"Honestly, Justin, it's nothing against you personally," Hermione said, watching the boy try to maintain a stone-face. "It's just- I have a lot of things going on, and I just don't really have the time for a relationship right now."
Justin Finch-Fletchley said nothing in response. He just kept looking at her with his dark-brown eyes, appraising her as if she was one of the elaborate jewels his family owned. Hermione was starting to wish she'd taken him anywhere but an empty classroom; she desperately needed a distraction from the awkwardness of the situation.
"I mean," Hermione said, unable to keep herself from talking, "we have our OWLs next year and everything, and I've got to start getting ready for them! Plus, I have this internship at the Ministry over the summer, and-"
"You don't have to lie, you know," Justin said, his voice toneless.
"Pardon?" Hermione said after a lengthy pause, her eyes darting anxiously over to the only exit of the room. Why did she let him be between her and it? She just wanted to back out of it and this situation, and she couldn't do that because she was so stupid and-
"You can just tell me the truth," Justin said. "I mean- don't I deserve that much?"
"I am telling you the truth," Hermione lied. Well, there was nothing for it, really- she started shifting around, rotating their positions slowly enough that she hoped he wouldn't notice.
"If you say so," Justin said coolly. "I don't suppose I can keep teaching the second years, at least?"
"You really want to?" Hermione said, halting her revolution and eyeing the S.P.E.W. badge on his chest. Perhaps she was making a mistake. Perhaps she shouldn't-
No, no, no, she thought, snapping herself out of it. We have to do this, we already made up our mind!
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I'd be happy to let you, but- err- that doesn't change anything that's happening here." Her hands gesturing between herself and Justin were not helping things, but she couldn't stop doing it.
"Just because you're tossing me away like a used napkin doesn't mean I'll do the same to them," Justin said, holding his nose up high.
"Justin, I'm not-" Hermione took a deep breath to steady herself. "Of course, you can keep teaching them. They love having you!" At least this was going better than the last one- she'd been honestly worried that Cormac was going to hit her before Justin came to save her in the first place. Why she ever gave him a chance, she'd never know.
"And I suppose you didn't, then," Justin said, the hurt finally entering his voice.
Oh, Merlin, Hermione thought. PLEASE don't start crying. Ernie Macmillan did that, and it was almost unbearable. Thankfully, Hermione didn't have to find out if he was going to or not, because, at that moment, the door opened, and Ginny Weasley stepped through.
"There you are," Ginny said, quickly skipping over and grabbing her by the hand. "Come on- Ron's saving you a seat."
"Ron?" Justin said. "That's who you've chosen over me?"
"Hardly," Hermione said. "And I'm not leaving you for anyone, Justin." That was the problem. "I'll see you next term."
"You're quite the heartbreaker, aren't you?" Ginny asked once they were alone in the castle hallways, finding their way downwards to get to the Task. Their only companions were the ghosts and the portraits.
"I have no idea what you mean," Hermione said innocently.
"Hermione- this is the fifth boy you've broken up with in fewer months," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "What's going on with you?"
Hermione chewed on her lip. That was something she never told Lily, and that she hoped she never found out.
"Nothing," Hermione said at last.
"Oh, come on!" Ginny said, giving her a light punch on the arm. "You can trust me."
That got her chewing again, this time on her nails- a nasty habit that she'd never been able to break.
"I mean, if they're just a bad lay, I don't see why not," Ginny said casually.
"It's not that," Hermione said, her face growing red. "And we shouldn't be talking about this."
"Why not? We're both girls, aren't we?" Ginny said, laughing at the look on Hermione's face. "It's just a joke, 'Mione. Lighten up."
"Please don't call me that," Hermione said with a sniff. She didn't even let Lily do that.
"Only if you tell me what's going on," Ginny said happily, walking backwards, facing Hermione, and holding both hands behind her back.
Hermione thought for a moment, still chewing at the nail on her index finger. She supposed she could trust Ginny - plus, she did really want to talk about it. This seemed as good a chance as she was going to get, since she couldn't talk about it with Lily.
"To be honest," Hermione said very reluctantly, finally lowering her hand from her mouth, "I- I've been questioning myself, a little."
"Questioning?" Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.
"I thought, maybe, I just hadn't meant the right boy, yet," Hermione admitted, not looking at Ginny. "I mean- err- there's someone I thought I fancied, but- but I thought maybe it was just because they listened to me, so- so, I just kept looking, but- but I just never felt anything with any of them." Not even Justin, who did listen to her, and happily at that. That was the final sign she needed.
"What do you mean?" Ginny said, turning the right way round as they reached the stairs.
"I mean," Hermione said very carefully, hoping she wasn't making a big mistake, "that I'm starting to think I don't fancy boys at all."
"Oh," Ginny said, going beet red. "Err- are you sure you want to talk to me? I mean- this seems more up Lily's alley."
"Lily isn't interested," Hermione said, letting out a very frustrated sigh. "Believe me, I've tried. I'm just not her type." Her voice broke a little, and she was surprised at how much it hurt to say. She was happy when the conversation ended. She didn't really want to keep talking about it anymore.
Ginny was quiet for a long time. In fact, they were all the way out on the grounds by the time she spoke again.
"Courtney asked me out a few weeks ago," Ginny said finally.
