Avery's belief that Fred would approach her to apologize the next day as met with disappointment. He did not approach her the following day, nor any day their first week back at Hogwarts. Indeed, the weeks were soaring by quickly, what with an endless stream of homework to tend to, and an almost equal amount of requests to have Avery assume another's identity.

"Avery, you've got to help me," Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith whispered across the table to her during one mid-October lunch. Zacharias, a blonde fourth year, had never been a friend of Avery's. She had always found him to be rather selfish and pompous, and if it were up to her, she would never have told him about her secret business. It had been their fellow Hufflepuff, Ernie MacMillian, who had told Zacharias the previous year. Zacharias had been a bother to her ever since, asking her to assume his identity for the tiniest of inconveniences, and always trying to get the cheapest price. Avery was sure she knew what he wanted her help with.

"Let me guess; you'd like me to assume the identity of an older student and submit your name for the triwizard tournament, because you would obviously be the perfect Hogwarts champion?" Avery replied in montone, helping herself to more stew.

"Exactly!" Zacharias whispered excitedly, his blonde eyebrows raising so high they were in danger of disappearing into his hair. "So you'll do it? For how many galleons?"

Avery sighed, exasperated with the number of times she had to have this exact conversation in only a few short weeks.

"It won't work, Smith. I can make myself look older, but I can't actually age myself, and whatever precautions Dumbledore is taking to make sure no one underage enters the tournament isn't going to be fooled by any student."

"How do you know?" Zacharias shot back indignantly. "Your transformations haven't failed yet!"

Avery pretended to think for a moment, knowing she would respond exactly the same way she had to the other students who had insisted she attempt to submit their name despite her sound reasoning.

"Alright. If you want to pay me 40 galleons to try, I will. However, if it fails, as I all but know it will, the money is mine to keep. How does that sound?" Avery simpered, finally sparing a look at him. Avery had never seen him look so nettled, and that was saying something.

"40 galleons? Come on- I mean, I understand you should keep the gold if it doesn't work but… Isn't there some sort of Hufflepuff-to-Hufflepuff discount?"

"40 galleons includes the discount. The thirty-odd people who asked me to submit their name before you were asked for 41 galleons each," Avery retorted, pushing away her bowl and shouldering her bag. She was hardly exaggerating, either; it seemed most students who were under seventeen were seeking a way around the age limit. Almost all the students Avery had helped in the past had approached her, asking for help, and it seemed that word regarding her services had gotten round to many more who never knew before.

Avery walked away from Zacarias before he had time to wipe the reproachful look off his face and respond. Even if she could have helped, he would have been the last person she would have liked to see be chosen for Hogwarts champion. As she walked to class, she mused who she would most like to see represent their school. Cedric, of course, was one of the first people she thought of. Kind, loyal, intelligent, and steadfast, Cedric would be an ideal candidate for the triwizard cup.

But, as she continued on her walk along to Charms, she happened by the twins. George gave her a smile and a wink as she passed, as he had every time they passed each other since their talk in the empty classroom. Fred, however, stared determinedly past her, as was now his routine any time he was near her. She was briefly bitter at his reaction, but she also couldn't help but think that Fred would make a great champion as well. Though Fred was better known for being a laugh and a prankster than anything, Avery knew that he was actually very smart when he applied himself. And, as evident in his betrayal, he could be very cunning. She knew that he would let nothing stop him from winning the tournament if he found a way to enter.

That evening in the entrance hall, there was a notice posted at the foot of the marble staircase. There was a large group of students milling about the sign, and Avery had to focus hard in order to make herself grow a few inches so that she could read the sign over the heads of her classmates.

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND

DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK

ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL

END HALF AN HOUR EARLY. STUDENT WILL RETURN

THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES

AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET

OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.

"Only a week away!" Avery heard Ernie MacMillan exclaim a few feet away. Avery turned to her left see him beaming up at the sign. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go tell him…" Ernie continued, pushing his way through the other students who had congregated behind him to exit the crowd, and head for the door Avery knew lead to their shared common room.

