Archive of Our Own

Part 1: A Small Change of Fate

A shadow fell across Hermione's desk as she sat studying diligently in the library. Glancing up, a faint feeling of frustration at having been interrupted, she heard a familiar voice asking her a question.

"This your book?" a voice asked.

Cedric Diggory was standing in front of her table with a faintly negligent air, indicating one of the many books before her, his grey eyes questioning. He was tall and to her irritation, he was blocking the light.

"First, the book belongs to the Hogwarts Library not me," Hermione said with a slight snap in her voice. "Secondly, if you're inquiring if I'm using the book - then the answer is yes".

Cedric grinned and raised an eyebrow. "First, it doesn't look like you're using it," he said, imitating her tone. "You're reading that one, from what I can see," he said indicating the book that was actually open in front of her.

"I was just about to start reading that book," she pointed out.

"Book hog," he teased her.

Hermione felt her hackles rising. "For your information ...."

"Calm down, Granger," Cedric said with a decided laugh in his voice, amusement colouring his words. "Why don't you let me borrow the book from you? I'll be fifteen minutes at most - you won't even realise it's missing".

Hermione opened her mouth to protest and then realised she was being a little precious about it. It would be a little while before she finished with her current book and it seemed a little churlish to refuse him.

Cedric grinned as if aware of what was going through her mind.

"I'll bring it back safe and sound - word of honour as a Hufflepuff," he assured her with a cheeky wink and walked off with the book in his hand. Hermione frowned slightly but went back to her reading.

Sure enough, just a short time later, a shadow fell over her books again. As she looked up, Cedric slid carelessly into the seat opposite her and glanced down at her pile of books with interest.

"Back safe and sound - just as I promised. So - did you miss me?" He asked her teasingly.

Hermione's mouth tightened slightly and she raised her eyebrows loftily but didn't bother to reply. Cedric indicated the book. "Seventh year book ..... does this mean you're extra conscientious ... or are you helping Potter out again?"

"I hardly think that that's any of your business," she said tartly, shutting her book with a snap.

"Lucky you didn't have your fingers in that," he observed. "Might have done yourself a nasty injury," he said with a grin.

"Was there something else you wanted?" she asked him, aware that she was being rather rude but completely unable to stop herself. The way he was smiling at her was causing her to feel flustered, unsettled and more than a little confused.

Cedric considered her question for a half a second and then replied. "I know you help out Potter, you always have - and not just the tournament". The laughter faded from his voice and eyes. "Actually - I was hoping you might have some help to spare for me".

Hermione frowned, her embarrassment draining away at the unreadable expression in the young champion's eyes.

"Why would you think that I would know anything?" Hermione demanded, looking taken aback at being asked for help but one of the most popular boys at Hogwarts.

"Just a feeling," Cedric said with a shrug. "I know how smart you are..... and I've spent quite a bit of time in the library preparing for the tournament - I've seen you around here, researching even when Potter himself is sick of being shut up in this place ....."

"We can't all be Quidditch mad. I like the library," she said defensively.

"Nothing wrong with that," Cedric said with a smile. "I'm here, too you know," he said.

"What makes you think you need help?" Hermione asked curiously.

Cedric hesitated for a moment and then shrugged carelessly before answering. "Trelawney has foreseen my premature and sudden death ..."

"That old fraud!" Hermione said scornfully. "I can't believe that you would ..."

"I dreamt what she described," Cedric told her flatly.

Hermione found it hard to accept that someone as intelligent as Cedric Diggory would take anything Professor Trelawney predicted seriously. "The power of suggestion, after she told you of course it troubled you and so you dreamt ...."

"I dreamt the whole thing before she ever said anything - and her description was exactly like my dream," Cedric interrupted her, his voice very soft. "Exactly," he repeated and she could see herself reflected in his brilliant grey eyes.

Hermione stared at him in shocked silence and Cedric let the silence linger for a moment. The library was very quiet, only the sound of turning pages ruffling at the edges of their awareness. Grey eyes met dark brown eyes and Hermione waited for him to continue, her breath caught in her throat as she found herself suddenly unable to breathe properly.

"I'm in a graveyard .... I don't know where ... a voice I don't recognise says 'kill the spare' ..... then I hear the words Avada Kedavra .... and then?" Cedric told her coolly, his grey eyes very dark and steady,"Everything ends". A chill slid across Hermione's skin and she found herself shivering even though the library was very warm. She believed him now.

"One of the Unforgivable Curses.." Hermione whispered.

"Not just one of them, Granger. The Killing Curse".

Hermione looked down at the book he had just brought back, taking in the significance of its title. "I take it that the book has confirmed what you already knew? That no one has ever survived the Killing Curse ...."

"Except Potter ..."

"That's right," Hermione told him, her brow furrowed in concentration, her gaze not moving from his. The young Hufflepuff was very pale, his dark hair falling over his hair over his brow and without thinking she reached up to brush it from his eyes, the gesture natural and solicitious. A flicker of emotion appeared in Cedric's eyes and Hermione discovered that she was suddenly better able at reading his expressions.

"So I'm done for," Cedric concluded, looking strangely calm given his words.

"No!" Hermione exclaimed fiercely.

"No?" Cedric asked curiously. "What makes you think anything can be done about it?"

"Forewarned is forearmed .... we can go back through every detail of your dream .. your vision ... we can piece together what takes place .. how to avoid it ... what you can do ..... no one can resist the Killing Curse - but you can certainly try to avoid the situation itself".

Cedric's mouth curved into a smile, a look of dawning admiration in his grey eyes at the look of resolution in Hermione's stubborn face. It was his turn to reach out his hand and brush her bristling hair back from her fierce, fierce, little face.

"You look very determined," he commented, feeling a lightness in his heart for the first time since the nightmares had begun. He hadn't told a soul about his nightmares, hadn't even admitted it to Trelawney when she had done her spooky seer routine at him in the corridors. He found it very strange that he had told Hermione Granger everything - strange but somehow very right.

"I am very determined," Hermione said, putting her chin up arrogantly. "You've received a warning - we need to act on that warning," she told him resolutely.

Cedric held out his hand impulsively. "Glad to have you by my side, Granger," he told her.

