Stella Nova Edited

by BrooklynFazenbaker

When the Weasley's took in Sirius Black's daughter on Halloween night, they expected him to return for her in a few days. Instead, they raised her alongside their children. How will a Slytherin "Weasley" change the story? Especially when she's a troublemaker and so close to so many snakes... and how will Sirius react to seeing his daughter again? (I do not own Harry Potter)(Edited)

20. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Stella hugged Harry tightly the day before the task, promising to see him at breakfast before heading to the dungeons.

"Black," Snape stopped her. "Follow me."

"Sir, I swear I haven't put up more mistletoe," she told him immediately.

"I'm aware, Black. Follow me."

Stella felt confused as they reached the headmasters office. They took the stairs up to the top and Snape led Stella inside, finding the headmasters, Cho Chang, and two people Stella didn't know waiting for them. Snape was more tense than normal as Stella sat in the chair offered to her, his hand resting firmly on her shoulder.

"Hello, all. Welcome. I've asked all of you to come because the second task involves a little assistance from the four of you: Miss Chang, Miss Black, Miss Delacour, and Mrs. Krum," Dumbledore spoke and Stella realized that the other two were Fleur's little sister and Viktor's mother. "See, the champions must collect the things they'd miss most from the lake."

Stella sat back, eyes wide as she looked up to Snape, panic clear on her face.

"You will all be safe and the merpeople will return anyone that the champions do not collect from the bottom. I assure you that it will be like falling asleep. You do not have to participate if you do not wish to, but I implore you not to tell the champions the task if you choose that route," Dumbledore stated, looking at each and every one of them.

"I'll do it," Cho smiled softly and Stella rolled her eyes, refusing to be one upped by the Ravenclaw that had spread a rumor about her Harry.

'Since when is he mine?' Stella asked herself before sitting up again.

"I'm always for a challenge," she smirked. "If Harry and Sirius end up shooting spells at you lot though, it's not my fault."

"Noted, Miss Black," Dumbledore smiled.

"Is it going to be cold?" Fleur's sister asked and Stella stood and walked over to the little girl, kneeling in front of her.

"Professor Dumbledore will make sure we don't get cold with a charm or potion of some sort. You don't have to do it if you don't want to, but I think your sister would be really proud of you for being so brave if you did," Stella said, voice soft as she spoke to the girl who couldn't be more than eight years old.

"She would?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," Stella smiled. "Yeah, she would."

"Okay," the girl nodded, looking above Stella to Dumbledore. "Okay. I'll do it. For Fleur."

"That's a brave girl," Stella smiled to her.

"I vill do it vor my son," Krum's mother nodded, head high and shoulders back.

"Professor Snape has made a potion that will keep you all warm and a potion that will make you all sleep until you have come out of the water. The merpeople are waiting for us," Dumbledore spoke up and Stella felt relieved that he wasn't going to make a liar out of her.

The little girl took Stella's hand as they began leaving the office. Stella smiled down at her, using the little girl as a distraction for how nervous she actually was. Snape's hand was back on her shoulder, steering how through the castle and down to the lake, where a tall, wooden tower had been built just for the event.

"Are students supposed to stare at the lake for an hour?" Stella asked curiously.

"There will be magical viewing screens so that the students may see what is happening below the water," Snape told her, voice stiff.

"Were you hoping I'd say no?" Stella asked him curiously.

"Yes," he admitted. "I do not like the idea of you going down there."

"I'll be alright. If all else fails, the Shrake will eat well," Stella shrugged.

"What's a Shrake?" the small girl asked curiously.

"A weird dolphin," Stella lied, trying not to scare the little girl.

There were eight merpeople waiting for them, four of them carrying tridents and seeming to be the lookout. Dumbledore screeched back and forth with them for a few moments before nodding to the four people who would be most missed. No one wanted to go first and Stella cursed herself in her head before stepping forward. She took the warmth potion first, swallowing it quickly before looking back to Snape one last time. She gave him a soft smile before she put the other potion in her mouth, stepped into the water, and drank it the moment she was below the surface.

Harry was feeling more and more nervous as the night went on. He felt like something was going terribly wrong and, as much as Ron and Hermione tried to keep him calm, it wasn't working. He finally took the dreamless sleep that Stella had brewed for him just so he was sure he'd get enough rest for the task ahead. He woke in the morning and sat up, stretching before taking a hot shower and getting ready. His uniform for the task was under his cloak as he, Ron, and Hermione headed down to breakfast.

Harry kept looking around for Stella, but Blaise, Theo, and Tracy walked into the main hall without her that morning, the three seeming confused when they looked over at him, as if they were also searching for her. Harry forced himself to eat a bit of toast before standing and heading to the Slytherin table, sitting on the bench beside Blaise.

"Where is she?" he asked them.

"We thought she was with you," Blaise stated.

"She didn't come to the dorm last night," Tracy told him.

All three Slytherins looked worried and stood at the same time, heading towards the head table, towards Snape, who looked terrible. Harry followed after them, the nerves in his stomach feeling like a heavy stone in his stomach now.

"Professor," Theo spoke for the group. "Stella didn't come back to the common room last night. We thought she might be staying in Gryffindor tower to keep Harry calm."

"She left the tower around seven," Harry told him, stepping forward and looking the man in the eye. "Is she alright? Was there another attack?"

"No," Snape shook his head. "She will meet you at the lake."

"What?" Harry asked, confused as Snape gave him what Harry was sure was supposed to be a pointed look. "Where did she sleep? Why isn't she here now?"

"Potter," Snape breathed through his nose as he spoke. "She will meet you. At. The. Lake."

Harry still didn't understand though. He never was good at understanding signals that weren't aimed to maim. It was always better if people just told him flat out what was happening. He scoffed and went back to Gryffindor table, telling Ron and Hermione what Snape had said.

"Oh, my God," Hermione breathed, hands covering her mouth. "We've taken what you'll sorely miss. Harry, they've taken Stella!"

Everyone was staring at them now but Harry didn't care. He was on his feet and running in an instant. He'd almost made it to the boats that would take him to the dock in the middle of the lake when he felt strong arms wrap around his torso, keeping him from jumping into the water to retrieve Stella right then and there.

"Let me go!" Harry bellowed, trying to wiggle away from the arms. "Let me go! STELLA!"

