ethereal - draco malfoy

task 1

The day of the first task quickly approached. I woke up early that morning, brushed my teeth, showered and looked for an outfit. I picked out a plaid pair of pants, a white crop and a black jean jacket with leather gloves to keep my hands warm. After I got dressed and styled my hair into a half up half down hairstyle, I put on black low cut socks and my doc martens.

I applied my eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow and lipgloss before looking at myself in the mirror.

Once I was done, I turned to Daphne and Astoria. "Almost ready?" I asked, plopping down on Daphne's bed. Astoria took a seat next to me, and we both looked at Daphne.

She frantically applied a layer of lipgloss before turning to us. "Alright. Let's go." she said. Astoria and I get up and join Daphne as we walked out of the dorm.

When we walked down the stairs and into the common room, the boys were waiting for us. Jack has a green scarf on, and that reminds me that I left Cedric's scarf in my room.

I turned around and ran back up to my dorm, grabbed the scarf, left my dorm and ran back to the group. "Well?" I asked as I beckoned to the door and wrapped Cedric's scarf around my neck. As soon as it was wrapped around my neck, Cedric's scent invaded my senses.

I got a whiff of campfire smoke, vanilla and honey every time I inhaled. We walked out of the common room and went to the Great Hall. I grabbed a green apple and my friends all gave me accusing glares. "What? I need to eat." I said defensively. "Let's go." Blaise groaned.

We started walking and followed the large herd of students walking towards the first task.

-

We all took our seats and looked out over the large area in front of us. I felt someone brush up against my back, and I flinched before turning around and seeing Malfoy sitting just behind me. I sent him a glare, which he returns, before turning back around.

"What place do you think Cedric will come in?" Jack asked me. I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, probably first. I just hope he doesn't get hurt." I admitted. "Do you have a thing for him?" Jack asks blatantly. I sigh. "No, he's like an older brother to me." I said truthfully. Jack nodded from beside me.

-

It was Cedric's turn to get his golden egg. I looked across and saw him leave the tent hesitantly. He took a deep breath and then exhaled before clenching his fists around his wand tightly and fully exiting the tent.

The Swedish Short-Snout sent a breath of fire towards Cedric, causing me to flinch, but he dodged it and hid up against a rock.

Cedric hid behind the rock for a few seconds, contemplating his next move. It probably didn't help that everyone was cheering. "Hufflepuff!" I exclaimed. He didn't hear me. He seemed to forget he had a wand in his hand. "USE YOUR WAND, HUFFLEPUFF!" I screamed as loud as I could.

I felt a rush of relief when I saw him look towards me, then his wand. He gripped it tighter and look around frantically. His gaze fell on a boulder and with a flick of his wand, he transfigured it into a Labrador.

Cedric ran when the dragon was distracted, but his shoulder got slashed by the dragons tail. A sharp gasp escaped my lips as I stared at his shoulder in shock. He looked at his shoulder for a second before sprinting towards the egg. Before he could reach it, the dragon let out a breath of fire and I watched the flames lick Cedric's face.

He didn't let this faze him, he latched on to the egg anyways. Once the egg was in his grasp, the tamers came out and took the dragon away. Cedric stood up and began to wobble before falling to the ground and screaming in pain.

I nudged Daphne and Jack while staring at Cedric. I shoved passed Jack and ran down the bleachers and stairs to get to the arena. I ran over to Cedric and placed myself on the ground next to him. Dumbledore appeared soon after and tried to get my attention.

"Help him, Headmaster! You can't just let him lie here!" I exclaimed. I then turned back to Cedric, who was now unconscious. "Cedric wake up! Please!" I screeched.

Dumbledore beckoned over Madam Pomfrey and she soon appeared next to us. She used a spell to lift Cedric up and carry him over to the tent.

His limp body lied on a cot. She ripped his sleeve off, revealing his mangled shoulder. Pomfrey was frantically giving him potion after potion, casting spell after spell. After a few minutes, she finally calmed down.

"He should be awake in a few minutes. I healed the slash on his shoulder with dittany and put a healing charm on his face so it shouldn't scar." she explained as she wrapped a bandage around his pale arm.

The group and I sat down by his cot, even when a group of Hufflepuffs had made their way into the tent. We all sat silently waiting for him to wake up.

-

When Cedric finally woke, Potter was in the midst of his task. "Did I get the egg?" Cedric's raspy voice croaked. I lifted my head up quickly to see him looking at me. I ran my fingers through his soft brown hair with a smile.

"Yeah, Hufflepuff. You got the egg." I said softly with a small laugh.

Cedric smiled and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He stood up and talked to his friends for a few minutes before walking back over to my group.

"Right then. Let's go out there and see what place I got." Cedric announced before turning and walking away.

We all followed him out of the tent just as Potter was coming back with his golden egg. After the crowd died down, Dumbledore began to announce the winners.

"Tied for first place... Harry Potter and Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore exclaimed. Cheers and applause erupted the arena.

"In second place... Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore announced. I turned to Cedric while clapping my hands and he looked at everyone and smiled as the arena was engulfed in cheers all around.

"In third place... Fleur Delacour!" Dumbledore exclaimed again. Loud cheers and chants emerged throughout the arena once again.

-

Cedric's Hufflepuff friends walked alongside Cedric and my group as we made our way back to the castle.

"You wore my scarf." Cedric pointed out, twisting the fabric of the scarf between his fingers. I looked down and observed the scarf. "Yeah. I'll give it back to you when we get to the castle." I said. He nodded before turning his attention to one of the Hufflepuff boys walking with us.