Year Four: The Goblet of Fire

The three magical schools of Europe compete for eternal glory in the form of the Triwizard Tournament. Death Eaters are rising, gathering followers to join Voldemort. Dark times are approaching, threatening everything Marie loves. It's time for bravery. To be the light in terrible darkness...

Chapter Twenty-Blood and Tears

Marie felt her body slam into the ground, nearly knocking the wind out of her. Harry had slipped from her grip when they roughly landed in their new surroundings, the glowing Triwizard Cup bouncing out of their hands. She pushed herself up as she looked around, disoriented with the new space.

Wherever they were, it was nowhere near Hogwarts. The mountains that surrounded the castle weren't anywhere to be seen which could only imply that they could be potentially hundreds of miles away. They were in the middle of an ominous cemetery that appeared quite old, as well as having a fondness for over sized statues to watch over their dead. Marie crawled over to Harry and gave his shoulder a shake to see if he was alright.

"Harry?" she whispered. There was something strange about the area and she couldn't raise her voice even if she wanted to. It took him a moment but he did stir and sit up of his own accord, trying to avoid his bad leg.

"What happened?" he asked, looking around. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. Did anyone tell you the Cup was a Portkey?" she asked hopefully. He shook his head.

"No. You?" She mirrored his action.

"No."

"Maybe-maybe its a part of the task?" he tried. They were both nervous, that much was certain. Marie couldn't shake the feeling of dread that was steadily chilling her insides. She drew her wand once more and Harry did the same.

"I don't think it's part of the task," she said softly. "I've got a terrible feeling about this, Harry..."

There was the sudden sound of foot prints and the two students dove for cover behind neighboring headstones. The footsteps continued from up ahead and then there was sound coming from behind them. Heart hammering, Marie and Harry looked over their shoulder to see a young boy walking over the crest of the nearby hill. He was close enough for Marie to see his bright blonde hair and the dirty coveralls he wore. He didn't seem to pay them any attention, more interested in the flower he found by his feet.

"Jonathan, don't wander off!" shouted an older man who was out of sight. "We're almost done and your mother's waiting for us with dinner!"

"Kay, dad!" the boy shouted back. He just plucked the flower when he turned toward the Hogwarts students. Staring, he stood up slowly as he studied them. The two champions were frozen in place as they stared back, unsure if they needed to move or explain themselves. Maybe they could even figure out their current location.

The footsteps from beyond their hiding spots sounded again, closer now. They peered around the corner and saw a short figure with a cloak and the hood pulled low over his face. He seemed to be carrying some sort of bundle. Was it a child? An item? The champions shared a look of confusion. Then, when the person was no more than six feet away from then and looked their way, Harry dropped to ground clutching his scar.

"Harry!" Marie called, diving over to his headstone cover. She grabbed him before he could crack his head against the stone, pulling him to her as she tried to remain out of sight. "Harry, what's wrong?"

The young boy's voice called out. "Dad! Someone's out here!"

"Kill him," came a high cold voice. There was the movement of the cloak and a second voice gave the incantation.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The blast of green light blazed past the twins and struck the young boy square in the chest. The force of the spell knocked him over, causing his body to roll down the hill where he slowed to a stop, his eyes open and lifeless. Marie covered her mouth with her hand to keep from crying out.

"Jonathan?" called the boy's father. "Jonathan, answer me!" There was the sound of someone running and a man appeared at the top of the hill. He was wearing coveralls as well, which implied that he was some kind of worker, maybe the one in charge of taking care of the cemetery and that was why his son was with him. He spotted his son on the ground and ran to him, dropping to his knees to scoop him up into his arms.

"Jonathan!" he cried out. He looked up from his child, chest heaving as he was breathing hard. He first saw Marie and Harry huddled behind a single headstone and then he spotted the cloaked figure. The man rose to his feet, his boy lying at his feet.

"You killed my son!" he roared. The words had hardly left his lips when he started to charge forward, armed with nothing but his own fists. The green light struck him before he even reached the students and he dropped instantly, the life gone from him before he even hit the ground.

Marie's nails were digging into her cheeks as she covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide with shock and revulsion. Her entire body was shaking as she did everything in her power not to make a sound. She had barely the chance to look to Harry when the cloaked man's magic struck again. The Gryffindor was pulled away from her side swiftly and moved to a large angel of death statue that stood watch over a grave. The statue moved it's scythe so that the staff was pinning the boy, keeping him from moving.

