XIV. The Worrier
The following Tuesday, the entire castle was abuzz with excitement; Sirona could practically feel it radiating off the walls and people around her. She would be lying to say she wasn't just as excited — and nervous. She was still very sceptical of these so-called safety precautions that had been put into place in order to bring the Tri-Wizard Tournament back. Part of her was still a bit convinced that the whole school might just end up watching the gruesome death of one of the four champions. She was especially worried about Harry, who despite his fame had all the smarts and talent of an average fourteen-year-old boy, which just might be the thing that ended up doing him in.
Sirona only had to make it through her double Charms and lunch, and then, they'd all be off to watch what could potentially be an emotionally scarring event. No one else seemed to care about the dangers of the whole thing; their minds were all too clouded by the fact that the winner of this tournament was supposed to bring glory to their school or what have you. It was a silly thing, in her opinion — glory, that was. Who cared about being famous? Or at least, who cared about it enough to put themselves through the Tri-Wizard Tournament of all things? Now, the prize money? Sirona understood the temptation there. One thousand galleons could really turn some things around for their family, no doubt. Still, when weighed against the possibility of death? Decidedly also not worth it.
"I was thinking," Caroline said as they made their way out of the Great Hall, having had their fill of breakfast, "we should leave lunch a bit earlier than usual. I want to be front and centre for the first task." As time had passed, she seemed in better spirits when talking about the tournament, no longer sulking about having not been chosen whenever it was mentioned.
"Wonder what it'll be," Roger said as they approached the stairs, his eyes glancing at a passing Beauxbâtons student. Sirona thought she caught a bit of disappointment in his eyes, and she knew he was hoping to get a glimpse of Fleur, who'd not appeared for breakfast that morning.
"Something horrid I imagine," Sirona muttered.
"Oh, lighten up a bit, Rona," Caroline said dismissively. "I'm sure they'll have mediwizards and security on standby in case anything gets out of hand."
"Sorry for being worried about our classmate and also the literal fourteen-year-old that they've forced to compete," Sirona bit back, and Caroline rolled her eyes.
"Actions have consequences," she replied, shrugging, still not believing the narrative that Harry hadn't entered the competition of his own accord. "Besides, the kid literally faced You-Know-Who before he could string together a sentence and came out on top. Tri-Wizard should be a piece of cake after that."
Sirona scoffed, looking over at Roger for some support. It had the opposite effect, however, as he only added, "He did kill a full-grown basilisk in his second year with nothing but a sword."
"And luck," Sirona grumbled. Clearly the "fourteen years old" part simply just wasn't registering with anyone, and it had started to really annoy her. Maybe it was because she remembered what she and her friends had been like only two years prior. Or perhaps it was an older sister thing. Or, and this one probably held the most weight, perhaps her proximity to the Weasleys had given Sirona a better insight on Harry than most of her other classmates who'd never really interacted with the boy. Auguste seemed to be the only person that really listened and agreed when she showed much concern, but Roger had pointed out that he too agreed with the girls he fancied even if he really didn't. She had to admit he may have had a point there.
"Hang on," Roger said, seemingly having suddenly realised something, snapping his head to Caroline. "The staff takes us down to the first task. Everyone gets there at the same time."
"What she really means is she wants to make sure she knows where her Durmstrang dreamboat is before the crowds get too thick," Sirona said knowingly. "Do tell us, how is Erik?"
Roger frowned.
"This is unfair. How is it that you two have already gotten someone and I haven't? We all know I'm the better-looking friend."
"Well, perhaps if you'd stop drooling over the veela . . ."
Once Caroline started in, the bickering commenced, and Sirona tuned them out.
"Sirona!"
Her eyes widened a fraction at the familiar voice of Kevin Chambers, though he sounded a bit further away — somewhere behind her on the stairs, but she didn't look. She quickened her pace a bit, hoping he would simply think she hadn't heard him. She pushed her way past Caroline and Roger, reaching the top step before them.
