Diving Into You | Fred Weasley

26 | Dragons and Firewhiskey

Naia squeezed Fred's fingers tight, as he gently soothed her back. "It'll be alright, bunny. Potter's got it."

They were gazing down at the enclosure for the first task. Naia had gone with Hermione earlier to wish Harry good luck. She donned her Gryffindor shirt, with a Hufflepuff scarf to show Cedric some of her support as well, which he deeply appreciated.

Soon, Bagman announced that the task had begun, and Naia watched in nervousness as a large Swedish Short Snout emerged from the enclosure.

From the tent, she saw Cedric emerge unsurely, looking around cautiously for the dragon. She cheered despite her nerves, and his eyes made their way to her. He gave her a smile, and at that moment, Naia had spotted the dragon right behind him. Her eyes widened and he quickly glanced behind him just in time to dodge the swing of its claw.

"Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow..."

Naia and the crowd gasped and watched as Cedric cleverly transfigured a giant rock into a black Labrador. The dog barked and distracted the dragon momentarily, giving Cedric time to climb over to where the egg was.

"C'mon, Ced, c'mon!" Naia yelled. Cedric was only a few feet away from the egg when the dragon lost interest in the dog and turned back to him in fury.

"Clever move- pity it didn't work!" Bagman shouted, and Naia screamed as the dragon blew fire straight to where Cedric was. He dodged it just in time to not be completely engulfed in the flames, and lunged for the egg.

"He's done it! He's done it!" Naia said, as Cedric grabbed the egg. The dragon breathed fire one more time, but Cedric wasn't fast enough to dodge it completely. A part of his cheek was burned, just when Charlie and the rest of the tamers whisked him to the medical tent.

"He's done it," Naia breathed in relief, and Fred wrapped an arm around her as they cheered. He tried to push away his jealous and petty thoughts about Diggory for the moment, just happy to see Naia calmer than she was a few minutes ago.

Soon, Fleur Delacour made her way out of the tent to face her dragon. She too, like Cedric was able to capture her egg but got away with a few burns. She had cast a slumber charm on the dragon that didn't last as long as she hoped.

Krum then emerged soon after, using the Conjunctivitis Curse to blind the dragon and steal the egg. The crowd went mad.

Soon, the moment Naia had been dreading the most had come. She was watching the entrance of the tent nervously, clutching onto Fred's hands tightly just waiting for Harry to emerge. Fred brought her hand to his lips and kissed it soothingly, also watching in anticipation.

Harry emerged nervously from the tent, and the crowd screamed. Fred and George cheered extra loudly and Naia readied herself in case he needed a little extra help.

The dragon lunged and breathed fire, but Harry was light on his feet, remembering the dodging techniques he had practiced with Naia two nights before as he maneuvered away from the flames behind a rock.

"Accio firebolt!" A few seconds passed, and then Naia heard it, the broom was coming to him and as soon as it neared him, Harry jumped on and flew past the dragon that narrowly missed him. The crowd cheered loudly, Naia sighing in relief.

"It worked, love! It worked!" Fred screamed. Naia laughed as she watched Harry zoom past in the sky, and dive downwards to accomplish his diversionary tactics. The boy could fly alright, missing the fire breathed by the dragon once more, almost dodging things as fast as a bullet.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" Bagman yelled as the crowd shrieked and gasped just as Harry dodged again. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

Harry zoomed in the circle, effectively making the dragon dizzy, but it didn't last long. As he went to dodge the fire, he swerved to the left, heading straight for the dragon's spikes. "Harry!" Fred yelled, and Naia didn't even waste a second. She swerved her arm and discreetly pushed Harry just a smidge to the right, causing the spikes to graze his shoulder instead of going right through his chest.