---

O.W.L.s, O.W.L.s, O.W.L.s, O.W.L.s! Katie couldn’t take the studying any more! Three paper cuts had been her limit for today. She’d also broken the tips of two of her best quills with all of the furious scribbling. Her fingers were stained with ink, and her body had the overall feeling of stuffiness from too much time in the library. She wasn’t meant for flipping pages and collecting notes at a table in a stale, quiet room. No, Katie wasn’t fully alive unless she was out on the Quidditch pitch, flying about freely in the air. And if she didn’t get out there soon, she was going to start screaming hexes at everyone who blinked, and there was no way she could explain it away as merely studying the practical methods for casting spells.

She threw her books and parchment into a messy pile and shoved the pile into her bag.

“Where-?” her friend Leanne started.

“Quidditch field,” Katie cut off. Her tone explained everything.

She loved Hogwarts, but, at this moment, every stone of the castle felt like a device for cruel confinement. She walked as quickly as she could down the corridors and up the staircases to Gryffindor Tower and her dormitory. Running could get her in trouble with Filch, and she couldn’t risk her freedom. She tossed her bag onto the ground by her trunk and grabbed her broom.

After an eternity, she was finally able to burst out of the heavy doors and out onto the lush, green, rolling lawn, spreading out enticingly from the castle. Katie inhaled deeply, slowly filling her lungs with the early summer air. The sun warmed her face, and she smiled brightly, trotting off leisurely past the lake and to the Quidditch Pitch.

Katie dearly missed having Quidditch in her life over the past year at Hogwarts. The Triwizard Tournament was definitely exciting, but it still didn’t compare to getting to go out and train and compete with her team. She missed that. It would do her good to whiz around the pitch for a while. Flying didn’t clear her mind, but it did help her to organize her thoughts - thoughts which had been nothing more than a lumpy jumble lately with all of the studying and stress.

When she finally made it to the field, she took a step back, letting her jaw drop at the sight before her.

The lovely pitch, her pitch, was seemingly overgrown with thick, monstrous hedges. How could this be? The one thing she needed to relax her mind had been ruined. What’s another disappointment, Katie? She asked herself with a sigh. She rarely got the things she wanted most anyway. She heaved a great sigh that turned into a great gasp as someone flung their hands over her eyes from behind her.

“Guess who,” he whispered in her ear.

She grinned but elbowed him in the stomach anyway, making him groan and release her.

“Katie!” he exclaimed in agony.

“Cedric!” She mimicked. “It’s no more than you deserve for nearly scaring me out of my skin, you prat!”

He straightened up, laughing, “I suppose you’re right about that.”

His laugh was contagious, and Katie joined in. “Stop looking so smug.”

“I can’t help it, I haven’t been able to surprise you so well in ages. It was worth the bruise I’ll have on my poor stomach.”

Katie rolled her eyes at him.

“What’ve they done to the pitch?” she asked after a moment, sounding like a little girl who has denied a treat.

“Like it?” Cedric asked.

“Hardly.”

“Me neither. We found out about three weeks ago that the final task is a maze. There are supposed to be all sorts of things to face inside of it, but there’s no way to tell what any of them will be,” he explained, striding forward to the edge of the maze. “I’ve been out here a lot trying to figure out the layout of the maze-”

“Cheating?” Katie interrupted in a teasing tone.

“It’s not cheating,” Cedric protested. She raised an eyebrow at him to contradict. “They didn’t say we weren’t allowed to memorize the course. They showed us where it was, so they shouldn’t expect anything less,” he explained in defense. “Doesn’t matter anyway. It didn’t take long for me to learn that the hedges move around.”

“What? They move?” Katie asked, all astonishment at how hard this task would be if the walls kept moving.

“Yeah. I got lost a couple of times because of it, and then the hedges got too tall for me to look over anymore, so I’ve been watching them from the stands. The center stays the same, but the deeper in you go, the more the hedges migrate from one spot to another, except the border. You want to see?”

“I came out to fly, not plant-watch.”