It was well-known to all Hogwarts' students that the stairs had a mind of their own, and you couldn't stop them from moving. Lesser-known amongst some of the older students, you could make some of them move prematurely. Hoping this set was one of the chosen ones, Sirona flung her hand out quickly as she reached the top, fingers grazing the underside of where the staircase railing met the corridor railing, and she felt the satisfying rumble under her feet as they touched down on the platform.
"Oi!" Caroline said angrily, her friends having been close enough to see her purposeful hand movement. Sirona looked back at them as the staircase carried them (and Kevin Chambers) away, mouthing a quick apology to her friends. They only scowled at her, and Sirona could tell that Roger was already pulling up the sleeve of his robe to access his bracelet.
Sirona turned on her heel, making her way to Charms class. She let out a yelp of pain when her bracelet grew hot. No doubt both Caroline and Roger had their wands pressed into their own, unhappy with her for the time being. She quickly manoeuvred the sleeve of her robe under the bracelet to stop it from making contact with her skin. She simply didn't have the energy to deal with Chambers that morning. Or any morning for that matter.
To her surprise, Fred and George were already at their desk behind Sirona and Caroline's. George's eyebrow rose upon spotting her.
"Nice fashion statement," he said, eyeing the silver bracelet clamped around Sirona's black school robes. She did look rather ridiculous wearing her bracelet over her sleeve, but she could still feel the heat radiating through her clothes, so she left it.
"What're you two doing?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at them as she sat her things down. "Surely not schoolwork for once?"
Fred scoffed, seeming offended.
"Why on earth would we be doing that?"
"We have far more important things to attend to," George agreed, underlining something in the book on his desk and showing it to Fred, who scribbled something down on his parchment.
"We have futures to think about," Fred continued. "Schoolwork isn't going to help us any with that."
Sirona didn't bother fighting them on that point. Had it been anyone else, she'd tell them that they were idiots. As it was, the twins already knew they were idiots, but they were also right. Schoolwork probably wasn't going to help Fred and George with whatever they inevitably ended up doing after graduation. Her eyes drifted over to Lee Jordan's empty seat across the aisle from George.
"Where's Lee?" she inquired.
"Sick," they replied simultaneously, not looking up at her.
"But Madam Pomfrey should have him back to normal before lunch," Fred added.
"Hopefully," said George. "He'll have a proper go at us if he misses the first task."
Sirona pulled her quill from her bag, frowning at the nib, which was slightly bent. She set to work trying to carefully bend it back into place.
"What'd you do?" she asked, not looking up from her quill.
"It wasn't our fault!" Fred said, slightly indignant.
"We did tell him those pastries weren't for eating," George agreed. "We weren't finished testing them."
"Though, I still wonder what in particular caused the green rash," Fred mused.
"Definitely going to have to fix that," George muttered. "But I saw some feathers, so we're on the right track!"
Sirona's quill was forgotten as she just stared, mouth agape at the twins. She went back and forth in her head about whether she wanted to inquire further. She decided against it. Lee would certainly complain to her about it later anyways.
"What was that, Rodge?" came Caroline's voice dramatically as she and Roger finally entered the classroom, both of them refusing to look at Sirona. "You want to sit in the front? Sounds lovely to me!"
Sirona rolled her eyes.
"Oh, don't be like that!" she said loudly back at her friends as they pointedly sat at the front desks. "I was trying to get away from—"
Sirona didn't finish her sentence owing to the fact that Kevin Chambers had just walked into the room. It all seemed to happen slow and fast at the same time. Sirona saw him look at her, and then at Caroline, and then finally his eyes landed on Caroline's usual seat next to Sirona — empty. Caroline and Roger noticed just a fraction too late. Caroline made to move; after all, their planned punishment was to not sit with Sirona, not to force her to sit next to Chambers for a double class period. Sirona's stomach dropped at the look of triumph in Kevin's eyes when he made it to the seat, sitting down so fast the chair nearly fell backwards.
If looks could kill, Caroline and Roger would've been primed for burial right then and there. The regret was immediate, Sirona could see it on their faces, but it wasn't enough. Had she six galleons to throw away, she would've chucked her friendship bracelet right at one of their heads.
