Urgh can I just say that college (or junior year for Americans if you're out there) is awful. We finished school yesterday and I felt just dead. Thankfully I have so much more time to actually do stuff now.
Chapter Ten- The Lucky One
Grace didn't sleep much that night. Nobody in her dormitory did.
They went straight up to the boys' dormitory post feast after overhearing Fred and George's plans for an aging potion and curious to see what was going on. The twins were delighted at their appearance, going directly to Grace for her advice- both in Potions and Medicine- about the Aging Potions to be used. Even though she doubted they could get past any enchantment of Dumbledore's, she still sat on the back of their couch, peering at the notes they made and making any comments she deemed necessary.
It was nearing morning when the girls decided that it might be best to go to bed now, especially seeing as Fred and George wanted to get up early to use the aging potion. Grace kept George's words from earlier in the night in the back of her head, noticing how he turned away when Jesse went to embrace Grace as she left.
Even when the girls were back in their warm beds, lying restfully in the dim moonlight shown through their open curtains, they were awake. Their quiet conversation discussed the tournament for a while until it turned to the topic of Grace.
"How did that even happen with Jesse?" Miranda asked. "Seriously I think McGonagall is some sort of superwomen. There's no other way she could have seen that."
"Or she was just looking over at the exact moment that Grace decided to be particularly ostentatious," Lara assumed, giving Grace a pointed look.
"It was just one kiss!" Grace argued.
"Wasn't it 'just one kiss' that started this whole thing?" Trina questioned.
"Yeah so?"
"We're just a little . . . surprised is all," Ciara explained. "You and Jesse doing this thing was very sudden. We weren't really expecting it."
"Why does it sound like you think this is a bad thing?" Grace frowned, staring round at her friends. None of them met her eyes.
"We don't!" Miranda said when nobody else spoke up. "At least I don't. . . I think they're worried because none are sure how serious this is."
"Does it even matter?" Grace asked in exasperation. "Merlin, what is it with everyone being weird about Jesse lately?" The rest of the girls in the dormitory exchanged confused looks, turning back to Grace for an explanation. "I just . . . when McGonagall made me move earlier it sounded like George was talking about punching Jesse. He even mentioned something about me being 'Jesse's girl'"
"Are you Jesse's girl?" Lara asked for confirmation.
"I don't think so," Grace answered carefully. She tugged at a thread poking out of her blanket and pulled it between her fingers. "We never actually made anything official. God this is all so sudden and confusing."
"I say single life is better," Ciara declared.
"Oh, I beg to differ," Miranda said from the bed beside Grace, making her turn on her side to roll her eyes at her friend.
"Did any of you see what was happening with Harry and Karkaroff?" Hannah queried.
"Probably just the Durmstrang people staring at his scar," Grace said in disgust.
"That Karkaroff guy is a bit creepy," Trina commented, wrinkling her nose and pulling her blankets tighter around her shoulders.
"Might be because he's an ex-death eater," Ciara revealed. Grace sat up abruptly in bed, Lara gasped, Miranda dropped her bottle of Butterbeer and Trina rolled out of her bed in shock. "Mum mentioned his name a few times. She said that he only just got out of Azkaban when Voldemort fell but his reputation at Durmstrang is still for the Dark Arts. The Ministry tries to keep it all hushed though; I could probably get in trouble just for mentioning it."
"Why would they let him come to Hogwarts then?" Lara questioned loudly before Grace could.
"He's supposed to have cleaned up his act now," Ciara said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Plus, both Dumbledore and Moody are here now," Miranda pointed out. "What harm could he do with those two around?"
There was a murmur of uneasy agreement from the surrounding girls as they settled back down. It didn't take long for the sound of Miranda's snuffled snores to ring through the room. Even as Trina climbed back into her bed and fell dead asleep, Grace stayed awake. She tossed and turned for the rest of the night, throwing the blankets off, only to pull them back on and tug her bed curtains closed. Just as she was starting to doze off with the orange light of dawn pouring into the dormitory, her curtains were yanked back open by Miranda and Ciara.
"Come on, get up!" Ciara told her. She was already dressed and ready to go but Miranda had her slippers on and hair un-brushed. "People are going to start putting their names in the goblet soon."
