(Y/N)'s POV

Bagman led us to the changing room that Hogwarts uses for Quidditch and handed each of us a hoodie, "Wicked, we get our own special tri-wizard hoodies, can we keep these after?" I asked Bagman, he smiled and nodded. 

Looking it over, it was different from Cedric's who had a yellow version, but mine was different from Harry's too, it was lined with (F/C) and had (L/N) emblazoned on the back. We walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognisable. 

A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy. Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats.

The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. 

They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest. "We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. 

"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?" The champions nodded. "Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly.

Mum and Dad were stood behind me giving me support and encouragement "Why not colours matching our snazzy new hoodies, differentiate who's who for the audience?" I said to Dad, he shrugged. 

Bagman pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed 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 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!" More applause. "In third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" "In fifth place, (Y/N) (L/N) of Hogwarts" There was some applause 

"So . . . on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three — two — one —" He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. I waited as Viktor and Fleur went next, then it was my turn.

"Do your best." mum said, I nodded "Don't worry, I got this" I took a deep breath and stepped forward but then I changed my mind, I started to walk backwards into the maze, taking one more look back at my friends and family.

 I looked at my parents who were already shifting nervously, and I looked right at them, stuck my tongue out and gave a wink. As I took my first two steps into the maze it closed behind me, the thick bushes that made up the walls around me collapsed behind me, meaning I only had one path. Forward.

It was dark, so dark that I could barely see two feet in front of me, even by wand light, it was like there was a fog that was only in the maze, but that wasn't the worst part, it was silent, eerily silent, it was so quiet I could only hear my own breathing.

Every so often a small sound would catch my attention, a rustling of bushes, a footstep, and that's when I realised, this maze wasn't normal. It was almost as if it was...alive.

My concerns were all but confirmed when I came to my first diverted path, I could continue going straight or head to the left, after pausing a minute I figured I'd go left, I could always come back if it led to a dead end, so I turned to head that way, until a very violent rustling noise broke the silence.

The route to the left closed up, in doing so thorned bushes almost trapped me as either side of the wall converged on each other, it got so close that it shredded my jacket, I decided it was best to just forget it, leaving with half my jacket still draped around my back. "That was brand new as well..." I frowned

I pressed on, coming to forks in the path, heading right, I pushed forward, I walked for what felt like hours before I came to another fork, heading left this time I hoped to make my way deeper into the maze.

 Making a mental note of what directions I had taken, in case I had to double back, that's when I reached it, my first obstacle, at least I think that's what it was. It was like a cloud or something. A mist? no more like smoke. 

It was just floating there in front of me, thick and grey, floating in an orb just off the ground. I assume it was a charm set up to stop me "Finite Incantatum" but nothing. I don't know what this gas stuff is, but I didn't want to risk finding out.

 I went to turn back, only to find a solid wall of the maze. I sighed, why didn't I see this coming, of course it wouldn't be just a simple maze. I tried to blast my way through it, "Confringo" but nothing, any dent I made in the plant was healed just as fast as I could make it.

I turned back to the mist, I don't know what it is or what it does, so time for some tests, I ripped off a piece of cloth from my already torn jacket and used my wand to float it into the cloud, nothing.

I still wanted to be careful so I'm not risking breathing it in, I cast a bubble head charm, and inched slowly toward it, extending a hand and slowly contacting it, ready to pull my hand away if anything happened. 

Only, nothing did, my hand just passed through like it should do with mist or smoke. "Weird" I slowly trudged through the smoke, remaining ever cautious, but nothing, I seemed to be just walking through it. 

At first, I figured it was just a delay tactic, to make me slow down, that was until up ahead I came to a crossroads and sitting on the ground was a torn jacket, a (F/C) torn jacket. And a path to my left was wide open, with no other way to go. Next I came across an obstacle that was more annoying than troublesome. Erklings.

There were only four of them, they were huddled together and chattering away creepily. They were blocking my way, I had to deal with them quickly, no messing around. The first one was easy, since they didn't know I was here, I had the drop on them. 

Melifors" it's head was encased in a pumpkin and it ran around in a panic, bashing it's head and falling to the floor unconscious, of course, the other three noticed. With chattering that sounded oddly like laughter two ran at me, the third stayed back, shooting darts at me. 

