"Meredith, you have to get up and go to work," Lupin pushed on her shoulder, brushing her hair out of her face trying to wake her up.

"Hmph, I'll take a sick day," Meredith said tiredly, grabbing his arm and pushing it away from her, then she pulled her blanket over her head. Meredith heard him chuckle then suddenly felt cold, and opened her eyes to discover that Lupin had pulled her blanket off of her. Groaning loudly, she pressed her pillow over her face, shielding herself from the light.

Lupin chuckled again, grabbing her foot and pulling her off of the bed.

"You. Are. A. Complete. Arse," Meredith groaned, curling up in a ball on the floor. "I hate you so much right now." Meredith got up on her knees and used the bed as a crutch to help her stand. She rubbed her eyes and stumbled to the bathroom where she splashed cold water on her face. She returned to the bedroom looking more awake but even more disgruntled. "Is that how you're going to wake me up every morning?"

"No, probably not," Lupin said, smiling, "but it was kind of fun."

"Again: I hate you so much right now," she yawned, stumbling off into the kitchen to brew herself coffee.

Lupin followed her into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You don't hate me," he said, nuzzling her neck.

Meredith giggled, running her hands over his arms and nuzzling him back. "I don't, but if you ever wake me up like that again...I will be forced to hurt you," she said seriously, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "And I'm not even kidding."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist," Lupin said, smiling. He wrapped his arms around her tighter, kissing her neck and shoulder.

"Remus," she breathed, leaning into him and using the kitchen counter for support. "I have to get to work," she wriggled out of his grip and walked into her bedroom to change, but halfway down the hall she realized that she was at Lupin's house. "Ugh, I'll see you later," she Disapparated on the spot.


"Are you ready to go back to Hogwarts tonight, Meredith?" Bagman grinned excitedly, bouncing into her office.

Meredith looked up from her work and returned the smile, "I can't wait. It's going to be amazing," she said. "I just can't believe I get to be a part of something that's going to be so memorable."

Bagman nodded, "I'm just happy to give you the opportunity," he smiled again. "So, have you packed already?"

"Actually, no I haven't," Meredith admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, then take the rest of the day off and take care of that," Bagman said happily, "there's nothing you need to do here that needs to be done immediately."

Meredith stared at him in surprise, "Are you sure, Ludo?" She asked.

"Sure, sure, take the day off. Just be sure to meet me at the Three Broomsticks at five so we can get to Hogwarts by six," Bagman said, still smiling.

"All right, well, thank you Sir," Meredith pulled her jacket from the coat stand behind her desk. "I'll be at the Three Broomsticks at five," she smiled, patting him on the shoulder as she walked out of her office.


Meredith, Bagman and Mr. Crouch arrived at Hogwarts and sat down at the staff table while the students were still fussing about the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were taking their seats amongst the students.

"I've always imagined what it would be like to sit up at the staff table instead of down there with the students," Meredith said, grinning as she took her seat in between Professor Karkaroff and Bagman, who laughed heartily at Meredith's remark.

"Oh yes, I forgot you've only just left Hogwarts," Bagman patted her on the shoulder, "I reckon you know quite a few of the students." He said, his eyes scanning the crowd.

Meredith nodded, catching Fred and George's eye and winking at the both of them. "Most of the Gryffindors, yes," she said, smiling. Then she caught Hermione, Ron and Harry's gaze and threw them a casual wave, which they returned with gusto.

The Great Hall was buzzing with enthusiastic conversation; Meredith imagined that the students were talking about the Triwizard Tournament and Viktor Krum who, Meredith noticed, was chatting animatedly with Draco Malfoy. Over at the Gryffindor table she saw Fred, George and Lee with their heads together, no doubt planning something mischievous. Over at the Hufflepuff table she saw the always-handsome Cedric Diggory chatting with his friends; she wondered if he was planning to enter the Tournament.

Dumbledore stood up to speak, and the Hall instantly fell silent. Meredith smiled, admiring the respect that he commanded. "Allow me to introduce, if you don't already know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation"--Meredith clapped politely, as did much of the students in the Great Hall--"Mr. Ludo Bagman, the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports,"--the applause were much louder for him--"and, I'm sure a lot of you know Meredith Douglas, as she just left Hogwarts last year."

Meredith, Bagman and Crouch waved cordially at the crowd when their names were announced, and the applause died down when Dumbledore held his hands up again. "Mr. Bagman, Mr. Crouch and Miss Douglas have worked tirelessly over the summer to make the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament and they will be joining Madame Maxime, Professor Karkaroff and I on the judging panel. Now, the casket Mr. Filch if you please."

Mr. Filch came hobbling out into the center of the table carrying a large--there was no better word for it, Meredith thought--casket and set it down with a dull thud in front of Dumbledore. "This is the Goblet of Fire, and it is the impartial selector who will decide the champions from each of the schools," he said as he tapped the casket a few times with his wand, and the box fell away to reveal an equally as old-looking goblet that was currently full of dancing blue flames.

"Any aspiring champions have twenty-four hours to submit their names to the goblet, and tomorrow evening the champion from each school will be selected," Dumbledore said, pausing to accommodate a slight rise in voices from the students, "the goblet will be placed in the entrance hall for tonight, and only students who are of age may enter their names...I will be drawing an Age Line to prevent any underage students from entering their names."

Dumbledore stepped out from behind the dais he was speaking behind and stood next to the goblet. "Now, I must reiterate that putting your name in the goblet enters you in a binding magical contract, and if you are chosen, you stand alone. So, before putting your name in you must be one-hundred percent sure that you wish to compete because there can be no backing out," he said seriously, pausing to run his eyes over the students. "Now, I think that it is time for bed, good night to you all."

Meredith smiled at Dumbledore, walking over to him to shake his hand. "It's so good to see you again, sir," she said.

"And you, Miss Douglas, I trust you're doing well," Dumbledore said, smiling amiably.

"Wonderful, thank you," she said, smiling back. "Its great to be back here," Meredith nodded, sticking her hands on the pockets of her robes; it felt strange to her to wear them after wearing Muggle clothes for such a long time.

"Oy, Meredith!" Ron's voice carried over the bustle of the crowd and she turned around just in time to catch Hermione in her arms as she tripped over his robes. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"I couldn't very well tell you about it, it would have ruined the surprise," Meredith grinned, patting Hermione on the back and taking turns hugging Ron and Harry. Then she leaned closer to Harry to whisper in his ear, "Have you heard from Sirius at all lately?"

Harry nodded wordlessly, "He says he's back in the country, I told him about my scar hurting and he's come back to England, what if he gets caught?" he said with a worried tone.

Meredith nodded, patting him on the shoulder before she walked out of the Great Hall. "I'm sure he's going to be fine, he just wants to be close to you. I'll see you three tomorrow, I've got to go check in at the Three Broomsticks before they give my room away," she said, running towards the castle gates.


AN: Hey guys, this is chapter 8 (obviously) and I hope you enjoyed it. I've been having a bit of a writer's block lately so it's been pretty hard to write, but I'm trying! :) Again, I'll say as I've always said in my other notes....I LOVE reviews...please feel free to send me suggestions or anything via private message as well. You guys are awesome, and if you know about any awesome Marauder era fanfics that you think I should read, please recommend them to me!