I was now in the period between the second and third tasks. I didn't remember a lot about that time from the book. I knew basically one thing that happened in that time frame and I wasn't there yet. In other words, I was in a filler chapter. You know it might have been a good idea to memorize how many chapters there were, but that seemed like a pretty nerdy to do. At this point, I was pretty sure that people actually thought I could win the whole tournament. I mean I knew I would win the tournament, but I still didn't know why my name had been placed in the Goblet of Fire. What reason did Voldemort have for wanting to kill me? I doubted that it had anything to do with the diary. From what I understood, Ginny was supposed to end up with the diary, but she dropped it before she could write anything in it, and I picked it up.
Currently, I was preparing for a date. Mandy and I were going to be doubling with Cedric and Cho. I personally thought it was kind of weird that a pair of thirteen-year-olds were going on a double date with a seventeen-year-old and a fifteen-year-old, but I decided to go along with it. I wished Upton had a boyfriend or girlfriend because it would be less awkward going out with her. I probably should have asked if she had anyone she liked. I knew that she may have been resisting attraction due to being uncomfortable being a girl and dating a fictional character.
We were going to the Three Broomsticks because while the tea shop was typically more used for dates, I liked the food at the Three Broomsticks more. British food really wasn't as bad as everyone said it was. I was still going to dress up. I looked through my clothes and found a blue dress with long sleeves and a belt. Wearing a skirt to class every day really did make me more comfortable in them.
"Do you think this is odd?" I asked. Mandy was also getting ready, and Upton was in the room with us.
"I don't see any harm in going with Cho and Cedric." Mandy declared. She was wearing a white off-shoulder dress. "We've known Cho for a while and Cedric seems nice."
"I know but they're both so much older than us." I pointed out. It could get uncomfortable pretty fast.
"You and Cedric are friends with this whole tournament thing." Upton commented. "You two have helped each other out a lot and I don't see why you can't take a dinner from him."
I knew that the plot demanded me going on this date. I wasn't sure why since Harry obviously didn't go on a double date, but it did. There was a high chance that something important was going to happen on it. I did not know what, but I was pretty sure something important was going to happen.
I hoped that Cho wouldn't wear anything sexy because it would make me feel a little insecure. Another thing that I was worried about was that pretty soon I was going to start puberty, assuming that I didn't leave when the book was done. Girls' puberty definitely sounded like it would be scary. To my understanding, we weren't going to be seeing Cho in the common room because we were going to be meeting them there.
The two of us headed to the boats to Hogsmeade. I was nervous because it was going to my first real date with my girlfriend. I also wished that I had been able to go with just her, but it was hard finding time to do that. Not to mention, I was kind of bad at planning dates. I hadn't even gone on very many when I was a guy. At least I was better at talking to girls now.
"Addie, Mandy." Cho called to us when we entered the pub. She was smiling and she also wasn't wearing anything sexy. I wasn't sure if the fact that we were still on school grounds had anything to do with that or if it was just because teenagers in the 90s didn't dress as sexy.
"How are you two?" Cedric asked. He was just wearing his uniform, which was basically fine for the restaurant.
"Well." We both answered at the same time before we headed to the table. It was kind of strange how we both said it at the same time.
"So, Mandy, I was a bit surprised that I didn't see you last week." Cho declared.
"What do you mean?' Mandy asked. Was she talking about what I thought she was talking about?
"Mr. Bagman said that we were the competitors' most cherished ones before we were put to sleep." She explained. Okay, that was the type of awkwardness that I expected on this date.
I really hoped that sentence wouldn't cause a problem. I hoped that it wouldn't make Mandy jealous of Upton. I knew that I should probably say something quickly.
"Well Upton may be my best babe, but I don't fancy her the way that I do Mandy." I explained. I hoped that I had aced it. I hoped that I had gotten the British slang correct. I was still learning it.
"And I fancy her even if I'm not currently the most important person in her life because I don't have to be." Mandy added. I blushed a little. It made me think that I had done well.
"Well said." Cedric stated as he took a sip of his butterbeer. I kind of thought that it was pretty sweet, but I would probably have to drink it because everyone seemed to love it. "Now I hope you two are hungry."
The dinner went okay. It really wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. I was still trying to figure out the point of it. Towards the end of the date, someone showed up that I wasn't expecting to see. I wasn't even sure if he was originally in this book or not.
"Hi, Professor Lupin." Cho remarked.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. I seriously had no idea what he was doing there. He wasn't even in the book. What reason did he have for being at the Three Broomsticks?
"I came here to see the tournament." Lupin answered. Okay that was a logical reason. I still didn't think he had been in this book. "I was hoping to see you, Adelaide. I'm dreadfully sorry for what happened last year. I'm glad that they had the cure prepared in case it was needed."
"I know you couldn't control yourself." I replied. "I didn't need to be cured anyway."
"Oh, that's right. You're an Animagus." He stated. "You know some of my close friends were Animagi."
You know I couldn't help but wonder why Harry wasn't an Animagus since his father was. Maybe it was something with a recessive gene or something. I didn't know how wizard genetics worked. Or maybe it worked a different way. I hadn't studied every detail of how things worked.
"If you see Harry tell him that I said hello." He added before he left. I still wasn't entirely sure what the point of that was. I supposed that I could go and find Harry, but it didn't seem like it would help the plot very much.
