Alice Evans and the Lost Days

hermy_madness

Rating: G
Genres: Humor, Action & Adventure
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 7
Published: 30/01/2012
Last Updated: 19/12/2013
Status: completed

So Alice and Co. have returned for their fourth year at Hogwarts, but what will the changes of last year mean for the new one? How will her new identity change relationships? A new danger threatens Hogwarts and there are yet more secrets to be uncovered! Please R&R! For a summary (yes it has been that long) go to chapter 9. CHAPTER 16 NOW UP! And Finished!

Chapters

1. New Arrivals

2. The Quidditch World Cup

3. Death Eaters

4. News from Outside

5. The Choosing of the Champions

6. Unwanted Attention

7. Call of the Wild

8. The Art of Invitation

9. The Yule Ball

10. A Turn for the Worst

11. Something Fishy

12. Siblings and Sneezes

13. A Brief History of Time

14. Questions and Answers

15. Trapped

16. The End of the Beginning

1. New Arrivals

New Arrivals

With a tired groan Alice rolled over in her bed, right arm flailing blindly about in the dark, sleepily attempting to locate the source of the shrill ringing in an effort to snuff it out. After an interval which her eardrums considered intolerably long her fumbling fingers touched cool metal and she bashed the top of the clock to silence it. The stillness that ensued seemed welcomingly empty. As she lay there it took her a few seconds to work out why she felt so content. It took several more of adjusting to her newly awake status before it dawned on her. Pettigrew's week-long trial had finally concluded yesterday: a trial that had seen him sent to Azkaban for the rest of his miserable life and her godfather truly vindicated once and for all. The party that the Weasleys had kindly held afterwards to celebrate had been long and exuberant which was why she was only now waking up at… she squinted through the gloom at the clock face - eleven o'clock. Such a lie in was very unlike her.

For a couple of minutes she just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, enjoying the chance to just lie in her warm, comfortable bed in her own room, a luxury which she was still just getting used to, listening to the sounds of Sirius whistling cheerfully as he clattered around in the kitchen downstairs. Eventually the smell of burning bacon was enough to rouse her from her bed and she sat up, pulling on her dressing gown before going off to rescue her godfather, and breakfast, in that order.

“Sirius,” she padded into the kitchen whisking the now smoking pan out from under his nose and running it under the tap, “we really need to work on your cooking skills. What are you going to do when I go back to Hogwarts, starve?”

“Of course not,” he chuckled as he watched her fetch some eggs and crack them into a fresh pan, “I'm just going to have to develop a taste for carbonised bacon that's all.”

Alice mock glared at him from between the escaping tendrils of her overnight plait. “Honestly, you're as bad as Harry and Ron sometimes - actually,” she paused to reflect, “I think you might be worse.”

“High praise indeed.”

“There, that's slightly more edible.” A few minutes later she placed a freshly cooked breakfast onto the tiny table in front of him before wedging herself into a chair pushed up against the kitchen dresser. As they ate in companionable silence her eyes flicked around the room, noting the enormous pile of dishes she was going to have to cajole her godfather into tackling later. It was a small room, which reflected the overall size of the house, but it managed to achieve a snug and cosy air rather than a cramped one somehow. Sirius could have used magic to enlarge the rooms if he wanted to, but he always claimed it would take too much effort, she suspected that he liked the size of the house and if she was honest so did she. After the endless corridors of Hogwarts (much as she loved it) and the echoing emptiness of the Home, it made a pleasant change. Alice also rather suspected that Sirius had wanted something as different to the vast house which he described growing up in as was possible.

Unlike the only other wizarding house she had ever come across, the Burrow, the cottage looked relatively normal from the outside; a simple two storey, whitewashed country cottage with the front door set between two windows all painted in a matching shade of moss green and a thatched roof on top. Surrounding it was a patchwork of fields scattered across rolling hills, all in the full grip of summer, and gently sloping down to cliffs at which point they ended abruptly and suddenly plunged into the sea. On days when the tide was out a vast expanse of rock pools were revealed, a fact which she had discovered to her delight several days after moving in.

Inside of course was an entirely different matter. The house was stuffed from head to toe with an assortment of wizarding items, from magical clocks and radios, to mirrors that spoke; kettles that poured themselves, rugs that weren't really rugs but that sprang up to form chairs whenever you required it; in the bathroom there was a bath that had four taps, one for hot water, one for cold, one for bubbles and another one which she hadn't worked out how to use yet. The walls of the main sitting room were adorned with photographs that Sirius had taken on his travels, as well as those from his Hogwarts days, there were pictures of Alice and her friends as well as the newest addition - which incidentally was her favourite - one of Sirius, Harry and herself all together taken at the start of the summer.

To look at the furniture it was obvious Sirius had been brought up in a wealthy wizarding family, although wild horses would have to be employed to drag the information from her in front of Sirius. It was true however, there was a certain taste and style which came along with his upbringing, although most of the main pieces of furniture had been bought second hand they were all very traditional, solid and dependable, which at one time had obviously been quite expensive. She didn't mind, it reminded her of Hogwarts and made a nice change from the flat-pack surroundings of the Home. Each piece had a history and an air of untold secrets about them that she found endlessly amusing. Take the table for example; it's dark varnished surface was pitted with a myriad of tiny burns and scrapes, evidently well used, but the glossy sheen also told her it had been well loved and cared for by previous owners; at the top of one of the legs were scratched a set of minute initials: K.H., who was that and when had they made the mark? She liked to entertain herself by imagining their lives.

“Have I missed something here?” Sirius' amused tone startled her from her reverie. “Is the table about to transfigure into something interesting?” His eyes danced as he watched her glance up from the wood, flush bright red and then stick her tongue out at him. The impertinent response which would have followed however was cut short by a light rapping on the back door.

“Who could that be at this time in the morning?” Sirius frowned towards the door as Alice rose from her seat.

“It's hardly early,” she commented, undoing the latch. “It's almost lunchtime. Professor Lupin!” She beamed as she saw the rather shabby looking form of her former teacher standing outside. “What are you doing here?”

“Didn't Sirius tell you?” He moved into the room as she stood aside and took a seat at the table. The worn carpet bag he placed next to his feet didn't escape her notice either.

“Oops,” her godfather shook his head sheepishly, “I might have forgotten.”

“Forgotten what?” Alice returned to her seat and grabbed a piece of toast from the plate, biting into it hungrily before pushing the plate towards their new arrival.

“Remus is looking for a place to stay for a while… and I might have said at the party last night that he could stay here for a bit. You don't mind do you?”

“No,” she grinned, “at least then someone beside me might do the dishes for a change.”

Sirius sighed and attempted to look wounded; out of the corner of her eye she could see Lupin duck his head and raise a hand to try and cover up his smile, he didn't do a very good job of it. “Alice,” her godfather tried to be sober and authoritative, but she could see the twinkle in his eye as he spoke, “I'm afraid I can't stand for such impertinence, especially in front of guests. Go to your room and get dressed this minute.”

She smirked and rose to her feet, she didn't mind being told off in jest so long as she got the last word. Walking quickly to the sink she dumped her cup and plate on top of the frying pans and crockery both she and Sirius had used in their varyingly successful attempts at breakfast. “Alright, that's some more dishes for you to start practicing on then.” She grinned crookedly at them as she skipped from the room before calling back over her shoulder: “You know what they say: there's no time like the present!”

As she scampered up the stairs to her room she could hear them chuckling in the kitchen and an intense feeling of gratitude and happiness swept over her. For the first time in her life she had a real home and family, it was more than she could ever have hoped for. The only thing that marred the perfection was Harry's absence, and she was counting down the days until his arrival. She didn't have to wait very long.

“Happy birthday Alice!”

She glanced up from where she had been sitting cat-like on her bed room floor, reading a book she had just received for her birthday from Sirius, to see Harry standing in the doorway. As she took in the enormous grin lighting up his face an almost identical one spread itself across her features.

“Hi Harry!” She dropped the book and bounded up towards him. “Happy birthday to you too,” she threw her arms round his neck, feet lifting from the floor as she did so. “I didn't hear you come in, have you just arrived?” She examined his face critically as he put her down. “How are you?” He looked thinner than the last time she had seen him and there were dark circles surrounding his eyes, but he looked whole and happy so she didn't mention it.

“I'm good, I'm fine; better now I'm here. I'd forgotten how amazing this place was!”

“It is, isn't it? Has Sirius shown you your room yet? He said he'd let me do it. How did you get here? Have you seen Sirius and Lupin yet? Oh,” she suddenly took pause from her torrent of questions and dashed back towards her bed, dropping flat onto her stomach and searching blindly underneath it with one arm. After several fruitless seconds her dusty fingers made contact with the dry crinkled surface of an object wrapped in paper. Grasping it she pulled herself upright again and swivelled to face her bemused looking brother. “You can put your bag down you know,” she indicated the frayed rucksack hanging loosely from his shoulder. “Here,” she held out the box, “happy birthday.”

Moving swiftly across the floorboards Harry sat on the bed beside her. As he deftly dealt with the wrapping paper he glanced around the rest of her room. “Well I approve of the colour anyway,” he smiled, indicating her pale yellow walls and red curtains that matched the blanket they were sitting on.

“Well I had to make it feel like home she grinned sheepishly, and home was Hogwarts before this.” She smoothed the blanket under her fingers self consciously.

“Well I want mine the - oh thanks Alice!” He had finally succeeded in undoing the layers of spellotape she had wrapped around the present. There, lying carefully nestled within the wrappings, was a book; bound in embossed brown leather it had his name printed across the front in scrolling gold script. He quickly flipped it open to reveal seemingly endless pages of plastic pockets each the size of a postcard. Returning to the very first page he read the inscription she had written:

To my brother on your 14th birthday. I hope you fill this with the record of your adventures (goodness knows we have enough to fill several albums!) Lots of love, your new sister - Alice Clover Evans-Potter.

She could see Harry blinking back tears as he gazed at her handwriting. She hadn't intended to add the “Evans” part, after all she was a Potter now, but the name had looked strange without out it; besides it was difficult to just cast off a name after having owned it for almost all her life.

“I thought, since the photo album Hagrid gave you was full you might want to start a new one,” she smiled as he hugged her by way of wordless thanks.

“Here,” he sniffed after a moment, “I got something for you too… well,” he blushed, “actually I asked Hermione to get it for me because the Dursleys barely let me out of the house.”

Curiously she ripped at the paper and opened the tiny box she found inside. As she saw the contents it took her a moment to register what she was looking at; once she had realised though a huge grin began creeping across her face and she began to chuckle, quietly at first until it built encompass the room in peels of musical laughter. Harry watched her quietly.

“Does that mean you like it?”

Straightening her face and speedily hooking the charm, a tiny silver pot-plant, onto her bracelet to prove her point, she looked back up at him. “Harry its perfect.”

Relief broke across his face. “Good, I wasn't sure. Hermione… Anyway, now you are a proper Potter.”

She giggled at that, before standing up and grabbing his hand. “Come on have you seen your room yet? I said we should wait till you arrived before we decorated it, but,” she moved down the hall as she spoke, dragging her brother after her, “Sirius got a bit over excited last week and… well…” she threw open the door they had reached to let him see for himself.

“I…” He walked slowly into the room looking thunderstruck, Alice stayed where she was letting him take it all and twisting her fingers anxiously. She really hoped that he liked it, Sirius and she (once she had seen that her godfather wasn't going to be deterred) had put a lot of work into the room. It was at least twice the size that his room at Privet drive had been, the walls were a rich, warm brown which by chance Alice had found a rug that matched to cover the floorboards in the centre of the room. Painted on one wall was a large Gryffindor shield - something that had taken them both hours to finish and which her critical eye still thought looked slightly wonky. Hedwig was already installed in her cage on top of a sturdy looking desk next to a pile of books Sirius had found about Quidditch. She nodded towards the dresser.

“That's from Sirius.” She watched as he walked over and curiously inspected a moving model of a Nimbus 2000 with a tiny note attached to it, which he detached and proceeded to read with a slight smile. Finally he dropped his bag onto the bed and turned to face her.

“It's brilliant!”

She laughed and let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, she had been so keen to make Harry feel welcomed, even if he had seen the house before, she hadn't realised though how nervous she was about it.

“Oi, you two miscreants,” they heard Sirius' voice floating up the stairs, “lunch is ready!”

Alice glanced at her brother with a mischievous smile. “Are you ready to sample some of Sirius' cooking?” Her eyes danced with laughter as she watched his expression.

“Is it any good?”

“Well,” she pretended to ponder the question, “put it like this: on a scale of great to Hagrid's, it's not bad.”

Harry laughed. “Well there is only one way to find out I suppose!” The two of them trotted down the stairs to join their godfather in the kitchen.

If Alice had been asked later what the best part of her birthday had been, she would have been hard pressed to settle on an answer. Had it been the moment Harry had arrived? The look on his face when he was told he was being thrown his first birthday party ever? Perhaps it had been the party itself? Or seeing all her friends again after weeks of separation? She couldn't decide. She did know however that the party was hands down the best she had ever had.

Shortly after six o'clock Neville and Seamus had appeared in a flurry of green flames, closely followed by Hermione - greeted ecstatically by both Harry and Alice - then Dean who had knocked nervously on the front door. Alice had considered inviting the other girls from Gryffindor tower, but she didn't really know them as well as the boys so she hadn't bothered, besides, she had had parties before, this one was really about Harry. Last to turn up had been the Weasleys, who seemed to pour through the fire place in an endless stream of red hair.

“Alice!” Mrs Weasley gave her a motherly hug, “Happy birthday my dear, how are you coping? Are Sirius and Remus looking after you properly?”

She answered her questions with a smile, before the Weasley matriarch turned to her brother and began grilling him about looking too peaky for her liking. Alice smiled, Ron was definitely lucky to have a Mum like her however much he protested otherwise.

“Here Midget,” the twins bounded up to her as full of irrepressible energy as ever, “happy birthday.” They handed her a box. “You might want to open that later on,” George informed her in a theatrical whisper.

“Yeah, and maybe use oven gloves or something,” added his brother with a smirk.

She looked askance first at the box she was now holding gingerly, then at the twins who were sporting identical wicked grins on their freckled faces. “Should I even ask?”

“I wouldn't bother,” George put his arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the pile of gifts she and Harry had accumulated, it was the most presents either of them had ever seen in their lives. “Except thank you, of course.”

“Oh yes,” Fred added, “it's our civic duty to cultivate manners in you. So come on,” he put his hand under her chin and pretended to make her speak, “say: thank you Gred and Forge.”

Alice rolled her eyes as she tried to suppress a laugh. “Thank you idiots,” her words were made more difficult by the fact Fred still had a hold on her face.

“I don't know, what do you think George?”

“Well it wasn't word perfect but -”

“It's a start,” they chorused before the three of them burst out laughing.

“Hey you three,” Ron shouted across the room, “are you going to keep on mucking about over there or are you going to come and eat like a normal person?” He waved a chicken leg at them to emphasise his point. She laughed again; trust Ron to make a bee line for the food.

“Well I suppose we had better do as our ickle brother commands don't you Evans?”

“Otherwise he'll have all the food eaten before we get there.”

As the party got under way and everyone ate their fill, she noticed that Seamus, Dean and even occasionally Neville would cast a curious, and often rather nervous glance in Sirius' direction. Her godfather for the most part was deep in conversation with Lupin and Mr Weasley, although she suspected he was aware of the looks he was receiving. Moving subtly across the room she approached the boys.

“He's not going to bite you know.” All three of them jumped at the sound of her low, quiet voice.

“I - Alice, I didn't think he… what do you mean?” Neville stammered and then tried to cover up his slip of the tongue.

“Sirius,” she smiled at them, “I saw you watching him. He's lovely once you get to know him; there's no need to be nervous.”

“It's not that, we were just…” Seamus had gone bright red.

“We're just used to seeing him in the papers that's all,” Dean finished the sentence that his friend was stumbling over.

“Yeah, well you know half of what they say in there is rubbish don't you? I mean he is innocent,” she added hurriedly, “I just meant that everything they said about him before that, and half of this stuff now about him being some sort of fearsome warrior facing injustice, blah, blah, blah… he's just a normal wizard like anyone else.”

The three of them nodded, still glancing towards her godfather, but now more with curiosity than anything else in their expression.

“If you just -” she paused as there was a brief flurry of motion on the other side of the room and the man in question stood up from the sofa.

“Well,” Sirius raised his glass and smiled towards Harry and Alice. “Firstly I think we would all like to wish Alice and Harry a happy fourteenth birthday. I'm so glad I can be here to enjoy it with them - goodness knows the surroundings are more appealing than those I usually have to face every year at this time.” That brought a few wry smiles. “I know I haven't been a very good godfather up till now, but I am going to do my best to live up to the role. We've all been through a lot over the last year, but hopefully now things will begin to settle own a bit and this next year will be much calmer.”

“I've been saying that for years,” Ron interjected grumpily, “and I'm still waiting for it to come true.” Everyone laughed at his gloomy comment.

“I would also like to take this opportunity, since I've got you all pinned to your seats anyway,” he flashed a quick smile as he spoke, “to welcome both of you to your new home.” Alice could feel a lump build in her throat as he held his drink above his head and toasted their birthday, good health and anything else he could think of. When the cheers of the rest of the party had died down she caught his eye and nodded, the corner of her mouth crooking upwards leaving Harry to thank him with the words she could not find; she could see the understanding in her godfather's eyes though.

“Alice, are you alright?” Hermione's voice whispered behind her and she turned to find her best friend peering owlishly at her in concern.

“What? Oh yes,” she cleared her throat and wiped her face quickly to check that she hadn't done anything embarrassing, like cry, during the speech. “Yes I'm fine.”

“You've gone a bit red.”

“I'm alright, it's just a bit hot in here that's all,” she pretended to fan her face. Hermione didn't look convinced, but changed the subject anyway.

“So are you looking forward to the World Cup then?” Mr and Mrs Weasley's present to the two of them had been tickets to go and watch the Quidditch World Cup in August.

“Of course,” Alice enthused, “it's going to be brilliant, I can't wait to see it, I might actually get to see Moran play if they get through to the final, because she's on the Ireland squad!” She grinned referring to the captain of her favourite team the Kenmare Kestrels. “Are you looking forward to it?” Hermione was notoriously reticent when it came to all matter broom-related.

“It should be interesting,” her friend answered evasively, “I mean… I doubt I'll get as excited as you or Harry and Ron -”

“I don't think anyone could get as excited as Ron,” Alice observed wryly, their friend had talked of little else all evening.

“But still I don't think you can help getting caught up in the moment of these things, and it'll be a historical occasion, even if it is just Quidditch.”

“Do my ears deceive me?” Fred and George popped up again suddenly as they were apt to do. “Did the words `just Quidditch' just come from your mouth Hermione?”

“Evans, what are you doing consorting with such misinformed people?”

Alice opened her mouth to respond, just as Hermione's chin jutted out defensively; the twins however, gave neither of them the opportunity to say a word.

“Don't worry Hermione, we'll see that your education on the subject is properly conducted -”

“Yeah, I mean you can't be brilliant all the time can you?”

“It would just be exhausting -”

“- not to mention that it would be really stressful, I mean imagine having to be like that all the time; the pressure -”

“- the responsibility!” Both boys shuddered dramatically at the thought as Alice tried not to giggle at their antics.

“So don't worry Hermione, if you think about it, it's actually better that you don't know about some stuff.”

“But please,” Fred went down on his knees in front of her, hands clasped as though in prayer, “please can it be about something other than Quidditch?!”

Hermione looked at him in silence for a minute, going slowly red as she did so. Eventually, seemingly lost for words, she glanced up at the rest of the party, some of whom were watching the twins display with ill-concealed amusement and sighed: “Oh for goodness sake, stop being ridiculous and get up off the floor.” For a second Alice wondered if she was upset, but then she saw the corner of her friend's mouth twitch and she knew that she had taken it in the spirit of fun intended. “Honestly you two are just… you're ridiculous sometimes! Alice, can you deal with them please?” She pretended to storm off, but Alice could see her grinning as she was engaged in conversation by Lupin and Harry.

Eventually, after everyone had eaten their fill and the party games had been concluded the guests departed with promises to see each other very soon. Alice, exhausted more than she would have thought possible, slowly dragged herself up the stairs and collapsed onto her bed. As she lay staring at the darkened ceiling she could hear plates being moved around in the kitchen and the soft pad of feet in the corridor outside. They paused outside her bedroom door.

“Goodnight Alice.”

She smiled contentedly. “Goodnight Harry.”

A/N: Right so here we go: book 4! The only thing I would say about this chapter is that I decided Moran - who is a Chaser on the Ireland team in the book - should play for the Kestrels, other than that please R&R as always.

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2. The Quidditch World Cup

The Quidditch World Cup

“Ali.” Alice's head jerked upwards from where it had been in danger of slipping into her bowl of cereal as Sirius entered the kitchen looking as though he had barely slept. He had taken to shortening her name over the last few weeks as the mood took him and she surprisingly found that she didn't mind; it gave her more of a sense of connection.

“S'matter?”

“Are you ready?” He grinned as she rubbed her eyes sleepily. “We should be getting off.” She nodded rising from her seat and taking her bowl to the sink as she quickly shovelled the last of its contents into her mouth. Once she was done she followed him into the sitting room where she spotted Harry, his rucksack already packed and ready, standing by the fireplace. Actually on closer inspection it looked more as though he was leaning on the mantle for support, his eyes half closed as he tried to cram in a few extra moments of sleep. Next to him the clock read four.

“Mor-mor-morning,” he yawned, straightening up as they entered. In his hands was a shallow wooden box which he held it out to her once she had located her own bag and jacket. She took a handful of the Floo-powder inside. “You can go first.”

“Alright,” she felt the soft grains rub gently against her palm as she tried to stop them spilling onto the carpet. With the fire already crackling away the room was pleasantly warm for so early in the morning; through a crack in the curtains she could see that outside the sun hadn't even given a thought to rising yet. She repressed a shudder, hoping that the kitchen at the Burrow was as snug. She hated being cold just after waking up. “Are you two sure you have everything you're going to need with you?”

“Yes Mum!” Her brother grinned at her and she smiled back, aware that she had asked him the same question about five times the previous evening.

“Right, ok then.” She turned to face the fire place casting in her fistful of emerald powder as she did so. Instantly a sheet of bright green flames erupted casting an eerie light upon the white brick of the fireplace and walls of the room; it was what she imagined it might be like to find yourself deep under the lake at Hogwarts or at the bottom of the sea - though obviously not as dark. Taking a deep breath Alice stepped forward and, careful not to inhale a mouthful of soot, said: “The Burrow.” She felt the familiar tugging sensation as the back of the fireplace disappeared from sight and she was whisked away into the whirling vortex of the Floo network. Barely a split second had passed before she found herself pitched violently forwards onto the flagstones of the Weasleys' kitchen. For a split second she lay there, hands pressed flat against the worn surface, trying to stop her head from spinning and regain her bearings.

“Morning Evans,” she glanced up to see Fred Weasley peering down at her from where he sat at the table, “I know you're used to being shorter than everyone, but if you stay down there much longer someone is going to trip over you, or land on you when they come through the fireplace.”

“Hey Fred,” his twin's face appeared over the tabletop, “leave her alone, she might be comfortable down there.”

“Ha ha.” Alice scrambled to her feet, just as the fire behind her flared green and Harry came shooting out to land only inches from where she was now standing. She leant down and hauled her brother to his feet, quickly brushing the soot from him as she did so.

“I thought I heard someone arrive,” Ron wandered into the kitchen looking half asleep, a pile of toast in one hand and a pair of socks in the other. “How -” he paused to yawn expansively as he sat down, “- how are you?” Alice watched in amusement for a few seconds as he tried to take a bite from his sock and put the toast onto his foot before realising what he was doing and switching them about.

“Fine,” Harry sidestepped as Sirius suddenly appeared in the kitchen.

“Are we all ready then?” Her godfather asked straightening his jacket; the Floo journey seemed to have woken him up a bit and he now reminded her of an excitable child. “Or are we still waiting for people?”

“Hermione just arrived,” Ron nodded towards the stairs, “she went upstairs to help Ginny with something. Girls' stuff,” he added with a shrug, “I didn't ask.”

Alice nodded and glanced at Harry; she could tell by the look on his face and the discrete glances he kept throwing towards the stairs that he was desperate to go up and see Hermione, but he held himself in place.

“Is your Dad going about boys?” Sirius asked as he swiped a piece of toast from George's plate.

“Yeah,” his twin nodded towards the sitting room, “in there. He's probably checking we have all the tickets for the millionth time. Mum would kill him if he lost any of them.”

“Ah, well if she does then I'll make sure to stand well back.”

As her godfather left George shouted towards his retreating back: “Make sure you let us know if she does; we'll come and watch!” Sirius waved the toast in affirmation without looking back.

Once he had gone, Alice and Harry dropped their rucksacks on the floor and slid into empty seats next to Ron and the twins.

“Aren't Bill, Charlie and Percy coming today?” She had never met the two oldest Weasley brothers and she was curious about them.

“Yeah,” Ron nodded down a corridor still shrouded in darkness. “Bill and Charlie are in Bill's old room, they're all apparating to the World Cup so they get to have a lie in. Lucky g -”

“Ron Weasley, how many times do I have to tell you to mind your language?!” Mrs Weasely bustled down the stairs, her arms laden with jumpers, hats and scarves, which she dumped on the table in front of them before scowling fiercely at her son. Behind her were Ginny and Hermione.

“Sorry, Mum,” Ron mumbled as Harry flashed a brilliant smile at his girlfriend who gave Alice a quick hug and then went to stand casually next to him.

“Hmmph,” Mrs Weasley clearly was not to be appeased so early in the morning. “Well, anyway everyone make sure you've got enough scarves and jumpers. It's cold outside and it will be again this evening when you're up at the top of the Stadium. I don't want any of you catching your death of cold.” For a few moments there was a general surge of hands and arms as everyone scrabbled about on the table trying to locate suitably fitting attire.

“I think that one might be a bit overly ambitious Evans,” Fred laughed as she held up a jumper that turned out to be massively too big for her. The arms dangled well below her knees and the neck was wide enough that she could easily have fit her entire body through it twice.

“Here you go,” Hermione passed her a thick red fleece that looked to be of more appropriate dimensions, “that might fit.” Alice smiled in gratitude at her friend.

“I've made you all some lunch too,” Mrs Weasley added, starting to hand out wrapped packets of sandwiches, “I don't suppose that godfather of yours thought to make you any?” she enquired of Harry and Alice. “No, I didn't think so,” she sighed when they replied in the negative. As she turned away Alice was sure she saw Ron's mother sigh and shake her head slightly.

“I don't think Mrs Weasley approves of Sirius very much,” Hermione breathed in her ear so that only she could hear. Alice glanced at her and raised a questioning eyebrow to which Hermione responded with a shrug. It was just an observation she had made.

“Anyway, if you've all got - WHAT are those?!” The entire kitchen jumped and rattled, Alice and her friends included, as Mrs Weasley's mild mannered question became an outraged shriek.

“What are what?” Alice was unsurprised when it was the twins who responded. Their faces hastily arranged into an approximation of innocence which convinced no one, least of all their mother.

Around the corner of the sitting room door, Sirius and Mr Weasley's heads appeared. “Everything all right in here?”

“Arthur, get ready and stop admiring those tickets. You're going to be late,” she snapped still advancing on the twins like an enraged dragon. Her eyes never left their face. “Empty your pockets.”

“But Mum we -”

“Now.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Slowly - painfully in Alice's opinion - the twins removed the contents of their pockets, of which they seemed to have many, and placed them on the table. Tiny, brightly coloured, boxes and what looked like boiled sweets littered the table. Alice concentrated on the weave of the wool in her gloves as she tried to tune out the tirade Mrs Weasley unleashed upon the boys, she could hear just enough still that she was aware the conversation, if it could be called that, had somehow moved from the items to the fact the twins hadn't gotten enough O.W.L.'s. Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably as the twins scowled at their feet in silence. Eventually Mr Weasley reappeared.

“Now Molly,” he tried to sound soothing, “we had better be off or we are going to be late. We can talk to them about this later,” he continued speaking soothingly to her as everyone else rose to their feet and collected their rucksacks. On their way out the door they all received a frosty kiss from Ron's mother, with the exception of Fred and George who stalked past her with faces like thunder.

Once everyone was ready and assembled in the dark yard they set off slowly along the narrow lane heading towards the village. Alice trudged along behind George, keeping her feet fixed on his white trainers, the only bright spot in the surrounding black of the night. Leaving the ugly moment in the kitchen behind, all she concentrated on was putting one foot in front of the other and not tripping over herself; doing that meant that at least part of her brain could go back to sleep as she walked. It wasn't until they skirted Ottery St Catchpole and the sun began to creep over the horizon that she began to waken up properly; probably something to do with the fact that she was now able to look at her surroundings. The rising sun threw a rose coloured glow over the hill as they began to climb and by the time they had all struggled breathlessly uphill the grass was aflame with colour. Pausing at the top to survey the land behind Alice concluded that it really was quite beautiful. So wrapped up was she in admiring the scenery that she missed something Mr Weasley said until her godfather elbowed her in the ribs.

“Oi, day-dreamer,” he grinned at her, “fancy helping us look for this Portkey?”

With a nod she promptly turned and began stumbling around in the damp, dew laden grass with everyone else trying to locate any possible item of rubbish which might turn out to be a magical artefact. The ridiculousness of their position should a Muggle appear did not escape her.

“Found it yet?” Hermione asked her as the two of them found themselves hopefully searching the same bush.

“Nope, but then it could be anything, so how do we know when we -”

“Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!”

Both girls looked around, trying to locate where the voice had come from, but then unable to see anyone followed the rest of the group towards a hollow on the far side of the hill. As Alice came over the rise of the hill the rays of the rising sun blinded her momentarily and she had to squint to make out the figures of two men, one of whom seemed to be waving a battered old boot above his head. She shielded her eyes and sped up to reach them.

“Morning, Arthur,” the wizard with the boot, also in possession of an impressive beard full of brown bristles, waved at Mr Weasley as they approached. As they gathered round he suddenly seemed to notice Sirius at the back of the group, his face flushed a scarlet that had nothing to do with the sun which had now fully emerged above the horizon and he coughed awkwardly. “And… eh… good morning to you too, Mr Black.”

Sirius returned the greeting and reached a hand forward, which after a second's hesitation the man did eventually shake. After a moment their arms dropped to their sides and the two men stared at each other, Alice thought she could detect a hint of amusement in her godfather's eyes, but the embarrassment was plain on the bearded man's face. Eventually Mr Weasley broke the tension.

“Children,” he addressed the group jovially, “this is Amos Diggory; he works at the Ministry.” The assembled group all mumbled varyingly awake greetings.

“Fine morning we've got here, Arthur,” Mr Diggory continued, waving the boot towards the rising sun and cloudless sky as the laces flapped wildly. “It should be a good day. So… is this all of your brood then?” He motioned towards Alice and the Weasleys.

“These four are,” Mr Weasley pointed towards his children, naming each in turn, “this is Alice E-Potter,” he stumbled over her surname.

“Potter, is it? Ah yes,” his eyes roved towards Harry and made the cursory flick upwards to examine his scar, “Merlin! And this must be Harry. Well, well… I've been reading a lot about you two recently. It's a pleasure to meet you… a real pleasure!” He peered curiously between Alice and her brother and she felt herself flush. When it became clear after a moment that neither of them were going to respond beyond a return of the sentiment, Mr Weasley cleared his throat loudly and finished by introducing Hermione.

“Have you met my son Cedric? He's at Hogwarts too you know, Hufflepuff. He's been made prefect this year, and he's Captain of the Quidditch team I'm sure you boys must have met before. He beat you last year didn't he Harry?” As he spoke he waved forward the other man behind him, who up until that point Alice really hadn't noticed and now realised wasn't a man at all, but a boy of around Fred and George's age. In fact, she considered, she had been aware that the Hufflepuff Captain was in the same year as them, but before this hadn't really given him much thought. “I said to him,” Mr Diggory continued oblivious to the fact that he was making his son blush, “I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will... you beat Harry Potter!” Cedric glanced awkwardly towards Harry and the other Gryffindor players as he muttered something quietly to his father. “No need to be modest my boy,” Diggory clapped him on the back making him stumble forward a pace, “you should be proud!” From the corner of her eye Alice could see her godfather smirk and she aimed a subtle elbow towards his ribs. He winked back. Beyond him she could see Fred and George frowning grumpily in the Hufflepuff's direction, evidently they hadn't forgiven him for their defeat the previous year.

“Dad, no one wants to talk about school when we're on holiday. It's nice to meet you,” Cedric leant forwards to shake hands with Mr Weasley and Sirius - the latter without so much as a blink - and smiled amicably, if a little apologetically, at the rest of them. He had quite a nice smile Alice decided, it was warm and friendly and showed off his even white teeth. She studied him as the adults fell to discussing how much time they had till the Portkey left; brown hair flopped down over his forehead almost reaching a pair of startlingly bright grey eyes that regarded everything they saw very seriously. He was tall and dressed in muggle clothes, though unlike his father and Mr Weasley had managed a better job of it. Just as it crossed her mind that he was quite good looking, he glanced in her direction and she quickly glanced down at her feet, trying to fight the blush that was creeping up her cheeks.

“Right,” Mr Weasley glanced at his watch, “that should be about ready. Shall we be off then?”

Alice glanced round at everyone else, unsure exactly what to do, she understood how a Portkey worked in theory, but she had never had cause to use one before. Watching everyone else stretch out a hand towards the filthy old boot she did likewise. In the split second before they were whisked away she just had time to think how ridiculous they all must look and how closely they were all packed together before she felt a sharp jerk behind her stomach and suddenly the whole lot of them were spinning off towards their destination. The sensation was rather similar to that of travelling by Floo except there seemed to be a lot more spinning involved and banging into those around you. She winced as Ginny's shoulder slammed into hers; she was going to be black and blue by the time they stopped. Then, just like that, the whirling stopped and she found herself toppling onto the floor in an ungainly heap along with everyone else.

“Are you alright, Al?” She blinked several times to try and curtail the spinning which seemed to have carried on inside her head and was making her vision swim. Once she could see again she noticed Sirius, who along with Cedric, his father and a very windswept Mr Weasley seemed to have maintained his footing, standing over her holding out his hand.

“Of course,” she grabbed it and pulled herself upright, brushing the grass from her jeans as she did so. Around her the others were also clambering unsteadily to their feet. Ron looked distinctly green.

“Well,” Mr Diggory was consulting a piece of parchment he had pulled from his pocket, “I think we're off in this direction. I suppose we'll probably see you later on at some point.” He shook hands with Mr Weasley again. “Arthur, Mr Black,” he nodded at her godfather, “Harry. Nice to meet you.”

“And I think,” Mr Weasley was examining his own map now, “we must be off this way.” He strode off with Sirius, the rest of the group shambling dizzily along in their wake. As they went Alice took in the mass of tents they were passing through, witches and wizards of every nationality and peculiarity seemed to have crammed into the campsite for the occasion.

As they filed slowly along the rows of tents, dodging low flying brooms, children running in and out of their parents' feet, gaggles of witches wandering aimlessly too caught up in their conversation to pay attention to where they were going and who they were walking into, Alice gazed at everything with wide eyes. She was so caught up in the spectacle of it all that it took her a few moments to realise that she was getting more than a few curious looks back. She was usually only noticed after someone had spotted Harry and then, after the usual upward eye-flick to check his scar, picked her out from amongst the group. This was usually followed by urgent whispering to anyone who happened to be next to the onlooker. Of course her hair was red enough that to the casual observer she could pass as another Weasley, but it happened often enough that by the time they had stopped in front the tiny plot where they were to erect their tents she was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

It took them a while to work out how to put the structures together, she and Hermione had both been camping once before: Alice when she was eight and the Home had taken the children on an excursion to Dorset and Hermione with she had been in the Girl Guides. Harry had never been in his life, but like the girls had a vague idea of how it should be done, so between the three of them and with some over-excitable help from Mr Weasley, they eventually managed.

“Right then, this should be perfect!”

Alice glanced sceptically at her brother as Ron's father squeezed into the first of the shabby and dilapidated tents. Neither of them looked big enough to fit two people never mind all twelve of them. She had reckoned however, without the use of magic. She stopped dead just inside the canvas, her mouth agape and had to be gently pushed further in my George who was behind her. Instead of a tiny tented space there appeared to be an entire room complete with kitchen, sleeping area and a raft of comfy, if rather ancient, looking sofas. Alice grinned: sometimes she forgot how much she loved being a witch.

The four of them spent the morning exploring the campsite, where they ran into a few familiar faces from school and entertained themselves by trying to find the most resplendently bedecked tent - a difficult task as the Irish and Bulgarians seemed to be doing their utmost to try and outdo each other. As they walked they picked up a few souvenirs from the vendors that littered the campsite. Ron, who it turned out had been saving up, wanted to buy everything he could lay his hands on. Alice would have contented herself with an Ireland scarf and a pin-badge with Moran's name on it, but her brother insisted on buying each of them a pair of Omnioculars claiming: “It'll save me having to think of something for you at Christmas.” They had just finished chatting to Seamus Finnigan and his rather intimidating mother, who they had bumped into in the Irish encampment, and were on their way back to the others when a tall, spindly man with a straggly brown beard that extended all the way to his waste bounded up to them. He was so thin, and his shoulders so hunched forwards, that the camera swinging wildly around his neck seemed almost too heavy and about to bend him in half. The tweed suit he was wearing seemed to hang from his shoulders as though he had forgotten to remove the coat-hanger when he got dressed that morning. As he stopped in front of them he rocked back and forth on his heels as if to punctuate every syllable.

“Hello,” his avid gaze was fixed on Harry, performing the usual flick upwards to his scar. “My name is Arnold Constant,” he grabbed her brother's hand and shook it with ferocious enthusiasm, “call me Arnie. Would I be right in thinking that you are Harry Potter?” He asked with feigned innocence - it was a stupid question considering that he had obviously already worked this out.

“Errr… yes,” Harry replied, his eyes cautious as he slowly disentangled his hand.

“Splendid! Yes that's magnificent - super!”

Alice glanced at Hermione standing next to her and raised one eyebrow; Hermione smirked in response before quickly straightening her face.

“Can we help you, Mr -?”

“And that of course,” Arnie ploughed on ignoring Harry's question, “must make you Alice.” She suddenly found herself the object of his pale beady gaze and something clicked inside her head. The questions, the camera, the enthusiasm; she opened her mouth to ask, but Hermione beat her to it.

“Are you are a reporter?”

Affronted, Arnie Constant looked at her bushy haired friend intently as though memorising her appearance. “I,” he began eventually, “am a journalist, Miss. I am no mere reporter! I write for Witch Weekly.”

“Well I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse us,” Harry made to walk away, “we're not giving interviews.”

“Wait!” The lanky man jogged after them, a rather comical sight in one so tall. “Please! I can't go back to my boss with nothing - I'm already on a warning as it is; I'll lose my job if I don't get something. Please?” He clutched his camera to his tweed covered chest and looked at them so pitifully that Alice couldn't help but pause. “Even just a photo would do.”

She was still wary and they were beginning to attract curious glances from passers by again. She looked questioningly at Harry. He looked at her for a moment before scrutinising Constant closely, then glanced at Hermione and Ron. They shrugged.

“It's up to you, mate.”

Harry sighed. “Fine, one very quick photo, but only if you promise to leave us alone afterwards?” When the man nodded fervently, looking as though he had been reprieved of a death sentence, he moved to stand by Alice, putting his arm around her as he did so. Before either of them had a chance to smile they found themselves blinded by the flash of the camera and were enveloped in an acrid cloud of purple smoke.

Alice coughed and choked, wiping the tears from her stinging eyes.

“Oh, Merlin's beard! I am sorry; the stupid thing's old and broken, I can't get it to stop doing that.” The spindly man flapped anxiously round about them, offering his handkerchief up for use. Alice refused it with an amused smile, he was beginning to remind her of an over eager puppy, all limbs and over-enthusiasm.

“That's alright; we're fine.”

“I'm sorry,” he repeated running a hand over his face that left smudgy black marks in its wake. “That's great though, I can definitely use that.” Arnie beamed at them and for the first time Alice looked closely enough that she could see that, despite the beard, he could be much older than about twenty. “Thanks so much, I owe you both. If you ever need anything, just send me an owl.” He shook all their hands again, even including Ron and Hermione. “Arnie Constant at Witch Weekly. Thanks!” And with a barely repressed skip he turned and strode off into the mass of tents.

“He's weird,” Ron remarked sounding bemused.

“I don't know,” Alice smiled at his retreating back as they started walking again, “I sort of liked him, even if he was a journalist.”

“Hey Ron,” Hermione broke in, changing the subject, “who's that talking to your Dad?” She nodded towards their tents which had just come into view. Outside one of them Mr Weasley was standing with the twins and all three of them seemed to be in deep conversation with a rather rotund man, with sandy blonde hair and an expression of jollity on his round, rosy cheeks. They seemed to be exchanging money.

“Dunno,” Ron shrugged, “he probably works for the Ministry though, he looks familiar.” As they approached the man turned away from the group with a cheerful wave and walked off in the direction of the stadium as Mr Weasley disappeared inside the tent. “What was that about?” Ron asked his brothers as they reached them.

“What?”

“Have you been spying on us Ronnie?”

“Because it's very impolite you know.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Who was the man you gave money to?”

“Ludo Bagman,” Fred answered, “he's Head of the Department for Magical Games and Sports. And we didn't give him money Evans, we invested it.”

“How?” demanded Ron.

George looked at his brother. “We bet on the match.”

“Gambling?” Hermione sounded scandalised but George ignored her.

“We said that we thought Krum would catch the snitch, but that Ireland would win.”

“Do you think so?” Harry asked, a look of curiosity on his face.

“Of course. I mean, Krum is meant to be the best Seeker in the world, but then he's up against the Irish Chasers…” They all fell to discussing the possible outcome of the match, the various skills of the players and the tactics that each team might employ, with Alice and Harry explaining to Hermione the bits she didn't understand - which was a lot. They were still all eagerly discussing it as darkness fell and Sirius and Mr Weasley led them through the forest to the stadium. Ron's older brothers had joined them an hour or two before, swelling the group's numbers considerably, and as one they all made their way slowly up the many stairs of the enormous stadium. As she climbed Alice had to keep reminding herself to watch where she was going and not to trip over. Occasionally though she was so busy gaping round at the thousands of witches and wizards filing into the stands that she forgot and someone had to throw out a hand to catch her. A fall at this height wouldn't end prettily.

“This is us here.” Alice was thankful when Mr Weasley finally ran out of stairs and stopped climbing. As they all filed into the top box after him she nearly tripped over Harry as he stopped suddenly in front of her, his back stiffening as he let out a slight hiss between his teeth. With a frown she stood on tiptoe to crane over his shoulder as Ron and Hermione jostled behind her. As she saw what had made her brother stop she had to repress a groan. Sitting sandwiched between two adults, who she vaguely recognised as his parents, was the back of a very familiar blonde head.

She gave Harry a gentle shove to get him moving again. They all filed slowly into their seats.

“Well if it isn't the latest wizarding sensations,” Alice flushed as she felt Lucius Malfoy's gaze settle upon Harry and herself. “We should be honoured.” The Gryffindors all glowered at Draco as he sniggered at his father's remark. “How generous of you to take them all out Arthur, I didn't know you could afford such extravagances.” His chill grey eyes swept along the row of assorted Weasley's, passing over Hermione, Harry and Alice, until they settled on Sirius. For a split second his pupils seemed to contract in shock and his face went, if possible, even whiter. He swiftly regained his composure however. “Sirius, what an… unexpected pleasure to see you here.” His wife, who up until that point had paid scant attention to the new arrivals turned her head so quickly that Alice felt her pristinely coiffed blonde hair was in danger of falling clean off of her head.

Sirius grunted noncommittally in response. He looked about at the other occupants of the box, spotting Cornelius Fudge at the same moment that Alice did. “Minister, lovely to see you again so soon.” He nodded amiably at the other spectators who all seemed rather unsettled by the appearance of her godfather in the box. Alice spotted the younger Malfoy shifting uncomfortably in his seat and the corner of her mouth quirked upwards.

“So,” as they all took their seats, Sirius twisted to face the Malfoy's behind him, an odd, reckless light in his eyes. “Cousin Narcissa, it's been a long time.” Alice blinked then swivelled sharply to face Harry. Cousin? She hadn't known Sirius was related to the Malfoy's and judging by the stunned look on her brother's face neither had he. “This must be your son, is it? Dumbo… Drogo -”

“Draco,” Narcissa Malfoy cut in, speaking through gritted teeth.

“Ah yes, that was it, Draco. I've heard a lot about him.” Sirius smiled at them with a winning innocence which was entirely, and very obviously, feigned and was met with a wall of sour expressions. Behind her, Alice heard the twins snort quietly with laughter. “So how have you been Lucius, still rattling about in that big, old manor? It must get lonely now, not being able to invite your friends round. I hear most of them are rather… tied up these days,” he grinned wickedly.

“I don't see that my social habits are any of your business, Black,” Mr Malfoy attempted his usual laconic drawl, but couldn't quite seem to pull it off somehow. “I doubt you'd get an invite at any rate,” Sirius had obviously touched a nerve, the elder Malfoy was reminding her very forcefully of an offended cat, his nose in the air and his back stiff with indignation. As he descended into a brittle silence Alice wasn't sure if she imagined the worried glance he threw in the direction of Cornelius Fudge. He needn't have worried, she thought, Fudge was far too busy with the Bulgarian Minister to worry about their conversation. When it became apparent that the Malfoy's weren't going to give him anything else to bait them with Sirius turned back in his seat and, catching Alice watching him, gave her a wink. She would have responded, but she was still too shell-shocked at finding out his connection to the Malfoy's. She had known that he hadn't looked fondly on his family growing up, but she hadn't realised that… Merlin, that almost made her related to Malfoy… almost.

There was too much going on in the stadium for her to think about it for long however, casting her eyes over the thousands of people assembled in the stands she tried to tune out the sound of Percy, who was now babbling pompously away to a Ministry official and casting hopeful glances in Fudge's direction every so often. Fudge however seemed more interested in Harry who he was now introducing to his Bulgarian companion, a smug smile plastered across his face.

“When do you suppose they'll start?” Hermione asked, joining her in peering eagerly over the edge of the box.

Alice shrugged, her eyes darting around as she took in the rows of green and red supporters, the adverts for every sort of magical appliance under the sun dashing across an enormous blackboard, the various Ministry officials who were discernible bustling about looking harassed amidst the revellers. It really was a sight to behold. She could have stared all day but eventually she became aware of a slight disturbance behind her and the portly, blonde man she had seen Mr Weasley and the twins speaking to earlier stood up and cleared his throat at a magically magnified volume.

“Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four-hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!” Every fibre of Alice's body thrummed with excitement at the words. “And now,” he continued beaming out over the expectant crowd, “without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian Team Mascots!”

Curiously Alice folded her arms over the edge of the box and rested her chin on them as she peered down at the hundred or so women that filed - or rather glided - onto the pitch. Except they weren't quite women, at least, not human ones anyway. Their skin had a pearlescent quality to it that made them almost glow in the moonlight. Their long blonde hair fluttered behind them as they began to dance, so that the entire body of women seemed to undulate and sway like a field of corn in the breeze. Even from this distance she could tell that they were beautiful, painfully and almost eerily so. She turned to ask Hermione what they were, but before she had even got the words out of her mouth she caught sight of the boys. Harry looked as though he was about to try and climb out of the box, Ron seemed to have decided just to throw himself out of it completely, one leg resting on the side; the twins were almost as far out of their seats as their eyeballs were from their head and even the usually restrained and uptight Percy was leaning forwards in an attitude of strained attention. As the music that had been playing stopped she reached forwards and took hold of Ron's jumper to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. With a chuckle she heard an irritated tut as Hermione pulled a disgruntled Harry back into his seat with rather more force than was necessary. Judging by the scowl on her best friend's face she evidently wasn't very impressed by the display.