"Who?" Hermione asked.
"She's one of my dormmates," Ginny said slowly. "Honestly, I didn't really know what to make of it, and then she ran away because- well, because the look on my face must have made her feel terrible."
"I can imagine," Hermione said, remembering the blank look on Lily's face when Hermione tried to give her those tickets to the show.
"I guess, what I'm saying is," Ginny said very slowly. "I suppose I'm questioning, too."
Lily jogged in place, trying to clear her mind. She could hear the crowd's anticipative clamoring from the Quidditch Stadium far behind them. Fleur paced back and forth nearby, occasionally exchanging a nervous smile with her. Krum stood, solemnly staring into the rapidly darkening entrance of the maze. Lily couldn't help but notice that his shorts were longer than theirs, his shirt a bit less form-fitting. A pair of aurors stood at the gate, more aurors stationed behind them as they received orders from a grizzled looking leader. Lily almost though he was a lion, at first, with how thick his hair was. It was when he grimaced at her that she realized he was a man. Lily spared them only occasional glances afterwards, and that was just because there was a really pretty blonde lady whose eye she was trying to catch.
No- that was just Fleur's mum, conversing with the Head Auror to make sure security was tight. Lily was forced to look away when she noticed Fleur herself caught her staring.
Merlin, she wished Sirius was still here, if only to give her some soothing words of advice. She glanced one more time at the distant stadium, her hand idly toying with the watch strapped to her wrist. She could see the great, watery orbs floating all about the tall ring. If she squinted, she could even just make out the one that reflected her own vision (and that certainly didn't make her feel mortified about all her wanton staring). She didn't really mean to, but she stared down at her watch for just a moment, wondering if Sirius was paying attention, or if he was too distracted by something else. Her hand was still at 'Mortal Peril,' while his was at 'School.'
Her thoughts were interrupted by Bagman calling for the Champions to come close. Lily couldn't help but think that the man looked awfully nervous about something, nor that his eyes kept darting to her in particular.
"Ready to go?" Bagman said, clapping his hands together and not waiting for any of the three to respond. "Good! Then, without any further ado…"
Bagman moved between the three of them and spread his arms wide.
"There you are," Ron said, eyeing Hermione as she sat down next to him, her cheeks still a bit pink. Ginny sat down right behind her. Neither girl looked at each other.
"Sorry," Hermione said, not looking Ron in the eyes, either. "I had something I needed to take care of."
"What are you-"
"Ladies and Gentlemen! If I may have your attention, please: it is time for us to begin!"
"About bloody time," Sirius grumbled from her other side. Hermione just let out a sigh of relief, happy that Ron didn't get the time to question her properly. Hermione turned her eyes towards Lily's View Bubble, where Bagman was clearly trying to get the three Champions to pay attention. She noticed Sirius kept alternating between staring at his watch out of worry and staring at Lily's Bubble out of worry. It made Hermione think of her dad back home; the first time he found out she had a boyfriend, she thought he was going to have a heart attack. She never told him about the rest of them.
Hermione glanced behind her, to check where the other Weasleys were sitting, only to make accidental eye contact with Ginny. Then she turned back to the face the front, shifting uncomfortably.
They had very good seats, situated just a few rows directly behind the judge's table. From there, they could see all three contestants views very easily (although, since they weren't in raised seats, it made it very difficult to see what was in front of them if the other rows were standing). Lily's view kept alternating between Bagman and the dark forest entrance in front of her; it was also bouncing slightly, which told Hermione that she was currently jumping lightly in place to burn off some extra energy. Fleur's was still pacing back and forth, while Krum's was hard-focused on Bagman.
"Champions!" Bagman said, snapping her back to senses. "Your one and only goal is to reach the center of the maze, where the Triwizard Cup awaits you! First person to lay their hands on it wins! In the lead, we have Fleur Delacour- she'll get to enter the maze, first, followed by Hazel, and then Krum! Should any of you encounter any dangers that are too much for you, simply shoot sparks into the sky, and our waiting aurors will come to your aid! Just remember: doing so means you forfeit the task!"
"Wait," Neville said, his brow furrowing. "Why doesn't Lily just give up immediately, then? She won't have to compete if she does that."
Hermione and Sirius both sighed as one. Even if Lily thought of it, there was simply no way she'd take that route. No, Lily would have to make things as difficult as possible. Hermione just hoped she would at least have the common sense to take things easy. She didn't need to win.
I'm going to win this thing, Lily thought, resisting the manic urge to keep moving, trying to just settle for bouncing on the balls of her feet. Bagman kept talking, explaining the order they'd enter the maze, what to do if they got in trouble, and Lily wasn't listening to a single word of it. She was in her element. Gone was the nervous girl terrified of fighting a dragon; she'd fight three at this point, and she'd win. In fact, she even had a good idea of what she should have done to get her egg in the first place (and she deeply wished she'd come up with it before); she should have conjured a snake and sent it around the side, while she focused on distracting the beast so the snake could swallow the egg whole and sneak off with it unnoticed.
She decided to keep that one in mind just in case the Ministry was barmy enough to put another dragon in the maze. For now, she shook her head, trying to refocus herself on the actual task at hand.