“Pity we couldn’t fly over the bloody thing to have a look at it,” Cedric replied, his tone dripping with excessive sarcasm.

Katie whacked his leg with her broom, before mounting it. “Coming up?” she asked, sliding forward on the handle to make room for him behind.

“Sure, I’ll be your knowledgeable tour guide.” Cedric took his place behind her, holding onto her shoulders.

“I’m rolling my eyes at you again.”

“Good.”

At Katie’s signal, they both kicked off the ground, rising above the walls of the maze next to them. Katie began a wide circle above the border of the maze.

“This is the broom you won at that Ministry picnic two summers ago, isn’t it?” Cedric asked. Their fathers, Mr Diggory and Mr Bell, both worked at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Cedric and Katie had known each other since they were quite young because of the many times their families attended and stuck together at Ministry parties.

“Yes. You remember that?” she asked, looking over her shoulder for a second, a smile on her face.

“Of course I remember that. I wanted the broom, but yours was the name on the ticket they pulled out for the raffle.” He clutched one hand to his heart and leaned forward so he could see the tragic expression on his face.

She laughed.

“It pains me to think of it, even now.”

“Even now, with the broom you saved up for and got last summer, which is a better broom than this one?” she scoffed.

“Oh, right,” he smirked, “it is.”

“Fat lot of good it’s been for you this year.”

He only shrugged. “There’s nothing futile about owning a great broom. Hey, why don’t we land in the middle and try to find our way out?” Cedric suggested. “I’m sure we can escape by supper, and if not, we’ve got your broom, so we can just fly out.”

Katie thought for a moment, then began a swift descent into the heart of the maze. “Sounds perfect. I’m in need of a good adventure. Besides, I hardly see you around, Mr Champion, who is too busy for anything but the tournament.”

They hit the ground with a light thud. Cedric held out his hand, silently offering to carry the broom. “Indeed, I am much too busy,” he answered in a lofty tone, barely keeping a straight face. “Legend speaks, however, of a girl who has been chained to her books, consumed with flipping pages, and-”

“Oh, stuff it,” Katie laughed, shoving Cedric as they began their course through the hedges.

“I’ve missed you, Katie.” Cedric said, pausing for a moment.

She genuinely smiled at him, looking up into his face. “It’s good to spend time with you again.”

He smiled back, and it gave Katie a warm feeling. How had she forgotten what a good friend Cedric was?

“Which way?” he asked. “Right or left?”

“I suppose it doesn’t matter if the hedges move?”

“Nope,” Cedric answered on a laugh.

“Then let’s go left.”

Cedric and Katie embarked on their path, not really knowing, even after half an hour, if they were going in quite the right direction. They only ran into a couple of dead ends, and they made sure to keep track of which way was north, checking with the directional charm now and then. After maybe an hour, a hedge on their right decided to move in their way, instantaneously blocking their path and nearly engulfing them in its thick, leafy shrubbery.

“Well, now that we’ve dodged death by hedge...” Katie didn’t finish the thought. She merely shook her head at Cedric. They spent a few moments pulling leaves out of their hair and clothes.

“Look at this.” Cedric stopped to examine a small patch of the hedge where there were tiny white blossoms sprouting into delicate flowers in front of their eyes.

Katie gasped. “How pretty.” It was a simple reaction, but that’s really how she felt.

“I’ve never seen flowers on the hedges before,” Cedric remarked. He plucked one of the flowers and held it out to Katie.

Katie smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Do you think I’m really going to accept a flower from a dangerous hedge, taken against the will of the plant?”

“Worst case scenario: you grow an extra nose because it has cursed pollen,” he said as he tucked it behind her ear.

“Cedric!” She swatted him away and laughed, but she was smiling and she didn’t remove the flower.

“Can you imagine the kind of superior smelling you’d get with an extra nose?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“One of my many charms.” He shrugged, smirking down at her. She shook her head and laughed at him, and their eyes caught each other. They caught and held, and it was a different feeling between them at that moment, one that brought a blush to Katie’s cheeks, and had she not averted her eyes immediately, she would’ve noticed Cedric start to grow a little red as well.

