Renee POV
"What in Hades is wrong with you?" I whispered, my face burning an angry shade of red. Gill had pulled me into a fancy tea shop called Madam Puddifoot's. On any other day, I would have loved the ambiance of the soft pink furnishings and the romantic setting, but today I was seething. I also had a feeling that Gill had brought me here because he suspected I wouldn't yell in such a nice, romantic place.
"You don't go back on a promise," Gill hissed through his teeth.
"I never promised you anything."
"You gave me your word you aren't seeing anyone on the side, and then you were going to go meet up with Potter!"
"Yeah, I was. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Clara, Ginny, and Luna would have been there too, and if you had asked I'd have said you were welcome to come."
"You're not making it any better," Gill cautioned. "Why would any of them even want to spend time with you, anyway? You're a lone poisonous snake in a group of harmless creatures. Sandra, Tomasz, and I are the only ones who will ever understand you. You shouldn't bother trying to fit in where you've been shown time and time again you're not wanted."
"Gill, I don't know what you're talking about!" I snapped.
"Oh, don't you?" Gill laughed. "Look at the Weasleys. They're poor as dirt; they only like you because you have money and charisma. They want you to help them move up in life.
"Then there's Granger. She's already smart, so she needs someone dumb like you to balance her out. She only keeps you around because you make her look good. Potter, and probably ugly Longbottom as well, only see you for your body. I've always said you're the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts, but you seem to forget that beauty is power. Others see it too. Like Draco Malfoy." He scowled as he said the other Slytherin's name.
"Then there's the Lovegood weirdo; she follows you around like a dog because you were nice to her once. She doesn't even have feelings, you know. And of course, the stupid Hufflepuff only clings to you because you're like a comfort blanket, a relic from her old life. I've got them all figured out, and I'm surprised you've never seen a thing."
"What? Gill, how do you know?" I'd never been an observer of my own life, so I hadn't ever noticed this before. Maybe I needed to step back and see it from an outsider's eyes.
"I've heard them talking. I've seen the way they look at you with loathing and contempt, and with the knowledge that you'll never be one of them. They see you as one of the bad guys because you're a snake. Snakes were never meant to mix with warm-blooded creatures, unless it's to strangle them. That's all they'll ever see you as, a disaster waiting to happen."
I didn't want to admit that I'd had doubts about my friends since early on, but Gill could have been right. I knew people did see me for my body. At the same time, I had never seen Harry as one of those people, nor any of my friends for that matter. Not even Draco. Although I'd never known that Gill had such resentment about anyone that he would lie about them, especially people who were friends with his friends. But there was no way…
"We'll have the sandwich platter," Gill said to the waitress who approached our table. Then he stared at the girl, and his demeanor changed. "So, you just happened to get our table, huh?"
The waitress, who might have been Chinese, looked vaguely familiar, and it took me a second to notice the pin she wore, an eagle with a Snitch in its mouth.
The girl frowned. "Gill, I swear, I didn't know you were-"
"Excuses, excuses," Gill muttered. "And to think I might have to-" he glanced at me. "Get the sandwich platter, and make it snappy."
As the girl walked away, Gill laughed. "She's worse than the Weasleys, really. I mean, she's not even pureblood. I can't believe she has to wait tables, she's such a-"
"Gill, I'd appreciate if you didn't make comments like that about other young women. Who was she, anyway?"
Gill frowned at the table. "Cho Chang. Seeker for the Ravenclaw team. I knew her growing up, so I can say whatever I want about her. She's another one who doesn't experience feelings in the same way. After all, she's Asian and a Ravenclaw."
I stood up so fast I crashed into the table with my knee. "Don't talk like that about other women!" I said again, raising my voice. "There is no one who doesn't have feelings, Bellis!"
Gill grabbed my hand. "You don't know Ravenclaws like I do. You don't know her like I do. You better apologize to me, because I know what I'm talking about, and you don't!"
I'd never seen this side of Gill before. My hands shook as I sat back down at the table. I looked around.
"I need to go to the bathroom," I blurted.
I stood up again, this time managing to avoid the table. I walked toward the back of the room, where I nearly crashed into the waitress from earlier. "Sorry," I muttered.
