You'd think after people got use to the idea of Harry being a fourth champion they'd calm down. Well the next few days of school proved me wrong. The rest of the school, just like the Gryffindors and Riley's friend, thought that Harry entered himself. They, however, did not seem as impressed. The Hufflepuffs generally got along well with us, but they had suddenly turned cold. Even the Ravenclaws who were great friends with all the houses had become distant from us. Of course the Slytherins still hated us, surprise, surprise.

The most shocking part of wasn't that practically the entire school hated Harry and, by association, myself; it was that even my sisters were avoiding me. Alexa was determined to avoid me at all costs. Once Harry and I had finally tracked her down in the library she didn't seem too thrilled. She avoided looking at us and only spoke in short sentences before orbing out on us awkwardly. Sage, on the other hand, was being completely obvious in her attempts to avoid us. She didn't talk to any of us in Herbology nor did she even acknowledge our presence. I mean, she's my sister! My twin sister! Aren't we supposed to be thick as thieves or something? I needed to talk to someone as soon as possible. Not just about the whole possibly loving Harry thing, but everything.

"I'm going to go back home for a few," I said around three the next Saturday afternoon. I stood up from the couch untangling myself from Harry.

"Oh, okay," Harry said slowly. "I'll just hang out with Hermione in the library, I guess." I turned around and looked at him feeling my heart sink.

"You have other friends than Hermione and I. You could have some guy time if you needed," I said.

"But right now none of them want anything to do with me. They either all hate me because I entered or love me because I entered. I just want to be with people who don't think I entered," he said looking away.

"I know this must be hard for you. Heck, we haven't encountered the First Task yet. Lord only knows what is going happen after that…" I stopped and looked over, and saw Harry giving me a sarcastic 'please stop talking' look. "I'm not helping am I?"

"No. Not really."

"Sorry," I said apologetically. "Look, I'll try and make it a quick trip home. I have to talk to someone about…stuff. I don't even know how this conversation is going to go, but it just has to happen I guess."

"You know you can always talk to me," he said quietly.

"I know, I know. It's not that I don't want to but…I need a woman's perspective. You can understand, can't you? I mean, there's got to be things you talk to…Sirius," I whispered, "about rather than me, right?" He looked away from me and made a face, a face which meant I was right. I sat down on the arm of the couch placing my hand on his cheek. "I'll be back as soon as possible. I won't leave you all alone forever. Kay?" he nodded with a sigh and looked at me. I tried to give him a hopeful smile before kissing his forehead. I stood up and orbed out without another word.

~xx~

After my little chat with Phoebe I still had no idea where my heart lied. Sure she had helped me sort out a few things, but for the most part I was just as confused as ever. If the attitude towards Harry, and even I occasionally, was bad enough, double Potion's with Slytherin's definitely made things worse. We'd already managed to survive one Friday's worth. Well, just barely.

When Harry, Hermione, and I arrived at the dungeon after lunch, we found the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of their robes. Their badges all bore the same message, in luminous red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit underground passage: Support CEDRIC DIGGORY- the REAL Hogwarts Champion!

"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy said loudly as we approached. "And this isn't all they do – look!" He pressed his badge to his chest and the message vanished, only to be replaced by another one which glowed green: Potter Stinks! The Slytherins all howled with laughter, each of them pressing their badges until the messagePotter Stinks was shining brightly around us. I rolled my eyes, heaved a great sigh, and turned to look at Harry. Even in the dark of the dungeons I could see colour rising into his face slightly.

"Oh very funny, really witty," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy as I squeezed Harry's hand trying to drag him away. I noticed Ron standing against the wall with Dean and Seamus. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Harry either, that stupid prick.

"Have one, Cradey," Draco said while throwing a pin at me. I let it fly by me and hit the wall without making a move. "Want one, Granger? I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood slimming it up." I wanted so badly to turn around and punch him in the face but was distracted as I felt Harry's hand slip from mine. I looked over and saw him reaching for his wand.

"Harry!" Hermione and I said together warningly.

"Go on, then, Potter," Draco said drawing his wand. The two looked at each other before acting at exactly the same time.

"Furnunculus!" Harry yelled.

"Densaugeo!" Draco screamed.

