Thirty:
Cedric was pretty confident that everyone would still be impressed with him after Delacour and Krum's trials.
"This is a joke." he said as he watched the Chinese Fireball stagger backwards from Krum's well-aimed Conjunctivitis Curse, causing the creature to subsequently smash it's own eggs in its confusion.
"Oh, poor thing." sympathized Jona as the beast let out an agonized groan upon realizing she'd crushed her own clutch. "Must you be so critical, Cedric?"
The larger Hufflepuff rolled his eyes as he watched Krum hop around in panic, clearly concerned his prize had been destroyed. "I really must. They'd just as much time as I did to prepare for this task. I don't know how they're managing to muck it up so badly."
Admittedly Delacour hadn't been as bad as Krum, managing to get to her egg in a fairly reasonable amount of time. Though Cedric had found it infinitely funny when the little chit's skirt had caught aflame after the Welsh Green had released a plume of fire from it's nostrils even in its magically induced slumber.
"So you admit that you guys knew about the task beforehand?" said Cesaria who was settled to his left.
"Of course," Cedric replied absently, his attention entirely affixed on Krum, who was now edging around the enclosure as he tried to avoid the blinded, rampaging dragon. "It's traditional for the champions to cheat on the first task. Figuring out what the task is is as much of a part of the tournament as the task itself."
"Seems a bit backwards to me." Cesaria grumbled. "What would've happened if the judges found out you cheated?"
"The judges already know. Hell, half of them had a hand in the cheating. But, I suppose if it got out to the general public they would just take off points."
"How strange. I mean why wouldn't they j- Oh! There he goes!" commented Cesaria as Krum finally made it to the golden egg.
"Finally." grumbled Cedric, wholly unimpressed with the Quiddicth star's performance. "I can't believe this was the best that Durmstrang had to offer."
"He didn't take that long." Jona defended, yelling over the crowd's cheers. "And he got out with no injuries. He may be giving you a run for your money, Ced."
"He took almost twice as long as me." Cedric deadpanned entirely unwilling to entertain Jona's nonsense. "Not to mention he just destroyed an endangered species' brood. There's no way anyone besides Karkaroff is giving him anything above an eight."
He was right, of course. The highest score Krum received aside from Karkaroff's (ridiculous) ten was a seven from Crouch.
"I bet he would've gotten a lot higher if he hadn't dallied so long in the beginning." mused Cesaria while they watched the dragon tamers drag the bereaved brood mother out of the arena.
Jona nodded in agreement. "Yeah, dunno what took him so long to get started. He looked as if he'd just seen a Boggart."
"Cowardice." Cedric replied nonchalantly, feeling a curl of satisfaction that his intimidation tactics had worked so well.
The Hungarian Horntail was then ushered into the arena and the moment Cedric set eyes on it, he was immediately concerned that he'd made the wrong choice selecting the Short-Snout. While the beast was not much larger than the Short-Snout she was infinitely more terrifying, with the majority of her torso covered in sharp, grisly spikes. She also seemed particularly ill-tempered, snapping and swiping at the dragon tamers, even managing to send one careening back with a well-aimed swipe of her tail. But when he saw her exhale a streak of fire at one red-headed tamer he felt a bit better at Harry's prospects; the Horntail's orange flames were practically sparks compared to the Short-Snout's white, skin-peelingly hot jets of fire.
Eventually the tamers finally managed to get the creature somewhat settled and he leaned forward as the audience quieted down again, staring unblinkingly in the direction of the entrance to the arena.
After a few minutes of waiting, Harry finally stepped out, his small form barely discernible from Cedric's position on the opposite end of the stadium. He looked all the more young standing in front of a hulking dragon, large, green eyes affixed upon the beast's own insidious, yellow gaze.
Cedric could see the creature's hackles rise as the two sized each other up and after a moment a low growl erupted from her belly, the deep, bassy tone sending vibrations across the arena.
