Disclaimer is in chapter 1.

After the excitement died down Xander shook his head and moved over to where Harry was laying down. "You dead, mate?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Not yet. Close call this time."

"You need a full time keeper, dude." Xander chuckled, shaking his head. "So, Moldy again, huh?"

Harry nodded, "He's back."

"Wasn't he back like four years ago?" Xander shrugged.

"I mean he's got a body now."

"No more hitchhiking then, huh? Well I guess it had to happen." Xander said, "Any clue how come he didn't off it properly the first time?"

Harry sighed, "no idea."

"Now that sucks."

"You have no idea, mate." Harry told him glumly.

"Buck up, you'll get through it."

"I wish I were so sure."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Xander asked with a smirk.

"Xander!" Hermione slapped him on the shoulder, "Don't be a jerk!"

"But it comes so natural to him," Ron muttered, rolling his eyes.

"It's alright, Hermione." Harry said, holding up a hand. "He's just joking."

"Well it's not funny." The bushy haired girl crossed her arms in a mild huff.

Xander shrugged, "You want he should laugh or cry? I can make him do either."

"Cry."

Everyone slowly turned to look at Wednesday, who merely raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Right." Xander said slowly, "and on that note I think it's time Wens and I cut out. Harry, way to dodge another AK dude. Herms, lighten up. He's alive. Ron… whatever."

He waved in their general direction as he crossed over to Wednesday and offered her his arm. She considered for a moment, then took it with a nod and they walked out together.

"You two really need to reconsider your taste in friends." Ron told Harry and Hermione dryly. "Not all there, that one."

Harry looked at Hermione, who looked back at him and shrugged.

"I can't really argue with the second part." She said, "But if I were to use sanity as a basis for making friends I know I wouldn't be hanging out with the two of you."

"Oy!" Ron objected as Harry started to laugh.

"Honestly Ron, do you really want to start comparing issues?" She rolled her eyes.

"I don't have issues!"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other incredulously for a moment, then both started shaking their heads and laughing.

"What? I don't!"

Xander was wheezing as he tried to recover from laughing, "Cry? Really, Wens?"

She merely shrugged lightly, "It would have been entertaining."

"Oh lord, remind me to never count on you to cheer me up if I'm depressed." Xander laughed, "but when it's about someone else, you're freaking hilarious!"

She stared at him blankly for a long moment until he recovered enough that he didn't appear to be in need of assistance she had no intention of offering.

"The tournament is over." She said then, starting to walk down the hall again.

Xander jogged quickly to catch up, "Right. They'll be moving the cup then."

Wednesday nodded. "Are you still willing to help?"

"We've got a plan, we stick to it." Xander confirmed.

She walked in silence for a long moment before speaking again. "Xander?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Xander nodded, "No problem."

Kingsley Shacklbolt was not having what one might charitably call a good day. The Dark Lord alone would have seen to that, and any day dealing with the Minister was stained to begin with, so combining the two was well and truly on the path to giving him a terminal migraine.

He took a breath outside his superiors office and stepped inside.

Madame Bones glanced up from her desk, one eyebrow raised. "Yes, Kingsley? I presume this is about the Potter kidnapping?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"He was recovered, I hope?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Amelia frowned, cocking her head to one side. "Well? Out with it, man. What happened?"

"I'm not at liberty to report, Ma'am."

That brought her up short.

"Not at liberty to…?" Amelia blinked, frowning. She reached across her desk and keyed in the privacy wards, "This conversation is now off the record, Kingsley. What in the name of Merlin are you talking about?"

Kingsley winced, "I'm not at liberty to report ma'am."

Amelia stared at him for a long moment, considering his words carefully. Not at liberty to report. There weren't many people who could order him not to report, In fact…

"Auror Shacklbolt, I order you to report on what happened this evening."

"I'm not at liberty to report ma'am," He told her again, sweating slightly.

She stared at him for a long moment, then turned off the warding. "Get out of my office, Auror."

"Yes Ma'am!"

She scowled as he left, considering what he'd said without words. Not many people could order an Auror of Shacklbolts ranking to withhold a report. Three people, to be precise. His direct supervisor, Head Auror Scrimgeour, Herself, and Minister Fudge.