"Was Gill giving you any issues?" the girl whispered, dodging me the way a Quidditch player might dodge a bludger. As she did, something fell out of her skirt pocket. It was a key, attached to a tiny slip of paper. The girl glanced around, made eye contact with me, and then looked over toward the bathrooms. I nodded. She had just given me an out, but I wasn't sure whether to take it.
"Do you know him?"
The girl just smiled. I continued over to the bathrooms, still deciding what to do. I stared at the mirror for a moment and sighed. Then I splashed some water on my face to smear my makeup and tied back my hair.
"Gill," I said as I walked back to my boyfriend. He looked startled to see me in a disheveled state. "I'm not feeling well. I think last night's feast and all the food from today isn't agreeing with me, but just in case it's contagious, I want to walk back alone. But you should go join Tomasz and his cousins at the arcade, I'm sure they'd love to see you."
Before Gill could say or do anything, I walked out the front door. We were relatively close to Honeydukes, and it would be easy to slip back through the passageway to Hogwarts that Harry and I had used last year. I ducked around the back of the building and left the key Cho had dropped on the back porch, thinking about her reaction to Gill. I had no idea where he got the idea Ravenclaws didn't have feelings, because Cho was definitely looking out for mine.
I slipped through the trapdoor and then made my way back to the castle. When I arrived, I bolted down the stairs.. I muttered the password, Drakon Aurelius, and continued down the stairs, tears streaming down my face. I had faked sick in front of Gill, but now I was feeling that way in earnest.
I was grateful that boys couldn't access the girls' dormitories, because I couldn't deal with my boyfriend right now. He just needed some time to calm down, and then things would go back to normal.
A nagging voice in my head, one that almost sounded like Clara and Sandra's voices combined, reminded me that things hadn't been normal, in any sense of the word, with Gill for a long time. I figured everyone just needed some time.
"You okay?" Sandra asked as I plunked myself down across from her at dinner. "Gill told me you were sick earlier."
"Sick is one way to describe it," I muttered. "Did you go to the arcade with Tomasz and his cousins?"
Sandra sighed, then glanced around the room. "No," she muttered darkly. "I spent the day with your best friend. And I might remind you, it's her birthday today."
"Sandra, I didn't mean-"
I was cut off as Gill sat down across from us. "So, who do you think it'll be?" he said brightly.
"Not me, I am thinking," said a foreign voice from behind us. "Do you mind if ve join you?"
I was startled to see Mikhail and a few other Durmstrang students, two girls and one boy a few feet away. His friends were not people I recognized from the Quidditch group last night.
Gill scowled and opened his mouth to say something, but Sandra cut him off.
"Mikhail, hi! How was your day with Kat?" she greeted warmly.
Mikhail smiled brightly. "It vos great," he said. "Ve met up vith Rebecca's brothers and my friends." He indicated the three people behind him.
"This is Elsa, Marsela, and Okan," he said, pointing each of his friends out in turn. Elsa was tall and blonde, while Marsela was shorter with hair the color of dark honey. Okan was dark and wore the beginnings of a beard. "May ve sit?"
"Of course," Gill said, moving closer to me. His welcoming gestures surprised me, but I figured he wanted to act like everything was back to normal as well.
"Renee," Gill warned as I eyed the plates of food that appeared on the table, "don't eat too much. You were sick earlier, remember?"
Sandra rolled her eyes. "Have you ever known anyone to ignore a Hogwarts feast, Gill?"
I shrugged. "Thanks for looking out for me, though," I said as Gill piled his plate. I tentatively took a few bites of Polish pierogies from the plate Mikhail offered me. Mostly, though, it was for show, because I was starving. "But I'm doing a lot better now."
Sandra grinned and started chatting up the Durmstrang girls. I could tell she was making an effort not to mention Krum, and I was proud of her for that.
"So," she said, making eye contact with Elsa and then Marsela, "tell me about Durmstrang. I've heard you're in the mountains somewhere? Are your subjects any different from ours?" She then proceeded to rattle off all the options for classes you can take at Hogwarts.
