Where'd You Go

"Have you talked to Cedric?" Hermione asked as we walked into the Great Hall for dinner. It was already packed. The champions were being picked tonight, and everyone was excited.

"No. I haven't really seen him." Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear. Cedric walked up, nodding at Hermione before turning his attention to me.

"Hey." He smiled a little. I knew he was the most excited out of everyone, and I was worried about him.

"Hi."

"Will you sit with me when they choose the names?" he asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. I glanced at Hermione, and she gave me an encouraging nod.

"Yeah, I'll sit with you." I didn't understand why I was so nervous. You'd think I was the one that put my name in the goblet with the way my palms are sweating. I knew there was a possibility of me having a heart attack.

"Thanks. I'll come find you." I nodded and pulled Hermione to the Gryffindor table, sitting down on the other side of Harry.

"I'm telling you. There's no way it's not going to be Krum," Ron said, shoveling mashed potatoes in his mouth. I scrunched my face in disgust and handed him a napkin so he could wipe his face.

"You only think he's going to win because he's the 'best seeker in the world'." Harry retorted, taking a sip from his pumpkin juice.

"Exactly!" Ron argued, though his point wasn't exactly valid.

"Ron, his quidditch skills have nothing to do with his actual ability to do magic," I pointed out, pushing peas around my plate. I hated the vegetable, but I hated broccoli more, so I settled for the small green spheres.

"None of us have seen him do magic. He could be amazing for all we know!" I was surprised that Ron hadn't been stalking Krum throughout the day. He talked about him enough. The rest of us were sort of sick of it.

"Well, we'll just have to see." Hermione seemed suddenly annoyed and oddly silent. She always had something to say, especially when it came to Ron's opinions. Most of the time she was correcting him, but she was stabbing at her mashed potatoes, eyes narrowed.

"You okay?" Harry asked, turning his focus from Ron to me.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I pushed my plate back, my appetite gone despite the three bites that I took.

"Okay, now how about you tell me the truth?" He raised his eyebrows at me. Harry was always able to tell when I was lying. It was something I hated but appreciated at the same time.

"Cedric asked me to sit with him when the champions are picked." Harry and I hadn't really had a conversation about Cedric. I could tell that he was curious, but he never pried when it came to that subject.

"You're worried that he's going to be chosen?" I nodded once, sighing and pushing my fingers through my hair.

"I don't know why I'm so nervous. Well, I know why. People have died in this tournament, and it's not that I don't have faith in him. I just don't want to see him get hurt." It was the first time I'd admitted it out loud, but it didn't make me feel better.

"I didn't know you guys were close."

"Yeah. I didn't either," I said honestly. The food was slowly disappearing from the table, and I knew that I needed to find Cedric.

"Are you guys dating?" My eyes widened, and I shook my head.

"No. Not even close. I don't know what's going on really. We haven't had much of a chance to talk, but if something happens, you'll be the first to know." At least I knew Harry wouldn't ask a million questions like Hermione would, but the look on his face made me question whether or not I wanted to say anything else. He looked conflicted, like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He stared into his goblet of pumpkin juice in complete silence. When the food was completely gone, I turned, looking for a head of wavy bronze hair. He wasn't far away, and I could tell that he was looking for me too. I stood, promising my friends that I would see them later.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked, but I kept moving.

"Ready?" I said once I reached Cedric.

"Yeah," he smiled and moved so that I could sit next to him. He grabbed my hand once I was seated, and I felt my cheeks heat. I didn't know this was part of the plan, but I could tell that he didn't want me to let go by the way he was gripping my fingers. I squeezed back reassuringly. He was nervous. Dumbledore silenced us all, dimming the lights in the room.

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champion selection!" Dumbledore walked toward the goblet, placing his hands on either side before pulling back. That flame turned bright red, and a small piece of paper shot in the air, floating delicately down into Dumbledore's hand, "The Durmstrang champion is....Viktor Krum!" There was an eruption of cheers, and when I glanced at where my friends were sitting, there was a wide smirk on his face, directed at Harry. Cedric's fingers pressed tighter against my hand.

