XI. GAME, SET, MATCH
"Harry Potter."
Sirona furrowed her brow as the Great Hall went silent. The day had passed as normal, nothing to suggest anything out of the ordinary would take place at the Halloween Feast that evening. However, Dumbledore had just finished announcing the three chosen champions, and while Sirona was trying to cheer Caroline up at having not been chosen, a fourth name had sprung forth from the Goblet of Fire. Every eye in the hall had turned to stare at the fourteen-year-old Gryffindor.
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again, and Sirona jumped at his voice as it broke through the otherwise silent hall. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"
There was no applause for the boy as he walked slowly up to the front, clearly looking (to Sirona at least) like he was just as shocked as the rest of them. Caroline glared at the boy. As he disappeared into the side chamber, the Great Hall erupted into hundreds of hushed whispers from all tables, including the one up front.
"What is zis?" Auguste asked from beside her. "Surely, 'e is not competing?"
From Sirona's other side, Caroline let out a scathing noise.
"That little prat," she said. "Oh, look at the Hufflepuffs; they look cross."
Sirona turned to look at the table behind her. The Hufflepuffs did, in fact, look very angry, Cissonia among them. Sirona wasn't sure she especially blamed them. Their new claim to glory — something Hufflepuff house did not often have — was seemingly being ripped away from them.
"Poor Diggory."
Sirona rolled her eyes at Caroline. Poor Diggory? She'd just called their new Hogwarts champion an embarrassment! Though, that probably had more to do with her not having been chosen. Cedric Diggory was actually a pretty great guy; he was in the same year as them and a prefect for Hufflepuff, so Sirona had had many a conversation with the boy.
"Does zis mean zat 'ogwarts is 'aving two champions?" the Beauxbâtons girls with the red hair asked, her eyes still red from her earlier display of tears when Fleur Delacour was chosen over her. Sirona thought she sounded hopeful, that maybe this meant they would decide to allow Durmstrang and Beauxbâtons another chance at the goblet to even the playing field.
"Don't be ridiculous," Auguste was saying. "Surely, zey will not allow zis."
The two seemed to look at Sirona and Caroline for answers, and Sirona just shrugged. She was just as confused as everyone else. It was one thing for Potter to have gotten past the Age Line, but for the goblet to spit out two champions for one school was what she found even more curious. Sirona had talked to the boy before, and while he seemed to be bright enough, he definitely wasn't smart enough to pull this off alone. This didn't seem to concern Caroline when Sirona voiced the thought aloud.
"Well, I'm certain that one of the older Gryffindors helped him with it," she said irritably. "I mean, just look at the lot of them. Of course, they're happy."
Sirona chanced a glance back over her shoulder, past the Hufflepuff table this time to focus on the Gryffindors, who did seem very excited about the whole ordeal. Fred, George and Lee were all smiling.
"Bet it was the Weasleys," Roger said, and Sirona shook her head.
"You saw them try as well as I did. They couldn't get over the Age Line. What makes you think they were able to help Potter do it?"
"Well, someone did," Caroline said. "I can't believe it. Hogwarts got two champions—"
"We don't know that yet," Sirona interjected.
"—and I was looked over for a fourth year!" Caroline continued to complain loudly.
While Caroline was deeply angered by this, Sirona couldn't help but feel a little relieved that her friend would not be competing. Of course, that wasn't something she'd ever tell Caroline.
"And it's not as if he doesn't already have enough glory," Caroline continued. "Everybody knows about him already! The Boy Who Lived! He must really like the attention."
"Oh, c'mon, Care. We don't actually know what happened," Sirona said. "He's only a kid. He's probably frightened."
"Well, then I hope it teaches him a lesson," Caroline said, unswayed by Sirona's stance on the matter.
They all sat in the Great Hall for a bit longer. No one was bothering to whisper anymore, and Sirona found herself too distracted by the dull roar of the hundreds of conversations being had to even bother to hear what Caroline was saying anymore. Professor Sprout finally announced that everyone was to go to bed, not really giving them an answer one way or another as to if Harry Potter was going to compete. She'd only ordered the head students to escort their foreign guests back to their quarters. Nicholas Langley stood from the Hufflepuff table and made his way over to the Ravenclaw table.
