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The marching band plays as cheers and clapping echo's around me while I smile at my boys up in the stands, holding up my name on green banners with the rest of Slytherin. Today is the final task and I honestly can't wait for this shit to be over so I can go back to a stress-free school life.
"Miss Black," I turn away from laughing at Draco who has my name written on his forehead, to see Amos with Cedric. "It's good to see you again!"
"I wish it was under better circumstances," I say and shake his hand with a smile.
"As do I," he lets go of my hand and pats Cedric on the back. "But I'm sure I will see you around more. I've been keeping up with the paper and have seen the photos of you two."
My face heats up and even Cedric blushes making his father laugh at us both before taking a step away.
"Sorry about him," Cedric apologizes, taking a step closer to me. "He enjoys embarrassing me."
I laugh and wave him off. "It's fine, honestly."
"He's not wrong. After this, I would like it if you can come visit me during the break."
My jaw drops as I look up at him and he chuckles, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, making butterflies erupt.
"I, uh," I stutter and then laugh. "I would love that. I would love to do that."
"Good, because I really like you," he says so softly I barely hear him. "I know we haven't spent much time together, but I would like to give us a try after all of this. More dates and all."
My thoughts melt away as I blink a few times at him, trying to process what just came out of his mouth. Cedric Diggory likes me, Valentina Black. Holy shit he likes me.
"We can talk more about this after," he says obviously noticing I'm stunned. "You look beautiful today," he then kisses my cheek making the crowd roar louder and I smile up at him as he pulls away.
He gives me a small smile before walking over to his father who is watching us with a thumbs up making me laugh.
"How come everyone is finding love," Harry mumbles, and I turn around to him, laughing.
"Sonorus!" Dumbledore shouts and the band goes silent as the cheering stops. "Earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows its exact position. Now, as Mr. Diggory—" The Hufflepuffs start cheering as Amos lifts up Cedric's arm. "And Mr. Potter—" The Gryffindors start to cheer as I pat Harry's back. "Are tied for first position, they will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Miss Black," Slytherin starts to stomp their feet on the stands as Mattheo chants my name with the boys making me smile. "And Mr. Krum and Miss Delacour. The first person to touch the cup will be the winner!"
"Good luck, Harry. I better see you alive after this," I tell him and give him a hug.
"Same goes for you," he says and pulls away, walking over to his maze entrance.
"I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter," Dumbledore says, and I make sure my braids are still tight. "Should, at any point, a contestant wishes to withdraw from the task, he or she need only send up red sparks with the wands. Contestants! Gather around. Quickly!"
I pull out my wand and quickly walk over to Dumbledore, standing between Cedric and Harry as we stand in a circle.
"In the maze, you'll find no dragons or creatures of the deep. Instead, you'll face something even more challenging. You see, people change in the maze. Oh, find the cup if you can. But be very wary, you could just lose yourselves along the way," Dumbledore says to us and then walks away. Cedric gives me one last smile before turning away.
I stand away with Krum and Fleur as Harry and Cedric get back to their positions at the start of the maze. The canon goes off and the marching band starts playing as we all watch Harry and Cedric run into the maze.
After five minutes Dumbledore shouts at the three of us to go ahead. I quickly sprint into the maze, the entrance closing behind me making my heartbeat quicker. I take the first left, trying to see past the fog that makes it harder for me to find corners. I quiet down my footsteps and breathing as I take a right and go straight, not wanting anyone to hear me coming.
Both sides of the wall crash together, and I quickly start sprinting as the walls continue to crash together. I spot a corner up ahead and sprint faster, throwing myself into the free space, making the wind rush out of my lungs.
"I hate this shit," I snap and stand up. "I fucking hate this!" I shout into the sky.
I start moving again, taking lefts and rights for what feels like hours until the sound of a twig snapping behind me, catches my hearing and I whirl around with my wand up, but no one is there.