She took his hand without thinking. His hand was much larger than hers, strong, slightly calloused and the clasp of his hand was firm and reassuring.

"I'm not going to let you die, especially ... not now," she said flatly.

Cedric's mouth twitched slightly. "Not now?" he asked with a question in his voice. Hermione's hand moved convulsively in his and she tried to pull it back but his hand tightened around hers deliberately.

"I mean ... that ...errr .. what I meant to say is that... uh ...." Hermione stammered incoherently.

Cedric gave her hand a gentle but very firm tug, pulling her towards the centre of the table so that she had to lean in towards him, their faces only inches apart. Their gazes didn't move from the face of the other.

"Now that you have a personal stake in the situation?" he teased her wickedly, his voice was rich with suggestion. He raised an eyebrow, his gaze sliding caressingly over her blushing face with warm possessiveness.

"No," Hermione denied, even as she flushed scarlet, the heat in her skin making her feel as though she was going to burst into flames.

"Now?" he asked again, using his free hand to touch the smooth skin of her rosy cheek. "What's changed?" he questioned deliberately, his grey eyes dropping down to her inviting mouth. His words were a caress, intimate and seductive. She swallowed nervously and licked her lips, her pupils dilating as she was conscious of her heart racing, of the nearness of his mouth to hers.

"Everything," she breathed and the expression in Cedric's eyes told her that he knew it, too.

Part 2: Unexpected

"It's the only thing that makes sense," the voice muttered fiercely.

Cedric glanced up sharply, recognising the intense voice immediately. Walking along one edge of the courtyard a smile broke over his face as he saw the small figure walking back and forth by one of the stone columns flanking the walkway back to the Great Hall. Hermione was frowning ferociously. To herself by the looks of it.

"But then ...." doubt and uncertainty crept into her voice.

"You talking to the air, Granger?" he said in a low whisper and smothered a laugh as Hermione made a sound of shocked fright and darted around the other side of the column, moving out of his sight.

"Don't do that!" she exclaimed irritably from behind the column and even though he couldn't see her face, he knew exactly what expression was on her face.

"Don't do what?" he asked her teasingly, taking a step around the corner in an attempt to catch a glimpse of her face. He heard the whip of heavy fabric through the air and he rolled his eyes as Hermione darted around the other side of the column, remaining tantalisingly out of reach.

"Sneak up on a person like that," she told him reprovingly.

"You're the one sneaking around right now," he pointed out and he thought he heard her mutter.

"I can't think when you're too close".

"Are you afraid of a reprise of yesterday's discussion session in the library?" he asked and even though Hermione was perfectly silent except for a tiny choking sound, he knew she was blushing furiously.

"You are a very, very bad person," she said in a low voice. "How you were ever made a prefect is completely beyond me," she told him with outrage in her voice.

"And I thought you rather liked the badness ... you certainly seemed to yesterday ..." he said, sneaking a glance around the column but she was too quick for him and all he saw was a glimpse of tangled, flyaway hair and the corner of a school skirt.

"Try to be serious for once. I thought you wanted my help?" Her voice was filled with accusation.

"I do," he said quietly.

"Well you should stop distracting me," she told him fiercely.

"I can't help myself," he admitted bluntly, a rueful expression in his eyes.

"Well try," she said abruptly. "Look," she told him, her voice suddenly very serious. "I spoke to Harry .... I showed him the sketch you drew me .... I knew there was a reason your description was so familiar. Harry also dreamt something similar .... he's also been to the same place ... it exists. It's real." she said, her voice very bleak.

"Why do you suppose I'm there then?" Cedric demanded, levity vanishing from him as he stood still, hearing her voice from around the corner of the column.

"I've been thinking ..... you said that you think you're wearing your champion's robes .... so it must take place during or after the final challenge. It's not in the maze - so how do you both get there? Harry doesn't know how to apparate yet ..... it wouldn't be Floo Powder ....."

"You're saying that we both touch a portkey?" Cedric demanded.

"Yes - it's the only possibility I can think of .....," Hermione told him. "Now think harder ... " Cedric couldn't tell whether she was talking to him or to herself. "What item would be there that you would both definitely come into contact with? I've been thinking about why it is that Harry was entered into the tournament. He didn't enter himself, someone wanted him in the tournament for a reason".

"You think that the Killing Curse was meant for Harry and not me?"

"That makes sense, doesn't it? No one knew you'd enter, but someone engineered it so that Harry was entered even though he's too young ... whoever did that must have powerful magic if they can even circumvent Professor Dumbledore's magic!"

"Aren't there easier ways, though? Why not just turn one of his school books into a portkey?"

"Maybe they need him in that graveyard .... maybe there's some kind of special magic there ... or a source of power? Maybe it's just that they need to lure him far away from the protection of Hogwarts?" She struggled to suppress the panic that threatening to overwhelm her.

"There's something missing from your equation though, Granger," Cedric said quietly.

"What?" Hermione asked, breathing very quietly where she stood, aware that it was very strange for her to be conducting a conversation with someone she couldn't see.

"Although I don't doubt that whoever has fixed the tournament wants Harry dead .... thing is, that means only he's supposed to get to the Cup ... the portkey, right? If that's the case - then all other champions should have been eliminated prior to the close of the Tournament .... so you see I should either be dead or eliminated prior to the portkey even being touched ...maybe the Killing Curse is meant for me after all?"

Hermione flinched and leaned back against the cold, hard stone of the column. She wondered how Cedric could discuss his own possible death so matter-of-factly, as if it was someone else's life that might be extinguished.

"You all right, Hermione?" he asked her in concern when there was a long silence from the other side of the column. She remained very silent so he took a step towards her in an attempt to catch a glimpse of her face but she again darted out of his line of sight.

"Oh bloody hell, Granger! Do you want to give it a rest? The idea of chasing you around this stupid pillar all day isn't my idea of a good time, you know".

Hermione blinked rapidly, rubbing her hand over her damp eyes resentfully as she muttered,"No one asked you to come over ...."

"Granger?" Cedric asked, knowing better than to try again to catch a glimpse of her. "Don't be upset..... I'm not dead yet, you know ...."

A strangled sound emerged from Hermione and Cedric sighed. "What I mean is, we still have time to try to figure out what might happen and try to .... stop it happening ..." he told her and Hermione exhaled slowly.

