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chapter thirteen | dragons & dances

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"DRAGONS?!"

"Shhh!" Fred and George hushed. They were all standing outside Defence Against the Dark Arts, waiting for Moody to let his previous class out so they could go in.

Kaya had just been informed that the first task would contain dragons. The twins' older brother Charlie, along with his friends and handlers, had just arrived to handle the dragons used for the first round, and it was safe to say, Kaya was astonished at the brutality for the very first task.

"Shit," Jaeden muttered. "Does Cedric know?"

Kaya shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "I'll have to tell him,"

"Why?"

"Why?! So he doesn't end up six feet under in a coffin!"

"Well, yeah, I know, but like... isn't it kind of cheating? I know it's dangerous, but there's no way Dumbledore'll let someone die on us,"

"I mean, you can't expect me not to tell him," Kaya said, eyes flicking between the three boys. "Like... if Lee was in the tournament, you'd tell him, right?"

"Yeah, fair enough, you've got a point," said George.

"Thank you, George,"

"Does Harry know about the dragons?" Jaeden asked.

"I dunno if Ron told him, they fell out, didn't they?" said Fred.

"Have you told him?" asked Kaya with a raised eyebrow.

"...Not yet," The boy said, more quietly, waiting for Kaya's reaction.

"Unbelievable," she said, shaking her head. "So, you decided to tell us instead of the person who should probably have known first? And it's not cheating for him, is it? Technically he's already cheating, since he's fourteen,"

The three boys stayed silent, exchanging looks with each other, unsure of what to say.

"Well?" the girl said, glancing between them. "Are you going to tell him?"

"Yes, mother," said George, before receiving a wallop on the shoulder. Jaeden laughed.

"Don't mother me, I'm probably younger than you!"

"No surprise, there," Fred said in response. "You're tiny! No offence,"

"None taken," Kaya laughed. "When's your birthday?"

"April first," the twins said in sync.

"April Fool's Day," said Jaeden. "Makes sense,"

"Yeah, I'm younger," Kaya nodded. "May twenty-sixth,"

"Younger in the fact that Kaya's got the mental age of an eight year old, as well." Jaeden added with a grin. Kaya thumped him, too.

"Awe, baby Kaya," Fred teased.

"See, when I say she's a baby, I'm not even joking," said Jaeden, leaning on her shoulder.

"Awe, K." said George. "You'll be the last to apparate, if it works out in age order. Mind you, we're not sure if Jae'll pass on first try..."

"Oi!"

"Well, to put it into perspective, I'll outlive you all, since I'm so full of youth!" Kaya retorted with a grin. "So, who's the real winner?"

"Not you, because you'll be lonely without all us," Fred said. "Especially me," he winked. "You couldn't live without me."

"I highly doubt that," the girl teased. Fred pretended to be offended and crossed his arms, huffing.

"Suit yourself, love,"

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Somehow, Harry already knew about the dragons, and his heart of gold didn't wait one second to tell Cedric - so by the time Kaya informed the Hufflepuff boy he'd be battling against a fire-breathing beast, he'd already found out before.

This made Kaya even more baffled by the fact that people thought someone as sweet as Harry would want to enter and bring all of the attention off Cedric and onto himself. If he'd wanted all the glory, surely he'd have kept the knowledge to himself?

The first task rolled around pretty quickly, and the next thing Kaya knew, she was sitting in the stands with Milo, Maisie and Jaeden, watching the four champions compete. She and Maisie had told Cedric they'd be cheering him on before he'd left, and made him promise to be careful.

The Hufflepuff boy was the first champion to enter the arena, and the four leaned forward, eyes fixed on Cedric.

"This is gonna be brilliant!" said Jaeden.

"This is gonna be a mess," Maisie retorted.

"I want to watch," said Kaya. "But I also don't,"

"And I want to be able to watch without you three yapping my ears," said Milo.

The task involved the competitors retrieving a golden egg from the pile of real dragon eggs. The champions were ranked in who could complete the challenge the fastest. Cedric ended up using his wand and transformed a rock into a Labrador to create a distraction. Kaya herself thought it was a pretty smart move, but the dragon soon lost interest in the dog and wanted to pursue Cedric instead.

"I guess they kind of just have to try and control the dragon..." said Maisie.

"Control it?!" said Kaya, pulling a face. "How're they gonna do that, put a bastard lead on it?"

She was bringing her hands to her eyes every time Cedric got close to being injured or caught, but immediately peeked through her fingers after. She was at war with herself, unable to decide whether she wanted to watch or not. A part of Cedric's face ended up being burned - Kaya cringed at the sight of it, completely restless in her seat. She felt really uncomfortable just watching her friend get attacked.

