~Everything's Not What It Seems~
Alex and Justin are siblings sent to Hogwarts to learn about magic just like their father. There they meet new friends, fall in love, and find out that truly everything is not what it seems.
Disclaimer: J.K Rowling and Disney Channel own the right to all these character. I am only borrowing them :)
"You have been taught how do duel I presume, yes? First, we bow to each other."
Justin stirred as he heard the unfamiliar voice nearby. Who was that? He groaned as a pain shot up through his head.
"Come on now Harry, the niceties must be observed. Dumbledore wouldn't want you to forget your manners, would he? I said, bow!"
Harry? Dumbledore? Justin quickly opened his eyes to find near-darkness as he heard Harry yell in pain nearby. He looked around as the memory of arriving in the graveyard came back to him. The tournament. The TriWizard Cup. Cedric! He looked beside him to Harry, who was laying on the ground yelling in pain.
"Harry!"
"Ah, the young Justin Black." Justin turned his head as he came to face a pale, snakelike man in a black cloak. He saw a crowd of cloaked men standing around them, but he didn't mind them much attention as he stared at the man in front of him. "I'd almost forgot you were here with us. We finally meet. I was beginning to think you'd never come to Hogwarts."
"Who are you? What do you want with Harry and I?" Justin asked as he stood up and stood in front of Harry protectively.
The pale man looked at him with an amused grin. "Ah, you don't remember, do you? Of course not. You were so young when I killed your mother."
Justin visibly paled at this, his expression morphing to one of shock. "That's not- you can't- but- you're Voldemort."
"The Dark Lord!" He corrected. "I'm glad you're here Justin. Now I can rid this world of both of you. Too bad your sister isn't here to witness this. I guess she will die alone." He smirked as the other cloaked men laughed around them.
"Keep my sister's name out of your mouth!" Justin started to charge towards Voldemort but felt two arms grab onto him.
"Justin! Stop it!" Harry yelled behind him as he tried to get out of his grasp.
"After tonight, they will only speak your names when they speak of how you both begged for death." Voldemort said as he looked at the two. "And I, being a merciful lord, obliged."
"Come on, Justin!" Harry yelled as he pulled on his friends arm and the two dived behind a larger headstone. He and Harry dropped down to the ground, out of breath.
"Don't turn your back on me! I want you to look at me when I kill you!" Voldemort yelled out.
Harry looked at Justin in determination. "He can't take on both of us at once, but I can distract him long enough for you to get to the TriWizard cup."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"I'll be right behind you. You need to get back to Alex and warn everyone else." Harry explained quickly as he glanced between him and the TriWizard cup.
"Not without you. And even if I did try to make a run for it, he's too smart to let his guard down. He wants us both dead!"
Harry sighed but nodded in agreement. "Let's go."
They both stood up and made their way around the gravestone to face Voldemort, who stood a few yard a way, his wand pointed in their direction.
"Fine, have it your way!" Harry quickly flicked his wand in Voldemort's direction. "Expelliarmus!"
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort called out at the same time.
Justin watched as the magic from each of their wands collided and fought for dominance between them. Harry groaned as he tried to push forward. He stood, watching helplessly as his friend stood his ground.
"Do nothing! He's mine to finish!" Voldemort called out to his cloaked followers.
As the struggle continued, balls of smoke started to shoot out of the space between them. Justin looked on in wonder as the first ball of smoke turned into an elder man.
"What-" He started as another ball of smoke shot out and stopped beside them. "Cedric?" A translucent image of Cedric appeared before them.
"Harry." He turned his attention back to his friend as two more translucent bodies appeared beside Harry. "When the connection is broken, you both must get to the port key!" One of the figures spoke to him.
Another ball of smoke shot out and came up beside them. Justin's jaw dropped as the image of a young woman who looked like Alex appeared before them.
"M-mom?"
She smiled and nodded.
"We can linger for a moment to give you some time, but only for a moment!" The voice near Harry continued to say to him.
"Harry, Justin." Cedric called them. "Take my body back, will you. Take my body back to my father." They nodded as Cedric paused. "Tell Alex I love her, and- and that I'm sorry."
Justin looked away from Cedric in guilt. They were here because of him. He was dead because of them. Now they'd have to tell Alex this. He turned to his mom who was looking at him sympathetically. "She'll be okay. You all will. Take care of you father and your sister for me." Justin nodded.