"Yes ....." she said, allowing the thought to calm her. They still had time. She didn't want to think about how swiftly time was running out, the days measured by low, hushed laughter in the library, secret glances and shared smiles across crowded rooms. She counted the passing of the hours through notes passed, hands brushing against one another as they passed each other in the halls .... and heated, frantic encounters in dark corners of the castle.

"Besides, I'm not going to go and do anything so rash and tacky as dying when I've made the great Hermione Granger crazy with lust for me, am I?" he demanded outrageously and laughed out loud as Hermione gave a gasp of outrage and lunged around the pillar at him as if to hit him. He stepped easily out of reach and out of her sight.

"My turn. See how you like having people hide behind from you behind pillars, Granger," he taunted her wickedly and grinned in relieved satisfaction at the choked sound of indignation she made. He preferred irritable, cranky and prickly Hermione to sad and despairing Hermione, the latter tugged at his heart and made it ache in a way that was most unmanly.

"You don't remember seeing Harry in your dream," Hermione mused aloud.

She didn't bother to wait for his answer. She already knew it, having analysed, pondered and agonised over his dream and Harry's dream many times over.

"He doesn't mention you either, maybe you aren't there at the same time - but I think you probably are. It could of course be the case that only one of you touches the portkey and ends up at the graveyard but given that I'm almost sure that it's at the same time, there must be a way that you both end up there ....."

"We got to it at the same time?" Cedric speculated.

"That's possible but the odds of that are quite low," Hermione mused. "How likely is it that you are both going to make your way through the maze at exactly the same time?"

"How else do you explain it then?"

"Maybe one of you disappears after touching it and the other one goes after him to find out what happens?" Hermione theorised.

"That's plausible - but the portkey would disappear with the person who first touched it. For us to both to be transported, we have to have touched the portkey at the same time stop frowning, Granger," Cedric said automatically without pausing in his sentence.

"Who says I'm frowning?" Hermione demanded, scowling through the column at him.

There was a soft laugh from Cedric and Hermione found herself smiling despite herself.

"Sometimes I think I know you better than you know yourself, Hermione Granger ...."

"You're so smug ..... you'd better watch yourself or .... " Hermione began.

"Or you'll do what? Imitate the vengeful Millicent Bulstrode and cover my face with exploding boils?" Cedric challenged.

"Poor Ernie MacMillan .... the combined efforts of Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey haven't quite come to a satisfactory cure, yet ..." Hermione said, momentarily distracted.

"The poor fellow's face was positively volcanic the last time I visited him ..." As he spoke, Cedric quietly and surreptitiously stepped around the stone pillar, glancing around cautiously. Hermione was standing very still, head downcast, hair pulled back in an endearingly pointless attempt to contain it. Wild tendrils were already escaping around her face which was very, very serious as she stared down at the ground, deep in thought.

She didn't even notice that Cedric was watching her quietly, a look of slight hesitation clouding his grey eyes.

"Granger - don't be so hard on yourself," he told her gently and she looked up at him.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded even though her face was filled with misery.

"You're taking the weight of the world onto your shoulders. If I croak it in some dark graveyard - it won't be your fault, and you will have done everything you possibly could to stop it. Part of me feels bad for burdening you with this," he said grimacing wryly.

"Stop it!" Hermione said furiously, her face twisted with anger and something else. "Don't talk like that! I won't have it! It's almost like you've given up already!"

Cedric held up his hand almost as if he was soothing a wild animal,"Easy there," he murmured, touching her hair lightly, smoothing it back from her face.

"No! Do not try and pacify me as if I was a horse," she told him, looking angry. "It's not funny .... we do not joke about this". She stared at him, her dark eyes very determined despite how troubled she looked. "I don't want you to die but there are still so many things I don't know. What if you aren't there at the same time? Or even if you are - what if it isn't the cup? What if it's something you need to touch before you get to the cup ... like a door latch or a door handle .... what if ...?" Her face was becoming flushed with tension and her voice trailed off despairingly.

Cedric put his hand into his hair, his face looking conflicted and troubled. "Granger - keep it together .... I don't want to die either. I love this life too much .... I love the people in it too much," he told her, his face very serious and his gaze not moving from hers. "We've only known each other a short time .. too short .... I don't want to leave before we've had more time together. A lot more time together," he told her bluntly.

Hermione's face twisted slightly but she said nothing.

"And to be honest, even if all our efforts are for nothing ....." Hermione flinched and would have interrupted but he put his fingers on her mouth in a gentle fashion to silence her. "Even if it's all for nothing, we'll have had this," he whispered. "That day when I borrowed the book from you in the library ... I hadn't intended to ask you for help ... that was completely unexpected. This is completely unexpected" he told her. He gave her a jaunty smile. "It's been a fun time, yeah?" he asked her encouragingly.

She made a sound of shock as he reached out and pulled her into his arms abruptly.

"Slytherin alert ... pack of them crossing the courtyard," he explained glibly. Hermione hadn't heard a thing and recognised his ploy to get closer for what it was.

"Now that on the other hand, was definitely not unexpected," she said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in the front of his robes. Cedric smothered a laugh. Hermione allowed her arms to slide around him and hug him tightly. For the moment, it was enough that they were like this, there would be time enough to worry about changing the future.

Part 3: Constant Vigilance

"Granger?"

The voice sounded as though it was coming from very far away.

"Granger!" the voice said more insistently, a touch of anxiety mixed in with the impatience.

Cedric stared down at Hermione's pale face, reached down and tucked the scarf around her securely, his face concerned. He allowed his fingers to brush against her smooth skin, allowed his fingers to reach up to brush the hair from her face. Hermione didn't look up, she was too busy staring ahead, deep in thought, a trace of a frown in her dark eyes.

Cedric had been standing there for a long time before he had finally spoken, just watching her, his gaze resting lingeringly on her face. He knew her face better than he knew his own. He had studied all her smiles and frowns. The two of them had risked the ire of Madam Pince as they passed one another notes in the library, exchanged kisses in the dark corners of the library, fingers tangled and mouths locked.

"You're starting to worry me, Granger," Cedric commented. "Ignoring me so early in our relationship - not a good sign, you know," he murmured, lowering his head to brush his lips across hers and he found himself smiling when she responded, her lips clinging to his.