"Calm yourself, Potter!" Snape yelled in his ear. "She is fine. I gave her a warming potion and a potion that would keep her in a sleeping state until she is out of the water. You cannot go in after her until the task begins."

"TO HELL WITH THE TASK AND SCREW YOU, SNAPE!" Harry continued fighting, trying to get to the water.

"HARRY!" Sirius's voice broke through Harry's worry and caused him to still.

Sirius was in front of him then, Remus beside him. Sirius wiped the tears that were running down Harry's cheeks, tears he didn't even know were there, before he pulled Harry into his arms, holding him tightly.

"Snape wouldn't let anything happen to her. She'd be pissed if you ruined your chances at the task just to go get her an hour early," Sirius told him with a laugh.

"She's down there," Harry gasped out, tears still coming out. "She can't… She hates the cold. I have to get her."

"She took a potion to keep her warm," Remus spoke up now.

"She was the first person to get in the water," Snape spoke up. "I was with her the entire time, up until then. She helped keep Delacour's sister calm, as well. The task starts in an hour and you'll go retrieve her then."

"Okay," Harry nodded, taking a shuddering breath as he pulled away from Sirius's hold. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for," Sirius smirked.

"Well, a little to be sorry for," Remus offered, looking Snape over and seeing a bruise on his cheek. "You got Professor Snape in his face."

"I am fine," Snape rolled his eyes. "I have bruise salve in my office that I can use. A small calming draught to hold you over until the task begins should help, Potter."

Harry, Remus, and Sirius followed Snape into the dungeons. Snape walked through his classroom and into his office, waving the other three in. Harry looked around the room they'd just entered curiously, finding black, leather furniture with colorful quilts thrown over the back of them, fluffy throw pillows in the corners of the couch, and book cases lining the walls on each side of the lit fireplace, almost completely filled with books. Remus moved towards the fire as Snape walked into a closet, looking curiously at the pictures on the mantle, Harry and Sirius following him over.

Harry saw pictures of previous students that Snape had taught; two wedding photos, three photos of people with kids, and a photo of a man standing at what must be his work desk. All the pictures had notes attached to the frames from the students, thanking Snape for having mentored them during their time at Hogwarts, something that blew Harry's mind.

Sirius grabbed a picture suddenly and Harry looked over Sirius' shoulder, seeing a boy who looked a lot like Stella and Sirius standing beside teenage Snape, both smiling and laughing in the frame. A throat cleared and Harry and Sirius jumped, Sirius almost dropping the photo in the process to find Snape standing behind them with a potion in his hand. He took the picture carefully from Sirius's hands and passed Harry the potion, placing the photo back on the mantle where it had originally sat.

Harry took the calming draught and passed the empty vial back. Snape pointed to a couch and Harry sat, still staring at Snape as he placed a bit of bruise balm on his cheek. Snape sat across from Harry once he finished, leaning forward on his elbows with his hands clasped together.

"Who is that? In the picture Sirius was looking at?" Harry asked.

"Regulus Black, his younger brother. We were both Slytherins and grew close over the years together at Hogwarts," Snape explained. "You need to concentrate on Stella right now. Just relax for a bit and we'll head back towards the lake in half an hour."

Harry sighed and nodded, sitting much like how Snape was and staring down at his own hands. He fidgeted with one of his rings, thinking of how Stella tended to do the same when she was nervous. He'd noticed that Theo and Blaise did it as well and wondered if it was a habit everyone with a family or heir ring had picked up. The magic that hit him every time he played with one of his rings brought him comfort. He was sure it was the same for the others as well.

Harry walked down to the lake with Snape, Remus, and Sirius thirty minutes later, climbing into a boat with the four of them, blending with the crowd of students. He thought about Stella down there, floating in the water and waiting for him to come save her. He thought about her staying down there forever if he didn't make it to her and wondered if the Slytherins could see her from the common room, if she would become a permanent fixture in the lake.

He shook his head roughly. That wouldn't happen. There was no way Dumbledore would allow people to be lost under the lake. Especially not a little kid like Snape had described. Hell, Snape wouldn't allow it and he hated children.

Bagman smiled once all of the champions were lined up, ready to jump into the lake.

"Sonorus!" Bagman cast so his voice boomed out across the dark water, the students and staff all quieting quickly. "Our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have exactly one hour to recover the one most important to them. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!"

Harry tossed his cloak aside, cast the warming charm and then the bubblehead charm, and then dove head first into the lake. He used a propelling charm to get himself through the water faster. He remembered Snape mentioning the merpeople having taken Stella down into the lake and was willing to bet half his Gringotts account that the merpeople still had them now.

He could only see ten feet around him, the water so dark around him. He could just barely make out new scenes as he sped through the water; forests of rippling, tangled black weeds, wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones. He swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, his eyes wide, staring through the eerily gray-lit water around him to the shadows beyond, where the water became opaque.

Small fish flickered past him like silver darts. Once or twice he thought he saw something larger moving ahead of him, but when he got nearer, he discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There were no signs of the other champions, merpeople, Stella, or- thankfully- the giant squid.

Light green weed stretched ahead of him as far as he could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. Harry was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom. Then, without warning, something grabbed ahold of his ankle.

Harry twister his body around and saw a grindylow poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around his leg, its pointed fangs bared. Harry pointed his wand quickly.

"Relashio!" he shouted.

The grindylow screeched, bubbles flying from its mouth as it swam away quickly. He got away from the weeds quickly, shooting spells every so often at a grindylow that got a bit too brave.

"How are you getting on?"

Harry thought he was having a heart attack. He whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating hazily in front of him, gazing at him through her thick, pearly glasses.

"Myrtle!" Harry shouted, causing her to giggle.

"You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you. I don't like them much. They always chase me if I get too close."

Harry thanked her before swimming forward once more, careful to swim a bit higher over the vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting mersong.

"An hour long you'll have to look, To recover what we took…"

Harry swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Harry swam past the rock, following the mersong.

"…your time's half gone, so tarry not. Lest what you seek stays here to rot…"

A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Harry saw faces . . . faces that bore no resemblance at all to the painting of the mermaid in the prefects' bathroom. . . .

The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands.

Harry sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and he even saw a pet grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another. Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes.

A whole crowd of merpeople were floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.

