stargazing therapy | h. granger

[12] The Second Task

Month's went by and the couple's life seemed to be going well. Good enough for a pair of students that go to a magic school that is. The was the day before the second task of the tournament and as per tradition, all of Cedric's friend's were there to hype him up before the big day.

"And we hereby claim that if Cedric tries to die on us, you better believe that I will come for you and your little perfect quiff!" Natalie states before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"Honestly mate, you wouldn't want your quiff to get flattened right?" Justin smirked before breaking into a fit of laughter. Cedric just huffed and started to chase both Natalie and Justin around the common room. Aaron just looked around the Ravenclaw common room before he let out a genuine smile. These were some of the friends that he would try to keep until the end of time.

"Hey cut it out guys! Cedric here can't just worry about his hair!" Aaron paused for dramatic effect, "He also has to worry about how he's going to flex his muscles in front of Cho tomorrow!" The whole room bust into a fit of laughter and soon enough Cedric was chasing around his 3 closest friends. It was times like this when everyone was grateful for the things they had. With the Wizarding world facing the upcoming war, maybe a little bit more fun was needed to lighten all of their spirits. The four boys were all chasing each other around firing prank spells at each other and the only thing that the girls could do is watch from afar. The Ravenclaw common room had never been this full of life and the people that just entered the common room could only smile in amusement and try not to get caught within the line of fire.

"It's really nice to see everyone be this happy. I kind of wish that this would go on forever." Natalie said to Krystal.

"I know. My brother is an outright idiot, but I love him a lot. The fact that in Hogwarts I can see him laugh and be himself, I don't think I can ask for much more." Krystal admitted.

"I'm scared for Cedric. I don't know what I would do if Cedric died in this tournament. He's the brother I've never had, and honestly I think we would all lose our light." Natalie said with a heavy sigh. Krystal could only bring the upset Natalie into a hug and rub her back in comfort. Aaron noticed this and stopped running around and jogged over to his sister and his best friend.

"Hey!" He panted before he collected himself and said, "What's wrong? I thought we were all having fun!"

"Don't worry too much about me! I was just thinking about the tournament." Natalie smiled unconvincingly and tried to shoo him away.

"Now that is a lie and you know it. Tell me what's wrong Nat." Aaron nudged the girl.

Natalie could only look up and in Cedric's direction. "I'm scared for Cedric's life. This isn't me just being paranoid. I can feel it, something big is going to happen during the last task. This time though, I have no idea if I can stop it." Natalie said with a heavy heart. Everyone stopped to hear what Natalie was going on about. Aaron and his sister exchanged worried glances and could only hope and pray that Cedric would be alright.

"Let's get to bed everyone! Does everyone have their sleeping bags ready as per tradition?" Aaron cleared his throat and said to the group. The rest of them could only nod and shoot worried glances at Natalie. Natalie silently went towards Cedric and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Cedric said while returning the hug.

"Please, for the love of Merlin. Don't do anything stupid in the third task. Eternal glory isn't worth it if you aren't here to share it with your family." Natalie said on the verge of tears into Cedric's chest.

"Nat. We're only on the second task. I promise to not be an idiot alright? Why don't we just go to bed?" Cedric guided the girl to her sleeping bag and tucked her in with a kiss on the forehead. He himself got into the sleeping bag right next to her, and slowly drifted off into sleep.

--

The next day was the big day of the task and Natalie woke up a little less worried than yesterday. Aaron woke up quite early compared to the rest of his friends, and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast with his girlfriend. Hermione smiled at him as she saw him enter and motioned for him to sit at the Gryffindor table. He approached the table and greeted her with a kiss on the forehead and took a seat next to her.

"Good morning Ron!" Aaron said with a slight nod towards the both of them.

"Morning." Ron grumbled in response and took his toast rather violently. Aaron just whistled in response and whispered to Hermione, "Who shat in his cereal this morning?" Hermione only snickered in response and hit him lightly.

"Oh right? Where's Harry? Isn't he supposed to be down here already?" Aaron asked.

"He's supposed to be here, but the boy is always late to everything. So he'll probably make his way down soon I hope." Hermione said exasperatedly. Aaron could only look back at her with a confused expression and gave her a slight shrug. The couple looked down the Gryffindor table only to see Fred and Natalie talking quietly while slowly eating their breakfast. Aaron was happy for Natalie, Fred was someone who he really admired and he was glad that someone good had become Natalie's boyfriend. He smiled at them and then turned towards his breakfast where he took a croissant with butter and ate it slowly.

--

After breakfast everyone made their way towards the Black lake, waiting for the competition to start. Everyone could only sit on the pier and wait as champion's took the hour to retrieve what they sorely missed. It was rather boring for everyone actually, there was no safe way to view the champions, so everyone could only wait for the task to be completed. Nearing the end of the hour, Cedric came up first with Cho. Aaron along with his friends screamed at the top of their lungs for Cedric's safe return and immediately rushed towards him. Natalie began to blow hot air on them both to warm them up.

"Oh you pieces of shit." Natalie crossed her arms in anger while continuously blowing hot air on them. "How long can I last when both of you are doing shit like this? One of you is in a tournament that could kill you and the other is just taken away to the bottom of the black lake. I swear in a school like this I'm fucking balding at 17." The group could only chuckle at the response of Natalie.

"Love I think they're dry you can stop blowing hot air on them, they both look about as red as tomatoes right now." Fred said quietly shaking the girl. Natalie widened her eyes in realization and stopped blowing hot air at the couple. "Love I think we should go rest before the party, maybe a slight nap will do you well." Fred said leading his girlfriend out of the crowd and back to their dorms.

"Those two really...I love them together." Krystal said smiling.

"They really suit each other well. I can't believe their prank war is still on though. They're literally dating! How could they even have a prank war still going on." Aaron shook his head and pulled Hermione closer to him and put his chin on top of her head.

"Well that's just how their relationship is, not everyone can be as romantic as you Aaron." Cedric said sticking out his tongue.

"Just because you just won the task doesn't mean I won't beat your ass to a pulp." Aaron warned slightly.

"Bring it wimp." Cedric smirked.

The two best friend's ended up fighting all the way to the Great Hall before the two of them called it quits as they were just holding each other's hair at this point. Cho and Hermione could only roll their eyes at their boyfriends being the idiots they were.

A/N

Hi its been a while! I had no idea where to end the chapter so...just know I have plans for the next couple chapters. I think the reason I took so long was because I was planning how this chapter leads to the next couple chapters.

Hope you enjoyed anyways 😊

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