"Tried to catch you on the stairs," Kevin said as he pulled his Charms book from his bag, sitting it on their table. Sirona's right eye twitched at this. "What I wouldn't give for some stationary stairs in this place, you know?" he said, in what Sirona guessed was supposed to be a joking kind of way.
Sirona noticed an engraving starting to appear on her bracelet now. The scrawling words, We're soooo sorry, etched themselves into the silver before disappearing a few moment later. She pulled her sleeve out from under the bracelet, covering it once more. She gave another withering look to her friends, which simply told them she was not going to forgive them so easily.
Death, she thought. Who she was wishing it on (herself, her friends or Kevin Chambers), she wasn't certain, but it seemed fitting nonetheless.
"Yes," she finally said back to Kevin, trying to hide the bite in her tone. "They have a mind of their own."
"Tell me about it!" he replied, elated that she'd responded, and she contemplated giving him the silent treatment for the rest of the class if she thought it would make him finally get the hint, but she knew she didn't have the heart to actually do it. Moreover, she doubted it would work anyway.
"I had been hoping that we might run into each other at Hogsmeade this past weekend, but I guess you had that thing with the Beauxbâtons boy. How'd that go?"
He was trying to sound nonchalant about the whole thing but failing miserably at it. Sirona could hear the curiosity and hope that lingered on the simple question, as though she might tell him she'd had a horrible time. She put on a bright smile.
"I had a wonderful time," she said, placing heavy emphasis on the adjective. "He's quite charming. Perhaps we'll have another date soon."
This had the intended effect of silencing Kevin for at least a few minutes, and Sirona was glad. However, the same could not be said for the person sitting behind her, eyes boring into the back of her head as though he might be able to read her thoughts if he stared for long enough. Fred knew Sirona was desperately trying to get Chambers to stop before he had an opening to ask her out, but her words had also put Fred in a mood as he remembered how she'd laughed at the stupid French boy's little quips over the weekend. It was wholly unfair. Didn't the boy have eyes for any of his own classmates? They had a girl who was part veela for Merlin's sake, yet he just had to take a liking to Sirona. And worse still, she seemed to be enjoying it. From beside him, George shook his head.
"Something else on your mind besides helping me figure out this Canary Cream problem?"
Fred simply shrugged, pulling his attention back to his notes. George rolled his eyes. Fred had yet to tell him about his feelings for Sirona. They never really told each other those things outright because they were smart enough to figure it out on their own and proceeded to take the mickey out of one another for it. But Fred was acting differently. Not overtly, in fact, George doubted anyone but him had picked up on it, not even Lee. But George was tired of dealing with Fred's moodiness, no matter how slight.
"Want my advice?"
"Nope," Fred muttered, pulling the book towards him.
"Just ask her out," George said anyways, "without some lame excuse or clever reasoning attached to it. Maybe then she'd think you actually wanted to date her."
"Who says I want to?" Fred asked, annoyed. Besides, he thought bitterly, it seems someone's already beaten me to it.
"Right," George said in a doubting tone that agitated Fred further. He honestly wasn't sure why he was bothering to lie. George knew he fancied her. Lee knew it too. Hell, he felt like everyone at the bloody school seemed to know he fancied Sirona with the exception of the girl herself, and it was maddening. Had Fred not known her so well, he would've thought she was being purposefully obtuse. And then, his mind kept flashing back to what he'd told her when she'd brought it up to him earlier in the term.
"That I fancied you? Get over yourself."
Why had he said that? He couldn't have come up with some witty remark? He was great at witty remarks! They made up at least fifty percent of his DNA, he was sure, if not more, so what on earth had he been thinking? And what was with Sirona? One moment, she doesn't have time for boys, and the next, she's all smitten with some mediocre Quidditch keeper. She needed to make up her mind before she drove Fred completely insane. What would be next? Would she change her mind about going to the ball with him too? That thought put a scowl on his face, so he opted to stop thinking about it for the time being, busying himself with figuring out the dilemma of how to make a pastry transform someone into a bird.