"Cedric?" Avery heard Ron Weasley, a Gryffindor, say as Ernie hurried away.

"Diggory. He must be entering the tournament," Harry Potter replied. He, Ron, and their friend Hermione had been standing just on the other side of Ernie and were now fully visable to Avery. The three began pushing their own way out of the crowd, passing near Avery as they did.

"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" Avery heard Ron say as they went. Avery flushed with anger.

On what planet is Cedric an idiot? Avery thought, and Hermione seemed to mirror her thoughts aloud, as she told Ron that Cedric was a really good student and a prefect. They were getting too far away from Avery for her to be able to hear the rest of their conversation, but Ron and Hermione seemed to continue arguing about Cedric until they were well out of earshot.

Avery focused hard again and shrank herself back to her normal five and a half feet and made her way through the other students and into the great hall for dinner. The four long tables seemed to be a bit more sparsely occupied than they normally were at this time. Avery supposed most of the students were still thronging around the sign, or gossiping about the announcement in their common rooms rather than eating. She took a seat at the Hufflepuff table and began spearing sausages to transfer onto her plate, when someone slipped into the seat beside her.

"Hello. Did you see the notice?" Cedric beamed, also spearing himself a sausage and offering Avery a dollop of mashed potatoes. She looked at him, bemused, but none the less thrilled. She hadn't taken him up on his offer to sit with him at meal times. This was partially due to the fact that Cedric rarely seemed to be in the Great Hall when she was, but mostly it was due to Avery's anxiety at finding topics of conversation and not imitating Cedric's smile. This was the first time he had taken it upon himself to sit next to her. She stammered out a yes.

"Yes you saw the sign, or yes you want some potatoes?" he asked with a grin. His grey eyes, which reflected the flicking of the candles floating a short way above them, were dancing with excitement.

"Both," she chuckled, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from his. But, as he served her and turned to add some other vegetables to both of their plates, her eyes roved over him. His dark copper hair was slightly disheveled, and he had loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collar so that the top of his broad chest was just visible. Avery flushed a bit, but Cedric had his eye on a basket of rolls and seemed not to notice. The silence began to eat at Avery, and realizing she had not contributed much to the conversation because she was too busy grinning goofily at Cedric, she racked her brains for something interesting to say or ask.

"Did Ernie find you?" she choked out.

"Ernie?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"Um. Yeah. Ernie MacMillian, he's in my year. He saw the sign and… And… Went to the common room to tell you in case you hadn't seen it," Avery stammered lamely. She seized her knife and fork and began to busy herself with cutting her sausage. She glanced at him, and he was looking at her, smiling but without showing his teeth this time.

"No, I haven't seen him. I saw you heading into the Great Hall and followed you. Haven't been to the common room."

Avery nodded as she chewed, trying to think of a more interesting topic. Cedric ate alongside her, looking so at ease. There was nothing awkward about him, whereas Avery felt that she had never been less graceful in her life, accidentally bumming his elbow with hers and dropping bits of green bean to the floor, muttering apologies.

After a few minutes of silence, Cedric asked "So, what do you make of Moody's lessons?"

Avery looked at Cedric, and noticed that his expression darkened for the first time since he had sat next to her. He was looking up at the staff table, where Moody sat drinking out of his hip flask, his magical eye spinning wildly.

"I hate them, to be honest," Avery replied, also losing her smile for the first time since Cedric had sat down. "He put the imperius curse on everyone in my class," she continued, shuddering at the memory. Moody had made each of them perform different actions against their will and attempt to throw off the curse through sheer power of will. Avery had been unable to do so. No one else in her class had been able to accomplish the feat, either.

"I mean, I understand that it's important we understand the dangers out there and everything, but… To actually use an unforgivable curse on a student?"

