A/N: So I'm back, hopefully I won't disappear again for a whole year or more. I've had these ideas running in my head forever, but I actually needed to write. But it's here now. So, enjoy.


Renee POV

Contrary to Halloween, Sunday dawned dreary and gray. To make matters worse, my face was stinging, and when I looked in the mirror, there was a small bruise forming from where Gill had hit me.

I intended to find someone who I could charmspeak to get us out of this mess, but when I walked into the common room, I was greeted by a cacophony of Slytherin voices.

I sighed as Astoria, Lacey, and their friends broke into cheers. From the other side of the room, Stacy Ballias, Cassius Warrington, Adrian Pucey, and Terrence and Malinda Higgs were attempting to calm down what looked like an angry mob of sixth and seventh years, who jeered at me as I walked past. Someone threw something, and his friends laughed. Immediately, whatever it was exploded and Stacy jumped to her feet.

"Detention, Montague, and ten points from Slytherin! Even if dungbombs weren't contraband, you've stunk up the whole room! Clean that up!"

I didn't see any of my friends, not even Draco, so I walked slowly to the door. I figured I could go up to Dumbledore's office and…

Wham! My head collided with someone as I reached the portrait hole. A pair of hands reached out to stop the fall.

"There you are!" Sandra gasped. "I was worried you wouldn't come out. Here, I brought you a bagel and an apple. Want to go for a walk?"

Even on this ugly day where my life was upside down, Sandra was still her bubbly self. I had to smile as I accepted the food she pulled from her bag. "That sounds great."

Sandra ushered me through the entrance hall, making sure to distract me from the Great Hall. I smiled gratefully, as I knew Gill and Clara would probably be in there.

As we stepped outside, a familiar voice said, "Have you seen Ron?"

I glanced around. Harry and Hermione were near the lake. I sped up towards them, and Sandra followed me.

"Erm… yes…" Hermione said uncomfortably. "He was at breakfast."

I remembered what Nico had told me the previous night and groaned inwardly.

"Forget him," Sandra said quickly as she noticed my expression. "Everyone important enough knows you didn't do it, and if they don't, they'll come around."

Hermione glanced up at Sandra's loud voice, noticed us, and waved. She and Harry stopped and waited for us to reach them, and Harry pulled me into a hug.

"So even Ron doesn't believe us?" I muttered.

"Well, no…" Hermione said with a sigh. "I don't think it's that… not really."

"What's that supposed to mean, not really?" Harry asked, startled.

"Oh, Harry, isn't it obvious?" said Hermione despairingly. "He's jealous!"

"Jealous?" Harry choked out, at the same time I retorted, "So I bet that's Clara's deal too?"

"Clara too?" Sandra gasped. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I had other things to worry about last night," I huffed.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, but seemed to decide to answer Harry's question before checking with me about Clara, and about whatever happened last night. "Look," she said patiently. "It's always you two who get all the attention, you know it is. Who was the one who sacrificed himself for the Sorcerer's Stone and left the group journey first? Who was the one who was left behind with Lockhart as his friends saved his sister in the Chamber of Secrets? Who was the one who broke his leg, lost his traitor of a pet, and told Sirius he'd have to kill him first if he tried to hurt you?"

Harry opened his mouth to retort, and Sandra said, "wait, you met Black?" but Hermione pressed on, ignoring her. "I know it's not your fault. I know you don't ask for it… but – well, you know, Ron's got all those brothers and Ginny to compete with at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous, and then we add in Renee and Clara, who are–"

She broke off and glanced at Sandra, as if just remembering she was still there.

Sandra looked at me helplessly. "Whatever's going on, I've got your back. I'm curious at whatever you're talking about, but I get it if you want to spend some time discussing this with Harry before you work things out with me."

I smiled appreciatively. "You're the best, Sandra." I hugged her. "I'm sorry to be leaving you out, but–"

"You don't have to explain anything. I'm here when you need a friend. For now, I need to go to the library anyway, I got a late start on my paper for Muggle Studies. But I'll let you be the judge of yourself."

"You're the best," I said again. "You know, sometimes I wonder why you weren't a Hufflepuff."

"If I were, I wouldn't be able to be your best friend, because you'd already have a Hufflepuff bestie, and I doubt we would have met in the same way. You are my best friend, by the way."

"You're one of mine as well," I said honestly, ignoring the part about the Hufflepuff best friend. "Now go. Don't turn your paper in late because of me."

I watched her walk back toward the castle as Harry and Hermione finished their discussion of Ron. Hermione then turned back to me.

"So what's this about Clara? And why is your face swollen?"

"I bumped into Sandra on the way out the door this morning," I lied about my face. They didn't need to know about Gill. All that would sort itself out anyway. I probably shouldn't have been so harsh or so quick to dump him in front of everyone. Maybe I'd find him later and apologize. "And Clara thinks I did it, and she's mad because I supposedly knowingly put myself in danger, on top of everything else in our lives."

Hermione's face softened. "Okay, I can be pretty sure she doesn't actually think you did it, then."

"Huh? But she said–"

Hermione shook her head. "She'll come around," she said firmly. "They both will." She glanced around, and then lowered her voice. "But for now, I wanted to know if you have any idea who might have done it. What bothered me the most is that they used your true surname."

"Dumbledore read Sanderson," I said quickly.

"He almost didn't. I can check, but I'm pretty sure it said 'Black.'"

I suddenly found my shoelace very appealing. "You're right," I muttered. "But it could just be…"

"Don't you dare say a coincidence," Hermione said gravely. "How would He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or any enemies possibly know that?"

"Well, if it was someone from, you know–"

"But it wasn't," Harry insisted. "Our names were both on the same slip of paper. I'm pretty sure I know who my enemies are. We only have so many in common. There's no way it couldn't have been Voldemort. And besides, he called you Black even as a memory in the Chamber of Secrets."

"As a weird, ghosty thing," I argued. "There'd be no way he knew it in real life, only as a product of that diary." A thought made me shudder. "But I know who did find out: Peter Pettigrew. He was there the whole time we were talking to Sirius and Remus. He found out that Clara is a child of the god of prophecy, and that I was a Black. It has to be!"