"Sweetheart, let go. You're ready, let go!" Another voice said beside Harry. He looked at Harry, who was glancing back in Justin's direction expectantly. Justin nodded towards him.
"Let go!" She said again as Harry pulled back his wand before the two dove towards Cedric's body. Justin pointed his wand towards the TwiWizard cup, summoning it towards them as they heard Voldemort yell out in frustration.
~~~~~~~~
The band resumed in playing their instruments as a roar of cheers erupted around them. Alex stood up in anticipation as her eyes searched the floor of the arena. She smiled to herself as she caught site of the three figures laying in the middle of the arena.
It was over. It was finally over. She thought to herself as she joined in to the cheers around her. Beside her, Fred and George were celebrating with Lee.
"Brilliant!" She heard Fred yell beside her as George wrapped an arm around Alex for a side hug.
She looked down again as Justin sat up a little and she could see Cedric's face. Her heart dropped slightly when she noticed Cedric eyes were open, but his body didn't move an inch. Why wasn't he moving? She thought in panic as she looked to her brother and Harry. She felt her blood go cold when she noticed that Justin was sitting over Cedric, sobbing, while Harry rested a hand on her brother's shoulder. He had a grave expression on his face. Why wasn't he moving? Her eyes returned to Cedric, she studied him. How many times had Cedric fallen asleep in her lap. She could always see his chest rising and falling. Why wasn't his chest rising and falling?
She looked towards her brother again to find him staring at her, an apologetic expression on his face. He opened his mouth a few times, each time thinking against it and closing it. Then finally he did mouth something, the two words that confirmed her terrible suspicion.
I'm Sorry.
She barely realized the scream near her was coming from her own throat.
"Alex!" She heard one of the twins yell.
She felt two arms wrap around her from the back as she felt her legs fall out from beneath her. The arms held her up as her eyes searched for Cedric, her blurred vision through the crowd, making it impossible for her to see him. She reached for her chest as she felt something press on her heart, a pain she'd never felt before. This had to be a nightmare.
"Dornröschen!"
"Professor Flitwick! What are you doing?" She heard a voice yell beside her as her head started to feel light.
"She's having a fit. What do you think I'm doing?"
She opened her mouth to ask what they were talking about, but barely got a word out. "Wha-" And then everything went black.
~~~~~~~~
"Why hasn't she woken up yet?" Justin asked as he watched his sister sleep in a private room in the hospital wing. George, Fred and Professor Flitwick were the only ones with them, Harry had disappeared with Professor Moody after the chaos that ensued at the end of the the tournament.
"It takes some time after the counter spell is enacted. She might just be emotionally exhausted." Their Professor replied. "I don't normally use charms on students, but the moment seemed appropriate. Ms. Russo looked ready to keel over."
"I wish she wasn't there. I didn't want her to see- to see him."
"You couldn't have known." George said sadly.
"Filius!" They all looked up as Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Snape charged into the room. "Can you escort the Weasley's out of the room so we can speak to Mr. Russo in private."
"I'm not leaving." George said quickly. "Alex told me about her family. She told me I can even tell Fred. But I'm not leaving her like this."
Professor McGonagall sighed and looked at Justin. "Do you have any objections?"
He shook his head. "Not if Alex told him." She nodded towards Professor Flitwick, who made his way out of the room
The headmaster was the next to step up as they heard the door close. He looked down at Alex's sleeping form with a grim expression. "This is going to be a hard time for your sister. That's why I have decided to send her away from Hogwarts immediately."
Justin looked up at him in shock. "But, Cedric-"
"Mr. Diggory has been taken home by his father." The headmaster interrupted him. "To be buried where his mother lays. We will have a memorial tomorrow before our guests depart." He looked at Justin seriously. "But Alex will not be present."
"But Professor, she can't go back to New York now!" Justin protested.
"Ms. Russo will not be returning to New York this summer. I've spoken to both Jerry and Remus and they have agreed that Alex will stay with Remus."
"But-"
Justin started to protest again but was cut off by the headmaster. "Mr. Russo, I would like to note this was your father's decision to have her stay with her godfather. You will return to New York with your younger brother."
