FINALLY I keep a promise! Helena here, and this is your second chapter of the day :)

Note from Ermory: I am so sorry , i have no fixed internett and i'm using my moms phone data, also my phone died on me and i can barely sta in contact with Helena let alone send the files. It is very difficult cuz she can't use google wich extends to gmail, ugh. Anyway i hope you ejoy the chapter and i am so so so sorry for being late. We are becoming like Liza Koshy, we say we publish a day but we alway publish a day later lmao. Se y'all next week.

(I think she texted me that, and I decided against editing her grammar *devil smirk*) (honestly though the only way I'm contacting her right now is through emails)

Aaaanywayyy,, enjoy the chapter

Oh and also, we don't own this, JK Rowling does. And you should know by now the story was originally written in Italian by EmPotter, we're only translating (and clumsily editing- that's me); the original story can be found on EFPfanfic, called 'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'

One school, two champions

"They couldn't exactly have waited for us, eh?"

"Don't blame them ... it's still early, they probably want to see who would put their name down for the tournament."

Ginny and Demelza were walking fast toward the Great Hall, excited and curious to see the students of Hogwarts, Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang approaching the Goblet of Fire and entering their name into the blue flames. They had remained alone because the others, as soon as they were prepared, immediately ran down to watch, leaving them behind.

"Rogue ..." Ginny muttered, but she was not angry. "Oh listen, about the guys ... did you notice that William's always behaving strangely?"

Demelza stared at her, then seemed to be much more interested in the portraits of the knights hanging on the wall to her right, and she uttered no words. She seemed rather nervous, as if undecided about what to say, or whether she should speak at all.

"Well basically, ever since the beginning of the year he has had such an... unusual behavior, do you know what I mean?" Ginny continued, unaware that Demelza was not listening to her. Or rather, she pretended very well not to be listening to her, paying attention to the portraits instead. "Dem ... are you listening to me or not?" she added, as she turned to stare at her, hands on hips and waiting for an answer.

"Er ..." said Demelza, suddenly stopping outside the hospital wing, "are those your brothers there?"

Frowning, Ginny approached her and stepped into the infirmary, and recognized Fred and George… who did not look like Fred and George at all. They each had an elderly face, thick white beard and hair that matched Dumbledore's, as if they tried to grow old. Had they really tried to get old? For what? Disconcerted, she stared again at her brothers trying to figure out ... the answer came in the form of Lee Jordan's howls of laughter.

"I had felt the both of them would attempt it," Albus Dumbledore's calm and amused voice replied, "I did warn everyone against falling under the Goblet's temptation," he sighed, with a—Ginny could swear it was—smug smile. "Aging Potion, wasn't it?"

"An Aging Potion?"

Ginny burst out and laughed uncontrollably, holding her stomach while Demelza hissed at her silently, and everyone turned to watch them (including two other guys with long, stubbly grey beards). Professor Dumbledore was kind: he invited the two of them into the room with a gesture and the two obeyed, the first willingly and the second reluctant, until they reached the twins' bed. Demelza now seemed very uneasy to be in the same room with Albus Dumbledore himself, and tugged at her friend's robe impatiently.

"You two are-" Ginny broke off abruptly, not knowing how to define her brothers with a word appropriate in front of the school Headmaster, "ugh ... Aging Potion, come on!" she decided to change the subject. "Do you think the Headmaster is dumb? Oh boys, but the white beards quite suit you, you know that?" she added delightedly, and it took her all her willpower to keep her face serious. Demelza smiled in embarrassment, and Fred winked at her.

"You think so?" he replied this last comment, touching his beard; George stroked his with a fake snobbish gesture.

"You're practically irresistible," Lee said, kissing one twin's hand and blowing a kiss in the direction of the other, and the boys burst out laughing again, including Demelza, who really could not help herself. Albus Dumbledore chuckled and gave a half-hearted warning gesture towards an amused Lee, then turned to a girl on the next bed who complained that she wanted to rid the grey and annoying rubbish from her face.

"But why the hell did you two do that?" Ginny asked her brothers, leaning towards them with a smile.

