A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in sooo long. I've had chapters eleven through seventeen ready though enjoy


Chapter Eleven

Draco told Rebecca that classes were ending thirty minutes early because when the Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs arrived, they were to greet them in the front of the castle before the Welcoming Feast. Snape, who was apparently their Head of House, had warned them to dress nice, but not show off-y, and to be sure to wear House colors. Draco had come wearing basically what he had been wearing before (the school robes in house colors), only it looked much nicer. Rebecca was wearing a deep green, long sleeved shirt that she had altered to have the Slytherin house symbol on the front left of her shirt. She was wearing a silver necklace with silver, howling wolf as its charm. Her jeans were white-washed blue jeans and she was wearing white tennis shoes. She figured it was close enough to nice.

At the entrance they were all shivering in the cold. "I wish they'd just hurry up." Diana said beside Rebecca. She had snuck over from the clump of Griffindor's to stand with her friend.

"If I'm not mistaken, there comes the Beauxbatons!" Dumbledore shouted to the school, pointing toward the sky.

A little girl shrieked. "OH NO! IT'S A DRAGON!"

"Don't be stupid!" a young boy shouted. "It's a flying house!"

Rebecca had to give him credit; his guess was a lot closer. The giant, black shaped skimmed over the top of the Forbidden Forest and when the lights shining from the castle hit it, they could see that it was a large, powder-blue, carriage the size of a house; it was being pulled by a dozen of winged palominos horses, each the size of elephants.

A boy in blue robes got down from the carriage, fumbled with something on the carriage, and then unfolded a set of gold steps. Slowly, a large woman stepped out of it. She was olive-skinned, large, black eyes, and a beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back to the base of her neck and she was dressed from head to toe in black.

"That is one big lady." Draco said in amazement.

After silence, Dumbledore began to clap and the students followed his example. She smiled generously as she walked toward Dumbledore. As she extended her hand, Dumbledore hardly had to bend to kiss is (and he was pretty tall for an old guy). "Madame Maxima, welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," she said in a deep, purring voice. "I 'ope you're well?"

"Very well, thank you."

"Come, my students, out of the carriage." A dozen boys and girls in their late teens piled out of the carriage all shivering, given to the fact that their robes seemed to be made of silk and none of them wore cloaks. Rebecca noted that they were all looking up at Hogwarts nervously.

"'As Karkaroff come yet?" she asked curiously.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, not yet, but he should be here anytime now. Do you want to wait for him, or go inside to warm up?"

She looked at her students who were huddled together, trying to stay warm. "I think we should warm up. Is zer someone to take care of ze 'orses?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Our Care of Magical Creatures professor will take care of them, as soon as he's done dealing with a situation that has aroused."

"And I'm pretty sure it has to do with one of those Blasted Skrewts." Draco muttered in Rebecca's ear. She snorted in a failed attempted to not picture Hagrid being attacked by crates of Skrewts. He smirked and continued listening to the conversation.

"Very well, let's go in then." She said to her students and the Hogwarts group parted to allow her and the Beauxbatons through.

"So," Daina started. "How do you think the Durmstrangs are going to arrive?"

"Whatever causes a scene, I guess." Shrugged Draco. "Their school focuses on the Dark Arts, and when you focus on the Dark Arts, I guess you like to show it off too."

Rebecca nodded, shivering in the cold. She really wished she had snuck a jacket away from Diana's—or Draco's—bag when she had the chance. It was silent except for the occasional horse stomping and snorting. Then, suddenly—

"Hey, do you hear something?" Weasly said loudly.

From the darkness crept an odd sound and Rebecca felt herself reach for her wand. It was a muffled rumbling and sucking sound coming from—

"The lake!" shouted a black boy, an older Griffindor. "Look at the lake!"

