"FEELING ALRIGHT, Laura? Confident?"

Laura was walking down the stone steps onto the grounds, Bagman tailing her.

"No," Laura replied bluntly. She was confident that she wasn't going to die, but that was about it.

"Laura, if you need any assistance, just tell me," Bagman said in a low voice.

They walked out to the Quidditch Pitch, which was unrecognizable. The hedges were about twenty feet high, with a gap for the entrance.

"I'm just fine, but thank you," Laura said politely. "I'm not sure why you keep asking me that, despite the fact I say no every single time-" Laura's politeness was gone "-it's like you want something out of this?"

"I just want to assure you'll win," Bagman said.

"Well, if you insist, there's one thing you can do," Laura said, cracking her knuckles. "If you could just stand there."

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

"I just want to be assured I'm warming up properly," Laura shrugged.

She punched him in the face. Her eyes widened.

"Oh my Merlin- I'm so sorry, my hand slipped," Laura said, not meaning any of her words. Bagman pinched his nose, and Laura could see blood dripping from it. "But students are starting to come. You might want to head out– oh, and maybe talk to Madam Pomfrey."

Bagman finally left with that, leaving Laura to her own devices and nerves.

"Hey, Laura."

Laura turned to see it was Cedric, who looked just as nervous.

"Hi, Cedric," Laura smiled.

"Hey, I just wanted to apologize about my dad earlier," Cedric said. "It's just that that Skeeter woman is really horrible, and he got jealous."

"It's all good, I've had my fair share of troubles with her," Laura said. A competitive smile formed on her face as she put her hand out. "But, are you ready to be defeated?"

"You're on," Cedric grinned, shaking her hand.

The sky was a deep blue color, and the stars started to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick walked into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were all wearing luminous stars on their hats, except for Hagrid, who wore his on his back.

"We will be patrolling the outside of the maze," Professor McGonagall told them. "If you get into difficulty and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you. Do you understand?"

They all nodded.

The four of them then left, leaving Bagman to announce the start.

"Sonorous," he said, magically magnifying his voice into the stands.

"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 the first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Miss Laura Pickering, 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!" More applause. "And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons Academy!"

Laura could barely make out Draco, Pansy, Blaise, Nick, and her parents applauding Fleur politely. She sent them an I love you, to which they returned it, beaming at her.

"So... on my whistle, Laura and Cedric!" Bagman exclaimed. "Three- two- one-"

He gave a short whistle blow. Laura and Cedric ran forward into the maze.

Laura swore under her breath as they ran. She wasn't fond of the dark, but it was night, and the hedges cast black shadows. All the loud sounds went silent as she ran, which didn't help.

"Lumos," Laura muttered, her wand lighting up. She heard Cedric do the same from just behind her. The maze started out with just one path, meaning at that point, it was a test of who was faster.

That ended after about fifty yards when they reached a fork. The two of them shared a look.

"See you on the other side," Laura said, turning to the left path.

"Till we meet again," Cedric replied, taking the right path.

As they split off, Bagman blew his whistle again. Viktor was now in the maze, causing Laura to speed up. However, it seemed as though her path was deserted. Laura took another right and kept going, holding her wand over her head, trying to see as far as she could. To her surprise, there was nothing in sight.

Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were inside the maze now.

Laura glanced behind, having a strange feeling that she was being watched. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute. The sky was now a deep navy as she reached another fork.

"Point me," Laura whispered, holding her wand flat in her palm.

Her wand spun around once, and it pointed to her right. A solid hedge. She knew that that way was north and the center was northwest. Laura sighed, taking the left fork.

Laura was confused as she ran through another empty path. She took another right, that path being unblocked as well. Either something big was waiting for Laura, or whoever made the maze failed at their job. Her shoulders tensed when she heard a sound, her wand out at the ready-to-attack. However, the light fell onto Cedric, who had just hurried out of the path on her right. Cedric looked severely shaken and torn up. His sleeve was smoking.

"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed. "They're enormous- I only just got away!"

Cedric then dived out of sight again. Laura hurried off again, wanting nothing less than to come face to face with a Skrewt. As Laura turned a corner, her face dropped.

It was Draco and Nick.

It seemed that someone had used the Crucio Curse on them. The two of them were writhing in pain, causing Laura to hurry over to them.

Then, something clicked, and she realized there was no way it could have been them.

"Riddikulus," Laura shouted. With a loud crack, the boggart exploded in a wisp of smoke.

Grateful it was just a boggart, Laura continued her search for the center. Though, it seemed like every path she took led to a dead end. Laura used the Four-Point Spell again, realizing her error. Going to the right path, she saw a weird golden mist floating ahead of her.

She approached the mist carefully. She poked it with her wand, but nothing happened. It looked like an enchantment, but Laura couldn't place her finger on which one it would be.

With no other option, Laura would have to walk through it. Right before she took a step, a scream shattered the silence.

"Fleur!" Laura shouted, her eyes wide.