“Veela,” she heard her muttering, “honestly what a stupid… irresponsible…” the rest of her rant was drowned out by the roar of approval from the Irish fans as a green and gold rocket seemed to zoom around the stadium, dividing and coalescing in an aerial display of such speed and excitement, that she quickly forgot about the Veela. When an enormous green shamrock finally exploded into the sky and began to rain gold over the audience Alice found herself roaring hoarsely with excitement along with the thousands of other witches and wizards dressed in green.

“Leprechauns,” Sirius leant over and shouted in her ear, barely audible over the thunderous cheering, rumbling around the stands, “they're fantastic aren't they?!” She could do nothing but grin broadly at him in response.

After that the match seemed to begin all at once, and Alice was too caught up in it to think any more. As the teams zoomed on she scanned the sky excitedly until she heard Moran's name being called; a thrill of excitement shot up her spine as she saw one of the players from her beloved team in the flesh. She decided there and then that it was a moment she would always remember.

Although she may have laughed at the boys for being on the edge of their seats when the Veela had been performing, Alice herself ended up doing exactly the same thing throughout the match without the aid of any enchantment. She followed every twist and turn of the game in minute detail through her Omnioculars, relishing in each dive and tumble; she gasped and winced along with every other person in the vast stadium when Lynch nearly impaled himself on his broom after a headlong dive towards the pitch, cheered with every goal the Irish Chasers scored, and looked on in mild amusement and surprise as the Bulgarian Mascots lost their temper and tried to attack the mass of Leprechauns. Then after what seemed like hours of exhilarating play she erupted in joy along with every other Ireland fan in the vicinity when Victor Krum finally caught the snitch ironically securing an Irish victory. As she cheered she peered through the air, which was now thick with Leprechauns and raining gold again, at the score board just to double-check that the result was there. BULGARIA: ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY, IRELAND: ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY. She grabbed Hermione in a delighted hug before proceeding to do her best imitation of an Irish jig.

They were still all whooping and yelling half an hour later when they had finally forced their way through the partying Irish and peeved Bulgarian fans thronging the stands and the forest around them.

“I mean, did you see the way Krum flew?” Ron asked them all as they got ready for bed; it was the four-hundredth time he had brought it up since the game had ended and there was an expression of rapt adoration on his face as he mimed the seeker's flight with his hand. “It was amazing, like a bird or something!”

“Yeah, he looks like one too,” George chipped in, smirking at his brother.

“Not any more,” Ginny piped up from where she was draping her souvenir scarf artistically over the end of her bed, “his face was really mashed up under all that blood. I'd say he looks more like a cabbage now.”

“Well, so would you if you'd had a bludger try to blow a hole through your head at that speed!”

“Do you think he was alright?” Hermione looked mildly concerned for a moment.

“He'll be fine,” Harry reassured her with a smile, giving her arm a quick squeeze, “they've got the best mediwizards in the country on hand to deal with stuff like that. You'd probably never know it had happened by now. Besides it was probably worth it for that piece of flying, it was amazing!”

Alice laughed softly as Hermione shuddered at the thought. “Ireland still won though!” She pointed out happily as she jumped into her bunk and pulled the blankets up to her chin to keep out the slight chill in the air that was creeping into the tent now that darkness had fallen.

“I still think the best part was the look on the Malfoys' faces when they saw Sirius,” Harry laughed, “it was priceless!”

This set them all off on another round of hilarity, trying to do impressions of Sirius and the affronted Malfoys. Alice was still reimagining it all in her head later on as she lay in the dark, listening to the soft, rhythmic breathing of the others mixing soothingly with the distant sounds of revelry. Eventually she rolled onto her side and leaned over the edge of the bunk, squinting through the darkness at the lump beneath her, trying to determine if her brother was still awake. Eventually a hoarse whisper answered her question.

“You alright, Al?”

She smiled into the darkness as she registered Harry's use of the nickname her godfather had taken up. “Fine… Harry…”

“Yeah?”

“Did you know Sirius was related to Narcissa Malfoy?”

“Nope, he never mentioned it to me. It makes sense though I suppose; I mean, aren't all the old pure-blood family's meant to be related?” He was careful to keep his voice down. “Does it bother you?”

“No… I guess not, not really. I was just surprised that's all, and I mean -” She paused as the distant sounds of the Irish party suddenly seemed to swell and get louder.

Harry, picking up on her momentary pause, stopped to listen too. “I reckon Sirius will be having fun at the party anyway, do you think -”

“Shh!” Alice put a finger over her lips, forgetting in her concentration that her brother couldn't see her in the dark. “Does that just sound like a party to you?” She strained to pick up the tiniest sound. The noise of the festivities felt like it was getting closer, but there was something slightly off colour about it, she just couldn't put her finger on what it was.

At the same time as she heard the pounding of feet outside, someone not too far away let out a terrified shriek and the tent flap was ripped aside. Alice sat bolt upright in bed.

“Get up!” It was Mr Weasley's voice, he sounded anxious. “Get up quickly, all of you. Ron, Ginny, all of you, come on!”

Alice dropped quickly onto the floor, scrambling to get into her jeans as the others tripped over each other in the dark trying to get out of bed. The urgency in Mr Weasley's voice had them all instantly on alert.

“Come on, you don't have time for clothes; everyone just grab a jacket and get outside!”

“Dad,” Ginny grabbed her father's hand as they all huddled in front of the tent. “Dad, what's going on?” People were streaming past on all sides, pushing and jostling to get as far away from whatever was going on as quickly as possible. She could see that they were all in various states of dress, some in their pyjamas, others had obviously dressed in a hurry - jumpers on back-to-front and jackets done up crookedly - others still with their team colours who had obviously been enjoying the party until moments before. Fred stumbled as a panicked wizard in bright green robes crashed into him before dashing off without a word. Alice and George put out a hand to steady him. In the distance she could see an orange glow filling the sky; with a sickening lurch she picked out the silhouette of a pillar of black smoke spiralling up into the night and realised that the campsite was aflame. Her grip on Fred's arm tightened slightly.

“The party's just gotten a bit out of hand that's all.” She could see Mr Weasley was struggling to keep up a calm front. “I've got to go and help the Ministry sort it out. Now get into the woods and stay there until I come to fetch you. And make sure that you all stick together!” He gave his daughter a quick hug to reassure her before pushing her towards her brothers to try and get them all moving. Alice didn't move however.

“Where's Sirius?”

She could feel the tightness in Mr Weasley's fingers as he laid a hand on her shoulder. “He's with Bill and the others trying to help, don't worry about him; just get yourselves to safety and look after each other. Ok?”

Alice nodded grimly and turned to see her friends waiting for her, identical expressions of worry on each and every face. Silently Hermione reached out for her hand and without another word the seven of them sprinted off into the night.

A/N: There you go; not too different from the book, but don't worry I'm not regressing into canon! Please R&R as always!

Document created with wvWare/wvWare version 1.2.7

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3. Death Eaters

Death Eaters

“Can you see the others?” Hermione's urgent whisper was so close that she could feel her quick, anxious breaths fluttering against her ear. Alice stuck her head around the side of the tent, craning through the dark and chaos to see if she could spot Ginny or the twins. A herd of stampeding Quidditch fans making for the safety of the forest had barged through the group, splitting them up as they ran.

“No.” She turned back anxiously to her friends. In looking for the others they had drifted further away from the trees; couple that with the sideways turn the wizards creating the chaos seemed to have made and they were now huddled behind the sheltering bulk a tent, dangerously near to the line of fire - quite literally as they now had a clear view of the burning tents.

“Here, let me have a look,” Harry gently pushed her back as he took a quick look for himself. “I still can't -” He suddenly stopped and Alice was sure that if the flames hadn't been casting an orange glow on his cheeks they would have drained of all colour.

“Mate, what's wrong?” Ron, with the girls close behind him, stepped out from behind the tent. Alice squinted through the darkness. She could hear screams and shouts along with several loud, sharp bangs as wands were fired like crackers. The dark mass of bodies was dimly visible over the tents only two rows away now. She could see nothing however that had warranted Harry's suddenly increased sense of alarm and had only just opened her mouth to say so when suddenly there was a huge explosion. The force of the blast rocked the ground beneath them seeming to send the stones on the ground jumping and rattling around them. She staggered and reached out to grasp hold of her friends, feeling them doing the same as her ears rang. A billowing pillar of flame was thrown into the night sky leaving white hot streaks crisscrossing her vision, as she blinked rapidly to clear her eyes the scene that was revealed to her made feel sick.

The crowd, which up until that moment Alice had hoped was merely a party gotten out of control or a group of disgruntled Bulgarian supporters, was backlit by the flames revealing a cluster of cloaked and hooded figures advancing slowly towards their position destroying the campsite as they went. Worse they seemed to have the writhing bodies of four helpless victims suspended above them, two of whom - if size was anything to judge by - were children. Beside her, Hermione let out a terrified squeak.

When Harry spoke next his voice sounded slow and distant as though it was taking him a great effort to speak. “We should get out of here.” Alice nodded and took a step back, she had barely moved another inch however before she heard the sound of racing feet behind her and, whirling round nearly fell as a body slammed into her. Hermione let out a yell, quickly muffled by Ron clamping a hand over her mouth.

“Merlin, what are you lot still doing here?” The voice was familiar enough that Alice felt a little of the alarmed tension drain from her and she lowered the wand - which she couldn't even remember picking up - pointed at the shadowy face.

It was Harry who recognised the newcomer first. “Cedric?”

The Hufflepuff boy nodded grimly and repeated his question. “What are you still hanging about here for? If that lot catch you, especially her,” he hissed indicating Hermione, “you'll be in trouble.” As he spoke he glanced warily in the direction of the hooded mob who were now far too close for comfort and heading straight for them.

“Why Hermione?” In the urgency of the situation Alice forgot to be shy.

“They're after Muggles and Muggle-borns. Can't you see they've already got the camp manager and his family?” At his words Alice felt her bile rise again and swallowed hard to stop herself throwing up. “We need to get to the trees,” he continued, “so when I say run, follow me alright? And don't stop for anything.” Cedric stuck his head out once more. “Ok, now - run!”

Like a sprinter from the blocks Alice and her friends took off in the opposite direction from the mob. Her feet crashed out a regular rhythm against the packed earth, not breaking stride as she leaped over someone's hastily discarded possessions or dodged a smouldering tent. The sharp sounds of her panting breaths were barely audible, even to her, over the tumult behind them.

They had scarcely been running for more than a few seconds when she heard a sudden yell behind them, aggressive and far too close for comfort. She risked a glance back. Three of the hooded figures were pursuing them, and gaining rapidly. This close she could see they were wearing masks as well; an ominous indicator if ever she saw one as even in her dash to safety her preoccupied mind registered that this meant it had obviously been planned. Increasing her speed and turning back at the same time her foot caught in a rut concealed by the dark. She stumbled, arms flailing, falling forwards; a gasp escaped from between petrified lips. Immediately someone grabbed her hand, their fingers warm around her own, frozen and terrified, pulling her upright and dragging her on.

“Keep going,” the voice at the end of the arm repeated urgently. It was Cedric. As they ran a tent next to Harry exploded into a ball of green flames, spitting burning chunks and debris in all directions. Instinctively they ducked and swerved, Alice rapidly taking stock to see if anyone had been hurt. As though the explosion had been some sort of cue, spells began raining down on them from behind and the elated cackles of their pursuers began ringing in their ears. They were almost upon them. Alice put on another burst of speed, aware that with her shorter legs she was dragging on Cedric's arm.

Suddenly there was a shriek behind her and although they all stumbled on for several paces her blood instantly ran cold. She knew that voice.

“HERMIONE!” Harry's urgent cry confirmed her worst fear. She wrenched her hand from Cedric's and spun wand at the ready to face whatever was behind them. It didn't matter that there was three of them, and they were all undoubtedly more experienced in magic than she was; all she knew was that she had to save her friend. Standing in the middle of the empty row, several paces away was one of the masked figures - except he wasn't masked any more. His hood was askew, slipping to reveal a snarling, contorted face, gashed from top to bottom on one side by a long, spidery scar. The man was cursing and bellowing, fighting with Hermione whom he had grabbed around the waist. For her part Hermione was battling tooth and nail to get free, clawing at his face, kicking every inch of him that she could reach and screeching at the top of her lungs. Behind them the other two were gaining.

“DUCK!” Cedric shouted, grabbing Alice and Ron by the collar and forcing them to the ground just as a burst of green light shot directly over their heads. Harry on the other hand, as heedless of danger as ever, let out an enraged roar and threw himself towards Hermione and her assailant, knocking all three of them to the ground. As they rolled around in a tangle of limbs Alice struggled to her knees, raised her wand towards the other masked figures and did the only thing she could think of.

“Stupefy!” A flash of red was quickly deflected, but it was soon joined by similar volleys from the boys next to her. One was just as contemptuously brushed aside as her own had been, but the other found its mark, hitting the nearer of the two men squarely in the face and he dropped to the ground. Everything was a confusion of yelling and screaming, of spells flying and limbs flailing. Alice and Ron sent another round of spells soaring towards their remaining pursuer and although he shielded himself once more the rebounding spells seemed to become tangled up in each other, ricocheting onto a nearby tent and igniting with a noise like a firecracker. In the chaos that followed the man was thrown sideways, crashing into the ground from which he did not stir. At almost the same moment Harry sprang up from the ground, pulling a bedraggled looking Hermione after him, his lip was bleeding profusely and his jacket was torn. Aiming one last kick at the man lying panting on the ground, who yelped and clutched for his leg as Harry's foot connected with his shin, her brother turned, eyes blazing and a look of fierce determination on his face.

“Let's go before more of them turn up.” He strode off towards the forest, with a backward glance to check that no more of them were following. Alice stood there for a second trying to catch her breath before she felt Ron push her gently forward.

“Come on; we still need to find the others.” The five of them moved off, no longer running now as they were out of sight of the danger, although they moved quickly as they could still hear the jeers and occasional rush of air as a tent caught fire. Hermione let out the occasional sniff and seemed to be limping slightly, although otherwise seemed unhurt, and Alice watched as Harry put his arm around her, helping her along.

The encounter seemed to have set every nerve in her body ringing, every sense was on the alert. Her eyes darted between the silent tents as she trotted along, the flames in the distance giving everything a dull orange sheen. Ahead she could make out the dark bulk of the forest and she began to pick out the sounds of the people still fleeing into the trees. As they joined the back of one group of stragglers and at last found themselves under the sheltering bulk of the branches, Alice let out a breath she hadn't even been aware of holding and shivered. When they were no further than a few feet into the trees the five of them turned as one, joining the countless others who were strung out along the edge of the forest, and stared back at the campsite behind them. Or what was left of it. A large portion of the tents seemed to be burning and what wasn't burning was either in a state of dishevelled abandonment or was trampled and charred after the fire had passed through. From their vantage point on the slight slope they had a clear view of the mob, now apparently doing battle with the Ministry wizards. The Muggles they had captured seemed to have vanished.

“I hope Dad and the others are ok.” Ron spoke in a sombre whisper.

“They'll be fine,” Cedric said with confidence. Alice snuck a sideways glance at him and saw that he was staring fixedly towards the tumult that had been the campsite, his jaw was clenched and his grey eyes were blazing as they took in the scene. A smudge of soot blotted one cheek and his hair was singed and unkempt. She suspected they probably all looked the same. He caught her looking and gave her a reassuring smile as she blushed. “I had better go and see if I can find some of my friends. Will you four be alright?”

“Yeah,” Harry, who had been whispering reassuringly to Hermione, looked up, “we will. Thanks for everything Cedric.” The older boy nodded in acknowledgment at them all before disappearing into the trees.

“He's right,” she turned back to Ron, as much as for something to say as to reassure him, “you'll see; they're all old enough to take care of themselves.”

“They're more than capable of dealing with those idiots. If anything, Sirius is probably enjoying himself.” Harry added.

“Pfft, just keep telling yourself that Potter. I honestly don't know why Hogwarts wastes time on your education, because it doesn't seem to make you any smarter.” Alice groaned as she saw her brother wheel round, instantly recognising the languid drawl. Several feet away she could just make out Malfoy through the gloom, lounging against a tree with his arms folded, from where he had clearly been enjoying the spectacle.

Ron snarled and told the smug Slytherin to go away in terms that made Alice elbow him sharply in the ribs.

“Now, now, Weasley,” Malfoy grinned broadly, “what would Mummy say if she could hear you talk like that? If you're father has any sense he'll stay well out of it. Then again,” he cocked his head to one side as he considered Ron's rapidly reddening face, “he's a Weasley so brains aren't one of his strong points.”

“Oh, go away Malfoy,” Hermione huffed tiredly, though her heart wasn't really in it.

The Slytherin chuckled. “Of course my father is doing his part. He knows where his loyalties lie.”

“What's that meant to mean?” Harry looked up sharply as Alice frowned.

Malfoy stared at him for a long moment, his expression giving nothing away. “Nothing,” he said eventually. “Anyway, I'd move from here if I were you. It still looks as though they're on the look out for Mudbloods, although,” he indicated Hermione, “from the looks of you, maybe you already know that.”

“Shut up about Hermione,” Harry growled as Ron shifted his stance testily.

“Just a friendly word of advice,” he smirked. “I'd tell you the same Evans, but you've managed to worm your way out of that little hole haven't you?” He chuckled again as he turned and slunk off deeper into the forest, soon disappearing into the darkness, their glares still burning into his back.

“On of these days,” Ron mimed mashing something violently in midair.

“Don't let him get to you,” Alice suddenly sat down heavily, the adrenaline draining out of her, “he's all talk.”

“Yeah well… still…” Ron continued to chunter under his breath about what he would do to the Slytherin the next time they met as the rest of them took a seat by the trees. Watching and waiting along with all the other anxious faces, illuminated by the flames, staring out over the tumult.

At some point Alice must have drifted off to sleep, because when she opened her eyes again dawn was creeping over the horizon and Harry was crouching with a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her awake.

“Wake up, Alice,” as her eyelashes fluttered open he smiled, but then immediately winced as the motion stretched his scarred lip. “Come on, it's over. We should go and find the others.”

With a yawn she struggled to her feet, stretching out the kinks that had developed after a night leant up against a tree as she did so. The pale sunlight inching over the scene before her revealed the wreck that had been the campsite. Very little remained untouched, charred and smouldering tents littered the field and what wasn't burned had been trampled by the mob and those stampeding to get away. Early morning mist snaked its way through the debris and into the trees, giving whole scene a forbidding air. Sleepy and stunned people were slowly picking their way out of the forest and trying to find their belongings, or the spot where their tent had been. Aware that she was standing with her mouth slightly open Alice shut it with a snap.

“Come on,” Harry repeated. “They might be back at the tent by now.”

“Or what's left of it.” Ron put in.

Sure enough as they neared the tent - which due to the devastation had taken them a while to find - they saw the rest of the Weasley clan and Sirius standing over its charred remains, deep in discussion. All of Ron's older brothers were sporting an injury of some sort: Bill was holding a blood soaked rag to his arm, Charlie had a black eye and Percy's bloody nose was being pinched gingerly between his fingers as Ginny fussed over them. Mr Weasley appeared singed, but unharmed, as, to her immense relief, did the twins. As he spotted them approaching Ron's father let out a jubilant cry and rushed over to ensure they were alright. Sirius, who had his back to them, turned and grinned, the smile stretching a painful and fairly deep looking cut that stretched from his hairline to his jaw. He winced the minute he had done it.

“Are you alright?”

“Of course,” he tried a smile again, and found it was slightly less painful if he made the movement slight. “It'll take more than a few nutters at the World Cup to keep me down. What about you lot?” He plucked at the tear in Harry's sleeve.

“We're fine.”

Suddenly the realisation of how lucky they had all been to escape serious harm came flooding back to Alice. The excitement had drained away, and despite her uncomfortable sleep under a tree, she was exhausted. She slipped an arm around her godfather's waist and gave him a quick hug, reassuring herself that he was unharmed. She heard an affectionate chuckle reverberate through his chest. “Sit.” She demanded, taking a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbing cautiously at his face. He obeyed reluctantly.

“Where did you lot get to anyway?” Ginny asked curiously as Alice worked. “One minute you were behind us and then the next we looked you had vanished.”

“We…” Harry glanced at his sister and friends with a wry smile which they returned. “We got a bit caught up with some nutters of our own.”

“I see one of them left you with a souvenir,” Bill indicated Harry's lip.

“It's nothing.”

George grinned at him. “Never deny a war wound Harry.”

“Yeah, they look great for the girls,” his twin added.

“Is that where you're going wrong?” Teased Alice, fishing her wand from her pocket and performing the few simple healing charms she knew on Sirius' face. It didn't heal the cut completely, but at least the bleeding had stopped. She smirked as Fred did his best to look put out by her remark.

“So the tent's ruined then?” Ron poked at the charred remains with the toe of his trainer, fishing through the debris of canvas and wooden poles. “Did we manage to save anything? What about that hat I bought?”

“I'm afraid the hat's gone son,” Mr Weasley looked grim again. “ We managed to salvage one or two things,” he held up a singed and ragged looking rucksack, showing them the contents; everything was black and sooty, but glancing over Alice thought she could pick out a few pairs of Omnioculars, a kettle and a few other bits and bobs. “I'm going to have to apologise to Perkins though, I borrowed those tents from him.”

“He'll understand, Dad,” Charlie assured him, “besides, it's not as though we were the only ones.” He gestured at the area around them which was similarly littered with the remains of shelters, in some cases only a few charred pegs marked out the spot where a tent had been. It reminded Alice of a scene from an apocalyptic movie.

“Well… I suppose now that we're all here, there's nothing to hang around for. We should get back to the Burrow. Molly will be getting worried.”

Molly was indeed worried. To save time, Sirius and the other adults apparated them all home - a means of transport which it turned out allowed for passengers - and the minute Mrs Weasley saw them all appear in the yard she came running out throwing herself upon the twins and sobbing incoherently about telling them off.

“It's been all over the D-Daily Prophet,” she hiccupped once they had calmed her down and gotten her back into the kitchen. “I didn't know what… I thought that…” Without finishing her sentence Mrs Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sat blinking back tears as Ginny, sitting next to her mother at the table, stroked her hand comfortingly.

Sirius picked up the discarded newspaper sitting on the table and after giving the headline a sceptical look, began to read. “CARNAGE AT CUP CAMPSITE. The campsite of the Quidditch World Cup Final was all but destroyed last night by a mob of masked individuals. Ministry officials denied the rumour that it was the work of former Death Eaters, citing rowdy revellers and an over indulgence on Fire Whiskey as the most likely cause instead.” He stopped and snorted derisively. “Of course because drunken wizards are notorious for attacking Muggles, unlike Death Eaters - last time I checked they were all model citizens. Goodness knows,” he added, dropping the sarcasm, “there are enough of them still running around that they could easily have made up the mob last night.”

“Now Sirius,” Mr Weasley took the paper from him and scanned it as he spoke, “we don't know that for sure.”

“Do you think it could have been, Dad?”

Before anyone could answer Ginny's question Harry spoke up. “Well we bumped into Malfoy last night and he as good as told us that his father was one of them.”

“Malfoy?”

“Well he didn't really,” Hermione argued, precise as ever, “he just hinted really.”

Harry looked so put out at his girlfriend contradicting his condemnation of the Malfoy's that Alice felt the need to speak up, if only to try and smooth things over. “Actually,” she explained to Sirius and the others, “he could have been saying anything. He was deliberately vague. Just said that his father was out on the campsite somewhere, and that he knew where his loyalties lay.”

“Well,” sighed Mr Weasley looking more tired than she had ever seen him, “I certainly didn't see Lucius helping us out anywhere last night. Although I must admit I could have missed him, we were all rather preoccupied.”

“Did you get any of them?” Ron asked, yawning tiredly as he waited for an answer.

Bill shook his head. “No, they destroyed the Muggles house and then the lot of them disapparated. It was all we could do to catch them and try to repair some of the damage.”

They all remained silent for a few moments, staring at the delicate whorls in the wooden table. Finally Sirius stirred restlessly. “Well I think we should be heading home you two. It was a long day - and night,” he added. “I think we all need to get some proper sleep. Hermione, do you want us to get you home?”

The brunette shook her head, the thick, bushy hair which covered it quivering wildly as she did so. “No thanks, I can use the Floo too - I got the fireplace at home connected specially for the World Cup.”

They all rose to their feet and began saying their goodbyes, Mrs Weasley still sniffing loudly as she gave them all a fierce hug. As she bade goodbye to her friends Alice consoled herself with the knowledge that it would only be a few more days until she saw them all again aboard the Hogwarts Express. As she stepped into the roaring green flames she heard Fred call after her. “Oi, Evans, try and stay out of trouble until the next time we see you!”

Not that she had been intending to make a mischief of herself anyway, but the fact that she had less than a week before they left for school made complying with this request all the easier. In no time at all Alice found herself hanging out of the window as the scarlet train cranked its way slowly out of King's Cross Station waving madly to Sirius, his face almost completely repaired by Lupin, her old professor and the remaining Weasleys. Her godfather had been very downcast all morning at the thought of their departure and for the first time ever she was sad to be leaving home. The thought was almost immediately squashed however as they rounded a bend and she ducked back inside the train with the others.

“Are you ever going to take that off?” Ron enquired, gesturing towards her Ireland scarf that she was still sporting despite the warmth of the train, as they edged their way along in search of a compartment.

“Probably not. Besides you're just sore because you wanted Bulgaria to win.” The four of them slipped into an empty compartment and slid the door shut behind them. As she climbed onto a seat to store Archimedes cage in the rack above them, she felt rather than heard something go on behind her and glanced back just in time to see Ron hastily rearranging his face into an expression of innocence. “Don't be childish,” she leapt down with a grin.

“Don't start going on about Quidditch again, will you?” Hermione sighed. “You've all talked about nothing else all summer.” The other three glanced at each other before shrugging and changing the subject. It didn't do to argue with Hermione.

It wasn't long before the subject inadvertently cropped up again however. Not long after the witch with the snack-trolley had bobbed her way past their compartment, Harry was flicking through the Daily Prophet he had picked up from her.

“Oh, here it is!”

“What?” Alice glanced up, a copy of Intermediate Transfiguration in one hand and a pumpkin pasty in the other.

“The photo that journalist took of us… what was his name again?”

“Constant,” supplied Hermione, leaning over to have a look, “Arnie Constant.”

“Yeah, him. Look.” Harry flipped the paper round so that Alice and Ron could see. It was actually quite a good picture, Alice considered, much as she hated being in the newspaper. The two of them stood arm-in-arm, smiling shyly out at the viewer, photo-Alice a step behind her brother so that he was easier to hide behind. The image took up half of the seventh page with the caption over it: “Mysterious Potter siblings enjoy day out at the Quidditch World Cup before things turned sour.”

“Hmm,” she mused non-committaly, “what does the article say?”

“Just the usual rubbish,” Harry scanned the page and snorted loudly. “It just says that you've recently declared yourself a Potter -”

“It makes me sound like a disease.” The others chuckled.

“-that we didn't know we were related… blah, blah, blah… that we both seem to enjoy Quidditch… that's about it really; nothing ground-breaking.”

“It could have been worse I suppose,” she conceded.

“Well I think it's a really nice picture of you both.” Hermione declared. “Do you mind if I have that page once you're finished with it?” She asked Harry. “It's just a shame the whole thing was spoiled.”

“True, but just because the end of the night was ruined, doesn't mean we can't still appreciate the match and everything else,” Alice informed her. “I can't wait for Quidditch this year.”

“Why?” Ron glanced up curiously. “Other than the fact it's a brilliant sport of course.”

“I was…well…” She flushed and tried to decide how she was going to word her statement.

Harry saved her the bother. “I've convinced her to try out for the team. We're going to need a new Keeper now that Oliver has gone and Alice would be brilliant at it.” He chuckled as his sister turned an even deeper shade of red, embarrassed by his praise.

“Hmm…” Ron frowned.

“What?” Alice was alarmed. “Don't you think I would be any good at it? I told you,” she accused her brother.

“No, it's not that,” Ron rushed to explain. “It's just something that Bill said before we left. I don't know if we're going to have the Quidditch Cup this year.”

“What?!” Both Harry and Alice looked scandalised.

“Why ever not? There's always Quidditch,” Hermione seemed upset on their behalf.

Ron shrugged. “Dunno, he wouldn't say. He was just hinting that there would be something else to occupy us that would be even better than Quidditch.” Even as he spoke Ron looked sceptical. Harry evidently agreed.

“What could be better than Quidditch?”

They all fell silent for a while after that trying to work out exactly what could be going on at Hogwarts that would supplant something as fundamental as Quidditch. Alice for her part was still hoping that Ron was mistaken. Though she would be loath to admit it, she had been secretly looking forward to trying out for the team, even if it would have been terrifying.

It was still on her mind some time later as they all filed into the Great Hall for the Feast, seeing the familiar surroundings of her school though helped to take things off her mind. They dodged Peeves who seemed to be in the process of dropping water-bombs on the hapless students below him, made their way through the hubbub of people greeting each other noisily, skirted the Slytherin table and Malfoy, who was clearly relaying the story of the Quidditch World Cup, and found some seats amongst the rest of the Gryffindors. As she sat down Alice caught sight of Cedric Diggory at the Hufflepuff table and quickly shrank down in her seat as he nodded in greeting at Harry, ducking her head to hide the blush she was sure must be creeping up her cheeks. She could still remember the feel of his hand around hers as they dashed through the burning campsite and she was afraid that if he spotted her that she would be liable to do something embarrassing.

“Hello, Alice.” Soaking from the torrential rain outside and Peeves' idea of a joke, Neville sat down next to her. “Is something wrong?” He looked at her curiously from beneath the fringe plastered to his forehead.

“Nope,” she shook her head vigorously before rapidly changing the subject. “How was the rest of your summer anyway?” He had visited the cottage for a few days at the start of the summer, and there had been her birthday party, but since then she hadn't heard from him much.

“Not bad, I spent ages trying to persuade Gran to let me go to the Quidditch, but she wouldn't let me. Then after everything that happened… well let's just say that I didn't hear the end of it. How was it anyway?”

Alice proceeded to relay the events of that night as the rest of the student body took their seats. She waved back as Parvati Patil and her friends sat a few seats down the table and rolled her eyes as Fred and George took seats beside Neville, larking about as usual.

“Does anyone know who our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor will be this year?” Asked Lavender Brown curiously, peering up at the staff table as she spoke.

“I heard Dad say something about Mad-Eye Moody,” Ron supplied.

“Moody?” Hermione glanced up with interest from where she had been deep in discussion with Harry, their heads bent together. “Isn't he an Auror?”

“He used to be.” George took a pause from trying to push his brother onto the floor. “Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him.”

“Why is he called Mad-Eye?” Asked Parvati. “That isn't his real name, is it?”

“Because he's mad as a box of frogs,” Fred grinned at her, “and… well you'll see why.”

“Surely he can't be that mad.” Hermione frowned glancing up at the empty seats on the staff table once again. “Dumbledore wouldn't let someone that was mad teach us.”

“Hermione, have you actually met the Headmaster?” George leant down the table towards her. “I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a genius and everything, but -”

“-he's a cheese-plate short of crackers,” finished Fred, winking at Alice as she let out a cough half-way between a laugh and a bark. “Calm down, Evans,” he reached round Neville to pat her on the back, “I know I'm hilarious, but there is no need to do yourself an injury.”

Alice stuck her tongue out.

“Look,” Neville suddenly pointed up towards the far end of the room. As they all looked, Alice saw a grizzled old man stomp his way crookedly into the Great Hall through a door set behind the staff table. By the flickering light emitted from the storm-tossed enchanted ceiling she could pick out the marks of several vicious scars that seemed to criss-cross his face. Thinning, grey hair hung down to his shoulders and his robes were worn and patched. It took her only a second to register all of this because after that she was transfixed on his face, or rather the enormous eye that seemed to dwarf the rest of it. Round, and almost as large as a galleon, the electric blue orb seemed completely independent from the rest of the man's face. It rolled around in its socket entirely at odds with the small, dark eye, almost as piercing for all its difference, which graced the opposite side of his craggy face. It gave him an eerie, unearthly air; she could well imagine that rather than being born this man had simply dragged himself from the depths of the earth or torn himself, fully formed, from a chunk of granite.

Suddenly the penny dropped and Alice realised what George had meant by them seeing why people called him `Mad-Eye,' for it surely had to be him. As they began to notice the newcomer's arrival the rest of the students in the Great Hall began to fall silent. A ripple, beginning with those closest to the staff table, seemed to spread across the room until every student was staring, wide-eyed, up at Moody now taking his seat. Noticing the silence Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat.

“Well,” he smiled benevolently at them all, extending his arms towards them, “it seems that for the first time in all my years at Hogwarts, it does not fall to me to call for silence at this point. So first of all I would like to welcome you all to the start of another year at Hogwarts. I hope you have all managed to forget everything that you have previously learned over the course of the summer. Now, I am sure you are all eager to tuck into a truly excellent feast, but first I feel it prudent to make a few announcements.”

A/N: Just in case anyone is confused, obviously Crouch Junior couldn't conjure the Dark Mark at the Quidditch because he wouldn't have been freed by Voldemort who in turn wouldn't have been found by Pettigrew after what happened in book 3. As a completely irrelevant note, I could never understand why they didn't just apparate to the Quidditch instead of use a Portkey, but for the sake of the story I kept it in. Hope you enjoy!

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4. News from Outside

News from Outside

“It's not fair!”

“I wish my birthday was a few months later!”

“Won't it be exciting to watch?”

“I wonder what the other schools will be like?”

“Are you going to enter?”

“Whose stupid idea was it to have an age limit anyway?”

Alice pushed her way forwards as she followed her friends through the babbling throng of students all making their way up the staircase. Everyone was talking about the Triwizard Tournament, whether they were going to enter, whether they were excited by the prospect of it, or, like Fred and George, were furious that they were just too young to compete; it was the subject on everyone's lips. For her part Alice just wanted to get to bed, she had been unable to focus on half of Professor Dumbledore's announcement, her brain jamming over the words: “there will be no Quidditch Cup this year.”

How could there be no Quidditch? It was as essential a part of Hogwarts as ghosts, feasts and drafty corridors. Not having Quidditch was like walking to class and not having Peeves pelt everyone with ink-pellets or having Potions without Snape docking points from Gryffindor; it was inconceivable. It wasn't just that though, if she was honest with herself, what she was most crushed about was the fact that she wouldn't get to try out for the vacant spot on the team. Harry had a hard time convincing her in the first place that she would be good enough for it, and initially she had doubted that she would have had the confidence to play in front of the entire school. Now that it had taken root however she found that she had come round to the idea. Deep down she knew she could do it. She was just slow in admitting it to herself. It wasn't as though she was the only one who was disappointed, all the other Gryffindor players - and probably those from other houses - were too, but at least they had been able to do it before…

She gave herself an irritable shake as they approached the Gryffindor common room and climbed past the portrait of the Fat Lady, finally reinstated after her absence of the previous year. It wouldn't do to dwell on it; it wasn't as though she could change anything.

“You're not still going to try and enter are you?” Hermione was asking the twins reprovingly.

“Of course not Hermione,” George answered, smiling broadly at her. “Dumbledore explicitly told us not to do it.”

“Yeah,” Fred joined in, “why would we do something we had been told not to? It's almost like you don't know us at all!” He glanced towards Alice and smirked as she fought to contain her own small smile of amusement. Trust Fred to take her mind off of it.

“Just don't get caught,” she told him.

“We wouldn't dream of it.” With a set of identical grins and a look of mischief in their eye the twins turned and vanished up the spiral staircase to the dormitory.

Alice dropped her smile as her best friend turned towards her, hands placed on her hips and a frown marring her features. “You shouldn't encourage them like that! One of these days they are going to get into serious trouble.”

“Hermione,” explained Alice tiredly, “they're going to get up to mischief no matter what I say to them, so there's no point in fighting with them about it. They're not going to change; it's who they are.”

“She's right,” Ron spoke up, ducking slightly as though making himself shorter would somehow remove him from Hermione's line of fire. “My Mum's been trying to get them under control for years and she's never managed yet.”

“Hmmph,” Hermione didn't sound convinced.

“Anyway, shall we go to bed? I'm exhausted.” She took a step forwards, but neither her best friend nor her brother moved forcing Ron and Neville behind her to pause. “Aren't you two coming?”

“Well… we were just going to…” She saw Harry's eyes slide towards the empty sofa lit snugly by the glow of the fading fire before flicking upwards to his girlfriend's awkward looking face and then back to the others. She could take a hint.

“Oh, right, ok then.”

“What's up?” Ron seemed completely clueless as usual

“Harry knows his way up to the dormitory Ron,” Neville tried the subtle approach although he may as well have spoken to Ron in Mermish for all the good it did.

“I should hope so too, the length of time we've been at Hogwarts. Am I missing something here?”

“Probably.” Alice saved the blushing pair from any further embarrassment by slipping her arms through Ron and Neville's and steering them forcefully in the direction of the spiral staircase. Whether it had just taken him a while or whether it was her deliberate exit that did it, the penny finally seemed to drop with a resounding clunk.

“Ooooh. I get it.”

Neville and Alice glanced at each other and snorted with laughter as they began to climb. “You know sometimes Ron,” she informed him, “you can be really thick.”

So tired was Alice that night that she had fallen asleep long before Hermione appeared in the dormitory. As she drifted off she could hear the excited babble emanating from the other three occupied beds; usually the sound would keep her awake, but tonight after so long in a room on her own over the summer she found it strangely comforting. The following morning she awoke refreshed, reconciled to the Quidditch situation, and ready for whatever Hogwarts had to throw at her.

“So did you and Harry have a good chat last night?” She asked brightly, brushing her tangled hair as Hermione yawned and staggered blearily from her bed to her trunk.

“Y-Yeah,” her friend yawned, the sort of yawn that lasted for more than a few seconds and gave Alice a good view of her tonsils before abruptly her mouth closed with all the snap and force of a mouse trap. “Why?”

“No reason. Just call me curious.”

Hermione didn't look convinced. “Ok, Curious, well why don't you run along down to breakfast and I'll catch up with you once I'm ready?”

Alice grinned at her friend. “You're no fun at all.”

The Triwizard Tournament was still under much discussion throughout breakfast that day. “I heard that it was stopped because a dragon ATE all of the champions one year,” Sally-Anne was telling Seamus and Neville, an expression of ghoulish delight on her face as Alice took her seat.

“Well, I heard that one year they locked the champions in a dungeon until they could free themselves; it took them five days!”

Neville looked perplexed. “They wouldn't actually do that would they?”

As she poured herself some pumpkin juice Alice smiled at him. “I doubt it, not any more at any rate, but we can ask Professor Kreevain when we next have History of Magic, she's bound to know.”

At exactly that moment, as though Alice's words had been a signal, Professor McGonagall began handing out their new timetables. Her usual stern expression was nowhere in sight as she smiled kindly at Alice, enquiring how her holidays had gone as she handed over her schedule for the year; at the same time she gave Alice Hermione' timetable to pass on. Glancing at her friend's timetable she saw that it was just as impossibly full as it had been last year. Evidently Hermione had no intention of giving up the Time-Turner or her unenviable work hours; she shook her head in exasperation. Turning to her own, she scanned down the first column and was just in the process of thinking that today seemed a reasonably good day when she heard Ron groan further down the table.

“What's wrong?”

“Double Divination. This afternoon.” He thrust the timetable in her direction to emphasise his point, a disgruntled expression on his face. “A whole afternoon of Trelawney.”

“Look on the bright-side, mate,” Harry informed him gloomily, “at least she doesn't tell you that you're going to die painfully and horribly every five minutes. Then again,” he brightened at a sudden thought, “maybe she'll move on from me this year and start focusing on the fatal end of someone else instead.”

“Well, it's your own fault,” Alice chuckled, “you chose the subject, and you could have swapped it last year. It's too late now.”

“Don't remind me.”

At that moment there was a distraction as the post arrived and several enormous owls descended on the table. With a clatter Alice saw her goblet go flying as a particularly large barn owl descended with a thud in the space it had occupied. She raised her eyebrows a fraction as the bird hooted imperiously at her, ruffling its feathers and nearly sending a platter of bacon cascading into Neville's lap before she grabbed it. She never got mail. Not unless you counted the occasional letter from Sirius last term and she didn't think this was from him, not so soon after she had last seen him. Curiously she reached up and untangled the thick wad of parchment from around his leg. It was a letter from someone, but she didn't recognise the handwriting on the envelope.

“Who's that from?” Neville asked curiously as he watched her tear it open.

“No idea,” she shrugged, running her eyes over the first few lines of text.

Dear Miss Potter

My name is Doris Giddypeyn. I just thought I would take the time to write and tell you how pleased I am that you have discovered your relation to Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived. It must be very exciting for you. I have been an avid supporter of your brother for years now and follow with keen attention everything that is reported in the Daily Prophet about him, and anything else in which he happens to appear. I and a few of my friends actually have a society dedicated to supporting him, of which I am President. I thought you might like to know that we have now extended this to include you too. I have sent you some of our club badges which I thought you might like.

I saw a photograph of the two of you at the Quidditch World Cup and thought it was a very good picture. I have enclosed two copies, I wonder if you would autograph them for me, if it wouldn't be too much trouble? I would love to have one. We were also thinking, that is the society - did I mention our name? We have recently renamed ourselves so that we are the Potter- Evans Aldershot Society, or P.E.A.S. for short - Anyway, we were thinking that we might have a quiz night soon and we would like to be able to give away an autographed photograph (wouldn't that be a mouthful to say?!) as a prize. I thought that you might like to know a little about us…

Alice stopped reading and put the letter down, feeling queasy and slightly shell-shocked. Knowing that half the wizarding world knew her name and that everyone knew Harry's was one thing, having it shoved in her face like this was another. Why would anyone want to set up a fan-club dedicated to them? It was mental.

“So?” Neville queried. Rather than answering Alice just pushed the letter towards him.

“You should read it when he's done,” she informed her brother who was frowning at her in concern. “It's not bad, it's just… weird. Really weird.”

Neville let out a snort as he finished the missive and passed it over to Harry, as he looked at Alice he tried to keep a straight face and bit his lip to keep from laughing; he didn't entirely succeed. “Let's see the badges then.”

As the rest of her friends crowded round Harry to read the letter Alice glanced back inside and fished out the two large, round objects about the size of her palm inside. “Oh, for goodness sake!” Each badge had a person on it; one was herself, the other Harry. She vaguely recognised the images as coming from a photograph of the two of them that had been taken at the start of the summer when a photographer had snuck up on them on their way to Pettigrew's trial. As a result, since these were moving photos, both of them had expressions ranging from surprise to disgruntled annoyance and back again. Occasionally her `badge self' would get bored, yawn widely and take an irritated swipe at the gold lettering below them scrambling the letters so that on Alice's badge it currently read: A.P.E.S. “It's not funny,” she scolded the others as they began to laugh, showing them the badges.

“No,” Hermione covered her smile with her hand. “No, of course it's not. Sorry Harry,” she added as he looked askance at her. “It's really not funny.”

“Some people are just mental,” he informed Alice, “just ignore them.”

“It's not so much them I'm worried about. Can you imagine if Malfoy got wind of this? Or -”

“What's this then?” Fred and George descended on the table, scooping the badges from Alice's hands as they did so.

“-the twins,” she finished dully. Hermione smirked into her cereal at the look on Alice's face.

“Evans, what are these? Are these in case you forget what you look like? A mirror would be handier you know. And what is Apes?”

Alice raised an eyebrow. “Well they're these really big primates, and they don't have tails. They look sort of like -”

“Ha. Ha. Evans you're hilarious.” George swung his head round and stared at her for several seconds, his expression immobile except for a slight twitch next to his nose that said he was struggling to keep a straight face. Alice stuck her tongue out at him and he cracked.

“You know Harry, being on a badge suits you. You should get more of these made.” Fred held it up next to his face as though comparing. Both Harry's scowled back at him murderously. “Do you want one Hermione?”

The brunette smiled at him. “Much as I'd love one… G-Fred?” She paused uncertainly.

“I'm George,” he told her helpfully.

“He's Fred,” Alice informed her, digging him in the ribs.

“Aw Evans, you're no fun.”

“And you're just being mean.”

Hermione was looking from one twin's grinning, freckled face to the other and back again. “I give up; how can you tell the difference?”

Alice shrugged. “Dunno; I just can. Fred's more annoying I suppose.”

“Oi!” He exclaimed as both of his brothers laughed at him. “I'll pretend not to be completely shattered and mentally scarred by that remark. I know you love my wit and devilish charm really Evans, so I'm going to keep you close to my heart.” He pinned the badge with her face on it prominently to the front of his robes, dodging smartly out of the way when she groaned and made a grab for it as the others laughed uproariously.

“Fred Weasley!” She shouted down the Hall after him as he scampered off, George only a few paces behind as always. “Honestly,” she muttered turning back to the table and trying to calm the growing blush in her cheeks. “I am going to kill them when I get hold of them.” She looked up at the other four trying to conceal their laughter as they ate. For a moment she tried to retain her stern expression, but in the end she succumbed and saw the funny side too. With a tiny snort, and then a giggle which turned into a full-bellied chuckle the five of them proceeded to crack up for the next few minutes, eventually eliciting more than one concerned stare from those round about which only made them laugh all the harder.

For the next few weeks things went along relatively calmly, especially for Hogwarts. Alice saw less of Hermione than she would have liked as her friend was often busy either catching up with school work and sleep or spending some time with Harry. She tried not to grudge her the time, after all she couldn't expect to be the main focus of her life, but she did still miss her friend occasionally. One particularly blustery afternoon in early October she was sitting by herself in the courtyard, her back against the wall, idly plaiting stems of grass together. Harry and Hermione had vanished somewhere and Ron was in the library frantically trying to finish his Potions essay. She had been trying to help him with it, but he had gotten so snappy and grumpy that she had given up; Potions could do that to a person.

Above her the thick white clouds that had roofed the valley all morning were zipping by at a brisk pace, becoming ever more thunderous looking as they went. The walls of the courtyard kept out the more savage gusts of wind leaving the smaller gusts to sneak in about, whipping at her face and tugging strands of hair loose to tickle at her cheeks.

“Hey, Alice!”

She glanced up to see Neville approaching with Ginny and Luna Lovegood, whom she had spoken to on several occasions, following in his wake. “Hi, Neville, what are you three up to?”

“We were just… actually I have no idea,” Neville admitted this last quietly as he sat down beside her, pulling a confused face when the other girls couldn't see. Alice had to contain a smile.

“Luna was looking for… what was it Luna? A Hagelambular?”

“A Hagelnimbulus,” the blonde girl replied vacantly as she gazed upwards to the clouds.

“Yeah…” Ginny looked sceptical and shrugged as she caught Alice's eye. “One of those, Luna reckons she saw some. Apparently they come out when it's about to rain to play in the sunbeams if there are any… she wanted a hand to look for them.”

“Ah,” Alice nodded slowly, “I see… any luck?”