"Is she always like this?" Mikhail asked me with a laugh.
"If you mean overly excited at a mile a minute, then absolutely," I confirmed. "I hope she doesn't scare off you and your friends."
Mikhail shook his head. "It is nice she has respect for a lot of different cultures. Even though Durmstrang pulls from more countries than Hogvarts, not all are respected in the same vay at our school." He glanced at his friend Okan, who was eagerly discussing wizard chess techniques with Tomasz, Blaise, Theo, and a less enthusiastic Gill.
I had a feeling I knew what he was referencing. Okan looked to be Muslim, or at least Middle Eastern, and I understood there was a lot of stigma about that religion, and that part of the world. Some things didn't change, even in the wizard world.
I was hungrier than I had been the previous night, and I chalked it up to my argument with Gill and the fact that I hadn't eaten much when we were out. I also wanted to sample everything, unlike the night before where I had been more worried about Snape and Gill. There was French bouillabaisse and Polish pierogies and Mediterranean gyros, basically the kind of things you could find in many restaurants in New York, but that were hard to prepare unless you knew a lot about food and culture. I'm not proud of how much I ate, and I noticed Gill casting curious glances at me throughout dinner. At one point I caught Sandra following his gaze disapprovingly as well, but I couldn't tell if her stern glance had more to do with me or him..
"Gill, I'm fine now," I assured my boyfriend. "My stomach was just a little unsettled earlier, that's all. I'm good now."
Gill studied me for a moment, then nodded. Elsa narrowed her eyes at the dynamic, but went back to discussing Durmstrang with Sandra, Marsela, and Astoria.
As the entree plates replaced themselves with the desserts, there was an anxious buzzing around the Great Hall. People were starting to remember the real reason for the feast tonight, and were anxious to see who the Goblet of Fire would choose from the three schools. Dumbledore called for silence as I finished up a delicious slice of Russian bird's milk cake, a chocolate sponge cake with a particularly subtle sweetness.
"The Goblet is almost ready to make its decision," Dumbledore proclaimed. "I suspect it will need just one more minute."
Cassius Warrington and his friends looked around smugly, and Krum's Quidditch friends clapped him on the back. Stacy and Angelica Johnson glanced at each other from across the room and giggled, and Angelina joined in on their laughter. At the Hufflepuff table, Cedric Diggory sat up taller.
"Now, when the champions' names are called, I will ask them to please come to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber-" he paused to indicate a door behind him "-where they will receive their first instructions."
Dumbledore took out his wand and made a great sweeping motion; at once, all of the candles and jack-o-lanterns were extinguished. The Goblet of Fire cast an eerie glow around the room with its blue and yellow flames.
All of a sudden, the flames flared red, and sparks flew from the Goblet. Dumbledore hovered his hand over the Goblet as a charred strip of paper shot out. "The champion from Durmstrang," he read out in a clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."
The room exploded, and a few of the Durmstrang Quidditch players urged their classmate forward. Mikhail and his friends were some of the few who clapped quietly, but did not seem overly impressed by the selection.
I kept my gaze on the Goblet, where the flames reverted to blue and yellow. My stomach churned, and I wasn't sure why. I glanced over at the Beauxbatons table, where many of the students were giggling in anticipation. A moment later, the goblet flared red again.
"The champion from Beauxbatons will be Fleur Delacour."
Contrary to Krum's response, there was a hushed silence as Dumbledore announced the representative from the French school. I glanced over at the Ravenclaw table and noticed the silver-haired girl encouraging her friend, who was looking quite green. The veela girl shook her head and rose quietly.
It must be humiliating to follow Krum as a completely unknown witch, but even the Beauxbatons students weren't cheering for this girl. Many of them wore shocked or angry expressions, and the girl herself looked terrified.
"The half-breed?" a male voice called out disdainfully. "She shouldn't have even been allowed to qualify!"
"Yeah," a Beauxbatons witch at the Ravenclaw table agreed. "'Zis eez ze' TriWizard Tournament, not ze' Freak Tournament!"
