Harry seemed disgruntled by the treatment he was receiving when we'd arrived back in the Gryffindor Common Room.
Lee had unearthed a few Gryffindor banner from somewhere, and he insisted on draping one around Harry and I like a cloak. Harry couldn't get away; whenever he tried to sidle over to the staircase up to the dormitories, the crowd around him closed ranks, forcing another butterbeer on him, stuffing crisps and peanuts into his hands.
It was odd to me that someone so famous could still not be used to the attention. At the same time, it was understandable why he'd started to get upset. Nobody wanted to hear that he wasn't hungry; nobody wanted to hear that he hadn't put his name in the goblet. I seemed to be the single person to have noticed that he wasn't at all in the mood to celebrate.
I wasn't sure how I felt that I was the one who'd actually gotten chosen and yet no one seemed to care about me besides Lee and the twins and a few of the Quidditch players.
It wasn't like I wanted to be celebrated or the center of attention, but it hurt a little to not even be recognized.
All anyone wanted was to know how he had done it, how he had tricked Dumbledore's Age Line and managed to get his name into the goblet…
"I didn't," he said, over and over again, "I don't know how it happened."
But for all the notice anyone took, he might just as well not have answered at all.
"I'm tired!" Harry yelled finally, after nearly half an hour of being prodded with snacks and drinks and asked about things he didn't have an answer for.
"Ah, come on, Harry," said George, grabbing his shoulder.
"No," said Harry, pushing George away.
"We're just trying to celebrate man!"
"Seriously, George — I'm going to bed—"
"Hey!" I yelled over the people grabbing at him. Everyone paused for a moment, confused by such a loud noise coming from someone they'd hardly ever heard speak. "Sod off, the lot of you. You're Champion needs sleep, all right?"
I knew that he didn't want to be called the Champion. I knew that better than anyone else apparently. But it worked, because Harry nodded at me as he slipped up the staircase without being touched or talked to by another person.
"Well that was boring," said someone from the other side of the common room. "Our Champion doesn't even want to celebrate with us."
I looked down at the flood, trying not to leg anger overcome me.
"You're all daft," said Angelina suddenly. "Gryffindor has two Champions!"
Few people cheered, but it was more awkward murmuring about none of them knowing who I was and, therefore, not caring.
Someone asked who the other chick even was, obviously not noticing the banner tied around my neck.
A group of boys started joking about not noticing anyone who wasn't tall and beautiful like Angelina.
Another said, "Isn't she one of the Winters twins or something? I thought they were both in Slytherin. The two girls that live with the Malfoys."
"There's three of us," I spat, finally losing my cool and pulling the Gryffindor banner from around my neck and shoving it into Lee's chest. "Not that anyone cares."
"Winters," Katie Bell said timidly. "We care! It's just… no one really knows you."
"Yo! You're the girl that Moody messed with right?" one of the other sixth years asked suddenly, apparently just noticing who everyone was talking about. "That was super cool!"
"I'm leaving," I said, making my way towards the stairs.
"No you're not," said Fred, grabbing me around the middle and forcing me over his shoulder. He carried me across the common room while I pounded on his back trying to get away. Finally, he set me on top of one of the tables so I was the tallest person in the room and stood on a chair next to me so he could be seen and heard by every Gryffindor in the room.
"This is Jordie Winters," he announced. "She isn't just some chick that's got counterparts in Slytherin. She isn't just the girl that Moody has it out for. She's your Champion. The only Hogwarts Champion that we technically should have."
"Hell yeah!" said Lee, jumping up onto a chair next to Fred. "She's saved your asses more times than any of you know. Stopped the Grindylow from killing all of us last year when Lupin wasn't there. Refined some of your potions for Snape's class so he didn't fail every person in third year. Caught Spinnet when she almost fell off the Astronomy tower our fourth year."
Alicia blushed and muttered a 'thanks Winters'.
"Yeah, okay we've got the Harry Potter as a Champion. You know who else we've got? The Jordie Winters. She's older and wiser, and she's got more tricks up her sleeves."
"And she's prettier!" said a seventh year boy I'd never met.
"And you're right," he said. "She overcame two of the Unforgivable Curses in front of your eyes, so think about what else she can do. Even if you don't like it," Fred grinned at me. "Everything happens for a reason."
I mouthed 'thanks Monroe" as George jumped onto the table with me, almost knocking us both off in the process.
"Hogwarts is going to win this tournament!" said George. "And it's gonna be Winters who collects the prize!"
The room burst into cheering and singing and excited chatter. I felt the heat of blush explode across my face. Everyone knew who I was now. And surprisingly, not everyone hated me.
The twins helped me off of the table and Lee turned up the music on the radio in front of the fire. There was food and drink and singing and dancing throughout the entire common room. Now instead of it being shoved in Harry's face, it was offered to me instead.
Fred was sitting next to me on one of the window sills, being some sort of manager for when people would come and try and talk to me or in some cases flirt with me.
The seventh year boy who'd called me pretty appeared at some point, very drunk. He offered me a chug of his Firewhiskey and then tried to get me to dance with him.
