Chapter 16

That evening and the next morning was filled with excitement and talk about who would be putting their name in the Goblet of Fire. From Gryffindor, the main candidate was Angelina Johnson, who had just recently turned 17. The Weasley twins, outraged by the fact that they were being left out of the chance of winning the 1,000 galleon prize, were hard at work trying to figure out how to get their names submitted. There had been talk that Cedric Diggory was the frontrunner to be selected as the Hogwarts Champion, and Ginny couldn't help but agree that he would be great. As long as either Angelina or Cedric were chosen as Hogwarts Champion, she felt that they would be well represented.

It turned out that the majority of the students who had arrived from the other schools were of age and would be submitting their names. Ginny wanted Viktor Krum to be selected as the Durmstrang Champion, as she would love to see him compete again after watching him during the Quidditch World Cup. For the Beauxbatons delegation, there was seemingly no front-runner that at least the Hogwarts students were aware of. The way they floated around with the same slightly smug smiles on their faces, there seemed to be no difference from one student to the next. Of course, there was one raven-haired exception to that, at least for Ginny and Hermione. Ginny was initially hoping that she would be able to avoid Juliette and go on with her happy life with Demelza and her friends, but as soon as she entered the Great Hall for breakfast, it appeared that that would not be the case. Ginny and Demelza were walking hand in hand to the Gryffindor table when Ginny heard her name. The two girls turned to find Juliette leaning against the Hufflepuff table.

"Good morning Little Ginny. It is so nice to be seeing you again so soon after ze Quidditch World Cup. And 'oo is zis?" Juliette strode forward confidently and took Demelza's hand in hers, kissing it. Both Demelza and Ginny were stunned.

"Uh this is… This is Demelza, my girlfriend," Ginny said as strongly as she could, trying to get over the shock of Juliette making contact with her girlfriend.

"Demelza… It is a pleasure to meet you. I trust zat Little Ginny is treating you well?"

Both Ginny and Demelza blushed, Demelza nodded, apparently unable to form any words.

"Uh… Why are you here?" Ginny asked. "You're not of age, you can't compete, so –"

"True, I will not be competing in ze tournament. 'owever, my 'eadmistress Madame Maxime zought it would be wise to bring me as I am one of ze more well-known students to currently attend Beauxbatons. Also, I was not wanting to miss ze opportunity for international magical cooperation," Juliette finished smugly, Ginny narrowed her eyes at the girl while Demelza still stood in shock, staring at the stunning older girl.

"So, you're here to act as some sort of minor celebrity figure then?"

"Little Ginny, 'ow kind of you to refer to me as a minor celebrity," Juliette flashed her perfect smile at Ginny before turning to Demelza, "Little Ginny is much too kind, so good with 'er – "

"Just Ginny is fine…" Ginny said through gritted teeth.

"Ahh yes, you do seem to 'ave grown a bit since I last saw you," Juliette raked her eyes over Ginny's body then flicked her eyes up to Ginny's, "And you 'ave gotten a bit taller too. You are growing up, Little Ginny. Maybe in anuzzer few months you will be 'Just Ginny' to me," Juliette smirked at the redhead as she could tell Ginny was both embarrassed and furious at the exchange. "Well, I am off to go use my minor celebrity status to improve ze odds of us winning ze Triwizard Tournament. It is exhausting, being a minor celebrity and all, but someone 'as to do it…" and with another flash of her perfect, arrogant smile, Juliette was off. Demelza looked at Ginny, awestruck and also confused at what had just happened.

"That's Juliette?" Demelza asked, a hint of astonishment in her voice.

"Yes…" Ginny answered, again through gritted teeth.

"Ginny… She's…"

"Beautiful, I know."

"Well, yes, but I was going to say rude… I've never met someone who lacked that much humility or tact..." Demelza pursed her lips and frowned slightly as she looked at Ginny

"You sound just like Hermione."

"Ginny, is this how she treated you at the Quidditch World Cup?"

"Uh yes, pretty much."

"I'm sorry…"

"Oh, you don't have to apologize Demelza. You heard her, she's here to enhance the reputation of Beauxbatons. Not sure she was the right choice, but I'm sure she certainly is one of the more well-known students." Ginny frowned, annoyed by the entire interaction with the girl. "Hopefully that'll keep her busy so we won't be seeing too much of her."

"Hopefully not. How about this? Next time, if there is a next time, I'll make sure I have my wits about me and I will defend your honor?" Demelza said, smiling at Ginny.

"Oh yeah? You'll defend my honor?" Ginny grinned back.

"Sure will! Hey, once you master the Bat-Bogey Hex you've been working on, you can teach it to me, and if she pushes too far again, I'll use it on her!"

"That wasn't far from my mind when she kissed your hand…" Ginny stated, narrowing her eyes at the memory.

