For once in her life, Rohini wished Sundays didn't exist. If today had been a Monday for example, she could have concentrate on her classes and pretend yesterday had never happened until bedtime. But alas for her, Sundays did exist and time seemed annoyingly frozen.
Feeling slightly nauseous, she refused to stay in the castle where everybody –ghosts, students, even portraits- were staring and pointing at her. As they left the Great Hall, a Beauxbatons student purposely bumped into Rohini, he and his friends sneering as she stumbled down and was caught right in time by Ginny.
"Let me take care of it." Her friend said before going after the older boy. And before Rohini could stop her, Ginny had already gotten her wand out and executed a perfect bat-bogey hex.
Laughing as the boy and his friends ran away, screaming and bats coming out of their nostrils, Rohini thanked her friend for defending her.
"Nobody touch my friends." Ginny said fiercely.
"Well said." Padma said with a nod before passing a protective arm around Rohini's shoulders. "I need to send a letter to mum, see if she can have a talk with someone at the Ministry about you being a part of this tournament."
"You really don't have to do that." Rohini said, embarrassed. "I mean, I don't want your mum to be in trouble because of me or anything…"
"She will learn about it eventually, so the earliest the better." Padma assured her as the four of them headed towards the Owlery. They walked in silence except for Luna who was humming a soft tune, probably hopping to soothe Rohini's nerves.
They were surprised however to cross path with Harry, Ron and Hermione midway to the top of the tower.
"Hi, Champion." Ron said and Rohini gave him a tired glance.
"You can brew some Polyjuice and take my place in the tournament, if you want." She told him shortly.
"Nobody here wants to be part of this stupid tournament." Hermione hurried to say as Ron opened his mouth. Judging by the look she gave him, they had already talked about it earlier.
"What were you doing here?" Rohini asked Harry.
"I forgot to write back to Sirius." He said before adding, "I told him about what happened yesterday, too."
"Oh." Rohini said, blinking. "I suppose he deserves the right to know, yeah… Though I have a feeling he'll come to the same conclusion as Mad-Eye."
"Which is?" Hermione asked; apparently, Harry hadn't told them everything yet.
"He thinks… he thinks somebody purposely put my name in the goblet in hope I'll eventually die during one of the tasks." Rohini admitted.
Hermione gasped, horrified, and Ron frowned.
"Killing you? Why?"
"Don't be stupid, Ron." Ginny said to her brother. "She and Harry always find a way to defeat Voldemort's plan to go back to his full strength."
"Yeah, I know that." Ron said shortly. "I mean, why during the tournament? Sure, it's reputed dangerous but Dumbledore will be here, too; he's smart enough not to let a student die on his watch."
"Your faith in him is really touching." Rohini said. "It's not like we all escaped life threatening situation at last once since we began to study here."
"I didn't." Padma whispered and Luna nodded.
"Lucky you." Harry said. "How about you? What are you doing here?"
"Escaping reality." Rohini sighed. "And Padma want to write to her mum, see if she can find someone willing to help me."
"Wise decision." Hermione agreed. "We'll wait for you downstairs. Be careful; it's a bit slippery at the top."
"You can use Hedwig," Harry shouted at Padma as the girls reached the top, "she's sulking because I couldn't send her."
Indeed, the snowy owl refused to let Rohini approached her at first, and it's only when Luna found some owl treats at the bottom of her bag that she finally let the girls get close enough to tie up Padma's letter to her leg.
Rohini assured Hedwig that Harry had no choice but to use another owl, that he still loved her the most and that he was sad that she was upset at him, but Hedwig clicked her beak and refused Rohini's caress before flying off into the grey sky.
"How can an owl have so much personality?" Padma said, bemused.
"Don't ask me." Rohini sighed.
Seeing as the sky was getting darker and the wind was raising, they hurried to leave the Owlery and meet up with Harry, Ron and Hermione who were waiting for them.
"I don't want to go back inside, but a storm is coming…" Rohini said and they all looked up and grimaced; already, a thin rain was beginning to fall.
"We could hide in Moaning Myrtle's toilets." Hermione suggested but the boys refused vehemently.
"She's head over heels after Harry, remember?" Ron said.
"How about visiting Hagrid?" Luna suggested.
