prospicere futurum

"Perfect boyfriend incoming." Taylor grinned from her spot on the next bench over which, according to her, had much better light than Ella and Corinne's chosen seats.

"Diggory, what's with the grin?" Ella teased as he drew closer, his eyes wide with excitement. Corinne could practically feel her heartbeat speed up.

"Am I not allowed to be happy to see the three of you?" He shrugged, fidgeting with the strap on his bag.

"You're allowed, though that's quite odd-" Ella trailed off as Corinne shoved her towards the end of the bench.

"Corinne, can I talk to you?" Cedric asked, nodding away from the benches as Corinne stood, offering her friends a quick goodbye before Cedric's fingers had wrapped around hers, pulling her down the hallway at top speed.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong..." He finally slowed down, glancing towards her as they continued their walk. "I just... I found out what the first task is."

"What do you mean you found out?" Corinne's lips pulled into a smile. She had been nervous since Cedric had informed her that the tasks would be complete surprises, ways to prove they could think on the spot and problem solve. Those weren't two of Corinne's strengths, and though she knew that Cedric would do fine, it was clear that he wished he could practice for something. "I thought it was a secret."

"Well, apparently not a very good one. Apparently all of the other champions know." He gave her a small shrug, pushing his way into the library and dragging her towards the other end of the room.

"How do they know?"

"Their professors, I'm guessing. The eternal glory, winning over Dumbledore's school? I guess it's worth cheating for them."

"Well, how did you find out?"

"Harry." Cedric paused as they turned into the magical creatures aisle. "Can you believe it?"

"Harry told you? What the task is?"

"Yeah," He nodded, "I can't believe him, honestly. I'm sure he could use the leg up, especially with the hate the other houses are giving him. Letting me fail would have been to his advantage-"

"You wouldn't have failed." She cut in, offering him a thin smile.

"I'm not so sure..." He chuckled, finally selecting a book from the top shelf.

"Why? What is it?"

He held out the book, watching for only a second as her jaw fell open at the title.

From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon Keeper's Guide

"You're not serious?"

"Don't know exactly what we've got to do with it... doubt it's to kill it... Doesn't really seem like Dumbledore, does it?"

"Kill it?" Corinne's words felt hushed now, even for the library. "They can't possibly expect-"

"They said the tasks would be challenging."

"They said the tasks would be safe!"

"Harry says they've got handlers up here for them. I'm sure if anything starts to go wrong-"

"Go wrong! They breathe fire!"

"I think that's only some of them..." Cedric had collapsed into the nearest table, turning to the table of contents in the book. "I'm not sure. That's why I've got to start reading."

Corinne watched as his eyes flicked over the paper for a few moments before looking back to hers.

"Hey, I wouldn't have told you if I thought you'd get upset-"

"Oh, no. All's perfectly fine. I've only just gotten you, and now I've got to watch you get your head bitten off in front of the whole school." She huffed, turning back to the aisle for more books.

"Oh, it's the embarrassment of me failing in front of the school, is it?" His lips pulled into a smirk as she shook her head with a sigh.

"You're not going to fail." She muttered, setting out and scanning over the rows for more books.

Nearly three hours later, her eyes were very near shut. She couldn't remember the last time she had spent this long reading without a single break, especially not about something that was causing her heart rate to increase with every other paragraph.

She glanced up, Cedric's eyes already latched to her with a small smile.

"What?" She asked, blinking a few times and pulling her hand from her face.

"Nothing," He shrugged, his eyes not leaving hers. "It's just I've got so much to read and you're so distracting."

"Oh, shall I leave you, then?" She teased, sliding her lip beneath her teeth as the tall boy climbed from his spot, sliding around to her side and resting his forehead against hers.

"You wouldn't dare."

He leaned forward only an inch, pressing his lips to hers in the silent library, the books scattered around them long forgotten.

"Come on," He whispered, finally breaking away, "We'll miss dinner."