It was silent,

She looked around, unsure of what had happened. Fleur's scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. That pushed Laura to run through the enchanted mist.

Everything turned upside down. Laura was now hanging from the ground, her hair on end. Her feet felt like they were glued to the grass, which now felt like the ceiling. It was as though she was in a moving, dark, and star-filled sky stretching endlessly.

After running through all the spells Laura knew, she thought of nothing to help herself. So, with that, Laura moved forward.

Immediately, the world righted itself. Laura fell forward onto her knees. She felt temporarily limp with shock. After a steadying breath, Laura got up, hurrying forward again.

She paused at a junction of two paths, looking for some sign of Fleur. Laura was sure it was Fleur who screamed. What happened? Was she okay? There were no signs of red sparks. She was either okay or in such bad condition that she couldn't reach her wand. Now feeling more nervous, Laura took the right fork.

The cup was somewhere nearby, and it sounded as if Fleur wasn't in the maze any longer. Laura's mind was racing about what she would do if it ended up being her who won.

She decided to ignore that prospect for ten minutes. Laura was met with absolutely nothing. She kept running into dead ends. Three times she took the same wrong turn. Yet, she finally found a new route, her wand light waving, making her shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls.

At the next corner, she found herself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

Cedric was correct- it was enormous. It was ten feet long, looking like a giant scorpion. Its long stinger was curled over its back. Its thick armor glinted in the light from Laura's wand.

"Stupefy!"

The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; Laura ducked just in time but could smell burning hair; it had burnt the bottom of her hair. Laura was mad. Her eyes narrowed as the Skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew toward her.

"Impedimenta!" Laura yelled. This hit its fleshy, shell-less underside, causing it to freeze. Laura immediately ran in the opposite direction. The Impediment Curse wasn't permanent, and Laura did not want to be there when it regained the use of its legs.

After hitting more dead ends, she performed the Four-Point Spell, backtracked, and chose a path that could take her northwest.

As Laura hurried down this path, she heard something in the path running parallel to her own that made her stop dead.

"What are you doing?" Cedric's voice yelled. "What the bloody hell d'you think you're doing?"

Then Laura heard Viktor's voice.

"Crucio!"

The air was suddenly filled with Cedric's yells. Horrified, Laura began sprinting up her path, trying to find Cedric. When she couldn't find a way, she tried the Reductor Curse. It wasn't very effective, but it burned a big enough hole for Laura to get through. When she got through, she saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Viktor standing over him.

Laura pointed her wand at Viktor just as he looked up. Viktor turned and began to run.

"Stupefy!" Laura shouted.

The spell hit Viktor in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown in the grass. Laura dashed over to Cedric, who was panting, his hand over his face.

"You alright?" Laura said, giving Cedric a hand.

"Yeah," Cedric panted. "Yeah... I don't believe it... He crept up behind me... I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me..." Cedric got up, still shaking. The two of them looked down at Viktor.

"I thought he was cool," Laura said with a frown.

"I did, too," Cedric said.

"Poor guy, though," Laura sighed. "This is the second time this has happened to him."

"Well, he might've deserved it."

"Did you hear Fleur?" Laura asked, turning to Cedric.

"Yeah," Cedric said solemnly. "You don't think he got her too?"

"Not sure," Laura sighed. "But before you say anything, we're not leaving here. I'll shoot up some red sparks. Don't want him eaten by a Skrewt."

"He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered, raising his wand. He shot a shower of red sparks into the air.

"Well, I s'pose we'd better go..." Cedric said.

"Yeah... probably," Laura replied.

While Laura and Cedric had been briefly unified, they were now opponents again. Laura took the left path, and Cedric took the right.

Now, it was just Cedric and Laura in the maze. Laura wanted to get to the cup to be done, to be finished with the tournament.

Laura kept hitting dead ends, the Four-Pointer Spell not helping. However, the maze kept getting darker, giving her some hope that she was close to the heart of the maze.

She then ran into a sphinx. It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long, yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long almond-shaped eyes upon Laura as she approached. Laura cautiously raised her wand, but the sphinx blocked the path.

"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."

"Could you move... please?" Laura asked politely.

"No," the sphinx said, "not unless you can answer my riddle on your first guess- I will let you pass. Answer wrongly- I attack. Remain silent- I will let you walk away from me unscathed."

"Oh, I used to have to do this to get into my common room," Laura shrugged. "Go for it."

The sphinx smiled and recited:

"First, think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally, give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"

Laura furrowed her eyebrows. The Horned Serpent's riddles were much shorter than this. Laura was unsure why this whole tournament had so many riddles.

"Sorry, I need that again," Laura said tentatively. The sphinx blinked at her, smiled, and repeated the poem. "Okay... all the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss? I mean, that could be a lot of things."

Laura thought about it, looking around in hopes of a hint.

"A person in disguise," Laura muttered, "that would be a... spy? Then something to mend... the sound often heard when searching for a hard-to-find word- er..."

The sphinx looked at her with a knowing smile.

