"He didn't, did he? He wouldn't." Evie's eyes darted from Hermione then Ron then Ginny then Neville, trying to find anyone who might be able to answer her.

All around her there were different looks on different faces. Scared, impressed, confused, shocked, and angry. There were many, many angry faces. Evie wasn't sure which emotion she should cling to, but shock was the only one that made sense in that moment so, holding on to that, she turned to the one person who could usually help her through.

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?" Hermione's eyes met hers and Evie knew their faces mirrored each other. A pit opened in Evie's stomach and swallowed all hope into it.

Her lungs began to feel too small. Her heart raced. Shock was subsiding but the fear that replaced it was no better. The Great Hall was too loud. The Hufflepuffs were on their feet yelling. The Hufflepuffs! Evie had never seen a single one of them so furious. To her back the silent seething of the Ravenclaws sent waves of heat over her and set the hairs on the back of her neck on end.

Suddenly, through the outrage, Evie heard a familiar voice. Professor Dumbledore was silencing the crowd. She could only discern that much by how quiet the Hall became. His voice rang out but his words were foreign. There was water rushing past Evie's ears and it made everything Dumbledore said jumbled and distant.

Begrudgingly students to her left and right began to stand. Evie stayed seated and stared at her friends in confusion. Hermione placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and guided Evie from the Great Hall. Had she not known the way to Gryffindor Tower by heart, Evie was not sure she would've made it there.

In front of her, beside her, surrounding her like a blanket, were the emotions of her fellow Gryffindors. Fred, George and Lee were baffled; Ron was silently fuming on one side of her and Hermione and Ginny fretting on the other. As the shock wore off the Gryffindor crowd, Evie was surprised to find it seemed to be getting replaced by excitement.

In the common room a party started forming as the levels of excitement continued to grow. All around her, people were speculating on how Harry managed to get his name in the Goblet. Some were saying he bribed someone, others were saying he must have found some sort of spell.

"I'm going to bed," Ron mumbled to Hermione and Evie before stalking off. The two girls watched him go with matching worried looks on their faces.

"Did he seem angry to you?" Hermione turned to Evie, who nodded.

She was finally getting over her shock. She watched Ron go and realized she didn't feel his anger was completely misplaced. She was a bit angry to find Harry's name had been called. She didn't have time to worry about Harry and Cedric. But she did wonder where Ron's anger was coming from.

"I'm not really feeling celebratory either."

"No, and who knows how long it will take Harry to get back. I think we ought to get some sleep and confront all of this in the morning." Hermione suggested.

The two girls slipped away from the jovial gathering completely unnoticed. They changed in silence, and it was only after they had settled in that either broke the heavy silence that had fallen over them.

"You didn't think he was really going to do it, did you?" Evie turned over to face Hermione.

"Of course not! And I don't think he did," Hermione responded. When Evie remained quiet Hermione spoke again, "Surely you don't believe Harry did this himself?"

"Well, part of me doesn't, but even you have to admit it crossed your mind."

"It did not!"

"Not even for the faintest of seconds?" Hermione bit her lip guiltily. "Exactly. Look, I'm not saying I think Harry would be so stupid as to put his name in the Goblet, and obviously I don't believe he could've figured out how to, but that's the main reason I don't think he did." Hermione looked as though she might cut in so Evie quickly continued, "Honestly, Hermione, are you going to pretend you didn't see his eyes glaze over when the boys talked about the tournament?"

"Well, no, but –"

"I don't think he did it. I really don't, but I can't say I don't have doubts that he didn't." Evie sighed and shook her head at her jumbled words before trying again, "I won't make any decisions until we talk to him tomorrow, and if he says he didn't do it I'll believe him, but I spent all year trying to talk Cedric out of this, now that he's in it I have to stand beside him." Evie hoped her tone made it clear to Hermione what she was saying. If Harry had to compete, and Evie dearly hoped he didn't, but if he did he would have to do it without her by his side.

"I'm sure he'll understand," Hermione offered.

"We've known Harry for three years. Do you honestly think he'll understand?" Evie chuckled dryly.

"I hope so," Hermione sighed.

The next morning Evie woke up somehow still tired. Sighing, she dressed slowly and went down to greet Hermione, whom she had assumed would be the only one of her friends up so early. She was shocked to find Ron was also awake, and apparently didn't feel like waiting for Harry to go to breakfast.

Evie and Hermione shared worried looks, but walked down to breakfast with Ron. Most of the Gryffindor table was still in high spirits, though Evie could not help but notice that the rest of the houses were glaring in their direction. It made it very hard to feel hungry at all.

