Lone Child

Chapter 34: Life sucks!

The happy couple was woken the next morning by pounding on the door. "Triss! Have you seen James?" Dray's voice asked.

"No! Now go away! I need my beauty sleep!" Triss yelled. She and James were both suddenly glad it was Saturday.

"Okay love, you need to get up, I'll be back. I need let Dray find me before he blows a gasket," James whispered, kissing Triss on the forehead.

"Alright, see you in a while," Triss said, giving James one last kiss on the lips before he ported into the bathroom of his trunk. After a quick shower James spiked his still frosted hair and got dressed. He had no sooner stepped out of his trunk before he was jumped on by Dray.

"Where have you been?" Dray demanded.

"Well, I was training but I decided I need to shower and get ready for the day," James said in amusement. Dray didn't look amused.

"We must go play big brother. I just caught Mel in a broom closet with one of the Bulgarians," Dray growled. James was ready to start growling too.

"Where is she and what did you do to the Bulgarian?" he asked.

"They're both waiting in the common room and I haven't done anything to him, yet," Dray said, still seething.

James grinned one of his sly grins. "Come, we must go play brother."

Sure enough, sitting in one of the love seats in the common room, were Mel and one of the Bulgarians. Unlike most of the male Bulgarians James had seen so far, this one wasn't square shouldered and duck footed. Like one of the normal people from that country he had brown hair and eyes, but his build was much like James or Dray's.

"I think you have some explaining to do, starting with his name," James said, staring at the boy. Mel rolled her eyes.

"This is Vladimir Krum, he is Victor Krum's cousin. Unlike what you may be thinking, he and I have known each other for more than five years, and us dating is nothing new," Mel said, glaring at Dray.

"Well Vladimir, what are your intentions towards my little sister?" James asked, looking right into Vladimir's eyes. "I suggest you don't lie to me, I will know." James pulled on Vladimir's mind up a little, letting him know he could pry into the mind.

"No vad intentions, I assure you. She iz my girlfriend and haz veen for a long time. Before she came here she stayed with my family very often, as neither of my parents liked the thought of her being in an orphanage," Vladimir said. James couldn't sense any lies so he offered the boy a peaceful handshake.

Vladimir accepted and before Vladimir could pull his hand back James squeezed it, hard, as if letting him know what would happen if he hurt James's adopted sister. Vladimir nodded in understanding. Mel and Vladimir then joined hands and stood. "Are you two going to Hogsmead?" Dray asked. They nodded and left.

"What was that about?" Triss asked, walking down the stairs from her dorm.

"Nothing. Want to go to Hogsmead for a butterbeer?" James asked. Triss nodded eagerly. Both had a faint glow about them, but Dray didn't comment.

&&&&&&&&&&&

A few hours later they returned to the school, laughing and talking with the rest of the crew. "So, tomorrow we all have our first DADA lesson. What do you guys think?" Triss asked, leaning into James, who had his arm around her shoulder.

"It should be cool. All the other students say that Moody is weird but a good teacher. Do you know him from any where James?" Mel asked.

"Only by reputation. He brought in a lot of Death Eaters after Voldemort's down fall," said James.

"What about the whole Tri-wizard tournament thing?" Dray asked.

"Well, for once in our busy lives we can sit back and watch others try to get themselves killed, and we full intend to take the chance," said Triss.

"Damn straight. I've had enough adventure to last me a life time as is," James agreed.

"I know the feeling," said Triss.

"Well, come on, we better get to dinner," said Dray shoving the group along.

&&&&&&&&&&

It was finally the night of the drawing of the Tournament winners. Triss hadn't really been feeling well that day and against James's wishes she insisted on going to the feast. James was more or less being left alone by other girls as they all thought he was taken. Dray had a bit more trouble, but having a redhead for a girlfriend had its pluses. The twins had tried to put their names in the cup, as they both would be 17 in April, but ended up getting thrown across the hall and given beards to rival Dumbledore's.

"You sure you're good to go?" James asked for the hundredth time in the last hour.

"For the last time James, yes! Unlike you some of us get sick sometimes, and you know how much I hate pepper-up potion," Triss growled, getting annoyed.

"Yes Trisstessa dear," James said sweetly making Triss roll her eyes. She had long since given up on getting James to stop calling her Trisstessa.

"Come on people, we don't want to be late," Dray announced shoving them out of the Slytherin Common room and into the corridors.