A sudden pang of unwarranted panic overtook the Hufflepuff, his fight or flight response triggered on Harry's behalf. Harry was too young, too small. This beast would surely tear him apart. Cedric had to do something, there was no way Harry could possibly get out of this alive if left to handle this on his own. What had he been thinking letting this farce go on?! He should've taken Harry far, far away the moment his name had popped out of that damned goblet!
"Cedric sit down." hissed a voice in his left ear as two sets of arms wrapped around him and pulled him back into the seat he hadn't even realized he'd vacated. He looked to his left to find Jona glaring daggers at him.
"You looked like you were about to throw yourself over the banister!" exclaimed Cesaria, her hand still firmly planted on his right shoulder.
"They can't leave him there." He heard himself saying, his voice sounding distant even to his own ears. "That thing is gonna kill him. He's only a fourth year, this is madness."
"Have faith in him." Jona replied, aggravatingly calm.
"Of course I do, but-"
"ACCIO FIREBOLT!" Harry's voice rang clearly through the stadium, instantly drawing Cedric's attention back to him. The boy's arm was outstretched above him, pointed in the general direction of Hogwarts, where his broom was presumably stowed away. His expression was impassive as he scanned the sky for the Firebolt. Cedric simply could comprehend how unaffected Harry seemed by the situation.
"Firebolt!?" A person exclaimed from behind Cedric somewhere in the stands. "The boy is going to try and outfly that thing?!"
And then the crowd silenced as they all heard it, speeding through the air somewhere in the distance behind Harry; the boy turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd went wild and Bagman boomed over the din "Why he's done it! But, will he be able to out maneuver a dragon? Quite risky this game plan!"
The moment Harry swung his leg over his broom, Cedric knew that Harry would be just fine. While the boy had been eerily calm before, a look of determination now colored his face and his form relaxed into something so graceful that it was a genuine beauty to behold; Harry was in his element. He belonged in the air.
He dived. The Horntail's head followed him; but he seemed to know exactly what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away. But the boy seemed unphased as if he was no more than dodging a Bludger.
"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"
Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; it's head revolving on its long neck, perhaps Harry was attempting to make the beast dizzy.
Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky; he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping through his shirt.
Cedric was on the edge of his seat as he tried to ascertain the damage from this distance, but he concluded that the wound wasn't too deep. Even still the thought of Harry injured in any capacity filled him with rage, and in the moment he desperately wished it was him in that arena so he could put the monster in its place.
The boy zoomed cunningly around the dragon, attempting to draw her away from her eggs as he dipped in and out of range, enraging her more and more with each pass over her spiked head.
He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer. Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation as though he was a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now. She shot fire into the air, which he dodged. Her jaws opened wide and Harry swerved tantalizingly above her.
And then suddenly she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs. He took his hands off his Firebolt and seized the golden egg and with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm.
The crowd went wild and Cedric, along with everyone else in the stands, was on his feet, cheering uproariously at Harry's absolutely astounding performance.
"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is certainly going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"
Cedric darted towards the stairway and rushed his way down, pushing through the crowd as he made a beeline back to the first aid tent.
When he arrived Harry was already being seen by a tutting Madam Pomfrey, McGonagall standing a few feet away with the sunniest smile that Cedric had ever seen on her normally stern face.
"Oh, Mr. Diggory." said Pomfrey when she finally noticed him in the entrance way. "How is that burn feeling now?"
"Quite alright." Cedric replied, not taking his eyes off of Harry, who was now smiling up at him. "Wonderful flying, Potter."
"Thank you." Harry replied with a demure blush. "Wonderful casting. It's a shame I wasn't able to see it. Bagman made it sound like quite the spectacle."
Cedric couldn't help his bashfulness in the face of Harry's genuine compliments. "It was nothing really. Pure luck I was able to pull it off."
Harry opened his mouth, no doubt to argue, but before he could respond he was quite suddenly assaulted by a blur of fluffy, brown hair. That little know-it-all muggleborn that Harry liked to hang around for some reason.
"Harry, you were brilliant!" exclaimed the girl squeakily. Cedric noted sympathetically that there were fingernail marks on her face from where she'd no doubt been clutching it in fear. "You were amazing! You really were!"
