A/N: Hello all! This is the first Harry Potter fix I've written in a very, very long time, so I'm sorry if it's not great. This follows the books. If you recognize a character, it's Jo Rowling's, but I'd really love to own George & Fred… and Oliver and James Phelps. Sadly, I'm poor and can't afford the rights to them. (Damn…) Dumbledore's speech about the tournament is clearly not mine, and that really pisses me off, but it's still Jo Rowling's.
The students of Gryffindor. Brave, strong, chivalrous, and completely ready to die for each other. This was a lesson sixteen year old Cynthia-but she will curse you if you call her her full name-Sutton learned very quickly in her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This was her second year of dating her boyfriend, George Weasley, and she was still warming up to the idea of dating him. Originally, it had never been her idea to date him, in fact, she'd been very much intimidated by the idea. But after an accident that may or may not have been an accident after a high adrenaline quidditch match, mixed with way too many hormones, the two of them were forced to solidify their feelings for each other.
"Go, go Gryffindor!" Everyone screamed around her as the victorious red and gold crowd stormed up the stone staircases. Surprisingly, no one was pushing too hard as they all tried to make it up to the common room for the after party. It was a very good thing that Oliver had kept the team back, or no one would make it out alive. As she pushed through the portrait hole, she beamed at her friend Mathilda. She'd obviously seen the grin on her face when Fred had knocked that Ravenclaw off of his broom.
"Don't say anything. Do not say anything," Cyn warned Mathilda. So she merely smiled and nodded, but her smile was not an innocent one. No, by no means was it innocent. "What? What are you dying to say then?" Cyn said exasperatedly, the look on Mathilda's face made her look like she was going to explode if she didn't say it quickly.
"He totally likes you, I kept catching him looking over at you," She finally spilled out.
"Or he could be looking at, oh I don't know, the ten kilo ball flying around in mid-air that could easily give our seeker a concussion!" Mathilda shrugged, and Cyn looked away quickly, this wouldn't be over, she'd be pestered to death about it later that night, after the party had unofficially ended. However, Cynthia had already formulated a plan while she'd been walking up the stairs. as soon as George got in the room, amongst all the cheering and screaming, she'd run up and hug him, almost like laying her claim. It was a sick way to work, even dogs would be offended, but that's just how you had to silently fight amongst the Hogwarts girls. Within five minutes, screams and cheers erupted amongst the front of the crowd, signaling that the Captain and star seeker had entered the common room. Cynthia pushed her way through the crowds to the small opening that was forming around the team. The two beaters entered and she felt a smile break across her face. She looked at them both, found the one with the scar on his eyebrow, and ran towards him, throwing her arms around him. The next part, she had not expected, as she was stepping away from him, she felt his hands cup her cheeks, and pull her in roughly. And there it was, amongst the hoots and hollers that had ensued, George Weasley was kissing her, and she could swear she heard Mathilda applauding behind her.
"I swear they get shorter every year," Fred Weasley said making his way down the aisle of the Hogwarts express.
"Or maybe you just get taller," His on-off girlfriend Angelina commented airily, opening a compartment and stepping inside it.
"It seems like these get colder every year too," Cyn said, pulling a sweatshirt out of her backpack, and then storing it on the rack above the seats. As she sat down next to the window, she watched the last bits of London fly past on the train.
"I've always wondered why my mum makes me come down to London just to get on the train, I mean honestly, couldn't she just let me and Danny go down to Hogsmeade, stay with Patti and Zak and then just walk up to Hogwarts? Honestly it's too much bloody effort," She said, in her usual quiet tone.
"Yeah, why does she make you come down? I bet you're closer up in Drumnadrochit,"
"She used to say that's it's all part of the experience, taking the Hogwarts Express in, but that's easy for her to say, she lived in London! Why she decided to move to the middle of the highlands still confuses me, London was great," she turned her head and looked out the window.
"So how are you not a prefect this year?" George asked her, pulling her gaze away from the scenery.
"Dunno, 'spect McGonagall doesn't think I'd do a good job, what with me being friends with you losers,"
"Ah, see I'd well agree with you, but you love us losers," George said, and leaned in, kissing her gently on the lips.
"Well, I think I'm going to vomit now, so you two have fun there," His twin brother said, standing up.
"Bugger off," George replied as Cyn giggled loudly.
"See, that doesn't work, because that's exactly what I'm doing," Fred replied suavely.
"Fair," George shrugged and leaned back in his seat, his fingers soon found Cyn's and they entwined. Angelina rolled her eyes, "Really, I swear it's like she's just been off to war or something!"
"She's been off to war? Why not me!" George said, sounding offended.
"Oh please George, you couldn't handle it, you'd be setting off fireworks across the battlefield," George grinned and nodded, accepting a glorious defeat.
"But still, it has been three months," Cyn replied, smiling innocently.
"You really don't think that scene you two made on the platform was enough?" Fred said, standing in the doorway of the compartment, both his hands on the doorframe above him.
As she came through the entrance to platform nine and three-quarters, her younger brother Danny in front of her, she turned and kissed her mum on the cheek.
"Write to me please, dear," her mum had said, and Cynthia looked down at her and smiled. Her mum was a short witch, only a hundred and fifty three centimeters tall, and compared to Cyn, who stood at 168 centimeters.
