Thanks for reading! X

They moved fluidly together, weeks of harrowing training resulting in them working as a unit rather than four individuals. It was only fifty yards later that they came to a fork. "Left or right?" Harry glanced around, but there were no clues.

"Left."

"Left."

Fleur and Viktor said at the same time, looking at each other in mild amusement. After a moment, Cedric said "Right."

"Left." Agreed Harry, shooting an apologetic at his schoolmate.

"Do you feel az eef we are being watched?" Fleur murmured uncomfortably.

"I vas just thinking za same." Viktor agreed. The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. They reached a second fork, and Fleur spoke up first.

"Left again?"

"Point Me," Harry whispered to his wand, holding it flat in his palm. It spun around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and he knew that he needed to go northwest for the centre of the maze.

"Left then right as soon as we can?" suggested Cedric.

"Agreed." Viktor nodded, raising his own illuminated wand a little higher. They carried on, wordlessly turning right when the possibility rose and continued to walk in silence, until a rustling from beside them had them all freezing.

Harry readied his wand. "Fleur, Viktor?"

Gracefully, the blonde climbed onto the tall boy's shoulders and peered over the hedge, recoiling slightly. "What are zose?" she questioned in disgust.

"What?"

"Ze look like salamanders…"

"That you know the English word for?" Harry asked in exasperation. She shrugged, climbing down and landing lightly.

"Blast-ended skrewts." Cedric said suddenly. They all looked at him and he shrugged. "Makes sense, doesn't it."

"It does actually." Harry admitted. "Let's go then."

They hurried on, Harry in the lead and turning a corner as quickly and quietly as they could. Harry looked up, and felt his breath hitch as he saw the lifeless form on the floor in front of him, slamming to a halt so quickly that Cedric and Fleur both ran into him. "'Arry?" came the immediate question. He couldn't answer, gaze fixed on Rosalie.

It was Fleur who realised and quickly stepped in front of him. "Riddikulus." She said firmly, and Harry couldn't help but be relieved as with a loud crack, the mirage dissipated into smoke.

"Sorry." He mumbled. Viktor patted his shoulder.

Cedric took the lead now, leading them down a few dead ends before they entered a new section of the maze. There was a strange figure skulking up ahead.

"What is it…?" breathed Cedric.

"Don't know…" Harry stepped forward, bracing himself and feeling slightly better when he saw Viktor step up beside him. "Lumos!"

He flicked his wand slightly so the light flew down the path and illuminated the figure, which let out a roaring hiss. "Is that a-?" Harry began, trailing off in incredulity.

"Hydra…" Viktor eyes were bright.

"I vote we go back and find another way." Cedric swallowed thickly. Harry began to scramble backwards.

"No arguments from me."

They ran back, taking a different path and continued to run. "Wait… we 'ave passed this way already." Fleur realised. They came to a stop, breathing heavily.

"We're going in circles." Groaned Cedric. Harry felt irritation flicker through him.

"Sh!" ordered Krum. They all hushed, and in the silence they could hear footsteps.

"Someone else is in here." Whispered Cedric.

"I think it's Moody." Harry whispered back. "One of the steps sounds funny."

"Must be something to do with protecting us." He shrugged. They all relaxed, looking around in growing frustration.

"But where do we go now? We cannot retrace our stepz much more, and ze only ozzer way contains an 'idra." Fleur crossed her arms. Inexplicably, a phrase that Gideon was fond of popped into Harry's mind.

"The quickest way between two points is straight… though not always the most interesting." He murmured.

"What?" Krum questioned.

"The quickest way between two points." Harry smiled unpleasantly. "Bombarda!"

The hedge in front of them was blasted away. "'Arry!" Fleur cried, aghast.

"Was there anything in the rules that said we couldn't?" he shrugged. Viktor grinned.

"I knew I liked you."

"Point me." Cedric balanced his wand, and they simply blasted through the hedges towards the cup. Fleur and Victor covered them from the traps set and within minutes they were in front of a huge pedestal with the cup on.

Fleur smiled. "We did it."

"What now?" Cedric wondered.

"Touch it? But together, just in case." Harry suggested. They all nodded in agreement. They stepped forward and surrounded it, two to each handle. "On three."