I couldn't believe my ears. As the girl made her way to the teachers' table with her head down, I stood up on my chair. "Go, Fleur!" I yelled, clapping loudly. At the Ravenclaw table, her friend joined in, and a moment later so did most of the other Slytherins and the Durmstrang students around me. Harry, Ron, and Hermione led some of the Gryffindors in applause, and when people noticed them and the Johnson sisters cheering for the girl, they did too. Luna and Cho stood up at the Ravenclaw table, as did people around them, although most of them were Hogwarts students and not the girl's own classmates. At the Hufflepuff table, Clara and Cedric both led groups in cheering for her.
The cheers died down, and I caught the silver-haired girl looking curiously at me from the Ravenclaw table. I locked eyes with her. "Thank you," she mouthed, and then sat back down.
The chatter magnified as people realized anew that the last school left to be called was Hogwarts. The Slytherin Quidditch players jostled each other, and the Johnson sisters and Stacy held each others' gaze. A shiver ran down my spine, and I watched Clara and Nico out of the corner of my eye. Clara took a large gulp of pumpkin juice, and Nico looked ready to summon a ghost. I didn't know why this made us nervous; surely it had nothing to do with us.
The Goblet flared red, and Dumbledore smiled. "And last, but certainly not least, our very own Hogwarts champion will be our Head Boy, Cedric Diggory!"
Cedric's applause was not as loud as Krum's, but it was definitely louder than Fleur's, and nobody had to do anything to encourage it.
I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't have anything to worry about. Dumbledore began to speak about how everyone else was welcome to stay and enjoy the year's festivities, and he hoped they would. Before he finished talking, however, the Goblet spluttered and turned red again. Everyone stared. Dumbledore reached his hand out to grab the paper, seemingly without thinking about it. He glanced at the name, and his face went white.
"Harry Potter," he called. I knew immediately that this was what I had been nervous about. Peter Pettigrew had escaped just months ago to go back to Voldemort, Kronos had regained his full form, and the administration at Hogwarts had still determined it safe to go ahead with this?
But my problems had only just begun. People began to whisper and stare openly at Harry, but as the paper fluttered to the ground, I saw there was another name on the reverse side. Even from here, I could tell what it said.
Dumbledore swayed on his feet, and Hagrid, who was closest to him, pulled out his chair so he had something to fall back on. "Harry Potter," Dumbledore called again in a hoarse voice. "And Renee Bl-" he stopped short from saying my real name. "Renee Sanderson, to the back chamber, please."
I could feel all the students gazing at me, Harry, or both. Some looked impressed, and some looked angry. Many were confused. Aside from me and Harry, only a few looked nervous or scared. There was no applause, not even from our friends.
Sandra squeezed my hand under the table and looked at me quizzically. I stood up at the same time Harry did. As he was closer to the staff table, he stood for a moment, waiting for me to catch up to him, and then met my stride. He slipped his hand into mine, and we walked forward, both visibly trembling.
It took an eternity to walk past the staff table. Snape sneered at us, while McGonagall and Flitwick conversed in hushed tones.
"Well, through the door, Harry and Renee," Dumbledore said. I'd never seen him with a less friendly expression, especially towards Harry.
Neither Sprout nor Hagrid offered a friendly greeting as we passed them. Sprout averted her eyes as I walked past, and I found myself looking away from my favorite professor as well.
We entered a smaller room. Many pairs of eyes followed us; not just the three pairs from the other champions, but those of the numerous portraits on the walls as well. Directly across from us was an impressive, roaring fireplace.
A wizened witch flitted into the portrait next to her of a wizard with a walrus mustache and started whispering in his ear. Fleur and Cedric were sitting apart on a couch by the fire, while Krum took the armchair next to them. Beside them was another couch, but Harry and I didn't know whether we should sit down.
Cedric frowned when he saw who had just come in. He must've thought that seeing Harry and me didn't mean good news. He was right to think that, of course. It usually didn't.
Fleur smiled at me when she saw us, and ignored Harry. "What is it?" she asked, startled. "Do zey want us back in ze hall?"
Harry and I looked at each other, at a loss for words.
