The Room of Requirement

Mud and grass were caked into Siria's boots. Her panting was drowned out by a cold, echoing laugh that surrounded her like the darkness. Masked figures materialized from smoke and caused Siria to turn and run back. She stumbled over a long, withered tree root and fell into the mud. It started to bubble and rise. Siria yanked herself up, but the more she thrashed the quicker the mud rose. All the while, the cold laugh continued to echo around her, joined by the masked figures.

Siria Potter-Black clattered to the floor of her dorm in Gryffindor Tower. Fay Dunbar and Hermione Granger had ripped away the comforter and drawn Siria off the bed as well. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil stood at the foot of Siria's bed, wearing the same worried expressions and matching baby blue nightgowns. Siria propped herself up on her arms and sighed. She smelt like she had just finished Quidditch practice. "I'm... fine." Siria said and let herself drop completely to the floor.

"By my screaming and thrashing, I have obviously just had a nightmare, but am fine." Lavender said in a flat and clearly annoyed tone while she crossed her arms. Parvati knelt down beside Siria. "Talk with us. I know we gossip, but we won't tell anyone." Parvati promised.

"We didn't tell anyone about your nightmares, not even Padma!" Lavender stressed. Siria scanned over the four girls looking at her. She wanted to say she was fine. It was so much easier to lie and say she was fine than to confess she really was worried about the Tournament.

"I…" Siria cursed at the ground. It was cold and she felt tired and gross.

"Siria Potter-Black, if you say you're 'fine' I'm going to start a dogpile." Fay told her. Siria rose to her feet and glared at them.

"I'm scared! Are you happy?" Siria shouted. "I'm behind everyone else in the Tournament, Sirius is going to think I somehow did it even though I couldn't've, and Professor Moody thinks someone put my name in to kill me!"

Much to Siria's surprise, the other girls huddled around her and wrapped her a large, uncoordinated group hug. Siria stumbled from their weight and the lot of them fell to the floor. "Oh, Siria" Hermione tsked as she brushed some of Siria's wild black hair from her face. "You aren't alone."

"Yeah!" Fay agreed. "We'll help you prepare."

"Of course we will!" Lavender insisted and snuggled against Siria's arm.

"Siria," Parvati stretched an arm across Lavender to pat Siria's back. "We're friends, so let us help you."

"I just…" Siria stretched her arms out and pulled the other girls in closer. "Thank you."

Late Saturday morning, Siria woke up in a cocoon of blankets in the middle of the dorm room. It was a tangle of blankets from all of their beds and smelt like a mix of flowers, soap, and sweat. She rolled onto the stone floor, which was much warmer than it was last night. An excited, high voice filled the room. "Miss Siria!" Dobby squeaked. He extended a small glass of water to Siria, which she accepted in her tired haze.

"What're you doing here?" Siria murmured.

"Miss Hermione asked if Dobby wouldn't mind, and Dobby doesn't mind at all, Miss Siria! Dobby was more than happy to look after Miss Siria. Once Dobby heard Miss Siria wasn't well, Dobby asked Master Dumbledore immediately if Dobby could help." Siria nodded along as Dobby explained, and she sipped the water.

"Is there anything Dobby can do for Miss Siria?" Dobby asked. Siria opened her mouth to say "no," but thought about for just a moment longer.

"Actually, Dobby, do you happen to know a good place to be loud when it's late? I'm going to need to practice a lot and…" Siria stole a look to her trunk. She couldn't imagine dragging her trunk under the Invisibility Cloak to practice with Warrington, or what Peeves would do to her trunk if he found it. Siria also didn't feel up to practicing in the Chamber of Secrets.

"Dobby knows!" He told her. "Dobby could show Miss Siria!" He squeaked.

Dobby and Siria stood before the wall opposite the painting of the miserable man. Siria paced back and forth as Dobby instructed. "A large room," she thought. "A large room with plenty of lighting, some books for Hermione, and a practice dummy!" Siria repeated the thoughts as she paced. Just as Dobby had told her, from the solid stone wall a thick, wooden door appeared. Siria tugged the iron handle and stepped inside with Dobby.

"Welcome!" Dobby squeaked as the door closed behind them, "to the Come and Go Room or the Room of Requirement." The large, round room had a series of books along the walls that stopped just low enough to be sat on. A long, short cushion lined the top of the bookshelf and Siria sat down. For a long moment, Dobby and Siria sat in silence and simply admired the room. Small orbs of hung from the ceiling and lit the room in a warm green light.

As Siria had asked for, there was a wooden practice dummy near the back of the round room. It was the only place that didn't have the low bookshelf behind it. Instead, the wall was made of a soft cushion that reminded Siria of what she had used as a mattress in her cupboard under the stairs at Privet Drive.

"Dobby, is there anything I can do for you?" Siria asked.