"Can't fight dragons on an empty stomach." Corinne agreed, sliding the books into a neat pile before Cedric pulled them from her grasp.

"Don't go shouting that about now. No one's supposed to know."

"Alright! I know the rules. I can keep a secret better than half the professors around here apparently."

✵

It had been two days. Two days of study sessions, outside of her already mounting pile of homework. Corinne personally was beginning to think friends of the champions ought to be let off from some of the work as well.

"Okay," She leaned over on the golden colored couch, pulling the book from Cedric's hands. He had been pouring over it the past hour, and she was sure he had scoured every page by now. "Look, you'll be a dragon expert if you read one more chapter of that book. But it's not going to help you unless you know what they want you to do."

"Right..." He nodded, dropping the book onto the table before them with a thud and leaning back against the couch cushions.

"What did Harry say? Just dragons?"

"No, no... He said... There's four of them... One for each of us. And we've got to get past them."

"Like... race them?"

"No chance." Cedric laughed, looking back to the blonde before him. "Get past sounds more like... like they're guarding something, yeah? And we've got to get around them, or get the thing..."

"A dragon guarding a treasure? How cliché." Corinne tried for a smile, though the image of Cedric attempting anything within the vicinity of a dragon was impeding her ability at the moment.

"Right..." Cedric nodded, his eyes latching onto the gold of the couch beside them. "That probably is it though. Get something they're guarding. Without..."

"Dying, yeah." Corinne sighed, tucking her legs up to her chest to watch as Cedric churned over ideas in his head.

"Okay, well I don't want to hurt it. If I even could..." He glanced back to the book now sitting on the table. "No chance I could out-run it..."

"Transfigure it?" Corinne suggested.

"Impossible. Everything I've read says it takes multiple wizards with tons of practice to get a spell through their scales. It's why they're so deadly."

"No spell can get through to them?"

"You need a bunch of wizards. It's not like I can exactly ask for volunteers."

"Okay... so... what else is left? You could try and summon ropes or chain it up? Though, I don't know how you'd get it to move away from what it's guarding, so then you're really just-"

"I need a distraction."

"What's going to distract a dragon from a nice meal like yourself?"

"A louder... more active meal."

"You're going to conjure it up a cow?"

"Dunno... Any animal would work."

"That's risky." She said softly, leaning down on the couch until her head rested in the Hufflepuff's lap.

"Well, it's all I've got." He shrugged, his fingers falling to her hair, softly brushing it away from her face. "I'll keep thinking."

"You've got a little over 24 hours." She pointed out.

"That's so much time." He teased, a familiar grin settling on his face as he leaned back onto the couch, listening to the flames crackle against the wood in the fireplace.

✵

Corinne hurried down the final steps, landing on the hallway and glancing at the short walk to the corner, beyond which, she knew Ella would already be stationed at their desk, sleepy eyed and ready for class to be over before it had even begun. As nice as it was having breakfast with the Hufflepuffs lately, Corinne did envy her roommates the extra bit of sleep they allowed themselves each morning.

She turned the corner, sure that class was to start any moment. She wasn't used to running late, though the past few days it had been hard to leave Cedric's side... the image of him in some heated fight with a dragon towering over him was never far from her mind.

"Oh!" She gasped, a hand reaching out, surrounding her waist before she toppled backwards. She had run into someone in her rush, and now looked up into the fiery brown eyes.

"In a bit of a hurry, Baker?"

"A bit." She answered, stepping to the side only for Fred to block her path, a teasing smile pulling at his lips.

She held back an eye roll, knowing this would only urge him on. "Fred, will you please let me pass? I'm going to be late."

"For what?" He asked, softly, cocking his head to one side.

"Charms." She answered, coldly. She had yet to forget the prank last week at breakfast.

"Ah... where's that again?" He stepped back now, letting her take another step forward as he pretended to scan the empty hallway.

"Please..." She huffed, resisting the urge to scream. "Will you move out of my way!"

"Sure, sure." He nodded, dramatically, though not making any move. "It's just..." He was watching her, his eyes wide as if waiting for her to realize some inside joke.