Fleur got to go first, being in first place, and Lily watched her figure disappear into the maze. The same moment, Bagman clapped both her and Krum on the shoulders and then left back towards the stadium. Lily briefly watched him walk off and then started jogging in place, trying to decide on the best plan of action. It occurred to her that the maze being in the Forbidden Forest meant there could be all sorts of creatures present inside of it that the Ministry never considered.
She didn't get the time to consider it, either; the aurors singled that it was her turn, and then she was running. The forest quickly became dark, the only light that of the remaining sun peeking through the thick leaves overhead. Lily lit her wand as she came to the first fork in the road, trying to get a peek at which way would be the best. She didn't even know which way Fleur chose, but there were three paths; one directly forward, one veering off to the left, and one to the right.
She shrugged and decided to take the left path. She didn't really have the time to think; she'd have to move quickly if she wanted to beat Krum and Fleur. She had no time to waste.
She took right next, then left, then right twice, then left again. She was a little confused when she came across a little field of holes, and even more confused when a little, furry creature with a long snout pushed its head out of the closest one.
"Nifflers?" Lily said, blinking stupidly as two more popped out. "Why?" They were hardly dangerous creatures- more of a nuisance, if anything. All they did was collect shiny, valuable objects. They were outlawed outside of educational instances, sure, but that was mostly just because you could use them to steal things without-
Lily jumped out of the way when one of the nifflers leapt at her, and then ducked under the second one. She turned her head just in time to spot dozens of the furry little fellows scurrying their way towards her. She screamed just a bit when one jumped and landed in her hair.
"Your watch!" Hermione screamed into the laughter of the crowd. "They're after your watch!"
"I'd give them some credit," Sirius said. "They probably want her earrings, too. Honestly, she was going into a forest. We probably should have told her to take all that rubbish off just so she didn't lose any of it."
Hermione let out a groan and buried her face in her hands when Lily punted a niffler across the field.
"Little bastards," Lily said, kicking at the largest one and knocking it several metres away. She felt a sharp tearing at her right earlobe, and a niffler fell free, one of her ruby earrings clutched tight in its little grasp. She wiped the trail of blood away from her neck and then raised her wand, summoning her jewelry back to her grasp before the niffler could dive into a hole. Then she booked it, putting as much distance between her and them as possible, and tucking the thing into a pocket. She tapped the end of her wand to her bleeding appendage, swore just a little bit at how much it hurt, and then healed it up with a quick episkey, hoping Pomfrey wasn't watching.
She took a few more turns before coming across her second creature of the night.
A flail snail? Lily thought, groaning. Really?
"A flail snail?" Hermione said with a groan. "Really?"
"What's wrong with a flail snail?" Neville asked.
"Just look at it, mate," Ron said, pointing at the large thing. "It's just a giant snail with four eye stalks that are just flails. It can't even see!"
All it was doing right now was spinning its eyestalks rapidly, like a helicopter attempting to take off, slowly gaining on Lily's position one inch at a time.
"Why did they start with dragons if this was how they were going to end it?" Hermione asked, watching as Lily just lazily floated the slow beast over the hedge on her left, where it dropped straight into the View Bubble of Fleur Delacour.
"Sorry!" Lily said, her face burning as she skipped away from Fleur's sudden scream as quickly as she could. She ran straight, next, and then took two rights and another left, now feeling thoroughly lost. At this point, she felt pretty dedicated to the plan of 'choose directions at random and pray.' One more left, and she swore when the next obstacle came into view.
The hedges suddenly widened into a large square, and the grass gave way to tiles of black and white. Directly in front of her stood large statues of elaborate marble, stark white to contrast all the greens around her. On the other side were matching figures, painted to appear black.
"Fucking chess?" Lily said. "Really?"
Briefly, Lily considered her options, trying to remember everything Ron ever told her about chess. Maybe I should have played with him more, Lily thought, tapping her chin with a finger.
"You, there," she said, pointing at a random pawn. "Move two spaces."
"If only I was there," Ron said, shaking his head in disappointment. "I mean, really- the Zorpian's Opening?
"What's that?" Hermione asked, trying to remember all of the lessons he'd given her over the past few weeks.
"It's the opener with the lowest win rate," Ron said with a snobby snort. "Amateurish, really. Neville could do better."
"Thanks?" Neville said from his other side.
"Oh, sod it," Lily said, raising her wand as her second knight was captured. She didn't know why she even bothered wasting so much of her time. With two quick swishes of her wand, she blew apart six different pieces and then legged it, jumping over the rubble. As she landed and continued running back into the darkness of the maze, she wished she'd just done that back in first year.
Merlin, I really was an idiot, wasn't I? she thought, turning right, followed by two lefts and a straight. The forest was well and truly dark, now; the only light came from the tip of her wand, and if she wasn't in such a hurry to win, she might have been frightened of her surroundings. The area she was running through was thick with web, and, occasionally, she thought she could make out creatures living inside the hedges. She turned left, only to find a table with two chairs sitting right in the middle of the path, the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen sitting in one and enjoying a cup of tea.
"Hello?" Lily said warily, raising her wand, unsure if she should just blast her and keep moving. That would probably be rude, but this was a death tournament. Better to be safe than-
"Hello, child," the woman said calmly, offering her a smile that both unsettled and excited her. "Would you like to have a seat?"
Not really, Lily thought, only to say, upon meeting the woman's eyes, "Yes, that would be lovely."
