The next morning as I lay in my bed, curled up in my very warm covers, I thanked Merlin it was Saturday. I rolled over for another hour of sleep when there was a tapping at my window. I buried my head under the covers and just hoped it would go away. Unfortunately, it did not. So, I begrudgingly went to the window and retrieved the mail from the obnoxious tapping owl. Surprisingly, it was from Teddy. I opened it quickly, feeling surprised to have heard from him, after just seeing him yesterday.

Dear Flower,

I know you are probably surprised to be hearing from me so soon, but I thought it was important that I give you a heads up about something. As the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, I get a preview of all the press on the Triwizard Tournament. I received the final copy of the interviews by Janice Jones that are coming out today and they are not necessarily in your favor. I just want you to know that I don't believe anything that woman said. You have always been a great sister to me and that will never change. Don't let the pressure get to you. People who know you won't believe half of it anyway. I love you Flower.

Love Always,

Teddy

P.S. that muggle bending you were doing this summer just might come in handy soon. Keep that bit of info to yourself.

I looked over the information for a moment, not exactly sure what to think. It was clear from the letter that the article on the Triwizard tournament was coming out today, and that I wasn't going to be particularly happy about it, but what could be so bad that Teddy felt like he needed to let me know? Also, it seemed like in that last part he was trying to hint at something. What would he be trying to tell me, that he didn't want anyone else to know? I thought about it for a moment, when it suddenly hit me.

"Of course!" I said out loud to myself.

I quickly threw on my slippers and ran across the hall to Malfoys room. I walked in, not bothering to knock.

"Scorpius! Scorpius, I have to tell you something!" I said as I jumped on his sleeping form.

I was shaking him awake when he groaned and rolled over.

"Blimey Potter, I'm sleeping here," he said rubbing his eyes.

He looked at me and flushed deeply. It was then that I realized I was straddling him in nothing but my nightgown. I quickly covered my partially exposed breasts and sat at the end of his bed, running my hands through my wild, uncombed hair.

He grabbed my wrist, "Don't. You look beautiful with it down."

I chuckled uncomfortably looking at his shirtless chest, "I look like a wild animal."

"You are wild Lily. The moment you stop trying to suppress that, the happier you will be. Now what is so urgent that you came in here harassing me in my sleep, and half naked I might add," he said stretching his arms behind his head and laying back down.

I rolled my eyes at his comment about my lack of clothing and continued on with my new found information.

"I got a letter from Teddy this morning. Apparently he has seen the final print of the interviews from yesterday, and surprisingly, insert sarcasm here, it's not all good."

He looked at me exasperated, "That's what you woke me up for, really?"

I shook my head at myself, realizing in my excitement, I had skipped over the most important part.

"No. What I wanted to tell you was that at the end of the letter, I think he was hinting to a clue about the first task," I said handing him the letter.

He read it over for a moment scrunching his face multiple times, before looking confused at the end.

"Well, other than Lupin gushing over his brotherly love for you, I seriously didn't get anything. And what in the bloody hell is giem-na-sticks?"

I laughed loudly at his obvious confusion. Most wizards wouldn't know what gymnastics were; especially not purebloods like Malfoy. I was lucky to have been raised understanding both worlds, since my father and aunt had grown up that way most of their lives.

"Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance."

He still looked slightly confused when he replied, "What in the bloody hell made you do something like that over the summer?"

I paused for a moment, considering how much about myself I was ready to reveal, "Well… when I was really young, my magic was completely out of control. It would burst out of me whenever I felt afraid or upset. So, when I was six, my aunt Hermione suggested that my parents put me into gymnastics to calm it down. I loved it immediately and have been taking it ever since. It really taught me focus, determination, and self confidence."

He looked thoughtful before replying, "So your magic is completely under control now?"

I felt my heartbeat rapidly at this question, realizing I had exposed more about myself than I intended too. Sensing my discomfort about the question he continued on as if he hadn't asked it at all.

"So basically we are going to need to be strong, flexible, quick, and coordinated for the first task?"