"What?" She groaned, failing again to step around him before he leaned towards her, his eyes level with hers now.

"I don't see a classroom around here, do you?" He finally stepped against the wall, offering Corinne her first true glance at the empty hallway. There were no doorways in sight, just stone walls continuing as far as the eye could see.

"Weasley, honestly... do you want detention until Christmas?" She could feel her fist ball around the strap of her bag over her shoulder as she took a few steps forward, trying to remember how far along the hallway the classroom was. Surely it was still there, just hidden. There was no way he could actually have vanished the entire class.

"Well, who's going to give it to me? We're all alone... in this long, empty corridor-" He grinned, leaning against the walls as he watched her eyes scan around the castle.

"I will report you. I'm sure you've already made me late and they're going to ask-"

"Miss Baker?" The familiar squeaky tone rang from behind her, Corinne spinning to find that all of the door ways had been put back, Flitwick peeking his head through the first one.

"Professor, I'm sorry, I got held up-" Corinne glanced back towards where Fred had been standing to find herself alone in the hallway.

"No trouble, dear, come on in. We're just about to begin." Flitwick smiled, happily, holding the door as Corinne scampered in, stealing her seat beside Ella who shot her a questioning look.

✵

"You're such a liar, it's literally today! You definitely know something!" Taylor was practically jumping up and down as we followed the crowds over the frost covered grounds.

"And you'll know in like twenty minutes." Corinne promised, trying for a smile, though she hadn't stopped shaking all morning. The fact that they had still been forced to sit through morning lessons could be considered a form of cruel and unusual punishment, especially for those that knew what would be happening in a few short hours.

Everyone filed into the stands, Corinne letting Taylor pull her into one of the first rows. She was the only one not wearing scarlet in the sea of Gryffindors, eyeing the Hufflepuff stands and spotting Cedric's friends near the top row. Lucas met her gaze and shot her a thumbs up and a grin which she tried to return, only earning her an eye roll from the lanky brunette.

Once the sounds of footsteps had faded away, Dumbledore stepped onto a tall wooden podium in front of the empty arena before them. He waved a hand through the air, half a greeting and half to settle the crowds down before holding his wand to his throat, his amplified voice soaring over the grounds.

"Welcome, welcome, students, faculty and esteemed guests," He smiled towards the end of the stands where the other schools were bundled in thick furs. "To our first task of the Tri-Wizard tournament!"

There was a polite applause from the crowd before he went on. "Today's task has been chosen to test our contestants bravery and critical thinking in the face of danger. The contestants are just now finding out their task, the same as you all."

There was a low murmur from all around them, though Taylor was practically shaking their entire bench at Corinne's side.

"Our champions today will each be facing a different breed of dragon," He paused as if anticipating the low gasps and conversations which struck up at his words. "These dragons are all guarding a golden egg, and they will be very hesitant to let go of their treasure. The champions will need to retrieve the egg in order to move on to the second task."

"Dragons?" Taylor hissed, and Corinne shot her a shrug, as if she wasn't considering leaning towards the edge of the stands to throw up the lunch that had been churning in her stomach through Dumbledore's entire speech.

"Bloody Hell, what's his plan?" Ella looked to Corinne now as Dumbledore moved to take his seat, Barty Crouch taking his spot.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm not with him!" Corinne answered, her eyes still fastened to the empty arena.

"You're so full of it." Ella hissed, falling silent so the girls could hear Crouch's words.

"Our first contestant, facing the Swedish Short-Snout... Cedric Diggory!"

The crowd roared, nearly all of the Hufflepuff students had flown to their feet, hands raised over their heads as Cedric appeared through a small flap in the tent at the side of the arena, eyes raking over the stands with a grin.

Corinne's stomach fell. Why was he first? Part of her had hoped Dumbledore and the Ministry would have realized after the first contestant that dragons were far too dangerous for students to deal with and call the whole thing off.

