Time Is Life

first task

He lets Harry's magic pour inside of him like a calming warm shower. He feels the warmth and the underlaying love behind the motion. He nods at Harry, diminutively and almost not at all, but Harry's keen eyes catch his motion and his lips curl into a grin.

And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet can be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking....Cedric feels as separate from the crowd as though they are a different species. And then - it seems like about a second later to the brunette - Bagman opens the neck of the purple silk sack.

"Ladies first," he says, offering it to Fleur Delacour.

She puts a shaking hand inside the bag and draws out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It has the number two around its neck And Cedric knows, by the fact that Fleur shows no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that Madame Maxime told her what was coming.

The same holds true for Krum. He pulls out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It has a number three around its neck. He doesn't even blink, just sits back down and stares at the ground.

Cedric puts his hand next into the bag, his hand shaking all the while. He gulps and out comes the blueish-gray Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck. His eyes widen as it dawns on him that he will be up first. He sits down and stares at the dragon in his hand. It bares it's fangs at him and Cedric shivers involuntarily, this is going to be hell...

Cedric watches as Harry puts his hand into the silk bag and pulls out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four.

"Well, there you are!" says Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now...Harry...could I have a quick word? Outside?"

Cedric blanches and stares at Harry's retreating form, now what? His mind focuses back on the dragon in his hand. Can he really do this? On one hand he can prove himself now, but was that really worth risking his life for? What if he made a mistake by putting his name inside the goblet? There is no going back now, he has to pull through and give his best. He has trained for this and not alone at that. Harry has been helping him and furthermore, he has renewed his magic not even a month ago. He can do this and a bit of nerves have never hurt anybody...

Who is he even kidding?! Not himself, most certainly not himself!

A whistle blows from somewhere and Cedric tenses, his face paling so much that it almost seems green again. His stomach clumps together forming knots. Breathing becomes more difficult, he has to relax. He just has to.

He walks out of the tent and passes Harry. "Good luck, just do what we trained and you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say." Cedric mutters and Harry just laughs and shakes his head. The brunette knows that Harry meant his words and he will try to just wing it.

And now he is walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.

He sees everything in front of him as though it's a very highly colored dream. There are hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that have been magicked there since he last stood on this spot.

And there is the Short Snout, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, blue eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, silverish blue lizard, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd is making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Cedric doesn't know or care. It's time to do what he has to do...to focus his mind, entirely and absolutely.