Without warning, I'm gasping for air and choking on salt water.
-
-
-
Cedric looks at me confused.
"What are they calling you about?" He asks suspiciously.
I still don't want to tell him, worried that it'll just get him worked up, so I quickly come up with a white lie.
"It's nothing I'm sure. They probably just have some inside info to tell us or something." I shrug innocently, standing up and heading out the door, leaving no time for him to ask any questions.
I head out of the common room quickly, rounding the corner towards Mcgonagall's office, where I see Ginny and Kira walking a little ways ahead.
I catch up to them and throw my arms around their shoulders, startling the both of them.
"Bloody hell Bella, scared the shit out of me!" Ginny yells.
I laugh and look at Kira's face which has recovered, but now looks sickly nervous as we get closer to Mcgonagall's office.
"What's wrong Ki?" I ask concerned.
She looks at me, and I can tell her face is almost green.
"What are they doing with us for the challenge? What if it's the champions challenge to save us from something and Malfoy doesn't save me in time? What if they just leave us to die if the champions fail? I have a whole future ahead! I'm not ready to die-"
"Kira, calm down!" I exclaim, cutting off her rambling.
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to calm herself.
"The school won't leave us to die, Ki. First of all, they'd get sued to the point where they're bankrupt. Second of all, they're not about to kill off four innocent students for the purpose of a challenge. Hogwarts would never be the same." I state matter of factly.
She takes another deep breath and nods her head, her face almost immediately turning back to normal.
"Yeah, we'll be fine. Besides, Draco's a foul git, but he's a Slytherin, meaning he's ambitious. I'm willing to bet he'd do anything to save those he genuinely cares about." Ginny comforts, causing us both to laugh a bit.
We eventually reach Mcgonagall's office, where the door is cracked open slightly.
I push it open all the way, revealing Cormac and Mcgonagall just chatting in front of her desk.
It's interesting that he and Mandy are dating. That never happened in the books or movies from what I'm aware of.
"Oh! There you three are. Please, come in." Mcgonagall ushers us hurriedly.
We all step in the door, closing it behind us.
"We don't have much time, so I'm going to explain this quickly. As you all know, today is the second challenge of the tournament. In this challenge, you four are going to be put under a spell, and then you will be chained down deep in the black lake-"
"What?! That's insane! We could easily drown or-"
"Please, Miss Fowler, let me finish," Mcgonagall cuts Kira off sternly. "You will be brought to the bottom of the lake where you will be guarded by merpeople. It will be the champions jobs to save you all within the hour. Do not worry though, we have a safety team ready to save you if your champion fails to do so." Mcgonagall explains calmly.
We all relax at that last part, relieved that they do in fact have a plan if our champion is not successful.
"We have already gotten permission from your parents to put you under the sleeping spell, so technically since you are all underage, you do not have a choice here. Henceforth, let's do this the easy way with no resistance, agreed?" She asks with her eyebrows raised, daring us to challenge her.
We all nod begrudgingly, causing a tight smile to form on her face as she pulls out her wand.
I hear the door to her office swing open, and all of us simultaneously whip around.
In walk several bulky looking men, who make their way over to us.
We all turn back around as they approach, and when they do, they stand directly behind all of us.
Mcgonagall steps out from behind her desk, making her way in front of us.
"Remember, you all will be perfectly fine." She states calmly.
With that, she starts to wave her wand delicately in small motions.
I start to feel woozy, the thoughts I was having previously now leaving my mind.
The room starts to spin, and before I can even process it, everything has faded out.
-
Cedric's POV:
She runs out of the room quickly, leaving me no time to ask her any questions.
That's a little suspicious, but I trust her so I'll let it slide.
I have about an hour until I'm supposed to be at the canoes to take us to the lake, so I decide to go over the bubble head spell a few more times, making sure I'm prepared.
Once I've gone over the spell so many times I could do it in my sleep, I have ten minutes left to get to the canoes.
I'm starting to get anxious since Bella didn't come back, but I'm sure she's just with some friends or already there.
I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, running my hands through my hair anxiously as I step out of my dorm.
When I make it out of the common room, I see Harry chatting with Ron and the twins a little ways away.
I make my way over to them, and they all turn to me.
