Hermione made her way down to the library at five fifty, she arrived early on purpose as she needed to return a book and felt like browsing. She couldn’t help checking her watch every few seconds, it was now six o’clock, he was late. However less then five minutes later Cedric waltzed into the library with Cho Chang trailing at his heels.
Cedric was rubbing his neck and running his hands through his hair, he looked like he had been hyperventilating and appeared to be trembling with nervousness. Even with his anxiety they seemed to be very involved in a conversation. A twinge of jealousy at his obvious interest in Cho tingled in Hermione but she suppressed it. Forcing herself to look away from Cho’s blatant flirting, she pretended to be reading. Cedric “dismissed” her (as Hermione would tell Ginny later that night), took off his school books and settled himself across the table from Hermione, his expression quickly turned from joyous and flattered to grave.
“I’m going to go out next Friday into the forest and find whatever they want me to.”
“Cedric that’s mad. How will you get outside the school after hours and how on earth do you plan on finding a mysterious cave in the dark? You’re a prefect and your competing in the tournament and if you want to kiss all that goodbye and get yourself EXPELLED then I’ll have no part!”
Cedric stood up and moved to the atlases. He pretended not to hear the last part of Hermione’s scolding. He pulled out one of the maps and loosely flipped through the pages.
“I thought we could find a map.” he said. Hermione sat at the table eyeing him with contempt but when she realized her scolding was not going to alter his opinion she sighed loudly and reluctantly got up and started helping him.
They had been searching for nearly an hour when Hermione piped up.
“Cedric! Cedric! I think I’ve-- no. No I’m sorry I haven’t found anything. The fact of the matter is that the forest is off limits so they wont keep maps of it in here. Why I doubt anyone has even mapped it…” her voice slowed. Hermione thought back to years passed and recalled a very simple and yet very powerful object that could help Cedric.
“I think I can get what your looking for,” Hermione whispered, “I can get you a map by Saturday, the day before the task,” she promised him.
“Really?” he looked ecstatic, “Hermione! I knew you would be able to help me!” he gasped and took her into a very manly hug. It was the kind of hug shared by Quidditch players or football players in the muggle world. It seemed Cedric had forgotten Hermione was in fact a girl, she was insulted for a moment but when she smelled the sultry peppermint scent of his cologne decided she would let it slide.
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Hermione was in a daze as she made her way back to the common room. She glided down the hallways and even stopped to dance with a knight in one of the portraits, she sang the Fat Lady the password and fell onto the sofa in front of the fire.
“Where have you been!?” Ginny squealed and rushed down from the dormitories.
“Where have you been!?” Ron growled from the corner where he was playing chess.
“Harry,” Hermione thought,
“Map,” Hermione said.
“Harry,” she thought again, trying to piece together why these words were currently important to her.
“I NEED THE MAP FROM HARRY!” she finally blurted out.
“He’s gone to bed,” Ginny said with a strange look, “But tell me, how was it?!”
Hermione began going on and on about Cedric and about Cho, but mostly about Cedric. Ron sat in the corner pretending not to hear but really absorbing every rage inducing phrase. After 15 minutes of listening to the girls gossip he was unable to control his anger any longer and left for bed.
Her swoon had passed by morning and now she sat at the Gryffindor table persuading Harry to lend her the Marauders Map.
“No, I don’t trust him!” Harry said but then quieted when he saw Cedric approaching their table. Harry grunted at Hermione to look in his direction.
“I just wanted to thank you again,” he said with glee, “and apologize for the hug yesterday. I’m surprised you didn’t break a rib!” he joked.
Ron fumed at this statement. He hadn’t stayed up late enough to hear about the hug. Cedric gave Hermione a light pat on the shoulder, took a rasher of bacon off her plate and said goodbye. When he turned his back, Ron chose to strike.
He launched himself off of the table and landed on Cedric. Cedric fell onto the ground, where Ron tackled him once more and began pounding and kneeing him. Cedric threw Ron to the right and got up, he took out his wand and would have cursed the hair off Ron’s neck had Ron not leapt up and grabbed Cedric‘s leg. He punched him in the knee cap and Cedric collapsed in pain. The entire scenario looked like something from WWE.
Ron had jumped up onto the Ravenclaw bench and was about to launch himself onto Cedric (who was still clutching his right knee and wincing in pain). Cedric however, was a fast thinker and just as Ron was in mid air he attacked with the Jelly-legs Jinx and rolled feverishly out of the way. Ron collapsed onto the ground with a very loud thud and a grunt of anger. He attempted to walk to Cedric who was now on his feet and ready to duel. Just as Ron was about to expel a rather nasty Engorgio charm onto Cedric’s perfect nose, Professor McGonagall hustled through a the crowd now surrounding the two boys and disarmed them both.
“Ronald Weasley!” shouted McGonagall grabbing both Ron and Cedric by their ears and dragging them out of the Hall and to her office, “How dare you attack another student! A champion for that matter! And in front of our Durmstrang and Beauxbaton guests! You should be ashamed and mortified by your actions.”
“He attacked me back Professor,” Ron replied under his breath while giving a sideways glance to Cedric who was waiting his turn to be scolded.
“In self defense! One hundred and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor and a another seventy if you say one word more! You’re going to have to apologize to Mr. Diggory and if I were you I would thank him for not bewitching the pants off you!”
“I’m sorry,” Ron said with regret and without any enthusiasm, but then quickly changed his tone when he saw the vein in McGonagall’s forehead protruding.
“I shouldn’t have attacked you--”
“In front of everyone,” he thought.
