The Boy I Love -HEDRIC (2)

95.(HC) it wouldn't be your fault

HARRY

CLVI

They shot red sparks into the air so Viktor would be rescued, and walked away quickly so as not to cross paths with anyone. Harry wondered if he had hurt the boy when he recalled that, "He aimed straight at you."

"He seemed out of his mind," Cedric mused, “like…”

“As if someone was controlling him. Moody,” he made small quotes with his free hand, “he's good at that curse, he's proven it.” Harry looked back at the clear sky. “I think you should ask for your rescue. Let Poppy check you... and heal your arm. It must be bothering you.”

"Barely," Cedric answered, turning sideways at him. “I want to accompany you until you find the Cup and I will do it there. This way I can also ask for help. Besides, who knows what else will be on the way." He looked forward, pausing briefly before continuing under his breath with a grimace, "Do you think... maybe Viktor attacked Fleur?"

That had definitely sounded like someone had cast the cruciatus curse on her, Harry thought, not daring to verbalize it.

Cedric must have come to the same conclusion. 

CLVII

At some point, Harry offered Cedric a way out of the maze again. 

To which he refused again. 

“If it starts to hurt a lot, let me know and leave, okay? It's not that you need to accompany me. I'll understand.”

Cedric accepted those conditions. 

Harry felt how they were getting closer to the heart of the labyrinth. In the middle of the road he noticed movement. With the wand he illuminated a creature he had only seen once in a book: a sphinx with the body of a lion, a yellow tail and the head of a woman. She was blocking their way, but at least she didn't seem to be about to attack them.

Her attention focused on Harry.

He almost preferred to offer her combat rather than answer a riddle. 

Harry considered the possibility that Moody had manipulated the creature so that any response on his part would suffice. A theory that was better not to corroborate, so he began to think about it, asking for clues, knowing that, in the worst-case scenario, he would defend himself. 

Truth be told, when Cedric figured it out, he was glad he was still there. 

"You're brilliant," he kissed Cedric's cheek once they left the creature behind. “I couldn't have guessed it on my own…”

"Yes, you could have," Cedric objected with a seriousness that contrasted with his previous happy expression. “Harry, you've been saving my arse all the way.”

That caused him to burst out laughing. “I wouldn't let your arse get burn…”

Despite the blush, what Cedric said was, “You should give yourself some credit.”

“Fine. It may be that, with more time, I’d come up with the answer.”

His boyfriend's smile shone with satisfaction.

At the end of the path, the Triwizard Cup radiated a dangerous light.  

CLVIII

A dark blur leapt over them, knocking Harry to the ground and tossing his wand aside. When Harry kicked the giant spider covering him, it clamped down on him with its sharp legs in retaliation.