DUSK; Cedric Diggory

Chapter 61

Ophelia didn't think she had ever seen this many variations of spells or combinations during those weeks leading up to the third task. Every waking moment it was either Cedric showing her a new spell he had found or Harry showing her hexes she had already mastered for pranking. At least now she had a guaranteed O in DADA and her concern for the third task was lowered a bit. The end of year exams weren't even important to most of the students—the third task was all anyone could talk about. 

Today was the the most anticipated day of the school year, and Ophelia would be lying if she said she wasn't enjoying the excited atmosphere and festives around the castle. She had left Cedric alone with his parents with all the other champions a few hours ago, and her and Luca were now seating with the rest of the Gryffindors at the evening feast. 

"The house elves really outdid themselves today." Ophelia remarked, looking at all the extra courses on the table. 

"Mmhm," Luca mumbled, already stuffing the appetizers into his mouth. 

Soon enough, the enchanted ceiling faded from blue to a calming dusky purple, an effort to calm the nerves of the four champions. 

Dumbledore rose to his feet. "Ladies and Gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now." 

"You're going to do great, Harry!" Ophelia said encouragingly amongst the cheering Gryffindor crowd, squeezing his hand as he got up. Her eyes instinctively drifted to the Hufflepuff table, where he was already looking back at her. I'll see you there, Cedric mouthed, winking at her before following Mr. Bagman and the other champions out. 

Everyone had gathered down in the Quidditch field not long later, clambering on the stands and looking over a twenty-foot-high hedge that covered the whole field. Knowing they didn't have much time, Ophelia and Luca quickly rushed down to the field to wish Cedric a final good luck.

He looked so adorable, eyebrows furrowed as he looked nervously at the dark gap at the front of the maze, non-stop ruffling his already messy hair. 

"You better remember to fix that sexy hair of yours when you come out of that maze as the winner and ten thousand cameras are going to be in your face."

"Hello." Cedric turned around with a smile, feeling much better now that the two people he cared most about were with him. 

"Ms.Rae and Mr.Alden, you are not supposed to be down here!" Professor McGonagall scolded, marching towards them.

"We're just here to say good luck, Professor!" Ophelia protested, pouting at her favorite professor. 

With her lips pressed into a strict line, she gave Ophelia and Luca's puppy eyes a pointed look. "One minute and I want to see both of you back up at the stands."

"Thanks Minnie!" Ophelia said cheekily before throwing her arms around Cedric. "Please be safe, Ced."

He pulled back slightly to look at her, intertwining their fingers with his pinky and brushing his lips over her forehead. "I'll be fine, Fee. I swear."

Ophelia nodded unsurely, and reluctantly pulled away so that him and Luca could do their handshake thing. 

"You got this man," Luca slapped his back, waving goodbye as they were pulled away by Professor Mcgnagall. 

Once they had found a good spot next to the twins(Ophelia had to charm away a small group of hormonal second year boys) Bagman's voice filled the stands. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each—Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" 

Their section was of course the loudest amongst the roaring cheers of the Hogwarts students.

"In second place, with eighty points — Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute! And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" 

"So . . . on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" Bagman said."Three — two — one —"He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. A few minutes later, Bagman's whistle blew for the second time, and then for a third time, and all the champions were now inside the maze. 

Half an hour had passed and the silent crowd began to chatter again, discussing the contents of the maze and how they thought their bets were going to go. But Luca and Ophelia stayed silent apart from her incessant nervous tapping of the foot. It was soon an hour, and there was still no sight of anyone. 

"Where are they?" Ophelia whispered to herself, playing with the necklace that Cedric got her. It had been way longer than many of them anticipated, and the group was becoming more and more anxious every second that passed.

Just as she was about to get up and take a walk to relieve her stress, maybe bump into Dumbledore on the way and demand that Cedric was fine...there was an explosion of applause. There were two bodies sprawled out on the grass, one clutching a large gold cup in one hand and hugging the second body in the other. Relief instantly washed over Ophelia when she made out the familiar heads of Cedric and Harry, a large smile plastered on her face as she sprinted down the stands. 

But there was something terribly wrong with the way Harry was clutching Cedric.

She pushed her way through the bodies hovering over the two, blood running cold and legs frozen when she saw Cedric's unmoving body and closed eyes. There were noises everywhere, footsteps, screams, cheers...

"No," Ophelia managed to breathe out, squeezing her eyes tight as she violently shook her head, collapsing onto the ground as she pushed Cedric's hair up his forehead like he always did. Harry let her pull him away from his grip, cradling him in her lap as she trembled, tears streaming down her face as she pulled him closer to her chest.

She could hardly make out the cries around her. He's back...Voldemort...He's dead...graveyard...The Killing Curse...He's dead...Cedric...

Ever so faintly, Ophelia felt a barely-there pulse against her chest, one that wasn't her own.

"Someone help!" she cried out desperately, rocking back and forth on the muddy grass. "There's a pulse! He's alive! Anyone!"

She didn't care right now if the dark lord was back, she sure didn't care about who won the tournament, she didn't care about any fucking thing right now but Cedric and no one was coming to help her. 

"Ms Rae, I'm afraid you're going to have to let go of Mr. Diggory so we can make sure he's fine." Madame Pomfrey said softly. 

"He's not fine!" Ophelia gripped Cedric tighter, her voice muffled by his hair. "He's not moving! He's not fine!"

"I understand, sweetie," Madame Pomfrey grimaced. "But you have to let me do my job to make sure that he is."

"I'm sorry," Ophelia whimpered, finally looking up. "Please..."

"We'll do everything we can." Madame Pomfrey said. "Get some rest, sweetie. We'll contact you first thing in the morning."

She felt helpless as the medical team took Cedric away, lifelessly levitating in the air with a faint heart beating keeping him alive. Knowing that she wasn't in the right mindset to face Mr. Diggory now, she buried her head down until she found Luca, sobbing uncontrollably into his arms.

holy shit guys it's been so long . I'm so sorry for going mia these months but I had a lot going on with school and some other stuff I had to deal with. love you all so much and thanks for continuing to read this! xx