The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained me over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker. The shock of finding myself school champion had worn off slightly now and the fear of what was facing me had started to sink in. The First Task was drawing steadily nearer and I felt as though it were crouching ahead of me like some horrific monster, barring my path. I had had all kinds of horrific nightmares about what the First Task could have been.

I'd chatted a bit with Hermione over the last few weeks about what the First Task would be. My best idea had been an obstacle course type of event. Hermione had thought that I could have been correct but believed that an obstacle course wouldn't be interesting enough. She said that it seemed too plain. It seemed like something a teacher could assign an upper level as a final exam. Unless they put something in the obstacle course that could have killed us, it didn't seem likely that that was what we would be facing.

My other thought had been some type of race but I knew that something like that would include mandatory running and likely broom riding. Hermione had been correct again in saying that there would be unfair advantages. Krum was a professional Quidditch player and every other champion was an athlete. Harry, Cedric, and I were on our House Quidditch teams and athletic people. Fleur was the only one of us who wasn't. In the back of my mind, I knew that the First Task would be something I would never expect and it would be extremely difficult.

Though I had been nervous about plenty of things before, I had never suffered nerves like these. These were something different. They were way beyond anything I had experienced before a Quidditch match, not even our last one against Slytherin, which had decided who would win the Quidditch Cup. I hadn't even felt nervous like this before my first date or kiss with Cedric. I was finding it hard to think about the future at all; I felt as though my whole life had been heading up to, and would finish with, the First Task.

Admittedly, I didn't see how Sirius was going to make me feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people, most of who weren't my biggest fans, but the mere sight of a friendly face would be something at the moment. I was terrified of the upcoming First Task but I was looking forward to seeing my godfather. I missed him more than I was expecting. Harry had written back to Sirius saying that we would be beside the Common Room fire at the time Sirius had suggested.

Harry, Hermione, and I spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the Common Room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, we were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but we hoped we wouldn't have to resort to that - Filch would skin us alive. Luckily for me, I had some extra assistance. Without questioning my motives, Fred had promised me that he would keep Filch away from our end of the castle at night. I hadn't asked how he was planning that as I was fairly certain I didn't want to know.

One of the only good things that had happened to me in the last few days was when I had received a letter from Remus. It came as a bit of a surprise as it had been quite a few weeks since I'd written to him. I'd almost forgotten about my letter. The letter had come early one morning and I had, unfortunately, had to leave it until the night. The moment I had come back from class I had darted into my bedroom and taken the letter from its hiding spot in my drawer, drawn the curtains around my bed, and slit open the letter.

Tara,

My apologies for the delay. I've been on the move for the past few weeks and it's been hard to stay in one place. I've been well and in contact with your parents. I haven't attempted to find any new work. Since Severus let out the truth of my condition I figure that it won't be easy for me to find another position so quickly. Not to fear, I have plenty of money stored away and a place to go. I promise that I will visit all of you soon.

Yes, I do know Alastor. In fact, I wrote him a letter not long after I learned that he would be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to let him know what your classmates had learned this past year. I've yet to hear back from Alastor but he hasn't always been the easiest person to talk to. I will write to him again and let you know if I hear back.

Alastor has always had an odd way of explaining himself. I do agree that him showing your class the Unforgivable Curses is inappropriate. That's far beyond what any professor should feel comfortable doing. Yes, performing the Unforgivable Curses usually requires the performer to feel some kind of anger or hatred, but those feelings can be easy to pull to the surface for some people.

As concerned as I may be, Alastor is a good man with a good track record. I will reach out to him again.

Tara, I heard about what happened in the Triwizard Tournament. I've spoken with Sirius on the matter. I know that you and Harry did not put your names in the Goblet of Fire. That means someone else did. Be careful. Both of you. This wasn't done as a joke. Someone is betting on you both getting hurt. Keep your eyes out for anything odd and take care of each other.

I'll see you both soon.
Remus

My relief at finally receiving a response from Remus hadn't lasted long. His letter had bothered me more than I was expecting. I had almost forgotten about my hatred of Moody over the last few weeks because of the anticipation from the tournament. It did, however, make me feel better that Remus would be taking that issue into his own hands. What bothered me more was that another person thought Harry and I were entered into the Triwizard Tournament because they wanted to see us get hurt. It didn't make me feel any better about what was coming.

In the meantime, life became even worse for me within the confines of the castle. The brief moment of reprieve I had gotten from my brief conversation with Cedric during the Weighing of the Wands had passed. Things hadn't gotten better. Somehow, things had gotten worse. Much worse, as Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament. It had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry and a gossip column of my personal life.

Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry. I wasn't surprised to see that Skeeter hadn't used any of the group pictures for the cover of the article. The article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry and myself. The names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article. Cedric was only mentioned in relation to me. I wished he had been left completely out of the article; I was positive he felt the same way.

While the portion on Harry was embarrassing and pathetic, it paled in comparison to the piece that Skeeter had written about me. Skeeter had dedicated an entire page of the article to me and not a single word that was written was kind. I had known before the article came out that I would have hell to pay for throwing the broom cleaning kit at Skeeter - I hadn't expected a glowing review from Skeeter - but what she had decided to say about me was worse than I had been expecting.

The article had appeared ten days ago now, and I still got a sick, burning feeling of shame in my stomach every time I thought about it. Those ten days had already felt like ten years. I couldn't imagine being in the castle for another eight months with that article circulating. If I had thought I was ill-tempered before the article came out, it was nothing compared to how I was reacting now. Rita Skeeter had reported me saying an awful lot of things that I couldn't remember ever saying in my life, let alone in that broom cupboard.

Apparently, I had said, "Yes, having to separate from Cedric was one of the hardest things I had ever done. It was his choice, you know. I've always been known for bending the rules and I wouldn't have minded continuing in secret, but... well, if it's just between us? He had already gotten what he wanted. There was no point in fighting for something he'd already gotten."

But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming my profane rant into long, sickly sentences: She had interviewed other people about me too. Cedric's best friends Ted Montgomery and Michael Conner said that Cedric liked to tell all his friends about our trysts together, laughing over just how easy it had been to get me with him. My longtime classmate Pansy Parkinson said that I had been going after Draco Malfoy for years to no avail and had settled with Cedric. Not to mention that I was now trying to steal Harry Potter from bookworm Hermione Granger.

According to an anonymous Ravenclaw student, I was known for going after men who were already taken - Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy at the top of that list. According to the anonymous student (one of Cho Chang's friends, I was positive), Cedric had already had his eyes set on another female student when I had swooped in, offering what the other girl would have made him work for. I had evidently had a casual relationship with Harry Potter for years and my supposed fury with Draco Malfoy? The tension that was building on my part from a refusal on his.

The morning after the Weighing of the Wands, I was sitting on my bed, smiling like an idiot at the ceiling. Maybe I was getting back together with Cedric after all. He clearly wanted us to be together. He had said so last night. My stomach was bubbling with anticipation, the same way it had before our first date. No one had to know. We could keep our relationship secret for a few months. We had done it before, after all. The door to the dormitory opened and I glanced up. The other girls had already gone to breakfast. Hermione was standing in the doorway, looking very pale.

She looked like she was about to be sick. "Hey," I chirped. Hermione didn't respond. Her hands were knotted behind her back as she walked forward, closing the door behind her. "You look like you killed someone."

"Don't shoot the messenger," she replied nervously.

"What are you talking about?" I asked dumbly.

Hermione walked up to the edge of my bed and handed over the Daily Prophet that she had been hanging onto. It was a little surprising, as she didn't normally read the paper. I took it with a sigh. Skeeter's article would be out and I knew that it wouldn't be positive. The front page was a massive picture of Harry and I snorted. Naturally. I scanned the article quickly but stopped on the last page. The page that said that I had given myself to Cedric and he had laughed about it. The page that said no boy at Hogwarts wanted me now. The page that said I was too easy. There was no chase with me.

The article fell from my limp hand as my throat tightened with tears. I looked up at Hermione with glassy eyes. "Where did you get this?" I asked, my voice breaking.

I could intercept the paper before it went into widespread print. "They're all over the school," Hermione said slowly.

My heart dropped into my stomach. "Oh, my..." I gasped.

Everyone would have seen it. All of my friends and the people who hated me. My family would have seen it. My friends back in the States would have seen it. Sirius and Remus would see it. I knew that Skeeter hadn't liked me and I knew that I had deserved a bit of a scathing commentary for what I had done to her, but I didn't deserve this. I was fifteen. How had anyone allowed this to be printed? How had the teachers let the story run across the school? It was vile. My heart pounded against my ribs as I crumpled the paper in my hands.

Hermione reached over and laid a hand on my leg. "Tara, don't engage. Sit here and take some time to calm down. Let this thing blow over. Don't go down there and make a scene," Hermione insisted.

What was the point in not making a scene? The article would make me even more of a laughing stock? I may as well have given them a real reason to talk. "Everyone's talking about it," I said, knowing that I was telling the truth. Hermione hesitated, with a guilty look in her eyes. I raised my voice slightly. "Aren't they?"

Hermione jumped and whispered, "Yes." Burning hatred settling in my chest, I sprang off the bed. It was breakfast time. He would be downstairs and we needed to have a conversation. I didn't care who heard this time. Hermione sprang up behind me, grabbing for my arm. "Don't go! Stay up here with me!"

She stumbled slightly as I threw her off of me. I stormed to the door and slammed it in her face, knowing that it would slow her down before she could get to me. All she would do would try to stop me and I wasn't letting that happen. If they were all laughing there was nothing I could do to stop that. But I could try and scare them too. And I needed to know the truth. I stormed downstairs and into the Common Room without changing from my pajamas. There were many chuckles and jeers thrown my way as I walked toward the Fat Lady's portrait.

At least twenty copies of the Prophet were sitting on the floor and I made a point to walk over them. There were some hoots and howls along with some profane offers from older boys I had never spoken to before. Mortified from what had happened and furious with their reactions, I continued on my warpath, my blood boiling as I walked. I headed downstairs, ignoring the laughs and jeers from the students who passed. They were all holding copies of the Daily Prophet. I was already seeing red as I planned to head right for Cedric. I needed to know if he had really said it, even on accident.

Cedric Diggory, the first Hogwarts champion and ex-boyfriend of fellow champion Tara Nox puts it best: "Tara has always bent the rules. I wasn't surprised at all by her name coming out the goblet." And when asked about their time spent together in private? "Well, Tara never has been one to hide what she does at night. You can figure out the truth on your own."

It didn't sound like something he would have said, but I couldn't process it into proper thought. I needed to know. I needed to know if he had been joking with a friend and she had twisted his words. I stormed down the entrance hall toward the Great Hall when I was cut off by Fred and George Weasley. They both looked shocked to see me. Fred was the first one to reach out to stop me from moving forward. I tried to shove past them but they caught me around the waist, worried looks on both of their faces.

"Tara, whatever you're thinking, don't do it," George warned.

"It's not going to work out well," Fred added.

"I don't care. Move," I snapped.

The twins reached out for me again as I slammed past them. I heard them following me as I stormed into the Great Gall, where the conversations died immediately. Everyone was holding one of the papers. I could see the second-page picture that was zoomed in on Cedric and me. We had been playfully nudging each other in the photograph because we were bored, but in the version Skeeter had published, it looked like his hand was positioned firmly on my ass, only helping fuel the rumors. That's why they all believed the paper. My face burned with embarrassment.

