Harry's hand was clasped tightly in Cedric's as they ran towards the cup. They made it to safety within seconds but Harry could have sworn they'd been running, fighting for hours. Their hands clutched each other's arms and they stood a moment, just breathing. Harry grinned suddenly, panting.
Cedric broke first, laughing with the abandon only a man who has escaped death can. The Gryffindor followed after and they bent over each other with bouts of giggles making their bellies ache. It was moments later, when they'd calmed enough to simply smile and catch their respective breaths again, that Harry remembered why they were there in the first place.
The cup was glowing faintly in the foggy dimness of the maze and Harry could see the reflection in Cedric's eyes when the older boy turned towards it. Their smiles faded and Harry felt a chill down his spine as he dropped his hands, Cedric doing the same. It was as if they hadn't realized they were touching.
"We made it," he breathed.
"Yeah." Cedric was looking at him with an unreadable expression.
"Take it," Harry told him quietly, their gazes unwavering.
Cedric opened his mouth but nothing came out. He let out a breath. "Harry, it's yours."
Potter shook his head, sweaty hair flopping over his forehead. "No, I can't, you deserve it."
"This is no time for chivalry. You saved me, take it." With a rueful smile, Cedric stepped around him, back towards the tall hedge.
"Cedric, I'm not even the true Hogwarts Champion, you should be—"
"Stop arguing," Cedric cut him off, latching onto his arm with the hand not currently grasping his wand. Harry looked about to say something more, but Cedric pulled him in and planted a bruising kiss on his mouth, their teeth almost knocking together with the force of it. Gasping against him, Harry froze, and Cedric pulled away not two seconds later. His cheeks were flushed, he knew, and he was grinning like a fool. Before Harry could say another word, Cedric was shoving him back, forcing the fourth year to put his hands out behind him, catching himself on the cup itself as Cedric let go.
Harry disappeared almost immediately, a bewildered expression across his face. The smile fell from Cedric's lips as he tried to jump forward and catch onto the boy, but he fell into the dirt instead. Sitting up in panic, he looked around with fearful eyes.
"Harry!" he called, voice frantic. "Harry?" With absolutely no grace, he shouted the first spell that came to mind and was half-surprised that it shot red sparks into the air. Cedric hugged his knees and waited, eyes glued to the spot Harry had disappeared.
* *
*
Harry was returned to the field much later and the band kicked itself up, even as Cedric was running down the stands, leaving his father behind and pushing past Dumbledore himself to get to where Harry was stumbling around, yelling something. As he grew closer, he could hear what Harry was shouting. Cedric's father was calling behind him but he couldn't hear over Harry's words.
"He's back! He's back!" The crowd quieted enough when they realized something was amiss, in time to hear another call of "Voldemort's back!" before Harry collapsed on the ground, the portkey-cup laying next to him. The boy was on his stomach, now half-conscious and bleeding profusely from one arm.
"Harry! Harry can you hear me?" Cedric cried in dismay, dropping to his knees and trying to turn the kid over. "Harry, please." Behind him, the crowd started screaming, erupting into chaos that was simply background to the rush of blood in Cedric's ears.
