Halloween was approaching now but even though Romina loved the holiday, she couldn't find it in her to be in the spirits for it. And it wasn't like she wasn't surrounded by Halloween. Pumpkins had begun going up as decorations around the school. Their meals had started bearing the pumpkin themes as well. Many of the students were already planning on what their Halloween eve would look like apart from the fact it would also be the night the champions of the Triwizard would be announced. It was all perfect...so why the hell wasn't it?
Romina had to shake herself out of her thoughts to give Angel the attention he deserved. They sat on the floor of the common room with the table between them; Carolinha and Daphne sat on the couch behind Angel. Angel, bless his heart, had tried familiarizing himself with the muggle traditions of Halloween and he was eager to show Romina what he had so far.
"I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not sure I like the idea of muggles going around imitating us but I guess it's harmless doing costume competitions," he was saying. Behind him, Carolinha was showing Daphne the magazine full of muggle costumes that Angel had somehow acquired.
"You're telling me," Carolinha scoffed. "People actually walk the streets dressed as ketchup and mustard bottles?"
Romina nodded. "Yup. My favorite pair I've seen has to be the PB and J."
"PB and what?" Daphne lifted an eyebrow at her.
"Peanut butter and jelly," Romina said, surprised that she had to even explain that.
"What have you dressed up as, Romina?" Angel curiously asked, though with a hint of a flush. He thought she probably looked adorable in whatever costumes she'd picked in the earlier years.
Romina was none the wiser as she thought back to the years before Hogwarts. "I was Tinkerbell the last year I went to my muggle school. That's the little fairy in Peter Pan with the green dress, doesn't talk." All three of her friends gave her the same blank stare. "Not ringing any bells? No, of course it wouldn't be. Before that, I was a witch of course. Couldn't help myself with that one. I've also been a vampire slayer, a cheerleader, and queen."
"Way to be on the nose," Angel remarked, making Romina laugh. "Witch, vampire slayer and a bloody queen? Really?"
Romina flushed pink with embarrassment. "I thought I was being cool about it."
Angel leaned forwards, resting his arms over the table. "More like blatantly obvious."
"What? That was I queen?" Romina pushed her hair behind her shoulders. "Why yes, that is blatantly obvious." Carolinha and Daphne both snorted. "Thanks for pointing that out."
Angel playfully rolled his eyes. "Sure, you're the queen."
"Say it again!"
Angel wasn't even surprised anymore. "You're the queen, Romina." It was all worth it when he heard Romina's giggle. That was what Draco and Arden saw when they emerged from the corridor.
"Trying to be a little more obvious there, Angel?" Draco made the call before he even finished thinking it. Soon as it left his mouth though, Arden shoved her elbow into his side. "Ow!" He threw her a glare.
Arden upheld his glare with her own, silently reminding him about what they'd just talked about. "Maybe we should go," she 'suggested'.
"Go where?" Romina asked them, forgetting the conversation altogether. She had begun understanding what Theodore meant the last time they talked. It seemed like she was never able to find either Arden or Draco alone. They were either gone or together. It was beyond strange and kind of irking her.
"None of your business, Oswell," Draco muttered and started walking for the entry door.
Arden groaned as she hurried after him. "We just talked about this!"
"Talked about what?" Romina never got her answer. Arden disappeared with Draco once again. Romina scowled. "What the hell is going on?"
"Romina, don't even worry yourself with Draco," Angel said, leading to a very huffy response.
"I am not worried," Romina said, "I would never be worried about him."
"Well good because you shouldn't be," Angel said, "I've noticed that you're not arguing with him a lot anymore."
"Oh, we've noticed that too and thank god because it was getting annoying," Daphne remarked. She'd gone back to the flipping through the magazine with Carolinha.
Romina shook her head. "We haven't stopped, he's just…not doing a lot anymore."
"Isn't that good?" Carolinha made a face because the way Romina had spoken led to believe that she was annoyed.
"Yeah, course it is," Romina scratched behind her ear. She wasn't going to admit that it was somehow leaving her a little disheartened inside. If Draco had lost interest, then it meant he had no intention of fixing things with her. He was ready to leave things as they were.
"Romina, are you okay?" Angel asked after silence stretched between them for too long.
Once again, Romina had to shake herself out of her thoughts. She needed to stop thinking so much about things. But then there's Arden…
"Actually, I forgot I have to finish some homework," she ultimately decided to say. She got up from the floor and went straight for her dorm. She would bury her face in homework if it meant warring off thoughts for a while.
~ 0 ~
"I told you not to say anything if it was going to be mean, sour or downright snappy," Arden reprimanded Draco once they were far away from the common room. They walked together down the hallway.
"It's Angel who's doing it," Draco snapped. "You know he's pulling all this crap to finally make a move on Oswell, right?"
"So?" Arden snapped, thumping him on the side of his head. "That's none of our concern!"
He smacked her hand away from him. "Don't touch me!"
"Then stop being an idiot! Who cares what Angel's doing? At the rate you're going, Romina's never going to speak to you again. Isn't that what you should be more concerned about?"
