The Unexpected Task

[Book: B4, 364-368; 371-372; 386-388 The Gryffindors celebrate Siria's victory, which includes opening the golden egg and shutting it because it sounds terrible. Neville turns into a canary because of the Canary Creams made by Fred & George. December comes around and it's rather cold. Professor Trelawney tells them that she saw Death hanging over Hogwarts.]

Hermione took one look at the Sunday Daily Prophet and immediately crumpled it into her bag. Ron and Siria raised an eyebrow in question, which caused Hermione to laugh nervously. Hermione swept some eggs into her mouth "I's nofin'!"

"Remind me to never need you to lie for me," said Siria and she reached out for the paper. Hermione shook her head and squished her bag into her lap.

"What did Rita Skeeter write this time?" Ron rolled his eyes and looked to Siria. "At this rate, you'll have to get a real boyfriend, so she backs off." Siria forced a laugh and nudged Hermione's side.

"Seriously," Siria tsked at Hermione. "I'm just going to hear it if you don't tell me." There were already more glares from the Slytherin Table than usual. As if it brought Hermione physical pain to withdraw the newspaper, she handed it to Siria. Unsurprisingly, there was a picture of Siria's enlarged viper and the dragon, with Siria herself flying out of frame in the background. Rita Skeeter had captioned it "Siria Potter-Parselmouth"; Siria shook her head at the title, but read through with Ron.

"Everyone knows that!" Ron rolled his eyes at the facts Rita had presented. Siria bit her nail as she continued. Rita Skeeter told everyone about her Parselmouth stunt in the first task then brought up Salazar Slytherin. Just as there was no way for Siria to prove she wasn't Slytherin's ancestral granddaughter, there was no way for Rita to prove it. Parseltongue, ambitious and cunning, Siria was almost the Slytherin poster child— almost. She crumpled the paper again and handed it to Hermione. "Ron's right. Isn't anything we don't know." Siria nodded.

[Professor McGonagall tells them about the Yule Ball and that Siria needs to have a dance partner.]

"Will you tell me why again, when we have the Room, you insist on coming to the library?" Siria asked as she held some of the books Hermione had selected.

"You didn't have to come." Hermione reminded her. Siria arched her eyebrow and looked around the library. It seemed no matter where they went, someone was lurking to ask one of them to the Yule Ball.

"Right," Siria shook her head. "Honestly, even with this detour, I'll probably make it the Tower faster than if I tried to go alone." The act of having anyone with Siria seemed to drastically decrease how often she was asked to the Ball. After Rita Skeeter's article, Siria expected people to avoid her for a few weeks, but no one seemed bothered. If anything, Siria felt that people thought her possible relation to Salazar Slytherin was a selling point.

"I don't know why you don't just agree to someone." Hermione sighed softly as she continued to scan the books.

"I'm not going with a complete stranger that thinks they know me, because of what they've read or wants to go because of my name."

"Have you considered they think you're cute?" Hermione asked. Siria wrinkled her nose at the thought.

Viktor Krum slipped into the library and was lurking behind a nearby shelf. Hermione saw him and sighed. She handed Siria another book. "Would you go look for anything useful in languages?" Hermione asked her.

"And I'll know it's useful because…?" Siria tilted her head down. Hermione clicked her tongue.

"Would you rather look at Charm books?" Hermione asked. She shot a glance to the section, where Krum was. Siria shrugged, but hauled the books over to the Foreign Language section.

Logogram and Rune covered spines looked back at Siria. She scanned over them and knelt down, as if being more level with the lower covers would help her. As if her gut could tell her, Siria closed her eyes and trailed a finger over the top of the books nearest to her. They felt the same and had a similar musty smell to them. She blindly grabbed a few and hoped the Room of Requirement would be more helpful tonight. It seemed like when they knew what they wanted or needed, the room could provided it, but if they only had a vague understanding, the room didn't even know how to help.