"That's better," he murmured and a faint smile curved her mouth. She suddenly seemed to realise that he was there.

"Sorry - have you been there long?" she asked him.

"Forever," he said, reaching down and playing with the ends of her scarf. "I could have tied your scarf around your head and made you have bunny ears and you wouldn't have noticed," he teased her.

"Hardly," she said tartly, reaching up to put her hand in his and draw him down to side beside her on the stone steps.

"Granger, you have to stop this," he said softly, his eyes very serious. "You've done what you can. I'll be as careful as I can be but there are no guarantees in this life". When she opened her mouth to protest, he put a fingertip to her lips. "If I'd known that I'd make my nightmare yours - I never would have told you about my dream," he told her soberly.

"And where would that have got you?" she demanded crossly. "Such a boy thing to do, being all heroic and stupid," she said tartly. She sighed as he put his arm around her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head affectionately.

"Stop being so cranky. Be nice to your Cedric ... he's going into the maze tomorrow. It might be the last time you see him," he reminded her. To his surprise she didn't snap at him, didn't tell him not to make stupid jokes like that. A faint frown crossed his brow at her decidedly uncharacteristic lack of response.

In fact, she looked almost serene which was not like her at all given how tense and positively psychotic she had been over the last few days as the day of the final challenge approached.

Cedric looked at her warily. "What are you up to now, Hermione Granger?" he asked her.

"Cedric," she said with a sweet smile, her hand in his and her dark eyes very alluring.

"Yeah?" he asked her suspiciously.

"You like me, don't you?" she asked him unexpectedly.

"Very much," he said promptly.

"How much?"

"Unquantifiable," he told her, his head tilted to the side questioningly.

"But a lot, yes?"

"Positively buckets of affection".

"When a boy likes a girl he should be able to deny her nothing, is that not correct?" she asked him, a trace of anxiety in her voice.

"Just where you going with this, Granger?" he asked her cautiously.

"You just said you like me very much," she reminded him.

"You know I do".

"There's something I want," she said wistfully, her fingers twitching in his convulsively, her dark eyes very pleading. "I want it very, very much ...." her voice became a whisper.

Cedric's mouth went dry. "I .... uhh ......." Hermione's smile was slow and feminine and she leaned towards him, her mouth was soft and sweet, tasted of vanilla and sin as she kissed him. His thoughts were clouded by her very nearness, by the softness of her body pressing against his and the way she breathed his name against his mouth.

"If I asked you for ..something ... you'd agree, wouldn't you?" she asked him, her mouth trailing along his jaw lingeringly.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, his thoughts in a whirl, unable to think straight.

"Yes?" she asked him and he nodded.

"Yes, anything," he told her.

"Promise?" she asked him.

"Yes, yes, I promise," he blurted out. "When?"

"I'm going into the maze with you tomorrow," she said calmly, drawing back from him as he stared at her in complete and utter shock.

"What the hell?" he demanded furiously.

Hermione slanted a sly smile at him, her mouth quivering slightly as she asked him demurely. "Why Cedric - whatever were you thinking I was asking you for?" she asked him, her brows lifted with innocent inquiry.

"You're bloody barking mad if you think I'm letting you into that maze!" he said explosively.

"You already agreed," she said calmly. "You can't take it back .. you promised even," she said thoughtfully. "Besides, I've thought it all out and discussed it with Harry".

"There's no way he agreed to this," Cedric said furiously.

Hermione's brows drew together. "He was a little reluctant at first but he knows how serious this is". Harry's dreams had intensified as well. His visions of the graveyard, a blinding flash of sickening green and a harsh voice hissing the Killing Curse were making his scar burn with increased pain and he knew that they were more than simply dreams.

"He said he'd help me if you agreed to let me go with you - which you just have," Hermione said calmly. "I'm going to borrow his cloak ... I'll be invisible," she told him. "Everyone's attention will be on the champions so there will be no one to notice that I'm sneaking into the maze at the same time".

"No," Cedric said flatly. "Absolutely not".

Hermione smiled and her smile was disarmingly sweet. "You've already agreed," she repeated. "I'm going in, there's no more discussion. I've decided. It's the only way. I'm not going to sit and wait outside the maze. I'm not going to wait around doing nothing - not knowing the outcome, not knowing what's happening to the two of you."

"Granger, think about what you're saying. It's dangerous," he told her.

"Exactly. And the three of us together have got more of a chance of beating whatever is out there. I'm going in with you - you can't change my mind," she told him and the expression in her eyes was fiercely determined.

Cedric rested his brow against hers and exhaled slowly. "Bloody hell ....." he muttered and the slight trace of resignation in his voice made Hermione smile in relief. Despite everything, she hadn't been sure that he would agree to her plan.

"Stubborn, bossy, unfeminine, unmanageable......" he was muttering to himself furiously, angry at her and even angrier at himself for having been persuaded into this insanity.

"Cedric...."

".... obstinate, impossible ... what?" he demanded with rough impatience, interrupting his mutterings to look at her inquiringly. She put her hand up to push his unruly dark hair from his face so that she could look into his brilliant grey eyes.

"Am I still your girl?" she asked him wistfully and the anger drained from him and he pulled her close, holding her tightly.

"Of course you bloody are," he said fiercely.

The day of the final challenge.

"I guess I should have known that she'd persuade you," Harry commented, clearing his throat. He could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air. He had been pacing the corridors, almost overwhelmed by his own tension.

Hermione had been standing before Cedric, looking up at him and speaking in a quiet voice. The two of them hadn't even been touching, but the intensity of their voices and the way Cedric was looking down into her face made Harry feel as though he was intruding into a very private moment. At the sound of Harry's voice, they turned to face him.

Harry studied them both. Cedric stood in his Champion's colours, his face calm and determined. Standing in front of him, facing Harry with cool defiance in her eyes was Hermione. Her unbuttoned coat hung loosely around her and her hair was temporarily tamed although Harry had no doubt that in no time at all it would be its normal flyaway self. He no longer felt surprise at the thought of the young Hufflepuff and his bossy friend together. There was a rightness about them when they were together that he was surprised that neither of them had ever considered the possibilities before they had.

"Not surprising given that she's smarter than all of us put together," Harry continued.

