glow. // cedric diggory

26

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

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Ellie didn't remember being underwater, but she was. It took a moment for everything to come rushing back. The moments where she had no clue what was happening was like the moments when you wake up after sleeping and can't remember anything about where you are, who you are, or anything that's ever happened to you. 

It did eventually all come back as she broke the surface of the Black Lake, gasping for air that now felt like a luxury. Every breath Ellie inhaled was freezing and felt like shards of ice down her throat, making it close up. The wind picked up and she became acutely aware of the icy chill of the early February air. She turned around quickly, unsure of where she was or what had happened. Why was she in the freezing water? What was going on?

A voice in her ear said with some struggle, "I need you to kick, love." She recognized that voice and quickly realized that the arm twined around her waist could only keep the both of them afloat for so long, so she kicked her legs and instantly, the two began swimming easier. "There you go. Keep kicking, Ellie. Are you okay?" the voice asked.

Ellie turned to see Cedric, his whole body beneath the water, like hers. She gasped for air again and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she replied.

"We have to get over there," he told her loudly over the sound of deafening cheers by a crowd. "They have towels and blankets over there, come on."

The two swam towards a large wooden structure that was filled to the brim with students from all three schools. As they reached the platform, arms reached out to help Ellie and Cedric out of the water. Ellie grabbed onto two hands and Cedric planted his hands firmly on her waist, helping to lift her out of the water with ease. He quickly followed her and both Hufflepuffs were wrapped in fresh towels.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Cedric asked loudly, huddling closer to Ellie. 

She nodded and said, "I'm fine. Are you okay?" He grinned widely and nodded, wrapping his arms around the girl in front of him. She reciprocated and hugged him back. "I think you were first, you know," she whispered in his ear.

"We were first," he corrected, squeezing her tighter. "I used a Bubble Charm."

Ellie smiled. "That's what I asked you to use."

"That's why I used it, love."

As Cedric wrapped his arm around Ellie's shoulders, extending the warmth of his towel to her, she looked around the platform and saw Fleur sobbing uncontrollably close by. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Cedric, muttering, "I'll be right back, Ced." She made her way over to Fleur and touched the girl's shoulder gently. "Hey, hey, what's going on? Where's Gabrielle?"

"She's in the water," Fleur cried, her breath coming in sudden, occasionally violent gasps. Ellie looked out at the Black Lake and felt the color drain from her face. "I wasn't able to get past the Grindylows. I couldn't save her. They have to save her!" The Beauxbatons student was hysterical and Ellie just rubbed her shoulder gently as Fleur leaned into her, shushing her quietly in an attempt to calm her down. Inside, Ellie was freaking out as well.

"They're not going to let Gabrielle get hurt," Ellie assured her friend. "I promise you that. Dumbledore himself told us before putting us under that we would be kept safe at all times."

Fleur looked up at the Hufflepuff with big, shiny eyes that made Ellie's heart shatter. "He did?"

"Yeah, he did," Ellie told her with a small smile.

Their attentions were drawn towards the lake, where Viktor Krum and Hermione Granger broke the surface, earning Krum the second place spot for the task.

"She has to be next, right?" Fleur asked hopefully.

"If not, she'll be right behind Ron and Harry with one of the safety guards," Ellie replied, rubbing Fleur's shoulders quickly. When Gabrielle and Ron bobbed up to the surface, gasping and spluttering, Fleur exclaimed something in French. She reached her arms out, calling out for her little sister to take her hand.

Ellie reached out for Ron, who grabbed her arms and pulled himself up onto the platform. "Thanks," he mumbled, immediately being swarmed by students and staff with fresh towels and blankets. Ellie grinned and nodded at him right as Fleur grabbed his face.

"Oh, Ron, thank you for saving my little sister." She kissed his cheek and Ron's eyes grew cloudy, almost as if he was in a dreamlike state. Fleur repeatedly expressed her gratitude to the Weasley boy. Ellie decided to go back to where Cedric was with his friends.

"Where's Harry?" she muttered in his ear. Cedric's face contorted in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Weasley came up, wasn't Potter with him?"

Ellie shook her head, a look of concern growing in her eyes.

"They'll find him, love," Cedric promised. "He's fine. They wouldn't let anyone die. Especially not Harry Potter." Ellie nodded, knowing this was true, but the fear that maybe he had been lost took hold and gripped her conscience with iron sharp claws, unrelenting.

Neville Longbottom, a fourth year Gryffindor, was pacing about the platform muttering to himself in a daze. "I killed Harry Potter, I killed Harry Potter..." Hermione Granger was huddled next to Ron, shivering under her warm towel as she watched the boy pace back and forth.

All of a sudden, someone shot out from the water. Harry flew up high, turning over and diving back down before finally coming back to the giant wooden buoy. He had a horde of people helping him out of the water and Dumbledore himself went over to check on the boy. After it was confirmed that Harry was alright, Dumbledore announced Cedric as the first place winner of the task, to which Ellie cheered loudly.

Cedric's friends jumped up and down, patting his shoulders and ruffling his hair. He turned to Ellie with the brightest smile and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up into a hug and spinning her in a circle while she laughed, arms looped around his neck.

"This is all thanks to you, Ellie," he whispered as he set her back down. "Thank you so much."

"No, Ced, this was all you," she replied proudly. Cedric Diggory had placed first in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament and was on the path to victory. Ellie knew it, he knew it, and everyone at Hogwarts knew it. Now the real question was would he be able to do it.

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AUTHOR'S CORNER

Hi everybody! So this chapter was a big problem for me to write for some reason. I'm not quite sure why. But it's fine. Obviously I replaced Cho Chang with Ellie for this task (why wouldn't I?) and I actually like it a little.

For the sake of this timeline that I've so clearly messed up, I'm going to try to fix some things.

In the books, the second task takes place on February 24th, which is obviously 10 days past Valentine's Day, and seeing as I was planning to write a Valentine's Day chapter and completely FORGOT what day the second task happens, we're going to be moving the second task date.

We'll all go ahead and agree that the conversation with Dumbledore happens on the night of, say, February 9th, and then the task is the next morning (February 10th). That gives me leeway to write a cute little Valentine's day chapter.

Anyways, I know this was a lot and possibly a little confusing, but thank you for reading it regardless. Love you all to the moon and to saturn!