“Not so far, but they'll be about somewhere.” Luna's wide, pale eyes were so unfocused that she reminded Alice forcefully of a blind woman she had seen once. It was as though she wasn't even looking at anything in particular. Then again it occurred to her that it was often said that the blind saw more clearly than regular folk, so perhaps she shouldn't judge her too critically.

“Ok…” Having no idea what exactly Hagelnimbuli (if that was indeed the plural term) were, much less if they even actually existed Alice wasn't really sure what else to say on the subject. In the end she didn't bother trying. “So did you have a good summer Luna?”

For a moment she didn't think the girl was going to respond, and she glanced at Neville and Ginny who were both smiling in amusement. Eventually though she spoke in that slow, airy voice which was so unusual and yet rather endearing at the same time. “Yes thanks, my Dad and I went on a trip to Sweden, Daddy thinks we might find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack there.” She said this with such sincerity as she sat down with the others that Alice couldn't find it in her heart to laugh at her.

“Any luck?” Next to her she could feel Ginny trembling with laughter.

“No, but it was a good trip. Did you do much? I heard you were Harry Potter's sister now? Although I guess you always were, and it is rather obvious,” this was news to Alice, “and you're staying with your godfather Sirius Black and that he didn't kill all those Muggles. Is it interesting?”

“Erm… Yes, I guess so,” she chuckled, “interesting is probably a good word for it.” As she had on previous occasions Alice found herself warming slightly to Luna despite, or perhaps because of her peculiarities and odd way of looking at the world.

“That's nice,” Luna paused for a moment as she watched Alice continue to plait the grass in her hand. “That's nice,” she repeated distantly; Alice wasn't sure if she was continuing their conversation, remarking on the grass or talking about something else altogether, with her it was difficult to tell. “Well, I think I'm going to go and carry on looking, I might go for a walk; sometimes you can find them down with the Thestrals, they enjoy the company.” With a vacant wave that suggested she was already thinking about something else Luna wandered off. The three of them watched her go in silence, the brisk wind picking up and casting her long blonde hair out in a streamer behind her as she walked, swirling around her robes and snatching up leaves around her made her look almost ethereal herself.

“What's a Thestral?” Neville asked eventually.

“No idea,” Alice laughed, “though I'm sure if you chased after her and asked Luna would happily tell you.”

Ginny snorted. “Yeah, about that and every other mad thing she comes up with.” The three of them sat in companionable silence for a few minutes longer and as she sat there it occurred to Alice how far she and Ginny had come since their frosty start in second year, then again they were getting older, perhaps they were growing up at the same time?

“Come on,” Neville abruptly got to his feet, stretching out a hand to both girls as he did so, “I don't know about you, but I'm freezing sitting out here. Let's go inside and warm up a bit, it's nearly lunchtime anyway.”

“You're as bad as Ron, thinking about food all the time.”

“I am not!” He laughed, pretending to look offended and failing miserably as they wandered through to the Great Hall.

“True,” Ginny smiled as she waved at a few of her friends who were already sitting at the Gryffindor table, “no one's as bad as Ron, but you definitely come close!”

As she settled back into her normal routine with practiced ease, Alice wondered how she could ever have doubted that home was Hogwarts. Yes, she loved being at home with Sirius and Harry, but Hogwarts would always be her first home, the first place she had found a family. Even Potions didn't seem too bad this term; Snape seemed to have taken to ignoring both Harry and Alice. She assumed that she was receiving the same treatment since she was Harry's sister and the Potions master felt the need to extend his grudge to include every member of the Potter family, she wasn't sure why he was ignoring them though. Not that she was complaining, it was certainly better than having him breathing down their necks every time they stirred their cauldrons and deducting house points for having chopped a gurdyroot incorrectly. It was a tad disconcerting though.

It wasn't until over halfway through October that Snape eventually broke his silence though as it turned out the circumstances were highly unusual. They were all sitting at breakfast one Tuesday morning, Ron tucking into an unhealthy quantity of bacon, sausages, black pudding, fried tomatoes, and beans on toast as per usual whilst Hermione looked on in mild disgust, her spoonful of porridge frozen halfway between her bowl and her mouth, when the mail arrived. Alice who was more interested in buttering her toast than unravelling her Daily Prophet thought nothing of it until the noise level in the room began to build. It began in patches, spreading along each table as students shared out the newspapers or relayed the news.

Glancing towards Hermione she saw her friend frown as she eavesdropped on distant conversations before suddenly snatching up the paper from in front of Alice. Tearing it open her eyes seemed to pop as they travelled across the front page. “Merlin,” she whispered; her voice barely audible above the hubbub of the Great Hall.

“What's wrong?” Harry leant across the table to see what had startled his girlfriend and set the entire room on edge. In response Hermione flipped the Daily Prophet around so that they could all see the cover. Alice, who had just taken a considerable bite of toast, swallowed sharply.

Emblazoned across the newspaper in print three inches high was the headline: WIZARD BANK RAIDED! And underneath there was a picture of Gringotts bank - or what was left of it. Leaning forwards for a closer look Alice could see that someone, or something, had blown an enormous hole in the front of the normally pristine building. The ruins of the marble pillars seemed to smoke gently in the moving photograph as the occasional flurry of dust swirled towards the viewer. She could just pick out the dark silhouette of several goblins rushing around inside the building, which from what she could see was in a similar state of destruction. The three of them stared at it in silence, there mouths hanging open and Ron's breakfast long forgotten.

“What…? How…? What happened?” Alice whispered eventually. Gringotts was meant to have the tightest security of any wizarding place in Britain, except for Hogwarts of course, how could something like that happen? Seeming to recover herself slightly Hermione turned the paper back and flipping it open she began to read. “Witches and Wizards on Diagon Alley were stunned today by the sight of the nine-hundred year old bank in smoking ruins after an attack last night. The high-security bank was targeted by witches or wizards unknown last night in a raid lasting mere minutes.

Spokes-goblins for the bank insist nothing was taken and the intruders - who were all masked - didn't make it beyond the Entrance Hall, this of course is not to say that considerable damage was not inflicted and the bank will have to undergo significant repair work. No one was arrested for the incident. Ministry officials from the Department of Magical Law enforcement also refused to speculate on the reasons behind the raid and insist that there is no reason to link it to the recent disturbances at the Quidditch World Cup…” Here she stopped reading and looked up at them expectantly.

“Do you think it was?”

“What?” Harry asked, looking deep in thought. “Another Death-Eater attack? It might have been…” As he spoke he worried absentmindedly at his lip, his teeth almost in danger of drawing blood. “It could just be a coincidence though…”

“It says they were masked, so were those Death Eaters at the World Cup,” Ron pointed out. He looked ill at even the possibility that there could be Death Eaters involved and it occurred to Alice that even though none of them had been alive, Ron was really the only one of the four of them who really knew the impact that Voldemort had had on family's before. Yes, she and Harry's lives had been irrevocably changed by Him, but they had been ignorant of that for much of their childhood. The Weasleys on the other hand would have grown up with constant stories of that time, they hadn't been terrified by tales of Bogeymen, but by Death Eaters and she knew that Ron had lost some uncles at the very least. She glanced around at the scared faces scattered throughout the hall who had obviously reached the same conclusion they had; he wouldn't be the only one who had lost loved ones either.

“Why would they do it though? I'm not saying that it wasn't Death Eaters,” she added as the others made to interrupt her. She dropped her voice on the last words too, not wanting to start a panic. “I just mean would it be to scare people or do you think they were trying to steal something but were disturbed?”

“I dunno,” Harry shrugged, “we should ask Sirius. I'll send him a letter at lunchtime.”

“Yeah, I might owl my Dad too,” Ron added, “to see if they know anything at the Ministry.”

“That's a good idea Ron,” Hermione smiled at him.

Alice nodded. “You can use Archimedes if you like.”

She glanced up from where she had been looking at the paper again in time to see Ron gulp and, if it were even possible, turn paler, his freckles standing out starkly against his skin. Chuckling she smiled, feeling some of the tension the article had created lift as she did so. “He's not going to eat you Ron -”

“I wouldn't bet on it!”

“Well, maybe just a finger, but you've got ten it's only fair to share.” Standing as everyone began to file slowly off towards class she took a last bite of toast. “The offer's there anyway, or you can use one of the school owls, I really don't mind.”

As it turned out Ron, much to his evident relief, was able to use Hedwig instead because as they went up to the owlery at lunch it was to find an imposing eagle-owl perched impatiently just inside the door as though it was waiting for them. At first they hadn't noticed it, but as Harry had made to cross the room it had suddenly taken flight and in a few short wing flaps had hopped onto his shoulder.

“It's from Sirius!” He exclaimed once he had recovered from the surprise and unfurled the letter attached to its leg. As he read the letter, Alice stamped her feet against the feather-laden floor of the owlery, careful not to dislodge Archimedes perching on her shoulder as she did so. Her motion was partly inspired by impatience and partly to ward of the bitingly cold wind that was gusting through the space. It may have only been mid-October but already she could see that the highest of the surrounding mountains had snow on their peaks.

“Hurry up will you?!” She complained when it seemed he must be re-reading it for the third time, either that or Sirius had written a novel. She pulled her robes more tightly around her and noticed Hermione doing the same. “What does he say?”

“They think it might have been old Death Eater's the same as at the World Cup, but they don't know for sure. He says…” Harry scanned the letter for more excerpts, “that the word on the ground is that they really didn't take anything, that they were just trying to scare people. That they got away with it at the Quidditch and thought that they would try their luck again. He mentions at the end that Fudge is refusing to admit it might be Death Eaters and a lot of people are taking their lead from him.” He stopped and looked up at them. For a moment Alice thought that he was going to say something else, but he glanced at Hermione and the smallest of frowns seemed to flit across his features, so quick that she would have missed it if she hadn't been watching, and he stayed silent.

Hermione scuffed at the ground with the tip of her shoe, her face hidden out of sight by her long curtain of bushy hair as she thought. “Well,” she began after a moment, “if it was the same people, and they keep this up, someone is going to end up getting hurt. I mean it was a miracle no one was hurt this time!”

The four of them began the long walk down to the dungeons for their Potions class, still discussing the events. They fell silent as Snape swooped in, robes billowing out behind him as usual, like the sails of some wraithlike ship, but once he had set them their task - to brew a Calming Draught - Alice spoke up again. She waited until Snape was at the far side of the classroom, praising the way Malfoy could chop up the ingredients probably, frankly Alice was surprised that the slimy twit could wield the knife without lopping his own fingers off. Once Hermione was busy explaining to Ron exactly how to press the juice from the raspberries and stir it into his potion, Alice took her opportunity to talk to her brother.

“So what else was in the letter?”

“What?” He hissed, peering into the depths of his cauldron as though it contained the answer.

“You know what,” Alice elbowed him gently in the ribs, “there was something else in Sirius' letter and you didn't want to say it in front of Hermione. I saw your face.”

Harry looked at her for a moment then sighed and reached into the pocket of his robes. Pulling out the letter he smoothed it out on the workbench and pushed it towards her, pointing wordlessly at the end of the final paragraph. Alice glanced down at it with a frown.

And Harry - it read - actually this probably applies to both of you, but Harry especially: be careful and keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious this term. This is probably nothing and will all blow over, but… saying that this is also how things started last time. There were a few random incidents that no one thought anything about until later. I don't want to alarm either of you, and Hogwarts is definitely the safest place for you to be right now, but it's not completely outside the realms of possibility that someone might try and get to you. Just keep your eyes open as I said, look after each other and let me know AT ONCE if you see or hear anything out of the ordinary.

Your overprotective godfather

Sirius

Alice glanced up at Harry realising that he hadn't wanted to say anything that might upset Hermione. Understandably. “He sounds worried,” she hissed adding ingredients to her potion so that the bubble and spit of the boiling mixture would cover her words. Harry slipped the letter back into his pocket. “How serious do you think it really is?”

“I reckon that if Sirius is even hinting that it might be a problem then he thinks it could be very serious, I mean he wouldn't want to spook us unnecessarily would he?” Harry gave her a sideways look that was full of concern.

“Well, no, but then again there's no harm in keeping us on our guard, I mean -”

“I wasn't aware that I was merely chairing a social club for budding celebrities such as yourselves.” Alice jumped, dropping her ladle into the cauldron with a splash as she heard the cold, menacing drawl of Snape behind her. How he managed to sneak up on people like that she would never know. “Please continue, don't let me disturb you,” she chanced a glance upwards and saw him staring down his considerable nose at them both with dark, fathomless eyes. “In fact since you both seem to have so much to say and enjoy the limelight so much, why don't you share your observations with the class? I'm sure we would all benefit enormously from whatever pearls of wisdom you have to offer that are important enough to interrupt my lesson for. No? Then perhaps we may all continue in silence?” He stood over them for a moment as they sat, heads bowed in silence, before he straightened his robes with an irate twitch and made to move away from the desk. Across the room Alice heard Malfoy snigger. “Oh, and twenty points each from Gryffindor for your rudeness,” he added walking away.

“What was that about?” Hermione whispered once she thought he was out of earshot. Unfortunately for her, Snape appeared to have a bat's hearing capabilities as well as appearance and general demeanour. He swooped back across the room almost as quickly as though he had apparated.

“Ah Miss Granger, you usually have some comment to make about the proceedings. Is it possible that you are able to suffer in silence for the remainder of this class or do I need to make it a further twenty points?”

Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but seemed to think better of it and shut her jaw again with a click. Stung by the injustice and the severe penalties they had incurred Alice risked flashing the smallest glare up at Snape. The Professor had a self-satisfied smirk playing at the corners of his thin, pale mouth; his black eyes were running over the bowed heads at the bench, compelling silence. When he caught Alice's eye however, his expression changed, it was at once severe and reprimanding, but at the same time there was almost an element of… she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Embarrassed she dropped her gaze, but she had to admit that she was surprised, there hadn't been the same level of loathing in there as she had expected, certainly not the volume of antipathy he reserved for Harry. Why then had he been singling her out as well as her brother of late? If she hadn't known better she would have said that there had been a touch of regret in his eyes too, but that was ridiculous, this was Snape they were talking about. It was all rather confusing.

A/N: I have no idea how old Gringotts is (though I did try and check and couldn't find anywhere that told me!) so if it isn't 900 years old and there is an actual date for its founding please accept my apologies and call it artistic license. I also have no idea what the ingredients of a Calming Draught are so I made some up.

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5. The Choosing of the Champions

The Choosing of the Champions

The school was abuzz with rumours about the raid at Gringotts; some claimed they had heard it was a new security device that had blown up, others that it was the start of a new goblin war. Walking down a corridor on the way to Transfiguration one day they overheard Luna Lovegood telling someone that it had been a Crumple-Horned Snorkack that got loose in Diagon Alley - a notion which Hermione immediately felt the need to disabuse her of. But by the end of the week they had something new to talk about and as ever at Hogwarts, the news about Gringotts was pushed to one side if not forgotten.

The minute the notice went up announcing that the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were to arrive shortly, a sort of fever seemed to take over the school.

“Is there a wizarding school in every country?” Alice heard Harry whispering to Ron in History of Magic. “I mean there would need to be wouldn't there? For the amount of wizards there must be everywhere.”

“No idea mate,” with his tongue poking between his teeth Ron was concentrating on drawing a detailed, if rather inaccurate, fortress on the edge of his notes as Professor Kreevain explained to them all about a tenth century siege and how Harald the Hapless had been inadvertently instrumental in breaking it. With ten minutes to go before the lesson ended, Harry stuck his hand up in the air.

“Professor?”

Kreevain glanced up and her hair, today caught up behind her head in a wide silver clasp, bobbed about and several curls flew loose as she moved. “Yes, Harry?”

“I was just wondering Professor, about other wizard schools; I mean there's Beauxbatons and Durmstrang obviously, but how many other ones are there? What are they like?”

At his question every single head in the room lifted to stare curiously at the teacher; as good a teacher as she was - and certainly an improvement on Binns - this was a much more interesting and immediate topic for them than thousand year old sieges. With a slight smile she stood up and leaned against her desk, jade robes swirling around her feet as she moved. “A good question, Harry. Obviously there are other schools, most countries do have there own one. The United States has two I believe: The Salem Witches Institute and the National Academy of Wizardry, which is I believe in Louisiana. Most schools however are like Hogwarts and so are shrouded in secrecy so there can never be any definite number put on them, similarly for many the location remains unknown.”

“Is Hogwarts hidden then, Professor?” Seamus belatedly raised his hand and then changed his mind when he realised she was already looking at him, covering the movement by pretending to scratch the back of his head. As Professor Kreevain began describing the different ways Hogwarts was hidden from both magical and Muggle eyes, information which Alice already knew, she glanced out of the window at the pouring rain outside. They weren't exactly going to be able to show the school off to its best advantage when the visitors arrived if it was weather like this. Then again they were coming to Scotland at the end of October; they couldn't really expect the weather to get much better than this.

“How will they choose the champions?”

The Professor smiled enigmatically at them. “You'll just have to wait and see Miss Perks.”

From the corner of her eye Alice could see Hermione feverishly taking notes on everything their teacher was saying, her quill flying across the parchment so quickly that tiny bits of feather were being dislodged and clinging to her hair. “Hermione,” she hissed. So engrossed was her friend that she had to repeat herself.

“Hmm?”

Alice raised an amused eyebrow. “You know we aren't going to get tested on this, right?”

“I know, but I don't know all of this, and it's important. I really do need to get down to the library and read up on other wizarding societies. I mean for a start there's that book on…”

Shaking her head in bemusement Alice decided it was wiser and probably safer to leave her to it. After all once Hermione got something into her head, there was no deterring her from it.

“Where do you suppose you're going to stay?” Ron asked later as they all filed down to the Great Hall for lunch. “I mean they need to sleep somewhere obviously. Will it be in Hogwarts or do you think there will be somewhere in Hogsmeade?”

“I don't know; not in the dormitories I wouldn't think,” Hermione answered with her usual knowledge about all things Hogwarts. “But then there are plenty of other rooms in Hogwarts that they could use, I mean on the first floor alone there are at least fourteen classrooms that are never used…” She continued listing off different sleeping arrangements for their guests as they took seats for dinner.

As she slowly chewed her roast beef sandwich Alice considered the schools. She had obviously known that there were wizards and witches all over the world, she had read enough about them, had even seen hundreds of them at the World Cup, but she hadn't really thought about them as real, proper people before. They were all just a vague and relatively unknown concept like human-transfiguration or the reason for Malfoy's continued existence. It would be interesting to properly meet some and have them stay at Hogwarts.

For the next few days the teachers seemed determined to drum as much good behaviour and knowledge into them all as was humanly possible. None of them said it, but it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that they wanted to impress their visitors. McGonagall even insisted on inspecting the uniforms of every Gryffindor she passed on her way out to greet them when they arrived before dinner on Friday.

“I heard Cedric Diggory is going to enter,” Lavender informed them with relish as they all began to drift outside to the designated assembly point. In the distance Alice could see a clump of students being directed into their houses by Professors McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick, who was standing on a small podium to elevate himself to the level of the crowd. Snape was standing, silent, aloof and imposing as ever, not needing to utter a word for his students to quietly line up before him. “You know the sixth year, the really handsome one.”

“Pffft,” Ron scoffed, much to Lavender's evident disgust. “Why would anyone choose that idiot as our Champion?”

“You just think he's an idiot because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch last year.” Hermione informed him.

“He didn't beat us!” The red head seemed outraged at the mere suggestion. “Harry fell off his broom. If he had any sportsmanship he wouldn't have caught the snitch. Besides, you're just saying that because you think he's good looking too.”

“I most certainly do not!” Hermione turned red and shoved her arm rather forcefully through Harry's, nearly knocking him off his feet in the process as though to prove her point. Harry who hadn't been paying attention looked round in startled confusion. “Just ignore him Harry,” she informed her boyfriend as he looked to her for an answer. Alice had to contain a giggle at the look of bewilderment on her brother's face as he looked from him best-friend to his girlfriend and back again then shrugged his shoulders and did as he was told.

Despite her friend's apparent disinterest in the subject, Alice had to admit even if only to herself, that she was quite interested in Lavender's gossip for once. She hadn't spoken to Cedric since the night of the World Cup, but she had see him plenty of times since and he would always smile and nod or say hello whenever they passed in the corridor. Each time had sent a little flutter of inexplicable nerves through her and although she always returned the smile, albeit shyly and with a very red face, she had never worked up the courage to say hello back. She had a sneaking suspicion that her voice would emerge several octaves too high for human comprehension.

As they shuffled into place behind the third years Ginny smiled at them and Alice noticed Colin Creevey wave eagerly at Harry before calling to a miniature version of himself standing in the front row and pointing Harry out. The youngster was so similar that he had to be Colin's brother. A sudden image of the pin badges they had been sent flashed through her mind and she had to look away with a smile. As she looked round she caught sight of Cedric standing at the back of a group of Hufflepuffs - well if she was really honest with herself she stood on tiptoe to catch a glimpse of him. He was laughing at something and completely oblivious so she took the opportunity to capture a mental image of his face.

“Who are you looking for?” Ron asked, craning his head up beside her and staring at the students.

“No one,” she dropped back down again as much to hide her blush as anything else. “I was just seeing if Susan and Morag and the others were here,” she lied quickly.

“Why?”

Alice shrugged and immediately changed the subject, asking how they thought the foreign students would be arriving. Her question was almost immediately answered as several students let out cries of amazement and pointed towards the sky. Looking up Alice saw a speck in the distance hurtling towards the castle at an alarming rate. As it sped towards them the shape solidified to reveal an enormous coach, which would have blended perfectly into the sky had it not been a grey and overcast day, pulled by four enormous winged horses. Nearing the grounds the carriage slowed enough that it could land safely, but that didn't mean it didn't shake the ground beneath them on impact.

“Wow,” Ron whistled as he steadied himself next to her, “what a way to make an entrance.”

“Aren't those horses beautiful?” She could hear Lavender marvel. Alice rolled her eyes; she had never been very interested in horses, even when the other girls in the Home had papered their room with pictures of them… her train of thought was interrupted as a powder blue door opened and a slightly bewildered looking girl, dressed in robes of a similar shade and wearing three scarves stepped daintily out onto the damp grass. Close behind her were the rest of her fellow students who Alice would have counted had she the time, but, like everyone round about her, she was preoccupied with gawping at the impossibly tall woman that followed them.

Tall and imposing, the woman reached heights that even Hagrid would envy. Her black, satin robes billowed around her in a slight breeze, reminding Alice of some giant Grecian sculpture she had once seen at the British Museum. Large, dark eyes scrutinised the assembled masses from beneath regal and severe looking brows, before alighting on Dumbledore and crinkling into a smile.

“Ah, Dumbly-dore,” the woman purred crossing the space between them in several long strides and offering her hand to him. Alice noticed with amusement that the top of the Headmaster's hat barely reached her chin. “It is good to see you again, non? And `Ogwarts, c'est magnifique, as always!”

“Welcome Madame Maxime,” Dumbledore lowered the volume of his voice and spoke a few more words to the Beauxbatons Headmistress which Alice couldn't hear, but a moment or two later the new arrivals began trouping up to the castle and Hagrid took charge of the enormous horses tethered to the carriage.

“How big do you suppose the Durmstrang carriage is going to be?” Neville hissed curiously.

“Dunno,” Harry shrugged, glancing at Hermione to see if she had the answer.

“They might not come by carriage, I've heard rumours that the school is in the mountains up north somewhere so it wouldn't exactly be the best terrain for them would it?”

“Yeah, but Hermione,” Ron began to explain patiently, “it would be a flying carriage, so it wouldn't matter would -”

His next words were drowned out by the sound of someone sucking through an enormous straw. At least that was what it sounded like to Alice. She was just about to ask where it was coming from when someone gave a shout and she could see one of the Slytherin first years pointing excitedly towards the lake. The centre seemed to have transformed into a swirling, bubbling froth as though it were slowly being boiled and stirred at the same time. Before she could make sense of this fully what transpired to be a mast popped out of the water, swiftly followed by the rest of a ship.

Alice was aware her mouth was hanging open as the waters stilled and a magnificent ship began to glide slowly towards the shore. It was only once several students wearing furs had swung a plank down to the shore and helped the rest of their peers disembark that she had enough presence of mind to close her mouth.

“Now that,” she whispered to Neville and Ginny, “is impressive.”

Once Dumbledore had welcomed the Durmstrang Headmaster, a wiry, humourless looking man wearing silver furs to match his hair and, in Alice's view, frankly ridiculous looking goatee, he began to lead them all back towards the castle. It was at this point that she realised that one of his fur-clad students looked very familiar. And she wasn't the only one. All at once nearly every student who even had a passing interest in Quidditch, which was almost everyone other than Hermione, was straining on tiptoe to get a good view of the new arrival.

“Is it really him?”

“I hadn't realised he was still at school, never mind that he went to Durmstrang!”

“Do you think he'll sign my Bulgaria scarf?”

“Is that Victor? Victor Krum?”

The less that subtle whispers raced around the students and Alice marvelled that the object of their attention seemed completely unfazed by it all, because there was no way he couldn't hear them. Either his English really wasn't very good, or he was so used to the attention that he was well practiced at ignoring it. As he walked past them all with his own Headmaster and Dumbledore in tow, the ranks of Hogwarts students fell silent. The minute he had passed by McGonagall informed them all they could return to the Great Hall. Almost immediately there was a rush as people tried to press their way up to the castle as quickly as possible. It took several sharp reprimands form their Heads of Houses to get the students under control and even then Professor Sprout had to threaten several sixth year girls with detention before they stopped running.

At the back of the group Alice glanced in bewilderment at her friends. Honestly, she loved Quidditch, but not enough to go chasing some celebrity player up to the castle. They made their way much more sedately up to dinner and entered the Great Hall as most of the rest were taking their seats. Alice noted, with some pride that the place had been decked out in sumptuous banners, each displaying a different set of House colours and one up at the teachers table that displayed the Hogwarts crest. If it was possible there were more candles floating above the tables than usual so that when she looked up at the rapidly blackening enchanted ceiling it was as though millions of bright stars were descending towards them.

Sitting up at the staff table she could see that in addition to the Headmaster from Durmstrang and Madame Maxime there another two new faces: Ludo Bagman, the man who had been commentating at the World Cup and another rather severe looking man, with a thin moustache and an expression of constant aggravation, who Ron identified as his brother Percy's boss. She assumed they were both there as Ministry representatives.

“Look at them,” Parvati whispered to her.

For a moment she was completely confused. “Who? The men from the Ministry?”

“No, silly, the girls from Beauxbatons. Aren't they all so beautiful?”

Alice looked in the direction of the French students perched on the end of the Ravenclaw table. The girls were difficult to miss, Parvati wasn't wrong there. Each one seemed more radiant and coiffed than the next. Good looks seemed to be a prerequisite for entry to the school. There was one however that stood out from the crowd; her long blonde hair literally shone in the candlelight as it rippled down her back. When the girl turned around Alice could see she had the most exquisite face and judging by her expression she knew it too. She was drawing more than a few admiring glances from Hogwarts boys sitting nearby.

“Is she a Veela, do you think?” Sally-Anne Perks leaned around Alice for a better look.

Alice shrugged as the two girls began speculating excitedly, she was too busy watching the girls in their blue satin uniforms, the way their hands fluttered around their hair, the grown up way a few of them had it twisted elegantly to the side of their head, their general poise… Her thoughts were interrupted as dinner suddenly appeared on the table and everyone began tucking in.

“Mmmm,” Ron licked his lips delightedly some time later as the main courses vanished to be replaced by just about ever dessert Alice could ever think of, “Hogwarts has really outdone itself tonight.”

“I don't know how you even have space for more food,” she informed him, cutting a slice of fancy-looking apple pie and loading her plate with steaming hot custard. “How many helpings of shepherd's pie did you just have? Five?”

Ron just threw her a look in response and grabbed the nearest dish.

“I don't even know what half of these are. Are they French?” Harry muttered throwing curious glances around the table.

“Well,” Hermione immediately seized on the opportunity to impart knowledge to her boyfriend and began explaining about the provenance and ingredients of each dish. Harry soon looked as though he wished he hadn't asked.

Once they had all eaten their fill, and Ron had eaten enough to fill several people, Dumbledore finally stood up to speak. An expectant hush fell over the Hall as the students eagerly awaited his words, glancing down the table she could see that Fred and George were almost bouncing in their seats with excitement. As the Headmaster began explaining about the Tournament and how it worked she cast her eyes around the Hall; most people were looking at him with the same rapt attention they always did, but there were a few wandering gazes like her own. Some, mainly the boys, focused on the Veela girl from Beauxbaton and her friends, others on the Durmstrang students and Victor Krum who was swarthy and glowering as ever in their midst. Krum, she noticed, wasn't paying attention to the speeches either; he was looking over at the Gryffindor table, at Hermione in point of fact. When he saw Alice had spotted him his frown deepened - if that were even possible - so that she could barely see his dark eyes, before he looked away again. Odd.

“Let me introduce,” Dumbledore was saying as she dragged her attention back to him, “for those who do not know them, Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation,” there was a less than enthusiastic round of applause, “and Mr Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.” Alhtough Bagman seemed to be greeted more rapturously by most of the Hall, Alice had to smile when she noticed that several of the teachers, McGonagall in particular didn't look overly impressed. She suspected Bagman may not have been a model student.

As he continued speaking Dumbledore had Filch, the irascible caretaker carry a rather heavy looking chest encrusted with jewels up to the staff table. Alice had to wonder how he managed to even lift the thing; it would probably have weighed a tonne even without all the added decoration. It was from this that, once he had explained how the Champions would be selected, Dumbledore drew forth a wooden goblet spilling over with flickering flames that appeared to be white hot: The Goblet of Fire.

The flames were mesmeric in the way they danced and shifted inside the goblet, at times there seemed to be a hint of the bluebell flames Hermione often produced before the colour would vanish to be replaced by a golden shade that was swallowed almost as quickly by the silvery white light. It was almost as though they were alive. She was so absorbed in gazing at the fire that it came as something of a shock when Professor Dumbledore dismissed them.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the day's excitement Alice found it all too easy to drop straight off to sleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. The following morning though she made sure to get up early, gathered her clothes and crept quietly past the sleeping girls to the bathroom. Once there she hurriedly washed and dressed before fishing out the box of hair pins she had left there before going to bed. Spilling the contents out across the gleaming marble shelf below the mirror she brushed through her wavy hair, allowing the red curls to settle out in a fan about her shoulders as she did so. Scooping it up experimentally several times she examined her reflection critically before pursing her lips thoughtfully and setting to work. Once she was satisfied she gave her new bun a little experimental pat to ensure it would stay up then scuttled off to the Library until breakfast time.

“You look different,” Harry frowned as she sat down at breakfast and helped herself to some porridge. Without answering Alice just smiled mysteriously at him and kept on ladling the gloop into her bowl. Catching Hermione's eye as her friend opened her mouth she gave a little shake of her head. Let the boys work it out for themselves. Hermione rolled her eyes with a smile and left her to it.

“Does she?” Ron asked, barely glancing up from his bacon.

“Yeah…” All three boys stared at her, brows wrinkled in confusion, for a minute before Neville's expression finally cleared.

“You've done your hair differently, it's… up… or something,” he gestured at the back of his own head to demonstrate. “It makes you look older.”

“Yeah,” much as she had hoped they would notice, Alice still blushed at the attention her hair was getting.

“Well I think it looks nice,” Hermione declared, unable to keep out of the conversation any longer. Alice smiled gratefully at her as they all settled down to breakfast. All along the table students were discussing the Goblet of Fire and who would put their name in.

“Morning all.” The twins landed in seats next to Ron. “Morning midget, what happened to the pigtails?” Fred asked scooping toast into his mouth, staring at her curiously over the slice as he did so.

“Why did you get rid of them? We won't be able to pull them anymore!”

“Maybe that's why?” Alice stuck her tongue out at them, pulling a face as they sneered sarcastically at her remark.

“Well, we're older and wiser now, so maybe we wouldn't have anyway.” George gave them all a significant look as he said this.

“What do you mean?” Hermione asked unable to resist taking the bait.

“Just took an ageing potion didn't we? So that we can enter the Tournament.” His comment produced a flurry of curious and congratulatory comments from up and down the table as Hermione huffed impatiently at their ridiculousness.

“I'm sure a wizard as wise and powerful as Dumbledore will have thought of an ageing potion and set up precautions against idiots like you two. I mean they're not exactly difficult to make are they?”

“But that's the beauty of it Hermione. Never underestimate the power of simplicity. And besides, we can't let pretty-boy Diggory be the only one from Hogwarts to enter, can we?” Fred added.

“Has he put his name in already?” Alice asked; she couldn't help herself.

“Haven't seen him do it yet,” he responded with a scowl, “but I've heard people say that he's going to.”

“I heard Parvati say that Angelina's going to enter, she just turned seventeen so she doesn't need to cheat,” Hermione informed him sniffily.

“Well since I'm not entering,” Harry rejoined the conversation rather loudly and pointedly in order to avert an argument, “Hagrid asked us to go down and help him with something today.” He waved a note that had just arrived with the owl post.

“Help him with what?” Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. “I've no idea, some new creature he's gotten his hands on and wants us to study in class. Blast-Ended-somethings… He mentioned them the other day. Ring any bells?” He asked the girls.

“Nope,” Alice shook her head as Hermione shrugged, clearly still put out about Fred and George's behaviour. “But why not, it sounds like it could be… fun.”

As it turned out, their day helping Hagrid transpired to be many things - fun wasn't necessarily one of them. The `somethings' he had acquired were called Blast-Ended Skrewts and were the most repulsive, troublesome and potentially lethal things Hagrid had probably produced for a class yet. They reminded Alice rather forcefully of a half-eaten lobster she had seen in a restaurant once; the experience had put her off shellfish for life. The only difference was that the lobster hadn't been spitting fire at random intervals, nor had it tried to sting or sucker her to death, something which the Skrewts did frequently without compunction.

By the time they returned to the castle for lunch Alice's hands were covered in small burns, the bottom of Ron's robes were smoking gently and Harry was nursing a sting on his hand that was beginning to go a rather alarming shade of purple. All of them looked fairly dishevelled.

“Honestly,” she was saying over her shoulder to Neville as they walked past the entrance to the Great Hall, “one of these days Hagrid is going to - ouch!” Her arms flailed wildly for a second as she banged into something solid and tried vainly to prevent herself from falling.

“Are you alright?” It was a good job that Alice was sitting on the floor already as she recognised the voice, it was just a pity she couldn't have it open up and swallow her at the same time. It was Cedric.

As he repeated his question and held out a hand to help her to her feet, the only thing she was conscious of was the fact that her hair was a flyaway mess, her robes were filthy from chasing Skrewts around in the mud and she probably had charred smudges across her face. Adding to what was undoubtedly an unattractive picture she flushed an appealing shade of beetroot and allowed him to pull her up. She could see a few of Cedric's friends smirking behind him.

“Yes,” she cleared her throat and looked down at her shoes, “sorry… I eh - I didn't see you there… sorry.”

“It's all right,” Cedric chuckled. “There's nothing broken.” He addressed Harry behind her. “How are you Potter? Missing Quidditch yet with all this Tournament stuff going on?”

Harry grinned. “Like you wouldn't believe.”

“Well, you're welcome to join a few of us. We were going to go flying in a few days and take a muggle ball up with us, just to keep in practice.”

“Yeah I might do that, thanks.”

Alice found herself the uncomfortable object of his level, grey gaze. “You play too don't you Alice? I remember seeing you fly a few years ago, you were quite good if I remember; you're welcome to come as well.”

It was all she could do to mumble an embarrassed thanks. He had thought she was quite good! She was in too much of a daze to really register what else he said to Harry, but after a few moments he and his friends went to move towards the Great Hall. It was as he was passing her that she noticed the slip of paper clutched in his hand.

“Cedric.” Her squeak caused him to stop and turn back curiously towards her. For a few seconds she floundered, not quite sure what to say, shouting at herself mentally to spit out something, anything. “Good luck,” she managed eventually, her voice sounding peculiar and detached even to her own ears, “with the Tournament…”

“Thanks,” he grinned after a moment once it became obvious she wasn't going to say anything else. As he turned away she was left wondering whether he had been laughing at her or was just being nice. Why was she so socially awkward?!

Fortunately the boys didn't seem to notice her embarrassment and wandered off in the direction of the stairs talking about cleaning themselves up. Hermione, to her credit, just stood and looked at her for a moment, a knowing smile in her eyes, before taking her arm and leading her after them.

“Hermione…” she began.

“I'm not saying a word,” was her friend's amused response.

Not only was dinner that night to be the moment when the champions were selected, but it was also the Halloween Feast. She had to admit that Hogwarts had really gone above and beyond their usual standards with the décor this year, though it didn't look as though the Beauxbatons girls really appreciated the live bats. Alice's attention was distracted as she sat down at the table however. The minute she caught sight of Fred and George she immediately burst out laughing; it was impossible not to.

“I take it the Ageing Potion didn't work then?” She waved her hand with amusement towards the clipped white beards both boys were now sporting with misplaced pride as she doubled over clutching her sides.

“You should have seen them earlier,” Fred rubbed his chin ruefully.

“Yeah, they came all the way down to our feet.”

“Couldn't Madam Pomfrey do anything about them?” asked Ron grinning at his brothers' predicament.

“She tried having us shave them off -”

“- but they just grew back again. Apparently by tomorrow we should be back to normal, but the best she could do was to tell us to cut them short.”

“Still, I always wanted to know what it would be like to have a beard. Now I know without having gone through the effort and commitment of growing one.”

Alice thought she heard Hermione cough the word “Typical” at this, but she didn't want them to start another argument, so she didn't ask her to repeat it.

Like almost everyone else she wolfed down her food once it arrived to speed on the arrival of the champions' selection and by the time Dumbledore stood up the Hall was bristling with anticipation. Once he had given a rather foreboding speech about the dangers the Champions would face Dumbledore got down to business in earnest.

“Now let me be clear,” he said, casting his normally twinkling blue gaze over the upturned faces before him. “If chosen, you stand alone.”

Alice glance at Neville and Harry sitting next to her and raised her eyebrows. Talk about being gloomy! As she looked back up towards Dumbledore her eye was caught by Karkaroff, the Dumrstrang Headmaster, at the staff table. He seemed to be paying almost no attention to Dumbledore at all and instead was peering, or rather scowling, down the table towards where Mad-Eye Moody sat. She couldn't really tell if Moody was returning the look because although his normal eye was trained on Professor Dumbledore his magical one appeared to be completely white and he was looking at something else entirely. What was going on between those two?

“And so now to business,” Dumbledore was saying, and with a start she realised that Mr Crouch had joined him by the Goblet of Fire, the flames inside of which had now turned a red worthy of Gryffindor. As she watched a long tongue of flame suddenly erupted into the air, spewing out a slip of parchment which Crouch snatched as it floated towards the ground.

For a moment no one in the Hall breathed as they waited for him to speak. There was a rustle of robes to Alice's left and she could see Dennis Creevey had climbed onto his seat to get a better view.

Crouch cleared his throat. “The champion for Durmstrang is… Victor Krum.” The Hall erupted into an exuberant round of applause as Krum slowly rose from the Slytherin table and began walking up to the staff table; Ron was grinning from ear to ear and informing everyone that he had known this would be the case.

“There's no other choice really, is there?”

They were all swiftly silenced however as the flames threw out another name almost immediately. “And for Beauxbatons,” Mr Crouch informed them as the powder-blue students all clutched each others' hands nervously, “Fleur Delacour.”

As she joined in with the enthusiastic clapping Alice craned to catch a glimpse of the girl that was now walking the length of the Hall. It was the girl that Sally-Anne had thought might be a Veela. In the light of the thousands of flickering candles above them she could see her curtain of silvery hair almost glowing as she swished her way up to the Headmaster. He pointed her in the direction of a door behind the staff table, but before she moved towards it Fleur Delacour spun daintily on the spot and blew a kiss to all of the other students.

Alice thought Ron might be in danger of fainting, and he wouldn't have been the only one; half of the boys in the room seemed to be almost climbing out of their seats to get a glimpse of the girl.

Once she had vanished through the door, some sense of order was restored, but for the Hogwarts students the most tense moment of the evening had arrived. The selection of the Hogwarts Champion. Glancing across to the Hufflepuff table she could see Cedric being slapped on the back and wished luck by a few of his friends. As the flames turned red for a final time, Alice crossed her fingers under the table.

“And the Champion for Hogwarts is…” She wondered fleetingly if Crouch was deliberately drawing out his pause this time. “Cedric Diggory!”

Anyone would have been mistaken for thinking a small bomb had gone off at the Hufflepuff table. Nothing this exciting ever happened to their house and now they had the Hogwarts Champion in their midst! With the exception of Slytherin, who were never expected to be pleased for anyone else, the rest of the Hall joined in. It took a while for a jubilant and slightly shell-shocked looking Cedric to extricate himself from his friends, who seemed determined to carry him on a victory lap around the Hall, and follow the other students through the door.

“Yes, yes,” Dumbledore applauded politely with the rest of them, only managing to get a word in edge ways once the ruckus had died down. “They are all to be congratulated, and I hope that whilst you will all give the utmost support to the Champion from your school, you will also be equally charitable and encouraging of the other champions too.” He waved them all back into their seats as the Hufflepuff sixth years were all practically dancing on the table.

“Now, I can imagine that some of you will wish to go back to your common rooms to celebrate, some of you may even wish to sleep, so I shall not detain you any longer except to wish you all an exciting Triwizard Tournament.”

“Never mind, Angelina,” Hermione consoled the Gryffindor girl as they all climbed the stairs.

“Oh I don't mind really, it would have been nice to win, but at least this way I can relax and watch the Tournament with everyone else.” Angelina smiled with a relaxation and easy confidence which Alice envied as she skipped up the stairs to join her friends who were all admiring the Weasley twins' beards.

“I suppose I can live with Diggory being the champion,” muttered Ron.

“Oh Ron,” Hermione admonished, “he practically saved us at the World Cup; you really do need to let the Quidditch thing go.” She rolled her eyes and continued talking to Neville and Ginny as they approached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

“Easy for her to say,” Ron crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her back as they retreated. “Sorry Harry,” he added contritely as an after thought.

“Don't worry about it,” he laughed, “you two wouldn't be yourselves if you didn't fight all the time.”

“But… You still think she's right, don't you?”

“I couldn't possibly comment.” Harry answered with a grin. “What I will say is I'm glad it's Cedric in the Tournament and not me. I wouldn't enter that thing if you paid me.” Alice smirked as the three of them followed the others into the common room, speculating as to what the First Task would involve.

A/N: Had to mention Alice's hair, the poor girl couldn't go through her entire school career with the same hairstyle even if Fred and George did love to pull her plaits. I am also aware that in the books Dumbledore tells them about the Age Line after the foreign students arrive… call it creative license on my part…

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6. Unwanted Attention

Unwanted Attention

With speculation over now that the Champions had been selected things settled down again for a while. If you could ever really call things settled at Hogwarts. There was still the fascination with the new arrivals, who seemed to be staying on to cheer on their Champions; more than once Alice heard people return to discussing the events of the World Cup and the attack on Gringotts. Then there were the Skrewts, which Hagrid seemed determined on subjecting them to, not only in classes, but during their free time too. Alice was becoming quite accustomed to having to put out fires on her smouldering robes. Then of course there was the rather eventful Transfiguration lesson during which Seamus successfully managed to turn his hedgehog into a pincushion, but somehow managed to bewitch it to fire its spines around the room in intermittent bursts. Even McGonagall seemed at a loss to explain how he had managed it; either way they all spent most of the class sheltering under their desks.

Two weeks later Alice, Ron and Harry, inspired by Cedric's earlier invitation, took advantage of a break in the bad weather and went with their brooms out into the grounds. Ron had his rickety old broom and Alice was still using a school one, but since they had plenty of time Harry shared his Nimbus 2000 around with the others. She couldn't believe how much she had missed flying over the last few weeks; it felt as though someone had given her back a limb she didn't know was missing. Taking advantage of her turn on the Nimbus Alice took off in the direction of the castle indulging in something she had always wanted to do: fly around the castle towers.

“Are we even allowed to be up here?” She asked Harry, out of breath and grinning as they hovered over the roof of the Great Hall.

“Who cares?” Yelled Ron as he swooped off as fast as his decrepit Shooting Star would allow him.

As Alice glanced back to her brother he grinned and shrugged. “You know you really should ask Sirius to buy you a proper broom for Christmas or something,” he informed her, “you can't ride a school one forever. You wouldn't even be able to outfly a bee on those things.”

“A broom's an awful lot to ask for,” she pulled a face just thinking about it, “I suppose I could ask for him for the money for part of it instead of a gift and save up the rest myself.”

Harry scoffed. “Don't be daft. Sirius would stand on his head and sing The Weird Sisters backwards if you asked him to. Besides it's not as though he can't afford it.”

Alice made a sceptical noise, it was still a big ask, though even she would admit that Harry was right about one thing. Sirius did dote on her. Changing the subject, her gaze moved beyond her brother to the deep purple cloud bank just rolling over the mountains.

“We shouldn't waste time, it looks like it's going to rain soon and I want to try out a few new moves before we go back inside.” Without waiting for Harry to respond she dropped sideways into a dive swooping towards the ground and pulling up at the last minute, her own whooping laughter ringing in her ears.

It wasn't long before her prediction came true and it started to rain however so they all traipsed back to the castle chattering excitedly about who had been able to do the best Wronski Feint and whether or not they would get into trouble for scaring a first year who had been peering out of one of the tower windows as they zoomed past. They had just reached the first floor when they very nearly ran into a group walking in the opposite direction.

“Do watch where you're going, I - oh, Harry Potter!”

Alice was unsure exactly what to make of the woman who was now watching her brother as though all her birthdays had just come at once. Wide, carefully made up eyes lit up as they darted from his face to his scar and back again, reassuring herself that she had identified him correctly. Her acid green robes were so vivid amongst the grey, muted colours of the castle corridor that she seemed to fill the entire space. Horn-rimmed glasses in a matching shade were framed by very deliberate looking blonde curls, judging by the luminosity of her hair Alice suspected that some potion or dye had been involved in its production somewhere along the line. With a casual flick of her taloned finger there was a sudden flash followed by a profusion of purple smoke that made the unsuspecting group jump at the abrupt disturbance.

Coughing as the smoke cleared Alice became aware that there were other people behind the woman; she had just been too distracted by her unusual appearance to take much notice. The flash and smoke seemed to have been generated by a wizarding camera held by a rather disgruntled looking photographer hovering behind the bizarre woman. Further back and looking as though they would rather be anywhere else were the three champions: Cedric, Fleur and Krum. Alice smiled tentatively at the former just as the woman began speaking again.

“Well, well, fancy bumping into you Harry Potter,” she took in the broom he was carrying, “been out flying have we, of course I've heard you have a certain aptitude for the sport. And this must be your sister is it? Of course I recognise you from the pictures, please don't be alarmed a good journalist always does her research, and I am, I flatter myself, a very good journalist. Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Rita Skeeter.” She said all this very fast and grabbed each of their hands in turn, shaking them in a grip that seemed at odds with her powdered appearance.

“I'm Ron Weasley,” Ron offered as she shook his hand, but Alice wasn't sure if this was for Rita Skeeter's benefit or Fleur Delacour's; it certainly seemed to be the Beauxbatons girl he was looking at.

“Nice to meet you, Don,” Rita replied absently.

Alice was still too busy trying to place the woman. She had heard the name before, had probably read some articles by her if she was a well-known journalist, but there seemed to be a connection she was missing.