Rebecca muttered a spell and out of her wand was a bright wall of light. Gesturing with her wand, the ball flew above, way above, the lake. The lake surface, which seemed smooth, wasn't smooth at all, since there was a disturbance in the water. Waves were washing on the sides and bubbles were forming in the center. Out of the very middle of the lake, there was a whirlpool, and slowly, a black pole rose out of the water, followed by a rigging and a mast…

"It's a ship." Diana said out loud, knowing all about ships from watching wayyyyy to much Pirates of the Caribbean.

And she was right. Slowly, a ship rose out of the ship, glistening in the moonlight. It had a skeletal look about it, like the one from Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Finally, it emerged entirely and floated gracefully toward the back, where they heard a splashing noise of an anchor being dropped then the thud of a plank.

Being began to disembark; by their silhouettes Rebecca could tell they had a sturdy build and were probably all guys. As the group came closer, the reminded her as a Korean army: all in single file lines, all in sync, practically marching. She saw that the reason they were built like that was because they were wearing raggedy fur cloaks…which looked to be made out of wolf pelt. However though, the man leading them was wearing a sleek and shiny cloak of silver, a lot like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he said as he walked up the slope Draco and Rebecca had gone down for Care of Magical Creatures. "How are you my dear friend?"

"Very well, thank you Professor Karkaroff."

"Oh my god, he has a fruity voice." Diana whispered to Rebecca and Draco. "Do you think he's gay?"

Rebecca laughed loudly and Draco ducked his head so no one could see him laughing. Durmstrang boys turned sharply and looked at them. Sighing, she stopped laughing and concentrated on the conversation that was being held.

Karkaroff was tall and thin, a lot like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short and his goatee made his weak chin obvious. As he reached Dumbledore he shook hands with both of his. "Dear Hogwarts…" he looked at the castle and smiled (Rebecca noticed how yellow his teeth were…and how when he smiled, it didn't seem to reach his eyes which were cold and shrewd)."So nice to be back so nice…Viktor why don't you come where it's warm? That head cold of yours can't be doing to well…"

As one of the boys passed, Diana inhaled sharply. "Holy! That's Viktor Krum!"

Rebecca had heard enough about him from Diana to know that he was one of the best Quidditch players in the history of…well, of ever. Dumbledore began to speak again. "Well, let's head inside, the Beauxbatons are waiting for us in there."

As they piled into the Great Hall, Diana groaned when she noticed that Krum was sitting at the Slytherin table. Rebecca put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Dai; I'll pretend I'm a fan so I can get his autograph for you."

Daina sighed and rolled her eyes. "His famous! I'm sure he can spot a pretender a mile a way!"

She shrugged. "Sure he can spot a pretender. But can he spot a really good liar? Tell me again what my motto is Diana?"

She sighed. "'Honesty is the best policy unless you happen to be a very good liar'. But I still don't—"

"Go sit down at your seat Setterfield." Rebecca said, half serious, half joking.

Grumbling, Dai went, taking the empty seat next her Hermione. To her surprise, Krum was sitting right across Draco, and the both of them looked up as Rebecca came to sit next to Draco. She felt uneasy as Krum's dark eyes watched her; funny though, how she didn't mind when Draco did.

"Hello." Krum said in a deep voice.

Rebecca nodded, slipping into her seat. "Um, hi. Welcome to Hogwarts."

He just nodded and continued talking to Draco about Quidditch. Rebecca noticed that most of the Durmstrangs were looking up at the enchanted ceiling and inspecting the gold goblets and plates. The last to come into the Great Hall were the Heads of each school. Dumbledore stood before the Great Hall and called their attention.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. And ghosts." He added, nodding his head to the ghosts who were pilfering in. "Good evening to all, but most particularly our guests. It is an honor to be welcoming you into Hogwarts. I hope that your stay here will be comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will officially begin at the end of the feast. Now I invite you to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

The plates in front of them filled with food and students began to dig in. Chewing slowly, Rebecca pulled away from the dull conversation that was being held at the table. Looking around she saw that the Great Hall seemed very crowded, though there weren't that many students that had arrived. The Durmstrangs had taken off their fur cloaks and revealed blood-red robes. Watching the crowd's carefully, she almost burst with laughter as Weasly made a complete fool of himself in front of a Beauxbaton girl.

