{{ 14 }}

                                    

                                          
Meghan's POV
                          
"HOLY CRAP!" I screamed, right in Cedric's face. He stepped back a few feet, wide eyed.
                          
"Sorry, Ced, but DRAGONS?" I exclaimed. "And you're sure?"
                          
"Yeah, I'm afraid so," said Cedric, nodding his head. "Well, at least I think I am. Harry told me that's what is is."
                          
"Harry told you?" I whispered, a small grin forming on my face.
                          
"Yeah," said Cedric curiously. "Why, what's that got to do with anything?"
                          
"Well," I said, looking away quickly. "It was nice of him to tell you."
                          
"Yeah, it was," said Cedric, grinning.
                          
My eyes grew wide with excitement, and I beamed at Cedric.
                          
"What are you grinning at?" he asked me.
                          
"Well," I said smugly, "last week when we were guessing what the first task would be, I thought it would be fighting a dinosaur."
                          
Cedric snorted at the memory.
                          
"You hush!" I said, shoving him playfully. "Well, dinosaurs are similar to dragons!"
                          
At this, Cedric literally fell on the floor with laughter.
                          
"It's not funny!" I whined. "I was close at guessing!"
                          
"I should have trusted you," he said, smiling and shaking his head.
                          
"Always trust me," I said with a vivacious hair flip.
                          
"Well," he said, getting up. "How the hell am I going to get past a dragon?"
                          
"That's a good question," I said, stroking my imaginary beard. I stood there in thought for a good two minutes.
                          
"Any ideas would be appreciated," said Cedric with a smirk.
                          
"I'm thinking, you git!" I snapped.
                          
Cedric remained silent. I think I was intimidating to him. Good, that's how it should be.
                          
"I've got nothing," I stated after a few minutes.
                          
"Welp," I said enthusiastically. "When in doubt, go see Sprout!"
                          
"Some blokes get girlfriends who are pretty," said Cedric. "Some get girlfriends who are brilliant. But I don't think I've heard of anyone who has a girlfriend who's pretty, brilliant, and can rhyme like nobody's business."
                          
"You flatter me, Ced," I said mockingly, shaking my head.
                          
"Good. Now you get that pretty little head of yours to work so I don't die in this tournament!" he joked. I gave him a stern look.
                          
"Cedric, death is not something you joke about!" I whispered.
                          
"Relax, Meghan," he said, rubbing my hand soothingly. "I won't die."
                          
"Alright," I said, fighting back the tears that were begging to fall. "Go talk to Sprout before it's too late. The task is tomorrow. We'll stay up all night if we must."
                          
Cedric nodded and exited the common room.
                          
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
                          
(The next day)
                          

                          
"Maci, I cannot do this," I whispered.
                          
"Imagine how Cedric's feeling!" said Maci, squeezing my hand. The stands were filled with people, talking, placing bets, and getting excited for the first task.
                          
"I don't want to imagine how he's feeling!" I said with a grin. "But, oh my gosh I'm worried for him. What if he's too tired or we didn't practice enough last night?"
                          
"Megs, it's okay!" said Payton as she sat down next to me.
                          
"I'm not going to look," I said childishly. "Just tell me when Cedric's out there, okay?"
                          
"Meghan-"
                          
"OKAY?"
                          
"Alright, alright," said Maci, shaking her head.
                          
I kept my eyes shut for a good ten minutes.
                          
"Okay, Meghan, he's out there," said Payton over the shouting crowd.
                          
"Is the dragon out there, too?" I questioned, still sealing my eyes.
                          
"Yeah," said Maci.
                          
I opened my eyes slowly and looked in front of me. The world came into focus.
                          
I let out a blood-curdling scream.
                          
"HOLY CRAP!!!!!"
                          
People turned to stare at me for a minute, but I didn't care. The Swedish Short-Snout was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen in my whole life. It's silvery-blue skin, and enormous length. It's long fangs, and growling roar. The horn on top of it's head, and it's huge tail swinging all about the place. It was terrifying.
                          
"Oh, Cedric, be careful," I muttered.
                          
I could see from afar the look of utmost fear on his face. I wished I could do something to give him hope. He just needed to do what we had been practicing all night - create a distraction!
                          
Cedric picked up his wand, concentrated, and turned a nearby rock into a huge rottweiler. The dog snarled up at the dragon, and the dragon took the bait. Cedric took this as his chance and ran towards the nest to retrieve the egg. The sounds of the dragon's footsteps echoed through the stadium.
                          
"C'mon Cedric," whispered Maci.
                          
Sweat was on his face, and he ran with all his might towards the nest.
                          
"CEDRIC!" I screamed, but it was too late. The dragon knew what Cedric was up to, and gave up on the dog. It went after Cedric again. He was so close to the nest, so close to the egg.
                          
"DON'T GIVE UP!" shouted Payton, but it was unlikely he heard her. The crowd was going mad with noise.
                          
The dragon made its way towards Cedric and let out a growl. Fire came out of it's mouth and hit Cedric.
                          
I screamed again, but everyone was too occupied to notice.
                          
Cedric opened his mouth, and if the crowd was quiet, I'm sure we could've heard him yelling in pain. Despite the burn on his face, he retrieved the egg with ferocity, and evacuated from the dragon's dominion.
                          
He was safe, and he had the egg!
                          
Tears of joy and worry flooded my eyes. I pushed my way through the cheering crowd. I had to get to Cedric.
                          
"Get out of my way!" I yelled.
                          
I made my way out of the stands and ran as fast as I could to the tent where Madam Pomfrey was treating Cedric.
                          
"Cedric!" I shouted before throwing my arms around him. He held onto me like I was his own life.
                          
"Miss Grant!" snapped Madam Pomfrey irritably. "I need to tend to Mr. Diggory, so if you will kindly exit-"
                          
"Madam Pomfrey," said Cedric, with longing in his eyes. "Please can she stay?"
                          
Madam Pomfrey considered for a moment before reluctantly allowing it.
                          
I couldn't help but continue to cry for Cedric as I spoke. "You were brilliant! I was so worried, and I'm sure you heard my scream at the beginning. Your Transfiguration was perfect! Everything was going swimmingly until-" I gently caressed the healthy part of his face "-the burn."
                          
"It's alright," he said. His voice was a bit shaky. "I'm fine now."
                          
"Don't you worry about a thing," I said kindly. "The next task isn't until February."
                          
"Thank heavens," he said, sighing.
                          
"I'm so glad you're okay, Cedric," I whispered, hugging him tightly. Tears continued to fall down my cheeks, and he wiped them away gently.