Chapter 6 Fallout

Harry did not know what to say. He watched as Alex and Justin both had their particular meltdown. The girl was furious, and almost uncomprehend able. Justin just slouched, and fiddled with his ring. Max was not very surprised. Dumbledore, to Harry's amazement, was staring at Justin.

"But you knew this already didn't you?" He asked. His x-ray eyes focused itself on the young wizard, who averted his gaze and shifted in his seat. Alex was making biting remarks on the 'golden child' when she heard the hoarse whisper of her… whatever he was now. Her eyes were starting to fill with tears, pouring down her cheeks which had reddened with anger. Her fists clenched as Justin cleared his throat, and replied.

The fighting in the background died as the boy answered slowly, "It was the competition, Alex, I, I lost my memories. My memories of my family… then it came to me, a house, a beautiful manor. I was in the corner being told how amazing my father was. He was a wizard. Then a man came, and took me away, I was given to…" he quieted himself, "That's why I went on the world tour, to get an idea of where I-"
He was cut off by Alex, who threw herself into his arms.
"I don't care, I don't care who you are, or what you've done. But please, please, please don't leave me," she begged, tears falling down her cheeks. Dumbledore looked uncomfortable. It took a second, but Justin wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close. The rest of the world did not seem to exist outside of the hug.

Harry and Cedric were dismissed. There was no way the evening had any chance of improvement. By now the parties were winding down. Tomorrow, the judges, headmaster of each school, Mr. Crouch, and the cup itself, would choose a victor in the tournament. Cedric had bags under his eyes, and was very pale. He was muttering to himself about winning. It occurred to Harry that Voldemort just wanted to kill as many of the children that had survived his rise to power as possible. Alex had to be better by tomorrow, she was competing.

After bidding Cedric goodnight, Harry climbed into bed, knowing full well Voldemort was closer than ever, and, chances were, would rise to power again tomorrow.

The young boy pretended that the last thought as he drifted off to sleep was not that Voldemort would return to power tomorrow.

He also pretended that he did not hear Alex and Justin climb into bed together.

Alex was roaming the halls of the school. It felt as though no matter how far she ran, she would always find herself in a situation where everything was her fault. How did Rita know a secret about Justin that his own sister, or at least the girl raised with him, did not? Max would not tell her, even if he did, chances were she would not have believed him. Of course, this was her fault too. If she had not wished her parents had never met, Justin would not have lost all memory of his family. And then he would not have left, and he would have been there for her getting teased and… The guilt trip did letter to assuage her conscience. Alex halted, and slumped against a wall.

"I won't have to take you to the headmaster's office again, do I?" said a familiar voice. Alex looked up to see Justin. She smiled weakly. He picked her up, and carried her back to his room with Harry, and tucked her in. It was only when she was sure he would not leave that she allowed herself to fall asleep.

The next morning, she was dressed in purple spandex, and Justin in his gray. It was sad to think that yesterday she had a brother, and now she had a partner.

They were assaulted by a flurry of questions, some were pretty insulting.

"Do you think that he is just doing this to shame you, Alex?"

"You're not that good at magic, did he only invite you to ensure he could stay in the family?"

"Taylor or Demi?"

"Are you a whore?"
Justin paused to rebuke the man, but Alex stopped him. She pulled him down into a fierce hug determined to give them something to write about. She did not remember jumping on him, or wrapping her legs around him, but she did notice when his mouth opened in an 'O' and received her tongue.

"Any questions?" She demanded.

Chapter 7 The Final Challenge

"Ready, set, Magic!" A bang from Dumbledore's wand signaled the beginning or the race through the maze.

The champions took off.

It took a couple of minutes, but after deciding he could not use the ball, he gave it to Alex. She felt the weighted thing again, and after a moment's indecision, said something neither of them had considered.

"This is a fake," she said with a certainty. It took only moments for her to determine who had taken it in the first place. "Harry…"

Whatever vengeance she had planned was cut off when Fleur decided to attack Justin from behind. With a bang, he went flying through the air, landing roughly on his left arm.

"We shall see, monsieur, how you do when you are not attacking little girls from behind!" She screamed, then moved in to finish him off.

Harry felt a burning guilt. Cedric had told him how important it was to win. And now they were cheating to get to the center quicker. With every step, it felt like Voldemort was getting closer and closer. His scar went from a slight prickling to a burning sensation. When the cup came into sight, he felt as though his head was about to explode.

"Let's do it together, Harry!" Cedric whispered. He was mad with excitement.

"No, you go on without me," He moaned weakly. His friend grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him closer and closer to the cup.

"Relashio!" Harry screamed, stumbling away. A curse hit him, and blood shot out of his mouth, onto the cup and Cedric, who was now holding it.

Cedric staggered away, ball in the cup, determined to win. He stumbled between Justin and Fleur, who looked like they wanted to kill one another. Cedric's eyes flashed red. He sent an unbelievably powerful redactor charm at the group, then staggered away. He lost himself in a maze, Harry desperate to catch him. Then the older wizard stumbled wearily to a stand-still.

It was almost picturesque; the pale skin, the drained expression, way the last exhalation of Cedric's breath curled upward. His eyes were hollow and lost.