Catching her eye, Daina mouthed: get his autograph, Damnit! Rebecca rolled her eyes. I'm taking it one step at a time, geez. There was movement at the entrance of the Great Hall and Rebecca turned her attention there. Two men, who Rebecca knew from pictures, were Ludo Bagman and Mr. Crouch, entered and sat at the two empty seats at the staff table.

Dumbledore caught her staring and lifted his goblet to her. Smiling she turned back to her table. "So are you planning on entering the Triwizard Tournament?" Draco asked Krum.

He shrugged. "I vant to, but I'm not sure. I've heard people die attempting to win the prize. Are you?"

Draco shook his head. "I wish. But it's only open to people who are already seventeen."

"Really?" asked Rebecca, surprised. "Do you think Dumbledore would let me enter anyway?"

Draco looked her over. "Nope, I don't think so."

She glared and elbowed him. "And why not? I know more spells then Moody, and I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

Krum looked at her. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen but—"

Iva interrupted. "Oh please Rebecca. You'll never be chosen, even if you were entered. There can only be one Hogwarts champion anyway, and it might as well be someone who deserves it."

Rebecca felt like she had been slapped, but recovered quickly. "Who said I had to put my school down as Hogwarts? I could still be chosen, even if I'm fourteen; didn't Moody say that the letter he got from Ms. D was impressive?"

There was a vicious silence as both girls locked eyes. There had been a time where they were best friends but now it was the past. They both looked away however, when Dumbledore stood up again. The Great Hall immediately grew silent.

"The moments come," he said, smiling at the crowd. "The Tournament is about to start, but first, I would like to say a few words before we bring in the casket just to clarify the procedure we will be taking this year. For those of you who don't know, this is Mr. Bartemiuus Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports." Rebecca noticed that as he announced each man, the applause for Bagman was a great deal louder then the applause for Crouch.

"They have worked around the clock over the past few months to make the arrangements for this Tournament and they will be joining me, Karkaroff, and Madame Maxima as judges. The casket, please Mr. Filch.

The man, Filch, approached Dumbledore with a large, wooden chest decorated with jewels. The instructions for the tasks have been examined by Mr Crouch and Mr. Bagman and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced evenly through out the school year. As you know, only three champions compete in the tournament, one from each school. The champions will be chosen from an unbiased selector: the Goblet of Fire."

He took out his wand and tapped the top of the casket three times. The lid slowly creaked open and Dumbledore reached in and pulled out a large, rough wooden cup. To would have been incredibly boring had it not been brimming with blue-white flames. He then closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, so everyone could see it.

"Anyone who wants to submit their name into the goblet must write it down on a piece of parchment along with the name of their school. You have twenty four hours to put your names in it. Tomorrow, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged worthy to represent their school. To make sure that no one underage enters, I will be drawing an Age Line around it. Once the champion had been selected, there is no going back and you will be obliged to enter. Please be sure that you want to play before you drop your name in the goblet. People have died. Now, I think--"

He was cut off by the sudden flickering on and off of the candles. Deep, creepy music began playing and Rebecca couldn't help but grin. She knew of only one person who would do something like that. Samantha Cabot. She felt Draco's hand fall onto her elbow. Leaning in to whisper into her ear, she could smell his mint breath. "What's going on?"

"You'll see in a second." She replied, dizzying. He nodded and pulled away. The music grew darker and darker. She could hear people muttering things to their neighbor.

"Did you see that?"

"Oh my god, I think there's something in the shadows!"

Rebecca rolled her eyes. There was nothing there; it was just their mind playing tricks on them.