"What's wrong, Ron?" Evie finally asked, after resigning herself to not eating.

"Why does everything happen to him?" It burst forth like he'd been holding it in for years. "I'm always on the sidelines, always second best! This was the one year we would be watching together from the sidelines and he couldn't accept that."

"That's not fair, Ron. I'm sure Harry didn't put his name in," Hermione began to chastise but Evie shook her head at her friend. While Hermione was looking at Evie in confusion Ron took the opportunity to continue.

"It doesn't matter anyway," he sighed in defeat. "Nobody will ever look at me the way they look at him."

"You don't know that, Ron," Evie tried to console.

"Don't I?" He looked back disbelieving. "Harry will always be the hero, and I'm always going to be a consolation prize." He was silent after that, not eating, just pushing around his food. It was the first time Evie had ever seen Ron turn down food.

Hermione grabbed a stack of toast and stood from the table. Evie stood as well, calling to Ron that they would be back. He barely lifted his head in acknowledgement. Sighing sadly, she rushed after Hermione who had been quick to leave the Great Hall.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't think Harry's going to want to eat breakfast in there this morning. Also, we really need to check up on him."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I've been waiting to talk to him since we heard his name called."

"You aren't going to ask him if he put his name in, are you?" Hermione stopped not too far from the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Why shouldn't I? I want to hear him say it wasn't him, and I'll bet you do too," Evie replied indignantly.

"Yes, but things didn't go well between him and Ron," Hermione pointed out. "Speaking of, why did you stop me earlier?"

"Ron needed to get his feelings off his chest. You telling him he was wrong wouldn't have made things any better. He's been dealing with this his whole life, and he's finally breaking down about it. We just need to let him feel what he's feeling and deal with it."

"What about him and Harry? Are we just supposed to let them fight?"

Evie shrugged. "Have you got a better idea?"

"Yes, we should force them to talk it out."

"You are such an only child, Hermione," Evie shook her head.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Forcing them to talk it out is a terrible idea. Siblings fight like this all the time and when they are ready they get over it and hug it out."

"Harry and Ron aren't brothers, Evie," Hermione looked at her friend like she'd gone crazy.

"They might as well be."

There was no more argument after that. Right as they reached the Fat Lady Harry was climbing out of the common room. He nearly crashed into Hermione. She held up the pile of toast and offered it to him and then offered him an escape from the Great Hall as well, both of which he accepted gratefully. They walked in silence for the most part. Every so often Evie tried to work up the courage to ask the question she desperately wanted to, but she kept stopping herself.

So much for being a Gryffindor. She chastised herself silently. Then the doubt settled in her stomach again. Every time her courage escaped her, she thought back to the Sorting and wondered if the Hat had gotten it wrong. The things he said still echoed in her head some nights and she never understood why she was the one the Hat had gotten his information wrong about.

As they quickened their pace past the Great Hall, Evie shook herself free of her thoughts. Outside it was practically empty. Most students were at breakfast or sleeping in. As the trio made their way towards the lake Hermione finally broke the silence.

"So, are they going to make you compete?"

"Yeah. Ludo Bagman said it was a binding magical contract. No way they could get me out of it," Harry sighed.

"You didn't put your name in, did you?" Evie finally asked.

"How can you even ask that?" Harry snapped instantly.

"It's just a question, Harry. I think I've earned the right to ask you these things," Evie bit back.

"First Ron and now you," Harry scoffed.

"Well, it's not like it's the craziest idea in the world. We all saw how your eyes glazed over every time you talked about the tournament. And you not answering me isn't helping your case right now." Evie's temper was beginning to flare.

"No, I didn't do it!"

"Fine!"

There was silence for a moment as Evie and Harry just glared at each other. Then, as Harry registered what Evie had said, his anger dissipated. "You believe me?" His shoulders sagged a bit.

"Of course I believe you, you temperamental prat," Evie rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I just needed to ask."

Harry went pink in the ears as he realized his mistake. "Sorry," he mumbled, bowing his head.

Evie sighed as her own annoyance evaporated. A smile tugged at the right side of her face as she observed his honest remorse. "S'alright, I suppose. But don't you lose your temper on my like that again, Harry Potter. You're not the only one dealing with things right now," Evie pointed her finger at him, letting him know she meant business. He nodded in understanding.

"You know your brother doesn't believe I didn't put my name up," He added, as if just remembering something that had happened the night before.

"No, I don't imagine he would," Evie smiled. "Speaking of him, I should really go find him. I guess I ought to congratulate him properly or something like that."

"Tell him I said good luck as well," Hermione offered encouragingly.