"I will, and I'll make sure Danny doesn't steal any toilet seats anymore, bye mum!" She kissed her mum on the cheek, and started making her way down the crowded platform, looking for the fairy-like girl with the mousy brown hair. She was looking for the petite blonde who would probably be the cause of her lack of sleep for the next two hundred and seventy days. But most of all, she was looking for the tall red-head who really needed a haircut, who she might just have to murder for only writing her four times over the summer. She found the latter first, and kept an eye on him and she put her bags on the train, and stacking her empty owl's cage on top. Her owl, Holmdel was probably circling Hogsmeade, looking for her sister and brother-in-law's house just outside of Hogsmeade. As she turned away from the train, she looked up just in time to catch the tall ginger's eye. His face brightened even more than it had been, as he'd obviously been taking the mickey out of his younger sister. She stepped forward, and he walked past his mother who was zipping up his youngest brother's sweatshirt.
"You didn't write," was the first thing Cyn said to George.
"Sorry," he hugged her, lifting her to her tiptoes, and then their lips meet for the first time in ninety-three days. His hands cupped her face, his thumb slowly tracing circles on her cheek. Her arms which were hanging lamely at her sides rose into the air, wrapping themselves around his neck, with her right hand holding the back of his head. Slowly, they let go of each other, and George fell right back into his regular self, "Well, I better be forgiven, I think that was worth several forgivings," he said, and smoothed out his hair. George turned and saw a stunned looking Ginny Weasley staring, her mouth wide open. Cyn hid her face in her backpack and laughed.
"Don't worry, I'll just hex her if she says anything to my mum," as the words left his lips though, Ginny was already tapping on her mother's shoulder, and in a flash, George was over there, Cynthia on his heels. He pulled Ginny into a tight hug, eliciting a massive laugh from Fred and Ron.
"Hi Mrs. Weasley, it's so nice to see you again," Cyn said as Mrs. Weasley pulled her into a hug.
"It's nice to see you too, oh won't you keep track of Fred and George for me, although, Ron tells me you've done a pretty good job of keeping track of George anyways," The blood rushing to her face, she watched Ron slip away into the crowd.
"Oh, um, yeah, I s'pose, I'll keep track of them, well, I'm going to go get on the train now, I have to make sure my little brother go on safely, and isn't causing any trouble,"
"Alright dear, you have a good year,"
"You as well," she said, before red-facedly getting on the train, attempting to find her brother.
"Anything off the trolley?" The usual witch who pushed the trolley asked.
"Err, yeah, can I have a box of Bertie Bott's and two pumpkin pasties, please?" Cyn stood up, paid her and sat back down with her candy.
"God I'm starving,"Cynthia said as she tore open the packaging of the pumpkin pasty.
"Did'ya have breakfast?" George asked, not bothering to feed his urge and take her hand again. Damned hormones.
"Nah, wasn't hungry," she said, her voice back at it's usual unobtrusive volume.
As the maroon train sped past hills, lakes and forests, the sun reached it's peak and began sinking. The chatter and laughter was loud in their compartment, but Cynthia was quiet. This wasn't unusual for her though, nearly everyone who knew her was used to her slipping into bouts of silence, where she would just stare blankly at everyone, with so much knowledge and so many ideas passing behind her eyes. George glanced over at her occasionally, while either Angelina or Fred was talking. She seemed awfully tired, he'd never really seen her this tired before.
A loud rapping on the glass of the compartment silence everyone, and Cyn shook her head, coming back to reality. The door slid open, and a petite brunette and average height blonde girl stepped in.
"Sorry George, but we're going to steal Cyn, and she's going to have to bring her robes too,"
"Really, I'm disappointed in you George, we have less than three hours until we get to Hogwarts, and you've not even snapped her out to get dressed," Mathilda said, shaking her head disappointedly, before snatching Cynthia's hand and pulling her out of the compartment. Once the door was shut, she glared at her and then slapped her.
"Aah, what the hell?" Cyn said clutching her cheek.
From inside the compartment, George's eyes widened as he watched the brunette, Aria, slam a copy of the Daily Prophet to Cyn's chest. He hadn't actually seen the Prophet today, and was going to get a copy before he left the Burrow, but had forgotten to steal it off of Ron.
A matter of seconds after that, the girls had disappeared down the train, probably to go change. He looked at Fred and nodded, and they both stood up, "Going to change," was all Fred said to Angelina, and she nodded, looking out of the window.
As he tied his red and yellow tie, albeit loosely, but still tied, he sighed, he was beginning to get hungry. Fred yanked open the compartment door, and both Angelina and Cyn were talking about staffing changes.
George sat down and leaned forward on his elbows, perching them on his knees. He looked out the window at the dark surroundings, and soon saw the blackness of a forest. He leaned backwards in the seat, "Only two more hours now I guess," he stretched his long arms up, his knuckles grazing the luggage rack, then let them slowly fall to his sides, letting one rest on Cynthia's opposite shoulder.