There was a shuffling of footsteps from behind us, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward, and I shivered slightly as he passed. Harry turned to face me, his eyes pleading with me to follow him and the ministry man as Bagman led him to the other couch. I sighed and forced myself to follow them to the couch, noticing a large mud splatter on it as I sat down next to Harry.
Bagman was beaming. "Gentlemen," he said. "Lady. Allow me to introduce, as incredible as it may seem, our fourth and fifth champions!"
Whatever reaction Bagman was expecting, it wasn't what he received. Viktor Krum's surly face darkened, and Fleur's mouth fell open. Cedric just sighed.
"Oh, very funny joke, Meester Bagman," Fleur said.
Bagman was puzzled. "Joke? No, no, not at all. Harry and Renee's names just came out of the Goblet of Fire on a single slip of paper!"
The expressions of the three champions remained the same, if only a little more confused. Fleur was the first to speak.
"But clearly zair has been a mistake!" She protested. "Zey cannot compete! Zey are too young!"
Bagman laughed nervously. "Well… it is amazing," he said, beaming at Harry. But as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety precaution."
"That's not true!" I argue before I can stop myself. "I mean, for the Triwizard Tournament, yes, but for the Uagadou Freedom Games thirty years ago with Castelobruxo and Mahoutokoro they implemented age restrictions even stricter, because the students had to be over seventeen and in their seventh year."
Everyone stared at me. "You haff clearly done your research," Krum said thickly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I retorted, and Harry laid a hand on my shoulder.
"Renee," he warned in a whisper. I nodded and sat back down. I didn't even realize I had stood up.
The door to the room opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor Snape, Professor Sprout, and Professor McGonagall. I heard the buzzing of a still-full Great Hall before McGonagall closed the door behind her.
"Madam Maxime!" Fleur exclaimed. "Zey are saying zat zees children are to compete also!"
I felt a ripple of indignation run through me. Children? Did the foreign champions even know who we were? Harry and I had confronted more evil in the last three years than the three of them combined, most likely.
Madame Maxime drew herself up to her full, and considerable, height. "What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she inquired.
"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," Karkaroff agreed. He was wearing a steely smile, but his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Three Hogwarts champions? I believe the name was derived from the competition between three schools, Dumbledore, not that the host school gets three champions. Or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"
"I know what the rules say, sir," I snapped as Karkaroff sneered at me. Harry gave me a nudge, but I kept going. "I've been reading up on them because I was worried something like this would happen."
"You were?" Sprout and Harry said at the same time.
I glanced at the Herbology professor, who was frowning. "Later," I mouthed. To be honest, I hadn't even realized until this minute that I had chosen the Triwizard Tournament for my history independent study for that reason, but as soon as I said it I knew it was true.
Karkaroff and Madame Maxime continued arguing at Dumbledore, who remained silent, until Snape cut in. "It is no one's fault but Potter and Sanderson. These students have been crossing lines since the second they stepped foot in this school."
Sprout gave him a hard look.
"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said firmly, and Snape went quiet, although his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair.
Dumbledore rested his gaze on Harry, and then on me. We stared back, and then glanced at each other. Neither of us could discern the expression of the eyes under the headmaster's half-moon spectacles.
He looked at me first. "Did you put your name or Harry's in the Goblet of Fire, Renee?"
I stared back for a moment, and he glanced over at Sprout, who was still studying Snape with an unpleasant glint in her eyes.
I sighed, knowing what he expected me to do. "I swear by the River Styx I did not enter my own name and/or Harry Potter's into the Goblet of Fire."
Thunder rumbled immediately, and I relaxed. Everyone but the Hogwarts professors and Harry knotted their brows or shook their heads in confusion. Snape glared sourly at the ground, while Sprout and McGonagall both let out long breaths of what I could only assume was relief.
Dumbledore, unreadable as ever, then turned to Harry. "Harry, did you put your name or Renee's in the Goblet of Fire?"
Harry glanced at me. "I, er, swear by the… what was it?"
"The River Styx," I whispered, groaning internally.
Harry started again, looking bolder. "I swear by the River Styx that I also did not enter my own name and/or Renee's full name into the Goblet of Fire."
