The Sunrise of My Heart

About a week later, the day of the third task had dawned. I was up and out of bed by the time the sky was just turning gray with the morning. Before the sun even had time to rise, I had quietly crept out of the castle and was sitting under the tree on the edge of the Black Lake. Silently, I was feeding toast to the giant squid, something I'd done for a very long time. It was one of those things that I had always done.

It was there that Harry found me, looking slightly surprised to see another person out and about at such an early hour.

"Riley. I hadn't expected to see you here. Or anyone, really. It won't be time to get up for another few hours."

"Yeah, I know. I just couldn't sleep."

"Me either."

I motioned for him to take a seat on the ground next to me, throwing my last bits of toast to the squid.

"So are you worried about the task today or something?" I asked him.

"Yeah. There's just no telling what we'll have to do or face." He was looking apprehensive, and I nodded.

"Well, if worse comes to worst at least you'll know that you managed to make it as far as older, stronger people before getting really scathed."

"Uh thanks. But that doesn't really make me feel better."

I chuckled softly and nodded. "I know. I'm terrible at comforting people. Sorry. Uh how about 'Good luck, you'll do fine'?"

"Thanks. That's much better."

We sat in silence for awhile, watching the sun rise over the mountains. Occasionally, the giant squid would poke a few tentacles around the water, looking for more food.

"Well, I'm going in now," I said after the sun was up. "Good luck tonight."

Hours later, in the evening, it was time for the third task. I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong. My heart was beating with worry, but I hid it well. I sat next to Ginny in the bleachers, although Draco and I were sending our small animals back-and-forth so we could talk to each other. At the moment, we were making bets on who would win. He, of course, thought -and hoped- Harry would be killed in the maze. I, however, thought Harry had a good chance at winning.

As the task began, my heart began pounding harder. Something awful was going to happen tonight, I was sure of it. And yet there was nothing I could do about it. Whatever was going to happen, would happen, and I couldn't stop it. The champions disappeared behind the maze, unable to communicate with anyone until the task was over. To me, it felt like at least one of them was walking into doom and death.

The time passed agonizingly slowly, making me sit on the edge of my seat, biting my lip and fidgeting with my clothes. Every so often, I could hear noises from inside the maze, and they didn't help to make me feel any better.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked me. "You look a little worried."

"I don't know... I have a terrible feeling about this. Something's not right. It's going to end badly. I can just feel it."

Ginny was silent for a moment, looking slightly worried."That's not good... But are you sure? I mean how can you be?"

"I don't know how I know. I just do. Something's going to happen tonight that's going to end up hurting someone. Or maybe even..." I trailed off, not wanting to voice my worries about someone getting killed from this task. But she got what I meant.

"Oh. Oh wow. Do you-- You don't think it could be Harry, do you?"

"I don't know... Maybe, but right now I don't think so... It's someone else that's going to get hurt."

The time was still ticking by, making me wish I could fast forward to the end of the task. I managed to pass the time by trying to count all of the people who were in the audience. Once that got boring, I began counting flying sheep in my head, but they all flew away so I began counting flying dragons, but they chased after the sheep. An epic battle ensued, ending up with the sheep winning.

By the end of all this, the task had ended. I know this because Harry and Cedric had suddenly appeared in front of everyone, with Harry clutching both Cedric and the Triwizard Cup. Everyone began cheering and clapping, looking thrilled, but something was wrong. Harry looked like he was sobbing and Cedric looked...dead. No, I thought. Surely he can't be dead. But then I heard Fleur scream ,and everyone grew silent, and I knew. He was dead. Then everything happened in a craze. People were screaming and shouting, crying could be heard from everywhere, and, worse of all, I could hear Cedric's father sobbing, wailing about losing his boy.

In all the chaos, no one noticed Professor Moody take Harry, stand him up, and lead him away. No one but me. I went quickly to Dumbledore, telling him what I'd seen Moody do. Then, I told him about my apprehensions I'd had over the professor, and he nodded, looking grim. I think I was in shock, because I looked down at Cedric's body and all I felt was emptiness. That emptiness would go away later, but for then, I was glad to have it. I was glad to be strong enough not to break down and cry right then.

Dumbledore and some other teachers set off after Moody and Harry, and I went to Draco's side automatically. When I saw him, saw that he was desperately trying to fight back tears, and realized he needed me right then as much as I needed him, the tears finally came, and I let him hold me close while I cried.