Cedric looked as if he were readying himself. "One."

"Вtopa." Viktor flexed his fingers.

"Trois." Fleur finished and they each grasped their handle.

Instantly, Harry felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. His feet had left the ground and he couldn't unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling colour. Fleur's hand groped for his and held on tightly even as they slammed into the ground.

Rose was cold and frustrated up in the stands, the amusement she had felt at the reactions of everyone when they had realised the competitors were working together had long since diminished. The spectators could see a little of what was occurring in the maze- they caught sight of Fleur at one point, apparently on the shoulders of someone else and every so often there would be a flash of light from within, but the hedges were too tall and dark to see much of what was provoking them.

"This is insanity." Sighed Hermione. "And worse than watching golf."

"What's golf?" asked Ron.

"Muggle sport." Answered Dean absently.

"If you can call it a sport." Sniffed Hermione, then jumped as a loud bang came from the maze. "What was that?"

"Some sort of explosion?" Lavender peered through the relative darkness into the maze.

"What did they put in there to warrant explosions?" questioned Susan. Rose bit her lip, tilting her head as another was heard in the quiet that had befallen the spectators.

"Oh, that's brilliant!" Padma Patil breathed. Her sister glanced at her.

"What?"

"Well, I suppose a straight line is certainly quicker." Commented Rose, struggling to keep a straight face.

Fred and George Weasley looked at her, then at each other, then at the maze. "You're joking!" they exclaimed together.

"That's brilliant!"

"It's inspired!"

Realisation crept across Hermione's face. "Oh, Rose tell me he's not doing what I think he's doing."

"I think he is." The blonde grinned. Gabrielle tugged her hand.

"Qu'est-ce que c'est?"

"He's going through the hedges instead of around them." She explained to the girl, loudly enough for everyone around to hear. There was a second of silence, then they began to cheer.

It was apparently infectious, because the cheering- and the explanation for it- spread quickly and soon everyone was clapping and yelling. Hermione leaned closer to Rose. "Look at Dumbledore. He is not happy."

Rose shot her a surprised look, and the brunette girl shrugged. "Harry was right. He might be a great wizard but what he did was despicable. What he's still trying to do even more so."

Rose smiled at her, relieved to have another supporter on their side. "Look!" Colin Creevey yelled suddenly. "There they are!"

Sure enough, all four competitors had reached the centre of the maze and looked to have a brief discussion before positioning themselves around the cup. Hermione squealed happily as all four reached for it and grasped it… and vanished.

"Well, that's crap." Ron said bluntly. Hermione hit him in the arm, but was frowning herself.

"What's the point in that?" she complained. "Another section of the task we can't see?"

Dean snorted in derision. "Makes about as much sense as the underwater one."

"No- something's wrong." Rose murmured. Hermione glanced at her, silently questioning. "Look at their faces."

They all did so, and Hermione frowned. "They look…"

"Worried." Finished Seamus.

"And surprised." Added Fay Dunbar.

"Now dears, I'm sure everything is fine." Mrs Weasley piped up from behind them for the first time. Rose ignored her, gripping the railing tightly as she leaned over to look more closely at the faces of the adults below. Beside her, Padfoot whined.

"No." she denied. "The cup wasn't meant to be a portkey. Look at them."

She searched out her aunt, found her close to the edge of the maze, her attention on Dumbledore as well as she realised something was wrong and quickly slipped her wand out of her pocket. "Expecto Patronum!"

A silver tigress slipped from the end of her wand and regarded her curiously. "Go to Aunt Min, tell her the cup was a portkey, all of the competitors were taken and the organisers look more worried than they should." She said urgently. The animal bounded away, attracting more attention than Rose would have liked as it raced to her aunt, who listened intently and instantly raised her eyes to meet Rose's once it had vanished.

Rosalie gestured to people below her, grabbing her back from her seat and beginning to push through the crowds. "Come on Padfoot!"

"Rose wait!" Hermione followed in her wake. "What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea. But I can't just stand around and wait."

"Then I'm coming too."

It took them a while to climb out of the crowds of people, even longer to do so while ensuring they didn't lose Sirius at the same time. When they finally had, they climbed down as quickly as they dared until they were on the ground once again, Sirius whining as he ran ahead of them.

