Eden's fingers ghosted over the moving picture of The Dark Mark on the front page of The Daily Prophet, thinking back to that night after the Quidditch match.
Herself, Sebastian and Clara had left short after Ireland won, but their father had stayed. Francis stayed behind, saying he wanted to catch up with Lucius and some other old friend, and then there had been an attack on muggles by a group of Death Eaters and The Dark Mark had appeared in the sky for the first time in thirteen years.
She had an awful feeling in her gut ever since these events had happened, like she was constantly going to be sick. It couldn't be, her father could not have been one of the death eaters who tortured that poor muggle family. She had heard the rumors ever since she was a little girl that Francis Haywood had been a very devoted follower to you-know-who. But she constantly pushed them further back into her mind, ignoring them as best as she could.
But now that this had happened, the thoughts hadn't left her alone.
She was on the Hogwarts express, sitting in a compartment by herself as she waited for the train to roll away from Kings Cross Station so that she could officially be on her way to her fourth year.
"Ah, there she is," Eden's thoughts are ripped away from the paper as she looks up and sees two of her best friends at Hogwarts, Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley.
"Eden!" Hannah's rosey face lights up at the sight of her dark haired friend and Eden returns the grin, standing up to hug both of her friends, "How was your summer?"
"Wonderful," Eden takes her original seat as Justin and Hannah take a seat on the bench across from her, "Well, the most of it was the normal stuff, reading and tending to my garden but I was lucky enough to go to the final match of the World Cup."
"You're joking?" Justin leans forward in his seat, "Your dad finally let you go?" His face flashes with jealousy but overall he was happy for his friend.
"What changed his mind?" Hannah adds, also leaning over in her seat, excited to hear more.
"I have no idea," Eden shakes her head, "I just kept to myself all summer and one day he came into my room and told me that I was going." She shrugs her shoulders, "He was...different when I was home this time…" Eden looks off into the empty space of the corner of their compartment, reliving the events of her summer holidays in her mind, "I mean, he wasn't kind by any means but...I don't know, it's hard to explain." She shakes her head out, "I think something's different with him but I can't put my finger on it."
Her eyes slowly move back to her friends who are watching her with curious and concerned faces, "Anyways," She sits up straight, plastering a new smile on her face, "How was your holiday?"
Eden tried to listen to her friends she really did, and she did get some of their stories from over the holidays. Justin had gotten a new broom over the summer months, a Firebolt to be exact, the same one Harry Potter had received last year. He had all summer to practice on it and was unbelievably excited for the upcoming Quidditch season.
Hannah had gotten a new bunny. She already had three at home at the beginning of the holidays but on an evening walk with her dog she found a baby wild bunny who seemed to be injured and abandoned by its mum. Hannah, being the kind girl that she is, took it upon herself to nurse the poor baby back to health and couldn't fathom the thought of letting it go once she had done so.
But other than those details Eden hated to admit that she was stuck in her own head. Talking about how her father had been acting made it hard to focus on much else now that her thoughts were stuck on his actions.
Her father, Francis, was a reserved man who expected two things from his children-follow his legacy in Slytherin and carry on the family bloodline with another pureblood. Seeing as Eden missed one of those goals at the ripe age of eleven, he was never keen on her.
But, over this last summer holiday, she had noticed a switch in his attitude. He had started defending her when her older siblings would bully her, not giving any reason as to why he was doing it but simply getting them to stop was enough for Eden. He poked his head into her bedroom every night when she was lying in bed, reading before falling asleep, his green eyes that looked so much like her own scanning her small bedroom as if making sure nothing was out of the ordinary. Then, almost as if he had forgotten she was still awake, he would mutter a quick goodnight and close the door swiftly. He hadn't wished her goodnight since the time before Hogwarts.
Eden wasn't sure what had changed in her father, and she knew she should only be grateful about it, but something deep inside her made her anxious.