"Miss Siria has already freed Dobby, and Miss Siria and Miss Hermione and Mister Ron are helping Dobby get all house elves freed. Dobby could not ask for more from Miss Siria." He told her. She smiled at him, but wished there was something else she could do. There was so much more work to be done before they freed any non-Hogwarts house elves, and still so much to do for the other Hogwarts house elves to adjust to their freedom.

"If Dobby may though, Miss Siria." Dobby looked into her almond shaped green eyes with his own tennis ball sized ones. "Dobby would like to ask Miss Siria of something, if Dobby really may for anything."

"Of course!" Siria agreed at once.

"Could Miss Siria please, if Miss Siria is able, be safe in the Triwizard Tournament?" He asked. Siria wrapped Dobby into a hug.

"I will." She promised. Even if she had to lose, Siria was going to make it out alive.

Dobby left Siria after awhile. She took to trying to write a letter. "Dear Sirius" was all that remained legible on the parchment. The rest of the roll was a series of crossed off false starts of things like "Professor Moody thinks someone tricked the cup and entered me" and "Obviously I didn't do it!" but none of them felt right. She rested her head down on the table. Beside her head, a small pillow materialized from the room. Siria pulled it under her head then continued to stare at her letter. When she thought about how she would need another roll of parchment, one appeared from the room.

Siria watched the newly materialized roll as if it would explain to her why students had to purchase supplies when the room could make them. She picked up the parchment, which felt the same as the ones she bought and flattened it onto the table. The ink bottle and quill were of the same fine quality. Maybe, if she thought hard enough on it or felt she needed to know rather than wanted to know, the room would tell her how it worked some day.

She dipped the quill into the ink bottle, but her watch ticked and she knew Sirius was somewhere on the grounds. Siria rushed out of the room and onto the grounds so quickly that she didn't catch the jeers from the Slytherin students. They meshed into the cheers from her fellow Gryffindors and the occasional Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw student.

In the cold November air, her throat burned. Each breath filled her lungs with a chilling fire as she gasped, hands on her knees to steady herself, before Hagrid's cabin. Siria wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and chuckled. "Had— had I known— you'd be out" she gasped, "I'd've— I'd've worn—something—warmer!" Her father swept her into his arms and rested his face on the top of her head. "Dad?" Siria asked. "Dad?" She tugged on the back of his jacket. "Sirius, I'll be okay."

"How did this even happen?" Sirius asked when he finally broke apart. He paced in the muddy, frosted grounds before Hagrid's cabin. Siria held herself in her arms and rubbed her frigid fingers against her chilled skin. Sirius tsked. "Sorry. Let's go in." Hagrid had a roaring fire going in the cabin and had already poured them tea. He looked to Sirius "Minute longer an' I'd've gon' to get yer two!" Hagrid chuckled as he handed Siria the piping hot mug. With how cold her fingers were, it hurt to hold the mug, but was comforting.

Rather than drinking his tea, Sirius paced the small space in the cabin while Hagrid and Siria sat at the table. Hagrid beamed down at Siria and patted her back. She smiled up at him. "I'll be okay." She told Hagrid. The more Siria said it, the more she started to believe that maybe she would be. "It's mostly disappointing because I wanted to watch someone else do the crazy thing for a change."

Over the brim of her tea cup, Siria inhaled the steam. It filled her with even more courage. "Afterall," she thought, "I'm in Gryffindor. We're brave." She gulped some of the tea. "The first task is about testing our courage, so we don't know what it is." She told them.

"Well, if i's courage, yer got a moun'ain worth!" Hagrid assured her. Sometimes, Siria doubted it. When she needed to be, she could, but the fact she had actual time to prepare for the unknown and deadly made her wonder if she could prepare enough.

"You'll be fine." Sirius told her as he finally sat down. "I'll come by every Saturday and we'll practice… something." He sighed and looked to Siria. "No matter what you need, we'll get it so you can be as prepared as possible."

"But, for the tasks, I only get my wand." Siria said.

"Only get yer wand?" Hagrid cried. "Only? Siria, a witch's wand is her best frien'! Don' need more than a wand."

"It's true. Anything else you may need, you could just summon to you." Sirius added.

"Like Serpensortia?" Siria asked.

"Or like Accio," Sirius told her. "I could have sworn you did that…" He trailed off for a moment. "That's fine. It's easy enough to learn, but you may not need it…" Sirius trailed off again. He placed his hand on Siria's arm. "I'm sorry I'm not more prepared to help today."

"It's not like I'm prepared!" Siria forced out a laugh.

"Yer will be!" Hagrid insisted. He patted on her small back. "Yer've got us an' Hermione an' Ron. Yer've got Dumbledore on yer side, Siria."

"But I'm not supposed to get help from the judges." Siria said.

"You're not even supposed to be in the Tournament!" Sirius spoke so loudly that he startled Fang.