"Fred and George want you to help them with the Aging Potion," Miranda informed her, turning away from her bed to pick up her hairbrush and begin yanking it through her hair. "We need to hurry up if we wanna see them fail."
Grace rolled her eyes and launched herself out of bed, hurrying around the room with her brain still half-asleep. Trina, Lara and Hannah were already gone, having left, according to Ciara, an hour ago. Once dressed and somewhat presentable, Grace and Miranda were dragged down the stairs by Ciara, barely staying on their feet. Fred and George met them at the end of the stairs, waiting only a second to say good morning to Miranda and Ciara before grabbing Grace's arm and pulling her up to their dormitory, where the Aging Potion was waiting.
"Honestly!" Grace huffed, tugging her arm out of the twins' grip. "What is it with everybody this morning? All I want is sleep."
"Hey, you can sleep after we win a thousand galleons," George told her; his eyes sparkling.
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"There," Grace declared, an hour later, carefully transferring a small dose of the potion into two glass phials. "Few drops each and you'll be seventeen."
"Ready, Fred?"
"Ready, George."
Twisting their arms around the other's the twins grabbed the two phials off Grace and tossed them into each other's mouths while Lee and Grace watched on in amusement. As soon as they were done they dropped the phials to the ground, giving their friends broad grins.
"This isn't guaranteed to work, you know," Grace warned them. "I really doubt that something so simple could get past Dumbledore."
"C'mon Grace, we trust in your potions skills," Fred told her. "I feel older than you already."
"Yeah, we're older than so you should trust us on thus," George said, grinning. "Now let's go, we're wasting precious time."
With a long-suffering sigh, Grace followed the twins and Lee bounding down the stairs. She fell in step with the three boys just when they were walking along the first floor corridor.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Ciara will have some coffee ready for you," Lee said brightly, turning to wink at her.
"Hang on, you're not seventeen yet," Grace said to him, frowning.
"Nah, I'm just watching Fred and George try," he explained. "It'll be amusing if it doesn't work."
Fred and George turned to look at their best friend, affronted and clutching their hearts dramatically. Grace laughed loudly, letting her laugh echo down the stairs to the Entrance Hall. There was a small crowd, of about twenty or so, milling around, with bits of toast or mugs of tea; all of them were watching the Goblet of Fire. The goblet ad been placed in the centre of the hall overnight, on top of a three legged stool, with a thin gold circle surrounding into in every direction for ten feet.
"Done it," Fred announced when Harry, Ron and Hermione realised the sixth years were standing behind them. "Whipped it up just this morning and taken it minutes ago."
"What?" Ron said.
"The Aging Potion, dung brain," Fred told him, shaking his head.
"Grace did it for us," George said, giving Grace a smile and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
"Not my fault if it doesn't work though," Grace said, looking up at him and returning the smile.
"Only a few drops each; just need to be a couple of months older," George continued.
"We're going to use the galleons for Weasley Wizard Wheezes if one of them win," Lee told them, grinning broadly.
"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of something as pathetically dim-witted as an Aging Potion."
Fred, George, and Lee ignored her though Grace thought she saw Lee's lips twitch.
"I've already told them that," Grace informed her, shaking her head. "They seemed to think my Potions skills are enough to get over Dumbledore's magic.
"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, shaking from head to toe. "C'mon, then - I'll go first -"
Grace watched impatiently as Fred pulled his entry parchment out of his pocket and walked to the edge of the age line, balancing precariously on his toes, waiting long enough to garner the attention of every around, then taking the final step over the line.
Nothing happened.
George let out a roar of triumph and dove after his twin, barely managing to land both feet inside of the circle before they were both flung out of it with a loud sizzling noise, landing hard on the stone floor ten feet away. To add to the humiliation, they both sprouted long, white beards with a pop.
Grace choked on her own laugh for a moment. Everyone else couldn't hold their own chuckles back until the all rang with it. Even though they wore identical scowls and had started shoving each other on the floor, both of them had start to laugh as well, tugging on each other's beards.
"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pompfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."
"Guess my Potions skills weren't quite up to scratch," Grace shrugged, shaking her head.
"Damn, I wanted a share of that money," Lee grumbled, waving a hand at Grace as he went over to help Fred and George get up the stairs to the hospital wing.
"Would you have entered if you were seventeen?" Harry asked Grace, still grinning.