"Harry!" She threw herself from their hiding place but she was greeted with a blast of magic as well. The man sent her to the opposing statue of a weather beaten angel. The angel's arms moved so to hold her in a tight embrace. Her left wrist was in its grasp while it had her other arm pressed against her chest, her wand on the ground. Her feet dangled as she tried to struggle and wiggle free but it was to no avail.

The cloaked man set to work as he dragged a large cauldron of liquid to the center of the available area. It was the largest cauldron Marie had ever seen, practically a bath tub for a full grown man. The man fumbled for a moment before starting a fire which caused the contents to boil at an unnaturally rapid speed. Sparks were even crackling from the surface and the bundle that the man was once carrying had been placed on the ground, but now, it was wriggling.

"Hurry!" instructed the cold voice. Wide green eyes focused on the bundle as it was the source of the voice. What was it? The majority of her brain was screaming at her to get away from it and it didn't matter what it was, as long as she was far from it. The smaller portion of her told her that she had a terribly horrendous thought as to what it could possibly be. A nightmare of a possibility.

The sparks crackled furiously now and the man gave a small bow. "It is ready, Master."

"Now..." it demanded.

Both Marie and Harry released a strangled yell as the man uncovered the bundle. In his arms was the shape of a crouched human child but it couldn't possibly be human, it was so wrong, so revolting it couldn't be a real thing. It was hairless and scaly looking, its skin a dark reddish black as if he had been scrubbed raw. The arms and legs were thin and feeble, and then it's face-no human had a face like that. It was flat and snake like with gleaming red eyes. Thin arms lifted and wrapped around the man's neck as he carried it toward the cauldron. The man's hood fell back and Marie instantly recognized him and resumed her struggling, fear replaced with anger.

Peter Pettigrew.

The creature dropped to the bottom of the cauldron and Marie prayed that it would drown. She fought the statue's hold as Peter began a type of enchantment, his voice trembling.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" The ground beneath Harry started to quake before cracking open wide enough for a fine stream of dust to follow Wormtail's instruction. It floated into the brew and sparks flew, changing to a bright blue color. Peter then whimpered,

"Flesh...of the servant...w-willingly given...you will...revive...your master..." He drew a long thin blade and stretched his right hand out over the potion. He gripped the dagger very tightly and swung upward. Marie didn't close her eyes in time as he cut off his hand and it fell into the brew with a splash with the sound of his scream. Her stomach rolled and she fought to keep the bile down. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Wormtail was standing directly in front of Harry now.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" she shouted uselessly from her spot of capture.

"B-blood of the enemy...forcibly taken...you will...resurrect your foe..." Marie could only watch helplessly as he cut Harry with the blade and direct the blood to flow into the small vile. After pouring the blood into the cauldron, Wormtail's gaze locked on her and he moved toward her. Struggling again, she was sure to swing her legs at him when he was close enough.

"Tears of the protector...painfully shed...you will seal the soul..." He drew the knife and drove it into her left shoulder. Her voice cried out into the night, the burning pain flaring throughout her. She wasn't aware of her tears until Wormtail's new vile had caught them rolling from her cheeks. He removed the knife with a yank and returned to the potion to carefully drip the acquired liquid. The sparks only accumulated, practically boiling over as it turned a blinding white color.

Just as quickly as it reacted, the sparks vanished, leaving thick white steam in its wake. Breathing hard, Marie mentally begged for it to have malfunctioned in some way or for the creature to have drowned. Please...let it fail...let it go wrong...

The steam then faded and she felt sick with terror as an outline of a man slowly rose from the cauldron, tall and skeletal.

"Robe me," came his high cold voice. Wormtail was openly crying but he did as he was told and did his best to drape the robe with one hand. The man stepped out of the cauldron and stared directly at Harry. He was whiter than bone with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was as flat as a snake's with slits for nostril.

Lord Voldemort.

Marie could barely breathe. All she could do was stare as she remained trapped by the statue. Her heart was pounding away in her chest and every hair was on end, her skin rippling with the chill of his presence. He examined his hands and the too long fingers before reaching into his robe and drawing out a wand, sparing it a gentle caress.

"My Lord..." choked Wormtail. He was on the ground, doubled over as he wrapped his stump of an arm in his own robes. "My Lord...you promised...you did promise..."

"Hold out your arm," said Voldemort, almost lazily. His servant shuffled closer.

"Oh Master...thank you, Master..." he praised, holding out his ruined arm. Voldemort laughed and Marie's skin prickled again at the sound.