"I think so, yes."

He jumped up and picked me up bride style, "Well then come on red, we need to hit the gym."

I squealed, laughing loudly as he then ran to my room and dropped me on my bed. I threw a pillow at him as he ran back out the door shouting, "Be quick Potter, we haven't got all day!"

About thirty minutes later, after grabbing something quick for breakfast, we were walking into the gym. It was much larger than I had realized before. Also, where it seemed almost empty yesterday, suddenly there were rings, mats, and balance beams where there weren't before.

I looked questioningly at Malfoy, "Okay is it just me, or were these not here yesterday?"

He laughed lightly at my confusion, "Its funny how little attention you pay to the on goings of this competition. Headmaster Krum told us yesterday, it's kind of like the room of requirement. Whatever you come in to the room to train for, the necessary equipment will be there. I was thinking about weightlifting, so of course over there is a weightlifting section. This other stuff must be for your geim-na-sticks."

I laughed loudly at his mispronunciation, "Its gymnastics and yes, I guess it is."

I began taking off my green tracksuit to reveal my black long sleeve leotard underneath.

Malfoy looked away quickly, "What in Merlin's saggy balls are you doing?"

I laughed at his discomfort and flushed face, "It's called a leotard Malfoy, and all gymnasts wear them."

He looked at me absolutely flabbergasted, "And why in the bloody hell would anyone wear that?"

I rolled my eyes as I began to stretch, "Leotards are very comfortable and gymnasts can move easily with this type of clothing. Also while performing gymnastics, people sweat too much and so this suit helps them to stay cool and allow the sweat to get drained off."

He was still looking at me skeptically as I secured my bun and climbed onto the balance beam.

I placed one foot in front of the other and extended my arms straight out to the side, like the wings on an airplane. I was squeezing my core abdominal muscles, but not so much that I couldn't move. I bent at the waist, placed both hands on the beam in front of me, and then lifted both legs, as I moved my body into a handstand. As I lifted my body, I slowly brought my legs together and pointed my toes toward the ceiling, creating a straight line with my body. I held the position for a moment, as I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth. I repeated this a few more times getting into my rhythm. I then proceeded to do a back handspring.

I stood up on the beam, towards the middle, making sure my back was facing the direction I wanted to flip. I bent my knees while lifting my arms up and then jumped; at this moment I thrust my hips forward and my shoulders back as my feet left the beam. Keeping my head position neutral, I reached back with my hands and watched the beam approach my face, allowing my body to flow into the air and complete a rotation of 180 degrees. Upside down now, I pushed my body away from the beam once my hands came into contact with the surface. I lifted my torso and head up as my legs flew over me and landed upright on the beam. I did this again and as I caught my breath, I suddenly heard very loud clapping.

"That is the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I still can't believe you didn't even use magic," Malfoy said looking mystified.

I blushed lightly at his compliments as I hopped down, "I can try and teach you some things, if you like?"

"Ahhh, looking for ways to take me out of the competition early, red?" Malfoy said jokingly.

I rolled my eyes at him, "I'm not that much of a snake Malfoy. Come on you cheeky berk, I won't hurt you."

He looked hesitant but still followed me over to the mats.

"I thought you were going to teach me what you just did?" he said looking skeptical again.

I laughed shaking my head at him, "You can't just go straight to the beam silly. We have to start off with the easy stuff, so you can get used to it first. Now I think we should start with a split."

He looked comical with his twisted expression, "A what?"

"A split," I said demonstrating myself.

"I am absolutely not doing that."

I looked him in the eye, "Don't you trust me?"

He gulped audibly looking me over, "Yes Potter, I trust you, but let's try this on a day when you're not near naked."

I laughed loudly at his obvious discomfort, "All right Malfoy wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"Well you know-"he began before the sound of the door opening interrupted and we both turned to look.

To my immense displeasure, LaRoux came sauntering in with Jack trailing behind, looking as though he were trying to stop her from something.