"No need to push Dray," James said, keeping a firm arm around Triss's waist.

"You didn't move," Dray said in his defense as he pulled Gin off towards the hall with Mel and Vladimir in toe. James rolled his eyes and followed with Triss at a more leisurely pace. About 5 minutes later they entered the crowded hall and sat in their normal seats. The Gryffs of their group were sitting at the Gryff table per Dumbledore's orders.

At the head table, aside from the normal teachers, were none other than Percy Weasley, Fudge, Crouch, and an ugly toad faced woman James didn't know. At precisely 6 p.m. Dumbledore stood from his chair at the Head table. "As you all know, tonight will be the drawing for the winners of the Tri-wizard Tournament. One of the bravest and most powerful students from each school to have entered their name shall be chosen. Minister Fudge, if you would do the honors," Dumbledore said, looking at the minister, seated to his left.

Fudge stood up and walked into a back room behind the teacher's table. He came back a minute later carrying the Goblet of Fire. He quickly handed it off to Dumbledore and returned to his seat. The fire in the Goblet flared when Dumbledore touched it. A piece of paper was spat from the opening of the cup and Dumbledore grabbed it before it could fall back in.

"The first student, Victor Krum!" Dumbledore announced placing the paper on the table. Victor stood from his seat next to Vladimir and Mel and ran up to the Head table, only to be lead into the room Fudge had gotten the Goblet. The Goblet flashed again and another piece of paper was spat out. "The second student, Fleur Delacour!" Like Victor she was lead into the privet room behind the Head table.

"And finally," Dumbledore said as the Goblet flashed again. "Cedric Diggory!" Cedric stood, with loads of cheers from the Hufflepuffs. Dumbledore started to turn to escort Cedric into the privet room when the Goblet flashed again. Dumbledore picked the paper that followed out of the air and read it. With a deep scowl he read out the name. "James Cage."

James practically fell out of his seat. "He did not just say what I think he said," James groaned.

"You better get going, but we will be talking about this later," Dray said, giving him a look that could kill. James rubbed the bridge of his nose and stood. 'Trust me to get pulled into some screwed up death trap every year,' James thought.

James was pulled into the room by Snape, with Dumbledore following quickly. "What the hell is running in your head boy? Entering your name in something that you could very well get you killed!" Snape whispered threateningly.

"Not that you care Professor, I didn't enter my name in that cup. I don't know who did but it sure as hell wasn't me. If I wanted to go on some suicidal goose chase I would have joined gone to one of the Elven realms that are at war," James growled.

"Never the less, your name was entered into the cup and you are bound by magical contract to participate," Dumbledore said firmly.

"Dumbledore, from what I can tell the contract was for three people, one from each school, not for four, two from the same school," James said.

"Not so Mr. Cage, the contract was for whoever the Goblet chose as a champion, you were chosen, and therefore have to participate," said Fudge, appearing out of no where.

"Do noz tell me ve have to compete with thiz, boy!" Fleur yelled in out rage. James recognized her as one of the girls that had stalked him the first night.

"Well, I certainly seemed man enough for you to stalk me like fresh meat the first night," James shot back scathingly. Fleur paled.

"That is enough Mr. Cage," Snape snapped.

"Whatever. I am going to go to bed now. Call me when I am needed for anything, otherwise leave me alone," James growled, stalking out of the room.

&&&&&&&&&&&

When James got back to the common room he couldn't find anyone. Sighing in frustration James walked back into the corridors and headed back to the Great Hall to see if they were still there. On the way he was met with a frantic Neville Longbottom.

"Cage, your girlfriend took a nasty fall down the stairs! Malfoy sent me to find you, they're in the hospital wing!" Neville spouted, but James was no longer there to listen, he was already half way to the hospital wing.

"Poppy!" James shouted, barging into the hospital wing. Poppy looked startled by James's sudden appearance. "What happened?" James demanded.

"Young Trisstessa took a mean fall down a few flights of stairs. If I were you I wouldn't try to go see her just no, she is very angry with you," Poppy said, grabbing James's arm when he started to move to what he new was Triss's bed.

"Angry with me? Why?" James asked, stopping in his tracks.

"You entered yourself in a very dangerous contest with out her knowledge or consent. I would be angry with you too," Poppy said, glaring disapprovingly at him.