"Well if it isn't my favorite fourth year," Eden looks over at the door to the compartment as a familiar head of brown curls appears in the doorway.
"Cedric!" She jumps up from her seat and walks over to the older Hufflepuff boy, wrapping her arms around his torso and giving him a tight hug, "I've missed you."
Cedric Diggory was another one of Eden's good friends at Hogwarts. Last year, Professor Sprout had asked her to help Cedric get his herbology grade up. Cedric wasn't too happy with having a third year tutor him but professor Sprout insisted that if he wanted to keep his spot on the Quidditch team he would need Eden's help. She was, in fact, at the top of Herbology for her year.
Cedric got used to the idea and warmed up to Eden almost immediately and they became the best of friends for the rest of the year.
"You alright, Kiddo?" He ruffled her hair and Eden sighs, pulling away and smoothing her hair out.
"Yeah, I'm brilliant," She smiles brightly up at him, "I didn't see you at the world cup like I had hoped to."
"Yeah it was pretty crazy, I kept an eye out for you but it was hard to keep track of anything in those crowds." He turns to look at the other kids in the compartment, "Hi Hannah, Fletchley." Eden almost saw a blush creep on to Justin's cheeks. Him and Cedric were on the Quidditch team together and it was safe to say that he was basically Cedric's biggest fan.
"Come on, Ced," One of Cedric's friend's stops at the compartment door, obviously not finding it very cool that he was talking to a ton of fourth years.
"Right, right, I'm coming." Cedric waves his hand and turns back to Eden, ruffling her hair once again, much to her annoyance, "I'll see you at the feast." He flashes her another smile before exiting the compartment and Eden returns to her seat.
After smoothing out her hair yet again, she looks up to see her friends giving her knowing smiles from across the compartment, "What?" She chuckles at their weirdness. The Hogwarts Express was chugging across the Scottish countryside, hurdling closer and closer to Hogwarts by the second.
"What do you mean, what?" Hannah laughs, "Isn't it obvious? You're practically in love with Cedric."
Eden gasps, kicking her friend gently from across the compartment, "I am not! He's like a brother."
"Yeah, a brother you'd like to snog." Justin mutters under his breath.
"EW!" Eden squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head vigorously. Cedric was extremely handsome...and charming...and kind. But, He was completely and utterly not interested in Eden in that way, and if anything she didn;t have time to have another crush on someone that she couldn't' have.
She had Draco for that.
Their arrival at Hogwarts was slightly different than the students were used to. At the same time they were arriving it seemed as though two other special guests were doing the same.
From the sky came a grand carriage, being flown, as it seemed, by white horses. And from the Black Lake emerged a very large ship that Eden had a feeling she knew where it was travelling from.
"Drumstrang," She recognized the voice just behind her. Eden, Hannah and Justin had managed to get a pretty good view of the visitors at the front of the crowd which led to them being slightly squeezed against the stone wall in front of them. The person pressed up against Eden's back was someone that she could recognize merely by their scent. "I was supposed to go to Drumstrang, you know," Draco said to his friends beside them, "That's where my father wanted to send me but when my mother found out how far away it is she wouldn't have it."
Eden knew that this was only one of the reasons Draco didn't go to Drumstrang. Yes, his mother did want him to be closer to home, but it was also the fact that when Eden and Draco had heard about the possibility of them going to different schools they practically went on strike. They refused to eat and locked themselves away in Draco's room until Lucius finally changed his mind.
Of course, Draco would never broadcast that to anyone now.
After the mysterious guests seem to fully arrive, the excitement doesn't really die down but it simply moves with the students as they all move toward the Great Hall.
"Come on, let's get a good spot at the table. I have a feeling we're going to get some exciting news this feast." Justin turns toward the two girls standing next to him who go to follow his lead out of the crowd.
As Eden turns around, she's met with Draco's normal sneer as he looks down at her, "Oh, Draco," She smiles at him, "enjoying the excitement?" Her eyes flash behind him at Crabbe and Goyle standing on either side of the blond boy.
