The second time Harry hit her face hard against dirt, her glasses broke. She just stayed there, in the center of the Maze, before muttering an incantation and firing the red sparks sky high. In due time, staff were there.
Everything from that was a flurry, a singular blur. Harry had witnessed death before. Her parents as a notable time, but... she didn't remember any of them. Her parents were when she was too young, Quirrell died after she passed out, and Tom Riddle's ghostly afterimage didn't really die so much as dissolve. Cedric was... Harry could've gone her life without witnessing that.
Mad-Eye Moody had arrived, and led Harry to his office. She had started explaining what happened when Moody explained the key thing she had missed.
That apparently he was the Death Eater that let the revival of Voldemort take place. After a speech that Harry silently thought was worthy of a James Bond villian, about deserted fathers and the Dark Order, it wasn't long before a teacher broke in, stunned Moody, and sent Harry off to the infirmary to try (and try she would) to get some shut-eye.
The next few days were a blur, at most. Cedric's death had really thrown her balance out, and now everything felt too short and too long. Dumbledore's questions and answers about Voldemort's return (and something called Priori Incantatem, which was how those spirits appeared), and the accusations that the Dark Lord's return was that - an accusation. How the Diggory's let Harry keep the prize money, unable to bear taking it for themselves.
An unexpected thing is right as Harry was going to leave the infirmary, the potion started to wear off. It was painful, and not fast like the initial taking of it. Harry spent the better part of the afternoon feeling like her whole body was on fire, before she felt like she was in her own body again.
She went back to the Gryffindor Tower that night, and apparently most of the people there seemed surprised to see the "Boy"-Who-Lived. She focused mostly on Ron and Hermione, catching them up to speed. Ron had even asked if Harry could come over, although Dumbledore had caught wind it seemed, and insisted that Harry spend a little bit of time with the Dursleys first. Harry's apparent fear at this seemed to perplex Hermione, but it was shrugged off.
As the Great Hall filled, and the final feast went under way, a eulogy to Cedric and the school terrified at Voldemort's return, Harry sat there, wanting to vanish. The dysphoria she had never noticed was worse now that she knew why those feelings persisted, but she knew what had to be done. The Dursleys would never have approved.
And then... Well, it was time to go.
"You know," Ron quipped, "Wasn't it pouring rain when we were going to Hogwarts, too?" He said, gesturing out the window, where the weather was no better now than before. Harry shrugged.
"Rainy season." She said, quiet. She had opted to be a bystander, agreeing with Ron and Hermione's discussions.
"Something that's been bugging me," Hermione said, and she pulled out the most recent issue of the Daily Prophet. "Is that the news isn't reporting on any of this. Not even Cedric's obituary." She said, frowning. "I think the Minister wants to cover this up."
"How do you think he's getting Rita to be quiet?" Ron asked.
Hermione looked up with a grin that somewhat scared the other two. "About her." She dug around through her bag, before pulling out a glass jar, that appeared to have a big beetle in it. "She's been bugging the school."
"How does that help her?" Harry asked, looking at it.
"It's not helping her. It is her." Hermione said. "Guess who has been seeking around as an unregistered Animagus." She chuckled, flicking the edge of the thing. The beetle - Rita, Harry supposed - fell off the stick it was on and seemed to be mad (it's hard to tell with beetles).
"I've told her I'll let her out in London, but if she doesn't keep her quill to herself, the whole world would know about her being an unregistered Animagus." Hermione pointed out, and while Ron seemed semi-shocked, she explained to Harry, "Which does come with a five-year penalty in Azkaban, believe it or not."
A slow clap could be heard outside the compartment, and the door opened to reveal a pompous Slytherin.
"Bravo, Granger." Draco said, looking at the three. "You caught a reporter and made Potter the favorite again. Boo hoo."
"Just go Draco." Harry said, temper already rising.
"I mean, you picked the losing side. I told you, very first day, don't engage with the riffraff. And now, it's Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first!" Draco said, before smirking. "Well, third. You and your fellow trannies are second, Diggory was the fir-"
A box of fireworks exploded it felt like. Fred and George absolved it, by walking in. "Did we just hit them with five curses?" A slow nod from everyone made the group break out laughing.