Stella floated between Cho Chang and a small girl with brilliant blond hair. A woman who must be Krum's mother floated on the other side of Cho. Harry didn't care though, his eyes were locked on Stella. He propelled himself forward, hands going to her face instantly. She looked like she were just asleep but he needed to get her out of here. He sank a bit, slicing the weed away from her and wrapping his arm around her waist before using his wand to propel himself away from the others, back the way he came but above the weeds by quite a bit. The last thing he needed was a grindylow grabbing at Stella.

Next thing Stella knew, she was breathing cold, clean air again, lake water getting into her mouth and causing her to cough it back up. She felt arms around her and turned her head, finding Harry helping hold her up, his bubble gone as he began pulling her towards the shore. The warming potion was beginning to wear off so she swam beside Harry, reaching up once they were at the dock and taking Snape's and Percy's hands and the two pulled her up. Harry came up right beside her with the help of Sirius and Remus, blankets being thrown onto both of them by Madam Pomfrey.

Harry pushed the blankets and the hands of Pomfrey and Remus away, grabbing Stella and pulling her close. He grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her hard. Stella didn't even have time to respond before he pulled away.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, do you understand me?" he told her, voice thick with emotion.

"Okay," she nodded, still in shock.

Harry pulled Stella into a tight hug as blankets were wrapped around the both of them. Stella was blushing hard and happy that her face was hidden in Harry's chest. The crowd behind them was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, all on their feet. Fleur had already returned, having been attacked by the Grindylows. Cedric arrived a minute after the hour with Cho, followed by Krum and his mother, Krum's head turning from that of a shark to a human again. The merpeople swam to the shore, bringing with them Fleur's little sister, who gasped once she had surfaced. Stella and Fleur moved forward, pulling the little girl up quickly and tossing their own blankets on her.

"Was I brave?" the little girl asked.

"The bravest," Stella smiled brightly. "Your sister is very proud."

"You are?" the girl asked, eyes going wide as she stared at Fleur.

"So proud," Fleur sniffled. "I'm so sorry. Ze water demons…"

"It's okay," the girl smiled. "Mizz Black promized I'd be okay."

"She did?" Fleur asked.

"She did."

Fleur gave Stella a grateful, tear filled look as she held her little sister to her chest.

"I have a little sister," Stella told her. "I get it."

"Stell!" Ginny yelled, rushing forward.

"Speaking of," Stella smirked, standing and hugging Ginny tightly, Ron, Percy, and the twins joining the hug immediately. "I'm fine."

Stella looked over to find Harry being fussed over by Sirius, Hermione, and Madam Pomfrey. She gave him a smile when he looked over to her, as if pleading for help. Bagman's voice broke over the crowd and Stella moved to Harry's side, siblings dragged along behind her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. We will be awarding points out of fifty.

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the bubblehead charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was the last to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Applause rang out, Karkaroff clapping particularly hard, looking superior.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used a bubblehead charm, returned second and a minute outside of the hour. We therefore award him forty-five points."

Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd and Cho gave Cedric a glowing look.

"And finally, Harry Potter, who returned in forty-five minutes with his hostage and used the bubblehead and advanced heating charms, charms he will not be learning until his sixth year in school. We award him fifty points."

Stella would have gone deaf from the cheering had she not been cheering along with them. She jumped into Harry's arms, hugging him tightly. He laughed as he caught her, squeezing her in his arms.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered to him before he set her down.

His eyes were shining and the smile on his face was so bright he could have lit all of Hogwarts with it. He kissed her head, pulling her to his side so he could continue holding her.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," Bagman continued. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

Stella was beyond happy that it was over and took her wand back from Snape, who she'd left it with the night before. She cast drying and warming charms on herself, the champions, and the other hostages before she decided it was time to get back up to the castle. She was starving.

Stella wasn't typically bothered by Rita Skeeter being a hag. She'd been mad when she'd read what Rita had written about her dad and a bit peeved about the article about Hagrid. She was coming after Stella now though. Harry and Stella's kiss was all over Witch Weekly, along with a handful of other photos of the two, including when Stella had snuck into the champions tent to hug Harry once more before facing the dragons. There was even a moving picture that flashed between Stella cheering for Harry when he got his egg and going to Harry staring at Stella in the crowd, smiling brightly as he held the egg up, as if saying he'd gotten it for her.

'Harry Potter: A Champion For Love

A boy who illegally entered a tournament just to prove himself to a witch, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter has finally found solace in one Stella Black at Hogwarts. It seems his plan to woo Stella Black through the tournament had finally paid off.

"The two are always together," says Dean Thomas, a fourth-year student. "We all thought they'd been together since first-year, but I guess not."

This begs the question: Did young Harry enter the tournament illegally just to finally get the girl?'

The article went on, beginning to question if Stella had been leading Harry on for press, but Snape snatched the article from Stella's hands, rolling it up and sticking it in his robes as he continued walking around the room, checking on everyone's potions. Stella smirked and rolled her eyes, her potion simmering away and waiting for her to add the rose petals in ten minutes. Stella leaned back in her chair, foot going to the edge of the table and rocking herself back and forth on the back two legs of her chair. Blaise and Theo rolled their eyes as they watched her, both smirking in the process.

They hadn't been able to break Stella off her high in two days since Harry had kissed her. They hadn't talked about it since and we're acting just as they always did, holding hands and talking in hushed voices, sneaking around the castle with the map and cloak every chance that they got. It felt no different than it always did and Stella was actually a bit happy about it. She worried things would get awkward if they tried talking about it or labeling anything. They hadn't kissed since and Stella worried that Harry had only kissed her due to how relieved he'd been to have her out of the water but she wasn't willing to ask in order to protect her own feelings.

Snape held her after class and the Slytherins laughed as Stella groaned. She packaged up all of her potion, labeling each of them and setting them in a crate for Snape as she waited for him to give her a detention. He didn't though. Instead, he waited for her to finish, looking apprehensive, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to have the conversation that he was gearing up for.

"You're killing me here, sir," Stella finally complained. "The expense is not good for my heart. I'm far too young for a heart attack."

"Are you or any of your friends stealing from my personal stores?" Snape asked her straight out.