"Oh there you two are!" LaRoux said in her cool slow speech.

Malfoy apparently noticing the change in my previous happy demeanor spoke up, "Hello. Were you looking for us?"

"No, no we weren't actuall'ee we are lee'ving. Isn't 'zat right Amѐliѐ?" Jack said holding onto her arm.

LaRoux, looking as though she hadn't heard him at all, continued on, "Yes actually I was. There was some mail for you Malfoy, and you too Potter. Here you go."

She handed us the mail and proceeded to leave. Jack followed but first turned to mouth an "I'm sorry." Knowing it couldn't be anything good, I looked at what had been handed to me. There were multiple pieces of mail, but the first thing I saw was the cover of The Observer, Bulgaria's daily news report. I looked in shock as I stared at two different pictures of me with the headline, LILY POTTER LOVE TRIANGLE and the inside Scoop on the TriWizard Tournament. I looked at the offending pictures and my heart sank; it did not look good. In the first photo I was being hugged and spun around by a gleeful Teddy as I threw my head back in laughter. In the second photo Malfoy holds me from behind and whispers into my ear, as I turn my head to look at him, a faint blush crosses my cheeks and it almost looks like we are about to kiss.

"Can you believe this cods-wallop," I say looking over at Malfoy who is sitting across from me on the mat reading the article.

When he didn't answer I waited for a moment before softly calling his name, bringing him out of his stupor.

He looked up at me slowly, his expression almost cold, "Did you tell her that we would never be friends? That we were just forced here together? And that you could never be with someone like me?"

I paused for a moment feeling stuck. While I had said a variant of that, those weren't my exact words.

"Well not exactly, you see-"

"Don't! Just Don't. Did you or didn't you? It's a yes or no question," Malfoy said looking at me intensely.

"Well yes, but-"

"Wow…I really thought you were better than that Potter. Well, you don't have to worry about pretending to be friends with me any longer," he said getting up to leave.

I jumped up after him not going to back down for a second, "That's not fair! It wasn't exactly the nicest thing to say, but it's not like I was lying. We weren't friends before this. Our fathers were enemies. My brothers hate you. Your best friend hates me. All true!"

He came back at me just as fierce, "First off, your right we weren't friends before this, but silly me I thought that had changed. Second, our fathers were enemies, key word WERE. They grew up; you should try it. Your brothers hate me based on absolutely nothing and my best friend hating you has nothing to do with our friendship, you don't even know him!"

I felt my insides boil as he tried to take up for that dodgy git Flint, "I know he is a creepy bloke who is obsessed with me! He's just like his pure blood loving, death eater father!"

I slapped my palm over my mouth, my eyes wide with shock. The words had left my mouth before I could stop them and I knew I had crossed the line. Malfoy stood there looking at me as though I had slapped him. Then instantly his features turned cold and sneering.

"Just like his father huh? Because we all are just like our fathers, right? What about you Potter? When was the last time you did something like your father? Are you in Gryffindor? Have you ever saved a life? Broken into Gringotts? Saved the wizarding world at large? No? I didn't think so! But you don't have to worry about being compared to your father; no one would ever hold you in that high a regard."

He stormed away then, as I crumpled to the floor. I hadn't meant to insult him in that way, but he clearly had every intention of hurting me. I gathered up my things and walked out of the gym, into the open air, when someone bumped into me, knocking all my things into the dirt.

"Oops! Sorry," said the fake polite voice of LaRoux. She laughed walking away as it began raining. She must have been there listening the whole time. I held in my tears as I quickly picked up my things, feeling as though I had left something behind. I walked to my room and quickly showered. I sat on my bed and decided to open my letters from earlier. The first one was from frank. I hadn't heard from him since I left, and I hadn't even realized I missed him until just this moment.

