A/N: Hello all! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I have some good things planned for the next couple of chapters :)
Anything that you recognize in this chapter is taken directly from GoF - all credit goes to JK
June 24th, 1995
Sirius and I woke up the next morning in a tangle of sheets and limbs after a night spent getting rid of our frustrations on each other's bodies. We have both been so uptight ever since Harry's name came out of the goblet, and it was all about to culminate this evening. Last night was the perfect outlet for us to release all of the pent-up energy we had been carrying around since Halloween; and we definitely took advantage of the opportunity.
The sun was rising and the gentle light was starting to creep across our bed, bathing Sirius in a golden light that made his olive skin glow. It was so peaceful, laying beneath the warm covers as the morning light gently woke us up; as much as I wanted to hide in bed and pretend nothing bad was going on in the world, I knew that Sirius and I had to get up and get ready to head to Hogwarts. I lay my hand on my stomach, thinking about how somewhere inside of there was a baby. I hoped that our child could be born in to a world at peace, but with the way things were trending that was getting less and less likely by the day. I made a promise to myself that this time, I would do everything I could to protect my family. I wasn't going to sit out this time – I wasn't going to let my friends and family fight while I stuck my head in the sand. My children – Hollyn, Harry, and my unborn child – would know a world without war, if it was the last thing I did.
My hand was resting absentmindedly on my stomach still, rubbing up and down, when I felt Sirius stir next to me. I moved my hand into his hair, pushing it back gently from his forehead. Sirius yawned and caught my hand in his, intertwining our hands together and bringing them down so he could kiss the back of mine.
"Good morning," I said sweetly, leaning up to kiss him. He returned the kiss quickly before checking the clock on the nightstand next to me.
"Fuck," he cursed, immediately breaking the spell of the sweet and serene atmosphere that I had been enjoying. "We overslept!"
"We did not oversleep," I laughed, rolling my eyes. "They're not even at breakfast yet. What are you so anxious for?"
"I wanted to get there early and see if I could scope out the maze before meeting Harry," Sirius admitted unabashedly, despite knowing that I would think he was being just a tad insane.
"You'd never get in without being seen…." I trailed off, suddenly realizing what he really meant. "Oh. You meant as padfoot."
Sirius just grinned a toothy smile at me, his tongue almost wagging out of his mouth reminiscent of his animagus form. I chuckled and tapped his cheek affectionately before rolling out of bed to get dressed for the day. Seconds later, Sirius did the same; he bounded in to the washroom to wash up. I pulled out his favorite jumper and laid it on the bed, along with a pair of jeans, for him to wear today, so that it was one less thing he had to think of today. I threw on a maroon and gold sundress that I still had from my Hogwarts days – deciding I would show some house pride and cheer Harry on in style. I threw a jean jacket over it, knowing that the weather was unpredictable in Scotland and I may need it despite it being the middle of summer.
I wandered downstairs and threw together a quick meal of eggs, toast and sausages. Sirius came downstairs, hair dripping from the shower and galloped over to the kitchen table. He shoved a piece of toast in his mouth, just as the kettle boiled. He made me a cup of tea and handed it to me, grabbing a bit of sausage on his way. He sat down and watched me with wide eyes as I sipped on the tea. I pretended not to notice, and swallowed my tea before picking up my fork to finish my eggs.
Sirius watched me so anxiously for the next three minutes that I threw my fork down in frustration and looked at him angrily. "Are you serious?" I snapped.
"Yes," He said simply. "If my mother can be trusted, at least."
"How can you be so fucking anxious, yet still make a joke?" I asked incredulously. "Don't even answer that. Let's just go, okay?"
"Are you done eating?" He asked innocently.
"No!" I snapped again. "But you know that, given that my plate is still full. Let's just go, I've lost my appetite anyway."
"Are you sure?"
"NO!" I shouted, and Sirius flinched at the sudden volume. It took me by surprise too, as I typically wasn't so aggressive. I guess the baby hormones were already starting to affect me. "Sorry."
"You okay, kitten?"
"Yeah. Nerves."
"Come here," he demanded, opening his arms to me. I came around the table reluctantly and sat on Sirius's lap, letting him wrap his arms around me. I laid my head on his chest and felt him run his hands through my hair soothingly. I let my body relax onto his, as though I could give him all of my stress through skin to skin contact.