Thunder rumbled again, and Dumbledore's eyes lit up with satisfaction.
Snape's eyes glinted with distrust. His lip curled into a snarl. "Did either of you ask an older student to do it for you?" he muttered.
"That wouldn't even work!" I insisted. "For centuries the impartial judge has always been able to tell if the person has a true intent to enter. And there's no way-"
"Renee," Sprout whispered, her eyes wide, "enough."
"Ah, but of course zey are lying," Madame Maxime argued.
"They could not have crossed the age line," McGonagall said, her lips pursed. "I am sure we can all agree on that-"
"Dumbly-dorr must 'av made a mistake wiz ze line," said Madame Maxime, shrugging.
Dumbledore smiled mildly. "It is possible, of course," he said politely.
"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Professor Sprout angrily. "Really, what nonsense! Neither Harry nor Renee could have crossed that line by themselves, and as Professor Dumbledore believes that they did not persuade an older student to do it for them, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!" She cast a furious look in Snape's direction, and McGonagall followed her gaze with a cold glance at him as well.
Karkaroff pleaded with Bagman and Crouch, but they couldn't do much other than shrug and apologize. He started arguing with Dumbledore and demanding his and Madame Maxime's students be allowed to reenter until two more names from each school were drawn. When Dumbledore said that was impossible, he was livid.
"Professors," I muttered. "Well, um, er, is it possible, I mean… Harry and I don't really want to compete."
Harry nodded emphatically. "We could withdraw," he said hopefully, staring at Dumbledore.
Sprout frowned, not meeting my gaze. I thought back on my research, wondering if I'd missed something. The words "binding contract" ran through my mind, and I stared at the ground. Wasn't there any way for us to get out of that if we never entered our names in the first place?
Mr. Crouch shook his head, frowning. "We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the Tournament."
I groaned. "Sir, all due respect, but what are the consequences if we refuse?"
"Not possible," growled a voice from the other side of the room. "You've got to compete."
"I have half a mind to-" Karkaroff started, but Moody cut him off.
"Half a mind to leave, Karkaroff? You can't leave your champion, he's got to compete too. They all do. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore and Mr. Crouch have explained. Convenient, eh?"
Harry started to say something, but I nudged him with my foot. The butterflies in my stomach were acting up so much I was worried I was going to lose my strength. Could Moody actually be suggesting…?
"Convenient?" asked Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."
I could tell the Durmstrang headmaster was attempting to sound disdainful, though his hands were balled into fists.
Moody paused for a moment. "Oh, don't you?" he said quietly. "Someone put Potter and Sanderson's name in that goblet knowing they would have to compete if they came out."
Frenzied discussion ensued, and soon Moody and Karkaroff were having a full-blown argument. In spite of myself, I yawned, even as Moody explained how a powerful confundus charm could have tricked the goblet.
Finally, Dumbledore exchanged pleasantries with the Ministry men and attempted to do so with the foreign professors, but they were already steering their students toward the door. Krum and Karkaroff sulked out, while Madame Maxime had her arm around a very bewildered-looking Fleur. They were conversing in low and hurried French as they left, but as they stepped out the door, Fleur turned back and stared at me for just a moment. I had no idea what she was looking for, but after a few seconds she nodded and walked out. Harry looked at me quizzically, and I shrugged.
"Cedric, Harry, Renee, I suggest you go up to bed. I'm sure your common rooms will be waiting to celebrate with you."
Cedric and Harry walked out, but I lingered for a moment. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody, and Snape left with no further words, but Sprout remained in the room.
"Professor, I…" I floundered for words.
Sprout sat down heavily on the armchair Krum had vacated. "I believe you and Potter," she said after what felt like hours of calculated silence but was probably only a few seconds.
I could tell there was something she wasn't saying. "Do you believe Moody?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Unfortunately, I do. If it were just you, I'd think it would be related to something back home. But with Potter involved, I can't say. I've been so focused on the war back home that I wasn't thinking seriously about issues that could arise with this event here. But Renee, Cedric Diggory is my own student, and if I had to root for a winner in all of this…"
"Of course. I wouldn't expect any less."