"Hey, Bordeaux, Davies! Take 'em back to the carriage for me, yeah?" he said. "No doubt Hufflepuff is going to already give me enough to deal with tonight."
Roger groaned. The only Beauxbâtons student he wanted anything to do with was Fleur Delacour, and she wasn't even there. Sirona gave Langley an annoyed look but nodded nonetheless. She stood, looking to her right where all of the Beauxbâtons students eyed her expectantly.
"Suivez-moi," she said in an unenthusiastic tone, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at them as they hesitated to get up. Auguste stood first, still seemingly confused about how the night had turned out.
"Why can't they escort themselves?" Roger whispered to Sirona as they led the Beauxbâtons students from the Great Hall. "Surely they know how to get back to their carriage. It's as big as house; it's not exactly well hidden!"
Sirona shushed him as Auguste sped up to walk beside her rather than behind her.
"Zis was an interesting night."
"Yeah, something weird is always happening at Hogwarts. It's kind of our thing," she replied. He seemed to chuckle at this.
"Well, if it could not be me, I am glad zat it is Fleur," Auguste said.
"I thought you said that she was cold and unalluring," Sirona said, and Auguste smiled.
"Yes, but she is a fierce competitor. She will do Beauxbâtons proud."
Sirona, Roger and Auguste waited outside the door of the carriage as the students filed in. The last boy stopped and smiled.
"Is ze pretty girl joining us for our celebrations?" he asked, causing Roger to roll his eyes.
"I'm sure she is eager to get back to 'er own chambers, but I would not be opposed," Auguste said.
"'The pretty girl' and I have to get back to the castle," Roger said.
"Zat is a shame. Fleur should be back at any moment," Auguste said knowingly.
"So will your headmistress," Sirona reminded them, and the boy beside Auguste laughed.
"You zink we are not knowing 'ow to 'ide someone from Madam Maxine?" he asked. "We do not always follow ze rules, you know."
"I think we're going to have to pass on the offer," Sirona said, but Roger made a noise of protest.
"Oh, c'mon, Rone. Let's live a little. It's not like the Hogwarts champion was a Ravenclaw."
"No, Rodge. Besides, I'm sure Caroline will be expecting us back any moment," she said, grabbing the sleeve of his robes and pulling him with her. "Bonne nuit!" she called to Auguste and the other boy. To her surprise, Auguste called out after her.
"What about tomorrow? Will you come see me zen?"
Sirona looked over her shoulder and flashed him a smile.
"We'll have to see, won't we?"
"Well, you have to go meet him."
Sirona lifted an eyebrow at Caroline from across the table that Sunday morning. She was quite enthused that Sirona had seemingly caught the attention of one of the Beauxbâtons boys, and she wasn't about the let Sirona mess it up.
"Why? I never said that I would," Sirona said, munching on her toast. "Besides, I have things to do today."
"Oh, like what?"
"Well, I've got to finish up that Alchemy project; it's due Tuesday. Then, I've got to study for our Transfiguration exam tomorrow, and I've—"
Sirona was cut off by a sudden argument that broke out. She could tell that multiple people were involved, and she sighed as she could make out the voices of not one but two of her sisters. She turned to look over her shoulder to see that a handful of Hufflepuff students were arguing with some Gryffindors. It didn't help that the houses' tables were beside each other in the Great Hall.
"—got to put an end to whatever that is," she continued with a frown on her face. She pushed herself up from the table, abandoning her breakfast as she walked over to disperse the students. As she walked closer, she could hear some of the words being shouted, and it was obvious that this had started over a Potter/Diggory Hogwarts champion something-or-other. Clearly, Hufflepuff was still angry, and Gryffindor was still proud.
"It's not Harry's fault that Hufflepuff is lacklustre at best," Sirona could hear Damara saying loudly, and Sirona quickened her pace when she heard Cissonia's familiar appalled gasp.
"Oh, don't make me laugh," Cissonia said. "You've only been at Hogwarts for two months, and you think you know everything. Besides, where is your 'champion' anyway? Too ashamed to get out of bed and face the rest of us? He should be! Diggory's the real Hogwarts champion despite the fact that you Gryffindors are too stupid to see it."
"Hey! That's enough! Both of you, stop it," Sirona said as she reached her sisters. "What a stupid thing to argue about."