She hadn't seen Cedric since breakfast, and since then he had changed into yellow and black robes, his last name spelled out in red along his back. She sent up a silent prayer that the robes were fire proof and finally took in a deep breath as Cedric approached the rocky cave entrance, the dragon which had been distracted by the roaring crowd finally noticing him, steam beginning to leak from it's snout.

"I'm going to be sick." Corinne muttered, Taylor wrapping an arm around her shoulders, though all that did was allow Corinne to share the persistent bouncing Taylor had been afflicted with since they had arrived.

Cedric pointed his wand out, no where near the large silver dragon and the crowd fell silent, though Diggory's words could not be heard from the distance. A blue spell erupted from his wand, flying a short ways until it collided with a sizable boulder which began to shake at once. The crowd began to murmur around them as Corinne watched the boulder shrink slightly, brown fur sprouting from each side, legs and a tail poking out at the edges before a large dog stood between Cedric and the dragon, beginning to bark at once and trotting around the arena.

The dragon's head followed the dog curiously, though it didn't move from it's spot, the golden egg glistening just behind it's tail. Cedric glanced towards the dog, flicking his wand once as the dog darted closer to the dragon before dashing away again, as if it was playing, taunting the dragon who let out a short blast of fire from it's oversized mouth. It rolled forward, landing on all fours and started slowly towards the playful dog, it's tail only barely uncurling from the egg.

Cedric wasted no time, rounding a few of the boulders, eyes flickering rapidly between the egg and the dragon's chase of it's next meal. He was only two rocks away from the gold, apparently deciding he was running out of time to be sneaky and making a dash for the egg.

His arm stretched forward, only a few seconds from his win before the dragon sensed something was wrong. Abandoning the dog, he spun to the Hufflepuff, teeth on full display as he lunged back toward the rocks, a blast of bright orange filling the cave and Corinne watched as Cedric pulled back instinctively, both hands flying to his face with a scream that melted away beneath the dragon's roar. One hand still on the left side of his face, he jumped once more for the egg, wrapping his free arm around the shining prize and racing back towards the tent just as the wizards at the edge of the arena rushed forward, securing the dragon within seconds and pulling it back.

Corinne was already on her feet, pushing through the crowd of cheering students and professors, eyes glued to Madam Pomfrey who had reached out for Cedric the second he left the arena, pulling him back inside the tent, the golden egg still tucked beneath one arm.

"Corinne, you can't-" Ella's voice fell on deaf ears as the blonde dropped from the stands, grimacing, her ankles burning slightly as she hit the ground. He'd been burned. It had been minutes before he'd gotten any help.

"Honestly, every year with this bloody school..." Madam Pomfrey was muttering under her breath, dabbing a large blue-ish rag against the already fading burns painting Cedric's skin.

"Corinne?" He met her eyes, a small smile pulling to his lips before they were replaced with a wince as the healer beside him finished up on his burns.

"Are you alright?" She asked at once, keeping a small distance between herself and the Hufflepuff, in case Madam Pomfrey needed more room, though she simply handed him a small dark colored bottle and instructed him to come find her if it wasn't cleared up by morning before rushing from the tent, likely ready to start on the next contestant to scurry from the arena bloody and battered.

Cedric wasted no time, the egg falling from his hands onto the ground without a second thought before he was pulling her against his chest.

"Why do you look so scared?" He muttered, fingers tracing slow circles along her waist, his chin resting easily on her shoulder. "No faith in me, darling?"

"Should have conjured up a whole kennel of puppies, you moron. Could have killed you."

"Well, thank Merlin you're not old enough to compete. Sounds like I wouldn't have stood a chance." He teased, earning himself an eye roll, though she couldn't stand to keep the banter up any longer, just happy to see the regular color of his skin returning to his face, to feel his arms around her.

"I told you I'd be fine." He assured her, fingers slipping between hers as he pulled her towards the arena again. Fleur Delacour was hurrying past a snoring dragon towards the egg, the crowd cheering from the stands. "I'm not going anywhere, love."