Draco didn't say anything but the huff he gave was answer enough. Arden picked up on the fact he used that as an admittance to something he didn't want to say out loud.
"Just take my advice already and talk to her," Arden said for what she was sure was the millionth time.
"It's hard."
"How?"
"She infuriates me!" And that was the nicest way Draco could put it. He wasn't sure if Romina had always been like that but lately she was annoying him in every way possible. She never let go of the stupid war she started with him. For every thing he said, she had something to quip back. He liked a challenge but why did she have to constantly be in a battle with him while others like Angel got all the playful banter, the nice eyes and giggles—
He stopped walking abruptly. Unwelcomed heat rushed up the back of his neck and face.
Arden was a few steps ahead before she noticed Draco was no longer with her. She looked back at him and wondered what the hell he was frozen for. "What are you doing?" She raised an eyebrow at him. She swore she saw him jump.
"Nothing!" he said quickly. He pushed away all thoughts concerning Romina and her giggles. In fact, he shoved them to the deepest part of his mind. He had no business thinking about that.
"Okay, are you going to do what I'm telling you to or are you going to drag this out for another month?" Arden asked, "Because we've been at this all October."
"I just need more time," Draco said. Arden blinked in surprise. That was a different answer than the previous times. The first time he had said some not so nice words to her for "talking to him like that" and whatnot. He was thinking about talking which, in fairness, was a step up. He was thinking how best to approach the subject with Romina.
So Arden would take it.
~0~
"My dear Aline!" Romina had heard Fred's call from a good distance. She tried her best to escape down the hallway but in the end, the Weasley twins captured her by the arms and lifted her up to then carry her.
"When will you stop doing this!?" Romina groaned, her legs swinging back and forth in her attempts to get down.
"When you grow some more," George said then shares a snort with his brother.
"You jerks!" Romina exclaimed.
"Calm down, Aline," Fred said once they put her down. They had carried her all the way to the courtyard. "We just wanted to discuss some things with you."
"And for that you had to carry me through the whole school?" Romina fixed her shirt that had ridden up a little on the ride. "Can't you be normal?"
"We have style," George said proudly, flicking the collars of his shirt. Fred did the same.
"You have something alright — nerve," Romina shook her head. Both twins laughed in agreement. "So what do you want?"
"We were just wondering what ideas you had for Halloween this year," Fred said.
"Right." Romina crossed her arms over her chest.
"Any new Muggle tricks you learned for us?" Fred wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Ron said you watched some new muggle Halloween movies during summer. Anything we can use?"
"That depends, do you guys do musicals?" Romina smirked. "Cos the Nightmare Before Christmas had some good songs."
"I'm not sure singing is where our talents lay," George said, "But you're more than welcome to join us."
"Yeah, my thing's the violin. Arden does the singing."
"Arden?" Harry heard the last thing Romina had said. He, Ron and Hermione were walking up to the trio. "If she doesn't watch out, she's going to get hexed."
Before Romina could ask what he meant, Ron answered it. "We just saw her with Malfoy in the library."
"Again?" Romina said a tad softly. Last time she heard, Arden said she was heading for the astronomy tower to work on a project.
"Again?" Ron made a face. "You mean she's willingly spending time with Malfoy?"
"Maybe they were working on a project," Hermione said with a groan. "We shouldn't be getting into anyone's business, even if it is someone like Malfoy."
"I care for Arden only," Harry clarified. "She's our neighbor and friend, right Romina?"
Romina nodded silently. She was more preoccupied wondering why the hell Arden lied to her earlier. Theodore is right. He has to be. Except it absolutely irked her that he was right.
"Well if he gets smart with Arden, Georgie and I are more than happy to help out with some tricks," Fred said, swinging a shoulder around Romina. "We have an insider in the Slytherin House." Romina felt his subtle nudge and as much as she wanted to smile, it wasn't wide enough.
"Romina, we were going to go visit Hagrid, if you wanted to come," Harry said, eyeing her strangely.
"Um, yeah, that would be nice," Romina said, deciding that she needed to stop thinking so much about business that wasn't anything to do with her. Hermione was right.
"What about our tricks, Romina?" George asked, feigning offence that they were being forgotten.
Romina playfully rolled her eyes. "I'll make a list of all the cool things I saw in the last Halloween movies."
"There's our partner in crime!" Fred gave her a big hug from the side and followed it with a sloppy kiss on her cheek.
"Ah! Fred!" Romina exclaimed, swatting him away from her.
"Off we go, George!" Fred announced as he took off in a sprint.
"Agreed!" George nodded. He made to leave but at the last second, he dove for Romina and kissed her other cheek.
"GUYS!" Romina yelled after the pair who couldn't have run any faster. "Ron, your brothers are insufferable!"
"Which ones," Ron said, causing a round of snickers.
"C'mon Rom," Harry slid his arm around Romina's shoulders.
"Just don't kiss my cheek," she warned as they started down for Hagrid's hut.
"Kiss the spots where Fred and George kissed you? Yeah, I'll pass," Harry said, crinkling his nose at the thought. "Maybe later."