Harry and Hermione gasped involuntarily. "You're right. And Professor Trelawney said the servant would rejoin his master–"

"You're going to listen to her blathering?" Hermione interrupted Harry.

"Look, I practically live with the Oracle of Delphi, and I know a real prophecy when I hear one," I argued. "Professor Trelawney does have the sight, just not in the way she thinks!"

Both of my friends stared at me. "That's defensive," Hermione said after a beat.

I shrugged. "Look, I don't really want to talk about Trelawney, I want to talk about now. How did Voldemort – seriously, Hermione, get over yourself – how did he enter us? That's what I want to know."

"Keep your voice down," Hermione hissed. "Look, I've been thinking, you know what we've got to do, right? The moment we get back up to the castle?"

"Yeah, give Ron a good kick in the – "

"Write to Sirius," I interjected. "Is that what you were going to say?" I glanced at Harry. "And I know you're going to protest too. I still haven't forgiven you for telling him your scar didn't hurt."

Hermione nodded. "He told you to keep him posted on everything that happens this year. It's almost like he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill with me."

"Come off it," said Harry, looking around to check that nobody was in hearing range, but the grounds were quite deserted. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's entered us into the Triwizard Tournament – "

"Like he's not going to find out?" I scowled. "He'd want to hear this from us, Harry, not the Daily Prophet. Hermione, give me that quill and parchment."

"Fine," said Harry, tossing his last piece of toast into the lake. We watched it bob on the surface for a few seconds before a giant tentacle reached out to grab it. I quickly followed it with my final slice of apple. "We can write to him. But whose owl are we going to use? He asked me not to use Hedwig, she'll attract too much attention."

"You could ask Ron or Clara…" Hermione started to say.

"I'm not asking Ron anything!" Harry protested, and I glared at Hermione.

"You know what," I said after a minute, "I doubt all the Athena owls from Clara's birthday shipment have left yet. Chiron will never have to know that we used one. But listen, I'm doing the writing, Harry. I'm not going to have you leaving stuff out again."

Harry grimaced, but agreed, and we went up to the owlery. I sat down at one of the letter-writing tables and Harry sat across from me while Hermione went to go look for an Athena owl.

Dear Sirius, I wrote.

You asked us to keep you updated on what's going on at Hogwarts and in our lives. As you have probably figured out, Harry did not lie about his scar hurting, and I had the dream too. Actually, I have discovered an "S" shaped birthmark on my neck, and it hurt the same way Harry's scar did. But that's not why I'm writing to you now.

I looked up as Harry groaned. "Do you really have to throw me under the bus like that?"

"Yes," I teased, but Harry could tell I was joking, and we both smiled.

I don't know if you've heard, but the Triwizard Tournament is happening at Hogwarts this year and on Saturday night Harry and I got picked as the fourth and fifth champions. Even more worrisome was that the slip of paper said my true last name, so I worry this has something to do with what happened last spring, and with Pettigrew. We don't know who entered us, because we didn't, but they're making us compete because "rules are rules" and some "binding contract" nonsense. The official Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff. Also, Clara and Ron hate us now.

I scratched that last part off at a glare from Harry. "He doesn't need to know that," he said.

"Anything else to add?"

"No, I think that's good. I still don't know…"

"Harry, we're sending it," I snapped. "Oh, I almost forgot! We should send him some food!"

"Food?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yeah. He's been living off rats and scraps as a dog all summer."

Harry frowned. "I had no idea. He sent me that cake, I thought…"

"He must have got it from the bakery near our hotel when he visited us over the summer, that was near enough to your birthday…"

"No, it looked nothing like the one you sent from that bakery."

"So? Why does it matter anyway? I'll be right back."

I ducked out to the kitchens, hoping I didn't run into any Hufflepuffs on the way. As I passed their common room, even the "Helga Hufflepuff" barrels were decked out in a lavish display of house colors. They had definitely been celebrating their champion all night. Luckily, though, I didn't see anyone.

"What can we get for you, Miss Renee?" squeaked a House Elf. I blinked in surprise. Of course I knew they were there, but I hadn't actually spoken to one since Winky at the World Cup. I quickly shook those memories from my head.

"Er," I said, "uh, do you have any deli? And maybe a loaf of bread?"

The House Elf bowed and scurried away. A few seconds later, three of the creatures came back carrying some ham, cheddar cheese, and a loaf of freshly baked bread. "Will that be all, miss?"

"Yes, thank you."

The House Elves gasped, and one of them whispered, "She said thank you." I thought about Hermione's newfound interest in the House Elves and their mistreatment.

I ran back to the owlery without dropping anything. When I got there, Hermione and Harry were sitting with a large brown owl that I vaguely recognized from the Athena shipment. However, they weren't alone.

"Hey Nico," I said. "What brings you up here?"

Nico shrugged. "Just checking if Bianca had brought anything."

I smiled. "Usually, your owl will bring mail directly to you. It's not like a mail room or anything."

Nico looked down. "I didn't know."

"We didn't tell you," I said kindly.

"Well, you know that you can't use the Athena owls, right," he said, looking at the owl in front of us. "They're charmed so they can only fly between camp, here, and Mount Olympus. Why can't you use Hedwig?"

I hadn't known that about the Athena owls, and I was surprised that Nico did. I was grateful he hadn't asked about Dusk, as I didn't want to go into Clara right then.

Harry explained about Sirius.

"Well then, feel free to use Bianca. I'm sure she could carry all that food, no problem. Hey, is your face okay?"

"Yeah," I lied again. "I think I just slept on it funny."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at me, but I ignored her.

We thanked Nico and tied our packages to his black screech owl. I turned to ask Nico something, but he was already gone, leaving only shadows in his wake.

As Harry worked with Bianca, I wrote a quick P.S. on the letter;

P.S. Kronos is back. We saw him this summer. Also, I'm immune to the Imperius Curse, apparently because of my Charmspeak. Enemies know, and are plotting.

