✓ epiphany ━━ cedric diggory

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱

She led the three of us to her office, where a few other professors met us.

"Professor we only have a few hours till the next task." I protested.

"Not to worry, Miss Y/L/N. All will be explained soon." I gave Hermione a baffled expression and she shrugged in response. "But for now, this won't hurt a bit."

Black.

And that's it. That's all I remember.

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Cedric's POV

"Welcome to the second task. Earlier today something was stolen from each of our champions. A treasure of sorts. These four treasures, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the black lake. In order to win each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. They will have one hour to do so and one hour only. After that they'll be on their own." 

The buzz in my stomach was no longer from excitement but now the nerves had taken over. I couldn't help but wonder where Y/N was; surely she would be here by now. I wasn't sure if I was ready for this. I had practiced the bubble-head charm too many times to count in the last few hours Y/N had been gone, but I didn't know if it would last an hour.

I could drown in this air, suffocate in the dark humidity that rose above the water. It was cold. Like really cold. I was practically frozen. The crowd in the towers, standing in the water, cheered and clapped as we approached the edge; my father patting me on my back encouragingly and maybe with slightly too much pride.

"You may begin at the start of the cannon." Dumbledore announced and as he did, the sound of the cannon blast into the air. Three of the four of us, including me, dove into the ice cold water, the temperature cutting me like ice as I swam deeper and deeper. The cheers and excitement had become muffles under the water's surface and as the others swam away, I was alone.

The water was murky and the lake was vast; much bigger than it looked from above. There was a lot more life down here than I ever imagined; it always seemed too dead to inhabit anything. I pushed aside the tall sea-grass in my path and tried my best to navigate my way around the lake's bottom. 

I seemed to have swam for hours on end. The lake was endless and I had almost given up hope, when I heard a familiar, sweet, fantasy-like song, sounding from a few feet away. It echoed through the grass and waves and it got louder as I swam closer. A song I soon discovered to be the same one from the egg, meaning I couldn't be far.   

I reached a clearing of grass and could just make out four figures floating still in the water and one hovering beside the body on the far left. It was Harry: he had apparently managed to find them first. As I approached the figures, I soon noticed one to be Y/N. She was frozen and lifeless. Dead, almost. She had a ribbon tied to her ankle, keeping her from drifting up.

I drew my wand, in order to free her. Sending a streak of light towards the knot, the material burned and her figure began floating slightly, making its way to the surface. But before it could, I desperately grasped her arm and held onto it tight. Her body still frigid and not moving at all, like a mannequin.

Harry was still distracted his two closest friends in the same state that Y/N was, almost still trying to gather his thoughts. Before I left for the surface, I tapped my watch with my wand, indicating that he should watch his time and try and quicken up a little, due the fact time was slowly slipping away with each passing second.

With one strong push, we were out.

Y/N POV

And it was white again. I was, awake. With one large gasp for air, I regained my senses, which were not exactly what I expected them to be.

Cedric and I were floating above the black lake's surface, the weak waves brushing against us. His hair was all matted and slopped over his face. As we had made our 'entrance' the crowd roared. I still hadn't really come to any conclusion to what was happening right now. 

It was when I felt Cedric's arm linked to mine and noticed his yellow jersey, that I established, this was the second task: the treasure. That was, me?

Cedric lead me to the stands dock, waving as he did. I gave him a sort of confused, yet happy expression as he continued to laugh at what I assumed to be his victory. He assisted me onto the platform, along with a few members of his Hufflepuff 'fan club' as I called them. When in actual fact, it was just Anthony and one of invigilators. 

Cedric had hauled himself up and as soon as he made his way onto the platform, he grabbed the first towel he could, and threw it over my shoulders. My body was like ice. I guess I was too disorientated and muddled to have noticed until now. My hair was soaked and so were my robes.

He took a seat next to me and was greeted with handshakes and pats on the back, before wrapping his arm around me and pulling my body closer to his. It warmed me to think that he cared more about how I was doing than how he was himself, or all the attention he was currently getting from his very recent victory.

"Umm." I gestured to him, furrowing my eyebrows ever so slightly. 

"Oh right, yeah. You were my treasure." he smiled sweetly. "I rescued you from the lake."

I bit my lip and smiled up at him, the cheers still everlasting.

It was then when Krum and Hermione too gasped for air as they reached the surface; the Durmstrang students, yelling with pride as Hermione choked on the water. Not long was it until Ron and I think Fleur's sister followed. 

I had now realised that Harry wasn't anywhere to be seen. But Ron was? I stood up abruptly and began searching through the waves to find out if I could see him. But, not to my surprise, it was useless. 

"Y/N. He'll be okay. I saw him down there. He found you guys even before I did."

"Exactly Cedric. Something's happened." I looked up at the giant clock in the middle of the four towers. "An hour right?" he nodded, "he should be here."

A few minutes had passed and still no sign of Harry. But suddenly, a figure burst through the surface of the water, his wand held high above his head. I stood up again and all the tension in my shoulders released when I saw the crimson red jersey, soaked onto his body. Harry flew through the air and crashed onto one of the towers, right in front of Dumbledore, where he too was praised and showered with attention and towels for warmth that he had surely lost down there.

"Attention! Attention!" the headmaster had used his wand to silence the chants and everyone gathered around him; Cedric's hand entwined with mine, "The winner is...Mr Diggory!" 

I squeezed his hand and whistled with my fingers, jokily. The rest of the Hufflepuffs had too erupted with praise and his dad beamed with pride. He pulled me into his side and I wrapped my arms around his waist, as he pecked me on the forehead, myself, gladly accepting his embrace. 

"The way I see it, Mr Potter would have finished first had it not been for his determination to rescue not only Mr Weasley but the others as well. We've agreed to award him second place!"

The cheers were softer and less enthusiastic, mainly because they were drowned out by the Durmstrang's 'boos' after Krum came third. Myself, however, clapped, like the proud friend I currently was.

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honestly so sad im almost done with this book. please comment stuff you want to see in the future cause i love writing and don't want this to end :(

anyway, happy guy fawke's night. or bonfire night or firework night or whatever u call it if you're british.