The Hungarian Horntail

"Twenty Questions With the Champions!" read the first page of the Hogwarts Herald. Siria smirked at Hermione's name under the interviews with Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum. Though Cedric had been there for Siria's interview, he only credited Terry Boot. She read over the other champions' answers to "How do you feel about being a champion?" and "What are you looking forward to most if you win?"

The other three champions were proud, excited even to be champion. Warrington had been bold enough to say "When I win, I'll have shown all three schools that Hogwarts and my House aren't to be underestimated." Siria fumbled her way through by saying she'd honestly just feel lucky to make it through the Tournament alive. She scratched the back of her ear before folding up the Herald to get breakfast and go down to Augusta Dungeon with Ron.

When Ron and Siria arrived in Augusta Dungeon, it fell quiet. "What's it?" Ron asked the room, but mostly Hermione. Hermione looked to Cedric before she looked to Ron and Siria. She picked up a Daily Prophet and handed it to Ron. Siria read over his shoulder for a moment before snatching the paper from Ron's hands.

Fleur Delacour's glittering smile beamed up at Siria while her own photographed self made a poor attempt to look happy. Siria scanned through the article catching Rita calling Warrington "crude" and "disagreeable", but listed Siria as a "shy sweetheart." She clicked her tongue and continued through. At the mention of "Siria Potter has found love at Hogwarts" a gasp got caught in Siria's throat, but Rita went onto say that Colin Creevey said Siria and Ron were rarely apart. Siria sighed with a mix of contempt and relief before crumbing the page.

"I was reading!" Ron snapped and took the crumpled ball of newspaper to continue.

"First of all, Warrington protected me from Rita, who probably wanted to write even worse lies about me! Secondly—" Siria stopped. Hermione and Cedric both had their hands across their throats in a silent "cut it out." Siria sighed and straightened out. "We all know I like 'pretty boys'," and she elbowed Ron in the side with a large smirk on her face.

As the other students went back to their studies or task of the next Herald, Siria sat down at the other circle of tables. Ron made a point to sit away from Siria and at the one table against a wall, where the Witch's Maze was usually set up and played. Though Siria looked at a page of From Toadstools to Toads: A Compilation of Transfiguration Spells for Common Items, she didn't actually see it. Siria was reading over the bits of the article she remembered. "It's not as bad as it could be," Siria told herself, "But she practically slandered Warrington because of me."

"You're about to burn holes through your book," Cedric said. He pulled out the chair beside Siria and sat. She sighed when she looked at him and supposed he was handsome. He was certainly charming and friendly. Rita Skeeter probably wouldn't have been able to call Cedric "disagreeable." Warrington was just quiet and took some warming up to. "Siria," Cedric sighed with a soft smile, "now you're looking at me like you're going to burn a hole through."

"Sorry." Siria murmured. She scratched the back of her neck and looked back at the page she had been staring at.

"It's okay to be nervous about the First Task." Cedric told her. "Warrington told me that it's a surprise to test your courage."

"I'm not nervous." Siria lied. "I mean, it's not like I've ever known what I was really facing before." Hermione, Ron, and Siria had a small clue in their first year, when they learned which teachers protected the Sorcerer's Stone, and Hermione had figured out what was in the Chamber of Secrets and that Tom Riddle had opened it. Siria looked to Hermione, who was drowning in parchment, questions from other students, and had dipped her sleeve in ink, but she wore the biggest smile.

"I'm just kind of useless without Hermione and Ron." Siria confessed. "If it was a group challenge, I'd have nothing to be nervous about." Cedric patted Siria shoulder.

"Siria, it's good to be nervous. It keeps you sharp." He looked at Siria like there was something more he wanted to say. "If you want or need help, you've people that will help." Cedric exhaled in a slow, quiet breath and said nothing more on the matter. "What are you reading about?" Siria slid the book between them and they practiced Transfiguration together until Astoria, Colin, Dennis, and Astoria's two Slytherin friends arrived.

"Potter-Black has to practice for the Tournament," Daphne scolded the younger students, her sister included, when they asked for help. Colin, however, didn't want help, he was too busy telling Siria he didn't mean things how Rita Skeeter had written them. It took her twenty minutes to convince him it wasn't his fault before Warrington insisted she'd spent too much time not preparing already today.

"It's okay" Siria argued, "refreshing old material could come in handy." She smiled. Warrington tapped the top of Siria's wild, jet black hair with his knuckles and tsked at her. Astoria linked her arms with Colin's and Dennis's and dragged them to sit down at a desk. She winked to Siria as she passed.