I didn't tell Harry.


Clara POV

"In Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?" I asked. "Do you really think that's wise?"

"I've done it loads of times," Nico said.

"You have? Wait, who have you been Iris messaging?"

Nico shrugged. "I'm allowed to have my secrets."

I narrowed my eyes. That boy was nothing but secrets. "Was it Percy?"

Nico didn't look at me.

"Nico! Why have you been talking to him?"

Nico shrugged. "You wouldn't get it."

Myrtle drifted over as we walked in. "Hello, Lord di Angelo," she said. Her eyes narrowed as she saw me. "You again? Well, at least you don't have that weird nonwizard boy who smells like seaweed with you this time."

"You can smell?" I asked at the same time Nico said, "Wait, Percy's been here?"

"The first time we found the Labyrinth, at camp. But never mind that." I made a beeline for any sink that wasn't the Chamber one, and Nico followed me.

Since Renee had decided fame and glory were more important than her and Harry's lives, I had found the next best person to talk to about the Tony incident. Nico had convinced me to Iris message him rather than sending a letter.

Nico turned on the sink, and I threw a small sunbeam at the water. "Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept this offering. Tony Bradley in New York."

The Iris message showed Tony leaning over something that looked suspiciously like one of my Lockhart books from my first year, possibly Journeys with Giants.

"Tony?" I said quietly. "What are you doing?"

Tony looked up. "Geez, Clara, don't scare me like that!"

"Why are you reading that? It won't help you understand anything."

"Oh, now you tell me," Tony huffed. "I read it cover to cover three times, thinking I'd missed something."

It took me a moment to remember that this wasn't the old Tony, the one who wouldn't have been within ten feet of a textbook if his life depended on it. Which, come to think of it, it kind of did right now.

"The only thing you've missed is that Lockhart's a giant fraud," I said plainly. "Why didn't you ask Chiron to lend you some books? I'm sure Percy could have helped you get some. And why didn't you tell me you were meeting up with him and Rachel?"

"He's a fraud? But he seems to seriously know his stuff. I mean, the stuff he's done…"

"He used memory charms to extract all of it from actual accomplished wizards. It's, like, the only spell he's ever been good at. He's in a mental ward now because one of them backfired when Ron tried to block it with a broken wand. He was our Defense professor in our first year."

"Why am I always the last to know this stuff? You and Renee never tell me anything." Tony slammed the book shut. "Where is Renee, by the way? And Nico, you can stop hiding, I can see that you're there."

Nico was messing with the shadows again, but he poked his head out with a sheepish smile.

"Why are you always the last to know stuff?" I asked incredulously. "Because you're ten, Tony, and a Muggle to boot. What I want to know is, why am I the last to know about this?"

Tony looked away. "Where's Renee?" he asked again.

"We're not attached at the hip, you know." I didn't want to get into the Triwizard Tournament with him. He'd probably tell our parents, or at least David, and that was the last thing I wanted.

Tony and Nico both frowned at this, but I waved them off.

"So tell me again," I urged Tony, changing the subject. "What actually happened? Don't leave anything out."

Tony trembled as he retold the story. "And I still don't know how I got that desk to do that. It was heading right for their heads, and I just made it hit the monster thingy without hitting my friends. And now Chevy and Axel won't talk to me, and they know something happened, but they think I'm keeping things from them, especially since Ruby and Diamond disappeared. And I actually don't care that much about them, but I miss the twins. And everyone still associates me with Chevy and Axel, so they won't talk to me because those two are mean!"

"I know that feeling," Nico said. "Nobody would talk to me at camp either. But at least you have David and Percy and Rachel, right?"

"Small comforts," Tony said flatly. "Especially because Mom and Dad found out I was letting some 'random teenagers' drive me around when a friend of theirs saw me getting out of Rachel's car. Now I'm grounded, and they or David or the twins have to take me everywhere, because I apparently can't even stay on my own without the risk of meeting random people. I told them it was just Percy and his friend, and they said I'm too young to hang out with anyone that age, except Steven." Tony made a face. "You both have to come back this Christmas, and Nico, we need to play Mythomagic or something, because I'm bored out of my mind."

"We can play over the mail," Nico suggested, brightening somewhat. "I can send you moving pictures of my players. I'll send a setup with Bianca when she gets back." He glanced at me. "She's, uh, out hunting right now." He didn't meet my eyes.

Weird, but I'd seen worse from the kid.

Tony smiled. He and Nico looked like they were about to get into a long nerd conversation, so I interrupted my brother. "Tony, drachmas are where they were last summer. I know you're already going in my room to look at my old books anyway. Keep reading, and I'll let Percy know to get you some from camp. But please, stop reading Lockhart. I should have thrown his books away at the end of my first year. They're basically fiction."

"I'll ask Draco for some wizard historical fiction recommendations," Nico added. "He'll probably know some informational ones."

Draco reads historical fiction? I shook my head. He'd probably be Renee's most vehement supporter, so it wasn't likely I was speaking to him again. She was going to get herself killed, and for what? We had enough money in our Gringotts vault, and I knew she didn't need the fame.

"I need to go meet Neville," I said. "Nico, are you coming?"

"Can I stay and chat with Tony a bit?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Meet us in the library whenever."

Both Nico and Neville were firmly on the side of, "I don't actually care" about the Triwizard Tournament. It had been spur of the moment to start on the dyslexia work today, but when Neville and I both came down to breakfast at the same time, alone, we decided it would be a good day to start. So far, Neville hadn't asked about Renee, and I was grateful. The rest of the school would be talking about last night at least until the first task, and I needed all the friends I could get. As much as I had joined in on the celebrations at Hufflepuff last night, I knew I wouldn't have really cared about the Triwizard Tournament if Renee and Harry hadn't been involved. Why did they have to be so stupid and reckless?

Neville was chatting quietly with Dean and Seamus when I got to the library, but he stood up when he saw me. He smiled shyly.

"Clara, good timing." We moved to a quiet corner in the back. "So, tell me more about this dyslexia thing."

