AN: Sorry for the break; I've been on holiday. I will upload another chapter this week.

PART ONE

THE TOURNAMENT

Chapter 4

The next morning I realised just why being Champion was just as bad as I first imagined it to be when my name was drawn. Just like the Gryffindors, it seemed that the rest of Hogwarts thought that somehow I'd entered my name in the Goblet, but unlike my house, they were not impressed, not one bit.

The Hufflepuffs for example, who were usually on excellent terms with Gryffindors, had turned unbelievably cold toward the whole lot of us. One Herbology lesson was enough to prove it as well. It was obvious that they felt that I had stolen their champion's glory. A feeling aggravated further by the fact that Hufflepuff House very rarely got any glory for anything and I felt terrible about it.

It was only about five minutes into the first lesson that Seamus who was working behind me dropped his trowel and turned to Ernie Macmillan, "What did you say?"

The whole class turned to the two boys just as Ernie puffed out his chest and scowled, "You heard me Finnigan."

"Well say it again instead of mumbling under your breath so everyone can hear how much of a dickhead you are," Seamus sneered.

"Enough, lads, that's enough," Professor Sprout warned.

Seamus looked less than happy to stop, but he grabbed his stuff and left the classroom. Now this wasn't the only time Seamus Finnigan had left a classroom in a huff, but last time his older sister had lost her baby and someone made a disgusting comment which made something inside him snap. Whilst Professor Sprout left to try and catch up, Fay whirled around to Ernie, "What the hell did you even say?!"

"Someone had to make the point, that she," he pointed straight at me, "should not be a Hogwarts Champion. She cheated her way in to start with, and it's obviously for attention since hardly anyone knew her name before."

I shrank a little in my chair and Fay angrily looked to me and then back to Ernie with a low growl, "I asked what you said not what your point was, you little sh-"

Sprout's perfectly timed reappearance at that exact moment made the whole class jump. "Sorry for the disruption folks. Miss Granger, could you please go and inform Professor McGonagall that Mr Finnigan has left class without permission."

There was no more interaction at all between either house for the remainder of the class and I for one was keeping my head firmly down. No one really spoke to be completely honest, the whole class continued in silence until the moment Herbology ended and then everyone started whispering at once as we spilled from the glass doors of Greenhouse 2.

At this point I separated from the rest of my Housemates who were heading to Care of Magical Creatures and headed up to the castle for Ancient Runes. Assuring I stayed well ahead of the Hufflepuff's, I tried to avoid the gaze of anyone who looked in my direction even for a moment. I was doing pretty well until, something hard collided with my shoulder and knocked me backwards. A voice sneered, "Watch where you're going, loser."

Draco Malfoy strode past me with Crabbe and Goyle and Pansy Parkinson sniggered down at me, "You're no Hogwarts Champion, Williams."

She booted my bag as she passed me and walked away without another word, leaving me sat on the floor on the courtyard. Realising that I was attracting several extremely amused looks, I grabbed my bag and got to my feet, hurrying out of sight.

The next few days were a nightmare from beginning to end, I took insults from every angle: Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and even most of the Ravenclaws assumed I was doing it for the fame. I was no closer to knowing why Seamus had reacted so badly in Tuesday's Herbology, nor had I found out what Macmillan had said. By Thursday things went from bad, to worse, to hellish in seconds.

Fay, who'd been brooding over something all week, and I were heading back up to the Gryffindor Common Room after dinner when a older Ravenclaw knocked into me as he passed us on the stairs, "Try and stay on your feet Champion. At least try and make it to the first task, attention whore."

I pretended to ignore him and Fay swore at him through gritted teeth. Nothing more was said until we reached the empty corridor by the Gryffindor Common Room, where Fay took hold on my arms, "What if I shouted at you Jamie? What if it were me hurling abuse? You cannot let these people continue to treat you like crap."

"It's fine," I muttered trying to pull back from her.

"No, it's not. You can't keep let people talk to you like this, you've got to start standing up for yourself."

I winced under her grip, panic rising in my chest, "But I -"

"There's no but I about it," Fay yelled. "Shout at me."

"I can't," I stammered, trying to pull away from her.

Fay kept hold of me for a few moments before she pushed me away, "You can't be a Champion if you can't even stick up for yourself, and you'll never get through the first task if you can't just be a bloody Gryffindor for once."

My bottom lip trembled ever so slightly and my throat swelled uncomfortably. When I didn't respond, Fay sighed in frustration and turned on her heel, leaving me rooted to the spot. She was right, what kind of Gryffindor was I? I wasn't brave or daring, I didn't have nerve, I just didn't fit in here. Even when I thought about it, I wouldn't have fit well anywhere, except for probably Hufflepuff, who hated my guts right now.

I stumbled backwards out of the light of the corridor, gripping the wall to support myself. The last thing I wanted was to lose Fay, but she was so right about me. I wasn't going to amount to anything in this tournament or ever because I couldn't stand up for myself

For the second time this week I made my way to the Hospital Wing.

If it were possible the next day was even worse than the previous day. I stayed in the Hospital Wing over night and went to breakfast early so I avoided most of the students. When it came to classes, Fay didn't speak to me or even sit near me so despite the calming potion I still felt like complete and utter crap.