Before the first two reached me I cast "Depulso" at the one in front and it was launched backward, hitting the wall of the maze, surprisingly it didn't bounce off, instead it remained tangled there, vines wrapped around it quickly, the wall seemed to swallow it. 

Unfortunately while I was marvelling at the maze, the Erkling in the back managed to fire off a few more darts, they lodged themselves in my left shoulder. The darts must have been only a few millimetres thick, but boy did they hurt, it was like being stabbed by the toothpick from hell.

"Ok that one's done for" I managed to stop the only other one charging at me with a well-timed "Flipendo" causing it to rocket off and hit the wall like its friend, this gave me an idea. Now it was only one left, the one who had darted me, with a running start I raced towards it.

It panicked and tried to turn to run, but I had much longer legs then it did, I caught up with it and managed to deliver a hefty kick to its back, because I was twice its size, it was launched quite far, I even managed to make it clear a wall of the maze, it landed with a very satisfying "THUD."

"That's what you get, creepy little freak" Feeling very proud of myself, I pulled out the darts, my arm felt a bit sore now and there was three scratches where the darts used to be, but other than that, no proper damage.

I kept walking, wand at the ready. A few minutes later there was an ear splitting scream and there were red sparks sent up somewhere to the south, I tried to make my way there, but with no luck, by the time I got there the maze was empty.

As I kept pushing forward I heard shouting, I came upon a very curious scene, Viktor Krum was trudging around the maze, grunting and groaning, and while I'm sure this was normal behaviour for him, what wasn't normal was the fact his eyes were glazed over.

Being as quiet as I could I eventually managed to get close enough, I hit him with a well timed "Petrificus Totalus!" As he hit the floor with a thud I felt giddy and oddly proud of myself. I walked up to him, "Sorry Vicky, today is not your day" Then I shot up red sparks of my own so he'd be collected.

I must have walked for at least another twenty minutes, until, "What are you doing?" yelled Cedric's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?" And then I heard Krum's voice. "Crucio!" 

The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. "He's mental!" I thought, rushing to Cedric's aid, "Expelliarmus!" I said as soon as I saw Viktor's broad frame. He turned, looked at me for a second then turned again and began to run. "Stupefy!" Harry yelled.

The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, face down in the grass. Harry dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face. 

"Are you all right?" Harry said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm. "Yeah," panted Cedric. "Yeah . . . I don't believe it . . . he crept up behind me. . . . I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me. . . ."

"But he shouldn't even be here, I sent up sparks for him ages ago" I explained, they argued maybe whatever was wrong with him got him out of my spell. I tried to lighten the mood. "Wow, looks like Hogwarts is cleaning house this time round huh?" 

I looked at the now definitely unconscious Viktor Krum and giving him a swift kick to the shin for the Yule Ball. "That was cathartic", they both turned, wands pointed at me. "Chill, If I wanted to curse you, you'd be cursed" they sighed with relief upon seeing me. 

"Bet you anything Karkaroff throws a fit and calls us cheaters" "I can't believe this . . . I thought he was all right," Harry said, staring at Krum. "So did I," said Cedric. "Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" said Harry. "Yeah," said Cedric. 

"You don't think Krum got her too?" "That was Fleur!" I thought back to the scream, my stomach sinking "I don't know," said Harry slowly. "Should we leave him here?" Cedric muttered. "No," said Harry. 

"I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him this time . . . otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt." "He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered, "Nah, look at him, he's all zombielike, he probably got bewitched. Maybe by a trap, I don't even like him, but he wouldn't do that" 

Cedric nodded, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay. We split up again, wishing each other good luck.

I followed any path I could find, until I came across a few Blast Ended Screwts, I sighed, they were clearly still young, so I did something simple, trying to conserve energy, "Immobulus" then I just walked past them.

I saw glowing at the end of this path, hoping it was what I thought it was I sprinted forward, and there it was the Triwizard Cup, but there was one problem "You have got to be kidding me!" I said, catching my breath, noticing Harry and Cedric had both arrived here at the exact same time.

"Are you lot following me? I call dibs" I joked, Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him. "Take it, then," Harry panted to Cedric. "Go on, take it. You're there." But Cedric didn't move. 