"The other arm, Wormtail."

"Master, please...please..." He begged. Voldemort bent down and took Peter's good arm and turned it over to expose the sensitive underside of his forearm, his sleeve pushed aside. There was a vivid tattoo there that Marie could see, the design of a snake protruding from a skull's mouth. The Dark Mark.

"It's back," crooned Voldemort softly, "they will all have noticed it...and now, we shall see...now we shall know..." He then pressed a single finger against the Mark and Wormtail screamed out in pain again again as the Mark burned black.

"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered aloud as he looked up at the night's sky. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"

He began to pace about the area while Wormtail sobbed over his arm. His red eyes would study Harry for a long while before he would walk past the Slytherin. She was aware of every aspect of her when he passed her, her flushed skin, her wild hair free from the hair tie and strands sticking to her damp skin. His unnatural gaze studied her with a smirk but he didn't say anything to her.

"You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," Voldemort hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool...very like your dear mother. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child...and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death..." He laughed at the memory as he strolled by Marie to circle back to Harry.

"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was...He didn't like magic, my father...He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born, Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage...but I vowed to find him...I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name...Tom Riddle..."

Tom Riddle.

The boy was tall, with dark hair that was nicely kept and he was dressed in Hogwarts robes. He had a handsome face and she noticed the silver Prefect badge that was pinned to his front.

"...perhaps you called me?...My name is Tom Riddle, pleasure to meet you, Marie..."

Marie's world threatened to slant as the unnerving realization washed over her. The Tom from second year, the one she allowed herself to spill her innermost thoughts to, the one who was controlling Ginny Weasley. The one who was a constant figure in her mind throughout that year. She had found herself wanting to fall asleep so to see him before she found out his sinister intentions. Tom Riddle was Voldemort? She felt far worse than violated.

"My true family returns..."

The air was suddenly filled with figures donned in black cloaks and masks Apparating to their location. There was fluttering movement of material as they dared to step closer, unsure if the sight before them was real. Voldemort made no move to step away, his head held regally high. When it became apparent that it truly was the Dark Lord, one Death Eater dropped to his knees, crawled toward him and kissed the hem of his robes.

"Master...Master..." Soon the other Death Eater followed and were on their knees and kissing his robes before they backed away and formed a type of circle around their leader. They left large spaces in between a few, as if they were still waiting for others to arrive.

"Welcome, Death Eaters," said Voldemort quietly, yet his voice traveled perfectly for every person to hear him speak. "Thirteen years...thirteen years since we last met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday...We are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?"

He tilted his face up toward the sky and his snake like nostrils flared.

"I smell guilt. There is the stench of guilt in the air."

From Marie's position, she could see a round of shivers pass through the Death Eaters. They were terrified of him. While the focus was away from her, she regained some of her composure and started to quietly move and try to wriggle free.

"I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact-such prompt appearances!-and I ask myself...why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?"

Not a single person spoke up, in fact, the only sound that could be heard was Wormtail's whimpering as he was still on the ground.

"And I answer myself," continued Voldemort, "they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment..." There was a shift in energy as his assumption was spot on. "It is a disappointment to me...I confess myself disappointed..."

Suddenly, one Death Eater threw himself forward and collapsed at Voldemort's feet, shaking all over.

"Master!" he shrieked. "Master, forgive us! Forgive us all!"

"Crucio!"

The graveyard echoed with the man's screams as he writhed on the ground while Voldemort laughed. He removed the curse and the man gasped for air as he laid flat on the ground. Marie could only stare with wide unblinking eyes. His followers were treated in such a way and they didn't try to leave? In their case, perhaps they couldn't leave? Bound in a terrible commitment to the world's darkest wizard.

"Get up, Avery," said Voldemort softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. Thirteen long years...I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?" Wormtail could only sob in response.

"You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, Master," managed Wormtail, "please, Master...please..."

Marie had managed to loosen her right arm somewhat while her left was still secured by the statue. She couldn't help the anger that swelled within her as she glared at Peter Pettigrew. It all fell on his head, the betrayal of her parents, and now, the revival of the darkest wizard of their world. She felt her wishing that Sirius and Remus had killed him last year. Then no of this would be happening to them.

"You helped me return to my body," he continued evenly, watching the full grown man cry. "Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me...and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers..." With a flicker of his wrist, he conjured a silver material that flowed like liquid. It shifted and morphed into a replica of a human hand. Peter held out his bleeding stump and the glove fit to him, quieting his whimpering. Holding the hand up for him and everyone to see, he rotated it easily, as if it was his own natural hand. To test it, he grabbed a nearby twig and the grip of his new hand had reduced it to dust.

