Wow! Thank you all so much for all the wonderful reviews! I got like 15! You guys are the best :'D I apologize for the long wait, this week has just been a blur!

Anyway, this is the second to last chapter (tear, tear D: ) and I will most likely not be doing a sequel. Sorry guys, but I want to try writing different things. In the rare occurrence that I actually do write a sequel, then I'll be able to update maybe once a month. I have a bunch of challenges that I entered to write, and I have an idea for a Harry Potter multi-chapter, plus I have House of Liars(which will be updated VERY soon, I pinkie promise! :P ) so I have my hands pretty much full as it is. But, PLEASE vote on the poll on my profile! It will help me decide which direction to go in next! Thankies :3

This chapter has a lot of dialog, because I tried to tie up most of the loose ends. I left a few untied, but I assure you, they will be explained in the next chapter :)

Well...enjoy the second to last chapter! Annnnndd...wait for it...REVIEW! :D Remember, 10 reviews or there won't even be a next chapter...

Ch. 24: House of Change
Nina's POV

"How is she?"

"Better. She should be awake any minute now."

I slowly opened my eyes.

"Nina!" I heard someone exclaim-Fabian! I quickly sat up and looked around. I was lying in a soft bed in the hospital wing. Fabian was kneeling at the edge of my bed, and looking as though he was restraining himself from hugging me. I was glad he didn't, because evern as I sat up, I felt a sharp pain in my ribs. My whole body ached, like it had been punched repeatedly and was covered in bruises.

Amber and Patricia were also at the foot of my bed, and Mara, Ron and Hermione rushed over.

"How are you feeling?" Fabian asked, as Hermione beckoned Madam Pomfrey over.

"Like I got in a fight with the Whomping Willow and lost." I said groggily, not entirely aware of what I was saying. Suddenly, my head cleared and I sat up straighter. "Harry! Where's Harry? And Moody! Except, he isn't really Moody, he's-"

"Nina, relax! We know! Everything's fine." said Hermione soothingly.

Madam Pomfrey bustled over.

"Oh, good, you're awake." she said. "Here, take this potion, it'll help with the pain a bit."

I took a sip from the goblet she handed me, and instantly, the pain started to die down a bit.

"Feel any better?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"A bit." I replied. "So...what's happening? How long have I been out? What time is it?"

"You've only been out for a few hours. It's a little after midnight." said Amber.

"Where's Harry?" I asked again.

Patricia pointed at a bed to my left, where I saw Harry asleep and looking relatively unharmed. I relaxed a little. "So...what happened?"

Everyone glanced at each other.

"C'mon, just tell me, it can't be that bad." I said.

"Yes it can." said Mara hoarsely. Her face was white and tearstained, and her voice shook.

"Well..." Fabian began. "After you went into the maze, we kinda stayed under the stands for a while. Then, after an hour, we went to find Dumbledore, like you told us to. We told him what happened, and how you hadn't returned, but then...Harry came out of the maze."

There was silence.

"Well? And then what?" I asked, getting a little impatient with their frequent pauses.

"Well...he told us...that..." Fabian's voice shook. I had never seen him so upset. Whatever had happened must have been really bad.

"He told you what?" I said quietly. I looked around at them, already starting to suspect the answer.

"You-know-who is back." said Fabian, his voice barely above a whisper.

My jaw dropped. This was just a dream, and I was going to wake up any second now and find out that the person who murdered my parents had not just come back. Any minute now...

I pinched myself in the arm, hard. Nothing happened except that it made me wince. It wasn't possible for You-Know-Who to be back, was it? I slowly sank back on my pillows, processing this information. The others watched me sympathetically. Fabian took my hand.

"Well...what's gonna happen now?" I asked.

"You haven't heard the worst of it." said Ron in a hollow voice.

"The worst? What could be worse than You-Know-Who coming back?" I demanded, panicking slightly.

"Actually, not the worst part," said Ron quickly. "But it's pretty bad. You know... Cedric Diggory?"

"Yeah, why?"

No one seemed to want to share what happened to Cedric either.

"Seriously, will someone just tell me?" I pleaded.

There was a pause.

"Cedric...He-he died." said Hermione in a hollow sort of voice.

"W-what?" I said, after a moment. "Why? How?"

"We were right about the cup being a portkey." said Amber. She didn't seem to be her usual bubbly self, and I could see why. "And...Cedric and Harry grabbed it at the same time. And when they got to Voldemort, he-he-" Amber's voice broke off in a sob.

I shut my eyes, which were stinging with tears. I hadn't known Cedric all that well, but he had seemed really nice...and now he was dead, all because he had grabbed the TriWizard cup. I glanced over at Harry's bed and realized I was lucky that he hadn't gone the same way. I felt Fabian's hand on mine, and shot him a sad smile.

"What does the Ministry make of this?" I asked. "They've been planning this tournament for months, they can't be too pleased..."

"That's the thing." said Ron. "They don't believe Harry. They think he made it all up to get attention."

I gasped, yet again. "That's horrible! They can't seriously believe that!"

"Well, they do." said Patricia. "Dumbledore was in here while you were unconcious, and he said it was 'the parting of the ways' or whatever, and sent out Snape and Bill and bunch of other people on secret missions."