"Jerk," Romina chuckled.
~0~
As it turned out, Romina remembered exactly what had soured her mood before visiting Hagrid. Seeing Arden in the Great Hall reminded Romina. Looking around to make sure that no one else (specifically a blonde) was around, Romina headed for their table.
"Oh hey," Arden greeted Romina when she sat down beside her. "I was wondering where you went."
"I went with Harry, Ron and Hermione to visit Hagrid." Romina started going through their dinner options on the table.
"How nice!"
"Mhm…" Romina watched her friend pick up her goblet to drink.
Arden noticed it soon enough and cut her drink short. "What?"
Romina ducked her head; she swallowed hard. She was itching to bring up the subject but she had no idea how.
Thankfully, Arden had known Romina for such a long time now. She knew Romina like the back of her hand. "What is it?" Arden asked her. "Something's on your mind."
"N-no…"
"Romina, I can see it. Come out with it," Arden motioned. "Afraid I'll bite or what? C'mon." Arden nudged her on the side until Romina ended up smiling. "What's the secret?"
It's yours, Romina sourly thought. "Arden, you would...you would tell me if something big happened in your life, right?"
Arden snorted. "Yeah, just as soon as something happens."
Romina sighed in annoyance. She left her plate and shifted to face Arden. "You know that in this entire world, you and Harry are my best friends." Arden nodded. "You two are the people I most trust. You've been with me way before Hogwarts. I love you guys."
"Me too, Romina," Arden agreed. "And I'm sure Harry feels the same way. Why are you talking like this?"
Romina was frustrated. She was frustrated with Arden for not telling her the big secret about her and Draco. She was frustrated with herself for not being able to directly ask Arden about it.
"Romina, what is it?" Arden pressed for the answer. Whatever was nagging at Romina's mind had to be big to make her act like this.
"Arden, you would tell me if you were seeing someone right?" Romina finally asked. "Whoever it was...right?"
Arden had no idea where the question had come from but if it was bothering Romina so much, she would just answer it. "Yes, of course."
Romina nodded, staying silent to give Arden the chance to speak. Except, Arden didn't. She didn't know what else she was supposed to say. "You would tell me, right!?" Romina asked again, nodding at Arden to speak.
"I already said yes," Arden said, making a face of confusion. "Why, is anyone interested? Oh! Is it that cute Durmstrang boy Blaise talks to? Cos he is cute!"
"Arden!" Romina snapped, startling the brunette. "Aren't you—is there something you want to tell me?"
"Not really, no," Arden answered slowly, eyeing Romina with concern. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
Romina couldn't believe her ears. "Me!?" she said incredulously.
"Yeah, what is it with you lately?" Arden genuinely wanted to know. "Is it this Draco thing that's finally getting to you?"
Romina wanted to tell. She wanted to yell so badly. She swallowed it down, slamming her hands on the table as she stood up.
"Romina, what's happening?" Arden stood up with Romina but the latter was storming away before Arden even touched her. "Romina!"
"Leave me alone!"
~0~
Romina did not speak to Arden for the rest of the week. She found it incredibly hard to get over the fact Arden lied to her face. Romina felt like she needed time to get rid of her anger before she could talk to Arden again.
Meanwhile, Arden was going crazy trying to figure out why on Earth Romina was so upset with her. As much as she thought, she couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. She even got the others in their group to try and help her out but they were just as lost as she was.
"I'm turning into you," she told Draco before their Divination class was to begin. "She's not talking to me."
"Sounds to me like she just came to her senses," Draco remarked, smirking at Arden's scowling reaction. "All this time, you've been nagging me about screwing up. Now look where you are."
"Why the hell do I even talk to you?" Arden muttered.
"Because I made my payment," Draco was happy to respond with. It was hilarious reminding Arden that she was basically in debt with him until further notice. Course then Pansy showed up to claim her seat next to him and reminded him exactly how big his payment had been. And Romina had yet to direct a word to him.
"What do you want, King?" Pansy demanded.
Arden didn't even bother with her. She locked eyes with Draco and pointed a finger at him. "Talk to her now."
Draco would've liked to demand how the hell he was supposed to do that when Romina made it her personal mission to stay clear of them both. He ended up thinking about some ways during class. Trewlany never had anything interesting to say anyways. Plus, Pansy would take care of the work for him. (It was the only good thing that came out of the exchange).
After class, Arden made sure to remind him to go find Romina. He had to shake Pansy off him, literally—she was clinging to his arm—to go search for the stubborn girl. Whether it was lucky or not, he spotted Romina sitting by herself in the courtyard. She held a book in her hands, muggle by the looks of it.
"'Princess Bride'?" He asked in bemusement when he sat down beside her.
Romina silently flipped the page. She should've known better than to pick a public spot for reading. Hermione Granger owed her for such stupid advice. This was supposed to calm me down...
"Gotta say, Oswell, I didn't take you for the princess or bride type," Draco remarked. He smirked when Romina met his eye.
"I can like many things," she said with no emotion whatsoever, "But don't get it confused. It's not your typical princess story."
"Does it have a prince?"