"That was cheesy, smooth, but cheesy," Cyn said quietly, smiling slightly. She put her feet up against the wall with the window, and leaned back into George, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. After about ten minutes of sitting like this, Fred moved to sit next to Angelina, letting them have the whole seat. George moved closer to the door, and let Cynthia stretch out more, she rested her head in his lap, and as he, Fred and Angelina talk, he absent-mindedly began playing with the loose bits of her hair. As she fell deeper into her daydream, she soon fell into a light sleep, still acknowledging every word that was said in the room. Every few minutes or so, George's fingers would lightly graze her forehead, and she felt herself blush slightly, but the redness would subdue, and she would fall back into her trance. She had a lot on her mind, and she hadn't had more than 5 hours sleep in the past month.
A change in the atmosphere and a slowing in the train's momentum had alerted her they were arriving at Hogsmeade. She slowly lifted her head up, and then sat up fully, pulling her ballet flats back on her feet. She yawned, and stood up, pulling her backpack off the luggage rack.
"Only you would bring a backpack," Angelina said to her, and Cynthia couldn't tell if she was joking or being serious. Cynthia and Angelina had always had sort of a forced relationship, Angelina had always seemed rather cold and unwelcoming, and as Cynthia was shy and not very loud, she never was really able to penetrate Angelina's barriers like the twins had. It had been easier for Cynthia to make friends with the boys however, all she had to do was laugh, fight back occasionally, and speak her mind, much easier than when she'd attempted (and failed) to hang out with the Ravenclaws in her classes for the first year of school. Originally, she'd been friends with Fred, he was the louder, more outspoken twin, but as she began talking to them, and beginning to know them, she found herself gravitating towards George, mainly because be was slightly quieter, and also seemed just that bit more studious. Halfway into her third year, she'd meet two girls: Mathilda Nadler and Aria Gabriel. Mathilda was in Gryffindor with her, and Aria in Hufflepuff. As she grew closer to the twins, she also grew closer to the two girls, and as she slowly developed, or recognized, her feelings for George, she confided in Mathilda and Aria alone. That was when the trouble started happening. As a Gryffindor, Mathilda kept telling Cynthia to jump headfirst into it, but as a Hufflepuff, Aria wanted her to wait, discover more about George, develop a stronger bond. After a defining conversation in her potions class the day of the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor quidditch match, they had developed a plan. After the match, Cyn would hug George, and George alone, and every week after that she would increase their physical contact. The plan however, as these plans tend to do, didn't happen, instead, after running up and hugging George, in the blur and adrenaline of the moment, he'd kissed her. And not alone, not by any means alone. It had been in front of nearly every Gryffindor student and his twin brother. To make matters worse, it had been Cynthia's first kiss, so after they'd parted, she turned around, and in the silence, looked at Mathilda and giggled like a six year old girl. Everyone told her they thought it was sweet, but she still had the constant nagging feeling that people thought she was odd and a bit of a loser. On the next trip to Hogsmeade after the incident, they'd decided they'd leap into the freezing water and come out as boyfriend and girlfriend, and so, they were now into their sixteenth month of dating, with only five fights, and only two of them had been anything major.
As she disembarked the train and got onto the carriages, she pulled her sweater arms around her hands. But it didn't last for long, George pulled her hands into his own, exponentially bigger hands, and held them tightly.
"Well you're just all about the cheese tonight, aren't you?" She said, speaking the mind of the other two passengers of the carriage.
"Sorry," he said, but still not letting go of her hands. As the carriages came up the hill towards the school, a man with long ginger hair walked down, waved to their carriages, then turned on the spot and vanished.
"The Hell?" George said loudly.
"Was that Charlie?" Continued Fred.
"The devil was he doin' here?" Finished George, looking very much confused. But by the time they entered the castle, they'd just agreed to drop it until they could write to him.
However, before they could make their way into the entrance hall, several hollers and people pointing to the sky made them all look up. There was a large black object in the dark grey sky, and it was growing bigger by the second. The car of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid, walked past the massive group of students onto a long area of space, that had obviously been cleared for whatever the shape was to land. As it drew nearer and nearer, people started realizing what it was. It was a giant carriage being drawn by giant horses.
"Whoa," Fred and George said in unison, and Cyn pulled herself up into the stone frame of the empty window in the courtyard hallway. As soon as the carriage landed, amongst gasps and random applause from all the Hogwarts students, a small ship, just the top of the mast, made it's way across the Great Lake. But as it got closer to the banks of the lake, the mast shot out of the water, revealing a massive pirate ship. There were even more gasps, and then teachers ushered them all inside, the castle abuzz with the theories of what they'd just witnessed.
"So what do you think it is then?" Angelina asked, grabbing her boyfriend's hand. This was the first time Cynthia had seen them show any form of affection towards each other in a very long time.
"Dunno, quidditch tournament maybe? I'd love to beat that little Malfoy prick in front of a massive group," Fred said biting his lip.
"I'd just like to watch the sheer excitement and possibly horror on their faces when they see Harry come out," his twin finished.
As they all sat at the Gryffindor table, Cynthia's eyes followed a short brown haired boy, and his two companions. As they sat down, she leaned into Fred.
"Is your brother dating that Hermione girl?" Fred shook his head and shrugged, "He probably would like to though,"
"Are you kidding me, Fred? He went on about her all summer, where were you?" George asked, looking confused.
"Not paying attention, I have better things to do then listen to two of my brothers swoon over girls," George rolled his eyes.
