The Flower and the Badger

Chapter 19

The Easter holidays quickly came and went. Cedric had gotten along splendidly with Remus and Tonks, much to Anna's relief. Tonks took Anna to the side right before her and Cedric boarded the Hogwarts Express.

"He's definitely a keeper." She whispered to Anna, who giggled. "Last I checked, he was a Seeker."

Tonks rolled her eyes. "You know perfectly well what I mean Potter." She gave Anna a quick hug. "Better not keep Diggory waiting."

Anna hugged Tonks back, and she gave Remus a hug as well before getting onto the train with Cody. She spent most of the train ride laying down on the seat, with her head in Cedric's lap, him stroking her hair gently. Both were so at ease, and so happy, neither of them realizing just how long it would be before they would have another moment like this one.

Before anyone realized it, the time for the third and final task had begun. Anna couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen to either her brother or Cedric.

"Try not worry about us love." Cedric said soothingly. They had about an hour before the final task. "It's just a maze, what's the worst thing that could possibly happen?"

"You never know, especially how the other two tasks went." Anna insisted. "Just...promise me that you'll be careful."

"I promise." Cedric kissed her. "After all, I have a beautiful girlfriend that I need to come back to."

"A beautiful girlfriend that's going to kick your arse if you get hurt."

They both shared a small chuckle before Cedric had to go and join the other Champions. Anna gave him a tight hug, sighing as she watched him walk away. She sincerely hoped that he was right, that everything would be okay.

Anna was sitting in the stands between Hermione and Cedric's father, who had come to watch the final task.

"Oh just imagine the glory that Cedric would bring our family if he won." Amos said. "He would become a legend, go down in the history books."

Anna nodded absentmindedly. She didn't care if Cedric won or not, she just wanted her boyfriend and her brother to make it out of this alive.

"Miss Potter!" Professor Moody waved to her. "A word if I may."

Anna sighed softly. "I'll be back." She said to Hermione before getting down from the stands and walking over to Moody. "Yes Professor?"

Moody motioned for her to follow him, and she did so. They were a ways from the others when he suddenly grabbed her arm.

Anna didn't have time to protest or even cry out for help when Hogwarts disappeared and they suddenly appeared in a graveyard. And it was a graveyard that she recognized immediately. She had been in this graveyard once before, during one of her talks with Adriana. Why the hell had Moody brought her here? She spotted Peter Pettigrew, Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy...and Voldemort.

"Anna!" Anna gasped when she saw Cedric and Harry. They both tried to run towards her, but with a flick of his wand, Voldemort sent them both flying back before turning to Anna.

"Anna Potter...you are just as difficult to kill as your brother it would seem."

"Just as..." Anna's eyes widened in realization. "It was you that tried to kill me!"

"Not me exactly. It seems that Lucius failed in his attempt. You can be sure that he paid dearly for his mistake."

"But why kill me? Isn't it Harry that you're after?"

"Killing you would weaken him, it would utterly destroy him, making him ripe for the picking."

"As you can see, I'm not that easy to kill off." Anna retorted, causing Voldemort to chuckle. "Indeed not. You are a very capable witch, I know of your achievements. You would make a very powerful Death Eater one day."

"If you think that there's any way that I would ever join you, then you're sorely mistaken."

"A pity. Not even if I promised to let your lover leave this place unharmed?"

Anna's eyes flitted over to where Cedric was, and he gave her an imperceptible shake of his head. There was no way that he would let her join Voldemort, even if it was at the cost of his own life. Anna turned back to Voldemort. "Sorry, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to pass on your extremely generous offer."

Voldemort turned to Peter Pettigrew. "Kill the spare."

"Avada Kedavra!" Peter shouted, and Anna screamed before she jumped in front of Cedric, feeling the spell hit the side of her head. She hit the ground, and everything went black.

Cedric screamed as a fight between Harry and Voldemort began to wage, and he knelt beside Anna's body. He knew what the spell did, but he refused to believe that she was dead. He cradled her limp body in his arms. "Please wake up!" He cried as tears poured down his face. Then he saw something. At first he thought his eyes were tricking him, but they weren't. Anna's chest was shallowly rising and falling. She was alive. Just barely, but still alive.

"Harry!" Cedric shouted. "She's alive!"

Harry could have crumpled to the ground in relief. "You failed again!" He taunted Voldemort before grabbing Cedric's hand and grabbing the Cup, and the trio disappeared.

People began to cheer as the two returned, none of them knowing about the terror that they had been through, hardly anyone noticing the still body that Cedric still had in his arms. Hermione screamed when she realized that it was Anna, and Dumbledore and McGonagall rushed over to them.

"What on Earth happened?!" McGonagall gasped as Cedric laid Anna on the ground.

"Voldemort...he tried to kill me." Cedric said. "Anna...she saved me..." Once again she had been put into danger because of him, and now she just may pay the price for it.

"We need to get her to Madame Pomfrey immediately." Dumbledore said urgently. Hopefully they would be able to get the girl help before it was too late.