Little Phoenix (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

42. Letters and the Third Task

The next morning, Nic was hastily telling Cedric what she'd learned in a hushed whisper at breakfast when a whole flock of owls landed before them. About ten were for Tyriq, at least seven for Cedric, and maybe fifteen for Nic. "Who would be sending this many letters?" Nic cried, picking up a rather thick envelope. When she had opened it, she instantly regretted it. The potion inside burned and seared her hands painfully.

It didn't stop there, the burning feeling turned to large blisters on her hands and spread up her arms. "Merlin, Nic," Cedric exclaimed, turning from some sympathy letter he had just tossed aside with disgust. Tyriq didn't even bother to open them and simply flung them into the fire. Cedric did the same and the two helped Nic get to the hospital wing.
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Easter rolled around and while everyone else was busy in the library, Nic was curled up in the common room as she had simply pulled an all nighter and finished it the other night. She was busily reading when Tyriq entered the common room. "Hey," she greeted, glancing up from the muggle fantasy book she was reading.

"Hey," he replied, flopping down next to her. At her questioning look, he explained, "I was just cornered...by Malfoy." Nic rolled her eyes and turned back to her book.

"He's so annoying," Nic said.

"Tell me about it," Ty replied. Soon after, he fell asleep on the couch as Nic kept on reading. Nic hadn't even noticed when Cedric entered. Coming up behind her, he kissed her cheek, catching her by surprise.

"Hey," she greeted quietly, noticing Tyriq was asleep.

"He doing okay?" Cedric asked.

With a sigh, Nic set aside her book and replied, "This has been really hard on him, just everything with his brother."

"Yeah, I know," Cedric sighed. "He didn't even want us to know, forget the entire world."

"Yeah," Nic replied.

"Well, in other news, we get to find out what the task is tomorrow," Cedric admitted.

"The final task," Nic sighed, getting to her feet.

"Don't worry," Cedric said, kissing her temple. "I'll be fine and I'll protect you. We've got each other's backs, okay?"

"Yeah," Nic replied softly.

"What's wrong?"

"I just...I have a bad feeling," Nic explained. "Just about this whole thing."

"Nic," Cedric said, forcing her to look at him. "I'm going to tell you exactly what's going to happen over the next month. You and I are going to go into that maze and crush it. We may win, we may not, but no matter what, we will get through it and then we're going to talk about this year for the rest of our lives."

"Okay," Nic replied. "Cedric...I love you."

His smile widened. "I love you too, Nic."
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The next day Cedric and Nic walked down to the Quidditch field where they were told to go. Harry passed by them, but said nothing as he was still angry with Nic. She rolled her eyes, pretending she never saw him there. "Well what do you think?" Bagman asked, referring to the hedges growing all over the field. "Growing nicely aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid's have them twenty feet high." Spotting the upset expressions on Nic, Cedric, and Harry's faces, he added, "Don't worry. You'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"

""Maze," Krum grunted.

"That's right," Bagman said excitedly. "A maze. The third task is pretty straight forward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks. Now, it will not just be you going in there. Your companions are going in with you." Nic saw that no one was surprised by this. They had all known. Cedric had grabbed hold of her hand. As Bagman resumed, Nic scanned the maze, trying to imagine what they would find there in a month. "However, one of the companions will not go in, leaving that champion at a bit of a disadvantage."