Dear Lillian,

I am so disappointed in you. Everyone has seen The Observer and it is a disgrace to me and to your family. How could you be running around with a Malfoy? He is the scum of the earth and the slimy Slytherin Prince. He has probably slept with every girl in Slytherin, I thought you were different. And Teddy? How could you be trying to get into the pants of your own God brother? Not to mention, he is with your cousin. Everyone is so upset Lily. I just don't know what is going on with you. I seriously suggest you get your act together. I Love you, but I will not let you embarrass me this way. Don't bother replying. Hope all else is well.

Love,

Frank L.

I held back more tears and continued on to the next letter, recognizing the messy scrawl of my eldest brother.

Lil,

I hate not talking to you. I miss you and I'm worried. I hate that I can't protect you from that scumbag Malfoy. I don't know what he has said to you to convince you to be with him, but whatever it is, he is lying to you. I've seen him do It too tons of girls Lils. He is just using you to win the tournament. Please don't be stubborn. We are just trying to look out for your best interest. Also, you should apologize to Frank and Victorie. You really hurt them.

James

I cried freely then, feeling rejection and betrayal. I looked around for another letter, but this was the last one. I could have sworn there were more. Moving on to more important matters, what exactly had the article said? I decided I needed to suck it up and see what all the fuss was about. I skipped past the various interviews from the judges and other champions until I saw the piece on my supposed "Love Triangle."

But the most interesting interview was with Britain's beloved wizard Princess, Lily Potter. In my very intimate interview with her, she dished on everything to her two lover boys, to being the overlooked daughter of the famous Harry Potter.

I skimmed over the unimportant fluff to my supposed statements.

"I wanted to prove to the world that I was more than just the youngest Potter and that I could be better than my father ever was... I'm not really concerned about anyone's, including LaRoux's, feelings about me in this competition. It's clear that her information of me strictly comes from things she's read about me in the papers, and seeing as I've never seen her name anywhere, I don't have much to say on that subject. She is clearly beneath me… Malfoy and I are not friends. We aren't even acquaintances. Our family and friends hate each other. I would never be with someone like him. Ever."

But contrary to previous statement, she was seen the same afternoon wrapped in the arms of himself. The tell tale signs of blushing, giggling, and touching were all present as we watched the two interact with one another. As Mr. Malfoy twirls one of her curls in his fingers, it is clear the feeling is mutual. But before you start ringing the wedding bells, there is someone who stole her heart first. We asked her about her relationship with her God brother Theodore Lupin (whom she affectionately calls teddy bear), and she had some interesting things to say about their relationship.

"I've been in love with him since I was a child. I'm almost of age now, and think I should at least try. I want to run off into the sunset with him. The only problem is, he is head over heels in love with my beautiful, perfect, half veela cousin. He makes me starved with lust; like I just want to take my knickers off."

As she runs and jumps into his arms, no one in the room could be confused about they're feeling for one another. Mr. Malfoy stood by watching them almost delirious with jealousy and rage. So the question stands, will she choose the lovable, older, family friend or Hogwarts Slytherin Prince and resident bad boy?

Ms. Potter was very up front when it came to her feelings about just about everything, except her deteriorating relationship with her Father. After their huge blow up the two have yet to speak to one another. When I, so delicately, brought this up to her my interview was cut short.

Frankly, I was prepared to be annoyed having to deal with another "Grovel at my feet" celebrity but Lily Potter, who has a mix of intensity and girlish charm, is instantly compelling. During her 15-year life, she has hardly been out of the spotlight, and yet she has the zeal and drive of a beginner with something to prove.

I hope you all will be tuned into the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the first task will be showing live all over Britain November 24.

See you then,

Janice Jones

I couldn't believe how she had taken and twisted my words. Even more, I can't believe that everyone could believe a word of it. Apologize to Frank and Victorie my arse. I looked at the two letters a little longer before tearing them up and throwing them into the waste bin. They hadn't even bothered to ask if any of it was true or not. Even Teddy had just assumed it wasn't. He never actually asked. The only person who bothered to ask before forming an opinion was Malfoy…Malfoy. I had to go apologize. Hopefully he would forgive me. If not, I would be walking these cold hallways all alone for the rest of this year, and that would be truly unbearable.