"Don't remind me," Cedric said wryly.

"Well?" Hermione asked coolly, lifting one eyebrow quizzically and Harry rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't likely to forget, Hermione. You only went over the plan .... half a dozen times," he told her and handed over the Invisibility cloak. He grinned, his green eyes glinting behind his glasses. "To be honest, I can't say I'm sorry you tricked us .... I feel a lot better at the thought of having you in there with us," he said.

"Harry, what are you saying? You know how dangerous it is," Cedric said in a low voice and grimaced as Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

"And you should know by now that no one tells Hermione Granger what to do," Harry said with a grin and walked past the pair.

"Got us both wrapped around your little finger, haven't you, Granger?" Cedric asked her dryly, staring down into Hermione's resolute face.

"Regretting getting involved with me?" she asked him challengingly. "You and me as a couple don't make sense at all after all."

"And now you're just fishing for compliments," he said with a wicked grin as he took a step towards her.

She took a step backwards. "Not at all. I've heard what your mates say about us. What does he see in her?" she mimicked and Cedric shook his head.

"Don't try and pretend you care what anyone else thinks about us," he said, a smile of wicked enjoyment curving his mouth. She stepped away from him.

"Don't be so smug," she told him.

"Smug? You know that there's something right about the two of us being together .... " He began to swearing laughingly as Hermione pulled the cloak about herself and vanished from sight. "Now that's mature," he said, reaching out his hand to try to find her.

At that moment, he heard his name being called and he made his way towards the maze. "Am I walking too fast for you?" he taunted her and then grinned at the sniff of outrage he heard from the air.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"

The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky.

"In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" There was more applause.

"And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" Cedric didn't bother to look up, concentrating on the quiet breathing coming from the air by his side.

"Keep hyperventilating like an asthmatic donkey and there's no point being invisible," he muttered.

"Shut up!" she hissed and he bit back a smile.

"So ... on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" Bagman told them. "Three - two - one -"

He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric exchanged glances and then stepped forward into the maze.

The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. "Lumos," Cedric and Harry muttered at the same time.

There was no thought of splitting up. They were going to work through this together. Gone were thoughts of individual glory and trying to win the Cup. All that mattered was finding out who was behind the devious plot to get Harry to the graveyard - and staying alive to tell the tale.

"What do you think? Left or right?" Cedric wondered aloud.

"Let's just go straight and see what happens," Harry said and took the path first.

Cedric hesitated a moment before following. He glanced back.

"Still my girl?" He asked the air, a faint question in his eyes.

A kiss brushed against his mouth and a small hand tugged on his and pulled him into the heavy darkness of the maze.

"Always ...."

Part 4 Impatience

"I don't suppose you could hurry up," Hermione muttered. Impatience didn't even begin to cover what she was feeling.

"Shut up, Hermione, you're not even supposed to be in here!" Harry hissed at her.

"Granger, we're doing the best we can," Cedric said through gritted teeth as he and Harry struggled to fight off everything the maze was throwing at them.

They had fought their way through the maze, defeating the Blast-Ended Skrewts, the boggarts, a possessed-Krum, a giant spider and a variety of other challenges. Between the three of them, they had managed quite well with only a few cuts and bruises.

Nonetheless, when they had finally solved the riddle of the sphinx, as they reached the cup, the maze made one last attempt to defeat them, turning into rather ferocious hedges that seemed to want to do nothing except devour the three of them.

To Hermione's horror, the cup looked as though it had some sort of fail safe and was going to float away to another location of the maze. While she struggled to bind it in place and keep it where it was without touching it, Cedric and Harry were left to try to overcome the maze's last efforts to stop them.

Finally, the hedge shuddered and was still and the two young Champions turned to stare at Hermione. They were battered, bleeding and very bruised. Cedric smiled wryly at Hermione.

"Still think I'm hot?" he teased her and she rolled her eyes.

"Never said you were - Cedric help me hold the cup ..... Harry - call for Dumbledore .....now!"

In a dark, cold graveyard, there was a howl of infuriated rage as more than one destiny was altered.

Part 5: Outside the Maze

Madness. It was as though the world had gone completely insane. Cedric was hanging onto Mad Eye Moody's one ankle and Harry was clasping Mad Eye Moody's ... wooden leg - Mad Eye Moody who had actually ended up being Barty Crouch Jr.

When Dumbledore and the other teachers had arrived in the Maze, Snape had almost snarled at the sight of Hermione.

"I might have known," he said angrily. A slightly hysterical Hermione had explained the situation to a frowning Dumbledore.

"It's definitely a Portkey," Professor McGonagall had confirmed as she carefully examined the Cup.

"Minerva, Severus ..... come with me," Dumbledore had instructed them, clearly intending that they would use the Portkey and go in Harry's place.

Mad Eye Moody who had been silent through the discussion until that point made a sudden and convulsive movement of involuntary protest. Everyone had turned to stare at him in perplexity. When he had realised that his plan had not succeeded, the professor had lost his composure (and his eye) completely - just after he had successfully made the Portkey vanish into thin air.

It had been Hermione who had stared at him in fascinated shock as realisation sank in. The magical eyeball had rolled away across the grass and continued to swivel in every direction as she frowned.

"He's been using polyjuice potion - the effects are wearing off!" she had exclaimed accusingly as she pointed at him.

Enraged and infuriated, he had lunged at her violently - stopped abruptly in his tracks by both Harry and Cedric who leapt at him at the same time. Although neither of them had been in the best of condition given their recent ordeal in the maze, they had managed to topple the livid Auror to the grass.

Hermione had been right in her conclusions. In the excitement of the evening, the man posing as Professor Moody had forgotten to take his hourly dose of polyjuice potion. As a result, before a startled audience, the face of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor who lay on the ground began to change. The scars disappeared, the skin became smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled grey hair began to withdraw into the scalp and turn the colour of straw. Suddenly, with a loud sucking noise, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place. In the next moment, a real eyeball appeared in the eyesocket that had been empty just a few seconds below.

"That's Barty Crouch Jr...." Harry had whispered, recognising him immediately as the man he had seen in Dumbledore's Pensive.

Under the Veritaserum administered by Snape, the Death Eater had spoken of all he knew.