"My Lord," he whispered. "Master...it's beautiful...thank you...thank you..." He hurried forward to kiss the hem of his master's robes.

"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail."

"No, my Lord...never, my Lord..." he swore as he took his place in the circle.

Voldemort walked around the circle of Death Eaters, pausing to confirm the loyalty of members with the names of Macnair, Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott. He paused at a space wide enough for two people.

"The Lestranges should stand here," said Voldemort. "But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me...When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. The dementors will join us...they are our natural allies...we will recall the banished giants...I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear..." He then came to stop before a figure Marie would assume was a woman judging by her size.

"Sophia Flint...I have heard word that your plan went as expected," he smirked. She bowed deeply before speaking.

"Yes, my Lord. My son, Marcus, has inherited the troll curse. His temper, physical strength, and enhanced hearing are at your disposal," she promised.

"He will be most useful."

"Thank you, my Lord," she bowed again.

Marie could feel the flush burn across her face as she scowled at the woman of the Flint family. She was offering Marcus to Voldemort? With no consent from her child, she would wager. Her plan? Did that mean that she only married into the Flint name for the sake of the rumored curse? She gave another tug, hand slipping free and wrapping around the angel's arm so to stay properly suspended. Her feet had yet to find a decent ledge to stand on. Her shoulder clearly hurt, but her adrenaline was masking the pain for the time being.

"Lucius, my slippery friend," said Voldemort, stepping up to the next figure. Marie accidentally gasped aloud as she looked at the masked figure. Squinting, she could see just a bit of his long blonde hair through the dark garments. Lucius Malfoy? She had heard rumors, of course, but she thought he left it all behind.

"I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe?" continued Voldemort. "Yet, you never tried to find me, Lucius...Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay...but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?"

"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," explained Mr. Malfoy quickly. "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me-"

"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?" reminded Voldemort lazily. Lucius stopped talking instantly. "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius...You have disappointed me...I expect more faithful service in the future..."

"Of course, My Lord, of course...You are merciful, thank you..."

Red eyes flickered toward Marie and she felt her insides turn cold under his gaze as he turned back to the Malfoy. "You may be able to prove your worth after all, Lucius. Fate seems to have shown you favor."

"Of course, anything, my Lord."

Voldemort returned to the center of the circle, looking at the large empty space. "And here we have six missing Death Eaters...three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return...he will pay. One who I believe has left me forever...he will be killed, of course...and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and has already reentered my service." The Death Eaters stirred at the news, wondering how someone had already entered the service once more when they all thought their Master was dead?

"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it is was through his efforts that our young friends arrived here tonight..."

There was the shifting of material as the group turned to look at both Harry and Marie. She felt their gazes last longer on her as they tried to figure out her purpose. A cruel grin pulled at Voldemort's mouth as he gestured to her brother.

"Yes, Harry Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go so far as to call him my guest of honor."

A beat of silence passed before Lucius Malfoy's sounded again. "Master, we crave to know...we beg you to tell us...how you have achieved this...this miracle...how you managed to return to us..." Marie heard his voice tremble. He didn't truly want the Dark Lord to be back, he was playing his role. He wouldn't turn toward her statue to see her pinned and suspended against her will.

"Ah, what a story it is, Lucius," said Voldemort. "And it begins-and ends-with my young friend here." In just a few strides the Dark Lord was standing before Harry, and Marie struggled hard, still unable to get free.

"You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?" Harry had closed his eyes tightly, jaw clenched in some type of pain. "You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him-and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen...I could not touch the boy. His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice...This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it...but no matter. I can touch him now."

He raised a bony finger and pressed it directly against Harry's scar. Her brother's scream rang out into the night and it felt as if every nerve in her being was on fire as she fought against the statue.

"STOP IT!"

Her own scream resounded and the Dark Lord slowly removed his finger from Harry's skin and turned to face her. The Death Eaters were shifting, unsure. Marie could only stare as Voldemort walked up to her, stopping within spitting distance. He was so close to her, she feared for her life.

"Ah yes, Marie Rogue. How rude of me to forget. Although, you must be used to it by now. Being forgotten, that is," he smirked, as if he could hear her pulse racing. "Wormtail has told me the most interesting piece of information about you, Marie. Really, it's quite extraordinary."