"Yes but—" Romina was quick to say when she saw Draco opening his mouth, "—he's actually the evil one. It's the masked man in black who gets the girl."
Draco snorted. "Seriously? I didn't know you were that type!"
Romina scowled at him. "Shut it! Can't you go somewhere else? Bother some poor first year or something!?"
"I needed to talk to you!"
Romina scoffed. "Now you want to talk to me?"
"Hey, I've been trying to find you but you keep hiding or something!"
"I am not hiding from anybody." Lies. Romina was definitely doing her best to avoid him and Arden. It was easier with Draco because they didn't share a dorm. "If I was hiding, would I really come out to read here of all places? Use your brain, if you have one of course."
"You didn't have any doubts when we were partners in Potions," Draco reminded her with a smug smile. "You were definitely happy with the results."
Romina rolled her eyes. "You love the attention you get from your class partners, don't you? Heard you specifically switched Theodore for Pansy of all people. I know Divination isn't all that hard but...even then..."
Whatever smugness Draco had vanished. "I did not ask for Pansy."
Romina scoffed. "Right." She turned the page of her book.
"I didn't!"
"Then why did you switch partners?"
"Why are you so interested?"
"Because Theodore's came up to me about three times to complain about you and Arden blowing him off. Honestly, whatever you two have going on, do me the favor and leave me out of them."
"Going on…? What the hell are you talking about?"
Romina finally stopped pretending to read—she had been looking at the same sentence over and over for minutes now—and looked at Draco. Her eyes had widened to make her point that this was Draco's moment to tell her the truth. Given that Draco had no idea what this truth was, he could only stare back. The blank stare was Romina's final straw.
She smacked his shoulder with her book. "You're insufferable!"
"What did I do now!?" Draco was sure he was going to lose count on how many times Romina had hit him with something.
"And you've got some nerve!" Romina exclaimed, smacking him again with her book.
"Can I at least know what I had the nerve of this time!?"
Romina's answer came in the form of another smack. "Like you don't know!"
"I don't!" Draco saw the next smack coming when Romina raised her book again. He caught it before it hit him on the head. "Stop hitting me!"
Romina held onto her book tightly and tried pulling it out of Draco's hands. "Let go!"
"Why? So you can go ahead and 'lightly tap' me again?" Draco would never forget the poor excuse she gave him the last time she decided to get violent with him. Romina should count her lucky stars he didn't retaliate for that one. Anyone else who dared to hit him on the head in front of a whole crowd would've been hexed.
"If you don't let go of my book right now, you're going to wish all I did was 'tap' you!"" Romina pulled on her book again. Draco was surprisingly stronger than he looked. Her pull did almost nothing. She could feel his fingers touching hers each time she pulled. It shouldn't be causing her any type of sensation. The same went for the stupid smirk on his face.
"Got lost in my eyes there?" Draco made the question just as soon as it'd come to mind. It was too hard to resist.
"You wish," Romina said, releasing her book in the process. She laughed when he nearly fell back from the sudden loss of her pull.
"Oh, that was funny?" Draco released a breath once he'd reclaimed his balance on the bench.
Romina nodded, the ghost of her laugh still playing at her lips. "Mhm, yeah."
Draco mocked her for a brief second before whacking her on the head with her own book. It wiped any trace of a smile and laugh from her.
"You hit me!" Romina said, eyes wide and mouth in a gape.
"You hit me like 10 times already!"
Even though that was very true, Romina wouldn't admit it. "Give me that!" She snatched her book from him. "Go find Arden or Pansy or whoever the hell you're talking to these days!" She jumped from the bench and glared.
"I'm talking to you right now but I frankly don't understand what's going on." This was nowhere near what Draco envisioned when he thought of talking to Romina...but she always had a way of changing things around him. He got up as well and faced Romina. "Why are you so...grumpy lately?"
"I am not grumpy!"
"Yeah, you are. It's adorable up to a certain point…" Draco said, trailing off when he noticed the fluster on Romina's face. He smirked. "Alright there, Oswell?"
Romina couldn't stand his smirk. "I hate you!" She gave him one more smack with her book then stormed off.
"Don't think you do!" Draco called after her in an almost sing-song manner.
She absolutely hated him.
~ 0 ~
The Halloween feast was, as usual, delicious. The Great Hall was filled with floating candles and pumpkins but what really took the attention was the Goblet of Fire's new place at the head of the room. Tonight, the three champions would finally be announced. Everybody was jittery, to say the least. Even Romina was excited despite the fact that Mr. Crouch was back in the school. She had done her due diligence of not looking his way. She was having a much better time with Angel, Carolinha and Daphne anyways.
"'I myself am strange and unusual'," she mimicked Lydia Deetz after gushing about the character in her latest line of favorite Halloween movies. "She's who I would've gone as for Halloween this year."
"That movie just sounds weird," Daphne said, shaking her head.
"I think it's funny weird," Carolinha shrugged her shoulders. "Definitely haven't heard something else like that. Muggles are creative."
"It was such a good movie but remember—don't say Beetlejuice three times!" Romina warned with a playful finger.