"You've shown your support for the Herald, we should go practice." Warrington told her. "Alice and Selwyn are already there." His emphasis on "go" and "there" told Siria that Warrington was talking about the Room of Requirement. She tried to flatten down the spot of her hair he'd rapped on.

"It's funny you call them 'Alice and Selwyn' when I say 'Travers and Maddy'." She smiled.

"Are you heading to the library?" Cedric asked. Siria's breath got frozen in her throat. Cedric had been kind, supportive, and honestly helpful to her through his whole ordeal; he knew she would not put her name in the Goblet of Fire and convinced others of it. Her almond shaped green eyes looked over the rim of her glasses, at Warrington. The Room of Requirement wasn't just her space to practice and so she didn't feel it right to invite Cedric without Warrington agreeing too.

Warrington looked to Siria with a flat expression she couldn't read, but it felt like when Oliver Wood had sized her up in her first year for the Quidditch team. He then looked to Cedric as if he was doing the same thing. Cedric straightened up, but kept the same charming and friendly smile on his face. Warrington looked back to Siria and sighed. "We're not, but you'll want to see it and help Potter-Black." Warrington told him. An ear to ear smile broke over Siria's face. She waved to Ron and pecked Hermione on the forehead before following Warrington out with Cedric.

"Hi Barnabas!" Siria waved as Warrington paced to summon the room. "Looks like the trolls are gone today." The miserable man in the portrait huffed. "Wish me luck!" Siria requested and followed after Cedric, into the Room of Requirement. Maddy was sitting on a pile of boulders and Travers was turning several golden retrievers into them. "What are you doing?" Siria cried when the door closed. She knelt down beside one of the dogs and began scratching behind its ears.

"They were the boulders." Warrington told her. "You'll learn in sixth year."

"Excuse me?" Siria snapped and rose back to her full height, which was still much shorter than him. "If I can Transfigure rocks into dogs, I want to learn today!"

"An army of dogs isn't going to help you in the tasks" Warrington tsked.

"Did the room come with the boulders or did you use an Enlargement Charm or..." Cedric scanned around the room again. He took in the low bookshelf, which doubled as a seat that went almost all around the room. Cedric knocked on the wooden dummy, looked up at the green lights, and then to the round table, which still had the stack of books Hermione had been using last time. He held out his fingers, as if to pull a chair out, in a space at the table. Just below his hand, a finely carved chair took form.

"Tell me why you aren't a Ravenclaw?" Travers asked as she and Maddy shrunk down the pile of boulders. Cedric smiled at her.

"There's no House I'd rather be in." He told her. Siria's heart sunk with guilt. Cedric said it with such conviction she felt he had never questioned it, but she regularly wondered if asking to be put in Gryffindor was the right choice. Slytherin liked those of ambition and she could feel the urge to win growing inside her. Even more frightening than the Triwizard Tournament, was the hunger to win. She told herself it wasn't the Quidditch or House Cup, that people with more experience had died, "but, if I won…" Siria shook her head as if the idea of winning would leave her.

[Book: B4, 317-318 the first Hogsmeade visit of the year is on the Saturday before the first task]

For their first Hogsmeade visit of the year, Siria Transfigured her hair red and flat, in hopes that she would be less recognizable without her usual wild, jet-black hair. As Chloe had taught Siria over summer, her lightning bolt scar had been covered with foundation to the point it wasn't noticeable. Her glasses had been replaced with contacts, just for the day.

"You look cute," Hermione told Siria. They were wearing matching crocheted sweaters, but where Hermione's was varied shades of light blue with the occasional stripe of white and looked like a midday sunny sky, Siria's was dark blues with small white spots. "I'm surprised you agreed to this, honestly." Siria confessed.

"Given my choices of: no you, you under the Cloak, or Transfigured you…" Hermione shrugged and chuckled. "I don't think Ron would have minded if he knew you were going like this." She said as they grabbed their thicker coats and headed out.

"I don't care if he'd've minded. He should've just kept his head up and told them to shut it." Siria tsked. Where the Hogwarts Herald and Sunday study group students had accepted the obvious fact that Ron and Siria weren't dating, the "Siria Pooper" button wearers had harassed them with dramatic kissing sounds, whistles, and laughter. It had all been made worse with Rita Skeeter's most recent article.

Rita Skeeter had gotten wind about the rumors Siria started last year— that she had been rejected by Draco Malfoy. It had been the worst piece yet and burning Hermione's copy of the Daily Prophet hadn't erased it from Siria's mind. She remembered it well.

Love or Settling? A Relationship After Rejection

The innocent first love of the shy, young Siria Potter, The Girl Who Lived, was in fact not her current boyfriend, Ronald Weasley, fellow Gryffindor fourth year. Your dedicated reporter, Rita Skeeter has gotten the scoop on our hero's heart. Potter's first love was in fact Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin fourth year. When Malfoy rescued Potter from a deadly fall last year in a flying accident, he not only saved her life, but won her heart.

