Okay, so I know I said I'd get this up over the weekend, but I forgot that I was babysitting again on saturday night, so I didn't really have any time. I would've got this up on Monday, but I had my Spanish mock oral today (well, technically yesterday) and it would've been up earlier today, but I went to see my school's production of 'West Side Story'. I would've loved to have been in it, but there were hardly any female parts, and plus I absolutely cannot dance, which is kinda essential for that particular show...
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the belated chapter and due to the public services strike thing tomorrow...uh...today...I can almost guarantee another chapter of this (and one of 'Finally Where I Belong' - though I doubt any of you read that - and perhaps my FictionPress story 'Heart In A Headlock') Yay, a day off school.
Please R&R!
Chapter Eighteen
The next few weeks were rather harsh for Keiko and Neko. While everyone found it adorable that Alejandro was what Rai and I would miss most – 'well, besides the obvious thing' they would say, with a wink that never failed to get a blush out of me – they teased the two girls mercilessly about being what the Durmstrangs would miss most.
It was coming up to Easter and still there was no word on the third task. When I asked Professor McGonagall, she told me that it would take place after exam week, giving the champions a whole week just to prepare, since we were exempt from the exams.
The morning after the dates for the next Hogsmeade meeting went up I got a letter from Sirius, asking us to meet him on the end road with as much food as we could muster. When I read the note, I started to choke on my cereal. As soon as I had managed to swallow, I showed the guys the letter. "He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade, has he?" Rai spluttered incredulously.
"It looks like it, doesn't it?" Clay muttered. We made sure to keep our voices down; we still hadn't told the others about Sirius. I glared at the letter. How could he be so…so…stupid? I mean, it's dangerous! He could get caught!
I was distracted from these thoughts by the arrival of Maria at the table. She had a copy of Witch Weekly in her hands and she sat down beside Keiko, an odd look on her face. "You might wanna take a look at this, Keiko." She murmured, handing the magazine to Keiko, who flicked through it with a look of confusion, before she stopped and stared incredulously at an article.
"What is it?"
"It's…she…" Keiko floundered, still staring at the article.
"Rita Skeeter." Maria stated darkly, though at the same time, sympathetically. "She's written about Keiko and Krum."
Aidan scowled and reached for the magazine. Keiko made to grab it back, but too late, for Aidan had already began to read it aloud. When he came to the end of it, he began to choke, just like I had at Sirius' letter. "He asked you to come and visit him over the summer?"
"But how did she know?" Keiko's eyes narrowed and she shook her head.
"What, it's true?" Aidan stared at Keiko, his hands trembling slightly.
Keiko flushed. "Well, yes…he asked me after he pulled me out of the lake… But how did she know?" None of us could come up with an answer. That devil-woman had eyes and ears everywhere!
"Never mind that, what did you say?" Aidan demanded.
Keiko flushed deeper, looking anywhere but at Aidan. "Come on, Kimiko. We'd better go to Ancient Runes."
And she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me from the table, ignoring Aidan's shouts of "But what did you say!"
Soon it was time for the Hogsmeade visit and the days leading up to it were rather uneventful. Well, apart from a conversation Rai and I overheard between Snape and Karkaroff in which both were worried about something 'getting stronger, clearer' and it seemed to be on their left arms.
After a quick visit to the kitchens for some food – Dobby was delighted to see us, though Winky still seemed rather depressed – we headed out to the road where Sirius had asked to meet us. We soon met the large black dog on the road and followed him to a cave, hidden amongst the boulders at the foot of the mountain.
Scrambling into the cave after him, I saw the beaming faces of my godparents. "Sirius! Lupin!" I grinned and hugged both of them. It still felt a bit too weird to call Lupin 'Remus' since he was my DADA teacher last year.
Drawing back, I took a look around the cave. They had conjured comfortable furniture, so at least I didn't have to worry about them being uncomfortable on top of my worry over Sirius getting caught.
We settled down to lunch with the food the house elves had given us and I immediately turned to the two. "What are you doing here?"
"Fulfilling our duties as godfathers." They replied without a moment's hesitation. "We want to be on the spot. After all, you hadn't written to us about the tasks."
I grinned sheepishly. "I guess with the ball I kinda forgot about the first task. I was going to write to you about the second – honest! But I just…"
"It's alright. We understand. Now, tell us about them."
Rai and I launched into an explanation of the tasks and the events from when I last sent a letter until now. "I was going to suggest what Durmstrang did to the dragon." Sirius told us, grinning. "But I like what you did much better."
"It was so much fun!" I grinned widely, as did Rai. I think they thought we were rather insane.
We noticed the recent editions of the Daily Prophet, all speculating about the mysterious illness that had befallen Mr Crouch, prompting Pedro to take his place as Triwizard judge. Somehow, from there, we got onto the topic of Winky and what had happened at the World Cup. They seemed especially interested in that.
"Raimundo, did you check your pockets for your wand after you left the Top Box?"
"Uh…no…" Rai shook his head slowly, confusion written across his face. "I didn't need to use it before we got to the forest."
"Wait, are you saying that whoever conjured the Dark Mark stole Rai's wand from the Top Box?" Sirius and Lupin exchanged a glance before shrugging, as if to say 'it's possible'.
