AN: Normally I leave this to the end, but I just want to apologize for my muse who wholeheartedly abandoned me for a while there. I'm fairly sure she was scared off by the holiday nonsense… I should definitely have gone with her! But she appears recovered enough to be badgering me again so let's see what she planned out on her vacation. As far as this chapter goes, I know some of you were expecting me to talk about Harry being selected, but I think the book covered that pretty well and I'd just be taking too many direct quotes to seem worth it, and I want to highlight that this story isn't about Harry...yet. This part is all Cassius so I hope this answers any questions you have about that. If not, you know how to get answers ;)
Also I wanted to give a shout out to SakuraDragomir and CosmicLunaAngel whose notifications reminded me that I needed to sit down and focus on this again!
"POTTER?! HARRY BLEEDING POTTER?! How is it that Dumbledore's Gryffindor pet can be allowed to compete!?" Draco Malfoy spat. This same rant had been repeated nearly constantly for the full week since Harry Potter's name had been selected by the Goblet of Fire to compete as the second Hogwarts champion. Cassius was ready to use a permanent sticking charm on the boy's lips just to shut him up by this point. He was already at his breaking point when Draco noticed him in the common room and decided to give him the last shove over the line.
"This is all your fault! If we had an actual, decent champion then the Goblet wouldn't have picked Potter! You and your inferior blood have made a mockery of our house and our school! If we ever needed proof you aren't actually as pure as you claim, it's here before us," raved the younger boy.
Cassius remained still as a statue, face set into haughty disdain. Only those who knew him well would notice the twitching of his wand hand and the slight furrow in his brow that indicated that he was gathering his concentration for a nonverbal attack. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you asked, Étiennette was standing beside Cassius and got to the blonde boy first, not that he was smart enough to notice the subtle curse.
Cassius wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or be upset that Étiennette was cutting in on his revenge. Between her and Adrian he'd never have a chance to hex the prat silly at this rate, which was immensely frustrating. Cas knew that they were trying to protect him from himself with their interference as he was, admittedly, angry enough not to be *quite* as circumspect as he ought to be. Still, the idea of not getting a chance to lay a wand on the annoying brat was frustrating to no end. Still, he knew that if anyone was likely to make Malfoy suffer as much as Cas, it would be Étiennette. She never did take well to people upsetting those she claimed as her own.
Cas couldn't be sure just by looking at Malfoy as to what Étiennette had done (the girl would never be that obvious about her spells) but it was sure to be horrid and wildly entertaining. He made a note to ask her about it later so he would be prepared not to laugh in Draco's face when her spell kicked in. It would also give him time to lay the foundation for some rumored slight the young boy had perpetrated against the Weasley twins so that the revenge would naturally fall on them and not Cassius or anyone tied to him.
Taking a breath, Cassius responded, "Why so jealous Draco? Is it because you weren't picked? Obviously you must have entered yourself if a half blood Gryffindor like Potter was able to find a way around the age line. But then… if you had, *surely* your superior blood would have ensured your success. So I must ask- is it that the boy is smarter than you or that the blood of both myself and Potter is worth more than yours?" With that he offered Étiennette his arm and together they quit the room at a leisurely pace, the picture of unaffected superiority.
They journeyed up to the astronomy tower together where Cassius conjured a soft blanket before he cast the warming and cushioning charms to ensure their total comfort. While he took care of their comfort, Étiennette worked to layer wards and spells to subtly turn away any would-be spies or wayward students, as well as some to warn the couple if some determined soul would attempt to disturb them. When she finished, Cas offered his hand and led her to sit on the blanket he'd positioned so they had a marvelous view of the black lake. He didn't relinquish her hand as he sat next to her, keeping his gaze solely centered on the water.
"Jarsdel's father has been berating him for his lackluster performance in Ancient Runes recently. He's spent all his pocket money supporting his sweets habit. Didn't you get an O on that OWL Cas?" Étiennette idly inquired.
"Hmm, I did. Perhaps someone should take pity on the boy. His own OWLs are coming up quite soon. It'd be a shame for him to score poorly considering how that might reflect upon his father's capability at his job," Cassius drawled.
Étiennette cocked her head to the side, still not facing her boyfriend. "It's to be expected though really. If the best translator in the Department of International Cooperation can't even teach his son enough about runic languages to pass his OWLs, it would only be natural for his competency to be called into question. And with the ministry trying so hard to show off how well they're handling hosting international events like this tournament…"
Cassius' eyes darted to the side to catch a glimpse of Étiennette's expression. Seeing her lips starting to twitch, he lost control of his own facade, causing them both to collapse into peals of laughter. For several minutes the only sound to fill the tower was that of completely carefree laughter, a rarity they relished the chance to indulge in. Cassius even began making silly faces in between gasped breaths until completely unladylike snorts began to pepper Étiennette's laughter.
