Along Came Trouble | Book 2

Chapter 12: All This For An Egg?

"Where are you going, Riley?" Neville asked. It was the day of the first task, and I had never been so nervous.

"I need to go see Harry. Save a seat for me, please." I replied. He nodded, and headed towards the stands, while I went for the Champions' tent.

I stood against a flap, hoping Harry would hear me. "Harry? Pst, Harry!" I hissed. 

Finally, someone approached from the other side. "Riley?" Thank goodness it's him.

"Don't forget about what I said, okay? Don't let fear get the best of you. Neville and I got good seats to watch you win."

He stayed quiet for a moment. I'm pretty sure I'm more afraid than he is. I mean, my heart's racing, I'm shaking. I'm not ready to see my best friend get hurt like that.

Tears flooding in my eyes, I pushed through the flap, and embraced him into a bear hug. 

Suddenly, we heard a snap, and saw a flash. We pulled away, only to see Rita Skeeter standing there, grinning smugly. "Ah, young love! How disgusting."

"Oh, bug of Skeeter. Get a life and stop making comments about other people's."

Her grin became a stiff, angry expression. "No matter, we have what we need here."

I felt my cheeks heating up at the thought of Harry and I on the front page of the Daily Prophet, hugging, and apparently in love.

 "You better go, Riley. I'll see you soon." Harry's voice told me, snapping me out of my daze.

"Okay, good luck. I know you can do this." With that, I left. As promised, Neville saved me a seat in the front row. I sat beside him, and waited for the task to begin.

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"Our final Champion, Harry Potter!" Dumbledore's voice boomed. Loud cheers erupted from the crowd, as he cautiously stepped out of the tent.

His expression was nothing but fear. He made eye contact with me, and I gave him a reassuring look. He nodded a little, before bravely, yet stupidly, walked right towards the golden egg he was supposed to be retrieving. All this for an egg?

That was when a huge dragon jumped up out of nowhere. This one looked way more dangerous than the other dragons. It was covered in spikes, especially it's tail. It had menacing fangs, and two beady eyes.

It let out a tremendous roar, and swung its tail, nearly hitting Harry. He dodged it just in time, crashing into a rock.

I gasped, and covered my mouth with my hands. "Your wand, Harry, your wand!" Hermione shouted.

He listened, and reached into his pocket. "Accio Firebolt!" 

While he waited for his broom to come, he hid behind a rock, while the dragon attempted to burn him to ashes. I thought this thing was supposed to be guarding the egg, not killing the Champion.

I noticed that he kept glancing at me, as if the horrified look on my face was going to help him defeat this beast. I knew he could do it, I just knew he could. He just needed that broom for whatever reason.

Finally, I spotted his Firebolt soaring towards him. He caught it with ease, mounted it, and zoomed off. Breaking the chain it was tied to, the dragon flew after him. Soon enough, the two of them were out of sight.

From the distance, we could hear Harry's faint screams, the dragon's faint roars, and loud crashing sounds.

"Come on, Harry, you can do this, come on!" I whispered anxiously. Neville was doing the same from beside me. 

Suddenly, everything went quiet. The only sounds I could hear were gasps, and even sobs. I didn't even notice I had been crying, until several tears slipped down my cheeks. This was it. I lost my best friend. 

I hung my head, and just cried. That was until I heard cheers. I looked up, only to see Harry flying back into the stadium with a triumphant grin on his face. So, I began cheering as loud as I could, just like everyone else. As I said, I knew he could do it.

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"We knew you wouldn't die, Harry!" Fred and George shouted, lifting Harry onto their shoulders. All of us Gryffindors were in the common room, celebrating Harry's survival in the first task. 

"Break a leg,"

"Or an arm,"

"Pack it all together,"

"NEVER!"

I laughed, along with everyone else. Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Hermione. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I followed her over to where she was previously standing. She sighed before beginning. "I've been pretty stupid lately, haven't I?"

"Yeah, sort of." I admitted, making her chuckle.

"I just wanted to tell you that you were right. I did sort of betray Harry by helping Ron and not him."

"Of course I was right, Hermione. I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I know the difference between right and wrong. You were definitely wrong."

"I know I was. I'm telling you this because, even though you may not forgive me, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you."

I sighed. But, before I had the chance to reply, we heard a bloodcurdling shriek. I clapped my hands over my ears, as did everyone else.

After a moment, it stopped. "What the bloody hell was that?" Ron's voice rang out.

I watched as he and Harry approached each other. 

"Alright everyone, go back to your knitting. This is gonna be awkward enough without all you nosy sods listening in." George told everyone.

"You were saying?" Hermione asked me.

"Well, I guess you were in a tough situation too. I guess since you knew I had Harry's back, you'd take Ronald's. Not to mention, everyone knows you're madly in love with him."

I smirked, as her face went red, and she hit my arm. "Forgiven?"

"Forgiven." 

We hugged each other tightly. I have to say, I missed Hermione a lot. Apparently, Harry and Ron made up as well, because they seemed to be joking around when I looked over her shoulder. 

Good for them, they need each other.