"Allison, are you alright?" Cedric asked with a worried expression on his face.
I slowly opened my puffy eyes and saw Cedric standing above me.
"I can't lose you Ced." I trembled.
"You aren't losing me. Darling, I'm right here." he cooed, using his pet name for me to calm me down.
He scooped me up in his arms, cradling me as he brought me back to the common room. "I'm so sorry for worrying Ced, I'm just so scared for you. I have a bad feeling about this competition." I said in a scratchy voice.
"Let's get you back to your room." he sighed. Cedric carefully brought me back to my dorm and placed me in my bed, tucking me in.
"You got yourself all worked up out there, darling -- it's been a long day for you." Cedric said in a calming tone.
"Do you mind laying down next to me?"
I hesitated; I didn't want him to think I was acting weird.
"I just don't want to go to sleep alone." I mumbled as my cheeks went pink from embarrassment.
"No, I don't mind at all. Actually, I was going to ask you the same thing." He grinned.
Cedric laid down next to me and pulled me in his arms, his warm comforting scent enveloping me. As we laid together, he pulled my head closer to his, and lightly kissed my forehead.
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I jolted up in my bed, and looked over to my side. Cedric was right next to me. The sudden movement of the bed woke Cedric up, and his eyes lightly fluttered open.
"What's the matter, sweetheart?" Cedric asked in his deep scratchy sleepy voice.
"Sorry, I just woke up." I replied softly.
"What time is it?" He groaned.
"About 6:00, we should head to dinner soon." I mentioned.
I heard the door open and looked over to see Ada entering the room.
Oh no, this is awkward.
"Oh! I'm sorry for disturbing you guys. I was just about the grab something from my bed, but I'll leave." Ada blurted, immediately turning around to exit the door.
"Ada, wait, we were just about to head down to dinner. Would you like to come with us?" I asked.
"Sure! But we better get a move on, it's starting soon."
Me, Ada, and Cedric walked out to dinner, laughing and giggling at each other's stupid jokes. As soon as we rounded the corner Ada came to a halt.
"Oh." she paused in disgust. I looked over to where her eyes were fixed and saw Cleo and Draco snogging on a stone bench, their hands all over each other.
Ew.
Several moments later, Cleo came up for air and she paused. She slowly looked over at us and her cheeks seared pink from her recent endeavor.
"Shove off you filthy Mudbloods, don't you have something better to do?" Draco sneered.
I turned my head over to Ada and Cedric and noticed that Ada's entire demeanor changed. She gripped her wand tightly, her knuckles turning white. Her face was tense, and her glare was fixed on the snooty Purebloods. It was rare that Ada got mad, so it was obvious that something was wrong.
She quickly flicked her wand and an orange spark flashed from the tip. Draco began to shrink, his school clothes pooling around him.
Oh. My. God. She turned Draco into a ferret.
Cleo shrieked and cautiously picked him up. "You turned him into a bloody ferret!" She exclaimed.
"Have fun with ferret boy, the stupid duck-lipped slag. You seem to be more occupied with your 2-millimeter defeater boyfriend lately than your closest friends. Or should I say, ex-bestfriends." Ada stated calmly.
I started laughing hysterically watching Cleo scrambling around, trying to find the reversing spell for her dear ferret boy.
"He deserved it." I chuckled.
"We better get to dinner. Let's let Cleo deal with her furry boyfriend." Cedric joked.
The rest of the night went by in a blur, and the next day I found myself in my room, attempting (but miserably failing) to wake my friends up. After several minutes of poking and prodding, the two bushy haired girls woke up. We all got dressed and ready for the day, and then walked outside to enjoy the wonderful weather.
Hermione and Ada started studying for the OWLS exams, which were months away, and I sat next to Cedric and his friends in the grass. Most of the students were wearing "Potter Stinks!" badges, the ones that me and Cedric both refused to wear. We both agreed that it wasn't fair to Harry, considering the immense amount of pressure he was under.
Moments later, Harry walked up to Cedric.
"Cedric, can I have a word ?" Harry inquired.
"Alright."
Cedric got up and walked off with Harry. I slowly shifted over to a rock that was closer to where they were talking so I could eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Dragons. That's the first task. They've got one for each of us." Harry informed Cedric. "A-are you serious? Fleur and Krum, do they...?" Cedric stammered. I could tell that he sounded worried. "Yes." Harry asserted. "Right. Hey listen, about the badges. I've asked them not to wear them." Cedric reassured.
He walked back over to me and smirked.
"I assume you heard that conversation, stalker." he chuckled.
"I just wanted to know if it was about the tournament! And it was, so now I can help you study." I stated matter-of-factly.
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My word was true, and the next day we began to study for the first task.
"Ok, so the four types of dragons most commonly used in the Tri-Wizard tournament are the Hungarian Horntail, Swedish Short-Snout, Chinese Fireball, and the Common Welsh Green." I read off the page.
"We'll have to develop a plan for how you want to execute the competition. Personally, I would use a transfiguration charm to distract the dragon." I suggested.
"Sounds good enough to me, let's take a break, Alice we've been studying all day." Cedric groaned.
"Fine, let's get to dinner and then go to bed. We've spent a long time studying, and you have the competition tomorrow so rest up!" I .
Me and Cedric ate our dinner in the dining hall and then headed straight to bed. We were both exhausted and drained after frying our brains all day. Though I didn't show it, I was genuinely worried for Cedric, I had a bad feeling about this competition.
The next day came faster than I had hoped, and my heart was beating out of my chest. I stayed glued to Cedric's side, worried that he wouldn't make it or he'd be seriously injured. At noon, Cedric headed out to the tent where Dumbledore was, and went to choose the dragon he would have to face.
Much to his dismay, Cedric was first. A Swedish Short-Snout flew into the stadium, and was chained down the the ground (for obvious safety reasons). Thank god it's chained. My thoughts were interrupted by the loud roar of the Swedish Short-Snout.
Cedric was pushed out into the stadium, his intricately carved wand in hand. The dragon blew fire, visibly annoyed by Cedric's presence. He dodged the fire, moving quick on his feet.
Cedric wasn't making too much progress, so I yelled down to him. "Cedric! Transfiguration!"
He must have heard my suggestion, because with a wave of his wand he turned a small rock into a golden retriever. The dragon was intrigued by the dog, struggling against the tightly bound chains. Cedric booked it, running towards the golden dragon egg as fast as he could.
He quickly grabbed the egg and started running back. "Go Cedric! Woooo!" I yelled. The quick movements brought the dragons attention back to Cedric, and it growled. Big bursts of fire spewed out of the dragons mouth, right towards Cedric.
My stomach dropped, and my head spun, thoughts bouncing through my head.
No. Is he alright? What if he's hurt!
Cedric obviously wasn't fazed by the injury, and kept running towards the tent. Cedric successfully made it, but I was still a nervous wreck.
"Eugh." Cedric grimaced as Madam Pomfrey applied the orange paste to his burn.
"This will help the burn, sweetie, I'm sorry it smells bad." She said in a comforting tone.
"It smells like feet, Alice." Cedric whispered.
I giggled at his remark, and wrapped my arms around his chest, pulling him into a hug.
"I was so worried," I murmured into his chest, "feet boy."
"Oh, so now I'm feet boy?" Cedric chuckled.
Cedric's laughter died down, and his face got more serious.
"Allison, I have something to ask you..."