Hermione gripped her hand tightly, fear beginning to creep into her when she saw the panic on the faces of the people around them. "Tata!" Rose called, pulling Hermione along with her. "Where are they?"

"We don't know." Minerva ushered them and Sirius away from Dumbledore and Fudge, worry lines furrowing her face. "The cup wasn't supposed to be a portkey- there was supposed to be an enchantment that instantly destroyed the maze and neutralised the creatures within when triggered by someone touching it."

"So someone tampered with it." Rose's mouth was set in harsh line.

"Yes." Sighed her aunt, allowing herself to run a hand over her Goddaughter's hair. "They have no idea where they are."

Hermione frowned, tilting her head as she thought. "But-" she began but was cut off when a crack echoed through the air.

"Harry!"

Rose didn't stop to think, didn't wait, just tore her hand from Hermione's and bolted towards her brother. Dumbledore was there, trying to make sense of the garbled half sentences three of the competitors were gasping out. Harry was clutching at something, and as she got closer she could see that it was Cedric, lying motionless. Dumbledore was attempting to coax him to release his grip on the boy, but not having much luck as Harry mumbled half sentences and merely tightened his grip.

"Harry. Harry, come on." Rosalie stepped forward, crouching by him and touching his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "You did it Harry, you brought him home. Let Dumbledore take care of him now."

He released his grip and shoved himself to his feet in one movement but almost immediately stumbled, falling into her as his knees gave way. "She was right!" He gasped. Rose struggled to keep them both upright, confusion washing through her.

"Who was right about what?"

His fingers dug into her arms, desperation shining on his face. "Maman. She was right. Voldemort is back."

Rose froze. "What?" She whispered.

"He's back. Wormtail... There was this spell. Cedric… He's back."

Rose felt terror wash through her. "You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Harry snapped. Behind them, Fleur was speaking in rapid French to her parents, gesturing wildly with her right hand while her left was cradled against her body while Krum was stoic, jaw clenched as he knelt in the grass, breathing heavily through the pain of his own injuries.

Harry was still struggling to remain standing, and although years of dance and defence meant that Rose was much stronger than she looked, she was also very small for her age and Harry was fairly muscular. She was struggling to stop them both crashing to the floor when she felt an arm on her back, stabilising her.

"Steady lass. Let's get him up to the school, away from these crowds. He needs to lie down."

Alastor Moody stared down at her with his one good eye, and every instinct in her screamed to run away. But that was ridiculous- even Sirius had described how trustworthy the man was. She was overwrought and stressed, she decided, and nodded to him.

"Thanks."

It was only now that she registered the shrieks and cries of the people around him, the yelling of officials and the sobbing of a woman she thought was Cedric's mother. Hermione was comforting Gabrielle, her parents fussing over their elder daughter who was swaying slightly on the spot, exhaustion lining her face as she nodded to whatever they were saying. A larger crowd now blocked Cedric and Viktor from view.

Carefully, she and Moody manoeuvred Harry out of the crowds, the glare of the older man shielding him from the prying questions until they were alone and in silence. Harry struggled to get his legs to work, they kept giving way beneath him and refusing to lift up properly while his mind spun and his concentration wavered. Across the lawn, past the lake and the Durmstrang ship, Harry heard nothing but the heavy breathing of the man helping him walk and the lighter breaths of his sister as he fought to concentrate enough to put one foot in front of the other.

"What happened, Harry?" the man asked at last as he and Rose lifted Harry up the stone steps.

"Cup was a Portkey," answered Harry as they crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and the others to a graveyard… and Voldemort was there… Lord Voldemort..."

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Up the marble stairs…

"Bugger- Pomphrey'll be with the Diggory boy. This way lass. The Dark Lord was there, Harry? What happened then?"

"Killed Cedric… they killed Cedric. We were hiding. Knew it would be bad- why would there be a portkey? But Wormtail snuck behind us… killed Cedric, would kill us all if we didn't drop our wands…"

"And then?"

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Along the corridor…

"Made a potion…. got his body back..."

"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?"

"And the Death Eaters came… and then we duelled. ..."