The flickering grew faster and faster and there was muttering coming from the staff table. Finally, there was darkness. A spotlight zoomed around the room and finally rested in front of the Great Halls closed double doors. All eyes rested there and everyone jumped when the doors bursted open and a gust of wind blew out. A tall, slender woman with thick, raven black hair styled in large, loose ringlets walked in and the doors closed. The spotlight was, literally, on her as she made her way toward Dumbledore.

He greeted her with open arms. "Samantha Cabot! Such a long time without word; I had begun to think you had vanished."

As she smiled, her smile reached her deep green eyes. "Not quite Albus, not quite."

Following Dumbledore's example, Karkaroff stood up and bent to kiss Cabot's hand; he looked at her almost flirtatiously. "I haven't seen you in quite a while Samantha."

"And that," she said, pulling her hand away, "is all I have to be thankful for at this moment."

Dumbledore spoke again. "Am I right in saying that all is well for you?"

She crossed her arms. "You would…had you not stolen my best students."

"Oh?" he asked, genuinely surprised. "And who might that be?"

At this point, the spotlight was gone and the candles were only dimly lit, still giving the Hall an eerie feeling. Turning around, she scanned the sea of students. "Rebecca, Daina, Ashley, and Iva, come to me."

Without hesitation the four girls got up and went to stand next to her. Surveying the girls, she frowned deeply. "You look like Muggles; we'll have to fix that. She narrowed her eyes at Rebecca, concentrated, and then pointed an index finger at her. Rebecca's hair instantly changed; it very much resembled Cabot's, the only difference being that Rebecca's hair fell gracefully over her right eye, giving it a witchy-sultry look. "There, much better."

To Daina, she made her auburn hair straight and down, with curving bangs. To Ashley she grew out her hair, made it thicker, and curled it slightly. As she turned her finger to Iva, she stopped her. "I like my hair the way it is, thanks."

Slightly taken aback, Cabot nodded. "Very well. It wasn't too terrible anyway." She turned back to Dumbledore. "Now that they actually look like them, these are my best students. What are you doing with them exactly?"

"Their studying here, on their own will."

Cabot looked at Rebecca. "Mes petite, is that true?"

Rebecca nodded. "Oui. We decided that it'd be better seeing as though our old school has burned down."

Cabot shook her head. "I might as well stay too." She turned back to Dumbledore. "You don't think I could serve as another judge, do you? Or possibly an extra teacher?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I don't see the problem with it; you might as well join us." He conjured up an extra chair and, going around, Cabot settled herself in it.

"Mes petites, you can go back to your seat now."

"God, you have no idea how many times I've heard that today." Rebecca muttered under her breath, heading back to sit with Draco.

"Who was that?" he asked her, keeping his voice down slightly.

"Samantha Cabot, our deputy headmistress." She replied back.

"Hmmm." He murmured.

Krum leaned in to talk to her. "This Cabot person, how old is she?"

"Oh, psh, I dunno. Late twenties, early thirties."

"She looks younger." He replied.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." She turned to Draco. "Do you have any gum?"

"Maybe…"

"Draco, pretty please?"

He laughed, pulling out a stick of wrapped gum. "Yeah, here." She took it and popped it into her mouth.

"Thanks." She replied, chewing on it.

Again, the Hall fell quiet as Dumbledore stood up. "Students," he began, "it's growing late, so we will dismiss you now. Good night and sleep tight."

With that, the double doors creaked opened, signaling for them to leave. Getting up, Rebecca and Draco headed back to the dormitory. As they walked back he glanced at her. "What was that with the French?"

"Oh that? We're all assigned to a mentor, who has to teach a language of her choice. I guess she just liked the way it sounded."

"Hmmm. You know, she looked like she could have been your mom."

She shrugged. "I guess. But black hair and green eyes aren't exactly uncommon, you know?"

He nodded as they went through the portrait door. "Yeah, I guess. You know where to go from here?"

Smiling, she nodded. "Yeah, unless you feel like showing me the way."

He rolled his eyes. "You're a riot, really."

