Chapter 8 Let Sleeping Dragons Lie

Whatever fun Harry had before the first task was soon drowned out by the fact that he may soon die. Ginny had done a decent job distracting him, but now, facing almost certain doom, he felt as though his time with her was like a convict's last meal, which of course reminded him of Sirius. How did Sirius get his name into the Goblet? If the piece of paper that came out was indeed his, then there must be a way to check.

To make matters worse, he had another dream last night. He was the cup, watching as the champions circled him. He was not part of the group. Then he heard Voldemort laughing, waiting for Harry to die. The boy was getting tired of nightmares.

He was wandering the halls thinking about what it meant. Luckily, Hermione had started an immensely boring speech on the mating habits of dragons, allowing Harry's mind to wander. Ron was leading him in a chorus of 'Justin Time' when he broke out of it enviously. "Hermione, what happens to the paper that comes out of the Goblet?"
"Oh," She chirped, "The words are magically transferred to the edge of the cup if they are the winners. The losers, well, they're tossed," She then went down a trail describing a 'describlio' charm.

Harry was already plotting a way to break into the headmaster's office. No doubt Dumbledore would have some knowledge as to how his student's name ended up in the Cup. It occurred to him that Alex would be more than willing to help him break the rules. It was then that Justin came up, bumping into Harry, causing him to drop all his things.

"Sorry," The American growled. His sister came along and helped Harry pack up. Her closeness gave him a chance to whisper that he wanted her help. She slipped a piece of paper into his hands, and then left with her brother.

"Oh…. Nice moves Harry! The ladies love a hero!" Ron crowed. Hermione started a fight, saying that Harry ought to be accepted the way he was, not just because he was a Reserve. For the better of two minutes, the two argued loudly. Harry looked down at the slip. It had a wand number. What was more important was what else was on the paper; dragon information.

"Hermione, what's this?" He whispered feverishly. "Homework?"

"No… looks like research for…." She paused, paling, "The first task." She pulled the reservist to the side. "We have to keep this quiet."

The sound of the paper opening, and being read to oneself in Ron's voice was heard, followed by him screeching, "Dragons?! The first task is dragons?!"
Alex rushed, catching up to Justin. "What was that?" She whispered. "Will you tell me what's going on?"

The whole day had been confusing. Jerko had demanded Justin's presence after breakfast. Both needed to practice before taking on the first task. The disheartened look on her brother's face sent a flash of annoyance through her. Whether she was jealous of his success or annoyed that someone she loved was being pushed around was not apparent. Maybe it was both. She was headed to a nap (I mean, class, she told herself) when Justin came back, with sweat pouring down his face, ash in his hair, burn and claw marks down his shirt. He was scared. So, he of course, went to the library.

He was gone for hours. Hermione tricked Alex into the library by starting a conversation she was interested in; boys. They discussed who had the best hair, who was a good kisser, and what they should do with their hair. Slowly, Alex lost concentration on her location, and wandered into the library.

She found Justin, literally inside a pile, with Madame Pince levitating quietly next to him. She looked stunned. Her brother- Mr. Rules- had used magic on an authority figure. Gasp.

Alex felt as though she was the one hit by a curse. Justin was scrambling. She could see a couple of tear tracks marring the mud, blood, and ash on his cheeks. He was looking through literally dozens of books. Using magic to flip through, shut, then toss aside if they were not useful. If the pile he was on was a mole-hill, the one of useless materials was a mountain. He scanned information quicker than any computer she had ever seen, a brilliant mind at work.

"Justin, what's wrong?" She asked quietly. His mouth quivered, it would open, shut, and then open again.

"Hermione! You may want to read this!" He shouted, startling those who were already looking at him as though he were nuts.

"Oh! I should share this with Harry…" She trailed off, finding the first chair and pulling in.

"Yes, yes you should…" Justin muttered to himself.

"Geez Justin, Harry will be real thankful. I can barely listen to her lectures, and I've grown up with you! Good luck getting him to try to learn," She sarcastically spit. Justin nodded fervently. He was taking her words to heart. For the thousandth time, she grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the side. Just like always, the two were alone in a corner, talking heart-to-heart.

"Justin, please, let me help you," she let her hair fall to her eyes, giving him her softer eyes. Justin nodded. He picked a piece of paper up and handed it to her.

"Make sure Harry gets this to Cedric. Be sneaky," He muttered.

She took it, and, for once, simply did what she was told.

Of course, Justin did not tell her what was going on, so she saw no reason to tell him she was going to break into the headmaster's office. What are they going to do, she asked herself, kick me out? She met Harry in the library. Apparent Hogwarts was atrocious for wand coverage. Also, British wizards were discouraged from using their wands for calls due to the reign of, 'You-Know-Who.' Alex had no idea what they were talking about, until Harry said, 'Voldemort' which brought back the scariest lesson she had ever had. Even being transported to Istanbul was not as bad.

Jerry had separated his children, taking them into the lair and told them all about the Great War. It was scary to her. Years later, she went through a similar, and, strangely enough, less stressing talk when her father told her about boys. It was like her father was there; he described, in graphic detail, horrible murders, kidnappings, and torture techniques. She ran out half-way through. That was when Justin knew she could never be evil. He followed her afterwards, and held her until she was okay again.

"I will always be there for you," he promised.

Justin always kept that promise- unless she was going to help his rival in the competition. Harry had asked for her professional assistance in troublemaking. (Apparently, the fame of the Russo family had spread across continents.) Harry and Ron met up with her after dark.

Of course, Harry had broken into the office before. It turns out that he possessed an invisibility cloak, something that Ron said he should have kept from Alex. She rolled her eyes.

"That hussy is the enemy now!" He declared. Alex thought it was a bit cheap, but her Justin-bashing rant convinced him she was going to help Harry to undermine her brother's success. Harry kept referencing a map, which seemed dumb. Didn't he know his way around by now?

And, of course, they were caught half-way there by Mad-eye. He talked to Harry about his plan to fight the dragons. They discussed opportunities he had. Alex heard Harry ask about a man named 'Black' but there was no reply. Justin was also patrolling the halls, and decided to accompany them. (Just her luck, big brother had more to rat her out for.) They were set down in the office. Justin told Mad-eye he would watch them.

The American let out a gasp, "The sorting hat of Hogwarts…" He quoted the entire entry in 'Hogwarts, A History'. Apparently, the desire to put it on was too great. Once it was over his head, Harry started looking about the office. Alex started filling her pockets. Harry found a swirling bowl. He followed Justin's suit, and plunged his face into the mixture.

Alex tried to steal that too, only to have the headmaster clear his throat.

"Hey!" she said in her, 'gotta get outta trouble' voice, "Did you wash your beard, 'cause…" Justin stole a squeal from her when he went through her pockets. Her face turned bright red as his hands dug into her pants and shirt.

He started putting the things back.

"Oh no, Justin, I have quite enough things… I think however, that there are some things that cannot be replaced…" And he too disappeared into the bowl.

Alex went back to stealing his things behind Justin's back.