"No way," Grace denied. "Why would I risk going through all of those dangerous tasks just for some money and fame?"
"It's not like we haven't got enough of that already," Harry snorted. "Besides eternal glory sounds a bit much doesn't it?"
"Too right Harry," Grace laughed. With another smile, Grace walked off to where the other Gryffindor sixth years were sitting.
"You saw it?" Miranda asked upon seeing her approach.
"Yep," Grace confirmed. "I can't believe you're dating one of those idiots."
"Hey, he can be sweet," Miranda shrugged.
"Coffee," Lara offered, handing the heated jug over. "Warrington entered his name this morning while you were still asleep."
"You're kidding? That great oaf?"
"I'm bloody hoping he doesn't get it," Ciara said. "A Slytherin champion might not be so bad but we'll need someone with actual brains to win this thing."
"Cedric entered," Hannah pointed out. "If anyone could win, he could."
"Good for him," Grace nodded. "I wouldn't mind having him for champion. Pass the toast will you?"
They sat eating their breakfast for most of the morning, leaving a couple of waffles aside for Fred, George and Lee. Around them more of the older students passed through the circle surrounding the goblet to enter their names. The girls kept a running commentary on each person who entered. There were even a couple more underage students who were thrown out with newly grown white beards. Around midday, the twins returned, completely clean shaven, with Lee by their side, only to snatch the waffles left straight into their mouths.
"Guess we're not gonna be rich anytime soon," Fred sighed, leaning on Miranda.
"Aw, don't worry, I'll still love you."
"It's not like I didn't tell you it wouldn't work," Grace said.
"Don't bother," George stopped her. "Madam Pompfrey has been lecturing everyone in the hospital wing all morning,"
"Worth the risk though," Fred shrugged. "Gave everyone a laugh."
"We are out of food now," Trina pointed out. "I think it might be time for lunch."
"You're right about that," Lara agreed. "How bout we meet you guys outside with more food?"
There was a murmur of agreement around the group. What little they had taken down to the entrance hall with them was picked up and they gathered tightly to avoid the crowds still nearby. Right near the Entrance door, a few of the Beauxbatons students passed them, heading towards the goblet.
Jesse, Lee, Ciara and George all craned their necks to peer around the Hogwarts students to lust after the European youth. Fred attempted to do the same until he caught Miranda's eye and dropped his gaze to the ground.
"Grace, you know that thing about us not really being that serious?" Jesse began, looking over at her slyly.
"Oh, just go, Jesse," Grace told him with a roll of her eyes. Jesse's eyes widened; he spun on his heels and raced after the Beauxbatons group, stumbling on his feet a few times first. Fred, George and Lee wolf-whistled after him.
"Did you just give your boyfriend permission to ask out a French girl?" Hannah questioned, confused.
"Well, he never really was my boyfriend," Grace explained, giving George a pointed look. "I guess that was just- him making sure I didn't want him to be either."
"What do you think he's chances are?" Ciara asked, looking back over her shoulder.
"Reckon they're pretty good," Miranda said. "He's not as awkward and shy as he used to be."
Without waiting for Jesse to catch up with them, the group strolled to their favourite area on the bank of the Black lake, where a fallen tree lay straight near the water's edge. At this time of year the spot was right in the sun and the tree trunk high enough to sit on without touching the cold water.
Without a word, each of them settled into their places. Ciara hoisted herself up into the branches of the tree that still extended high off the ground, Grace followed her but stayed lower down, where the branches were thicker and Fred relaxed into curve at the top of the trunk with Miranda and George on either side of him. Lee took one look at them and lay down in the centre of the trunk, leaving Hannah to perch on the end among the revealed roots.
They had just gotten comfortable when Jesse returned, grinning madly, and trailed by Lara and Trina.
"She said yes," Jesse announced, jumping up onto the tree with them. "A girl named Adrianne said she would go the next Hogsmeade trip with me."
Trina and Lara perched on the edge of the tree next to Hannah, their legs swinging in the air as they handed out sandwiches wrapped in napkins.
"Is Adrianne blind?" Fred asked, smirking.
"Or stupid?" George added, expression identical to his twin's.
"Oh, c'mon on guys, I'm not blind and I kissed him a few times," Grace cried out.
"Well, there is that other thing," George said, yelling out when Grace kicked him in between his shoulders.
