~OOooOO~
Harry wasn't sure he wanted to watch the Tournament. He knew that members of the press would be there and would want to talk to him, instead of the champions like they should. He made a compromise, he attended the first two events, but wore his invisibility cloak. Charlie, Draco and Ron stayed with him at all times when he was out of the castle. They still didn't trust anyone around Harry, especially after Dumbledore's comments after the World Cup. They all sat close to the edge of the stands and basically kept to themselves. Once the event was over, Harry would lean into Charlie's side to indicate that he wanted to leave. Charlie would alert Ron and Draco and they would all stand up as one and quickly move out of the stands. Sirius would watch and wait for them at the bottom, and accompany them back into the castle.
The first two Tournament events passed without any incident. The only problem that had occurred during that time was during the Yule Ball. Harry and Ron had not wanted to go, but Hermione had finally convinced them that it was required and Sirius had taken it upon himself to buy new dress robes for Harry, Ron and the twins, so that they couldn't complain that they had nothing to wear. Ron asked Hermione to go with him, delighting the brunette to no end. She happily agreed and had to turn down the champion from Durmstrang when he asked her three days later. Harry, of course, had asked Charlie if he would go with him and Charlie readily agreed.
Harry had been singled out by the Durmstrang headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, as someone he wanted to know better. Charlie firmly planted himself at Harry's side and refused to leave, even when Karkaroff almost demanded that he do so.
"Why do you stand so protectively over the boy? Can he not be by himself?"
Harry looked at the older man and barely kept himself from snarling at him. "I want him there, so let's leave it at that, alright?" Karkaroff bowed slightly and excused himself. The boy was rude and he didn't seem inclined to answer his questions. He walked off in search of Severus Snape; maybe he could get his answers there.
He found the Potions Master deep in a discussion with Lucius Malfoy. He had been surprised to find that Hogwarts had hired two men known to be Death Eaters as part of their staff. It wouldn't have raised an eyebrow at Durmstrang, but here, at a school so obviously against anything dark, it was quite a shock.
"Severus, my friend! I have been searching for you. You seem to make yourself scarce every time I try to find you."
"Karkaroff." Severus inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Why would you be looking for me? I had thought that you had said everything that needed to be said at our last meeting."
"I am just curious about the Potter boy. He refused to answer any of my questions and seemed to be quite rude."
"He can be very rude, I've found. What did you wish to know?" Severus had noticed that Karkaroff had yet to acknowledge Lucius' presence at Severus' side and the lapse irritated him. "You do remember Lucius Malfoy, correct?"
Karkaroff stared at Lucius with barely concealed dislike. "Yes, of course. My apologies Lucius, how have you been?"
Lucius knew that whatever he said would be picked apart in Karkaroff's mind and analysed for any weakness. "I am well, and you?"
"Fine, fine. Now, Severus, tell me about the Potter boy. I had thought that he would be entered in this competition."
"Why would you have thought that? He's only fourteen, far too young to compete."
"I had heard that your headmaster wished for him to compete, no matter his age. Why did he not get his way?"
Severus was concerned...if Karkaroff had heard that, what else had he heard. "Where did you hear that? Potter couldn't compete, he's too young."
"I have my sources; I am not willing to give them away." Karkaroff smirked at Severus, never noticing that Lucius had left the conversation after hearing this news. He made his way to Draco.
"Draco, I need you to get Black, Harry and Charlie to meet me in our quarters, quickly!" He walked swiftly out of the room and down to his rooms. He began pacing back and forth rapidly in front of the hearth. If Karkaroff had heard this, there was someone on Hogwarts' teaching staff who was letting information leak out. This had to be stopped before things got completely out of hand.
Draco let Sirius, Remus, Charlie and Harry into the family quarters. Lucius gestured at them to sit as he continued to pace; suddenly he stopped and faced them. "Karkaroff, the headmaster at Durmstrang told Severus some distressing news at the ball. He had heard, from an unnamed source, that Dumbledore had wanted Harry to enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament. We need to find out who knew about it and how the news got to Karkaroff. I'm very concerned about this; if this gets back to the Dark Lord, he'll use any means he can to get Harry somewhere near the pitch for the last task." He looked straight at Harry. "I'm sorry, but you cannot be allowed to go to the final task. The risk is too great."
Harry nodded, for the moment ignoring the tightening of Charlie's arm around his shoulders. "I've been to the one I really wanted to see, the dragons. I don't need to go to the last one."
"I'll stay with him in my quarters. Does You-Know-Who know about us being soul mates?"
"I believe he has heard; I, myself, heard about it before Harry's second year was over, and my sources were slightly less than trustworthy. If he knows, he will try to use that against him. That means you are also at risk Charlie. We cannot afford to lose either one of you." He looked at everyone in the room, one by one. "I want no one to touch anything that they know nothing about. If you are handed a book, make sure you know the person handing it to you. Do not sit in the same place twice for meals; I realise that it will look odd for you to be hopping around the tables, but it must be done this way. Someone must let Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger know about this."