“Miss Skeeter has been writing a piece about the Champions,” Cedric informed them as they continued to shuffle awkwardly.

“Whilst I'm here,” Rita Skeeter's gaze had a predatory quality to it, “how would you two like to do a quick interview too? I can just see the angle: `Sharing the limelight - what it's like not to be the only celebrities at Hogwarts.' What words of wisdom can you share with our new champions?” As she spoke she whipped a pad of paper and a quill the exact colour of her robes from somewhere and stood poised to note down anything.

“We don't do interviews,” they chorused instantly.

“Don't be silly dears, everybody does interviews with Rita Skeeter.”

Harry tried to explain rather patiently that they liked their privacy, but the woman took no notice so Cedric attempted to come to their rescue. Again.

“Miss Skeeter, perhaps another time would be better? Harry and Alice are quite shy really, I mean they barely spoke to me this morning when I came out of the Great Hall. They dashed round the corner so quickly I barely saw them.” He grinned to show there were no hard feelings although as flustered as Alice was by the whole situation she was struggling to remember seeing Cedric after breakfast. Still she returned the smile. “I see you took up my suggestion of going out flying then? Did you have fun Alice?” He gestured to her unruly hair which had escaped from the neat bun she had constructed that morning and the strands that were now hanging loose down her back.

“Oh, do you two know each other already?” Skeeter's hawk-like eyes were swinging from face to face before any of them could answer, as her quill skidded across the pad seemingly of its own volition. Alice was beginning to feel decidedly uncomfortable.

“We met over summer, and Alice and I seem to have a habit of bashing into each other.” Cedric told her. Alice blushed furiously at his mention of her though she couldn't help smiling.

At this point the Beauxbatons girl broke in irritably with a toss of her silky, platinum locks. “Do you need uz for anything at all? Only it eez very cold `ere and I would like to go and warm up with zee uzzers from my school.”

“No, no we're all done dear,” Rita turned to look at Fleur and Krum, who had adopted his usual scowl.

Harry took advantage of her momentary distraction to grab Alice and Harry by the elbows and hustle them along the corridor. Ron whistled loudly the minute they were out of sight. “Well she seemed… different.”

“She was a bit intense.” Alice chuckled.

Harry just glowered. She knew he was sick of journalists prying into their lives and she couldn't blame him, she'd only had to put up with it for a few months and already it was wearing. Barely a month went by when they weren't at least mentioned in the Prophet and although she didn't get any other wizard magazines she knew they were often featured there too.

The following day there was another to add to the collection. She was sitting at breakfast, still in the process of acclimatising herself to the fact she wasn't in bed, when the post arrived. A quick glance at the front page Harry and Hermione were pouring over told her that the three champions, rather unsurprisingly, were the story of the day. After that she went back to concentrating on getting her tired jaw to chew the toast she had before her.

It took her another five minutes to realise that she was beginning to get some odd looks from around the Hall. Raising an eye brow she cast her eyes about and saw that quite a few people, mostly girls seemed to be giving her decidedly unfriendly glances. She was just about to ask her friends what they thought of it when none other than Cedric came rushing over to the table and spoke directly to her.

“Look, I'm really sorry about this. I swear I didn't say anything, I think she just made it up for a good story.” He ran a hand distractedly through his hair and Alice suppressed the thought that it made him look rather attractive, forcing herself to focus on his statement.

“What? Said anything about what to who?” The others looked round at her words and in glancing at them she could see more people were staring openly at them now. It was becoming such a common occurrence that she wondered whether she should hide under the table or set up a podium or start selling tickets.

Cedric looked horror struck for a moment at her question though. “You mean you haven't seen it yet?”

“Seen what?”

“This.” Ginny plonked herself down in a free seat next to Alice and snatched the Prophet out from under Harry and Hermione's nose. As she set it down before them she flicked to the fourth page and pointed at the relevant article. Not that she needed to, Alice's eyes were immediately drawn to the large photograph of herself which had the edges cropped to form a heart shape. Actually half a heart shape to be more exact and the other half of the heart contained… Cedric's face.

Alice felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. Quickly she made a grab for the paper and poured over the text, trying to understand what she was seeing.

YOUNG LOVE FOR CHAMPION, it read, It is undoubtedly with great disappointment that many young girls at Hogwarts, and indeed readers, will learn of the secret romance of handsome Hogwarts Champion Cedric Diggory (see page 1-3). The identity of the maiden who has captured his heart has, until this moment, remained a secret. However it is this author's pleasure to reveal it to you and she is none other than recent celebrity Alice Evans-Potter sister of the famed Boy-Who-Lived. (Alice could feel herself turning beet red and resisted the urge to slide under the table with some difficulty.)

Readers will no doubt be familiar with Miss Evans-Potter as she has appeared frequently in the press over the summer: a pretty, slight, girl with red hair and hazel-green eyes and a reputation for a fierce intellect. It is understandable that Diggory has fallen hard for her after the two met over the summer in undoubtedly dramatic fashion at the calamitous World Cup. However this author must question whether the Hogwarts Champion is taken with her or has been taken in?

It has been speculated by some that this `romance' is merely the latest bid by Miss Evans-Potter to increase her own celebrity. She declined to comment at the present time, although this author would not dream of suggesting this is an indicator of guilt, but rest assured dear Readers that this author will endeavour to discover the truth. Until then Hogwarts golden couple should be given every congratulations.

Alice allowed the paper to slide back onto the table her brain seemed to have stalled somewhere. Catching herself staring blankly she gave an irritable shake and her eyes flicked to the by-line. As she expected it boldly proclaimed that the author had been Rita Skeeter.

Suddenly there was a choking noise from over her shoulder and she glanced back to see Hermione had been reading the article from behind her and now looked completely enraged.

“How dare she -!” She spluttered incoherently.

“Alice, I'm really sorry,” Cedric repeated looking distraught. “I don't know where she got that idea from, I certainly never said anything that would have made her think… I mean she asked where I met you all and I said the World Cup over the summer, but that was it. Honestly, you have to believe me.”

“I do.” She tried to smile at him, but suspected it was more of a grimace. With that and her probably puce face she no doubt looked rather like a tomato. Brilliant, she thought to herself. “Cedric, don't worry,” her voice sounded thick and uncoordinated in her own ears. “It's fine.”

“She `declined to comment at the present time'?” Hermione had taken the paper and began reading out snippets in an affected voice no doubt intended to be an impression of Rita Skeeter. “How can she expect you to comment on it if she just made it up and never asked you to comment?! Honestly… she wouldn't dream of implying you were guilty would she? Well I bet nobody thought you were until she brought it up! `Endeavour to discover the truth' my eye! That woman wouldn't know the truth if it jumped up and bit her on the nose!” Hermione continued to rant under her breath as she flicked through the rest of the paper looking for anything else she could take offense to.

“Look, I mean, like I said I'm really sorry. I'll try to sort it out or something, set her straight. I mean Alice I like you and you're a nice girl, and Harry I respect you, I wouldn't want to have…”

“Cedric honestly, it's ok, we know.” Harry interrupted the sixth year as his sentences became confused.

“Ok, right well…” Cedric seemed to twist on the spot, unsure of whether to stay or go. “Well I'll see you around I guess. If there's anything else I can…” He gave Alice one last apologetic look before wishing them well and scurrying back across the Great Hall to the Hufflepuff table. Alice noticed more than a few curious onlookers and wandered if he hadn't just fuelled the inevitable rumours by coming to talk to her.

She groaned and buried her head in her arms.

“Don't worry,” Ginny patted her on the back, “it'll all blow over in a few days and then they'll have something else to think about.

“I could kill that Skeeter woman,” Harry muttered looking every bit as murderous as he suggested. “Who does she think she is anyway?”

Suddenly a lightbulb seemed to go on in Alice's head and she realised where she knew the name from. “She's the woman who wrote all those nasty articles about Hagrid last year that's who she is!”

“Rita Skeeter is always writing horrible articles about people, I'm sure people won't take it seriously,” Ginny tried to reassure her.

“You should write to the paper and complain. Set them straight,” Hermione insisted, “this isn't fair at all.”

“They'd probably just print that as some sort of exclusive interview,” Ron put in sagely. As Alice squinted up at him from the table she saw Neville nodding quietly next to him, though he didn't say anything. A quick glance round the room told her that people were still staring, or rather glaring. Some of the girls, Cedric's admirers she assumed, seemed quite fierce.

“I think I might just go and find a hole to swallow me up.” She waved off Hermione's protestations and scurried out of the Great Hall, face scarlet, before anyone could say anything.

She spent the rest of breakfast hiding out in the Greenhouses hoping that her burning face might be hot enough to ignite every single copy of the Daily Prophet and reduce them to ashes. Unfortunately the class, when it eventually started was with the Hufflepuffs.

When the rest of the class filed in Hermione made a bee-line for her. “I don't suppose there is any possibility I ate hallucinogenic mushrooms at dinner last night and imagined this morning is there?” Alice asked her friend.

“Unfortunately not; though that Skeeter woman is certainly a poisonous toadstool!”

Alice smiled weakly. She was grateful that the rest of her friends didn't try to bring the subject up again, but the rest of the class felt no such compunctions and she could hear them whispering about it all through the lesson. Unfortunately their only task for the day involved them pruning Promethean Roses which didn't require much concentration and wasn't a very noisy task. Unless the buds caught fire, which as they were quite young didn't happen very often yet, Alice had nothing to do except snip away at a very ordinary looking plant and dodge out of the way whenever her sleeve got too close to a spout of flame that would be randomly emitted from it.

Much to her dismay Lavender and Parvati had set themselves up at the next bench with Sally-Anne and some of the girls from Hufflepuff. She could see they were dying to say something to her, but it wasn't until nearly the end of the lesson that they succumbed to the temptation. If she hadn't been so embarrassed she would almost have been impressed by their restraint.

“So Alice,” Lavender began quite nonchalantly, “I didn't realise that you were going out with Cedric Diggory. Congratulations. You should have said something.”

Alice glanced over at them all and could see the rabid curiosity in her eyes mirrored, if slightly less obviously in the other girls'. Each one of them had paused in their pruning. From the corner of her eye she could see Harry open his mouth to defend her, but she shook her head and he shut his mouth sharply again.

“I'm not,” she responded flatly.

Lavender raised her eyebrows. “Oh, I see.” It was obvious that she didn't believe a word of it. To her, anything that appeared in the Prophet was evidently the truth.

Alice concentrated on her rose bush for a while, but she could feel that the girls were still watching her so she glanced back again. Almost at once they pretended to be absorbed in their own work, but they didn't drop the topic.

“I think he's so good looking though,” Lavender continued in an unashamedly loud voice. Her comment was directed at the other girls, but Alice knew it was meant for her. “I know if I was going out with him I wouldn't want to keep it quiet. You're in Hufflepuff,” she addressed some of the others, “what do you think of him?”

Esther Smith, a small, blonde girl who Alice had never really spoken to much, piped up. “Well, he's Captain of the Quidditch team isn't he? And now he's Champion, and he's really smart, I've heard people say he should have been put into Ravenclaw. I've never really spoken to him much, but people I know say he's really nice and of course it doesn't hurt that he's easy to look at.” She blushed and giggled as she said this.

Alice ground her teeth and viciously beheaded a smouldering blossom. She wasn't sure if the whole situation was being made worse or not by the fact that she probably had a little crush on Cedric herself and agreed with most of what the girls were saying. Either way it was still really embarrassing. She couldn't wait for Herbology to end until she remembered what came next. Care of Magical Creatures. With the Slytherins.

She could just imagine Malfoy's sneering face, Pansy Parkinson's smug, self-satisfied smirk… She didn't think she could cope with that on top of everything else this morning so as they were walking towards Hagrid's hut she feigned a headache and slipped away. They had all seen through her ruse of course, though Hermione had still been outraged at her contemplating missing a class - even if they were just going to be running around after Blast-Ended Skrewts. Ron and Neville had perfectly understood and she suspected that only Hermione's disapproving glare had kept them from skipping the class too, although for entirely different reasons. Harry had just quietly promised to lend her any worthwhile notes.

Thankful that the castle was quiet as she crept back in, everyone being in class, Alice made her way slowly up to Gryffindor tower. Although it had just been a convenient excuse, she did actually have a headache coming on, the sort that crept up on her whenever she was stressed but she dismissed the idea of going to Madam Pomfrey to get something for it. Instead she decided to write a letter to Sirius to explain about the article.

Rubbing her eyes tiredly she wound her way up the spiral staircase and crossed the dormitory to her trunk without really paying much attention. It wasn't until she put her hand on the catch that she realised it was open already. Throwing the lid back she stood, rooted to the spot, gazing at her upset belongings. Her usually neatly stacked possessions had obviously been rifled through. The stack of parchment, which was what she was looking for, had been knocked to the bottom of the trunk, a few torn sheets fluttered in the breeze she caused as she opened it.

Suddenly a noise behind her made her spin round, just in time to see the dormitory door swing closed, the corner of some dark robes fluttering momentarily round the edge.

Like lightening Alice dived across the room and wrenched it back open again, bolting down the stairs two at a time she stumbled to an ungainly halt in the common room the carpet snagging on her shoes. Wisps of hair spun out from her head as she swivelled on the spot, searching the room for the intruder, but finding no immediate evidence of them she hissed in frustration and continued her dash towards the portrait hole. Much to her annoyance there seemed to be no one out in the corridor either. Running as fast as she could Alice made her way swiftly to the first intersection in the corridor before she paused again.

There was no way to know which way the student had gone from here and she was convinced it had been another student; those had been Hogwarts robes she saw disappearing. She stood in the corridor for a moment, leaning against the wall as she regained her breath. It would be pointless to try and guess which way to go, she would only end up wandering around the castle and probably get lost doing it.

Annoyed at herself for failing to catch the culprit and enraged that someone had been through her things, Alice stomped back to the dormitory. She rifled through her trunk, removing everything and laying it out neatly on the floor, trying to work out what had been taken. It wasn't as though she had anything much worth stealing. Her mind had instantly gone back to when Harry had found himself in a similar situation in second year, but then he had owned Voldemort's possessed diary and Ginny had had easy access to the room. As far as Alice knew all her belongings were spirit-free, although she couldn't rule out the possibility that a Gryffindor had been the culprit, but who? Once she would have said no one else could get past the Fat Lady, but with her years at Hogwarts had come the realisation that there were ways around the castle security; she herself had breached it on numerous occasions.

With a growl she rocked back on her heels and surveyed her possessions strewn across the floor. As she conducted a mental inventory, her scowl turned to an expression of confusion. Assuming she had remembered everything, the only things missing were a set of her school robes and the book on Ancient Egyptian wizardry that she'd gotten for her birthday the previous year. It was the oddest collection of things to have stolen.

More than a little annoyed, and feeling foolish that she'd been robbed Alice began stuffing everything back into her trunk with energy, she did take the time however to make sure that everything was lined up neatly as it should have been. When it was done, she briefly toyed with the idea of reporting the incident to Professor McGonagall, but then she would have to explain why she hadn't been in class and that would be more hassle than it was worth. Instead she grabbed some parchment, a quill and ink and headed for the owlery.

As she walked Alice kept an eye out for anyone else that might be prowling the corridors when they should have been in class. Part of her was still looking for whoever had been in the dormitory whilst part of her was just keen to avoid people. She kept getting a horrible creeping feeling that someone was watching her; the skin on the back of her neck would prickle as she walked and more than once she turned round to double check that no one was following her. Of course there was no one there, having a space as private as the dormitory invaded had just set her on edge.

She ran up the last few sets of stairs to the owlery and as Archimedes swooped down to join her she settled herself in the cleanest corner of the room she could find.

“Hello sir,” she whispered to the owl as he landed gently on her shoulder. She reached up to ruffle his feathers as he, perhaps sensing that she was unsettled, didn't resort to his usual nip of welcome, but instead hooted curiously and turned to watch her. “You'll look out for me won't you Archimedes?” The owl gazed at her with unblinking black eyes, deep pools that could swallow her up and revealed little of what he was thinking. She suspected, and hoped, that the owl liked her but sometimes it was difficult to tell.

Eventually he blinked and settled himself more comfortably on her shoulder, tucking his head down into his body in what she assumed was an affirmative. With her first proper smile of the morning she gave him another pat and returned her attention to the parchment in front of her.

She began by writing Sirius' name at the top of the page, before fixing her quill between her teeth and pausing. “What next?” She looked at Archimedes. He looked back again, something slightly sceptical in his avian gaze, before making an exasperated clicking sound with his beak. She felt the pinch as talons tightened their grip on her shoulder through the fabric of her robes. “I know, you're right. I should just tell him everything. Harry and Hermione would tell me to do exactly the same thing.” She returned to the beginnings of her letter and did just that: told her godfather all about their run-in with Rita Skeeter, the articles she had written about Hagrid before, how none of what had been in the Prophet that morning was true - although she omitted the part about her slight crush on Cedric - and then finished by telling him about the intruder. She had to smile again at the irony of this last part considering it was only a year ago that Sirius had been the one breaking into Gryffindor tower. When she was done she sealed the letter and attached it to Archimedes leg.

Once he had carried it off into the rapidly greying sky her gaze moved down to the wide swathe of green that made up the grounds between the castle and the forest. She could just see the gaggle of black robes making their way slowly back from the direction of Hagrid's cabin; the class must have just finished. With a sigh she turned back to the owlery and took a deep breath. It was no use hiding up here all day, she might as well go down and face the music.

One week of excruciating embarrassment and whispers later there had been no let up in the Hogwarts rumour mill. Despite her most fervent protestations half the school still thought she was going out with Cedric Diggory. A run in with the Slytherin's in the Great Hall had very nearly led to Harry and Ron hexing Malfoy to the other side of the room, before she and Hermione had managed to drag them away. Alice had very nearly decided not to go to Hogsmeade the following weekend, but some strenuous effort on the part of her friends had convinced her to go.

They sat at a table in the corner, Neville and Ginny making welcome additions to their group and six bottles of butterbeer between them. Around them the atmosphere in the Three Broomsticks was bright and cosy, candles burnt merrily in brackets next to the windows, warding off the chill of the overcast day outside. The place seemed louder than usual as a large group of Durmstrang students had arrived to sample the local hospitality. For her part Alice had shuffled as far back in her seat as she could without actually disappearing under the curtain in an effort to avoid being seen. Her face had spent so much time burning red recently that she felt it might be in danger of spontaneously combusting, so she was trying to avoid notice at all costs.

“Look on the bright side,” Ginny commented as she took a sip of her drink, “at least you haven't really been in the papers much again.”

“I don't need to be in the papers again,” Alice replied grumpily, “once was enough. I think the whole school read that article. Anyway, can we please talk about something else?”

“Did your godfather reply to the letter you sent him?” asked Neville. Alice had told them all about the intruder and the letter she had written to Sirius afterwards.

“Yes, but there wasn't exactly much he could do about it. He just said to keep an eye open for anything else suspicious. Especially with all these Death Eater attacks going on.”

“Do you think the two things are connected?” Ron glanced from Alice to Harry for an answer.”

“Maybe,” her brother replied, running a hand through his hair as he always did when he was thinking. “But then again why would a Death Eater steal robes and a book? More likely it's a student.”

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. “I don't know, there are lots of spells, jinxes and curses mostly, that need something of the person they are cast upon to work. It's a bit like voodoo really.”

They all glanced at each other for a moment. After a while Alice broke the uneasy silence, trying to inject some levity into her voice. “Thanks Hermione, that makes me feel loads better.”

Harry reached across the table and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don't worry about it. We'll look out for you.”

Alice smiled back and tried to look as though she wasn't worried, but she was beginning to get the ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach that usually signalled trouble. And after all these years if she had learned anything, it was to trust her instincts.

A/N: I invented Promethean Roses - borrowed the name from Prometheus from Greek mythology who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mankind. I would imagine they look like ordinary roses except, as I indicated the flowers burn (magically and not injuring the plant) more frequently as they mature. The Hufflepuff in the Greenhouse Esther Smith is Zacharias' sister - I made her first name up, but there is a Smith (gender unknown) who was put into Hufflepuff according to JKR's notes on the books.

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7. Call of the Wild

Call of the Wild

Over the next few days Alice learned several things: the first was that her teachers had impressive tenacity as no matter how often the class begged none of them would reveal what the first task in the Triwizard Tournament was to involve. The second was that rumours stuck like pieces of stray spellotape at Hogwarts. No matter how persistently she insisted to people that there was nothing between herself and Cedric she still had people coming up to her as she made her way down to the stands for the first task and wishing her luck for him. It was infuriating. The third was that boxes of Bertie Bott's Every-flavour Beans should never be left unattended when Peeves was on the loose, but the less said about that particular incident the better.

In the run up to the first task the entire school seemed to become infected with a nervous excitement. Everyone had theories as to what the champions would have to face and even the teachers seemed to join in the spirit of things. When they had gone to visit Hagrid the evening before the task he had been practically bouncing around his cabin with excitement. He refused to tell any of them what it entailed - an impressive feat considering his track record - but from the way he was behaving Alice assumed that it involved some manner of dangerous creature. With Hagrid it almost always did.

The day of the task dawned crisp and sunny. The snowy clouds which had been looming for the last week seemed to realise that Hogwarts' occupants had other things to concern them that day and had vanished. After lunch Professor McGonagall instructed everyone to make their way down to the Forbidden Forest and to walk around the perimeter until they got to the arena which had been set up specially. She distributed warning glances to her more troublesome charges liberally as she emphasised that on no account were they actually to enter the forest.

Once they had carried out her instructions Alice and her friends found themselves confronted by a large wooden stadium, rather like the one they used for Quidditch except this one looked a lot less permanent. Attached to it was a smaller enclosure from which the odd ominous growl was emitting, although the thick wooden planks were too high for her to see what was inside. Prefects were directing all the students towards the entrance to the stands, next to which a tent had been set up. As Alice walked past one of the tent flaps shifted enough that she caught a glimpse inside. She could just make out Dumbledore, Karkaroff and Madame Maxime deep in discussion with the three champions. They all looked rather green.

As Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville and Alice shuffled along an empty row in the stands she found her view partly obscured by an enormous silver cup bobbing about in front of her. Alice blinked. It wasn't really a cup at all, but a hat enchanted to look like one and to emit bursts of streamers at odd moments. The area around her feet was already beginning to resemble a drift of colourful snow. Leaning to the side and peering under the wide brim of the hat she grinned as she made out the face of Luna Lovegood. She should have known really. Who else would sport such an… `interesting' creation?

Alice tapped her on the shoulder. “Hi Luna,” she smiled at the girl. “Are you looking forward to the task?”

“Yes,” the third year was clearly excited even if she did still have that dreamy, far-away look in her eyes. “What do you suppose it will be? I thought maybe they might have to fight a Crumple-Horned Snorkack…” Luna glanced speculatively at the arena in front of them.

Ignoring Hermione's amused snort Alice decided to humour the girl; even if she was a bit odd, it didn't mean she wasn't nice. “I don't know, I suppose it could be -” The rest of her sentence was drowned out as a bellowing roar crashed around the arena, the bench below them vibrated with the force of the sound and several students clapped their hands to their ears in alarm.

“What in Merlin's name was that?” Harry asked, looking quickly around for the source as Ron cursed loudly. Alice elbowed some manners into him.

“I don't know,” Hermione had turned a little pale and she was clutching painfully onto Harry and Alice's arms as they sat on either side of her, “but whatever it was it sounded big.”

“And grumpy,” Ron added. “Whatever that was, it wasn't a happy animal.”

In front of them Luna let out a disappointed sigh. “Oh, I guess that means it's not a Crumple-Horned Snorkack then. They don't roar they see, they sound more like they're hiccupping. That's a shame.”

Ron sounded like he was going to choke for a moment before burying his face in his sleeve and turning his back on them. From the way his shoulders were jumping up and down Alice assumed he had dissolved into helpless fits of laughter at Luna's response and was trying to be discreet about it. He was failing miserably of course, but at least he was trying. Luna gave him a concerned look for a moment and opened her mouth as though to ask something.

“Just ignore him Luna,” Alice assured her, “he's more than a tiny bit insane.”

“Oh.” Luna looked at him askance again for a moment before nodding. “I guess that explains a lot.”

Alice had to smile.

Once Ron had recovered himself enough to sit upright again they all began eagerly checking their watches to see when the task would start. Every so often Harry would stand up and peer over everyone's heads of everyone still shuffling into the stadium to see the entrance to the tent the champions were in. Hermione was midway through subjecting Neville and anyone who would listen to a lengthy list of former tasks when they were suddenly interrupted.

“Here you go Evans, we thought you might appreciate one of these.” A freckled arm reached over her shoulder and waved something round and yellow in front of her face. Recognising Fred's unmistakable voice her hand had closed automatically around the object before she had even registered what it was. Glancing at it she scowled.

Swinging round to look at the offending twin as he stood grinning with his brother on the tier behind them her glower only deepened. “Support CEDRIC DIGGORY?” she read the writing on the badge. She'd seen plenty of other people wearing the badges earlier, but hadn't had a chance to work out what they were yet. “How did you know?” her voice dripped sarcasm. “It's exactly what I've always wanted.”

“We'd heard a rumour.” Fred waggled his eyebrows at her in such a ridiculous way that no matter how much she wanted to remain angry with him she couldn't help but let a snort of laughter escape. Unfortunately there was no way to conceal her reaction as a tell-tale cloud of frozen air plumed in front of her.

“You see?” George grinned wickedly. “We knew you'd love it. It'll make a nice matching set with the one your fan club sent you. And…” he rummaged dramatically in his pockets for a few moments before drawing out another handful of badges, “we've got more for the rest of you. We wouldn't want you to feel left out.”

“Yes, never let it be said that the Gred and Forge Weasley indulge in favouritism.”

“Thanks,” Ron accepted the other badges with an enthusiasm that surprised Alice and passed them around before pinning one firmly to the front of his robes. Luna added to the ridiculous confection on her head by attaching hers to the Triwizard hat.

Catching her friend's eye Hermione winced in sympathetic understanding. “You don't have to wear it if you don't want to Alice.”

She considered it for a brief moment before hooking the pin through her scarf. “No, just because people believe that stupid article in the Prophet doesn't mean I shouldn't support my school champion.”

“Yeah, you should have heard Mum about that in her last letter.” George teased. “She was all ready to write to you about it and give you advice.”

“She practically had the two of you married,” Fred added, screwing up his face. “I'm surprised she didn't realise it was a load of frogspawn, then again Mum tends to believe all the romantic gossip she reads. But really, as though you would be interested in Diggory!”

Alice fought down a blush at how close to the truth his words had come and she felt a light, reassuring squeeze on her arm from where Hermione was standing. Emboldened by her friend's presence and the knowledge that she would be there to dig her out of any holes she got herself into, and if she was frank more than a little intrigued by Fred's reaction, Alice asked: “Why?”

He blinked. “Why what?”

“Why wouldn't I be interested? Not that I am,” she hastened to fib and felt she had made the lie convincing enough, “but half the girls in school are so why not me too? Are you trying to say there's something weird about me?”

Everyone turned to look expectantly at Fred who for once seemed lost for words.

“Come on,” Ron looked as though he'd been told Potions was cancelled for a month, “she asked you a question. Why is she weird?”

Alice thought she heard Harry mutter something which sounded very like “why is she not?” but it was difficult to tell. She made a mental note to get him back later though.

“Well,” Fred finally seemed to have regained his equilibrium, “because you're you and Diggory is… well he's a prat isn't he? He's a woolly-headed… I mean you just wouldn't be interested in a boy like him you would…” He stopped as Alice raised an amused eyebrow.

“You know if you keep digging there, I reckon you might hit Australia soon,” George smirked at his twin.

Fred scowled.

He was saved from having to embarrass himself any further however by a booming cough that suddenly echoed around the stadium and everyone craned their heads to see Ludo Bagman standing on the raised platform reserved for the judges. He had obviously magically magnified his voice in the same way he had at the Quidditch World Cup.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards, foreign guests and familiar faces,” he gestured expansively around him. “It is my very great pleasure to welcome you to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. I am sure that you are all dying to know what fearsome foe our champions will have to face, but let me just ask you to be patient for a little longer.”

“First let me introduce our judges, I am sure you are all familiar with them by now. Mr Bartemius Crouch,” there was a spattering of mild, unenthusiastic clapping which faded quickly away on the brisk breeze that had sprung up. “Madame Maxime,” a slightly more vigorous round of applause was instigated by the Beauxbatons students huddled in more scarves hats and robes than Alice had ever seen on a single group of people. She wondered if they were clapping so enthusiastically just to keep warm. “Professor Karkaroff,” the only people to really clap this time were the Durmstrang students and the Slytherins. Alice kept her hands firmly in her pockets. “Professor Dumbledore,” the stands around him erupted as nearly every Hogwarts student assembled sounded out their approval. Bagman had to repeat his next sentence twice before anyone had quieted down enough to hear him. “And of course myself,” he concluded with a self-deprecating smile as he received his own round of applause, it was less vociferous than Dumbledore's had been, but still it was hearty enough.

“Now to business. The champions have drawn lots which will determine the order in which they are to face their challenge. First to appear will be Miss Fleur Delacour, followed by Mr Cedric Diggory and Mr Victor Krum will bring up the rear. In turn each of them will come out into the arena where they will have to face -” Bagman stopped abruptly allowing the expectant tension and his grin to grow with every second that passed. Finally just when Alice thought the crowd might be about to burst with curiosity he relented. “A dragon!”

The collective intake of breath on the part of the students seemed to suck all of the sound from the stadium for a moment. Bagman simply stood there beaming at their shock whilst every single person crammed into the wooden stands scrambled to collect their jaw from where it had dropped onto the floor. A dragon?! How in Merlin's name were the champions going to defeat one of those? They were the one of the most powerful creatures in the magical world; going up against one was suicide!

“The champions have all made their selections and Miss Delacour will now be facing our Welsh Green! The task each of our champions must accomplish is to retrieve from their dragon a special golden egg which it has been given to guard. Once the champion has obtained this, their task will be over. Let the first task begin!” From somewhere Alice thought she heard a whistle shrilly go off, but she couldn't be sure over the tumult of the students around her. What she definitely could hear was a sudden screeching sound followed by a heavy clunk and the wooden side of the arena that backed onto the dragon's enclosure seemed to fold itself away revealing an enormous dragon the colour of pond weed, wings furled and hunched over a clutch of eggs. She thought she could just make out a wink of gold in there, but she couldn't be sure. Of the other two dragons there was no sign.

Abruptly more cheering broke out in the stands as a fragile looking figure in light blue robes strode out of the champions tent wand raised and looking purposeful. Alice sat forwards eagerly in her seat, curious to see what Fleur would do. The Beauxbatons girl began to scamper nimbly between the boulders covering the arena and had almost reached the dragon before it even seemed to register that she was there. Alice groaned and yelped along with everyone else as it suddenly reared up, issuing a jet of billowing flame into the air before dropping back down onto all fours with a force that rattled her bones. She could only imagine what it must be like for Fleur Delacour standing right in front of it. For a split second Alice thought the girl was going to run, she seemed to waver on her tiptoes for a fraction of a second before solidly planting her feet and raising her wand. Muttering quickly under her breath, Fleur began an incantation and Alice held her breath, waiting to see what would happen. Nothing.

The dragon lashed and snarled, whipping its tail back and forth with lethal intent as it seemed to suck in another lungful of air, ready to roast the young girl to a crisp. Then, almost as though it was unaware it was doing it, the dragons head began to sway slowly in time to Fleur's ever moving wand.

“What's she doing to it?” Harry yelled to no one in particular over the sudden whooping of the crowd as it began to rock drunkenly backwards and forwards, its great, scaly head sinking ever lower towards the ground.

“Enchanting it,” Hermione bellowed predictably back. “Sending it to sleep I think. That's a really complicated piece of magic!”

Alice for one knew she was impressed. It took a lot of power to bewitch a dragon and there weren't even that many spells that would work on them in the first place. She hadn't given much thought to the champions other than Cedric really, and when she had she only really considered Krum. Perhaps it was because he was a Quidditch player that she thought he would be the toughest competition, but as she watched she began to revise her opinion of the slight, beautiful girl in blue. She made it seem easy.

Perhaps Alice had thought too soon, or perhaps Fleur was just unlucky, but just as the dragon seemed to be dropping off to sleep it gave out an enormous rumbling snore and a sudden spurt of flame lashed out from its nostrils. Fleur happened to be standing only a few feet too close and her robes caught fire. Her startled cry was echoed by half of the audience before she had the sense to extinguish the flame. It seemed that that had been the Welsh Green's last attempt at resistance however and by the time everyone's attention had refocused on it the dragon was sound asleep. Still it was with obvious trepidation that Fleur crept towards the stash of eggs and lifted her golden prize gently from the stash.

Alice winced as the audience erupted into ecstatic jubilation and shot a glance towards the dragon, praying that it wouldn't awake. She noticed Fleur hurrying anxiously away from it too as trained wizards began to emerge into the arena to restrain the creature.

“That,” Neville asserted from farther down the row. “Was the coolest thing ever!”

Grinning in surprise at her friend's enthusiasm Alice shouted back over the thunderous applause. “Thinking of taking up dragon taming now are you Neville?”

Before they had more time to revel in the first champion's success the dragon had been packed away with such speed Alice wasn't even quite sure how they managed it. The whistle ran out again and the enclosure wall folded in upon itself revealing the second dragon. A Swedish Short-Snout.

Alice could feel a lump form in her throat as the Hogwarts champion emerged from the confines of the tent. As Cedric strode across the arena with more confidence than she was sure she would feel should their roles have been reversed she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

“Five knuts says he gets toasted,” Fred's playful voice tickled her ear with his laughter.

She couldn't help but grin. “Only five? I'm not going to bother if you're not serious about it.” She glanced back at him for the length of time it took to raise a challenging eyebrow, not wanting to look away from Cedric for long. The Hufflepuff was now advancing cautiously towards the silvery-blue dragon hunched protectively over its eggs. Fed up of everyone, especially Fred, teasing her over the last few days she decided to use the opportunity for some payback. “What about a full sickle?”

Over the encouraging roar of the crowd Alice could hear Fred making a sceptical noise.

“What's wrong Fred?” Hermione asked, she had obviously been listening to their conversation. “It's a safe bet surely? I thought Cedric was a… what was it you called him? A woolly-headed prat?”

A great cry suddenly went up from the crowd dragging their attention back to the arena just in time to see the Short-Snout emitting a tongue of flame that lapped at the spot Cedric had just thrown himself away from. Casting her eyes about she spotted him, hunched behind a rock, frantically checking that his robes weren't smouldering.

“Done,” Fred suddenly shouted, grabbing her hand awkwardly from behind and shaking it firmly. “One sickle it is.”

Alice crossed her fingers tightly inside her pocket where no one could see. She had always wanted Cedric to win the task, and the Tournament itself of course, and now she had double the reason. She wasn't sure why she wanted him to win more though, to prove Fred wrong or because she just really liked him. Cedric, of course.

She needn't have worried however. As they all watched with bated breath the Hufflepuff champion turned his wand, not on the dragon as Fleur had done, but on the boulder he was sheltering behind. A few muffled words later and rather than a lump of rock between himself and the dragon there was a jumping, yelping, Labrador. For a moment both the dog and the dragon seemed to freeze as they caught sight of each other, each as surprised as the other, before suddenly the dog took off to the far side of the vast stadium. As Cedric had clearly been hoping for the dragon gave an eager snarl and took off after its latest prey. Alice quickly lost sight of the smaller animal as the dog scampered between the hulking boulders that peppered the arena and the dragon spread its vast wings and soared as high as the chains binding it to the ground would allow. She wasn't really paying attention though as, like everyone else in the stadium her eyes were fixed on Cedric, now running at full pelt towards the unguarded eggs and his prize. The noise around her was deafening and it wasn't until she felt her throat scrape roughly that she realised she was hollering along with everyone else.

Cedric had almost reached the pile of eggs when suddenly the dragon banked sharply to one side, twisting around quickly within the narrow confines of the stadium and speeding back towards Cedric who made a frantic dive for the eggs. Rolling he was up and running before Alice realised that he had a large golden object tucked under one arm. He had it! Unfortunately the dragon was still hot on his tail, smoke pluming ominously from its nostrils as it streaked after the sixth year. As Cedric leapt behind a particularly large boulder the dragon handlers were suddenly on the scene again, spells flying in every direction and enchanted chains appearing from thin air to wrap around the creature dragging it back into the dragon enclosure and out of sight as the wooden fence unfurled itself again. Its indignant bellows were drowned out by the sound of the Hogwarts students' applause as Cedric clambered onto the rock and lifted the egg high above his head for all to see.

“Do you suppose it's alright?” Hermione shouted, looking worried.

“Who cares?” Ron responded. “That was brilliant!”

Alice gave her friend a reassuring hug, but she couldn't stop grinning herself. Cedric had made it and… suddenly she remembered something. Twisting round in her seat she held out her hand to a disgruntled looking Fred behind her. “One sickle, please.”

Neither twin looked happy, but Fred looked as grumpy as she had ever seen him as he rummaged in his pocket for the coin. His normally cheerful face was stretched into an ugly frown and Alice felt her own smile falter as she took in his reaction. The only thing she had ever seen him get this angry over was his mother. Perhaps his joking comments about Cedric hadn't been jokes after all, but that still didn't explain why he disliked the boy, or his current reaction for that matter. Surely he hadn't wanted Cedric to get hurt?

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing.” Fred attempted to rearrange his face into something resembling a smile and managed a poor job of it.

As he dropped the silver coin into her hand she almost considered handing it back and telling him to forget about it. She probably would have if he hadn't tacked on one last vindictive sentence.

“There's still two more tasks for him to get squished in anyway.”

Alice gave him a long level look, before her hand closed slowly around the coin and she turned back to the arena. What on earth was Fred so riled up about? She knew he disliked Cedric because of his role in the Gryffindor Quidditch team's loss last year, but he seemed to objet to him on a personal level too. If she didn't know better she might have thought it was because Cedric was academically successful and Fred wasn't, but she knew that Fred had the brains to get as many O.W.L.'s as he put his mind to, he simply chose to invest his time elsewhere. And it wasn't as though the Weasley twins weren't popular. Fred usually needed a good reason to dislike someone, unless they were a Slytherin and then he just despised them on principle, so the fact that Cedric was perhaps a tad more serious than Ron's brothers was unlikely to have much to do with it. She just couldn't understand it. Why were boys always so completely unfathomable?

By the time she was paying attention again. Krum was already in the arena and facing off to the Chinese Fireball that had appeared. It seemed larger than the others though that was probably an optical illusion created by the fact it was so violently red in colour. This particular show down turned out to be much less impressive than the others however. Once he was close enough Krum fired some sort of spell straight into the creature's eye, which although succeeded in blinding it, also meant that it trampled around in pain for five minutes. Smashing most of the eggs to bits before Krum could scoop out the golden egg and nearly turning him into a deliciously soupy mess along with it. As they had with Cedric earlier the dragon handlers scrambled to restrain the Chinese Fireball before it damaged more than eggs in its pain-maddened rage.

After that there was a lull before the judges revealed their scores. Cedric, rather predictably seeing as he was the only one not have been burned, scorched or almost trampled, came out on top with forty-one points. At that point Alice thought the crowd were going to scream themselves hoarse and she felt a little sorry for Fleur who had received a perfectly adequate although much less enthusiastic cheer for her well-deserved thirty-six points. Ludo Bagman had to fire off several loud bangs from his wand to bring the noise level back under control again and allow the judges to award Krum thirty-seven points.

“I don't understand why he got more points than Fleur did though,” Hermione opined as they made their way back up to the castle some time later. “I mean alright her robes caught fire, but she put it out and managed not to get burnt herself. Krum managed to scramble half his eggs and was nearly flattened!”

“There's only one point of a difference,” Alice tried to console her, “so perhaps they'll make it up on the next task.”

“Well I think that they all deserved fifty points,” Harry asserted slinging an arm around Hermione's shoulders as they walked. “You wouldn't catch me facing down a dragon that's for sure!”

“I could ask Charlie to let us see them if you like?” Ron offered suddenly. “They brought him across from Romania to deal with them especially. I haven't seen him yet, but I'm sure if I asked he would say yes.”

“Alright,” Harry looked excitably at Alice for her reaction and she nodded. Norbert had been all well and good when they were in first year, but he had only been little and it would be exciting to see a fully grown dragon close up, not to mention educationally valuable too.

Surprisingly Hermione didn't share this view. “Well you can count me out anyway.”

“Why? Don't you want to see a dragon in the flesh - or scales?” Haary looked perplexed by his girlfriend's response. Alice suspected that she was the only one who saw Neville shaking his head violently in answer to the question too. She caught his eye and smiled.

“No. I had quite enough with Norbert in first year thank you very much and I have no desire to go -”

An ear splitting roar drowned out the rest of Hermione's sentence and several people nearby screamed. As one the five friends spun around to see what had caused the commotion. They had heard the dragons both before and during the first task, but there was something different about the noise they made now, truly enraged and much louder than it should have been. Of course the minute they faced the enclosure the why of the matter became evident. All three dragons had risen into the air above the stadium, wings flapping in great gusts of wind that buffeted the nearby trees, snapping ferociously at each others necks and any other exposed parts they could get their teeth near. More worrisome than this however and the thing that made Alice's heart suddenly freeze inside her chest was the fact that, as far as she could tell, none of the three dragons were chained up anymore.

“Have they -?”

“Are those -?”

“Oh Merlin.” Hermione let out a little whimper.

Everyone seemed to be transfixed, riveted by the sight of three fully grown and extremely deadly dragons rising into the air by the Forbidden Forest in a flurry of whirling scales and teeth. Of course the spell was broken the instant the first dragon broke away with a triumphant, bugling cry.

“Run!” Harry yelled, grabbing Hermione's hand and streaking towards the castle. Around them students and visitors alike were doing the same thing, pelting desperately towards the safety of the castle which was still too far away for Alice's liking. Important questions like how in the name of Merlin the dragons had managed to escape could keep for later, right now they just had to get out of the path of three enormous, extremely irritable, fire-breathing lizards.

As everybody ran towards Hogwarts she caught sight of teachers streaking in the opposite direction, wands raised and shouting to the students fleeing past them to get out of the way. Alice wandered what else they thought they were trying to do? They were almost at the castle when screams and shouts broke out again followed by an ominous crackling sound. Glancing back Alice felt as though her stomach stopped in mid air as she stumbled forward another few places. Giant sprays of flame were licking across the lawn as the dragons soared over the mob of people frantically struggling to get away from them. Some had broken away from the main group and were trying to get back to the shelter offered to them by the arena whilst the teachers and dragon handlers were all firing spells towards the creatures as quickly as they knew how. Alice thought she could see Professor McGonagall, her hat lost somewhere amongst the melee, shoulder to shoulder with Professor Kreevain, but her glimpse was too fleeting to be sure.

“Alice, come on!” Harry had run back and was tugging at her arm, the others now sprinting up the castle steps three at a time. Turning back Alice was about to follow him when out of the corner of her eye she saw two students, first years by the look of them, standing stock still about fifty yards back. One seemed to be hauling frantically on the others robes with little effect. Both were right in the path of the oncoming dragons.

“Alice!” Harry repeated as he was buffeted sideways by the terrified students swarming past them. The fear in the air was infectious and Alice could see he was fighting down the panic in his eyes. Seeing where she was looking he followed her gaze and after a moment let out a wordless, frustrated snarl before the two of them took off towards the students without another sound.

Getting closer Alice could see that they were girls, Hufflepuffs, and neither of them could have been taller than Colin Creevey was when he had started at Hogwarts. One, a pale girl with brown pigtails and tears coursing down her cheeks was dragging at her friend's arm, but didn't have the strength to budge even her tiny form.

“Astrid,” Alice could hear her wailing as they got closer, “Astrid, come on! Please! We need to move!” Her friend, Astrid, didn't seem to be able to hear her. Wide, dark eyes were pinned on the dragons, the fear in them seemed to have overwhelmed her, consumed her ability to reason and stripped her of the facility to move anything other than her knees which Alice could see knocking together through her robes.

Running up to them she skidded to a halt with Harry hot on her heels. “Come on, you two need to move. Now!”

“It's Astrid,” the girl with the pigtails sobbed as she turned to look imploringly at them. “I think she's in shock or something. I can't get her to move!”

“Astrid,” Harry waved a hand in front of the little girl's unresponsive face as he cast an anxious glance towards the rampaging dragons, one of them seemed to have been brought down, but two was more than enough to wreak considerable damage. He looked up at his sister. “Help me get her arms around my neck.” Alice quickly obliged as Harry stooped to ensure the girl's weight was being carried across his shoulders.

“Have you got her?” She asked watching her brother take a few stumbling steps. Astrid seemed not to have registered what was going on yet although as Alice watched her skinny arms did seem to tighten slightly around Harry's neck.

“Yes,” her brother nodded after a moment looking slightly firmer on his feet.

“Alright,” Alice grasped the other little girl's hand. “Come on, let's get out of here.”

By now they were at the back of the group of students clamouring to get into the school, but with Harry and Alice hurrying them all on it wasn't long before their party reached the bottle-neck that seemed to have developed around the front doors. “Here,” Harry swung Astrid down from around his shoulders and pushed her ahead of him into the throng, she seemed to have come to her senses and as Alice shoved her friend after her, the two girls clung to each other as they disappeared into the press of people.

Alice felt a hand slip into hers and drag her closer to the doors. She looked up into Harry's face and began pressing forwards after them. At last everyone seemed to be inside and Alice collapsed onto the floor of the Entrance Hall beside a suit of armour, trying to catch her breath along with everyone else. As they regained their breath a group of prefects struggled to close one of the enormous front doors, leaving the other slightly ajar for any stragglers.

“Harry!” Hermione suddenly burst through the crowd, closely followed by Ron, Neville, Ginny who had materialised from somewhere, and Luna who looked as though she had wandered across by accident. Hermione dropped down beside her boyfriend. “Are you two alright?” She directed her question towards Alice, “where did you disappear to?”

“Alice - Alice decided we needed to go and rescue some first years,” Harry's breathing gradually began to regain a normal rhythm. As he began relating what had happened Alice slowly got to her feet and moved towards one of the huge windows lining the outer wall and slipped into a gap in the crowd that had gathered around it. Standing on tiptoe she could see a group of teachers and handlers attempting to force the Chinese Fireball to the ground, chains dangled from its ankles and the adults seemed to be winning the fight, but it was slow going. The last of the dragons was still circling over the lawn occasionally snorting a provocative jet of flame towards its pursuers far below.

“Hey, Evans!”

Alice turned in time to see the Weasley twins striding towards her, relief written evidently across their faces and all traces of Fred's earlier foul mood vanished.

“Are you alright?” He asked as they both attempted to ruffle her already dishevelled hair and she ducked just in time.

“Where is everyone else?” George asked, peering around the Entrance Hall. “We lost sight of you in all the excitement.”

“They're over there with Ginny and Luna,” she gestured towards the far wall where she had left her friends only moments before. “Everyone is fine. Was anybody else hurt?”

“Not that I could see,” Fred answered now looking back out of the window towards the dragon. The Welsh Green had now decided to take a break from taunting the adults and was resting precariously atop the Forbidden Forest. From the little Alice could make out at this distance it looked as though it had nearly flattened quite a few trees in its attempts to roost there. “Just a few scraped knees trying to climb the stairs and a few bruised egos.”

Alice glanced curiously at this last statement. Fred chuckled.

“Evans seems curious George. Should we indulge this curiosity?”

“Hmmm… I don't know Fred, after all curiosity did kill the cat.”