He merely stood there, looking at Harry. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Cedric looked around at me, I shrugged, making a decision, "Yeah, you take it Cedric, I'm sure the grandkids would love it, you can use it as a prop when you tell stories" he declined again.

"Honestly, I don't even want the thing, the only reason I'm doing this is because I have to, and the prize money and bragging rights would be cool" he frowned at me, "You deserve it the most out of all of us, you've been dominating the whole tournament, just take it" 

I internally groaned, I'm sure it would be very impressive if I returned with it, but eternal glory wasn't really my thing, the only reason that was almost tempting me was the idea of presenting it to Hermione. 

I put my wand in my back pocket and put my hands up, to say I wouldn't fight him. "All of us," Harry said. "What?" "We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it." Cedric stared at Harry. 

He unfolded his arms. "You...you sure?" "Yeah," said Harry. Turning to me, "That would be pretty funny, Kakaroff would cry" "Yeah . . . we've helped each other out, haven't we? We all got here. Let's just take it together."

For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears; then his face split in a grin. "You're on," he said. "Come here." He grabbed Harry's arm below the shoulder and helped Harry limp toward the plinth where the cup stood.

 I strolled over, a small part of me wanted to snatch it before they could, but I pushed it down.  We counted down and each grabbed it at the same time. For a few moments I felt weightless, my stomach flipped, I knew this sensation.

We looked around. Just from the chill in the air, I got the feeling we were nowhere near Hogwarts. We were standing instead in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to our right.

Cedric looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up at Harry and Me. "Did anyone tell you the cup was a Portkey?" he asked. "Nope," said Harry, I shook my head. "Is this still part of the task? Is it a trap in the maze?" I said.

"Maybe it's fake?" "I dunno," said Cedric. He sounded slightly nervous. "Wands out, d'you reckon?" "Yeah," said Harry, "If I must" I said drawing my wand. We scanned the darkness for any threats.

"Someone's coming," Cedric said suddenly, we turned to face it. Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward us between the graves. Whatever it was, they was carrying something. 

They were short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure their face. The thing in the person's arms looked like a baby or something, I dropped my wand for a second, as did Harry

I'm not cursing a baby, I don't care how creepy this graveyard was, we glanced sideways at Cedric. He shrugged, but advanced. "Who's there?" From far away, I heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare." A chill hit the bottom of my spine.

I had half a second to process the words, fearing I knew what they meant. "Cedric get down!" I shouted, but it was too late. A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night: "Avada Kedavra!" A blast of green light blazed through the night.

Cedric turned to me for a half second, but that was all it took, I watched, helpless, as his body hit the floor, but what was worse, was that I saw his face, I watched his body register what had happened in a glance of confusion, then I had to watch as the light left his eyes, leaving them void of anything, no fear, no confusion, nothing.

I couldn't breathe, It was like, If I inhaled a breath, this was real, If I did that I accepted what just happened. That it wasn't a trick in the maze, or a bad dream that I would wake up from, If I took another breath I would have to live in a world that I just watched Cedric Diggory die in. 

Harry immediately fell to the ground, clutching his scar in pain, but I was frozen, unable to process what I had just seen, I blinked a few times, not believing it. I didn't even register the footsteps getting closer to me. I realised that my wand was wrenched from my hands, but I couldn't tear my eyes from Cedric, laying there, lifeless.

The man behind the cloak motioned his wand toward me, I was launched to a nearby tombstone, roped up by magical silver cords, the pain of the impact seemed to kick-start my body again, I watched as the short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, lit his wand, and was dragging Harry toward the marble headstone. 

Harry, like me. was forced around and slammed against it. The cloaked man was now conjuring tight cords around Harry, tying him from neck to ankles to the headstone. "HARRY!" I tried to struggle against the binds.

They covered my mouth and tightened, some so much they sliced my flesh, I could barely breathe, I feared they might cut me into pieces. "You!" Harry gasped. But the man didn't reply; he was busy checking the tightness of the cords, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, fumbling over the knots.

Once sure that Harry was bound so tightly to the headstone that he couldn't move an inch, he drew a length of some black material from the inside of his cloak and stuffed it roughly into Harry's mouth; then, without a word, he turned from Harry and hurried away.