"But we know Winky didn't steal it. It was a male human voice that conjured the Mark."
"Yes Omi, but Winky wasn't the only one in the box with us, was she?"
"Who else was there, sitting behind you?" Lupin asked.
"Um…there was Cornelius Fudge, the Bulgarian Minister and some other Bulgarian wizards, the Spicers and Mr Bagman."
"I don't know anything about Bagman, other than the fact that he used to play Quidditch. What's he like?"
"He's okay. Keeps trying to help us in the tournament, doesn't he, Kimiko?" I nodded in agreement.
Lupin frowned. "I wonder why he'd do that?"
I shrugged. "Dunno. He says he's taken a liking to us."
The conversation turned back to Mr Crouch and the cave shook with our anger – before we reined it under control – when Sirius told us that he had already passed judgement on him and had formed a sentence before they even caught him. Without even the chance of a free trial! Although, I admit that I had a hard time stopping myself from feeling rather sorry for him when I heard that his own son was caught conspiring with known Death Eaters, and it was believed that they were trying to bring Wuya back. That is, until I learnt that he gave him up to the Dementors.
We discussed Karkaroff and Snape for a while – apparently they both used to be Death Eaters, until Snape was converted by Master Fung and Karkaroff was released from Azkaban for snitching on other Death Eaters. We left soon after that, with stern warnings from both Sirius and Lupin to write to them if anything unusual happened.
After the Easter holidays, Rai and I were ecstatic when Professor McGonagall told us that we were to meet Mr Bagman on the Quidditch pitch that night, when he would explain the third task. We were glad of something to break up the monotony that school would become without Quidditch.
We met Cedric and Cho on the way through the entrance hall and the four of us walked together towards the Quidditch pitch. We stopped dead when we reached it, an odd squeak of horror escaping my mouth. "What have they done to it?" Rai gasped.
The pitch's flat surface was covered in small hedges! We stared at them in disbelief and horror – the four of us being avid Quidditch players – until Mr Bagman noticed us. "Hello there!" he called cheerily. "What d'you think? Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid will have them twenty feet high." I let out another high-pitched sound at this. Bagman finally seemed to notice the horrified expressions on our faces – especially mine and Rai's – for he quickly added, "Oh, don't worry. You'll have your Quidditch pitch back when the task is over. Now, we're making a maze. The task is rather straightforward, really. The Cup will be placed at the centre of the maze and the first team to touch it gains full marks."
"We simply have to get through the maze?" Fleur asked incredulously.
"There'll be obstacles, of course." I added in an amused tone, and thankfully Fleur took it in the way I had meant it, and flashed me a grin.
"Yes, Hagrid's providing a number of creatures…there will be spells to be broken…all that sort. Should be fun, eh?" Rai and I nodded enthusiastically, though we were the only ones that did.
We began to hurry back towards the castle when Cedric pulled on Rai's arm. "Could I have a word? In private?" Rai grumbled an agreement reluctantly and he and Cedric walked a little way away from where Cho and I still stood at the edge of the forest.
I stared after them in confusion. "What do you reckon that's about?"
Cho rolled her eyes at me. "Are you honestly that thick?" she asked acidly.
"What?" I stammered, as confused by her words as by the tone in which she said them. It was a complete one-eighty from the way she had been treating me every other time we met. She scoffed and turned on her heel, marching back up to the castle without waiting for Cedric to return. I stared after her for a moment before shrugging and leaning against a tree to wait for Rai.
My head snapped up as I heard movement in the forest behind me – something big. I lifted my hand in front of me slightly, but dropped it back down in shock at who emerged from the trees. It was Mr Crouch, though I hardly recognised him. He was dirty and dishevelled, talking to the air, and then to the tree, addressing it as 'Podley'. He didn't seem to hear me, and when he did, he snapped out of it, gasping "Master Fung…need…"
I nodded in understanding as his eyes glazed over and he continued his conversation with the tree.
I scrambled after where I had seen Rai and Cedric disappear, my heightened sense of hearing allowing me to hear their conversation before they came into view. "…We can all see it. How much you care." Cedric was saying, and I was more than a little confused as to what they could possibly be talking about. "Well, are you gonna man up or what? 'Cause if you don't, someone else sure will. I just might myself." I reached them at that point, and it was lucky I did, as Rai looked about ready to punch Cedric. I grabbed his arm, pulling frantically and talking a mile a minute.
"Rai…Mr Crouch…needs Master Fung…come on!"
"What?" Rai seemed to understand my urgency but Cedric was staring at us as if I was speaking a foreign language.
"Mr Crouch is back there. You stay with him while Rai and I get Master Fung." And with that the two of us were sprinting towards the castle. As we did so, I glanced at Rai, noticing the anger still lingering in the set of his jaw and in his eyes. I briefly considered asking what Cedric had been talking about, but thought better of it. It wasn't exactly the most opportune time. And we needed to get to Master Fung right now.
I was beginning to realise that it was probably not the best idea for both of us to go. One of us should've stayed with Mr Crouch, rather than leave Cedric out there. At least then if anything should attack, or if Mr Crouch proved dangerous, we wouldn't have the guilt of letting a human get hurt on our consciences. Man, being a Xiaolin Dragon sure is tough.
I don't really like that last line, but oh well. I couldn't come up with anything better...