Harry Potter One-Shots

The World Cup (Cedric Diggory)

WORD COUNT: 1526

I could barely contain my excitement as my mother, father, brother and I approached the small empty campsite with a flag bearing the name "Y/L/N" in the middle of the misty meadow. The scene surrounding us was picturesque; as the sun was just starting to peek over the tops of the trees, it cast long beams of bright, clear morning light over the field, illuminating the fog as it started to lift from the dewy blades of long grass. About half of the spots were filled, considering that it was still about a week until the match. My brother raced ahead to our flag, running excitedly around the spot despite the fact that it was literally an empty plot of land, just large enough for our humble tent and firepit.

My father followed close behind, almost as excited as his son, and set up the tent with a quick wave of his wand. Last came my mother and I, trailing behind and rolling our eyes at the boys.

Our first few days were mostly spent people-watching and catching up with friends from school as more and more of the campsites began to fill. I had never gone Muggle camping, but I would gladly do it again if it was anything like the experience we had. Inside our tent we each had our own bed with a little alcove, sectioned off from the living room with a small curtain. There was a small but cozy living room and a miniature kitchen with a gas stove, but my parents preferred to cook outside on the wood fire for the "Muggle experience," whatever that meant.

--

On the day of the match, my brother and I were so excited we could hardly sleep, so naturally we were up with the sun. I boiled some water to make tea while he raced about the tent excitedly, blabbering about how Ireland was going to crush Bulgaria. Still trying to banish the last bit of sleep from my eyes, I clutched my warm mug of tea in between my hands and pulled the sleeves of my sweater up over my fingers as I stepped outside to take in a deep breath of fresh morning air.

"Y/N, is that you?" called a voice, surprising me out of my thoughts. I jumped a bit, and a drop of tea landed on my finger, causing me to swear profusely as it burned me. I squinted through the morning fog, cursing my poor eyesight, until a familiar face came into focus. I dropped my mug of tea altogether and ran toward him, flinging my arms around his neck.

"Cedric! How are you?!" I cried, holding on tightly as he chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist after a moment of frozen surprise. Eventually, my feet reconnected with the ground and I pulled back to gaze into the face of my close friend and longtime crush.

"I'm good! I didn't know you were coming to the match," he frowned in confusion. I explained how we had bought some last-minute tickets off of one of my father's coworkers who had fallen ill, and Cedric's face broke out into another one of his trademark glimmering smiles.

"Well, I'm just glad you're here at all. Hey, maybe our seats will be close together! Dad, where are we sitting again?" Cedric turned away to ask his father a question, but before I could hear his answer my mother bustled out of the tent, scowling.

"Oh, Y/N, there you are! Come inside dear, your father needs help with breakfast and I have some work to finish up before the match starts." Reluctantly, I followed her instructions, turning back once to glance at Cedric but seeing his back still turned. Once I entered the chaos of our tent, though, all thoughts of Cedric's handsome face and strong arms around my waist were banished from my memory as I was met with a frighteningly disorganized scene that combined my mother's smoking cauldron of some type of new experimental potion, my father's smoking mess of a failed breakfast, and my brother's smoking... hair?! Oh no, wait, it was just hair dye.

--

As the end of the day neared, my family joined the crowds of people flocking to the pitch to find their seats for the match. I tried to keep my eyes open for Cedric but to no avail, as there were quite literally hundreds of thousands of people in attendance. We found our seats on the Ireland side and I looked around, knowing Cedric would be rooting for the team as well. Unfortunately, I didn't spot him, but my lack of Cedric was soon forgotten as the match began and we were gripped with the action.

The match passed quickly, almost too quickly, and just as soon as it started, it was over. When it was announced that, although Krum had caught the Snitch, Ireland was the winners, I stood up and screamed as loud as I possibly could.

The walk back to the tent was full of singing and cheering, and I was dancing around in circles with my brother until I went in for a spin and collided right with a very solid chest. Unable to keep my balance, I stumbled and put my hands out to stop my fall, but the ground never came. Instead, I was being held up by none other than Cedric, dressed head to toe in Irish colors and sporting a roguish grin.

"Careful there Y/L/N," he grinned, shouting slightly over the general din of the crowd. "Don't celebrate too hard!" I rolled my eyes at him and pushed away from him playfully.

"There's no such thing as too much celebration when your team just won the Quidditch World Cup!" I cheered, dancing and jumping around in circles some more. I could see the laughter in Cedric's eyes. He paused and looked like he was about to say something, but I couldn't hear his voice over the banging and screaming of the celebrating crowd. I leaned in closer, but before he could speak, there was a loud bang and a flash of bright red light that whizzed past us, followed by a scream that sounded a little too scared to be celebratory. I broke the eye contact and whipped my head around, and I was met by a terrifying sight. Behind me, walking in a straight line almost like they were in ranks, were rows of wizards in matching black robes with dark masks and hoods.

"Death Eaters! Run!" Cedric's voice cried in my ear, and before I realized what was happening he was pulling my arm and running in the opposite direction. As we ran, curses zoomed by us, some closer than others, but fortunately we didn't get hit. I was barely able to keep up with Cedric's long strides since he was considerably taller than me, but the mixture of burning hot adrenaline and icy cold terror coursing through my bloodstream helped me keep up.

I held fast to Cedric's hand as we wove between tents and campsites, trying to avoid any smouldering wreckage as small fires burst out all around us. We ran for what felt like hours until we reached the outskirts of the camp where the last few tents were met with a tall thicket of forest and brush. Without hesitation, Cedric and I plunged into the underbrush. I tried to ignore the stinging pain in my legs as they were scratched to shreds by brambles and low-growing bushes.

We stopped running once we could no longer hear any sounds or screams, and I collapsed against a nearby tree, trying to catch my breath.

"W-w-what's happening?" I managed to choke out between gasps of air. Cedric was too winded to reply, only managing to shrug his broad shoulders.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, catching our breath, but then there was a small crack, like the sound a twig makes when it snaps when someone steps on it. Immediately, both our gazes darted toward the sound, and we found ourselves face to face with a single Death Eater, pointing a long, crooked wand at our faces. I froze.

"I'm not going to hurt you kiddies... just yet," he crooned, lazily redirecting his wand between me and Cedric. I was immobile with fear.

"Or maybe, on second thought -"

"Impedimenta!" Before I knew what was happening, the Death Eater disappeared from my view in a cloud of black smoke, twisting up into the night sky. Cedric rushed over to me and wrapped his arms protectively around me.

"I couldn't let him hurt you Y/N, I swear I would never let anyone hurt you, if he hadn't taken off I would've fought him off, I swear," Cedric breathed into my hair as I clutched at his sweater, still processing what had happened. He had cast that curse at the Death Eater... to protect me?

"Please don't leave me," I breathed, noticing for the first time how shaky my voice was.

"Not until I know you're safe," he responded, squeezing me tighter in his warm, safe embrace.