A/N: Hey, thank you to the reviewers. I'm sorry I haven't updated in such a long, I'm sorry, but I've been really preoccupied.
Disclaimer: sigh Once again, I do not own Harry Potter.
Dedication: To my friend Josh… who is there even when I'm having one of my really moody days that comes along with being a girl…
My hand was shaking as I pulled out the object. When it came out, I looked at it curiously. It was a small mirror, and when I gazed into it, a bright number one lit it up. I swallowed. I knew that I was going to be the first to go.
"What do the mirrors mean?" I asked, my throat dry.
"They are your hint." Dumbledore replied mysteriously.
"Lily, I see that you have number one. Please follow me. Families, you my follow my friend here to the stands. The other two champions can wait here until called." Dumbledore said cheerfully. My stomach was clenched so bad that I could barely breath. I followed Dumbledore out of the tent and into the arena.
I heard someone shouting my name, saying that I was the first champion to go on. I looked up into the crowd, and I saw David, Kelsey, Matt, Tyler, Tucker, but I didn't see Tess anywhere. I felt kind of sad that my best friend wasn't there to support me… There was some new girl in the group though. She had chin length black hair; she was really pale, and a lot of dark make-up and clothes. I was curious to who she was, but I didn't have time to ponder that.
Looking back down, I studied where I was. It seemed like a normal arena. It wasn't huge, but it was pretty big. There really was nothing around me. I looked around for a few seconds, wondering if I wasn't supposed to come out yet, when BOOM! A flash of light exploded, so I couldn't see, and when I opened my eyes, all I could see were mirrors. I looked left and right, up and down, but all I could see was my reflection.
I walked around a bit. It was hard to figure out what I was doing, since I really had no since of direction. I walked forward, and I saw something that made my heart stop.
A giant snake was racing toward me. I didn't know from which direction, because of all the mirrors. It kept getting closer and closer. I was panicking really badly now. Glancing around, I spotted a small area where I couldn't see my reflection. I darted through it, and soon I was in another mirrored room. This time there were several hundred snakes slithering around in there. I screamed, for snakes are my worst fear.
It took me a few minutes to figure out that maybe I should do something, rather then stare at them until they attack me. I had no idea what to do. I could stun them all, but that would take far to long. I could shrink them all, which would be quicker… Then I remembered my defense against the dark arts OWL. We had to reduce a hundred mice to one single mouse. It was supposed to be good for getting rid of weak wizards, if you're strong enough.
Gathering up my strength, a looked at the snakes and bellowed "Disapuno!"
The instants the spell hit the snakes, they started disappearing one by one, until soon there was only one snake left. The only problem was that I wasn't very good at the spell yet, so the new one was a lot bigger then the old ones that it replaced.
I gulped and looked at the new snake with fearful eyes. It was eyeing me.
Without thinking, I bellowed, "Impedia!" It was immobilized for a second, and I ran by it. I was in such a hurry to keep going that I ran into a mirror and rebounded back towards the snake. I had immobilized the snake with its mouth open, so when I put my hand out to break my fall, the fang seared through it.
I bit my lip, wrenched my hand out, and hurried on. My hand was bleeding, and it was hurting horrible, but I kept going. I ran through halls and halls of mirrors, facing a few more monsters on the way, although the new ones were a lot less challenging then the snakes. Soon, I was running down a long corridor made up entirely of mirrors. I kept running, and soon I entered what I guessed to be the final room.
I ran into it and glanced around. There were more mirrors, but as I looked up, there was a small box, maybe a square foot, hanging from a robe very high up. There were more mirrors around it. I remembered that I had to retrieve the box, so I shot a spell at it, thinking that it would just fall. It didn't.
I tried to remember what I had learned previously, about things like this. I thought for a second when it came to me. I wasn't supposed to be trying to get it down by some sort of special spell, I was to rebound it off the mirrors and get it down from the top. It wasn't skills; it was logic.
Carefully aiming at the mirror, I used the reducter curse. I aimed wrong, though, and it went rebounding off in completely the wrong direction. I scowled, partly because I knew this had the potential to take me forever, and because for every time I missed, I was getting points taken off.
I aimed again, this time my aim was true. The reducter curse went and hit the rope, and the box fell. I grinned and picked it up with my uninjured hand. Another door opened at the opposite side that I had come in, and I hurried through it. I was hoping so bad that I wasn't about to go into another room.
When I walked out the door, I was greeted by cheers. I blinked in the light; I was out in the arena again, the mirrors were gone. I was holding the box, and my hand was hurting so bad that I could hardly think straight, but as soon as I heard those cheers, my mind went blank. I grinned at the crowd, and they cheered louder.
"Ms. Potter retrieved her chest in a total of forty-three minutes. She displayed excellent use of the reducter curse and the Disapuno anti-jinx. Although she received a small bite from a serpent, she did quite well over all. Her marks are as follows." I heard the announcer say, and I looked up at the stands.
There were five people judging us, apparently. The first two judges were people I didn't recognize, and the last three were the heads of the schools. The first person shot an 8 in the air. The second person, a woman, shot a 9. Then madam Maxime shot an 8 in the air. Dumbledore shot a 9 in the air. Finally, the Durmstrang headmaster shot a 6 in the air. I frowned slightly at the last score, but over all, my score was ok. It was 40 points that I just earned.