The class went by slowly. Too slowly for Sirona. Now that they were N.E.W.T. students, it seemed like every professor expected them to be experts in nonverbal spells. Today they were working on a Drought Charm — simple enough for Sirona, who was proficient in Charms, but Flitwick was insisting on them doing it silently. Plenty of things were easy to do nonverbally. Making things move? Easy. Pinching jinxes? Easy. Making things disappear, reappear or transform? Sirona still needed her words for that. And while she troubled herself with furious wand movements and thoughts of drying the little puddle on her desk in front of her, Kevin seemed to be doing his best to not let her concentrate. He simply refused to stay silent for very long, insisting on trying to have a conversation rather than work on the assignment in front of him. Not to mention, he kept sliding his chair ever so closer to Sirona, who would promptly inch farther away. By the time they'd reached the halfway point of the class, Kevin was almost directly in front of Sirona's puddle (his own completely abandoned), whereas Sirona was practically sitting in the aisle.
She was finally saved by Lee, who walked into class, still sporting a faint green tinge on his neck. As he walked towards his seat in the back, he passed by Sirona's table. Taking notice of blatant disrespect Chambers seemed to have for personal space, Lee hooked his foot around the leg of Chambers' chair and unceremoniously pulled the boy back into his original place.
"Be creepier, Chambers," Lee said sarcastically as he dumped his things onto his own table. This seemed to embarrass the boy, which gave Sirona a small reprieve from his incessant talking, during which time she managed to evaporate half of her puddle without uttering a single sound. Satisfied enough with her handiwork (and moreover, sensing that Chambers was about to start talking to her again), Sirona pushed her chair back and turned to face Fred, who at this point in the class had managed to turn the puddle in front of him into a shimmering array of colours. She watched for a moment as he made small droplets jump and dance around. Pretty and impressive, but not at all what they were supposed to be working on.
"Any more of those pastries?" she asked. "I owe Caroline and Roger a payback."
Fred chuckled, his foul mood from earlier long forgotten as he looked up to see Sirona crack a devilish smile.
"I'll see what I can manage."
The rest of the class went by much quicker. Flitwick seemed to understand that most of them were too excited about the tournament to focus on their charms for too long. Therefore, he never told Sirona to turn back around to her own table, and she spent a good portion of the rest of class talking with the twins and Lee, who'd pulled his chair across the aisle to sit next to George. Luckily, Kevin always seemed a little less likely to talk to Sirona when the Weasleys were around; though, he still attempted to join in conversation every now and then.
When lunch rolled around, Sirona was bombarded with apologies from Caroline and Roger as they walked to their table in the Great Hall. She feigned holding a grudge for a while, but she'd survived the ordeal, so she wasn't nearly as upset as she'd been at the start of Charms. However, she did plan on keeping the event in her back pocket to pull out whenever they were having a disagreement.
"Ze day is finally 'ere," said Auguste as he sat beside Sirona in the Great Hall, and she was thankful that she didn't have a mouthful of food when he appeared. "Are you excited?"
"More nervous than excited, but sure," she said, frowning a bit at Roger, who was scanning the Beauxbâtons students eagerly. Caroline seemed to notice this as well.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Rodge, she isn't going to be here," Sirona heard Caroline tell him.
"Madam Maxine 'as Fleur on a very strict schedule today," Auguste confirmed. "I am sure she is eating a specially prepared meal as well."
Sirona thought she heard just a bit of attitude in Auguste's tone, as though he was over all of the special treatment Fleur was receiving as their champion. Roger slumped into his seat, pouting as he pushed his food around his plate with his fork.
"Any ideas on what the first task will be?" Sirona asked as Auguste selected his food. He shrugged.
"I am 'earing all sorts of rumours," he told her excitedly. "I am 'oping ze one about ze Chimaera is true. I 'ave never seen one in person before."
"Surely they wouldn't use such a rare creature for sport," Sirona said.
"You never know," he replied. "Zey want to put on a good show, do zey not?"
