𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄 ★彡ᶜ.ᵈⁱᵍᵍᵒʳʸ

fourteen

IT WAS the morning of the second task and Zola was nowhere to be seen. Lorelei and Priscilla were searching the entire school before giving up, believing that she had woken up early to give Cedric good luck. But they were wrong. They were now stood on the docks, the challenge about to start any minute, and Zola was still nowhere in sight.

"I'm a bit worried," Lorelei mumbled. "Do you think they broke up already?" She whispered to Priscilla.

The Beauxbatons girl shook her head. "No, I saw them yesterday together. They seemed perfectly fine," she spoke confidently yet her brows were still furrowed, still not coming up with a logical reason why Zola wouldn't be here.

"Maybe Snape got to her," Fred began, teasingly.

"I heard she forgot to turn in her latest Potions essay," George continued.

The twins finished their statement together. "Spending too much time with Diggory, clearly."

The group snickered at the twins words, but it didn't feel the same without Zola's loud laugh or snorts. Even the twins had stopped laughing out of worry. "I'm sure she's somewhere around here," Jesse persuaded, though it wasn't convincing.

Troy winced uncomfortably, missing the girl immensely. "I think I'm losing my mind without her here."

Everyone agreed, either silently and verbally. Zion appeared behind them, sending a brief smile towards Jesse. "Hey, have you lot seen Zola anywhere. Millie said she wasn't in their room this morning. And no one in Slytherin has seen her since last night when Dumbledore asked her in his office."

The group shared confused looks. Before they could go out and search for her or alter a teacher, or even Cedric, about her disappearance, Dumbledore had began his speech.

"Welcome to the second task," he voice amplified so all three docks could hear him. "Last night, something was stolen from each of our champions," Lorelei and Jesse, being the smart Ravenclaws, quickly realised where Zola had gone missing to but decided to keep it to themselves for the sake of everyone's enjoyment of the challenge. "A treasure of sorts. These four treasure, one for each champion, now lie on the bottom of the Black Lake. In order to win, each champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough, except for this; They will have but one hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they'll be on their own. No magic will save them. You may begin at the sound of the cannon," A second later, a loud bang blew through the air and everyone leaned forward to watch the four champions dive into the water. Cedric, Fleur and Viktor did so, but Harry seemed to be choking and all but fell into the green, murky water. After a few minutes of panic from the crowd about Harry's well-being, he shot out of the water, with webbed-fingers and feet, gills visible on his neck.

Everyone cheered as he dived straight back into the lake to do his task.

The lake was more like a dark ocean, Cedric thought. It seemed to never end, making their task more difficult. None of the champions knew exactly what they were looking for.

They all unconsciously stuck together as they travelled through a large patch of seaweed. Cedric saw Fleur disappear towards the bottom of the patch, mysteriously. Deciding it was not the best decision to stick around, he quickly swan away, following Harry.

Harry spotted the group of floating students, all tied down at pieces of seaweed.

He examined each student as he swam slowly. The first was Gabrielle, Fleur's little sister. The next was Zola. Then Hermione. And finally, Ron. Clearly, these were the treasures that were stolen from them last night, but how could Harry decide who was his. Ron was his best friend. Hermione was also very important to him. Zola was like a big sister to him. And Gabrielle was only a little girl. He decided to stall, not wanting any of them to die in case their rescuers didn't make it.

Cedric swam quickly. He only saw Zola and knew she was the one he was meant to save. He snatched his wan out from its holder and blasted the seaweed that was tying her down. The sirens that circled them screamed at the noise. Cedric circled his arms around Zola's middle. He squinted down at Harry, tapping his watch, signifying for him to hurry.

Cedric swam back up to the surface slowly, partially from exhaustion and partially from having to carry both his and Zola's weight as he swam upwards. He finally reached the surface, the bubble over his face disappearing with the water. He gasped for air as he tightened his hold on his girlfriend. Zola, however, was still not breathing. Cedric noticed quickly and carried her back to the docks.

Everyone was cheering as they surfaced, yet the people closest looked worried as they noticed Zola was still unconscious. Dumbledore and Crouch rushed down the stairs to revive Zola, but Cedric had beat them to it. He gave her mouth-to-mouth along with chest compressions, something that Zola had taught him when she was rambling about what she had recently learnt about Muggle medicine, saying it was 'the best Muggle way to revive someone'.

And it was. She soon began spluttering and coughing, rolling onto her side so the water that had got caught in her throat could trail down the side of her face. Cedric sighed our of relief yet he didn't stop rubbing her back. "You okay, Zola?" Cedric asked.

Zola blinked, rolling back on her back to look up at her rescuer. "I was put at the bottom of a lake for what?" She rasped out.

Cedric chuckled, leaning back on his knees slightly. "Because I care about you... obviously."

Zola chuckled. Dumbledore loomed over her with a concerned expression. "Miss Montgomery, are you alright?"

Zola weakly nodded, moving to sit up with Cedric's help. "Yes, Headmaster, thank you," Dumbledore nodded with a smile just as Viktor emerged from the lake with Hermione, both gasping for air. As the attention was away from them briefly, Cedric helped Zola stand up and ushered her to a quieter place on the docks. "So... you care about me?"

Cedric rolled his eyes with a cheesy grin. "Shut up, Montgomery. Don't make me say it again!" He playfully whined.

Zola laughed, wrapping the towel tighter around her shoulders as a cold breeze blew past them. "Is dearest Cedric in love?" She fluttered her eyelashes up at him.

Cedric smiled with a nod. Zola blinked, surprised. "Yes, I think I am," he spoke. Zola processed his words in her head. "You're my treasure, Zola."

"Is that really what you think of me?" She whispered softly, suddenly losing all confident and playfulness.

"I'd be pretty dim if I didn't," Cedric commented as if it was obviously. "I know we've only really properly known each other for 6 months; 6 months today actually," Cedric realised, amazed by the fact that when they met at the Quidditch World Cup on August 24th was exactly 6 months, to the day, from now. "Anyway," he chuckled with Zola. "I know we've only known each for 6 months, but I think I've loved you since I first saw you."

Zola stood before him with her jaw hung open. She pushed his shoulder. "Then why have we only been dating for 2 months?! I've liked you ever since the Quidditch World Cup too, I just tried to ignore it because I didn't know what love is. I still don't, really," she laughed off her nerves.

Cedric hooked his finger under Zola's chin, lifting her head up to look up at him. "I'll show you," he whispered, as his head lowered so his lips could melt with Zola's.