She squirmed under his gaze, fruitlessly trying to establish distance.

"Marie and I are, in fact, very similar," said Voldemort for the Death Eaters to hear. "Both of us are here today because of Harry and have been lost in his shadow for all these years. I needed Harry's blood to complete my rebirth while Marie's ingredient wasn't a necessity but simply more of insurance for the sake of my soul. Tears of the protector...Dumbledore had enacted an ancient spell to ensure the boy's protection as long as he was in his relations' care. At first, I believed that the spell only took place when he was away from Hogwarts and Dumbledore. It wasn't until Wormtail came forward with the information he was withholding that I realized that Marie and I had already encountered each other, four years ago."

The Slytherin was breathing hard as the Dark Lord spun the story and she saw Harry staring at her intently, so very confused. She closed her eyes tightly as he continued.

"I had possessed a teacher freshly hired by Hogwarts, four years ago. He was naive, gullible, and easy to bend to my will. I used him to try and steal the Philosopher's Stone where I was thwarted by Harry Potter once again. Except, it wasn't simply Harry I faced that year." Marie kept her eyes closed but she could hear the sick grin in his voice that made her stomach twist.

"Marie Rogue was only a first year and she had been guarding the door that night and dared to challenge my vessel. Of course, we left her with a Cruciatus Curse," he explained, almost nonchalantly. Marie opened her eyes to see the red eyes still staring hard at her, very pleased with himself.

"Wormtail, what was it you told me to stop me from serving you to Nagini?" asked Voldemort. Peter flinched.

"Th-that there was another Potter..."

"Another Potter," he said breathlessly. "I couldn't believe it. I had my faithful servant research this information and all signs connected her to Harry Potter. Additional defense for Harry under Dumbledore's watch. He knew you would watch out for the famous boy, didn't he, Marie?"

Marie kept her mouth shut, doing her best not to look up at Harry. Voldemort reached up and grabbed her by her jaw, long fingers digging into her skin. He forced her head up so that she would have to look at her brother. Harry was openly staring, his expression lost and bewildered, unsure of what to make of the information.

"All these years, pretending to be someone else, denying your true name, and watching from the sidelines. Never breathing a word," he said softly, his breath brushing against her skin. "How it must have felt, living in Harry Potter's shadow as if you had never existed, nothing more than a phantom. A false surname was given to you and you were trained well to look out for Harry as well as avoid him. You may wear your Mudblood mother's face, but you have the mark of Tess Andrews." There was angry whispering at the mention of Tess, but he continued on.

"How torturous it must be for you, to love someone so unconditionally that you would throw yourself in danger's way, again and again for such an ignorant and ungrateful boy." He released her and stepped back to the center of the circle.

Voldemort waved his wand and Harry was released from the grim reaper, dropping to his knees.

"Pick up your wand, Harry. I believe you've been taught how to duel," he assumed. Harry grabbed his wand immediately, watching the Dark Lord cautiously. Voldemort smirked. "We bow to each other, Harry," he said as bent just a little, keeping his face up. "Come, niceties must be observed...Dumbledore would like you to show some manners...Bow to death, Harry..."

Harry did not bow.

"I said, bow." Voldemort raised his wand and, very slowly, Harry's back curved due to the Imperious curse. He was able to stand up a moment later. "Very good. And now you face me like a man...straight backed and proud like your father, so that I may kill you in front of your sister...

"And now...we duel."

Before Harry could even move, Voldemort had already struck him. Her brother dropped to the ground and his screams rang in her ears as well as throughout the graveyard. The numbing fear she had felt because of Voldemort was being drowned by her sisterly rage that was rising swiftly. She fought hard against the statue, going overlooked by the nearby Death Eaters as they watched Harry get back up once the curse was lifted. Voldemort flung another curse that crashed against his father's grave as Harry dove for cover. Marie could barely hear them as she allowed her emotional devotion to her brother swamp everything within her.

Snape said to control her emotions to prevent magical whiplash, but that was exactly what she wanted. The anger and indignation was hot and radiating from her core, calling upon her magic as she tried to wrestle herself free. There was the crackling of stone, due to her magic or adrenaline fueled physical ability, she wasn't sure which. She forced herself to keep watching with narrowed green eyes as the two dueled.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Instead of the typically red and green lights of the declared spells, their wands were suddenly connected by a gold beam. A low humming could be heard, a result of the magic and the Death Eaters began to fret, unsure of how to act. The golden light splinted into threads as it created a dome over the two wizards.