Potter spent the rest of the year trying to win his, but Malfoy, much like his father, believes there is more to love than fame and fortune.

Rita Skeeter went on for three paragraphs about how "generous" and "kind" she found the Malfoy Family to be. She cited their donation history, historical family contributions, their lineage, and their "fine" home. When Rita finally looped back around, it was to explain how less qualified she found Ron to be for Siria. "While they may have a lot of heart, the Weasley Family simply can't offer Potter what the Malfoys would, if only she could win Draco Malfoy over."

Siria Potter has put on a brave face with Ronald Weasley and is rarely seen without a smile, but you now know there is even more pain behind it than the loss of her parents. Unfortunately, Potter was unavailable for comment on her current relationship, but close friend Colin Creevey has confirmed the two are rarely apart.

Rita Skeeter went on to accuse Hermione of trying to break Ron and Siria up, so she could date him. Hermione had received a mountain of hate mail each morning since the article's release. Ron laughed it off until Tuesday, when he couldn't walk to class near Siria without having parts of the article recited to him. Despite the hate mail she had received, Hermione acted like the article didn't exist.

"Thank goodness we brought our scarves." Hermione beamed at Siria, as she tightened her own scarf. Siria shrugged and clenched her fists in her pockets. She was more thankful for the hand warmers Hermione had thought to bring. "Jess, if you're going to be like this, we're going back to school." Hermione told her.

"First of all, what and secondly, what?" Siria asked.

"Well," Hermione blushed and puffed out her cheeks, "doesn't it give you away if I go around calling you something else?"

"So you're going with a nickname for my middle name?" Siria asked and shook her head. They weren't walking to anywhere in particular today. Hermione had just suggested the break may do Siria some good and Sirius said he couldn't visit until after dinner.

"Fine, but if you get lost in a crowd, I'll just shout something offensive." Hermione tsked. Siria choked on her laugh.

"Sure, 'Mione. You do that." A wide, smug grin covered her face. Hermione tsked again and jabbed Siria in the side. "Okay!" Siria cried in a laugh. "You're going to blow my cover; I'm in disguise after all." Siria winked.

They walked in and out of shops, picking up the occasional sweet or book, until the afternoon, when a hand of red taloned nails took hold of Hermione's shoulder. "If it isn't the Prophet's Gossiper," Hermione said in a flat tone. She didn't need to look because they could smell Rita Skeeter, who reeked of heavy, chemical "flower" that couldn't complete cover up what smelt like jerky, but wasn't quite that. Siria supposed it was the crocodile clutch and whatever Rita's bag was made of.

"And the Heart of the Herald." Rita clicked her tongue as she glared over her glasses at Hermione. "It's cute— you're little art project."

"Certainly more reputable than a 'paper' that publishes your gossip." Hermione knocked Rita's hand from her shoulder and glared back. Siria rose her head and linked her arm with Hermione. Rita Skeeter was the last person she wanted to see. If nothing else, she was a close second to Malfoy who seemed to have made it his life's mission to glare a hole through her head in the Great Hall, and had been the creator of the "Siria Pooper" buttons.

She tightened her throat and raised the pitch of her voice as best she could. "'Mione, we'll be late." Siria focused on Hermione and just hoped that the Transfigured hair, makeup, and contacts would be enough. "Of course!" Hermione agreed a little louder than she should have and it drew in the attention of a few people nearby.

"There you are!" Parvati and Padma Patil called together and hurried over to Hermione and Siria. "Excuse us!" Parvati waved to Rita as she took Siria's arm and started to led her away. Padma nodded and took Hermione's arm to drag her from Rita as well. "Good day!" Padma smiled. The four took a turn into Honeydukes, which was packed. In the crowd of students, no one noticed a group of four girls become three.

With Siria beneath the Cloak, the four girls headed to the Three Broomsticks. Hermione picked a table near the back and ordered a pitcher of butterbeer. "What did Rita want?" Padma asked. She leaned closer to Hermione. Parvati leaned in as well.

"Trouble, I'd image," Siria clicked her tongue under the Cloak.

"She's probably run out of students to squeezes lies out of. Did you see what she wrote about Siria last week?" Hermione groaned and put her face in her hands. Siria was pretty certain everyone had seen Rita's article, or else heard it recited in passing.