"Yeah, that guy just...he doesn't sound too nice," Angel said with a grimace. "Why'd you like the movie again?"
"Because it's funny," Romina chuckled. "Our favorite part was the singing."
"And when you say 'our' you mean Arden…?" Angel watched Romina sober from her laugh at the mention of her best friend she currently wasn't speaking to.
Arden currently sat with the Carrol twins a bit further down the table, unsurprisingly (in Romina's mind anyways) not too far from where Draco was sitting with Blaise. Romina didn't even look in their direction.
"Don't start, Angel," she warned quietly.
"You've never gotten into a fight with Arden," Angel said. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Romina insisted. She grabbed one of the pumpkin pastries on her left. She would rather not think about the fact her best friend refused to tell her about her ongoing dating. She was thankful that the feast was done a few minutes later. She would much rather focus on the champions that were going to be called.
Dumbledore had risen from his seat, commanding the silence of the entire room. "And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champions selection!" He approached the Goblet whose flames were beginning to glow red. Soon, it shot into the air to spit out a piece of parchment.
Dumbledore caught it and unfolded it to read the first champion's name. "The Durmstrang champion is ... Viktor Krum!"
Everybody burst into cheers and applause as the Krum got up from the Slytherin table to walk up to Dumbledore. He shook hands with the headmaster then followed Crouch and Lugo Bagman towards a door behind them.
The Goblet soon spit out another name. The parchment was baby blue and perhaps laced?
"The champion from Beauxbatons... Fleur Delacour!"
A girl with near silver blonde hair rose from the Ravenclaw table. Romina recognized her as the girl Ron often fawned over. And by the looks of it, all the rest of the boys fawned over her too.
"Look, the other students aren't that happy," Carolinha remarked about the rest of the Beauxbatons students at the Ravenclaw table.
"Seriously," Romina said after shifting in her seat to get a better look. Some of them were actually crying. "Where's the solidarity my grandmother spoke of?"
Fleur soon disappeared along with Krum and now the final name had been released from the red flames. Excitement increased tenfold as they waited to hear who would be the Hogwarts champion.
"The Hogwarts champion... Cedric Diggory!"
The entirety of the Hufflepuff table jumped from their seats to cheer Cedric on. He was perhaps the most cheered for champion. Romina was no exception to the cheering.
"I know one of the champions!" She clapped excitedly.
"Excellent! We now have our three champions!" Dumbledore said once the applause had finally died down. "But in the end only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory the tri-wizard cup!"
But before he could say more, the Goblet hissed as its flames once more turned red. Confusion spread in the room as the flames released another piece of parchment.
Equally confused, Dumbledore reached for the fluttering parchment in the air. There was a long moment of awkward silence before Dumbledore finally read the name on the parchment. "...Harry Potter."
Silence.
Even Dumbledore seemed like he didn't believe what he had read. Gazing down at the parchment again, he repeated the name written down. "Harry...Harry Potter!"
Romina nearly keeled over. Her head flipped in the Gryffindor table's direction and saw Harry was frozen in his spot. All eyes were on him. Some students were even standing up just to stare at him better.
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again, lowering the parchment in his hand to spot the brunette.
"Go on Harry. Harry for goodness sake," Hermione urged Harry. It had to be better than just sitting there waiting for the vultures to come for him because oh they were going to come. Hermione saw at least a handful of angry eyes on Harry.
Harry was numb but his legs seemed to do him the grace of letting him stand up.
"He's a cheat! He's not even seventeen yet!" He heard someone say as he slowly walked up to the head of the room.
"What is he doing?" Carolinha whispered to Romina. "What on Earth does he think he's doing?"
Romina could only shake her head. There was no way in hell that Harry had figured out a way to slip his name into the Goblet. Better men had tried. So how the hell did his name end up in the Goblet?
~ 0 ~
It was absolute chaos in the Slytherin common room that night and the following morning. There wasn't a single soul who believed that Harry had not willingly put his name into the Goblet of Fire.
"Please, half of you didn't even like Cedric Diggory before tonight," Romina spat at a grumbling group of fifth years near the fireplace. "You all wanted a Slytherin champion so don't for a second say you loved Cedric."
"C'mon Oswell, you can't defend Potter for this one," Draco called. He, Blaise, Theodore and Angel were huddled at one of the tables. "He just wants the attention."
"Harry wouldn't be stupid enough to put his name into the Goblet, much less for attention," snapped Romina. "You're the one giving him the attention if we're being technical." She went straight for the dorms that night. She could very well pick a fight with everyone and she would if they asked for it.
"C'mon Romina," Carolinha watched Romina sulk on her bed later in the evening. "You really don't think Harry may have just gotten smart like the Weasley twins tried to a while back?"
"He wouldn't do it, Carol," Romina insisted. "God! Haven't any of you paid attention so far!? Harry doesn't seek attention! He doesn't put himself in mortal danger for fun!"
"Harry's not like that," Arden spoke quietly and avoided Romina's look. She was as unwelcomed as any other time but she would be damned if she listened to someone else claim that Harry put his name into the Goblet.