"I don't dance," I told him. "That requires a certain level of… I don't know, pride that I definitely don't have."
"Well, if you won't dance with me, then come up to my dorm later," he slurred before wandering away.
"I'd really rather not, not going to lie," I told Fred, chuckling a little.
I looked at him to find him just staring at me with a dumb grin on his face.
"She's so happy," he thought.
I blushed and looked away, trying not to listen to his thoughts anymore.
"Why are you staring at me?" I asked him.
"You're happy," he told me.
"Who says?"
"The dumb smile that you can't get off your face."
I glared at him.
"You're still smiling!"
I rolled my eyes and looked away from him.
"Thank you for doing that for me," I said quietly.
I could feel him grinning stupidly in the other direction.
"We just wanted everyone to realize who the real champion is."
"What about Harry?" I asked him. "He didn't put his name in the Goblet and he still has to compete. He deserves as much recognition as I do."
"He'll get more recognition that you, Viktor, and Delecore combined," said Lee, sitting on the other side of me. "After all, it's not like some random fourteen year old got his name in the cup. It's Harry Potter. He's done enough cool things in his life that I bet he'll be alright."
"I suppose you're right. And you know what they say," I said, poking Fred in the cheek. "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."
"You mean as Van Gogh said?"
"Watch it, Monroe," I warned. I looked across the common room and furrowed my eyebrows together. "Where'd George go anyway?"
"He went to the kitchen to get some gooy veech for you."
"Gyuvech," I corrected. "Why didn't you go with him?"
Fred shrugged.
"He told us to keep an eye on you so no one like murdered you or something."
"I actually said that I wanted them to make sure you were enjoying yourself, but making sure you're not murdered is equally important I guess."
George set a massive bowl of Gyuvech on the table nearest to us.
"Awe," I cooed, standing up to admire the soup in front of me. "You're sweet."
His ears turned pink.
"Do you guys… like mind if… or would you- never mind."
"You can't do that!" said Lee. "Don't leave us on a never mind! Finish your question."
"Yeah ask your question, Winters."
"I was just gonna ask if you wanted to like… help me open my birthday presents when everyone clears out."
"Parties over, everyone!" George yelled. "Get to sleep!"
"I didn't mean right now!" I said, startled. "Oh whatever."
It was like he was in charge of a herd of sheep. Every single person filed up the stairs to their dorms without complaint and the few people from other houses that had slipped in their boyfriends and girlfriends quickly left through the portrait hole.
The common room was suddenly silent aside from the crackling of the dying fire.
"What are you waiting for?" Fred asked. "Go get your presents!"
Alicia and Angelina waved to me as I entered and exited the dorm, but didn't question where I was going as I left with my basket and the small box that Viktor had given me upon arriving to Hogwarts.
Downstairs the twins and Lee were pouring out four bowls of Gyuvech and four glasses of Butterbeer to go with it.
I forced myself between the twins on the couch, forcing Lee onto the floor because of the lack of room.
"What's the card on the basket say?" asked Lee, pulling at it and reading it aloud.
"Didn't want to distract you from the tournament so I asked that everyone send your gifts to me so I could make sure they got there a day early. Hope you don't mind.
Love, Remus"
"Professor Lupin sent you this?" asked Fred.
"Yeah, but there's things from everyone in it. Like Chai-" I said pulling out the biggest box and reading the card aloud. "Madam Connell made the little ones help decorate it. Sorry, Jo... Love you, girly. Happy Birthday."
I opened the box to find a slightly crushed cake decorated with every color of icing possible. There were drawings of baseballs, Bagel the owl, the Gryffindor lion, and of what they must have thought Hogwarts looked like. In neater handwriting that must have been one of the older girl's it said:
Congrats on getting older, Jo!
"Butterbeer," said Fred after he stuck his finger into the side of the cake and licked the remence off of his skin.
"And now this cake is your's, Fred, congratulate!" I said, dropping the cake onto his lap.
"That looks like Charlie's handwriting," said George, pointing to a card that was tied to a poorly wrapped bottle.
"Happy birthday, kiddo. Tell my brothers and Ginny I said hi. Also tell my brothers I like you and Ginny more than them."
"Rude!" Fred scoffed through the pile of cake he'd shoved into his mouth.
"Here's some recent photos of Norberta and Lia. They've started nesting! Hope you'll get to see them soon. Best wishes, Charlie! Also don't tell anyone about the whiskey. I don't send the twins things like that because we're all notoriously bad drunks."
I pulled the bottle from the basket and unwrapped a bottle of firewhiskey from Romania.
"Well, now you know," I said, trying to hide it from sight as if they hadn't seen it already.
"Save it for when something exciting happens," said Lee, trying to take it from me. "I'll keep it safe."
"Hands off," I snapped.
George reached into the basket to find a perfectly wrapped square with a letter attached. The letter had Muggle stamps on it meaning it was from my baseball team.
"Happy birthday Joey! There was a retirement tour across the UK and we somehow managed to get this signed for you. We know how much you love Danny."