"Have you seen Ginny anywhere? I saw her an hour ago, but I haven't seen her since that announcement." Harry asks worriedly.
My body goes rigid at that. I'd assumed Bella was just somewhere getting ready, but it's too much of a coincidence that both of them are missing ever since that announcement.
"No, I haven't seen Bella since then either. You don't think they're being used for this challenge do you?"
Fred, George, and Ron tense up at that. I'm sure the thought of their sister being used in a Triwizard challenge is enough to cause them panic.
"They wouldn't do that..." Ron trails off uncertainly.
"They better not. I'll fucking kill Dumbledore if my little sister is used as a pawn in this game." Fred spits angrily, his fists clenching.
George pinches between his eyes in stress, but says nothing, his forehead creasing out of worry.
"I'm sure they'll be fine. There's no way the school would allow them to be hurt." Harry states very unconvincingly.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath to steady myself.
The thought of Bella being even slightly hurt is enough to cause me a panic attack. I'll do everything possible to save her if she's a part of this challenge.
I then remember the song the egg sang under water.
An hour long you'll have to look, to discover what we took
My head shoots up and I look at the four of them with wide eyes.
"That's what the egg is guarding! Remember how it said they took something we'll have to find? It's the girls! It must be!" I exclaim, adrenaline pumping through my veins, but anxiety still coursing through my body.
They all look at each other worriedly, and the twins then put their arms on both Harry and my shoulders.
"You must save them." George states.
"I don't care what you have to do, just save them. Who knows how far the school is willing to take this challenge. They may not send in someone to save them after you if you're unable to." Fred says lowly.
Harry and I look to each other with determination in our eyes, then back to the twins.
"We will."
-
We eventually make it to the wooden platform in the middle of the lake, along with hundreds of other students filling up the levels above us.
I stand next to Harry and the other tributes at the edge of the platform, the wind instantly chilling my skin as I remove my jacket.
I stare over the edge into the dark water, unable to see below the surface.
"Silence!" Dumbledore roars over all the commotion, causing everyone to cover their ears from the loudness of his voice.
"Champions, at the sound of the cannon, you may begin." He states, causing us all to bend our knees slightly in preparation to dive over the edge.
I grip my wand tightly in my hand, running through the spell one more time in my head.
"3, 2, 1-"
With that, the cannon is shot, and without a second thought, I'm diving into the icy water.
I'm eventually upright and able to see my surroundings.
The water is too murky to be able to make things out clearly, but I can see the outline of the endless fields of seaweed.
I pull my wand out and extend my arm in front of myself.
"Burbuila burua." I whisper, moving my wand to the incantation, though my voice comes out distorted since I'm under water.
Within seconds, the bubble has formed, covering my face below my eyes.
I look to my left and see a little ways away, Harry is clutching his neck, squirming around in pain from whatever spell he put on himself.
I would usually help him, but considering our circumstances, I can't afford to spend any time on anything other than saving Bella.
I whip around to my right, and see between a few seaweed strands ahead, a figure darts across, ruffling them.
Merpeople.
I immediately shoot forward, swimming through the plants which tickle my body as I pass them.
Navigating through the seaweed is harder than I'd imagined. My eyes are burning from the salt water, and it's impossible to make anything out more than five yards ahead.
After what feels like ages of swimming and fighting off a mermaid here or there, I finally reach a clearing.
The water is slightly less murky here, so I can see several yards ahead is a black medal gate.
I swim over to it as fast as I can, pushing it open with as much force as I can muster, though it hardly budges.
I've eventually made a gap just big enough for me to squeeze through.
When I'm through, I can see far ahead are four floating figures with chains connecting to the ground, holding them in place.
Thousands of merpeople circle them, surrounding them from every angle.
I reach them after a minute, and the mermaids spread out, forming a gap for me to swim through.
I reach the four victims, and my eyes scan each of them.
When my eyes reach Bella, a savior instinct I didn't even know I had overcomes me, and my hand is already around her chain.
I turn my head around one last time, and see Mandy swimming her way through the gap the merpeople have created for her as well.
Harry follows shortly after, and I signal to him times almost up with a quick tap of my watch, still feeling slightly guilty for not helping him earlier.
I mutter reducto with the flick of my wand, and the chain breaks in half.