"It was more than a few times anyway," Jesse muttered, missing the glares from both Grace and George.
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A few hours later, after Lee was snoring loudly and some of the girls had started their homework with Jesse copying the work over their shoulders, light drops of rain started to fall. Grace's head jerked from where she had been consulting her Charms book, squinting into the grey clouds.
"Well, isn't that romantic?" Fred commented, winking at Miranda.
Pulling their cloaks over their heads, the group of Gryffindors jumped down from the tree, only just managing not to fall into the lake.
"Should we leave him there?" George asked, referring to Lee, who had still not woken up.
"Oi, Lee, we're going inside!" Ciara called, using her wand to flick some of the lake water on his face and walking away as he spluttered. With the rain soaking through their cloaks quickly, they ran back up to the castle, slowing down when they got inside.
"Bloody hell, my Charms essay is soaked through," Jesse complained, waving the paper around in the air.
"Here," Lara offered, waving her wand in front of the paper and incanting a charm. The paper started to steam up, clouding the writing, so that the water evaporated away and all smudges in the writing disappeared. "Maybe if you had actually read through what you were writing you could dry it up yourself, instead of thinking all about Adrianne."
Jesse rolled his eyes, thanking Lara and rolling the essay back up inside his bag. The rest of the boys jostled Jesse around, teasing him about the upcoming date while the girls exchanged exasperated looks and kept walking. They parted ways once they had reached the common room, most going for hot showers before the feast.
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Grace twisted her hair between her fingers, pulling it high on her head and tying a hair tie around it. She threaded the damp red locks between her fingers as she walked down the stairs to the common room, eyes on the ground. At the bottom of the staircase, at the door into the common room, Grace made a sharp turn to head up the other staircase into the boys' dormitory and banged her head directly into something hard and sharp.
"Woah," Jesse said, grabbing Grace's shoulders back from where she bounced into his and frowning down at her in concern. "Are you alright?"
"Blimey, Jesse, how bony is your shoulder?"
"I like to think its muscle," Jesse corrected. He let go of Grace and took a step back but didn't stop frowning. He took a deep breath, looking like he was about to speak then closed his mouth again. Grace waited another minute for all the cogs in his brain to fully turn then he said, "Are you alright with me going on a date? I mean I know we said it was never really more than a casual thing but you look a bit out of it . . ."
"That's because you concussed me with your bony shoulder!"
Jesse laughed. He reached a hand up to flick his hair out of his eyes. Grace sighed.
"You really need to get a haircut," she pointed out.
"Nah, didn't you notice it's the year that nobody's getting a haircut?" Jesse asked, turning to take a step up to his dormitory. "As lovely as you are Grace, I'm kinda glad that I'm not going to have to watch out for George every time I talk to you." It took Jesse a moment to realise that Grace wasn't following him. "You coming up?"
Grace paused. Only a moment ago, she had wanted to be up in the dormitory with all of the rowdy Gryffindors completing a full day with them. Now, she just wanted to be away from the noise and the weird looks George kept giving her.
"I'm just gonna head down to the feast," Grace told Jesse. She leant forward and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "I'll make sure to find that Adrianne girl and tell her what a good kisser you are."
Jesse grinned. Even from the portrait hole, Grace could see him bouncing up the stairs. It was good to see him happy, even though it wasn't her making him so. Honestly Grace wasn't that torn up about him and another girl. She was the one who had made the thing between them such a casual relationship.
So, no, Grace thought, walking along the corridor on her way downstairs, it wasn't him she was avoiding by not going to their dormitory. It was George. Throughout the whole afternoon they had spent together, ignoring the homework that they were supposed to be doing, George hadn't made a single mention of what he had said last night or what had happened between Grace and Jesse. It was like nothing had happened. Everything went back to normal between them, like the best friends they were. Part of her knew what was going on but at the same time she didn't want to admit it.
"Grace!" a voice called out. Grace looked around, bewildered to find herself in the library corridor with Cedric jogging to catch up with her. He slowed once next to her, giving her a curious look. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, the common room was just getting a bit crowded," Grace explained, wrapping her arms around herself.
"I've never seen you shy away from a crowd before."
"Everyone needs a break from it all, you know? Besides there were a few things I needed to think over."
"You didn't accidentally kiss anyone again?"
