First Love, Last Love (Fred Weasley)

Chapter 42 | Third Task

Wednesday, June 24
You could hear the Hogwarts band play their music just above all the cheering, with Flitwick conducted them. While Fred and George screamed and waved their flags with delight, you were huddled up with Hermione and Ron, all worried about the upcoming task.

It was a huge, dark, dangerous maze where the Triwizard Cup was placed somewhere deep inside it.

While you bit your nails and shivered from nervousness rather than the cold, a tall man with a cape raced out the arena doors with Cedric following him. An abrupt cheer broke through as they clapped and smiled.

After them was Fleur, the Beauxbatons girls started cheering and doing a little dance for her, then it was Krum, and then Harry. Immediately, Hermione and Ron shot up and clapped for him. You joined them.

Dumbledore started his speech, but you weren't paying attention. You stood over by Fred, nails still bitten, and he put his arm around your waist.

When you heard, "Mr, Diggory" the arena exploded into cheers again. Dumbledore waited for the students to quiet down to announce that only Moody knew where the cup was. This didn't make you feel any better.

He went on to say that Harry and Cedric would go in first, then Krum, and then Fleur.

When they did, you leaned in closer. Harry turned around but he did not look at you. He was looking at Moody.

The bushes of the maze closed on him and you felt yourself gasp.

Now, you had to wait.

It was going to take a very long time. I think I'm going to die from this worrying.

You were nothing compared to Hermione. The entire time, she was peering into the Maze, trying to see any of the champions. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Ron, thankfully, was nice enough to put an arm around her as comfort, the same way Fred did to you.

Minutes passed.

Nothing happened for the longest time. Your apprehension was growing, you were not cheering for anyone at the moment, even though the arena was buzzing with excitement and the band was still playing.

"Oh, Merlin." You bit your lip, praying that all the champions would make it out alive.

You looked around the place. Students everywhere had big grins on their faces, few looked concerned. You locked eyes with Draco Malfoy, who wore a pleasant smile. It faltered when he looked at you, so you looked away.

You took several deep breaths to hopefully calm your nerves.

The music roared on. You felt as though you would be deafened by all this noise.

When you heard students gasping, you wondered what it was, but not for long. You could see a sudden burst of red light from the maze.

As soon as that happened, several teachers moved about, Dumbledore and Moody being two of them. They all went to the light.

Flitwick's band faltered, but when the teachers gave them a thumbs up, they continued on with their music. It didn't seem as light-hearted as before.