"I thought at first she was just being polite, but after the way she spoke to you, it was clear she was trying to get a rise out of you…" Demelza said apologetically.

"It's alright. Let's just move on. I'm hungry." Ginny motioned to Demelza to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

"You? Hungry? What a shock, Miss Weasley," Demelza teased as they sat down and helped themselves to breakfast, quickly forgetting the interaction they'd just had with the French witch.

Throughout the day those of age had been submitting their names to the Goblet of Fire. Angelina put her name in just moments after breakfast, Cedric apparently had submitted his name just after 4 pm. Right around 6:30 pm, students and staff from the three schools began to gather in the Great Hall, watching the stragglers add their names in. Ginny, Demelza, Colin, and Ritchie sat at the Gryffindor table, chatting and watching as more Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students stepped up to put their names in. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Lavender joined them once it got closer to 7 pm, at that point the Great Hall was packed and buzzing with the anticipation of who would be chosen to represent each school.

Right around 6:55 pm, the doors to the Great Hall opened and silence fell quickly across the room. Krum was quietly walking towards the Goblet of Fire, a piece of folded parchment in his hand. As he dropped his name in, he turned and looked at the eight Gryffindors. He stared intensely, seemingly at Hermione, for a brief moment before walking towards the Durmstrang group and sitting down.

"Did you see that? He looked right at me!" Ron exclaimed, excitedly.

"Yeah mate, maybe he remembered you screaming his name at the Quidditch World Cup? I'm sure there was no other fan more dedicated than you there that night," Harry said, prompting the rest of the group, minus Lavender, to laugh.

"Won-Won I'm sure he was looking at you!" Lavender said protectively. Hermione and Harry exchanged exhausted looks with each other, then with Ginny. It had been one day, just one day, and they were already a bit spent on the new relationship Ron had gotten himself into.

A few more students added their names, and then Professor Dumbledore arrived. Silence fell over the room once more.

"Good evening, good evening… And now, the selection of the Champions!" He stepped up to the Goblet of Fire, a hand outstretched. The blue flames flickered then grew, shooting out a piece of parchment. It was delicate and had intricate decorations on the edges of it. Professor Dumbledore caught it and announced: "Fleur Delacour!" A beautiful blonde girl stepped forward confidently as the Beauxbatons clapped respectfully for their Champion. Ginny saw Juliette and followed her gaze to Hermione, who again was staring the girl down. Professor Dumbledore ushered Fleur to a room outside of the Great Hall, then faced the Goblet of Fire again. Another flare up of the blue flame, and a folded piece of parchment flew out to his hand. He caught it and read aloud: "Viktor Krum!" The Durmstrang students clapped and stamped their feet hard as they shouted their approval of the selection as Krum slowly got to his feet and walked off to follow Fleur. Professor Dumbledore stepped towards the Goblet of Fire for a third time, hand outstretched. The blue flame shot one last piece of parchment up and out into Professor Dumbledore's hand, and he proudly read and announced: "The Hogwarts Champion, Cedric Diggory!" The Great Hall exploded with excitement as the Hogwarts students and staff raucously celebrated this selection. Cedric grinned and got to his feet, trying to get through the students congratulating him so he could join the other Champions. As the three Champions left the room, the Great Hall quieted down once more, and students started to depart for their dormitories and carry on with their previous evening activities. The group of eight Gryffindors stayed seated at the table.

"Well, no surprises there!" Harry said. "Would've been nice to have a Gryffindor Champion, but I guess Cedric isn't a bad choice either."

"And we'll get to watch Krum compete! I hope he'll get to use a broom at some point!" Ron said hopefully.

"I think you're in love, Ron," Ginny teased, grinning.

"Oh shut up! You know you're excited to see him too!" Ron defended himself.

Ginny smirked at her older brother, playfully nudging him with her elbow.

"Won-Won, can we go now?" Lavender whined.

"Uh, sure Lav, let's go. I'll see you all back at the common room?" and with that, the new couple got up and left, Lavender clinging to Ron's arm. The six remaining Gryffindors exchanged looks, then laughed.

"Alright, anyone up for a game of Exploding Snap in the common room?" Ginny looked around at Ritchie, Colin, and Demelza, who all nodded. "Harry? Hermione?"

"I've actually got to catch up with Hagrid, but sure Gin, when I get back, I'd be up for a game!" Harry said as he walked off in search of Hagrid.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Why don't the four of you go? I've got a bit of light reading I want to catch up on. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, goodnight Hermione." The four younger Gryffindors got up and started off towards Gryffindor Tower. Hermione looked after them, watching Ginny walk away from her, hand in hand with Demelza, who was excitedly chattering away to the redhead. Just before they made it out of sight, Demelza gave Ginny a brief kiss on the cheek, and Hermione felt another small piece of her heart shatter in her chest.