"Whatever, and for your information, I didn't add my name to that stupid cup," James growled, stalking out of the hospital wing. He was too blinded by his own anger that he didn't notice the two snake like eyes watching him.

&&&&&&&&&&&

The next morning James woke in a better mood. "No, last night didn't happen. I was high on potions fumes and was hallucinating," James said to him self.

"Sorry to disappoint you Cage," came Dray's cold voice. The tone he used was normally one only taken with Ron Weasley.

"What's your problem?" James asked, pulling open the curtains of his bed.

"My problem is that you lied to us! You said you didn't want to be apart of the damn tournament!" Dray yelled from his position on his bed.

"I didn't lie to anyone! I didn't put my name in that damn cup! I don't know who did but it damn sure wasn't me!" James growled back, his blue eyes glowing with rage.

"Whatever Cage," Dray hissed turning and walking out of the dorm.

James took a deep breath and fought the urge to beat Dray until he believed he didn't enter his name in the cup. "First things first, I need to go check on Triss," James sighed, running a hand through his hair. With that he threw off the covers and got dressed.

Within a few minutes he was down at the hospital wing with a bundle of roses that changed from white to blue to purple and back again. Poppy was nowhere to be seen but James easily picked Triss's scent up and followed it to her bed.

He found Triss staring up at the ceiling with her eyes glazed over. James couldn't place what it was, but something wasn't right. "Triss love?" James asked carefully, placing a hand on hers. Triss's eyes met his own and cold fury enveloped her deep blue eyes. With out warning she pulled her hand from his and slapped him, hard.

Poppy seemed to have heard the sound and shoved James out of the hospital wing, but not before Triss got several good swings on him, giving him a bloody nose and a black eye. "WTF?" James growled, heading back towards his rooms. It was Monday and classes didn't start for another two hours, so he had time for a little bit of practice.

James entered his trunk and walked over to a big red circle that was in the middle, next to the pool, shedding clothes as he went. By the time he reached the circle he was wearing only his jeans, and was holding his Elemental sword in his hand. A red barrier appeared around the edges of the circle and several Shadow Warriors appeared. "Do you're worst. Safety Word is Fury," James said.

The warriors nodded and gave James no preparation time before they attacked. The good thing about the Shadow warriors is that they couldn't be killed, as they were little more than tangible shadows made by James's elemental magic.

It was almost 30 minutes into the battle that something unexpected happened. One of the faster warriors took a swipe at James from behind and cut him from just under his right arm down to his waist. Normally that wouldn't bother James much, but the problem was he couldn't get it to heal. Using his distraction another one of the warriors struck him on the back, cutting him from his left shoulder blade to his right thigh.

"Fury!" James called, dropping to the ground in pain. It had been several years since he hadn't been able to heal himself, and he was sure he wasn't under the influence of any potions. Blood was flowing freely from the two wounds and James knew that he would probably bleed to death if he didn't stem the bleeding, something he couldn't do on his own.

In another twist of fate, Jewel, whom he hadn't seen for quite a while, decided to pay him a visit. James? What happened? the snake demanded.

I don't know. I can't heal myself, and I know I'm not under the influence of anything, James groaned. One of the things he had forgotten about the Shadow blades is that they hurt, a lot.

Damn it! I wanted to keep this a secret, the snake hissed. James looked at her in puzzlement before she disappeared in a flash of green light. Standing in the snakes place was a woman. She had long blond hair and eyes green enough to rival James's in his normal form. If James didn't know better he would have said she was an elf as she had a build similar to Triss's and her ears were pointed.

"Jewel?" James asked. The woman nodded. "How?"

"It is a special ability of my kind, however few have the freedom to harness the ability. I was going to tell you at Halloween when I was sure I would be able to control it. I take the form of an Elf, much like Triss and yourself." Jewel's voice had a distinct lisp, but James wasn't too worried about it. "Come, let's get you cleaned up. You have classes in an hour," Jewel continued pulling James to his feet.

James winced, but didn't complain as Jewel lead him over to a bar stool and started cleaning and stitching his wounds. "You are lucky. This could have gone through the muscle, and then you would be really uncomfortable. As it is this is going to hurt like mad," Jewel commented as she finished stitching the wound on James's side.

"Don't remind me. The one day I need pain killers is the one day I don't have them available," James growled.

"Not that I would let you take pain killers, why do you not have any?" Jewel asked.