"No!" Grace denied with a laugh. "That might've been the start of this problem."
"I'm always here if you want to talk about it," Cedric offered.
"Oh no, don't worry about me, you're the one in the running for eternal glory."
Cedric snorted. "So you heard that I entered?"
"Apparently I only missed seeing it by a few minutes," Grace commented. "I didn't think you'd want to enter though. It seems too . . . attention-seeking for you."
"It's not about that though," Cedric shook his head. "Everyone expected me to enter; all of my housemates, the teachers, my family and, especially dad. He doesn't make that much at the Ministry, you know, so a thousand galleons might be nice for him. And he might be proud of me if he I won."
"Ced, he already is proud of you!" Grace objected. "I've only ever met him once and all he talked about was you! Drove Fred and George a bit mad actually."
"Yeah but . . . it's just," Cedric stopped at the top of the marble staircase into the entrance hall. "This is different. The rest was just school stuff, anyone could do well on an exam and write a good essay, and that Quidditch win was complete luck. The tournament actually means something. Dad can have something to brag about other than good grades and sport."
"Is it worth it though? I mean do you even want to possibly risk your life just to make your dad proud?"
"It's worth it, Grace," Cedric confirmed, nodding with grim determination. "It's worth everything to work as hard for dad as he does for me."
"Well, at least you're not just doing it for the money," Grace quipped. "C'mon, let's go see if you can make your dad proud."
Grabbing Cedric's hand, she pulled him towards the great hall, letting go of his hand only when they had to separate to go to their different house tables.
"Good luck!" she told him, giving a thumbs up over her shoulder on her way to the empty Gryffindor table, while he joined other Hufflepuffs, who clapped him heartily on the back.
Slowly the hall around them started to fill with students, chattering excitedly about the upcoming reveal of the champions. The rest of the Gryffindor sixth years came in together, swarming over one another to get seats on one side of Grace. George sat next to her, breaking off a joke with Fred to stare at her, frowning. He opened up his mouth to say something but Grace looked away as the Beauxbatons students entered the hall.
"Which ones Adrianne?" Grace said, flicking her eyes away from George to smirk at Jesse.
"Why would I tell you?" he shot back. "You're just going to go and make fun of me."
"Now, Jesse, why would we do that?" Trina questioned, winking at Grace.
Grace laughed, turning her head to look at the door when Hannah pointed out the Durmstrang students entering.
"Reckon their Headmaster's got a favourite?" Ciara scoffed, pointing to Viktor Krum waltzing along next to Karkaroff while the rest of their students lagged behind.
"That would be like saying Snape has favourites," Miranda answered dryly. Grace, Trina and Lara snorted. Emerging from behind the Durmstrang students, Harry, Ron and Hermione detached themselves from the group and approached the Gryffindor table, taking a seat next to Grace, who nodded in greeting. Just as the trio made themselves comfortable food appeared on the plates in front of them.
"You're just in time," Grace commented. "What was so important that you almost missed the announcement?"
"Visiting Hagrid," Harry answered. "He was going to walk up here with us too, but as soon as Madame Maxime appeared, he was gone."
"Maxime and Hagrid?" Miranda questioned. "Is that a thing now?"
"I'm not sure it's an official thing," Hermione said sceptically, eyeing the French headmistress warily. "But he is calling her Olympe and attempting to dress nicely."
"Tell me, how exactly does Hagrid dress nicely?" Ciara asked, scooping rice onto her plate.
"Horrible orange suit, comb tangled in his hair and-," Harry started.
"Cologne that smells like shit," Ron finished, leaving Fred and George to start snickering.
Even with the conversation flowing freely, the feast seemed to be the longest one they'd ever had. Barely anybody, apart from the Weasleys, could eat too much after only having a feast the night before. Still Dumbledore acted like he didn't notice the constant fidgeting and whispering; eating as slow as he possibly could.
Finally the plates cleared away of any food scraps. Instantly the whispering in the hall turned into loud conversation, until Dumbledore rose to his feet and silenced them all. The expressions of all the students were reflected in Hogwarts' guests; Maxime and Karkaroff tense, Bagman positively ecstatic and Crouch apparently bored of it all.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he waved a hand behind him - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."
As if they didn't need any more suspense among the students, Dumbledore extinguished all of the torches on the walls so that the only light in the hall was the dim candles inside the Halloween pumpkins against the brightly burning blue flames of the Goblet of Fire.