Hermione peaked through her fingers, to the seemingly empty seat beside her. "If someone would let me print a counter article…" Padma and Parvati looked to the invisible Siria as well. Ron also wanted Siria to print she didn't like Malfoy and had lied last year. "There's no point in saying I lied," Siria told them. "All it's going to do is convince people I really do like Malfoy, but am too 'shy'."

[Book: B4, 321-323 Moody & Hagrid come in and Siria learns Moody can see under her Cloak. Hagrid tells Siria to meet him tonight.]

When Siria entered the common room, Colin and Dennis swept the buttons they'd stolen off the table and into their laps. As if he hadn't appologized enough, Colin and Dennis Creevey had been working with Astoria Greengrass to change the buttons, but the buttons had only gotten worse. Astoria's button was stuck on "Siria Pooper" and the only other change was that it now said "Siria Pooper Stinks". Hermione was more annoyed about the buttons than Siria was. On more than once occasion, she had even offered to make ones for Siria, but Siria preferred Hermione's talents be put to helping her stay alive.

"If you've got the time to play around, your homework better be done." Siria told the Creevey brothers. Fred chortled from a nearby table.

"Excuse me," George interrupted.

"Miss Potter-Black" Fred grinned and stood up.

"But you're hardly one to talk." George told her as he rose his feet.

"Don't you have a joke shop to work on?" Siria asked them. Fred slung his arm around Siria's shoulders.

"Funny you mention the shop," Fred's grin widened.

"Your Pop is expecting us" George finished.

"Of course he is." Siria rolled her eyes, but her smile gave her away. Fred and George were always good company.

The three met Sirius at the steps of the castle. Moonlight broke through the clouds in ribbons of soft, pale light. Hagrid's cabin windows cast brighter light that warmed the air around them.

[Book: B4, 323-324 Hagrid is dressed for his date]

"What's with—" George began, but Sirius stopped him.

"Thanks again, Hagrid." Sirius smiled and the four entered. Fred, George, and Sirius crowded around Hagrid's table, so Sirius could help the twins with the issues they were having on some joke items. Hagrid sat on his bed and talked with Siria while Fang slobbered on her lap. "Now, if i's the Forest yer gotta go in ter, then one o' the centaurs may help yer, like last time." Hagrid told her. He had been dropping facts about the Forbidden Forest and Great Lake since Siria's name had been drawn.

"Alright, gentlemen," Sirius told the twins after an hour. "Anything else and you can write me." Siria patted sleeping Fang's head, but he didn't budge.

"Can't you just you the fire again?" Fred asked.

"It goes faster if we just talk." George added.

"Fire?" Siria asked. She remembered Amos Diggory's burning face in the Weasley's fire on the last day of summer. "Are you kidding me?" Siria asked. How many times had she seen Sirius stick his head in the fireplace? Of course they could have been talking through one.

"Siria, think about it. If I start doing it, how many other parents are going to want to? It'll clog up the common room." Sirius tried to argue.

"But you can talk with Fred and George!" Siria cried. Fred waved and George slipped out the door.

"Sorry, Sirius!" They called as Hagrid's door closed behind them.

"You could have just stuck your face in the fire and told everyone I couldn't've put my in the Goblet because of the Vow!" Siria slammed her fist on her lap and startled Fang awake and into a fury of barks. "Snape tried to accuse me of doing it! Do you know how stupid he would have looked?" Siria asked. Sirius sighed and looked to Hagrid before returning to Siria.

"Now, don't be mad…" He started. Siria could feel her blood already boiling. There had only been one time Sirius started with "don't be mad" that she hadn't been, and that only been because he was kidding and things were fine. "I expected that, if you really wanted to join, there wasn't anything I could do to stop you from entering, so I may as well make it a little more difficult…" Sirius stifled a groan. "It wasn't really an Unbreakable Vow."

"What!" Siria shouted. She thrust herself off the ground. "Are you kidding me?"

"Siria, did yer bring yer Cloak?" Hagrid's voice boomed through the cabin.

"Hagrid!" Siria called in disbelief. "Really?"

"I's time." Hagrid told her and tapped his watch. Siria glared at Sirius as she pulled her Invisibility Cloak from her bag. Once under the Cloak, she continued to glare and muttered "I can't believe you right now."

"It would have been silly of me to show Hermione the real Unbreakable Vow— then you would have died the moment you entered." Sirius argued.

"I wouldn't have entered!" Siria's voice snapped. "I didn't enter!"

"You're just more responsible than I thought." Sirius sighed and fell to the floor as Snuffles, the behemoth dog.

Fang, Snuffles, and Siria followed Hagrid to the Beauxbatons' carriage.

[Book: B4, 324-330 Siria learns the first task is facing dragons. She bumps into Karkaroff, so knows that Viktor Krum will know, and she hurries back to the common room]