Everything had been disclosed. The fact that he had become involved with Death Eaters as a youth, the fact that his mother convinced Barty Crouch Sr to allow her to use Polyjuice Potion to change places with her son in Azkaban when she was dying. They learned that Barty Jr had stayed beneath an invisibility cloak, guarded and cared for by Winky the house elf.

Much later that evening, the startling events of the evening were discussed in disbelief.

"Can you believe it? He managed to throw off the Imperius curse," Ron said in a low whisper, as they now stood in the hospital wing where Cedric and Harry were resting, very battered and extremely bruised.

Cedric glanced over at Hermione who found herself feeling unaccountably self-conscious. She looked away, suddenly unable to meet his searching gaze. Since they had returned from the Maze, things felt vastly different. Fortunately for Hermione, there had been no opportunity to be alone with Cedric - he was constantly surrounded by hordes of students and teachers.

"Yes, he was spotted by Bertha Jorkins who was then captured by Voldemort in Albania - it was after that that You Know Who learned of Barty Crouch Jr. and his loyalty. He was the one who caused that ruckus at the Quidditch World Cup."

"Do you mean that this was all his doing?" Ginny asked wonderingly.

"Yes," Hermione told her. "It was all a plan to try to get around Dumbledore's protection of Harry. Barty Crouch Jr took the Polyjuice Potion and impersonated Professor Moody because he knew that he was going to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor at Hogwarts this year."

"You mean he was the one who put Harry's name in the cup?" Neville demanded, eyes wide and startled.

"Yes," Cedric interjected. "He did everything he could to make sure Harry won. He was the one who convinced Hagrid to show Harry the dragons."

"But the second clue?" Ginny questioned.

Hermione didn't look over at Cedric as she spoke. "He knew that Cedric would tell Harry the secret of how to solve he clue - how did he put it? 'Decent people are so easy to manipulate' ".

Everyone stared at Cedric who reddened. "It just seemed the right thing to do." He looked over at Hermione again but she was still averting her gaze away from him so he continued. "He knew that the winner of the Tournament would grab the Triwizard Cup inside the final maze so he turned the cup into a Portkey."

"Why would he want Harry to go to Lord Voldemort?" Ginny demanded.

Everyone shivered at the name. "To kill him of course," Neville whispered, his face very white.

Hermione shook her head. "No. They needed Harry's blood ....It was ... an ingredient. Barty Crouch Jr said they needed the bone of You Know Who's father - hence the graveyard that both Harry and Cedric saw in their dreams. Most important, though was the blood of an old foe."

Everyone turned and stared at Harry who had turned very, very pale. "According to Barty Crouch Jr, it's so that the protection his mother once gave him would then reside in You Know Who's veins as well," Cedric said soberly.

"Cripes," Ron breathed. "That was a very close call ...." He stared at Hermione. "Why were you in the Maze?"

The question was inevitable and so very haltingly, Hermione told the others of Cedric's vision of his own death, of the dreams that Harry and Cedric had both had in relation to the graveyard.

"You never said a word ...."

"It's not like I wanted it being spread around," Cedric told him. "Everyone would've just assumed that I was scared or something." He shrugged. "I'm not saying I wasn't scared - but I knew that it was more than just nerves."

Harry nodded.

Hermione shivered. "Voldemort will try again ... he won't give up so easily," she whispered. "Harry's going to need to be even more careful .."

"Yes, thanks so much for that, Hermione," Harry said crossly, shuddering a little even as he spoke.

"We should be able to learn all sorts of information from Crouch, though," Ron said bracingly.

Cedric shook his head. "Fudge arrived, brought a Dementor with him .... Crouch is as good as dead now," he said.

They stared at one another, expressions bleak. The future now seemed even more uncertain and precarious than it already was.

Cedric interrupted the miserable silence. "Come on, get it together," he said bracingly, glancing around.

"Yes, Dumbledore's onto it ..." Ron said hopefully.

"Dumbledore's not all powerful," Hermione pointed out hesitantly. "If he was - don't you think he would have defeated You Know Who by now? He was fooled by Barty Crouch Jr as well - "

"No need to be so doom and gloom, Granger," Cedric interrupted her when he saw Neville's face grow very red and Harry turn even paler if that was possible. "You forget that this time it's different. Dumbledore's got the great Harry Potter," Harry pulled a face but grinned faintly.

"And you," Harry pointed out.

Cedric nodded and continued. "The indomitable Weasleys .."

"Yoh," Ron said nodding in acknowledgment while Ginny smiled.

"The formidable and terrifyingly ruthless Hermione Granger," he said with a wicked smile and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Very funny."

"Last but not least, the fiercely determined Neville Longbottom," Cedric said nodding at Neville whose eyes widened and a smile of delight at having been included broke over his round face.

"And Trevor!" he said holding up the toad.

Everyone gaped at him.

"Neville - why on earth would you bring Trevor with you to come and visit Harry and Cedric?" Ginny demanded, looking baffled.

Neville looked defensive. "He gets lonely when I leave him alone," he said plaintively and then smiled even though everyone around him laughed. The moment of panic had passed for the moment and Hermione glanced over at Cedric, well-aware of what he had done.

He was looking straight at her and he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Hermione flushed and looked away again.

"You've got to be joking!" Cedric said hotly as Harry also made noises of outrage.

"The Tournament was abandoned due to foul play ... but Cornelius Fudge is also very unhappy with the fact that Miss Granger, contrary to Tournament rules, entered the Maze. Words like cheating and foul play are being used."

Hermione went white. "It isn't cheating. They had absolutely nothing to do with it," Hermione lied flatly. "I stole Harry's cloak and went into the Maze because I was worried about them ...."

"Don't listen to her!" Harry and Cedric exclaimed at the same time while Hermione shot them a frustrated look that blazed with anger.

"We helped her. We weren't cheating. We didn't care about winning - we were just trying to get to the Portkey...." Harry protested.

".... trying to save our lives!" Cedric said at the same time.

Dumbledore put up a hand to stop them in their protests.

"I am well aware of your good intentions, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said gently. "Nonetheless, in order to appease the Ministry, three three of you are to be put on detention. In order to remove the suggestion of any ... bias, it will be Professor Snape who will set the terms of the detention. Please report to the dungeon in an hour."