"That's been my thinking. He did the same thing in our class," Cedric said, nodding gravely. "There is something a bit dodgy about all that. He said Dumbledore approved it, but… I dunno."

After a short while more they had finished their meal together and walked to their common room. Cedric was immediately bombarded by other members of their house, intent on discussing the sign, who at Hogwarts (besides Cedric) would be submitting their names, what they thought the tasks might be, and what the students from the other schools might be like. Avery took a seat in a corner of the common room, and bitterly wished she had thought of some of these questions to pelt him while they ate. However, much to Avery's shock and delight, Cedric didn't stop sitting with her after that. Though he did not sit with her at every meal, he did dine with her another five times in the following week leading up to the arrival of Beauxbaton and Durmstrang. During these meals, Avery became a bit more relaxed and was able to ask him not only about his thoughts on the triwizard tournament, but about himself in general.

"Been playing quidditch since I was 7," he told her over a bowl of porridge the morning before the other schools were due to arrive. "To hear my dad tell it I was destined to play professionally ever since."

"Are you quite close with your parents?" Avery asked. A pang of anxiety disturbed her briefly as she was asking the question-what if his family was a sensitive subject, like it was for her?- but she relaxed quickly as Cedric responded with ease.

"Definitely. I mean, they can be a bit much at times. Dad is always boasting about me, which can be a bit embarrassing. But he means well. What about your family?"

Avery felt her ears burn as she looked down at her breakfast, not sure how much she wanted to say.

"Not really, no." She finally said, dragging her spoon through her porridge, suddenly not very hungry. She stole a glance at Cedric to see that he was looking at her curiously, his grey eyes soft.

"It's… Difficult to explain," she continued, feeling awkward again. She left her spoon in her bowl and rested her hands on either side of her bowl, not trusting herself enough to keep from spilling. "We just… We have different views on things, I suppose… It's hard to… Reconcile."

Cedric nodded and gave her a weak smile to show his understanding.

"I wish we were, though. Close, I mean."

Cedric nodded again, but said nothing. He stood and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"I have to go, but thank you for sitting with me. Have a good day, Avery," he said, smiling again. He shouldered his bag and left the Great Hall.

Avery stayed seated for another ten minutes, brooding on whether she had said to much. On whether she had made things awkward, or if Cedric had thought she was strange for not having a close relationship with her parents like he did. But soon she had another topic to brood over.

As she made her way to class, she passed by the twins again. George smiled and winked at her, and Fred purposefully avoided her gaze, as was now their routine. She continued past them, Cedric driven from her mind for the moment. Hadn't George said that he should let Fred speak to her himself? Didn't that imply that Fred would be speaking to her at some point? Hadn't George implied that he was apologizing for both of them, but that Fred would be along to express himself soon enough? It had been nearly a month. Why was Fred still acting as though she didn't exist?

With faltering footsteps, Avery finally stopped and turned around. She hurried back down the long stone corridor after the twins retreating backs. She wanted answers.

"Hey! Hey… you!" Avery called a few feet away, darting in between other students. She was not sure which of the twins she was referring to. She wasn't sure her resolve was strong enough to confront Fred and so she couldn't bring herself to address him directly. To her relief, it was George who doubled back to her. Fred continued walking, as though he hadn't heard her calling or noticed his twin had left his side, and soon he was out of her sight.

"Why, hello, miss. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," George started, winking again.

"Very funny," Avery snapped, suddenly feeling braver since it was George she was confronting. "Why hasn't your idiot brother talked to me? He's been busy pretending I'm just a patch of wall in the corridor or something equally uninteresting for the past month. Didn't you say he was going to speak for himself? Tell me how much I meant to him, or something?"

George rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. He quickly looked over his shoulder in the direction his twin had gone.

"Maybe we ought to talk about this after class?"

"Since when have you ever cared about making it to class in a timely fashion?" Avery asked, narrowing her eyes, which were green today. George gave her a look that all but said "when you're right, you're right," and dropped his hand back to his side.