"Oh-! A spy-d-er!" Laura exclaimed. "That's my guess, I would rather die than kiss a spider."

The sphinx smiled more broadly. She stretched her front legs, moving to the side to let Laura pass.

"Thank you!" Laura said as she dashed forward.

Laura was sure she was close now. She just had to be. Her wand was telling her she was on course. As long as she didn't encounter anything too horrible, she would make it.

"Point me!" Laura whispered as two paths appeared up ahead. She broke out into a run as it pointed to the right path. As she dashed up on this one, she saw a light.

The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly, a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of her.

It was Cedric. Cedric sprinted as fast as he could towards the cup; Laura knew she would never catch up. Cedric was not only taller but had longer legs than her.

Then something emerged over a hedge; it was moving so fast that Cedric was bound to run into it, and Cedirc, his eye on the cup, had not seen it-

"Cedric!" Laura yelled. "On your left!"

Cedric looked just in time to hurl himself past the thing, avoiding colliding with it. However, in his haste, he tripped. Laura saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a giant spider strapped into the path and began to bear down on Cedric.

"Stupefy!" Laura yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, it was as if she threw a rock at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Laura instead.

"This is not what I meant when I answered that riddle!" Laura exclaimed, shooting spells at it. "Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!"

It was no use- either the spider was so large or magical that the spells were doing nothing but aggravating it. Laura had one terrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon her.

She was lifted into the air; struggling, she tried to kick it; her leg connected with the pincers, and the next moment, she was in excruciating pain, screaming in pain. She could hear Cedric yelling "Stupefy!" too, but his spell had no more effect than Laura's.

"Laura raised her wand as the Spider opened its pincers again and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

It worked- the Disarming Spell made the spider drop her, but that meant Laura fell twelve feet onto her already injured leg, which crumpled beneath her. Without pausing, Laura aimed high at the spider's underbelly, as she had done with the Skrewt, and shouted, "Stupefy!" just as Cedric shouted the same spell.

The two spells combined did what one alone had not. The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs.

"Laura!" she heard Cedric shouting. "You alright? Did it fall on you?"

"No," Laura called back, panting. She looked down at her leg. It was bleeding freely. Laura ripped her robe and tied it over her bleeding leg.

She tried to get up, but her leg was shaking badly, and did not want to support her weight. She leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, seeing Cedric ahead.

He stood feet away from the Triwizard Cup, which gleamed behind him.

"Take the cup," Laura said, nodding towards the cup.

Cedric didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Laura. Then, he turned to stare at the cup. Laura could see the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Cedric looked back at Laura again, who was holding onto the hedge for support. Cedric took a deep breath.

"You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck here."

"I don't need to win," Laura said, walking towards Cedric. She winced with every step. Her body just hurt. "If you want a race, it's not happening."

Cedric took a few steps towards the spider, away from the cup, shaking his head again.

"No," he said.

"Oh my Merlin, stop being noble," Laura said, her pain causing her to be more irritable. "Just take it, so I can talk to Madame Pomfrey, and we can be done."

Cedric watched Laura steadying herself, holding tight to the hedge.

"You told me about the dragons," Cedric reasoned. "I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming."

"I had help on that," Laura sighed. "You helped me with the egg, though- we're square."

"I had help on the egg in the first place–"

"We're still square," Laura interrupted, testing her leg gingerly. It shook violently as she put weight on it; she assumed she had sprained it when the spider dropped her.

"You should've got more points on the second task," Cedric said mulishly. "You stayed behind to get all of the hostages. I should've done that."

"I'm just stupid," Laura said, rolling her eyes. "I took it too seriously. I don't want this. You take the cup."

"No," Cedric said firmly.

"You really are a Hufflepuff," Laura said, slightly amused.

Cedric stepped over to the spider's legs to join Laura, who stared at him. It was clear to Laura that Cedric was serious. He was walking away from a glory that the Hufflepuff House hadn't had in centuries.

"Go on," Cedric said. Laura could tell it was costing him every ounce of resolution he had to do this. However, his face was set, his arms were folded, and he seemed decided.

"I think you should go for it," Laura said, looking between Cedric and the cup. "You deserve it. I don't need the money or the glory. You want to be here, and you have a working leg. Just go take it."

Cedric didn't budge, causing Laura to sigh.

"Both of us then," Laura said.

"What?"

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll just tie."

Cedric stared at Laura, unfolding his arms.

"You sure?"

"I'm not touching it any other way," Laura said.

For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears; his face split into a grin.

"Oh, you're on," he said. "Come here."

He grabbed Laura's arm below the shoulder and helped Laura limp over to the plinth where the cup stood. When they reached it, they held a hand out over one of the cup's handles.

"Okay, on three, right?" Laura said, looking over at Cedric, who nodded. "One- two- three-"

Laura and Cedric both grasped the handle.

Then, in an instant, Laura felt a jerk somewhere behind her navel. Her feet had left the ground. She could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling her onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Cedric at her side.

And someone else... their hand on Laura's arm.