Now the man was busying himself at the bottom of a cauldron with a wand. Suddenly there were crackling flames beneath it. The large snake slithered away into the darkness. The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast.

 The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire, with this light, I could finally make out the disgusting features of Peter Pettigrew, Wormtail. "It is ready, Master." 

"Now . . ." said the cold voice. Wormtail pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them, and Harry let out a yell that was strangled in the wad of material blocking his mouth, I couldn't believe my eyes, where was a churning in my stomach as I saw it. 

The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, it was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face, no child alive ever had a face like that, flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.

The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin arms, put them around Wormtail's neck, and Wormtail lifted it. As he did so, Wormtail lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; its frail body hit the bottom with a soft thud. 

Wormtail continued, and I realised what that was, what he was trying to do, I thrashed about violently, attempting to get free and stop him, but I was helpless. "YOU CAN'T, YOU WONT!" I thought, hoping to invade his mind, the wires covered my eyes, forcing my head to look upwards.

I had to close them so they weren't slashed, but either way, without eye contact, I couldn't stop him. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son. "Flesh — of the servant — w-willingly given — you will — revive — your master." 

Despite being basically blind I could not block the scream that pierced the night. I heard something fall to the ground, I heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron.

I listened in horror as he slowly shifted away from me, his footsteps getting further away from me, until "B-blood of the enemy . . . forcibly taken . . . you will . . . resurrect your foe."  I heard Harry grunt in pain, then Wormtail trudged back.

 There was a deafening silence, then a cold quiet voice split the air. "Robe me," Instantly I knew who the voice belonged to, only one man came to mind who would do this, who could make even silence sound sinister. Lord Voldemort had risen again.

Even with my eyes closed the image of the man in front of me flooded my head. A thin man with skin whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils, the image was looking at me with a sickening grin, his yellowed teeth showing as he laughed, his resurrection had been assured.

I continued to listen as Wormtail seemingly begged at Voldemort's side. "My Lord . . ." he choked, "my Lord . . . you promised . . . you did promise . . ." "Hold out your arm," said Voldemort lazily. "Oh Master . . . thank you, Master . . ."

There was a pause and a whimper, Voldemort laughed again. "The other arm, Wormtail." "Master, please . . . please . . ." Another pause "It is back," he said softly, "they will all have noticed it . . . and now, we shall see . . . now we shall know . . ."

Wormtail let out a fresh howl; Voldemort spoke softly, as if to himself. "How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered, "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?" I was able to put it together from his tone, he was summoning the Death Eaters.

He spoke again as he waited "You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool-" I don't know if it was coping mechanism or my brain trying to think of a way to escape, but I sort of tuned the rest of his long and boring speech out.

"Why do they always ramble" I thought as he explained how he managed to survive barely when Harry beat him as a kid, his struggle, how he found about the tournament, how he manipulated it, how he was able to get us here.

But it wasn't until the Death Eaters had arrived that he snapped me out of it, finally addressing me, "I guess this is where I die, probably just another 'spare' to him. At least I'm already in a graveyard, saves the hassle"

"Ah yes, we can't forget our other guest, the ever impressive (Y/N) (L/N), Wormtail informs me you have made quite an impact on Dumbledore, and you pride yourself for being a Legilimens?" then he paused.

"Oh, I am sorry, how dare my servant rob you of the sight of my glorious return" he said, then the wires around my face lowered, finding my neck instead, raking my face as they did. He was the same as I had seen him before in my mind.

"As you can see, I too, have such prowess" I gasped for air, one thing on my mind, "Oh, you are wondering why you are here?" he smiled, my face contorted into fear as I realised what he had just done, some of the Death Eaters chuckled.

"You see, you boy, were my fail-safe, an afterthought really, in case someone" he gestured over to Harry and Cedric's body, "was able to delay or prevent my servant from fulfilling his duties. How I would have enjoyed slowly destroying your mind, leaving you as a simple vessel for me to inhabit, alas, you are of no more use to me, you see, with Harry here, you were not needed"

I squinted, my mouth talking, as my brain was screaming at it to be quiet, but my logic was, if I'm dying anyway, might as well make some fun out of it "Blimey, I see why you wanted to use me as a vessel now I get a look at you."