"What's she doing now?" Ron asked.
"Being an idiot," Hermione said, sighing deeply. She tried not to be too offended.
Lily studied the woman while she took a sip of her tea. She was relatively thin, with long, dark hair braided and flowing down her back. Her eyes were a dark red, her skin as pale as the light emanating from her wand, and she was dressed in a black dress that hugged her curves and revealed just enough tantalizing skin to get Lily's stomach twisted in knots. She took another sip of her tea, wondering what, exactly, the point of her being in here was supposed to be.
"My dear," the woman said, setting her cup down, "did you know that you look absolutely delectable?"
"I'm told I'm very pretty, yes," Lily said confidently, unable to take her eyes away from the other woman's. There was something very strange, and oddly familiar, about them. The more she wanted to get up and keep moving, the more they kept her rooted to her seat.
"I might just have to keep you," the woman said, pouring more tea into Lily's cup the instant she set it down. "You would make quite the gift for the Mother- assuming I can ever bring myself to part with you."
Right, Lily thought, figuring it out. She's a vampire.
Lily closed her eyes and stood up. She needed to leave, and quickly, at that, or she'd be-
"I really should be going," she said, only to be stopped by a cold as death hand being laid upon hers.
"Stay," the woman said, power behind her voice. Lily couldn't help it. She opened her eyes back up, only to find the vampire's hypnotic ones staring straight into hers. She sat back down.
"I think I'll stay," she said, her voice toneless and brain screaming in frustration.
"Lily's screwed," Hermione realized.
"What are you on about?" Ron said.
"Half the magazines she keeps hidden under her bed are about vampires, Ronald," Hermione said, chewing her nails again. "Oh- how did she not recognize what was happening earlier? I swear, if this is how she dies, I'm going to-"
"Blimey," Ron said, laughing suddenly. "She kept those things? No wonder I got such a good deal!"
This wasn't exactly how I dreamed of meeting a vampire, Lily thought. In the dark reaches of the night, when she was alone with her thoughts, she always imagined she'd get accepted on an expedition, meet a beautiful and nice vampire lady, fall in love, and then- well, usually she woke up, at that point. She certainly did not expect to find one in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, nor did she expect to have tea with them while they kept braiding her hair and complimenting her. She also didn't expect the so-called "Vampiric Hypnosis" to work so strongly on her. The stories didn't do it justice; she was in full control of her thoughts, but she had no control over what she could say or do. Swears and insults could reverberate through her head, but she couldn't manage to vocalize any of them.
"These colours are so lovely," the vampire said, standing close behind her. "And you'll just have to tell me how you got it so long so quickly. Oh, Mother would love this."
Lily took another sip of tea, trying to remember how to break out of the hypnosis. A strong fright would startle her right out of it, but the vampire currently seemed more than content to continue grooming her to completely waste her time. She suspected that if the vampire broke out her fangs in an attempt to turn her, that would do the trick nicely. She also suspected the vampire was only allowed to be here in the first place because she specifically swore not to; she saw no other reason the Ministry would allow it.
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait for very long, because just two seconds later, she heard a very loud explosion from nearby, followed by a grunt of fear and the sound of a bunch of hedges being trampled.
"Goodbye, dear," the vampire said from behind her. Before she could even finish standing up and turning around, the woman was completely gone.
"Brilliant," Lily said, turning back to face the sounds just in time to watch Viktor Krum round the corner with a Blast-Ended Skrewt in hot pursuit.
"I told her they were monsters," Ron said. "But, no- she had to insist they were cute! Well, now look at her!"
"I don't know, mate," Neville said from his side. "It looks like she's having the time of her life to me."
"More like she's clinging on for dear life," Ron added.
"I'll have to agree with Ron on this one," Hermione said, watching through Krum's vision as her best friend jumped on to the Skrewt, hanging on by the stinger.
This wasn't my brightest idea, Lily thought, hanging on for dear life as the Skrewt swung its stinger back and forth, her just barely managing to keep her grip on the end as the wind whipped past her ears.
"Run!" she shouted at Krum. Apparently, he didn't need to be told twice, as he turned tail and fled without so much as asking if she needed assistance. She barely had time to process that before the Skrewt under her growled. She didn't even know they could growl, and she didn't get to process that information, either, before the Skrewt gave a hard fling of its tail, punting her over at least eight hedges before she landed, hard, in a little clearing.
Lily spat some grass and mud out of her mouth, cursing Krum and hoping the Skrewt would pursue him to the ends of the Earth. She glanced up, noticed the field around her was almost devoid of moving life, and then felt a bit calmer. She was laying in a small field of flowers, dozens of them crushed under body (which suddenly felt very heavy and sore for absolutely no reason what-so-ever). She was just starting to push herself up when she saw the stark-white, very tall flower sitting at the center.
And then her mind went completely blank.
"What's she doing now?" Ron asked.
"Admiring a flower, looks like," Hermione offered, squinting her eyes at Lily's suddenly hazy vision. There was something eerily familiar about it, but she just couldn't place it.
"That's no flower," Neville said, his face going pale. "It's Catatonia Patagonia."
Hermione raised her hand to her lips, suddenly a lot more fearful.
"A what?" Ron asked, completely befuddled.