"Look, I wasn't lying when I said we were stupid and sorry and that Fred cared about you, but… He's just having a bit of a hard time getting over the snackboxes, I expect. We weren't able to replicate them without you, so we are a bit behind where we wanted to be and... He blames you…" Avery gave him a reproachful look at this point, to which George stammered "he'll come round, just give him some time!"

Avery did not know what to say to this. She thought that he had already had all the time he needed when she and George had spoken. She thought they had agreed they were even and that they would be starting anew. Or that Fred would at least express these feelings to her himself so that they could work things out. She shrugged wordlessly and turned away, making her way down the now deserted corridor to her class. George did not attempt to stop her.

The next day, Avery went about her day quietly. She sat alone at breakfast and lunch and during her lessons, feeling much less excited than the rest of the student body seemed to be about the arrival of the other schools that evening. At the end of lessons, she dutifully returned her bag and books to her dormitory and then made her way to the front of the castle, where many other students and the faculty were already waiting. It was a cold evening, the moon illuminating the sprawling grounds before them. Avery took her place with some other Hufflepuff fourth years in the fourth row from the front of the rest of her house. Most everyone around her was shivering, either from the cold or from anticipation of what was to come.

However, it was taking a while for much of anything to happen. Everyone was staring wildly about, expectantly, as though waiting for the students from the other school to pop out of the ground or fall out of the sky. Some students around her began speculating on exactly how they would be arriving.

"Portkey?"

"Apparition?"

"Broomsticks?"

But, eventually, to their awe and amazement, the schools arrived in ways none of them had expected. The students and Headmistress from Beauxbaton had, indeed, dropped out of the dark blue sky in a carriage pulled by golden, winged horses. Their headmistress was simply the largest woman Avery had ever seen, though beautiful and elegant. She led her students to the front of the castle to greet Dumbledore, and then opted to wait for the other school to arrive inside. Her students were in fine robes of silk and shivering from the cold, so her choice seemed to relieve them as they scurried inside the warm entrance hall.

Durmstrang arrived after on a large ship which had emerged from the lake. These students seemed to be better equipped for the cold, as their uniforms included fur cloaks. However, perhaps more surprising than their means of arrival was who disembarked from the boat. Not only did Avery hear students muttering behind her and whispering excitedly that Bulgarian Quidditch player Viktor Krum was one of the Durmstrang students, but Avery recognized the Durmstrang Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff. Though she had never interacted with him personally, she had seen his picture and name in the Daily Prophet before, and that he had been a Death Eater alongside her biological father. He greeted Dumbledore heartily as he strode up the sloping walk to the castle entrance. Tall and thin with a curling goatee, he bared his teeth in an attempt at a yellowing smile, before hurrying Viktor into the castle, who he explained had a headcold.

The Hogwarts students were then allowed to follow the other schools back into the castle and into the Great Hall. As Avery hastened to take her seat at the Hufflepuff table, she could hear various students fussing around her over asking for autographs ("Do you think he'll sign my hat in lipstick?") or where the other schools would choose to sit, or where they would be sleeping ("We could offer him a space in our dormitory, Harry... I wouldn't mind giving him my bed, I could kip on a camp bed."). Avery, however, was so distracted in watching Karkaroff take his place at the staff table that she failed to notice where the new students were sitting, or even who had sat down beside her.

"What do you reckon?" she heard Cedric ask from her right. She turned to face him, tossing her long chestnut hair over her shoulder so as not to impede her view of him. He was glancing from the Ravenclaw table to the Slytherin table, where the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students, respectively, had chosen their seats.

"I reckon there's no contest," she smiled. Truthfully, she hadn't spent any time sizing up his competitors, but she felt confident in saying it all the same.

"Not even from Krum?" he asked with an arched eyebrow. Avery shrugged.

"The tournament isn't going to about catching a snitch. And even if it were, you're pretty good at that yourself. I wouldn't get fussed over anyone else who might enter or get chosen, Ced. I have a good feeling it's going to be you."