My head whipped toward the Hufflepuff table. Cedric was sitting with most of his friends. The same ones who had said such awful things about me and our relationship. My blood boiled again as I heard him asking what they were all laughing at. He tried to reach over and take the paper but his friends pulled it away. If he wanted to know what they were hiding, I would show him. I stormed up to their table and threw the paper onto the table in front of Cedric. His head snapped up as he stared at me. A vague smile crossed his lips.

"Tara -"

"Did you say that?" I interrupted.

He seemed to finally realize that I didn't look happy. I wasn't smiling. I was furious. My anger was the only thing keeping me from crying, which would likely come after this. My snap had echoed all across the Great Hall. No teachers were in the hall this early in the morning. They wouldn't be in for at least another few minutes, giving me the perfect opportunity to do this. Any conversations that hadn't ended when I'd first walked into the Great Hall had died now. That vague grin was wiped off Cedric's face in an instant.

"Tara..." Cedric whispered nervously. His voice had lowered to the point of a whisper as he looked down at the paper. He scanned our portion of the article quickly before he looked back up at me, his face far paler than it had been a moment before. "You can't believe I said that."

Maybe not, but I knew who had. "And what about them?" I snapped, motioning to his friends.

Cedric turned a heated glare on his friends. They grinned up at me. "Come on, Tara," Ted said slowly.

"It was just a joke," Michael added.

They were both grinning at me playfully. My stomach bubbled with hatred. I'd thought we could at least get along, but what the hell was this? "Yeah, that was a really funny joke," I sneered, hoping the trembling of my voice wasn't too obvious.

"What the hell did you two do?" Cedric asked his friends sharply.

They were still laughing. "Fuck you both." There was some scattered laughter and comments about my language. Even Cedric's friends looked surprised at my language. I turned to the rest of the Great Hall with a scowl. "And all the rest of you!" I shouted.

My voice bounced around the hall. "You already played that game, Tara, and you lost," a Hufflepuff boy at the end of the table shouted, standing up.

Laughter rang out in the Great Hall. I heard multiple comments and insults being shot my way from every table - even Gryffindor. I could feel the tears building in my eyes again as I turned to walk away. This wasn't getting me anywhere. I was just making myself look worse. In a few minutes, I was sure to lose my temper. "Tara, please wait, I want to talk," Cedric said, standing and taking my arm in his hands.

I ripped myself out of his grasp, stumbling back a few steps. "Get off me! Don't touch me," I sneered weakly, my voice containing a very obvious quiver. A lone tear rolled down my cheek as the people nearest me continued laughing. I looked back at Cedric with misty eyes. "Hang out with your fucking friends."

Cedric looked broken-hearted. "Tara, please -"

"Run off, Nox," came the high-pitched, nasally voice of Pansy Parkinson. I glanced over at her and scowled. She was just about the last person I wanted to be near right now. "You've got nothing left to give him."

My chest burned with searing hatred. I may not have had anything left to give him but there was something I still had in me. "That's fair," I said as calmly as possible, turning to look at Parkinson. "But I've got one last thing to give you."

Any worries about getting in trouble had long since left my mind. I didn't care what they did to me. I reared back and slapped Pansy across the face as hard as I possibly could. The crack across her face echoed across the Great Hall. I grinned as the ring that I had been wearing on my thumb (a present from my parents) had been turned slightly inward on accident and the gem sliced across her cheek. Parkinson fell back in shock as I launched after her. The gathering crowd jeered as they jumped to their feet and I slammed Parkinson against the Slytherin table.

By now I could see some teachers running in our direction. It didn't stop me from continuing in my tirade. "Why don't you ask your boyfriend who he really dreams about in the middle of the night, huh?" I sneered at Parkinson. She looked shocked as quiet whispers bounced all around us. "Because it's certainly not you!" I turned to meet Malfoy's stunned eyes. I grinned again as I looked back at her. "Want to know how many times he's offered to leave you?"

"Bitch!" Parkinson gasped.

I wasn't sure where I was going with things, but I knew I wasn't done. "Nox, enough!" Professor McGonagall called warningly.

Her hands grabbed onto my robes to try and pull me back but I yanked out of her grasp. Many students at the other table were chuckling at my anger. "Go on, have a good laugh!" I shouted. "I'm sick of this place!"

"Tara." The Great Hall fell silent at the appearance of Professor Dumbledore. My grip on Parkinson relaxed slightly. "Please go with Professor McGonagall. Take a moment and calm down. As for the rest of you, I believe breakfast would be best had in your Common Rooms. Off you scamper," Dumbledore said calmly.

There was no chatter as the students grabbed their breakfasts and began moving out of the Great Hall. No one was going to dare ignore him. I released Parkinson and stepped back. I tried to hold my head high as I turned and walked away from the Slytherin table. Cedric was on his feet and staring right at me. He looked heartbroken as he turned and shot his friends a scowl. He reached out for me as I walked past but I couldn't be near him right now. I didn't want to be near anyone. I shoved his chest and he stumbled into his table as I sped up to practically run from the Great Hall.

It wasn't before I could hear Cedric say, "What the hell did you two do?"

Professor McGonagall laid a hand on my back and gently nudged me along the hallway. As we made our way to her office, Professor McGonagall looked like she actually felt bad for what had happened to me. I was surprised to see she didn't look even slightly angry. I was sure it was because of the guilt that she took things so easy on me. Far more than I deserved. I only managed to get myself five night's detention scrubbing the classrooms by myself. It was nothing compared to what I deserved for the scene in the Great Hall and the way I had physically attacked Parkinson.

My scene in the Great Hall was the only time I had taken things that far. Beyond that, I had mostly stuck to snapping at people and shouting profanities from afar. Nothing more severe than getting a few points taken away from Gryffindor. I hadn't had any detentions since Professor McGonagall had given me the five nights for attacking Parkinson. From the moment the article had appeared in the Daily Prophet, I had had to endure people - Slytherin's and Hufflepuff's, mainly - quoting it at me as I passed and making sneering comments.

"How about the same show Diggory got, Nox? Come on! We can make a line."

"Cedric must have finally realized that you weren't that impressive, Nox. Must hurt, doesn't it?"

"Tara!"

"Yeah, that's right!" I found myself shouting as I wheeled around in the corridor, having had just about enough. "I've just been meeting up for a midday rendezvous in the broom cupboard. Get in line, asshole."

I'd had all sorts of creative insults on the tip of my tongue but they died when I realized that I was standing face-to-face with Fred Weasley, not a rude older student. "Can I take you up on that offer?" Fred teased.

"I thought you were -"

"I know. I just thought you needed a hug."

We were the only two people in the hallway. "I need to get out of here," I said quietly, looking around for a nook I could hide in.

"Come here," Fred offered.

If there was ever anyone I could trust to be there for me all the time, it was Fred. We stared at each other for a few moments. I wasn't going to cry but I could feel my throat tightening with the threat of tears. Fred grabbed me from my shoulder blades and pulled me up against him. I let out a dry sob as quietly as I could as I stepped into him. Fred kept my head tucked into his chest as he rested his chin at the edge of my forehead. We remained locked together for a few moments as Fred leaned down and pressed a kiss against the top of my head.

We hadn't spoken since the article had debuted, but I knew he had wanted to. He had given me quite a few looks over the last week and a half. I had ignored them, not wanting to snap at him. "You don't believe it?" I asked, pulling away.

Fred chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course not. No one that knows you believe it," he explained. I let out a little breath. It seemed that the entire school believed it. "Although, they all think you're a little homicidal now."

I let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah. I guess I kind of made myself look like an ass, didn't I?" I asked.

Fred shrugged. "You didn't say anything that people didn't deserve. Tara, people can only take so much before they snap. You had every right to say and do what you did."

"Not the way I did," I muttered guiltily. Parkinson was a bitch but she hadn't deserved what I'd done to her. "Harry hasn't gone off on anyone like that."

"You can admit it. You got off way worse than he did," Fred said.

"Differently, I'd say."

Sure, I looked like a joke, but Harry hadn't gotten off easily either. He looked as pathetic as I did, just for a different reason. "Hey, you know you can always talk to me, right?" Fred asked. I nodded. "If you need another midnight therapy session in the Common Room, let me know. I'll always be there for you."

I chuckled. "Maybe I'll take you up on that. Freddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean what you said the other day? Did you mean that Cedric should have known how lucky he was to have me?" I asked.

It felt a little pathetic to ask him that, but I needed to know if he had meant it. "Of course. And he wants you, Tara. I know you're hurt, but it wasn't Diggory. He didn't say anything to that snake of a woman. His friends were playing a joke," Fred explained. He must have seen the scowl on my face because he continued quickly. "One made in very poor taste. Diggory's furious with them. He's trying to find a way back to you. I know you well enough to know that's what you want."

"Every time I go back to him I get hurt," I muttered.

People had teased Cedric but they hadn't said anything nearly as horrible to him as they had to me. "Is he worth it?" Fred asked slowly.

There was something strange in his eyes but I couldn't place it. I didn't respond to Fred for a long time. My immediate thought was that Fred was worth it. He was worth so much. I wanted to tell Fred that he was worth all of the pain I had faced over the last few weeks but I couldn't be positive. Not after all the harassment I had dealt with. Was anything worth that much nastiness? I wanted to be with Cedric but I needed time and I needed to calm down and lose the nasty attitude I had before speaking with him.

Just as I was about to ask Fred how I was supposed to move forward, a voice echoed through the hall. "Mr. Weasley. Miss Nox," Professor Flitwick called. Fred and I looked up, smiling at our Charms teacher. "Time for class, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," I said, smiling as Professor Flitwick nodded at us and walked off. Once he was gone, I turned back to Fred. "Thanks, Freddie."

If there was one person I could always count on to treat me the same, no matter what was going on, it was Fred. Having him tease me when everything was going to hell had always made me feel better. It made me feel like things had a chance to go back to normal. Not that things had even come close to being that way. I was so far from my normal self that I couldn't even remember what life felt like before I was a Triwizard Tournament champion. All I knew was that I was depressed and angry all the time and it wasn't a feeling I liked.

Harry had gotten his own article about how he got his strength from his parents and hoped they were proud of him and that he still cried over them at night. Skeeter had even reported that Harry had at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, said that Harry was rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-Born girl who, like Harry, was one of the top students in the school. Though, evidently, Tara Nox was attempting to step between their relationship. Like myself, Harry was also yelling at people.

Just earlier in the day, I had seen Harry shout at Cho Chang, who had called out to Harry to say that he had dropped his pen. Harry was still embarrassed about it. Hermione had come in for her fair share of unpleasantness too, but she hadn't yet started yelling at innocent bystanders. I gave her a lot of credit. Hermione was much calmer toward the teasing aimed at her than we were. Though, we were getting it worse. If I were being honest, though, I was full of admiration for the way she was handling the situation.

"Stunningly pretty? Her?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Hermione after Skeeter's article had appeared. "What was she judging against - a chipmunk?"

It surprised no one that I was the first to lunge after her. "You want another black eye?" I'd snapped.