"Tina?" I whirl back around and see Harry.
I lower my wand as he walks over to me and grabs my arm. "You scared the shit out of me, Harry."
"I heard a scream," he rushes out and let's go of my arm. "I thought it was you."
"I didn't hear it," I tell him and feel my stomach drop.
We both spin around at the sound of whispers and see a glowing object. "The cup," I breathe.
I grab Harry's arm and we start sprinting toward it as the wall in front of it closes again. A shout fills my ears and we both freeze, looking to our left to see Krum with his wand aimed at us.
"Get down!" I hear Cedric shout as Harry yanks me to the ground with him and light blasts above us. "Stay down, Tina! Expelliarmus!"
I watch in shock as Krum gets blasted back by blue light from Cedric. I crawl backward as Cedric rushes over to Krum.
"Leave him!" I shout at Cedric, standing up with Harry. "We need to get out of here! This way!" I quickly go right and start sprinting before taking the next left and left again. "Hurry up you two!" I shout.
At the sound of only my feet on the ground, I halt and spin around to see they aren't with me.
"Harry!" I shout while sprinting back. "Cedric!" I keep taking corners, but I still can't find them.
My breathing starts to get choppy as panic sets in. "Cedric!" I scream at the top of my lungs as tears start to fill my eyes.
A bright light in the distance above me goes off and I sigh with relief. One of them got the cup. It's finally over.
"Come with me," I whirl around to see a professor behind me.
Before I can say anything, he grabs my arm, and the maze disappears with black smoke. I feel my stomach flip multiple times before the marching band fills my ears and I land on my knees at the start of the maze.
"Are you hurt?" I hear Dumbledore say as he crouches down beside me.
I shake my head no and look around for Cedric and Harry, but I can't see them. Only Fleur and Krum. "Where are they?"
Dumbledore stays quiet and then someone lifts me onto my feet, pulling me into a hug as I feel more arms wrap around.
"It's over!" Theo shouts.
"You survived the whole thing!" Draco shouts after him.
I start laughing as I realize we're in a group hug and they cheer my name. It makes me happy knowing that they don't care I lost, they only care that I'm alive.
"Let's sit you down," Mattheo says as we all pull away.
They lead me over near Fleur and sit me down, Enzo handing me a water that I gulp down in one breath as Mattheo and Draco walk away to get me food.
"So, we saw how close you and Diggory were before the task started," Enzo drawls, raising his brows at me with a grin. "You wanna tell us what that was about?"
I can't hide the smile that blooms on my face as I think back to what Cedric said to me hours ago. "He told me he likes me and after all this shit, he wants to give us a try," I admit.
"I told you!" Blaise shouts at Theo who flips him off.
Enzo smiles and pulls me into a bone-crushing hug. "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!"
He pulls away and I smile up at him and even Blaise and Theo smile at me. The crowd starts cheering louder and I look over Enzo's shoulder to see Harry and Cedric on the ground making my smile widen.
"They're back!" I shout with a smile.
Harry looks around confused and I quickly run over to him but stop when I see Cedric's eyes wide open. My heart splits into two as Harry starts sobbing on his chest.
"Harry? Harry, why are you crying?" I ask and my voice shakes.
He looks up at me with tears streaming down his face and I start shaking my head no, dropping to my knees next to Cedric.
"Get up, Ced," I say panicking and shaking his body. "Cedric!" I scream at the top of my lungs making the band go silent. "No!" I scream again as tears stream down my face.
Dumbledore rushes over, shouting Harry's name and I grab Cedric's face between my hands, looking into his lifeless eyes. Harry starts yelling as Dumbledore pulls him away and I cry harder, shaking my head.
"You can't leave!" I yell at him. "We—We had plans! I never got to tell you how I felt!"
"For God's sake, Dumbledore, what's happened?" An older man asks as arms wrap around my waist, pulling me back.
"Let go!" I scream, thrashing in someone's arms. "Let me go!"
