Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.
A/N: Thanks Duskfire1954, Sunset on Heartache, and Krelseybelle for the reviews!
This did not get posted when I wanted it to, sorry about that! Merry – late – Christmas!
Chapter 21
"Who're you looking at?"
"What – ? Nobody."
"Yes, because I'm just that stupid," I said sarcastically. "Come on, tell me, who're you looking at? Not everyday do you stare at the Slytherin table with that look in your eyes – not everyday do you stare at any table with that look in your eyes."
"I said nobody," Sam said forcefully, tearing his eyes away from the Slytherin table for the first time since breakfast had started to face me. "Why are you so nosy?"
"I get it from my brother," I answered. Sam stared at me, as though bored, before he leaned closer and said,
"Fine. I'll tell you. But I haven't told anybody – even Fred and George and Lee – yet. So you can't tell anybody." He paused, and I nodded in agreement to not telling anybody. Sam turned back to the Slytherin table and pointed to a Durmstrang girl with long, slick brown hair pulled into a very high ponytail. "You see that girl?" I nodded. "I'm thinking of asking her to go to Hogsmeade with me today." As I watched, the girl leaned over and started talking to Krum. "Her name's Veronica Angeleno, but I've heard her friends call her Ronnie."
"How do you even know her?" Sam shrugged.
"She's always in the library when I am. Always asks to sit by me because she says the other seats are all taken."
"Since when do you go to the library?"
"Since I'm going to fight to survive these next few months."
"Well you – " I started.
"I know, I know," Sam interrupted quickly. "I was the one who signed up for it, but still, it's not exactly what you think it'll be." He paused, looked around to make sure nobody was listening, and then whispered to me, "Hagrid showed me what the first task is last night." I waited for him to tell me what it was, but when he didn't, I had to ask,
"Well? What is it?"
"Dragons. You have to get past them, or something." I was sure my eyes widened as I asked,
"But isn't that a bit dangerous?"
Sam laughed humorlessly.
"Isn't the whole competition dangerous? It's supposed to be. That's the whole point of the game." He stopped laughing and shrugged. "It's dangerous all right, but they have dragon tamers there just in case, you know? I doubt they will do anything, though, except stand there. Charlie's there."
"Still," I muttered. Maybe it wasn't such a good thing that Sam had been chosen to compete... "How are you supposed to get past dragons anyway?"
"I don't know yet," Sam said thoughtfully. "All I know is that they're nesting mothers. So they're probably going to be harder to get past."
"Perhaps you have to do something with their eggs, or nest, or something," I suggested. We lapsed into thoughtful silence for a while.
"So tonights the night we're meeting Dad and Father, isn't it?" Sam asked randomly. I nodded.
"Yes it is. I just hope we don't have to set off that Dungbomb to get everybody out of the Common Room by one."
"What?" Sam asked, pretending to be shocked. "The daughter of two Marauders doesn't want to set of a Dungbomb? What has this world come to?" I rolled my eyes before I got up to go sit by David and Sean, who had just came down – a few minutes later, I saw Sam get up and go after that Durmstrang girl – Veronica was her name, right? – who was leaving. He caught up with her just as she was leaving the Great Hall.
"Hey," Fred said, sliding into the seat next to me while George slid into the one on my other side. "Who's that Sam's talking to?"
"I don't know," I said, picking at the food on my plate, pretending to be uninterested.
"Sure you don't," George said, "we just saw you talking to him."
"Besides, you didn't even look up to see who Sam was talking to," Fred pointed out. I sighed – of course, they only get a few OWLs a piece, but they notice that. I decided to ignore Fred's comment completely.
"Doesn't mean that I know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you two," I said, glaring from one to the other. They both stared at me with the same exact exasperated look on their faces – it was awkward, as though I had a mirror through the middle of my face that mirrored it, as it was basically symmetrical. Finally, at the same exact time, they got up and left the Great Hall, ignoring Sam and the Durmstrang girl, who were still talking in the doorway, as they passed.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
That night came fast – very fast.
Sam, Riley and I hung out in the Common Room until Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins finally went up to bed at about half past midnight. Hermione was still in the Common Room studying, but it didn't matter, for we knew she wouldn't tell anybody and that she probably already knew, for Harry had probably told her.
"Did that Durmstrang girl agree to go to Hogsmeade with you or not?" I asked Sam as I checked his watch – it read a quarter till one.
"Yes she did," Sam said happily – he had been acting extremely happy ever since I had seen him once he got back from Hogsmeade, and now I knew why. "Her name's Veronica, or Ronnie, just so you know, not 'that Durmstrang girl.' And she was amazing – she didn't want to go to Madam Puddifoot's at all and insisted on the Three Broomsticks instead. Her accent is awesome, she told me all about Durmstrang and her classes and such and – well, she's just plain great." I smiled but said nothing more as he rattled on and on about Veronica for what seemed like hours.
"Did you know that Rita Skeeter is staying in Hogsmeade?"
"Nope," I answered distractedly. "Hey, I wonder where Harry is," I said randomly, interrupting Sam (I saw him opening his mouth about to speak when I spoke) as I checked his watch once again – it now read five till one. "He'll be late."
"Perhaps he fell asleep upstairs. We can just relay everything on to him if he isn't here," Riley said, stifling a huge yawn. I noticed Hermione yawn and go upstairs out of the corner of my eye, but ignored her as I went back to reading the book that I had been reading since about nine that night.
Suddenly, the portrait hole was pushed open roughly. Sam, Riley and I all snapped our head over to see who was coming in. My first thought was that Dad and Father had decided to meet us face-to-face rather than through the fire, but then I saw that the figure that entered was much too small – maybe nearly as tall, but too thin – to be even Dad.
"Sam – the first task – is – dragons," the person panted as they entered the light of the room.
