It was about a hundred times worse than Megan could have imagined, waiting and listening. It had only been a few minutes and she was already trying not to go crazy. The only (minor) consolation was that Cedric wasn't facing the Horntail, which sounded like the most dangerous of the lot. Thinking of the Horntail sent more shivers down her spine, because she was the one who would be facing it.

Of course I would end up with the vicious one... she thought with a sigh.

She shook the thought from her mind before she panicked. She had several times been tempted to look outside, but had stopped herself. Hearing it was bad enough. She didn't think she'd have the strength to watch. And if she was afraid when she was watching someone's else dragon, what would happen when she faced her own? But even without seeing, it was a long and unpleasant experience. The screams, the yells, the gasps... And Bagman's commentary only increased her worry for Cedric.

"Ooh, very narrow miss, careful, there, Diggory!" she heard Bagman say. "Ah, nice try, pity it didn't work!"

He'll be okay... he's smart, he's good with his wand... no need to panic...

But of course, as it always is when people you care about are in risky situations, not worrying was next to impossible.

"Oooooh that was a close one, do watch out, young man!"

A loud "ooh" of disappointment filled the air. Megan pulled out the pendant he had given her and held it tight in her hands, eyes closed. She focused on her hands and barely heard what was going on outside. That made it a little easier. Then, after about fifteen minutes, she heard roars and applause. She exhaled, relieved. He had passed the dragon and retrieved the egg.

"And a very impressive performance!" Bagman shouted. "Miss Delacour, please!"

Fleur got up and strode forwards.

"Good luck, Fleur," Megan said.

She glanced at her, surprised, but nodded.

"You too."

And she disappeared. Another quarter hour passed. Megan kept looking up to see if Cedric was coming, not even listening to Bagman's commentary. But he didn't. And finally, the whistle blew again.

"Another stellar performance!" Bagman shouted. "And here comes... Mister Krum!"

Megan tried to wish him good luck too but he didn't leave her time to. She was now totally alone. She took long, deep breaths. She knew what she had to do. And she had to remember how far to keep to avoid being burned alive.

"Ah, very daring... nice swerve... oh, that takes some nerve... and yes! He has the egg!"

Megan quickly pulled out a hair band and tied her hair into a ponytail.

"And finally, our fourth, youngest and most controversial champion... Miss Potter!"

Megan stepped out of the tent into the small stone arena that had been made. It was full of rocks and formed like a crater. The stands were high above them. And the Hungarian Horntail stood in the centre, on its nest. Megan walked forwards. Just then, the Horntail saw her and shot out a huge spurt of flames right at her. Megan jumped to the floor, narrowly missing combustion.

"Ooh, nice dodge, there, that Horntail doesn't sound too friendly!" Bagman was saying.

You think? Megan grumbled to herself. What on Earth gave that away?

She tried to get to her wand, but another jet of fire made her duck behind a rock. She felt the heat all around her. And she leapt forwards just as it exploded, falling into a small crevasse. The tail of the Horntail then whipped around her, forcing her to keep moving, thrashed about like a sack of potatoes. She gasped as a whack of its tail sent rocks flying over her head. She could hear the audience's gasps above her.

"Your wand, Megan!" she heard Hermione yell. "Use your wand, just like we practised!"

Megan nodded. She wouldn't get anywhere like this. She straightened up, raised her wand and shouted:

"Accio Firebolt!"

She stood still a moment, waiting. For a few horrible seconds, she feared it hadn't worked. If it didn't, she was finished. Both Hermione and she had agreed improvising completely was absolutely out of the question. Dragons were too unpredictable. But if her plan didn't work, she would have to. Then, finally, she saw her broom zooming towards her. She climbed on a rock and jumped onto it, narrowly missing another fire attack. She tore upwards, and thought about spinning around the dragon before noticing the golden egg was in the nest among other, very real eggs. If she spun around, it could trample them by accident. So she just rose higher above it. All her fear was gone, now that she was in the air. She stood still a moment, thinking. This wasn't so different from a Quidditch game, she realised, now that she could think clearly. She had to get through the opposing team - or in this case, the dragon.

"Okay... first, diversion..."

She dived and the Horntail's large head followed. She knew what it was about to do. She spun around mid air, rising just in time to avoid the jet of fire that would have scorched her if she hadn't pulled out.

"Great Scott! She can fly, are you watching this, Mr Krum?"

Megan rose and tried again, but this time was less lucky. She was able to dodge the flames again, but the tail whipped upwards, its long spikes grazing her shoulder. She winced with the pain, but she soared on, out of reach. Then, Megan got an idea. She had to get the dragon away from her eggs long enough to slip under her and snatch the golden one. She went forwards a little, and then shot backwards again to avoid retaliation. Then, she turned to the other side, and then back. Soon, she saw her flex her wings. She soared upwards.

"Come on... come and get me... I'm up here... come on..." she muttered, her eyes on the dragon.

