BADGERS ○ CEDRIC DIGGORY

11;

The third task. I had been anticipating this day. I heard it was the most dangerous, and that was making me anxious. I chose to sit with Fred, George, Vivienne, Jackson, and Caroline in the Gryffindor section. I spotted Cedric on the Quidditch pitch and waved to him. He blew a kiss to me. I laughed.
I was sitting between Fred and Vivienne. Things between me and Fred were really awkward but I wasn't really sure why.
"Essie, hi." Fred said.
"Hey."
"How's life?"
"It's pretty okay. How about you?"
"It's good. Georgie and I are planning to open our shop after we graduate."
"Oh my gosh, that's amazing!" I exclaimed. He grinned.
"Yep, fun for all!" He yelled.
"You mean pranks." I laughed.
"Pretty much yeah." He laughed with me.

Dumbledore spoke for a minute, then the cannon sounded. Harry and Cedric entered first, then Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour.
I watched silently.
After half an hour, the glow of the cup disappeared. With it, Harry and Cedric disappeared.
"Portkey." I whispered. Jackson said something to Fred. Jackson and Caroline moved down next to me.
"Do you think the portkey cup thing was planned?" Jackson whispered.
"You saw it too?" I whispered back.
"Of course. Look." He pointed to Dumbledore. It looked like Dumbledore was arguing with the other headmasters, Ludo Bagman, Professor Moody, and Barty Crouch.
"Oh my gosh." I whispered.
A while later, after a lot of shouting, Harry and Cedric reappeared on the ground in the front of the maze.
"He's back! HE'S BACK!" Harry cried.
"Cedric!" I screamed and stood up. Cedric was lying on the ground. Harry was crying over him. "Ced!" I ran down to the field.
"That's my son!" Amos Diggory ran past me.
"Oh my god... is he...?" I whispered.
"Alive, but slipping in and out of consciousness." Someone told me.
"Estelle," I shot up when I heard Cedric whisper. "You're parents... they were working... for him... they were there."
Everything was quiet. Cedric was unconscious. "What?" I whispered. Harry looked at me, and Amos Diggory stared.
"Pomona... could you please escort Ms. Williams to her common room?" Dumbledore asked. No one noticed that Harry had disappeared with Professor Moody. Except Snape, as it seems.
"I'll do it, sir." I whipped around. Vivienne glanced at me.
"Thank you Ms. Hudson," He turned away. "Now where did Mr. Potter go?" I heard Dumbledore say as we walked back to the castle.
"Thank you." I told Vivienne.
"Don't thank me, it's only going to get worse."
We raced into the common room; no one else was there.
"You... still like Jackson?" Vivienne asked sitting us down.
"Yeah... but I–." She cut me off.
"Like Cedric better, yeah. Um... Jackson still likes you obviously... but he does like Caroline better."
"Ms. Hudson? Professor Dumbledore has requested to see you." Professor Sprout called into the room.
"One second, Professor!" She called.
"Why is Dumbledore requesting you?" I asked.
"The same reason I know all of that about you and Jackson," She took a big breath. She stood up and walked towards the exit. "The same reason... that lets me know that Amos Diggory plans on erasing your relationship from Cedric's mind."
"What?" I whispered. Then, I figured it out.