is the General worried about me? I smiled at him, standing up and closing my book. It was nice to get some special attention from one of the most powerful men in the wizarding world. "I'm completely ready. This First Task will be a breeze."

He raised his eyebrow, then turned and started walking when I just shrugged. "Good. I'm glad to see that you are dressed in your desert camouflage. What made you change from normal?"

I looked down onto the different tan colors of my tan pants, then my tan shirt, then the same-colored jacket as the pants, then the tan boots. Did I smile? "I guess inspiration just hit me, General."

He waited until we were alone to ask, "How long have you known?"

"Not long unfortunately."

"The smell?"

"I'm glad you figured it out, too. And even happier to know that you didn't give me any hints." After I'd thought about it long enough, I'd realized how silly it'd been that I'd been mad at Fred and George for not telling me. In a way, they had. They'd told me to take a walk around the lake that day. I'd just happened to swim instead.

His face was serious as he nodded. "I was only playing the game the way it was meant to be played. Though I can't say the same for the other four champions." He frowned and looked like he wanted to say something else but he refrained. It was probably hard to be a respected man who had to watch what he said for fear of backlash.

"Well, as long as we play honorably, that's all that matters, right?"

"Sometimes, yes. Other times, no, Nelson." He looked off into the distance when he said this and I was a little worried. I followed his line of sight and saw that a large tent was open, its flaps towards us, though I knew what it was blocking.

I smiled at the General with as much hope as I could muster but for some reason butterflies were riling in my stomach. "It'll be okay, sir." I think.

"I know, I know…just remember, keep your head down."

"Don't worry, I will. Besides, being nervous doesn't suit me." I smiled, and he left me alone at the entrance of the tent. I then let out a breath, lost the fake smile, and walked in feeling like I was going to vomit any second.

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn't have her normal cocky look, instead seeming anxious, pale, and clammy. Cedric was pacing up and down the tent though he gave me a smile when I entered. Viktor looked very surly, scowling at the floor, though maybe it was just his way of showing nerves. He didn't look at me when I came in. Harry was there, too, just standing and looking awkward.

"Leigh Ann!" Bagman cried, running over to me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Good-o! Come in, come in, make yourself at home!"

I wanted to laugh at how Ludo looked like an overblown cartoon figure wearing his old Wasp robes. Oh, yeah, that's how he knew my mother…she started out on the Wimbourne Wasps.

"Well now, we're all here—time to fill you in! When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag"—he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it—"from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different…varieties, you see… Oh, and I have to tell you something else too…ah, yes…your task is to collect the golden egg!"

Oh shit…oh shit…the dragons are nesting! What the hell do they want us to do, become a crisp? Maybe I wasn't the only one who was freaking out. Cedric was pacing again, looking green. Harry looked green too, Krum was brooding even more, and Fleur looked paler.

In no time, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet were passing the tent. I could hear my own delegation happily discussing the tournament, but they weren't the ones in it…Okay, okay, calm down. Don't be trying to talk yourself out of this. You can do this, you can do this.

"Ladies first," Ludo said, opening the purple silk bag to Fleur.

She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon. Ah, the easiest…a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck. She wasn't fearful but had a determined resignation on her face. That meant that somehow she had known.

"Miss Nelson…?"

I reached in and felt something burn me, and something stab me, so I reached for something else—it was heavy. I picked it up and wondered if I had made the right choice, what with the bright red, evil eyes and the impervious-looking grey metallic skin. The number four was wrapped around its neck.

"The Ukrainian Ironbelly…"

The heaviest dragon in the world. Of course. Slower, possibly, but still very dangerous…

The same held true for Viktor, about the knowing. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had the number three around its neck. And yet he didn't blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.

Cedric was next. He reached in and pulled out the bluish-green Swedish Short-Snout, the number one around its neck.

And then Harry reached in, pulling out a tan-colored, dangerous-looking dragon that bared its miniscule fangs. Five was around its neck. Oh, no, the Hungarian Horntail! Harry, no!

"Well, there you are!" Bagman said excitedly. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now….Harry…could I have a quick word? Outside?"

I frowned when Harry said yes, feeling that it wasn't quite fair that the commentator and judge wanted to have a one-on-one with a champion right before the task.

Cedric brushed by me in his attempt at pacing again. I put a hand on his shoulder and made him stop and look at me. "Hey, it'll be okay, Cedric. The Swedish Short-Snout…it's not the worst you could get, right?"

He smiled shakily at me. "Thanks, Nelson…that helped."

"Ah, I don't like sarcasm," I said, gently punching his shoulder. "Just do you best, alright? I'm sure you'll do fine." I'd wondered if he had ever even known about the dragons. My assumption was that if he had known, it hadn't been for long and if he hadn't, then he was about to throw up. Or maybe he would just throw up anyway.

I heard a whistle. Cedric then turned a paler green and walked out of the tent. There was a horrible roar as everyone saw him emerge onto the field, and then…

I closed my mind to anything Bagman said. Fleur, next to me, stood up and started to follow Cedric's footsteps, pacing back and forth. Sometime during that, Harry had come back in and he was pacing as well. That wasn't helping me concentrate on the sounds of my own heart, to keep from hearing anything outside, the crowd yelling like wild animals, gasping, screaming…

It took fifteen minutes for the crowd to roar, meaning that Cedric had gotten past his dragon and gotten the golden egg. "Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!" But he didn't say them out loud. "One down, four to go! Miss Delacour, if you please!"