"It's going to be okay," he whispered into the top of my head. "I promise, kitten. I won't let anything happen to him."
"You can't promise me that," I argued, whining just a bit. But really, it wasn't as if Sirius could go in to the maze with Harry. He couldn't promise me that he would be alright.
"I know, kitten. But I wish I could. And I wish I never had to break a promise to you, ever." I thought back to the one-time Sirius had ever broken a promise – the night my Mom had died. He had promised me that he would get her, but we had been too late. My heart sank, hoping that history wasn't about to repeat itself.
"I know you don't. And you know that I love you for always trying to take care of everyone. I'll just be happy once this whole thing is over and Harry is home with us, safe and sound," I sighed, kissing Sirius's cheek and getting up off his lap. It was time to go.
We apparated just outside of the Hogwarts gates and joined the small queue that was lining up waiting for a professor to let us in. There were the other champion's families, some ministry officials, and several members of the press in attendance. I saw Molly and Bill's telltale ginger hair about halfway up the queue and pulled on Sirius's hand to drag him in their direction. We got a few nasty looks for cutting the queue, but with one vicious look from Sirius, the mumbling all stopped. It turns out, people still believing that you may have been a murderer really had its benefits – despite the fact that he was literally an Auror again.
"Howdy," Bill greeted us. He pulled me in to a hug, his large frame dwarfing mine in comparison. "How are you doing Aunt Addie, Sirius? Feeling nervous?"
"Sirius was so anxious to get here, he wouldn't even let me finish my toast," I pouted, sending Sirius a scathing look.
"And she was anxious, she didn't even realize she put on two different shoes," Sirius shot back, laughing when I looked down at my feet in a panic. I was, in fact, wearing two different sandals.
"Come here, dear," Molly said motherly, waving her wand at my feet and transfiguring one shoe to match the other.
"Thanks, Mol. Since my lovely husband can't be bothered to even tell me I dressed myself like a five year old…"
"Honestly, I only noticed right now," Sirius admitted. I opened my mouth to jab back, but Molly squealed, cutting me off.
"Oh! They're opening the gate!" She said excitedly, trying to use Bill's shoulder to balance as she got up on her tip-toes to try to see over the heads of the people in front of her. It wasn't working so well, given that Bill was a good foot taller than her, but I appreciated the effort either way.
Sirius grabbed my hand, his form of an apology, as we walked in a line in to the grounds. Everyone around us was excited, reminiscent of the energy at the Quidditch World Cup; even Molly and Bill were having a hard time controlling their enthusiasm, although I knew that they were just as worried about Harry as Sirius and I were. We made our way up the grounds, me convincing Sirius not to transform in to Padfoot to explore the maze – "You can't cheat like that!" – and Bill trying to encourage him to turn in to Padfoot and explore the maze – "come on, he can warn Harry! No one will even notice." Molly pretended to ignore our argument, staring dutifully ahead towards the castle, as only the mother of Fred and George could do.
When we got in to the Entrance Hall, we were met by Minerva McGonagall, standing in the center of the hall in black robes and a witch's hat, her hands clutched primly in front of her.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" She addressed the crowd in her think Scottish brogue. Immediately, everyone quieted down, her harsh tone shocking those that did not know her. I saw who must be Fleur's mother and little sister, given their identical platinum blonde hair and striking looks, flinch backwards at the sound of her voice. "We ask that the champion's families come join us in the back chamber behind the Great Hall to wait for their champions to join them after breakfast. All others, we ask that you congregate in the waiting hall on the third floor. Our caretaker, Argus Filch, will accompany you there." Minerva motioned to Filch, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs hunched over. He attempted to smile, but the effect actually made him look scarier than his typical scowl.
"Families, follow me!" She said, turning on her heel and expecting us to follow her obediently. Everyone around us was slightly taken aback by the abruptness of the entire exchange, but I smirked at Sirius knowing that it was just Minerva's way. She wasn't one for pomp and circumstance, and she especially wasn't one for saying two words when one would suffice. I followed behind Molly in to the chamber, and we congregated in the back corner of the room. We saw Fleur's family gather across from us, with Krum's surly looking family taking the front of the room. Amos Diggory and his wife settled near the middle of the room, although he was purposely ignoring Molly's gaze. She huffed, affronted and turned back to Bill.