She was fairly damned certain she hadn't given that order, though she'd be examining her mind for signs of Obliviation just in case. Scrimgeour s orders would have been countermanded by her direct order, which just left one.

What is that imbecile playing at now?

The Unspeakables arrived in the middle of the night.

Much as they had ghosted the Goblet into Hogwarts, they were now preparing to make it once more vanish to the depths of the department of mysteries where it had rested since the last tournament held. Four of them took down the protective wards while two more stood watch, their heavy robes and charmed hoods hiding their identities in case anyone was up at this time.

Unknown to them, two people were indeed awake and watching, though not close enough to be seen or detected. The ancient wardlines of Hogwarts herself fed every motion of the four, including their identities, to the duo who were waiting in the wings.

"I hope they take the direct route." Xander sighed softly.

"They will. Even they cannot transport out magically from within the wards." Wednesday replied calmly, confidently.

She didn't want to admit that they may just surprise her. They had, however, walked in via the most direct route and so it was most likely that they would leave the same way.

"They're moving." She said, eyes on the map held between them.

"Right. Hey boy," Xander glanced down at the pup walking along beside him. "You ready?"

The wolf cub only growled softly in response, as if knowing that a bark would be a bad idea.

"Alright," Xander flicked his Ollivander wand at the pup, changing its appearance from wolf to cat. "Show time."

The pup looked at itself, growled again from disgust at its appearance, but dutifully ran off. Xander glanced at Wednesday and nodded before he split off from her and headed down another hall. Wednesday remained in place for a moment, gently rubbing Odin's beak, then she and her raven vanished into the shadows themselves.

The six Unspeakables, unaware of the surveillance or the intent aimed in their direction finished up their ward work and carefully levitated the Goblet between four of them before heading for Hogwarts gates.

They only made it to a branching corridor, however, when there was an unholy yowling and one of the bearers of the Goblet went down in a sprawl as he tripped over something.

The Goblet, having lost its stable levitation, hit the ground and clanged along the stone floor in what they would have recognized as an unnatural motion if they hadn't been looking to their cursing comrade.

"What happened?" The leader hissed, annoyed beyond most tolerances.

"Filch's damned cat!" The one on the ground hissed, holding his ankle as he pointed with his free hand.

They turned to see a feline form vanish around the corner.

"I always hated that damned cat."

"Join the club." The leader muttered, looking around. "Where's the damn cup?"

"Over here." Another said, walking over to the large gold goblet. He heaved it upright and waved the others in, "Come on, let's be done here before someone comes to see what that noise was all about."

"Right." The leader said, flicking his wand at the heavy golden goblet.

Four of them lifted it into the air again, and the group moved on with more speed to their step as they left the school. Once outside the wards the group circled the cup and touched a piece of rope before vanishing into the cool Scottish night.

In another section of the school two figures met, stepping from the shadows with surprising stealth for their age.

"Did you get it?" Xander asked Wednesday.

The Addams scion nodded simply. "I timed the spell, six hours should give them enough time to get it back into storage. With luck, by the time they realize what has happened, another hundred years will have passed."

"Excellent!" Xander smiled, lifting his hand up vertically.

Wednesday looked at it for a long moment as the smile slowly faded from his face, then she finally raised a single eyebrow as she cocked her head and looked at him.

"Oh come on, you're not going to leave me hanging are you?" He whined.

Wednesday considered for a moment, then sighed and slumped slightly before reluctantly lifting her own hand to press it lightly against his in a 'high five'.

The grin returned instantly and Xander wrapped his arm around her as they walked down the hall, "Someday, Wens, I'll convert you to my way of thinking."

"Not even you would be that cruel." She muttered, nonetheless leaning into him as they walked.

Around their feet a cat ran and jumped in oddly doglike patterns, hissing and growling as it tried to get their attention.

"Harry!"

The next morning, at breakfast, Harry was startled to hear his name called from across the great hall and even more startled to see Cedric pushing people aside as he crossed the hall to meet him.

"Bloody hell, Harry, are you alright?" Cedric asked, breathless as he arrived.