"You know, we really wanted to be in the tournament" George replied sadly, then he recovered, adding: "But it does not matter, we can always try again next time, we could even tell our children that we saw each other old and grey before we even saw them grow!"

"This is so cool!" Fred remarked cheerfully, watching his reflection from an empty tray.

"What are you even looking at? Just look at your twin!" Lee said with a chuckle, grabbing the tray from his friend's hands.

"I don't know ... I think I'll always look better than George, even when I'm old!"

George gave a delicate pat on the back of his twin, then together they returned to jokes. When Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell (George moved slightly on the bed as soon as she saw Katie) also came to the hospital wing to investigate the damage inflicted on the twins, Ginny told herself that it was probably time to disappear. Waving with her hand, she impatiently dragged away by Demelza, and together they reached the Great Hall, joining the others.

"So who has put their name in?" Demelza asked immediately, while Ginny quickly looked around: Colin had disappeared along with his little brother (as it happened often these days); Neville and Dean smiled in greeting to the girl while William made room for her on his left, away from the fourth years.

"All the Durmstrang's, all the Beauxbatons', Warrington of Slytherin ..." Vicky informed, but was interrupted.

"Warrington? But we cannot have a Slytherin champion!" Ginny was horrified, slapping onto the wood of the table and staring at her friend in disbelief, as if expecting the name to be immediately corrected. Not so, of course: Vicky did not correct herself and just shrugged.

"Who is Warrington?" Demelza asked confusedly, spying the Slytherin table.

"The Serpent Quidditch team captain," Ritchie replied, before giving a big bite to his croissant. "He looks like a ...sloth, you know?" he added, the image recalled really was accurate.

"Oh, that's terrible!" Demelza said, shaking her head in resignation. "Anyone else?"

"From what I know Angelina Johnson and Cedric Diggory have also put-"

"Did you have doubts?" Christopher snapped in disgust, interrupting Ritchie and casting a contemptuous glance at the Hufflepuff table, in perfect jubilation. "Would anyone think that Diggory", he said the name imitating a shrill female voice, "would not want to be the Champion!"

"You know, I don't think that guy is here to snub everyone," Demelza said, taking Cedric's side, "and I've heard he's a model student ... Chris ... don't give me that stupid face! Oh I forgot, he's also a Prefect!" she added, as Vicky nodded delightedly.

"You only like him because he looks good ..."

"Looks very good!"

"Come on, Cedric is also a very good person, don't you know?" Ginny intervened, sending down some more toast with jam.

"Now do you like Diggory?" William asked immediately, turning to stare at her.

"NO!" stunned, the girl protested, and raised an eyebrow as he snorted with skepticism.

"All the girls like that Cedric, don't you know?"

"Well ... he was really very nice, but you know very well who I like!"

"Yeah, I know very well," William replied, with a frightening coldness.

Demelza and Vicky, who had followed their brief conversation with their mouths open, immediately closed them at the furious gaze of Ginny; William, however, leaned towards Ritchie to grab a croissant, just to do something. Christopher chuckled, quite amused by what seemed like a comic conversation between an old married couple.

"Are you guys done?" Ginny glared around once more.

Demelza gave a little cough, and changed the subject. Ginny was really grateful, partly because she had no idea what's up with William: a minute ago he was all adorable and a moment later he seemed to be the incarnation of the devil himself. What could she ever make of those strange symptoms? Was it some sort of alter ego? Ginny thought about it while pretending to pay attention to Demelza's monologue, then her heart leapt.

Does William have a crush on me?

Impossible, they were friends. And she was imagining too much ... yes, she really had a huge imagination; or hallucinations, illusions. She remembers that.

"Dem, give us a break, get up and go befriend the Bulgarians and French in the courtyard, come on!" Vicky hurriedly put an end to the monologue about her friend's classes, which no one so far had dared, so as to… not hurt Demelza's feelings. Vicky took her by the arm, encouraging her to get up immediately from the bench, under the amazed gazes of the boys. Ginny burst out laughing, but she got up from the Gryffindor table to join her two friends.

"Er ... are you coming?" Demelza asked her, trying to shake off Vicky, with no success.

Ginny looked askew at William, and said, "Of course I'm coming!"