"Wouldn't count on my luck if I were you, Potter." The drawling voice of Draco Malfoy smirked. Siria glared intently at the spines of the books, as if she could read them by squinting.

"Black." She hissed under her breath. Given that it was just her luck to end up in the Triwizard Tournament, Siria wouldn't bet on her luck either. Though, she mused, she was doing fine so far.

"From what I hear, Potter" Malfoy emphasized her surname, which irritated Siria more, "you can't even get a date." He chuckled at his own jab. Siria peered through the stacks, to Hermione, to see if they could leave yet. Hermione was talking with Krum and, Siria rubbed her eyes and looked again, she was blushing.

"You offering?" Siria asked absently as she stood to see Hermione better. Hermione tried to tuck a strand of bushy hair behind her ear, but it popped back almost instantly.

"Maybe, if you asked nicely." Malfoy sneered at her. Siria's jaw fell open. Hermione nodded.

"Are you kidding me?" Siria pressed her hand to her mouth. Krum smiled and Siria, who went to cheer, dropped the stack of books she was carrying.

Madam Pince practically growled at Siria. "Sorry." Siria whispered as she collected the books. "See you, Malfoy." She waved and, books in hand, approached Hermione and Krum. Though Krum nodded at Siria when she approached, he left without a word to her. Siria nudged Hermione in the side. "Did I or did I not just see Viktor Krum ask you to the Yule Ball?" Siria asked.

"Shut it." Hermione murmured. "What did Malfoy want? Just trash talk?"

"Does he offer any other kind?" Siria rolled her eyes. She glanced over to Malfoy. He looked more pink than pale. "Is it wrong to hope he's getting sick?"

At Friday night Quidditch practice with the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams, Cedric and Siria were circling over the field. Though snow covered the grounds, there was something about Quidditch that got them all out of the castle. Even Warrington would occasionally stop by. Cho Chang eased her way over to Cedric and Siria. The cold wind had highlighted the blush in cheeks, but her hair managed to stay tightly back in her high ponytail.

"Chatting strategies?" Cho asked them. She looked from Cedric to Siria then paused on Cedric. "I'm jealous." Cho laughed. Her eyes wandered down and Siria felt a blush hit her own face.

"Urgh!" Siria groaned. "Actually, I was about to do some drills. I'm so stiff right now!" Siria flattened herself on her broom and let her arms dangle down. "You don't mind, do you, Cho?"

"Not at all." A thin, shy smile broke over Cho's face. She gave Siria a small nod. Siria grinned and punched Cedric in the arm.

"Siria—" He began, but she was already diving down.

Siria snuck to the stands, where she hovered beside Hermione and Neville. Hermione shook her head. "You know Cedric's going to go with her now, right?" Hermione asked. Siria shrugged.

"I know, I know. He's charming and all that, but…" Siria looked across the field. She and Ron were the only people there without dates now. "I'm going to end up going with Ron, aren't I?"

"Lots of people already think you're dating." Neville told her.

"Ha!" Hermione and Siria laughed.

"That's why he doesn't want to go." Siria rolled her eyes.

"But, you've gotten asked," Neville said.

"Yeah…" Siria sighed.

Until Hogwarts, Siria had been a crack on the sidewalk at school. There was an extent to which she didn't stick out anymore, until the Tournament. Of course the new students each year would point and gawk, but going to school with the Girl Who Lived usually lost its charm after the first month. Colin and Dennis had been two of the only people she knew of that were still impressed by "Siria Potter".

"Shame there isn't someone you're comfortable with." Hermione sighed. Siria dipped her broom and hugged Hermione.

"'Mione, you're a genius and I love you!" Siria flew back to Cedric and Cho. Cho turned away when Siria neared them. "I gotta go!" Siria shouted and, without changing, hurried to the castle. She checked her watch and ran to the library. Siria cleared her throat then snuck through the door. There were more people than usual so late into the night and just before break.