The crowd that had gathered to watch laughed as I lunged after Parkinson, who had shrieked and stumbled back as Hermione had grabbed me. "Tara! Ignore it," Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. "Just ignore it, both of you."

But I couldn't ignore it. It didn't help that things with Ron hadn't gotten any better. Neither Harry nor I had had any luck with Ron. Harry hadn't gotten anywhere during their detention. None of the three of us were speaking to each other. Hermione was furious with all of us; she went from one to the other, trying to force us to talk to each other, but Harry and I were adamant: We would talk to Ron again only if Ron admitted that we hadn't put our names in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for calling us liars.

"We didn't start this," Harry said stubbornly. "It's his problem."

"He's been an asshole about this. We might have gotten the fame but we're the laughing stocks of the school!" I shouted.

"You both miss him!" Hermione said impatiently. "And I know he misses you both -"

"Miss him?" Harry asked indignantly. "I don't miss him."

But he did. "If he doesn't believe me and doesn't want to help defend me, I don't miss him one bit," I snapped.

But both of our comments were downright lies. We both liked Hermione very much, she was one of my best friends, but she wasn't the same as Ron or Harry on a normal day. There was much less laughter and a lot more hanging around in the library when Hermione was your best friend. Harry still hadn't mastered Summoning Charms, he seemed to have developed something of a block about them, and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. They consequently spent a lot of time poring over books during their lunchtime.

Hermione tried to get me to come along but most of the time I refused, instead, going for lonely walks around the Black Lake. I joined them in the library occasionally though. Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot too, and I wondered what he was up to. Was he studying, or was he looking for things to help him through the First Task? Hermione often complained about Krum being there - not that he ever bothered us - but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting.

"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile.

"We all know that," I added, watching him walk awkwardly.

"They only like him because he's famous!" Hermione continued. "They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky Faint thing -"

"Wronski Feint," Harry said, through gritted teeth.

We exchanged a look long enough to laugh. Hermione may have known more than normal humans about most things, but she didn't know more than the basics when it came to Quidditch. Quite apart from liking to get Quidditch terms correct, it caused me another pang of longing to imagine Ron's expression if he could have heard Hermione talking about Wonky-Faints. It made me miss the days that I could sit back and listen to Ron and Hermione argue about her general lack of Quidditch knowledge.

Desperate to not think about missing Ron, I turned to Hermione and grinned. "I happen to remember Krum giving you a nice look when he first got here," I teased.

"No, he didn't," Hermione snapped, but she was blushing.

It was a strange thing, but when you were dreading something and would have given anything to slow down time, it had a disobliging habit of speeding up. The days until the First Task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed. Now that the shock had worn off and my anger was slowly ebbing, the flat-out fear had set in. My feeling of barely controlled panic was now with me wherever I went, as ever-present as the snide comments about the Daily Prophet article.

We were just a few days out from the First Task when I headed downstairs one morning. I was heading into the Great Hall just long enough to get myself breakfast and then leave to eat by myself in the isolated courtyard. All eyes turned toward me as I grabbed an apple and turned to leave, ignoring the eyes. I was about to head outside when I was stopped by something. Rita Skeeter was entering the courtyard, talking to an older male student. My stomach bubbled with anger. I knew I was about to get in trouble, but I went for it anyway.

Storming out of the entrance hall, I moved into the courtyard. "You evil bitch!" I howled. The entrance hall and courtyard fell silent as the students looked up to see what was about to happen. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Skeeter turned to smile at me, but I saw the quiver in her step. "Tara," she greeted. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"How about I help you? God, how twisted can one person be?" I snarled, walking up to her. I didn't miss her stagger back a few steps. "You're spreading rumors about the sex life of a fifteen-year-old?"

Skeeter's face broke into a nasty grin. "I only repeat what others tell me."

"Please, you goaded them into it. You knew that what they were telling you wasn't true. You knew that they were messing with me and you went along with it!" I shouted.

Skeeter's eyes glittered playfully as she lowered her voice and said, "See what happens when little girls play with fire?"

"Oh, you want to see a fire?" I asked. Skeeter didn't realize what I was saying until it was too late. "Incendio!"

I'd whipped out my wand so quickly that Skeeter hadn't gotten a chance to react. My wand lit up with flames that shot out toward Skeeter's robes and lit them ablaze. She screamed in panic as she stumbled back. "Nox!" Professor McGonagall shrieked. "What have you done?"

"What no one else was willing to do," I said simply.

"Aguamenti!" Snape's voice called.

Water shot out from Snape's wand and doused Skeeter. Many of the students in the courtyard were laughing at her burned robes and the makeup now running down her face. I didn't laugh with the rest of them as I normally would have. Instead, I lunged after Skeeter again. This time it was Snape who caught me and kept me from flattening the witch. I thrashed against him but I couldn't break out of his arms. His grip was tighter than I was expecting. He threw me backward and I stumbled over my feet, barely keeping my balance.

"You know, if any of you had any balls you would kick her ass off of Hogwarts grounds!" I shouted at the teachers.

"Nox, that's enough!" Professor McGonagall yelled.

"It's not enough! You read what she wrote about me!" I shot back. The students looked horrified that I was now yelling at one of the most respected teachers in Hogwarts. "She's a bitch!"

"And that does not give you the right to act like one!" Professor McGonagall yelled back. I fell silent as she lowered her voice. "I know that you're upset about being a champion and what she wrote about you and you have every right to be. But this needs to end. Physical violence. It's too much. Come along. And you." Professor McGonagall was now addressing Skeeter. "Off of Hogwarts grounds this instant. If I catch any Hogwarts students speaking with her, you'll be in detention for a month."

The students scattered without another word as Snape moved to push Skeeter off the grounds. I followed Professor McGonagall without argument. "Where are we going?" I asked quietly.

"To see Professor Dumbledore," Professor McGonagall replied.

Great. I followed Professor McGonagall while shooting a scowl at Skeeter. I was furious with the reporter and everyone else. I followed the Transfiguration teacher at a close distance while avoiding the gazes of the students who were staring at me. I barely watched my surroundings as I walked. I was familiar with the path to Dumbledore's office. I walked all the way up the Griffin staircase with Professor McGonagall at my back. I knew that I'd gone too far today. I was going to get it. The door to Dumbledore's office opened and Professor McGonagall stepped back.

"I'll leave you to it," Professor McGonagall said.

"Professor McGonagall," I called before she could leave.

"Yes, Nox?"

"I'm sorry."

Not necessarily for what I had done, but I was sorry for being an ass to her. Professor McGonagall stared at me for a moment before nodding. "You are forgiven." I thought that she would leave when she leaned into me and lowered her voice. "For what it's worth, that was a good Fire-Making Spell."

I chuckled as she looked up and winked. "Thank you." Professor McGonagall turned to leave and closed the door to Dumbledore's office behind her. The Headmaster was sitting behind his desk, not smiling at me but not looking furious either. I tried to hold my head high as I said, "I'll accept my punishment. Whatever you think is right, but I'm not going to apologize to Skeeter."

"Nor will I ask you to," Dumbledore said calmly.

I'd come into the office determined to sound brave and defiant. But I sounded like a moron when I said, "What?"

Professor Dumbledore's eyes sparkled as he leaned forward. "You may not have spoken or acted in the best way possible, but I do not believe your words warrant a punishment." What? Was he joking? I definitely deserved punishment for what I had done. "Though, may I recommend avoiding Professor Snape for a while?"

"Agreed," I said, chuckling under my breath. I knew that Dumbledore was relaxed about most things, but I'd expected something more than this. "Not that I'm upset about it, but why aren't you punishing me? I admit that I was kind of out of line."

"I lost my temper a few times myself when I was your age," Dumbledore explained.

"I can't imagine you ever losing your temper," I said honestly.

Dumbledore chuckled, but he didn't sound amused. "Believe me, it happened. You have every right to be angry. You haven't had it easy over the last few weeks." I nodded at him. That was an understatement. "I didn't have Professor McGonagall bring you up here to reprimand you for your actions downstairs," Dumbledore admitted.

I couldn't imagine another reason why I was here. "Why did you?" I asked.

"You have a visitor," Dumbledore said.

"You lit Rita Skeeter on fire." I jumped at my father's voice. He was standing in the shadows of the office. For a moment, I thought he would shout at me for what I'd done. My face lost its color as I expected a good reaming for what had happened over the last few weeks. Instead, he laughed. "Damn you. I wish I'd thought of that."

I laughed disbelievingly. "Hey, Dad."

"Come here, kiddo."

Dumbledore stood up, smiling at us. "I'll leave you to it. I do believe there is a blueberry tart downstairs calling my name."

We watched Dumbledore leave with smiles on our faces, both nodding gratefully at him. "He may be one of the greatest wizards to ever live but he's a strange duck," my father said, chuckling.

Once Dumbledore was gone, I ran up to my father and wrapped him in a tight hug. His arms tightened around my midsection almost painfully. I hadn't expected to have missed my parents this much. But I did. There were times when you needed friends and times you needed someone more. This was one of those times that I needed something more. I loved my friends and I adored Cedric, but I needed something else. I needed my parents. It was a long time before we released each other from the hug.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, trying to blink back the tears.

"To visit my girl," Dad said. I smiled up at him as he gently ran his hand over my back. "I hear you've been having a tough time out here and I wanted to make sure things were okay. Plus, I did have something to do with setting up the tournament. I was going to be here for the First Task anyway."

"Dad, I didn't put my name in the -"

"I know you didn't," he interrupted. My head snapped toward him. I thought he would have been the first one to blame me. He raised an eyebrow playfully. "You would know that too if you opened any of the letters your mother and I sent you."

I'd seen three letters come from my parents in the last few weeks but I had ignored them all. "I'm sorry. Things have been so awful the past few weeks and I thought your letters would be... I don't know. I thought you would be angry," I said bashfully.

"Darling, you're one of the brightest witches I've ever met. Brighter than your mother and brighter than me," Dad said teasingly. I smiled at him again. "But even you aren't bright enough to trick the Goblet of Fire. I know this tournament inside and out. It would take more than a fifteen-year-old girl to trick her way into the tournament."

"I wish everyone shared that sentiment," I muttered.

"You're a troublemaker. You always have been."

"But I didn't do that."

"I know. Are you okay?"

Absolutely not, but I didn't want to dump everything that was bothering me onto my father. He didn't need to have all my problems weighing on his mind. "Nervous. The First Task is coming up," I said, even though he already knew it. If there was any way out of the tournament, I knew that he was my last resort. "There's no way out of this?"

The guilt in his eyes was obvious. He felt terrible that his only child was stuck in what could be a fatal competition. "Honey, I'm sorry," Dad said, brushing my hair back off my forehead. "I've thought about it as much as I could but the Goblet of Fire is a binding contract. There's no way out. You have to compete. But if anyone can do it, it's you. Hell, I believe you're going to win."

It was nice to know that someone had faith in me. "Really?" I asked.

"Absolutely."

"How dangerous is it?" I asked.

It was a frightening thought but I wanted at least some gauge of how dangerous things were going to be. "Far less dangerous than it normally would be. We made sure of that. No one is going to get hurt. Especially not you," Dad promised, taking my hand tightly. "I'll be right by your side the entire time."