Despite her boisterous comments, however Harry paid the girl little mind as his eyes were transfixed on something just behind Cedric.
When Cedric looked over his shoulder he felt his insides curdle. The youngest Weasley stood there, eyes staring unwaveringly at Harry, shaky hands clenched by his thighs.
Before anyone could say or do anything, the boy spoke.
"Harry," he said very seriously. "whoever put your name in that goblet I- I reckon they're trying to do you in!"
"Caught on, have you?" responded Harry in a voice ill-suited for someone who was normally so warm. "Took you long enough."
"Too long." Cedric chimed in, taking pleasure in the Weasley's eyes finally straying from Harry. The traitorous little brat has no right to look at him. "You've got some nerve crawling back here to beg for forgiveness."
"Cedric," He felt a pleasurable shiver go down his spine at the glorious sound of his name on Harry's lips. That would surely never grow old. "It's okay. Forget it."
"What?!" Cedric exclaimed, twirling back around to stare at Harry incredulously. "How could you say that?" He stepped closer to the bed that Harry was perched on, reaching out to place a hand on one of the boy's delicate wrists. "You can't possibly let him get away with treating you like that. You deserve better, Harry."
"He's right."
Cedric nearly snarled at the sound of that slimy little git's voice. He wanted to snap him like the skinny little traitorous twig he was.
Harry looked ready to argue but the fucking nuisance cut him off before he could get a word out. "No. Diggorys' right. What sort of friend abandons you when you need them the most? A shit one."
He paused to wring his hands for a moment, clearly struggling with his words. "I- You- ...I guess I was jealous. You're always so... And I'm-" He huffs, looking frustrated with himself. "Whatever. Ultimately, Diggory is right. I can't just waltz back up to you and expect forgiveness. I have to make things up to you." He pauses uncertainly again. "And I will. I'm not sure how yet. But... I will."
With that he makes an about face and storms out the tent, ignoring Harry's calls behind him. As soon as Weasley was gone all eyes turned towards Cedric and he felt himself curdling under Harry's steely green gaze. He'd never had Harry angry at him before. Should he apologize? He didn't really want to. Harry deserved to know what an awful friend Weasley was.
But even still, he could feel his lips quiver an apology on the tip of his tongue. Anything to get Harry to stop looking at him like that. Anything to get Harry to like him again.
Thankfully, the girl spoke before he could cave.
"He is right, Harry. Ron was being childish. I don't think he's a truly bad friend, but sometimes his emotions get the best of him. It's good for him to face consequences, it will help him learn to be better."
Cedric nearly let out a sigh of relief as Harry turned his incensed gaze towards the muggleborn. "You're the one who kept telling me to apologize to him! Now suddenly he needs to make things up to me? I don't get you sometimes, Hermione!"
Seeing Harry angry was making Cedric uncomfortable. He wanted this argument over and he wanted this stupid little girl out of his fucking way. God, why did Harry have to have friends? Cedric just wanted to be alone with him.
"Look, you guys can talk this out later, but you still have to be scored, Harry. Best not keep the judges waiting."
The boy looked back at him, his gaze thankfully less incensed than it was before. After a nod he made his way out of the tent and back into the arena, his little muggleborn hanger-on trailing after. Cedric momentarily considered following, but his attention was first drawn by a bit of red fabric on the cot Harry had been occupying seconds ago.
Cedric moved closer to inspect it and realized with a jolt that it was the shirt Harry had been wearing earlier. The skintight red and black jersey that the game officials had provided for the event. Within milliseconds of realizing what it was the jersey was in Cedric's hands.
"Harry didn't even like it." he heard himself whisper shakily under his breath as he brought the jersey ever closer to his face. "Said it was too uncomfortable..."
His eyes fell closed and he took a deep inhale just as the fabric made contact with his nose. However, he couldn't savor the moment for long as a rustle from just outside the tent pulled him from his reverie.
He stuffed the shirt into the inner pocket of his robe as he made his way out of the tent, simultaneously trying to recall preservation charms that would keep scent intact.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Things will still continue to get creepier moving forwards so, reader beware.