He coughed and then they both began walking again. Cedric struck up their conversation again, not wanting any of .... whatever he had felt a moment before to make things stiff between them. “I’m pretty sure the deathly hedges will be the least of my worries in the task, though,” he said, as if they had been discussing this already.

Cedric explained that he was sure that the maze would be full of obstacles, after all, moving plants alone were no match for the previous danger of a dragon or having to survive underwater. Katie mentioned he might even come across some Devil’s Snare, making a good point that if he was only concentrating on non-leafy obstacles and merely continuing to find his way in the mayhem, it might creep up on him unawares. Cedric was glad Katie mentioned it, and she made a good point because, while these hedges had clusters of four leaves on a sprig, he remembered Professor Sprout showing them the Devil’s Snare with the five leaf clusters, and it had a similar look to these hedges. It was probably a related plant - hedges that move, vines that try to grasp and suffocate you.

“What would you be most afraid of meeting in this maze?” Katie asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said after a moment, thinking of the many creatures he’d learned about from his Care of Magical Creatures books. “Hopefully nothing to top a dragon. But we do live in a wondrous magical world with all sorts of beasts.”

Katie shuddered. “Too right. Do you remember the Streeler our dads brought back from Africa two years ago?”

“Bleh, yes, that thing was disgusting.” Mr Bell and Mr Diggory had been sent to Africa to retrieve some Streelers to deal with a particularly nasty flare of the Horklump population in Ireland at that time. The giant snail’s only appealing factor was that it changed colors every hour, but it really didn’t combat the less than desirable sliminess of it.

They talked about the more memorable creatures their fathers had worked with in their department at the Ministry, and when that topic had run its course, Katie sighed and then asked something else.

“What’s your biggest fear?”

Cedric looked over at her again, and then began thinking. What was he more afraid of than anything else in this world? No creature or plant came to his mind.

“Honestly?” He finally began. He saw Katie nod her head, letting him know she was listening and wouldn’t discount his answer. Cedric stopped, and so did she, turning to face him. “It’s that I’ll let everyone down.”

For a moment, Katie didn’t say anything. Then she put a hand on his arm and smiled warmly at him. “Cedric, everyone believes in you, and they know you won’t let them down because you haven’t ever given them a reason to doubt their faith in you.”

He turned to face her as well, touched by her words. He locked eyes with her again.

“You won’t let everyone down.”

Katie was mere inches away from him, and he let his head descend to capture her mouth in a kiss. His lips moved hesitantly at first, waiting for her to let him know this was alright. She began to respond, and one of her arms moved up to wrap around his neck. He placed a hand on the small of her back, pulling her closer and holding her sweetly. Their other hands found each other and entwined. Every part of Cedric felt electric while he kissed Katie.

Then Katie stopped the kiss, but she kept her eyes closed, and she didn’t move away from Cedric. She rested her forehead against his while they both caught their breath. Cedric moved his hand up and down her back, waiting for her to do or say something, but it was still a few long moments before she did.

“Cedric...”

He could tell what that apprehensive tone in her voice meant without her explaining it. “I know.” He sighed. He knew what she was worried about, and, yes, he was worried about it, too. Cho Chang. “Katie, I really like you.”

“But are you going to do anything about it?”

After a moment’s pause, he squeezed her hand and asked her what his heart needed to know. “Should I?”

“I can’t tell you,” she said simply.

The hedges to their right moved again, startling them away from each other, but their way out of the maze was opened up. Katie kissed him on the cheek, her lips lingering close to his as she pulled away again. She reached for her broom and said something about seeing him later before leaving. She wasn’t running away, she simply knew what he did: the moment was over, and it was better for her to leave him to his thoughts. He headed up to the bleachers again, needing to think about the maze and the possible dangers the task would present him with, but more concerned now about the maze of emotions in his heart. He had to make a choice: Katie or Cho.