"Well, it's a reading disability. You may have had issues with other language learning in the past, generally. Do you remember any of that growing up?"

"Yeah, a little. My Gran and her brother thought I'd grow out of it. They were more concerned about the magic kicking in."

"Hmm," I said. "Maybe the reason it took so long was because the magic was never sure that you would be able to pronounce or learn the spells." I switched gears. "Well, the first thing that you need to know is that this will take a lot of direct reading instruction. Is there anything that motivates you to read?"

Neville pulled a book from his bag. I was surprised to see that it was the one Moody had given him, Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants and Their Properties. He looked away sheepishly as he said, "Plants. They're really cool. Take the Mandrake. The scream is deadly, but the roots can heal, and the leaf is used in the animagus process. And then there's the Mimbulus Mimbletonia, I think you'll be learning about that one this year. It's got so many defense mechanisms."

Neville launched into an explanation I was only half listening to. I could tell he was very passionate. While he was speaking, I flipped through the Mediterranean plants book. It wasn't like any nonfiction book I'd ever seen. There were stories of each plants discovery and eyewitness testimony from herbologists around the world. The purpose actually seemed to be to make it interesting, and not just to give facts in the most boring way possible.

"This book looks great. I'm really glad you're so motivated. Here, I got Chiron to send me a few articles the first time you asked. I also think you should use a spell-correcting quill in class, as that way you can focus on your notes without worrying that they'll be unreadable later. I brought one so we could practice now."

After another hour or so, in which Nico didn't turn up, we decided to call it a day. "Same time next week?" I asked.

"Sure. And Clara?"

"Yeah?"

Neville studied me for a moment, and I was hoping he wouldn't bring up anything about the Tournament or Renee.

He stared for another few moments, and then said, "Thank you."

He stood up and walked out of the library. I wasn't sure what had just happened, but it felt pretty good.

As I made my way back to the common room, I noticed something glowing on the floor. Coming closer, I could see it was a button, like Hermione's SPEW ones, but the colors were different. The glowing red letters blared, SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY. THE TRUE HOGWARTS CHAMPION. I pocketed the badge, wondering who had made it.


Renee POV

"Why?" I demanded after my classes on Monday. "Who was this supposed to benefit? House tensions are already at an ultimate high, and now you're creating these – "

"It's supposed to help you, actually. Us," Draco said with a smirk. "We can put all the blame on Potter while reminding them that Cedric is the true champion, and meanwhile we can figure out how you got entered, especially if Potter had something to do with it. You can also train, and people may forget that you're the fifth champion until you surprise them." Draco's badge lit up with the words, "SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY. THE TRUE HOGWARTS CHAMPION. He pressed it absently and it flashed to POTTER STINKS. "You should take one, it'll help with the facade."

"Never in my life," I told Draco. "Forget it."

"I do want to help you figure it out," Draco called after me as I headed toward my room.

If there was any silver lining during this day, it was that Hagrid had pulled Harry and me aside during Care of Magical Creatures and told us he believed us. In that class, Clara and Ron had sat sulking and whispering until Hagrid said we were taking the Skrewts for a walk. Then, they paired up and continued to sulk and whisper while occasionally getting blasted by the Skrewts.

Neville stayed firmly with the other Gryffindors, trying not to get involved, and Clara kept looking at him pleadingly, as if asking him to be on her side.

Daphne, Blaise, and Theo were also a surprise. They happily took the badges from Draco and moved to sit with him and his friends. Only Tracey and Lily, with disgusted expressions, refused to take the badges, and they moved closer to Harry, Hermione, and me throughout the course of the class. I decided that if it was still like this next week, and we were doing something that involved more sitting and talking, I would invite them to join us.

The common room wasn't much better. Gill was now hanging out with his other roommates, and Draco's gang was growing to include more students from third and fifth year, including a reluctant Gill. I really thought Draco had been making progress, but this was a major setback. The only small relief was that Draco was always positioning himself as far away as possible from Kaylee and Ariana and Morgana.

As we made our way to transfiguration a week later, Sandra and I were stopped by Gill and two boys named Randolph Monroe and Edwinn Montague. Randolph and Edwinn were some of Draco's devotees.

They were all laughing about something and egging Gill on, and then out of nowhere, Gill hit me in the face again. I heard a gasp from behind me, and turned to see Clara looking away.

"Serves you right," Gill muttered. "You should be more grateful to Draco. He created those badges for you, even though we all told him you didn't want that. Especially me. Because I know you better than anyone. And I know what you really want." Gill raised his hand again towards my face, and Tomasz stepped between us. I hadn't noticed him, but fourth year transfiguration must have just gotten out.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You haven't spoken to her in a week and a half, and now you presume you know what she wants? What's this about, Gill?"

Randolph laughed. "I told you he was gay. Only a fucking fag would stand up for a woman like that."

"What's going on?" I demanded, stepping in front of Tomasz again. "If you have something to say to me, say it to my face."

Gill stepped up to me, sized me up, and then spat at me. "Bitch."

I had my wand out before I knew what I was doing. "Anteoculatia!" I yelled, and Gill said, "Excorius". Gill sidestepped mine, and Randolph's head was hit with the antler curse. At the same time, Sandra was hit with Gill's spell, which made her lose her hair immediately. McGonagall came down the hall then.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded. "Sanderson, I know this is a stressful time, but really. Why is there fighting in the hallways outside my classroom?"

"She started it," Gill said, pointing at me.

"Stop lying," said Sandra, who was clutching her scalp and glaring at Gill. "They started insulting us and – "

"Renee threw the first spell!" Edwinn insisted.

"All of you, go to class," McGonagall demanded. "Ballias and Monroe, hospital wing, if you need it."

Tomasz took Sandra's arm and led her away.

I glanced around the room. With Sandra gone, I sat alone. A few rows away, Clara was whispering with her housemates, who were all wearing the badges. I caught the words "reckless" and "horrible friend" in their conversation. Then I felt a weight sit down near me, and I looked up. It was Franklin, Tomasz's cousin from Hufflepuff. Surprisingly, he didn't have a badge.