"Amos is still in a mood I see," she muttered under her breath. "Arthur told me that he's been a right piece of work at work. He really gives Rita Skeeter's articles merit – actually thinks Harry is arrogant and trying to take away the limelight from Cedric."
"Diggory has always been conceited," Sirius chimed in, not lowering his voice at all. "Doesn't surprise me at all that he'd be so pig-headed."
"Oh, look!" Bill interrupted, which was a good thing considering Amos had obviously heard Sirius. "They're starting to come in." Bill was right. Fleur had filed in to the chamber, followed quickly by Viktor. Cedric followed a couple of minutes later, making his way over to his parents who pulled him in to a tight hug. The champions all greeted their families excitedly – particularly Fleur who had squealed and started chattering in very quick French, her arms still wrapped around her little sister. I saw Bill checking her out subtly, and smiled when I noticed her doing the same.
The four of us waited for about five minutes, shuffling awkwardly as all of the other families caught up.
"What is taking Harry so long?" Bill asked, looking around the room as though we may have missed him in the corners.
"Do you think something happened to him?" Molly asked nervously, clutching her bag protectively.
Cedric had overheard us, as he had been glancing at us periodically over the last couple of minutes. "I'll go and get him, Mrs. Weasley," he said pleasantly.
"Ced, you don't have to fetch the boy!" Amos Diggory protested, slapping his hand down on Cedric's shoulder. Cedric shrugged his hand off impatiently.
"Dad, lay off. His family is waiting for him." He strode over to the door leading to the Great Hall and stuck his head out. "Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!"
Cedric strode back to his family and minutes later Harry came in to the chambers, looking around suspiciously. His eyes lit up when he saw us standing in the corner, and he made his way over to us.
"Surprise!" Molly exclaimed brightly. "Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry!" She leaned down and kissed his cheek.a
"All right, Harry?" Bill asked, shaking his hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get the time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."
"Hi, sweetheart," I said, unable to contain myself any longer and launching myself in to his arms. "How are you feeling?"
"Nervous. This is really nice of you," Harry muttered, looking at all of us. "I thought for a moment – the Durselys –"
"Fuck them," Sirius roared, catching the attention of the Diggorys again. "You know we wouldn't miss this, son." Sirius clapped Harry on the back, and Harry broke out into a wide grin at Sirius's profanity.
"There you are, are you?" Diggory said, looking Harry up and down. "Bet you're not feeling so full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"
"What?" Harry said.
"Ignore him," Cedric said in a low voice, frowning at his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament – you know, when she made you you were the only Hogwarts champion."
"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" Amos said loudly after us as we had all started making our way out of the chamber. "Still…you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?"
That was too much for Sirius. "You know better than anyone that Rita Skeeter is a cow hellbent on causing trouble for everyone," Sirius said angrily, getting up in Amos's face. Sirius towered over Amos by a good six inches, making it so that Amos had to crane his neck to look Sirius in the eyes.
It looked like Amos was about to respond, but his wife laid a hand on his arm and shook her head, looking at Sirius fearfully.
I pulled on Sirius's arm, trying to pull him away from Amos before he hurt him. Sirius resisted, glaring at Amos. Sirius looked him up and down, before spitting out, "You ever tell my kid he's full of himself again, your mouth is going to be full of my fist, got it?" Amos didn't answer, but narrowed his eyes at Sirius. Sirius paused for a moment more before he spun on his heel, threw an arm over Harry's shoulder and pulled him the rest of the way out of the chambers.
Sirius muttered angrily the entire way down to Hagrid's hut, brightening only when Harry started telling us about all of the different hexes and charms he had learned for the task. He and Bill started making more suggestions, helping him perfect his severing charm while Molly and I reminisced about our time at Hogwarts. Bill had never heard some of the stories Molly had told me about her late night rendezvous with Arthur, and we all teased her about being caught by the old caretaker Apollyon Pringle.