Once they calmed Fang down and he took to drooling over Siria's jeans, Sirius rubbed the creases out of his brow. "Siria, as far as I'm concerned, none of the rules apply to you. You're a fourth candidate in a contest for three. Don't try to win, just focus on completing the tasks." He slid his hand from his forehead to his mouth and muttered about watching.

"She could win if yer'd let 'er try." Hagrid told Sirius.

"Of course she could! This isn't about winning though; it's about the fact someone is trying to kill her just after Death Eaters matched across the field at the World Cup. It's right after we saw the Dark Mark for the first time over a decade. Voldemort—" Hagrid winced at the name, "is practically announcing his return with a parade." Sirius's voice strained to keep its tone.

"But I'm the Girl Who Lived" Siria stretched her mouth into a smile. "Really though, I'll make it out alive. Even Warrington said he'll help and Dobby showed me a great place I can practice!" She pushed out her chair to go around the table and hug Sirius. "I'm going to be okay. My dad's helping me prepare." Sirius scoffed, but even he cracked a grin.

Augusta Dungeon had been done up with bowls of Lautus Seaweed, extra jars of blue fire, and its two fireplaces were full of roaring life. The Hogwarts Herald staff had already arrived and gotten settled when Ron and Siria arrived. Hermione called them over to Herald's circle and Siria was patted on the back while she past.

"Siria!" Cedric shook Siria's hand while he patted her shoulder and looked her square in the face. "If there's anything you need, we're all here for you." He assured her. Siria wrinkled her nose as she tried not to blush and muttered "thanks."

"For a minute there, Potter-Black," Ernie Macmillan started before patting Siria's shoulder, "I wondered how you could have joined, but, once Cedric told us what you said, I knew you wouldn't have put your own name in."

"Thanks." Siria nodded awkwardly. She wondered how many people would think she magiced her way into the Triwizard Tournament. With a terse breath, she straightened herself up.

"Think about it." Siria thought, "You didn't care about the Malfoy rumors and you started those. Don't let it get to you." She tried to tell herself. There would always be someone that thought she put in her own name, even if there was no way she could have as a fourth person. Siria pulled out a chair near Terry Boot and sat down.

"Ready for the interview?" Terry smiled at her. Siria shrugged.

"Ready as I'll ever be?" She replied. Cedric moved his things to Terry's side.

"Don't worry Siria. We'll only print what you're comfortable with us printing, okay? We're the students' voice, and you're a student." Cedric assured her.

"Besides, the Triwizard Tournament is probably stressful enough without the publicity." Terry added. "You don't have to do the interview if you don't want to— or Hermione could do it." Siria laughed.

"Thanks, but I'm pretty sure Hermione has enough on her plate right now." Siria grinned. There was something about laughing that pushed her nerves away.

Terry and Cedric gave Siria time to think about her answers, so the twenty questions took an hour to go through. Lily Moon interviewed Warrington, who arrived half an hour after Siria, and finished just before her. Warrington sat down with Travers, the Greengrass sisters, the Creevey brothers, and two of Astoria's second year friends. "Thanks Siria, you did great." Cedric told Siria and shook her hand. She nodded in reply before shaking Terry's hand and going to sit near Warrington.

"If you see Slytherin's in pins, I'm sorry." Warrington told Siria as she laid out her copy of his fourth year Potion notes. Astoria's two Slytherin friends put their hands over the left breast of their robes, which caught Siria's attention. It just looked like they were covering up buttons.

"Why would you be sorry?" Siria asked. "Everyone would love to have more Slytherin students on the Herald." Astoria reached into her pocket and looked bitterly at what she withdrew before she slid it across the table.

"I'm sorry." Astoria whispered.

"I made her take it." Daphne told Siria in a flat tone. She didn't bother looking up. Siria picked the button off the table.

"But they're cool." Siria argued.

Over a quartered background of red, green, yellow, and blue were the words "Support Warrington" with "The True Hogwarts Champion". It did have safety pin backing instead of the magnetic ones the Herald used. There was a small switch, which Siria slid. The background turned puke green. "Support Warrington, The True Hogwarts Champion" was replaced with a small, cartoon poop, labeled "Siria Pooper". She dropped into an incredulous smile. "That's almost primary level bullying." Siria sighed.

"Don't let them get to you," Travers told Siria as she swept the button back and switched its message.

"Mostly I'm disappointed they couldn't come up with something clever." Siria told them. She scanned through the notes to antidotes.

Professor Vector arrived at two sharp to shoo them from the room. Warrington had a letter with instructions on how to access the Room of Requirement and to meet them tonight, just after nine, for their first practice. Siria's heart was racing. She was a champion for the Triwizard Tournament and would be sneaking out to practice with the actual Hogwarts champion. As she sat down in the Room of Requirement with Hermione and Ron, she smiled to herself. With how much confidence she had right now, getting through alive would be just another year at Hogwarts.