"That's a good idea, but I'm not sure his hut is big enough to get us all in…" Rohini said, before her attention was caught by a group of Slytherins booing her from the Main Gates. "Actually, that's a good idea. Let's visit Hagrid."
"But-"
"Let's visit Hagrid."
"You heard the Champion." Harry said, half grinning and Rohini pushed him with a groan.
Hagrid didn't even blink as he opened the door to find seven students waiting here under the rain and he stepped aside to let them in.
As Luna went through his cupboards to find enough cup and Ron began to make some tea, Hagrid questioned Rohini about the Goblet incident.
"Can't believe they let yeh' in." He was grumbling in his beard. "Yeh' way too youn' for that!"
"Tell me something new." Rohini said, resting her chin against the oaken table.
"See the good side of it," Ron said while serving them a cup of steamy mint tea each, "You'll get rich; the winner get a thousand galleons prize money, remember?"
"Do you really expect me to win? Against Cedric? Against your wonderful, talented Krum?" Rohini asked him, bemused.
"Well, it's true that Krum is the obviously the best-"
"Thanks, Ron." Ginny said flatly. Ron ignored her as he kept going:
"-But you're the smartest girl of our year, after Hermione." He finished and Rohini blinked, surprised; she hadn't expected the compliment, especially from Ron who seemed slightly envious of her situation.
"Thanks, Ron." She said. "Though you are more strategical than us, especially when it comes to chess." She admitted and Ron's ears became slightly crimson as he gave her a little smile.
"Is it Praising Day or something?" Ginny asked, making them all laugh. The tension had vanished a bit now and the group of friends decided to stay at Hagrid's place until lunch.
And though Rohini was terrified about what was waiting for her once the tournament began, though her legs began to shake every time she imagined hundred peoples staring at her as she fought to stay alive, 'she felt like as if a weak flame had been lit inside her heart by the sight of her friends sitting around her and swearing to protect her.
As classes started again, Rohini realised the hard way that her friends' support will be quite needed; if the Gryffindors seemed to take the fact she was Hogwarts' second champion really well (Fred and George were especially delighted about it), it wasn't the case of everybody else.
The Hufflepuffs, who were usually on excellent terms with the Eagle House, had turned remarkably cold toward the whole lot of them, as if they were all to blame in Rohini's name.
Ernie Macmillan "accidentally" spilled the potion they were brewing during a Double Potions class on Rohini's robes, burning a huge hole in them. Professor Sprout, the Head of the Hufflepuff House, had been less friendly with Rohini, too, and yet she was quite a cheerful woman usually. Bothered by that fact, Rohini had waited for the end of the Herbology class to go have a talk with her, swearing that she'd rather let the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw competition to the Quidditch players.
Her speech must have been convincing for Professor Sprout went back to her usual safe right after, much to Rohini's relief.
There was, of course, the Slytherin problem; it was too much of a good opportunity for Malfoy to let it go, and so he made sure to block Rohini's way as they waited for their double Transfiguration class to begin.
"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Crabbe and Goyle with a sneer. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt she's going to be around much longer… Half the Triwizard champions have died. How long do you reckon you'll survive, Potter? Two? Five minutes?"
"Long enough to see you die in your own venom, Malfoy." Rohini spat between her clenched teeth. "Who knows maybe one of the tasks will be to go ferret hunting? Since you made such a good impression with Mad-Eye, maybe they will decide to take you in."
Malfoy lost his smile instantly and Padma hide her snort as a cough.
"Think you're funny, don't you?" He said, taking a step closer to Rohini. "Laugh while you still can, Potter."
Rohini bite back a snarky comment as Professor McGonagall opened the door to let them in.
"Potter, I need a word." The strict teacher said at the end of the class.
"I'll wait for you outside." Padma whispered before closing the door behind.
"Yes, Professor?" Rohini asked nervously.
"Potter, due to the latest circumstances, I have taken the decision to double your training." Professor McGonagall said. "It is unconceivable that a fourteen years old, as skilled as she is, enter the tournament without being prepared first."
"But… I thought we weren't supposed to get help from the teachers and judges?" Rohini said, confused.
"Well, we can't help you for the tasks themselves, obviously." Professor McGonagall said, rising her eyebrows. "However, it is already well known that you are under my tutoring for your Animagus training. We will meet on Monday and Saturday, in this classroom, at five o' clock."