Next thing I knew, I was ushered into a tent to get my hand fixed. I hardly paid attention as she fixed my hand, I just wanted to get out there and see my friends and watch the rest of the task. The nurse had other ideas.
"You wait 'ere! You wait 'ere for one hour until your hand is healed!" She told me sternly as I tried to sneak out. I scowled at her and sat back down. I had to settle to just listening to the commentary.
I listening curiously for the hour I was to sit. Eric was next, and from what I could hear, he was actually really good. No body had ever talked to Eric, so nobody really knew much about him. He was really quiet, and from what I could here, incredibly gifted. I was positive that he would beat me. I just am not that good.
By the time I was let out of the hospital tent, Eric was just finishing up the end of his task. They wouldn't let me go up into the stands to see my friends, so I was stuck watching from right behind the judge's table. However annoyed I was, I was pleased to see that Eric was having a lot of trouble aiming his spells correctly. It took him quite a few tries and several extra minutes before he finally got the angle and knocked the box down.
When Eric was done, he looked up eagerly for his scores. I couldn't see them, for they were in front of me. I watched Eric's face. He didn't seem ecstatic about his score, but he seemed pleased all the same. When he was done reading the scores, they were showed to the rest of the crowd. I looked at them. The total was forty-one. I looked at my hands. So far I was in last place.
Next, Claire came out. I watched her with interest as she smiled at the crowd. Then, there was the boom. I looked down, and where Claire used to be, there was a glass house. From where I was sitting, I could see everything perfectly. Apparently the mirrors were see-through from the outside.
Claire was just as good as Eric, maybe even better. She didn't even hesitate to shrink the snakes or anything else. I looked at my hands. I couldn't help get the feeling that I was the serious underdog here. I was obviously the worst at magic.
Claire had very few slip-ups. She did shatter a mirror because she sent a spell that was to strong at one of them, and she did trip when something lunged at her, but other then that, her performance was perfect. She got the box down on her very first try, which made me feel like crap.
When Claire was finished, I looked at her face when she got her score. When I saw her face light up, I knew instantly that she must have got a good score. I followed everyone's gaze to the scoreboard as her scores were put up. She got forty-six points.
As everyone filed out of the arena, Dumbledore called me over to him.
"In the box your holding contains your next clue. The information on the next task will be sent to you when everyone from Hogwarts and Durmstrang leave, so Sunday night. If you have any questions, please come see me." Dumbledore told me, his eyes sparkling. I nodded at him.
As I left the Arena, I noticed Claire surrounded by the rest of Trellena. I kept walking. I didn't want them to see me. I wanted to find my own friends.
As I walked, the weight of what I was about to do returned. I had completely forgot about it when I saw my mom and found out she was pregnant. Now, the feeling returned. My mom and Dad went home, so I knew that I had no choice but to go find my friends. And David.
It took me a very long time to find them. They were out sitting on the grounds on some table out there. When I did find them, I was surprised.
"Kelsey! Your Hair!" I exclaimed when I saw her. She giggled happily. She had changed so much from the person I once knew and hated. Her hair was now really long, and it was pretty. It was brownish-red, and it looked nice. I told her so.
"You really think it looks nice?" She said, and I laughed and nodded.
Next I turned to the rest of the group none of them really looked that different. Except the new girl I didn't recognize. At least not at first.
"Tess?" I exclaimed. Boy, did she look different. Her hair was no longer long and full like it had been. It was chin-length and stringy. She was incredibly pale, and the clothes she had on were all black. The clothes, plus the dark make-up she had on, made her look even paler.
"Tess, what happened?" I asked her, and she sniffed. Everyone gazed uneasily at me.
"I'm not called Tess any more. They call me Teresa now." Tess said. I raised my eyebrows. I had never called her Teresa in my whole life, even though that is her real name.
"Why? What happened? Why did you change so much?" I asked her, and she sniffed again.
"I just needed a change, awright? Got a problem with it?" She said coldly, and I stepped back. I was not used to getting this kind of treatment from the sweet girl that used to be my best friend.
"No, I'm sorry." I said, feeling hurt.
Turning away and leaving Tess in her moodiness, I studied Tucker and Tyler. They seemed to be really good friends now, a lot better then they were when I left.
"Tess and I broke up." Tucker whispered to me softly, and I nodded. He looked rather unhappy, but he didn't look like he was suffering or anything.
"How is Ayla?" I asked Tyler, and he smiled.
"She is great. She really wanted to come and see you, but she said she had to some stuff back home. I think she had a detention. She says she promises she will be here next time." Tyler said, and I smiled.
Finally, I turned to David.
"Hey…" I said softly.
"Hey yourself." He said, and he stood up and leaned over to kiss me. I turned away.
"David, we need to talk." I said, my voice shaking.
A/N: Okay, I need to ask you guys a favor. What do you think I should name Ginny's new baby? It can be any name you want, first and middle name. I want you guys to name it, and I will pick my favorite one. Remember, it's a girl. PLEASE GIVE ME NAMES!