“Well, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Cedric,” she said, smiling.

Cedric quickly stooped to kiss her, meeting her lips for only a moment before retreating. She seemed not to notice his indifference, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned to enter her common room, smiling brightly back at him just before she disappeared. The moment she could no longer see him, he was off at lightning speed.

It had been easy enough to put off spending any sort of significant amount of time with Cho between her O.W.L.s and his preparation for the Final Task. Cedric knew, however, that he couldn’t put off a date with his girlfriend forever. Time had been planned, he had met her, spent the evening with her, walked her back to her common room, done his duty.

Her fate had been sealed with that kiss.

To be fair, Cedric also had known throughout the evening they had spent together that he really couldn’t be with Cho any more, but he had told himself that if the kiss had held any spark whatsoever, that he would keep trying with her.

Whereas before, Cedric had felt guilty and confused, he now felt...

Guilty and confused.

He wondered how in the world was he supposed to tell Cho it was over.

The summer air hit him like a wave of slight relief. He knew he would be breaking curfew by the time he even got to the Quidditch stadium, but that wasn’t even the least of his worries right now. He needed to think, alone preferably, and he knew that going back to the Hufflepuff common room would have him finding his two best friends waiting on tenterhooks to find out how the evening had gone.

Ed and Porter had waited all of a day and a half after that afternoon with Katie before sitting him down and making him tell them what was bothering him. In Ed’s words, “It’s obvious you’re agonizing about something, and it’s really starting to make a lad paranoid!”

Needless to say, they were just as apprehensive as he was about what tonight’s date would mean for Cedric’s decision, and all Cedric wanted was to be able to figure some things out by himself first.

He wondered why he’d really let things carry on so far with Cho. Last fall, Cho had asked him to go to Hogsmeade, but he’d been busy trying to figure out what the screeching from his egg had meant, and so he had taken the chance to stay and work on it.

Cho was nice, and he felt bad for declining. When he then needed to find a date for the Yule Ball, he thought it would be a nice way to make things up to Cho, and then they’d be even. One thing had led to another, and they’d held hands, and he’d been quite amazed at how much she liked him. It was quite flattering, and... Shouldn’t he feel the same way back? It didn’t make sense that she could like him that much without him liking her back. After all, there was nothing wrong with Cho. She was smart, and talented, and even prettier than she was nice. He was lucky to have her, and so, well, he liked her back well enough. Feelings like those he saw between his parents just came with time, and he had all the time in the world that he could give to Cho in the future.

There were only two things he could say he didn’t like about Cho. She sometimes just... did or said such odd things. He and Ed and Porter, after discussing these oddities, had just chalked it up to her being a girl, and he couldn’t really hold that against her. The other thing about Cho, the thing that he had known, but had really only been brought into focus that afternoon with Katie, was that Cho was...

Well, Cho was very nice, but she was nice to the point of boring.

Cedric groaned internally. He felt bad for even thinking that as he finally entered the Quidditch stadium.

“Oy, Cedric! Over here!”

Cedric snorted, shaking his head. There, halfway up the stands, were Ed and Porter. He trudged up to where they were waiting for him. “You two are unbelievable,” he said, shaking his head at them again.

“Did you really expect us to stay up in the castle when we [i]knew[/i] you were going to come down here first?” Porter asked, patting the empty bench next to him.

Cedric sat down next to Porter, rolling his eyes. “Unbelievable.”

“Go on and tell us, then,” Ed pressed, anxiously.

Cedric regarded his friends for a moment, almost cautiously.

Porter could obviously tell he was hesitant, because he looked at him very seriously and said, “Curiosity aside, we’re your best friends, Ced, let us do our duty to help you out here.”

“Who are you going to chose?” Ed asked again.

Cedric bit his lip, looking down at his knees. “Who do you think I should pick?”

“Oh, no!” Ed protested. “There’s absolutely no way we’re going to tell you that.” Porter chuckled quietly.