"They started it!" Cissonia complained, pointing an accusing finger at the Gryffindor table. "'Potter this' and 'Potter that'. Potter's nothing but an attention-seeker!"
"Like pretty-boy Diggory's any better," Damara responded. Sirona thumped Damara on her head.
"Hey! I said to be quiet!" Sirona said, now in her full scolding tone. Cissonia sniggered, so Sirona thumped her as well. "You too! Honestly, what an idiotic thing to fight over," Sirona said, looking around at the other students gathered there as well. "Disturbing everyone's breakfast so that you can fight over nonsense."
"I quite agree. Please either return to your respective tables or leave the Great Hall unless you wish to lose points for both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."
Sirona looked up to see that Cedric Diggory had finally made his way over to them. She gave him an apologetic look. She grabbed Damara by the sleeve before she could walk away.
"Apologise now," Sirona demanded, and Damara rolled her eyes.
"I don't see you making Sonia apologise for what she said about Harry!"
"Yes, well, he wasn't down here to hear it, now was he?" Sirona seethed through clenched teeth. "Now, go on!"
"Sorry," Damara mumbled, not looking up at the Hufflepuff boy. Sirona released her sister, who went back to her seat.
"I'm sorry," Sirona repeated to Cedric, and he only shook his head, waving a hand dismissively at her.
"I'm the one who's sorry. I should've been the one to break it up, but I got caught up by — I don't really know what to call them — fans?" he said in a sheepish tone, and Sirona chuckled.
"Yes, well, you're quite popular now, Mr. Hogwarts Champion," she said. "Or, more so than you already were. Congratulations."
"Yeah, I just wish people would calm down a bit," he admitted.
"Oh, it's only the second day; let them be proud of you."
"Suppose I don't really have a choice, do I?" Sirona heard him say as she made her way back to the Ravenclaw table.
"If I ever get married, remind me that I don't want kids," she said to her friends as she sat back down. She jammed her fork into one of the sausages on her plate and bit into it to find that it was now lukewarm at best. She sighed through her nose as she chewed.
"Why would you?" Roger agreed. "You're already having to raise three of them, four when you go home."
"I've just got to get Zach through Hogwarts, and then I'll be free," Sirona said.
"Unless your mum pops out another one," he said. Sirona groaned at the thought.
"Don't even joke about that. The world has enough Bordeauxes as it is."
"Can we get back to the real issue here?" Caroline asked, seeming irritated. "Things like that are exactly why you should forget whatever else you had planned today and go meet up with Auguste. You deserve a break!"
"Are you still on about that?" Sirona asked, picking through the rest of her breakfast.
"He's cute! Don't you like him?"
"I don't know anything about him," Sirona exclaimed. "Besides, I'm too busy."
"Oh, if this were any other year, you'd have Quidditch practice or something today," Caroline complained. She was right; Sunday mornings were the Ravenclaws' favourite time to schedule practice.
"I've got an idea!" Roger said, smacking the table with his hand. "A way for you to let off steam and to see what's-his-name."
"Why are you on Caroline's side?" Sirona asked.
"Listen, if you cosy up to him, maybe he'll introduce me to that veela-girl since I'm your friend. Don't mess this up for me!" Roger said, getting to his feet. "Meet me on the Quidditch pitch in an hour with your broom and practice robes. And try to — I don't know — look attractive or something."
Sirona frowned at him, throwing a half-eaten piece of buttered toast at him as he walked away and missing him.
"Well, you won't be impressing anyone with aim like that," Roger called back to her before exiting the Great Hall.
"This is your fault," Sirona said to Caroline, who only smiled into her goblet of pumpkin juice.
Sirona hastily ate the rest of her breakfast before making her way back up to the Ravenclaw common room. As requested, she changed into her practice robes, grabbed her broom and walked down to the Quidditch pitch with Caroline, who had also been curious as to Roger's plan; though, she sat up in the wooden rafters as Sirona walked onto the field. To her surprise, Roger had managed to gather not only the entire Ravenclaw Quidditch team but a group of Beauxbâtons students as well.
"It's about time," Roger said when he spotted her, a big grin on his face. "Turns out we aren't the only ones miffed about the season being cancelled."