"I would have enjoyed it more if your big head wasn't in the way, Haywood." His upper lip curls in disgust.
"Well if you would have said something I would have moved." She shrugs simply, "Now, if you'll excuse us…" She grips on to Hannah's hand to try and squeeze past the Slytherin boys while Justin shoots them a glare while he stands behind the two girls.
"Your father didn't tell you what's happening this year, did he?" Draco steps in front of her once again and Eden looks up at him from under her long, dark eyelashes. "My father told me all about it weeks ago." He says snobbily, "Although, my father actually likes me so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know what I'm talking about."
"Watch it, Malfoy." Justin growls, taking a threatening step forward and Eden gives him a look that tells him to stand down.
"What are you going to do Fletchley?" Draco looks him up and down in amusement, "Jab me with your boney elbow?" Draco wasn't exactly wrong. Justin was quite scrawny and didn't have much muscle on him at all. But Justin was fiercely protective and would do anything for either Eden or Hannah.
"I think I'd rather find out things along with the rest of the students, anyway," Eden tells Draco, returning to the original topic of their conversation, "makes it more exciting." She offers him another smile, "See you later." She finally manages to push past him and flashes the same smile at his friends, "Vincent, Gregory."
After changing into their robes in the bathrooms, the group meets back up to head to the Great Hall.
"Remind me again why you were ever friends with him?" Justin asks in annoyance as they're finally away from the three Slytherins and on their way to dinner with the rest of the students who were eager to hear what all the arrivals were about only minutes ago.
"He isn't really who he portrays to be," They mingle with the rest of the students as they enter the Great Hall and make their way to the Hufflepuff table before the sorting begins, "he just acts that way because he thinks he has to."
"I wonder what he was talking about," Hannah says as she sits next to Justin, across the table from Eden, "that something was going to happen at Hogwarts this year. Your dad really didn't mention anything to you?"
The young Haywood shakes her head, "No, I have no idea what could be happening." She tells her friends and the subject is forgotten as the sorting ceremony begins. Each new Hufflepuff is welcomed at the table very warmly by the current habitants of the table. Eden loved seeing their nerves fade as they were sorted into their houses and welcomed by the other members.
It reminded her of her own sorting ceremony and her eyes can't help but drift toward the Slytherin table, locking with those eyes of Draco Malfoy who was sitting next to her older sister Clara, as they were usually not far from each other. She's caught off guard when he's looking at her too but they don't break eye contact.
"Don't worry, Edie, no matter what happens we'll always be best friends." He had assured her as they entered the hall for their sorting. How wrong he had been, and how naive she had been to believe him.
He looks away from her and leans over to whisper something in Clara's ear, to which she giggles at and Eden's stomach churns as she looks down at her hands in her lap.
"You okay?" Hannah grabs her attention from across the table and Eden looks up at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," She smiles reassuringly at her while the sorting ceremony wraps up, "just starving." She lies, but Hannah is none the wiser.
"Well now that we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement," Professor Dumbledore takes a stand behind his usual podium, his great, booming voice gaining the attention of everyone in the room, "This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well." The doors to the Great Hall open and Mr. Filch comes running down toward Professor Dumbledore as if he had something dire to say. "You see, Hogwarts has been chosen…."
Dumbledore stops speaking as Filch approaches him, whispering something in his ear while also trying to catch his breath. After he does this, Dumbledore responds and Filch goes running back down the length of the hall, not without giggles from a couple of the students, "So," Dumbledore continues, "Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event. The Triwizard Tournament."
Whispers of shock and excitement erupt in the hall as students discuss what the headmaster had just informed them of. There hadn't been a Triwizard tournament in centuries, it was so dangerous that the Ministry never allowed it anymore. What had changed?
"That must have been what Draco was talking about." Eden leans over the table to whisper to her friends who look at her with wide, excited eyes.