Cedric thought silently again. Once he said it out loud, he would not change his mind. He looked out over the expanse of the maze and smiled slightly, remembering that afternoon with Katie. How could he make any other choice?

“Katie,” he answered simply. When he looked back at his best friends, they had broad grins on their faces. Cedric matched their smiles for a moment. Then his smile faltered. The decision was made, he felt like it was the right thing in his heart.

“What’s wrong?” Porter asked.

“What am I supposed to say to Cho? ‘Hey, you’re really nice, and it’s been fun, but I just don’t like you as much as I like Katie. Those were a great almost-six months we spent together’?”

“Right,” Ed snorted, “even I know that’s not what you should tell her.”

“Oh, really?” Cedric asked, his voice coated in sarcastic shock.

“Yeah, really,” Ed confirmed.

Everything about that day stood out vividly in his mind, and maybe that was how it was supposed to be. He remembered the happy surprise of seeing his parents show up the morning of the tournament. He remembered the taste of the sausages and the raspberry scones he ate during the extended breakfast with his mum and dad. He tried not to remember the embarrassing conversation between his father and Harry Potter. He remembered the way his mother’s arm felt, tucked in the crook of his elbow while they all walked around the grounds before it became too hot out.



They went into Hogsmeade for a late lunch, and were all three glad for the crisp breeze to assuage the heat during their walk back to Hogwarts. The rest of the afternoon had found the three Diggorys back in the castle, roaming the halls at their leisure. Mr Diggory was taking full advantage of the opportunity to retell the stories of his youth in the setting where they had occurred. Cedric had heard all of these stories before, but hearing them when he was actually in the castle, with his father pointing out the exact spots, and performing small bits of the action, was more amusing than he could have imagined. He really had wonderful parents.



There were three conversations, however, that Cedric remembered more vividly than anything else that day. The first was in the Three Broomsticks when he and his mum were waiting for his father to arrive for lunch.



At one point, Amos had gone across the pub to talk to one of his former coworkers, leaving mother and son alone. His mum had waited for him to finish taking a long, refreshing draft from the bottle of chilled butterbeer in his hands. “Cedric,” she started. The tone of voice she used immediately struck a sense of guilt into his stomach. It meant that she knew something he thought he had hidden well enough for her not to figure out. It made him squirm slightly in his seat.



His mother laughed gently and put her hand over one of his. “Oh, Cedric, you’re not in trouble. I just think it’s odd that you haven’t mentioned Cho once today.”



“Oh, well, I guess she just didn’t come up.” He definitely did not want to talk about her, especially not now.



“Until now.”



“Yes, until now.”



He knew she was studying his face while he stared down the neck of the bottle at the bubbly, caramel-colored liquid. Finally, she squeezed his hand, and he brought his eyes up to meet her gaze. “If you don’t love her, you need to end it for both your sakes.”



Then his father reappeared and the conversation was over. As it was, he didn’t need to hear anything more.



The next conversation consisted of even less talking on his part. He and his parents were just sitting down to the dinner feast in the Great Hall when he noticed someone making a beeline for them, her long, black hair trailing slightly behind her in her haste. The wide grin on her face was like a punch in the stomach. He quickly excused himself from his parents and headed Cho off at the pass, not wanting to face what could only be an awkward introduction between his parents and his... and Cho.



“Hello, Cedric, I thought maybe I’d say hello to your parents, I think it’s so exciting that they were able to come today, I didn’t actually know that would happen. They look really nice. Where are we going?” she asked as he ushered her out of the Great Hall. “I won’t be meeting your parents out here when they’re in there.”



Cedric ducked into the nearest empty classroom with her and did the only thing he knew would quiet her. He kissed her. He felt terrible as she brought her hand up to his cheek, and he broke it off abruptly.



“Now’s not the best time for you to meet them.”



“Oh.” She looked slightly wounded. How was he going to end things if he couldn’t even take this only slightly wounded look?



“Well, I’ve been with them all day; I wanted a few minutes away,” he lied. He was pathetic. Why couldn’t he just tell her it was over? Wasn’t it much worse to let her think this would continue?