"You know, you're surprisingly understanding about this," I said curiously.

"You've had a hard enough time lately."

"That's true." We stood in silence for a while when I realized something horrifying. He had likely seen the article about me in the Daily Prophet. I jumped in sudden desperation for him to believe me. "Dad, the article that Skeeter published -"

"I know it's not true," he interrupted.

Over the summer he had been so quick to believe the worst in me. Why did he believe me now? "How?" I asked.

"Because I trust you."

I smiled happily. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you set Skeeter on fire."

"Why?" I asked.

He was okay with me physically abusing someone? "Because she's going to be in St. Mungo's for a few days recovering. If she weren't there, I think I would go down there and set her on fire myself for daring to talk about my daughter," Dad said dangerously.

No matter what happened between us, he was my father and he would never want to hear someone speak about me that way. "Thanks, Dad. How's Mom?" I asked.

"Worried about you," Dad said.

"That doesn't surprise me," I chuckled. "Tell her that I'm okay. A little nervous, but I'll be okay."

"I know."

"Are you staying?"

With the way I had been behaving lately, I wasn't sure if I wanted him to stay or leave. I didn't want to make myself look like an ass. "No, but I'll be back before the First Task," Dad promised. I nodded. "Dumbledore asked me to come out. He figured that you weren't doing well and thought you may need to speak to someone more than a friend."

"As always, he's right. Thanks for coming. And thanks for believing me," I added.

Dad nodded. "Always. We're on your side."

"I know. Since you're always on my side, is there any way you're planning on telling me about the First Task?" I asked, gently nudging him.

"Then you would actually be cheating after being accused of cheating," Dad pointed out. I rolled my eyes at him. How was this the time that we were going to start doing things the right way? "We're not taking that route. You're going to win fair and square."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll see you in a few days," I said.

He smiled, nudging me under the chin. "Chin up, kid. You're smarter and stronger than those kids. Always remember that," Dad said. I smiled up at him. "If all else fails, remember that you're good with Fire-Making Spells."

We both laughed as we walked out of the office to where Dumbledore was waiting in the lobby to his office. We both thanked Dumbledore for arranging the time for us to have a heart-to-heart before my father left. He was heading out well onto Hogwarts grounds with Dumbledore so he could Apparate home. I ended up going back to my classes honestly believing that things couldn't get much worse. Things were going to get better. I would ignore the comments, I would focus on the people I was still friends with, and I was going to get the best score in the First Task.

Unfortunately, the happiness I had felt from getting to see my father didn't last long. Seeing Dad and getting to talk with him had made me feel a bit better but it didn't take long for me to feel terrible again. People were still laughing at me. They thought it was funny I was so angry. They thought I was going to be flattened during the First Task. They thought Cedric had gotten what he wanted and had dumped me. They thought that I was going insane - sometimes I thought they might have been right about that. No one wanted to be my friend.

Just the day after my father had come and visited me in Hogwarts, I found myself sitting out on the grass at the edge of the Black Lake in the middle of lessons one day. Everything had finally gotten to me and I was letting my emotions out. Tears poured down my cheeks as I tried to keep from having to gasp for breath. I was hurt, embarrassed, and extremely angry. I couldn't believe what a nightmare this year had turned into, and we were only a few months in. This was supposed to be the year that I finally got some peace.

All that had happened over the last few weeks was that I had made myself look like a moron and far more provocative than I cared for. I knew that there were rumors of what Cedric and I had done in the middle of the night but people had known they were mostly rumors. I knew that people had pushed them along. People believed this was the truth. Everyone thought Cedric had gotten what he wanted and he'd left me. I heard the crunching of grass behind me and I threw my book, hearing it land on impact. Detentions didn't bother me anymore.

"Good aim. But I was expecting it," Cedric's voice came. I turned toward him and saw that he was holding my book against his stomach. We stared at each other for a few moments. "You shouldn't be out here."

"You should?" I asked him.

Cedric shrugged. "This is my free period. You should be in Charms if I recall correctly."

"Correct," I said.

Being in Charms would have been miserable. I didn't want to face the jeers from the Hufflepuff students in that class. "Is there a particular reason you're not there?" Cedric asked slowly.

"Seriously?" I snapped.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize things were that bad," Cedric said guiltily.

"That's not surprising," I huffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cedric asked.

Was he joking? How could he not understand how terrible things had become for me? "Why would you know how bad things were for me?" I snapped. Cedric looked surprised by my question. He would never know what this was like for me. "I don't get a few jibes thrown my way. I don't get people congratulating me on my score. Cedric, people are impressed with you. They think you managed to get yourself into my -"

"I've told them it's not true," Cedric interrupted.

"But it doesn't matter! They think you're too nice to admit what supposedly happened between us. Everyone's been cheering you on. They're impressed that you took what I can only give away once," I said, irritated that my voice cracked with both anger and embarrassment. Cedric's eyes turned down as I lowered my voice. "That's not the response I'm getting."

Cedric let out a deep breath as he laid a hand on my knee. I jerked away slightly. He retracted his hand. "I'm so sorry, Tara. I never meant for this to happen to you," Cedric said.

"You know what, I know you didn't mean for this to happen. You're too good of a person to have wanted or meant for this to happen. But it doesn't change what's happened! I'm a joke, Cedric. It's a double-standard. You're a hero. I'm a slut. Get it?" I asked. I didn't miss the way he cringed when I insulted myself. "Do you know how many propositions I've gotten from students who have never spoken to me before this? Do you know how many nasty names I've been called? It was your friends! I know I've never been super close to them but my friends would have never done this to you."

"Do you think I'm happy with them? I haven't spoken to Ted or Michael since this happened," Cedric explained. I was a little surprised that he hadn't, but some part of me was happy he wasn't. "They're hurt that I haven't been talking to them."

"Good. I don't care how they feel," I snapped.

"I know. That wasn't the point I was trying to make. I was trying to tell you that I'm not happy with what they said. You're my girlfriend," Cedric told me. That was what I wanted, but I wasn't sure if that was where we were. I opened my mouth to tell him that we weren't technically together anymore when he spoke over me. "Damn you, we're still together. It's what I want. It's what you want, isn't it?"

The sound of his voice broke my heart. He sounded more devastated about our semi-breakup than I had expected. It sounded like he wanted to be with me a lot more than I'd expected. I wanted to be with him so badly. All I wanted right now was to be with him. I wanted to hide up in the Astronomy Tower with him and never come back down. Cedric took my hand and gently pulled me into him. I stiffened at his touch and thought about pulling away briefly. Being with him had been so hard for me lately.

As I had told Fred earlier, I didn't know how much longer I could handle the hurt that came with being with Cedric. "Of course, I've always wanted to be with you. I've had a crush on you since the first time we met in Diagon Alley four years ago," I admitted. A small grin turned up on Cedric's face. "When we got together I was thrilled. Being with you was probably the happiest I'd ever been."

"Was?" Cedric asked teasingly.

As much as I wanted to give in and respond, I knew that I had to keep things serious. "Lately things aren't right," I said. Cedric's face fell. "You know that. We're always fighting. It's not you. It's me."

Cedric wore a bitter smile on his face. "The 'it's not you, it's me' speech."

"That's not what I was saying it for," I said defensively, tightening my grip on his hand to keep him from pulling away. "I still want to be with you, but every time we come close to getting back together I seem to get hurt again."

"I don't want you to get hurt, but I don't want to let you go," Cedric said.

So, we were at a standstill. I couldn't bring myself to walk away from him and he couldn't bring himself to let me go, but we weren't sure if we were supposed to be together. "So, where do we go from here?" I asked slowly.

Cedric was silent for a moment before saying, "Do you trust me?"

"Somehow, I do," I said.

"So, trust that I care for you. Trust that I understand whatever choice you're about to make. Trust that if you're not ready to continue this quite yet, I'll understand and that I'll be right here waiting for you when things get better," Cedric said.

That answer surprised me. "Really?" I asked curiously.

He had every right to walk away from me. He'd had a long line of girls waiting for him the moment our relationship seemed to be on the rocks. "Yes. I don't want to end this," Cedric said. "Whatever it takes, I'll be right here waiting for you."

"Why?" I asked.

He gave me a strange smile that I couldn't place as he shook his head. "It's not the time."

We stared at each other for a moment as Cedric tightened his grip on my hand. I smiled sadly at him as I leaned down and rested my head in the crook of his shoulder. "It makes sense what my parents told me once," I said quietly as we watched the murky black waters. "They talked about having a relationship you can't let go of."

Cedric chuckled as he leaned down and pressed a kiss against the top of my head. "Good."

We would get back to normal. I believed that. In the meantime, I was glad to know that Cedric felt the same way about me that I felt about him. I had such strong feelings for him that I couldn't understand. Cedric reached under my chin after a moment and tilted it upward. I smiled weakly as we met eyes. He leaned down and moved his lips past my mouth, our lips hardly brushing as he pressed a kiss against the corner of my mouth. I let out a deep breath as I reached up and pressed a kiss against his cheek.

Even as my lips were still pressed against his cheek, I could feel them tilt up in a smile. "You're better than I deserve," I told him.

Cedric shook his head. "That's not true at all. You would have every right to tell me to go to hell and never speak to me again," Cedric said. I giggled under my breath. We sat in silence for a bit before Cedric spoke again. "I didn't say what was written in the article. You know that, don't you?"

Except for a brief moment of doubt, I had always known that Cedric would have never said something like that. "I do. I was just angry," I told him. "I guess for half a second I thought that maybe you had repeated our conversation to one of your friends and they had spread the rumor."

Cedric shook his head. "What I say to you and vice versa stays between us."

"I know," I admitted.

There was a reason I'd always believed he was a great man. He would never do something like that. "Tara?" Cedric asked. I hummed under my breath. "Promise me something?" I nodded at him. "When this year ends and we're through with this nightmare, we can take some time and... and be together again. I want to remember what it's like to be your boyfriend without the Triwizard Tournament."

"It's exactly like this. This is what dating me is like," I said irritably.

"Then it's exciting," Cedric said.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "You're a saint for putting up with me."

"I'm not a saint and I don't put up with you," Cedric said.

There was a vague hint of emotion in his voice that told me what he wasn't saying out loud. It was a sentiment that I shared but not one that I was ready to say. Not while things were so rocky between us. So, I settled with keeping my head tucked against his shoulder as he placed a hand under my robe, his fingers wrapped over the top of my bare thigh, just slightly under where my skirt laid. Goosebumps rose on my skin as his hand trailed upward slightly, still keeping a respectable distance.

"You didn't come to the Astronomy Tower that night," Cedric commented.

"You went?" I asked, shocked.

Cedric nodded. "Of course. I said I would be there."

After my blowup in the Great Hall that morning, I hadn't even considered going to the Astronomy Tower. I was shocked that he had gone. "Why? I treated you like shit," I said.

"You know exactly why," Cedric said.

"I should have gone," I muttered.

Cedric shrugged. "Trust me, I didn't think you would be there," he pointed out. I blushed. I could have had a wonderful chance to prove him wrong. "I went just in case you changed your mind."

"Even though I wasn't there for it, I'm glad you went," I said.

"Oh?" Cedric asked, sounding surprised. "Why?"