As the daylight started to fade, we made our way back up the grounds, stopping only so Molly could examine the Whomping Willow which had been planted after she had graduated. We entered the castle and made our way to the Great Hall for dinner. The house elves had really outdone themselves – there were platters of all kinds of food lining the tables, and more courses than I remember there being. We sat down across from Hermione and Ron, and were soon joined by the rest of the Weasleys. There was a terse moment with Hermione and Molly, which Harry cleared up with a pointed comment; Molly warmed considerably to Hermione afterwards. Bill, Ron and Harry were talking about Percy and Mr. Crouch – it seems like Percy was being questioned by the Ministry for not realizing that there was something funny with the letters Crouch had been sending.
I noticed that Harry wasn't eating much. "Nervous?" I asked him quietly, so that only Sirius, who was sitting next to me, could hear. Sirius turned his attention away from Ginny and Hollyn – who were pointedly not speaking to each other – who he had been watching with a pensive expression for the last several minutes.
Harry nodded, looking green.
"You need to eat something," Sirius said. "You need energy."
"Come on, Harry," Hollyn encouraged, speaking for the first time all night. "Just eat a little bit, okay?"
Harry stubbornly picked up his fork, but didn't move to eat any of the food left on his plate. As the sky of the enchanted ceiling turned to dusk, Dumbledore stood up and silence fell over the hall.
"Ladies and gentleman, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."
Harry stood up shakily, and we all wished him luck. The entire Gryffindor table applauded him, with the twins starting a chant of "Harry! Harry! Harry!", which everyone joined in on. Sirius was chanting the loudest, and slamming his fist on the table to punctuate every word. I was grinning at the display of support Harry's house was showing him. I kissed his cheek, and he turned and followed Cedric, Fleur and Viktor out of the hall. The noise died down, to be replaced by a steady stream of conversations as the champions closed the door behind them.
"Should we make our way down to the stands?" Hollyn asked, pushing her dark hair behind her ears and looking at us with her grey eyes. She looked…sad. There was no other word for it. I knew that Sirius had noticed too, given the way he had been looking at Hollyn and Ginny earlier.
"I think we should," Molly agreed, checking her watch. With her approval, we all stood up and made our way out of the hall. Ginny lagged behind and was bickering with Fred and George over the outcome of the task.
"Hollyn," Sirius said quietly, pulling on her arm to grab her attention.
"Yeah, Sirius?" She answered.
"Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine." Hollyn responded tersely.
"Still fighting with Ginny?" I asked gently.
"No. We're not fighting."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes, Mom," she snapped angrily, ripping her arm out of Sirius's grasp. "Can you both just back off?"
I exchanged a glance with Sirius at her tone, and he shrugged his shoulders and gave me a look that clearly said, "she's your daughter."
"Okay, Hollyn. No need to get testy," I said reprimanding her gently for her tone.
"Sorry," she said to both me and Sirius, embarrassment evident on her face.
"It's okay, pup," Sirius said affectionately, ruffling her hair. "Teenaged girls were never my specialty. Just ask your mother."
"It's true," I agreed. "He could make me angrier than a hippogriff in half the time."
Hollyn chuckled, her expression softening. "I really am okay, Sirius. I've just been really worried about Harry, and Ginny hasn't been around so much. I've…I've had a hard time making my own friends in my year, while it seems like Ginny has a new group of friends every week. We got in to a small fight about it earlier this week and I feel like I need to apologize but I don't know how." She said all of this very quickly and quietly, as though she were embarrassed to admit she was having a hard time making friends. "Plus I feel like things have just been off for me ever since the World Cup – like I'm forgetting something important."
I was touched that she had opened up, not to me but to Sirius. I could tell Sirius was touched too, and he puffed his chest out ready to perform his fatherly duties. I smiled affectionately at both of them, happy to be able to witness such a sweet moment between them.
"I'm sorry that things have been difficult for you this year, especially with Ginny. I know that whenever James and I were angry with each other, it was terrible. He was my best friend, my Ginny."
"I thought Mom was your best friend?" Hollyn asked innocently.
"She was – she is. There was one week in our seventh year that she refused to talk to me, and it was the most miserable week of my life…you know, up until I was sent to Azkaban…" Sirius trailed off at the end, the familiar haunted look taking over his eyes – as if a light had been turned off behind them.