"I- Thank you, professor." Rohini said earnestly before heading towards the door to leave.
"Potter?" Professor McGonagall called.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Be careful."
"Of course, Professor." Rohini said with a nod before closing the door behind.
"So?" Padma asked her as they both headed back to the Ravenclaws' Common Room.
"Nothing much; she will keep training me twice a week."
"That's good!" Padma said, looking more cheerful. "At least you will not be totally disadvantaged next to the other champions."
"Padma, I can't learn the equivalent of three school years in just a month." Rohini sighed. "I don't even have the look of a champion." She said, slightly bitter, as they caught sight of Cedric Diggory and his friends in the stairway.
Conveniently handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, grey eyes and polite smile, it was hard to say who was more popular these days; Cedric or Viktor Krum?
"You can't compare yourself to two Quidditch players; of course you don't have the same built." Padma pointed out.
"I highly doubt Fleur is a Seeker either, yet everybody looks at her with adoration." Rohini pointed out.
"Are you perhaps jealous of her?" Padma asked.
"Of course not." Rohini said. "I've been told I had beautiful eyes, once."
"It's not the only beautiful thing about you, Rohi'." Padma assured her and Rohini couldn't help but smile, her cheeks warming up a bit at the compliment. "And it's just as Ron said; you're one of the smartest girls of our generation, don't forget it."
"Thanks, Padma." Rohini said, feeling slightly pumped up.
Her sudden surge of happiness however, didn't last.
The next morning, most students from the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins houses were wearing large badges that Rohini mistaken for S.P.E.W. badges at first, until she was close enough to read in luminous red letters:
SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY, THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!
"Like them, Potter?" said Malfoy loudly as Rohini gave him a tired glance. "And this isn't all they do - look!"
He pressed his badge and the message vanished, replaced by horrible green letters:
POTTER STINKS!
The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Rohini.
"Ahahah." Rohini said slowly. "You know what else stinks, Malfoy? Your father's perfume. Smells like the rotten egg he is."
The Slytherins stopped laughing all at once but a group of Gryffindor that had stopped to eardrop snickered. Turning even paler than usual, Malfoy reached for his wand and Rohini barely had time to get hers out and yelled "Protego!" that Malfoy was shouting "Densaugeo!" and a few students yelled as they jumped away.
Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and Malfoy's spell ricocheted off right into his face.
"Draco!" Pansy Parkinson shouted, horrified, as she hurried forward to Malfoy.
People burst in laugh at the sight of Malfoy's face; his front teeth were now growing at an alarming rate; he was looking more and more like a beaver as his teeth elongated.
Laughing with the rest, Rohini picked up Malfoy's badge that had fallen and took a long look at it before pinning it up to her own robes, like some kind of weird trophy.
"Serves him right." Padma said as they headed to the highest tower of the castle for their Divination class. "Do you think the spell will last?"
"I hope so." Rohini said. "I can't wait to see his father sue me for turning his son into a rabbit."
"Ginny would be proud of you." Padma said and the girls laughed as they began to climb the silver ladder.
The class had barely began however –and Professor Trelawney had predicted Rohini's death only twice, when a young Ravenclaw girl's head emerged from the trap.
"I'm sorry to disturb your lesson," she said, obviously anxious as everybody turned to look at her, "but Rohini Potter is requested downstairs."
"Oh, yes, of course." Professor Trelawney said slowly. "Do not worry, my dear; I knew that this class would be interrupted already; I read it in my morning tea cup."
"Oh." The girl only said. "Well…"
"Go, my child." Professor Trelawney said dramatically to Rohini. "I have to warn you, though; you will not join us again-", Someone gasped, probably thinking she was going to announce Rohini's death for the third time, "until the next class."
"Bye." Rohini mumbled awkwardly before leaving the dark room and its heavy, slightly sickening smell.
She and the girl walked in silence, Rohini not in the mood to talk and the girl probably too shy to say a word.
"Here it is." The girl told her once they had reached the right room. "Good luck."
"Thanks." Rohini said. "It was… nice of you, to come and pick me up."
"Pleasure." The girl said before leaving.
Left alone, Rohini realised she had no idea why she was needed exactly. Taking a deep breath, she finally knocked at the door and entered.
The room was fairly small and slightly dusty; it was probably the first time in ages it had come to an use.