"It's nice to know that I can be a complete ass to you but you're always there for me," I said. Cedric laughed, nodding comfortingly. "No matter what horrible thing I say or do, you're always there to support me. I don't deserve you, but I'm extremely grateful to have you."

"I've got no intention of leaving. I'm right here," Cedric promised.

For the first time since my name had been pulled from the Goblet of Fire, I believed him. I believed that he was going to be there for me. I believed that he was going to wait while I tried to piece my life back together. I believed that he was going to support me while I tried to get past the rumors that were still running rampant around us. Cedric and I stared at each other for a long time before he wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and pulled me into him. I followed. We were centimeters apart when the bell tower chimed.

We both jumped but didn't pull away. "Good timing," I chuckled bashfully.

"No, it wasn't," Cedric argued. We exchanged another small smile as I leaned forward and pressed a brief kiss against the edge of his lips. I smirked at his indignation as I pulled back. "Next time."

"Next time," I promised, and that time I meant it.

On the Saturday before the First Task, all students in the Third Year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. When I'd first heard, I hadn't wanted to go. I had wanted to hang around and wander the castle while none of the other students were there to stare at or make fun of me. My idea hadn't lasted long. Neither had Harry's, as he'd had the same idea. Hermione told Harry and me that it would do us good to get away from the castle for a bit, and after some thought, I hadn't needed much persuasion.

"What about Ron, though?" Harry asked Hermione. "Don't you want to go with him?"

"Oh. Well..." Hermione went slightly pink. "I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks."

"No," Harry said flatly.

"No way," I snapped. Even if we didn't get in an argument, we would be sitting in silence the entire visit. "Can you imagine how awkward that would be?"

"Oh, Harry, Tara, this is so stupid -"

"I'll come, but I'm not meeting Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak," Harry said.

"Tara?" Hermione asked.

The hesitance in her voice told me that she didn't want me to wear the Invisibility Cloak. I understood, she didn't want to look like she was alone. "Don't worry about me. I'm not going to use the Invisibility Cloak. I can't hear much worse than I already have. Harry can keep it. I'll come with you guys," I told them.

"You're not going to go with Cedric?" Hermione asked curiously.

"No," I mumbled. "We're taking some time to think about things."

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked.

"I'll let you know when we've figured it out," I said.

Until I was positive that we could work things out, I knew that it was the right move to take a step back. "Oh, all right then... but I hate talking to you in that cloak, I never know if I'm looking at you or not," Hermione snapped.

"At least you'll have me," I half-teased.

"Are you sure you don't want to use the cloak?" Harry offered.

"No, I'm good. They'll laugh one way or another. I may as well see if they have the balls to say it to my face," I said.

The comments would echo all around Hogsmeade whether or not they saw me. I may as well have tried to put on a brave face. To my surprise, both Harry and Hermione started laughing at my comment. I hadn't expected it. I'd thought that Hermione would continue to badger me about my language and general disregard for the rules. I had heard about it from Hermione when she'd learned what I had done to Skeeter and Snape. Once we had stopped laughing, Harry ran to get the Invisibility Cloak, came back downstairs, and together the three of us set off for Hogsmeade.

Things were tough but I was bound and determined that I wasn't going to let myself get upset today. I was out of the stifling air of the castle and going to finally have some fun. So, Hermione and I chatted happily about Muggle things - something that kept my mind miles away from the idea of the tournament and what was going on in Hogwarts. We talked about movies we could go see over the summer, new music that we had been listening to over the break, and taking a trip to the States once the year was over.

As I hadn't been listening to what most people were saying in Hogsmeade, I felt wonderfully free on this trip. It was the first time in a long time. I watched the other students walking past us as we entered the village, most of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges. Some chuckled at the sight of me in Hogsmeade without Cedric, but no horrible remarks came my way and nobody was quoting that stupid article yet. I figured that it was mostly because I finally looked happy. People knew that their comments wouldn't get to me. Not today.

I'd been feeling perfectly wonderful until I saw Cedric wandering around with his friends not far from us. My mood plummeted immediately. I noticed that Ted and Michael were a bit quieter than normal. I stared at them as they walked past. I could hear Hermione and Harry chatting softly at my side. I gave the older Hufflepuff students a long look and smiled grouchily. Maybe I had made the wrong move... Maybe I should have taken Cedric up on his offer to keep our relationship going. I sighed as I watched them walk off.

"People keep looking at me now," Hermione said grumpily as we came out of Honeydukes Sweetshop an hour after arriving in Hogsmeade, eating large cream-filled chocolates. "They think I'm talking to myself."

"They think you're talking to Tara," Harry said from under the Invisibility Cloak.

"No, they don't. She's off daydreaming about her boyfriend," Hermione said.

"Ex," I said bitterly.

"Sorry," Hermione said bashfully.

"It's fine," I muttered.

"Don't move your lips so much then," Harry advised Hermione.

"Come on, please just take off your cloak for a bit, no one's going to bother you here," Hermione told him.

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked. "Look behind you."

That was enough to break my concentration over Cedric. I looked over to see that Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub. "Evil bitch," I growled.

I'd barely noticed that I was moving toward her until Hermione grabbed me. "She's not worth it," Hermione whispered.

"Maybe, but it'll be amusing for me," I replied.

I launched after her but was stopped by Hermione again. "Stop it!" Hermione barked.

"No!" I snapped.

Our shouting had attracted Skeeter's attention. "Something bothering you, Miss Nox?" Skeeter half-asked and half-sneered, her Quick-Quotes Quill in her hands.

"You," I growled.

"You should have enjoyed my article. It's made you the talk of the school," Skeeter said.

The talk of the school? It had turned me into the Whore of Babylon. I launched after Skeeter, determined to claw her eyes out, but was grabbed by Hermione for the third time. Skeeter squealed and backed away nervously. "She's not worth it!" Hermione told me.

Talking in low voices, Skeeter and her photographer passed right by Hermione without looking at her. I scowled at her as she passed. I could see Harry's footprints back into the wall of Honeydukes to stop Skeeter from hitting him with her crocodile-skin handbag. When they were gone, Harry said, "You should have let her."

Hermione shook her head. "She would get detention for a month," she replied to Harry before turning to me. She had the 'you're-going-to-get-yourself-into-trouble-you-can't-get-out-of' look on her face. "They're only going to deal with her attitude for so much longer before they take action. You're not getting expelled because you can't control yourself."

They weren't going to expel me. "Yeah, whatever," I huffed. "She deserved it."

"We know," Hermione said.

"She's staying in the village. I bet she's coming to watch the First Task," Harry said.

"Maybe she'll be an 'accidental' casualty," I spat.

"Tara, you don't mean that," Hermione said, actually sounding a little nervous.

"Sure, I do," I replied.

At the mention of the First Task, my stomach flooded with a wave of molten panic. I'd had so much to think about over the past few weeks that the actual idea of the task had slipped my mind. This was the first time it had seemed real. With only days left until the task, there was no more running and hiding from it. I didn't mention the panic that had slipped into my head; none of us had discussed what was coming in the First Task much. I had the feeling neither one of them wanted to think about it.

"She's gone," Hermione said, looking right through Harry toward the end of the street. "Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it? You don't have to talk to Ron!"

The Three Broomsticks was packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people I had rarely seen anywhere else. This was the only place in Britain that most of them could survive freely. I supposed that as Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain, it was a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept as wizards at disguising themselves.

Keeping my hand in his, Harry edged slowly toward a spare table in the corner. It was the only way I could figure out where he was and how close we were to him. In the meantime, Hermione had gone to buy the three of us drinks. On our way through the pub, I spotted Ron, who was sitting with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Resisting the urge to give Ron a good hard poke in the back of the head, Harry finally reached the table. I heard the wood creak as he took a seat and I sat down on his other side.

My eyes scanned back through the bar as we sat and waited for Hermione. On some level, I was glad that Ron had others to turn to right now. He had his own problems and deserved to have someone to turn to. I met eyes with Fred, who winked at her. I smiled back at him. I still had friends and people on my side, even if it doesn't always seem like it. Hell, even Cedric had promised that he was on my side. Hermione joined us a moment later and slipped Harry a Butterbeer under his cloak. At that moment, I noticed Cedric come in with his friends.

"I look like such an idiot, sitting here on my own," Hermione muttered.

"You're not on your own. I'm here," I pointed out.

"You're daydreaming on your own planet," Hermione said.

"Okay, that's fair," I said.

"Lucky I brought something to do," Hermione continued.

And she pulled out a notebook in which she had been keeping a record of S.P.E.W. members. I snorted at the sight of it. I'd almost forgotten about her strange attempt to free House-Elves. As I scanned her papers, I saw Harry, Ron, and my own name at the top of the very short list. It seemed a long time ago that we had sat making up those predictions together, I had teased her about her efforts, and Hermione had turned up and appointed us as secretary, treasurer, and myself the head of public relations.

"You know, maybe I should try and get some of the villagers involved in S.P.E.W.," Hermione said thoughtfully, looking around the pub.

"You'll get laughed away from their tables," I told them.

Hermione gave me an affronted look. "No, I won't! They could be interested."

"Yeah, right," Harry said. I took a swig of Butterbeer as I watched Cedric laugh with his friends. "Hermione, when are you going to give up on this spew stuff?"

"When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions!" Hermione hissed back. "You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?"

"Do not go bother the House-Elves," I told her.

"No idea, ask Fred and George," Harry said.

"Tara?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not asking. Do it yourself, they're your friends too," I snapped.

Hermione lapsed into thoughtful silence, while I drank my Butterbeer, watching the people in the pub. All of them looked cheerful and relaxed, nowhere near the way I felt. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot were swapping Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table along with Cedric and the rest of his friends; both of them were sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges on their cloaks. Right over by the door, I saw Cho and a large group of her Ravenclaw friends. She wasn't wearing a Cedric badge though, much to my surprise.

What wouldn't I have given to be one of those people, sitting around laughing and talking, with nothing to worry about but homework? I imagined how it would have felt to be here if my name hadn't come out of the Goblet of Fire. Ron would be sitting with us. I wouldn't be listening to people making fun of me. The four of us would probably be happily imagining what deadly dangerous task the school champions would be facing on Tuesday. I would have been really looking forward to it, watching them do whatever it was.

My heart would soar as I would have been cheering on Cedric with everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands. I would have been able to run into his arms at the end of the First Task and planted a big kiss on his lips. We wouldn't be broken up. We could celebrate with each other when he finished the tournament. My mental health wouldn't be falling apart at the seams. I wouldn't be about ready to kill someone with all the frustration I was dealing with. Things would have been more exciting than fearful.

Though I had tried to ignore them lately, I found myself wondering how the other champions were feeling. Every time I had seen Cedric lately, he had been surrounded by admirers and looking nervous but excited. He hadn't said anything that day at the Black Lake about the tournament but I had seen some excitement in his eyes. I glimpsed Fleur Delacour from time to time in the corridors; she looked exactly as she always did, haughty and unruffled. Oddly enough, Krum just sat in the library, pouring over books.

