Sorry for the long wait guys! I had to actually look references for this chapter because it wasn't just purely me, so thank you for your patience on this long over due chapter! Thank you!
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The third and final task was finally upon them and Hayden had no idea how to prepare. They weren't even planning on even hinting to those competing in the task what may be in store. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if they were purposefully trying to keep Hayden in the dark somehow while all the other champions knew and were preparing accordingly.
Hayden was stressed. How could he not be?
He hated to admit it, but he barely survived the last two tasks and there seemed to be a trend of the next ones being harder than the last.
He went to bed the night before the third task in a horrible mood.
"Draco?"
"Yes, love?"
Hayden turned over to face his lover, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought about the next upcoming day.
"Promise you won't leave me again like last time?"
Draco was not expecting Hayden to say that.
Wait, what did he mean when he asked him not to leave again? When did Draco ever leave Hayden?
Could he have been talking about their falling out after the first task? But, they made up for that, they had talked through and promised never to make assumptions without hearing the whole story first, so what could Hayden be talking abo- ... oh.
Hayden was talking about the last tournament. When Draco had been taken away right before he had to compete and was forcibly spelled and put in a less than ideal situation. A situation that almost killed Hayden.
"I will never leave you again, that I can promise and I never break a promise" Draco whispered in reassurance, leaning over to gently kiss Hayden's forehead. The tension Hayden had been feeling the last couple days started to slowly drain away at Draco's comment. It was reassuring, that he could count on the person he loved to be next to him and to always come back to him.
Hayden fell asleep that night in the arms of his mate. For now, he could put the impending anxiety the last trial is sure to cause and has already been causing off for when the task actually starts.
Right now, he was safe and he was loved.
---
Hayden involuntarily winced at the almost deafening sound of the crowd made up of the entirety of Hogwarts and the classes from both Durmstrang and Beuxbatons.
Hayden was the fourth person in the lineup to come out of the waiting area the champions were placed. He was only slightly irked that he was placed last but in the end he could really care less.
When he finally stepped onto the small field in front of a maze(?), the cheers and the gaudy music only seemed to have gotten louder. Hayden did his best to completely ignore everyone, mainly for his own peace of mind but also because he just wanted to get this thing over with and cuddle with Draco.
After a couple minutes that seemed like a couple of hours of the other three champions waving and goading the crowd on, Dumbledore finally stepped onto the strangely placed podium in the middle of the small field.
"SONORUS" the headmaster spelled, making his old voice ring out above the crowd. At least he knew the counterfeit he made the geezer worked convincingly.
"Earlier today, Our Mr. Filch placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows the exact position" Dumbledore explained to the large group of eager and excited school children.
"Now as Mr. Diggory and Mr. Snape tied for first position, they will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Mr. Krum, and then Mrs. Delacour" the crowd cheered after every name was listed off. Hayden couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, not with the crowd mind you, it was the maze...and whatever was in it.
"First person to touch the cup will be the winner," the old man continued, Hayden turning in just enough so that he wouldn't miss something possibly important.
"I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter. Should at any point a contestant wish to withdraw from the task, he or she need only send up red sparks with their wand"
Well it was a good thing Hayden started listening again.
"Contestants, gather round" the daft old man called to the four teenagers, stepping down from the podium after deactivating the voice charm.
Not a 5 seconds later, all four of them were gathered in a huddle, Hayden rather reluctantly so.
"In the maze, you'll find no dragons or creatures of the deep, instead you'll face something even more challenging"
Hayden could help but think that whatever he finds in there wouldn't be as scary as his father on a bad day.
"You see, people change in the maze. Oh, find the cup if you can but be very wary, you could just lose yourself along the way" Dumbledore said grimly, looking at each and every one of them.
"Champions, prepare yourselves" he announced as the huddle disbanded and the students went to their respective entrances.
"On the count of three, one-" but before Dumbledore could count any further, Filch set off the cannon, signally it was time for the contestants to enter the maze - and possibly even their doom.
I've already lost myself, Hayden thought to himself as he strode confidently into the hedged maze. But unlike everyone else, I have someone to help me find myself again.
Hayden put a hand up against the leaves of the wall and began following the length of the wall, not straying from the path he gave himself. In a trail he left behind a colored signature, spelled so only he could see in order so he wouldn't go down the same path twice.
Unfortunately that plan backfired as he watched the walls of the maze in front him collapse inward into each other, creating a whole other path.
Hayden sighed, he knew this wasn't going to be easy.
---
Just how big was this thing?
Hayden felt as though he had been walking for hours and he was still no farther to finding this damn cup.
Plus it was getting colder, the sun was probably setting already, not that he could tell of course with all this fog!
He just walked and walked and walked, listening to the odd and almost ominous sounds of the maze paired with the damp almost mildew-like smell of the ground.
How much colder was this place planning on getting?
Hayden almost couldn't take it any more. Because of being a Phoenix, he was more susceptible to the cold - strangely enough considering he was a creature of fire.
Taking the chance, Hayden let his wings unfurl, basking in the intentional dim glow. They were warm and they gave him enough light to be able to see his surroundings clearer.
He kept going.
He wasn't too worried if anyone saw him, he had his wand so it would only be a quick memory charm before they forgot they saw his wings.