Hollyn, unexpectedly, grabbed his hand in her own and held on tightly. Sirius shook his head, clearing the look out of his eyes, and smiled down at her gratefully. She didn't say anything else, but continued to hold his hand the rest of the way down to the field. We filed behind the rest of the crowd, joining the rest of the Hogwarts fans in to the largest section of the stands.
As we were climbing the steps up in to a relatively empty section of the stands, Fred and George came up next to me, sandwiching me between them.
"Aunt Addie," Fred began.
"You are looking so beautiful today!" George continued.
"Radiant."
"Glowing!"
"Positively luminous!" Fred finished with a flourish.
"What do you two want?" I asked skeptically, narrowing my eyes at the two troublemakers.
"Now, Aunt Addie! What would make you think we want something?" George mocked outrage.
"Us?" Fred echoed, putting a hand over his heart dramatically. "Why I never!"
I just rolled my eyes at them, waiting patiently for them to finish with their dramatics and get to their point. I looked down at the stairs I was climbing carefully, not wanting to miss a step and trip.
Finally, the boys realized I wasn't buying in to their theatrics, and George cleared his throat pointedly. Fred glanced at him and after they had one of their twin telepathy conversations, said quickly, "You wouldn't happen to personally know Ludo Bagman, would you?"
"Yeah, you know…from your Quidditch days?" George added hopefully.
I whipped my head back and forth between the two, their identical faces sharing the same hopeful looks – eyes opened wide and shining, mouths in similar anticipative grins.
"No, I've actually never really met him, honestly," I admitted. "Why?" I asked, my tone darkening and becoming suspicious. I narrowed my eyes again, although they couldn't see it from their positions on either side of me.
"No reason!" George assured me. "Just interested in your past."
"Don't believe them!" Hollyn called from in front of me. "They've been trying to get him alone for weeks – Harry told me that's who you had run off to meet the day of my Mom and Sirius's wedding."
"We're big fans!" Fred said defensively. "Hush up, pipsqueak," he added in a sterner tone. Hollyn glanced at Ginny and rolled her eyes, before averting her gaze when she remembered that her and Ginny were in a small fight.
We had reached the section that Bill had decided we were going to sit in, and we all filed in to the row. I ended up between Sirius and Ginny, with Hollyn between Bill and Sirius on my left. The rest of the crowd was excited – shouting and cheering and chanting – but our row was more subdued. Fred and George were boisterous, but I also knew that beneath their façade they were worried about Harry; the boys were used to hiding their stress and negative emotions behind a jovial and goofy front, but beneath it all they were the most empathetic of us all. They really tried to use the power of a joke to make everyone feel better when they were feeling down; it was one of their best qualities – the ability to make anyone laugh even on their worst day.
We weren't waiting long before the judges were filing on to the field, with the champions following behind them. I grabbed Sirius's arm and pointed down at the field. "Look!" I called. "There he is. Ohhh he looks so small from up here."
"He looks so much smaller than the others, doesn't he?" Bill agreed, squinting to see better. I wish I had remembered to bring our omnioculars; although once the champions entered the maze, it would be impossible to see anything anyway. I realized that besides the first task, all of the tasks were designed in such a way that the crowd couldn't see what was going on.
It wasn't much longer before Bagman was announcing the standings, and sending Harry and Cedric into the maze. I held on to Sirius's hand, squeezing tightly as Harry entered the maze. I didn't loosen my grip until the back of his messy hair had disappeared in to the darkness of the overgrown hedges. Then…I held my breath until he came back out.
It was a long time before Harry came back out, clutching Cedric's unmoving body. The crowd around me was chittering with excitement, but I felt all of the blood rush to my head and everything came to a standstill, as if I was standing inside my own private bubble of despair. Someone was screaming, Sirius had wrapped his arms around both Hollyn and I, and Fred and George's faces had fallen to stark white. I grabbed Ginny's hand – someone was still screaming – and held on tight, using her strength to ground myself. Bill had wrapped his arm around Molly, holding her tightly against her as she covered her mouth in shock at the gruesome scene that was unfolding below. While this was all unfolding, the echo of a scream rung.
I didn't realize until my voice went hoarse that I was the one screaming.