The only thing I had to look forward to was seeing Sirius, though I wished we had more time between that chat and the First Task. At the thought of Sirius, the tight, tense knot in my chest seemed to ease slightly. Harry and I would be speaking to him in just over twelve hours, for tonight was the night they were meeting at the Common Room fire - assuming nothing went wrong, as everything else had done lately. At that moment, Cedric turned back to me and smiled. He was at the bar by himself, fetching drinks for his friends. He motioned me toward him.

"I'll be right back," I told Harry and Hermione.

Hermione barely looked up from her work. I couldn't tell what Harry had done. I rose to my feed and headed to the bar, standing a few feet from Cedric. "Drink?" he offered.

"You know, I can get my own," I replied.

"And here I wanted to try and woo my girlfriend back," Cedric teased. I smiled happily as I stepped into him. We stood almost up against each other as Cedric's arm slipped around my back. I heard feminine laughter and turned back to see a few pretty girls sitting at Cedric's table. I scowled at them. "Meaning you."

I stared at him for a moment. I didn't mean to let it slip, but I said, "I think I made a mistake."

Cedric's dark eyebrows rose. "What's that?"

"I think I hate the thought of not being with you even more than I hate what they're saying about me," I admitted.

"How much do you hate it?" Cedric asked.

"More than you know, I'm guessing," I said.

Not dating him anymore was a worse feeling than I'd had in a long time. "I'm not so sure about that," Cedric said. We smiled at each other as Cedric gently pulled me into him. My smile widened a little bit. I could see the desire in his eyes; I was positive that they were reflected in mine. "What do you say we go somewhere for a while?"

"Well -"

"Ced!" Ernie McMillan's voice called.

I'd been about ready to agree to leave with him. I wasn't sure if it was good or bad that Ernie had stopped us. "Come on!" Hannah Abbott added. "We're heading back to the castle."

"We've got Professor McGonagall's exam to study for," Ted added.

His voice was much quieter than the way it normally would have been. He had always been one of Cedric's loudest friends. I figured it was because he knew how hurt his relationship was with his friend. Ted didn't look pleased that Cedric was talking to me, but he wasn't going to push their already fragile relationship. "Your friends want you," I told Cedric quietly.

"Well, that's not what I want," Cedric replied.

"I think we all know what you want. Including your friends, apparently," I huffed.

For the first time since the article had come out, I found myself able to joke about it. I was as surprised as he was that I'd made a joke out of it. Cedric's lips turned upward as he smiled disbelievingly at me. "Is that such a bad thing?" Cedric asked.

My jaw almost dropped. "No. I don't suppose it is."

"Ced, come on!" Michael yelled. "The carriages are leaving."

"You should go. Before you get into something you can't handle," I teased.

We were both a little surprised by my words. Cedric barked out a laugh and winked as I leaned past him and stole his Butterbeer, turning and leaving the counter before he could reply to me. His laughter followed me to my seat. I had a good feeling that we would eventually get back together - truly together - but for now, we were going to tease each other, just the way we always had. Cedric rolled his eyes playfully as he walked back toward his friends to return to the castle. I walked back to Harry and Hermione.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Don't ask," I told her.

"Disgusting," Harry groaned.

"Come on, don't you want me to be happy?" I teased, nudging what I imagined to be his shoulder.

"Not that happy," Harry groaned in response.

"Look, it's Hagrid!" Hermione said.

Hagrid? What the hell was Hagrid doing in Hogsmeade? He rarely came to Hogsmeade without a good reason. The back of Hagrid's enormous shaggy head - he had mercifully abandoned his bunches - emerged over the crowd. I wondered why I hadn't spotted him at once, as Hagrid was so large, but rising to my feet for a moment, I saw that Hagrid had been leaning low, talking to Professor Moody. I raised a brow, unsure of what they were doing together. Hagrid had his usual enormous tankard in front of him, but Moody was drinking from his hip flask.

Madam Rosmerta, the pretty landlady on the Three Broomsticks, didn't seem to think much of that; she was looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from tables around the two men. Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead, but I knew better. Moody had told our class during our last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup. The more I got to know Moody, the more I understood why everyone said he was so paranoid.

As I watched the pair move around the Three Broomsticks, I saw Hagrid and Moody get up to leave. I would have waved, but I didn't want to bring Moody over to the table. It turned out to not matter. Moody paused as they were leaving, his magical eye on the corner where Harry had been seated. Moody tapped Hagrid in the small of the back (being unable to reach his shoulder), muttered something to him, and then the pair of them made their way back across the pub toward Harry, Hermione, and I's table.

Biting my tongue to keep from saying something rude to Moody, I tried to focus on Hagrid. "Hello, Tara," Hagrid greeted.

"Hi, Hagrid," I replied.

"All right, Hermione?" Hagrid called loudly.

"Hello," Hermione said, smiling back.

"Professor Moody," I greeted, knowing I couldn't ignore him.

"Miss Nox." Moody limped around the table and bent down. I thought he was reading the S.P.E.W. notebook, until he muttered, "Nice cloak, Potter."

My jaw dropped. I had never met anyone who could see through an Invisibility Cloak. I hadn't thought it was possible to see through one. I thought they were supposed to block out everything. I could only imagine that Harry was staring at Moody in amazement. Moody glanced up long enough to give me a knowing half-smirk. I stared at him with a stupid look on my face. The large chunk missing from Moody's nose was particularly obvious at a few inches' distance. Moody grinned.

"Can your eye - I mean, can you - ?"

"Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks," Moody said quietly. "And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."

"Fascinating," I mumbled.

Moody gave me an almost imperceptible nod. Hagrid was beaming down at us too. I knew Hagrid couldn't see Harry, but Moody had told Hagrid he was there. Hagrid now bent down on the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well and said in a whisper so low that only the two of us could hear it, "Harry, Tara, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak, the both of yeh."

"What?" I asked dumbly.

Straightening up, Hagrid said loudly, "Nice ter see yeh, ladies."

He then winked and departed. "Bye, Hagrid," I mumbled.

Moody followed him. "Why does Hagrid want us to meet him at midnight?" Harry asked, sounding surprised.

"No idea," I admitted.

"Does he?" Hermione asked, looking startled. I'd almost forgotten that she couldn't hear Hagrid. "I wonder what he's up to? I don't know whether you two should go." She looked nervously around and hissed, "It might make you late for Sirius."

It was a good point. We would be pushing it. "I can't stand the thought of missing it. Hagrid wouldn't ask us to risk being out that late and getting caught unless it was something important," I pointed out. Harry nodded. "We'll watch the clock."

"You're right. We need to go," Harry said.

It was true that going down to Hagrid's at midnight would mean cutting our meeting with Sirius very close. On our way back to Hogwarts a little while later, Hermione suggested sending Hedwig or Dai down to Hagrid's to tell him he couldn't go - assuming either one of the owls would consent to take the note, of course. Harry and I thought it would be better just to be quick at whatever Hagrid wanted us for. We were very curious to know what he wanted us for; Hagrid had never asked any of us to visit him so late at night.

Whatever he wanted from either one of us had to be important. There was no way that he would risk our safety if it wasn't important. I tried to think all day what he could want, but nothing came to mind. Nothing seemed important enough. At half-past eleven that evening, Harry and I - both of us had pretended to go up to bed early - pulled the Invisibility Cloak over ourselves and crept back downstairs through the Common Room. It was nerve-wracking to see that quite a few people were still in there.

I had to trust that Fred and George would get the students out if I needed it. In the Common Room, the Creevey brothers had managed to get hold of a stack of Support Cedric Diggory! badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say Support Harry Potter & Tara Nox! instead. So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on POTTER STINKS. Harry and I crept past them to the portrait hole and waited for a minute or so, keeping an eye on Harry's watch. Then Hermione opened the Fat Lady for us from outside as we had planned.

Harry and I slipped past her with a whispered "Thanks!"

"See you later!" I called after her, and together we set off through the castle.

We had barely walked for a few seconds when Harry spoke again. "What do you think he wants?" he asked.

Hagrid liked to chitchat with us but I couldn't imagine what he wanted that was this important. "To show us something. It has to be something important. He wouldn't have us risking getting in trouble unless there was a good reason," I said.

As we wandered out toward the grounds we talked about what Hagrid could have wanted. Neither one of us could figure out what it was. Hagrid wasn't the type to bring us out with this kind of risk. By the time we made it outside, the grounds were very dark. Harry and I walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up but it seemed that the students were getting ready for bed. I could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as Harry knocked on Hagrid's front door.

"You there, Harry, Tara?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.

"Yeah," Harry said, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the cloak down off our heads.

"Hi, Hagrid," I chirped.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"Got summat ter show yeh two," Hagrid said.

So, we were right about that part. But what did he want to show us? He didn't seem nervous. There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair. I could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it. Harry and I exchanged a look. I shrugged at him. I didn't know what was going on with Hagrid or why we were out here.

"Uh... you look nice, Hagrid," I said, trying to fill the awkward silence.

"Thank yeh, Tara," Hagrid said happily.

There was a slight blush on his cheeks. "What're you showing us?" Harry said warily.

For a moment, I had a brief fear that the skrewts had laid eggs, or Hagrid had managed to buy another giant three-headed dog off a stranger in a pub. "Please tell me the skrewts haven't multiplied," I whispered.

"Not yet," Hagrid said, sounding defeated that he didn't have twice the amount of Skrewts. "Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerself covered with that cloak. We won' take Fang, he won' like it."

"That doesn't sound reassuring," I whispered.

"Listen, Hagrid, we can't stay long. We've got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock," Harry said.

We didn't have long before we had to leave. I wasn't sure what Sirius was planning but I didn't imagine he was going to be around for that long. He couldn't risk having someone find him in Hogwarts. I wanted to ask Hagrid what was going on and how long it would take, but Hagrid wasn't listening. Instead, he was opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Harry and I hurried to follow and found, to my great surprise, that Hagrid was leading us to the Beauxbatons carriage.

"Hagrid, what - ?"

"Shhh!" Hagrid interrupted Harry, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.

"Are we about to go on a date with Hagrid?" I whispered to Harry.

"I hope not," Harry replied.

Madame Maxime opened the door. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid. "Ah, 'Agrid... it is time?"

Time for what? "Bong-sewer," Hagrid said, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps.

"Oh, Hagrid," I muttered.

"What?" Harry asked dumbly.

"He meant to say 'Bonsoir,'" I explained.

At least he had given it a try. I hoped Madam Maxime would appreciate that effort. Madame Maxime stepped out and closed the door behind her. Hagrid offered her his arm and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses. Harry and I, exchanging bewildered looks, were running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to show us that he had a date Madame Maxime? It was sweet, even if I didn't like her, but I didn't understand why we were out here. We could talk about his dating life anytime.

"We're accompanying them on a date!" I told Harry irritably.

"There has to be something more," Harry said.

"I don't think I want to see any more," I said.

Harry shivered in disgust. I didn't want to know what he was picturing. It seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treatment as Harry and I, because after a while she said playfully, "Where is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"

"Yeh'll enjoy this, worth seein', trust me," Hagrid said gruffly. "On'y - don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

"Of course not," Madame Maxime said, fluttering her long black eyelashes.

Well, that didn't seem at all suspicious. Did Madam Maxime want something? Was she trying to play Hagrid? And still, we walked, Harry and I getting more and more irritated as we jogged along in their wake, checking Harry's watch now and then. We kept exchanging annoyed looks. Hagrid had some harebrained scheme in hand, which might make us miss Sirius. After a brief whispered conversation we decided if we didn't get there soon, we were going to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime.