"This is just her luck," Hermione complained, watching as Lily slowly stood to her feet, walked the few paces towards the plant, and then sat down cross-legged in front of it. "She would run into the two things that inspired the bloody Imperius Curse back-to-back, wouldn't she?"
"The Imperius?" Ron said, glancing between Hermione and Neville. "That's it, then? They're just going to waste more of her time?"
"It's not just a time-waster, Ronald," Hermione said derisively.
"The Catatonia Patagonia just so happens to live symbiotically with a particularly aggressive form of Devil's Snare," Neville said.
"Oh," Ron said, looking a bit more nervous as he noticed the tendrils emerge from the flowers and begin constricting around Lily's legs.
Lily felt abnormally calm. In fact, she felt perfectly content, sitting here and making herself a little crown of flowers. The only problem was that, the more flowers she plucked and added to her hair, the harder it became to move. She was starting to feel awful sleepy. She tried to lean back and take a nice nap in the fragrant flowers, only, she found she couldn't move so much as an inch.
She didn't mind, though. She felt like she was being hugged nice and tight. It was quite lovely, actually.
"Someone help her!" Sirius shouted in the direction of the judge's table, standing up fully.
"She'll be fine, Sirius," Mr. Weasley said from behind. "The Ministry isn't going to let her die." He didn't sound very confident about it.
"Bloody well right," Sirius said, pushing past Hermione and edging his way out of the aisle of seats. "I'll see to it personally."
Hermione couldn't help but worry, herself, and she desperately wanted to follow after Sirius, only she couldn't tear her eyes off of Lily's Bubble. She kept trying to reach for another flower- although whatever she was doing with them, Hermione had no clue. She didn't even realize she'd started chewing on her nails again, although by now they were almost down to blunt little nubs.
"Oh, she'll be fine," Ron said, laughing and pointing at a different bubble. "Krum's found the Skrewt again."
There was suddenly an awful lot of noise going on around her, and when she tried to turn her neck to see what was going on, she found she couldn't- she was covered in vines!
"When did that happen?" Lily asked, her speech a slurred mess.
She didn't really get the time to find out- Viktor Krum was suddenly landing right next to her, patting down his singed and smoking clothes and looking at her wildly. And then the Skrewt was there, too, and the vines around her were retreating in the wake of the fiery blasts from its read end. The cute little fellow even almost skewered her with its stinger- only, Krum scooped her up into his arms and started legging it before it could.
"Hullo, Viktor," she said dreamily.
"You vill be needing to vake up," Krum said in his thick voice. "You are very heavy."
Well, that seemed a bit rude. Lily shook her head, trying to clear away the fog, and, suddenly, finally comprehended exactly what was happening.
"Bloody hell," she said, trying to squirm out of his arms.
Krum practically dropped her, and she scrambled onto her feet and broke into a run to follow after Krum before the Skrewt could catch up.
"What did you do to piss it off so bad?" Lily asked, glancing behind her and regretting when she saw how close the large insect was.
"I asked it nicely to let me pass," Krum said, breathing hard from all the running.
"Really?"
"No. I tried to kill it."
"What?" Lily asked, horrified, jumping over a root so she wouldn't trip on it. "Why?"
"It is a monster?"
"No, it's not!" Lily said, jumping forward again to dodge the stinger. "It's just a little hungry!"
"I suppose that explains vhy it tried to cook me."
"Really, they're quite nice when you have them in a cage," Lily said, ducking low to avoid a burst of flame.
"Your flowers are on fire."
Lily swore and wrenched them out of her hair, wondering when she even got them.
"I am going right," Krum said, pointing at the next crossroads. "You go left. Vith any luck, it vill follow you."
"Gee, thanks," Lily said, taking the left turn. The quick crashing noise behind her told her that the Skrewt did choose her, perhaps considering her easier prey. Lily supposed she should feel honoured, picked up her pace, and decided never to tell Ron that he might have been right about the Skrewts after all.
"It looks like dodging all those bludgers was good for something, at least," Ron said, watching Lily swerve to avoid another sting.
"Not to mention all the running she does," Hermione added. "Honestly, I'm getting tired just watching her."
Lily wasn't sure how much longer she could keep running at a full sprint like this; she was starting to get a stitch in her side. She saw another turn coming up and elected to go straight, worried that if she slowed for a even a second that the Skrewt would skewer her (she could hear the pounding of its chitinous legs right behind her). As she ran past the curve, she got the briefest view of brown fur from the corner of her eye, followed immediately by the blinding white of sharp teeth. She turned her head to look on instinct and then stumbled and tripped over a root she couldn't see, falling hard to the ground. She felt the hot breath as the jaws snapped towards her, and she instinctively covered her head with both arms, shutting her eyes tight.
I'm dead, Lily thought as hot, oozing blood splattered all over her. It's bitten me in half. She said a silent apology to Sirius for getting herself murdered, and spent her last seconds thinking of Hermione, and how awful it must be to live out her worst fear in front of the entire Wizarding World. By the time she was done with that, she realized that not only did she feel no pain, but she was still thinking.
The dead can't think, Lily thought, tentatively moving her arm-shield off her head. Can they?
Lily opened her eyes by just a smidge.