Her heart thundered in her ears as she crept along the wall, to the back corner of the library. Astoria, Colin, and Dennis were playing with some of Fred and George's fake wands. Siria pressed her back to the bookshelf and tried to steady her breaths. It was so much warmer in the library that the air burned differently than the piercing ice outside. She pressed her hand to her neck, but her pulse still felt like it would jump out of her chest. Siria nodded.

"What are you doing?" The cool voice of Daphne Greengrass chuckled. Siria flinched and tried to pass it as an attempt to flatten her hair. Daphne raised an eyebrow at her. "You okay, Potter-Black?"

"DoyouhaveaYuleBalldate?" Siria spat out. She smacked her forehead then massaged the spot.

"I don't." Daphne told her. "Why, you asking?" Siria could hear the smirk in Daphne's voice and her nerves made her grin.

"I mean, I'm not not-asking." Siria ran her fingers over her bangs, which frayed out as if she hadn't even touched them.

"I'm gay, not desperate."

"Okay. I'm bi, but not into you like that." Siria scratched the back of her neck. When Daphne arched an eyebrow, Siria dropped her arm to her side and clenched her Quidditch robes.

Daphne sighed and looked to the table where Astoria, Colin, and Dennis were playing around. Siria looked at the ground and half hoped it would swallow her. Hogwarts had trick staircases, hidden doors, and magic rooms; there had to be a piece of floor in the castle that could swallow you if you wished hard enough. Daphne clicked her tongue and looked to Siria.

"This riff-raff bothering you?" Malfoy asked. He was flanked, unlike last time, by Crabbe and Goyle. Siria tapped the back of her head against the bookshelf she was leaning on. "Honestly, Potter. You can't even change?" Malfoy asked.

"Potter-Black was just asking a question." Daphne crossed her arms as she focused on Siria, who tried not to smirk. "Girl to girl." Daphne looked over her shoulder at Malfoy. "So I'm fine." Malfoy cocked his head. He looked over Daphne's shoulder to Siria. His cold silver eyes met her glaring green. Siria gritted her teeth.

"Hear you still don't have a date." Malfoy sneered. "Maybe—"

"Actually," Daphne's cool voice cut under Malfoy's, "Potter-Black was just asking me about her date." Siria pressed her hand beneath her nose to hide her smile. She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped that Daphne meant what Siria thought.

"So you know him, Greengrass?" Malfoy arched an eyebrow at her.

"Greengrass knows my date very well." Siria smirked. "And I kind of know hers."

"Maybe you should worry about yourself?" Daphne suggested. "Unless you're taking Crabbe and Goyle?" Crabbe and Goyle looked to each other then to Malfoy.

"Thanks for the suggestion, Greengrass." He shot Siria another glare. "Try not to embarrass your date." Malfoy sneered before he left with Crabbe and Goyle.

"So, is that an actual yes?" Siria asked as she stepped forward.

"Yes." Daphne sighed. "But as friends! You're not my type— wipe that grin off your face." Siria, who couldn't stop herself from grinning, covered her mouth. "And if you try to kiss me, I'll hex you."

"Absolutely!" Siria nodded. Daphne looked to Astoria, Colin, and Dennis. The three had stopped playing to watch when Malfoy came over with Crabbe and Goyle. "I can get them in." Siria said without thinking.

"Sure, Potter-Black." Daphne rolled her eyes.

"Oh, it's on now."

In the Room of Requirement, which had been cleaned up after their practice, Hermione handed Siria something small. On a small button, over a quartered background of red, green, yellow and blue were the bold, black scripted letters of "I support C.W." Siria opened her mouth to reply when the background and writing, unprompted, changed. While it kept "I support", "C.W." had been replaced with "S.P.B." A stripe of pink and one of blue took the place of the other colors, with a thin stripe of purple between them. Siria bit her lip and stroked the surface of the button. Though her voice was hardly a whisper, it cut through the silence of the room "That's my flag." Siria choked as she lifted her head to look at them. "That's my flag."