"Do you want company?"

"Come to have a laugh at my expense as well? Or maybe you think my face doesn't have enough bruises already."

"Renee, not everyone hates you. As much as I want to support Cedric in this, they aren't being fair to you. Tomasz told me everything, you know."

"Thanks, I guess."

Franklin sat fully, and received glares from the other Hufflepuffs. "I would have expected Clara at least would – "

"Well, she's not."

"Sorry. Have you tried talking to her?"

"Yes, and she screamed at me. Anyway – "

"Settle down," Professor McGonagall announced as she walked in the room. "We have another difficult spell today. Miss Bradley, will you pass out the contacts of this box of live beetles?"

Clara stood up, and some people stared. Most people would be incredibly squeamish at this request. Maybe McGonagall had asked Clara because she knew she wouldn't be. It may have been from Apollo, but Clara didn't get sick easily, unless it was snakes or overexertion.

"Transfiguring animals has always been tricky," she explained. "But your class has mastered much of what I've given you so far this year. Today, we will be learning to – "

The door opened with a bang. I looked up, surprised to see Tomasz was back, and he still seemed to be fuming over the incident.

"Mr. Ruddernot?" McGonagall asked curtly.

"I'm supposed to take Renee upstairs," Tomasz said, glancing quickly around the room. "They're doing some photoshoot thing with the champions."

The room went silent, and Clara raised her eyebrows at me, but then scowled and looked away.

"How long will this take?" McGonagall asked. "I would prefer Miss Sanderson to not miss another one of my lessons."

I'd had a hard time catching up with the last lesson I missed, which was a simple hardening charm and hadn't involved any live transfigurations. I'd had to work with Tomasz on that one for at least a week afterwards.

Tomasz frowned, remembering, but then he said, "you know I can help her. It's all good."

"If you're sure…"

"Mr. Bagman said all the champions are needed for this. Sorry, Professor."

I thanked Franklin again for sitting with me, and then followed Tomasz from the room.

"McGonagall must really like you," I said. "Are you still near the top of your class with the fourth years?"

Tomasz beamed. "Tracey, Daphne, and Draco Malfoy outperform me most of the time, and Justin Finch-Fletchley does pretty well, and of course there's Granger, though she isn't in my section, but yeah. I mean, I knew and could easily perform the counter spell for Malfoy as a ferret, so…"

"I don't know why it's so hard for me. Clara and Sandra do okay, and I was good up until this year, but I'm serious when I say help from you and Hermione is the only way I've continued to receive relatively okay marks on it this year."
"You were second-best last year," Tomasz argued. "I think you're just stressed, Renee. Well, I leave you here. Good luck." We had reached the door.

So far, Viktor Krum was the only one there. He nodded sullenly as I walked in the door, and I nodded back.

Cedric and Fleur walked in a moment later, already in conversation about something. From the looks of it, they may have come from the same class. I knew many of the older Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students were finishing their studies with the Hogwarts sixth and seventh years this year, though some of them preferred more private tutelage from their headmasters. I mean, if I was traveling to another school for an entire year, I'd definitely want to study at that school, not just live there. I wondered if some of them struggled with English. I glanced over at Viktor Krum. Certainly most of the Beauxbatons students spoke Romance languages and would be comfortable with the Latinization of many spells, but how did that work with the Durmstrang students, or around the world in general? Come to think of it, there were far more Beauxbatons students who had opted to learn with Hogwarts students and professors than there were Durmstrang students who had. Viktor Krum and the other Quidditch players who I had met that one night were, and so were Mikhail and his friends, but the rest of them had opted to do their own learning with Karkaroff.

The door opened again, and Bagman filed in with two unknown people, a paunchy man with a smoking black camera and a blonde curly haired witch wearing magenta robes. She looked almost familiar.

The photographer stared openly at Fleur, and she rolled her eyes and turned more forcefully to her conversation with Cedric. She caught my eye just for a moment, and I nodded. Men who loved people for their beauty were… I thought about Gill. Then, my hand flew to my face, which was stinging again. If these photos would be ending up anywhere important, I needed to find a bathroom to put some concealer on. The bruise on my cheek, the one that had nearly faded from the previous incident, was back and stronger than ever.

The door opened again, and Harry walked in looking frustrated. I wondered what had taken him so long, and then thought back to what I knew of his schedule. Had he come from Potions? Snape must have loved letting him go early.

Before I could say hello, Bagman spotted Harry, got up quickly, and bounded forward. "Ah, here he is, our fourth champion! In you come, Harry, in you come… nothing to worry about, it's just the wand-weighing ceremony. The rest of the judges will be here in a moment."

"Wand weighing?" I interrupted nervously.

"Just to check that your wands are all in working order. The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore," Bagman said, but he spoke to Harry as if I weren't even in the room.

The magenta witch rose to greet Harry as well.

"This is Rita Skeeter. She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo," the witch said, beaming at Harry. "I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start? The youngest champion, you know… to add a bit of color?"

Youngest champion? I was right there. And most famous wouldn't have been an excuse either, because Krum was more well-known internationally. I immediately disliked this Rita Skeeter person.

As she firmly led Harry (who hadn't exactly consented) to a broom cupboard, I scowled. Aside from Skeeter looking slightly familiar, I had heard the name somewhere too, and it hadn't been positive, if I could recall. Hadn't Draco called her "that awful Rita Skeeter" when Ross and Dallas mentioned their journalism ambitions? And I was pretty sure the Weasleys had also been talking about her a lot after the World Cup. I had no idea there was anyone in the world who both the Weasleys and the Malfoys disliked.

I ducked out to the bathroom to apply concealer, wishing I knew a spell to mend bruises. I was gone for about five minutes, and when I returned, Skeeter and Harry were still in the broom closet. Dumbledore walked in with Madame Maxime, Professor Karkaroff, and Ollivander just then, and Dumbledore looked around the room. "Where is Mr. Potter?" he asked.