"So glad to see we're taking the risk to Cas' life so lightheartedly," Adrian interrupted angrily. "I mean it's not like the man isn't going to face incredibly dangerous and unknown stunts in a *very* short amount of time. Am I the only one here who remembers that?!"
"Well Adrian, I don't recall you being invited so if it's such an issue, you could always leave," Cas muttered.
"If you didn't want me here, you wouldn't use wards I know how to break. Besides, like you could survive this thing without me here," he smirked.
"Oh shut up, would you both? We already have the start of a plan Adrian. Honestly, as if I wouldn't take this seriously. Cas may be acting like a Gryff with regards his life, but you should know that I won't. Cassius will tutor Jarsdel in exchange for inside information on the upcoming task. With all these foreigners involved in the tournament it's a sure thing that someone will need a translator. Once we have what we need then we can begin our preparations for how he'll handle the task. In the meantime, we need to work on the public perception while we still have the chance."
"What do you think I've been doing all this time? I've been working the Hogwarts gossip line. Durmstrang as a whole is pretty unhappy with Hogwarts having two champions, but seeing as Potter is underage aren't really concerned. Of course their main support falls firmly behind their own champion, but of the competitors they like you most. It helps they've been taking meals with and interacting with us so much; make sure to keep that up and play nice with Krum publicly. Beauxbatons is inclined toward Krum as their secondary choice, mostly due to his reputation. You are a relative unknown to them so we need to find a way for you to impress them with your abilities both before and during the first task. Hogwarts is where things become murkier. The Slytherins, naturally, will offer their full public support despite the dissent behind closed doors. The Ravenclaws see you logically as the better choice and only really care about Potter insofar as finding out how he crossed the Age Line. Hufflepuff doesn't like the cheating he did by entering, irked their sense of fairness I supposed. However, some are wary of supporting a Slytherin with the way our reputation has gone in the last few decades. Most are undecided, though leaning your way, so we need to work them over. I'd recommend you help some lost first years, stop a bully, something like that. Any display of kindness should have them in your camp. Gryffindors are harder, they're not happy with Potter not helping them cheat their way in too, but don't want to be seen sporting our colors in the hallways and will naturally not be keen on turning down a chance to beat us. No huge loss either way, seeing as we can win over everyone else easily enough," reported Adrian.
Cassius laughed, "You've definitely been busy, Ade. We need to look farther too. Public opinion beyond these walls has to fall our way too. We're almost out of here and what happens in this tournament affects my plans after graduation. Once I win, I'll need the momentum and public support. The last thing I need is them printing some rubbish about me cheating Saint Potter out of this win."
"So what angles are we thinking? Rightfully picked champion, making Potter out to be a narcissistic teenager who can't stand being out of the spotlight, maybe play up your 'concern' for such a young child's life? Honestly, I think for now we won't have to do much to turn things our way, just let people keep talking about how he cheated to enter. Once that runs its course, we feed the news just enough to keep them going. Some parental concern should be easy to drum up. We drop a few reminders about fatalities that have occurred in past tournaments and let the gossip mongers here do the rest. Owls from their parents will be swarming the Prophet in no time," Étiennette schemed.
"Excellent. I think our biggest issue will be with the teachers here. Dumbledore's prejudice has influenced most of them enough that they're already poisoned against a Slytherin champion. I'll need to be entirely above reproach, publicly at least, for the entire tournament. If even a whisper of me being less than twice as perfect as any other champion gets out, I'll never recover any good opinion of theirs. That means I'll need to leave anything even remotely unscrupulous to the two of you. Plausible deniability is, after all, invaluable with all this press lurking about looking for some scandal," reminded Cassius.
"Easily solved with Saint Potter around," Adrian laughed. "The boy gives us more than enough fodder to keep Skeeter, the Ministry, and Dumbledore off your back until we graduate, even the shrimp over there!"
"Don't start Adrian or Cas' plan will be a whole lot easier with all the officials trying to figure out how you fell off this tower!"
"You wound me, ma crevette! You know you love me too much for such violent displays! Besides, you wouldn't want to do something so unladylike and scare off your future husband, would you?"
Étiennette smiled, dramatically batted her lashes, and Adrian never saw the stinging hex coming.