"You're going to cut off my circulation," I whispered to Cedric. My hand was almost completely white. He looked down and eased up a little, I watched blood flow back into my hand.

"Sorry."

"The champion from Beauxbatons....is Fleur Delacour." I'd heard a couple whispers about her being part veela. She certainly looked the part. Cedric's grip on my hand tightened again, but I didn't say anything this time. There was only one champion left to be chosen, "The Hogwarts champion....Cedric Diggory!" Everyone stood up and cheered, but I was frozen. I knew it was coming, but the sense of dread that settled in my stomach was heavy. Cedric grinned, pushing himself up as people clapped him on the shoulder. He released my fingers and pressed his lips to my hair before walking up to shake Dumbledore's hand. I stood, walking back to Harry's side.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked. She looked as worried as I felt, and I shook my head.

"Excellent! We now have our three champions, but in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory....the Triwizard Cup!" Dumbledore whipped around, his robes billowing around him. Whatever was covering the cup flew upwards, revealing the prize. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the fire turning red again. Another piece of paper shot into the air, and everyone grew silent. Dumbledore looked confused and started to look around the room.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Hermione, but I got my answer when Dumbledore yelled.

"Harry Potter!" I watched Harry shrink next to me, and my eyes widened. There was no way his name could have come out of that goblet. The twins hadn't even managed to successfully get past the age line. There was no way Harry could have, "HARRY POTTER!"

"Harry for goodness sake." Hermione pushed his arm, and I had the strong urge to grab the back of his sweater, but I let him go. The Great Hall erupted in angry yells about how Harry had cheated and other nasty things. Ron was pissed, and Hermione's expression matched mine.

"That's not possible," we said at the same time. Ron stormed out, and Hermione followed after him, leaving me by myself. I stood, going to wait outside the Great Hall. I didn't want to abandon him. It was clear that he needed us now more than ever. I tried to ignore the sneers and insults I heard as people walked past me to get back to their houses. I began pacing when no one else was filing out and I still hadn't seen Harry.

"Hey." Cedric came out first, confusion and irritation on his face.

"Hi," I mumbled, throwing my arms around him. It was out of instinct, but he rubbed his hands up and down my back.

"It's going to be fine," he promised, but I knew it wasn't going to be okay.

"You don't know that."

"They're letting Harry compete." It should have been obvious that they were going to. I was sure there was some type of protocol that they had to follow if a person's name was chosen.

"This is going to be a disaster." Hot tears welled up in my eyes, and I tried my hardest to push them back. I now had two people that I needed to worry about in this damn competition. I was going to get grey hair before I turned 30.

"How do you think he did it?" My mouth dropped open as I glared up at Cedric, pushing myself away from him. I couldn't believe he actually thought Harry was responsible.

"He didn't. I know Harry, and I know for a fact that he didn't put his name in that goblet. Why would you even think that?" I was almost shouting, and I tried my best to control my voice.

"It would make sense. He's already famous. He's probably just doing this to get more credibility." I balled my hand into a fist, fighting the urge to punch Cedric in the face. How dare he.

"You're an idiot. Harry isn't famous by choice. If it were up to him, no one would know his name. He's the product of a bad situation, and the fact that you think he would do something like this shows what you think of him." I turned on my heel, stomping toward the staircase. It was obvious that Harry wasn't coming out anytime soon, and I wanted to get away from Cedric.

"Alexandria, wait. I didn't mean-" I cut him off, holding up my hand.

"Goodnight Cedric." I was grateful when I could no longer hear his footsteps behind me. I walked into the common room, my face hot with anger. Hermione was sitting on the couch whispering with Parvati. I threw myself down next to her, rubbing at my eyes.

"Where's Harry?"

"I don't know. I was waiting for him, but I got into a fight with Cedric. He thinks Harry entered his name. I called him an idiot." I could see the conflicted emotions in Hermione's face. She knew Harry wouldn't do something like this, but she didn't know what to believe. I didn't either. I knew Harry didn't enter his name, but if he didn't, then who did?