Fleur was trembling from head to foot; I suddenly felt a little closer to her, and I nodded seriously. We were the only women in this Tournament where men didn't think we should be. We had to stick together even if we kind of sort of hated each other.

She walked out with her head held high.

Fleur only took ten minutes, and she must have been successful too. A pause, while her scores were being shown, then more clapping, then, the whistle.

"And here comes Mr. Krum!"

I caught his eye before he walked out. His face was calm, but his eyes were full of fear—something I didn't think that Viktor Krum was capable of. I nodded to him, trying to give him a small smile. I realized that I couldn't. Because then was when I realized that I was up next. I instantly fell back down onto a seat and curled up in a ball, my head between my knees. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe...

It didn't last long, and the screech of the Chinese Fireball emitted, giving off an ear-splitting shriek.

"—and—yes, he's—he's got the egg!"

Oh, Merlin… I didn't mean to use Your name in vain so many times. Please, watch over me, and maybe keep the dragon at bay? Please?

Ahh… Well, here goes nothing…

Viktor

"Miss Nelson, if you please!" Bagman cried out, and the whistle blew. Viktor then looked up from his hands, feeling shaky and exhausted and full of energy at the same time. His dragon…he'd almost gotten killed…

But Leigh Ann had an even more dangerous dragon and she hadn't even looked fazed. Right before he had gone out he could have sworn that he had seen a small glimmer of hope. For him? Probably not, but for herself. She'd smiled at him, and, even through her fear, she was beautiful.

No wonder you almost became a crisp, he thought, shaking his head, you were too focused on her! It's always her! He kept saying that she was just a girl—not the woman he was looking for. She was a total of seventeen years of age, if that, and the way she acted sometimes...ach, and the school uniform did nothing for her! She was wearing clothing that blended in with the tan rocks, her hair up and away from her face professionally so that she could see. Her skin was the darkest thing on her.

I don't care...I don't care... Well, he tried thinking that, at least, but as she walked forwards, her eyes set on the dragon's face, his heart started beating faster. The dragon looked at her, as if asking, "What do you want from me?" and got a little more angry with each step she took.

Suddenly, it opened its mouth and unleashed a roar of bright blue flame.

"Protego Totalum Extremus," she said calmly, and the dragon's fire hit her.

A gasp went up from the crowd, everyone standing up all at once. "My God!" Bagman exclaimed, his voice sounding terrified. Viktor was on his feet as well, his heart beating like it would jump out of his chest. "That blast was powerful!" Everyone expected her to be dead, but instead, when the smoke cleared, she was standing there as if nothing had happened. In fact, the smoke wasn't even making it inside the small sphere of her protection charm. "And, she's alright! Miraculous! Amazing spell work!"

No one else may have seen it, but Viktor noticed that she looked very relieved. That spell had been a stronger version of the one she'd used in the combat training a few weeks ago.

She started walking forwards, rubble running around her. "Langlock!" she shouted, pointing at the dragon whenever it started to blow fire again. Now, it couldn't, as its tongue was glued to the top of its mouth. Enraged, the dragon brought its tail around to smash her into the ground.

With an agility that Viktor could not have gathered coming from her, Leigh Ann jumped sideways, out of the way, and behind a large rock. The tail came down exactly where she had been.

"Ooh, a close one! The Ukrainian Ironbelly may be slow, but it is the heaviest dragon in the world and can pack the biggest punch!"

The dragon's tail came up again, and…! "Impedimentia!" she cried, her voice shaking a little now. The dragon's tail was knocked back and into a large boulder.

She then stood up and stretched her long legs out, running towards the center, then quickly hiding behind the next boulder about fifteen yards in front of the one she had just been behind. "Look at 'er run!" Bagman shouted, and Viktor wanted the man to shut up so that Leigh could concentrate. Hell, Viktor had wanted the man to shut up when he had been getting his egg.

"Expecto Patronum!" she shouted powerfully when the dragon saw her again, and a large burst of silver light appeared in front of her, swirling around in a mist. It slowly transformed into a large bird, what appeared to be an American eagle, and flew up into the air.

Now set on its new prey, the dragon became distracted. Leigh Ann raised her wand up in the air and then, muttering her spell as soft as possible, was invisible. Everyone was silent as they watched the Patronus flying around the dragon, which had started to flap its wings bitterly. It slowly rose up off of the ground.

Beneath it, the Golden Egg was picked up by invisible hands, and then moved a safe distance away. Leigh Ann, covered in soot, instantly came visible again, a large grin on her face. She held it up, and the entire stadium went wild. Viktor knew that he should have been upset with how well she did, but the grin that appeared on his face appeared instantly. He clapped just as loudly as everyone else.

Leigh Ann's face relaxed, and she looked down onto the egg with curiosity—unfortunately, the noise of the crowd cheering had increased the dragon's aggravation at the Patronus. In an instant, its tail was lashed out randomly and it hit Leigh directly in the middle of the back.

She flew forwards, to the cries of hundreds of students, and hit the stone wall, falling into a crumpled heap onto the ground. The Patronus instantly disappeared.

All was silent as everyone waited, watching. Viktor's heart had almost stopped—he'd never expected something like that to happen. He watched the dragon's keepers in the ring, trying to calm it down and get it out.

Slowly, she moved. She used the wall to get up, clutching the egg to her stomach and smiling, her lip busted open. "I'm okay," she yelled to the crowds, though Viktor could see that she wasn't. His heart was just starting to calm, from having seen her attacked so horribly.

Leigh Ann was quickly taken off of the field, the General under one arm, that blue-eyed man under the other. He wanted to help her…

But he had been beaten to it.