I wrap my left arm around her waist, and I use my other to swim us as fast as possible to the surface.
After what feels like ages, the water starts to get lighter, meaning we're getting closer to the top.
After several minutes, we break through the surface.
I hear loud cheers erupt as my bubble bursts, and Bella gasps, finally awake and able to breathe.
Bella's POV:
Without warning, I'm gasping for air and choking on salt water.
The last thing I remember is being in Mcgonagall's office, and now I'm here.
I'm disoriented for a moment, before I realize what's going on and recognize the familiar arm around my waist.
I turn to Cedric, meeting his eyes which are full of relief and happiness.
We say nothing as we swim the several yards to the platform everyones on, climbing over the edge and onto it.
I turn to him and instantly throw my arms around his shoulders, bringing us both down.
He laughs and holds me for a moment, both of us laying there exhausted and out of breath.
We then sit up, several people talking to us and wrapping us in towels, though I'm not listening to what they're saying.
I look to my left and see Malfoy sitting against a wooden pillar by himself with a towel wrapped around his shoulders.
His hair and clothes are drenched, and a frown is on his face as he looks out over the lake.
He must've failed like Fleur did in the series.
Mandy and Cormac are laying against the ground, coughing up salt water similar to how Cedric and I were.
That only leaves Harry.
I notice that everyone has gone silent in anticipation, looking out over the water as the hour comes to a close.
"Come on Harry." I hear Cedric whisper.
"Oh my gosh Bella, thank goodness you're alright!" Hermione whispers anxiously, wrapping her arms around me from behind.
"Hey 'Mione. Do you think Harry's alright?" I ask worriedly.
I know he emerges last in the series too, but this feels longer than it did when watching the movie.
"I'm sure he's f-"
Before she can finish her sentence, Kira and Ginny emerge from the water, gasping and clutching onto each other.
Interesting. So rather than saving Ron and Fleur's little sister, Harry saves Ginny and Kira.
Only a second later, Harry shoots up and out of the water, cheers instantly erupting all around us.
They swim over and climb onto the platform, Hermione instantly wrapping them all in towels.
Ron and the twins come over a minute later, hugging Ginny desperately.
I turn to Cedric and pull him in again, resting my head on his chest.
He holds me tightly, as if it's the last time he'll hug me again, putting his lips to the top of my head.
His hand strokes my sopping wet hair gently, water droplets dripping from his hair onto mine. The closeness of our bodies doesn't do much to help with the coldness of the air and our clothes sticking to our skin, but nonetheless, neither of us let go.
"I was so scared Bella. We all were when we couldn't find you guys after the announcement. We had no idea what was going on or if you were safe." He explains in a hushed voice, his lips still to the top of my head.
I look up, meeting his eyes, and put my hand gently to the side of his face.
"Even if you hadn't saved me in time, they had a safety team ready that would help out." I assure him softly.
His face relaxes at that, and his free hand meets mine on his cheek.
"Silence!" Dumbledore roars, causing all commotion and noise to come to a stop.
"In first place, we have Mr. Cedric Diggory!"
Clamorous cheers erupt from all around, and tons of Cedric's friends surround us, helping us up and patting his back, congratulating him.
"Well done, Ced!" Mason smiles.
He then turns to me hesitantly and scratches the back of his neck.
"And I'm glad you're okay, Bella." He says awkwardly, before turning around and walking away.
Weird. The last time we talked I called him a cunt, and now he's somewhat nice to me.
I turn to Cedric and see his eyes are full of pride and happiness.
He smiles down at me, but his attention is quickly claimed by another fifty students making their rounds congratulating him.
I laugh as he continues to awkwardly thank them, not being used to this amount of attention.
He often has a little posse that follows him around the halls. He also has a different group of friends in each class that often just crowds around him, but all of his little fanboys are never in the same place at once.
Looking at the amount of people crowding around us right now, it's safe to say he has around 100+ students who are in love with him.
Soon, the crowd surrounding us starts to separate as a short blonde woman makes her way through, yelling at everyone to move out of her way.
Rita fucking Skeeter.
She eventually makes it to us, where she stumbles through the remaining people blocking her way, though she "trips" into Cedric's arms.
Being the gentleman he is, his arms shoot out to catch her, but as she's straightening herself out, he discreetly wipes his hands off on the towel around him.