Romina did look in her direction but she didn't snap. For a moment, there was solidarity between them. Truthfully, Romina missed that.
"Then how did his name get in there?" Daphne curiously asked. "Because out there," she made a nod for the common room, "there's a lot of nasty rumors going around."
"They're just that, Daphne, rumors," Romina said sharply. "I beg you guys not to believe in them. I know Harry, okay? I have all my life. He did not do this." Carolinha and Daphne ultimately nodded but there was still a hint of doubt. Romina didn't waste the night arguing with them. She had a feeling there would be plenty of unconvinced people to deal with in the days to come.
~0~
Romina was able to find Harry the next morning but was surprised to find out that Ron was one of the people who firmly believed Harry put his name into the Goblet.
"He's finally lost it," Romina whispered after hearing Harry's moment with Ron the previous night.
"I tried telling Harry it's more jealousy than anything else. It's always Harry getting the attention whether or not he wants it." Hermione seemed torn between both sides. Romina understood her. It wouldn't be easy handling both boys for the time being.
"I don't," Harry practically snarled. He was just as furious as Ron was with him. He expected his best friends to believe him! Two out of three did!
"Really, try to understand him," Hermione insisted. "Ron's got all these brothers to compete against at home and you're his best friend and you're really famous…"
Romina made a cutting motion across her neck. Harry could give a damn about anything else right now.
"Great, really great," huffed Harry, "Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it. People gasping at my forehead everywhere I go…"
"I'm not telling him anything," Hermione snapped. She didn't deserve any of his attitude, that much she was sure of. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."
"She's right on that, Harry," Romina remarked only to earn a deep scoff from Harry in return.
"You haven't spoken to Arden in how many weeks now?"
Romina blinked. Fair point.
"I'm not running after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry continued. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself when I've got all my neck broken or—"
"That is nowhere near funny," Hermione scolded him.
"Bad joke indeed," Romina said, "At least tell me you've already written to Sirius about this?"
"I told him earlier," Hermione informed.
"And let me guess, he hasn't?"
"Not that I know of!"
"I'm right here!" Harry snapped at the pair. "And I'm not doing it. He came back to the country just because my scar twinged! He'll probably come bursting into the castle if I tell him that someone entered me in the Triwizard Tournament!"
"Doesn't matter, he would want to know," Hermione said sternly.
"He's going to find out anyways, Harry, might as well cut out the middle man," Romina patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"How?" He asked, clearly unconvinced.
"It's called the frikin media, Harry! The Daily Prophet is guaranteed to be covering this and given that you're 14...I'm pretty sure it's going to be some big news."
Harry stayed quiet, and pensive. That did make sense. Sirius was in hiding but he didn't live under a rock. "Fine," he sighed. "I'll write."
"Thank you," Romina said, voicing Hermione's relief as well.
The two girls personally accompanied Harry to the owlery to witness the letter being written. They couldn't take the chance of Harry backing out at the last minute.
~ 0 ~
The days that came after were no better for Harry. Romina didn't have to be in Gryffindor to know that. In fact, it was probably better that she was in another House. She saw things perfectly.
The Hufflepuffs were absolutely livid with him. None of them were talking to the Gryffindors. Even the Ravenclaws were doing their best to avoid the Gryffindors. Romina didn't bother much with her own House. The Slytherins were split in three. One side was just as livid as the Hufflepuffs, the second side were genuinely interested to see how the hell fourth year Harry Potter was going to compete against the more advanced students and the last side simply didn't care.
"I don't think we should be splitting our loyalties between Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory," Luna Lovegood shared her unique opinion with Romina one afternoon. The two girls had found a comfortable spot in the courtyard where Luna could show Romina the latest edition of the Quibbler.
Romina smiled to herself. Luna never had one bad thing to say about anyone, not even one bad thought. "I wholeheartedly agree, Luna."
Luna shrugged slightly. "Hogwarts has two champions. We're fortunate, really."
"I don't think Harry sees it that way," Romina said with a light sigh. She leaned on Luna's side to get a glimpse of the next page of the Quibbler. "He's scared. He's got less years of experience and the fact that most of the school hates him doesn't help either."
"I'll cheer for him," Luna said, making Romina smile. Luna hadn't even properly met Harry. She just knew him through Romina and Ginny Weasley.
"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," Romina said.
"Romina," she heard Rolf call. He was approaching the two girls. "Hey!"
"Hi Rolf," Romina smiled at him. "Luna, this is my cousin, Rolf Scamander." The bright blonde girl wiggled her fingers at Rolf. "Rolf, this is my friend, Luna Lovegood."
"Yeah," Rolf nodded. Romina guessed that he knew much of Luna's quirky reputation like the rest of the school. "Hey," he smiled at Luna. "You reading the Quibbler?"
"Luna shows me the editions every month," Romina said.
"My father's the editor," Luna explained.
"Oh, that's cool!" Rolf exclaimed. Luna beamed. It wasn't often that people said things like that to her.
Romina looked between the pair with a small smile. "You want to read it with us?" she asked Rolf, figuring Luna would be more than happy to share with another person. Romina didn't think anyone else really read the Quibbler, much less with Luna herself.