Most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet.
Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a witch Rohini had never seen before, who was wearing magenta robes.
Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than Harry had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light.
A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye with a look that made Rohini feel rather uncomfortable.
"Ah, here she is! Champion number four!" Bagman said suddenly as he spotted Rohini, and bounced towards her like a child on Christmas day. "In you come, Rohini, in you come...nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"
"The what?" Rohini cut him. Her attention had been caught by Krum, who was now looking at his own wand with interest. 'Please, don't let me have to get into a duel with him.' She thought nervously.
"The Wand Weighing ceremony!" Bagman said without losing his enthusiasm. "We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," he explained.
"Oh." Was Rohini's less enthusiastic answer. She saw Cedric hide a smile as he listened to their conversation.
"The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," Ludo added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet-"
"Maybe not that small, Ludo." Said Rita Skeeter suddenly, her eyes on Rohini. "We have one of the famous Potter twins with us, after all."
Rohini cringed; she didn't know Skeeter yet, but she already disliked her.
Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face and she was wearing jewelled spectacles that probably costed more than all of Rohini's belongings.
"I wonder if I could have a little word with Rohini before we start?" Skeeter asked Bagman. "She is the youngest and less expected champion, after all." She let go of a little annoying giggle. "You know, to add a bit of…colour?"
"Certainly!" Bagman said, beaming. "That is, if Rohini has no objection."
"Actually, I d-" Rohini began but she was shushed by Skeeter.
"Lovely." Said the annoying woman and in a second, her scarlet pointy fingers had Rohini's upper arm in her surprisingly strong grip as she steered her inside a tiny broom cupboard where she forced Rohini to sat on a dusty bucket.
Rita Skeeter perched herself precariously upon a cardboard box.
"Let's see…" She mumbled, unsnapping her crocodile-skin handbag and pulling out a handful of candles, which she lit with a wave of her wand and made them float above their heads. For the split of a second, Rohini was worried that she would accidentally set fire to the cupboard and kill them both.
"You won't mind if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill?" She asked Rohini, though she didn't waited for Rohini's answer and reached again into her crocodile bag and drew out a long acid-green quill and a role of parchment that she stretched out between them on a crate.
She put the tip of the green quill into her mouth, sucked it for a moment with apparent relish, and then placed it upright on the parchment, where it stood balanced on its point, quivering slightly.
"Testing… My name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet Reporter."
Rohini blinked and raised a sceptical eyebrow as the quill wrote "Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, who's savage quill has puncture many inflated reputations-"
"Duh." Rohini simply said.
Rita leaned closer to Rohini, her smile reminding Rohini of a shark.
"So, my dear Rohini… what made you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?"
"Easy answer; nothing. I didn't decide to enter." Rohini said before getting distracted by the quill. "Hold on a second!" She said angrily as she read what was being written, "I'm not being jealous of Harry's popularity!"
"Ignore the quill, Rohini," said Rita Skeeter firmly. "and please answer my question honestly."
"I just did." Rohini said between her gritted teeth.
"Come now, Rohini, there's no need to be scared of getting into trouble." Rita said with a wink. "We all know our readers love a rebellious girl."
"Did you listen to what I just said, you little-"
"How do you feel about the tasks ahead?" cut her Skeeter. "Excited? Nervous? Ready to prove yourself?"
"Dead inside." Rohini said, deadpan.
"Speaking of death, Champions have died in the past, haven't they?" said Rita Skeeter briskly. Rohini took a deep breath.
"Of course, you've looked death in the face before, haven't you?" said Rita Skeeter, watching him closely. "How would you say that's affected you?"
"Oh, I don't know, how do you think it would affect a teenage girl and her brother?" Rohini asked. Rita's smile was clearly forced now; she probably hadn't expected the interview to go this way.
"Do you think the trauma in your past might have made you keen to prove yourself to the world? To live up to your name? To surpass your brother's reputation?"
"I don't need to prove myself to anyone else but me." Rohini growled. "And for the last time, I'm not jealous of Harry; he is his own person, and I am mine. Period."
Rohini began to stand up but it didn't stop Rita Skeeter for asking how her parents would have feel about it if they were still alive.