"I wouldn't steal from you, sir. If I needed an ingredient, I would order it myself or just ask," she shook her head. "As far as I'm aware, none of the Gryffindors or Slytherins are stealing from you, either. I can ask around though. What are they stealing?"

"Lacewing flies, boomslang skin…"

"Polyjuice," Stella mumbled, nodding her head before straightening, an idea forming in her head. "Sir, what if it isn't a student?"

"Do you mean that you think a member of the staff is stealing it?" Snape asked. "I've considered it but I wanted to ask if you knew about it first."

"What if whoever put Harry's name in is wondering around dressed like someone else?" Stella asked.

Snape and Stella just stared at one another at the revelation.

The next Hogsmeade visit, Stella was skipping along down the sidewalk with Tracy, Luna, and Ginny, the three walking into the joke shop together. They weren't there to actually shop. Fred and George had been kicked out last visit because they were looking over the joke items, trying to find a way to make them better. The three split up, sneakily writing down the descriptions of specific items before leaving. Theo and Blaise went in after that, writing down different descriptions of different item before leaving as well. The six headed to the Three Broomsticks, smiling as they ran in, passing their lists over to the twins who already had lists from Remus and Sirius in their hands.

The five joined Sirius, Remus, Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the corner, butterbeers already waiting on all of them, along with a bit of food to snack on. Once they returned to the school, Theo dragged Stella with him and the other Slytherins to the dungeons, claiming Stella needed to help him with a bit of runes work, which Stella knew was a lie but didn't want to call Theo out on it. She was far too interested to know what was going on.

"There's a party tonight," Tracy explained as they joined the other fourth years. "It's only supposed to be fifth years and up but we're sneaking into it."

"Oh. Simple enough," Stella shrugged.

"Not simple enough," Draco argued. "We've no clue where it is. The seventh years said that we could go if we could find it and no one below fifth year has been able to do it in years."

Stella just sighed before turning her eyes on Draco, brow raised and smirk on her face. Draco just shook his head as Stella left with the other girls to get ready. Stella pulled on ripped jeans and a halter top before braiding her hair back and adding glitter eyeshadow to her makeup, along with a bit of glitter lip gloss and glitter body spray. The other girls were dressed much the same and Stella grabbed the map, whispering and tapping it with her wand, watching as it came to life. There were quite a few fourth years wondering around, trying to follow the older students, but the older students were obviously onto them, leading them in circles before taking a secret passageway and disappearing.

She found Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus making their way towards the dungeons and Stella had an idea that she knew exactly what they were coming to her for. She smirked before following the other fourth years out of the dorm, eyes glued to the map and watching as the older students snuck around, doing their best to avoid the patrolling teachers, prefects helping hide them as they went.

"Seventh floor," Stella told her group and they all stopped, turning to her in confusion and she just smirked, folding the map and heading out of the common room, smirking when Harry pulled the cloak off of them, Harry stuffing it into his pocket.

"We tried following the twins," Ron offered.

"Seventh floor," Stella smiled. "They're all disappearing off of the map though so we need to hurry. Snape is heading this way from his office. Let's go."

The fourth years snuck around the school, Stella pulling out the map every so often and watching for teachers. They made it to the seventh floor, finding Flint and Montague standing in front of a blank wall. The two smirked when they saw Stella, as if completely unsurprised that she'd found them.

"Unplottable room?" she asked them, point at the wall.

"Watch," Flint smirked as Montague walked pass the wall three times and a door appeared.

"Cool," Stella and Ron breathed before Flint opened the door, allowing them in.

Music was blaring and lights were flashing across the room. Stella grabbed Tracy's and Pansy's hands, pulling them to the dance floor immediately. The three girls began dancing together, grinding against one another like the others were all doing. Theo and Harry each had a spiked butterbeer, watching the three girls. Well, Harry was watching Stella and Theo was watching the people around them, making sure that no one was trying to encroach on the girl's space.

Daphne, Lily, Millicent, and Blaise joined the dancing quickly, Blaise spinning Stella in a few circles before dancing with Lily. Daphne pulled Stella's braid out, letting her black hair fly freely. Harry saw the moment that the twins and Ron saw how Stella was dancing, all three immediately rushing over to her. He and Theo moved quickly, Theo accidentally stepping in their way and Harry grabbing Stella's hips, dancing with her himself, pulling her further into the crowd to hide from her brothers.

She grabbed his butterbeer, taking a small sip and finding it spiked with Firewhiskey. She smirked before taking a long swig of it and passed it back. The crowd was full and everyone was jumping up and down with the music, yelling the lyrics to a Weird Sisters song. Stella couldn't remember ever having had so much fun before. She danced until she felt like she were literally going to drop and drank until her brain went a bit fuzzy.

The older students helped them sneak back to the common room, Stella showing the map to Flint so the Slytherins could get back easier, Harry and the other fourth year Gryffindors struggling to stay under the cloak as they followed the twins away.

On Monday, Stella got a bit of hate mail from Harry's admirers. She'd rolled her eyes and set the letters on fire, ignoring them as they burnt on the table in front of her breakfast. Hate mail continued coming and Stella decided to have a bit of fun with it. After casting a charm and getting rid of anything that glowed red, she passed the letters around, along with red quills. She, Blaise, Theo, Draco, Tracy, and Pansy began grading the letters, giving points for creativity and taking points for spelling and grammatical errors. Snape walked pass them one morning, stopped mid-step, walked a few paces backwards, and looked down to see what they were doing before sighing and rolling his eyes before moving on.

Hermione hung back after class to speak with Moody one day. Stella was helping a few of the students with small injuries from the rigorous test of hex-deflection they'd had in class. Most of the Slytherins had gotten out without any sort of injury, but a few of the Gryffindors hadn't been so lucky. Harry had a bad case of Twitchy Ears and Stella was working on the left one while Blaise worked on the right one as they walked away from the class.

"Well, Rita's definitely not using an Invisibility Cloak!" Hermione panted five minutes later, catching up with everyone in the entrance hall. "Moody says he didn't see her anywhere near the judges' table at the second task or anywhere near the lake."

"Hermione, is there any point in telling you to drop this?" Ron asked.

"Who are we talking about? Drop what?" Tracy asked.

"Rita Skeeter," Hermione answered. "She's getting around the grounds somehow but she's banned. I'm trying to figure out how. And, no, Ron, I won't drop it. I want to know how she found out about Hagrid's mum!"