"Now for those of you who don't know, the Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school, one student is selected to compete." That must have been who was arriving outside earlier, the other schools, Eden thought to herself, "Now let me be clear, if chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say, these contests are not for the faint of heart." His tone goes slightly somber before it picks up right away, "But more of that later. For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime."
The Great Hall doors open once again and everyone's heads whip around to try and catch a glimpse of who is walking in. Walking in from the entrance hall was a group of girls dressed in blue silk dresses and blue hats, all of them rather beautiful-and that fact didn't go unnoticed. After taking a couple of steps they would stop and open their arms, letting out whimsical sighs that were almost alluring to anyone listening. Following behind them was a very very tall woman with short dark hair.
The Great Hall erupted into cheers after they had finished their entrance, the males in the room overpowering the females considerably, for many reasons. Eden was excited to see what the girls were like, although she had heard that the French weren't always the nicest of people.
Dumbldore stands up once again, motioning for silence, "Now our friends from the North, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang. And their high master, Igor Karkaroff."
This entrance was much different than the one of the young ladies of Beauxbatons. A group of muscular boys enter the Great Hall, all of them with short haircuts and holding staffs that they would slam on the ground, creating a beat of sorts. And while their entrance was impressive, what everyone's minds were really on was how none other than Viktor Krum had walked in with them.
"The Bulgarian seeker," Justin was practically drooling at the sight of him, "I can't believe I'm going to school with Viktor Krum."
"Close your mouth, Justin, you'll catch flies." Hannah taps his chin to which he responds by slapping her hand away from his face. Eden giggles and looks back up at the front of the hall as the new students get settled at the tables.
The feast commences after they're all sat down but the excited chatter only gets louder as the students eat. Justin couldn't stop talking about Viktor Krum and Hannah was wondering how this would affect classes for the year. Eden was mainly quiet as she ate her dinner. That same awful feeling she had felt in her gut on the train hadn't gone away at all, and the talk of the Triwizard Tournament only made it harder to ignore.
Why was she so nervous about it? Sure, it was a dangerous tournament but surely they were taking the proper precautions to make sure no one actually got hurt.
As the dinner food magically transitioned into dessert, Dumbledore once again got everyone's attention after a couple of men had carried in a large gold tower of sorts and set it at the front of the hall, "I'd like to say a few words." He places his hand on the tower, "Eternal glory. That is what awaits the student that wins the Triwizard Tournament. But, to do this, that student must survive three tasks. Three very dangerous tasks." He says with almost a warning tone to his words, "Because of this the Ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Mr. Bartemius Crouch."
Eden recognized the man getting up from the table as someone she had seen at the World Cup. But, his introduction was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder from the enchanted ceiling above and rain started to pour down on everyone.
From the corner of the room, a stream of red light shoots at the ceiling and the rain stops. Eden's eyes follow to where the spell came from and there she is a very disfigured wizard, one she recognizes.
"That's Mad-Eye Moody," she whispers to her friends across the table, "Alastor Moody. The Auror." She explains, "I wonder what he's doing here." She eyes the one eyed wizard as his robotic looking eye darts around the room as if he's observing everyone carefully.
He limps his way over to Dumbledore, greeting him like an old friend before he steps off to the side, letting Barty continue what he was about to tell the students.
"After due consideration, the ministry has concluded that, for their own safety, no student under the age of 17-" Immediate protests come from the crowd at the mention of the age, "should be allowed to put forth their name for the Triwizard Tournament. This decision is final."
"That's rubbish!" The Weasley twins yell from the Gryffindor table, "You don't know what you're doing!"
But, alas, it was the rules. And Dumbledore explains that students above the age of 17 who wished to enter the competition were to throw their name into the Goblet of Fire before Thursday night.
"What do you think of it all?" Cedric catches up with Eden as the Hufflepuffs make their way toward their common room.
"It's very exciting." She says to him, "You're 17. Going to put your name in?" she nudges him as they walk. She was slightly joking since she didn't think he would actually want to put his name in.