"Do you girls mind if I talk to Addie alone for a minute?" Cedric asked.
"Sure." Mandy replied. I tried to think what Cedric could want to talk to me about. Maybe I was supposed to thank him for helping me out with the task, but I didn't think that he expected me to. There had to be something else that he wanted to talk to me about. I would have to wait to find out what it was until we left.
The two of us went outside and I decided that I probably should speak up.
"Thanks for telling me about the egg." I replied. I did really like this rapport we were building, even though I was pretty sure it would make his death hurt even more. "I don't know if I would have been able to figure it out without you."
"I think you probably would have." I explained. "You're very smart. Besides, it was the least that I could do after you told me about the dragons."
"So, I don't suppose that you know what the next task is by any chance." I remarked as I scratched the back of my head.
"No, but I wanted to check up on you." He said. "This tournament can be daunting and stressful, and I wanted to make sure that you're still feeling okay mentally."
"I'm fine." I declared. I had to admit that it was pretty sweet of him. I didn't like boys, but I could see why people liked him. And Robert Pattinson was really charming. "I actually like the challenging tasks. They feel exhilarating. So, do you think one of us is going to win this?"
"I think we have a good shot." He proposed. "Have you thought about what you would do with the prize money?"
There was prize money? Why didn't I remember that from the book? Had people mentioned that? Was I not paying attention to that part?
"You know I actually forgot all about it until just now." I admitted. "I'm not really all that worried about it. I'm honestly more concerned with surviving the tournament than what is going to happen after it."
"You're not going to die." He assured me. Yes, I knew that, even though he was going to. "I'll save you myself if I have to."
I probably wouldn't be able to save him. To my understanding, it was going to happen before I even had a chance to react to it. Realistically, the only way to save him would be to convince him to let me win, but I didn't want to do that.
"There is something else that I need your help with." He stated. "I want to tell Cho that I love her, and I need your advice."
"You what?" I asked in confusion. "Are you sure that I'm the best person to give you this advice?"
"Well, I don't exactly have a lot of female friends." He admitted. "So, what is the best way to tell a girl that you love her?"
"Well, I don't think that you need to do some grand romantic gesture like what happens in the Muggle movies." I joked. "Seriously, just tell her how you feel, and you should probably do it before the final task just in case something happens. Even though you probably won't die, you should let her know just in case you do."
I seriously hoped that he would take my advice.
"Do you love Mandy?" He asked.
"I don't know." I answered. "I'm only 13 and it's still kind of confusing. Like I said, I do fancy her a lot. She makes me feel good, but I haven't been able to put everything into my emotions yet. I think I am going to take her to Honeyduke's so we can get some dessert though."
"So, is that stuff about girls and chocolate true?" He responded.
"Of course it is." I stated. "But I'm also pretty sure that everyone loves chocolate."
From there, I went back over to Mandy. To my knowledge, they weren't planning on going back. Plus, I think because I said that I wanted to take her to Honeyduke's, I was pretty sure that she had to stay. I was pretty sure that was how books worked.
They were still there when we got back. I went over to Mandy and gave her a kiss.
"Do you want to go to Honeyduke's with me?" I asked. "I was thinking something sweet would be a perfect way to end the night."
"Well, I just got something sweet." She joked. I blushed. "But sure, I'll go with you."
The two of us went to Honeyduke's and it felt like I was going there for the first time even though I had been there before. It was probably because for the first time it was plot relevant, so I got to actually taste the food. I could tell now that something was definitely going to happen after we left.
"So, what did Cedric want to talk about?" She questioned.
"Just about the tournament." I declared. I then looked around to make sure no one that I knew was there. "He also was going to tell Cho that he loved her."
"That's sweet." She replied. "So how would you tell me that you love me?"
"Mandy, can we please not do this right now?" I requested with a bright blush "I don't want to make a mistake right now."
"It doesn't have to be for real. It can be as dramatic as want." She proposed. "Can you please humor me a little?"
I decided that I would play along. I was pretty sure that the employees, who seemed to be the only people there would think that I was mental.
"Okay. Mandelina Audrey Brocklehurst, you are my everything. You are my sun and my moon, and I love you with the deepest parts of my heart. Apparently, my heart is deeper than everyone else's, but I love you with it." I declared. I was actually having fun with this. She looked like she was going to crack up. She might have thought that I was mental.
"Okay, that's enough of that." She replied. "You're a great person, Adelaide Corner. By the way, did you know that Shakespeare was actually a wizard?"
"You sound like you've been hanging out with Luna too much." I teased.
"No, I'm serious. Look it up." She declared. With that we started to head back to Hogwarts.
When we got back, I noticed that it was getting close to curfew, but I still had a feeling that something was going to happen.
"Do you see a murder of crows over there?" Mandy asked. I wondered if it had to do with another murder.
We started to walk closer, and it was then that I was hit with a foul smell. Something was dead. The two of us walked closer and our mouths hung open. I wasn't sure why I was surprised because I knew was going to happen. Maybe it was because it was my first time seeing a dead body.
"It's Mr. Crouch." I said.
So this chapter is mostly some Maddie fluff before the end. There are only two chapters left. Please don't forget to review.