"You duelled with the Dark Lord?"

Rose clutched at him convulsively as she supported his weight while Moody searched in his pocket for something. "Mon dieu…"

"Got away… couldn't get to the others… my wand did something funny... I saw my mum and dad... they came out of his wand..."

"In here. Harry ... in here, and sit down... You'll be all right now… drink this..." Harry heard a key scrape in a lock and felt a cup being pushed into his hands as Rose lowered him into a chair. He tuned his head to search out her face.

"They said they were happy Maman took me in, happy I had you." He told her. "They never thought I didn't love them as well…"

"Drink it... you'll feel better…" Moody encouraged. "Come on, now. Harry, I need to know exactly what happened..."

"Can't it wait?" Rose protested, crouching by Harry's side.

"I need to know, lass." Moody helped tip the stuff down Harry's throat; he coughed, a peppery taste burning him. Moody's office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody and Rose... both of his eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Harry's face.

"Voldemort's back, Harry? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?" he asked while Rose gripped his hand.

"He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail and me." said Harry. His head felt clearer; his scar wasn't hurting so badly; he could now see Moody's face distinctly, even though the office was dark. He could still hear screaming and shouting from the distant Quidditch field as he tightened his grip on his sister's hand.

"What did the Dark Lord take from you?" questioned Moody.

"Blood," said Harry, raising his arm. His sleeve was ripped where Wormtail's dagger had torn it. Moody let out his breath in a long, low hiss.

"And the Death Eaters? They returned?"

"Yes," said Harry. "Loads of them... knew there was going to be a lot, but I never dreamt there would be that many."

"How did he treat them?" Moody asked quietly. "Did he forgive them?"

But Harry had suddenly remembered. He should have told someone- Dumbledore, his aunt… he should have said it straightaway -

"There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There's a Death Eater here- they put my name in the Goblet of Fire, they made sure I got through to the end-" Harry tried to get up, but Moody and Rose pushed him back down.

"I know who the Death Eater is," his teacher said quietly.

"Karkaroff?" said Harry wildly. "Where is he? Have you got him? Is he locked up?"

"Karkaroff?" said Moody with an odd laugh. "Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He betrayed too many faithful supporters of the Dark Lord to wish to meet them… but I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies."

"Karkaroff's gone? He ran away? But then- he didn't put my name in the goblet?"

"No," said Moody slowly. "No, he didn't. It was I who did that."

Harry heard, but didn't believe even as he felt Rose stiffen beside him. "No, you didn't," he said. "You didn't do that… you can't have done..."

"I assure you I did," said Moody and his magical eye swung around and fixed upon the door, and Harry knew he was making sure that there was no one outside it. At the same time, Moody drew out his wand and pointed it at Harry. "Don't think about it girl."

Rose had her own wand drawn and pointed at the man, but hesitated at the danger to her brother, unsure she could protect him in time. "Drop it!" Moody ordered and reluctantly she did so, already planning a way to reach her back up wand. But she never got the chance- Moody stepped forward and backhanded her so hard she flew across the room and crashed into the wall. She crumpled, heard Harry call her name and slipped into the dark.

It was like she was underwater, the sounds around her muffled and distorted, her whole body throbbing. She could hear Harry's voice though… Harry!

"The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you. Potter, and he so wanted to." whispered Moody as her eyes sprang open. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him. I gave you to him- the thing he needed above all to regenerate- and then I killed you for him. I will be honoured beyond all other Death Eaters. He will restore my magic, your death will return my magic to me. I will be his dearest, closest supporter… closer than a son..."

Moody's normal eye was bulging, the magical eye fixed upon Harry. Rose took the opportunity to slid her hand to her leg- the holster on her right thigh was empty, he had her spare wand, she realised with a silent curse. She reached backwards instead- in the small of her back, a gun was nestled in its wrappings, completely impractical to get to in a fight but well-hidden with added enchantments. Carefully, she moved so that she was bending backwards, her fingers moving with precision to tug exactly where needed to release the gun so that it fell silently into her hand.