"Only two?" Cyn said, deciding to be slightly more mischievous than she usually was, "I'm sorry Angelina," she said smiling impishly.
The entire hall quietened down as the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore stood in front of his owl-embellished podium.
"We will start the sorting of first years now," He seemed awfully quiet this year. As Professor McGonagall called the names of the first years and sorted them. Everyone's eyes were more focused on the empty seat where the Defense Against the Darks Arts teachers would usually be sat. After the first years were sorted and seated at their correct tables, food appeared, and no one thought twice before digging in.
George kept glancing over at Cyn, she seemed slower than usual. She was always quiet, but she usually moved very deliberately, now she moved as if she was in a constant dream. Her trances were also very normal, but they never lasted this long, or when there was this much noise. She accidentally dropped a glass, and it smashed to the floor, but very few people noticed. Slowly she pulled out her wand and muttered ''Repairo," picking up the re-assembled glass.
"You alright?" George asked her, his eyes tracing every line on her face.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, just tired," she said looking down the table past George. Everyone was slowly finishing up their deserts now, and pushing their plates away.
Several minutes later, Dumbledore once again approached his podium.
''So!'' He said above the chatter,''Now that we are all fed and watered,''
'I must once more ask for your attention while I give out a few notices.'' Finally, the whole hall was silenced, ''Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming yo-yo's, Fanged Frisbees and Ever Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises of some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it.'' Both Fred and George slammed their fists down on the table.
''As ever, I would like to remind you all that the Forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all those below third year,'' several first year students turned to each other to silently mouth questions.
''It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year.'' Nearly everyone on the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables grounded, including, and most loudly, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Once the noise had died down again, he continued, ''This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-'' A loud bang of thunder and crashing noises interrupted him, followed swiftly by the enchanted ceiling rushing black clouds over the previously clear night sky. Several people screamed, and Cynthia flinched slightly. Then, a man entered dressed in what looked to be a dragon-hide trench coat. Whispers erupted amongst the calmer students, and Angelina said, louder than the rest, "Is that Mad-Eye Moody?" Fred and George nodded in unison, and Cynthia said nothing. She recognized him from when she used to go to the ministry with her dad. She had seen him a few times in the elevators, and was always terribly frightened by him.
''May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody.'' Dumbledore said, his voice completely calm, as if the ceiling had not just gone demon on them all. The entire hall was silent, but Dumbledore stood up there clapping and showing Moody his seat.
''As I was saying, we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the TriWizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.'' The tension filled the room until Fred said, very loudly, "You're JOKING,". Then tension melted away and practically everyone laughed, even Dumbledore.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley, although I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…" Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.
"Er- but maybe this is not the time…no…." said Dumbledore."
"Wicked," both the twins said in unison, and Cynthia turned her head and smiled at George.
''The TriWizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago, as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry - Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the Tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is the death toll mounted so high that the Tournament was discontinued.' 'There have been several attempts over the centuries to re-instate the Tournament, none of which have been very successful. However, our own Departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that, this time, no champion will himself or herself in mortal danger.'The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang have already arrived with their short-listed contenders, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Hallowe'en. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the TriWizard Cup, the glory of their school and a thousand Galleons personal prize money.' Lots of excited noise came echoed throughout the hall, 'Eager though I know you all will be to bring the TriWizard Cup to Hogwarts, the Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose and age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put their names forward for consideration. This-'' Angered yells came out, most prominently from Fred and George.
"Boo! You don't know what you're doing!" Fred yelled down the table.
"Are you kidding me?" George echoed. However, Dumbledore continued, shooting a look down the Gryffindor table towards the twins, causing Cynthia to smirk and turn to shake her head at George, still laughing.
'-Is a measure that we feel is necessary, given that the Tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be remaining with us for a greater part of this year. I know that you will extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!'' As everyone stood, and several sixteen year olds looked thoroughly angered, Fred turned to Cynthia, "You'll be seventeen by October won't you?" Cynthia nodded quietly, brushing a strand of her fringe out of her eyes.
"Well? Are you going to put your name in?" He asked her, expectantly.
"Absolutely not, didn't you hear what he said? People die in this tournament!" Fred rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but they're going to make this a tournament for sissies! They've already taken the fun away by making it only for people of age," Cynthia shook her head softly.
"I'm not going on a suicide mission, thanks," As they made their way up to the common room, both Fred and George tried to convince her to put her name into the cup.
"Really, I'm not going to," she said, as she pushed open the door to her new dorm room, "Are you guys coming out later?" She asked, halfway in the door. George and Fred both looked at each other, shrugged, nodded in unison, and then entered their dorm room. As she entered her dorm room, she saw a copy of the Daily Prophet lying on the table next to the furnace in the center of the room, she grabbed it, and shoved it under the bed which had her trunk next to it. Opening her trunk, she pulled out most of her belongings, shoving them in the nightstand next to her bed, and started pulling out her picture frames. One by one she set them on her bed. She had two of her, Mathilda and Aria from Hogsmeade last year, the second one a snowball crashes into the back of Aria's head, sent over by none other than her boyfriend, Eddie Carmichael, the Ravenclaw. One of the pictures, the one with the cleanest frame, was of her and George walking down the Hogsmeade High street, looking back once or twice at Mathilda, who was taking the picture. It was her favorite picture of them, as she laughs multiple times, throwing her head back once. Her last picture is a picture of her, her mum, her dad, her younger brother Danny, her older sister Patti and her husband Zak at their wedding. She set the first three pictures on her bed frame, but took one look at the picture of her family and tucked it back in her trunk, before sliding it under her bed.