But then - when we had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight - I heard something. Men were shouting up ahead. Harry and I exchanged a quick look as we moved a bit closer to Hagrid and Madam Maxime. Nothing was out this far in the Forbidden Forest. I knew that for a fact, as we had traversed it many times. A few seconds passed as the men's voices tapered off, then came a deafening, earsplitting roar. It was so loud and sudden that I jumped.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

It was so loud that I could speak normally. "It sounded... big," Harry said dumbly.

Whatever was making that noise was huge. The question remained, though. What was it? Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. My irritation with Hagrid and potentially missing Sirius vanished as my curiosity took over. Harry and I linked hands as we hurried up alongside them for a better view. For a split second, I thought I was seeing bonfires and men darting around us - some strange kind of ritual - and then my mouth fell open. I knew exactly what had made that noise.

"Those are not -"

"Dragons," Harry interrupted me.

Dragons. For some reason, there were dragons in the middle of a clearing in the Forbidden Forest. I was positive that I didn't want to know why they were out here. Five fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting torrents of fire that were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. My stomach churned just looking at them.

There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; a massive brown one with black ridges on its back, which was biting at the chains around its legs; and a gigantic black one, more lizard-like than the others, which was nearest to us.

At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. What the hell did we have five dragons here for? Mesmerized by both my fear and admiration for the creatures, I looked up, high above me, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage. I couldn't tell which. It was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream.

My gaze turned to the other dragons. I landed on the deep brown dragon not far from the black one. It closely resembled the black dragon, except for the black ridges on its back and the browner texture of the scales. It seemed to be a little less violent than the black one, but that wasn't saying much. Something was dripping from the brown dragon's fangs, which I quickly realized were venomous. I jumped a few inches in the air as the dragon lurched after a fish that was being thrown its way. Suddenly, as my eyes met the brown dragon's, I realized that I had seen it before.

"Harry!" I gasped, grabbing his arm. He was still staring at the black dragon. "Do you recognize that dragon?"

"What?" Harry asked.

"That's Norbert!"

It was the same Norwegian Ridgeback that Hagrid had briefly owned during our First Year. I was positive about it. "What's he doing here?" Harry whispered.

"Not the slightest," I admitted.

"Keep back there, Hagrid!" a wizard near the fence yelled, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"

"Is'n' it beautiful?" Hagrid asked Madam Maxime softly.

"It's no good!" another wizard yelled. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"

I saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his wand. "Stupefy!" the men shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides.

Harry and I watched the dragon nearest to us teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl and its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking. Then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly black dragon hit the ground with a thud that I could have sworn made the trees behind us quake. I hadn't expected the ground to shake as much as it had. We both wavered slightly, almost collapsing to the ground. I grabbed Harry to keep myself steady.

In the back of my mind, I figured that part of the shakiness in my legs was from the sight of the dragons. There had to be some reason they were here and I wasn't getting a good feeling about it. The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. The wizards hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.

"Wan' a closer look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly.

Dragons. Of all the insane things I had seen at Hogwarts and in the Forbidden Forest, I had never thought we would see dragons. I thought being near baby Norbert was the closest I would ever come to being near a dragon. Hagrid and Madam Maxime moved right up to the fence, and Harry and I followed. The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and I realized who it was: Charlie Weasley. I was about to yell a greeting out when I remembered that he couldn't see us.

"All right, Hagrid?" Charlie panted, coming over to talk. "They should be okay now we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet - but, as you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all."

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" Hagrid asked, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something close to reverence.

The black dragon's eyes were still just open. I could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid. "This is a Hungarian Horntail," Charlie said, pointing to the black one. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one - a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray - and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red. You remember your friend, the Norwegian Ridgeback?"

Hagrid smiled fondly. "O' course."

So, it was Norbert. Some part of me wanted to go up to the now-massive dragon. The last time I had seen Norbert, he had still been able to fit inside a large dog crate. That was how we had transported Norbert to Charlie and his friends three years ago. I knew that the Norwegian Ridgeback wasn't the same as he had been when we'd known him. He was full-grown now and seemed to have an attitude problem. Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons.

"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming - she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

"Champions?" I asked, my throat going dry.

"Does that mean...?"

Harry trailed off as my gaze trailed over the dragons again. The math made perfect sense. "Harry - look at how many of them there are! Five dragons. Five of us," I said, my stomach threatening to show me my dinner again.

"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," Hagrid shrugged, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.

"Really romantic date, Hagrid," Charlie said, shaking his head.

"Five. So it's one fer each o' the champions, is it?" Hagrid asked. "What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"

Harry and I turned to meet each other's eyes immediately. I was glad to see that he looked as terrified as I felt. "Oh, I am not fighting one of them," I said, bile rising in my throat.

"Just get past them, I think," Charlie said flippantly. Get past them? How were we supposed to get past fire-breathing dragons without becoming their meal? "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why, but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail and I saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches. "Oh, good. Just in case getting burned alive wasn't bad enough," I whispered.

Harry snorted but it caught in his throat. I figured he was as freaked out as I was. "Not to mention the Ridgeback. Not only having to deal with fire but venom too?" Charlie continued.

"Nestin' mothers... but tha's Norbert!" Hagrid called.

Charlie chuckled as my eyebrow shot up. I hadn't seen that coming. We had always assumed Norbert was a male. "That's the dragon you once knew as Norbert. But he is a she, Hagrid. Female Norwegian Ridgebacks are notably more vicious than their male counterparts. We've renamed her Norberta," Charlie explained.

"Oh..." Hagrid muttered. "That explains the biting."

One more thing to look forward to. It turned out that we were supposed to be getting past the dragons, and it seemed that we would be facing the more vicious gender. That was lucky... Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. I raised a brow. What were they doing? The wizards placed the strange eggs carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.

"I've got them counted, Hagrid," Charlie said sternly. Then he said, "How are Harry and Tara?"

"Fine," Hagrid said. He was still gazing at the eggs.

"Fine?" I repeated, making Harry chuckle.

"Just hope they're still fine after they've faced this lot," Charlie said grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what they've got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about them." Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. "How could they let them enter that tournament, they're much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about them. 'He still cries about his parents! Oh, bless him, I never knew!' She didn't believe the bullocks about Tara though. She practically had to hold down Julia to keep her from going after Skeeter herself."

"Well, I suppose that's relieving," I muttered.

"You know she wouldn't believe that. No one does," Harry said.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"No one that matters," Harry corrected himself. "Come on."

One glance down at Harry's watch told me that we were going to be close to missing Sirius. We would almost have to sprint to make it back to the Gryffindor Common Room in time. With one last look at the dragons, I decided that I had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss either one of us, with the attractions of five dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, Harry and I turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle, as quickly as possible.

"Dragons!" I gasped, once I was positive that we were out of earshot of Hagrid and Madam Maxime. "Dad mentioned that it would be tough but he didn't say anything about dragons! Harry, what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"I'm not sure. How do we beat dragons?" Harry asked.

"Not the slightest," I admitted. There was a reason people didn't hang around dragons. There was no way of taming them. "Oh, dragons... Who would have thought we'd be trying to get past dragons?"

"What do we do?" Harry asked.

"No idea. Do our best, I suppose," I said.

I didn't know whether I was glad I had seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was over now. Maybe if I would have seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, I would have passed out cold in front of the whole school. But maybe I would anyway. I felt that way now. I was going to be armed with my wand - which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood - against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And I had to get past it. With everyone watching. How?

Determined that I wasn't going to think about the dragons until the morning, I took Harry's hand and sped up. "We need to get to Sirius. We can deal with the dragons... Tuesday, I guess," I muttered.

"Dragons... Stonewall High doesn't sound too bad right about now," Harry said.

We exchanged a quick look and chuckled nervously. My grip on his hand tightened as he raised my hand to his heart. I could feel it pounding under his ribs. Unwilling to talk or think about the dragons anymore tonight, Harry and I sped up, skirting the edge of the forest. We had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius, and I couldn't remember, ever, wanting to talk to someone more than I did right now. We were close to the castle when, without warning, I ran into something very solid.

Both Harry and I fell backward, each clutching the cloak around us. A voice nearby said, "Ouch! Who's there?"

For a moment, I thought we had run back into Hagrid or Madam Maxime. The body next to us was massive. Had we somehow managed to circle back? If so, we would have to sprint to make it to the castle in time. I hastily checked that the cloak was covering both of us and stayed very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard we had hit. I recognized the goatee. It was Karkaroff. Harry looked like he was about to open his mouth and ask if I was okay when I lunged after him and slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Who's there?" Karkaroff called again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness.

Both Harry and I remained still and silent. His hands were on my waist to keep me from tripping over his feet and my hand was over his mouth to keep him from saying anything. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal and not a few students under an Invisibility Cloak. He was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were.

Naturally. He was trying to find out what the First Task was so he could tip off Krum. Everyone was going to know what we were walking into on Tuesday. I wondered if this was traditional for the Triwizard Tournament. Did champions and teachers always cheat their way through the competition? Very slowly and very carefully, Harry and I straightened up and set off again as fast as we could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back toward Hogwarts.

"Think he was trying to give Krum a head's up?" Harry asked me quietly.

"No doubt," I responded.

Based on the look in Harry's eyes I figured that neither one of us had any doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up to. He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out what the First Task was going to be. He might even have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off around the forest together - they were hardly difficult to spot at a distance. Now all Karkaroff had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for the champions.

By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric. As hard as I tried to think about something other than the First Task, the thought of Cedric facing the unknown was weighing heavily on my mind. I knew that Cedric was smart enough to figure things out without a warning but I also knew that it was unfair. Everyone would know what they were facing except for him. He should have at least be on the same playing field as the other champions.

But I cared about him, too. He was one of my best friends and I still wanted to be with him. He deserved to know. I knew that Cedric would have told me if he knew what the First Task was. He needed to know. I quickly resolved myself to tell Cedric the truth in the morning. That was when I would worry about the dragons. After a few minutes, Harry and I reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and began to climb the marble stairs. By now we were both very out of breath, but we didn't dare slow down. We had less than five minutes to get up to the fire.

"Balderdash!" Harry gasped at the Fat Lady, who was snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole.

"If you say so," she muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, and the picture swung forward to admit us.

Almost falling over the edge of the portrait, Harry and I climbed inside. I had figured that I would be tired by the time our meeting with Sirius was scheduled, but I was wide-awake. The dragons had zapped any amount of tiredness from my body that I'd had earlier. The Common Room was deserted, thankfully, and judging by the fact that it smelled quite normal, Hermione had not needed to set off any Dungbombs to ensure that Sirius, Harry, and I got privacy. I wondered if Fred had pulled people out.

"Just in time," I gasped.

"Think he's here?" Harry asked.

There was no sight of Sirius and I hadn't seen any hint of him on the way upstairs. "I don't see him," I said.

