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With the third task looming over the heads of the teens, nerves were higher than ever. Once Harry had been informed that the last task would take place in a seemingly never-ending maze, the quartet got on straight away with training. They spent many nights in secluded classrooms practicing defensive and offensive spells on each other, much to the dismay of Ron who seemed to be the target of the spells once he had volunteered.
Their spare time was consumed with finding the perfect spells in every book possible and landing on pillows once they had been hit with a new hex from Harry. There wasn't much specific training to do, considering they didn't know what exactly was in that maze, but they didn't stop until they were assured Harry was properly prepared.
Meanwhile, during the passing months of training, Harry and Zinnia had never been closer. After a couple of months not speaking to each other, it seemed that they couldn't stand not being with each other anymore. Their tension was gone and every bit of comfortability was regained between the two. Although those not competing in a life threatening tournament had to complete exams, they still made time for Harry .
"Stupify!" Harry shouted for the third time, finally hitting the nervous Ron who fell back on the pile of pillows. "Ha! I did it!"
"That's great Harry, but you might want to bring Ron back into consciousness" Hermione mumbled with her nose in her Runes book, studying for the exams.
"Oh right, yeah" Harry stumbled over the askew pillows on the floor and revived the dizzy Ron.
"That doesn't get easier each time" Ron grunted as Harry helped him up.
"I'll sub in for you Ron, you sit down" Zinnia laughed as she pulled out a chair with her foot.
"You sure Z?" Harry asked nervously, suddenly losing the confident disposition he had when casting spells on Ron.
"Do your worst, divination work is making me lose my mind anyway" she walked over to the clearing they had made by pushing away desks and planted herself in front of the pillow pile. Harry stood blank faced for a bit before shaking his head and getting into position. He unsteadily raised his wand as Zinnia screwed her face.
"Supify!" Harry muttered, but to no effect. "Stupify!" he grunted again, still unable to produce the spell. Zinnia opened her eyes and sighed, she walked over to Harry's outstretched arm with a gentle smile.
"You're holding your wand wrong, Potter" she laughed lightly as she gently adjusted his hands. Harry couldn't take his eyes off of her as heat rose to his cheeks. "Just say it with a bit more confidence" she looked up to him after angling his direction closer to where she was standing.
"That would be a lot easier if it wasn't you I had to curse" he chuffed, looking down to Zinnia's honey eyes with a subtle grin.
"You had no problem cursing Ron" she laughed as she adjusted Harry's finger again. It fell silent for a moment as Harry had no way to come back from that. All that was running through his mind was panic.