"Maybe she had Hagrid bugged?" Harry offered.

"Aren't you two ever going to read 'Hogwarts, A History'?"

"What's the point? You know it by heart. We can just ask you!" Ron argued.

"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use — electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things — they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air," Theo explained before seeing everyone's shocked expressions. "I read the book and I'm in Muggle Studies with Blaise and Stella."

"Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be. . . . If I could just find out what it is . . . ooh, if it's illegal, I'll have her . . ." Hermione stated, giving Theo an impressed look.

"I'll help," Theo nodded and the two left towards the library.

"If they ever decide to take over the world, I'm immediately siding with them," Blaise commented.

"Agreed," everyone nodded.

The start of the summer term would usually mean Quidditch, Quidditch, and more Quidditch. Quidditch was cancelled this year though and Stella was tired of homework. She marched up to Flint after classes one day, hands on her hips.

"Gather the team and reserves. We're going to go play a game of Quidditch," she told him before striding away, Blaise and Draco following Stella without having to be told twice.

The three were already changed and in the air by the time the rest of the team joined them, most of Slytherin following behind, Snape included. The pitch looked… wrong though. Stella was studying it before realizing what was happening and flying over to Snape, floating beside him.

"The maze?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered. "I'll move to the stands and tell everyone to stay off the ground. Tell those ones up there for me."

"Yes, sir," Stella nodded, zooming off at top speeds.

Stella passed the message on to the team that they needed to stay off of the ground, which was going to be being used for the final task. The team all nodded before splitting off into teams mixed with reserves and first line members. The snitch flew into the air, buzzing around Stella and Draco before disappearing. Neither of them were really fused about catching it, having agreed to play as chasers for a while before they went looking for the snitch, Theo setting a timer for them and sitting at the commentator stands to keep score and speak into the microphone for the rest of the Slytherin house.

The bludgers flew into the air and then the Quaffle was tossed into the air by a second-year. The game began.

Stella grabbed the quaffle first, tossing it to Flint who passed to Montague, who passed to Styne. Styne dropped the ball and Blaise caught it but Stella dipped down, kicking the ball out of his hands and back to Flint, who put the quaffle away pass Lofthouse. She could tell why Styne and Lofthouse hadn't made first line as she flew off after Blaise, who was now in possession of the Quaffle. Crabbe hit a bludger, sending it right in front of Blaise and causing him to pull back, throwing the ball to Baker quickly, who passed to Morris, to Daley to Pucey. Pucey barely dodged a bludger sent at him by Mulciber and threw the Quaffle towards the goal post, just barely getting it pass Evergreen.

Back and forth they played, none of them holding back, even against their own teammates. This was how the Slytherin team played, rough and without bias. The timer went off an hour into the game and Stella threw the Quaffle into the goal post before soaring high into the air, her and Draco flying around quickly, searching for the small golden orb. That's when Stella realized that the stands had filled while she'd been concentrating on the game. She'd thought the cheering and booing had gotten louder but she hadn't realized that most of Hogwarts and all of the students from the visiting schools had filled the stands, along with a majority of the staff. She ignored it though, flying through the air and searching.

There… right between herself and Draco. He saw it at the same time and their eyes locked for a moment before they both took off at top speeds towards one another. The snitch flew straight up and Stella and Draco both pulled up just in time to not collide, flying so close that their legs kept hitting one another.

"Malfoy and Black have both caught sight of the snitch as Flint puts another goal away for his team!" Theo announced and cheering was heard.

The snitch veered left and down, Stella and Draco following right behind it, Draco ramming into Stella slightly as they straightened. Stella tossed an elbow out and heard Draco hiss as he gave her some room.

"They are not going easy on each other as Malfoy rams into Black and gets an elbow to his ribs for his efforts! Black is pulling ahead! They're both reaching forward! Bludger!"

Stella and Draco both flew up immediately, avoiding the bludger that Goyle had sent their way.

"Zabini puts another away, bringing the score to 300 to 270, still in Flint's favor! Styne with the Quaffle now! Can he keep ahold of it this time? Really showing why you're only a reserve there, Styne!" Theo laughed.

Stella and Draco began flying around again, searching for the snitch when Stella caught sight of it again, flying straight for it through the game, making Styne drop the ball again. They really needed a different reserve next year. Draco wasn't close enough to get to her and he yelled for Goyle to hit a bludger but it was too late. Stella's hand was outstretched. Her fingers wrapped around the snitch and she pulled up with a shout of victory, hand held high in the air, golden wings flapping uselessly between her fingers.

Cheers filled the crowd as Theo screamed the score, declaring Flint's team the winners. The team changed quickly, storing all of their equipment before Flint lifted Stella into the air. He cheered as he carried her into the crowd as they headed back to the castle. Stella laughed as cheers reached her ears. She'd missed Quidditch, but she'd also missed winning.

Stella threw herself into studying, determined to become top of their class again. It almost felt like everything was back to normal minus that feeling of dread that took over every so often when she thought of the final task and everything that could go wrong. She was shocked when Viktor Krum walked up to her one day and told her she flew 'very vell'. Stella felt rather proud of herself for the rest of the week, standing a bit taller after that. Right up until Harry dragged her to Gryffindor Tower to tell her about Crouch coming out of the forest and talking like a madman.

"It comes down to this," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."

"It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."

"I don't think so," said Harry, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak — I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."

"You can't disapparate on Hogwarts grounds," Stella immediately responded.

"Krum attacked Crouch — no, wait for it — and then Stunned himself!" Ron offered.

"And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" said Hermione coldly.

"Oh yeah . . ."

"Just go through it again, Harry," said Hermione. "What did Mr. Crouch actually say?"

"I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," said Harry. "He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault. . . He mentioned his son."

"Well, that was his fault," said Hermione testily.

"He was out of his mind," said Harry. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."

"And . . . remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively.

"I've told you," Harry repeated dully. "He said he's getting stronger."

There was a pause. Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving. . . ."

"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Harry, and Ron winced at the sound of the name. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore."

There was a heavy silence before Harry started up again.

"If Snape hadn't held me up," Harry said bitterly, "we might've got there in time. 'The headmaster is busy, Potter . . . what's this rubbish, Potter?' Why couldn't he have just got out of the way?"

"Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" said Ron quickly. "Maybe — hang on — how fast d'you reckon he could've gotten down to the forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"

"Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," said Harry.

"Wouldn't put it past him," Ron muttered.

"Someone's stealing from his personal stores," Stella spoke up. "He asked me if it was me, any of you, or any of the Slytherins a while back. I suggested that whoever put Harry's name in was also stealing from him. They were stealing the ingredients for Polyjuice. Maybe it's all connected?"

"It seems like a bit much, Stella," Hermione sighed.

"Hermione, you're a genius when it comes to memorizing books," Stella stated, deciding to use the sandwich method like Mum did when trying to tell her children they needed to work on something. "You don't always see patterns in front of you if they aren't obvious though. However, you're absolutely brilliant."

"Thank you, I think?"

Ron snorted.

"Ron, you're a strategist," Stella offered.

"And?"

"And nothing. Do you see a pattern with everything else happening this year? Harry being entered against his will, someone stealing Polyjuice ingredients, and now Crouch going batty?"

"It all seems like too much to not be connected," Ron nodded and Hermione huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hermione, Stella's right. You're brilliant, you are, but sometimes, if it's not in a book, you aren't the best at spotting things. Scary brilliant, though."

"Now I really do feel like I'm being insulted," she muttered but said nothing else.

"So, we're looking for someone who's disguised as someone else," Ron spoke up before she decided to.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Stella joked.

Stella and Harry practice dueled under the watchful eyes of Remus and Sirius for three hours before they left for dinner. The two of them had been learning new hexes from the two wizards and trying to figure out what kinds of creatures could be in the maze. Stella and Harry snuck out almost every night to spy on the maze. They'd tried drawing it the first night before watching as the bushes changed completely and they realized that the maze would change every ten minutes or so without any rhyme or reason, making it unmemorizable.

'HARRY POTTER "DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS: The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.

Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.

It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion.

"He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."

The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public.

"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power."

Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic and are historically associated with evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."

Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.'

"And you were doing so well," Stella sighed before waving her wand, causing the sausages on Draco's plate to explode, getting bits of food all over him, Crabbe, and Goyle. "I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed."

Stella had finished all of her final exams except for History of Magic. She spent the two hours after breakfast in Binn's class, answering questions about the goblin uprising before they were all dismissed. Blaise gave her a piggyback ride to the main hall.

"Mum!" Stella yelled, jumping off of Blaise's back and taking off at a run to the Gryffindor table.

Molly laughed as Stella's arms wrapped around her, hugging her tightly.

Bill, Remus, and Sirius were sitting at the table with Harry as Stella sat down between Harry and Molly, Ginny taking the seat on her mum's other side as she joined them, the twins right beside her. It almost felt like they were back at home with how good of a time they were all having.

"Now, why didn't the two of you tell me that you were together?" Molly asked Stella and Harry, causing them both to blush.

"We aren't," Harry spoke up quickly and Stella felt her heart sink but ignored it. "Just friends. Skeeter just happened to get a few good shots."

"And the kiss?" Molly asked, brow raised.

"I was just relieved to have Stella out of the water," Harry admitted scratching the back of his head before looking to Stella. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Stella shrugged, giving him a weak smile before turning to Sirius and starting a conversation with him to distract herself.

Molly was uneasy watching Sirius and Stella. She was rather worried that Sirius was going to take Stella back now that he'd been cleared. Stella was as good as her daughter, not that she'd shown it very well in the past few years. She hoped she was doing better now though as she held one of Stella's hands in hers under the table.

There were more courses than usual at the evening feast, which Stella ate with her house mates, the rest of her family staying over with Harry at the Gryffindor table. Stella glanced over every so often, catching Harry drinking the potions she'd passed to him to help him with his nerves so he'd be able to actually eat something. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

Stella applauded for Harry as he and the other champions headed out. Five minutes later, Stella walked out to the stands with her family, which Stella had now decided included Blaise, Theo, and Tracy as they all sat together. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest. The champions all nodded to McGonagall as she said something to them and then Bagman stood at the front of their small group, wand on his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin. In first, we have Mr. Harry Potter, followed by Mr. Cedric Diggory. In third, Mr. Viktor Krum, and in last, Miss Fleur Delacour."

Stella waved back when Harry waved to their group, the others waving as well.

"On my whistle, Harry will enter the maze!" said Bagman. "Three- two- one—"

He gave a short blast on his whistle and Harry hurried into the maze. Cedric entered five minutes later, followed by Krum, and then Delacour.

"Well, this should be nice and boring," Stella sighed, no display board playing this time. "I don't think they thought this through."

"Definitely not," Molly sighed, getting comfortable in the stands.

"I have some fireworks," Stella offered and Fred and George laughed, pulling out their own fireworks.

The three worked together to make a firework show for everyone in the stands. Delacour was pulled out half an hour after going in and Fred and Stella worked together to set off a few more fireworks.

"You should make them more specific," Stella told him. "Make them move and dance on their own."

Fred wrote the idea down quickly, adding a few other notes as well. Krum came out another half hour later. It was just Harry and Cedric left now. A Hogwarts champion either way. It was over an hour later when Harry and Cedric both appeared with the cup. Stella knew something was wrong as everyone began celebrating around them. Stella pushed to the front, Sirius and Remus directly behind her.

Dumbledore pulled Harry up, revealing Cedric's dead body. Stella rushed forward, pulling Harry close as he was trying to clutch Cedric's body still.

"It's him. He's back. Voldemort's back," Harry sobbed.

"My God – Diggory," Fudge whispered. "Dumbledore. Harry, let go."

Dumbledore, Remus and Sirius tried as well but Harry refused.

"Harry," Stella whispered into his ear. "He's safe now. Dumbledore is here. I've got you. Let go."

Harry released Cedric, still sobbing as he fell against Stella.

"He wanted me to bring him back," Harry muttered. "He wanted me to bring him to his parents."

"You did so well, Harry. You got him back."

There was screaming and sobbing and Stella could see Amos Diggory pushing through the crowd. Someone pulled Stella and Harry up, leading them away from the crowd as the adults tried to figure out what to do. Stella could tell that it was Moody due to the 'clunk, clunk, clunk' of his wooden leg.

"What happened, Harry?" Moody asked.

