24 | a maze within a maze

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     The sad truth was that Samira was glad when the afternoon finally had passed by and her parents took their seats on the stands by the maze. Her father was still pretty pissed, her mother too eager to keep up the nonexistent peace amongst her family, and Cedric was doing his best to cheer Samira up. So when their parents had wished her luck and left for their seats, it was Cedric who remained with her in front of hedges trice as high as Samira herself was.

     "Don't let them distract you", Cedric said, knowing best that Samira was still angry with her dad and disappointed by her mother. "No matter how this ends tonight, they will be too proud to start another quarrel. You'll win this, Sammy, I feel it."

     After George and Fred had wished Harry good luck, the both of them made their way to Samira.

     "You won't be mad if we cheer a little louder for Harry, will you?", George asked with a grin, as he flung an arm around Samira and pulled her close to him, placing a kiss on top of her head.

     "Nevermind, at least Ced will be my cheerleader", Samira chuckled, nudging Cedric's arm. "But you won't be mad with me if I win, will you?", she then grinned up at George, you was kissing her nose as she did.

     "Out of solitary, we at least have to act like we are", Fred said in a matter of fact kind of voice, but the corners of his mouth twitched. "We need to go now", he then said, throwing a look at the stands, that were almost fully filled. "Good luck, little Diggory."

     Fred winked at her for a last time, before he walked away. Cedric hugged her and wished her well, before he followed Fred.

     "You'll win this, I know it", George whispered into her ear, as he again pulled her close. "Don't ever tell anyone I said this, though, we don't want to disappoint Harry, do we?"

     "To be honest, he's my favourite", Samira chugged, winking at Harry, who had come closer, taking his position next to Samira in front of the maze. "But I will win this anyways, I know two guys that could need a bit of financial support for their joke shop. What do you think, would a thousand Galleons be enough to find a  fine location and maybe some test subjects, who are willing to eat those murderous sweets voluntarily?"

     George blinked at her. "I won't take money from you, Sam", he said, looking startled.

     "You won't get it for free, though", Samira replied, cocking an eyebrow at him. "If I will give you my gold, you at least have to stick with me forever. Deal?"

     "Sam, I —"

     George didn't look amused about her idea, but as he was about to complain, Dumbledore stepped in front of the crowd and it was time for George to join the audience. He leaned down for a last kiss, before he walked away. Now only minutes were left for Samira, until she would enter the maze and fight for her win. She could barely wait for it.

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     It's gotten dark. Samira had lost every trace of time — and every trace of herself. She couldn't tell if it where minutes, hours or maybe even a full day she had spent inside this maze. The second she stepped inside and the hedges behind her closed, the sunlight seemed to be turned off, and the task immediately hit her fully loaded, as an accrumantula as high as the hedges themselves crossed her path after she rounded the first corner.

     Ever since then, no direction she took was empty. Creatures and curses soon got her nerves all worked up, and Samira sunk to the ground after escaping the grip of a Kappa that had lurked for her in a small pond she had to cross.

     Burying her head in her hands, her neck jerked up immediately, when a high pitched scream hollowed through the maze, and Samira jumped to her feet, wand aiming into nothingness, waiting for what might was about to sneak around the next corner.

     But nothing came for her.

     The scream still echoed in her ears, heart drumming to give the ghostly sounds of that agonising yell a beat, the wand in her hand trembled.

      Red sparks would save her. But Samira was still far from giving up. The imprint of that golden cup in front of her inner eye, she straightened her back, calmed her breath and set one foot in front of the next, until she reached the end of the green aisle, peaking around the corner.

     It was empty, and Samira released a shaky breath that turned into a nervous laughter. Maybe just this one time, fortune was on her side. A moment of unconsciousness she had to pay for.

     She got hit straight into her back and smashed off her feat, but the sensation of hitting the ground she did not feel. Burning, agonising pain overwhelmed her, creeped into every pore of her skin. A thousand hot needles dug their way through her body, setting her on fire; lungs, stomach, heart — Samira no longer knew the location of her body parts, they all melted under the heat of this indescribable pain, until there was nothing left but an aching mass of skin and bones, flesh and blood, and her own screams sounded like a stranger's in the dim lit maze.

     Her name was being called, or was it just her maltreated brain playing tricks on her? Maybe she was dying. Goodness, Samira was hoping it was death calling out for her, and she so badly wanted to tell it to come and get her, but nothing but screams bursted out of her throat, while she was still stabbed and burning and drowning and breaking, all at the same time —

     In a blink, it stopped. Samira curled into a ball onto the floor, shivering, trembling, and in the back of her mind she recognised footsteps coming closer, but she couldn't move, she was unable to defend herself, closing her eyes and waiting for another wave of pain. Or death.

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