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Aurora Areli
SHAKING MY FOOT INCESSANTLY, I sat on the edge of my seat, barely listening to the conversations around me. I just couldn't get rid of the horrible feeling of dread that had been sitting with me for the past day. Something was going to happen, I just knew it. Whatever it was, I just hoped it wouldn't be as terrible as my dream.
And then suddenly, Harry had appeared at the edge of the maze, and the crowd broke into an uproar of applause. I stood up to get a better look, my heart pounding with anticipation. It was then that I saw Harry wasn't alone.
My eyes widened, and my heart felt as though someone was holding onto it as tightly as they could to prevent it from beating.
No, it couldn't be. That couldn't be. Harry wasn't holding onto the body of one of my closest friends, he wasn't lying there in the grass, face down and covered in blood. He just couldn't be.
I went to move forwards towards the maze to see for myself, but Hermione caught my arm.
"Rory, where are you going?" she shouted over the cacophony, but I jerked my arm out of her hold and shoved through the crowd with all the strength I could muster.
Everyone was crushed together, and I couldn't see straight over the harsh pounding in my head. When I was finally able to break through to the front of the crowd, someone grabbed me by the shoulders and attempted to haul me back.
"Let me go!" I yelled, twisting around to free myself. With great struggle, I finally dug my feet into the ground and pried the hands off of my shoulders.
I stumbled forward, the only thought in my mind being to get to Harry and Cedric. But what I saw when I finally got there made me drop to my knees in horror.
"No," I whispered, my breath coming out in quick pants. "No, no, no, no, no . . ."
I moved closer towards Harry and Cedric — Cedric's body — tears beginning to sting my eyes.
His eyes were open. The grey eyes that were once so full of life, empty. It had to be some kind of trick, some kind of sick joke. I just saw him, he was alive, there was no way that Cedric could be dead.
I couldn't breathe, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't breathe.
But it wasn't a trick. Cedric wouldn't do that. He wasn't moving, he wasn't breathing.
Cedric was dead.
"No," I sobbed, grabbing hold of one of his arms. It wasn't as warm as it should have been. "No, please, no! I just got you back! Come — come on, come on, say something!"
Someone was crouching over the three of us. Dumbledore. My eyesight was blurred, but I could tell he was grabbing Harry by the shoulders.