At first, nothing happened, then a boiling liquid raised itself from inside the cup. It frothed to and fro, and Cedric looked paler the more it bubbled. It seemed to suck out something important from within him. Cedric looked at Harry with fear.

Then he keeled over, dead.

A naked, ugly figure erupted from within the cup.

"Hello, Harry Potter," Rumbled the voice of the resurrected Voldemort, "Are you ready to die?"

Chapter 8 Alex and Harry

Alex was pale. She had disarmed Gabrielle quickly, and safely subdued her. But her brother was far different. She would never have believed he could fight like this, at least, not without reason. He was combating the French girl with an unknowable ferocity. It suddenly made sense to Alex how foolish her desire to compete was. These two were far out of her league. They were focused, determined, and precise.

Justin summoned a serpent, and used an engorgement charm to make it larger. Fleur transfigured rock into a mouse, which distracted the snake from attacking her. She shot a stream of water from the tip of her wand, freezing it into icicles, and launching the missiles at her opponent. Alex duck for cover behind Justin, who had used earth magic to create a rock shield. He launched his defense at his opponent, who gracefully leapt over it. Fleur countered with a bombardment charm, hurtling orbs of explosive magic at the Russos. The Wiz-tech champion countered with a bombardment charm. Explosions more powerful than grenades erupted between the two. Justin and Fleur were battling to the death. All around them lay dead and dying monsters who had the mistake of trying to get between the two.

So focused were they that If it was not for the intervention of Cedric, somebody would have died. He rushed into the clearing, red eyes flashing, projection a shield charm. Justin had thrown Alex out of the way of the explosions.

"Time to go," He hissed, then ran out of the maze she followed the sounds of screaming. Harry may have stolen the ball from them, but he was her friend. If he was dying, she would help him. Then found the Cup. According to the rules, (Justin had told her) if the person who took the Goblet first place could not be ruled victor, then the person who carried it out would win. The screams silenced, so he was either fine, or dead already. Alex shrugged, she took off, cup in hand the finish. She staggered out, only to be met with wild applause. Applause she totally deserved.

"Great job, Alex," Hollered her father, "I'm so proud of you!"

Nothing could have brought her down.

Cedric was dead, and Harry was dying.

"Ah, Harry, I have so much to thank you for; First, for showing me the error of my ways. I see now that my reign of terror would not have profited me for very long. It took the hope of a newborn to change things," Seeing the confused look on Harry's face, Voldemort chuckled, "I see Dumbledore has hidden much from you. Yes, well, second, I owe you for pushing Cedric beyond his limits. He poured so much into the competition, so much into me, that I had enough strength to leave its confines, oh…" His toes felt the grass, "You shall die by the hand of the heir of Slytherin. Crucio!" He spit the curse with venom enjoying the way Harry rolled around on the ground. He screamed it again. "Well, that was enough for now. Silence! I must kill you, but I tire of listening to screams for mercy. Avada Kevadra!"

Harry used his disarming charm. The beams met in the center, with the green light easily over-powering the red. They both gritted their teeth, doing their best to force the other to die. The red and green turned golden, with a massive ball forming in the middle. It grew larger and larger, only adding to the fear growing in Harry's stomach. Lines of power exploded from the stream.

"Why won't you die?" The older wizard screamed. The ball kept growing.

Harry closed his eyes, flashing back to what Justin had told him last summer in Mr. Weasley's tent, "Don't forget, ever, that other wizards can over-power you," He accentuated his point by rolling the ball around on the paddle, "The important point here is that you understand how the magic works. Don't use power, use determination and a spin it until it works. Once you understand what the magic does, intuitively, that gives you an edge over me. I have am more intelligent than Alex, but she's a better wizard," Harry focused on the whirling of the ball, remembering how he had learned to compensate for Justin's superior strength and skill by putting spin on the golden orb. He had focused on the way the paddle felt when the balls hit it… Spin, he thought to himself, focusing on the orb. It started to whirl, illuminating a confused look on Voldemort's face.

The resulting explosion rocked the hedges.

Harry blacked out.

Chapter Nine

Justin and Alex were waiting expectedly outside the maze. Harry has to be okay, Alex thought to herself, because there was no way she would leave a friend in need to die. Her parents were hugging her. Max was off, trying to talk to Justin. They were not getting along. Justin stayed to himself, and Max kept trying to get him open. The Russo parents were trying to ignore the hurt in the arms of their daughter. What hurt the most was that Justin jogged back into the hedge. Alex blocked out what that meant, focusing instead on her father.

"We are so proud of you. You can do anything you want, be the family wizard, be the headmaster of Wiz-tech, anything at all," She looked down, not sure if he was right. Whose fault was it but hers that Justin was leaving the family? She had picked up the cup to win, but she had not found Harry, or stuck with Justin, who had tackled her seconds before the Diggory boy had attacked them. He father raised her chin, looking into her soft eyes, "Who says you don't have star potential? Who says you aren't presidential? You are my daughter, and nothing will ever detract from…" Harry interrupted Mr. Russo by bursting out of the hedge, cradling Cedric's arms between himself and Justin. Harry was covered in blood, mud, and sweat. His uniform was ripped across he shoulders, his glasses were askew.