She shrugged. "Well hey, you didn't have to show me around all day, but you did."

"Yeah, but that was mainly because I didn't want to let you wander on the unsuspecting students of Hogwarts. Griffindor's don't even deserve what they get if they get on your bad side."

She raised an eyebrow as they parted toward different dorms. "Really? Are you sure?"

He smirked. "Yeah, I'm sure. G'night."

"Night." She said, smiling.

That night, as she lay in her bed, she couldn't sleep. It was a lot like what had happened the night before, only this time, she had no escape. Groaning slightly, she got up and crept out and down the stairs of the girl's dorm.

As she walked into the common room, she found the perfect, black leather chair next to the roaring fire. As Rebecca sat curled up in the chair, she stared into the cackling fire and grimaced.

Fire was what had started it all. It was what had taken away Iva, her school, her old life. But if it hadn't been for the fire, she would have never gotten here. She would have never met Draco…

Draco. What about him? Rebecca couldn't help but notice little things about him; the way his hair looked, how his eyes seemed grey, but, in the right light, were a pale blue. She sighed. Things would never work out…but that didn't mean she couldn't try…did it?

She heard footsteps behind her and tensed up. Hands slipped over her eyes, making it dark. Grabbing the assaulter's wrist's she flipped them over, onto his back. Now possessing sight, she looked at who she flipped over…

And saw Draco's grey-blue eyes glaring at her. "Ow."

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed getting up and kneeling next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he croaked. "Just do me a favor."

"Anything."

"Don't tell anyone about that, okay?"

Laughing, she nodded. "Don't worry about it, I won't."

"Good, now ger off of me."

She blushed and realized that she had her hands on his stomach and chest. "Sorry, I wanted to make sure you were still breathing. And since you obviously are…" she trailed off. "Do you want me to help you up?"

"No, please don't!" he replied quickly. "It's enough that I let you flip me over, but I'd like to get up by myself."

She smiled. "Right, I guess you need some pride." She got up and he followed the suit.

"So, can all of you do that?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, we can. Again, sorry about that. It's kind of instinctive now." She apologized again.

He shrugged. "Its fine, I guess it's a fair warning for next time."

"Next time?"

"Yeah. Next time I want to scare you, I'll have someone else do it for me."

She looked at him. "Are you kidding me? That was trying to scare me? Dear, if you're going to try to scare me, you are going to really have to work on it."

"What, you don't get scared easily?" He led her to the couch, where they sat comfortably.

"Of course not; I scare, not get scared."

He smirked. "You? Really? Would have never though it." She smiled and looked away into the fire. "So, you couldn't sleep either?"

She shook her head. "No, I couldn't. Too many thoughts…" she trailed off, not wanting to go into detail. Especially since the thoughts were mainly about him. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "Same here."

They sat in silence for a while and then he looked at her. "You know, I like your hair like that."

"Really?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair.

"Yeah, really. It just…fits you."

She flushed. "Thanks." She murmured.

Foreboding silence crept back and things grew a little awkward. Then, randomly, a black and white cat jetted out from under a table. Leaping onto Draco's lap, it shook slightly. "He yours?" Rebecca asked.

He shook his head. "No, I've never seen him before."

Sliding closer next to him, she stroked the little cat's head. She was extremely aware of how close they were; she and Draco. She tried to ignore it, but she just couldn't. Especially not when their finger's brushed together, causing a shiver to run up and down her spine. Draco looked at the clock.

"It's getting late." He said. "We probably get some sleep."

She nodded, and was getting up when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down. "Here," he said, placing the cat gently into her arms. "You take him; he'll probably like you more."

She smiled and took the cat. "Thanks."

He shook his head. "No problem." As they stood up he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Good night. Do me another favor; this time, actually goto sleep."

She smiled. "Of course." Turning around, she walked back into her dorm.

That night, she slept like a rock, her hand resting on the black-and-white cat.