"How about you ask them yourself? Oh, I forgot; they're dead. I apologise, but I don't know them well enough to predict their reaction." And on those heated words, Rohini slammed the door of the cupboard open and headed towards the exit but a firm hand on her shoulders stopped her; it was Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore, I-" Rohini began and Dumbledore gave her a knowing smile.
"The Weighing of the Wands is about to start, and it cannot take place if one of our champions is missing. I've heard you had been kidnapped by our lovely journalist. Please, go sit with the other champions."
The other champions were now sitting in chairs near the door, and Rohini sat down quickly next to Cedric, hooking up at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting - Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. Crouch, and Ludo Bagman.
Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner; Rohini saw her slip the parchment out of her bag again, spread it on her knee, suck the end of the Quick-Quotes Quill, and place it once more on the parchment.
Only Bagman and Dumbledore were actually smiling genuinely; the rest of the judges were throwing nasty glances at Rohini, as if she was just an annoying fly they wished to crush between their fingers.
"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions.
"He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."
An old wizard with large, pale eyes came out of the shadows; Rohini had met Mr. Ollivander before for he was the best wand-maker of the country, and the one that sold her wand to Rohini on the twins' first trip to Diagon Alley, over three years ago.
"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room. Nodding, Fleur Delacour swept elegantly over to Mr. Ollivander and handed him her wand.
There was an interested expression on the old man face as he twirled the wand between his long fingers; the wand emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully.
"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches...inflexible...rosewood...and containing...dear me!"
"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzer's."
Rohini wasn't surprised to learn that Fleur was part veela; she was stunning enough to make it quite obvious. It would have been more of a surprise if Rohini had been the one with veela blood inside her veins.
"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander with a smile, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands...however, to each his own, and if this suits you..."
He then checked the wand for scratches or bumps and muttered "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.
"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur, as well as her wand. "Mr. Diggory, you're next."
Fleur glide back to her seat and smiled at Cedric as he passed her.
"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn...must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches...ash...pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition...You treat it regularly?"
"I polished it last night." Ceric said, grinning. Rohini shamefully realised that though her wand was working perfectly, it hadn't been polished a single time since she bought it.
As Mr. Ollivander examined Cedric's wand, Rohini tried to clean up her own with her robe and blushed shamefully as Fleur gave her a very patronizing look.
Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then asked for Krum to come closer.
Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.
Rohini wondered how old he truly was; seventeen at last, but he had this kind of "young adult" vibe, probably due to his closed expression and his size.
"Hornbeam and dragon hearstring?" Mr. Ollivander asked, and Krum nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees… quite rigid, too and a quarter inches… Avis!"
The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight. Rohini made a mental note to remember this spell as Krum went back to his seat.
"Well, it only leaves one person… Miss Potter."
Gulping, Rohini stood up and accidentally bumped into Fleur's chair. Turning crimson, Rohini hurried towards the old man, ignoring Karkaroff and Madame Maxime sneering from the judges table.
"I remember the day you and your brother came to buy your wand, Miss Potter. It had been such a curious choice that the one of your brother's wand… but for now, it's yours I'm interested in." He said, taking the wand from Rohini's hand.
"Black walnut, hard to master but I've heard you've done really well with it so far. Could be polished more often, though." Mr. Ollivander said, and Rohini could swear she had seen him wink. Then, he used the wand to summon a tiny pearl that he offered to Rohini.
"It seems that all of the champions' wands are in perfect condition to be used, Albus." He then said to Dumbledore.
"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You might go-"
Rohini was already standing up when the man with the black camera grabbed her with a 'tut!' of his tongue.
"What?" Rohini said, feeling quite moody.
"Photos, my dear, photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "We can't pass the opportunity to photography our four champions while they are all in one piece!"
Rohini threw him a nasty look, ready to refuse, but the photographer left her no choice and pushed her back towards the rest of the champions.
"Let's do some individual shots after that." Rita Skeeter suggested.
"I'd rather not." Rohini said, though her remark was ignored.
The photographs took a long time. Madame Maxime cast everyone else into shadow wherever she stood, and the photographer couldn't stand far enough back to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit while everyone else stood around her.
Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee around his finger to give it an extra curl; Krum, whom Rohini would have thought would have been used to this sort of thing, skulked, half-hidden, at the back of the group.
The photographer seemed keenest to get Fleur at the front, but Rita Skeeter kept hurrying forward and dragging Rohini into greater prominence.