“It's just as well I'm not a cat then isn't it?”

“True,” Fred grinned, “but taunting you is so much more fun!”

“You know you're going to tell me eventually,” Alice pointed out, “so why don't we just skip to the part where you do and then this conversation will get along that much more quickly?”

“Spoilsport,” Fred muttered.

George on the other hand seemed much more inclined to tell her whatever it was. “Well apparently - and you must bear in mind that neither my brother nor myself saw this with our own eyes and so could not be called upon to testify as to the veracity of this -”

“- though our source was very good,” interjected Fred.

“Indeed. So we have good reason to believe that a certain blonde Slytherin individual in your year, whose name bears a certain resemblance to Shmalfoy, was spotted fleeing towards the castle at very high speed followed by two rather large friends of his. And if he did trip up on his robes and go flying into a group of second years then it would be purely speculation on our part to repeat it.”

Alice laughed, wishing she had been there to see Malfoy's embarrassment. How typical of him to be so cowardly despite all his bluster and tendency to throw his weight around. She couldn't wait to tell Harry and the others.

“Anyway, we heard that you and Harry were being quite the heroes? Rescuing Huffelpuffs in distress or something?”

Alice sighed and began to retell the story.

As it turned out it took quite a while for the last of the dragon's to be caught again. She wasn't sure how the teachers managed to do it, but whatever it was it brought the creature to ground with such a massive thud that the ground shook beneath them as they sat in the Great Hall. Once everyone had managed to get inside the panic that had swept through the students had diminished markedly and everyone had slowly filtered through to the Great Hall, sprawling across benches and tables and waiting patiently for the latest Hogwarts drama to be over. There had been a brief flurry of applause as the champions had come in to sit with their respective groups, but no one was really in the party mood so the celebrations would undoubtedly keep until later. The question on everyone's lips was how the dragons had managed to escape in the first place. No one in their right mind would free three enormous dragons deliberately, but it was also equally unlikely that the creatures had managed to rip free of their chains by themselves. Most optimistic individuals had opted for believing that it had all been an accident and someone had left the chains improperly secured. Alice and her friends were less than convinced, although she couldn't help wondering how much this had to do with their penchant for seeing conspiracy theories at every turn. Harry had decided the Slytherins were to blame, but as they had even less evidence than they usually did when accusing them of something Hermione had promptly sat on this idea until such time as they knew more about what had happened. In the end they had opted for a more light-hearted conversation.

“Can't I go across and rub his face in it just a little?” Ron whined staring across at Malfoy as he lounged imperiously over at the Slytherin table.

“No,” Hermione and Alice responded for the third time.

“Not even just a teensy bit?” He asked hopefully.

Harry chuckled. “Look, I'm with you mate. I'd love to go and rub his nose in it, but I've had enough excitement for one day, even if it is Malfoy.”

“Wow, Harry,” Ginny chuckled, “I think you might be growing up!”

Further speculation on whether or not they should go and irritate Malfoy for their own amusement was cut short by the sound of footsteps in the Entrance Hall. Almost instantly every single conversation in the Great Hall cut off as one, it was rather eerie really, and every pair of eyes trained on the door. Slowly Professor Dumbledore, followed by the heads of houses, walked into the room. With the exception of the Headmaster each and every one of them looked dishevelled. Professor Sprout's hat still seemed to be smoking gently, McGonagall's hair was trailing loose from her usually severe bun making her look like an entirely different person, Professor Flitwick's eyebrows appeared to be singed and Snape looked generally rumpled and irritable. Alice tried to see if his robes were at all charred or burnt, but the deep black colour made it too difficult to tell. A tiny, vindictive part of her which she tried to squash promptly hoped that they were. For a moment the teachers surveyed the students staring back at them and behind them Alice could see some of the other members of staff filing up the stairs along with some of the students she assumed had taken shelter in the arena. All of them were being fussed over by Madam Pomfrey as they went.

“You will all be pleased to know,” Dumbledore began, “that the dragons are now back in their proper places and the handlers will be making sure they leave the school grounds as soon as is possible. I am relieved to be able to tell you that no one was too seriously hurt in helping to round them up. Now,” he paused and his twinkling eyes swept the room, “I would like to thank the prefects for making sure all of the students got back inside the school safely. Under the circumstances I think it would be best if you all returned now to your dormitories for the evening; the feast to celebrate the first task will be postponed until tomorrow night. We will arrange for dinner to be served to you all in your common rooms. If anyone does need Madam Pomfrey's attention I would suggest you make your way to the Hospital Wing.” With a last smile at his students, and appearing entirely unfazed by the whole situation, Dumbledore turned and led his teachers back out of the Hall again.

“Right,” Harry got to his feet and stretched, “I suppose we had better get a move on them.”

“Definitely,” bouncing eagerly to his feet Ron took off quickly towards the door, “they said there would be food!”

The others glanced at each other for a moment and chuckled. It was nice to know nothing deterred Ron from the call of his stomach for long.

A/N: Massive apologies for having not posted anything in an age! I've been preoccupied with so many other things and had a couple of other writing projects to do which had actual deadlines, so this one just got shuffled to the bottom of the pile. I'll try and post a few more chapters soon. Hope everyone enjoys; please R&R!

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8. The Art of Invitation

The Art of Invitation

“I think they're in shock,” Ginny hissed in Alice's ear as they sat next to the fireplace. Her stage whisper carried to Hermione who was sitting a few feet away and the other girl grinned. It was over two weeks since the first task and Professor McGonagall had only just announced that there would be a Yule Ball on Christmas day as part of the Triwizard Tournament. Not only that, but they would have to invite partners. And there would be dancing. At this final revelation Ron and Neville had all gone very pale and seemed to enter the semi-catatonic state which they now currently occupied, Harry hadn't taken it very well either. For the past twenty minutes the girls had been watching them from the corner of their eyes as they got on with their homework. The boys on the other hand were staring into the fire looking as though they had just been condemned to a life sentence in Azkaban, only speaking very occasionally.

“I mean,” Neville croaked eventually, “you don't think we'll have to dance dance do you?” Apparently this cryptic sentence must have made sense to Harry and Ron because they both looked across at him and shrugged.

“I have no idea mate,” Ron answered. He sounded as though someone had just told him he'd be forced to dance with Snape for half an hour. “I have no idea. I mean,” he looked accusingly at Harry, “it's all right for you. You don't have nearly so much to worry about. You can go with Hermione and you won't have to make any effort at all.”

Hermione glanced up from her Transfiguration textbook, eyes flashing dangerously. “I'm going to try very hard to take that as a compliment Ronald.”

Ginny scribbled something on her parchment, considered it, scribbled it out and then tucked her quill behind her ear before continuing. “I don't know why you're all getting so antsy about it. It's just a ball. You're meant to enjoy yourselves not get your wand in a knot about it! At least you're allowed to go, but some of us aren't fourth years yet so we can only go if an older student invites us!”

“Don't worry Gin,” Hermione consoled her. “I'm sure someone will ask you.”

“Well I'm not asking you,” Ron looked appalled at the very thought.

The look on his sister's face as he said this was priceless, a mixture of shock, revulsion and contempt danced across Ginny's delicate freckled features for a moment before her mouth turned into a thin hard line. “Don't worry Ronald I really, really, wasn't looking for you to. I think I'd rather not go. In fact I think I'd rather voluntarily eat a plateful of Hagrid's cooking, or serve detention with Filch and Snape for a year. In fact I think I'd rather be chased by a mob of hungry bees whilst coated in honey and run into -”

“Ok, ok, we get the picture,” Ron grumped.

Alice smiled, her friends were ridiculous sometimes. But if she was honest she was a little nervous about the ball too. It wasn't that she minded going to the event itself, it would probably be fun and she didn't mind dancing either. If she was very honest she would almost definitely love to dance. She wouldn't even be that bothered if she went by herself, she certainly didn't expect anyone to ask her. It was just that there would be the expectation that she should have a partner. It was all anyone had talked about since Transfiguration that morning. Hermione and Harry would be going together, Ginny certainly wouldn't be short of boys asking her to go even if she was only in third year.

“This must be why they asked us to bring dress-robes this year!” Hermione suddenly looked stricken. “I hope mine are alright…”

Harry smiled encouragingly at her from his spot on the sofa. “I'm sure you'll look lovely in whatever you wear.” He had to raise his voice over the end of his sentence to be heard over the nauseated noises Ron, Alice and Ginny were all now making, Neville was too nice to join in, but he did laugh along with the others. Thankfully the couple saw the funny side and joined in after a moment.

When she went up to her bed that night Alice fished a small leather-bound book from her trunk and flipped through it. Harry had made it for her during the holidays and it contained copies of all of the photographs he had of their parents along with some more that Sirius had contributed. Thumbing through she came across several that must have been taken when Lily was the same age that she was now, perhaps a year older. They were quite similar, she couldn't believe it had taken her so long to realise. There was just something about her mother though, she had some luminous quality that shone through the old photographs and made them light up.

Alice smiled sadly as she looked at one of Lily and some of her friends all dressed up for a fancy occasion, maybe another ball held at Hogwarts. Her mother was wearing pale green dress-robes, tied neatly at the waist and with a thin trim of lace around the sleeves and a smile that would melt the hardest of hearts. She was the most beautiful person Alice had ever seen. For about half an hour she just sat staring at her, occasionally she would flick to another page, but she always returned to that one. Eventually she tucked the book away with a sigh. It wasn't that she herself wanted to look that beautiful, she doubted she would ever even be able to come close, but right now, when there was a ball at school, when dresses were being discussed, she was beginning to notice the boys in her life, not to mention all the other problems she had that most teenage girls would never have to face. Those were the times she missed a mother, missed Lily, the most. Still, Alice rolled over, closed her eyes and tried to force herself to sleep, there was no point in wallowing.

“You know,” she remarked to her friends as they sat at breakfast a few days later. “I reckon if Hogwarts gets anything more to gossip about this year the place won't be able to hold it, there will be an explosion or something. I mean first there was the World Cup, then the attack on Gringotts, The Triwizard Tournament,” she was counting them off on her fingers, “the dragons escaping and now this Yule Ball.” They were sitting listening to around a dozen conversations going on around them, each about one of the many things she had just listed.

“Don't forget the rumours about you and Cedric,” Ron chirped up brightly from across the table.

Alice scowled. How could she? Rita Skeeter still delighted in throwing the odd comment into any and every article she possibly could about Hogwarts new `golden' couple. Alice hated it as it only fuelled the rumours, but the upside was that every time one appeared in the Prophet, Cedric would come rushing over to apologise about it. It was childish to allow it to continue, but still, if she was going to have embarrassing and untrue stories published about her she might as well get something out of it.

“Speaking of the dragons,” Ginny sat down next to them and began ladling porridge onto her plate, “Luna told me that she heard McGonagall tell Professor Sprout that they don't think it was an accident they escaped.” She paused with the ladle hovering above her plate, a gloopy drip dangling precariously, as she found herself suddenly with everyone's undivided attention.

“Are you sure?” Hermione asked. “I mean it is Luna we're talking about here, she's not exactly…”

“Sane?” Ron supplied helpfully.

“Don't say that!” Alice admonished him. “Luna's really nice, she's just a little eccentric that's all. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a little different!”

“If by different you mean loopy - alright, alright!” Ron held his hands up in surrender as she glared and stuffed some marmalade laden toast into his mouth to show he would say no more on the subject.

“It's true,” Neville piped up, his cheeks colouring as everyone looked at him. “I… I heard them speaking about the dragons too. McGonagall came into the Greenhouse to talk to Sprout… and I was working there -”

“With Luna?” Harry asked curiously, a slight smile playing about his cheeks.

“No,” Neville added hurriedly, his face going even redder, “not with Luna, just in the same place as Luna.” He ducked his head, avoiding everyone's eyes as he continued. “I would have said something earlier, but I forgot about it. McGonagall just came in and they were talking about the Tournament, Sprout asked if there were any updates and then McGonagall said that the business with the dragons looked like it had been deliberate. That was all.”

Harry looked round quickly at his sister, girlfriend and best-friend, opening his mouth to speak.

“Now Harry,” Hermione bet him to it, “I know that look. We are not going to go off on some wild goose-chase just because McGonagall mentioned something suspicious might be going on. We've all got enough going on this year without adding mysteries too.”

“Good luck with that,” Ron muttered. “Besides, we already have a mystery. We still haven't discovered who stole Alice's book and robes.”

It was true they hadn't, although Alice wasn't really sure how they would even begin trying to find out. They had no suspects since she hadn't seen who it was and no one had been seen with a copy of the book. Harry and Ron of course had wanted to blame Malfoy straight away, but this had quickly been shot down when the girls pointed out that there was no way a boy could have been the thief. So they were stuck.

“You could always post a notice asking for someone to return your things,” Ginny suggested. “I mean I know it probably won't encourage whoever took them to return your things, but at least it will let more people know what happened and someone else might know something.”

“It's alright,” Alice sighed. It was a bit late now to be causing a stir about the business. “I don't mind so much about the robes, I mean I have spare ones and they can be replaced. It was just that Hermione gave me the book… Never mind. Just forget about it.” They were scanning her face, trying to see how truthful she was being so Alice scrambled for a change of subject. “Has everyone managed to do their Potions homework for this week?” It was a pathetic attempt, but it would have to do.

Later that afternoon they were all studiously getting on with said homework in the Library when they became aware that Victor Krum was sitting only a few tables away. He was rather hard to miss actually, or rather the group of giggling girls spying rather obviously on him from behind a bookcase were rather hard to miss. Alice really wished they would go away, because it made concentrating on her Potions essay really difficult. It was hard to sort through the properties of hemlock when all you could hear was teenage twittering.

Harry on the other hand had a completely separate bugbear. “He's been staring at you for ages,” he complained quietly to his girlfriend.

“So?” Hermione asked, not even bothering to look up from her book.

Harry blinked in surprise and took a moment to marshal his argument. Alice had a horrible feeling this wasn't going to go well and she really didn't want to stick around to watch them argue. She couldn't interfere because it wasn't her place, but she also couldn't get up and leave either without a good excuse, which of course no one took the liberty of supplying. Ron for once appeared to be completely absorbed in a book on poisonous fungi, it was upsides down, but she had to give him credit for trying she supposed, and Neville had disappeared looking for a Herbology book somewhere. Alice tried to focus on her own work and drown out the argument blossoming in front of her. Unsuccessfully.

“Well, he… he just shouldn't.” It sounded so obvious to Harry, but from the set of Hermione's jaw Alice could tell he was treading a very thin line.

Finally Hermione looked away from her book, moving at the deliberately slow pace Crookshanks used when he was away to pounce. Alice wished she could reach Harry's leg under the table to give him a warning kick, but there were too many other legs in the way and he was too far away. “And why not?” Hermione asked. “Am I that repulsive that I need to wear a paper bag over my head or something?”

For a moment Harry seemed relieved, as though he had suddenly worked out what was bothering his girlfriend, and in rushing to clarify himself he fell into the trap. Even though it was, in Alice's opinion, a very well signposted and obvious trap. “No, no. I didn't mean that at all! I just meant - well you're my girlfriend, so he shouldn't…” Harry finally seemed to realise that he might have said the wrong thing as Hermione slowly placed her quill at the top of her notes, taking time to make sure it was perfectly in line with the top of the page.

“Right, so, let me get this straight Harry. Since we've started dating no one is ever allowed to look at me ever again. Have I got that right? But it's fine for girls to look at you all the time whilst you parade around the corridors, mostly because you're the famous Harry Potter might I add, even if you are too knuckleheaded to notice!”

“I do not - they do not - I am not knuckleheaded!” He spluttered eventually.

Hermione just sniffed and rolled her eyes.

“Well I'm not some sort of possession either Harry, and it's hardly as though I have other boys staring at me all the time, and,” her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper and Alice thought she could see tears welling in her best friend's eyes, “its not as though it would ever matter anyway, because I'd never do anything about it.”

Abruptly Hermione slammed the book shut earning herself a disapproving scowl from Madame Pince, grabbed her notes, her bag and her quill, bundled them all into her arms and then stormed from the Library leaving an awkward silence at the table behind her. Eventually Ron looked up from his book.

“Well mate, I know I'm probably the last person who should be giving advice about arguing with Hermione, but you didn't half make a spectacular mess of that.”

Harry looked slowly from one redhead's face to the other's with such a perplexed expression that Alice just wanted to hug him, even if he was a complete idiot at times. “I don't… I didn't mean…” He ran a hand through his messy black hair causing it to stick up even more violently than usual.

“Oh, Harry.” Alice made a mental note to explain the female psyche to him at some point. “Just give her some time; Hermione will be speaking to you again before you know it.” She tried to say this with a little more confidence than she felt.

There was silence for a moment as the three of them looked at each other, then suddenly Neville's head popped around the corner of a nearby bookcase. “Is it safe to come back now?”

Alice fought very hard to keep a straight face.

Less than a week was left before the end of term, but it was an incredibly awkward week for the Gryffindors. Hermione refused to speak to a very contrite Harry again and naturally Ron decided that in a show of solidarity he wasn't going to talk to Hermione any more. Alice tried to remain friendly with everyone and divide her time between them, but occasionally Hermione would become stiff and awkward with her. There was a distance between them which was unusual and unwelcome.

“Can you not just go and tell her you're an idiot?” she asked her brother at dinner. She, Ron and Neville were all sneaking covert glances down the table at Hermione as she sat eating with Ginny and a few of her friends. Harry was concentrating on his potatoes.

“I've tried that,” he sighed, “she won't listen.”

“Probably because she already knows you're an idiot, mate.”

Harry gave him a frank look. “Thanks, Ron. That was really helpful.”

“I aim to please.”

After another long pause Neville tried to change the subject. “So do you still think that it was Death Eaters that let the dragons escape?”

Harry's latest theory on the subject was that Death Eaters had infiltrated the first task and released the dragons to trigger a disaster which would allow them to take over Hogwarts. The others were less than convinced, but were humouring him on the subject more than they would ordinarily.

“Well it is possible,” he was arguing, “I mean, there were loads of people running around that day. Dragon handlers and journalists and ministry officials, it would have been easy for someone to slip in unnoticed. Or maybe it was a Death Eater working undercover, waiting for the opportunity to let them escape and sabotage the tournament.”

Alice made a sceptical noise. “Now you've just been watching too many James Bond movies.”

“Who's James Bond?” Neville looked perplexed.

“Never mind,” Alice grinned. She sometimes forgot that not everyone had been raised a muggle.

“Maybe it wasn't anyone trying to sabotage things,” Ron sounded quite reasonable for once, “it could just have been a student trying to have a laugh and it went wrong.”

Harry looked incredulously at him. “Who would be stupid enough to release dragons for a joke?!”

“Fred and George.”

Alice shook her head. “I don't think even they would do anything that reckless. They might be foolhardy sometimes, but they're not stupid.”

“I still think it's connected to the attack at Gringotts though,” Harry was still arguing about it as they climbed the stairs in the Entrance Hall. “I mean, what's the likelihood that the World Cup and Gringotts are attacked by Death Eaters in a matter of months and then when Hogwarts ends up with a couple of dragons deliberately let loose it's completely unconnected?”

“In the wizarding world?” Ron asked. “Quite high actually.”

Alice on the other hand thought her brother made a valid point, there did seem to be a lot more weird things happening this term than usual, and for Hogwarts that was saying something. That didn't meant she thought a Death Eater had released the dragons, but she wasn't going to rule out the possibility that the incidents were somehow connected. However, with no evidence left at school and nowhere to start looking, there was no way they could ever prove it.

“Hey Alice, hold on!”

She stopped and turned curiously on the stairs as someone called her name from the crowd milling about below them. By the time she had spotted him Cedric was already leaping up the stairs two at a time, his long legs carrying him up to them in a matter of seconds. Her stomach performed a painful flip flop for a few moments.

“Hi,” the word didn't come out properly so she cleared her throat and tried again. “Hi, Cedric. Is everything alright? Oh,” her heart suddenly sunk, “Rita Skeeter hasn't written something else has she?”

Cedric chuckled, a sound that made the hairs on the back of Alice's neck do something warm and tingly. “No she hasn't, at least, not so far as I know. No I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh,” Alice's heart seemed to be thrown to the top of the marble stairs and bounced down each and every single one before leaping back into her chest. Cedric had said exactly the same thing to her last night, right before he asked her to go to the Yule Ball with him. Except that had been a dream. She glanced back at Harry and her friends, but they were already at the top of the stairs and didn't seem to have noticed that she wasn't with them yet. “Sure,” she gave him a timid smile, “what is it? Ask away.”

“Thanks,” Cedric grinned. “Erm… okay this is a bit embarrassing, but…”

For one crazy hopeful second Alice was back in her dream. Cedric was just away to ask her to the Yule Ball and Christmas was going to be perfect. Then he spoke in a rush. “Well you see the thing is, and you can't tell anyone this, but well - do you know Cho Chang? She's the seeker for Ravenclaw. Anyway, well… I erm… I wanted to ask her to the Yule Ball, but I think, well I was worried she might believe what Rita Skeeter wrote and think that I like you, or that we were… well you know, which is stupid really. And I was wondering if you could tell her that it's not true, because she'll believe you more than me I think, and then she might… go to the ball with me.”

For a long moment Alice didn't blink. Her eyes were fixed on Cedric's face, but she couldn't really see him. She was concentrating so hard on not crying that she didn't want to move or speak, or even breathe in case that set her off. It had been stupid to think really, idiotic to hope that he might have even noticed her. The idea of Cedric even asking her to the ball would never have entered her head if she hadn't dreamt about it the previous night. She felt all her confidence and her excitable mood of only a few moments before wither and shrivel inside of her, crumbling into a fine powder that settled round her feet.

“Yeah,” she forced the word out eventually so as not to compound her humiliation by having Cedric look at her strangely as he was beginning to. “Of course. Sure. Yes. I can do that.”

“Good. Thank you,” he smiled again which now only made it worse. “It means a lot.”

“I can do that,” she repeatedly numbly. “I just need to… I have homework I need to go and do, so I have to go now Cedric, I'll erm... bye!” She dashed off before he had a chance to respond, it was only once she was thirty paces away that she realised it was the last day before the holidays, they didn't have any homework. Merlin, but she was such an idiot sometimes!

Alice continued tripping up the stairs trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and her embarrassment; she didn't seem to be succeeding.

“Are you alright Alice?”

That dreamy voice could only belong to one person. Looking around she tried to spot Luna, but couldn't see her.

“I'm up here.” Tilting her head back Alice saw a thin, pale face and a lot of blonde, wispy hair sticking out from behind a portrait. She felt her eyebrows rise in surprise.

“How did you manage to get up there?”

Luna pointed towards a nearby window sill. “Climb up. If you go over there you'll see the way, there are a few handholds, and then you shuffle round this ledge here.”

Dutifully Alice did as she was told and after a little effort and several apologies to the occupants of pictures she found herself slipping into the space beside Luna. It was just as well she wasn't afraid of heights really, because rather than an alcove as she had been expecting there was just a hole in the wall except on the far side there wasn't a picture frame to cover the gap only a long drop down to the floor of the Entrance Hall.

“I like to come up here sometimes,” Luna gestured vaguely round about herself. “It's peaceful and I like watching everyone down below. No one ever thinks to look up.” There was another long pause as the two girls sat swinging their feet far above the students shuffling slowly around. She guessed they must be at least sixty feet up here and felt glad that she was used to being on a broom. Through the open door, Alice caught glimpses of those still at dinner in the Great Hall.

“Have you been crying?” Luna gestured to the tears Alice could feel on her cheeks, she guessed they were probably still red too.

“No,” she lied automatically then thought better of it. If there was anyone in the world who wouldn't judge her, it would be Luna. “Yes. Only a little bit though. It was stupid really. It doesn't matter now.”

“That's good. If you're really sure.” She looked seriously into Alice's face for a moment, her normally distant eyes, serious and lucid. When Alice didn't say anything she looked back down to the far away floor. “I come up here sometimes when I've been crying. If people have stolen my things, or they've been laughing at me, or if I miss my mother. It helps, to see other people, there's usually someone or something that cheers me up and when there isn't it's nice just to have quiet to think about things.”

Abruptly Alice felt selfish and petty for crying and being upset. After all, there were people much worse off than she was and she had everything she could ever really want… more or less. She took a deep breath and bottled down the hurt, she would examine it later or hope it would go away on its own, either way she needed to stop wallowing.

“Do people steal your things a lot Luna?” She suddenly felt a renewed stab of pity for the poor girl. She was a bit odd, but quite lovely in her own unique way and she didn't deserve that.

“Only when they think they're being funny,” there was something sad about her smile, “mostly. It tends to be at the end of term when I'm about to pack. Sometimes I think it might be Borrowers though, so I'm not always sure if they've been taken by students or borrowed.”

“What's a Borrower?” Alice asked politely.

“They're little people; they take your things and make them into things that will be useful for them. It's quite ingenious really.”

Sometimes Alice was convinced Luna made up creatures on the spot, Hermione would argue it was all the time, but at others she came out with things that genuinely sounded plausible so it was difficult to sort one from the other. Either way she decided to plough on. “But people taking your things, that's horrible.”

Luna shrugged. “It's not so bad; I usually get them back before I go home for the holidays.”

“But don't your friends…” Alice stopped unsure of what to say, she couldn't very well take her words back, but she knew if she kept talking she was just going to get tangled up in her sentences.

“I don't really have any friends.” Luna said it with such a matter of fact attitude that Alice felt like crying all over again. At this rate she would have used up her yearly quota of tears in one day.

“Of course you do,” she told Luna hoarsely. “We're your friends. I'm your friend.”

“Really?” Luna's face lit up in a way she had never seen before, it was as though the sun had come out behind her eyes. Even her hair seemed more golden. “Do you mean it?”

“Of course,” she responded emphatically.

For the next hour or so the two girls sat there, high above the rest of the school. One with hair the colour of fire and hazelnuts and the other with flaxen gold. Alice told her all about Harry and Hermione's fight, the way things were strained in the group now and about her fears about the Yule Ball, though she missed out the recent fiasco with Cedric. In return Luna told her about Wrackspurts and Nargles, her adventures during the holidays with her father and fishing for Plimpies in the stream by her house. Alice quickly built up a picture of a very lonely little girl, whose eccentric father doted on her, but couldn't make up for the mother she missed so desperately. Although she didn't mention her mother much, the few things she did let slip allowed Alice to guess that she died in some accident when Luna was younger. Missing a mother was one thing she could sympathise with, but she sensed that it was a sensitive topic, so she didn't dig too deeply into the issue.

Eventually the two girls had to clamber down from their hiding place and part ways, each heading for their own common room, but before she left Luna gave her a tiny, fleeting hug. It was rather like having a tiny bird wrap their fragile wings around you for a second before she skipped away again humming to herself. Alice was touched.

By the time she returned to the common room Hermione was nowhere to be seen, she had probably gone to bed, but Ron, Neville, Harry and the twins were all lounging around the fire munching on a plate of biscuits they had procured from somewhere.

“Where in Merlin's name have you been?” Harry asked as he saw her duck through the portrait hole.

“We thought you'd been eaten by a dragon,” Ron added.

“Well, more hoped really,” George piped up throwing a biscuit in her direction when she stuck her tongue out at him.

“I was talking to Luna if you must know. If you don't mind,” she tried to forestall any questions or teasing remarks, “I'm really tired and it's been a long day. I think I might head to bed.” She dodged quickly away from her friends and headed for the spiral staircase. Once she was in her dormitory she briefly toyed with the idea of waking Hermione up to confide in her, but boys were a touchy subject with her at the moment, as was the Yule Ball so she decided against it and slipped under her blankets quietly.

It was difficult to avoid the subject of the ball altogether though. With less than a week to go until Christmas the castle was buzzing with it. Most students were staying on over the holidays which made the place seem oddly crowded, especially once the holly boughs and Christmas trees had all been dragged inside. Add to that the continually obvious presence of their foreign guests and it almost didn't feel like Christmas at Hogwarts at all. She still had to divide her time between Harry and Hermione, but in a way she didn't mind so much. All the boys ever did was worry about who they were going to ask to the Ball - except Harry of course, who knew exactly who he wanted to go with, she just wasn't speaking to him. Hermione on the other hand never really wanted to discuss the issue, which was fine as far as Alice was concerned. Of course there were times when the two of them would sit with Ginny and her friends, often at lunch or in the common room at night and it was then that Alice would have given her right arm to have the boys discussing the Ball. At least they didn't worry about what their dress robes looked like, fret about whether the shoes they had ordered would arrive by owl on time, or discuss numerous ways they could do their hair and make-up. Sometimes it made Alice want to scream.

“Alice?” Ron turned to her suddenly three days before Christmas as she sat with the boys toasting marshmallows over the fire in the common room. “You're a girl.”

She observed him coolly over her half-eaten marshmallow for a moment. “Is that a question or a statement of fact?” She caught her brother's eye for a split second and Harry grinned in amusement.

“You know what I mean, but… well, you know other girls.”

Alice waited, seeing where he was going with his babbling. It was almost funny watching him struggle and get progressively redder as he spoke.

“Well… I - you know… I was… you could see if anyone wants to go to the ball with us. I mean if we don't find someone soon all the good ones will be gone, I mean as it is all the best… well they've probably got someone to go with.”

Alice tried very hard not to take offence.

“And why can't you ask them yourself?”

“Well, I - we -”he gestured to Neville who looked up from the fire, surprised to be included in the conversation, “could obviously. We will, it's just you could lay the ground work first.”

“Riiight,” Alice nodded, for a second appearing to give the suggestion some serious consideration before giving Ron a direct look. “No.”

“Please?!” He wheedled.

“You don't need to ask someone for me Alice,” Neville cut in quickly. “It's fine.”

Ron looked extremely put out and glared at Neville for abandoning him like that; Neville just shrugged apologetically and resumed tending his marshmallows. “This is ridiculous,” he muttered. “I mean, even Fred and George are gong to have someone at this rate!”

“Who are they going with?” Alice asked, the first spark of curiosity flaring up. Neither of the twins had mentioned it to her.

It was Harry who answered. “Angelina Johnson.”

“What, both of them?”

Her brother chuckled. “No, I think Fred was going to ask her, but George cut in first. At least that's what George said to us anyway.”

“And Fred?”

“None of your beeswax Evans,” a voice called from another table. Alice grinned.

“Did your mother never tell you to eavesdrop?”

“She might have,” Fred replied, “but I was too busy listening to a conversation in the next room to pay attention.”

Alice rolled her eyes and ignored him. Laughing would only encourage such a terrible run of jokes.

“What about Luna?” She returned to her conversation with Ron.

“Loony Lovegood?” Ron seemed bewildered for a moment. “What about her? You're not saying that I should ask her to the Ball are you?”

“She's nice,” Alice defended her, “you just need to get used to her… eccentricities. Besides she'd probably go with you if you asked.”

“Are you trying to say that I couldn't get anyone else to go with me?” Ron asked, a blob of melted marshmallow sticking to the corner of his mouth. Alice didn't say anything, but gave a noncommittal shrug. “Fine,” Ron huffed eventually. “I'll think about it. Who are you going with anyway?”

Alice felt her gut contract and for a moment she considered lying, she had no idea what she would say or why she had the sudden compulsion, but she did. Thankfully the feeling was brief which was probably just as well considering she was awful at it. In the end she opted for the embarrassing truth. “No one. Yet. And I'm not going with Harry,” she added as Ron opened his mouth before quickly closing it again. It was embarrassing enough having to dress up and not be asked by anyone; turning up with her brother would just be compounding the situation. Even Hermione had received an invite, ironically enough from Victor Krum. She had turned it down obviously which led Alice to suspect she was still hoping to go with Harry, but that wasn't the point she had still been asked. It wasn't that Alice thought Hermione wasn't pretty enough or nice enough for boys to be interested, quite the opposite, it was just that everyone knew she was going out with Harry, or had been until a week ago.

Her brother looked as though he was about to say something consoling. “It's fine Harry, I don't mind really. Now can we please talk about something other than the Yule Ball for five minutes?”

They changed the subject and she tried hard not to dwell on the fact that she seemed to be spending more time in the run up to the Ball sorting out everyone else's partners than enjoying it herself. The previous day she had finally managed to track down Cho Chang and after a lot of deliberation, mumbling and embarrassment she had succeeding in relaying Cedric's message. Afterwards she hadn't stuck around long enough to see what the Ravenclaw girl made of it but had dashed into the nearest room she could find in an attempt to get out of sight. It had turned out to be a closet.

It seemed she couldn't get away from the topic of the Ball entirely however as when she went up to bed that night Hermione was waiting for her. “Do you know if Harry is going to the Ball with anyone?”

“Can't you ask him yourself?” Alice was tired and she was beginning to get one of her headaches.

“Aliiiice,” she wheedled. “Lavender,” she lowered her voice and glanced to the other side of the room where the other girls were noisily getting ready for bed. “Lavender said that she'd heard a rumour that he was going with a fifth year.”

“Since when has listening to rumours, or Lavender for that matter, ever been a good idea?”

Hermione shrugged and looked shamefaced for a moment. “So he's not?”

“No he's still waiting for you to talk to him again so the two of you can go together.”

“I'm not -”

With sleep beckoning and fed up with the way her best-friend and brother were behaving Alice's tone became sharp. “Alright, look I'm only going to say this once because I know it's none of my business, but can you at least just talk to him. Harry might have been out of line saying what he said, but he's a boy, they get stupid when they're jealous. Besides it's not as though he was completely wrong about the situation either was he? Not after Krum asked you to the Ball at breakfast yesterday.”

“Well that was just - I didn't -”

Alice waved off her friend's protests. “I'm not saying that was your fault at all, just that… well I don't know what I'm trying to say. But the point is you two both mean too much to me, and to each other, for me to let you go on not speaking. It's just stupid.” As she rambled to a halt Hermione was watching her with a slightly stunned expression on her face. Alice waited a second to see if any more words would come tumbling out before nodding with finality and going to sleep.

The next morning Hermione wasn't in her bed when Alice woke up, nor was she down in the common room in her usual chair reading, she was however down in the Great Hall. Having breakfast. With Harry. The two of them had barely touched their porridge, but had their heads bent together and looked deep in conversation. With a slight smile Alice decided to leave them to it and cast an eye around for some more of her friends. Ron it seemed was still asleep, he was certainly nowhere to be seen and since breakfast was always his first port of call, she assumed he hadn't gotten out of bed yet. Looking around the room she spotted Cedric walking away from the Ravenclaw table, he caught her eye and gave her a huge thumbs up and brilliant smile. Her stomach performed a small acrobatic leap and she tried vainly to smile back before glancing quickly away again.

“Hey, Potter-part-two!”

Even as she turned Alice schooled her face to stillness and glared challengingly at the group of Slytherins approaching. “What do you want Malfoy?”

“Good morning to you too,” he sniffed.

“It was until you showed up.”

He ignored her and looked around the Hall as she had been doing moments before. “Looking for someone desperate enough to take you to the Yule Ball then are we? A little bird told me no one's asked you, can't say I blame them.”

Alice was about to ask who had been gossiping about her, but then she caught sight of the smug gloat on Pansy Parkinson's face as she hovered behind the blonde and decided not to waste her breath on the question. She opted to try and rise above it instead. “I don't see that it's any of your business whether or not I'm going with someone.”

Malfoy snorted down the length of his long, sneering nose. “That's what anyone says when they're going to something alone. Poor, pathetic, Potter! No one wants her. She can't even get herself a proper last name never mind a partner for the Ball. Then again I wouldn't want to go with someone who insists on sticking a disgusting muggle name onto pureblood one, even if it is Potter.”

Feeling humiliated and angry Alice made the mistake of snapping back. “Well it's just as well I would never want to go anywhere with you in a million years then, isn't it?”

The smirk dropped from Malfoy's face faster than if it had been oiled and he took a menacing step towards her. “Just you watch your mouth Potter. You'll get what's coming to you soon enough, you and everyone that panders to that stupid brother of yours. You'll see; it's already started. We won't need to wait long to be well rid of the likes of you.”

His face was so close that she could see his pupils narrowing in hate as he hissed the words and it took all her slowly built confidence not to take a step backwards.

“Everything all right here?” Suddenly a familiar voice was right behind her and she saw Malfoy's eye flick over first one of her shoulders and then the other.

“You wouldn't be harassing Evans, would you Malfoy?” From the corner of her eye Alice could see George grinning evilly at him. “Because then we might have something to say about it.”

“So we really hope you are,” added Fred.

Recovering his composure Malfoy tried to square up to the Weasley twins, but didn't quite manage so he tried to slink subtly back between the hulking forms of Crabbe and Goyle who were loitering silently behind him. “I should have expected you two to turn up. You're nearly as bad as Potter and the rest. I suppose you'll be hoping one of them takes you to the Ball?” He sneered at Alice.

“Actually,” Fred slung an arm around her shoulder before she could respond, “Alice and I are already going together.” Alice tried not to look as though this was as much of a surprise to her as to Malfoy who blinked quickly and glanced between the two of them.

“A Weasley,” he managed finally, though his tone had none of the venomous arrogance of earlier. “That's all you and your pathetic brother can manage isn't it Potter, a Weasley and a mudblood? I should have guessed that would be the only person with standards low enough to take you anywhere.”

Alice felt Fred's arm tighten reflexively around her shoulders and both boys drew their wands. “Hey Malfoy,” he drawled, his anger making him every bit as menacing as the Slytherin had been attempting to be, “why don't we rearrange your face for you and then see how many people want to go to the Ball with you?”

“I wouldn't bother, Fred,” his twin responded, “anything would be an improvement on the way it is now. Though I'm sure we can think of other things to do if you don't mulch back into whichever puddle of ooze you crawled out from. Now.” The boys held their ground as Malfoy threw one last scowl in Alice's direction before moving off with his cronies in tow. As she left Pansy Parkinson stuck her tongue out and Alice couldn't help but respond in kind.

“Thanks for that,” as she turned towards them Fred's arm slid from her shoulder. “I could have handled it, but thanks anyway.”

“Of course you could have,” George winked at her his earlier stance replaced by a sunny demeanour, “we just couldn't pass up the chance to bate Malfoy.”

“You'd think the little rat would learn to stop throwing his weight around and spewing poisonous garbage all the time,” his brother was still scowling at the retreating Slytherin's backs, wand in hand.

“He's a Malfoy,” Alice offered by way of explanation. “Fred,” she waved her hand in front of his face when he didn't respond, “forget about him. He isn't worth it.”

Fred's eyes snapped back to her face as his twin laughed at some unshared joke. “Ah, yes,” he switched the frown out and replaced it for one of his devilish grins, “it would appear that I have managed to talk myself into having a partner for the Yule Ball. So,” he bowed dramatically in front of her and snatched up her unresisting hand, “Alice Evans-Potter, also occasionally known as Midget, otherwise referred to as -” George cleared his throat loudly behind him and Fred looked abashed for a moment before continuing. “Ah yes, so would you do me the honour of attending the Yule Ball with me, that most illustrious of events, on Christmas day? Say you will, my heart will be broken otherwise.” He batted his eyelashes ridiculously for a few moments as he waited for her response.

Alice couldn't help but burst out into a peel of uncontrollable laughter. When she had eventually calmed down enough to respond she grinned and gave a mock curtsey. “I'd be delighted to.”

A/N: I've been waiting ages to write this chapter and really enjoyed myself doing it! Hope you like it, please review to let me know what you think!

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9. The Yule Ball

A/N: Given that it's been nearly 2 years, (2 years!) since I last updated this, I'm not even going to bother apologising for how long it's taken me. Life got in the way then the story got pushed into a tiny cupboard in my mind, accidentally locked itself in then fell through a secret trap door into a basement where it was swiftly set up by a Devil's Snare. A particularly nasty one at that.

For those of you who have endeavoured to bother continuing with this tale I'll provide you with a short recap of events, it seems only fair!

Alice and Harry spent the summer living with Sirius in their new family cottage (or most of the summer in Harry's case as he had to go back to the Dursely's. After being thrown their first ever birthday party they went to the Quidditch World Cup whereupon Ireland won, Death Eaters burnt down most of the campsite, Hermione was nearly captured and the whole lot of them were save by Cedric Diggory. (Swoon!) The gang returned to Hogwarts for the start of their 4th year (no surprises there!) and Alice found herself to be something of a celebrity, complete with her own fan mail. Gringotts was blown up by masked wizards unknown and our heroes lost 40 points in Potions for discussing it. The foreign students arrived for the start of the Triwizardd Tournament and Rita Skeeter wrote an enlightening article about Alice going out with Cedric Diggory. (Which she most decidedly was not, much as she'd like to.)

After the First Task the dragons escaped in an incident of suspected foul play, Harry and Alice saved some ickle firsties and Harry has been happily conjuring conspiracy theories about it ever since. The Yule Ball was announced. Harry and Hermione fell out over Victor Krum, whilst Alice got teary when Cedric told her he was going to ask Cho. Our favourite Hogwarts couple made up again with a little kick from Alice whilst Fred and George saved Alice from Malfoy and Fred asked her to the Ball. (Does small dance of happiness!)

May the story continue...

The Yule Ball

Alice would have dearly loved to crawl under her blankets, pull the curtains around her bed and never come out again, well perhaps not never, but until all the Yule Ball palaver had subsided at any rate. She had hoped to escape the worst of the Ball fever on Christmas day since all the other girls were busy getting ready, Hermione too had been closeted away with some potion she was using on her hair for the last few hours. After determining that her friend had neither needed nor wanted any assistance with this Alice had snuck down to the common room and tucked herself up in a corner with a good book as chaos unfolded around her. Unfortunately, about an hour before the Ball was due to start, Lavender, who had been on a mission to locate some hairpins at the time, came across her hiding place. The shriek the other girl had let out when she saw Alice hadn't even begun to get ready yet had been piercing. When she had then dragged the redhead back up to the dormitory, Alice had decided it would probably be better for her ear drums if she complied.

As she had known it would it take her all of two seconds to slip into her robes, midnight blue with a gold sash at the waist and tiny, golden stars embroidered along the hems. What she hadn't accounted for were the rest of the girls descending on her, wielding hairbrushes and bottles of potions like weapons, in an effort to make her `presentable'. It had been horrific.

Thankfully Ginny had come to her rescue, just as Hermione emerged back into the room. All the other girls had been distracted by the transformation in Hermione's hair, Alice had been a little impressed herself, but it had given Ron's sister the opportunity to help Alice wipe off a little of the make-up that Lavender and Parvati had applied rather liberally to her face.

“There we go,” Ginny patted the hair piled on top of Alice's head with satisfaction, “that's much nicer. Oh, hang on,” she tugged at a curl halfway through the process of escaping and twisted it into a ringlet by Alice's ear, “there. All done.” She handed her a mirror.

Glancing into it Alice couldn't believe that the girl staring back, surprise written plainly across her face, was herself. She looked older, more sophisticated somehow and Ginny had managed to make her hair appropriate for the Ball without seeming to try too hard, little tendrils hung around her face and neck and the whole lot was held up with a gold clasp that Ginny had produced from somewhere. “Wow… thanks Gin,” she smiled at the other girl, who as usual looked radiant in her dress robes even if they were second hand.

Alice plopped the mirror back down on her bed and the two girls went over to rescue Hermione from the others, reassuring her that yes she did look fine, in fact she looked beautiful and that of course Harry would like it. Eventually they were all ready and had to make their way back down to the common room to locate their partners.

“Wow, I… Merlin, Hermione you look… amazing,” Harry managed eventually; his eyes seemed about ready to fall out of his head. Alice caught her blushing best-friend's eye and winked

“You two don't scrub up too badly yourselves either,” she informed her brother and Neville who was hovering behind him and smiling nervously at Ginny, his partner for the evening. “Where's Ron, he hasn't set fire to his robes or something has he?” She had seen him earlier bemoaning the vast quantities of lace which seemed to be attached to his outfit.

“No,” Harry chuckled, “he's gone to the Ravenclaw common room to fetch Luna” - Alice had finally managed to persuade him to take the girl - “he's going to meet us down in the Great Hall.”

“Speaking of my brothers,” Ginny squinted around the brightly coloured hubbub of people swirling around them, “where are -”

“Gred and Forge at your service.” As if from nowhere the twins popped up. Alice would have said it was just like magic if she hadn't known it would sound ridiculous in such company.

Both were dressed in black dress robes and despite the fact that they had obviously belonged to other people at some point - their older brothers she assumed - and had been quite liberally unpicked and adjusted, they managed to look presentable. It was quite possibly the first recorded incidence of this in their entire lives Alice speculated. At least they hadn't been burdened with the same lacy monstrosity as Ron.

“Looking good, Granger,” George winked at Hermione who blushed as she tried to scowl, but gave up after a moment as the expression melted into a rather pleased smile. “You too, Gin.”

“Of course, being related to us, we understand it's almost impossible for you to look any other way. Of course everyone knows I'm going with the prettiest girl at the party, eh Evans?”

Before Alice had even decided how to take this last comment from Fred the twins had begun bickering over who was going to have the better looking partner and would have probably carried on for hours if Harry hadn't gently reminded George that he actually needed to find his partner as they all needed to be getting down to the entrance hall.

As they processed down the main stairs Alice had to admit she felt slightly ridiculous being escorted along on her friend's arm; even if all the other couples around them were doing the same it still felt foolish. She was terrified that at any moment she would trip on the hem of her dressrobes and catapult herself head over heels to land in an ungainly heap at the bottom and she told Fred so.

“Don't worry Evans; I'll be here to catch you.”

“You make me sound like the flu,” she groused though as his laughter echoed around the Entrance Hall she couldn't help but smile too.

“I don't think the flu would look as nice in that dress as you do,” he informed her with a sly wink as she rolled her eyes. “In it you are radiant as a thousand suns, you are perfection, you are a heavenly, divine being, you are queenly, you are -”

“- going to bash you in a minute if you don't cut that out.”

“Sheesh,” Fred whistled with a grin, “a person can't even give you a little compliment now without the threat of physical violence. You know, you may have a problem with that Evans.”

Alice was saved from having to compose a tart response to his ridiculousness by Professor McGonagall emerging from the Great Hall and telling them that everyone apart from the Champions could now go inside. Reminded of something she glanced around in search of Cedric and soon spotted him looking handsome in his smart, black dress robes. Beside him was the diminutive figure of Cho Chang. Alice sighed when she saw her; no matter what Fred said when he was being idiotic, she could never ever hope to look even a tenth as beautiful as the Ravenclaw girl. No wonder Cedric liked her so much.

Giving herself a little shake and trying not to dwell on things she couldn't change Alice followed Fred into the Great Hall and focused instead on marvelling at the décor. Hogwarts really had pushed the boat out this year. Enormous ice sculptures glittered from every corner of the Great Hall round the edge of which an entire forest of holly bushes seemed to have sprung up. In the corner a wizarding orchestra played stately music on an assortment of instruments she was familiar with and some which were just plain bizarre, there was even one witch who seemed to be playing the spoons. Real fairies danced around the ceiling and flitted between the various Christmas trees and rather than the usual House tables there were many smaller ones. At each of these instead of the empty tureens and bowls that filled the tables normally at the start of a Hogwarts feast each place had a menu set at it. As Alice and her friends went to commandeer a table and she began perusing hers.

“Wow,” Ron suddenly appeared at the table with Luna trailing absent-mindedly behind him. “They've really outdone themselves this - ooh, look menus! Give us a look, what's for dinner?” He grabbed one as he flopped down into a seat and began reading it avidly. Alice smiled encouragingly at Luna who didn't seem at all put out by her partner's behaviour. She actually looked quite pretty Alice thought, in a dreamy, ethereal sort of way. Her dress was made of some long, floating, grey fabric that shimmered slightly when it caught the light reminding her of pearls. Some might say that the vividly orange sash and beads she had added clashed garishly with this, but Alice thought it was endearing and the holly in her braided hair was a nice touch.