Holmdel's cage stood empty by her bedside table as she unrolled her poster of her favorite band, the Weird Sisters.
The fireplace crackled and several groups of people talked quietly in the common room. Cynthia sat between George's legs with her back to his chest, reading a book she'd just recently borrowed from her sister. Fred and George were tossing a firecracker prototype back and forth. Apparently the point of it was that you could toss a firework back and forth, enjoy the pretty lights and not have any noise of get burned. It seemed harmless and like it would sell well, so they spent their time tossing it back and forth talking about their schedules.
"So we've got Defense Against the Dark Arts third tomorrow right?" George asked and Cynthia replied before Fred had the chance to, "Yeah, and Potions before that with the Ravenclaws,"
"Well at least it's the know-it-alls instead of the pricks," Fred said, referencing their schedules last year, which had them taking Potions with the Slytherins. "Last year Danny had Muggle Studies with the Ravenclaws, he said there was no point in even trying to answer the questions, they always got to it first," She said, returning her attention to her book.
"All the better, it's not like I'm going to try and answer any questions anyways," George said tossing the firecracker towards the ceiling. It made impact, crackled loudly, scaring several third years, then falling into Fred's hands. She closed the book carefully then stood up, "I'm going to bed, I'd like to at least try and make a good impression this year," She turned, kissed George on the cheek and then started walking towards the staircase. "What? I don't get a kiss!" Fred yelled mockingly after her. She made a rude hand gesture and then walked up the stone stairs daintily.
"You all better knows these curses by now, and if you don't I might just have to use one on you, because even the fourth years knew them," Alastor Moody said, pacing in the front of the classroom, "Can anybody gives us a summary of what they are?" He said through clenched teeth, his eye circling at a fast speed. Cynthia's hand was already in the air, before he had finished the question.
"You, up," he pointed at her, and she slowly stood up, already regretting offering to answer the question. She liked being right, but she didn't like being recognized for it.
"Name?"
"Uh, Cyn Sutton,"
"Right, have they found your father, Sutton?" Cynthia stared blankly at him, blinking several times before shaking her head. She hadn't told anyone yet that her father had been missing.
"Shame, he was good at his job, the ministry's lost a good worker," He said and then continued, "Now give us your answer,"
"Uh, well, there are three unforgivable curses, the imperious curse, the Cruciatus curse, and the killing curse. Um, there's only one wizard that had ever been recognized to have survived them, and his name is uh Harry Potter, as uh, everyone should know by now. They're called unforgivable, because they are such, and they will get you sent to Azkaban, even with a trial," She said, then sat down quickly, her face bright red. She looked straight ahead, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone, she could feel their eyes on her.
"Correct, I take it you don't need me to demonstrate them, but over the next few weeks, we will be working on your resistance to the charms, obviously not the killing curse, but the imperious curse and the Cruciatus curse," There was whispering around the room about the illegality of it, and several Hufflepuff girls squeaked amongst themselves.
As the class was dismissed, Cynthia rushed out of her seat, and out the door, hoping to not make contact with anyone. She was nearly down the stairs completely until someone called her name.
"Cyn, wait!" Aria called to her. She turned on the spot and watched as the short girl ran down the stairs, two steps at a time.
"What?" She asked bitterly.
"We thought you'd told everyone," Aria said, as Mathilda joined her.
"No, I'd not told anyone, and I was planning on keeping it that way until I was ready to tell people about it, unless they read anything about it in the Prophet," she said sharply, biting the inside of her cheek until it bled.
"Oh," Mathilda said, "Well, I'll see you in Transfiguration," she said. Mathilda knew when Cyn wanted to be alone, so she pulled Aria by the elbow away from her. She walked slowly down the stairs, the crowd of her classmates now closing in on her, but no one asking her anything. Her empty hand hung awkwardly by her side, and she trudged down the steps, still knowing that her cheeks were red. She felt a hand around hers, and she shied away from the touch until she realized who it was.
"How long?" Was all George asked.
"5 weeks," she said, understanding what he was asking.
"I'm so sorry," He said, pulling her into a hug at the bottom of the stairs, resting his chin on her head. She felt his warmth around her, and sighed as his unique scent wrapped itself around her face.
"There's nothing we can do about it," She whispered into his chest. She felt another hand on her back and realized it was Fred's. She stood back, "Sorry, I don't mean to be such a drag," she said to the both of them and smiled weakly.
"You're not," Fred said, his signature broad smile wiped from his face.
Later that night, after dinner, Cyn sat at a table by the window, doing the first homework she'd gotten all year. The conversations taking place around her were mainly about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and his less-then-legal way of teaching. Cynthia had been relatively quiet that evening, not something out of the ordinary for her, on occasion, she would go whole days without talking. It's not that she was anti-social, on days like that, she might sit in at one of the loudest conversations, she just wouldn't contribute. The carriage and the ship were still outside, and occasionally teenagers would come and go from them, but from what the rumors were saying, the students were taking all their classes in there for the time being, until October when they would be formally introduced to Hogwarts. Once she finished up her homework, she slowly rolled up the parchment and slid it into her bag, taking out her book.