The expression on the faces of the three young students was almost comical.

"What are you playing at, Granger?" Cedric demanded as soon as Dumbledore had left the room.

"What are you playing at?"

"Cedric's right - we don't need you to fall on your sword for us, Hermione," Harry pointed out.

"It was my idea in the first place," Hermione muttered.

"Granger, I - " Cedric started to say but Hermione glanced at him and then said in an overly bright voice.

"I have somewhere I need to be right now," she told him hastily and before he could continue, she had vanished. Cedric stared at Harry who watched Hermione go with a puzzled look on his face.

"She's been like that all day. Avoiding me."

Harry looked baffled. "I don't even pretend to understand her."

Cedric looked frustrated and continued to glare at the empty doorway as if he could will Hermione to turn around and come back.

"Actually, Cedric, there was something I've been meaning to ask you. I mean - "

"No Harry, I don't care that Cho kissed you," Cedric said absently, making up his mind and took off at a run in search of Hermione.

"Oh. Yeah. Right," Harry said to the air, feeling slightly foolish.

"I thought we were friends - or was it all an intellectual exercise and a ticklish problem to be solved by the great Hermione Granger?" Cedric demanded. He almost sounded angry.

He had been unable to find her in the end, but she'd had no choice but to turn up for detention and the 'discussion' had begun almost immediately.

"You're being ridiculous," Hermione said, scooping a Moonlight Slug into her jar, shuddering slightly at its sliminess and the pale myopic way in which it glared at her as it slid around the jar reproachfully.

She couldn't explain it even to herself. Now that the threat of imminent death was no longer hanging over Cedric's head and life had returned to a form of normality, she had started wondering if things really could continue as they had to that point. When she tried to imagine Cedric Diggory and Hermione Granger walking side by side through the halls of Hogwarts, she wasn't sure it made any sense at all.

"Am I? Seems to me you're washing your hands of your old project and moving onto your next one," Cedric said evenly, an edge in his voice as he studied her in the darkness. "Care to share?"

"It just occurs to me that things might have moved along a little fast. All things considered. Perhaps it might be best to sort of just - "

"Just what?"

"Ummm .... don't suppose you two could discuss this later. For instance, when I''M NOT AROUND?" Harry demanded with a note of irritation in his voice. "I'm not sure if I want to put up with this for FIVE hours!" he told them, glaring at them in frustration.

Cedric and Hermione shot faintly sheepish glances at Harry and then at one another. They lapsed into silence for a moment, continuing their extremely disgusting detention task with grim determination.

"I'm not finished, Granger," Cedric whispered sharply at Hermione as he helped to scoop another slug into her jar.

"I don't have anything more to say on this topic," Hermione whispered back at him primly.

"Oh would you PLEASE stop that?" Harry demanded in frustration, dropping his jar of Moonlight Slugs and swearing as they slithered away from him.

"The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. Lord Voldemort is attempting to return .... such ties are more important than ever before."

Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

Hermione stood at Harry's side and glanced around the hall. A shiver ran through her at her friends' narrow escape from death. Her gaze searched for Cedric at the Hufflepuff table. He was looking very tall, very pale and very serious, his hair falling over his eyes as he listened intently to Dumbledore's words.

She knew he was annoyed with her for avoiding him, but she was unable to look away from him. His eyes met hers squarely and his brilliant grey eyes unreadable. "Thank you," he mouthed silently at her.

Hermione exhaled slowly. Her feelings of relief that they had escaped from the maze were almost overwhelming. Whether the dreams had been prophetic or not, both youths were standing in the Great Hall, safe and very alive.

She returned her attention to what Dumbledore was saying.

"It is my belief- and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times...."

Hermione's trunk was packed. Harry and Ron were waiting in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the fourth years for the carriages that would take them back to Hogsmeade station. It was another beautiful summer's day.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she saw Fleur Delacour giving Harry a farewell.

"'Arry! We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope," said Fleur as she reached him, holding out her hand. "I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish."

"It's very good already," said Ron in a strangled sort of voice. Fleur smiled at him.

"Good-bye, 'Arry," said Fleur, turning to go. "It 'az been a pleasure meeting you!"

Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," said Ron. "D' you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"

"Karkaroff did not steer," said a gruff voice. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork."

Krum had come to say good-bye to Hermione. "Could I have a vord?" he asked her.

"Oh . . . yes ... all right," said Hermione, looking slightly flustered, and following Krum through the crowd and almost out of sight. Hermione was conscious of a pair of cool grey eyes watching her walk with Viktor.

"You vill write to me?" Viktor asked her and Hermione smiled awkwardly.

"Well I ...."

"As friends...." Viktor said, smiling ruefully and Hermione nodded.

"You'd best hurry up, Granger. The carriages'll be here in a minute," Cedric said calmly as he walked up to them.

Viktor looked very embarrassed. "I am sorry," he said inadequately. "It was wrong... what I haf done in the Maze to you ..."

"It wasn't your fault," Cedric said. He held out his hand. "Shake?"

Viktor looked at the hand that Cedric extended and smiled faintly. "Shake," he agreed and shook hands. "You have alvays been polite to me. Alvays. Even though I am from Durmstrang - with Karkaroff," he added, scowling.

"Have you got a new headmaster yet?" asked Harry as he walked up with Ron.

Krum shrugged. He held out his hand as Fleur had done, shook everyone's hand except Hermione's. He merely smiled at Hermione and glanced between her and Cedric with a faintly wistful look of comprehension in his dark eyes. He hesitated as if he was going to say something but then nodded and started to walk away.

Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort of painful internal struggle but then as Krum walked , Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"

Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages that were now trundling toward them up the drive, as Krum, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron while Cedric and Harry grinned.

The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to King's Cross than it had been on their way to Hogwarts the previous September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had managed to get a compartment to themselves, Hermione studiously avoiding Cedric's searching gaze. She saw him go into another compartment with a group of his friends.

Pigwidgeon was once again hidden under Ron's dress robes to stop him from hooting continually; Hedwig was dosing, her head under her wing, and Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat like a large, furry ginger cushion. Harry, Ron, and Hermione talked more fully and freely than they had all week as the train sped them southward. They broke off their conversation about what action Dumbledore might be taking, even now, to stop Voldemort only when the lunch trolley arrived.