With a wave, Evie rushed off back towards the castle where she nearly ran straight into Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrass. Evie had managed to avoid any sort of altercation with Pansy all year, perhaps because she had been busy dealing with Triwizard fever, but it seemed that was finally over. Cursing her terrible luck, Evie prepared herself for the inevitable clash.

"Diggory," Pansy sneered.

"Pug face," Evie smiled, not in the mood to try to rise above.

"Looks like the bloodtraitor is strong in you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Siding with Potter over your own brother? At least we Slytherins are loyal to our families."

"You don't know anything," Evie snapped.

"We saw you out there by the lake with him. And you were sitting at the Gryffindor table earlier," Daphne accused.

"What are you stalking me now?"

"Oh, please, don't flatter yourself," Pansy snorted. Evie smirked thinking she sounded exactly like a pig. "You're so pathetic, grasping for fame and fortune from the bottom of the totem pole."

"Ha! Says the girl who clings to Malfoy's coattails praying he'll notice her."

"We're dating," Pansy defended.

"Does he know that?" Evie pretended to whisper worriedly.

"Don't you talk to me like that, you plug-ugly slag," Pansy bit out and Evie clinched her jaw trying not to tear up in front of the other three girls.

"What's going on over here?" A sudden voice of authority caused all four to jump. They turned to see Cedric had come up at some point during their argument.

"Nothing." The three Slytherins tried to lie, but the tight set line that was his mouth let them know he'd heard enough to know that wasn't true.

"Are you okay?" He turned his attention to his sister, but at the look on her face Cedric's jaw tightened. "The three of you will be enjoying two days of detention starting tomorrow, and I'll be reporting what I heard to a Head of House with the suggestion that House points be taken. I recommend you move on without another word before I change that detention to three days." His voice was eerily calm and no one dared argue with him.

Pansy, Daphne and Millicent walked off silently seething. Evie watched them go, blinking back tears and smiling halfheartedly in triumph. When she turned to her brother, his own anger was gone and on his face was the concern she so often saw.

"Are you okay?" He repeated. She nodded earnestly, but he seemed to see right through her. "You know you shouldn't let them get to you."

"I'm not," Evie shrugged, biting her lip to stop it from trembling.

"Don't lie to me."

"She called me plug-ugly," Evie frowned.

"The other part isn't what upsets you?" Cedric raised an eyebrow.

"There's no basis for that, she was just being hateful…but she called me ugly."

Suddenly, Cedric started laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Evie snapped.

"That girl looks like someone pressed her face up against glass, and you're upset that she called you ugly?" a smile tugged at the corners of Evie's mouth. "Exactly, that girl has no right to call anyone ugly, especially not you. I mean, you are a Diggory. We happen to be a very attractive bunch." Cedric's voice dripped with phony narcissism and Evie's smile grew wider.

"Thanks."

"What are big brothers for?" Cedric shrugged with a grin.

"Apparently doling out detentions. Two days? When did you become so ruthless?"

"Nobody messes with my sister but me," Cedric smiled while he was saying it, but Evie got the idea that he was serious and it warmed her heart. "So, you were talking to Harry?" Cedric started walking and Evie fell into step right alongside him.

"Yeah. Congratulations, by the way. Hermione told me to tell you good luck."

"Thanks," Cedric blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Tell Hermione I said thanks as well." Evie nodded, smiling at her brother's reaction. "Did he tell you how he did it?"

Evie was taken aback by Cedric's sudden question. "He didn't."

"That's what he told you?"

"Yes."

"And you believe that?"

"Of course I do."

"Just because he said he didn't doesn't mean he didn't."

"Harry wouldn't lie to me about something like that. Besides, that's not the only reason I believe him." Cedric looked to Evie questioningly as they walked towards the courtyard. A few students were roaming the hall at that point and most of them were calling out words of encouragement to Cedric. Evie always appreciated that even though her brother would acknowledge the people who greeted him, she always had his full attention when they were spending time together. "Come on, Cedric. Do you honestly think Harry would be smart enough to figure out how to get past the Age Line? I mean Fred and George couldn't figure it out, so I doubt Harry would have."

"He could have bribed an older student."

"And who in this school would have been powerful enough to make the Goblet forget there were only three schools?"

"Fair enough," Cedric shrugged. "I just don't see the point in someone doing this."

"I have a good idea."

"You're starting to sound like Professor Moody," Cedric chuckled.

"And you know he's got a point." Evie paused and bit her lip again before working up the nerve to ask what she wanted to. "I need to ask you a favor, and it might not be fair."

"You know you can ask me anything," Cedric turned to Evie in concern. They had finally made it to the courtyard and were sitting on a bench in the sunlight to capture as much heat as they could.