Once we were sure that no one else was around, Harry and I pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and threw ourselves into an armchair in front of the fire. I fell over his lap, resting against the back of the chair. The room was in semidarkness; the flames were the only source of light. Nearby, on a table, the Support Cedric Diggory! badges the Creevey's had been trying to improve were glinting in the firelight. They now read POTTER REALLY STINKS and NOX REALLY SUCKS. I rolled my eyes. I then looked back into the flames and jumped.

Harry's mouth dropped open when I shoved an elbow into his stomach. "Quiet!" I hissed, before turning back to the fire. "Hey, Sirius."

It seemed a little stupid now, thinking that Sirius would risk coming to Hogwarts. I should have known that he was a bit smarter than that. It was too big a risk for him. Sirius's head was sitting clearly in the fire. I figured that if Harry hadn't seen Mr. Diggory do exactly that back in the Weasleys' kitchen, it would have scared him out of his wits. He almost had screamed. Instead, both of our faces broke into the first smile we had worn for days and we scrambled out of our chairs, crouching down by the hearth.

"Sirius - how're you doing?" Harry asked.

"Hi, Sirius," I greeted.

Sirius looked different from my memory of him. I liked the way he looked now. He looked like a human being, not the near-skeleton he had been the last time we'd seen each other. When we had said goodbye a few months ago, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair. The hair he was sporting today was short and clean, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the old photographs of him my parents had shown me over the summer.

"You look good," I added.

"As do the both of you. And never mind me, how are you two?" Sirius asked seriously.

"I'm -"

My jaw fell open to tell him that we were fine and to ask what he had been doing, but I couldn't bring the words to my lips. Instead, the truth slipped out. "We've been... shitty," I said.

Sirius laughed in the way only a godfather could. "Tell me."

Before either one of us could stop ourselves, we were talking more than we had talked in days - about how no one believed we hadn't entered the tournament of our free wills, how Rita Skeeter had lied about both of us in the Daily Prophet, how neither one of us could walk down a corridor without being sneered at, and about Ron. Harry spoke a lot about Ron not believing him and his jealousy. To Sirius's credit, he even let me speak about the ruined state of my relationship with Cedric and where we were supposed to go from here.

"... and now Hagrid's just shown us what's coming in the First Task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," Harry finished desperately.

"Okay, maybe you are but I'm not giving up that quickly," I said, the playful edge only half-there in my voice.

Harry shoved me gently and said, "Thanks, Tara."

The rest of our problems could be fixed with time. The dragons were our number one problem for now. "Look, we're stuck in this situation. Might as well try to keep ourselves in one piece," I said.

Sirius looked at us both, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them - that deadened, haunted look. He had let Harry and I talk ourselves into silence without interruption, but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, but we'll get to that in a minute - I haven't got long here. I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time."

My heart skipped a beat. He was joking. He had risked his safety to listen to us rant about our problems? Was he out of his mind? "What? You need to get out of there!" I snapped hastily. "You can't get caught, Sirius."

"I won't," Sirius promised. "There are things I need to warn you both about."

"What?" Harry asked.

The hope in my chest dwindled as I felt my spirits slip a further few notches. Surely there could be nothing worse than dragons coming? That was all I could pray for. "Remember that we're already about this close to snapping," I warned nervously.

"I wouldn't say anything if I didn't think you both deserved to know. Karkaroff," Sirius said. My eyebrow arched. Karkaroff was creepy but I didn't know what he meant. "He was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes - he - what?" Harry asked.

I'd known that Karkaroff had a lot of problems and I had known that he was once a Death Eater, but why was this being brought up now? "He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year - to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place," Sirius suggested.

"You think that's why Dumbledore hired Moody?" I asked slowly.

"It has to be," Sirius said.

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry asked slowly. "Why did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," Sirius said bitterly. My heart sank. I knew he hated Azkaban but sometimes I forgot just how much of a toll his time in the wizarding prison had done to him. "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 must not be very popular," I said quietly.

"No, he's not very popular in there at all, I can tell you," Sirius confirmed. "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 as well."

"Krum's a little broody but I don't think he's diabolical," I said.

"Okay," Harry said slowly. We exchanged a quick look. "But... are you saying Karkaroff put our names in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop us from competing."

"We know he's a good actor because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he?" Sirius pointed out. I supposed he was right about that. "Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet -"

"- you and the rest of the world," Harry said bitterly.

"It's not true!" I gasped.

"I know that," Sirius confirmed. "I've been 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," Sirius added hastily, seeing both Harry and I were about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

"So... what are you saying?" Harry asked slowly. "Karkaroff's trying to kill us? But - why?"

Sirius hesitated. "Why does anyone try to kill us?" I asked. "I think they like it."

It was enough to make Harry's lips twitch upward. Sirius's face remained stony. "I've been hearing some very strange things. The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately," Sirius said. My stomach churned at the thought. Usually, they didn't act without their ringleader. "They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark... and then did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins?" Harry asked.

"Exactly. She disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last... and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Everyone's always said she's a little scatterbrained though," I commented.

"Not that much," Sirius said.

"Yeah, but... it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" Harry asked.

Albania was a small country but big enough to not risk running into Voldemort in the market. "Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," Sirius said grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dads and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"But why attack her?" I asked.

Sirius shook his head. "I'm not sure. It could be a draw of power."

"So, Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" Harry asked nervously. My stomach lurched again. If Voldemort knew about the tournament he could have easily ensured that Harry and I were competing with the hopes that we would be killed. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

"I don't know, I just don't know," Sirius said slowly. He looked as annoyed as we were that he didn't know for sure who had put our names in the Goblet of Fire. "Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your names in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you both and make it look like an accident."

"That's reassuring," I huffed.

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," Harry said, grinning bleakly. Sirius smiled slightly as I leaned my head on Harry's shoulder. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

"We're not getting killed by a couple of dragons," I snapped.

If we were going to be killed, it would be in a magnificent duel with Voldemort protecting the Wizarding World, not getting broiled alive by a couple of overgrown lizards. "Right - these dragons," Sirius said, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way." Both Harry and I leaned forward. "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 -"

"Yeah, we know, we just saw," Harry interrupted.

"But you can do it alone. There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need," Sirius said.

"Great!" I chirped, hope bubbling in my chest for the first time all day. "What is it?"

"Just -"

If we could survive the dragons, we could worry about Voldemort and who had put our names in the Goblet of Fire later. All we had to do was make sure we survived the next few days. I was eager to hear the solution to our problem but Harry held up a hand to silence Sirius. I was about to snap at him to let our godfather speak when I realized what the problem was. My heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst, just as it had when I'd seen the dragons. I could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind us.

"You need to leave!" I warned Sirius as quietly and urgently as I could.

"Go!" Harry hissed at Sirius. "Go! There's someone coming!"

Harry and I scrambled to our feet, hiding the fire behind our bodies. If someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar - the Ministry would get dragged in - Harry and I would be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts. I heard a tiny pop in the fire behind us and I knew Sirius had gone back to his hiding spot. I watched the bottom of the spiral staircase. Who had decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling us how to get past a dragon?

It was Ron. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped dead facing Harry and me across the room and looked around. "Going somewhere?" I asked awkwardly.

"Who were you two talking to?" Ron asked, otherwise ignoring my question.

"What's that got to do with you?" Harry snarled. "What are you doing down here at this time of night?"

"I just wondered where you -" Ron broke off, shrugging. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."

"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted.

"Shut up! It's the middle of the night," I snapped at the boys. The last thing we needed was to draw a crowd who would be wondering what we were all doing awake. I scowled at Ron. "We're a little busy thinking about what kind of life-threatening task we'll be facing in a few days if you'd like to discuss how we're going to die with us?"

In the back of my mind, I knew that I was wrong to snap at Ron. He hadn't deserved this one. I knew that Ron had no idea what he'd walked in on and I knew that he hadn't done it on purpose. Hell, it seemed that he was coming downstairs to check and see if Harry was okay. But I didn't care. Judging by the look on Harry's face, he didn't care either. At that moment, I hated everything about Ron, right down to the several inches of bare ankle showing beneath his pajama trousers.

"Sorry about that," Ron said, his face reddening with anger. "Should've realized you two didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you both get on with practicing for your next interview in peace."

Did Ron honestly think that either one of us had enjoyed the 'interviews' that had been written about us? Harry looked like a blubbering moron that cried over his parents every night and I sounded like a lady of the night who couldn't keep a man interested. As angry as I was with Ron, I was surprised to see Harry seize one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges off the table and chuck it, seemingly as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.

I'd gotten physical with a few people since things had gone sideways, but I'd never seriously thought about hitting Ron. "Harry -"

"There you go," Harry interrupted me, speaking to Ron. "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?"

"Harry, take it easy," I whispered, taking his arm in mine.

Ron was being a prat these days but some part of me didn't want to cause any permanent damage to our friendship. "Goodnight, Tara. We can talk about it in the morning," Harry said.

Harry strode across the room toward the stairs. I half expected Ron to stop him, but Ron just stood there in his too-small pajamas. I stared at Ron for a moment longer before moving past him. We gave each other a long look as I passed, unsure of what I could say. I moved upstairs as quickly as possible, changed out of my day clothes, and flopped into bed, where I laid thinking about the dragons for a long time afterward. It startled me slightly when Hermione woke up and looked over at me.

She spoke with a lowered voice. "What did Hagrid want?"

To show me the last thing I'll see before I die. I thought about telling Hermione what had happened but I noticed Lavender shift in her bed. It wasn't the right time. "Go back to bed. We've got a lot to discuss in the morning," I said. With a worried look, Hermione nodded and drifted off, though I remained awake until the sun was peeking over the horizon.

A/N: Next time... Tara faces the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. Oh, I know, I couldn't resist throwing a little more angst in there! Not to fear, Cedric and Tara are still on the path to mending their relationship. I promise one more quick update (hopefully in a week or so) before I'm going to take a bit of a break to update some of my other stories. As always, thanks for the follows and favorites! Please review! Until next time -A

Ghostie1701: Poor Tara is going out of her mind with the students and teachers at Hogwarts lol. I've been doing okay with the outbreak. I'm actually still going to work as I'm considered essential. I hope you're doing well too! I'm glad that you were happy to see Tara and Cedric make up! They're still on the road to fully getting back together. I know, I would love a guy like Cedric! The lake is the only task I haven't fully figured out yet, so we'll see how that goes. I hope you liked seeing Marcus in this chapter!

slyqueen: I'm glad you liked the chapter and that you thought it was worth the wait! I adore Fred and he did take a bit of a step back in this chapter. You're right, it is Tara and Cedric's moment! Cedric will never give up on Tara. He thinks the world of her. Well, I'm both sorry and happy to hear that I can make you cry! Stay safe out there!

Vincent FGS91: Thank you! I've been okay, I'm still working so life hasn't changed too much for me. The weekends are a little boring though. How have you been with everything that's going on?

Son of Whitebeard: Yes! Lots of secret conversations going around. I hope you liked this one!

Taylor: I figure when I get those nasty reviews that they're usually trolls. They don't bother me too much. Either way, I hope you've enjoyed the story so far!

Mika: You're right, Harry does deserve a break and he should get to go to the Yule Ball with Cho Chang! But since when have I done that for my characters? I hope you liked this one!

Guest: Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that you liked the last one! I hate Skeeter so much, she's one of the worst characters in the franchise to me so I had to make Tara go after her. I hope you liked this one!