Marked

That Godforsaken Graveyard

Harry Potter landed roughly onto the wet ground, soaking his robes with dew. His bitten leg ached but he ignored it in favour of gathering his bearings. He looked at the young man standing next to him, Cedric Diggory.

"Where are we?" Harry asked while slowly standing up.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, Harry's eyes widened as he recognized the field as the graveyard invading his dreams. He quickly drew his wand, searching the night for movement.

Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory had both participated in the Triwizard Tournament, both as Champions for Hogwarts. Unlike the 17-year-old Hufflepuff, Harry Potter did not enter the Tournament with his own free will. Unbeknownst to them, Barty Crouch Jr. put him in, which led to the messy-haired Gryffindor and slightly-messed-but-not-nearly-as-bad-haired Hufflepuff to take the Triwizard Cup at the same time. Which leads us back to our story.

"Cedric! I know this place! We're not safe here!"

"What?"

"Just get down!" Harry called, "I see someone coming! "

Cedric looked at him sceptically, but at seeing the pain starting to appear in the younger boy's face he simply nodded and took the advice.

As the figure approached, Harry finally noticed the bundle in its arms, but as he squinted to get a better look at it, his scar exploded in pain, bringing him to the ground.

Through the pain, he could hear Cedric yelling his name, and a high pitched voice screech, "Kill the spare!"'No!' He was in too much pain to do anything as "Avada Kadavra!" rang through the graveyard.

Cedric rolled out of the way just in time, the green light of the killing curse striking the ground where he had been kneeling seconds before. Shooting an apologetic look at Harry, who was now clutching his scar, wand forgotten in the grass, Cedric dived behind the nearest headstone for cover. From there, he started throwing every curse and jinx his panic-stricken brain could come up with.

"I said kill him!" The high pitched voice spoke again.

"I-I'm trying m-ma-"

"Hurry Wormtail!" The high, cold, voice in the bundles interrupted. "Just stun him now and finish him later!"

Dread filled Harry when he heard the cloaked figure's name. If it was Wormtail, the person who betrayed his parents to Voldemort, then that voice in the bundle could only be...

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a fresh wave of pain through his scar and a loud BOOM near him.

Cedric pointed his wand over the rubble of the headstone he had been sheltering behind towards the man, 'Wormtail' he had been called. Cedric may be no Gryffindor, but the Goblet of Fire chose him for a reason. "What do you want from us?" He demanded.

"Incarcerous" Wormtail yelled in response, and Cedric found himself tied up quite thoroughly. Wormtail wrenched Cedric's ash wand out of his grip before he could even think of the incantation to untie himself. "Hey!" Cedric cried, but his protest was left ignored.

Just as Harry was finally starting to recover from the pain in his scar, he was struck in the back with a curse and found himself unable to move. As Harry was picked up and dragged away from Cedric, his wand, and the cup, he couldn't help but feel a sense of impending doom. It was only increased when he saw the name of the headstone Wormtail was dragging him towards.