"Talking to that reporter," I grimaced. "Follow me."

I was hoping that seeing Dumbledore would make Skeeter behave, because I assumed she was making Harry uncomfortable. If he couldn't, I would give it a try.

"I have NOT got tears in my eyes!" Harry protested loudly as we came in. He noticed us and his shoulders dropped with relief.

We looked down at them, both squashed in the cupboard. Rita Skeeter beamed her fake smile. "Dumbledore!" she said with an appearance of pleasure, but I could see a roll of parchment and an acid green quill making their way back into her bag.

"Come on," I said to Harry, offering him a hand up.

Harry glanced briefly at my cheek, but then shook his head. "For a minute I thought you had another bruise."

I looked away. "Nope. All good."

The only empty chairs were across the room from each other. Harry took a seat next to Krum, and I sat next to Fleur on the other side of the group. She gave me a small smile, and I returned it.

Fleur was first, and Ollivander spent some time examining her wand. "Yes," he said quietly. "Nine and a half inches… inflexible rosewood… and containing… dear me…"

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," Fleur said proudly. "One of my grandmuzzer's."

Harry looked lost in thought for a moment.

Ollivander made some flowers come out of her wand, and then called up Cedric and then Krum. Harry embarrassed himself by rubbing his wand on his robes and creating sparks when Cedric said he polished his wand the previous night. Then it was his turn.

"Aaaah, yes," said Mr. Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."

Harry looked at the ground, and I had the distinct feeling he was keeping something from all of us about his wand. I wasn't going to pry, though. Wands were kind of a private thing. Besides, I had secrets and hopes about mine as well. I hadn't even told Clara that it was connected to Sirius's and Regulus's. I was pretty sure the only people who knew were Ollivander himself, and perhaps Dumbledore, from the way he had reacted when I had asked about Sirius's wand in Lupin's office last year. And maybe Sirius as well, come to think of it.

Ollivander spent a much longer time with Harry's wand than he had with the other three. He made a fountain of wine come from the wand and then passed it back to him.

"And last but not least, Miss Sanderson."

Would Ollivander remember mine as well as he did with Harry's, whatever had happened there? When Ollivander first told me about Sirius and Regulus, he hadn't spoken highly of them. They both turned out bad to the core, although they seemed like fine students early on. It was their choices that shaped them. As will yours, Renee Sanderson. I'd been thinking about those words ever since I met Sirius and asked Dumbledore to help him get his wand back.

Ollivander looked it over, then looked at me questioningly. "It still… works well for you? Nothing funny or strange?"

"Nothing at all," I said. I wondered if he had heard about Dumbledore having acquired Sirius's wand.

He held it and said, "Episkey." Immediately, the stinging on my face lessened.

"It seems to be in perfect working order," Ollivander said. From his seat, Viktor Krum looked like he was about to say something, but Fleur gave him a cold stare and he backed down.

After the Wand-Weighing, we took pictures, which was difficult, because we had to get everyone in the shot without getting in Madame Maxime's shadow. If Clara were here, she'd know how to bend the light just right, but… no, I had already decided not to think about her.

The photographer wanted to feature me and Fleur, while Rita Skeeter wanted to feature Harry, and eventually they came to some sort of compromise that involved Harry and me breaking each other's personal space bubble, and Fleur pushed deeply into Madame Maxime's shadow. Harry laughed nervously. I was tempted to reach for his hand, but I didn't want that showing up in the picture.

Finally, we were dismissed for dinner, and Harry and I couldn't get out of there fast enough.


Clara POV

I had thought that Renee had entered herself and Harry to get Gill's attention and make him jealous. Her plan definitely backfired, though. I winced as he hit her, but it wasn't like I was going to waste sunbeams on and risk our secrecy for Renee anymore. She could solve her own problems. She was probably just going to charmspeak Gill into believing her anyway.

There were other glaringly obvious ways her plan had failed as well. Not least of which was the war.

I threw a drachma at the sink in Myrtle's bathroom. "Percy Jackson, New York!" I commanded.

"Someone's in a bad mood today," Myrtle cackled, sliding up from out of a stall. "Where's ghost boy, he's actually pleasant to spend time with."

"Well, right now you get me," I huffed. Why had I even bothered coming in here? Certainly I could get the privacy I needed elsewhere. But even the Hufflepuff hidden room wasn't safe, now that Tomasz and Franklin were in there every night under the stupid "protection" password.

Percy's head wavered in and out of the message for a few seconds, and I heard a few things crash. "Clara, hey." Percy said. "One sec, Paul was trying to teach me to – "

But whatever he was about to say was cut off by another crash.

The message flickered, and then I saw Percy's bedroom clearly.

"Sorry, we were in the kitchen," Percy said with a sheepish smile. "What's up? Is everything okay?"

"I could ask you the same question," I said icily. "Why didn't you tell me about the attack on the school my brother and sisters go to? I know you knew about it before I did. And I'm their sister."

"Tony didn't want you to know, at first. He said – "

"So you think you know him better after two months of friendship than someone who's lived with him his entire life?"

Percy gave a hollow laugh. "Have you, though? From what I understand you didn't love spending time with him as a kid. And you've been away for the last two years of his life, the years when he learned the most about himself and the world."

I stared at Percy for a minute. "What's that supposed to mean? Tony values my opinion. He did write to me."

"David had to work hard to convince him to write. Rachel and I did as well. But it had to come from him."

I thought for a moment. "But he… but I… but what if this was supposed to have something to do with my part of the prophecy? The accomplice or whatever? Three people I love were hurt, Percy. You can't just take these things lightly. I'm the accomplice!"

"If this weren't an Iris message, I'd be scared you were about to come through and punch me. This isn't you, Clara. Is there something else going on? Something with the war, or…?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all," I grimaced.

"Really? Because you sound like you – "

"Nothing. At. All." I repeated through gritted teeth.

"Clara, whatever's going on, you know you can talk to me, right?"

"You obviously respect Tony more than you respect me, so I'm pretty sure I can't talk to you about anything, Percy. Not if I don't want the family to know."

