Smile - Cedric Diggory

Twenty

(Cedric's P.O.V.)

(In The Maze)

He and Harry walked together as the hedges blocked out the lights and cast an eerie feeling over both of them.

"Lumos." He muttered, holding his wand up to get a better view of the path ahead.

A fork in the path appeared in front of them and the two boys exchanged a look. 

"See you." Harry nodded politely and took the left path.

Cedric couldn't bring himself to reply, feeling like his throat was closing up and choking him to death. He set off down the right path, holding his wand high and keeping his guard up.

A sharp whistle sounded in the distance and he knew that Krum had entered the maze after them. He quickened his pace slightly, not exactly wanting to meet any of the other Champions in the maze.

Several turns later, he stumbled across  something he hadn't ever wanted to see again in his life. Blast-Ended Skrewts. Specifically, Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts, which were absolutely enormous. 

He desperately shot spell after spell, trying to get one of them to work. The two creatures advanced on his and at last his panicked "Stupify!" hit one of them on its soft underbelly. After struggling to take care of the other, he heard a sound behind him and whirled around to find yet another advancing on him.

Instead of facing it he vaulted over one of the stunned Skrewts and fled down the path, bursting out only to see Harry yet again.

He realized then that his robes were smoking and patted them to make sure he wasn't on fire.

"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts! If you see them, just run the other way because they're enormous."

Then he shot down another path, feeling panic and desperation try to strangle him. He forced himself to stop for a moment and breathe.

"Point Me." He murmured, trying to catch his breath. His wand swung around to find north and he realized he needed to take a left soon.

He glanced up when a mist began to swirl around his feet and saw Iris approaching him, smiling sweetly.

"'Ris. . ." Cedric stared at her for a moment in absolute wonder, and then flinched back in horror as she crumpled to the ground. Her body shuddered as he witnessed her dying in every way he could possibly think of.

His mind was blank until he remembered the voice of Professor Lupin telling them the previous year, "When I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears."

"Riddikulus!" Nothing happened.

He latched onto that memory of kissing Iris and shouted, "Riddikulus!" Instantly, a sharp crack sounded and the Boggart disappeared.

Cedric breathed a sigh of relief and moved on, keeping a better lookout of his surroundings. He moved carefully, making sure that he was headed towards the center of the maze.

Suddenly, a terrified scream pierced the deadly silence in the maze and he nearly pissed himself. It must have been Fleur. She had sounded off to his right somewhere, and he knew he most likely wouldn't find her, but he still felt slightly bad. 

He paused and muttered, "Point Me," to make sure he was going the right way, when something rustled behind him and he whirled around to find Viktor Krum holding a wand to him.

"What are you doing?" He yelled, highly confused and alarmed. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"

Krum's eyes looked strange, almost distant, with a sort of mist covering them. Something was very wrong with the other Champion.

"Crucio."

Cedric's legs crumpled underneath him and he shuddered violently. Pain wracked his body and he saw Iris reach out for him only to be murdered horribly.

"No. . .no. 'Ris." He cried out in pain.

His body writhed on the ground as images of Iris' mangled corpse filled his head. He saw them lower her into the ground and put up a head stone for her.

"IRIS!" He screamed in utter agony.

"Stupify!" The shout came from behind his attacker, and the pain stopped as Krum's body crumpled into the grass.

"Are you alright?" It was Harry, grabbing his arm to help him up. Cedric wished he had left him for a moment so that he could recover.

"Yeah." He managed to splutter. "Yeah. . .I don't believe it. . .he crept up behind me. . .I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand one me. . ."

His limbs were still shaking uncontrollably as he tried to shake the image of Iris' dead body from his head.

"I can't believe this. . .I thought he was all right." Harry shook his head regretfully. 

"So did I." Cedric agreed quietly.

"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?"

"Yeah. You don't think Krum got her too?"

"I don't know." Harry replied.

"Should we leave him here." Something ugly inside of Cedric wanted Krum to feel the pain he had experienced, and he hoped Harry had a better idea.

"No. I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him. . .otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt."

"He'd deserve it." Cedric muttered darkly, but he still raised his wand and shot red sparks into the air.

Cedric continued on with Harry until a split in the path came again and he took the right hand path yet again.

Somehow, he managed to avoid anything else. He heard frantic footsteps on the other side of the hedge, coming up behind him and saw an opening to the left.

He ran through, and there it was up ahead. The Triwizard Cup. He started sprinting, knowing that Harry was right behind him.