"He's back! He's Back!" Harry shouts at Dumbledore and I freeze. "Voldemort's back. Cedric, he asked me to bring his body back." Harry then turns to me, and I start crying harder. "He said he's sorry. He's sorry he left you without a goodbye."
Sobs rock my body as my legs buckle and I fall to my knees. The arms around my waist loosen and I get pulled back into someone's chest as they cradle the back of my head.
"I'm sorry, Tina," Enzo whispers into my hair, his own voice breaking. "This isn't fair."
"Let me through!" I hear Amos shout making me look over to him, sprinting toward Cedric. "That's my son!" He yells, dropping next to Cedric and another sob escapes my throat. "That's my boy! It's my boy!" Enzo holds me tighter as I squeeze his arms with all my strength. "No!" Amos shouts which makes my heart shatter.
"She can't be here," Blaise says from beside us, but I don't look away from Cedric. "Come on, Enzo. She can't see more of this."
Amos faces me with tears streaming down his face and I choke on a sob. "I'm so sorry," I tell him weakly.
"What the fuck happened?" I hear Mattheos's voice from behind us, making me look away from Amos to Mattheo.
"You need to go, bro," Theo says quickly, pushing back Mattheo. "This shit's gonna be blamed on you."
Mattheo pushes him away and looks down at me in Enzo's arms. "What happened?" He asks again, looking over to Cedric.
I push against Enzo, and he lets go of me as I start to stand up, my legs shaking slightly. I advance on Mattheo and as he looks at me, I throw forward my right arm with all my strength and my fist connects with his jaw. He stumbles backward, holding his jaw with his hand before spitting blood onto the grass.
"Fuck, Tina!" Blaise shouts from behind me and I hear Professors shouting to stop me.
"Your father killed him!" I scream as Blaise grabs me, holding me back. "He killed Cedric!"
Mattheo looks at me, his eyes holding sorrow and sadness making me feel slightly guilty. But before either of us can say another word, Blaise picks me up and starts carrying me away as students and Professors watch silently.
Enzo follows beside us, the three of us staying silent the whole walk.
"Blaise," I hear Monie call out his name, making him stop and turn around with me still in his arms, too weak to object or push him away. "Can I come with you guys? To her dorm?"
Blaise and Enzo share a look but give her a nod and she follows behind us, into the common room, and then into my bedroom. Carefully, Blaise lays me down on my bed and Midnight curls up next to me as I roll onto my side, facing my back to the three of them.
"We're gonna go grab a few pillows and blankets to stay in here tonight," Enzo says quietly to Monie. "You're welcome to stay."
"Okay. I'll try and get her to have a shower while you two are gone," Monie says back to them quietly.
After a few minutes, I hear their footsteps leave, and then my door close. I don't turn around as I feel my bed sink and then Monie's arm wraps over my waist as she presses the side of her face into my back.
"I wish I could take the pain away," she whispers, and I feel her own body start to shake. "I wish you weren't feeling this pain."
"I think I feel in love," I whisper as a tear slides down my face. "I fell in love with him without even knowing it until now."
I hear her starting to cry and I roll over, wrapping my arm around her waist and tucking my head into her chest as we both silently cry together.
I don't let go of her, even when I hear my door open and then feel someone laying down behind me, rubbing circles on my back.
"We're all here for you," Enzo says in a soothing voice from behind me. "We all love you."
"Save yourself by not loving me," I whisper and Enzo's hand flinches against my back. "Everyone I love dies or leaves me. First my dad left and then my mum and sister died--now Cedric."
"We won't leave you, I promise," Monie says, pulling away and wiping my tears off my face. "None of us will leave."
Blaise sits down at the end of my bed, placing my legs in his lap. "We are always going to love you, Tina. We are always going to stay by your side."
I don't respond or look at any of them. They can make promises and say these words, but at the end of the day, death surrounds me like a disease.