She sighed. "I wish I could spend the year preparing you, Clara, and Nico for this summer, as the four of us will be able to fight in ways the other demigods will not, nor other wizards if we can get them to come to our aid. However, this year might be your most difficult yet.
"I will warn you, Clara will probably need some time to process this, in different ways than you will. I don't know what the next few weeks leading up to the first task are going to look like, but I know you'll get through it. Remember I'm here for you, and please rely on your relationship with Potter to get through this."
I nodded. "Er…" I said. "Uh, can I go now?" I needed some time to process as well.
Sprout nodded. "Come to me if you need to talk, but I do not know how much I'll be able to talk."
I bowed my head.
I paused at the fork between the hallway to the kitchens and the dungeons. I could go back and face whatever Slytherin had in store for me, but then I remembered Tony's letter. I figured it wouldn't hurt to clear the air with Clara either way as well.
Clara was sitting on a footstool near the Kitchens and eating a cupcake. Her arms were folded over her chest, and her eyes narrowed when she saw me.
"You've got a lot of nerve," she seethed, standing up. "What did you do, charmspeak it?"
My mouth fell open. "Of course not! You know I would never –"
"Kat heard from Mikhail that you ditched Gill at Hogsmeade. I bet you came back here when most of the school was out and entered yourself and Harry with charmspeak." Her voice was cold.
She stood up. "I know you're the better impersonator, with a stronger memory for quotes, so you must remember our parents' list of dos and don'ts when they allowed us to come back after our first year," she muttered, a pained smile twisting her lips.
"Wha–?" I choked out, thinking back, but Clara was already rattling them off.
"Don't go chasing after serial killers when you can't help it – that was Sirius, last year, of course. I mean I guess we couldn't help it, but still, our parents' thoughts came true. Then there was, don't go on any rescue missions that don't involve your closest friends. I came after you last winter in San Francisco, so that did involve my closest friend, but we also went after Grover literally minutes after they told us that, the summer before. And now you've voluntarily signed yourself up for who knows what, which is like the second thing they said."
"They said," I huffed, "don't voluntarily sign yourself up to fight a dragon. There's nothing about dragons, and I definitely didn't sign myself up voluntarily either. Moody thinks someone put my name and Harry's in there to try and get us killed–"
"Oh, so you're listening to Moody now?"
I stared blankly at Clara. "I mean, that's just what he said."
Clara closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "Look," she said after a moment, "I get why you would charmspeak yourself in, but why Harry? You know he already has enough to deal with."
"That's because I didn't," I protested, but it sounded weak even to my ears.
"We should have never let you into our family," Clara cautioned. "You led Tony into the Labyrinth, and now this. I can't believe – well, you'll get what you want anyway. You know I can't tell my parents about this, at least not yet."
I glanced around at the mention of our youngest brother. "What did Tony have to say, anyway?" I asked in a whisper.
"Like you deserve to know. Look, you should head back to the snake pit. I'm going to go congratulate Cedric, and I'm sure you've got half your house waiting up to throw you a party. Of course, the other half will just be convinced you're going to die, so maybe you walked right into their trap."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I retorted.
"Good night, Renee."
"Uh…" I started as she stormed off to the Hufflepuff doors and banged out "Helga Hufflepuff" aggressively on the barrels.
I pulled my cloak around myself, the tears springing to my eyes. How could Clara possibly think I'd risk my life like this?
"Drakon Aurelius," I muttered as I approached the portrait that led to the Slytherin common room.
Merlin blinked sleepily at me. "What was that, dear?"
"The password," I hissed. "Drakon Aurelius."
"If you say so," he hummed, and fell back into dreamland. Why did portraits even need sleep, anyway?
The dungeon common room was more brightly lit than anything I'd seen in a while, and I blinked as I was accosted with rock music. I was surprised when I recognized it as Queen, but before I had time to register it, the room erupted into cheers and clapping.
"There she is!" a boy in Astoria's year yelled. "Our true Slytherin champion."
I glanced around. It seemed to me that aside from my friends in the year above, the only people who were truly celebrating were the younger wizards. Many of the older students wore scowls.