Sirona looked over to the Beauxbâtons students to see Auguste smiling at her with his broom slung over his shoulder.
"Your friend tells me zat you are a good Chaser," he said, "but you will not be getting ze Quaffle past me."
"Is that so?" Sirona asked, a small smirk spreading on her face. "I bet I'll make more shots than you can block."
At Sirona's comment, the other Beauxbâtons students on the pitch all oohed in a mocking way at Auguste, whose charming smile was still plastered on his face. He nodded.
"Okay, but if you do not, zen you 'ave to go wiz me to zis 'ogsmeade place zat I am 'earing so much about," he challenged, a glimmer in his blue eyes.
"All right," Sirona agreed. "You've got a deal."
As she turned to meet with her team before the impromptu match, she heard Kevin Chambers (who was one of their Beaters) say to their other Chaser, Terrance Bradley, "I thought Sirona was dating one of the Weasley twins."
"Where'd you hear that rubbish?"
Sirona avoided Kevin Chambers' gaze as she walked to stand between Cho Chang and Roger, the latter of whom was already going over playing strategies. A few minutes later, they were all kicking off into the air on their brooms. Sirona flew around the pitch a couple of times before the game started, enjoying the cold wind on her face; she hadn't realised just how much she'd missed playing Quidditch. It really was a shame that the tournament had cancelled it.
She finally got into position with Roger and Terrance as a Beauxbâtons boy who had been elected to help referee the match stood below them. Sirona watched as the Snitch was released, followed quickly by the Bludgers, and then, the Beauxbâtons boy threw the Quaffle up into the air. Sirona quickly shot forward, catching the ball and shooting off down the pitch with her fellow Chasers flanking her.
The game went on for over an hour, and people from all three schools had started to gather in the stands to watch. Caroline was chatting up the cute Durmstrang boy she'd seen in the entrance hall from the morning before when the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan showed up.
"No one told us about any Quidditch match!" George complained.
"Who's winning?" Fred asked.
"Oh, I haven't been keeping up with that," Caroline said in a voice that suggested that he should have known better than to ask such a question. "I only know how many shots Sirona has made versus how many of her shots the cute Beauxbâtons Keeper has blocked. So far, they're tied, four and four."
"Why is that important?" Lee asked.
"It seems as though the pretty Hogvarts Chaser made a vager vith the Beauxbâtons Keeper. If he blocks more of her shots than she makes, she has to go vith him to Hogsmeade," said the Durmstrang boy from Caroline's other side. He seemed to think for a moment before adding, "I do not know vat she gets if she vins."
"So see," Caroline said to them, "that's the only score I care about."
"She agreed to that?" Lee asked. "Man, when was the last time Sirona agreed to go on a date?"
"Well, she hasn't lost yet, has she?" Fred said, but no one seemed to be listening.
"It was at the beginning of summer actually," Caroline said. "She wrote me about it. It was with a Muggle boy she met in a bookshop. She ended up having to bring her little brother because her mother and Gus had decided that they would go out that night as well, even though Sirona had already told them about her date. She didn't hear from him again, and she was far too embarrassed to reach out herself."
"Poor, Rona," George said, and Caroline nodded in agreement.
"So, I've got my fingers crossed that she loses this bet because if anyone deserves to go on a date with a cute boy, it's Sirona," she said.
Out on the pitch, Sirona had managed to intercept the Quaffle from the opposing Chasers, and she made her way quickly to the other side of the pitch, dodging a Bludger and weaving in and out of the other players. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Cho and the Beauxbâtons girl that was playing Seeker were both hot on the trail of something, no doubt the Snitch; the game would probably end soon.
As she neared the scoring zone, seemingly flying closer to the goal on her far right, Sirona knew that this goal could make or break this bet that she'd made with Auguste. She could practically hear Caroline's voice in her head telling her to, just this once, forget about any obligations that she might have and to just go have fun with the cute boy. After all, Sirona would be lying to say that she didn't find Auguste Beaumont attractive, especially now with his hair a little more dishevelled as he wiped sweat from his brow.