"Mr.Diggory and Ms.Maxwell, pleased to meet you. I am Reeta Skeeter, journalist for the Daily Prophet. Please, come with me." She insists, grabbing one of my hands and one of Cedric's, pulling us through the crowd.
We eventually make it through, where she leads us a little ways in the woods, before sitting down on a tall stump, her notebook in hand and poison pen floating beside her.
She ushers us to take a seat on the log in front of her, so we do so reluctantly.
"Be careful with what you say. She'll exaggerate and use anything you say against you." I whisper just low enough so only Cedric can hear.
He nods subtly, his hand resting just above my knee.
I see Rita's eyes flicker to where his hand is placed, and a glint of deviousness shines in her green orbs.
"Cedric Diggory, a heroic handsome boy of age 18, saves his girlfriend of age 13-"
"Oh for Merlin's sake. We're in the same grade you wanker! We're both sixteen!" I huff exasperatedly.
She chuckles to herself and looks at the pen.
"Don't write that down." She whispers to it.
She turns back to us, and her eyes flicker towards Cedric's hand on my leg again.
"So, Mr.Diggory, I assume you two must be close for her to be the one you had to save, am I right?" She asks, her emerald green pen scribbling down her every word.
"Well, she's my girlfriend." He shrugs awkwardly.
Her eyebrows raise in amusement, and she leans over her notebook, closer to us.
"You must be close though, I mean." She whispers, her eyes yet again flickering towards his hand.
Oh for fucks sake.
"You nosy little git, that's no ones business except for ours!" I yell, my hands flying up in the air.
Cedric's eyes widen as he realizes what she was insinuating, and then they squint angrily.
"Not to be rude Ms.Skeeter, but like Bella said, that's absolutely no ones business except for ours." He states calmly, but you can easily pick out the anger behind his words.
She turns to her pen, chuckling lowly under her breath.
"Cedric Diggory, age 18, Bella Maxwell, age 13, romantically and intimately involved. Should charges be pressed? Submit your thoughts anonymously at the address listed below."
With that, she snaps her notebook shut, standing up and walking away with her pen sent from the devil following suit, leaving Cedric and I with our jaws to the floor.
-
"She's just absolutely evil!" I yell frustratedly, throwing down Sunday's copy of the daily prophet.
Cedric rubs my back soothingly, not seeming too bothered by it.
"I mean, how is she going to sit their and try to ruin our lives like that! More specifically yours, because now people all around are going to assume you're a fucking pedophile or something!" I rant, standing up and pacing around his dorm room angrily.
"Bella, no ones going to believe what she wrote. Everyone in the school knows we're in the same year, and no sane adult reads Reeta Skeeter's section of the Daily Prophet. Everyone knows it's full of rubbish." He says calmly.
I sit back down on the edge of the bed next to him, taking a deep breath to calm myself.
"You're right. I'm sorry, I just get so worked up over things like this." I groan, leaning my head into his chest.
He laughs quietly and rubs my shoulder, his finger tracing in squiggles and circles.
A minute or so later, loud knocking starts on the door, and shortly after, two red headed twins peak their heads through.
"Oh good, they're not snogging." George sighs relieved.
Cedric laughs, and then Fred gives him a knowing look, tapping his watch to signal its time for something.
Cedric nods, and I look at him questioningly.
"Go put on your quidditch outfit, and meet me at the pitch in twenty minutes." He instructs.
I look towards the window, and back at him with my eyebrows raised.
"Cedric, it's 10 o'clock and pitch black outside. Can't we wait until the morning to play quidditch?" I groan.
The twins roll their eyes.
"No time better than now!" George says quickly, running over to me and slinging me over his shoulder.
"Guys, it's cold out there! why are we even playing now?" I whine.
They laugh, and I see Cedric give me a smirk as the twins exit his room with me still slung over George's shoulder.
"Just stop complaining and go with it." George groans annoyed.
Fred nods his head.
"Yeah, you're not gonna wanna miss this."
-
A/N: For the sake of my poor preplanning, please excuse the fact that the second challenge is happening before the Yule Ball. I didn't think that through when making the first challenge so close to the beginning of the school year.
Thank you so much for 69k reads!