He became almost red and stared at her with resentment, and while the girl was leaving the Great Hall followed by her two friends (fighting and laughing behind her), she could not help but think sadly that his doubts about William had just been consolidated. She would certainly have to chat with her two girl-friends, concerning that strange situation coming up to her neck.

*o*o*o*o*o*

"It's cold ... let's go inside…"

For the minutes that the three girls spent waiting for the boys of Durmstrang or Beauxbatons to come out alive from somewhere, they had talked about nothing but them and the Triwizard Tournament, speculating about who would be chosen as the champion of the various schools, and thinking about what tasks would they have to face. Demelza told them about a particular occasion that caused death of one of the Triwizard champion, and another that injured even the judges, then collectively they decided for a more cheerful topic. Besides, Ginny had not yet told her friends about her guy-friend and her strange suspicions about his behavior, and she has to act quickly, spill it out before the foreign students really arrived.

"Dem ... did they ever tell you that you're a big social recluse?" Vicky retorted with a chuckle, lying under a big tree and letting the wind caress her blonde hair. In response, Demelza snorted but then she too sat down.

"Then you're the other extreme!"

"Oh, first you scold me for dating and now I can't do…"

"... conquests? No, you cannot, Goldstein could be mad!"

"We are going through a period of crisis; I need to get air. You understand? Air, my dear Demelza!"

"As you wish," said Demelza, shrugging with the shadow of a smile on her lips.

"I always liked the lake ..." Ginny muttered absently, approaching the water and looking inside: her red-headed reflection clashed with the black uniform of Hogwarts. The girl knew that her two friends were watching her closely, so she continued: "Did you two see William's face when I said I was coming with you to make friends with the Bulgarians and the French?" And when I said that Cedric was a very good person?"

She was continued to be ignored like earlier, yet Ginny was more than sure that the two had just exchanged a meaningful look. What did they know about this?

And why didn't they want to talk to her? Ginny did not want to turn around and find that the two looked at her with apprehension, and waited for them to talk. She had waited for more than ten seconds when Demelza finally broke the silence.

"Ginny, we really wanted to reveal our suspicions but we believed that ..."

"... I have been worse" Ginny concluded for herself, feeling suddenly like the protagonist in some strange Argentine soap opera.

"Oh come on, you're both exaggerating! William is beautiful both inside and out," Vicky said briskly, particularly emphasizing the word out as she delicately smoothed her skirt. "And if I were you I'd give him a chance, you know?"

"I do not want to send our friendship to scarlet women, Vic!" Ginny protested, all red in the face. She finally turned her back on the Great Lake, and sat down on the grass next to her friends.

"To what?"

"Scarlet women, well, that's what my mum says..."

Vicky giggled loudly, then after she had calmed herself she softly admitted: "You're right ... don't be sending a friendship to... scarlet women ... William must have lost his mind, there's a risk of ruining all the friendship built through the three years that we know each other!"

"Yeah ... but these are only just theories, aren't they?" Ginny said, slightly afraid.

Demelza shook her head slightly, then decided to say something encouraging. "Of course they're just theories, Red Head! We're not sure yet, we don't really know if Will is really in love with you so... just don't worry!"

The tone she used seemed completely fake, because Demelza did not usually encourage people when the truth had surfaced. She had always been a rather realistic girl, sometimes very pessimistic, and that tone scared Ginny even more, who already wanted no more of that situation. If her friend is now preferring not to be a realist, then that was a very serious situation indeed.

"Heard Demelza? Don't worry!"

"Yes… but we've been out here for what seemed like centuries… why don't we go inside?", Demelza asked, standing up as if that would be enough to convince her friends to move their legs as well, taking them somewhere, probably the common room.

"But..."

"You know, I don't think foreigners leave their homes to hang around in the castle or out here in the grounds."

Ginny thought about it and found that Demelza was right: they had waited for the Bulgarians and the French to no avail, because in all that time they were there no one had seen one person leaving the ship or the carriage. Even Vicky noticed, and precisely for that reason she stood up and walked towards the castle first.

"I'm not really entirely sure if it's true, you know ..." Demelza murmured, a mixture of amusement and guilt about having lied to a friend.