Before I had a chance to take in my surroundings, Gill snaked his arm around me and pulled me with him toward the center of the room.
"Gill, I'm fine, I…"
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled over the music.
"What?" I gasped.
"You and Potter, running around and destroying my relationship!" he spat. "I knew you were up to something when you left me this afternoon. You and Potter –"
A girl in the back flicked her wand lazily and the music died. An older boy did a tricky spell with the lights to direct the focus on to me and Gill. The room had gone eerily silent.
Sandra tried to catch my eye, but I looked away, my cheeks burning.
"That's right, bitch," Gill insisted. "I know you and Potter cooked up this plan to enter and prove your love to each other. Renee, you've had an affair with him all this time, haven't you?"
There were cheers and titters from around the room. A group of boys from my year, the ones Tomasz and Gill didn't talk to, went "oooh."
"You tell that whore!" one of them said with a whoop of laughter.
Stacy stood up. "Don't use that language! For goodness sake, where did you even learn that? You're thirteen!"
This set off a round of raucous laughter from the boys, and many others joined in.
"Gill, I did nothing of the sort," I replied calmly when I'd reclaimed my voice. "I've been up here the whole time, you know I was sick earlier."
"Did anyone see you?" He moved his eyes around the eager room. "Can anyone verify that?"
The room was quiet for an eternity. Finally, a girl next to Astoria spoke up. She was mousy with blonde hair and dyed pink tips. "I saw her come in," the girl said. I was studying, and I saw her in the bathroom around one o'clock."
I glanced at the girl. I had only used the bathroom briefly, and I must have passed this girl without a second thought. She shrunk back into the couch she was sitting on with her friends, and Astoria patted her hand. I tried to say thank you with my eyes, but people all around me had started laughing again.
"Little lying Lacey," a boy called out. "You've been to the moon and back, stopped an air raid, time traveled, and had six boyfriends to boot. Do you really think we're going to believe you this time?"
While everyone was focused on tormenting Lacey, Gill turned back to me. He raised his hand to my cheek.
Smack!
"That's what you get for skipping out on me. You're my woman, you're a liar, and you're a dirty whore!"
Smack!
Sandra and Stacy were suddenly behind me, Tomasz and Draco had each gripped one of Gill's arms in an attempt to pull him off me.
"You'd better apologize," Draco breathed in Gill's ear. He looked so angry he could breathe fire. "You'd better apologize to her and this whole room and all the girls who saw this!"
Gill laughed. "Only gay men apologize to women. We've got to show them, Malfoy, their place and ours. You of all people should know this."
Daphne, Tracey, Lily, Astoria, and even Lacey stood up and joined the Ballias sisters in a protective circle around me. Blaise, Theo, Cassius Warrington, and Adrian Pucey rose in their seats, looking unsure if they were needed.
Tomasz looked hurt. "Never use gay as an insult, Gill, you know better than this!"
Gill pushed his friend off. "Who cares, Tomasz?"
With that, he stormed off from the crowd and toward the boys' dormitories.
"We're done, Gill!" I screeched at his receding back.
I burst into tears, shaking off my gaggle of girls. Before I knew it, I was running, out of the common room. I made a beeline for Hufflepuff, but then remembered what Clara had said earlier. She wouldn't want to see me, and Cedric definitely wouldn't. I thought for a second, and then ran to the only place I could expect to have a welcome reception with at least one friendly face: Gryffindor tower.
I wasn't expecting anyone to be out at this hour, so I blinked in surprise as I neared the tower and ran smack into someone.
A very small someone, with midnight-black hair, dressed in all black except for the white skulls on his pajamas.
"Nico?" I asked incredulously. "What are you doing here, wandering around the castle on Halloween night?"
A/N:
So, I'm back. I've been trying to get back into this and write this scene for a long time. I had it all played out but I had to get through all the Triwizard logistics first. But the two fights with Clara and Gill have been a long time coming.
I'm hoping to get to Christmas by the time I go back to school in the fall, which might be two or three more chapters, depending on how much I can fit in single chapters. I have big plans for the rest of the Tournament as well.
As always, if I have any readers left, please review!
~Celia