The dragon handlers soon stepped in, and Cedric managed to escape, heading to the hospital wing.

Kaya swore, putting her hand on her forehead.

"This is brutal," she said.

"You don't say," Jaeden replied. Even he was at loss for words, and they still had three more champions to go.

Kaya thought she might cry at the sight of Harry stepping into the arena, facing a very angry Hungarian Horntail. If the seventeen year old's were struggling, a boy three years younger was practically being sent to his death.

"I'm shitting myself for him," she said, gripping onto Jaeden's arm rather tightly. "I dunno if I can watch,"

"Oh, shut up," he said. "He's Harry Potter he'll be fine,"

Harry didn't have a chance at figuring out a plan of what to do, as the dragon attacked him almost immediately. Luckily, the boy was quite smart, and summoned his Firebolt.

And then later on, at one moment, the boy had flown out of the arena, the dragon close behind. The Horntail continued to jab and snap at him, until he crashed. The boy sank out of everyone's view, the dragon falling with him. Kaya started to feel sick. There was a pause of silence, and everyone waited anxiously for his return. Jaeden thought Kaya was going to break his arm from clutching onto it so tightly.

"Oh my fuck," she whispered. They were all staring at the place where the boy was last seen with wide eyes.

Until a small figure appeared on a broomstick, heading back towards the arena. The brunette girl let out a laugh of relief, before cheering loudly for the boy. He swooped in, retrieved the egg and the first task came to an end.

"That boy is mad," Milo grinned as he clapped.

Kaya sighed with ease, as she leaned back.

"That was so stressful and I wasn't even one of the champions,"

"Yeah, because you're a drama queen," Jaeden said. Kaya kicked him.

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Maisie and Kaya rushed off to find Cedric immediately after the task had finished. They told him he was amazing, and when he denied it, they went off on one.

"Ced, I'm telling you, you were brilliant!" said Maisie.

"I couldn't even finish it myself," he said, his face filled with gloom.

"Uh, Cedric," Kaya interrupted. "If that was me, I'd have died in the first five minutes, and that's not even an exaggeration. You were amazing. And you came second, which is definitely something to celebrate. Don't be so hard on yourself,"

Cedric still hadn't agreed, but he let the girls talk and appreciated them trying to comfort him and boost his confidence. They were definitely two of his favourite people at Hogwarts.

"I'll just have to work hard to do better on the other two," he said.

Kaya had come to the conclusion that she wasn't a big fan of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The first task was way too stressful for her little mind to cope with, and she only hoped that the next two wouldn't be so brutal.

But, the Tri-Wizard Tournament included a range of different events for everyone to enjoy - and as December neared, the thing Kaya would definitely adore the most was soon approaching.

"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Tri-Wizard tournament since its inception." said Professor Sprout.

The every Hufflepuff student in their fourth year or above had been gathered to sit and receive an explanation from their Head of House, and nobody had a clue on what it was about.

"On Christmas night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for a night of well-mannered frivolity, and as representatives of the host school, we expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward,"

Everyone was sitting with bewildered expressions on their faces.

"...I mean this literally, because the Yule Ball is a dance,"

Everyone immediately started talking, a bubble of conversations filling the room, both excited and annoyed. Kaya and Maisie's faces both lit up, and they turned to face each other with wide eyes and grins.

"You're joking!" Kaya grinned, to which Professor Sprout laughed.

"Do I look like I'm joking, Miss Bennett?"

The girl leaned back in her seat cheerfully. A few groans had erupted from the small groups of boys, but Cedric seemed to be quite content with it.

Then again, Kaya didn't think she'd ever heard him complain about anything but his own doings.

"Silence!" called Professor Sprout. "I'm not that much of a dancer myself, I'll admit - but to dance is to let the body breathe! Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers, longing to burst off and take flight-"

"Not sure if me dancing like they do in 'Born To Hand-Jive' would be counted as a 'secret swan'," Kaya muttered to Maisie, who sniggered in response.

"Inside every body, a lordly lion ready to prance,"

Kaya snorted, and had to stop herself from laughing.

"Yes, Cedric," she muttered with a smirk. "Release that inner lion,"

"Piss off," he mumbled back with a grin, although he too was laughing at Sprout's explanation. "Not before you let out that inner swan, which I highly doubt exists,"

The three all snickered together, until Sprout forced one of the Hufflepuff boys to practice dancing with her, much to his dismay. The group later had to learn to waltz, although Kaya didn't learn very much because she was partnered with Cedric and all they did was laugh.

But, no matter how hilarious she found Sprout's explanation of the Yule Ball, the brunette was delighted at the sound of a dance. She could not wait to share her excitement with Jae and Milo.