He let Cho pick right back up and continue to talk. She was rambling about her exams now, and how nervous she was to get her O.W.L. scores back, and then he couldn’t bear it any longer. He made his excuses (he couldn’t leave his parents waiting too long) and then left her there in the empty room.



Getting away from her felt like finally being able to breathe again after being underwater. Ironic that he saved her from the Black Lake in February, and now he felt like he was constantly drowning in their relationship.



He entered the Great Hall again and his heart began beating rapidly at what he saw: Katie Bell talking and laughing with his parents. He hesitated only for a moment, and then he quickened his steps, trying to get to them as quickly as possible. He hadn’t seen Katie around in days, and he had to talk to her now, regardless of the feast and the impending Final Task.



Just as he was about to reach them, Katie stood and said her goodbyes. Cedric followed her, quickly telling his parents that he’d be back in a few minutes. He could’ve sworn his mother’s smile said she knew what this was about. Being the intelligent woman that she was, Cedric wouldn’t have put such knowledge past her. She knew everything.



He rushed to catch up with Katie, but her pace didn’t slow one bit. He finally had to call after her. Still she didn’t turn around. “Katie!” he cried out, louder this time. He saw that, for a moment, she looked defeated when she turned to face him.



But she hid it well by smiling almost brightly at him half a second later. “Hello.”



He closed the remaining distance between them quickly. “Can I talk to you?”



She pursed her lips for just a moment, something he’d seen her do often when having to make a decision in a split second. “I was supposed to meet Leanne and Travis before the Task.”



“Just for a few minutes? There’s plenty of time.”



“Okay.”



They left the Great Hall, walked through the Entrance Hall, and then went out the large doors onto the grounds. The sun was setting, turning the sky violent shades of pink and gold. They walked quietly along the edge of the lake. They didn’t stand too close together, definitely further apart than that afternoon they had spent with each other in the maze. They walked very slowly, and the tension between them was thick.



When they finally reached the edge of the forest, Katie broke the silence. “I thought you wanted to talk to me.”



“I do.”



“What did you want to say? There’s only so much time before the feast is over.” She seemed intent on not looking at him.



“You’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you?”



“Yes,” she whispered, refusing or unable to look at him, gazing off into the distance.



He had known the answer to the question already, but he had to ask her. He had to hear it from her own lips just to confirm that he wasn’t making everything up, but he still hadn’t been prepared for the pain that her honest answer would cause.



“Katie-”



“I had to avoid you, Ced. I can’t be only your friend now. I can’t. Give me time, and I will be able to be your friend again. Just not now.”



“Good,” he said, taking her hand and making her stop to face him. He was relieved that she wasn’t rejecting him, but she looked even more worried than he had realized, and he felt just about as nervous. He tried to explain himself slowly because this was important. “I don’t want you to be only my friend. I want to be more than friends.” After pausing for a deep breath, he continued. “I think I love you.”



Katie looked as if she wanted to run away, mild terror shining in her eyes. Cedric could see she was also trembling slightly. “You have to mean it,” she almost pleaded. “You can’t just say something like that unless you’re serious because I can’t bear it if it’s not true.”



He took both of her hands now, and held them gently in front of him, at the level of his waist. He looked down at their joined hands while he spoke softly, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he risked losing them. “I could never say that if I didn’t mean it, Katie. I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you for a long time now, and I just didn’t have a chance to feel it before. Do you remember when you asked me what my biggest fear was?”



He looked up at her face for a moment, and she nodded.



“I suppose it’s not much different than what I said before - the fear of letting everyone down. But what I’m most afraid of is choosing the wrong thing.” He paused, looking intently at their hands again. “I think I have been choosing the wrong thing for a very long time. Cho was the wrong one for me. I’ve had to try so hard to let her mean something to me, but you’ve always meant something to me, and now you mean even more to me, and I can’t deny it any more, so I guess I’m trying to say that-”



“Don’t,” she interrupted.