"The cup was a portkey," said Harry as they crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and Cedric to a graveyard… and Voldemort was there… Lord Voldemort…"

Up the marble stairs they went.

"The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?"

Red flags went up in Stella's mind. The only people she'd heard call Voldemort 'The Dark Lord' were death eaters and their children.

"Killed Cedric… they killed Cedric… Wormtail…"

"The rat was there?" Stella asked, getting distracted by Harry in his fragile state.

"Made a potion… got his body back…" Harry gasped out.

"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?"

"Dark Lord…" Stella whispered.

"And the Death Eaters came… and then we dueled…"

"You dueled with the Dark Lord?"

"It's you!" Stella yelled, pulling herself and Harry from Moody just as they reached his office.

Her wand was in her hand, pointed at him. Harry was pressed between her and the wall. Moody's wand was on her as well and Stella felt fear creeping in. Harry was still in shock and unable to help. She would die before letting someone hurt him and the chances of that happening were very high in the moment as she stared down the wand of a wizard much more experienced than she.

"You Blacks," Moody growled out. "Far too clever for your own good, the whole lot of you."

"So I've been told," Stella shrugged.

"Get in, or I'll kill you in front of him."

"You're going to do that either way," Stella argued. "I won't let you hurt him."

"It can't be you," Harry spoke up.

"It hasn't been easy, Harry, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. I have had to use every ounce of cunning I possess, so that my hand would not be detectable in your success. Dumbledore would have been very suspicious if you had managed everything too easily. As long as you got into that maze, preferably with a decent head start — then, I knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving your way clear. But I also had to contend with your stupidity. The second task . . . that was when I was most afraid we would fail. I was keeping watch on you, Potter. I knew you hadn't worked out the egg's clue, so I had to give you another hint —"

"You didn't," Harry said hoarsely. "Cedric gave me the clue —"

"Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I trusted that he would pass the information on to you. Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. I was sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him about the dragons, and so he did. But even then, Potter, even then you seemed likely to fail. I was watching all the time . . . all those hours in the library. Didn't you realize that the book you needed was in your dormitory all along? I planted it there early on, I gave it to the Longbottom boy, don't you remember? Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. It would have told you all you needed to know about gillyweed. I expected you to ask everyone and anyone you could for help. Longbottom would have told you in an instant. But you did not . . . you did not. . . . You worked with a Slytherin. I shouldn't be surprised. The Blacks and Potters always seem to find one another. Watched it happen when I was in school myself."

Moody's wand was still pointed directly at Stella's heart, hers pointed at his chest as she stayed in front of Harry, refusing to move.

"You had an easier time of it than you should have in that maze tonight, of course," said Moody. "I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed. I put the Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear."

Stella could hear Sirius in her head and carefully pressed her fingers closer together, telling him she was alive and telling him he was on the right path. He assured her that they were almost there.

"The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you, Potter, and he so wanted to," whispered Moody. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him. I gave you to him — the thing he needed above all to regenerate — and then I killed you for him. I will be honored beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter . . . closer than a son. . . ."

They were one hall over, feet silenced and disillusioned.

"The Dark Lord and I," said Moody, and he looked completely insane now, towering over Harry and Stella, leering down at him, "have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers . . . very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Harry, of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure . . . the very great pleasure . . . of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!"

"You're mad," Harry said, finally coming back to himself and trying to pull Stella behind him but she wasn't moving.

"Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him — and now — I conquer you!

"Avada—"

"Incarcerous!"

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Three spells hit Moody at the same time and he flew sideways. Stella relaxed instantly, Harry catching her around her waist and holding her up.

"Oh, thank Merlin."

Snape, Remus, and Sirius rushed to the two teens. Sirius pulled Harry into a tight hug as Snape did the same to Stella, Remus standing between them and Moody with his wand raised. Dumbledore and McGonagall rushed pass them, wands also pointed at Moody, who had been blasted into his office.

"To the hospital wing, Potter," McGonagall began.

"No," Dumbledore said sharply.

"Dumbledore, he ought to- look at him- he's been through enough tonight-"

"He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand. Miss Black as well," said Dumbledore curtly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. Harry needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight and why. Miss Black, I'm sure, is not willing to leave him."

"Damn right," Stella mumbled, still pressed against Snape.

"Moody," Harry said, still in complete disbelief. "How can it have been Moody?"

"It's not Moody, is it?" Stella asked and Dumbledore's eyes moved to her. "It's someone disguised as him."

"The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight, Harry," Dumbledore said quietly. "The moment he took you, I knew. We followed."

Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape.

"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky."

Snape's arms tightened around Stella, showing how much he didn't want to leave her in the moment.

"I've got her," Remus's soft voice spoke and Snape slowly passed Stella over to him. "I've got her. Go."

Stella was pulled into the office by Remus with Sirius, Harry, and McGonagall, Dumbledore already inside. Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spell books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again. The spell books had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneakoscopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak.

Stella watched, astounded, as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk, and each time revealing different contents. Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Stella gasped as Harry let out a cry of amazement.

They were looking down into a kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.

Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him.

"Stunned — controlled by the Imperius Curse — very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Remus, throw down the imposter's cloak — he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger."

Remus released Stella and did as instructed. Stella felt cold and weak without someone holding her up and she fell into a chair. Once the real Moody was covered, Remus gave Dumbledore a hand up out of the trunk. Dumbledore picked up the hip flask then, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor.

"Polyjuice," Stella stated, staring at the potion. "It's old though. Would have only lasted twenty minutes at a time."

"Correct, Miss Black," Dumbledore nodded. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair . . ." Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done . . . We shall see."

Before their very eyes, the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place; next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction.

The man before them was pale-skinned, slightly freckles, with a mop of fair hair. Stella had never seen before in her life. Dumbledore looked to her.

"I'm out of answers," she shrugged.

"Barty Crouch," Remus breathed, staring down at the man.

"What?" Stella asked confused.

"Junior," Harry tossed out.

"Good Heavens," McGonagall breathed just as Snape rushed back in.

"Crouch!" he yelled, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!"

Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth wide and she let out a piercing shriek.

"Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?"

She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest.

"You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"

"He is simply stunned, Winky," said Dumbledore. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"

Snape passed a vial with clear liquid to Dumbledore before returning to Stella, kneeling in front of her.