Ginny giggled loudly. "It's probably true then!" she consoled her.

*o*o*o*o*o*

"So have you made friends with the foreigners?" William asked scornfully, when, at half past five, the girls got ready and went down to the Common Room to join their friends in going down to the Great Hall before the champions' verdict. The room was clearly filled with some agitation, and the students' chatter revolved around nothing but the champions, the tournament, Cedric Diggory…

Ginny glanced at her friends, and replied: "The foreigners don't go for walks, they didn't come out at all."

"Oh really?" asked Colin, who had finally joined his friends after a long time, having left his little brother in the company of some of his classmates, albeit with regret. William turned to the girl, all concerned not to miss a single word.

"Yep," Vicky snorted, and from the single syllable emerged all her considerable disappointment, "and now if you don't mind, I would like to go down to the Great Hall for dinner and see who will be the Hogwarts champion; and if you would permit, I want to go now!" she added, barking at Ritchie's legs spread out in front of her feet.

Once she had passed the boy, she promptly climbed through the portrait hole.

"She almost knocked me onto the ground, did you see her, Ritchie?" Colin asked quickly, amazed.

"Oh, she really took it badly, eh?" Christopher muttered.

"So it seems," Ginny giggled, amused, while Demelza stared worriedly at where her friend had just disappeared.

"Let's hurry up too, come on!" Ritchie urged them, and was the second to climb through the portrait.

*o*o*o*o*o*

The Halloween feast was more delicious than usual, which was most likely because it was really a special time for the students. As for Ginny, the bright feast filled with pumpkins and sweets horribly reminded her of the first year feast, and for a moment she sat stunned, before remembering that she had not gone back in time and that this Halloween would have been more than happy. Thinking back, the Halloweens at Hogwarts had always been a total fiasco: first the Chamber of Secrets, then the business of Sirius Black ... the girl hoped that at least this time everything would go well.

"The Goblet of Fire is almost ready to make his decisions," Dumbledore announced suddenly, when the gold plates were wiped immaculate. "Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber, where they will be receiving their first instructions."

There was really very little to say: under the silence, the Great Hall was boiling with excitement.

"We hope it's Angelina Johnson," Ginny said excitedly, glancing at the girl in question: tall, black and athletic, she was the Gryffindor Quidditch Slayer. They had talked a couple of times, and she was really very nice. Many Gryffindors seemed to think like Ginny, because they were incessantly comforting Angelina, smiling.

Meanwhile Dumbledore had taken out his wand and gave a broad wave: the candles went out, and the Goblet was the only sparkling source of light. The dancing blue flames of the cup were pleasing to the eye but soon those flames turned red, and sparks flew from it. From the Goblet of Fire darted a tongue of fire, and a piece of parchment was shot into the air. Dumbledore grabbed it and ...

"The champion for Durmstrang is Viktor Krum!" he read loudly and clearly.

There was a roar of applause and everyone congratulated the new Durmstrang champion, who was above all an internationally renowned Quidditch champion. Needless to say, those applauses and comments lasted a long time, as Krum headed awkwardly towards Dumbledore, only to disappear through the door the Headmaster had indicated.

"Who, if not Krum, for Durmstrang?" Ritchie said cheerfully, applauding again.

"GO KRUM!" Vicky shrieked in a shrill voice, as if she were at the World Cup stadium.

Suddenly, the clapping and the comments were instantly extinguished: the Goblet had given off another tongue of fire, followed closely by a spark. Now everyone's attention was focused on the Goblet, as a second piece of parchment was sent into the air.

"The champion for Beauxbatons champion is Fleur Delacour!"

Ginny and the others clapped politely while the girl who looked like a Veela, who had laughed during Dumbledore's first speech when everyone had arrived at the castle, and who had strutted and sailed to the Gryffindor table taking French food, stood up gracefully and, throwing back her brilliant hair, advanced towards Dumbledore.

"Oooh, they're left bad," Demelza whispered, pointing to the other Beauxbatons students.

No, they were not simply left bad… even worse, actually! Two girls had burst into tears, sobbing with all their strength, their heads resting on their arms, while some friends consoled them.