Sirona nodded in a thoughtful way, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she was hoping for something a little less exciting than that. After all, she wasn't sure how one could possibly contain the likes of a Chimaera. She glanced over her shoulder, trying to scan the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables for their two champions. Cedric looked paler than usual, his face contrasting sharply against his school robes. Sirona couldn't see Harry from where she sat, but she could imagine that he probably felt similar to how Cedric looked. She didn't particularly envy any of the champions, no matter what special treatment the may be getting.
Caroline put an arm around Sirona's shoulders, pulling her attention back to their own table.
"As I'm sure you've gathered by now, our dear Sirona is a worrier," she told Auguste.
"I don't like watching people get too hurt," Sirona said, shrugging.
"She's definitely the mother of the group," Roger agreed with Caroline. "You should see her after our Quidditch matches if a teammate gets injured. I'm certain that's why Chambers has such a thing for you, you know? Remember how you fussed over his broken hand all the way to the Hospital Wing in third year?"
Sirona grimaced at the memory. She had to admit that Chambers' affections for her seemed to coincide with that particular moment. Had she known at the time that he'd attach to her like an unwanted bacteria, she would've ignored his cries of pain. Or at least would've tried a bit harder to. Auguste nodded, eyes glancing farther down the Ravenclaw table.
"Ah, and 'e is ze boy who keeps looking at me like I've stolen somezing from 'im?"
In the most conspicuous manner, the three Ravenclaws simultaneously snapped their heads towards the spot on that Kevin Chambers sat. He quickly looked down at his plate, trying to hide his obviously dejected expression.
"He's harmless," Sirona assured, pulling her attention back to her own plate of food. "He's just — persistent," she added, trying to put it nicely. Auguste let out a small chuckle, and the smirk on his handsome features made Sirona's chest flutter.
"I cannot say zat I blame 'im."
Sirona felt the heat radiating from the tips of her ears almost instantly as she blushed at the boy's words. She was too distracted to even try to kick Roger's shin under the table when he promptly rolled his eyes at Auguste's line. Though, Roger's subsequent small grunt of pain had told Sirona that Caroline had it taken care of.
"Miss Bordeaux!"
Sirona looked around, trying to find Professor Flitwick as his squeaky voice sounded in the Great Hall. She could see the tip of his hat as he made his way down the side of the table that was opposite to where she sat. She stood as he approached them.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Your mother is insisting that she talk with you immediately."
At these words, Sirona's blood went cold. Had something happened to Zach? Or Saegon? Or the house? Hadn't her mum and Gus been in the Cayman Islands? Had the come home early? If so, why?
Despite the anxious questions spinning around in her head, threatening to make her sick, Sirona nodded and stood. She kept her expression calm because she could feel Damona's eyes on her from where the girl sat at the end of the table. Cissonia was next, peering around her friends from the Hufflepuff table to try and see what was going on. Sirona made sure to give Cissonia a reassuring smile as she followed Flitwick from the hall and up to his office. She didn't need to worry her sisters if it was something she could handle.
Flitwick stood outside of his office door, opting to give Sirona privacy, which she was thankful for. As she closed the door behind her, she peered into the fireplace. For a moment there was nothing, and Sirona knelt down in front of the fire.
"Hello?" she said into the flames. "Mum?"
After a few seconds, Cybele Bordeaux's head popped into the fireplace. She looked a bit dishevelled but smiled upon seeing her eldest daughter.
"Yes, sweetie, could you tell me where we 'ave put the Coughing Solution? Zach 'as a 'orrible cough."
Sirona blinked. Surely this was not all that her mother had interrupted her for. She furrowed her brow, waiting for an additional explanation. None came.
"Uh, that depends. Have you bought any since we've left for school? I told you back in August we were out. I wrote you a list, remember?" Sirona said, trying not to sound annoyed.
"Ah! Well that explains it," Cybele said, chuckling a bit.
"Are you home?" Sirona asked. "Saegon said you and Gus went on holiday."