I gasped, tearing off the paper in a haste.
Inside was a baseball signed by star pitcher Danny Cox.
"I'm gonna pass out," I said, leaning against Fred. "Danny Cox… touched this."
"Who's that?"
"Muggle pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Toronto Blue Jays. You should have seen that man. He was an actual legend."
"Kind of like Viktor?" asked Lee. "Except Muggle and old?"
I rolled my eyes and pulled out the next gift.
"This one's from Remus," I said, reading the card. "Happy birthday sweetheart. Please don't tell your sisters you got anything from me. I know they wouldn't appreciate anything I got them and I don't have the money for all three of you to get nice things. Hope you understand."
"They told me he got them something," I grumbled.
"Go Lupin. Show em who's boss," said Fred, still shoving cake into his mouth.
"You're going to choke," I warned him.
"Keep reading," said Lee.
I looked back down at the card.
"The first box is something I've been putting together since I started traveling for the Ministry after I left Hogwarts."
George pulled out a long box and pulled the top off. Inside were five thick bars of chocolate, labeled with where they were from.
Belgium, Switzerland, Ecuador, London, and Pennsylvania.
"I was going to give you more of each but I sampled each of them and then got a little carried away… Sorry about that," I read, laughing. "The other thing is a sweater that Molly Weasley helped me make. I'll admit that she did a little more than I did, but I think I'm going to start knitting more frequently."
"Awe, our mom made you a Weasley sweater," said George, pulling out a blush pink sweater with a J in the middle of it.
"I hate pink," I grumbled. "He says it looks nice on me like it did on my mom."
"I think pink complements the blackness of your hair," said George, holding a strand of my hair against the pink sweater.
"Shut up."
Counting Viktor's gift there were still three things left in the basket. Madam Connell's anuel summer hockey tickets were the first thing I grabbed. There was no note, but I knew that she put a lot of thought into which tickets she bought me every year.
Next was an envelope with Jackson's handwriting on it.
"Happy birthday, Winters. Miss and love you. Come see Charlie and I soon if you can get away from Connell for a couple weeks this summer."
Aside from the letter there was a small charm inside the envelope.
"Sweadish Short Snout."
I pulled off my robes and pulled up the sleeve of my jumper to reveal the charm bracelet hanging from my wrist.
"You don't strike me at a jewelry kind of person," said Fred, poking at the various handmade bracelets on my other wrist.
"I only wear things that have specific meaning to them… like my necklace," I pulled a necklace from under the neckline of my shirt.
"Is that a constellation?" asked George.
"The Lady of the Chair," I told him. "One of my mum's best friends gave it to her when she was in Hogwarts. I've also got one for my uncle but he wasn't a great person so I guess I just don't want to represent him when he doesn't deserve it."
"What about the bracelets?"
I looked down at the handmade string bracelets.
"I've got one for every kid that's left the orphanage since I got there."
"And the dragon charms are from your friend in Romania, I'd guess."
"Yeah, he's super talented at carving things. When him and Charlie started going up to Romania during the summer, he'd make me one based off of the oldest dragon that was there at the time. This is the seventh addition."
"I guess we never realized how young Charlie was when he got an interest in dragons," said Fred.
"Yeah… I mean, I remember mum and him fighting over if it was a good idea for him to start spending summers away from us after spending all year at Hogwarts. He'd always win her over by saying he was doing something he loved."
I grinned a little.
"Jackson did the same thing to Madam Connell. She'd always scream about how it was her responsibility to keep him safe until he was seventeen and she wasn't going to let a fifteen year old boy go off and run around with dragons. He won her over by saying that he'd just leave and not come back and that made her mad so she always let him come back until-" I bit my lip, catching myself.
"Until… he- uh, tried to take me with him and then she told him he couldn't come back anymore because he was a bad influence on me," I lied.
"I'm sure Hagrid would love this," said Lee, looking at all the additions he'd missed between second year and sixth year.
"Hagrid has a stone carving bigger than my face of this one right here," I told them, showing the Norwiegen Ridgeback named Norberta. "Hagrid showed him how to carve his first year and he's never stopped. Perfected his craft."
"That's sweet," George cooed.
I rotated the last box in my fingers.
Passed down through generations of Krum women, I remembered Viktor telling me.
"I really hope this isn't ugly…" I mumbled.
Inside was a ring. A thin, silver band engraved with birds. In the center was a single blood red stone.
"That's really pretty, Winters," said George.
He was right. It was a simplistic design that didn't give me the risk of accidentally injuring someone if I bumped them with it unlike some other bulky Bulgarian jewelry.
"Do you think it'd hurt if I punched someone in the face with this on?" I asked, slipping it onto my right index finger and making a fist.
"I don't want it to be tested on me, so I'm just going to say yes," said Fred, leaning away from me.
"Guess it stays, then."
I woke up in the common room with Winters in my arms and Lee cuddling my leg. I'd say it was cute if Fred didn't have his entire body spread out across us and my leg wasn't numb.
-George Weasley.