warmth - cedric diggory

chapter nineteen

athena rosewood let out a loud breath as she sat next to her friends from different houses. even draco malfoy sat with the group, looking proud and intimating, but was trying to offer support.

"it won't last long, rosewood." draco said to athena in his raspy voice, offering a small smile. ivy sat next to him with their thighs closely together, smiling to athena.

athena warmly smiled her classic hufflepuff grin and nodded her head. she knew if she were to speak, her voice would be awfully shaky.

the entire crowd cheered loudly, yelling and chanting cedric's name until he came out. the swedish short-snout dragon was chained up within the battle area, looking curiously around to the students.

"the dragon looks awfully sweet, maybe it will offer him a hug instead?" edmund was trying to lighten the mood with his words but wasn't playing them off confidently, he was just as terrified for his friend as everyone else was. the group all coughed up laughs anyway.

within a few moments, cedric was standing on the rocks and casting spells at the dragon. the dragon was not as sweet as edmund thought because it was doing anything in its power to attempt to hurt cedric, but he wasn't having it.

all the studying had really paid off because cedric was confidently protecting himself and flying around to get the dragon egg he was tasked to obtain. the crowd was loud and encouraging, even draco was yelling words of encouragement, which made edmund laugh.

it didn't take long for the hufflepuff boy to snatch the egg and pump his fist in the air with enthusiasm. the entire group felt as if they could shed tears of happiness when he flew to the doors and walked back into the tent.

the other competitors were extremely well trained and got their eggs as fast as possible, except for harry potter. watching him compete and watching hermione and ron shaking with fear could make anyone's bones shake. but with some luck, he managed to obtain his dragon egg and get out of there.

"you did it, mate!" edmund practically ran to the tents once all the competitors were finished, only checking a few times to see if the rest were behind him. his long arms wrapped around cedric's broad shoulders and embraced his friend tightly.
it was completely apparent that joy had taken control over cedric diggory. he had never felt so alive. the wrinkles against his eyes when he smiled hadn't disappeared once since his friends entered the tent.

"you really did it!" athena screamed when edmund pulled away, a few people glanced in her direction. with a huge grin on her face, she ran to cedric and jumped right onto him, knowing that he would catch her. he always did.

cedric began to laugh loudly and swing his smaller girlfriend around out of pure joy. the two laughed together as their friends laughed at them, pressing as close as they could to each other. cedric diggory had managed to finish the first task unharmed, athena couldn't begin to think of how thankful she was.

after a few hours of accidentally being in the tent, the group congratulated everyone, watched people praise cedric, spent more time socializing with others, and even saw draco malfoy put his arm around ivy. which was a big deal for them overall, except when edmund pretended to throw up because of it.

the next month passed by rather quickly. the second task wasn't until february, so it was put into the back of people's heads. people still spoke of the first task casually, talking about the dragon, making a reference to something someone did, etc.