Pink in the Night.

Chapter Fifty-One.

Lily sat up in alarm as both Cassius and Harry's projections vanished, just as Fleur and Viktor's had when they were brought out of the maze.
"Where are they?" she asked, her head shooting around. Though the crowd couldn't hear the dialogue exchanged between Cassius and Harry, they understood the gist of it: the boys had come to some sort of agreement.

"...um... maybe they're meant to find their way back out of the maze?" James suggested.

"What's the point in that?" Bill asked.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ludo Bagman announced, "we appear to have experienced some difficulties... Mr. Potter and Mr. Warrington were meant to be brought right out of the maze... We'll resolve this issue now. No need to panic."

Cho flinched as (Y/n) stirred. "No, no, no. Go back to sleep, (Y/n)," she hissed.

"I can't believe you!" (Y/n) groaned, sitting up and stretching. "Putting me to sleep— honestly!" She glanced around, spotting Fleur and Viktor out of the maze. "Who won?" she asked, her eyes falling up to the sky, where there were no more projections.

"We don't know," Merula said.

"What do you mean?" (Y/n) pressed.

"The projections vanished the second they touched the cup," Ben explained.

"Are they still in there?" (Y/n) panicked.

"That's what the professors are trying to find out," Remus said. "Stay calm, (Y/n). They shouldn't be at immediate risk now that the task is concluded." He placed his hands on her shoulders, keeping her planted in her seat.
This did not seem to ease (Y/n)'s nerves as she was either bouncing her legs, trying to stand up and pace, or rocking back and forth.

Harry felt his feet slam into the ground; his injured leg gave way, and he fell forward; his hand let go of the Triwizard Cup at last. He raised his head.
"Where are we?" he said.

Cassius shook his head. He got up, pulled Harry to his feet, and they looked around.
They had left Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously travelled miles— perhaps hundreds of miles— for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing instead in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to the left. Harry could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside.
Cassius looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up at Harry.
"Did anyone tell you the Cup was a Portkey?" he asked.

"Nope," said Harry. He was looking around the graveyard. It was completely silent and eerie. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"

"I dunno," said Cassius. He sounded slightly nervous. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"

"Yes," said Harry, glad Cassius had made the suggestion rather than him.
They pulled out their wands. Harry kept looking around him. He had, yet again, the strange feeling that they were being watched.
"Someone's coming," he said suddenly.
Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. Harry couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, he could tell that it was carrying something. Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face. And— several paces nearer, the gap between them closing all the time— Harry saw that the thing in the person's arms looked like a baby... or was it merely a bundle of robes?
Harry lowered his wand slightly and glanced sideways at Cassius. Cassius shot him a quizzical look. They both turned back to watch the approaching figure.
It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second, Harry and Cassius and the short figure simply looked at one another.
And then, without warning, Harry's scar exploded with pain. It was agony such as he had never felt in all his life; his wand slipped from his fingers as he put his hands over his face; his knees buckled; he was on the ground and he could see nothing at all; his head was about to split open.