“And--”
“Sod of Hermione, you’re a waste of her time,”
“Thank you kindly for not cursing me down to my knickers,” Ron said in as respectful a tone he could muster. Cedric grunted in acceptance and Professor McGonagall let him leave for the hospital wing.
He and Hermione didn’t speak all day. More enraged then ever she considered cursing him the second he walked into the common room, she resisted and much to her happiness he waltzed right upstairs to bed. This truly was for the best because she had more important things on her plate.
She and Harry had been working on a summoning charm for the task tomorrow. She had convinced him to give her the Marauders Map if she helped him, he agreed but with few conditions. She tried to focus the imagine of Ron flying through the air onto Cedric’s back plagued her mind.
“Leave it to Ron to ruin such a wonderful gesture,” she thought and a dictionary went flying into her hand at a ferocious speed. Harry gave her a look of astonishment.
“How did you manage that!?” he said, with a tinge of jealousy on his breath,
“Try this…” Hermione said with a mischievous smile.
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Hermione awoke the next morning with a rock in the pit of her stomach. It was today.
She turned over and over in her mind if Harry’s summoning charm was just right. She hoped nothing terrible would happen to Cedric, and in the back of her mind she hoped they wouldn’t have a dragon on the loose.
The afternoon came sooner then Hermione wanted, and before she knew it she was sitting in a stadium awaiting the “show” to begin. She was shaking limb to limb as the brisk November wind howled under the blue sky. Ron approached her from the right and cautiously sat down.
“Hermione I’m so--”
“I don cahre ‘more! Juzt ‘it ’n ‘ope ‘arry does’t ghet blo’n ooo eeces!” she blurted in the fasted most incoherent piece of verbal diarrhea anyone had ever heard. Thankfully this is how Ron often spoke while eating and he understood perfectly.
“Alright then,” he said and made himself comfortable and “hoped Harry didn’t get blown to pieces,” like Hermione commanded him.
Cedric was up first. Hermione tried to hide her nervousness from Ron. Ron, who pondered if she was worried about Cedric watched her intently.
Cedric saw the Dragon and she blew a stream of fire at him he ducked behind a boulder.
Hermione hid a gasp.
He transfigured a rock into a very convincing dog, which seemed to be successfully distracting the Dragon.
Hermione drowned a cry of relief.
Then, as Cedric poked his head out from the rock, the dragon lost interest in the dog and spread its wings to fly, thankfully the chain around her neck stopped her and Cedric was left to run and hide.
Hermione lost it. She started screaming out towards the ground.
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Cedric’s heart was pounding in his chest. He could hear the yells (and boo’s) of the crowd. He huffed and puffed from behind a large piece of brimstone. His mind was racing. Sweat dripped from his brow. He felt cold sweat sticking to his back. He breathed heavily and tried to clear his head. In a torrent of adrenaline he jumped from behind the rock and transfigured another larger dog, this time across from him. The dragon turned his head and started, almost playfully pushing the dog around with one of its talons. Occasionally spitting fire at it. Cedric then crept on his stomach towards the egg. The rocks scarred his skin, but quietly he persisted. Quietly climbing up the small mound he saw the dragon rip one of the dogs limbs off. It howled in pain. Refocusing he saw the egg. Reaching out he grabbed it and held onto it tightly. He now was sweating even more feverishly. He continued on his stomach leading himself towards the finish booth. He had nearly made it out of the dragons nest undetected when his foot slipped and the loud sound of gravel and rock being rubbed against one another was heard by the Dragon. The angry mother quickly torched the dog and set it sights on its next fire cracker, Cedric.
He darted left, and avoided her fiery tongue. He ran forwards and while looking over his shoulder his face was glazed with her flames. He clutched his burn in pain but moved forward with haste. He flung himself into the finish booth clutching the egg for dear life.
“I’m alive” he thought to himself, impressed.
Then as he felt the burning sensation in his cheek remembered he hadn’t gotten by completely unscathed and that the judges would have to take away points for that. Still pleased with his performance, he got up slowly he walked to the medical tent where a frantic Madam Pomfrey began working on him.
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Hermione ran as fast as her legs would carry her and arrived just as Madam Pomfrey was preparing an oozing lotion to put on his face.
“YOU'RE ALIVE!” she screamed and without thinking hugged him tightly around the neck, “how is your face? It doesn’t look too bad,” she answered her own question. From the medical tent they could look out over the stadium and watch the contestants. Hermione watched as Fleur and Victor both battled their own Dragons and she sat with Cedric as Harry competed.
If Hermione wasn’t the loudest person in the stadium when Cedric competed, she was now. She dug her nails into her face and was shaking like a leaf, she jumped screamed and yelled at the top of her lungs. A number of times Hermione was erratically shaking so much that Cedric walked over and moved her away from the railing in fear that she might fall into the stands below. He watched her nervousness with a hint of jealousy towards Harry, but suppressed his feelings and went to guide Hermione away from the rail again.
Hermione had just sat into a chair Cedric had brought for her when Harry completed the task. Hermione jumped up screaming and wailing. She hugged Cedric again and then fell back into the chair in tears of joy. She insisted on going to see her best friend immediately but both Cedric and Madam Promfrey agreed that she needed to calm down before going. She took deep breaths, composed herself and in little time was aloud to see him. She acted calm while walking out of the tent. But Cedric, who was following her with his eyes, saw her walk turn into a run as she made her way into the room next to his. A hint of resentment towards Harry once again burned in his heart and lingered even as Cho sauntered towards his tent. He knew they would never share the same friendship between Harry and Hermione.
A/N Okay, I promise things are going to start heating up from here on! I've finished up to Chapter 12 so expect a lot of new chapters in the comming weeks! Thanks for reading!