Harry gave him a wan half smile and shrugged, "Been better, been worse. I'm glad you got out, mate."

"Harry, I left you." Cedric shook his head, "I'll never be able to forgive myself for that."

"Cedric, you were facing the Dark Lord himself and a Death Eater." Harry said, "And they were firing unforgivables. There's nothing to forgive, I'm just glad you made it out alive, mate. If you hadn't, I'd probably be dead because no one would have come to save my arse."

"I should have done more."

Harry shook his head, smiling slightly, "Gryffindors Forward, mate… but it took a Puff to bring me back in one piece."

Harry held out his hand, leaving Cedric looking uncertain for a moment before he took it with a smile.

"This Puff stands with you, Potter." He said firmly, then grinned, "And not just because I saw you put up a shield that stopped a blooding killing curse!"

Harry laughed, "Not my shield, Mate. That was all…"

He glanced over to where Xander was watching and was surprised for a moment when the other boy shook his head. Of course only a little surprised, Harry didn't love his own fame so it didn't seem strange to him that Xander might want to avoid it as well.

"… A friend's work." He finished, eyes coming back to Cedric.

"As I said in the cemetery, Harry, that's some friend."

"I've found since I came back to the Wizarding world that I need all the friends I can get." Harry told Cedric ruefully.

Cedric laughed, "You have one more."

"Thanks mate, that means a lot." Harry said quietly, yet sincerely.

There was a momentary pause before Harry glanced over at the food laden tables and nodded in the direction of the Gryffindor section. "I don't know about you, Ced, but I'm starving."

Cedric laughed, "I've eaten, so don't mind me. I just had to come over, Harry. You're sure you're ok?"

"Do you really think Poppy would let me out if I weren't?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes.

"Fair point." Cedric nodded, "Alright. I'll see you later then?"

"Later." Harry confirmed before they broke apart and he headed for his normal seat.

He didn't know it, but even before he started to eat the whole hall was murmuring about the encounter between the two and many darker rumors were put to rest for good.

Across the hall, at the Slytherin table, Xander was tiredly eating his own meal and didn't really notice any of the goings on around him. Not really surprising if one considered that he had been up most of the previous night pranking the ever living hell out of the British Ministry for Magic and it's Department of Mysteries.

For all that, though, Xander was feeling exhilarated and his mind was looking forward, blearily forward but forward none the less. The school year was wrapping up and shortly he'd be back in the States, which meant back with Will and Jessie and back to his personal projects.

After four years of magical schooling, Xander had come to the conclusion that most everything taught at Hogwarts was useless tripe. Useless, that was, until one considered that it provided a magical base for him to build on. Transfiguration class was spent turning one thing into another, usually rote lessons he would never again repeat in his lifetime if he had any say in things, but for all that the concepts were what was important.

The world wasn't solid, and that was the lesson Xander took from Transfiguration. Even rocks and metal were fluid and changed easily in form. Should he need a knife, he could have one of any shape and size with but a flick of his wand. Of course, Xander couldn't imagine ever needing one, not considering the splitting and severing curses, but the thought was there.

Charms brought him to a realization that somewhere beneath everything he'd learned in school before Hogwarts, beneath the surface, beneath the molecules, beneath even the atoms… there was energy waiting to be tapped. Waiting impatiently sometimes, even joyously, for a sentient mind to give it purpose.

Potions spoke to him of chemistry writ large, with a direct communications lane access to the deepest parts of the chemical foundation of the world. The idea that you could do so much with magical ingredients, patience, and an application of skill staggered him every time he thought of it. It was like everything he'd ever dreamed when he was younger was not only true, but merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Each of his classes were like that, though Xander was still trying to wrap his mind around Runes and Arithmancy. There had to be more there than he was seeing, but he figured it would come in time. It had taken him the better part of four years to come to his conclusions about the core courses, though honestly Xander couldn't figure out why the hell Defence was considered a core course.

It was like the founders all got together, with Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff developing this incredibly powerful concepts to teach children… and then they decided to throw Gryffindor a bone to keep him from bugging them while they worked.

Honestly, why the hell was Defense classified as a core course at Hogwarts? It wasn't even original material, it was almost entirely charms and transfigurations with some care of magical creatures mixed in.