“Here, Luna, sit down.” She pointed to the seat between herself and Ron.

As it turned out, dinner was a lot less complicated an affair than it had seemed at the outset, all each student had to do was declare to their dinner plate the selection of meal they had made and moments later it was before them, steaming hot and looking more delicious than almost anything else she had ever eaten at Hogwarts. The most peculiar part of the whole experience was sitting at circular tables instead of the usual long house ones. Although this meant that she could better see the people sitting next to her, it was difficult to speak to those at the opposite side of the table without hollering across and given the sophistication of the occasion she felt this might be more than a little indecorous. Typically Fred had no such compunctions and frequently bellowed across to his brother who was sitting across from them with Angelina.

When dinner was over and speeches made, Dumbledore invited the champions to begin the dancing. As they all watched Alice could hear the other girls at the table cooing over how beautiful Fleur, Cho Chang, and the Beauxbatons girl Krum had invited looked with their robes swirling around them. Glancing sideways she could see that even Luna was watching them with wide, captivated eyes humming tunefully to herself as her feet sketched out the steps beneath the table. Reaching into the pocket of her robes she drew out her wand and slipped a napkin from the table into her lap. Around her there was an increasing murmur as students, Harry and Hermione amongst them, began to get to their feet and lead their partners onto the floor. Under cover of this commotion Alice muttered an incantation and sketched out five bold words on the napkin.

ASK LUNA TO DANCE, IDIOT!

Scrunching the piece of cloth up she threw it over Luna's head and hit Ron squarely in the face.

“Ouch!”

Alice rolled her eyes at her friend's complaint although thankfully Luna was too absorbed in the dancers to notice. Once he had read her note a momentary look of panic swept across Ron's freckled features and she was convinced for a moment that he was going to throw up right there and then at the table. Thankfully for all involved he steeled himself and meeting Alice's eye he took a deep breath before focusing on the blonde girl next to him.

“Eh… Luna?” Her name came out as a squeak several octaves higher than usual and as the pale eyes turned to look at him his cheeks immediately began to boil. Nevertheless he impressed Alice by clearing his throat and trying again. “Luna… would you like to dance?”

Alice couldn't see the expression on the girl's face, she was only aware of the long beat of silence during which Ron looked as though his dearest wish was to crawl under the nearest Christmas tree and spend the rest of the evening doing his best impersonation of a plant pot. Eventually however, she answered.

“Alright, Ronald.”

Without waiting for him to get up Luna stood and floated out onto the dance floor before turning twenty paces out and watching him expectantly. After a surprised moment during which Ron seemed stunned, though whether this was at the prospect of dancing or his invitation having been accepted Alice couldn't say, he scrambled to his feet and rushed after her.

One by one the rest of Alice's friends began to follow suit. Harry was already leading Hermione cautiously round the room and as she watched Neville and Ginny got up soon to be followed by George and Angelina. She was beginning to get itchy feet herself when Fred, who had been unusually silent, spoke up.

“So,” he asked, glancing around nonchalantly at the students swirling in front of them, “if I wasn't allowed to compliment you before, am I allowed to ask you to dance now? Or are you going to be prickly about that too?” There was something odd about his voice that made Alice glance at him inquisitively, but whatever it had been she must have imagined it for in the next moment he was grinning mischievously at her again.

She grinned back, but then quickly straightened her face and attempted to look pained. “If you really have to I suppose. Don't stand on my feet though.”

For some reason which she couldn't quite fathom Alice was startled by the discovery that Fred could actually dance reasonably well. She wasn't particularly sure why this was so shocking; although having attempted to recall a prior occasion on which she had seen him dance she found that she couldn't. Within seconds she found herself being slowly, but surely, spun around the floor in his arms.

“See?” He asked, a knowing grin spread across his impish, freckled face. “It's not so bad now is it?”

A smart retort slipped to the edge of Alice's tongue, but something made her hold it back. She cocked her head to the side and regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. “No, I suppose it's not.”

“By the way, thanks,” Alice added suddenly after a pause.

“What for?”

She could feel her face turning red and was mentally kicking herself for having begun this particular conversation, but she had started now so she might as well finish. “For taking me to the Ball. I know you only did it because of what Malfoy was saying, so thanks.”

There was a long moment during which Fred just stared at her as they revolved on the spot. The expression on his face was so peculiar that Alice wondered if she had said the wrong thing. She wasn't sure what, but it must have been something. Puzzlement, amusement and irritation all seemed to chase each other across his freckled features for a moment before he gave up with a wide smile.

“Not a problem, Midget. Just call me your knight in shining armour.”

Alice chuckled and rolled her eyes before they lapsed into silence again. As they moved around the dance floor she found her head turning every which way as she took in the sight of all the other couples, the Christmas decorations, the splendid setting of the Great Hall. It was all like something from a fairy tale. She gave a wry smirk at such fanciful notions.

Fred noticed and glanced at her questioningly. “Share the joke then.”

“It's nothing,” Alice laughed properly now. “I was just thinking how nice everything was.”

In response to this very girlish remark, the two of them burst out laughing.

For the next half hour Alice enjoyed herself immensely; she danced again with Fred, then with Neville who as it turned out was a surprisingly accomplished dancer, then with Ron who spent the whole time counting out the steps and watching his feet closely, then with Harry who did perfectly adequately but who kept worrying he would make a mistake. By the time it was her turn to dance with George the music had picked up so that it was tripping along at quite a rapid pace. That, of course, was part of the trouble.

“Ouch!” George managed to grab her arm before she clattered to the floor - his erratically flying feet being the obstacles she had connected with - but it didn't stop her twisting horribly over her ankle.

“Sorry, Alice! Are you alright?”

“Fine.” The hastily concealed grimace and the way she leant to one side whilst keeping the weight off that same foot suggested otherwise. Either that or she was attempting to impersonate a flamingo; George doubted it.

“Liar. Here, let me help you,” he helped an obviously limping Alice over to one of the chairs now shoved haphazardly around the edges of the room. Before she had even managed to sit down on it Harry, Hermione were hovering anxiously with Fred, seemingly less concerned although not far behind.

“What have you done now, George Weasley?” Hermione demanded, attempting to catch Alice's foot and examine it as her friend tried with equal determination to swing it away from her and place it firmly on the floor. She winced at the throb this action induced.

“I always did tell you that you were the clumsier twin.” Fred remarked sardonically. He seemed to be the only one of the four of them not fluttering anxiously about as though her leg were about to fall off. She smiled at him gratefully and he winked back.

“Oh, for Merlin's sake,” she exclaimed upon hearing Madam Pomfrey's name mentioned. “I am perfectly fine, or I will be the minute you lot stop twittering on about it. It's only bruised; I just need to go and walk it off a bit.” She stood up determinedly to further make her point. “Now, George, go and find Angelina and for pity's sake get her to teach you to dance properly before you do someone a serious injury!” She glared at him with mock severity until, with a roll, of his eyes he sloped off in search of his partner.

“We'll come outside with you,” Hermione insisted after watching him go with a grin. “It's getting too stuffy in here anyway.”

“Don't be silly,” Alice was horrified, “I don't want to interrupt your evening, or Hermione's, I'm sure the two of you were having fun before George decided to use my foot like a trampoline.”

“I don't mind accompanying you,” Fred sighed, making it sound like a chore for all that Alice could see a mischievous gleam in his eye. “I can make sure you don't fall into a bush or get carted off by the centaurs.”

“It's alright,” Harry joined in, “we can all go.” Alice wondered if he noticed the crestfallen look on Fred's face as her brother uttered these words. She observed him curiously for a moment; perhaps he had some joke or prank to fill her in on that he didn't want the others hearing about? Regardless, the four of them made their way through the crowds towards the Entrance Hall.

“Has anyone seen Ron?” Harry asked as they reached the door, he turned back on tiptoe to peer over the milling heads around him.

Alice shook her head. “Last time I saw him he was dancing with Luna again. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.” The others smirked and when it became obvious that Ron was nowhere to be seen they continued on outside.

They had only been walking for several minutes, or hobbling slowly in Alice's case, when Harry suddenly grabbed Hermione's arm and her's. “Quick, it's Snape!”

With reflexes born of consciences more often guilty than not, the four of them ducked speedily around a corner of the castle. From there they peeked back to watch as Snape stalked through an ornamental garden that had been set up especially for the ball, blasting miniature Christmas trees from his path and deducting house points from anyone he spotted misbehaving.

“Well someone's in a foul mood,” Ron remarked.

“How can you tell?” asked Hermione with a smirk as they turned and continued their walk in this new direction.

Ron and the others laughed. “Fair point.”

“You'd think he'd cheer up a bit. Since it's Christmas,” reasoned Alice for whom there was no more magical a time of year.

“But that's just it, Evans.” Fred informed her sagely. “It's Christmas, a time of good will and general cheer; it's probably giving him an ulcer!”

Alice had a sudden mental image of Snape being forced to wear a large, scarlet Santa hat whilst listening to a seraphic choir serenade him with Christmas carols in the Great Hall. For some reason the thought was hilariously funny and she began to giggle uncontrollably, choking as she tried to describe it to the others. Midway through her disjointed and bewildering explanation Hermione suddenly interrupted her.

“What's that?”

“What?”

“Where?”

“It's not Snape again, is it?”

“There,” she pointed. “Down by the edge of the forest. It looks like there are some people.”

“Maybe they're students?” Fred hazarded.

Alice squinted, it was difficult to see in the dark, but then the forest was so far away that it was difficult to see anything clearly anyway. “They don't look like they're wearing dress robes, do they? So they can't be students, can they? I mean… are those hoods that they've got on? And what are they doing?”

“Something they shouldn't, by the looks of it.” Harry was on his tiptoes, though how this was meant to improve his vision Alice couldn't quite tell, peering vainly in the direction of the lurkers. “They've disappeared into the Forest.” She could hear a familiar tone creeping into his voice. As, apparently, could Hermione.

“Let's not follow them. Please, Harry!”

“What?! Who said anything about following them? Why not?” Alice couldn't help but smile a little at her brother's last, all too innocent sounding, question.

“The look on your face said it, screamed it more like, and I know you too well. Please, can we just have this one normal night to enjoy the Yule Ball without going tramping off through the Forest looking for trouble? This will be the only time we'll ever get to go to the Ball and I, for one, want to enjoy it. It's probably only students trying to hide from Snape anyway.” Alice couldn't be sure who looked less convinced by this argument: Harry or Hermione herself. The brunette stood her ground however until finally, and predictably, Harry relented.

“Fine, all right! We'll go back milady,” he delivered a mock bow, extending his arm with a grin which Hermione accepted with a delighted smile. “Admit it though,” Alice could hear him saying as they turned to walk back to the castle, “you just want to fit in another dance with me!”

Laughing along with them Alice made to follow only to hesitate when she sensed that Fred, who was next to her, hadn't moved. Glancing up at him she saw he was still staring suspiciously at the Forest, eyes, for once serious, flickering back and forth along the tree line.

“What's wrong?” She went to stand beside him. For about half a minute she thought he wasn't going to answer.

“Nothing,” he replied eventually, “I just thought I saw… a flash… or a light…” he continued scrutinising the spot where the group of people had vanished. Then as though suddenly a spell was broken his wicked smirk returned. “Nothing compared to your radiance, of course.”

“Of course.” Ignoring his foolishness Alice took a closer look herself, but everything appeared to be in order, barely a breath of wind disturbed the dark bulk of the forest now.

“Come on, let's go back inside. Don't mind me.”

“I rarely do,” she quipped in response, unable to help herself.

“Hilarious, Evans,” he took hold of her shoulders and steered her back in the direction of their friends. “My sides are splitting. See?! I'll probably need to go to the Hospital Wing.”

“You will in a minute if you don't stop pushing me.” Alice tried to sound annoyed, but she wasn't really, she never could be for very long with Fred. Instead she pushed what they had seen to the back of her mind, filed it under unexplained and set herself to enjoying the rest of the evening. As Hermione had said, they would only have this evening once.

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10. A Turn for the Worst

A/N: Holy Cricket! As Hermione would say. Two updates within a short space of time, what is wrong with me? It's almost like I'm getting back into the story again, or alternatively it has just been so long since anything happened with this story that I thought you deserved a few updates at once. Hope you enjoy and please R&R if you have the time and inclination, I like to hear comments, feedback, and general babblings regarding the story.

A Turn for the Worst

The New Year brought many new and some unexpected happenings at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The first, and perhaps most surprising of all, was that Ron began to spend an unusual amount of time sitting at the Ravenclaw table, reading up on mythical creatures, wandering off suddenly in corridors and generally being anywhere Luna was. Not that he liked her of course, not like that, she was just a friend, he would insist frequently. Ginny declared it nauseating, but Alice thought it was sweet and forbade Fred and George from saying anything to him about it. So far they seemed to have complied, though she suspected they were simply biding their time.

Ron and Luna were not the only students who had been caught up in whatever was going round at Hogwarts. Much to her dismay, Cedric and Cho Chang had become the school's new golden couple, they were the topic on everyone's lips for a week after the Ball and Alice tried hard to tune out of these conversations whether they involved boys exclaiming what a lucky bloke Diggory was or envious girls muttering mutinously about Cho. The glimmer of a silver lining which she managed to steal from this is that it thoroughly scotched any rumours going round that she herself was going out with Cedric and she was no longer an object of antipathy for the school's female population.

Love seemed to be well and truly in the air that month and even Neville took to following Ginny around like a lovesick puppy for a week until she gently informed him they were perhaps better off simply as friends. Much to her surprise Alice found her friend dealt with this rejection remarkably well, though she herself was a little colder towards Ron's sister for a few weeks as payback. Even if she had helped her with her hair for the Ball.

With Christmas past there was renewed excitement amongst the students about the Triwizard Tournament, dampened only slightly by a spray of articles in the Daily Prophet detailing the Ministry's efforts to step up security at the school in the aftermath of the dragon incident and more widely across the wizarding world in light of the attack on Gringotts. A culprit for which had still to be found.

“But that was months ago!” Ron, who was eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table for a change, declared between mouthfuls of drippy, egg-soaked toast. “Do you reckon they know something we don't?”

“Like how to eat without drenching themselves in food?” Hermione asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust as a particularly greasy globule dropped onto the front of his robes, running down to join the others which had gone before it.

Ron threw her a vicious look.

“Maybe,” Harry mused, pouring over the paper, “or maybe they're just being cautious. You know what Fudge is like.”

“They're probably worrying over nothing,” added Neville.

As though his words had been heard by some mocking god there was a sudden commotion as a feathered cloud burst into the Great Hall, startling students into an uproar and causing Ron to spray a mouthful of eggy mush back onto his plate.

“What in Merlin's name…?” Alice gaped up at what appeared to be every single owl in the world as they descended on the tables. Obviously owls were not an uncommon sight at Hogwarts, especially at breakfast time; what was so bewildering was the fact that they had already descended, in all their winged glory, not twenty minutes ago.

Once they had flapped and clattered their way on to the tables Alice could see that each bird had the same piece of parchment tied to its leg. For a moment everyone in the Great Hall seemed unsure of what to do, they scrambled to salvage their meals from beneath disrespectful beaks and claws, whispered and hissed to each other, but were all reluctant to actually take the delivery. After all none of the parchments seemed to be addressed to anyone. Finally, as though some unspoken group decision had been reached, they all began to snatch at the mail, tearing open the parchments and scanning them rapidly.

Alice was too slow in reaching for the closest owl, but thankfully it was Harry who beat her to it and so she was able to pour over it from her vantage point by his shoulder. What she saw made her blood run cold.

“DAILY PROPHET SPECIAL!” It screamed.

“DEVASTATING EXPLOSIONS AT ST MUNGO'S: DOZENS FEARED DEAD!”

She didn't even need to read the article to know who was responsible. Even without the recent spate of attacks loosely attributed to Death Eater activity the picture directly below these words said it all. An image of a busy, muggle shopping street, which she vaguely remembered reading was the cover for St Mungo's scarred by an enormous blackened hole. It was all too reminiscent of what had happened at Gringotts. There was one, stomach churning, blood freezing difference however. As muggles and wizards alike ran in all directions past the photographer an image shimmered high in the sky, just visible against the glare of the winter sun.

The photograph was black and white, but Alice knew from books she had read about darker times that if it had been in colour the undulating skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth would have been a worthy shade of Slytherin green. Suddenly she didn't feel so hungry anymore.

There was a numb silence as everyone in the Great Hall stared at the news in horror and revulsion. The grainy picture staring back at them did nothing to soften the horror of the scene; blood clearly spattered the pavement as an arm flopped lifelessly into the corner of the shot.

“Merlin,” Hermione hissed, her voice barely audible. “Do you think that anyone was...” She couldn't make herself say it.

Ron gulped, for once he couldn't seem to face his breakfast either. “Well that's... that's the D-Dark Mark. They only used to conjure that if... well, if-”

No one seemed to have any words for what they were looking at.

Wordlessly her eyes sought out Neville who was sitting as though he was carved from granite, he'd even turned a peculiar shade of grey. His pale, trembling fingers clutched at the paper until they formed a fist and the Daily Prophet was nothing more than a crumpled mess. His glazed eyes were fixed on a jug of pumpkin juice as his face remained frozen; then suddenly he shoved himself back from the table and ran from the hall. Several people glanced up as he dashed past, but no one stopped him and their terrified eyes quickly returned to the paper, it was taking everyone time just to process what they were seeing.

Alice slipped from her seat and went after him on legs which were suddenly shaky. She found him outside on the front steps, ignoring the swirling snow and a steady stream of tears tripping down his cheeks.

“Neville?” She crept up behind him. “Neville? Don't cry. I'm sure your parents are fine. The explosions were only at the front doors, I don't think they got any further than the reception.”

“I know,” his voice was scratchy, “but it's still... they might still have... People still died, and I feel so... helpless.”

“I know,” Alice laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “We all do. That's what they want, to make us feel scared and helpless. We can't let them win though. We have to stick together and be strong. And you can be, you are every bit as brave as your parents.”

“Do you think it's going to start again... like before?”

For a moment Alice considered telling him the truth, telling him about the fears Sirius had confided in Harry and her earlier in the year, but the rising sounds of panic coming from the Great Hall and the trembling in Neville's hands as he still clutched the ruined Prophet changed her mind.

“I don't know Neville. Before was different. This time there's only these idiots, even if they are Death Eaters. It's not as though -”

“You-Know-Who,” he cut in before she could say the name.

“- has come back,” she finished. “We can't afford to spend all our time fearing the worst, because if that happens and we forget to live then he's won whether he comes back or not.

Cold fingers found her own. “Thanks. You always do know the right things to say,” The fingers tightened. “I need to go and write to Gran, she'll be upset and I'll need to ask her...” He trailed off with a juddering breath and turned back inside.

Alice stayed for a minute longer gazing out at the snow, the grey, blasted landscape and the threatening sky. It was the sort of setting which reflected her mood. Despite what she had said to Neville she was afraid. It was all starting to happen too fast; separated from most of the turmoil by the walls of Hogwarts she had fooled herself into thinking they might be safe.

What a joke.

“You alright out here, Evans?” Fred Weasley's voice was in her ear. She hadn't even heard him approach.

“Yes.” The response left her lips before she had even considered it. “No. I'm not sure. Not really.”

“I reckon we're all with you on that one.”

They stood there in silence for a moment. “Is Neville alright?”

“He will be, he's shaken up because... he knows people in St Mungo's just now.” Her friends still didn't know the truth about Neville's parents and much as she didn't like keeping things from them it wasn't her secret to tell. Neville would do it when he was ready, in his own time.

“Poor bloke.” Fred hesitated. “Are you going to write to Sirius?”

“Probably; why?”

“Well, with everything... he's got more experience than most when it comes to dealing with... Death Eaters.” A chill which had nothing to do with the frozen flakes landing on her arm crawled across Alice's flesh. She continued to stare.

“Your uncles died, didn't they? Before.” It was something she had never really asked about.

“Mum's two brothers; yeah they did. They were ambushed and killed by Death Eaters one night on their way home from some meeting. It took five of them to bring them down. I don't remember them much; we were just babies when it happened. Mum doesn't talk about them often.”

Alice nodded in understanding as she considered the fact that of her closest friends Hermione was the only one who hadn't had her family scarred in some way by Voldemort's followers. What would happen if it all started again? She didn't know if she'd be strong enough to face it.

“Come on, Midget,” Fred broke through her thoughts, injecting some forced levity into his voice. “It's freezing out here, why don't we go back inside?” He slipped an arm round her shoulders.

“I know, I just...” Alice sighed and leant back against him for a moment. “It's all starting again, isn't it?”

Fred was silent for a moment giving her all the answer she needed. “I don't know, Midget, I really don't. Things might settle down -”

“Or they might not.”

“Right,” he spun her round and clamped her arms to her sides, “there will be none of that. I am making a new rule. There will be no doom and despondency or I may be forced to take extreme measures to induce cheerfulness. Do I make myself clear?”

Alice nodded obediently and managed to crack a small smile. She was just trying to conjure up a feeble joke in response when she realised how close they were; she could count every freckle on Fred's nose at this distance.

“Ok, come on then,” she broke away before he saw her face go red and stumbled back towards the Great Hall. Why did she always feel awkward about everything?

By the time they got back into the Great Hall McGonagall was shouting for quiet and it was a mark of how panicked the whole school was that she wasn't even heard, let alone obeyed. It wasn't until she had to let off several loud bangs accompanied by a shower of sparks from her wand that the mass of students came under control and the uproar subsided. Alice took the opportunity to slip back into her seat.

“That's better,” her face was grey and her lips had disappeared into a thin, hard line, “can we have some quiet please? The Headmaster would like to say as few words.”

Dumbledore got slowly to his feet with a smile. Alice didn't know how he managed it, to keep his cool all the time. Either he really was unflappable or he was an excellent actor, she hadn't decided. Whichever she was sure that the platitudes would spring readily enough from his lips.

“I suspect,” he began, his words falling into the hushed silence, “that we all need to take a moment to calm ourselves. Doubtless you will all be concerned for loved ones, family and friends, but this is no reason for us all to lose our heads.” He surveyed them all, the hundreds of fearful faces staring up at him, and smiled kindly. “I wish I could tell you all that this means you get the morning off classes, but since today is Saturday that would seem a tad unnecessary. I suggest everyone returns to their common rooms however until lunch time at the very least.”

There was some general muttering at this. Why did Dumbledore feel the need to confine them? Was there something they didn't know? Was Hogwarts safe? Did he feel there was a threat? The whispering was growing in volume again as McGonagall let another cracker off from her wand.

“I believe the Headmaster meant now,” she looked at them all severely.

Glancing uneasily at her friends Alice rose from the Gryffindor table and they joined the throng of anxious students forcing their way towards the stairs.

It was probably the quietest any of them had ever seen the Gryffindor common room, especially when it was full to bursting with cooped up students. Everyone was sitting around in clumps either staring into space or whispering worriedly to their friends. What did the attack mean? The World Cup could have been dismissed as an accident, the break in at Gringotts a simple coincidence, but with the dragon escape and the latest vicious assault on St Mungo's people were uneasy. They could spot a pattern. The question was who was responsible? The paper had claimed that rather than Death Eaters conjuring the Mark it had been scaremongers afterwards wishing to grab their five minutes of fame. That the incantation and mark had show minor discrepancies which real Death Eaters would not have conjured. Was it true?

Alice was sitting scribbling a letter to Sirius asking these very questions; Ron attempted to play chess with Neville, but neither of them really had the heart for it and had taken to staring into the fire. Hermione was voraciously soaking up the contents of a book on protective charms, as Harry absentmindedly tore up a piece of parchment as he watched his twin write.

“Harry, you're not going to be able to will me to go any faster with this you know,” she told him.

“Sorry.”

She smiled affectionately at him and reached over to take the scraps from him, giving his hand a squeeze as she did so. “You're going to turn that into confetti in a minute.”

He glanced down at the pieces littering the floor in mild surprise. “Sorry,” he repeated. “I was lost in thought.”

“Care to share?”

He seemed to consider not telling her for a moment, but then thought better of it. She knew him too well. “What if this is all just the build up to something big,” he kept his voice down so the others wouldn't hear. “I don't mean just an escalation, what if all this, everything this year is just the old Death Eaters warming up to something? What if Voldemort comes back?” She couldn't say the thought hadn't crossed her mind and was about to say so when he said something that stopped her in her tracks. “If he did, he'd know about you too now, and I don't think I could... if anything happened...”

Alice felt tears prick at her eyes as she returned his earnest, worried gaze. Harry had lived with the shadow of Voldemort all his life, whether he knew it or not, and yet it was for her that he was concerned, rather than himself. She had never had someone who cared about her so much before, not in the way that family did. And the concept of what might happen should Voldemort return terrified her more than words could say. “I'm not going anywhere,” she gripped his hand tightly, her whisper fierce. “Not now after I've just...” she choked over the words. “And if anything... If Voldemort does come back then we'll deal with it when it happens. Together.”

Harry's fingers twined with her own ink-stained ones as the corner of his mouth crooked up in a poor attempt of a smile and she saw an incomprehensible depth of love in his green eyes.

Glancing up she saw Hermione watching them discretely over the top of her book, an affectionate smile on her face. Seeing her best-friend had spotted her it widened, but it wasn't quite enough to hide the worry in her expression.

The school remained on edge all weekend, Alice barely saw the foreign students; they seemed to remain closeted anxiously in their respective accommodations and looked fearful and uneasy when they did show up at dinner. Some of the Beauxbatons girls had taken to jumping at the slightest noise and looked as though they would burst into tears at a moment's notice.

All week the Prophet attempted to soothe the fear that must have raged as fiercely across the rest of the Wizarding world as it did at Hogwarts. Claims of exaggerated death rates and pranksters masquerading as Death Eaters were rife. They even quoted one Auror, a John Dawlish, as saying that he believed it had simply been an explosion from a faulty muggle gas-pipe which had caused the tragedy. Rita Skeeter was in her element and conjured lurid depictions of distraught relatives and hysterical witnesses with abundant glee. Alice began ignoring anything the Prophet had to say on the matter.

Monday morning greeted them with a notice posted in the Great Hall that the Hogsmeade visit on the following Saturday had been cancelled.

“But I'm nearly out of Liquorice Wands!” Ron complained upon reading this.

Hermione made an irritable noise. “Honestly Ronald, are you ever going to sort out your priorities? There are more important things in the world than food you know!” She stormed off to Herbology without a backwards glance leaving a dumbfounded looking Ron in her wake.

“What did I say?”

“She's just worried, mate,” Harry reassured him. “I wouldn't get too upset about it.”

The four of them followed Hermione down to the greenhouses, Alice trying to draw Neville into conversation. He had barely said two words since Saturday morning and he was still awaiting a reply from his Grandmother. She had attempted to reassure him by pointing out that she hadn't received a reply from Sirius either, but it wasn't much use. Herbology was the best subject in which to engage him due to his love and aptitude for the subject and she had just begun to have him tell her the various properties of the Flitterbloom they were re-potting when there was an interruption.

“Excuse me, Professor Sprout?” A seventh year Ravnclaw girl stood at the door to the Greenhouse. “Professor McGonagall asked to see Harry Potter and Alice E-Potter,” she stumbled over the surname as Alice felt every eye in the class turn upon them. What had they done now?

Obediently the two of them put down their pruning shears, stripped off their dragonhide gloves and followed the girl back to the castle.

“She asked if you could go to her office,” the girl informed them before disappearing down a corridor that lead towards the Ravenclaw tower.

“What do you reckon she wants?” Harry asked his sister as they scurried up to the First Floor. “You don't reckon something has happened do you?”

“No idea.” It was the only reason she could think of that they might have been summoned. There had been a distinct lack of any rule breaking for months, so it couldn't be for that the head of house wanted to see them. The reason for their presence was made immediately obvious however the minute McGonagall bade them enter her office.

“Sirius!” Harry's voice was full of surprise and not a little concern at the sight of their godfather standing by the Transfiguration teacher's desk. Thick, grey robes encircled his tall frame and billowed about him as he turned at their arrival. “What's wrong?”

In three strides Sirius was across the room as pulling them both into a close hug. Alice gripped him tightly for a second before he relinquished his grip and stepped back to examine them critically. She noticed he still kept a hand on each of their shoulders though and his face was strained despite the reassuring smile he tried to produce.

“Nothing... nothing, everything is fine.” He reassured them, his eyes flicking towards McGonagall for a moment. “I just wanted to see how you were and coming in person seemed the quickest way to answer Alice's letter. And it was definitely safer than having to deal with that bloody bird again.”

Alice chuckled despite herself, but there was still something wrong with her godfather. He seemed unusually fidgety, even for someone who had recently spent twelve years in Azkaban.

“I think perhaps I shall leave you to it, Sirius.” McGonagall smiled at them all before excusing herself from the office.

“How are you?” Sirius asked the moment the door had closed behind her.

“We're fine... Sirius, what's going on?” Alice looked at him. “It's not that it's not nice to see you, but why are you here?”

“I wanted to check the two of you were alright, and as I said, this was quicker than waiting for your feathered menace to decide to come down from the attic to take a letter.”

Amusing as that image was Alice wasn't buying it. “The real reason, Sirius.”

He looked at her levelly for a long moment as Harry glanced between their two stubborn faces.

“You're too much like your mother for your own good sometimes, do you know that?”

Alice took that as a compliment.

“We've heard rumours,” he told them, “whispers really, that something is in the offing. There has been word that next time it might be Hogwarts they hit.”

“To try and get to us?” Harry asked, his concerned gaze flicking to Alice again.

“Possibly. Probably.”

“So it definitely was Death Eaters, then?” She asked.

Sirius looked at her. “Almost certainly.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts at the implications of Sirius' statement.

Eventually Harry tried to inject a little levity into the conversation. “You didn't need to come all the way down here to check we were alright though. Dumbledore would have told you if we'd fallen off the Astronomy Tower or something.”

Sirius did grin at that. “I know, but I'm like an old mother hen, I worry. Besides,” he paused, growing serious, “I promised Lily and James that I would look after you and I've done a poor enough job of that up until now -”

“That's not exactly your fault though,” Alice pointed out reasonably.

“Still.” Sirius shrugged. “I wanted to see you were alright,” he smoothed some flyaway curls behind her ear, “and I didn't want to put things in a letter. Can you forgive an old man for worrying?”

“Of course,” Alice gave him another hug feeling the thick material of his robes beneath her cheek. “Any time.”

“Why do you think they're doing it?” Harry asked after a while. “I mean obviously to cause chaos and scare people, but are they making way for Voldemort to come back? Or do you reckon it's for some other reason?”

Sirius considered them both for a moment. “I think they were trying their luck at the World Cup, a few old Death Eaters who had too much Fire Whisky and nobody stopped them. It's made them bold in a way they haven't been for years, not since just after... They're seeing how much they can get away with.”

Alice shifted uneasily. “But let's not cast any more gloom on your day. You have classes to be getting on with and I have to go and help Remus look at houses. I think he's finally gotten fed up of my company.”

“Or your cooking,” Alice quipped.

“That too. Now off you go the pair of you,” they gave him a last hug and moved towards the door as they heard their godfather's parting shot, “and stay out of trouble!”

“You'd have thought he would realise how pointless it is to tell us that by now,” Harry grinned as they made their way along the corridor. He quickly sobered however. “So what do you reckon?”

“He's worried,” Alice said immediately, “really worried. And if he doesn't think he can put things in a letter...”

“Then he's worried they might be intercepted,” her brother finished for her with a grim nod. “Which would mean the Death Eaters are a lot more organised than everyone is letting on.”

Alice shuddered at the thought. This year had started with such potential: the Quiddditch World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament, they'd managed to keep out of trouble, by and large, and now it was all being ruined by a gang of psychopathic maniacs intent on destruction.

“Come on,” Harry saw her bleak expression and slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Let's go back down to the greenhouses; fresh air always helps.”

“Alright, Madam Pomfrey!” Alice chuckled which she knew had been his intention all along. As they walked side by side she recalled her earlier words to Neville and realised she had been right; as long as they stuck together they would get through whatever was thrown at them and as she had told her brother, she had no intention of letting him go anywhere.

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11. Something Fishy

Something Fishy

“Come on, we’re going to be late!” Hermione’s insistent shout was hurled back on the breeze as she strode ahead towards the lake. Somewhat reluctantly Alice, Harry, Ron and Neville trailed behind her.

“Hermione, it’s freezing!”

“Well walk faster then, it will warm you up!” Was her unsympathetic response to Ron’s griping.

“I don’t understand why they need to have us traipsing down to the lake in the middle of winter. Why did they decide to set one of the tasks now?”

“Because there are three,” Alice informed him in amusement, “and unless you squashed them all together at one end of the year, you have to have some of them when the weather’s rubbish. We are in Scotland after all.”

“Come on,” Harry grinned at the two of them, “we shouldn’t keep her waiting.” He grabbed Ron’s arm and began towing him along at great speed.

“You’re just scared of her,” Neville teased. His friends chuckled as Harry grinned ruefully.

In the chill, winter air they crunched across the frosty grass, pulling their hats and scarves more tightly around their faces to stop the sharp, icy air biting at them. The ground seemed to glitter beneath their feet as they moved. As with the last task they had no idea what to expect when they reached the lake, they had all just been told to assemble there at two o’clock. It was now five minutes past.

“Ron’s the one who should be scared,” Harry quipped back. “He’s the one who took forever eating lunch and made us late.”

They all picked up their pace to keep up with Hermione. “What do you think the task will be?” Neville asked.

“Maybe they’ll have to wrestle the giant squid,” Ron mused causing Neville to snort with laughter. Alice smiled, it was good to see him laugh again; it was something he had done very rarely since the attack on St Mungo’s. He’d been uneasy ever since and would spend breakfast every day scanning the Prophet for mention of anything remotely threatening. Other than extensive coverage of the St Mungo’s incident for weeks after however there had been nothing new to report. Truth be told, Alice had been surprised they hadn’t cancelled the Triwizard Tournament in light of recent events, especially after Sirius had warned them Hogwarts was a potential target. Whether it was because they had nothing more substantial than rumour to go on however, or because Fudge was still trying to deny there was anything concerted to worry about, the show had gone on.

Alice had taken to spending time with Neville, just the two of them, talking about his parents and trying to reassure him. He still didn’t want the others to know about his situation so she had to keep the real reason for their long chats from her friends. She didn’t mind too much though, Neville needed her and the others knew her well enough to know that she would have a good reason for not telling them. Only Fred and George had made a comment about her having no time for fun anymore.

At their increased speed it wasn’t long before they reached the enormous wooden stands which had been set up down by the lake. The same stands which had been used for the first task seemed to have been set up again, but unlike the enclosure which they had formed for the dragons, these were set out side by side in a slight curve around the edge of the lake.

Shuffling round to the side they craned their necks trying to spot some empty seats whilst remaining unobtrusive. They looked to be the last to arrive and Mr Crouch from the Ministry was standing on a platform down at the front, already in full flow about what exactly was going to happen. Typically the nearest empty space on one of the benches was only going to be accessible by pushing past a whole host of other students. Still, it was that or stay on the ground and see nothing of what was going on. Whatever it was going to be.

“’Scuse, me.”

“Pardon.”

“So sorry, was that your foot?”

“Don’t mind us.”

Eventually, after much squeezing past, and with incredibly red faces, they managed to reach the free seats which were only just wide enough for them all to cram into provided they held their breath and tucked their elbows.

“Well this is cosy, isn’t it?” Her brother whispered to her with a grin partly concealed by his scarf. Alice glanced back the way they had come at all the students glaring crossly at them.

“Quite,” she replied dubiously.

As they all gazed down at the lake the Mr Crouch wound up his undoubtedly scintillating speech and walked off the platform to be replaced by the three champions. All wearing thick robes and what appeared to be not much else.

“They’re not getting INTO the lake, are they?” Hermione asked with horror in her voice. “It must be freezing in there! They’ll catch hypothermia!”

Whether they would or not, there was an abrupt bang and the three champions suddenly stripped their robes off to reveal various styles of swimwear and dived into the rippling, grey depths of the lake. Alice and her friends watched for a full minute, waiting for them to reappear, but nothing happened.

“Colin,” Hermione leaned forward and tapped the third year who was in the row in front on the shoulder. He lowered his camera, poised readily for any drama, and turned around. “What’s going on? We missed the start. What is the task?”

“Ooh, it’s a good one!” He enthused, every bit as irrepressible as he had been in first year. He and his brother, who was standing next to him and bouncing up and down in an attempt both to keep warm and to see over the heads of taller students, were both wearing matching red scarves with enormous yellow snitches all over them. “They’ve got to get to the bottom of the lake and recover something precious to them, which has been taken, and they’ve only got an hour to do it in!”

“Well, that sounds like it will be fun to watch,” Hermione remarked drily as she straightened up.

“You never know,” Harry told her with a grin, “maybe they’ll still have to wrestle the squid.”

“Is this going to be it?” Ron finally asked after ten minutes of staring at the glassy surface of the lake as they shivered and stamped their feet. “They dragged us all the way down here to watch the lake? I’ve spent more interesting afternoons at my great-aunt Mildred’s... well, almost anyway.” He glanced towards the enormous clock which had been mounted on the judges’ platform. “It’ll be ages until this is finished!”

A further twenty minutes in Harry, Ron and Neville had just begun their hundredth game of hangman on a piece of scrap parchment, as Hermione continued to determinedly watch the lake, and Alice idly wondered why they hadn’t installed some sort of magical underwater camera to relay the events to students; it would have made the whole experience much more entertaining. She was just trying to work out how such a device might work and the spells required to project the view onto an enormous screen when there was a commotion in the middle of the lake.

“What’s that? What’s happening?” Hermione squinted to try and improve her view as she elbowed the boys urgently. “Pay attention, will you? Something is happening!”

The boys scrambled to their feet along with half the students around them who seemed to have been caught napping. “Is that Fleur?” Ron asked.

“Has she completed the task? I can’t see if she’s holding anything.” Harry’s question was soon answered as a bedraggled and shivering Fleur was hauled back up onto the platform by several Beauxbatons students and Madame Maxime who had rushed over and seemed to pick the girl up bodily from the water and deposited her on the boards before wrapping her in her own cloak. From their vantage point the Gryffindors could see that she seemed upset, her normally pristine hair was wet, tousled and full of various pieces of aquatic vegetation. Her hands gesticulated wildly as she described what had happened to her. From the actions Alice wasn’t sure if the Giant Squid had tried to eat her or if she had encountered a swarm of disgruntled fish.

“What do you suppose happened?” Hermione asked again, curious as ever. “Maybe she got tangled up in the pondweed?”

“We’re about to find out,” Neville pointed towards Dumbledore as the Headmaster walked sedately over to the commotion and spoke a few words with Madame Maxime and Fleur. After conversing for a few moments he returned to the desk and addressed the student body at large.

“It would seem,” his magically magnified voice carried towards them on the frozen air, “that Miss Delacour has run afoul of a school of grindylows and as such was unable to complete the task. The treasure which she had to retrieve will remain at the bottom of the lake until such time as the other champions have returned after which they will all receive their scores. I believe Miss Delacour deserves a round of applause for her very good effort.” He led the clapping which was a little half hearted as most students were too bored or frozen to put much effort into it. Really, the Triwizard Tournament was meant to be exciting. What was the point if they couldn’t see anything?

Things went back to the dull state they had previously occupied as Fleur was shepherded into a small tent, presumably to be handed some warm clothes and a steaming mug of something. Personally Alice would have liked a hot chocolate right about now. Bored with watching water, which was about as stimulating as observing paint dry, Alice fell to looking at the students and seeing where her friends were sitting. Luna wasn’t difficult to spot as her hat of choice for this task seemed to be an enormous Giant Squid spurting bubbles from its tentacles. It occurred to Alice to wonder where on earth the girl purchased the creations from?

Finally, after much searching she spotted Fred and George. “Ron, what’s wrong with your brothers?” Rather than watching the lake, being bored or finding some other form of entertainment as everyone else seemed to be doing they had their heads bent together and were whispering fiercely to each other.

“What’s not wrong with them?” Was Ron’s helpful response.

Alice rolled her eyes and looked back at them, they seemed to be arguing about something, waving their hands towards the judges platform and throwing ugly glares in that direction every few minutes. Looking that way Alice saw Ludo Bagman from the Ministry shift uncomfortably in his seat, evidently aware that he was the object of their hostile attention. Really, what was going on with those two? She was just about to ask Ron again when an enormous cheer was thrown up by the crowd as a distant head bobbed to the surface of the lake and someone in Hogwarts colours began swimming for the shore. As Cedric got closer Alice could see a frozen, disorientated Cho Chang clinging to him as he paddled valiantly. The girl looked so bedraggled and lost, that any jealousy Alice might have felt at her being selected as the thing Cedric would miss most, was replaced by a great swell of pity.

As the students around them continued cheering Cedric and Cho clambered onto the platform and waved tiredly. Mere minutes afterwards Viktor Krum appeared, his features shrinking down from what looked to have been a shark’s head as he crested the waves, and towing a younger boy who looked to be his brother. As this was going on Fleur Delacour, now wearing thick fur robes which had been procured from the tent appeared to become increasingly anxious, hopping from one delicate foot to the other as she jabbered in French to Madame Maxime.

“What do you suppose that’s about?” Harry shouted to his sister over the roar of the suddenly awake crowd.

“She probably wants to know who her person she would miss the most was,” Alice reasoned after a moment’s thought. “Will they fetch them now do you think?”

“Dumbledore said they would, didn’t he?”

His question was answered moments later as the oddest looking creatures, and she had seen a fair few, broke from the water carrying a small, blonde girl between them who could only have been Fleur’s sister. Their silvery hair was identical, as were the wide blue eyes that looked around in a fearful daze at her rescuers and the roaring crowd. The creatures were grey in colour with wide, flat faces set with orb-like yellow eyes and hideous teeth. From their heads green hair trailed, fanning out in the water around them and across their narrow shoulders which glistened with tiny scales. They were creatures Alice had only ever seen in drawings; she hadn’t even realised that any lived in the Hogwarts lake.

“Merpeople,” she breathed, utterly enraptured, just as Fleur screamed her sister’s name and rushed down to the water again.

Once Dumbledore had spoken to the creatures in a series of whining screeches, they had been dispatched and some semblance of order had been restored to the proceedings he bent heads with the other judges and after a moment’s conferral addressed the audience once more.

“It would seem now that we are all firmly back on dry land, that it is time to deliver the scores. After discussion with my fellow judges we have decided to award the points as follows. Despite being one minute over the time limit, Mr Cedric Diggory was the first to return with his hostage and therefore will receive forty-seven points. Second was Mr Victor Krum and he shall receive forty points for his efforts. Lastly Miss Fleur Delacour, who, although she did not succeed in returning with her hostage, put forth a valiant effort. She shall therefore be awarded twenty-five points.”

The stands erupted with joy as the Hogwarts students realised that not only had their champion won his task, but that he was now in the lead going into the final. It was just the news they had needed to give their spirits a lift after weeks of gloom and fear. Alice joined in enthusiastically with the others putting the worry to the back of her mind.

There wasn’t a common room in the castle that night which didn’t hold a small celebratory party, apart perhaps from the Slytherins, though she suspected the largest party would definitely be in Hufflepuff. Alice and her friends indulged on pumpkin juice and some truly delicious cake, courtesy of Ron’s brothers, as they debated what the final task might be.

“I just hope it was more interesting that this one,” was Ron’s comment.

During a lull in the evening Alice tried her best to corner the twins and question them about their argument and what they had against Ludo Bagman. They evaded all her carefully probing questions however and in the end George simply rapped her gently on the top of her head and told her to be less nosy before walking away leaving her as curious as ever.

March showed no signs of lessening the icy hold which seemed to have gripped the castle. The Gryffindors spent Ron’s birthday huddled in a swathe of jumpers by the fire in the common room, eating the fudge Mrs Weasley had sent and arguing over who had cheated at exploding snap. Fred and George added a little variety to the end of the day by presenting their younger brother with an enormous plastic spider they had found in a joke shop somewhere. Ron promptly shrieked and dropped the thing into the flames where it sizzled and popped as the twins laughed uproariously and Alice attempted to berate them for their meanness and keep a straight face at the same time. She wasn’t sure how thoroughly she succeeded. Once the commotion had died down a glowering Ron swore he would buy something truly evil in revenge from Zonko’s the next time he went.

Revenge would have to be delayed however as the following Saturday they were informed that yet again their visit to Hogsmeade had been cancelled. Taking advantage of a break in the icy rain which had been pelting the castle for weeks Harry and Alice had gone flying with the twins and Ginny, no one had told them they couldn’t do that, though Alice felt it was only a matter of time before some thought they were at risk on a broom and banned it until further notice too. Neville was writing to his grandmother again, whilst Ron had disappeared with again mumbling about promising to help Luna look for one of her fantastic creatures. Hermione, rather predictably, was in the Library. With exams drawing ever closer Hermione had practically taken up residence there, studying for her impossible number of subjects as well as researching defensive enchantments in whatever spare time she could conjure. Alice had taken to bringing her meals up from the Great Hall when she forgot to eat.

One they had finished their game Alice had wandered in search of her friend with Harry in tow. Meandering through the bookshelves looking for something to help her with the latest Potions essay she spotted her sitting by a desk next to the window and gave a wry smile. Bushy hair illuminated by a beam of late afternoon sun streaming through the window Hermione sat with her cheek resting on the pages of a particularly weighty looking tome. She was fast asleep.

“Hermione,” Alice whispered going over and gently clearing a space for their homework amidst the stacks of books Hermione had constructed. “Hermione.” The brunette gave a gentle murmur and slept on.

“I don’t get it,” Harry looked askance at all the titles, “how can she be taking this many subjects, it’s not possible, it’s -”

“Like magic?” His sister interrupted. Harry grinned at her.

“Oh, what are you doing here?” Hermione had finally woken up. “Was I asleep? Oh Merlin, I am going to fall so behind with my study plan.”

“Hermione,” Alice plonked herself into a free seat. “Take a break for a minute, a short break won’t make you fail anything. You’re going to burn out at this rate.” Wide, dark shadows were visible beneath her friend’s eyes.

“Eat something.” Harry laid a pumpkin pasty down on the table and gazed imploringly at her until she laughed and consented to eat it.

“Fine! But only a short break.”

A short break and some study later, the three of them were still sitting at the table, the red sun setting brilliantly outside the window. Alice was trying to explain the exact properties of the various ingredients necessary for a wit-sharpening potion to her brother, something Hermione had given up on half an hour before, when there was a commotion by the door.

“Harry, have you heard? Have you heard what’s happened?” Ron came dashing into the Library, ignoring the menacing tut emitted by Madam Pince and raced towards their table waving a letter in his hand. Behind him Ginny and Luna followed swiftly in his wake. The grim expression on Ginny’s face, coupled with the fact that Luna was actually running set Alice instantly on the alert.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s -” Ron stopped and glanced around at the occupants of the Library, irritable for having their study interrupted. “I just got a letter from Mum,” he said in a more hushed tone, “it’s bad. Really bad.”

Hermione folded her arms across the pile of books she had just been caught napping on. “Well, spit it out then. What’s happened?”

Alice notice Ron was white and the hands which held the letter trembled slightly. “There’s been a breakout from Azkaban,” he whispered.

“WHAT?!” Hermione exploded, generating several more glares from those trying to study around them.