It was Harry. He was still panting as he slumped onto the couch beside Sam, who stared at him and nodded slowly.
"I know," he said. Harry stared blankly at him until a sudden movement by Riley caught our attention. She was kneeling down beside the hearth and looking into the fire, where Father's head was resting in the flames.
"Father," Riley said as Sam, Harry, and I knelt down beside her, "how're you doing?"
"Never mind me," he said hastily. "How are you all?"
There was no true response that would fit for all of us, so we all shrugged.
"We've all been better, I suppose," Sam replied, "with the Tournament and everything that's been happening here.."
"I told you it wasn't all fun and games if you were chosen," Father said, speaking directly to Sam, who shrugged.
"I know now and I knew then."
"Before we get into anything else," Father said suddenly, "there are things I need to warn you all about first."
"What?" Harry asked, sounding apprehensive.
"Karkaroff," Father replied simply. "He was a – "
"A Death Eater, right?" I interrupted. "Didn't you say he was in Azkaban with you, but they let him out?"
"Yeah, that's right," Father said. "I'd bet anything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwart and got the best of them this year – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."
"How'd he get out?" Riley asked.
"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," Father said bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names… he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place…He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion, and perhaps all of the Durmstrang students, as well." I looked sharply at Sam, who was frowning slightly but said nothing – Veronica was a Durmstrang student.
"Are you saying Karkaroff put Harry's name in the goblet?" Riley asked.
"Because if he did," Sam chipped in, "then he's a great actor. He was furious, wanted to keep Harry from competing." Something clicked in my mind.
"We know he's a good actor," I said quietly, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he?" Father nodded at me.
"Abbey's starting to get it," he said. "Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry…" I distinctly heard Harry mutter something but said nothing about it, "- and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Father added, seeing every one of us about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts."
"Because he was the best Auror the Ministry ever had," I said – I was starting to understand exactly what Father was saying. "They think their job would be a lot more difficult with him around, so they tried to get him out of the picture. And Moody hears intruders all the time, I remember Mr. Weasley always complaining about him."
"So you think Karkaroff has it in to kill Harry?" Riley asked, her voice shaking slightly. Father hesitated before he spoke again.
"I've been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "And seeing them, actually. The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the World Cup and then set off the Dark Mark, didn't they? And remember what I told you about Bertha Jorkins before the World Cup?"
"She went missing in Albania, where Voldemort was rumored to be," Harry said.
"But what are the chances she walked right into Voldemort?" Riley asked.
"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above Remus and James and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, guys. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap. And she would've known about the Tournament, wouldn't she have?"
"So you think Voldemort knowns about the Tournament? That Karkaroff is here on his orders?"
"But wouldn't Karkaroff have already known about the Tournament as well? Couldn't he have just told Voldemort himself?" I asked. "He's the Headmaster of the competing schools, of course he would have known. They wouldn't have needed Bertha Jorkins at all."
"I know," Father said slowly. "Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type to go back to Voldemort without knowing he was strong enough to protect him, anyway. But whoever put your name in that goblet, Harry, did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."
"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harry grimly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."
"Dragons?" Father asked curiously.
"Hagrid showed us what the first task is," Sam said quickly. "It's dragons. I heard Charlie Weasley saying that we just have to get past them, but they're nesting mothers, so I don't know if that's all we have to do or not."
"I think it has something to do with their eggs or nests or something," I said.
"There's a way. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell - dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon. But there is a way to do it alone. A simple spell – "
"Shh!" I hissed suddenly – I had heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned around quickly, followed by Riley, Sam, and Harry.
"Go! There's somebody coming!" Riley hissed.
I heard a feint pop behind us and knew Father had gone.
The others knew, as well, for we all scrambled up onto the couches, grabbed books, quills, parchment, anything, and sat around pretending as though nothing had happened and we had been sitting there the whole time. Since Riley had grabbed my book, I pretended that I had fallen asleep on the couch. Sam and Harry whispered back and forth about Quidditch, pretending as though they had been doing so for a while.
"Who are you all talking to? I heard another voice."
It was Ron.
"What's that got to do with you?" I heard Harry ask. "What are youdoing down here at this time of night?"
"I just wondered where you – nothing. I'm going back to bed."
"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted. I kicked his leg lightly trying to get him to calm down, but he ignored me.
"Sorry about that," Ron said angrily. "Should've realized you guys didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you two get on with practicing for your next interviews in peace."
"Ron!" Riley and Sam snapped.
I cracked my eyelids enough to see Harry stand up, grab one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges that the Creevey brothers had accidentally made and throw it at Ron. It hit him in the forehead, and I tried hard not to laugh – perfect aim, of course.
"There you go," Harry snarled. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky… That's what you want, isn't it?" I watched him as he quickly strode to the stairs, past Ron, and then disappeared up them. After a long moment, Ron followed him.
When I was sure that they were gone, I sat up slowly. Riley and Sam were staring at the stairs in surprise.
"Ron's an idiot," I muttered angrily.
"That's true," Riley agreed.
"Do you think all the Durmstrang students are like Slytherins?" Sam asked quietly.
"Well, if they're taught the Dark Arts, I'd say so," Riley said. "Why do you care?" Oh shoot, she didn't know about Sam and Veronica – how did she not when he had been talking about her continually for the past hour?
"Sam, did Veronica act like a Slytherin?" I asked. Sam shook his head.
"No, she acted more like a Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff at least. Not necessarily Gryffindor, but not Slytherin at all."
"Then why do you care? It doesn't matter what they're taught – it's how they act. If you like her, keep dating her, if not, then don't." Sam nodded.
"Right."
"Now I'm going to bed," I said, standing up and stretching, fighting back a yawn. "Night guys."
A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.