Xander blinked, looking down at his pumpkin juice.

Fuck. My mind wanders when I'm tired.

He stared blearily at his juice for a while, occasionally pausing to put more food in his mouth, then glanced up and over to where his compatriot and partner in crime from the night before was sitting.

Wednesday looks too damned good for someone who was up as late as I was. He thought, mildly annoyed by her completely 'as usual' demeanor and appearance. His growing frown deepened as Xander noticed Wednesday speaking intently with Padma and, oddly enough, Fleur. Now what is she up to?

His suspicion turned to paranoia when Wednesday glanced over in his direction, meeting his gaze with one of her own, and then smirked at him.

Oh lord, she's plotting my doom.

"This… this is, it is insane." Fleur Delacour told her 'host', eyes flicking from one side to another to ensure no one else was listening.

She needn't have worried, there were few in Hogwarts suicidal enough to eavesdrop on Wednesday Addams and none of those were in Ravenclaw. The house of the intelligent ones had to have some minimum standards for acceptance, after all.

Wednesday merely matched her incredulous look with one of equanimity. "You are not required to participate, I merely offer it as a way you could repay the favor you believe your family owes."

"Yes but…" Fleur shook her head, stunned almost beyond measure.

What the Addams scion was asking was…

Fleur didn't even know how to describe it. Was it too much? No, not for what the Addams had done for her people, it was not. However it was in many ways a supreme sacrifice, one she was unable to fathom making. Wednesday was asking… everything of her.

"She's not wrong to be shocked, Wednesday," Padma said quietly, much in shock herself. "You're asking her… us, to risk… everything. For what? Some boy?"

Wednesday sat back, unmoved by the words of shock and disbelief. "I am not requiring this of either of you. My path is set. Join me on it, or not. Choice remains with you."

Padma couldn't meet her eyes, the Indian girl's gaze instead falling to the plate of food in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was being asked, it was forbidden. No, no it wasn't. Not in India, not technically even in Britain or any other place. Though that was only because it required voluntary participation, and no woman had been stupid enough to volunteer in recent memory.

Padma's eyes flicked up, looking at Wednesday again.

How can she be so calm? She's talking about risking everything!

Padma licked her lips, is she so confident? Does she believe the Addams family magics will protect her? No, impossible. But Wednesday is NOT stupid. She has to have some kind of edge, something to protect her. If it protects her, it has to protect us, that's in the nature of the ritual.

The Indian girl gnawed lightly at her lower lip, heart pounding in her ears as she spoke.

"Alright. I'm in."

Fleur looked at her in total shock, stunned beyond measure. So easily? How can she? Don't they understand? They risk enslavement!

The young Veela shuddered. The very thought of voluntarily walking into something that had been plaguing her people for centuries was horrific. How could either of these girls even for a moment consider it?

"Miss Addams, this is insane." She said again, "What you're planning will leave you bound to someone elses will for life. No man will be able to resist taking advantage of it, please believe me."

"It's alright, Fleur." Wednesday smiled, actually smiled at her. "I only thought to offer. Don't worry about it, I'll find someone else. Pity, though, a Veela would have added an inestimable quality to the ritual."

She turned to Padma, "it will have to be done over an entire year. I would prefer All Hallows or the winter Solstice. Do you have a preference?"

Padma blushed, though it was largely hidden by her dark complexion. "Spring or summer, I think?"

"Spring then." Wednesday said with finality, "I believe that the summer solstice will be taken."

"Ok, spring." Padma said, swallowing.

Fleur shuddered again. They were really going through with it.

Insanity.

And yet… she felt an obligation to the Addams, one beyond her own life. Her family, more than that… so many families had been saved through their actions. Fleur swallowed hard.

"I'll do it." She said, her accent deepening as she did.

Wednesday raised an eyebrow, "Are you certain?"

Fleur winced, but nodded. "I am."

"Take winter solstice then, I shall take the day of the dead." Wednesday told her serenely.

"Who's taking summer solstice?" Padma asked her tentatively.

Wednesday glanced up at the Slytherin table and smirked when she saw Xander looking back.

"I have someone in mind."