"Morning Zak," Cynthia said, pulling her hair back.
" Morning Cyn, Patti wants to talk to you," Zak said, not bothering to look up from his newspaper.
"Where's she?"
"In the garden," Cynthia slowly walked out to the garden. The fresh air, the sound of birds chirping and the warm sun beating down on her was enough to wake her up quickly. She loved being in the countryside. Sure, Drumnadrochit was in the middle of nowhere, but it wasn't as gorgeous as the country. Patti was sitting on a bench, and her face was in her hands, a piece of parchment in between her fingers.
"What's wrong?" Cyn asked urgently. Patti looked up, her eyes red and swollen, and handed Cynthia the paper.
'Dear Patricia and Cynthia,
I'm just going to be completely blunt about this, I see no other way to put it. Daniel and I have just gone up to London to meet with the auror office. You're father has been missing for about a week now, and although every attempt has been made to find him, he has not been found yet. The auror office is currently looking for him, and with any luck he'll be found soon. Patricia, I think it would be best if Cynthia stayed with you and Zak until she has to go back to school, I think being in the countryside would do her best right now. Daniel will stay with me here in London, and you'll just have to side-along apparate with her to London, unless you'd like me to send Holmdel up with a portkey, which is completely fine.
Do keep in touch,
Love,
Mum.'
"How the hell can she be so calm about that?" Cynthia yelled at no one in particular, feeling herself tremble. Her eyes stung and within a matter of minutes she was crying and shaking. Her sister held her and they remained like that for another half an hour, the warm morning sun burning their skin and lightening their hair.
Hours later, Cynthia sat up in the spare room that would now be hers for the rest of the summer.
'Hey George and Fred,
I have no idea how to write these bloody letters, so hi. How've your summers been? Feel like coming to rescue me? My mum's making me stay here for the rest of the summer. It's odd being able to walk a mile and see Hogwarts, I don't like it. Have you guys come up with any new prank stuff? I'm so bloody bored I think I'll even find muggle chess interesting.
Sorry it's so brief, I'm just about to cross the insanity line, so you might be seeing me at St. Mungo's soon.
Love and kisses (not to you Fred, sorry to disappoint you, I know how much you love me!),
Cyn. ' She rolled up the parchment and tied it to her owl, Holmdel's leg, and sent him off, then she fell onto her bed, and let the tears fall more.
As the leaves turned red and began falling off the trees, Halloween made it's swift approach, and the castle seemed more lively. Soon, the Triwizard Tournament would begin, and students would be allowed to enter. On Saturday the fifteenth, Cynthia rose early, to go down to breakfast. As she slowly dressed, she looked at her calendar and realized what day it was. Silently celebrating, she made her way downstairs to the great hall, she had a little extra bounce in her step. She slid into a seat by Mathilda and cheerfully said, "Good morning Mathilda, lovely day out isn't it?"
"Oh yes it is, aren't you excited to go to Hogsme- OH MY GOSH HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Mathilda hugged her tightly and then swore loudly, "I left your present upstairs!"
"That's fine, I wasn't expecting one anyways," she said, still smiling as she helped herself to toast.
"I'll give it to you in Hogsmeade, are you going down?"
"Well I have to, yeah? I'm going to take my apparition test,"
"Right, damn, you're lucky, I've got to wait until January,"
"And we've got to wait April, so suck it up," the twins said, sitting down. George leaned in and kissed Cynthia's cheek while Fred fake vomited.
"Happy birthday," George said.
"Yeah, happy birthday, but please don't be doing that nonsense all day," Fred echoed.
"Come on George, control your hormones," a voice yelled down the table, everyone looked down and saw the youngest male Weasley sitting with his friends.
"Bugger off Ronald," George said.
"Yeah, come off of it Ronald, I think it's sweet, just because you can't get a girlfriend doesn't
mean you should take it out on people who can," Ginny said, sitting next to the Hermione girl.
"Damn, he's leading a lonely war, inn'he?" Cynthia said, taking a sip of her orange juice.
"Yeah, as long as he keeps being a prat," Fred said, putting an ungodly amount of bacon on his plate.
"So I've decided I'm going to enter myself," She said as if it was nothing.
"Really?" Fred and George said in unison, looking equally shocked.
"Yeah, what've I got to lose?" She said airily.
"Oh, I don't know, your life?" Mathilda said, giving her a look that should really be reserved for insane-asylum escapees.
"Well, I figure, eternal glory doesn't sound so bad, I mean, us Sutton's have nothing to our name, except for a clan that was defeated by the english in about twenty five minutes, might as well have a Sutton that's worth something, as I doubt Danny's going to do anything special," she nodded to her thirteen year old brother who was attempting to balance a spoon on his nose.
"Wonder who you're up against," Fred wondered aloud, looking around the hall.
"Well, I've got my money on that Diggory boy, from Hufflepuff, you know the one, the prize quidditch player?"
'"Yeah, we went to the quidditch world cup with him this summer," Cynthia dropped her knife.
"You went? How the hell did you make it out alive?" She asked her eyes wide.