"Poppy invaded my stores as she was running low on everything, and you know how Snape is about making potions like that. Plus, mine are much better than anything Snape could come up with," James said, pulling on a clean shirt from one of the cabinets. He also grabbed a fresh pair of jeans and boxers from the cabinet and went into the bathroom to change.

He returned a few minutes later looking like nothing had happened, though Jewel could sense his pain. "So, would you like to explain to me what is going on with this tournament or what is wrong with Triss first?" Jewel asked, changing the topic.

"Once again someone is trying to kill me and has entered me into this tournament. Everyone is mad because they think I snuck my way in, and something happened to Triss, and it's my fault, even if I don't know what," James groaned, pressing his forehead on the cool surface of one of the stone walls.

"I believe you about the tournament. I know that you would never enter yourself into something like that without at least Triss's consent. As for what happened to Triss, I know, but I think she needs to tell you. Are you still able to see other's auras?" Jewel asked.

"No, I can't. I don't know why, but my powers seem to be diminishing, like something is draining them, but I don't know what it is," James sighed, sitting back down on the barstool.

"Well, for the time being I'm going to see what I can find out about this whole tournament thing. Do you think you'll be okay going to your next class on your own?" Jewel asked.

"Yeah. It's Transfiguration with Potter. This is starting off to be a fun year," James said with a groan.

"It will only get worse," said Jewel before turning back into her serpent form and slithering away.

(A/N: Hello everyone! Summer is here! Finally! The next thing on my to do list is edit this story. It shouldn't take anymore than two weeks, as this story is getting really long and it will probably take me several days to get FF.net to cooperate long enough to get them all up. If I change anything important I'll let you know.)

Review Responses:

RunningInCricles: Thanks.

Krr84: Really? Well, I'm not coming out of my anti-flame box yet.

Sanity is Relative: Thanks. I really thought people wouldn't like this chapter, but I guess I should have more faith in my Beta reader. The 25th was the last day for us, thank god! I thought I was going to die in that school, and I Aced all my exams.

Jericholic-baby: Thanks.

Musicstarlover: It's okay. I take what reviews I can get, and don't beg for more. As is I'm getting about 17 reviews a chapter.

Gaul1: Thanks. Time will reveal all, my dear friend.

Insanechildfanfic: Thanks.

Lunawolf: Thanks. I really, really should have more confidence in my Beta reader…

Lunarian: Thanks. You know, when I first started this fic I was going to kill off Triss, wouldn't that be a plot twist.

Cyre: Superb? That's new. My cousin's both turned 14 on April 23 and 24, no they're not related, different sides of the family. Almost all of the people I know were born in either April or May. My Mom and Grandmother are a day apart.

Rhysel Ash: I'm sorry about the wait. As I said, I had finals and I had to study. As it was I failed Spanish for the year, but it's summer now. Hopefully I can get the chapters rolling again. I'm having a small issue with what you would call 'writers block'.

SiLvErFaTeD: Oi! I have a copyright for the warm and fuzzy thing!

Athenakitty: James and Snape won't talk for a while yet, not until James gets back from the last task.

Iced Flame: As I said, I'm passing most of the credit on to my beta. She came up with this, I just figured out how to make it all fit in, then typed it up.

Jennifer: I shall try.

HarrySlytherinson: Thanks. I try to update at least once a week, but sometimes unavoidable things happen that I have to deal with. coughschoolcough

Kayla: I think you've fallen a bit behind. They just walked into 4th year, and technically, James is 15, he just doesn't know that yet. Triss is almost 15 as well. That doesn't make sense at current second, but it will.

Roxoan: Umm…no comment. I kind of got bored with 'Not myself', I stopped reading it a while ago. Now, who said anything about the two of them staying together? They still won't be inseparably together until later.

Serpent of Light: Yeah well, school is out for the summer, though I have a summer reading list for English Honors. Good to know people liked this chapter, I was buried deep underground in my anti-flame box because I thought I was going to be bombarded with flames.

Write More!…: I will, no worries.

Howling wolf1: When did I say he was 11? He's actually 15 in 4th year, but that won't come up for a while yet. It must have been a typo.

Anna: James's aura is silver. It will make that known later.

(My sister) Anna: Hi Anna! Nice to hear from you. You'll see what I'm going to do, and it's not going to follow the book to the letter, trust me.

Bob the psycho ghost: Thanks. I think the kneecaps are cartilage, but I could be wrong. If they aren't, then I guess I did break a bone, or two.