"Oh, thank Merlin," Hermione thought collapsing back into her seat in utter relief. "Oh, thank God." She wiped the burning tears out of her eyes. When Lily's Bubble went dark, and the crowd gasped and went quiet, she, like everybody else, thought for certain that Lily was gone. She couldn't even remember standing, but she certainly did remember fighting the urge to scream in horror. She failed at that when the crunching of a monster chewing her best friend's body could be heard.
And then Lily opened her eyes, and it was just Fluffy, the giant dog's three heads worrying and tearing at the Skrewt. The crowd let out a tremendous roar, and Ron and Neville both hopped to their feet, hugging each other and cheering.
Now, she was crying for an entirely different reason. Ginny placed a hand on her shoulder from behind, and Hermione happily held on to it as the sobs of relief worked their way through her.
"It's alright," the girl whispered from behind. "Just look at your watch- she never hit 'Dead.'"
Hermione let out another little choked noise, nodding along, pressing the wrist with her own golden watch tightly to her chest. A little inconducive to reading it, but it made her feel a lot better.
Lily let out a little nervous laugh and then slowly rose to her feet on shaky legs, leaning heavily on the nearest hedge to support her weight. Back pressed against it, and her eyes firmly placed on the feasting Cerberus in front of her, she sidled along it until the beast was completely out of sight. Only then did she leg it, not really paying attention to where she was going, for what felt like ages, going until her lungs couldn't take it anymore. Then, she stopped, leaning on her own knees for support, gasping for air, her chest in so much pain that she fell to her knees, clutching at her rapid heart with one hand, the other supporting her weight against the ground.
"Merlin," she said, feeling like she really was going to die. Her scar was pounding almost as much as her heart. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't- she was going to-
"Hello, child," a voice said from before her.
Lily scrambled backwards, her heart rate somehow increasing, raising her wand in a trembling hand.
"Take all the time you need," the creature said. It had the head of a woman and the body of a lion, an ornate headdress adorning the raven black hair. "I will speak my riddle when you are ready."
A sphinx, Lily thought idly, still clutching at her heart, her eyes darting around for an escape route. Unfortunately, there wasn't any- there was only the one path, and the Sphinx was standing directly in front of the way forward.
She knew how this worked- answer the Sphinx's riddle, and they'd let you pass unharmed. Fail, or try to brute force it, and they'd attack. She did not think she had it in her to take one, at the moment- perhaps not even if she was feeling her best.
"And if I don't want to?" Lily said, her voice unsteady.
"I will speak the riddle, first," the sphinx said, inspecting the nails on her right paw. "You may decide if you would like to answer or not- simply return the way you came, if you'd like to take the long way around. But- answer correctly, and you will gain access to the Cup, as it lies beyond my path."
"Right," Lily said, her heartbeat finally starting to slow. "Right, well- well, let's hear it, then."
The Sphinx smiled widely, giving her a great look at the pointed, dagger-like teeth within her maw.
"I am what Gryffindor fears. I am what Hufflepuff seeks for her loyalty. For Slytherin, I lie at the end of his ambition. I am the ignorance of Ravenclaw. I am the beginning and the end of all things, and I am the only thing that stands between you and success. What am I?"
"Oh, well," Hermione said, relaxing the tension in her grip a bit. "Easy enough."
"How?" Ron said, his brow furrowed.
"Are you serious?" Hermione asked. "I mean- it's a little pathetic, to be honest. I mean, she really should have cut a couple of the clues, a first year could figure it out."
"I hate to break this to you, Hermione," Ron said, "but not everybody is you."
"You do realize that the Ravenclaws have to solve a riddle every time they enter their common room, don't you?"
"Err- blimey, it's a good thing the hat didn't put any of us there, then," Ron said, scratching his head, Neville nodding along with him.
"It's nothing, Ronald," Hermione said with a deep sigh. "Gryffindor fears nothing- the House of the brave? Slytherin, for all his ambition, was left with nothing- he was ruined and penniless. There isn't anything that Ravenclaw doesn't know, and Hufflepuff was loyal because she loved her friends, not because she expected something out of it. Nothing is the beginning and end of all things- nothing stands between Lily and winning the Cup, once she just speaks the answer."
"Well, tell her that, then," Ron said, gesturing to Lily's Bubble.
"Oh, I'm sure she'll figure it out," Hermione said nonchalantly.
"Right," Lily said, standing on her shaking legs and wiping some cold sweat from her legs.
"Have you figured it out?" the sphinx said, smiling widely again.
"No, it's pretty much impossible," Lily said, gesturing behind her. "I think I'm going to take the long way, actually. Thanks, though."
Hermione sighed into the laughter of the crowd. "I'm in love with an idiot," she muttered, shaking her head fondly as Lily jogged back the way she came.
"What was that?" Ron said, laughing loudly.
"Nothing," Hermione said, smiling to herself. She really needed to get over this stupid little crush of hers, but it was just so difficult. Even right now, she'd give anything to be right there at Lily's side, just so she could see her. She'd probably kill for a chance to kiss her- or at least fight the sphinx barehanded- and that certainly wasn't a healthy mindset to have about one's best friend.