His eyes turned to slits as he glared at me, some of the Death Eaters stepped forward, he stopped them with a raise of a hand "Especially if that is the alternative, that's rough" I let out a shallow chuckle. My binds immediately snapped, forcing me to the floor, my knees buckling as they hit the floor.

He glared at me with his blood red eyes "Crucio" The pain that shot through me was impossible to comprehend, It's what I imagine a hundred scalding hot metal knives scraping away my flesh would feel like.

I was short for breath, wheezing in agony, the pain stopped for a quarter of a second, giving me brief blissful respite, but then another excruciating wave came, just as bad as the last, over and over again, each wave a new agony.

I think eventually, my body just started to try and block it out, because there were brief moments where I felt entirely numb. And then my veins caught fire again.

Harry's POV

"STOP IT!" I shouted, watching as Voldemort tortured (Y/N) with a smile on his face, Voldemort paused, looked me dead in the eyes and without turning away, cast the spell again, sending (Y/N) into another fit of agony. Then cackled with glee.

He strolled over to me, the night was ringing with the sound of the Death Eaters' laughter. "You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me," said Voldemort.

"But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him."

"I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching.

It seemed to be eyeing my friend hungrily. "Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand." Wormtail did so, as I fell to the ground I noticed something beside me, quickly, I picked it up and hid it in my sleeve, Wormtail gave me my wand and I hobbled over to check on (Y/N), Voldemort found this amusing, "How admirable, now you can die together"

(Y/N)'s POV

As Harry made his way towards me, he passed me something, it was my wand, he must have collected it earlier, I slipped it into my back pocket, I could barely talk, my voice hoarse from screaming.

"Don't do it, Run." Was all I could croak out, glancing to the portkey, which was sat feet away from us, Harry grit his teeth. "No, if he wants to fight, I'm going to fight him, at least I can die on my feet"

For a few seconds I couldn't understand this, I just wanted to run, but looking at the determination in his eyes, I nodded and shook off my fear, trying to think of a plan. "Yeah, like mum would, like (B/N). If I die, I die fighting, I die cool."

I answered him with a weak smirk, we let out a breath of nerves and then he nodded and we both got to our feet. I tried my best to calm myself down and think. Of course, Voldemort found this very funny too, applauding and smirking.

But Mum had always told me that was good in a fight, angry or laughing, either way, they weren't focused. "You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness.

He was making a big show of it, "We bow to each other, Harry," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed...Dumbledore would like you to show manners...Bow to death, Harry"

The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemort's lip-less mouth was smiling. Harry did not bow, I looked at him and realised why. He was not going to let Voldemort play with him before killing him . . . he was not going to give him that satisfaction. . . . I couldn't help but smirk.

Voldemort sighed, shaking his head slightly. He turned his wand to me, I was expecting a flash of green, but after what came next, I kind of wished I was right, hitting me with the torture curse again. "Are you going to bow to me now Harry? How many more of your friends have to die?"

"Too scared to fight me then are you?" I taunted, "Is that why I don't get a wand?" he snarled, "Because to get to him, you're going to have to go through me" I said, raising my fists. Content with whatever came next. "I always knew you were a coward" I spat in defiance.

"No help Potter" he used his wand to force me forward, so I was looking up at him, forced to stay kneeling at his feet, he raised his wand, I decided to stare straight into his eyes and smile, but as he made a slashing motion, I flinched, he smiled.

His cold voice addressing everyone present "Dumbledore's greatest defence against me lowered to what it really is, a grovelling child" he cackled, looking at me with his red eyes. "That is why I wanted you here, see, nothing gives me more pleasure then seeing that old fools' tools used against him."

He looked to Harry again and I knew what he was going to do. "Screw it" I thought, might as well ruin his moment and try to buy some time for help to come, I spoke in the few seconds of time I had between his spells, gritting my teeth.

"Is that what you looked like before?" I asked, he cursed me again, "Bloody hell, I can see why you turned evil now, finding dates must have been a nightmare. Shame you were part snake instead of par veel-AAAH"

He cursed me again, this time I spoke through the pain. "I get that you think you were the heir of Slytherin, but this is a bit much." As his spell ended and he looked at Harry, I did the same, "Harry you're screwed," I said quickly.