"Well, whatever. No one liked them anyway." George said, dragging Malfoy's legs out of the compartment before closing it.
"So, testing went well?" Fred grinned, and as George offered a game of Exploding Snap, where everyone started playing, Harry explained the potion to Fred and George. Something was nagging her though.
"So, who were you blackmailing?" She asked suddenly.
Fred and George exchanged glances.
"Ludo Bagman. It wasn't blackmail, either." George said, a dark look on his face.
"It was getting the bet money." Fred clarified.
"I thought he paid you?" Hermione asked, confused.
"In leprechaun's gold, yeah." The twins said in unison, before explaining how he scammed them, and how he was neck deep in debts, hence why he had helped Harry. They explained what they tried, but settled that, nope, the money was lost. The gender potion had been the joke shop's first and final product.
Harry got an idea. "I've got something."
She went through her bags, before pulling out a big sack of Galleons.
"Take this." She said, forcing it into the twins' hands.
"W-what?" Fred stammered, surprised.
"Take it. It's yours." She said, ignoring Ron's exclaim of surprise.
"You. Are mental." George clarified.
"I don't need it. I'll toss it, or something. So take it." Harry demanded. "And besides, I don't need money, but laughs? Everyone could use some of those in this next little bit."
"T-..." The twins were stammering over thank-yous and their gratitudes, when Harry added.
"Besides, if you really want, assume I overpaid for the potion. It's been a great year, thanks to you two."
At this, Fred, George, and Hermione all looked guilty.
"Err, uh, you see..."
"About that..."
"Harry, I... They told..."
The girl who lived raised her eyebrows, looking at the three.
"We already knew." The twins said in sync.
"The Marauder's Map. I assume you've considered the name Holly before?" Fred said.
"As well as Autumn?" George added.
Harry's jaw dropped a little. Autumn had a been more silent thought from her third year, and one in retrospect should've given Harry a sign sooner.
"The Map updated to match the name you wanted at the time. We noticed it in the second year." George explained.
"And we talked to Hermione in the third." Fred pointed out. "Right after we gave you it, since Hermione knew the map existed."
"I knew what it was they were talking about..." Hermione defended. "And so, we kind of..."
"Formulated a plan." The twins finished in unison.
Harry wanted to be mad. She did. A small part of her was.
"That's why you suggested the potion." Harry said. It wasn't a question. The twins nodded anyway. "And this is why you've been so awkward about it?" Harry asked Hermione, who blushed and nodded.
"To be fair," Fred said.
"We didn't know for certain." George said.
"That was your job to figure out, maybe the map just couldn't tell."
Harry surprised the three of them with a hug.
"Err, I..." Fred and George seemed flustered, while Hermione blushed brightly. Harry let go.
"Thank you." She said. "You probably should've, you know, talked to me," She said, pausing to let the guilt sink in just a little. "But thank you. It's... It's one of the best things to ever happen to me."
"Second only to Hogwarts itself?" Fred offered, and he smirked. "No problem."
"If you want, we can call you Autumn?" Hermione said. And Harry paused. She liked that. She nodded, and the trip continued as fun for a bit.
Arriving at King's Cross, she found Uncle Vernon - who seemed peeved at meeting his niece again - and they started on their way off, and she couldn't help but pause.
Autumn Lily Potter was a happy girl, she thought.
AN: THE NAME HAS BEEN DECREED, not that it'll get used much for Goblet haha!
As for the twins and Hermione, that's the big secret. They knew from day zero- hell, day negative one hundred or whatever.
Glad to be done with Goblet. I hated Goblet. Goblet's a goblin - that's to say, something I don't like. I play Magic: the Gathering, and holy shit are goblins my least favorite. They are impulsive and stupid, which makes the Goblet-Goblin comparison more fitting.
Can't wait for Order of the Phoenix. I have big things planned for it.
Thoughts on the name Autumn?