Despite Siria's protests, Cedric, Hermione, and Patricia had made new buttons. "But..." Neville paused until he realized he had been heard and felt the need to ask his question. "Why does Siria get a flag and Warrington gets the Hogwarts Crest colors?" Neville asked. Maddy smacked her own forehead.

"It's her sexuality's flag, Longbottom— she's bi!" Maddy pointed to Siria as if she were holding a sign saying as much. "We're part of the in crowd," Maddy gestured around to the other people in the room, "so we know and can support her when she's out."

"Sorry." Neville murmured.

"No." Maddy huffed, as she pinned a button to her robes. "I'm sorry. It's a fair question…" Maddy crossed her arms and looked to Siria.

"I love them." Siria smiled at the room as she pinned the button to her jacket. "Thank you," Siria opened her arms and Hermione rushed in to hug her. Over Hermione's shoulder Siria smiled to Cedric and Patricia. Travers, Warrington, and Neville were already wearing their buttons. Since he received it, Ron had stared silently as his.

"So, what?" Ron asked Siria when she sat down beside him. "You like to snog girls or something?"

"I haven't snogged one yet, but I certainly intend to." Siria replied. She pressed her lips together. "If I'd known they were doing them, I would've told you."

"But Hermione and Cedric knew?" Ron asked. Siria fiddled with a button on her jacket.

"Yeah. I— I slipped up around Cedric. You don't seem upset about Maddy and Patricia knowing." Siria noted.

"Well, they're gay too. Isn't it that they just know?" Ron asked. A sharp, short laugh escaped Siria.

"Oh, yeah" Siria said sarcastically. "We can sense each other out like magnets— no. Honestly Ron." She clicked her tongue. "If you hadn't spat food at me the last time it was brought up, I might have told you sooner." Siria snapped.

"So it's my fault?" Ron shouted.

Siria rose to her feet and Ron did the same. He had continued to grow, whereas she hadn't. Before summer, Siria was taller than Malfoy and barely shorter than Ron. Malfoy had grown taller, but Ron seemed intent on growing until he was as tall as Hagrid. He was barely shorter than Cedric, despite being three years younger. It usually didn't bother Siria, until she realized how much she had to look up at him to glare.

"Fine!" Ron barked and threw his hands up in anger.

"Fine!" Siria shouted back. Her fists were clenched at her sides.

"Not fine!" Hermione told them. Ron didn't listen and stormed toward the door.

"Be like that!" Siria called after him. Hermione pressed her face in her hands and muffled a shout.

"Just go after him!" Hermione snapped.

"He's just throwing a tantrum!" Siria told her.

"Siria" Hermione's harsh tone dug into Siria. She threw her head back. Siria knew she didn't want to fight with Ron.

"Fine!" Siria clicked her tongue and chased after him.

Ron had barely stepped through the portrait hole when Siria caught him by the arm. "So what?" She gasped as she stepped into the common room. "Since I like girls too, you don't want to be my friend?" Ron jerked his arm away.

"Can't you just leave me something?" Ron shouted at her.

"Leave you what?"

"Anything! Do you know how many guys asked you out? If there's another stupid Tournament or dance and you're out, who'll be left for me to ask?" Ron turned away. Siria reached out to pat his shoulder, but retracted her hand.

"Look, Ron, if you want help getting a date, I can get you one." Siria told him. "And I'm not bi to hog the dating pool."

"I know." Ron threw his arms up in surrender. "I know you aren't. I just… whatever. It's fine." He said. Ron dug the button out of his robe pocket and pinned it to his shirt. "We're cool."

"Yeah?" Siria nodded and extended her clenched fist, which he knocked with his own. "Let's get you date. You know, I think I know someone."

"I'm not taking Astoria." Ron replied.

"No. I got her a date, but I'm pretty sure Mandy, Fay's friend, has a friend without a date. The pale haired girl." Siria looked to the ceiling as she tried to remember the girl's name.

"Loony Luna?" Ron cried.