Cedric beamed at her, and she tried very hard to maintain his gaze without blushing. She grinned back. It wasn't until Dumbledore's voice broke out over the hall that she tore her eyes from him and looked back toward the staff table.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. "

One of the Beauxbatons girls at the Ravenclaw table, who had been clutching a muffler around her head, gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh. Avery shot her a disgruntled look before turning her gaze back to Dumbledore.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

He sat down, and Avery saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation. She frowned at this, speculating what he could be telling her Headmaster. The feast had appeared magically upon the table as Avery stared, and she could hear the clinking of silverware as her classmates helping were themselves to the plethora of food before them.

"What's up?" Cedric asked, following Avery's gaze up to the staff table.

"Oh, it's nothing, really," Avery replied, finally looking away and helping herself to the first dish she could lay her hands on. Cedric did not say anything, but Avery could feel his eyes on her. She turned her head only slightly to look at him and confirm what she already knew; his grey eyes were focused on her, an expression of disbelief and suspicion etching his features. She put her utensils back down and inhaled deeply. She wasn't sure now was the time to get into this subject, but she also didn't want Cedric to feel like she was hiding something from him.

"The Durmstrang Headmaster is… Well, he was accused of being a Death Eater," Avery explained in a low voice, glancing about on her last word to make sure no one had looked up.

"What?" Cedric started, his voice just as low. "How do you know that?"

"Well, my parents work at the ministry so I heard that way and… Well, it's a lot to explain right now, but… Karkaroff ended up getting released for informing the ministry about other Death Eaters. My parents were some of the ones he accused," Avery finished in a mumble, her eyes on her lap.

Cedric remained silent, and Avery stole a look at him. She expected him to look outraged or perhaps even disgusted with her. To her surprise, his eyes were soft again, examining her face. He nodded once and placed his large hand on her shoulder. It was warm and heavy and sent a soaring feeling through her chest. He didn't speak while his thumb moved back and forth comfortingly across her collarbone for a few moments. Then, he removed his hand and turned back to his plate. Avery followed suit, feeling from his reaction that he must have understood. That he did not judge her because of what her parents were accused of. Or, at least, she hoped that's what his silence meant.

When the feast was over, every student in the hall seemed to be focused on the staff table, where two others had joined the staff members and heads of schools during the feast. Avery recognized them as Barty Crouch, a ministry member whom her parents worked with and who had also headed the hunt for Death Eaters after Voldemort's fall, and Ludo Bagman, another ministry member her parents knew and a famous former quidditch player.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. He briefly introduced both Bagman and Crouch to smatterings of applause before asking Filch to bring in "the casket."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students. Zacharias Smith had half risen out of his seat and was craning his neck to get a better look at it. Dumbledore explained that the three tasks the champions would face had already been examined and arranged by Bagman and Crouch. These tasks, he went on, were meant to challenge the champions magical prowess, daring, powers of deduction and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.

At the mention of danger, the Hall was filled with a silence so thick that Avery half wondered if she had gone temporarily deaf. Her classmates around her seemed to be holding their breath. She stole a glance over her shoulder at Cedric, and noticed that he had gone still as well. When he saw her looking, however, he smiled at her, and she felt him relax beside her. He poked her in the side after a moment with a teasing smile, which jolted her back into reality. She turned once more back towards the staff table.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire. "

Dumbledore took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all. "

Students began to rise from their respective tables, talking excitedly about the goblet of fire. Some of the other Hufflepuffs were clapping Cedric on the back as they past him, or else asking when he planned to submit his name. Avery waited next to him, awkwardly. She wanted to talk with him more, but she wasn't sure if it would be strange to wait for him, or if she should just go. He caught her eye as an older Hufflepuff boy Avery didn't know was shaking his hand.

"Walk to the common room with me?" Cedric asked.

Avery smiled up at him. But before she could answer, she heard a familiar voice on her other side.

"We need to talk."