I put my face in my hands and repressed the urge to scream in misery. "This is all my fault! If I had just stopped them from grabbing the cup, or grabbed it myself-"

"Nina, no!" said Fabian, sounding alarmed. "Don't talk like that! This isn't your fault, there's nothing you could have done!"

"Yeah, Nina, there's no way you could have fought off Moody, or stopped-him- from coming back." said Hermione consolingly. "It's not your fault."

"And you were so brave!" said Amber. "You went into the maze by yourself! And you escaped the fake Moody's office after you had just been under the Cruciatus curse!"

"Well, you guys totally saved my butt when I ran into Moody with Harry." I said.

"Yeah, but we owed it to you." said Mara. "We didn't go into the maze, you did."

"But it's still practically my fault that Cedric died!" I said, tears springing to my eyes again.

"No it isn't." said a quiet voice to my left. I looked over and I saw Harry was awake, and sitting up in his bed. Mara ran to him and flung her arms around him.

"Yes it is! I could have stopped you two, but I barely even fought back when Crouch-as Moody-got me."

"If anything, it's my fault." Harry replied as Mara let go of him. "I insisted that he grab the cup with me, so either way it'd be a Hogwarts victory." he said bitterly.

"Look, it's not anyone's fault. No one could have known something like this would happen." said Hermione reasonably. The others nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yeah, Hermione's right." said Ron. "Neither of you could have done anything."

I sighed. "Thanks." I said softly.

"I think I should tell you guys something." said Harry. We all looked at him.

"You know Victor? The head of your old house?"

"Yeah, what about him?" Patricia asked.

"Well...he was working for Voldemort."

Everyone gasped. Something stirred in my memory. Victor? Voldemort? Wait-

"Ah, yes, the Dark Lord will have good use for you." Victor said to me. He looked at Amber. "And, well, I'm sure he'll find a way to properly dispose of you."

Amber whimpered next to me. I glared at Victor. "What do you and 'The Dark Lord' want with me?"

Victor leaned close to me. "He needs you in order to come back."

He smiled-I know, he actually smiled!- at the horrified look on my face. You-Know-Who? Come back?

"How can he come back? And why does he need me to do it?" I demanded, stalling for time and praying that someone, anyone, would come to our rescue.

"You are the chosen one." He replied, as if that explained everything.

All of a sudden, voices shouted "Expelliarmus!" Something hard hit my head, and everything went black.

I gasped loudly and sat up.

"Nina! What's the matter?" Fabian asked, looking extremely concerned.

"It was Victor," I said, breathing heavily. "And he said...I'm the chosen one...But it can't be...he must've gotten it wrong...because Harry...He came back..."

"Nina?" Everyone looked as though they were fearing for my sanity.

I looked at Amber. "I remember what happened on that night, at the Yule Ball. Victor tried to kidnap me and use me so Voldemort could come back, because he thought I was the chosen one. But apparently-" I glanced at Harry. "-he was wrong."

There was a pause.

"We were living in the same house as a Death Eater?" said Mara in a small voice.

"Looks like it." said Patricia grimly.

"So...If Victor was working for You-Know-Who, and he wanted to kidnap you, why would he have sent me a note?" Amber asked.

"Well, he was probably hoping I would come with you, like I did, or he might've held you for ransom or something." I replied. "The thing I don't know is, who saved us?"

"Snape said it was him and Rufus." said Patricia. "But if he was telling the truth, why would they save you guys? Didn't we think that they were supporting Voldemort?"

"Yeah, but, I saw that Rufus guy in Dumbledore's pensieve, and he told the Ministry loads of names of old Death Eaters." Harry added in. "Maybe he didn't want Voldemort-" everyone flinched. "-to come back because he's scared of what he'd do to him."

"You've got a point, but what about Snape?" Hermione asked.

"Dumbledore sent him somewhere, maybe he's not bad after all." said Fabian. "I mean, why else would Dumbledore trust him?"

"Maybe he really is good." said Amber after a pause. "Dumbledore must have a reason for trusting him."

"I guess." said Ron, but he didn't sound convinced.

Hermione sighed and glanced at the clock. "We should probably get to bed. It's late, and we've had a long day."

Everyone agreed, so they bade Harry and I goodnight and left.

After they left, I slumped back on my pillows, thinking about everything that had happened. Things were definetly about to change, and I doubted that Hogwarts would ever be the same again.

Well, there ya go! I hope you all enjoyed it! Next chapter is...The FINAL chapter...The EPIC conclusion...dun dun dunnnn...
I admit, I'm going to be pretty sad finishing this story, but I want to try writing different things! I'm probably going to be posting a Harry Potter multi-chapter within the next few months (hopefully) and probably a bunch of one-shots for challenges and stuff. As for House of Anubis, I'm writing a multi-chapter now {House of Liars- you don't need to like Pretty Little Liars to read it! I'm just using a few of the plot lines from it :) } and when the new season starts, I'll probably have more inspiration to write one-shots about it. Vote on the poll on my profile to let me know what you think! :)

Sooooo...REVIEW! What did you like? What did you hate? Constructive critism is welcome! (but not flames :P ) :) Remember, 10 reviews, or no last chapter!

Luff you all! :)