"Dad-" He started but decided against it. If she was staying with Remus, it had to have been their actual dad. Justin nodded in defeat. "Okay."
"I have instructed Ms. Weasley and Ms. Granger to pack up Ms. Russo's belongings and have them ready in the Gryffindor common room." He turned to the twins. "I imagine you both can manage to collect Ms. Russo's belongings and escort her to the trains when she wakes up."
"What about me?" Justin asked in confusion.
"Unfortunately, you will not be seeing your sister off. I will need you in my office."
"But-"
"I expect you in in my office in ten minutes." He cut Justin off, giving him a stern look before turning and leaving the room. Professor Snape silent followed him out.
Justin let out a defeated sigh as he slumped in his chair. "This is all a mess."
"You're telling me." George said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "We should probably go get Alex's things..."
"Can one of you stay with her?" He said, looking between the twins. "I don't want her to wake up by herself... and sounds like Dumbledore doesn't want me here..."
"Sure." Fred replied before nodding in his brother's direction. "You stay, I'll be a moment."
Justin stood up as Fred made his way out of the room. "I better get going too." He sighed. "Can you tell Alex something for me?"
"Sure." George nodded.
"Tell her- tell her that Cedric said he loves her. And- and that he's sorry."
"How did-"
"We saw him." Justin cut him off as a serious expression passed over his face. "Harry and I. I saw my mom too. And, I think Harry's parents. They helped us." He paused, looking down at his sister sympathetically. "Cedric asked us to bring back his body to his dad. And to tell Alex he loved her. I think he knew this would break her."
Justin released a defeated sigh as he started to make his way towards the door. As he was about to head out of the room he heard George call after him.
"She knew something was going to happen." George said, causing Justin to stop in the doorway. "She told me she's been feeling off for days. What- what do you think that means?"
"Voldemort wanted all three of us." Justin replied as he turned back to look at George. "He was planning to find Alex and kill her after she was done with us. We're linked to him, somehow. I think Alex too. Something tells me that wasn't the last we'd see of Voldemort."
"Over our dead bodies! Fred and I wouldn't let anyone near her."
"Let's hope it won't come to that." Justin sighed. "I'll see you later George. Thank you for being a good friend to Alex."
~~~~~~~~
"Alex!" She heard his voice call out to her as she ran through the dark maze. "Help me, Alex!"
"Cedric! Cedric, where are you?!" She called back as she sprinted forward, her legs burning."
"Alex, help me!" She heard him again, his voice more urgent this time. "Help m-" Alex couldn't help but panic as his voice died out at the end.
"Cedric!" She yelled frantically as she picked up her speed. "Cedric, please tell me where you are!" She yelled again as she turned another corner of the maze.
Alex stopped suddenly as her eyes fell on a pair of sneakers laying on the floor, her heart speeding up when she noticed the shoes were on a person. She slowly crept towards the body, praying whoever it was, they were alive. When she turned the corner her eyes fell on Cedric's lifeless ones, a bloodcurdling scream ripped out of her throat.
"Alex!"
She thrashed and screamed as she felt two pairs of arms grab onto each of her arms.
"Alex! Stop it, it's us! Fred and George Weasley!"
She finally relaxed her arms, opening her eyes suddenly as she took in where she was. An unfamiliar room, but definitely Hogwarts. She thought as she looked around her. Fred and George stood on each side of her, each holding one of her arms.
"You're okay, you're in the hospital wing." George said to her. "Gave us quite a scare." He teased.
"Where's Cedric?!" She demanded, her eyes searching the room again before falling on George. "Tell him I need to see him! Right now! I don't care what stupid tournament meeting or prep he has! Tell him I want to see him, now!"
"Alex-" He looked at her sympathetically. "You know he- he can't-" George looked away guiltily.
"I don't care if he is busy! Tell him to come here, now!" She turned away from George to look at Fred, who was avoiding eye contact. "Fred! Please, tell Cedric to come here."
"Alex, you know I can't." He replied, still avoiding eye contact.
When he didn't say anything else, Alex turned back to George. "George, stop this! Tell Cedric-"
"Alex!" He yelled, cutting her off. He finally looked up to meet her eyes. "We can't tell Cedric anything and you know it! He's dead. Cedric Diggory is dead."
Updated! This was a hard one to write because I just wanted to let Cedric live :(