She'd hoped to get it all out of her system over the Easter holiday, but it only made it all worse- she brought the tickets to get just one little date out of Lily, just to get it all over and done with, to convince herself that she just really liked spending time with the girl and definitely did not want to actually date her. Even when Lily tried to convince her to go with Anthony, instead, she still fully intended on following through. And then she'd gotten a different sort of date- jumping on the chance almost instinctually- and it took everything she had in her not to snog the breath out of Lily during every step of it. Several times, she thought for sure that Lily was on the verge of picking up on her hints, and that her dreams were about to come true, but then she had to go and spoil it all by asking about Anthony again. She had to give up the tickets, then- she knew she wouldn't have made it through the entire show- and she did go with a boy, and she even snogged the breath out of him instead.
And it did nothing for her. She still couldn't stop thinking about Lily. She had herself convinced it was just the distance- and, then, she showed up earlier today, wearing those shorts and that shirt and with that wonderful hair and- and, Merlin, she almost went and kissed her again, right there in front of Neville and Ron.
I need to get over her, Hermione reminded herself, shaking her head, and if that meant dating a different girl for a bit, then so be it- it was time she accepted that, maybe, just maybe, she just wasn't into men. With any luck, with somebody she actually liked to be with, she'd forget all about how badly she wanted to be with Hazel Lily Potter- and they could just stay as friends.
"Merlin," Ron said, finally settling down. "I'm surprised Bagman didn't say anything, there. It was prime material."
Hermione frowned, standing up onto her tiptoes to try and get a glance at the judge's table.
"Ron?" she asked when that failed.
"What?"
"Can you stand, please?" Hermione asked, tugging at his sleeve.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked, standing to full height. "Need the loo?"
"No," Hermione said, trying to see past the crowd again. "Look at the judges for me- is Bagman there?"
Ron just squinted over everyone, not having to stretch or anything to see it.
"No," Ron said. "Maybe he needed the loo."
Curious, Hermione thought, sitting back down and trying to ignore the pang of paranoia going through her. She couldn't remember hearing Bagman's voice at all- not since he left the Champions at the beginning of the task.
"It's nothing," Hermione said, shaking her head again. It had to be. She turned her gaze back to Lily's Bubble, finding the girl wading through thigh-deep mud. Every few steps she took, a man made of muck would jump out from the depths at her, trying to drag her under. Lily would just blast them with a quick wave of her wand, swear loudly when her boot got stuck, and keep moving on, slowly but surely.
"That's weird," Ron said, still standing and staring.
"What is?" Neville asked.
"Dumbledore," Ron said, pointing to where nobody else could see. "He's not watching the task."
"He's not?" Hermione asked, starting to worry again (although she couldn't tell if it was because of what Ron was saying, or because there was now a giant mass of tentacles trying to constrict Lily and drown her).
"He's talking with a couple of aurors," Ron said, brow furrowed. "And- yeah, he just pointed at Bagman's seat. Reckon he's worried about him?"
Hermione had a sinking suspicion he was worried about Lily, but- no, Lily was safe. Lily told her herself that they made sure the Task was safe. Nothing was going to happen. She needed to remember that, too. She took a deep breath, and watched Lily hack the monster to pieces with several slashes of her wand.
She just has to find the cup, Hermione thought, and then this long nightmare is over.
"Merlin, it stinks," Lily said, holding her nose and trying not to retch, completely failing and collapsing onto the nearest shore in a set of dry heaves.
She was covered in the monster's foul juices- and that one truly was a monster. She had no name for it- it never appeared in any of her books. But it smelled foul, and where it's suckers attached to her skin, she could feel an oil clinging to it. Her clothes were covered in the stuff- along with the foul bog mud. Not even her shoes were safe- when she set off walking again, they squelched and squeaked with every step.
She was now thoroughly in a bad mood. Her entire body was exhausted, she had mud in places it had no business being, her clothes and hairs were still slightly singed, and her head and chest were both still aching. At this point, she was heavily considering giving up and signaling the aurors to come pick her up- she gave it her best shot. Surely this was good enough to convince the Cup not to drive her mad.
She might have done, too, if she hadn't turned the corner and spotted the Triwizard Cup sitting on its little pedestal.
- "GO, LILY!" Hermione was shouting, standing again, cheering along with the rest of the crowd as Lily spotted the cup and sprinted towards it.
She wasn't the only one, though- Fleur turned, next, finding it from a different path, and, right after, it popped up into the third view.
Lily couldn't believe it. She was actually going to win. She reached out her hands, and they almost grazed the blue metal of the Cup's handle.
And then she was flung backwards by the force of a large explosion at the nearest hedge, the thorns and shrapnel raking her bare skin. Krum was lunging for the Cup, but then he stopped midair, as if something grabbed him by the back of the shirt, before he, too, was flung away from the Cup.
Lily scrambled to her feet, and before Fleur could so much as reach out her arm, she was spinning her wand in a circle down towards the ground, and Fleur spun and sank as if caught in quicksand. Then she turned back towards Krum, just in time to catch a searing jet of flame on the left side of her face, rolling to the ground and swearing loudly.
Fleur was out again, standing near one of the paths, although Lily missed how she did it. She was exchanging bright blasts of jinxes and curses with Krum, and Lily took the chance to try and lunge for the Cup. Both contestants turned at once, and the force of their spells knocked Lily almost thirty feet away, where she tumbled and rolled and collided with a hedge, a few spiders tumbling down into her hair.