When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in there. Hermione saw Harry glancing at it.

"There's nothing in there. Just a sensationalised article about how the Triwizard Tournament was a disappointment due to the underhanded conduct of Hogwarts students. Nothing at all about Barty Crouch Jr or Voldemort's return .... If you ask me. Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."

"He'll never keep Rita quiet," said Harry. "Not on a story like this."

"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."

In a rush of words, Hermione briefed them on how she had discovered that Rita Skeeter was an unregistered Animagus who could turn into a beetle - a beetle that was now trapped in a jar in Hermione's possession.

"I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."

"Cedric said that you were ruthless," Harry commented with a grin and Hermione's serene smile faded slightly as she placed the beetle back inside her schoolbag.

The door of the compartment slid open.

"Very clever. Granger," said Draco Malfoy. It occurred to Hermione that it was rather odd that Cedric could make her surname sound like a teasing caress. Malfoy on the other hand bit it out as though it was a foul insult - which of course it was when it came from him.

Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All three of them looked more pleased with themselves, more arrogant and more menacing, than Hermione had ever seen them.

"So," said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the compartment and looking slowly around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips. "You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favourite boy again. Big deal."

His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered.

"So, trying to forget that you're all sneaking cheats?" said Malfoy softly, looking around at all three of them. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"

"Get out," said Harry said coldly.

"Talk about bringing shame to the school - what were you thinking Granger? Mudbloods are all cheats ...."

Hermione saw Harry gripping his wand under his robes.

"Need your little Mudblood to protect you, Potter? Scared of the Dark Lord are we, widdle Potter? You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!" He jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. "Too late now. Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! It will be Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! "

It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Hermione blinked and looked down at the floor.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were on their feet, all three of them having used a different hex. Nor were they the only ones to have done so.

"Cedric thought these three were up to no good," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. "Said we might want to come over and see what was up." He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside. Also standing there was Cedric who held his wand in his hand carelessly, an enigmatic expression on his good-looking face as he studied the occupants of the compartment.

"Interesting effect," he said, looking down at Crabbe. "Who here used the Furnunculus Curse?"

"Me," said Harry.

"Odd," said Cedric lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Not sure how many times I've told Malfoy off for using language like that. He never listens. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the décor."

Cedric, Ron and Harry kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle - each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit - out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut.

"Exploding Snap, anyone?" said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards.

"Granger - a word?" Cedric asked her pointedly and everyone turned their heads and stared at the two of them in astonishment. Everyone that is except Harry who muttered something beneath his breath that sounded like,"Well it's about bloody time."

"I love Exploding Snap," Hermione lied brightly and Fred raised an eyebrow.

"But you're rubbish at it."

Hermione glared at Fred resentfully while Cedric looked at Hermione questioningly.

"Well?" he asked her, a faintly wicked smile curving his mouth.

The silence stretched on as everyone continued to glance back and forth between the two of them with fascinated interest. Everyone except Harry. "Stop rolling your eyes Harry, you'll do yourself an injury," Cedric said mildly without even glancing at the young wizard.

"What on earth do you want to talk about with Hermione?" Ron demanded in curiosity.

Before Cedric could say anything, Hermione responded. "Of course. I think it's absolutely wonderful that you want to join S.P.E.W., with any luck you will be able to encourage more members of Hufflepuff to join. Cedric's offered to hand out flyers in the Hufflepuff common room. Would anyone else like to join us?" she asked provocatively, her eyes challenging.

Ron, Fred and George looked revolted. "Are you off your head, Cedric? What are you about letting Hermione convince you to join SPEW?"

Cedric was smiling, a very rueful expression in his grey eyes.

"What can I say? Granger's powers of persuasion are second to none. Shall we?" he asked her. "I can feel my ardour for passionate militism growing by the second and every delay is a moment wasted in the fight against centuries of oppression."

Hermione flushed slightly, unable to believe that he hadn't called her out on her lie

They left the compartment before anyone could say another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex marks.

Hermione followed Cedric wordlessly. He looked taller, somehow - and even more intimidating than usual. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his trousers and he was watching her intently. The tenderness lurking in his eyes unsettled her.

"I suppose you're wondering why I might have been sort of, well, avoiding you. Well, not avoiding you precisely, it's just that you know - we did get to know each other under rather trying circumstances. Perhaps the whole imminent death thing made us forget that the idea of any relationship betweeen us is rather improbable and you know, we really don't belong to the same circles. Everyone would always be wondering what you saw in me and I'd probably be wondering what you saw in me and it would all feel rather queer, if you know what I mean and ...."

Hermione glanced up, slightly breathless after her rambling and disjointed speech, aware that she was spouting rubbish. Cedric was smiling down at her in a very unsettling manner.

"Say something," she told him.

"Like what?" he asked her. "You seem to want to do all the talking right now, Granger." He reached out to brush her hair from her face. Hermione reached up to stop him but as he touched the smoothness of her cheek, her eyes closed for a moment.

"Anything," she whispered.

"You and me, we're meant to be. It's fate, you know. It's destiny - it even rhymes."

Hermione had to laugh despite herself at his ridiculousness.

"Excuse me ... I think we've proved very conclusively that it is very possible to change fate ...." she told him, glancing up up at him with a faint smile in her eyes.

Cedric closed his eyes dramatically. "I've been taking extra Divination classes .... " He opened his eyes and said in a seer-like voice,"I can see it all now .... there's you .... me .... a train carriage .... raw and unbridled passion ...."

"I'm getting rather good at defying fate," she told him sternly as he took her hand and tugged lightly. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"You've been behaving like a right idiot since the end of the Tournament." He ignored her sound of protest. "I've put up with it as long as I intend to." Cedric slid open a carriage door and tugged her through. "I'm making sure you don't escape this fate," he told her wickedly, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her into the empty carriage with ridiculous ease. The door slid shut behind them with an emphatic sound.

Roger Davies who was on patrol glanced around curiously. He could have sworn he heard a sound, saw a glimpse of robes flying through the air. He kept walking through the open carriage, frowning faintly, wondering if he was hearing things.

Inside the carriage, Cedric and Hermione were completely obvious to the rocking of the train. They knew better than to try to play with destiny a second time.