THE FINAL TASK
"𝗐𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗆 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗅𝖽 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗇."

—ALEXANDRIA CLUTCHED THE BRACELET AROUND HER WRIST ANXIOUSLY, BUT NO EMOTIONS WERE PORTRAYED ON HER FACE. It was finally the day of the third task, and the champions were in front of the maze with the other students now filing in. She frowned when Harry walked over to her. "Goodluck," said Harry with a smile and left.

She merely rolled her eyes and turned around, noticing Dumbledore looking at her with a glimmer in his eyes.

Whatever he was planning, Alexandria knew would be bad.

"Hey," whispered a comforting voice, catching her attention.

Cedric motioned for her to follow him.

♡

As soon as the two were alone, they immediately hugged each other.

Cedric kissed her head softly. "You'll be fine, I promise."

"I don't think so," mumbled the girl.

"You will. If Dumbledore tries to do something, he'll be the first person I kill when I become a death eater."

"Cedric," she pulled away. "you're not joining."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not!"

"Yes," he frowned. "I am."

"Why?!"

"Because, I don't want to leave you.. leave us.."

"But.. why would you throw away your whole damn life for me?" Alexandria asked, a bit calmer.

"Because I love you."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

But before he could answer, the cannon shot, meaning that it was time for the champions to get into the maze.

"We'll talk about this later," said Cedric before leaving to rush into the maze with the others.

♡

About 20 minutes later, Alexandria was in the maze still— trying to ignore what Cedric had said and just focus on the task.

The path ahead was empty too, and when Alexandria reached a right turn and took it, she again found her way unblocked. She didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving her. Surely she should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring her into a false sense of security. Then she heard movement right behind her.

Alexandria held out her wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking.

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

"Are you alright?" asked Alexandria immediately as if on instinct.

"Yeah. You?"

She could merely nod, feeling many emotions at once.

He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path.

Keen to put plenty of distance between herself and the skrewts, Alexandria hurried off again. Then, as she turned a corner, she saw... a dementor gliding toward her.

Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward her.

Alexandria could hear its rattling breath; she felt clammy coldness stealing over her.

And for the second time ever, Alexandria had to try to conjure a light charm— one of the only things she was absolutely terrible at, mostly because of her dark core.

However, the patronus charm was one of the few light charms that was easy for people with dark cores to use, too, as it only needed a happy memory.

She frowned, thinking about the happiest memory she could.

"—you're my daughter. Adopted or not."

"Expecto Patronum!" tried the girl, but only a wisp came out of her wand. "That's the only happy memory that came to my mind, though!" She exclaimed in panic, backing away from the dementor that was almost near enough to suck her soul out.

"Because I love you."

"No," whispered Alexandria, refusing to believe the fact that she had grown attached to the boy— to the point that her happiest memory would be with him, meaning that she really did feel something for him. "Absolutely not."

"Because I love you."

"Crucio!" exclaimed Alexandria, pointing her wand at the dementor, but the dementor merely floated aside and dodged the curse.

"Because I love you." kept repeating in her head again and again.

"Oh for fuck's sake— Expecto Patronum!"

And suddenly, a basilisk appeared as her patronus.

"How ironic," muttered the girl, watching her patronus defend her from the dementor, which was now floating away.

♡

Alexandria took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing herself to stop, heart hammering, she chose a path that would take her northwest.

She had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when she heard something in the path running parallel to her own that made her stop dead.

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

And then she heard Krum's voice.

"Crucio!"

The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. Horrified, Alexandria began sprinting up her path, trying to find a way into Cedric's.

She pointed her wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and began to run.

"Avada—!" She tried, but was interrupted.

"No!" Cedric stopped her immediately. "You're going to be sent to Azkaban and everyone will finally believe what Dumbledore had claimed!"

"How dare he!" fumed Alexandria, watching as Krum rushed away.

"It's alright," Cedric successfully soothed her as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her head. "I'm alright."

♡

The Triwizard Cup was suddenly gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away.

Alexandria and Cedric had decided to stay together, but none of them brought up what he had said earlier.

She made eye contact with the boy. "Take it." She immediately said. "Take the cup."

"No, you take it." Cedric immediately replied. "Take it, Andria. Prove to Dumbledore that you're not the weak person he believes you to be. Show them your power."

"Who cares about Dumbledore?! You need to prove yourself to your father!" She retorted. "Cedric, this is your chance. Show him your power."

"You're more powerful than I, and we both know that."

"You can love!" She shot back. "That's the most powerful thing one can have!"

"And you can't?! If there's anything I believe in, it's you, Andria. It's always you."

She glanced at the cup, and then looked back at him. "If there's anything I want, it's you. But I can't love, Cedric."

"I doubt that and I know there will come a day where you say those three words and even if it won't be me, know that I'll be happy for you. Take it, Andria. Take the cup."

"Together."

"What?"

"That's what we both deserve, isn't it? We both deserve to prove our power to different people. Why not do it together?"

He suddenly grinned. "We could be the greatest team the world has ever seen."

"No matter what we go through," she smiled.

Then, both of them grabbed the cup together, and suddenly, everything was spinning.

(A.N: this book just hit a million reads.. thank u all sooo much for all the love and support on this book! I'm so glad each and every one of you is enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! Thank you all again!!)