The Hogwarts grounds were nearly empty late in the afternoon of June the twenty-third. This was probably partly because it was unusually cloudy and blustery for a summer day, and partly because most students were cramming in some last-minute revision for their last exams, which would be held the next day. But it was unlikely that many students would get much done, so drenched was the atmosphere of the castle with anticipation for another important yet far more exciting event that would take place on the twenty-fourth: the third and final task in the Triwizard Tournament.


However, only three other students would be as anxious about the task as the handsome young man sitting alone by the lake.


“Cedric!” called a surprised voice from behind him.


He looked around to see a Gryffindor girl approaching, her brown hair tousled and her cheeks pink from the wind that battered her face. She looked tired, but undeniably pleased, in heavy contrast with Cedric’s tense mood.


“Hi, Katie,” he responded, summoning the energy to give her a smile. “What are you doing out here?”


“I just had my Care of Magical Creatures exam. It went really well, too, there was loads about Chimeras, and that’s what I revised most,” Katie said happily, plopping herself onto the damp grass next to the Hufflepuff. They sat in silence for a while, gazing out at the turbulent lake and picking blades of grass one by one.


“How are your parents?” Katie asked with a sideways glance at Cedric. “Mum keeps telling me how proud your dad is. She says he’s always talking about you at work. I expect your mum’s pretty worried, though, is she?”


Cedric considered the question for a while. The letters that arrived regularly from his parents were mainly upbeat, full of praise and encouragement. But Katie was right: if he knew his mother, she would be going mad with worry at the moment.


“They seem okay when they write,” he answered eventually. “But I think they’re just trying to stay positive, so that I do too, you know. They’ll be here tomorrow to watch the task, though, and I bet Mum’ll be fussing over me like crazy.”


“Mmm,” Katie murmured, reflectively. They gazed out over the lake in silence for a few minutes. Then Katie turned to face Cedric, laying a gentle hand on his knee.


“And how are you, Cedric?” Her voice was softer know, and full of obvious concern.


“I’m... coping,” he said slowly.


That was the only way to put it, really. He’d come out of the first two tasks shaken, but not hurt. Yet tomorrow would be different: there would not be just one hurdle awaiting him, but Merlin knew how many deadly dangerous challenges. And he feared not just for himself, but for the other champions.


Still, he would face whatever came to him. He would show that he was deserving of being called a champion.


His parents would be here tomorrow, and though his father’s boasting and his mother’s clinginess wouldn’t help his confidence, he would stay quiet and spend the day with them. Because he loved them.


And Cho, too – her fear for him, the tears that leaked from her eyes when she mentioned the third task – it was not what he needed, really. That was why he was out here – to be alone with his thoughts, and have a chance to contemplate the next day’s task without anyone fussing over him. He’d enjoyed the silence, but Katie’s arrival hadn’t bothered him. The way she just listened and lent a soothing hand... she was a good friend, even to Cedric though he’d hardly had a chance to speak to her all year. They’d known each other a long time, and this sort of silence was more comforting than a hundred calming phrases.


Minutes ticked by as the pair sat near the lake, a pyramid of grass blades growing between them, no sound penetrating the heavy damp air.


And suddenly, it rained.


Fat droplets fell from the skies and splashed onto Katie’s nose and Cedric’s hand. She leapt up. “Over there!” she cried while Cedric stood up with her. “It’s much closer than the castle.”


She dashed off, away from the castle, heading to a low-lying building perched on the lake’s edge a short way round. Cedric jogged after her, speeding up as the rain fell more heavily.


When he ducked through the stone archway, he found himself in a shed of sorts, with a U-shaped floor opening opposite him into the lake, and wooden dinghies moored along the sides. So this was where the boats that carried the first-years from the trains were kept throughout the year. He couldn’t believe he’d never wondered what this was for.


Dripping, he peered around in the gloom for Katie, and only spotted her when she waved to him from the other end of the boatshed, where she was clambering into one of the little bobbing vessels.


“Come over here,” she called. Cedric traversed the length of the shed to join her in the boat. They stretched their legs out beside each other and charmed their robes dry, then Katie pointed out the large archway that opened onto the lake. “Good view, eh?” Rain splashed relentlessly onto the Black Lake’s roiling surface, and the shape of distant mountains could just be made out through the mist. “Well, it will be when the sun comes out,” she amended. He grinned, and they settled back into silence.


Cedric closed his eyes, listening to the drumming of raindrops on the tin roof. It soothed him, enveloped him like a mother’s lullaby.


The sound gradually faded away and Katie nudged him gently in the side. “Now watch,” she instructed.


They gazed out of the old boatshed, the archway framing the scene like curtains on a stage. They were just waiting for the performance to begin.


And it did, dramatically. All of a sudden, sunbeams pierced the sky, illuminating the clouds with golden edges.


“This is why I love coming here. It’s like a safe place, somewhere to watch the world, somewhere... magical.” Katie turned to Cedric with a grin, and he couldn’t help but smile too.


“Katie?”


“Yeah?”


“You’re brilliant.”


“Thank you.”


Their eyes met and held, and somehow – who moved first? Cedric didn’t remember later – they leaned towards each other and their lips connected and they kissed and kissed and kissed and they wrapped their arms around each other and eventually sat back in the little wooden boat and gazed back out over the water, hands twined.


They watched water lapping against the shore and mist disappearing from in front of the mountains, and after a while Katie voiced the name that was hanging in the air between them.


“Cho.”


“Yeah.” Cedric sighed. He glanced at Katie’s guilty face and squeezed her hand.


“Cho and I... we’re not right. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to figure that out. Just... if you stay quiet about this for a few days... we can be together soon. If you want to, that is,” he added, realising what he was saying.


Katie nodded slowly, guilt still evident in her features. “I do,” she said. “Of course I do.”


Slowly, this time, gently, cautiously, she leaned over and kissed him.


For Cedric, it was like the sun coming out all over again.