And after a few moments, the dragon took off, roaring as it went towards Megan. Just then, however, there was a loud, terrible clank.

"Oh, my goodness, the chains!" shouted Bagman. "They're broken!"

The wizards sped forwards, but the dragon was already too high out of reach. Gasps and cries of horror rose from the stands. Even Megan felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of the metal tearing. The Horntail was flexing its wings. Megan knew one thing: she had to get it away from the crowd. It would be horrible if it realised it had a huge amount of prey right under its nose.

"Here, girl, come get me!" she called.

The dragon looked at her a second, then moved towards her. Megan didn't wait and sped off. The Horntail quickly followed her, narrowly missing crushing the juges' tent.

"Oh, my word! What is our youngest champion planning?"

The noise of the crowd and commentary vanished as Megan sped on, through the gorge and up by the towers of the castle. Higher and higher she went. But suddenly, the dragon cut her off and she managed to swerve in time but fell off her broom, landing hard on a roof. Her broom lay beside her. The dragon landed near her and approached threateningly. Megan then reached out to catch her broom. The Horntail shot more flames and Megan moved to avoid them, but lost her already meagre balance and, her fingers just holding her broom, she caught it as she fell off the roof. But as she fell, she caught the Firebolt firmly and managed to climb on it and take off again. She sped back towards the stadium, flew above the bridges, shuddering ast the dragon roared behind her. She swerved to avoid a spurt of flames, and finally saw the arena below her. Megan soared downwards, arm outstretched... and seized the egg.

"Goodness Gracious!" Ludo Bagman shouted. "Will you look at that! The youngest champion is the fastest to retrieve her egg! That's going to shorten the odds on her!"

Megan blinked. Had she really been the quickest? It had felt like ages to her. She landed at the entrance of the enclosure while the dragon keepers strode forwards to control the dragon. Megan saw McGonagall, Moody and Hagrid, beaming at her a few feet away. Panting, but smiling, she headed towards them, her heart lighter than it had been in a long time.

"Outstanding, Potter!" McGonagall smiled. "You'll need to get that looked at by Madam Pomfrey before they give your scores. She's tidying Diggory up already."

"Cedric was hurt?" Megan said, panic shooting through her like a bullet.

"Not too badly, don't worry. He'll be fine."

"Yeh did it, Megan!" Hagrid said. "Charlie said it was the wors' and yeh did it..."

"Thanks, Hagrid!" Megan interrupted quickly, to stop him accidentally saying he had shown her the dragons as well.

Moody looked happy too.

"Nice flying, Potter." He growled.

"Thank you, sir," she said.

"Right, then. First aid tent, Potter." McGonagall said, leading her away.

"Cedric!" Megan smiled, relieved to see him sitting up.

He grinned at her.

"Hey. Nice job, I hear you were faster than any of us."

Megan saw he had a cut on his arm, it looked worse than hers, as well as a nasty burn on his shoulder.

"Oh, God, are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's fine. It'll be gone in a few hours."

She sat down. Madam Pomfrey stooped around her, dabbing her arm with a liquid that stung. She winced as Madam Pomfrey treated her wound, grumbling.

"Dragons..." she was muttering angrily as she finished dressing the wound. "Dementors last year, now dragons, what will it be next? What are they trying to do, kill all of you?"

Megan and Cedric muffled their laughter, but their looks said it all. And a few seconds later, they were bursting out with laughter, which felt like heaven after the stress of the past few days.

"Megan!" called a voice from outside.

Hermione came bustling in, and threw her arms around her.

"Congratulations!" she said. "You were amazing!"

"Thanks." Megan said.

"Yeah, terrific! Scared us a while there, though." Harry said.

"You're telling me," Megan grinned. "I thought those chains breaking would be the end of me."

"Wanted to show off by giving us a scare, did you?" Cedric teased.

Megan laughed as Harry hugged her too. Just then, she spotted familiar freckles behind him.

"... Ron..." she said, letting go of Harry.

"... Hey..." he said awkwardly, staring at her white faced. "Listen... I think whoever put your name in the Cup is trying to get rid of you...! I mean... you'd have to be barking to put it in..."

Megan crossed her arms.

"Caught on, have you?" she said coolly. "Took you long enough."

There was an uneasy silence. Ron looked at her uncertainly. She had been waiting for Ron to apologise, but now he was about to do it, she realised she didn't need him to. It suddenly felt as thought the last weeks had never been. She laughed.

"It's okay. Forget it." She said, smiling. "I'm just glad you're talking to me again."

"No, I shouldn't..."

"Forget it," she insisted. "Come here..."

She stood up and pulled him into a hug. Her arm stung as she did so, but she didn't care. Harry, Hermione and Cedric grinned at her. She pulled back, and beamed at Ron who was smiling too.

"Come on, group hug!" Harry called. "You too, Cedric."

They pulled into a complicated but warm embrace.

"Come on, they're about to give your marks, Megan," Hermione said, taking her hand and leading her outside. Harry picked up her broom and egg for her and followed.