WILD ➞ Fred Weasley

xvii. all for nothing at all

"Couldn't sleep, could you?" He asked, taking a seat next to her.

She shook her head, "How'd you guess?"

"Let's see... maybe the fact that you normally don't have the sudden urge to wake up before sunrise and do your homework." He joked.

"Kept having nightmares, couldn't get comfortable... it's nothing, really." She shrugged. "If you're planning on worrying about me, don't."

"Rory, dear, I've been worrying about you for a long time. It's a bit too late to tell me not to. How come you couldn't sleep? Talk to me."

"I'm nervous for Cedric, there's nothing to talk about, really." She shrugged.

"You've barely been able to eat anything all week and you couldn't sleep, I'm sure there's something else going on," George said.

"I'm fine," she sighed, however, the familiar sting of tears crept into her eyes. She began crying and hugged George, who was softly rubbing circles on her back and patting her hair.

"It'll be alright," he said quietly. "I know you're going through a lot right now. With Cedric and the tournament... and then there's Fred —"

"Fred? What's Fred got to do with anything?" Rory asked, pulling away and wiping a tear with the corner of her sleeve.

"You don't think my own brother doesn't tell me things?" He raised an eyebrow, "C'mon Rory, I know what happened at the Yule Ball and I saw you on New Years Eve."

"George," Rory sighed, "I can't focus on some boy troubles right now! Cedric might die tonight! He's someone I care a lot about! So yes... I'll lose sleep and my appetite because I'm —" suddenly she couldn't finish her sentence.

"You're terrified aren't you?"

Rory just nodded and hugged him again, more tears flowing from her face. She must have fallen asleep not long after, because she woke up with her head in George's lap, laying on the Gryffindor couch hours later.

The rest of the day was extremely agonizing. Dinner was the worst. Each bite tasted absolutely foul to Rory, she could only get about half of it down before leaving the Gryffindor table and going to talk to Cedric. The Hufflepuff table was busy, all of Cedric's friends being obnoxiously loud putting their thematic face paint on before the task.

"Rory!" A voice said, the girl turned around to see Aaron (who had already painted the word "Diggory" on his forehead), "I want to talk to you!"

"What is it?" The girl asked, slightly concerned.

Without saying anything, the boy hugged her. "It's gonna be okay Rory." He said.

Rory was taken aback, but slowly hugged back and smiled, "Thanks, Aaron. I'll see you at the task, yeah?"

He nodded and walked off to join his friends again. Rory went behind Cedric and placed both of her hands on either of his shoulders and leaned in. She hugged him from behind and he let out a little laugh.

"Hello, Rory. Nice to see you." He smiled.

She planted a kiss on his cheek and he stood up. She gave Cedric a proper hug and for a moment, she didn't want to let go. She decided to remember every detail of it. How she had to stand on her toes slightly to reach. How her hands wrapped around his neck, one lightly tangled in his chestnut curls. How he smelled like... fresh lemonade and a summer afternoon. How he held her, his strong arms around her frame, not wanting to let go either.

But they did.

"I love you, you know that, right?" Rory said.

Cedric smiled and nodded, "Of course I know that. I love you too, Rory. I can't thank you enough for everything. For always being there for me... it means a lot to me."

"There's no need to thank me," she shrugged, "You're so brilliant, Cedric. More than you realize. Now go into that maze, and bring home a win for Hogwarts and for Hufflepuff... and me." She winked.

Cedric rolled his eyes jokingly, "Of course. I'll catch you after, yeah?" Rory nodded and gave him another quick hug. Then, she went back to the Gryffindor table where she finished her dinner.

"It's a bit dodgy... them making the second task underwater and the third task in a maze... we can't even see any of the action!" Fred groaned as they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch.

"Maybe that's for the best." Rory said, adjusting her several pins showing support for Cedric, Harry, and Fleur (sorry, Krum!).

The atmosphere at the Quidditch pitch was incredible. Music and confetti and banners and the amount of people all amazed Rory. She felt excited for once, instead of nervous.

Rory, the twins, Marina, Lee, and Angelina found a nice spot to "watch" near Ron and Hermione. The rest of the school and many guests arrived and it was time. The champions stood outside the maze. All looking a sickly kind of nervous. Cedric gave Rory a thumbs up and a shaky smile before Bagman began the official pre-task announcements.

Then it began. Cedric and Harry were first in the maze. Rory felt as if her heart would either stop beating or beat out of her chest. Anxiety shot through her body as she saw red sparks fly out of the maze. It was only Fleur though, and she was alive, just injured.

Time passed in an odd way. Rory didn't really speak at all so it went slower than normal, but her mind was racing making time seem faster than normal. Krum came out not too long after Fleur. He wasn't as injured, just scratched up. It seemed he was stunned somehow and that's what sent him out.

"That means... that means whoever wins will be a Hogwarts champion!" Lee cheered. "It doesn't even matter who!"

That was true, it was slightly reassuring to Rory. No matter what, Hogwarts had a reason to be proud.

"How much longer?" Rory asked, nervously. She didn't even realize her hand hadn't let go of Fred's hand since the sparks went up for Krum's removal. It was fine though, she didn't let go.

"Hopefully not much," Marina sighed, "Oh isn't it exciting we got a Hogwarts champion!"

"Oh, yeah!" George shrugged, "I can't wait to rub it in their Bulgarian and French faces! Bragging rights is much better than eternal glory at the end of the day — "

The crowd erupted in screams. Rory's heart stopped for a moment as she saw Harry exit the maze with the cup. But he wasn't alone.

Cedric was with him, dead.

His lifeless body lay on the grass. Rory felt her knees weaken as she let out a horrific scream. She heard voices around her, the word "dead" floated through the air like dust in the wind. Her body went numb. The only feeling that her mind registered was Fred's arms around her trying to give her comfort. She felt at home, but not at peace.

He was dead, and there was nothing that could change that.