Alice shook her head, trying to clear her ears and understand. Surely she couldn’t have heard that properly?

“Azkaban?”

“Yeah, they’re trying to hush it up so they don’t cause a panic or something, it’s stupid really, I mean who would panic, I’m not panicking, you’re certainly not panicking, why would they think people would -”

“Ron, you’re babbling,” his sister informed him.

“A breakout?” Harry repeated.

“Last night.” Ginny told them. “Mum’s not sure yet how many have gotten out, the Ministry is in uproar apparently and Dad hasn’t come home from work since it happened, but she thinks it might be some high profile Death Eaters.”

“How many do they think it might be?” Hermione whispered looking green at the same time as Alice asked, “how did they get out?”

“She’s not sure how many, says it could be a fair few whatever that’s meant to mean. I think she was trying not to worry us too much.”

Alice couldn’t see how that would ever have been a possibility with such a letter.

“Maybe they had help to escape,” Luna observed calmly. Now that they were discussing the topic she seemed to have recovered from the sense of urgency which had induced her to run. Alice nodded grimly. Given everything that had happened, it seemed the most likely scenario.

“Do you think this was what Sirius meant when he said that they had something big planned?” She asked her brother.

“I dunno,” he responded. “Could be, but then...”

Alice had no desire to go and find dinner anymore. The thought that there were Death Eaters out there was one thing, she had always known there were and until this last year they had been almost entirely inactive, scuttling back to whatever foul lair they had originally emerged from after the fall of Voldemort. Knowing that there were those who had gone to Azkaban for their crimes, and that they were now on the loose and probably seeking revenge. That was another kettle of fish altogether.

“What’s wrong Weasle-bee?” An entirely unwelcome voice cut through her thoughts. “You look like you’ve swallowed a toad, bad news from home?” Malfoy, as gloating and insufferable as ever, rounded the corner of a nearby book shelf, his usual shadows in tow, and smirked at them. How much had he heard? Everything judging by the self-satisfied expression on his face. She wondered if he had received a similar, but much more enthusiastic letter from home and whether or not he knew any of those who had escaped. She would put good galleons on the fact that his father certainly would.

“Shove off, Malfoy,” Ron growled, his fingers twitching towards his wand.

“Touchy,” the Slytherin smirked. He was dressed from head to foot in black and Alice fleetingly wondered if it was intended to make him appear more menacing. She wouldn’t put it past him.

“Haven’t you got somewhere better to be?” Harry asked him irritably. “Is your Dad not throwing a welcome home party for all the escapees or something?”

Malfoy’s wordless smile answered any questions Alice may have had on the subject. His grey eyes glittered maliciously. “Time’s running out, Potters,” he informed them both. “There won’t be room for blood traitors, filth and mudbloods in Hogwarts for much longer.”

Harry was on his feet in a flash, wand in hand and chair toppling to the floor as his face burned with anger. “Say that again you rotten piece of -”

“OUT!” They all jumped in unison as Madam Pince, quivering with rage, descended on them, spectacles flashing in the emerging candlelight. “Out, all of you! I will not tolerate fighting in my Library! Ten points each from your houses. Get out, now!”

They all scrambled to collect their books as the Librarian continued to rant and the other students peppered across the Library turned to stare. The Slytherins melted back into the shadows from which they had sprung as Alice grabbed her homework and made for the door the others hot on her heels. Hermione decided to simply abandon half her books, so terrifying was Madam Pince.

“And you can stay out for a whole week,” she screeched at their retreating backs.

A/N: What will Hermione do without the Library for a whole week?! I know this chapter was fairly gloomy, but hopefully it worked and let’s be honest our heroes have had far too easy a time of it this year for me to not make them suffer a little... I always wondered what it must have been like to watch the Second Task rather than to participate in it, so I thought I’d try and capture that. Please R&R!

12. Siblings and Sneezes

Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, nor am I ever likely to be JK Rowling. I believe that space is currently being filled by a rather talented woman who created the characters (bar one) used in this story. All I do is take them out of the box and play with them a bit. I promise to put them back when I’m done. Enjoy!

Siblings and Sneezes

Whatever Fudge was doing to hush up the news of the breakout it seemed to be working, because for as long as they poured over the Prophet for the next week there was no mention of it. Hermione struggled with her banishment from the Library, but she had already borrowed so many books that, as Ron pointed out, she had half of its contents in her dormitory anyway so it didn’t really matter. This earned him a murderous scowl.

For her part Alice tried to blank out the events of the outside world by throwing herself into her classes. Mad Eye Moody’s was just as unpredictable and downright mental as he had been all term, insisting on attempting to perform basic curses on them to teach them how to block. Alice wasn’t sure how orthodox this approach was as she watched Seamus stagger around the classroom one afternoon having failed to block a jelly-legs curse correctly as Ron’s robes smouldered gently having been set on fire by their teacher earlier. She did however pay attention to every single thing he said and worked her hardest in every class. With things the way they were you never knew when they might come in handy. When Moody informed her one particular counter-curse wasn’t half bad and she might make a decent witch yet she took it as a definite compliment.

In Transfiguration drawn looking McGonagall was teaching them about Animagi, something which Alice already knew quite a lot about, partly because she was Alice, and partly because of her quizzing Sirius about it the previous summer. Paying avid attention to the professor during the lesson she noticed that she looked slightly more ruffled than usual and occasionally darted concerned glances in Harry and Alice’s direction.

“Professor?” She stopped by McGonagall’s desk at the end of the lesson. “I...” She couldn’t think of the right thing to say and fumbled for her half thought out sentence uselessly for a few moments. In the end she gave up and opted for a simple question. “When a person becomes an Animagus, what decides the animal they become?”

Professor McGonagall smiled kindly at her knowing full well that hadn’t been what she wanted to say. “It is a combination of many things Miss Evans, usually determined by the individual’s personality, traits they may have which are similar to the animal they become and so on. Each of us has within us a certain magical essence which dictates the strength of our magic and our particular aptitudes. In your case Transfiguration and from what I hear Charms, in Mr Potter’s,” she raised her voice as Harry walked past the desk, “trouble. These things all come together to form our Animagus, rather in the same way as they form a person’s Patronus.”

Alice nodded, still trying to say what she actually wanted which was that McGonagall shouldn’t worry about them and to ask if there was anything that they should really be worrying about. In the end she mumbled a thank you and went to hurry out of the room.

“Miss Evans.”

She stopped in the doorway and looked back at the Professor.

“Keep your chin up.”

The rest of the term seemed to speed and crawl past at intervals. With several days seeming to rush past in a tangled jumble whilst a single week could take forever. Eventually however, the Easter holidays arrived. Given everything that had happened, most parents seemed to have decided that they wanted their children where they could see them. What with the fact that Alice and her friends knew even more than everyone else they thought a visit to their families probably wasn’t a bad idea either. From things he had said in his letters Alice suspected that Sirius had a considerable fight on his hands to get Dumbledore to agree to Harry’s removal from the castle, but in the end they were allowed provided they received an escort to Hogsmeade from where they were to Floo directly to the cottage.

“There you are!” Sirius sprang up from a chair next to the fire where he had evidently been waiting for them as they both came tumbling through. “Here, let me take that,” he scooped the rucksack from Alice’s shoulders before she had a chance to protest.

“How are things? Has there been any news?” Harry asked, the minute he had dusted the soot from himself. “You didn’t say much in your letters and I don’t think Ron’s parents wanted to worry us so they wouldn’t -”

His godfather interrupted him with a raised hand. “Enough of that, there will be plenty of time for that later. For now, let’s have something to eat.”

Alice caught sight of a pan sitting on the countertop. “Sirius, you haven’t been... cooking, have you?” She gave him a nervous look.

“As a matter of fact I have, and there’s no need to look so sceptical,” he grinned. “Remus taught me a few basics so that when he moves out I can fend for myself. On tonight’s menu we have...” he mimed a drum roll, “boiled potatoes and beef stew.”

“Did you make this all by yourself?” she asked, mildly impressed despite herself, when she went to take a look. Harry crept up behind her and gave the pot an experimental sniff to check for burning.

“Well, Remus added all the ingredients,” he admitted, “but I supervised the cooking process.”

“What did I do?” Lupin entered the kitchen from the tiny study, a book in hand.

Alice smiled at him in greeting; he looked healthier than she had ever seen him despite the shadows beneath his eyes and the old scars which still crisscrossed his face. The clothes he was wearing were new or barely patched and he had put on a little more weight.

“You made dinner for us all, thank you.”

“Not at all,” he came across and shook hands with them both, “call it my way of welcoming you home. It’s good to see you both. Besides,” he added belatedly, “I’ve sworn an oath to the effect that it was all Sirius’ cooking.”

“Of course it was,” Harry smirked at his godfather.

The four of them settled down to dinner and once Alice was as full of potatoes, stew, apple pie and custard, as she ever thought she could get they went to sit by the fire in the sitting room.

“So,” she didn’t understand how Harry could have eaten so much and still want to get down to business immediately, “what’s been happening?”

Lupin and Sirius looked across at each other for a moment before the Professor, Alice still couldn’t think of him in any other way, shrugged and their godfather scratched his ear as he thought. “Not much yet,” he admitted eventually. “A few rumblings and rumours, but they seem to have gone to ground since the breakout. The Ministry are covering it up because they don’t want to look like fools and cause a panic, not after the year they’ve had, so we’re on our own in terms of collecting information.”

Despite the fact she had already mentioned it in her letters Alice related what Malfoy had said to them in the Library again. “What does he know?” She asked looking levelly up at Sirius from where she was curled on the floor. “He obviously knows more about the breakouts than he’s letting on, was his father involved?”

“Lucius is so slippery I doubt you could ever get anything to stick to him,” Sirius grunted.

“But you think he was?” Harry persisted looking between the two adults.

“More than likely.”

“Especially given some of the people who escaped,” Lupin added. “Dolohov, he was a mentor of sorts to Lucius, Augustus Rookwood, the two of them used to work at the Ministry together as You Know Who’s Spies, the Lestranges, well, Bellatrix Lestrange is his sister-in-law.” The names were vaguely familiar to Alice, though it was a subject she had made a conscious decision not to research too thoroughly so as not to make Harry uncomfortable. Perhaps, she made a mental note, it was time to change this. Lupin’s last statement though came as something of a shock.

“Wait – Malfoy’s aunt is a Death Eater too?” She wasn’t sure why this information was quite so surprising, after all they had all but confirmed that his father was one. Still it was one thing to know that he had one unpleasant family member, but to know that the whole lot were evil to the bone... well, it was no wonder he had turned out as he did. He was positively bottled sunshine in comparison.

“She’s his wife Narcissa’s sister, she, her husband and his brother Rabastan were all locked up at the same time. And now they’re all out.”

“Narcissa?!” Harry had latched onto the same piece of information she had, they both swivelled to look at Sirius. “Narcissa Malfoy?”

Sirius almost looked abashed for a moment, he certainly squirmed uncomfortably before his expression switched to something bordering on defiant. “I told you my family were an unpleasant lot. There’s a reason I ran away when I was sixteen.”

“How many escaped altogether?” Harry asked, changing the subject.

Sirius let out a long sigh. “We can’t know for certain, but we think at least ten of them got out. They blew a filthy great hole in the walls to do it as well. Apparently the Dementors are seething.”

Alice shuddered at the thought of an enraged Dementor and there was silence for a minute as they digested this information. As no one spoke she alternated between staring at the charred specks and tatty weave of the old, Persian rug Sirius had picked up from somewhere, and exchanging worried, confused glances with her brother. She could tell he was thinking the same as her; if a few, former, opportunistic Death Eaters who had spent the last thirteen years living comfy lives had managed to wreak havoc so far, what would ten rabid, Azkaban escapees do?

She quirked her eyebrow at Harry in question. What were they going to do now?

Ask. His head inclined towards their godfather.

She frowned slightly. Harry should ask.

He gave a slight twitch of the head. She should.

“Will one of you please just spit it out?” There was a chuckle in Sirius’ voice and Alice became aware that they had been conducting a silent pantomime.

“Sorry,” Alice blushed at their rudeness.

“Don’t apologise,” Sirius ruffled her hair, “I haven’t seen the two of you do that since you were babies, it was good to see. James used to swear the two of you were psychic. You could always seem to tell what the other was thinking, even before you could say any words.”

She blushed again, more from the surge of emotion she suddenly experienced than anything else and turned a beaming smile on her brother and godfather, she sometimes forgot that Sirius had known them before she had any memory of him. It was nice to hear stories of a time when they had been a proper family, untouched by tragedy.

“So,” Sirius intruded on her moment, “what were you two miming about down on the floor there?”

“What do we do now?” Harry asked. “I mean, we’re not just going to sit here and wait for something to happen are we?”

From the expression on his face Alice could tell Sirius was considering his answer carefully, his gaze kept flickering towards Lupin as though they too were having some sort of silent deliberation and from the corner of her eye Alice could see the werewolf shake his head slightly. A slight frown flickered across Sirius’ face for a second before he looked back at his godchildren. “Of course we’re doing something. You didn’t think Dumbledore was just going to sit around and wait for Fudge to come to his senses did you?”

“What?” Harry asked, leaning forward eagerly.

“We’re organising,” was his response. Alice heard rather than saw Lupin groan slightly and slump in his seat. She was going to assume they weren’t meant to be told anything. Still, if anyone deserved to know it was Harry. “Before, during the last war, a group of us fought back. Dumbledore’s been trying to regroup, those of us who are left, and have us keep our eyes and ears open. Ever since the attack on St Mungo’s it’s been clear that this isn’t going to go away by itself. We still have contacts inside the Ministry who are able to let us know what’s going on there too.”

“Has there been any fighting?”

“Not yet,” Lupin finally contributed to the conversation, “and certainly none that should involve you two. Dumbledore has issued express instructions that you’re to be kept well away from it all.”

If the situation hadn’t been so grave Alice would have laughed at the pout this produced in Harry. He muttered something incomprehensible about their headmaster, which she was fairly sure was far from complimentary.

“Right,” Sirius finally seemed to accept the hinting glares Lupin was throwing in his direction. “I think it might be best if we all headed for bed, or we’ll all end up exhausted tomorrow and we won’t have time for any Quidditch.” It was a pathetic attempt at distraction, but the twins couldn’t help but take the bait.

“What do you suppose is really going on?” Harry, his face illuminated by wandlight, asked her later as they sat on his bedroom floor. She had crept in after all the lights were turned out to continue their conversation.

“Well,” she considered, tracing the flickering pattern of her pyjamas with one finger, “they might not be doing any fighting now, but it certainly sounds as though they plan too. I mean we know this group probably did some fighting last time and if it came to it I can’t see Sirius, or even Dumbledore for that matter sitting idly by instead of fighting back. They do say Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort ever feared.” Two sets of eyes, dark in the gloom, met worriedly.

“Everything’s going to change now, isn’t it?” He asked.

Alice nodded reluctantly and gave his hand a squeeze. They sat like that for a moment before she slowly got to her feet and padded across the thick carpet, the weave muffling the sound of her footsteps. “Alright, that’s enough doom and gloom for one night. Go and get some sleep, idiot.”

“Goodnight yourself, idiot.”

She grinned. “G’night.”

Sirius clearly aimed to keep them distracted for the duration of their holidays, organising small games of Quidditch, awkward when there were only four of them to play, playing wizards chess with them and somehow persuading them to try to teach him to cook – again. For Alice it was a week of pure bliss, augmented by the joyous expression she caught frequently on Harry’s face as he experienced his first real, memorable week of a happy home life. And if Sirius made them swear not to go beyond the walls separating the cottage from the surrounding fields and she suspected powerful protective enchantments had been put in place, well she tried not to dwell on it.

The end of the week came all too soon and the two of them soon found themselves bidding their godfather a reluctant fair well and taking the Floo back to Hogsmeade. Whether by coincidence or design they found Ron and Hermione waiting for them there and the four of them trekked through the snow towards the castle with the rest of the students thronging the road from the railway station.

“I mean,” Ron was complaining about his brothers almost from the minute he stepped into the Entrance Hall, “you should have seen them; it was enough to drive anybody loopy. Just because they can do magic outside of school now they do it all the time. Levitating their breakfast into the bowl – you should have seen the mess that made, apparating every ten feet, drying their clothes with heating charms – George set his socks on fire, Mum was furious. I didn’t notice before the end of term because we were still at school, but the summer holidays are going to be a nightmare! Can you just imagine…” He continued in this vein as Harry, Alice and Hermione grinned at each other. It was nice to know some things never changed.

“Neville!” Alice spotted her friend halfway up the stairs and rushed over. “How were your holidays? How is your Gran?”

“Hi, Alice,” Neville smiled, looking slightly less strained than he had before the holidays. His Gran had obviously seen fit to give him a haircut too and had cropped it sharply just above his ears making them seem to stick out all the more. “Well, thank you and the holidays were good, Gran was a bit… overprotective with everything that’s been going on, but that’s, well that’s normal, but she says she won’t let that stop her. We went…” he glanced at the others who were still walking up the stairs towards them and lowered his voice. “We went to visit my parents and they’re ok, after everything that happened.”

“That’s great, Neville! That’s really great.” She gave him a hug meaning every word she said.

“Oi, Evans!” Two mocking voices called from the top of the stairs. “Where’s our hug?”

“You don’t deserve one, you pair of miscreants,” she informed Fred and George as they finished climbing the stairs towards them and were joined by the rest of the Gryffindor fourth years, “not if you’ve been giving your poor mother grey hairs all holidays as someone has been informing me.”

“Us?” George pretended to look offended. “We were the model of good behaviour all week. Besides it makes a change from red.”

“And we were only practicing our spells, Midget. Aren’t you always telling us we should study more? You wouldn’t want us to fail our O.W.L.’s now, would you?”

Alice looked from their grinning faces, to Harry and Neville who looked amused, but quickly tried to hide it, even Hermione had a smile playing about her lips, to Ron who gave a disgruntled mutter and wandered off towards the common room. “I give up,” she finally announced. “You two are just a lost cause.” She turned to follow Ron.

“But you love us for it really!” They yelled after her.

Alice rolled her eyes and climbed towards the common room where her trunk was waiting to be unpacked.

"So what did Sirius say?" It was the first thing Hermione said to her when they were alone in the dormitory.

Alice chuckled wryly. "I had a great holiday, Hermione, thanks for asking. How was yours?"

Her best friend ducked her head shamefacedly. "It was lovely, thank you. I had a really nice time with my parents and it was nice just to... forget everything - that sounds terrible when I say it like that."

"Don't be daft," Alice told her, she knew her friend was keeping the gravity of affairs in the wizarding world from her family so as not to alarm them. "I'm sure we'd all like to get a break from it."

"So, what did Sirius say then?” Her friend asked again.

Alice relayed what her godfather had told her over the week as the two girls unpacked their things. They were still discussing the revelations regarding theMalfoy family, the Lestranges and their connection to Sirius when the other girls blundered into the room squealing excitedly about something. Apparently Sally Anne had acquired a puffskein during the break. Alice wondered how long it would last with Crookshanks on the loose.

Despite the welcome respite the holidays had provided for many, the school remained on edge. Every morning the Prophet was awaited with baited breath despite its continued lack of any information and Alice would often see teachers whispering together in the corridors only to break off sharply when they saw a student approaching. Still, there was the Third Task to focus on and in Hermione's case at least, exams, and lots of them.

"You do realise, of course," she kept informing them, “that next year it'll be our O.W.L.'s we have to study for? It's no laughing matter - Ron, stop that," she chastised him as he attempted to levitate a paper aeroplane to land on Eloise Midgeon's head. "Pay attention." She waved the study timetable, the one she made every year and the boys never followed, in his face. "This is serious."

"Sorry, Hermione."

Alice caught his eye and grinned. Secretly she was still amazed that Hermione was managing to keep up with all her extra classes and revision. True she did still have enormous, dark smudges beneath her eyes and nodded off occasionally at breakfast, but she was still, by and large, a functioning human being. And if she did sometimes get snappy with Harry and Ron then they usually deserved it.

As the weather got warmer it became more difficult to study inside, but unfortunately they usually required a small library's worth of books and hauling them all outside was impractical. So Alice was confined to the castle and reduced to gazing forlornly out of the window during her short study breaks, watching an enormous hedge take over her Quidditch pitch and wondering what in Merlin's name it had to do with the final task. She assumed it could only be related to that. The alternative was that Hagrid had taken up horticulture.

By May the weather had become hot and sultry and the heat was making the fourth years tired and irritable.

“Morning, Alice, o-light-of-our-lives,” George winked exaggeratedly at her as she sat down at the table for breakfast one morning. She replied with a wide yawn.

“Sociable in the morning isn’t she, Fred?”

“Very,” his twin agreed.

“Always,” Alice mumbled reaching for a steaming batch of toast which had just materialised onto a platter near her.

“Has Alicia forgiven you for setting that double-ended newt loose and letting it escape into her trunk?” Ginny asked conversationally.

“Thanks, Gin,” Fred sent a glower towards his sister who beamed cheerfully at him. “It’s nice to know we can rely on you to remind us of our finer moments.” Alicia had nearly shrieked down Gryffindor Tower before turning her wrath upon the twins for a good thirty minutes the other night. Apparently the newt had ruined most of her belongings in its attempt to escape.

“Ignore her, Evans,” Fred told her, “our youngest sibling has little or no value to add to the conversation.”

“S’not much of a conversation to begin with,” Alice muttered at him as she focused all her energy on buttering the bread and waking her brain up.

“Here,” George handed her a goblet. “Have some pumpkin juice; it’ll help.”

Without thinking Alice accepted the goblet and took a sip, it was only once she had done so that she realised who had handed it to her and the fact that they were now wearing a pair of identical grins and watching her avidly.

Groaning inwardly she set the juice back on the table. “What have you d- Achooo!” She sneezed explosively. “Wh- Aaachooooo!” Another one burst out of her, then another; by now all of her friends were staring and she felt her face flush with embarrassment and annoyance at the two.

“What have you done to her?” Harry asked the question she had been trying to get out, with more curiosity than she would have injected into the sentence.

“It’s just something we’ve been working on. Take one drop of the potion we slipped into the pumpkin juice and you should sneeze for up to an hour, enough to get you out of a class if you don’t want to go.”

“That’s awful,” Hermione exclaimed as Ron said, “That’s amazing.” Alice sneezed and couldn’t say anything. The glower she was directing towards Fred and George did the talking for her.

“Here you are,” Fred handed her an orange capsule as she sneezed three times in quick succession. “Take it,” he insisted as she continued to look askance at it and her eyes streamed. “It’ll stop the sneezing, I promise.”

Trying not to think about what horrible thing might be inflicted upon her if he was lying, Alice snatched the object, which looked rather like a small, boiled sweet and swallowed it. Then she waited. And waited.

The sneezing seemed to have stopped. She glanced suspiciously back up at Fred.

“Told you so.”

“What was that for?” She snapped.

Identical grins beamed back at her. “Well we’d tested them on ourselves -”

“- naturally, but we needed a neutral subject. Someone who wouldn’t object -”

“- and had a nose for pranks themselves. And we thought -”

“- given how naturally generous you are -”

“- that you wouldn’t mind volunteering.”

Alice was torn between eating the now cold toast on her plate and shoving it up Fred’s nose. She was saved from such a taxing decision when Hermione’s next exclamation drew her attention.

“Look at this,” she pointed at the Prophet, spread open on the table before her.

Alice rolled her eyes, glad she didn’t have to come to a decision. “You’re not still reading that rag, are you, Hermione?” It was a stupid question really. If words were put before her, Hermione would read them.

“This is important though.”

Harry leaned over his girlfriend’s shoulder. “What is it?”

Hermione pointed again at a tiny article shoved roughly in at the bottom of a column. “Mr Crouch is dead.”

“Dead? What do you mean dead?”

“As in deceased, Ronald,” Hermione frowned disapprovingly at him. “He’s no longer of this world. He is one who has kicked the bucket. Dead.”

“I’m not an idiot, Hermione, I know what dead means.”

She snorted. “You could have fooled me.”

Ron opened his mouth to argue, but Alice forestalled another spat between the two with a question of her own. “When?”

“Dunno,” Ginny had appeared at Hermione’s shoulder and was now frowning over the paper too, “it doesn’t say. Percy is going to be distraught. He really liked Mr Crouch.”

“Percy didn’t like Crouch,” Ron interjected, “he was in love with him. You should have heard him when he got the job. Totally obsessed. It wasn’t healthy.”

“So what does it say then?” Alice ignored Ron.

“Just that he was found dead in his home,” Hermione read. “That it was very sad and sudden and that he will be fondly remembered by his colleagues in the Ministry.”

They all went back to eating their breakfast in silence for a moment, or in Ron’s case with slightly less enthusiastic chewing, as they mulled things over.

“Do you reckon they’ll replace him in the Tournament?” Neville thought aloud. “I mean, there’s only one task left, do they need a Ministry official at it?”

Ron and Harry shrugged, Alice considered it, but Hermione, as ever, had an immediate answer. “Of course, they will. The Ministry can’t risk not having someone inside Hogwarts. Especially with everything going on at the moment.” It was a sobering prospect, and one which they all took a moment to consider. “Come on,” Hermione said eventually glancing at her watch. “We’d better get a move on or we’ll be late for class.”

Alice was tempted to ask her which of her many classes she was referring to, but she refrained and followed obediently.

A/N: Apologies for anyone who feels that all our intrepid Gryffindors have done for the last few chapters is eat dinner and read the paper. I’ve been giving them a break and letting them stock up on energy before everything kicks off! As ever please R&R, I do love you all for it!

13. A Brief History of Time

A Brief History of Time

A few days before the final task she was walking to dinner with the others, trailing slightly behind with Neville as she tried to explain to him the basic conjurative principles behind a soothing charm; it was slow progress. "Alice!"

She looked round at the sound of her name and flushed to the roots of her already red hair. Striding across the Entrance Hall looking as handsome as ever, was Cedric; in the corner she could see Cho and some of his friends waiting for him.

"Alice, hi," he smiled as he reached her and nodded towards Neville. "How are you?"
F-fine," she managed.

"Look," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "I realised I never did say thank you properly, for smoothing things over before the Yule Ball. You were terrific about it so I just wanted to say thank you, I guess."

"You're welcome." There was that funny swooping sensation in her stomach again. "It wasn't a problem, and I - I hope the Task goes well for you on Thursday."

"Thanks," he grinned again showing off those rows of even, white teeth. "Well, I guess I'll see you later!"

"Bye," she whispered to his retreating back. After a moment she became aware Neville was staring.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Before she could say anything else she was forced to leap quickly to the side as Fred and George came leaping down the stairs several at a time and landed right where she had been standing.

"What did Golden Boy want?" Fred scowled in the direction of the Hufflepuffs.

"Mind your own business," Alice told him.

"Why?" George wailed plaintively. "Yours is so much more interesting."

"I don't know, Evans, have we taught you nothing in your years at Hogwarts? You need to get some better friends."

"Better than you two, you mean? I was just thinking the same thing, come on Neville, let’s see what's for dinner. I'm starving." She looped her arm through her friend's and walked him towards the foody aroma wafting through the enormous oak doors.

Noticing his wide grin she asked him for the second time in as many minutes: "What?"

"It's nothing really, you're just funny when those two are around - not that you're not funny the rest of the time," he hastened to add worried he might have caused offence. "You're just different. You give as good as you get."

Alice blushed again, not knowing what to say, so she opted for nothing and went to sit down.

Dinner, Ron informed them eagerly the moment they appeared, was fantastic, so it was a very full and sleepy group of Gryffindors who found themselves winding their way back through the castle later that night. Alice was just making the mistake of thinking what a nice evening it had been, all things considered when they rounded a corner only to run straight into Malfoy and a large group of his followers. As well as the usual lumbering presence of Crabbe and Goyle they were also to be graced with Pansy Parkinson's supercilious smirk, Blaise Zabini who always looked as though he'd stepped on something foul and a scrawny, pimply boy Alice was sure was called Nott. None of them looked as though they were out for a casual evening stroll, especially one so far from the Slytherin common rooms. Malfoy had been increasingly insufferable since term restarted, lording it over the school and wearing the smuggest of grins whenever Harry and his friends came into sight. The exact grin he had plastered across his pale, pointed face at that moment.

She saw Harry reach reflexively for his wand.

"Now, Scarhead, that's not a very nice way to say hello, is it?" The Slytherins' wands were in their hands almost before Alice could blink. "Someone might take offence."

"Someone might get the right idea then," Harry growled.

Hermione groaned and from the corner of her eye Alice could see her trying to shoot warning glares at Harry who was steadfastly ignoring them. Alice slipped her hand into her pocket so her wand was within easy reach.

"Is Black enjoying his freedom? I'd ask if he had gotten used to the space, but from what I've heard his hovel is little bigger than a cell anyway, maybe it makes him feel at home."

"On the topic of family," Harry spat, riled by his mention of Sirius, "how's your Aunt?"

Malfoy's smile widened, but there was a glitter to his eyes which made Alice uncomfortable.

"Just leave it, Harry," Hermione told him. "He's not worth it."

"She's right, Harry," Neville added quietly earning himself a glare from the Slytherin.

"Shut your stupid, fat face, Longbottom. You're no better than your parents and you'll end up just like them."

“You be quiet about my Mum and Dad!” Neville’s face purpled rapidly as his hands fumbled for his wand. “Leave them alone!”

“Blithering idiots the pair of them,” Malfoy continued and Alice could start to feel her blood boil. She could see the others casting confused glances at Neville.

“Shut up, Malfoy,” she warned her voice steely.

“Shut it yourself, Potter. I’ll say what I want about his parents; I hear they’re a right pair of nutters, even compared to St Mungo’s usual -”

Alice didn’t need another invitation, the jet of light was leaving her wand almost before she knew what she had done. “Silencio!”

At exactly the same moment Neville had cast his own spell and the two collided explosively in front of the Slytherin knocking him backwards several paces into his friends. Struggling upright and attempting to wrench his robes back into place, Malfoy let out a snarl, or he would have had it not been for Alice’s spell. Instead his lips curled back in anger and his eyes narrowed in hate.

It was all the call to arms his cronies needed, jets of light suddenly whipped their way along the corridor and the Gryffindors had to dive to the side, conjuring shield charms as they went in order to protect themselves. Perhaps because of the fact it had combined with another spell, or perhaps because Alice’s concentration had lapsed, the spell on Malfoy seemed to give way after a few moments and a stream of curses and threats spewed from his mouth.

Spells flew around the around their heads, lighting up the walls with a rainbow of colours. Goyle howled as his engorged hand blew up like a balloon after being on the receiving end of one of Ron’s spells and Pansy Parkinson cursed with unladylike fluency after Alice reduced the bottoms of her robes to tattered threads..

“I’ll get you for that you filthy halfblood!” Her scream echoed along the corridor as she dived towards her only to be deflected by the shield Harry had conjured. His distraction was momentary, but it allowed Malfoy to seize the opportunity and attack Hermione who had turned to check on Neville.

“Look out!” Alice yelled, diving towards her friend’s unprotected back in an attempt to knock her out of the way. In the moment that she was airborne it was as though time slowed, she could see Hermione turn with a look of confusion on her face, eyes casting around for the threat, Ron and Neville rushed forwards too, but they were all too late. The spell hit Hermione squarely in the chest with a terrific bang just as Alice caught her arm and the two of them were thrown back into the boys. Dazed she looked up to see the gloating expression on Malfoy’s smug face before there was a sudden sound of cracking glass coupled with the feeling that the air around her had torn. As rush of wind buffeted her face and the world began to swim. Feeling sick she screwed her eyes tightly shut.

When she finally felt less queasy and opened them again Malfoy had gone. In fact the entire corridor in front of them was empty. Alice blinked. Where had they gone?

“Hermione,” she spoke at last, “what did you do?”

“Nothing,” her friend replied from the ground next to her. She looked as bewildered as Alice felt.

“Yes, you did,” Ron suddenly complained. “You’re squashing my feet can you please get up?”

The girls scrambled to their feet and Alice was just in the process of giving Harry and Neville a hand to theirs’ when a soft squeak escaped from Hermione.

“What’s wrong? What is that?” Harry asked.

Hermione remained silent, her hair a tangled mess and her robes pulled askew, she held the Time Turner in her hand, the chain still securely around her neck. The Time Turner which now appeared to be cracked and leaking sand at an alarming rate. As Alice watched in horror Hermione turned the remnants of the hourglass and the only thing to come of it was that grains of glittering sand trickled through her friend’s fingers to pool on the floor.

“Hermione, what happened?” Ron repeated Harry’s question. “Where has Malfoy gone?”

Hermione ignored them, a stunned and slightly nauseous expression on her face. With a sinking feeling of her own Alice turned to face the window. It had been dinner time before, the last of the evening sun had been streaming in through a window at the end of the corridor, a window which was now cast in shadow as rain pelted down outside and thick, purpling clouds blotted out the light.

“Oh Merlin,” Alice moaned, her quick brain didn’t take long to put two and two together.

“What?” The boys were beginning to panic now, the confusion on their faces being replaced by concern at the thought of whatever had turned Hermione into a veritable statue.

“Malfoy hasn’t gone anywhere,” she whispered trying to take deep steadying breaths. “He’s exactly where we left him I should imagine.”

Harry looked from his sister to his girlfriend as Ron scratched his nose in bewilderment and Neville tried to neaten out his rumpled robes. “Will someone please explain what in the name of Merlin is going on?” He was getting testy now.

Alice looked to Hermione, unsure whether she would or even could speak. It was her secret in part after all. Still, they all definitely deserved to know now. Besides Hermione looked as though she would vomit if she opened her mouth.

“That’s a Time Turner,” Alice told them eventually, nodding towards the ruined golden object in Hermione’s hand. “Malfoy must have hit it when he fired the curse at Hermione.”

“And a Time Turner is…” Ron seemed no less perplexed.

Hermione suddenly spoke up then, her voice hushed and trembling as she fought for the words to explain. Her brown eyes were wide and scared as she finally looked up at them all. “It’s what I’ve been using for the last two years to get to all of my classes. McGonagall gave it to me in Third Year, the night we arrived off the Hogwarts Express and Harry had been attacked by Dementors. I go to one class then use the Time Turner to go back and do the time over. Except this time I go to another class instead. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone.”

“I forced her to tell me when I worked it out for myself,” Alice told her brother as he opened his mouth, a familiar, stubborn set to his jaw. He shut it again with a snap, though it was clear he was still peeved.

It seemed to take them a few minutes to put the pieces of the disjointed puzzle the girls had given them together. It was Neville who spoke first. “So if it’s broken now, and Malfoy is gone… does that mean that we’ve gone back in time?”

There was a horrible silence as they let the prospect of this sink in.

“Actually,” Hermione was close to tears now. “We could be any time. The Time Turner normally only goes back, but since it’s -”

“Exploded?” Ron added helpfully.

“Yes… well,” she sniffed, “well we can’t know which way we travelled, or how far and we… we…” A sob burst from her lips and Harry stumbled forward to put an awkward arm around her, patting her shoulder as she dissolved into tears.

“We can’t get back,” Alice finished her sentence, feeling as grey as she probably looked at the prospect.

They would have spent longer working themselves into a frightened froth about this if it hadn’t been for the sound of footsteps sounding around the bend in the corridor.

“Come on,” Hermione seemed suddenly to snap out of whatever fug she had been in. “We can’t be found here. We need to move.” Grabbing Harry and Ron’s arm she began to drag them along the corridor as Alice and Neville trotted along behind. “Quickly!” she hissed. “We don’t know where else we are, we can’t be seen!”

Alice decided not even to bother working out which part of that statement confused her the most.

Sliding into a nearby cupboard they were just in time as not a moment later someone went stomping past, muttering unintelligibly about something. Alice listened until the heavy, uneven footsteps had dwindled before she allowed herself to let out the smallest sigh of relief.

“So, now what do we do?” Neville looked to them for answers as they lit there wands. “I mean, is this it? Are we stuck in the past?”

Alice moved a mop away from her eyes so that she could better look to Hermione for answers. Well read as she was it was her friend’s Time Turner and Alice knew she had done more research on the subject.

“Well... Not necessarily, I mean if we’ve only been sent back in time and it was for say... a week then we could in theory just live through the week, making sure we’re not seen obviously, and then resume our lives from the point at which we left.”

“If we’ve gone back its more than just a week,” Alice cut in before the boys could say anything.

“How do you know?” Harry frowned at her. Hermione did too, but this was more because she had been contradicted than out of the same confusion.

“Because it’s raining cats and dogs outside,” Alice explained patiently. “And it certainly hasn’t done that in the last few weeks.”

There was silence again as they considered the daunting prospect that there was every chance they might be completely lost in time with no way back. She’d never see Sirius again. The thought hit her like a brick and she was suddenly blinking back tears, furiously refusing to cry in front of her friends. She’d never see the Weasley’s or Luna or even Archimedes, she had a soft spot for the bird despite the fact it was violent and foul tempered. Swallowing down the mounting panic she felt at the thought she might never see her friends and family again Alice focused on the present. What were they going to do?

“So what are we going to do, then?” Ron echoed her question.

Harry picked up the chain hanging loosely around Hermione’s neck and examined the twisted remains of the Time Turner. There was still a fine trickle of sand escaping from it; only half of it was left. “Can we fix it?”

“I don’t -”

Before she could even finish her sentence there was another blinding flash of light and Alice felt the same rushing, swirling sensation she had experienced during the fight with Malfoy. Her friends disappeared from view though she could still feel the deathly grip Neville had secured on her arm. Instead a screed of colours and blotches of light filled her vision as a shrill whistle seemed to sound in her ears. Then it was over and with a jolt the world stopped spinning and they were back in the cupboard again, although this time the door was slightly ajar and a thin thread of daylight streamed in. Almost immediately hissing whispers filled the cupboard.

“Now where are we?”

“Quick, put that light out.”

“Shh, I can hear people outside.”

It was an understatement; it sounded as though the Hogwarts Express was careering past out in the corridor. Laughing, chattering, stamping, whistling, raucous students seemed to be making their way by with all the subtlety of rampaging Hippogriffs.

“Harry, wait what are you doing?” Hermione began as Harry went to push the door further open. “Harry!” Too late she reached out a hand to stop him, he had already stuck his head outside. When he quickly snapped it back in and pulled the door back to where it had been he was grinning from ear to ear. Though what there could possibly be to grin about she had no idea.

“What’s so funny?” Hermione snapped. “I suppose you know you could have been seen?”

“Well I wasn’t,” he stuck his tongue out at her which only made her glower all the more. Despite everything, Alice suppressed a giggle. “And we’re definitely this year, or last year really, after term started.

“How can you tell?” She asked.

“Because I saw Fred and George walk past and they were wearing those hideous badges you got sent. You remember? The ones that said P.E.A.S.”

“But that was months ago!” Ron apparently didn’t find this as comforting as his friend.

Outside the noise in the corridor was beginning to subside. Everyone must have been going to their classes. Alice twisted a loose strand of hair round her finger as she thought. “That still doesn’t really help much, I mean what would we do – stay in the forest all year until June comes round again?”

Ron shuddered; he’d had quite enough experience of the forest thank you.

Hermione was holding the Time Turner up to examine it through the sliver of light streaming in the door. “I don’t know if it can be mended. I mean they use powerful magic. Really ancient. The original prototypes were invented by the Egyptians based on -”

She suddenly froze.

“Hermione, what’s wrong? What were they based on?”

“Egyptian water clocks,” Alice watched her friend curiously as she picked up her narrative, “they dripped water from one vessel into another and used them to measure time. In 1381 BC Egyptian wizards managed to harness the basic principles of this technology to make the first Time Turners, they wouldn’t have looked anything like that,” she nodded towards the remains of the one Hermione was still clutching, “but the magical principles were the same.”

“But that’s just it,” Hermione finally breathed, her eyes glowing as they fixed on Alice. “The magic is the same!”

“Is anyone going to fill me in on what the hell is going on?” Ron’s bewildered gaze flicked from one face to the other.

“Search me, mate,” Harry told him.

“Alice, your book!” Hermione, as usual, seemed to be about three conversations ahead of everyone else. Alice stared at her blankly for a moment before suddenly it clicked.

“You don’t think, surely not, but then...” She gazed at her shoes as she considered, trying to suppress the thrill of excitement the notion had given her.

“Hello,” Ron waved a hand in front of their faces, “other people present. I might do Divination, but I’m not psychic. What are you two babbling on about?”

“Alice’s book,” Hermione turned to him excitedly, dropping the Time Turner and allowing another trickle of sand to run from her hands she gripped Ron’s, “the one she had stolen in November, what was it about?”

Her excited look from Ron’s face to Harry was met with disappointing results as both boys stared back at her expectantly, it was clear they didn’t have a clue.

“Ancient Egyptian magic.” It was Neville who eventually spoke.

“But you just said,” Alice pointed out, “that was in November. If Fred and George are wearing those badges it must be about September, maybe October. It can’t be later than that because I managed to steal the stupid things back and get rid of them.”

“Well... I just thought that... you never know,” Hermione countered, “maybe this thing will glitch again and we’ll end up in November.”

“As long as it’s the right November,” Ron muttered grumpily, “and not some random November in the middle of a goblin rebellion or something.”

Harry reached over and squeezed her hand encouragingly. “It’s worth a shot.”

Alice looked at her brother, he was watching her, the same excitement and hope she had felt thrilling through her earlier was reflected in his eyes. In that instant she knew, she would try anything that might have even the slimmest chance of getting them home again.

“Ok.”

No more needed to be said. Once the corridor was empty they padded out in single file and headed in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. It was strange to think, Alice mused as they scurried along, that they were wandering around on the third floor, whilst somewhere else in the castle they were also sitting learning about History of Magic or Transfiguration. It boggled the mind.

As everyone was in classes it was fairly easy to reach the Gryffindor common room unnoticed. It was at moments like this however that Alice realised how much they had come to rely on the security of Harry’s invisibility to cloak to allow them to sneak around the school undetected. This way she felt so much more exposed.

With good reason it transpired for no sooner had they turned into the corridor which led to the Fat Lady’s portrait than there was another swing in time. Alice clutched Hermione’s arm as she tried not to feel nauseous. The sight of Mrs Norris prowling around in front of them only served to make her feel more ill than she already did. For a long minute they locked gazes with the cat, five sets of wary human eyes staring at suspicious, yellow, feline ones. Just as Alice was beginning to wonder if she ever blinked, Mrs Norris gave a sudden yowl and sprang past them, skittering off down the corridor, no doubt in search of Filch.

“We had better be quick,” Harry said. “Filch could turn up at any minute.”

“I’ll go and get the book,” Alice told them. “You had better hide in case someone comes along. In case we’ve somehow landed on the right day and I come along.”

Leaving them to mull over that peculiar prospect she dashed across the corridor only to skid to a stop in front of the portrait. “Wait, what was the password in November?!”

“Waterbeetle,” Hermione supplied with only momentary hesitation. Really, it was a wonder the girl’s brain hadn’t exploded already.

Ignoring the suspicious look the Fat Lady was giving her Alice slipped through into the common room and bolted up the stairs. At least now they knew it was November. This must have been the right day, or still was the right day – time travel did really play havoc with a person’s sense of tense. Unlocking the trunk lying at the bottom of her bed, Alice searched through it until she spotted the book sticking out from underneath a pile of socks. Could this really hold the answers to their predicament? Just as she was running her fingers over the worn blue leather she heard a set of feet plodding wearily up the spiral staircase.

Grabbing the book she pulled at it, upsetting the contents of the trunk in the process as the robes it was tangled in came too. Snatching these as well she dived for the space between Parvati’s wardrobe and the door. Not a moment too soon as it was opened and in walked... herself.

It was without a doubt the weirdest experience Alice had ever had. Standing, peeking round the dormitory door and watching herself walk wearily across the room rubbing at her eyes. Was that really what she looked like? Was she really that short?! She watched herself shamble over to the trunk and crouch down. Seizing the opportunity she ducked out from behind the door and fled down the stairs, her feet flying beneath her.

Halfway down the spiral she could hear another set of feet, or the same set really, thundering down behind her. Trying not to waste time considering the vaguely comical fact that she was unwittingly chasing herself Alice sped up, careering across the common room, ignoring the Fat Lady’s protestations as she was thrown open and bolted down the corridor to the corner round which the others were hiding.

“Move,” she gasped. “Quick, move. I’m right behind me.” Whether it was the urgency in her voice or a mark of how many bizarre things tended to happen to them on a regular basis, no one sought to question her, they simply dived behind a nearby tapestry. Alice squeezed in and shut her eyes, listening to the footsteps as they stumbled to a halt in the corridor. Would they be spotted? Just because she hadn’t seen anyone the first time this had happened, didn’t mean she wouldn’t this time – or did it? It was all too confusing for words. At long last they heard the feet retreating, accompanied by a frustrated hiss, and after an interval long enough to ensure it was safe to do so Alice heard the others let out a sigh of relief.

“That was close,” Ron muttered.

“Yeah.”

“Did you get it?” Hermione asked.

Alice nodded, then realised she had a tapestry in her face so her friend probably couldn’t see. “Yes.”

“Come on then,” Harry spoke up, “we should find somewhere no one will come across us accidentally and have a look at the book.” The rest of them agreed wholeheartedly.

A/N: Hello again, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I just want to say how much I love and appreciate all you lovely readers, you are truly lovely ;)

14. Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

The general consensus was that no one would certainly come across them if they went to the Forest. Much to Ron’s chagrin and Neville’s trepidation.

“The Forest? Why is it always the Forest? Why can’t we go and hide in the Greenhouses or something? There are probably just as many plants that want to kill you in there.”

“Not right into the Forest,” Hermione had informed them soothingly, “just the edge. Obviously we could hide in a cupboard or something, but then we’re not guaranteed we won’t get shifted to some day when Filch happens to be looking for a mop or something. No the Forest is much safer.”

Ron snorted.

Miraculously they managed to get out of the castle undetected and were halfway across the grounds before someone asked the inevitable question.

“Neville, what was Malfoy talking about, before, you know when he was...”

Alice watched as Neville’s face flushed and he stared determinedly at the grass beneath his shoes. She tried to catch Hermione’s eye and shake her head as though to say don’t ask, but it was pointless. She already had.

“My...” Neville’s voice was choked and his eyes seemed to sparkle. “My...”

“You don’t have to say, Neville,” she told him.

He shot her a grateful look before becoming serious again. “Yes, I do. I’m proud of them. I shouldn’t hide it anymore.”

Again the others flashed a confused look between Alice and Neville, but before any of them could say anything else Neville’s words came out in a rush. “My parents are in St Mungo’s. They have been since I was a baby. After You-Know-Who was gone Bellatrix Lestrange and some other Death Eaters, they tortured them for information, the Cruciatus Curse, until their minds snapped. They never gave in.”

A long silence greeted these words as the others stumbled to a halt before their sympathy came in a rush.

“Oh, Neville.”

“Mate.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Alice slipped an arm around his shoulders. “Well, done,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Neville continued, giving Alice an appreciative look. “Well, now you know.” He moved forward and the others were left to follow. Alice could see they wanted to say more so she made a shushing gesture where Neville couldn’t see. Best not to say anything else just now. She tried to change the subject.

“So, why do you reckon we all move about? In time I mean. When the Time Turner shifts, why does it take all of us, when only Hermione’s wearing it? I mean, that’s how it’s meant to work isn’t it?” She asked her friend. “The Time Turner only transports the wearer?”

Hermione nodded. “I think it’s because we were all touching when it broke, perhaps some of the binding magic leaked out and affected you all.”