"It's important to see both girls," She argued, "to inspire our female readers, make them feel empowered!"
"I doubt I look very empowering…" Rohini grumbled and, to her surprise, both Cedric and Fleur chuckled and even Krum looked less sulky.
Finally, they were free to go.
"You didn't look much happier, earlier." Cedric said as he slowed down to be at Rohini's level. "Was it something Skeeter said to you?"
"She's the rudest woman I've ever met after Aunt Marge." Rohini said between her teeth. "Acting as if I purposely find a way to be in this stupid tournament…"
"I have to admit, I did think that you put your name in the goblet." Diggory confessed. "But you look so reluctant in being a part of it, it's pretty obvious you'd rather not be concerned."
"Glad someone finally understood that." Rohini said bitterly.
"I don't think you should compete." A deep, grumpy voice said and Rohini realised as he walked past them that it was the first time she heard Krum's voice.
"Duh." Rohini just said.
An awkward silence followed as both Hogwarts champion headed towards the Great Hall. A few heads turned and looked at them in confusion, probably wondering how Cedric could act so casually around the girl who was stealing a bit of his fame.
Trying to ignore them, Rohini waved at Cedric and sat at the Ravenclaw table, waiting for Padma and Luna. She was in the middle of a long essay about antidotes when her friends finally arrived.
"What did I miss?" She asked Padma who shrugged.
"Nothing much. I was too worried about you to concentrate properly, to be honest." Padma admitted.
"What happened?" Luna asked, confused; she didn't know Rohini had to leave at the beginning of the Divination's lesson.
"They wanted to check the champions' wand, and take a picture." Rohini grimaced. "And there was this aweful woman, Rita Skeeter-"
"Oh no, not her." Padma said and even Luna looked upset. "She's the meanest, most incompetent journalist ever. You should have read what she has written about mum, once…"
"She wasn't kind with The Quibbler either." Luna said with a light frown. "I've never seen dad looks so upset…"
"No wonder, she's the worst." Rohini said. "And I don't know what her quill was, but it was writing a totally different version of our interview…"
"It might be for the best if you don't read the next edition of the Daily Prophet." Padma said, anxious.
"Great." Rohini said, crushing her potatoes with her fork, projecting Skeeter's face on them.
Her mood got slightly lighter however when Harry joined them at the end of the meal to give her the letter he received from Sirius. They hide in an empty corridor for Rohini to read it in peace.
"That was fast!" Rohini said, surprised.
"He must be hiding closer than expected…" Harry said, obviously bothered by that fact.
It said:
Harry, Rohini,
I can't say everything I would like to you two in this letter in case the owl is intercepted.
But I know a way to talk face-to-face. It might be risky though, for both Rohini and you need to be alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at 1am, the 22nd of November; use your father's cloak to let Rohini sneak in.
Whoever put Rohini's name in the goblet knew what they were doing; it was a risky move, especially under Dumbledore's nose. Be careful, you two; foes are closer than what you might think.
(Ps: How is your scar? Do you still have nightmare? I want to hear about anything unusual.
PPS: I know you're probably not happy about it, but congratulations on being Hogwarts' second champion, Rohini. Your parents would be proud (Terrified for your safety, but proud))
Padfoot
"Do you think he will use Foo Powder?" Harry asked but Rohini shook her head.
"I highly doubt it; what if someone accidentally step in and see the oh so dangerous Sirius Black chilling in the Gryffindor's Common Room?"
"You've got a point." Harry sighed. Then he took a closer look at Rohini. "Are you having troubles sleeping? You look awful."
"Wow, thanks Harry. You sure know how to compliment girls." Rohini said sarcastically and Harry gave her an unimpressed look. "I could tell you the same thing; you don't look so great either, big brother."
"I'm worried about you." Harry said, looking worried. "I- what if it truly was Voldemort's plan to get you killed? I can't lose you, too." He said and Rohini felt her chest clench painfully; getting rid of her would be the most effective way for Voldemort to get to Harry; Rohini herself couldn't imagine a life without her brother by her side.
Still, she forced a smile on her face.
"I will be alright, Harry. I promise."
"I hope so, Rohi." Harry sighed. "I hope so."
Silent fell once more and the twins starred uncertainly at the starry sky, the mood barely hidden between clouds.