"Well, we sort of left Harry behind, didn't we?" George said to his brother.
"You went with Harry Potter? Are you kidding me? You should have told me, I'd have sent you money to bet on the irish for me!" She said, breaking out in a smile.
"I knew there was a reason I was dating you," George said high fiving her.
"But aren't you a scot?" Fred asked.
"Well spotted,"
"Why were you rooting for the irish then? Aren't you supposed to hate them?"
'"Yeah, but I hate Viktor Krum more," She said, twiddling her spoon in her fingers.
"I think you're the first girl to ever say that,"
"Oh no, he's gorgeous, but he seems like a complete prick," she looked at George's face and then laughed, "But he's not as good looking as you," She winked at Fred and he laughed.
The orange, red and brown leaves made a satisfying crunch under Cynthia's converse as they walked to Hogsmeade. She'd had a great time pulling out her wand for everything, giggling as she did so. She was levitating a bright orange leaf in the air when she felt her foot sink down, and she fell over, face first into the ground. Clutching her nose, she rolled over and spit blood.
"What the hell?" She pushed herself up on her elbows, and wiped her nose on her black hogwarts sweatshirt.
"What'd you trip on?" Aria asked, watching her closely.
"I donno, my foot just sunk down.\,"
"There's no hole for it to sink into..." Mathilda said as George helped her up.
"You okay?" He asked, his eyes focused on her bloodied nose.
"Yeah it's alright, my nose tends to bleed over nothing," she replied sweetly.
"I know, remember that time you hit your head on the table and it started bleeding?"
"Or when you were sliding on the ice down by the shrieking shack and it started bleeding?"
"Or when-"
"Great, thanks guys, that's great," she said, doing a final wipe of her nose.
"Well since we don't want you falling again, maybe I should just carry you," George said picking her up. Cyn screamed and kicked, "No put me down George!" She laughed and screamed, I'll curse you!"
"Oh we wouldn't want that would we, you imperio'ing me, and making me do whatever you want me to,"
"Alright, that's not what I want to hear," Fred said as he, Aria, and Mathilda sped up. George dropped her and yelled after his brother, "Damned lightweights," and soon after, they were all running, George and Cynthia chasing Fred, Mathilda and Aria.
Hogsmeade was really crowded that day, so they all just went their separate ways for an hour, agreeing on meeting up at the Three Broomsticks at two for birthday drinks for Cynthia.
Cyn decided upon walking around by herself, enjoy the silence, and her new ability to use magic for whatever she wanted. Checking her watch, she decided she would go take her apparition test and get her license, that way she'd have it done with and not have to wait in the long later.
Forty minutes later, Cynthia triumphantly exited the testing area, now able to aparate legally. She'd always been good at apparating, never leaving so much as a hair behind. She started walking towards the shrieking shack, realizing she now had an extra twenty minutes a sshe could just aparate to the Three Broomsticks. She was delighted to find that she was the only one in the immediate vicinity of the shrieking shack, so she sat on a rock, and pulled out her book, reading silently. The cool air around her gusted and died every few minutes, and with one gust, she heard a loud scraping sound behind her. Startled, she turned back and saw a copy of the Daily Prophet stuck between a relatively large stick and the ground. She picked it up and looked at the front page. The headline was something about the ministry instating new personnel to the Wizengamot, but the story title next to it was what caught Cynthia's eye:
'Ministry Official Missing for 7 Weeks.
Scottish auror George Sutton has been missing for 7 weeks, as of Friday, October 14th. His wife, Maureen Sutton, had said that both herself and the auror office are searching for him, and every possible way to contact him has been made, all have failed. The Auror office has ruled out dark magic, and Mrs. Sutton agrees. No further comments have been made by either the ministry of the missing man's wife. The Daily Prophet has been forbidden to ask Mr. and Mrs. Sutton's underage children. Their only underage child, Daniel Sutton is currently attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as is their next oldest child, Cynthia Sutton. We have contact their oldest daughter, Patricia Harrison. No comments have been made. Story still developing. ' Unnecessary anger flashed through Cyn, and as she pulled the prophet out of where it was stuck, she also wiped out her wand.
"Incendio," she practically yelled at it. The paper burst into flames, and she jumped back as a lick of the flame touched her. Trying to push back tears of angst and shame, she turned on the spot, and watch the bright orange swirl behind her.
She tripped backward and apologized to the poor third year she'd just apparated next to, and sheepishly walked into the Three Broomsticks, her head hung.
"Cyn! Over here!" Aria yelled at her from the back of the pub. Plastering a fake smile on her face, she made her way to the table squeezing in between other tables.
"So what'd you buy?" Cyn asked nodding towards the mounds of bags Aria had next to her. Both of Aria's parents were filthy rich, and her whole family had been for centuries apparently. They were one of those odd families that had all of their offspring in Hufflepuff. Cynthia had always found that odd, she'd always just assumed that the legacies were in Gyffindor and Slytherin, never Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, as those were the slightly more down to earth, and level-headed houses.
"Just some stuff for the dorm room, oh, that reminds me, you won't believe what your little brother did in the common room last night," She groaned, this wasn't going to be good.
"What?"