In a split second, Sirona made her choice. She could tell that Auguste saw which goal she was favouring. Normally, this would have been when Sirona nearly threw out her arm, aiming for one of the other two goals farther away, but not today. She deserved to have a bit of fun every now and then. She threw the Quaffle directly at the goal that Auguste was flying towards, and unsurprisingly, he caught the ball with ease before it could make it past the hoop. He threw the ball to one of his teammates, but Sirona lingered in the scoring area for a bit longer as Auguste flashed a cheeky grin at her.
It wasn't long afterwards that the Snitch was caught by the Beauxbâtons girl, giving Beauxbâtons the lead by 110 points. When they touched back onto the ground, Sirona found that she felt exhausted and energised at the same time, a paradox that only ever happened after games in which she had won something. Auguste strolled up to her, running a hand through his blond hair.
"I believe you owe me a date," he said.
"A deal's a deal," Sirona said. "I'll see you at Hogsmeade on the twenty-first."
"I am looking forward to it," he replied, causing Sirona to smile.
As the pitch cleared, Sirona stayed behind to help Roger and Terrance gather the balls and put everything back where it belonged. The two boys teased her about the wager she'd made, pointing out that it was her goal to lose from the very start; after all, she'd never even said what she would get if she'd actually won the bet.
"Well said," came another voice.
"We were just going to say that it was obvious she threw that last shot on purpose."
Sirona rolled her eyes as the Weasley twins approached with Lee and Caroline in tow.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, shutting the chest of game balls in front of her and locking it.
"Regardless of whether you did it on purpose or not, I'm happy for you!" Caroline said excitedly. "I've also made a new friend. . . ."
Roger and Terrance went to put the chest away as Caroline talked about the Durmstrang boy she was now friendly with as the rest of them made their way back up to the castle. Once in the entrance hall, they went their separate ways as Sirona and Caroline went up to Ravenclaw Tower. Caroline wanted to warm up by the fire and think about what Sirona was going to wear on her date. Sirona, however, only took a quick shower before making her way down to the library to finish up the research on her Alchemy project and study for her upcoming Transfiguration exam.
After about half an hour, someone joined Sirona at her otherwise deserted table. She looked up from her Advanced Transfiguration book to see Fred Weasley looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Popularity," he teased, and Sirona rolled her eyes; though, a small smile formed on her lips. "Got a hot date, have we?"
"Oh, shut up," she whispered as she turned the page of her book, not that she was really reading it anymore. Fred chuckled.
"I'm sorry; it's just my brain keeps flashing back to the words, 'the frivolity that is the dating world,'" he continued, and Sirona rolled her eyes.
"It's one date, and one date does not the dating world make," she pointed out. "Besides, I lost a wager; I'm only fulfilling a promise made."
"Mm-hm," Fred said; though, she could tell he didn't quite believe her.
"Oh, what do you care?" she asked, a playful smile still on her lips. Fred held up his hands at the accusation.
"Oh, I don't. I just need to know if I'm going to have to find another date for the ball."
"Why?" Sirona teased. "Already have someone lined up to ask?"
"I'm sure there's a long line of girls that will be just dying to go with me once it's announced," Fred told her. "I'm quite the catch, you know."
"So you keep reminding me," she said. She shut her Transfiguration book, leaning back in her chair as she stretched out her arms. "I promised to go on one date with Auguste, so I will. You promised to take me to the ball, so you will. Or are you trying to wiggle your way out of it?"
Fred shook his head.
"No, I'm just making sure that you haven't gone and made other arrangements."
"Or you've realised that you fancy someone," Sirona accused, wagging a finger at him. "Go on and tell me who it is."
Fred merely rolled his eyes at her, and she poked out her bottom lip in a faux pout.
"Oh, c'mon!" she whined, earning a shush from Madam Pince. "You know, if you tell me who it is, however much it pains me to do so, I might consider letting you off the hook for the ball, if that's what you really want. I suppose it's early enough for me to find other arrangements; though, you'd have to make it up to me."
Fred shook his head, a small smile on his lips.
"Don't worry, love," he said. "You aren't the only one that keeps their promises."
"Good because I was lying about letting you off the hook," she teased.
"Sure you were," Fred replied, knowing that Sirona would never really make him go with her if he really wanted to go with someone else, but the thing was, he didn't want to go with someone else. "Lunch should be starting soon. Walk with me to the Great Hall?"
Sirona smiled as she stacked up the books on the table.
"Only if you help me put these away."