prospicere futurum | fred weasley | cedric diggory

45

"You're going to be great." Corinne promised, her cheeks practically aching, Cedric's fingers sliding easily along the sliver of skin exposed beneath her sweater.

"Sure." He agreed, smiling down at her.

"You'd better go." She warned. The rest of the champions, the teachers, the ministry officials were all looming behind him, though none of them had glanced their way yet.

"I don't want to go..." He mumbled, pulling her hand into his, fingers locking with hers.

"What do you mean?" She frowned, watching as his own smile stilled, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I wish I could stay..." He practically breathed now, less than a whisper. The crowd behind them was growing louder, cheers and whistles carrying over the pitch around them.

"Stay?" She repeated, "You've been training for this for-"

"I don't care about the tournament." He said, though her mind was spinning, trying to block out the shouting behind her. "I just... I wish I had never entered, and we could-"

Corinne spun at last, the roaring behind her had grown deafening, so much so that she could hardly hear Cedric right in front of her anymore. The bleachers loomed over them both, Hogwarts students jumping around excitedly, her eyes found the Weasley's at once, the familiar brown eyes already locked onto her.

She blinked, forcing the picture from her mind, turning back only a second too late. She felt it before she had even turned. His fingers slipping from hers, the warmth of his body, everything had disappeared, even before her eyes landed on the maze again.

The eerie green haze surrounding the bushes, the professors all racing towards the oversized cup, glowing blue in the dark, illuminating the dark haired boy clutching onto the yellow jersey. Neither of them had moved. Cedric's face was hidden, pressed into the muddy grass, hair tangled and messy.

He had just been here... Just been at her side. His fingers in hers. The easy smile...

"Diggory's dead!"

Dead...

The pitch, the maze before her, everything was shaking, blurry, even without the fog filling the air.

Someone was shouting her name.

Someone was screaming.

A high pitched, blood curdling sound...

"Corinne!"

Her eyes flashed open at last, the maze, the pitch, the fog, everything was gone. It was dark, but different... The air was warm. Something soft was draped over her. A few embers still glowing red in the fireplace.

"Corinne, hey, you're okay!" The voice said again, and Corinne's stomach jolted as she forced her eyes up, locking with the brown ones she had just seen in her dream.

"You're okay! You're okay, it was just a-"

She shoved his hands away, not caring to notice the way his face fell as she did, lunging backwards to the end of the couch, pulling the blanket from where it had tangled around her waist.

What had she done... What had they done... Her mind flashed back to the night before... Or, rather... a few hours before... What time was it?

The window at the edge of the room was still dark. The sun hadn't come up yet, though the fire had been practically roaring when they had fallen asleep...