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles. Harry's hit Goyle in the face and Draco's hit Hermione. Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his hands to his nose where great ugly boils were springing up. Hermione, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth. I hurried over to Hermione to see what was happening to her, Ron behind me. I tried to drag her hand away to see the damage. Hermione's front teeth, already slightly larger than normal, were now growing at an alarming rate. She was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth kept growing; past her bottom lip, toward her chin – panic stricken, she felt them and let out a whimper.

"What is all this rumpus?" a soft, deadly voice said from behind us. Snape had appeared behind us, looking unruly as usual. He turned to Malfoy for an explanation.

"Potter attacked me, sir -"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted angrily.

"They attacked each other at the same time!" I said at the same time as Harry.

"- and he hit Goyle - look -" Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled

something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.

"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"
He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back. Snape looked coldly at Hermione, and then said, "I see no difference." Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.
"That was highly uncalled for, Professor," I replied angrily. Harry and Ron joined in after me letting their anger control what they were saying.

"Let's see, seventy points from Gryffindor and a detention for Potter, Weasley, and Cradey. Now get inside or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."

I clenched my hand into a fist and stormed into the dungeon, throwing my bag on the back table. Harry was shaking with anger as he slumped down next to me. Ron, too, was shaking – for a moment, it seemed as though he'd sit down next to us, like things had been – but then he turned and went to sit with Seamus and Dean. Across the dungeon, Draco turned his back to Snape and pressed his badge to his chest, POTTER STINKS flashing across the room. I had to suppress the urge to chuck something at his head, probably only receiving more detentions. Snape started saying something about antidotes, but I wasn't paying much attention. I was still mad at the injustice to Hermione, Draco's stupid badges. Pft…Potter stinks my arse. He's my best friend and my boyfriend, if only people could see what I see in him, and then they wouldn't be so understand. But then again, everyone would want to date him.

A knock echoed through the dungeon breaking through my thoughts. It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room, beaming over at Harry, and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs," Colin said in response to Snape's seething, questionable look.

"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," Snape said coldly. "He will come upstairs when this class is finished." Colin went slightly pink at this.

"Sir – sir, Mr. Bagman wants him," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go – "

"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please, sir – he's got to take his things with him," Colin squeaked. "All the champions -"

"Very well! Potter – take your bag and get out of my sight!" Snape shouted. Harry almost jumped out of his seat from the ferocity in Snape's voice. He swung his bag around his shoulder, got up, and exited quickly with Colin behind him. Oh great, I thought. Now that Snape's all mad at Harry, he's gonna take his anger out on me. I'm probably going to get like…a month of detentions. Not to mention, Snape's probably gonna poison me now.

The rest of the class seemed to drag on forever. Snape, thankfully, never made any mention of Harry's dismissal or any repercussions we... I might face. In fact, he hardly made eye contact with me at all. Whether this was a good sign or not, I didn't know. Maybe he was plotting our slow, agonizingly painful deaths, afraid that minimal eye contact would reveal the whole horrific scene in his eyes. Or perhaps he had just let it go. Severus Snape? Let that go? Ya right, he's the most known 'Prince of Darkness' right behind Ozzy Osbourn. I highly doubt he'd let something like that go.

The bell finally rang, sounding more like an angels call breaking me from my hell.

"Miss Cradey?" Professor Snape said as I started packing up.

"S-sir?" I asked with a stutter, my fingers starting to shake and my throat drying.

"A word with you, if I may?" he said, not looking up from his parchment. I finished packing my bag and slowly made my way up to his desk. I stopped so I was standing in front of his desk and watched him continue to scribble on his parchment. The only thing I could hear was the sound of his quill on parchment and my pulse pounding in my head. I had no idea what this was about, but I felt like the rapture was about to unfold in front of me.

"I wanted to tell you not to worry about your detentions," he said indifferently. I had been expecting horrible news, so when I heard this my face changed from strained to shocked, then to confused.

"Really?" I asked confused. This really has to be some kind of joke. He's going to whip out an extra ten detentions for being so foolish as to believe him.

"Really. Contrary to popular believe, I don't favor only Slytherins. In fact, I have seemed to have acquired a liking to you Miss Cradey," he said looking up at me. For once, instead of seeing dark, cold and unforgiving eyes, I saw a man with burdens from his past. I personally had no clue as to what 'burdens', but I knew they must exist.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, asking silently for him to explain more.