"I kept his secret," Percy argued. "If you're asking me to do the same, you know I will. That should be even more evidence, not less."

"It's nothing, Percy. I mean, it's just Renee being her usual, reckless self. Seriously, I need to know what's going on stateside. I have to prepare for the war, and I can't exactly do that without Renee."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "What's going on with Renee?"

"I said it's nothing, Percy! Just let it go. Have you seen Tony since the incident? And what's happening with the fight with Typhon? And – "

"Are you sure there's nothing going on? You seem worked up."

"Even more so now that you're avoiding my questions. I didn't call you to talk about me, Percy."

Percy crossed his arms. "Okay, okay, calm down before you set the place ablaze. I can feel our connection from here. If your hands aren't burning right now…"

I looked down at my palms and frowned. Percy was right, my sunbeams were trying to come through. I took a deep breath.

"Thanks," I muttered, continuing to breathe in and out. Four seconds in. Four seconds hold. Four seconds out. Four seconds relax. Repeat.

"That's better. Okay, I'll tell you what I know. Zeus, Hephaestus, and Ares are fighting Typhon, and yes, I did loosen the hold on him in Mount St. Helens when I escaped, and you know where I ended up then. That was when we talked about us being too powerful, when I washed up in England. We've lost contact with most of Olympus, though Dionysus still visits from time to time." Percy scowled. "My father's fighting Oceanus in his realm too. And Hades is hiding out in the Underworld with Persephone and Demeter."

"That's a lot to take in. How's the camp holding up?"

"Been a few more attacks, but it's been better since the Labyrinth closed. A lot of people are staying for the year, or at least visiting more often. Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, and Hermes cabins are full to bursting most of the time, even when Annabeth and Clarisse are away. Michael and Will have been training more people in healing, though none of them are as good as Apollo people. Speaking of them, you have a new sister, Kayla Knowles. She's crazy good at archery. Has Olympic dreams and she's only, like, twelve. She's close with Fiona and Austin."

"Fiona's close with another girl?" I asked. She'd never shown much interest in me or Ruby or Diamond before, and as far as I could tell she barely interacted with anyone outside of the Apollo cabin. She mostly just liked Austin, and Lee Fletcher when he had been alive.

"Fiona's the one who found her, actually. Kayla's father's an archery instructor, and he was doing a demonstration at Kayla's school archery club. Afterwards, he and Kayla went out for dinner with Fiona's club, and Fiona started talking to Kayla and realized they had a lot in common. Then a monster attacked, probably sensing two demigods in one place or something, and Kayla was a speed demon with her arrows. Together, Kayla and Fiona managed to banish the Scythian Dracaenae before it did any major damage. Then Kayla's father, Darren, asked Fiona point blank if she was a daughter of Apollo. Kayla moved in that night, and they've been inseparable since then."

"Wait, Kayla's father? How does that work? Did Apollo take a female form or something so they could have a child?"

"That's the part you notice about this?" Percy shook his head. "You know what, it doesn't matter. The point is, Kayla. She's cool."

"I know." I switched gears. "So what do you think I can be doing from here?"

Percy shrugged. "Talk to Pomona about a training plan, she probably knows more than I do. Chiron and Willowmist are keeping her updated, I know that. And the four of you need to stick together as much as possible."

"Fat chance," I muttered.

"What was that?"

I realized I'd said too much. "Nothing, it's just hard with all the house separations and the… well, never mind. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Percy. I do need to go, though."

Percy nodded. "Good talking to you. Call whenever you need."

"Will do."

As I swiped on the Iris Message, I felt a lot lighter than I had in days. Things might have gone horribly wrong with Renee, but I would always have Percy.


Back in the Hufflepuff common room, someone had left a current edition of Daily Prophet on the table. I flipped through it, and stopped at a page with familiar faces.


Youngest Champion Harry Potter takes the Triwizard Tournament by Storm

An ugly scar, souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the otherwise charming face of Harry Potter, whose eyes betray no secrets about why he illegally entered the tournament. However, here at the Daily Prophet, we have the inside scoop. "I entered the Tournament to make my mother and father proud. I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. … Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it. … I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me."

Harry finds himself in a love triangle at Hogwarts this year. Also illegally entered into the Triwizard Tournament is the immensely pretty half-blood Renee Sanderson, who Harry can be seen making intense eye contact with (above). His close friend, Colin Creevey, also claims that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggleborn girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. Let us hope that Granger and Sanderson can remain civil towards each other as they compete over this brave boy.

Harry will be competing in the Triwizard Tournament against Sanderson, but many speculate that their involvement is not fair to the other champions. "Potter and Sanderson used the double-age rule to enter the tournament together," confides Marcus Flint, Harry's rival on the Quidditch pitch. "They doubled their age by entering together so they could have a chance. It should have been me, you know it should have." We may never know whether Flint's theory is correct, but questions abound.

Potter and Sanderson will be competing against Flore DelCar of Beauxbatons Academy and Victor Crumb of Durmstrang Institute.


I glowered around the room. They hadn't even mentioned Cedric, probably because Renee charmspeaked them to forget, and to spell the other champions' names wrong. And then there was the rumor that Harry was cheating on Renee with Hermione, or Hermione with Renee. Had I misjudged Harry and Renee's relationship that much? Or even Harry and Hermione's?

But a tiny, logical part of my brain insisted it was a lie. It was just a rumor after all. But no, I couldn't think that way. Renee needed to realize she did something wrong, and Harry too, for what it was worth. I almost felt sorry for Gill, until I remembered that he had hit Renee. I briefly wondered if that counted as domestic abuse. And what was Gill doing with Randolph Monroe and Edwinn Montague? But it didn't matter, because I no longer cared what Renee thought.


Renee POV

The days following the article's release were some of the worst in terms of the teasing. Gryffindor girls spat things at me. "Slytherin scum," Rachel hissed at me as she stormed past my desk in Divination. "Why would he even consider you? Or Granger, for that matter. Stop trying to steal him from Ginny."