The Death Eaters and Voldemort laughed heartily at this, "see even-" He started, I continued "Can't use your signature move" "Can't stick your wand in his nose if he doesn't have one" Voldemort snarled, getting sick of me.

"Begone, I'm done with you for now, though you still may be of use, leave him alive" he launched me over to the group of Death Eaters, who all cackled with laughter as I was dragged in front of them.

One seemed very happy, "Lets give him a nice view, shall we?" he drawled, then he raised his wand, I raised with it, until I was ten feet in the air, I was being held up but nothing, but it felt like there were wires on each limb, each ready to pull me apart like a child pulling the legs off a spider.

"Now, I said, bow," Voldemort said, looking back to Harry, raising his wand, Harry bent forward, his head lowering, but he was clearly in pain, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever. "Very good," said Voldemort softly. "And now you face me, like a man . . . straight-backed and proud, the way your father died. . . . " "And now — we duel."

Harry was out of reach, I couldn't help him, I was suspended in the air as they duelled. I had to listen as the Death Eaters chuckled. Of course I recognised the spell that they were using, it was the same one they must have used at the world cup, so I knew what would come next.

My arms contorted into uncomfortable positions, I screamed in agony, then, I was spun around like I was cartwheeling, faster and faster, until the whole world was a blur, then I stopped suddenly, with such force my arms felt like they might rip off, then I spun again the other way.

As they twisted me about in the air my whole body felt like I was being torn apart, it was like I was a marionette puppet and the puppet master was playing the piano, my arms and legs twisted violently at odd angles and then the other way just as quickly. As I watched Harry struggle with Voldemort, I knew I had to help, if I could just...reach...my...wand.

Plunging my hand in my back pocket when they were thrashing my arms about was simple, what wasn't simple was keeping hold of it without them noticing as they flung me about. But after a few seconds I had it in my grip.

I forced my head to look down, despite the vertigo and the spinning, I managed to make out a shape of someone holding a wand, he must be the one keeping me suspended. Again, they started spinning me like a top, round and round so violently and so fast it was a miracle I didn't pass out or vomit.

For reasons unknown, I suddenly remembered the Yule Ball, and the simple spell I used to help Ron before it had started. "Diffindo" I croaked once I could see straight, trying to point at the blur with the wand, it worked perfectly,

The Death Eater screamed in agony and cupped his face as a large gash opened up on it, cutting a gouge from his right temple to the middle of his nose, straight through his eye. As the spell was broken I plummeted back to the ground, "Arresto M-" was all I got out before I hit the ground.

The air was forced out of my lungs so fast I'm sure I must have broken a few ribs, I threw up from the impact, it took all I had left to even move my body, each of my limbs were worn out from whatever they just did to me. But I knew what I wanted to do.

I wanted to fire a spell at Voldemort's back, hoping I could do at least some damage and help Harry escape, but as I managed to pry my face from the grass to look up at him, I was nearly blinded. There were flashes of intense white light emanating from where the spells were connecting, what I could only describe as ghosts started sprouting out of it.

Squinting past the bright light, I looked at Harry, reading his mind, so I could hear what he was, process the information he could. The ghosts were instructing him "When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments . . . but we will give you time . . . you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts . . . do you understand, Harry?"

"Yes, but (Y/-" I pushed that thought out of his mind before he could start it. Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath his fingers. "Harry . . ." whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents. . . ." "I will," said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand. "Do it now," whispered his father's voice, "be ready to run . . . do it now. . . ." "NOW!"

I looked into Harry's eyes, he was staring at me desperately, I knew there was no way he could make it to the cup in time if he had to worry about me, I was on the other side of the graveyard, he would have to double back too much. So, I did the only thing I could.

For the first time since I learned to control them, I used my Legilimency abilities to play with someone's memories, just like with Snape, using the eye contact to my advantage, giving him images of me sprinting beside him, trying to make it so convincing he would believe it, making him ignore where I really was, with this new fake knowledge he was much more confident in his plan.

In Harry's mind, he broke of the spell, grabbed what he thought was my arm and together we sprinted to the Cedric's body and used "Accio" on the portkey, he left with the knowledge that I was sitting beside him, with him as he left with the portkey. I hoped he would understand, I hoped he wouldn't blame himself, I hoped he would tell mum and dad that I was sorry, but I died saving my friend. I died cool.