The air around shone in a pale yellow, it was almost comforting considering his situation.
Suddenly the passage he was in started to collapse around him, the two walls connecting to be one. As soon as Hayden noticed he started running, except he wasn't fast enough.
The branches and leaves started to tangle in his wings as they crushed themselves around the boy.
Not knowing what else to do now that his movement was restricted, he let his wings burn bright and hotter until the branches suddenly receded as if they were burned. Looking behind him, that's exactly what he saw. The two hedges were up in flames.
Taking pity on the poor thing (he didn't quite know if they were alive or not, he assumed it was the same type of thing that afflicted the stairs of Hogwarts) he was able to pull them flames back into himself and quelled them before they could get back out of hand.
Well, at least he had a form of defense against the maze now, so he kept going.
In a way, he could look at this as kind of peaceful in a way. It was silent, but not in an eerie way. It was foggy in a way that reminded him of the gardens back home at the manor. He could almost imagine Nagini slithering up to him out of the fog and up onto his shoulders to soak up his warmth.
It was nice, or at least was until he heard a permitting scream ring through the heavy fog. That sounded like Fluer, she must've been in trouble!
Hayden knew he didn't have any obligation to save her, but at the same time she had never done anything to him. With that in mind, he rushed in the direction the scream came from, instinctively putting his wings away as he did so. It was a good thing he did too because as soon as he turned the corner, he ran head first into Viktor Krum.
Hayden couldn't help but stare into Viktor's eyes. They were glazed over, like actually glazed. A film of white covered his normally dark brown eyes. He looked like he was under some sort of spell. Did the maze do this to him?
Before he could think any further though, Viktor lifted a hand and brought it up to gently caress Hayden's cheek. The ravenette couldn't help stand there, almost frozen with wide eyes at the gentle display. At least Krum wasn't planning on harming him while in this state.
Almost as soon as it happened, it finished and Krum was gentle pushing Hayden to the side so he could pass. Hayden watched him go. That was odd.
He recovered quickly and hurried in his way when remember just why he had been running.
He kept going.
Thankfully, not too much longer, Hayden found Fluer - unfortunately she was lying unconsciously in the ground covered with the roots of the maze as it pulled her closer underground.
Quickly transfiguring a stick into a knife, he began to cut the vines circling her, pulling her out and away from the vines threatening to suffocate her.
Once she was free, he transfigured the knife back and carried her a little ways away from the hedge. Gently setting her down in the ground again, he found her wand in her pocket. Taking it out, he raised it above his head.
"Periculum"
A spark flew from her wand and soared far about the maze before exploding above into a group of red flares.
Placing the wand back into her pocket, he continued.
But he didn't get far as the maze decided to collapse into him again. Thankfully it wasn't as fast this time and he was easily able to outrun it with the help of the wind blowing behind him.
Coming to the end of the passage, he breathed a small sigh of relief at not being caught up in the maze again.
Suddenly a spell flew over his head. Damn, he wasn't watching his surroundings.
Looking at where the spell came from, he was surprised to see Viktor Krum and Cedric Diggory dueling each other, and he was in the middle of it.
"Expelliarmus"
Ducking from another spell sent by Cedric, he was surprised to see Viktor practically dive in front of him, taking the spell before it could potentially reach Hayden.
Even though it was obvious the Viktor was down and not waking up anytime soon, Cedric didn't show any signs of stopping.
The Hufflepuff ran over and viciously kicked at Viktor's hand, sending the wand from his grasp and flying a couple feet away.
Hayden hurried to get back into his feet when he saw the other aim his wand again.
"Cedric, stop!" Hayden shouted, backhanding the other as soon as he faced him. Thankfully Cedric wasn't going to hurt Viktor anymore, but now his predatory gaze was set on Hayden.
So Hayden ran. He knew it wasn't very characteristic of him, but at the same time he didn't care. He was tired and he was done. While he was able to look on the bright side of things earlier, all he wanted was for it to end. He wanted to be back by Draco's side. It felt as though they had just made up again and all he wants is to spend as much time in his mates arms as physically possible.
He ran until he felt Cedric closing in behind him. He heard a thud on the ground and cracking of roots.
Stopping his sprint, he looked behind to see Cedric being subdued by the vines in a similar way to what happened to Fluer.
While he hated Cedric and would have loved nothing more than to let the maze have him, if he was going to die, he almost wanted it to be by his hands. Sighing once more, Hayden pointed his wand at the hedge, sending a reducto to the bush before helping Cedric stand back up and move away from the hedge.
"Thanks" Cedric coughed out, breathing heavily. "I almost thought you were going to leave me"
Well, he wanted to, Hayden nodded, opting to not say anything.
Suddenly they both felt a warmness trickle through cold air. Looking in the direction it came, the two landed their eyes on the blue flow of the TriWizard Cup.
Looking at each other, they silently decided to make a run for it. Unfortunately the maze agreed as it once again started to collapse around the two causing them to have to run even faster.
"Together! We take it together!" Cedric shouted, trying to be heard over the chaos of the maze.
Before Hayden could agree or disagree, they both grabbed one handle of the cup before feeling an all too familiar tugging at the core of his stomach before the maze started to distort and suddenly,... there weren't in the maze any more.