Lily swiped them away and then stood again. Fleur was focused on Krum, but he saw her running forward again. He sent two stunners her way. One, Lily blocked by moving a large rock into its path. The other, she ducked under, flicking her wand from the same rock towards Krum. It soared towards him, only he pulled Fleur into the path, but then she just transfigured it into a flock of yellow canaries before tapping her wand to the ground and flicking it towards Lily.
The path in front of her turned to ice. Lily jumped and quickly tapped her wand on both of her boots. When she landed, it was as if she was wearing skates; she glided along the ice, hunched low, and as she approached, she rose her wand to her lips and blew. Fire arced out of, rushing towards the other contestants. She never saw what Krum did, but Fleur spun- as if pirouetting- swinging her wand towards Lily again, right as she was reaching to snatch the cup again. Lily was lifted by her ankle and dropped unceremoniously on to her face several feet away.
"Right," she said, spitting grass out of her mouth.
Fleur was focused back on Krum, now, and Lily kept watching. Only very occasionally did either of the duelists glance in her direction, and she realized that neither of them considered her a true threat. They were just trying to make sure she didn't sneak out a win. And, worst of all, from her crouched and forgotten position, cradling the terrible burn on her face, Lily could tell she'd be outmatched by either of them if she did have to try and take the winner on, even with how much she'd learned.
She needed a plan, and she needed one fast.
"COME ON, LILY!" Hermione shouted, both hands cupped around her mouth.
"Merlin, you're really getting into it, aren't you?" Ron asked cheekily.
"Of course I am, Ronald," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "I can't wait for the year to be over. I just want everything to be normal again."
"I know exactly what you mean," Neville said with a sigh. "I mean, it hasn't all been bad, really, but I just want to-"
"Hermione," Ron interrupted, his face paling slightly. "Can you say that again?"
"What?" Hermione said, blinking slowly. "Everything being normal again?"
"No, the part before!"
"I want the year to be over?" Hermione said, feeling befuddled. "I mean, I know fifth year's supposed to be terrible, homework-wise, but fourth has really been a huge pain, especially with-"
"I need to speak to Dumbledore," Ron said abruptly, his eyes focused hard on the three wizards dueling in the floating orbs.
"What?" Neville said. "Now?"
"Now," Ron said, pushing through the crowd next to him.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at his moving form, her mind working sluggishly. She turned her own eyes back to the duel, just in time to see Lily blocking a curse from Viktor by raising a wall of stone in front of her.
"She really needs some new material," Neville mumbled next to her.
Hermione couldn't help but agree, but she said nothing. Ron had her worried. She made up her mind and turned, standing on her seat to get a better view. Ginny gave her a curious look, but Hermione didn't care about that right now. She could see over the crowd, from this position, even if just barely.
Ron made it to the judge's stands quickly, and Hermione watched as he leaned over the railing, shouting for Dumbledore. Dumbledore turned away from the aurors he had been conversing with, a curious twinkle in his eye, the rest of the judges ignoring everything around them as they watched the furious feud above. Bagman was still gone, and Hermione felt a sudden pang of terror. When Dumbledore's face paled at whatever words Ron was telling him, and when he turned and stood from the table, sprinting towards the Ministry officials, the two aurors near him following in hot pursuit, Hermione knew something was very wrong.
"Lily," she said, a hand moving unbidden to her teeth so she could gnaw at them.
Lily swore again, hiding behind her little barricade, one of Krum's spells occasionally bombarding against the other side, shaking rubble down on to her. She took a deep breath. If it worked against a dragon, she saw no reason it shouldn't work here. Besides, it was the best she was going to come up with. First, she aimed downwards, and very carefully, she made herself a hole to crouch in. When her wall finally gave way, Lily had already cast her illusion; the open air above her head looked just like grass.
No more spells came her way. She had no doubt that they both Fleur and Krum were watching for her very carefully, but, for now, they had no way of knowing what she was up to.
She tapped her wand to the side of her head. She needed to make it good. It wouldn't do, making them one by one. Not anymore. She needed a dozen- no, twenty- and she needed them all at once.
Geminus Aediffico, she thought, flicking her wand away from her temple.
Fleur and Krum's views both turned towards the sudden noise, as almost two dozen Lily's spread out, all shouting and stamping their feet and causing mayhem. A few moved as if casting spells, and Fleur and Krum both swore and ducked, casting barriers as if expecting genuine danger.
Hermione ripped a shred of nail off with her teeth, tasting the iron of blood.
Please, Lily, she thought, moving on to the next finger. Please lose.
Now or never, Lily thought, raising her wand again, this time towards the sky. Ascendio.
Lily flew, albeit not very high. She went just above the pedestal where the cup was, good enough to get a good view of the battle below. Fleur was behind a transparent barrier, Krum behind a stone one, and so she was the only one who could watch in horror as Lily fell in an arc, down towards the center.
Towards victory.
"Please," Hermione said audibly this time, watching as Fleur sprinted forwards, desperate to reach the cup first.
Lily fell faster. Fleur wouldn't make it in time. She reached out her hand, and Fleur did the same, and hers touched the cool metal first.
Lily touched the Cup, Fleur just a heartbeat later.
She won, Hermione thought for one, horrible second.
Then there was a brief swirl of colour before both bubbles popped, leaving them with only the dark, confused view of Krum.