When Fleur Delacour also disappeared into the room, the excitement could be felt even in the bones: it was the Hogwarts champion's turn. The Goblet of Fire turned red once more and everyone held their breath noisily when Dumbledore grabbed that third piece of parchment. Whoever knows who would be representing the school, whoever knows who would be participating in the tournament…

"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" shouted Dumbledore.

There was a deafening roar, which Ginny compared to the Quidditch World Cup: every single Hufflepuff had jumped up, shouting Cedric's name and jumping, as the boy advanced among his companions with a big smile on his face. Some Gryffindors and Ravenclaws also stood up, while the clapping still raged in the Great Hall. Even after Cedric passed through the door behind the teachers' table, the applauses took quite a while to stop.

"Excellent, we now have our three champions!" Dumbledore cried cheerfully. "I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support ..."

But he broke off suddenly, and everyone understood why: the fire of the Goblet was not blue, but it had turned red. There was another round of bright sparks, and without warning, a fourth piece of parchment was thrown into the air. Dumbledore held out his hand and caught it, staring at it in disbelief.

"What the hell is going on?" Demelza whispered, hands shaking with agitation.

"A fourth sheet of parchment, and what does it mean? Weren't there three champions already? You had told me that ... "

"Shut up, Colin!"

For a long moment there was a silence, full of tension and curiosity, then Dumbledore read out: "Harry Potter"

Ginny opened her mouth wide and turned abruptly to look at the boy, who sat blankly, food dropped from his hand onto the floor. No. It's impossible. He's not the required age… not even Fred and George had managed! By now, all the heads of the Great Hall had turned to look but Harry didn't seem to care much, because he kept staring at Dumbledore and the piece of parchment in his hand, convinced that it was a bad joke. There was no applause, but there were no excuses ...

"How is it possible?" Vicky wondered, turning to Demelza.

"He wouldn't have put his name in there himself. Seriously, Harry would not do it!" Colin defended him resolutely.

"No ..." Demelza whispered tense, "it certainly couldn't have been him! The Goblet of Fire is a very powerful magical object and a fourteen-year-old could never make a spell so powerful to confuse it, there must have been a mistake!"

Ginny could not say a word, shaking her head as if this was really a Halloween joke.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore said again. "Harry, up here, if you please."

The boy staggered up, stumbling on his own feet, and walked through the space between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, still agitated and very pale. All eyes were fixed on him, comments and whispers were directed only to him, whispers that became more and more intense as Harry approached Dumbledore. In the end, he disappeared behind the door with the three other champions. As soon as Dumbledore and teachers followed him, hell broke loose.

"He's a cheater!" a Hufflepuff screamed.

"He is not seventeen!"

"The glory was Cedric's! Why did he steal it?!"

"He cheated us all!"

By now, the protests were echoing between the four walls of the Great Hall.

"There must be something wrong!" Ginny exclaimed

"Could it be that…well… maybe he got someone bigger to put his name in for him?" William asked uncertainly.

"He would never do that!" Ginny was furious, glaring at the boy as if he was mad.

"Hey, it's just a theory..."

"Calm down everyone, it's clear that it was not him!" Demelza snapped, taking control of the situation. "Even if he did as William says..." she raised his voice because Ginny had opened her mouth to protest, "... no fourteen-year-old student could have made a spell so powerful—like I said earlier—to make the Goblet forget that there are only three, and not four schools!"

Everyone was speechless.

"And that is it," she concluded simply, screaming just because the exclamations in the hall raged higher and higher.

When McGonagall returned to the Great Hall and ordered everyone to quiet down and leave for their dorms, everyone obeyed. The Gryffindors were chatting excitedly as they walked up the corridors to the Tower. Ginny, however, was restless ... she trusted the boy, and knew it was not him. How much more would he have to endure to make others believe him?

Again, a Hogwarts Halloween was ruined.

Poor Harry. Please review if you liked this, we would really appreciate it. I know it's basically a replay of the original, but the perspective is nice I guess. So, echoing Ermory, see y'all next week (that's the first time I've ever used y'all and it's weird)

~Helena H.

Next: The first task

P.S. I have NO idea what the hell scarlet woman means. And I didn't know what on Earth to do with it, so I left it there.