He looked up again. Katie could see he felt stung by her interjection, but she couldn’t let him speak any more or else she would risk crying.



“Why not?” he finally whispered.



She squeezed his hands in reassurance. “I know what you’re thinking, but you’re not speaking straight. Sometimes things just happen that we can’t explain, and we don’t need to explain them, either.” She rose up on tiptoe to kiss him gently. There was no hesitation in their kiss, just a feeling of elation and a desire to savor every bit of the moment.



Cedric pulled her close, hugging her tightly, not really believing this moment could be so perfect. He’d clearly forgotten what their last kiss had felt like. He felt very content, like a part of him had slipped into place, and he felt prepared and energized, like he could now face the Final Task. They slowly parted, and Katie let her fingers trace the line of his jaw and then brush over his lips. Still, there was no hesitation. Now that they had said everything, there seemed to be nothing holding them back.



Well, there was one thing left.



“I forgot to tell you something that I was going to tell you before I said everything else.”



“Hmm?”



“I wish I had already done it, but the next time I see Cho, I’m letting her know we’re done.”



Katie didn’t say anything to that, and Cedric began to panic slightly.



“Katie?” he finally prompted.



She bit her lip for a moment before speaking. “I think I should feel very bad that you haven’t broken up with her already, but I’m too happy right now to care.” She buried her head in his shoulder. “That’s so selfish of me! I feel awful that I don’t feel bad.”



Cedric smiled and kissed the top of her head. “You shouldn’t have to feel bad because I should have done it a long time ago.”



“When are you going to do it?” she asked. She looked back up into his eyes.



“Before the task.” A look of mild panic washed over his face. “Or maybe after the task. What time is it? I think I’ll have to do it right after the task - the second I come out.”



Katie looked at her watch and her eyes widened. “Yes, we need to hurry. They’ll be wondering where you are!”



The two walked quickly along the edge of the forest back toward the castle, hand in hand. Then Katie stopped and pulled Cedric a few feet into the forest.



“Katie, what-?”



“Look,” she said, plucking a small, delicate, white flower from a shrub nestled amongst a cluster of younger trees. The plant seemed to squirm slightly at having a flower snatched from its branches. It looked like the wild version of the hedges that formed the maze he was about to face. She handed it to him, grinning. “Just in case it will give you an extra nose. The heightened sense of smell could come in very handy, you know.”



They laughed, and more white flowers popped out on the shrub. Cedric smelled the flower, savoring its simple scent, and then put it in his pocket. “I’ll keep it for good luck.”



“No wearing it behind your ear or woven into your hair?” Katie asked, feigning offense.



“No,” he laughed, “but here.” He reached out for another flower and then tucked it gently behind Katie’s ear.



They heard people approaching them at a running pace and turned to see Ed and Porter making their way to where they were.



“Oy, there you two are!” Ed called out, grinning.



“They were just about to start dessert when we came to find you,” Porter said.



“Yeah, you owe us for that. Sprout said to come find you because they’re going to call for the Champions to leave the feast really soon.”



“You’ve missed almost the whole feast,” Porter pointed out as the four trotted back to the castle.



“Not that hungry,” Cedric replied.



When they came into the Entrance Hall, Porter held Cedric back for a moment. “We’d better let Katie go in first and then wait a minute because you still haven’t told Cho yet, have you?”



They all shared a guilty look, all but Ed, and Katie frowned at him. “Why are you smiling so much?”



“Because I prefer you so much more than Cho,” he said.



Katie smiled and blushed, and then bid farewell to the the three lads.



“Wait.” Cedric caught Katie’s hand and pulled her back, kissing her for just a moment.



“Good luck, Cedric,” Katie said, then turned back again to go into the Great Hall.



Cedric couldn’t wipe the happy grin off of his face, and it seemed Ed and Porter were just as pleased with this new turn of events. A minute later, they went back in to the feast, and he caught a glimpse of Cho at the Ravenclaw table. That’s when he knew, as he glanced over to Katie and thought of the flower in his pocket, that maybe the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.