Justin must have been gone longer than she realized, or he had sustained more damage than she realized. One of his eyes was swollen shut. He too, had blood matting his uniform, and his left side was speckled with mud, and dust stuck to his head. Alex felt like sifting her hands through it. She resisted it. The cheers redoubled. Wiz-tech and Hogwarts students alike sent bangs into the air, celebrating a the champions working together.

Alex knew Harry should have felt relief. He had been real worried about his performance in the tournament. But the look on his face was… agony. Justin was stony, so, not much of a change there. Harry was sobbing, and the older wizard put his hand on the younger's head. Alex could see Cedric was in bad shape, but surely…

When she saw he was not breathing, she let out a scream. The applause died out, professors and judges rushing forward to help. Dumbledore removed Harry, shoving him into the hands of Mad-eye.

Mr. Crouch pulled Justin away. Harry was sobbing hysterically. Alex ran after Justin, her safe place, leaving behind her family, and pursuing something she could not know.

She found him in the castle, in the trophy room, again. The two wizards were having a heated argument. Dumbledore appeared beside her.

"Barty, it's time Mr. Russo here knew what you have been up to," The judge adjusted his bowler cap, "Oh? Silent now? Allow me to explain. This started a generation ago, when Voldemort received news of one who would fell the heir of Slytherin. This special child was of importance to him. But which child was it? There were so many orphans. So, he left instructions to the death-eaters in the ministry to keep their eyes on children registered for Hogwarts. Every wizard would be important. Nevertheless, when he was stopped by Mr. Potter, you took on the task of keeping an eye on the children, and keep your fellow death-eaters out of prison. Thus you had the list of orphans, and cross-referenced it and put it into the cup. Then, you got your hands on it, as a judge, you convinced me to hold the tournament again, knowing that the adopted children would make easy prey. When Sirius Black got the letter from Harry, it went through the auror's office. It would have been easy for you, then man who through him into prison in the first place to get your hands on his mail. That was the piece of paper that came out of the Cup. Then your master told you to get the children to put their energy and emotions into the tournament. I wonder how far you pushed Mr. Diggory, what lies you spewed to convince him to put more of himself into the competition than into faith in himself."

He paused here to glare at Mr. Crouch, who had brought dementors with him. Justin looked pale. They were sucking the life left in him out. He was crying, looking desperately to Alex. The judge drew a knife across his captive's throat. Dumbledore continued.

"I should have this coming. Voldemort has been banished only in the sense that he cannot enter the grounds of Hogwarts, he can always hitch a ride. And the Goblet, a powerful magical object would bring him in undetectable. He fed off emotions for months. And tonight, well, he used Harry's blood to reveal himself. I will be taking you down though. I always feel bad when someone dies…" there was a second long pause, then an explosion of magic. Mr. Crouch exploded into black goo, a phoenix and wolf glowing silver annihilated the dementors, Justin was put to sleep, cleaned, and levitated out of the room. Crouch's bowler hat hit the floor. "And Miss Russo? Justin does not know who he is right now, but if you will show him what you know, we will all rest easier."

She left him to his musings.

Chapter Ten Traitor Revealed

Ginny had been holding him, he remembered that. Ron and Hermione pulled Harry off Cedric. The scar on his head exploded as his told the headmaster what had happened. Then he had been pulled into Griffindore tower, where every one of his housemates decided to sleep in the common room with him. Ginny curled next to him, and Ron could not bring himself to object, or comment on the fact Harry fell asleep sobbing.

The next day was anything but calm. Rita displaced Alex kissing Justin with the return of the Dark Lord. There was also a report detailing the missing Bartholomew Crouch, but no mention as to how that happened. Harry looked up and down the halls of Hogwarts, unsure of where he was going from here. Snape was afraid, and called him into the headmaster's office. Sirius was there with news. He promised to finally reveal why he had betrayed the Potters. He hugged Snape, then turned to his estranged godson.

"Harry, we need to talk about Voldemort's soul…" he said, holding up his family's locket, "It all started with my little brother…."

Alex stared into space, reminiscing on her kissing Justin. It made her warm, and the days seemed unnaturally cold.

"I love you," A voice whispered, "And I will be returning next year."

Justin did not leave her, would not leave her.

Yet.

A.N. I hope you enjoyed this story. See if you can't spot some quotes. About the story, I wanted to do something surprising. It frustrates me that J.K. keeps us in the dark, then goes, "Oh, by the way, Voldemort's soul can possess people from a book , and he just left this with the most pretentious of wizards. Oh, and he can comeback as a baby, then make himself a body. Even though, he, you know, friggin' exploded!" Yeah, it makes sense when explained, but c'mon! I am supposed to just figure out that Moody is not Moody?

So frustrating… nevertheless, I did not like Mr. Crouch, but I thought it was a nice explanation for why so many death-eaters are still roaming the streets of Britain. Now, you are probably wondering why Sirius is a hugging his enemy. Well, in this story… there is no explanation. There's one in the next story though…

Coming soon: the horcrux hunt and Justin's true nature…