"Sure!" Rolf said, making way for Luna's other side on the bench. "Oh, I almost forgot. Romina, I just ran into Arden King—she was asking for you."
Romina's eyes lowered to the Quibbler's pages. She had no idea why turnips were supposed to be lucky but she would rather read that than deal with this conversation.
Luna, however, had no idea that Romina wasn't on speaking terms with Arden. "Arden is your friend, isn't she?"
"Was," Romina whispered before clearing her throat. She looked up and happened to see Harry walking from the opposite end. "You know what? I forgot I have to go talk to Harry about something. Rolf, you want to read the Quibbler with Luna?"
"Umm…yeah, but what about Arden?"
"I'll see her later," Romina said, promptly getting up from her seat. "I'll see you guys later." She hurried away before either Luna or Rolf said something else about Arden.
Unsurprisingly, Harry was alone when Romina walked up to him. Hermione was off in the library and he just couldn't stand spending so much time there.
"Not like Ron, huh?" Romina giggled.
Harry's expression soured at the mention of Ron. "Not at all but you know what? At least Hermione believed me."
"He'll come around, Harry, I know it," Romina assured. "Has, um, has Sirius written back yet?"
"Yeah, yesterday. He wants to talk face to face."
Romina stopped walking, widened eyes meeting Harry's. "How's that going to work?"
"I'm sure Sirius has a way. He told me this Saturday at one o'clock in the morning."
"Tell him everything, Harry, got it?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I know—"
"I mean it, Harry Potter. Everything," Romina pointed at him. She knew exactly how Harry was. He would try to hide things from Sirius no matter how dangerous it got.
"Yes, I promise, sheesh!" Harry exclaimed. "Get off my back, will you? It's not been a lovely week."
"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry," Romina said. "I did get to read Rita Skeeter's article about you—erm, you didn't tell her that you cry at nights, right?" Harry deadpanned her until she answered herself. "Right, course…"
"Everything in that article was lies," Harry huffed. "I didn't say any of that stuff."
"It's like Hollywood," Romina said.
They started walking again, albeit slowly as they continued to discuss the lies that were sure to come in future articles if Rita Skeeter was the author.
"But listen, Harry, just know that I'll be cheering for you. In fact, even Luna Lovegood is on your side!"
"The only Ravenclaw," Harry mumbled.
"Well, I know that Angel, Carolinha and even Daphne are rooting for you. Just, um, don't be surprised if you hear the girls gushing about Cedric too."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Is it just them gushing over Cedric? I seem to recall you doing the same thing at one point."
Romina's face turned a bright red. "Shut up he's cute,," she promptly said, making Harry chuckle. "You know I'm your number one supporter!"
"Right. Hey, what does Arden say about this?" Harry had to ask. He'd been trying to broach the subject but lately his days were consumed by his own problems.
"I don't know what she says these days," Romina shrugged.
"Rom, why are you two fighting? You never fight."
"I abhor lies, Harry, you know that. And right now, Arden is lying to me. I know she is and she knows it too but she doesn't admit to it."
"I really can't see Arden lying to you of all people," Harry said, even making a face at how absurd that was. He'd known both Romina and Arden since before Hogwarts and if there was one person Arden King could never lie to, it was Romina. Romina was Arden's confidant for everything. It was vice versa.
"Well she has now," Romina said quietly, "And it hurts. I thought we were best friends."
"Just talk to her, Rom," Harry insisted and heard Romina's loud groan.
She picked up her pace, leaving Harry to trail after her. "No!" she yelled. "I've given her ample time to come clean! I'm not going after her for anything!"
"Oh, so you're so keen to tell me to talk to Ron but you won't take your own advice?"
"That's different!"
"How!?"
Romina whirled around, coming face to face with Harry. They bore the same challenging glares. Ironically it was something that Arden used to point out whenever they got into moments like these. Unfortunately, Arden was nowhere near to help ease the tension, neither was Hermione for that matter. The only person nearby wasn't quite interested in helping them out.
"Why so tense Potter?" They heard Draco's voice somewhere nearby.
Romina and Harry tore their eyes from each other to face Draco, only that took a moment seeing as they couldn't actually find him. Romina happened to look up and found the blonde perched up on a tree. Her face scrunched up in utter confusion. "What the fuck are you doing up on a tree?" Harry followed her gaze up and frowned.
"Gotta see the sights, Oswell," Draco remarked, "You know you spent about an hour with Looney Lovegood over there? How interesting can that really be?"
"You spy on me now?" Romina raised an eyebrow. "Are you that bored? Or just that creepy?"
"Rom, let's just go," Harry reached for Romina's arm. He had absolutely no mood to deal with Draco today.
"Don't go so quickly, Potter," Draco called, stopping the pair in their tracks. "You know, my father and I have a bet going on. I don't think you're gonna last ten minutes in this tournament. He disagrees. He thinks you won't last five."
Now it was Romina trying to tug Harry away.
