homesick ☆ f.weasley

.:48:.

Emmeline was struggling to see through the thick fog. Her wand was illuminated but it was bordering on futile as it only lit up the direct area under her feet. In the distance, she could see a thin, golden mist. It was sparkling and its golden hue provided some sort of light so she decided to approach it. As she inhaled, she felt her surroundings fade. Everything was flipped upside down and she was almost sick simply from disorientation. She fell to the ground, or rather the navy sky. She dragged herself forward, desperately trying to remind herself that this was simply a spell and she was in no iminent danger. She continued crawling, what else could she do? None of her intense studying had prepared her for this. Eventually, it ended and the world was slowly phasing back to reality. Without giving herself time to adjust, she stumbled forward, taking a sharp left.

Around the corner, a ten foot long beast resembling a scorpion towered over the hedges. Luckily, it was facing the other way so Emmeline had time to conjure up a plan. She recognised the creature as a Blast-Ended Skrewt, Daisy had told her all about the time Hagrid introduced her class to them in lesson. She also remembered how dangerous she described them, and those featured in Daisy's retelling were babies. This one was a fully grown adult. A rustle in a nearby hedge made the skrewt turn. It locked eyes onto Emmeline. She charged forward, dodging out of its way but it scuttled after her. It easily gripped her between its sharp pincers. Due to its hard exterior, the spells Emmeline had attempted so far were just bouncing off it. The creature revealed a row of fangs, relishing in Emmeline's fear. Its pinchers had dug deep into Emmeline's skin, causing an unhealthy amount of blood to ooze out. The wounds were agonising, it blurred her vision and she almost thought she would pass out from the pain. The thought of giving in and shooting red sparks into the air was tempting, but Emmeline knew deep down that she wasn't a quitter. Pinned under the screwt by its claws, she had a good view of its face. Without giving it too much thought, she winced through the torture and jabbed the skrewt in the eye as hard as her fatigue would allow. It seethed in pain and trembled back slightly and she took no time in rounding another corner to get away. The adrenaline had eased her injuries and she ran as fast as her maimed legs would carry her. There was no method to the turns she chose as brawl had overtaken brain.

She could tell she was making progress but she tried to dim down her pride. Red sparks flew into the sky, attracting the attention of Emmeline. One competitor was eliminated. Although she was concerned about the surrenderer, excitement overcrowded it. One less champion to compete with. She could win this! A small smile flickered onto her face before she was slammed to the ground. The force had winded her. She rolled over to view who, or what, had knocked her down. Her mind had fabricated a feral beast that was a gruesome hybrid of all the most venimous creatures the ministry could get their hands on. To her surprise, it was Krum. He was firing a plethora of spells at her. It was obvious to Emmeline that the desire for victory had repressed his morals and this had then resulted in him attacking the competition. Emmeline was shocked, she always quite liked Krum despite his burly physique and intidimating Quidditch status. She repressed her preconceptions and wasted no time in defending herself. However, the duel had barely begun but it was clear Krum's strength was overpowering Emmeline. She was out of her depth once again as she was struggling to defend the spells that were coming at her at an alarming rate. The spells were dangerous and teetered on the border of being incriminating, dark magic. The chances of Emmeline escaping his wrath alive were unlikely. The odds diminished to almost impossible when her wand flew out of her hand. Panic was beginning to rise, she couldn't even cast the spell to forfeit.
She began to scream, there was nothing else she could do. Perhaps Bagman and Crouch would see her struggle and intervene.

Suddenly, a flash of light interrupted their brawl. It was Harry, he had appeared to save her. Emmeline picked herself up and nodded at Harry, a quick show of her appreciation. The two parted, reminding themselves that their Hogwarts allegiance didn't detract from the importance of this contest. It was a competition and there could only be one winner. However, the Hogwarts duo were reunited as they teamed up to defeat an enourmous spider. They came to a silent conclusion that they were now a team. This had never happened in a tournament before, most likely due to the fact that there has never been two champions from the same school before. Or, perhaps, previous competitors had wanted the glory all to themselves.

Relieved from defeating the spider, they turned the corner, and there it was. The Triwizard Cup. Emmeline was a few steps away from victory. She inhaled and glanced at Harry. They exchanged a look that implied they were both weighing up whether or not they should just selfishly bolt for the cup and claim victory themselves. Emmeline exhaled the breath after what felt like a lifetime.

"Take it, Harry," she said softly, diffusing the tension that had polluted the air between them.

Harry shook his head fiercly. "You deserve it more, I couldn't have defeated that spider without you."

"Krum would've killed me if you hadn't stepped in and saved me!"

"You and Daisy need this, think of the future you could have with this."

"Harry, your parents are dead too."

"Together?" Harry suggested.

Annoyed that Emmeline hadn't thought of this solution herself, Emmeline nodded. "Together."

They both reached out a dirty, blood stained, trembling hand and grasped the cup. Suddenly, their feet were swept from under them and their surroundings were disappearing in a whirlwind. They landed on sodden, yellowing grass. Rubbing her eyes, Emmeline studied their surroundings. A graveyard. She had assumed this was another element to the task, until her eyes met with a scrawny man that resembled a rat, holding a cloaked figure. Her blood dried inside of her. It was Voldemort.