Behind her, Demelza frowned but didn't say anything.

Sandra and Luna whispered furiously in my ear to ignore them, and Nolan Avery came over to talk to us. "We could fake date, if you wanted," he whispered. "You know, to get them off your back. Show some Gryffindor-Slytherin solidarity."

"Maybe." I gave him a small smile. To my surprise, Nolan and then Franklin joined us at our table. "But Gill might take it the wrong way, as if I'm trying to get over him too quickly."

Sandra, Nolan, and Franklin exchanged a dark look I probably wasn't supposed to see.

Professor Trelawney walked dramatically into the room then. She stopped at my desk and made her eyes go misty. "I see fire in your future, my dear."

"Yeah, okay," I mumbled.


I pulled out a drachma. It was kind of stupid, but I wanted to talk to someone far removed from everything that was going on, and someone who might be just the right amount of judgemental of everything in my life.

"Clarisse at Camp Half-Blood," I said weakly into the rainbow charm on my bedroom window. Thalia had given it to me for my birthday last year as a reminder to keep in touch, and it caught the light beautifully in the evenings. This was the first time I'd actually used it to Iris Message, though.

I heard rock music blasting from the cabin. When I looked through the Iris Message, Clarisse appeared to be leading a few younger Ares campers in a discussion on strategy, but she looked up when the Iris Message came on.

"Renee?" She looked around her cabin. "Everyone, out! You all have official training in half an hour, so we'll end early today!" She sounded like a drill sergeant.

I waited for the rest of the Ares campers to leave before saying anything. "Clarisse. It's good to see you."

"You look like you could use a friend. And for that reason, I hope you know calling me was a very bad idea." Clarisse wore a shit-eating grin on her face as she said this.

"What, we're not friends? You wound me."

"I would do that even more if you walked in on me instead of Iris Messaging."

This, I realized, was why I had Iris Messaged Clarisse of all people.

"Well, you're lucky I'm an ocean away. Do you have a minute?"

"Like I told the little punks, training starts in half an hour, so I've got some time. Shoot."

I told Clarisse everything, and she reacted in all the right ways. She clenched her fist when I told her about Clara, and actually punched a wall when I mentioned what Gill had done.

"That's not okay, Renee. Do you need me to come over there and – "

"No, I can solve my own problems. I do have magic, you know."

When I mentioned Draco and the buttons, Clarisse let out a barking laugh. "I'd actually go with that plan. It sounds like they're at least trying to look out for you. Well, except for Gill. What's he even playing at?"

"No idea. It might be my fault, though. I mean, I did humiliate him twice in one day."

Clarisse's eyebrows went up, but she didn't say anything.

When I showed her the article, she actually giggled. I stared. That was the most unlike Clarisse thing for her to do. "Who is this woman?" she shrieked with laughter. "She's … oh my gods, how does this stuff get published? And you said this is your national wizard newspaper? This is worse than Fox News."

"A lot of people are buying it, though. She's somehow convinced a lot of them. I got a few threats from Gryffindors to stay away from Harry."

"These wouldn't be the same Gryffindors who attacked you in the library last year because of your uncle, would they?"

"Rachel's a bitch. Yeah, it was her. What of it?"

Clarisse smirked. "Just so we're clear."

"How are you doing?" I asked after we had laughed over Rachel Samson's bitchiness. "How's Chris?"

"He's great, actually. He's been able to provide so much information about our enemies. And, he's the only person who has a chance against me on the climbing wall."

"I thought I beat you a few times. And Grover."

"Grover's a goat, he doesn't count."

We laughed again. It felt good, and I realized I'd missed Clarisse and just being able to talk with someone. "We should do this again sometime."

"What, just talk?"

"Yeah, exactly. I've missed you."

"Don't be a stranger, Renee."

"You either. Iris Message me whenever you need to."

"Even if it's the middle of the night where you are?"

"Very funny."

I heard a bell in the distance. "I need to go," Clarisse said. "I need to be at the sword arena in five minutes. Great talking to you."

Without waiting for me to respond, she waved her hand over the message.

I wondered how she would feel about monthly Iris Messages. After everything, she was surprisingly easy to talk to.

I head a tapping on my window and saw Nico's owl, Bianca. I opened the letter, smiling when I saw it was from Sirius. He wanted to meet with us at midnight at the Gryffindor fire on the 22nd. I wondered if he'd do the same Floo Powder head thing Amos Diggory had done at Arthur Weasley's house. It would be hard to get over there, and I wished I could rely on Clara's sunbeams. I missed her.


Clara POV

A few days after the article came out, Cedric cornered me on my way to breakfast. "I need to talk to you."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you have better things to do?"

He glanced at my chest, where I still wore the "Support Cedric Diggory" badge. Cedric himself had never taken one.

"Take it off, Clara, and whatever you do, don't let Renee see you're wearing it. You need to make up with her, this energy is just bringing you down."

"Whatever. You are the true Hogwarts champion. You deserve everyone's support." I pushed past him.

"Clara, wait!" Cedric called, but I ignored him as I stormed away and pushed open the common room doors.

I was passing near the Slytherin area, which I hadn't meant to do. I usually went the long way to the Great Hall, especially after what Renee had done, but I had forgotten this time.

I walked right into someone. "Hey, watch it!" It didn't matter that I was the one who hadn't been looking where I was going. The other person was a Slytherin, which made them guilty by default.

"Clara? We need to talk," the person said. I caught a whiff of fresh pine cologne and looked up into the eyes of my half-brother.

"Draco, go away. I'm not talking to you."

Draco grabbed my arm. "In here."

"Draco, let go of me!" I twisted away, but he held tight as he pulled me into an empty Potions classroom.

"What?" I snapped. "I've got things to do, Draco."

"Listen," Draco said, ignoring my protests. "Do not, under any circumstance, let Renee see you wearing that badge today, or ever again."


A/N: Okay, so this chapter was long, and I hope it wasn't too rambling, I know 10k+ is a lot for a comeback. Gods, I hope I still have readers.

Please let me know what you think.

~Celia