So here it was. The second task.

I was saved, not by Hermione, but by Dobby. I never thought he would come in useful. But there he was - offering me this stuff called Gillyweed.

It was the morning of the task. I'd already given myself up for dead so you can imagine how grateful I was.

Carrying the Gillyweed in my hand, I joined the other champions besides the lakeside. The whole school was watching us from the temporary stands which had been erected in honour of the second task. I glanced up, looking hopefully for the friendly faces of Ron or Hermione, but I couldn't see them anywhere.

I shivered in my swimsuit as I stood next to Cedric. He smiled down at me, looking rather dashing in his trunks.

"You okay, Etta?"

My eyes lingered on his bare chest longer than I should have allowed them to.

"Y-Yes," I stuttered. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. "Just a bit... cold, you know."

I quickly folded my arms across my chest, praying that the coldness had not been showing in more ways than one.

"Well, good luck," he said in his silky soft voice, his eyes creasing up in amusement.

So, there I was, stuffing this green shit in my gob before diving into the lake. It was fucking freezing! Honestly, the things I did for this stupid school.

Fighting my way through the absolute horrors of the lake, I finally found myself at some kind of underwater village. There were figures, unconscious and tied up. I recognised two of them instantly - Ron and Hermione!

Merlin! What kind of fucked up school event was this supposed to be?

Seeing as Krum had swum past me and started to untie Hermione; the other prisoner was Cedric's dad; and I had zero idea who the blonde chick on the end was, I could only deduce that my prisoner was Ron.

Cedric grinned at me as he finally approached and rescued his dad. I was about to follow him with Ron, but then I realised there was no sign of Fleur and I felt very uneasy about leaving the little girl all by herself.

So naturally I decided to save her as well as Ron.

Well that went down well.

Actually, it really did as it earned me extra points for being so awesome.

Get in.

***

"It would have been you, you know."

I turned towards the silky soft voice. Cedric had caught up with me as I headed towards the changing rooms. Water was still dripping from his hair, he shook his head, flipping specks around him just like a dog.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my damp skin causing me to shiver.

"If you hadn't been a champion, you would have been the one I needed to rescue."

"Oh." I didn't know how to respond. Cedric was admitting he cared for me. "Thank you."

He suddenly looked bashful, his hand nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, I'm sorry if it seems as though I've been keeping my distance lately. I was just worried that I'd upset you during the ball and I wanted to give you some space."

"Upset me? How?" I frowned. As far as I could remember he had been the perfect gentleman.

"You know... the Malfoy thing. I feel I may have been slightly full on in warning him off. But the way he was looking at you... it had me, I don't know - alarmed."

Him and me both.

"It's okay," I quickly reassured him, smiling to show him there was no hard feelings. "I like that you stuck up for me, honestly. It was... nice."

"Nice?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Very nice," I said coyly, biting my lower lip which had pretty much turned blue by this point.

Placing his hands on my shoulders, he leaned in as though he was about to kiss me. But then, noticing just how much I was shivering, he halted, and quickly beckoned me towards the changing rooms instead.

"Ladies first," he smiled, his cheeks now burning a crimson red.

***

So, I had survived the second task. The only thing I had to worry about next was getting through the next flipping one.

My fucking life.

Ron and Hermione spent all their free time helping me practice different hexes and jinxes to prepare me for it. Apparently the third task was to be set in a maze and we were to face obstacles.

Christ, I hated mazes as it was, even without the added bonus of things attacking me from amongst the hedges.

"Counting your last days, Potter?"

I rolled my eyes as Draco drew up beside me on my way down to dinner. It was just a week before the task and I had managed to successfully avoid Draco since that morning outside the prefects bathroom. I had been hoping that he had gotten bored of me.

Fat chance.

"To be honest, Malfoy, if it means not having to endure you anymore, then I'd happily cark it."

"Ouch!" He chuckled. "And there I was going to offer you a good luck kiss."

Unbelievable.

"No thanks, I'm pretty much sorted in that department already," I smirked, my eyes glinting over at the Hufflepuff table as we entered the Hall.

I heard Draco hiss whilst I gave a little wave to Cedric. His eyes sparkled up at me as he gave me a little wave back.

"Isn't pretty boy a bit old for you?" Draco muttered in my ear. I caught a whiff of that cologne again. "And what's his problem anyway? Fancy being attracted to a fourteen-year-old child with a great big ugly scar."

"Well, you would know." I retorted, turning to head towards the Gryffindor table. "See you around, ferret face."

I left Draco spluttering furiously on the spot.

***

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, on eighty five points each - Mr Cedric Diggory and Miss Henrietta Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"

Oh. My. Fucking. God. I was bricking it.

I looked over at Cedric who smiled nervously back at me. He reached out his hand and touched the ends my fingers. Good luck he mouthed.

I was grateful for this gesture - my heart had been thudding furiously in my chest and my wand shaking crazily in my hand. Cedric had managed to calm me somewhat.

"So... on my whistle, Potter and Diggory!" Ludo Bagman roared. "Three - two - one -"

He gave a short sharp blast on his whistle, and Cedric and I hurried forwards to the maze. As soon as we entered, the sounds of the surrounding, cheering crowd was silenced.

Cedric and I parted ways and I shakily made my way into the thick of the maze.

Oh my word, it was terrifying. I came across a Boggart, some kind of upside-down charm, a Blast-Ended Skrewt (cheers, Hagrid) a sphinx, and to top it off, one of those massive spiders from the Forbidden Forest.

How I survived all of that, I'll never know.

Just me being awesome, I suppose.

And then I had reached the middle. But I wasn't the only one. Cedric too, found the Triwizard Cup at the exact same time.

We stared from the Cup to each other.

"Both of us," I said.

"What?"

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."

Cedric just stared at me. "You - you sure?"

"Yeah," I smiled offering out my hand. "We both got here. Let's just take it together."

For a moment, Cedric just stared at me, flabbergasted; then his face split into a grin.

"You're on," He said, taking my hand. "Let's do this."

Together, we walked right up to the Cup, both holding out a hand over the the Cup's gleaming handles.

"On three, right?" I spoke. "One - two-"

"Wait," Cedric interrupted me. And before I could ask for what, he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.

Our first kiss.

Just a shame it would also be our last.

***