"Actually, yeah. I think I am." He says simply, his hands in his pockets. Eden stops walking and looks fully at Cedric and he stops as well.
"You're not serious, Ced." she shakes her head at him.
"Well, why shouldn't I? Eternal glory, Eden." He grabs her shoulders, "I mean, how incredible would that be?" Her expression doesn't change much from the uncertain one she was already wearing, "You don't think I can do it?"
Eden scoffs, "Oh, Cedric, that's not it." she says, "You're brilliant. You're a great wizard and I think you would be great but…" She looks around as the rest of the Hufflepuffs keep walking past them toward the common room. Cedric was a prefect so neither of them would get in trouble for hanging back, "Cedric, the reason it's been so long since the last tournament is because of how many people died." She tells him, "You heard Dumbledore the tasks are dangerous and you could get seriously hurt or...or worse."
"Eden," He places his hands on her cheeks in a loving way, "I'll be okay. And who knows if I'll even get chosen I'm just putting my name in." He squishes her cheeks, making her lips pucker up and she rolls her eyes, pushing his hands away, "It's sweet that you care, though."
He ruffled her hair before flashing her another charming smile and heading off in the direction the other Hufflepuffs went. Eden lingers for a moment, her eyes fixed on the spot where Cedric was just standing. She knew he was right, there was no way to be sure if he was even going to be chosen and if he was he was very smart and very good at magic, he would be okay.
But, just like the rest of the night, she couldn't shake that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. That anxious, awful feeling that something bad was going to happen.
"Isn't he a bit old for you, Haywood?" Eden jumps a little at the sound of Draco Malfoy's voice coming from a little further down the hall. He was alone, which surprised her. The Slytherins had left for their common room just before the Hufflepuffs had, he should have been in his dorm by now.
"Cedric's a friend." She answers her question as he walks closer to her and her to him. They meet halfway, standing a couple inches apart, "What are you doing lurking around?" She asks him, "Haven't you insulted me enough for one day?"
"I was using the bathroom, saw Diggory hanging back with you." He informs her, his pale eyes staring right into her vibrant ones.
"And you were, what? Worried about me?" She raises an eyebrow at her old friend.
"Don't flatter yourself, Haywood. My curiosity only got the better of me, wanted to know what you were up to." He looks her up and down, as if that would give him his answer.
"We were just talking, Draco," She tells him, "now if you'll excuse me I need to get to the common room before we both get in trouble." Her words weren't without kindness but there was a hint of bluntness to them. She turns to leave but his words make her pause her movements.
"I saw you looking at me during the sorting," He says, walking up behind her, so close that she can feel his breath on the back of her neck, "you do that every year. Every year since our sorting." He twirls his finger through one of her long curls and Eden feels herself tense up, "Every year since you became such a big disappointment." He hisses in her ear and Eden whirls around, creating distance between them.
"Don't you ever get tired, Draco?" She says gently, examining his face for any sign of the boy that she once called her best friend. He was there, just behind the mask of the boy he tried to be.
"Tired of what?" He scoffs at her, almost laughing.
"Of pretending." His smug face falls and the corner of Eden's lips turn up in a sad smile, "Goodnight, Draco." She turns back around and heads in the direction she originally tried to go and this time, nothing stops her.
Draco watches her go, her words making him clench his jaw in frustration. Not because she was wrong but because she was actually right. He was pretending, putting on a front everyday. He was pretending about a lot of things but no one could know this. But of course, Eden saw right through him. Even after all these years of them being estranged she still knew him better than anyone.
It angered him. Angered him that she could still know him so well. Angered him that she could get under his skin with how she was always so kind no matter how cruel he was to her.
The truth was that he stopped to watch her with Cedric because he hated seeing him alone with her. The thought of her being with someone made me angry and...jealous. But it couldn't. He wasn't allowed to feel that way, not about her.