"Do nothing!" ordered Voldemort. "Do nothing unless I command you!"

The humming was soon replaced by the most beautiful sound Marie had ever heard. It was empowering and it filled her with a sense of hope as she fought against her restraints. Harry was gripping his wand with both hands, holding his own against the Dark Lord. Suddenly, a smokey figure bloomed from the connection and it took the shape of the man the wand killed earlier that night. There was another figure and it took the shape of the young boy.

"So that's him?" spoke the dad, his voice traveling. "You hold on and you beat him good, boy."

Another shape and this one took the shape of the old man Marie had a nightmare about well before the start of the year. "He was a real wizard then? Killed me, that one did...You fight him..."

He was quickly interrupted by the next person, who the Slytherin only recognized from her photo in the paper, Bertha Jorkins. She went missing last summer before the World Cup. "Don't let go, now!" she told Harry. " Don't let him get you, Harry! Don't let go!"

Marie knew who would appear next, judging by the previous victims and their timelines. They were all people Voldemort had recently killed. Twice more, the grey figures appeared from the connection and Marie couldn't help but cry out at the sight.

James and Lily Potter stood before Harry as a result of the spell. Lily's long thick hair tumbled over her shoulders with a grace the young girl could never manage and Harry was the exact image of James, right down to the hair and posture. Hot tears were rolling down her cheeks at the sight of them, but she couldn't hear them like the other apparitions, they were keeping their voices low as they spoke to her brother. Her chest ached as she mentally begged for them to speak up, to let her hear their voices just this one time. The statue was cracking further due to her emotional duress that was slipping further from her control.

There was the sound of magic shattering as Harry broke the connection. The ghosts were swarming in on Voldemort, temporarily blinding him. This was their chance. Harry was running her way and she threw herself against the stone arms of the angel with every ounce of strength she possessed. The stone had crumbled enough for her to break through and she wasn't aware of the sharp snap of her wrist as she used her body weight to break it free from the stone hand. She grabbed her wand as the two students sprinted toward the still glowing Triwizard Cup.

"Stun them!" ordered Voldemort.

They could hear the shots of magic being thrown at them as they ran. Blindly, they reached out for each other, gripping tight to the other's robes so to stay together.

"Accio!"

The Cup flew into Harry's hand just there was a splash of red light and Voldemort's scream echoed throughout the graveyard.

They were gone.

Once more, they slammed hard into the ground, knocking the wind out of Marie. She opened her eyes to see that she was still holding onto Harry, having landed on his chest. The Cup bounced from his hand as he remained still on the ground. Cheering and celebration broke out upon their return but Marie barely heard them as she got to her knees, studying her brother.

His eyes were closed and he wasn't waking up. She shook him gently, unaware of the shocking pain in her left wrist or shoulder.

"H-Harry," she called. He didn't answer or even stir, for that matter. She remembered the spell that struck near them, did it actually hit him?

"Harry," she called louder, shaking him with more force now. Her hands were twisted in the front of his robes, her left hand not especially helpful but she didn't notice. The teachers and judges were starting to surround them.

"Harry!" she half shouted. "Harry, wake up!" Her chest was tightening in icy fear, her vision blurring over with tears. Her breathing was shifting to strained wheezes as the sense of panic took over. Why wasn't he waking up? What kind of spell hit him?

"Wake up!" She couldn't stop her body from shaking long enough to try for a pulse, she couldn't even let go of his robes, it was as if she was frozen there. "Harry, please, wake up!"

The cheering had quieted down as the rest of the school looked down from the stands at the Slytherin girl steadily becoming more and more hysterical. Teachers were around her now and she didn't feel someone pull her to her feet. When she realized that she was being taken away from her brother, her body remembered how to dig her heels and struggle. It was of little use with her exhaustion and the person continued to pull her away from the commotion.

She drew a large breath and gave it everything she had, Marie's voice startling as it took on a scream. Her magic lashed out one more time.

"HARRY!"

REVIEW! Oh my goodness, so much stuff! (passes out) Exciting events happening all over the place! Death Eaters (and their own drama), Muggle murders, You-Know-Who, and spilling the beans on Marie's secret! Wow! (Another reason why Peter is a terrible Secret Keeper (sorry, I really wanted to use the play on words!))

Don't worry, Harry's not dead. Just in case some people were worried.

Your thoughts would be lovely as always! I'd loved to hear what you think about all of the drama that went down!

Next time: Truth serum and Voldemort's faithful servant!

Hope you enjoyed!