The hall fell into dead silence . . . nobody spoke.
They all waited, staring expectantly at the Goblet.
"Any second," Lee whispered, across from Grace.
Suddenly the flames were red again. Sparks began to fly.
A long, thin tongue of fire whipped out of the goblet, bring with it a burnt piece of parchment.
Trina gasped, along with most of the students. Grace, Ciara, Miranda, Hannah and Lara stared up at Dumbledore with wide eyes.
Their headmaster stepped forward and snatched the parchment out of the air nimbly, holding it at arm's length to read. The goblet's fire faded back into bluey- whiteness again.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."
"No surprises there," Ron yelled over the uproar of cheering.
"Well- deserved champion!" Ciara proclaimed to them all.
"Karkaroff is certainly supporting his favourite," Lara remarked, gesturing at the headmaster as he boomed over the rest of the noise, even as Krum had left the hall.
Once again the hall fell quiet. Everyone turned back to the goblet, which had burned back into red. Dumbledore reached out and caught the second piece of parchment that shot into his hand.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"
Grace frowned when a petite, silvery blonde girl swept to her feet with obviously practised grace.
"She doesn't really look like she could survive life-threatening challenges," she commented. Ciara, Miranda and Lara nodded.
"Oh look they're all disappointed," Hermione pointed out. Certainly the applause for Fleur was considerably quieter than had been for Krum. Some of the Beauxbatons girls had even burst into tears.
Surprisingly Madame Maxime stayed quiet as Fleur approached the side chamber.
When she was gone, the polite clapping stopped like someone had flicked a switch. There was a tension in the room that hadn't been there for the other champions. No, this was more important than some foreign school. This was the Hogwarts champion.
Grace held her breath, watching the goblet's actions with anticipation. It took Dumbledore a minute from when he held the parchment to read it; his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"The Hogwarts champion," he called, pausing for a moment, "is Cedric Diggory!"
"Yes!" Grace screamed, jumping to her feet to shout along with Hannah and the rest of the Hufflepuff table. Hannah and Grace exchanged broad smiles, still making their praise for Cedric heard. The boy in question walked past their table, beaming widely. He gave Grace a quick thumbs up and, unless Grace was sorely mistaken, caught Hannah's eye on his way.
It took Dumbledore several minutes to speak again. Cedric would have still been able to hear the stunning noise from the chamber he was in. The Hufflepuff table didn't want to stop applauding their champion, proud of him as they were.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily when the Hufflepuffs seemed to have run out of energy for any more cheering. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-"
The headmaster broke off in the middle of what he was saying, the reason clear to everyone.
The flames of the Goblet of Fire had turned red once again.
"What?" Ciara asked. "I didn't think it was supposed to do that."
Sparks flew out of it at an increasing rate until a final piece of paper flew out. Dumbledore only just reached out in time to catch it. He contemplated the name written in front of him, his electric blue eyes boring into the parchment. The entirety of hall watched him. After what seemed like an eternity, Dumbledore cleared his throat and read the name in front of him.
"Harry Potter."
Stunned, Grace turned her head to gape at her brother, her mouth hanging open.
In the back of mind, she was aware of the low buzz that had started up in the hall, of the angry students struggling to catch a glimpse of Harry.
Harry was looking at Grace, Ron and Hermione, taken aback.
"I didn't put my name in," he said blankly. "You know I didn't."
"I know," Grace told him. "You never wanted it."
Harry nidded weakly.
Neither Ron nor Hermione said anything.
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again. Looking up, Grace noticed that McGonagall was standing at Dumbledore's shoulder.
"Go on," Hermione hissed, giving Harry a little shove.
Harry got to his feet with trepidation. Before he could even take a step, he stumbled on hem of his robe, making Grace sigh internally. All eyes watched him walk up to the staff. The buzz of angry voices that Grace hadn't paid attention to seemed louder now. Some accusations rose above the rest.
"Cheat!" one voice called out.
"He's not even seventeen yet!" another blamed.
Drawing on the Potter pride that Grace knew he had in him, Harry held his head high and continued forwards, only stopping briefly in front of Dumbledore before he reached the chamber door.
Then he was gone.
Please review with any comments, questions or even just complaining about how slow I am.