"Veritaserum?" she asked in a whisper and Snape nodded, passing her a potion as well. "I'm okay."

"It'll make me feel better," Snape stated.

Stella sighed before taking the potion, drinking it quickly and passing the empty vial back to her professor. He nodded and stood, passing a vial to Sirius for Harry, another calming draught. Dumbledore poured three drops inside the man's mouth. Then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Rennervate."

Crouch's son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level.

"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"Yes," man muttered, still tied up by the black ropes that Remus had conjured.

"I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"

Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice.

"My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."

Winky was shaking her head, trembling.

"Say no more, Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!"

But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice. "The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors.

"My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."

The man's eyelids flickered.

"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master . . . of returning to his service."

"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore.

"The Imperius Curse," Crouch said. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior."

"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble. . . ."

"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?"

"Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."

"Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"

"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," said Dumbledore.

"Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the same monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end.

"It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know.

"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boy's pocket. I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."

"Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky, tears trickling between her fingers.

"So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?"

"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master.

"My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky.

"Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned.

"When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and found me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."

Winky let out a wail of despair.

"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then . . . and then . . ." Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me.

"He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant — perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."

The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life. Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak.

"It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years."

"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore.

"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first —"

"You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm.

"Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double.

"I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts.

"I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boomslang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."

"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore.

"Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father."

"But your father escaped," said Dumbledore.

"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban.

"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, I watched Krum and Potter take a walk and my father came out of the forest. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father."

"Noooo!" wailed Winky. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?"

"You killed your father," Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?"

"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I walked out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore that Snape had told me to come.

"Dumbledore told me to go and find my father. I went back to where I left him. I transfigured my father's body. He became a bone… I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."

There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight . . ."

"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards."

The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.

McGonagall went to fetch Pomfrey for Moody. Remus and Severus kept watch on the office and Dumbledore went in search of Fudge. Sirius and Stella worked together to get Harry to the hospital wing, his leg aching and his arm bleeding.

"Where are the Diggory's?" Harry asked as they went and Stella wondered the same thing.

"Professor Sprout is with them. She was his head of house and knew him best," Sirius explained, voice shaking. "Don't worry about that now. We need to get you taken care of before anything else."

Dumbledore appeared in the hospital wing not long after, Madam Pomfrey returning just before him with Moody. Harry told Dumbledore the events of the graveyard and Stella listened on in horror. When Harry admitted to seeing his parents, Stella held his hand tightly as tears fell from his cheeks. The Weasleys and Hermione appeared, harassing Madam Pomfrey until Dumbledore spoke up, telling them all that they may remain if they remained quiet, Harry needing his rest. A sleeping potion was passed over and Harry gulped it down. He rolled to his side so that he was facing Stella, hand still holding hers tightly. She brushed his hair from his face, giving him a reassuring smile as his eyes fluttered closed.

Harry's breathing evened out and it took Stella a while to look away from him. When she did, she found the others watching them. Stella stood slowly, legs shaking a bit as she moved away, allowing Sirius to take the seat she'd just been in, letting him stay with Harry for a bit. She gave her mum a hug before walking out of the hospital wing. She needed to get to the dungeons. She needed to warn Theo and Blaise of what was coming. She needed to warn her cousin, as well.

No one noticed as Stella slipped away, or if they did, they didn't stop her. Stella made it to the dungeons and stared at the portrait.

"Emerald," she whispered out and the door swung open.

The room quieted the moment Stella stepped in. Stella searched the room, eyes landing on her year mates in the corner around a chess table, none of them playing anymore as she approached them.

"What happened?" Tracy asked, voice soft.

Stella sat between Blaise and Theo.

"I don't know," she lied loud enough for the rest of the room to hear but her eyes told Theo, Blaise, and Draco that they needed to stay. "Harry was given a calming and a sleeping draught. I stayed until I was told to go."

The others around the room bought it, going back to their conversations. The common room began to empty, the four staying exactly where they were until they were finally alone.

"Voldemort is back," she finally told them. "Draco, Theo, your father's were there. I couldn't… I had to warn you. I didn't want you to go home without knowing what may be waiting for you. There were others as well. Harry told us all of them. Macnair, Avery, Crabbe, Goyle… Pettigrew…"

"He's back," Theo whispered, eyes wide in fear.

"He is," Stella nodded.

The four stayed in the common room until the sun came up, all too terrified and too tired to move. They leaned on one another. Stella knew she'd fallen asleep at some point. When she woke, it was to find the three boys still with her. The two couches in the common room had been pushed together and all four teens were wrapped around one another. Remus was standing over them, hand touching her shoulder, alerting her to what had woken her. He inclined his head and Stella carefully unwound herself from the three boys, Remus helping her up. They went straight into Snape's office and Stella took her normal spot, Remus leaning against the desk, arms crossed over his chest and ankle crossed over the top of the other one.

"This summer, you and the Weasley's will be staying in Sirius's childhood home," Remus spoke up. "Hermione and Harry will join you eventually in the summer."

"Where's Professor Snape?" Stella asked.

"He is… he will be alright," Remus shook his head, unable to make eye contact with her.

"You don't sound sure about that and you didn't answer my question," Stella stated, feeling unease working through her.

"Severus is a spy," Remus said, voice soft and waiting for Stella to catch up.

Stella was on her feet in a moment, running out of the office and through the school. Remus ran behind her, trying to get her to stop but she refused. She burst into the hospital wing, looking around and letting out a growl of frustration when she didn't find him among the crowd. She turned to leave, ready to search the entire school, but Remus stopped her, hands on her shoulders.

"Where is he?!" Stella demanded, not caring if she disturbed the patients.

"Stella Nova," Remus breathed.

"WHERE?!" she demanded.

"Miss Black," Dumbledore's voice spoke from behind Remus, stepping into the hospital wing.

"Where?" she asked, tears streaming down her face like the sunlight poured into the hospital wing and voice cracking. "Where did you send him?"

"I am sorry, Miss Black. Professor Snape has been sent to spy on Lord Voldemort."

"No," Stella crumbled, Remus just barely catching her. "No, no, no, no, no."

"He'll be alright," Remus told her.

"How can you be okay with this?" she asked him. "How?"

"Because it is what must be done," Remus whispered to her.