"I knew your parents." My face returned to its previous look of shock as I tried to make sense of what information I had just received. A lot of kids at this school wouldn't find this surprising, many of their parents probably were in the same year, or close to it, that he would have known them. But Snape knowing my parents seems perplexing. They never went to Hogwarts; they didn't even know they were magical for that long.

"Your father," Snape continued, "being quite sly for his age, lifted the binding spell you great-Grams placed on the girls when they were little. That's how we, Samantha and I, had such a strong connection to them. We were friends with all of your aunts, but especially Portia and Jack. They were exceptional people, an exceptional witch and wizard.

"Forgive me," he said after a slight pause. "That may be the most I've ever revealed about myself to a student. If word gets out that I have a soft spot for a Gryffindor, let alone Potter's girlfriend-"

"I'll be in detention for the next three years," I finished sarcastically.

"Make sure you tell Potter and Weasley that their detention with me is tomorrow night, my dungeon," Snape continued.

"What, there's no friend and family amnesty pass for students you like?" I asked.

"No. Get out of my classroom before I make you serve with them," he replied. What seemed to shock me most was the fact that he, Professor Severus Snape, was laughing as he spoke to me. And what was even more shocking, I was smiling and laughing too. I turned around and made my way out of the class, thinking of how things had suddenly changed. The professor whose classroom I dreaded to go to could now have the potential to be maybe a tad enjoyable, if not tolerable. Sure, Snape and the Slytherins would always hate Harry and make rude comments to him, which will always get me mad. But now Snape would be more lenient on me, which was at least something.

I noticed Ron standing outside of the class, looking as if he was waiting for someone. He slowly approached me as I neared the exit. Oh, he's waiting for me, is he?

"What's he on about?" Ron asked, gesturing back into the classroom.

"Oh, you're talking to me now, are you? Just because you're ex-best friend isn't here anymore?" I mock asked.

"Look, it's not you I'm mad at. It's that git-"

"So yes, it is Harry," I interjected, responding to myself. "Can't you two just stop being teenage boys and make up? Will you just apologize already?"
"Me? Apologize? I have nothing to apologize for. He's the one who should be apologizing," Ron said a bit angrily.

"Oh, right, Harry. Ya, he should be apologizing for mysteriously being entered into something he never wanted. He should apologize for someone wanting him dead. He could be dead by the end of this year. Hell, he could be dead by the end of next month. You're right, he has everything to apologize for," I replied heatedly. I stormed off towards the Great Hall, leaving Ron to contemplate what I'd said.

I sat down at the Gryffindor table with a huff, plopping my bag down next to me, saving the seat for Harry. Not that I was expecting a whole horde of people to suddenly want to sit by me just because Harry was gone. A few people, however, did seem to think that way as more people than normal were suddenly gathered around me.

Hermione came walking in, a little more upbeat than normal, sitting across from me.

"Where's Harry?" she asked, taking notice of the empty spot next to me.

"Still upstairs. He left in Potions for some official Champion business. How are you feeling now?"

"Better. Much better," she said with a smile. She leaned in and whispered, "I had Madame Pomfrey shrink my teeth a little past normal." She leaned back with a gleeful, accomplished smile, and took a bite of Yorkshire pudding. The two of us chatted all through dinner, with occasional glances at the entrance door from me. Honestly, where the heck was Harry? I figured they would just take a few pictures, a quick interview with each of them, and then that was that. I took another sweeping glance around the Hall, hoping Harry had sat somewhere else, not noticing where his friends were. I heaved a sigh, picked up my bag, and sulked back to the Common Room alone.

"Oh, by the way, Ron," I said, stopping in front of where he was eating with Dean and Seamus. "You and Harry's detention is tomorrow afternoon, his room."

"What about you?" Ron asked a bit confused.

"I was let off the hook," I said, turning back to the door and walking out. Upon entering the Common Room, I searched the area to see if Harry was sitting anywhere. Maybe he'd eaten earlier and been up here waiting for me. Sadly, I couldn't spot that dark haired boy. I frowned slightly and set my stuff on a table. I'll wait for him a little longer, I thought as I sat down.

After sitting in the Common Room working on my homework all alone for what seemed like hours, I gave up on waiting for Harry. I'll see him in the morning, hopefully. I mean, tomorrow is Saturday so if he hasn't spontaneously combusted, we cans pend all day together. I packed up my things and headed upstairs.