Twin Power *Cedric Diggory Love Story* (EDITING)

Third Task: The A-maze-ing race

Harry's POV

Cedric and I hurried forward into the maze. The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment we entered the maze. I felt almost as though I were underwater again. I pulled out my wand, muttered "Lumos," and heard Cedric do the same just behind me.

After about fifty yards, we reached a fork, and looked at each other.

"See you," I said. Cedric gave me a short wave before taking the right, while I took the left.

I hears the cannon fire for the third time. Krum had entered the maze. I sped up. My chosen path seemed completely deserted. I turned right, and hurried on, holding my wand out in front of me, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight.

The cannon fired in the distance for the fourth time. All of the champions were now inside the maze.

I kept looking behind me. The odd feeling that I was being watched was upon me.

The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as nightfall drew near, the reddish-pink tones of sunset fading as the sky's color started deepening to navy. I reached another fork.

"Point me," I whispered to my wand, holding it flat in my palm.

The wand spun around once and pointed toward my right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and I knew that I needed to go northwest for the center of the maze. The best I could do was take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible.

The path ahead was empty too, and when I reached a right turn and took it, I once again found my way unlocked. I didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving me. Surely I should've run into something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring me into a false sense of security. Then I heard movement right behind me. I held out my wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side.

Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his shirt was smoking. "Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed. "They're enormous- I only just got away!" He shook his head and dove out of sight, along another path.

Keen to put plenty of distance between myself and the skrewts, I hurried off again.

Cassia's POV

A scream shattered the silence. A feminine scream, to be exact. It seemed to have come from ahead, so I went straight.

Several moments later, I found Fleur lying on the ground, with Viktor kneeling over her as several roots slowly emerged from the ground, wrapping themselves around her.

The sight took me back to first year, when Harry, Ron, and I had snuck up to the third floor to try and protect the Sorcerer's Stone.--our first obstacle had been Devil's Snare.

Viktor rose to his feet and walked away, not even acknowledging my presence. As he passed me, I caught a glimpse of his eyes. I noticed that they were glassy, sort of like Harry when he doesn't have his glasses on. Something had to have happened to him to cause this, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Kneeling beside Fleur, I placed my hands on the roots constricting her, specifically the one around her torso. "Don't move," I instructed, to which she gave no response. I squeezed the root, burning it and the others. They released Fleur, allowing her to stand up. I felt pity for her. She seemed frightened to death.