"I don't give a damn what you or your father thinks Malfoy," he snapped, "He's vile and cruel, and you're just pathetic. Let's go, Rom!" He turned right on his feet and strode away, leaving Romina to scurry after him.
Neither saw Draco jump from his spot on the tree, hand whipping out his wand to aim on Harry's back. The loud bang stopped Harry and Romina in their tracks, but neither understood where it came from, nor why several students had yelled. They turned around and saw Moody not too far from them with his wand out and levitating a...white ferret?
"I'll teach you to cast when someone's back is turned!" growled Moody apparently at the creature. It bounced in the air, going zig-zag all around.
"I'm so confused," Romina whispered to Harry, both of them in a trance much like the growing crowd around them.
"I'm not," Harry said, his eyes widening as he started making the connections. Romina saw the odd smile on his face. "That's Malfoy, ha!"
"What?" Romina hissed.
"Didn't get you, did he?" called Moody over to Harry. Harry shook his head, his grin might as well be glued on by this point. Moody forced the ferret into a smack against the ground.
Romina flinched. She actually heard the smack. "Make him stop!" She tugged on Harry's arm but he was frozen and not out of horror. "Harry!"
"What's going on?" Romina then heard Arden's voice through the crowd. The brunette pushed her way through the crowd until she was close enough to be pulled by Romina. "Romina, what's—"
"That's Draco!"
"What?" Arden's eyes widened and her mouth pursed together to hold back a laugh. Moody was now punctuating his reprimands by smacking the ferret against the ground, the tree and even a stone bench.
Romina groaned. "Arden! Do something! That's your boyfriend!"
"HE'S MY WHAT?" Arden's scream could have rivaled the growing laughter from the crowd. She was absolutely affronted with the confident claim.
Romina frantically pushed Arden out of her way to run through the crowd. She shoved whoever was in her way until she was on the other side. She had no idea where she was going but she had a good idea of the people she was looking for.
She found McGonagall in the hallway and without thinking, Romina yelled her name until she had run up to the professor.
"Miss Oswell!" McGonagall naturally reprimanded her. "That is no way to address somebody!"
Romina was out of breath from running and yelling. "Professor — outside — Professor Moody — and Draco! He's a...!" Romina had to hold her knees to keep herself standing. She was a blundering mess and she knew it.
McGonagall was downright appalled with what she was seeing. "Miss Oswell, calm yourself down and then find me. Perhaps with a little bit more etiquette."
"But Professor!"
"Keep this going and I will take points from Slytherin!"
"I don't care!" Romina snapped frantically.
McGonagall couldn't look any more irritated. "Alright, that's 50 points from Slyth—MISS OSWELL!" McGonagall yelled when Romina yanked her by the hand. "This is highly inappropriate! Let go now!"
Romina did no such thing. "It's Professor Moody! Please!" She insisted, running quicker and holding McGonagall's hand tight. "He's done something terrible!" Romina wasn't sure if McGonagall had said anything, or yelled for that matter, during their run. Romina felt her ears ringing and her heart pounding. She didn't care if she lost the entire points Slytherin had racked up so far. She just needed to get McGonagall to the courtyard so she could see—
"MOVE!" She screamed at the crowd in her way. She did hear when McGonagall scolded her again for squeezing them through the crowd.
Moody was still holding the ferret captive. It certainly got McGonagall's attention off Romina. "Professor Moody what are you doing?" She asked him.
Moody was absolutely calm as he moved the ferret from one point to the next. "Teaching."
It took only a second for McGonagall to realize why Romina had been so frantic. "Is that a student?" she looked back at the young girl who nodded. Romina was still horrified and frankly pleaded for Mcgonagall to do something.
"Technically it's a ferret," Moody answered. He shoved the ferret down Crabb's pant leg, causing a whole roar of laughter, including Harry's and Arden's.
Romina would have yelled at McGonagall to act if her status at Hogwarts wasn't already in danger for the way she dragged the professor there. Fortunately, McGonagall snapped out of her own trance. When Moody pulled the ferret out of Crabbe's pants, McGonagall took the opportunity to point her wand ahead and turn Draco back to normal.
He was, understandably, all out of sorts. His robes were askew and his hair was sticking up in all kinds of directions. He twitched, his eyes flickering from one side to the other as if Moody were about to hit him with another spell. "My father will hear about this!" He yelled, but soon regretted it when Moody stepped forwards.
"Is that a threat?"
Draco chose to run away there and then.
"I could tell you stories about your father that would curl even your greasy hair boy! It doesn't end here!"
"Professor Moody!" McGonagall had to shout over the laughing crowd of students. "We never use transfiguration as a punishment, surely Dumbledore told you that."
Moody didn't look abashed in the slightest. "He might've mentioned it…"
"Well you will do well to remember it." McGonagall turned to the crowd of students, eyes sharp and blazed with irritation. "The rest of you—don't you have studying to do?"
Students went every which way except for Romina. For when she turned around, she came face to face with Arden.
"You. Me. Talk. Now." Arden left no room for refusal. She grabbed Romina's arm and pulled her away.
A/N:
I think Arden's a little bit mad ...
P.S. As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)