"Will you look out for him? If you can, I mean." Cedric looked surprised by the request. "I'm not asking you to cheat or anything, I just mean that he's so much younger than the rest of you and he won't know that many spells. If you can help him out a bit if he's in real trouble, will you look out for him?"

There was a quiet moment between the siblings as Cedric contemplated her request. The moment stretched so long that Evie began to think she'd asked too much of him. "I'll look out for him," Cedric finally agreed.

"Thank you," Evie sighed, a bit more relieved about the situation. "So, do you know what your first task will be?"

"No, we won't find out until the day of the task."

"What, why?"

"It's meant to test our daring. They said it's so we can prove we've got courage in the face of the unknown."

"The only thing this is testing is my nerves," Evie sighed in frustration.

"At least you aren't actually facing whatever it is," Cedric chuckled.

"No, I just have to watch two people I care about face it with absolutely no ability to help them."

"It's hard isn't it?" Cedric smiling knowingly at her.

"I can't believe I've put you through this for three years," Evie sighed apologetically.

"It wasn't so bad, since I only ever found out after the fact."

"Have you talked to Cho? Is she excited for you?"

"Yeah, I think so," Cedric nodded with a soft sigh as he thought of his girlfriend. "I mean, she's worried like you, but she's proud of me."

"I'm proud of you too, just so you know," Evie almost whispered with a smile. "I was surprised how proud I felt when I heard your name called last night. I'd been so busy worrying, but when I heard your name…I was just so proud that my brother was going to be the Champion of Hogwarts. I guess I realized that I had been so worried because I never doubted you were going to be named Champion."

"Thanks, Evie," Cedric whispered back.

"When's the first task, anyway?" Evie shrugged off the heavy emotion that had settled over them.

"The end of November. The twenty-fourth to be exact."

"Well, we've got time at least. I wonder what the next few weeks are going to be like."

The very next day Evie got her answer. The morning Herbology lesson was uncomfortable, to say the least. Hufflepuffs were surprisingly ruthless when they felt an unjust incident had occurred. There was an obvious separation between the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs and apparently Evie had done something just as bad as Harry, if not worse.

"Good morning, Hannah," she had greeted as she usually did, except that she was met with a cold silence for the normally friendly girl. Evie knit her brows together at the chilly reaction. "Um…are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Hannah replied curtly.

Evie made the executive decision to not attempt conversation with the Hufflepuff for the rest of the lesson. She had her own issues to worry about anyway. Harry and Ron were still not talking and Hermione was trying her hardest to get them to hold an actual conversation. By the end of the lesson, two things were clear. The first was that the Hufflepuffs were angry and the second was that Harry and Ron would not be making up over night.

The next lesson was not much better, but at least Evie finally got some understanding as to why the Hufflepuffs had been so cold to her during Herbology. It didn't take two second for Malfoy to start in on Harry, and at the same time Parkinson was smirking evilly at her.

"What are you smiling about?"

"How did Herbology with the Hufflepuffs go?"

"Why do you care?" Evie's question was guarded and slow. Pansy never asked something she didn't already know the answer to; Evie had always supposed it was because she didn't want to make herself look any stupider.

"I was just wondering if they were as understanding as your brother? I mean, you know the 'Puffs are about loyalty, so I'll bet they took it pretty hard when they heard you'd be supporting Potter over your own brother," Pansy shook her head.

"What did you do?" Evie bit out.

"I just warned them that you might not be as loyal as they thought...and by them I mean I told as many people as I could and just let the rumor circulate," Pansy giggled and shrugged. Beside her Daphne and Milicent were joining in. Evie could've cursed the girl into oblivion if it weren't for the lesson starting.

By the end of the day Evie was very much sure that the Triwizard Tournament had been the worst idea the school had had in a long time. It was almost as bad as the Forbidden Forest detention in first year, except nobody was calling her a traitor then. She would have argued back, if it weren't for the fact that Cedric knew she supported him, and his opinion of her was the only one that really mattered.

The next few days were painful for Evie, but she dealt with the looks and whispered accusations in silence. Harry was definitely dealing with worse and she couldn't bring herself to complain. To be honest she wasn't surprised at the backlash Harry received. Most students didn't actually know what it was like to be him, or his friend and had no idea how terrible it actual was saving the school or people's lives every year. They heard the aftermath really, all the praise and points, but when you're in the thick of it almost dying you don't really care about the praise or points, you're just happy to be alive.