Sirius looked at Lucius. "Do you think it would help if I pulled Harry out and schooled him at home?"
"No, that would only be placing yourselves in danger. Not to mention that Charlie would have to leave as well. This is actually the safest place for him right now. Not even Malfoy Manor would be safe; Narcissa has offered it to the Dark Lord's minions to use as a base of operations." Draco gasped, then sobbed once before swallowing his grief at his 'mother's' betrayal. "I know what you're thinking Draco, but, no, she knows nothing yet. Bellatrix has tightened her stranglehold over Narcissa and continues to convince her that the Dark Lord's way is best. If I thought that she might be under the Imperius Curse, I would see to it that she got away, but I can't be certain. The Black family has always been more in tune with the dark side of things, it would be only natural that she felt the same way. If you wish, I will find out for you." He looked at Sirius. "I meant no insult to you."
"None taken. I think that you underestimate Cissy though; it might surprise you to know that she didn't want to marry you. She felt that you were too dangerous, with your ties to Voldemort and all. Will she be at the next event?"
"She told me she would be there. What do you have in mind?"
"Just a 'Finite'. That will tell you if she's under a curse or not. If she is, what she knows could prove invaluable and we could spirit her away to safety." Sirius thought for a moment before continuing. "She and Andromeda were both a little more like me; Dromeda proved it when she married Ted Tonks."
Draco looked at his father with pleading eyes. "I know she's not really my mother, but I do love her. Please? Please try. If she's not under the Imperius Curse, you can Obliviate her and I'll just have to get over it."
Lucius nodded and looked back at Sirius. "At the next event, you and I will corner her and see if she is under the curse. How are you at Obliviates?"
"Fairly decent, but not as good as you were on that count. I can only imagine you've gotten better over the years. I was rotting in Azkaban for so long that I've actually had to practise some things, just so that I don't blow anyone up."
"Alright then, we'll do that at the next event. Draco, if she is under the Imperius Curse, I promise I will get her to safety, and that I will tell her everything. If she's been under the curse for years, she may not have married me of her own will."
~OOooOO~
The next event, a maze, started out uneventfully, but did not end that way. Not long after the champions entered the maze, Lucius sought out his wife. He pulled her away from the people she was sitting with an excuse that he needed to speak with her about Draco; she went willingly. Once they were completely alone, they were joined by Sirius, who cast the Finite, to end any spells that she was held under. Narcissa's body went rigid and she collapsed on the ground. After a few moments she raised her head and looked at the two men.
"Thank you! Oh thank you! I thought I would never get away from Bella. How did you know?"
"We didn't, we had a suspicion, but this was the only way to prove it. How long have you been under the Imperius Curse?"
She looked down at her hands. "Since before we married. I didn't want to marry you with you being so close to the Dark Lord. I am assuming that you're not."
"No, and now that we've done this, you are no longer safe. You need to come with us into the castle, so that we can get you to some place where you cannot be harmed."
They walked carefully into the castle, down to Severus' office where he was waiting for them. The moment that Narcissa's eyes met his he used his Legilimency skills on her to make sure that she was telling the truth. He withdrew from her mind and nodded at Lucius, who was extremely relieved to see that nod. Now he wouldn't have to disappoint Draco.
They sat down to discuss what was going to happen and where Narcissa was going to go.
~OOooOO~
LATER THAT NIGHT:
Voldemort was not in a good mood. The body he had received at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was far weaker than he had expected. The potion had called for the blood of his enemy, taken by force; what he got was the blood of one of his supporters given not quite willingly. Barty Crouch was one of his most fanatical supporters, but had been unwilling to give his blood to make certain that his master was given a body. Voldemort had made Lucius stun him and then take his blood. Lucius...his most trusted and loyal Death Eater. Voldemort smiled slightly, causing most of the people in the room to look away in revulsion. Maybe I should have taken his blood...he would have been a far better choice than the Crouch brat. Oh well, unfortunately I can't change it now. I know I can rely on Lucius to make certain that I am safe.
Lucius had known what would happen if the proper blood was not used in the potion. He had been counting on him using someone else's blood, rather than his own; he was pleased that he hadn't guessed wrong. He knew that Voldemort was thinking that the blood of a fanatical supporter would be just as powerful, if not more than, the blood of an enemy; Voldemort had chosen Crouch rather than Bellatrix, based on the level of his fanaticism. Fortunately, the lack of proper blood had caused the potion to be weak, resulting in a weak body. He knew that, when the time came, Harry would still be the only one who would be able to destroy him completely, but the task would be easier now. The man could hardly hold himself up to walk, let alone fight in a duel.
He was careful to keep any sign of exultation from his face; he wanted no one to know how pleased he was by the events of the evening. It wouldn't do to get caught as a traitor now; even with a weakened body, the Killing Curse would still work.