Everywhere I went I had to deal with sideways comments and stares from other houses and today even the odd cheerful greeting from a random Gryffindor wasn't enough to make me feel better. By the time it got to Charms I was ready to skip Potions and go and lie in bed because I was really struggling with the summoning charms that everyone else seemed to be pretty good at. I even had to leave with extra work because I couldn't complete the work in class. It probably wasn't that difficult either, I just couldn't concentrate on anything and the idea of double potions was nauseating to say the least.

As I headed down to the Great Hall for Lunch behind the other Gryffindors, Cedric Diggory passed me with a rather large group of lovestruck girls surrounding him. A twinge of annoyance rose from deep inside me. I hadn't even entered the bloody tournament and yet everyone hated me for being the second Champion, whereas guys like Cedric Diggory would always get attention because he looked like a Champion. I did not.

Double Potions was always a horrible experience because I was so bad at it, but these days it was nothing short of torture. Being shut in a dungeon for an hour and a half with Snape and the Slytherins, all of whom seemed determined to make me miserable for daring to become school champion, was about the most upsetting thing I could even imagine. I'd already struggled through one lesson's worth on Wednesday with Fay biting sarcastic comments back at everyone, and today was going to be a lot worse.

When I arrived at Snape's dungeon after lunch, I found the Slytherins already waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. They all bore the same message, in luminous red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit corridor:

SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY—THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!

I suppose I should have expected something like this to happen, but even so my cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Like them Williams?" Pansy called with a sideways grin.

Draco Malfoy laughed and stepped forward so he towered over me, "That's not all they do either, look."

He pressed the badge into his chest and the message disappeared, only to be replaced by one that was growing green: WILLIAMS STINKS. Suddenly all the Slytherins behind him were laughing and pressing their badges too. My hands curled into fists in the pockets of my robes; this was so unfair, I hadn't asked to be put in the Goblet of Fire. I didn't want to be school Champion. I turned to walk past them, flushing red and ducking my head, but Malfoy grabbed my arm, "Wait, don't you want one too? I'm sure even you know that Diggory is the true Champion, even if he is a Hufflepuff."

He held another badge under my nose and I stopped, waiting for him to let go of my arm so I could walk away, but he didn't let go and I couldn't bring any words to the surface to make him let go.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or can't figure out whether you want the badge because you know it's true," Malfoy muttered.

"What is going on here?" asked a deadly calm voice from behind. Malfoy immediately let go and stepped away. Of course, immediately all the Slytherins had an answer, but Professor Snape pointed one long finger to me.

"I'm sure our second Champion is perfectly capable of explaining," Snape drawled sarcastically.

All eyes fell to me before I muttered a response, "It was nothing -"

"If you could speak up, Williams." he interrupted.

"It was nothing, sir," I responded, my hands still clenched into fists in my pocket.

"Ten points will be taken for causing a scene over nothing in the corridor," Snape responded, "Into the classroom now."

Deep down, that little flicker of annoyance from earlier got just that little bit angrier at the way everyone was acting but I followed both houses as they flooded into the classroom without so much as another word.

As I expected, Fay took a seat with Dean and Seamus and I was left at our usual table alone, stunned by the massive injustice that Professor Snape had just displayed. Of course, I knew he was like that, but normally it was towards Harry Potter or Neville, not me. Everyone took their places and as Snape swept up between the rows, Pansy Parkinson turned and flashed her stupid badge at me. I ignored her and stared at the desk, hoping that this whole lesson would pass extremely quickly.

"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at the class, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly as he did. "You should all have prepared your recipes now…"

My stomach lurched. I hadn't prepared my recipe, I'd completely forgotten about the work I was supposed to do for this class. Snape was going to kill me when he found out.

"Everyone get your notes out," Snape said, "Quickly."

Everyone hurried to take out their notes and I didn't move, hoping that the stiller I stayed the more likely it was that Snape wouldn't notice. Stupidly staying still was the worst thing I could have done, but there was no point avoiding the inevitable. He would find out if I tried brewing a antidote without instructions. I was bad enough with instructions.

"Williams, is there a problem?"

The whole class stopped to look round at me.

"Er," I cleared my throat, "Erm, I forgot to do my recipe."

Snape's eyes lit up at the chance to humiliate a Gryffindor student in front of the whole class, "Clearly being Hogwarts Champion has gone to your head Williams. It may offer some privileges, but it does not excuse you from doing my work."

Thankfully, at that exact moment there was a knock at the door. It was Colin Creevey from the year below; he edged into the room, and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"Yes?" said Snape curtly, annoyed that he'd been interrupted.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Jamie Williams upstairs."

Oh thank god. I was getting out of here and, unfortunately, I think Snape sensed my brief joy. He stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose usual smile faded from his eager face.

"Williams has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "She will come upstairs when this class is finished."

Colin went pink and my heart plummeted in my chest.

"Sir - sir, Mr. Bagman wants her," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs…"

I didn't particularly want to take photographs though, but if it got me out of here.

"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Williams, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"But I don't ha-" I began.

"Please, sir - she's got to take her things with her," squeaked Colin, interrupting me. "All the champions…"

"Very well!" snapped Snape. "Williams - take your bag and get out of my sight!"