Moody was still talking, but she wasn't listening, bringing her arm around and up to aim. But her hand was trembling, her shoulder protesting the movement and she couldn't reach the position she needed to. Harry had noticed her by now, and lashed out, kicking with both his legs into the midsection of the man looming over him, sending him stumbling backwards before he himself rolled off of the chair onto the floor.

Rosalie rose up onto her knees, both hands now supporting the gun that she fired once, twice, three times. The bullets weren't exactly on target- she was shaking, her whole body bruised and objecting to movement but two hit him, one into his shoulder a little lower than she'd been aiming for and the other into the top of his remaining good leg, higher than she wanted but enough to send him crashing to the floor. Harry leapt forward, grabbing his wand and summoning both of Rose's at the same time.

"Don't move!" he warned. The man hissed, clutching his leg in agony.

"What have you done to me?!"

Harry looked at him grimly. "A little muggle magic." He glanced over to Rose, who had the gun resting in her lap as she sat on her heels, her other hand cradling the rapidly darkening bruise on her face.

Harry stepped forward and raised his foot, and brought it down over his nose. It crunched, and the man shrieked. "That was for my sister." He said mildly. And then pressed his foot over the wound on the man's shoulder. He shrieked, writhing. "And that was a warning. Now, who are you?"

"You will pay Potter! The Dark Lord has returned and he will conquer you!"

"Yeah yeah, so you said." He pressed his foot down, waiting a few seconds before releasing him and waiting for the screeches to subside.

Suddenly, with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart and Harry glanced up with casual curiosity to see Professors Dumbledore, Snape and his aunt standing in the doorway, Dumbledore in front with his wand outstretched.

"You're a little late." He commented dryly, but for the first time he understood why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the trembling form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat.

He stepped into the office, shock appearing as he registered the scene in front of him but Harry payed him no attention, rushing instead to Rose's side. "Are you alright?"

"Moi? I'm fine- even took a short nap in the middle there." She joked weakly, leaning gingerly against him. Their aunt knelt next them, hands wavering in the air as if she didn't quite know what to do with them.

"Come along, you two." she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. "Come along… hospital wing ..."

"No." said Dumbledore sharply.

"Dumbledore, look at them – they've been through enough tonight…"

"They will stay, Minerva, because Harry needs to understand." said Dumbledore curtly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight and why."

"I know why." Harry said roughly. "Moody is crazier than the psychopaths he chased for a living."

"This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew - and I followed."

"Well, thanks for stepping in sooner." Harry said disdainfully, shifting to stand and helping a wincing Rose to do so as well.

Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape. "Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."

"I will not." Minerva said immediately, supporting Rose with a careful arm around her lower back. "I'm not leaving them. Sirius is with Miss Granger- they will find their way here."

Snape- thankfully- didn't hear this- he had turned at once and left the office. Dumbledore shot his former friend an unreadable look, but walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spell-books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again. The spellbooks had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneako-scopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Harry watched emotionlessly as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk each time, and revealing different contents each time. Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Harry raised an eyebrow.

He was looking down into a kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.

"I guess Sirius was right about him." Harry commented to Rose, who nodded weakly. Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him.

"Stunned - controlled by the Imperius Curse and very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Harry, throw down the imposter's cloak - he's freezing. Madam Pomphrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger." Harry did as he was told; Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor. "Polyjuice Potion, Harry," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair ..." Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven?

"But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done ... on the hour… every hour…We shall see."

"Yeah. No thanks." Harry said bluntly, ignoring the look of surprise he got from him as he turned to his aunt. "Is Madam Pomphrey in the hospital wing?"

Minerva hid her smile. "She is."

"Excellent. I believe Rose and I are both in need of her services."

"Harry-" Dumbledore began but Harry turned exhausted eyes to him.

"I don't care." He said flatly. "Maybe I will tomorrow, when I don't feel as if I'm going to collapse any minute or Rose doesn't look to be in constant pain, but right now I couldn't give a flying f-"

"Harry!" Rose said sharply, and he stopped.

"A flying monkeys." He amended. Rose looked confused, mouthing what he'd said in bewilderment but her aunt merely ushered her forward gently, hands hovering in case she fell as she limped painfully.

"Come along, both of you." She said gently, supporting Harry with a hand to his back. "Come along."

Qu'est-ce que c'est- what is it?