On the other side of it though, as Evie watched Ron continue to work through his feelings on the situation, she could understand how it was annoying that though they risked their lives just as much, Harry seemed to be the only one who was ever talked about. Evie was a bit ashamed to admit that on the bad days she was happy it wasn't her, but on the good days she did feel under appreciated. Sometimes not just by the whole school, but by Harry himself. He had a habit of whining like he was alone even when she, Ron and Hermione were by his side.

In Charms Harry was still not getting the hang of his Summoning Charm. Evie had stopped putting her face in the way of his cushion and was simply trying to get him to concentrate. She had offered to help him first because she had thought he would be easier to work with than Neville. But she was beginning to think she'd overestimated his abilities.

She knew he had come to her because Charms was her best subject and she ahead of everyone in their year in it, but Evie often found it hard to understand how people didn't pick it up as quickly as she did. Sighing at Harry's umpteenth failed attempt, she tried to gather her patience. "This isn't as hard as you're making it, Harry. You just weren't concentrating properly."

"Yes, I wonder why that is," He glared as Cedric walked by with a gaggle of girls at his coattails. He seemed increasingly uncomfortable with their affections and Evie guessed that Cho most certainly would not be happy either. He waved to them awkwardly as he passed and Evie returned it, sending him an apologetic look.

The girls turned to see who he was waving to and shot Harry and Evie death glares. Evie was still taken aback by the amount of hate she had been receiving. She turned her attention away from them quickly and narrowed her eyes at Harry.

"It's hardly his fault they chase after him. It's not like he wants that."

"Yes, I'm sure he'd rather be on my end of things."

"Stop blaming him for this. It's not his fault your name came out of the Goblet, and he most certainly doesn't support all the hate you've been getting," Evie's tone held a note of finality that Harry had learned long ago not to challenge.

Instead they made their way to Double Potions where they met up outside of the classroom with Hermione, who had walked with Ron, and the Slytherins. They were sporting new badges, on which bright red words urged students to support Cedric, 'the REAL Hogwarts Champion'.

"Oh, that's new," Evie grimaced at the buttons.

When the Slytherins noticed Harry's arrival, Malfoy wasted no time taunting him, showing him the buttons and then pressing them to show that once they are pressed the original message disappears and in its place appears the text, 'Potter Stinks' in bright green. Evie sighed as she watched Pansy and the other Slytherins behind Malfoy snickering as they, too, pressed their buttons and the words 'Potter Stinks' practically surrounded them.

"Oh very funny. Really witty," Hermione snapped sarcastically as she glared at Pansy and the other Slytherin girls. The situation was pretty much how every other meeting between a group of Slytherins and Gryffindors went, except Ron was not by Harry's side. Then Malfoy offered Hermione a button and called her that filthy word again. Harry seemed to have lost his cool completely wiping out his wand and shoot a curse at Malfoy. Malfoy responded at the same time and their hexes met in midair and bounced off each other. Harry's hit Goyle, who broke into gross boils and Malfoy's hit Hermione.

Evie and Ron were at her side in a minute, though Evie knew exactly what Malfoy's hex had done. She watched in horror as her best friend's front teeth grew larger by the minute. Pansy and the Slytherin girls were doubled over howling in laughter when they saw what had happened. Hermione whimpered in horror and Evie pulled out her wand to attempt a counter curse at that precise moment Professor Snape came up.

"Explain," he ordered Malfoy, to no one's surprise.

"Potter attacked me –"

"We attacked each other!" Harry amended.

"– and he got Goyle in the face –" Snape took one look at Goyle's boil infested face and sent him to the Hospital Wing.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron forced Hermione to show Snape her steadily growing teeth, which were beginning to pass the collar of her blouse and becoming increasing harder to hide.

"I see no difference." Snape stated dryly.

Hermione whimpered again as tears formed in her eyes and she turned and ran away. Evie turned back to glare at Snape who had just taken fifty points from Gryffindor and given Harry and Ron detention. Evie was not really paying attention to him however, as she had also turned, grabbed hold of Hermione's bag which had dropped from her shoulder when she'd been hit with the hex and was starting down the corridor after her.

"If you take one more step, Diggory, you'll be joining Potter and Weasley in detention," Snape said in such a cold voice Evie paused for a moment. But her hatred for the Potions professor had reached its absolute peak and the fire she felt in her veins could not be stifled in that moment.

She turned slowly, shaking with rage. She met his gaze without the slightest waver, and for just an instant he actually seemed shocked by her bravado. "Then I suppose I'll see you in detention."

The statement was directed at Harry and Ron but she never took her eyes off Snape. She had spoken her words with such malice she had hardly separated her teeth. Then she turned just as slowly as she had before and walked, purposefully to prove she did not fear Snape, down the corridor and towards the Hospital Wing.