"Yes, we came back early," her mother said, and Sirona thought she could hear Gus say something, but his voice was muffled. While this made Sirona feel a little better, she really wanted to get back to her friends and Auguste.
"Is that all?"
"Which brand is the better one you usually buy?" her mother asked, and Sirona pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head.
"It's not that one is better, it's that Zach is allergic to asphodel, which is in most Coughing Solutions. We've talked about this," Sirona reminded her mother. "Just get the generic at Mulpepper's. It doesn't use asphodel."
"Oh, what would I do without you?"
Sirona supposed that the question was meant to be kind and endearing, but it just made Sirona's insides twist anxiously.
"Does he have a fever?" she asked, choosing instead to focus on Zach rather than her mother's question. "Because if he has a fever, the Coughing Solution is only going to fix the cough, not make him feel better."
Sirona's question did not seem to matter though, as her mother had gotten distracted by something Sirona could not see, and before she knew it, Cybele was giving her a hurried goodbye.
"Wait, Mum! Does he have —"
Cybele was gone before Sirona could finish repeating the question. She stared into the flickering flames, disappointed but not surprised. Never surprised. She'd have to remember to write to Saegon to ask him to check on their little brother. She sighed, brushing off her robes as she stood from the floor.
By the time Sirona got back to the Great Hall, her lunch had grown cold. It didn't matter anyway because Caroline was itching for them to leave once Sirona reported that she saw Erik standing in the Entrance Hall with a few of the Slytherin students, looking as though he was waiting for something — or someone. In return, Caroline and Roger had informed her that Madam Maxine had come to gather the Beauxbâtons students early before the first task, so Auguste was nowhere in sight much to Sirona's disappointment.
She and Roger gave Caroline her space as she talked with her handsome Scandinavian boy. This was mostly because Roger kept giving Sirona a hilarious commentary on everything that was being said that Sirona could tell Caroline didn't appreciate. Even if Sirona did find it a bit funny. So the two found themselves sitting at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for everyone else to gather in the Entrance Hall for the professors to lead them down to wherever the first task was being held.
"Be honest," Roger said. "What d'ya think my chances are with the veela girl?"
"Well, they'd be a bit better if you stopped called her that," Sirona told him. "But to be honest, I think if you just talk to her like a normal human being, you'd have a better chance than most." Over the weeks the Beauxbâtons students had been there, Sirona had watched guy after guy drool over Fleur Delacour, but she'd barely seen any of them attempt to talk to the girl. Sirona grinned at him. "Like you said, you're the better-looking friend."
"Damn straight I am," he said confidently at the same time as another voice said, "He wishes!"
Lee Jordan appeared beside the stair railing with the Weasley twins in tow. "Where's Caroline?" Lee continued. "Surely, she wouldn't agree to this."
"She's flirting with Erik Thel-what's-his-face," Roger informed them, not remembering the boy's full surname. "Besides, I won that friendship award fair and square!"
What he had failed to mention was that he won it in their third year, when Caroline had a terrible case of acne and Sirona hadn't figured out her eyebrows quite yet. The both of them had had terrible self-esteem by the end of their second term that year. The vote had been unanimous back then. If they were to vote now, Sirona was certain the outcome would be different. But to be fair to Roger, he was still a good-looking guy.
Fred sat down on the step next to Sirona, looking around for a moment before giving her a cheeky grin.
"Already scared off your boyfriend?" he asked. "I at least figured you'd make it to a second date."
Sirona aimed a quick jab at his side with her elbow, making contact with his ribs. In return, he trapped her head under his arm and tried to jam his pinky, wet with his saliva, into her ear. Sirona clapped her hands over her ears protectively as she struggled with him.
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" she said. "White flag! White flag!"
Fred smiled, satisfied, but he still wiped his finger on her robes, making her grimace. His arm stayed though, resting around her shoulders.
"Their headmistress took them all back to their carriage," she said. "But who knows? Maybe I'll find him in the crowds."
"Well, you always have me to keep you company if you can't," he said, and Sirona shook her head but still smiled.
"I should count myself so lucky."