"Well there's this girl in fourth year, Megen Jones, and she's a real laugh, but I don't think she ever really means to be, she's just really loud, and so if she says one joke, the whole common room hears it, right? So your brother, who's usually also really loud, but not in the way she is, ok? Well he goes up and sits down next to her, and while she's finishing up some joke that has loads of people in stitches, he stands up and whispers something in her ear, and she looks up at him, her face bright red, and nods. By now everyone's confused, and then he leans in, winks at her and kisses her full on the lips,"
"What the hell! He's only fourteen! He's too young to be doing that sort of stuff!"
"But didn't you and George?"
"NO! Well, yes! But that's different!" She whined, going into protective older-sister mode,"He's not mature enough, he's got the mind of a little boy!" She continued, folding her arms over her chest.
"Funny, I seem to remember Mathilda telling me that you had a teddy bear on your bed for the whole of year four..." Aria countered.
"And she still does," Mathilda said, sliding into the booth seat next to Aria.
"Do not," Cyn replied, her face red enough to match her boyfriend's hair color.
"You absolutely do, but it's a different one then it was in year four, you must have a collection or something," she said, shaking her head, looking very proud of herself.
"I hope you don't mind, I think Eddie's coming as well, we've not had much time together this year," Aria said, watching the door of the pub open.
"Nope, I don't want to spend too much time on my birthday anyways, I s'pect Patti's going to make a deal of it and send me something huge and embarrassing though,"
"Good, let me be there when you get it," Mathilda said, and then pushed Aria out of the booth and onto a chair, taking the seat next to her.
"What? Oh who invited you tossers?" Cyn said upon seeing the two identical gingers.
"It's not a party without us," Fred said, sitting in a chair on the right side of Mathilda.
"We are the party," George said sitting in the booth next to Cynthia. Angelina stood there awkwardly waiting for Fred to pull her up a seat.
"Right, so now we're only waiting for Eddie and, um I think that's it,"
"God Cyn, you know how to make me feel lonely," Mathilda said.
"It's not my fault you like muggles better!" Cynthia said.
"They're interesting!" Mathilda defended herself.
"You know who would like her," George said to Fred across the table.
"How old is he?" Mathilda said excitedly, causing Fred to choke on the butterbeer he'd just been handed by a waitress. George bust out laughing, and even Cynthia laughed a little bit, quickly realizing who they were referring to.
"We're not talking like that," Fred said, finally done coughing.
"We're talking about our dad," George said, his face red from laughter. Soon Matihlda's face was red too, but not of laughter, of embarrassment.
"Right, well I've been waiting all day to properly embarrass Cyn so I'm not waiting any longer," Aria said, always the one to break awkwardness.
"Oh please no," she muttered leaning into George, wrapping her arm around his.
"Oh, but yes, you'll like this, once your face stops looking like a tomato," she said, pulling something out from behind her. It was a small box, and realizing that she was in fact, blushing a lot, Cynthia said very quickly, "Oh, of course I'll marry you Aria, why didn't you ask earlier?" Mock-fainting as she said it.
"Very funny, this is oh so much better than an engagement ring, but George, hurry the hell up," She said, handing Cynthia the box.
"Really, you're not helping with how red my face is," Cyn said, taking the box. As she slowly unwrapped it, she looked out the window at the passing Hogwarts students. After she finally opened it, she burst out laughing looking at what was inside the box, with a sheer piece of fabric covering it. Holding back a scream, a smile ripped across her face.
"Thank you soo much!" She practically screamed at Aria, pulling five Weird Sister's tickets out of the box. She leaned across the table, hugging her tightly. "When are they for?" She asked excitedly, looking at the tickets.
"July seventh, I believe, my da-er, family got invited by their manager, so they're floor tickets," Deciding to ignore Aria's covered way of saying her father got them, she instead grinned even more brightly, "Thank you so much, this is amazing!" Mathilda gave her a pair of bright neon high tops that changed color depending on where she was, what the volume of the area was, what the temperature was, and what her mood was. It was another pair to add to her already big collection of high tops. Fred gave her a small wooden box that sang your favorite song when you opened it, and George told her he'd give her her present later, eliciting a loud "aww" from Aria, which in turn earned her a death glare from Cynthia.
As they walked back from Hogsmeade, the sun gently setting over the black lake, the orange light fading into a purple, Cyn kicked up the leaves in front of her, a smile still plastered on her face, as it had been all day. Originally, it had been forced, but as the day progressed, it had become more natural.
"6 days until Halloween," Fred said, walking next to his brother.
"Are you going to enter, Angelina?" George asked his brother's girlfriend, who'd been awfully quiet that night.
"Yeah, I am, I bet being a chaser might help me you know, not die," Cyn smiled slightly.
"That's awesome Angelina, I hope you get picked, I think you'd do great," She felt the need to say something nice to her, she'd barely spoken to her all week.
"Aren't you putting your name in?" She asked. And that's why Cynthia had never truly warmed up to her, she'd always seemed very cold.
"I'm not sure, maybe, I don't think I'm good enough with wand work to compete with everyone else,"
"Oh," she said quietly, and not another word was said between the two girls for the rest of the walk back. The twins however, were not quiet for more than a few seconds.
But none of them noticed the change in the air, or the looming darkness that sat behind the castle, ready to capture all the happiness it could.