“So, even if we did somehow make it back,” Harry added gloomily, “we could all be dragged to some other time again afterwards.”

Alice frowned at her brother for taking such an optimistic view. “Well, that’s what this is for,” she held up the book.

“Yes,” Hermione added, “and the quicker we get to the Forest and read it the quicker we can try to solve this.” No sooner had she spoken than Alice felt a familiar swooping sensation and the world rushed past, suddenly becoming very dark and very cold.

“What happened now?”

“Where are we?”

“When are we?”

“We’re in the same place,” Hermione lit her wand to reveal the boys standing next to the outer reaches of the Forest. Eyes blinked in their confused faces as the glare reached them. “But as for when we are I’ve no idea. Judging by the conditions I’d guess winter at some point.” She shifted her feet to crunch through the frosted snow covering the grass.

A suspicion forming in her mind Alice looked back up at the castle, pulling up her hood as she did so for added warmth. As she had expected the castle doors were thrown wide and fairylights were scattered across the space in front of them. “I think it’s the night of the Yule Ball. Merry Christmas everybody.”

“M-“ Harry caught himself and stopped with a grin. “How can you tell?” He asked curiously.

“Because right now Fred is standing up by those doors wondering why Hermione has conjured a light down here and I’m persuading him not to come and investigate.”

“Oh.” Hermione whispered and the light was snuffed out plunging them into a darkness illuminated only by the moon emerging from behind a bank of clouds. “We had better get a move on then.”

“Hang on,” Ron refused to budge as the others took a step. “It’s one thing going wondering into the Forest in the middle of the day, but you want me to go crashing off through there in the middle of the night? Are you mad?”

“Oh, for goodness sake Ronald. Just come on.”

Muttering under his breath about spiders and werewolves Ron did as he was told. Once they were within the shelter of the trees the world became even darker, but at least it was safe for them to light their wands again. Hermione flopped down between the roots of a particularly gnarled tree and held out her hand. “Let’s have a look then.”

Alice handed her the book, noticing as she did that her teeth had begun to chatter. It really was freezing and they were all dressed for summer. There wasn’t a single woolly jumper between them. A sudden idea occurred to her and she unrolled the set of robes she had taken from her room. “Engorgio,” she flourished her wand at them and was abruptly swapped in yards of thick, black cloth.

“What are you doing?” Her brother asked curiously.

“Here,” she threw one end round his shoulders before dragging him to sit by the others, “this way we can all huddle together and keep warm. There’s no point in catching our death of cold as well as everything else.”

As they all shuffled together and pulled the enormous set of robes tightly around them Hermione continued whispering to herself as she skipped through the book. “Amulets, no that won’t help, Astronomy, Bast, Beetles, no, no that either, Cats, Clepsydrae – here. This is it!”

“What does it say?” Ron went to peer over her shoulder, but was flapped down.

“Shhh, let me read.”

Ron ranted under his breath until he fell into the silence as Harry grinned at his best friend and girlfriend, he was trying hard not to, Alice could tell, but when he caught her eye he gave up on the pretence and chuckled quietly to himself. Eventually after running her finger over the page several times Hermione let out a puff of frosted air which plumed in front of her face and rocked backwards.

“Well?”

Glancing up at them she bit her lip before seeming to decide that she might as well fill them in. “Most of it is just about the history of ancient clepsydrae, or the water clocks Alice and I told you about. It’s the end that’s important. Having utilised ancient magic to harness the power of time using their rudimentary water clocks the Egyptians perfected their devices until they became recognisable as the Time Turners we know today. Time Turners are extremely rare and are placed under strict controls by the various Magical Ministries around the world. Whilst their appearance has altered somewhat over the years the basic magical principles utilised in their conjuration remain essentially the same. However unlike modern time magic which is stringently controlled so as to avoid catastrophe, the ancient Egyptian wizards were much less strict in the spheres of time they could travel to. Often with damaging consequences.”

“Wait, wait, wait. What was that?”

“What?” Hermione looked up with all too innocent eyes.

“You know exactly what,” Ron glowered at her. “What’s that bit about strict times you can travel to and damaging consequences?”

“Oh, that.” Hermione worried at her lip and Alice racked her brain for every scrap of information about Time Turners she could possibly remember.

“Hermione?” Harry forced her to look at him. “What is it?”

“Well, when McGonagall gave it to me, she made me read through all the regulations. Attempting to travel forwards in time is strictly prohibited for obvious reasons, and you aren’t allowed to travel more than five hours back in time, it changes history to much and... well things can go badly wrong.”

“Five hours?” Neville looked ill in the pale wandlight. “But we’ve moved months!”

Hermione was silent.

“Right,” Ron spoke up eventually, “well, now that we’ve all cheered ourselves up with the prospect that we could have caused irreparable damage to the present. Can we get on with finding a way back to it please? Does that book actually say anything useful?”

“There is a spell here,” Hermione ran her finger over several lines of flowing script. “It’s more of an incantation really than a simple spell and it looks difficult to pronounce.”

“You can do it,” Harry told her. “We’ll help you.”

“Right,” she took a deep breath, “well -”

This time it wasn’t a gentle slide through time so much as a rough jolt. Alice was abruptly flung sideways, her head slamming against the sharp bark of a tree. She tasted blood. Around her she could hear the others yelling as the world continued to swirl, the darkness giving way to a bright swarm of colours and the ground bucked and shook beneath her.

When the world finally righted itself the glare of sunlight through the trees temporarily blinded her for a moment, but it was another sense which alerted her to danger. A booming roar ripped through the forest reverberating around her ribs and causing her to plug her fingers in her ears.

“What was that?!” Harry was stumbling to his feet as she opened her eyes, blinking dazedly. His hair was even messier than usual and as he raised a hand to brush away the leaves which clung to it she saw his palms were covered in scratches from where he had fallen.

“I think that’s called time travel, mate,” Ron stood up dusting dirt from his jeans. “Aggressive time travel, but still…”

“No, I meant that!” Harry exclaimed as the roar tore into the air around them once more.

Ron seemed to contemplate this for a moment. “Something grumpy,” he said at last “something grumpy and enormous.”

“Great,” Neville muttered.

“We should go and check it out,” Alice suggested.

Neville and Ron gave her the same incredulous look.

“Harry, mate, I think you might need to check if your sister has mental problems.”

“Don’t worry, I already have,” Harry grinned at her as he spoke, “and she does.”

Alice threw him a look as she tried not to smile despite herself.

“She’s still right though. If nothing else it might give us an idea of when in Merlin’s name we are now!”

“Are you alright?” Hermione asked, nodding towards the warm trickle of blood Alice could feel making its way towards her chin.

“Fine,” she swiped at it with the back of her hand, “just banged my face a bit. It’s nothing, come on, if we’re going, let’s go!”

They all began creeping cautiously towards the edge of the forest as Alice shrunk the stolen set of robes back down so she could stuff them in her pocket. She was still reeling from all the jumping around in time they were doing, the uncertainty and the fact she had just butted heads with a tree, so it took her a while to put two and two together. The five of them had just reached the edge of the tree line and another deafening roar split the air, much closer now, when she realised what was happening. A split second later her eyes confirmed things for her.

Towering above them in all its wooden glory was the arena set up for the First Task. The arena which contained dragons, and rather displeased dragons at that if the noises they were making was anything to go by.

“We should move,” Hermione had stopped several paces behind the others and was looking up at the arena with trepidation in her eyes.

“Why?”

“Don’t you remember what happened? Those things escaped!”

“No they didn’t,” Harry argued, belligerent as ever, “they were released. Maybe we can find out who did it.”

“I thought your theory was that it might have been a Death Eater?” Ron asked. “I don’t know about you mate, but if that’s the case I reckon Hermione’s right, we should stay well away.”

Hermione glanced at him with a wry smile on her face. “Can I have that in writing?”

Ignoring their antics Harry was still running his eyes over the arena, an expression on his face which Alice knew spelled trouble.“I just want to have a quick look, I promise.” And before any of them could protest he had scurried off around the side of the arena.

“Oh, honestly!” Alice heard Hermione mutter as they all dashed after his retreating form, “sometimes I could just about kill him!”

Scrambling over rocks and tree roots they made their way round the side of the arena until they spotted Harry huddled next to one of the sturdy planks which made it up.

“Harry,” Alice panted, sprinting up to him, “what in Merlin’s name are you doing?”

“Look.” He reached out and pulled her closer allowing Alice to see that the board he was standing in front of was actually broken and hanging loose allowing a good view inside to the enclosure behind. Judging by the large number of tears and scratches in the wood it had been ripped apart by one of the particularly lethal looking claws attached to the Swedish Shortsnout on the other side.

“Let me see then.”

“What’s going on?”

“Shove over, Ronald.”

There was some jostling as the others attempted to get a good view and Alice’s toes were trodden on more than once, but eventually they could all see inside and an awed silence fell. Despite the fact they had seen the dragons before there was something so magnificent about them that they couldn’t help but steal your tongue clean away. Alice watched them with wide eyes as they prowled around the enclosure, pulling at their chains and snorting enormous plumes of smoke. None of them looked particularly happy.

“It’s cruel,” Hermione observed eventually, “to keep them chained up like that.”

“Well, they won’t be for long,” Ron observed warily.

There was a dull thud and a protesting exclamation from Ron as Hermione bashed him. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant generally. They should be free, somewhere away from everyone, back on the Reserve. Not brought here for our amusement.”

There was another silence as they all contemplated her words, but their reverie was cut short as there was sudden movement over by the side of the enclosure.

“What’s that?”

“Who -?”

“Shhhhhh!” Alice chided them. They were going to be heard at this rate, even if the dragons were making enough noise to rattle your bones free from your body.

Obediently they did as she said and watched eagerly as a cloaked figure snaked its way through the dragons entirely unscathed. Whoever it was they were small and kept their face well covered by a cloak which rippled oddly as though there was some disillussionment charm upon it, not a very good one at that. It seemed to be working though as the dragons barely batted an eyelid. The hand saw which they wielded was another of kettle of fish entirely. Small and almost delicate it had a handle of twisted silver and gold and the blade seemed to glisten with more than simply the afternoon sunlight. It was an instrument of powerful magic.

“Of course,” Hermione breathed.

Everyone looked at her questioningly.

“Well the dragons’ chains will be bound with really advanced magic, because dragons themselves are so powerful they would easily break free otherwise. You would need a blade with powerful magic of its own to cut through them. I had wondered…”

They watched as the figure advanced to the nearest creature and poised the saw over the chain. The Chinese Fireball, for that was the beast in question, merely snorted and a jet of flame singed the air several metres above the intruder’s head. They ducked, but refused to budge.

“We should do something,” Harry’s fingers gripped the wood as though he wanted to tear it apart to get at the intruder.

“Harry,” Hermione gripped his arm painfully, “don’t be an idiot. What if that’s a Death Eater?”

“Then it’s the shortest Death Eater in the world,” Ron observed. Alice elbowed him in the ribs.

“Shhh,” Neville hissed. The figure was now busily sawing through the first chain. As they watched the shorn end fell to the ground with a soft clink.

“We need to -!”

“Harry,” Alice’s voice was soft, but stern, “she’s right. We know that no one was hurt in the end, even though all the dragons escaped. Who knows what might happen if we go charging in and interfering?”

Her brother set his jaw mullishly.

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s true.”

As the figure moved quickly towards the next dragon the Chinese Fireball, who seemed not yet to have noticed its newfound freedom, flicked its tail through the air causing the intruder to stumble in surprise. The motion was brief and he quickly righted himself, but it was enough to make that concealing hood slip, revealing the pale, pointed features andblonde hair of the person beneath.

“Malfoy!” Harry gasped, causing Hermione to clamp her hand over his mouth despite the fact her own eyes had flown wide at the sight.

“Merlin,” Neville breathed.

Alice tried out a shaky smile, still trying to get over the surprise herself. “Nope, that’s Malfoy; definitely Malfoy.”

There was a tremulous chuckle from behind her.

“But why would he…? I could have sworn that it was a…” Hermione seemed bewildered by the whole situation.

“Alice…” Neville began as they watched Malfoy busily sawing through the chain of the Swedish Short Snout, “I think we should maybe move.”

“Just wait a minute I -”

“No, I really think we should move now. That Fireball looks like it’s just realised what’s going on.”

Alice’s eyes snapped to the dragon in question and she felt her stomach contract horribly as she saw the enormous thing snuffling around the ground where its chain now trailed uselessly. As Draco hurried to the final dragon she saw the Fireball take a swipe at the metal links and with a crow of triumph realised it was free.

“I think you might be right Neville.”

“Come on, Harry, come on!”

They finally managed to drag him into a reluctant shuffle which became a stumbling run as they heard another painful roar behind them, louder than any of the others and the beat of large leathery wings. Glancing over her shoulder as she ran Alice saw the three magnificent dragons rising into the air in a blaze of colour and flashing scales, snapping at each other as they went. From the corner of her eye she could see Malfoy streaking across the grounds throwing the cloak and saw away as he did so.

As they reached the shelter of the forest again the shrieking started as the students, themselves included she supposed, noticed the dragons and started running. Unfortunately Alice and her friends seemed to have run right to the spot in the forest where the dragons wanted to be.

“We need to get out of here!”

“Thanks for that Hermione,” Ron panted irritably, “I think we had all managed to work that one out. The enormous fire-breathing lizards were a bit of a clue!”

“No, that wasn’t what I meant. Think about it: what was the first thing the teachers did when the dragons escaped?”

Alice swallowed and looked towards the castle where she could already see the tiny forms of Professors McGonagall and Kreevain streaking in their direction. “They came running over here to fight them... And then they searched the grounds.”

They all looked at each other in something approaching mild panic for a few moments.

“We need to get out of Hogwarts,” Harry suggested eventually.

“How?”

“The passage.”

“What?” Ron looked more appalled than he had at the site of the dragon. “The one under the mental tree? You have got to be kidding.”

“I – look out!” They all ducked and Hermione screamed as one of the dragons swooped low over the trees. A tongue of flame lashed the branches which immediately began to burn.

“Never mind that Ron, your options are deeper into the Forest or into the passage!”

Ron spared the dark and smouldering depths of the forest one swift glance before coming to a decision. “Fine!”

The five of them turned and sprinted off towards the Whomping Willow making sure that they kept to the tree line so the teachers didn’t spot them and they presented less of a target for the dragons. Only when they absolutely had to move away from their shelter did they emerge from the trees and sprint as fast as they could towards the Whomping Willow. Seeming to sense that it was already under threat the long, whip like branches were already swinging wildly in the air as though to warn off the dragons. Unfortunately it also meant they probably wouldn’t all make it to the passage without at least one of them losing an eye.

“Well, this was a brilliant idea!” Ron panted as he stumbled to a halt.

“Shut up,” Alice and Harry said in unison.

“How are we going to get in there?” Hermione yelled over the roar of a dragon. “Professor Lupin must have done something to the tree last summer. It wasn’t being all -” she dodged as a branch swung perilously close to her head – “mental like this!”

“Hang on, I’ve an idea.” Without warning Neville suddenly darted in towards the tree, moving with surprising speed and certainty between the branches. Reaching the trunk he seemed to simply place a hand on the bark and instantly the Whomping Willow stilled. It was as though it had suddenly been petrified.

“Neville what did you...?”

How?”

Neville shrugged. “I read about trees like this once. They’ve all got a knot on them that acts like a trigger. And the branches do move in a pattern, you just have to be able to notice it.” He blushed at their amazed looks.

“Neville, you are -”

“Really good at Herbology?” Ron suggested.

“Well I was going to say brilliant,” Alice smiled at her friend, “but that works too.”

“I think we should probably be going, don’t you?” Hermione was casting anxious looks at the sky. The dragons seemed preoccupied with the teachers’ efforts to constrain them, but you never knew when they might come back.

“Alright.”

One by one they all slipped into the tunnel after Harry and vanished into the darkness.

A/N: So there we have it! Only two chapters left now dear readers (and thank you so much for reading it all and having such remarkable patience during the hiatus!) Please do R&R if you can!

15. Trapped

Trapped

“Oh, stop complaining about your feet, Ron!” Hermione chided him for the twelfth time as they wound their way through the earthy gloom. “No one cares if they’re sore; we’ve got bigger problems to deal with in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“I was only saying!”

“So,” Neville continued his conversation with Harry and Alice as the other two bickered ahead, “does this come out into the Shrieking Shack then?” They had told Neville of their exploits of the previous summer.

Alice nodded.

“Where you met your godfather?”

“Yeah, it was a bit strange I’ll admit.”

“Neville,” Harry said after a moment’s thought. “Before, when we were fighting with Malfoy and he said your parents were...”

“Mad?” Neville asked, not flinching over the word.

“Harry,” Alice broke in, “I don’t think this is the -”

“No, it’s alright, Alice. I’ll... I can manage.” He looked at Harry before looking back down at his feet as they continued to pick their way across the uneven ground. “What did you want to ask?”

“It was... Alice knew didn’t she, before just now. Is that what you’ve been talking about when the two of you have been by yourselves?”

“I’m sorry,” Neville apologised. “I asked Alice not to tell anyone when she found out. I hope you don’t mind, she promised not to say anything to anyone.”

“No, that’s fine, please don’t apologise,” he smiled at his sister. “I’m just glad you had someone to talk to. And Alice is brilliant for stuff like that.”

“Yeah, she is. I don’t know if I could have gotten through the last few months without her.”

Alice felt herself blushing from all the praise.

“Oi, Harry, mate,” they heard Ron’s yell from up front and the sounds of he and Hermione struggling to shift something, “come up here and give us a hand with this. There’s a board fallen against the tunnel.

As Harry rushed to help Alice slipped her hand into Neville’s and gave it a squeeze. “Thanks Neville, you didn’t have to say that.”

Now it was Neville’s turn to blush.

Without saying anything else they caught up with the others just as they moved a broken floorboard from what turned out to be the entrance, or exit depending on which way you looked at it, to the tunnel.

Alice was halfway through the space when she heard Hermione let out a soft exclamation and she just had time to brace herself for the inevitable rush of time when the Time Turner threw them somewhere else again. Mercifully, not as violently as it had previously.

“Hermione,” Ron moaned as he helped pull the last of them to their feet inside the dusty room, “if that wasn’t the only way we might get back to where we need to be I swear I would...” But he didn’t seem to know what exactly he would do so simply shrugged and remained silent.

“Right,” Hermione announced having waited patiently for a response, “well, let’s get down to business shall we?” Walking over to a rickety, old table she thumped the book down upon it creating a cloud of dust in the air as she did so. The others watched as she coughed and spluttered before rifling through the pages to find the right one.

“Right, everybody be quiet for a moment,” Hermione threw a warning glare in their direction before returning to study the page in front of her.

“Do you need -?” Alice began to ask, but was cut off by the violent shushing which greeted her. She retired in silence with a grin at her friends.

“Honestly,” Ron whispered so softly that only Alice and Neville could hear, “she’s worse than McGonagall sometimes.”

As Hermione began to mumble quietly to herself Alice wandered over to the window where her brother was standing gazing through a gap in the boards covering it. The view outside was bleak; the grey clouds scudding swiftly past on a vicious wind.

“So, when do you reckon we are now?” She asked.

Harry glanced at her and smiled wanly. “I dunno, it could be anytime I suppose. It looks like spring though, see the trees?”

Alice glanced in the direction of the few scrubby plants she could see clinging to the haunted hillside. Trees. They barely warranted the name. They were more like bushes. Or twigs with aspirations. Still she could see his point, they did have a few green sprouts clinging to them.

“Want to go outside and take a look? Hermione looks like she might be a while.”

Harry glanced back at his girlfriend who now had her wand out and was tapping the Time Turner experimentally as she continued to mutter incomprehensibly. Alice caught the occasional snatched phrase, but her grasp of Latin was too poor to work out exactly what she was saying. She might as well have been speaking Mermish for all Alice could understand her.

“Sure,” her brother nodded.

The two of them wandered outside, where they were immediately assailed by the biting wind. “Maybe we should find somewhere sheltered to sit?” She yelled the suggestion. Harry’s words were snatched out of his mouth as soon as he uttered them, but she saw his nod. Walking slightly further down the hill they found such as spot amongst the rocks and to their back the heather made a soft pillow to lean on. The siblings sat in comfortable silence again for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts, before finally Harry spoke up.

“Don’t worry, we’ll manage to get back. We’ll see Sirius again.” He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself as much as her.

Alice put an arm around his shoulders. “Of course we will. Hermione is a genius. If anyone can get us back it will be her. Besides it’s her daft Time Turner.”

That brought a chuckle from him, but he quickly grew serious. “If we are though, I’m glad you’re stuck too. Ow!” He exclaimed as she bashed him lightly on the arm. “What was that for?!”

Alice rolled her eyes at his melodrama. “I’m glad my predicament amuses you.”

“No, I just meant that I’m glad we’re stuck together, that I’m not, that we’re not…” He floundered and glared at her.

Alice softened. “I know what you meant. And for the record I’m glad you’re here too.”

They lapsed into silence again before Harry asked: “Can you hear someone shouting?”

“It’s probably Hermione and Ron again, you know what they’re like.”

“No, I -”

“So, this is where you got to!”

Ron, Neville and Hermione came trouping down the hill; Ron looking resigned, Neville miserable and Hermione thoroughly put out.

“Did it work?” Alice asked immediately, though she suspected she knew the answer.

“No,” Hermione pouted and flopped down next to her. “I don’t understand. The spell should have been exactly what we needed. The book said it would fix time. When sand flowed and the time runs out the spell will end. It explicitly said!” Alice wasn’t sure whether she was more annoyed at finding herself stranded in time and out of ideas or at the fact a book had failed her.

“Were you two shouting at each other?” Harry cut in.

Hermione gave him a sharp look. “No.”

“For once,” Ron added.

“I could have sworn I -”

“Never mind about that now, we need to work out what we are going to do!”

“Well don’t look at me,” Ron countered, “I’ve no idea.”

“We don’t even know when we are,” Neville added.

“Harry thought it might be spring.” Alice told them.

“Well that’s helpful, it could be any of a thousand springs.”

“Actually it couldn’t,” she reasoned, “the Shack’s not that old really and it looks just as dusty as it did last year when we met Sirius there. I’d say it was a safe bet we’re not that far off when we left.”

“Yes, but -”

“Will you all shut up! There’s someone coming,” Harry hissed loudly, grabbing the others robes he pulled them down so they were lying flat next to he and Alice.

Not a moment too soon; no sooner had they all thumped down into the grass and wriggled around to find a more comfortable spot than several figures came into sight around the side of the hill. There were four that she could see, all arguing. Loudly.

“For goodness sake, it’s just as well I found you, this is neither the time nor the place.”

Alice froze where she lay. She knew that voice, would recognise it anywhere and had last heard it at the Quidditch World Cup. Lucius Malfoy, his robes billowing broadly in the wind and his normally slick blonde hair streaming around his face, was standing less than ten feet away from them. What in Merlin’s name was he doing here?

“Oh, don’t get your wand in such knot,” a cackling, sing-song voice replied. It was a woman speaking, matted black hair was thrown wildly around her haggard face and a thick robe, much too big for her thrown around another tattered stripy set. A set of stripy robes which Alice knew from experience marked her out as an inmate of Azkaban prison. She should know, she had watched Sirius grimly burn his own last summer. All at once Alice knew exactly who this woman was and as though he reached the conclusion at exactly the same time she felt Neville tense beside her.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Bella. The Potter brats will be far too well protected to get at them in there.” Lucius sounded harassed. “I have it on good authority that they’re not even there for the holidays anyway, they’ve been spirited off somewhere.”

“I can wait,” the gaunt woman, Bellatrix Lestrange, pouted; an odd expression on such a starved face. “Besides, from what I’ve heard, my dear cousin Sirius managed to get in there not long ago. If he can do it then we certainly can.” There was a murmur of assent from the cloaked men behind her. There were three: one small, dark and skinny and two enormous hulking figures. Seeing them Alice was reminded forcibly of Crabbe and Goyle though she suspected they were infinitely more dangerous by virtue of age and the evil intelligence glinting in their eyes. “And if I manage it then when he returns the Dark Lord will -”

“He would be furious,” Lucius stopped her. “What?” He asked at her startled look. “Do you really imagine that he would be pleased? That he would reward you for robbing him of the chance to kill the Potter boy for himself? When he has been responsible for the Dark Lord’s suffering all these years?”

“What do you know of the Dark Lord’s suffering, Lucius?” Bellatrix spat, she had turned so that Alice could no longer see her face, but she could hear the venom in the woman’s voice, “you who did nothing to find him in thirteen years?”

“You do seem to have done fairly well for yourself in that time, Lucius,” one of the men added in a soft, rasping voice. Alice could barely hear his words over the wind.

As the older Malfoy stood and fumed silently for a moment Alice glanced at her brother lying next to her. How were they going to get out of this one? The Death Eaters were practically on top of them. Harry’s eyes were fixed on their faces, hatred burning brightly. Alice crossed her fingers tightly and wished with all her heart that the Time Turner would suddenly perform one of its random leaps and they would be scooped out of the situation. No such luck.

“I have spent thirteen years putting myself in a position of influence so that upon the Dark Lord’s return we can act effectively. I have been loyal.”

One of the other men snorted contemptuously.

“Well, once we return the Dark Lord to power we shall see about loyalty,” another added.

“And your last attempt at that went so well,” Lucius drawled, clearly sensing he had the upper hand again. “You tortured the Longbottoms into St Mungo’s and only got a spell in Azkaban to show for it.”

Alice felt, more than heard, Neville emit a low growl, the fingers around her arm tightened painfully.

“Yes, well,” Bellatrix moved several steps towards the hidden group, “in Azkaban one hears things and for all your supposed connections and influence, Lucius, we seem to have managed what you have not, we have found -” her sentence abruptly cut off for at that moment she had turned, gesturing expansively, and locked eyes with the Gryffindors.

For what seemed an eternity her gaze swept over the group lying huddled in the heather, switching from one terrified face to the next. Seeing her distraction the four men came to stand behind her, astonishment plain on their faces.

“Well, well, well,” a cruel smile crawled up her cheeks.

“Run!” Harry yelled.

The five of them scrambled to their feet and whirled down the hill, stumbling and jumping as fast as they could, going in whichever direction they found in front of them. Already hammering, Alice’s heart swiftly came close to bursting from her chest. Behind her she could hear cackling laughter and she had barely taken another step when a bolt of light shot perilously past her.

“Get them!”

Alice found herself running with Neville and Ron; Harry and Hermione were sprinting further down the hill in the direction of Hogsmeade, all thought of hiding had vanished from their minds. It was a place of relative safety and their only hope was to get there before the Death Eaters caught up.

“Neville, come on!” She screamed at her slower friend as another flash of green light sped over their heads.

“Careful!” She heard Lucius Malfoy shout. “The Potter boy must not be harmed!”

Trying to block them out Alice grabbed Neville’s arm and pulled him along. Ron took his other hand and the three of them helped each other leap and scramble down the rough ground and across the rocks.

“We’re never going to make it,” Ron panted in between firing spells over his shoulder. The two of them shared a worried glance over Neville’s head before being forced to concentrate on their precarious footing once more. Alice fired another spell and heard a woman screech in pain and anger in response. Without looking to see what had happened she kept running. The flashes of light coming from further down the hill she assumed that Harry and Hermione were putting up a similar running defence.

It was only a matter of time before one of them stumbled on a rock littering the path of their downwards flight however. Neville caught his foot on a rock as Alice was twisting to cast a spell, Ron attempted to stop their fall, but was only dragged down himself in a tangled heap of arms and legs.

"Come on, quick." Despite having the longest body to extricate he was on his feet again almost instantly, hauling them up whilst Neville babbled apologies. "Never mind that," he told him none too gently, "they're coming!" He was so pale that each of his freckles stood out starkly across his face.

They leapt a few more paces downhill before Alice felt something hit her squarely in the back with enough force to drive her clean off her feet and send her spinning into the open air.

"Alice!" She heard her friends' horrified yells. The feeling of sickness as she smacked into the ground and tumbled down the hill had almost nothing to do with being hit, her short flight, or the fact she began rolling on impact and everything to do with her snatched sighting of Harry and Hermione who had turned at all the yelling and come running back towards them.

"No!" She tried to shout and scramble to her feet. She struggled vainly for a moment, trying to get her legs and her jaw to work, but neither would cooperate. She was entirely frozen and, as she came to rest with her face to the ground, blinded. Whatever spell had hit her she was stuck good and fast. With a horrible flash she was back in second year toppling through the tapestry to meet almost certain death at the fangs of the Basilisk, but unlike on that previous occasion she didn’t lose consciousness. She could hear her friends yelling her name, feet thudding across the ground as it jumped and rattled, deranged cackling, a yell of pain followed by Ron swearing in a fluid stream, Hermione was screaming something and suddenly Harry was there, his hands turning her over allowing her to see him take one agonised look at her before his eyes flickered upwards, masking his fear with hate and speaking in a voice much calmer than she was sure he felt. "Let them go."

"Now Potter," if Alice could have moved a muscle she was sure she would have flinched at the sound of Lucius Malfoy's voice so close to them. "Let's all just be reasonable."

From where she lay Alice could see Harry's wand switching from one target to another as he stood protectively over his sister. Hearing someone moving through the rustling grass towards them she strained, trying to move her eyes in vain, the pain nearly blinded her, but not before she saw Bellatrix Lestrange walking into the corner of her field of vision. The woman was bleeding from the temple and looked madder than ever. Her eyes locked with Alice's and narrowed bitterly.

"Hold him," she barked never glancing up once. Arms suddenly appeared to encircle Harry's pinning them to his side so that no mater how hard he kicked and struggled he couldn't break free.

"Bella," she heard Lucius' warning voice. "The Potter boy is not to be -"

"Oh, calm down," she drawled, "I'm not going to touch him. I'm just going to have some fun with his sister." Her wand flicked up to point straight at Alice's face as she took another step towards her and in that second Alice was convinced that was it. Her life would end on that wind tossed hill with her friends screaming around her. No one would even know what had happened; she would simply have disappeared in time.

“Finite.”

Alice felt her body relax as though something had melted. Although the jinx vanished her fear still kept her pinned to the ground. Now that she could focus her eyes properly she saw from the corners that the other Death Eaters each had a tight hold on her friends, wands trained to kill in an instant if required. Her gaze darted to Harry for a split second and she registered his face full of stubborn anger and fear before she was drawn back to Bellatrix now advancing on her. It was impossible to look away from her for long, that expression was so deranged and hypnotic that it seemed to pull you in.

“Bella,” Lucius warned again as she flicked her wand and Alice felt herself being pulled to her feet. She hadn’t imagined the feeling of constraint either, although she was free to move slightly she was still rooted to the spot, unable to run even if she wanted to.

“Well, well, well, well, well,” Bellatrix swayed towards her speaking in a strange, baby voice, “now here’s a conundrum. You’re meant to be dead if I’m not mistaken. Imagine my surprise when I heard you weren’t; I thought you died as a baby.”

Alice found her tongue had dried to the roof of her mouth and couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Well, we can always fix that.”

“You leave her alone!” Harry screamed, kicking ineffectually against his captor.

“Don’t worry Potter, I’m only playing. You should learn to control that temper, it’s a bad habit you’ve picked up from my dear cousin Sirius. How is Sirius?” She asked Alice in a stage whisper. She was so close now that the girl could feel her breath as it tickled against her cheek. “Life out of Azkaban treating him well? He never came to say goodbye, then again he was never one for family loyalty.”

“With you as family I can hardly blame him,” Alice’s voice was barely a whisper, but the Death Eater was so close now that she still heard every word, “Sirius is a good man.”

Bellatrix snorted pointedly before shoving her face so close to Alice’s that she could feel every fleck of spit which flew forth. “What do you know about family? Poor, little orphan Alice, she’s got no one that loves her, no one that cares.”

Alice did her best to summon up a contemptuous glare, or disdainful comment, but none was forthcoming. The most she could do was continue to watch Bellatrix and try not to look as terrified as she felt. This was a task she struggled with as Bellatrix raised her wand and gently drew it down Alice’s cheek. “Oh dear,” she observed with mock sincerity, “it looks like you’ve cut your lip.” She turned to her companions behind her who were watching with various degrees of caution and amusement. The caution Alice would have noticed with interest if not for the proximity of a mad woman waving a wand in her face, was largely that of Lucius Malfoy. “Look everyone, the Potter girl is bleeding. Such as shame to mark that pale, perfect skin.” She pinched Alice’s face between hard, sharp fingers and squeezed painfully against her teeth. “Such as shame,” she muttered distractedly and Alice felt a sudden flair of heat and stabbing pain beneath her eye, just at the point where Bellatrix’s wand connected. With excruciating cruelty the wand was drawn from her cheek to her jaw, the wand tip trailing almost longingly down to her chin as Alice tried not to shriek or writhe in pain. She refused to give the woman the satisfaction. Instead, nearly blinded by tears and pain, she gritted her teeth and tried to stare her out as her friends’ screams reverberated around her. She could hear Harry’s voice, full of all the pain she felt herself, as he attempted to wrench himself from his captors, hollering madly all the while.

She tasted blood in her mouth, but couldn’t tell if it was spilling from her cheek or from the tongue she was biting almost through in an effort not to cry out in pain, as Bellatrix watched her with evil glee she refused to let out so much as a whimper. Seeing that she had achieved all the entertainment she would from that particular stunt Bellatrix allowed her to drop, like a discarded doll onto the ground. Through her haze of pain and fear Alice could feel the warm trickle of blood down her neck and see it patter onto her hand as she sat hunched trying to find a way out of the situation.

“Leave her alone you evil cow!” Where Neville found the courage to speak up Alice would never know, but she felt an immense swell of affection for him as he did so. And a tremendous amount of fear for his safety.

“Shut up you,” the Death Eater holding him shook Neville roughly as Bellatrix’s eyes lit up and she moved towards him leaving Alice behind her.

“Another hero over here, have we? What’s your name then, my dear?”

“Neville,” he spat, a rage Alice had never seen in him before, twisting at his face, “Neville Longbottom.”

There was a moment of silence as Bellatrix’s gaunt and maddened face filled with glee and her companions chortled in amusement. Alice watched helplessly as she advanced on her friend and at the same time tried to wordlessly convey to Harry and her friends that she was fine. It was a difficult task considering blood was still steadily dripping slowly from her chin.

“Bella,” Lucius spoke again and Alice glanced to where he stood, Hermione held firmly in his grasp. The bushy-haired Gryffindor stood stiffly, her wand in Lucius’ hand and the broken remains of the Time Turner clutched in her own. If only it had worked; now they were trapped, injured and more than likely going to be killed unless they could think of a way out.

Alice watched the blood trickle through her fingers mingling with the earth below, the wind had blown her hair into her face where it had become a matted, stinging mess. She cursed the stupid Time Turner, cursed Malfoy for breaking it, cursed herself for walking into this and most of all she wanted to curse that stupid, gloating smirk right off Bellatrix Lestrange’s face.

“Time’s up,” she was cooing in Harry’s face now, “it’s all run out for itty, bitty, baby Potter.”

Alice didn’t know whether it was Bellatrix’s words, the sight of the blood between her fingers or the delirium induced by the blood loss, but she suddenly found herself having an idea that was either genius or madness. Hermione’s words outside the Shrieking Shack came back to her in a spark of inspiration and she felt energy surge through her.

“…when sand flows,” she muttered to herself, “and time runs out…” She had it. “Hermione!” She suddenly screamed, feeling her lip split all over again as it was pulled violently open. “The Time Turner! You need to smash it!”

Hermione gazed at her blankly for a moment, the usual intelligence in her eyes clouded by fear and confusion as the Death Eaters looked from one girl to the other trying to work out what was going on.

"Smash it!" Alice repeated. She could see the golden fragments glinting through Hermione's fingers as grains of sand continued to trickle between them in short flurries. All Alice wanted to do was lift herself up and sprint across to do it herself, but she knew she'd never make it in time; everything relied on Hermione.

"What is she talking about?" Bellatrix demanded just as Hermione's eyes seemed to clear and understanding flooded her face. "Someone shut her up - wait, what is she doing? Lucius, stop her!"

But he was too late. As Mr Malfoy made a grab for the golden chain Hermione threw it to the ground and stamped on it violently. At the same time she snatched her wand from an uncomprehending Malfoy’s fingers before summoning the others to her. Alice watched with bated breath as the wind shifted the sand from the obliterated remnants of the Time Turner and carried them off. Nothing happened, the world failed to move and for a long minute they continued to stare at the remains willing something to happen. Irate at being disobeyed Bellatrix advanced on Hermione wand raised to prevent the girl attacking and her other hand raised to strike her.

A/N: Since it’s been two weeks since I updated I thought I’d give you a nice, dramatic chapter with a good old cliffhanger at the end of it! Aren’t I nice? Anyway read, enjoy and review if you can!

16. The End of the Beginning

The End of the Beginning

The expression on Bellatrix’s face is contemptuous, her once beautiful features twisted into a gaunt mask of hate and gloating.

"Stupid Mudblood,” she punctuated her sentence with a sharp backhander to Hermione’s cheek. “What did you think that would -"

Suddenly there was a rush of wind and Alice was buffeted forwards. Rather than a swirl of colours around her she found herself enveloped in a bright light which tingled and stung as it touched her skin whirling her up into the air and knocking her against solid objects which felt like elbows and knees. Screwing her eyes tightly shut and ignoring the pain this induced in her face Alice prayed with every fibre of her being that this would work. Even if they weren't taken home, any other time was better than the one they had landed in.

Eventually the whirling, the light and the shrieking, unearthly howl which seemed to accompany it ended and Alice found herself flung onto her back with the wind forced from her lungs once again. Battered and bruised she remained still with her eyes closed, dreading what might be revealed when she opened them.

“Is everyone alright?” Ron asked after they had lain on the ground, stunned for several moments. There were several groans in response and Alice could hear her friends stirring, but she continued to lie immobile on her back exactly where the Time Turner had dropped her.

“Alice!” Harry suddenly seemed galvanised into action and scrambled across the ground towards her. “Are you alright?”

Hearing the concern in her brother’s voice Alice forced herself into a sitting position, trying to keep at bay the wave of dizziness which swept over her.

“Are you alright?” He repeated skidding to a halt and dropping to his knees next to her.

Alice nodded, or would have, but that made her dizzy again so she curtailed the motion. “Yes,” the whisper was less than convincing.

“Oh, Alice!” The others gathered around her now, tousled, but essentially unharmed she saw with relief. The were all gazing at her in concern and sympathy.

“I’m fine,” she repeated more loudly. “Hermione, are you alright?” Her best friend’s eye looked red and swollen where Bellatrix had struck her.

“Of course I am,” she waved it off, “it’s not me we should be worrying about. Here, let me fix that,” Hermione knelt and gently cupped Alice’s cheek, murmuring a healing charm. Instantly a pleasant, cooling sensation flooded her face, driving back the dull ache of before. “I don’t know the exact curse she used,” Hermione looked at her worriedly, “so I can’t heal it properly, it’s swollen and looks scarred, but I’m sure Madam Pomfrey can fix it.”

“It’s fine.” Alice wiped away the worst of the blood with her sleeve. “I’m fine,” she reassured her, sounding like a stuck record, when her friends continued to look anxious, “honestly. They’re gone, we’re all safe. That’s all that matters.”

“I just can’t believe -” Hermione began.

“They were so close,” Ron continued, “all that time they had been here and we never knew. And we... you don’t suppose they’re still around do you?” His head shot up and he scrutinised the hillside in case a Death Eater happened to be lurking behind a bush.

“I don’t reckon they’d hang about for long,” Harry reasoned, “not with the chance of Dumbledore discovering they were here.”

“Besides,” Neville added, “you heard what they said. They thought they knew where to go and find You-Know-Who.”

There was a long silence as they all contemplated this gloomy and terrifying prospect.

“I don’t care where they are so long as it’s not here,” Hermione shivered and Harry put an arm around her, planting a quick kiss on her temple as he did so.

“Are we home do you think?” Alice asked squinting up at the sun beaming down on them. “Can we go home now?”

The others all looked at each worriedly, the answer plain on their faces.

“Well we need to get help anyway,” Harry reasoned, “Ron needs that leg looked at and Alice -”

“I’m fine,” she told him.

Harry snorted. “Anyway, we should probably find a Healer or Madam Pomfrey. We need to walk through Hogsmeade to get to the castle anyway so we can work out whether the spell worked. Come on.” He gave Alice a hand to her feet where she swayed precariously for a moment, waiting for her blood to catch up and reach her head.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” The concern in Harry’s eyes as he whispered the question forestalled the lie on her lips. “I will be,” she told him eventually, it was only when she went to give his hand a reassuring squeeze that she realised her own was shaking.

“Oh!” Suddenly she was engulfed in a cloud of brown hair as Hermione threw herself at her in a violent hug. “I’m so glad you’re ok.”

Alice wrapped her arms tightly around her friend and tried to relax the tightness in her shoulders, the twitchy urgency in her legs and arms. She was safe, she repeated it to herself, they all were. The Death Eaters were gone. When Hermione pulled back both girls had tears in their eyes, though Hermione’s were also streaming freely down her face.

“Yeah...” Ron coughed awkwardly, “and I’m really glad you’re alright too, Alice.”

“Thanks, Ron.”

“Me too,” mumbled Neville, “but -”

“Neville if you apologise I’m going to put a silencing charm on you. This was not your fault alright?! You didn’t mean to fall over and they would have caught us anyway.”

Neville nodded mutely and they began to make their way towards the village the others helping Alice and Ron along despite the fact they both protested they could manage themselves. It wasn’t until they reached the Hogesmeade that they all stumbled to a halt.

“I’m guessing we’re not in the past any more then,” Ron hazarded.

Plastered to a board outside the Three Broomsticks was the torn out cover of a copy of the Daily Prophet and emblazoned across it in large letters were words which made the five of them look at each other in nervous confusion.

Boy Who Lived and Friends Vanish: Dumbledore Refuses to Confirm Rumours.

“Is there a date?” Alice asked as Hermione went to examine it more closely.

The photo beneath was one of Alice and Harry at the Quidditch World Cup with smaller clippings of the others stuck around them. "It says June 23rd," Hermione exclaimed, "that was four days after we left!"

There was a sickened silence as the others contemplated the implications of this fact.

"Right," Harry said eventually, "I think it's high time we got back up to the castle again, don't you?"

By general consensus they stayed out of sight as they skirted round the edge of the village, the last thing they wanted to do as create an uproar by suddenly reappearing and Alice was very conscious of the fact she was covered in blood.

"Wait a minute," she told the other as they reached the castle gates. Pulling the set of robes she had stolen from herself out of her pocket she resized them and pulled off the bloodied set she was wearing. "There's no point in scaring everyone," she told Hermione who was watching her with something close to amusement as she pulled on the clean robes.

"I don't know," her friend smiled, "you can be pretty terrifying when you want to be."

"Do you suppose they'll have dinner out yet?" Ron mused as they walked, and in his case limped their way, up to the castle. "I'm starving."

"You're always starving."

"Yes, but I've had a near death experience, that would make anyone hungry!"

Alice decided she’d rather dwell on dinner than the near death experience and focused on the ever increasing size of the castle in front of her. She didn't think she had ever been so glad to see Hogwarts in her entire life.

They had barely set one tentative foot in the entrance hall when Professor McGonagall came rushing down the main stairs towards them. She looked panicked and relieved, dishevelled and agitated all at once and she was running which confirmed to Alice as nothing else would that they had been missing some considerable time.

“Oh, thank goodness, there you are. Where on earth have you been?! Mr Weasley, are you quite alright? Miss Potter what...?” She fired questions at them then trailed off as she saw Alice’s face, paling slightly. Was it really that bad? “I think you all need to come to the Hospital Wing with me. Now. We can answer questions later.”

Obediently the Gryffindors allowed themselves to be shepherded along in silence. For her part Alice was trying to work out what time of day it was. There were no students around and judging by the steady hum of noise coming from behind many of the doors they must all have been in classes, still the sun had been almost directly overhead as they walked to the castle. Just before lunch perhaps, or just after?

“Minerva, what’s -” Madam Pomfrey stuck her head out of her office as they swept into the Hospital Wing. “Oh,” her eyes widened as she saw the fourth years, “oh, you found them! Sit,” she told them all, instantly business-like as her assessing gaze swept over them, pointing towards the nearest of the beds as she did so. Gingerly they all obeyed.

“I’ll be just a moment,” Professor McGonagall gave them one last worried glance before sweeping from the room.

Once she had gone Madam Pomfrey bustled around muttering to herself and clicking her tongue critically as she examined them. Wet flannels were passed over their faces, ribs were prodded and poked for signs of injury and Ron’s ankle gave a loud click as she touched her wand to it before a swirl of bandages appeared from nowhere to encircle it.

“Is this all yours?” She asked Alice, sponging the dried blood from her cheek and neck. Alice nodded meekly. The look Madam Pomfrey gave her at this response was both concerned and mildly apologetic. “Everyone wait here a moment,” she vanished back into her office only to re-emerge moments later with a bottle in one hand and an armful of goblets. “I want everyone to drink some of this. It will make you feel better.”

With a glance at each other as they were handed a goblet of steaming, sour smelling liquid they each took a sip. For all that it tasted as foul as it smelt Alice felt a rush of energy run through her as soon as the potion passed her lips so she took another sip for good measure. “Now let me take a look at this.” Madam Pomfrey took hold of Alice’s face gently with her fingers, she meant it kindly, but the touch was so reminiscent of Bellatrix grabbing her earlier that Alice couldn’t help but jerk away reflexively for a moment before realising what she had done and looking apologetically up at the Matron.

“It’s alright, dear, this won’t hurt a bit.” She ran her wand gently over Alice’s cheek as the girl shut her eyes and tried to stop the memories come flooding back. When she opened them again Madam Pomfrey was frowning critically at her. “What have you all been...?” She seemed to think better of her question. “This one may take some work, I -”

“Ron!”

They all jumped, startled, as Mrs Weasley burst into the Hospital Wing closely followed by Bill, and much to her joy, Sirius.

“Alice, Harry!”

They leapt up from the bed, pushed past the Matron and in seconds had crashed into their godfather, enveloping him in a fierce hug.

“What happened? Where have you been? Are you alright?” Sirius released them and dropped into a crouch so he could look up into their faces. “Alice, what happened?” He turned her face to look at her cheek and she felt herself flushing in embarrassment and shame. “I think you had better start at the beginning.”

“I think,” Dumbledore spoke from beside the door he had just come through with Professor McGonagall behind him, “that would be for the best.”

As they all went back over to the now very crowded bed, Mrs Weasley broke off from smothering a thoroughly embarrassed Ron in kisses and hugs and turned her attention to the others. “I’m just so glad you’re alright,” she kept repeating.

“Now, Molly,” Dumbledore said as he conjured chairs for the adults to sit in, “let them speak. Your parents and grandmother have been informed of your safe return,” he added to Neville and Hermione. “I imagine they will wish to see you when they arrive shortly. Miss Granger we will make arrangements for your parents. Now, you may begin.”

The five of them looked at each other pensively for a moment. Where should they start? Eventually Hermione drew the crushed and mangled remains of the Time Turner from her pocket and held it up to the adults where it swung and glinted languidly in the sunlight streaming through the high windows. When she had taken the time, or had the presence of mind, to pick it up Alice couldn’t fathom.

“Ah,” Dumbledore made a noise of understanding and his long fingers reached out to take it from her.

“Ah?” Sirius asked. “I don’t see how that makes anything clearer.”

“It’s a Time Turner, Sirius,” Professor McGonagall informed him in the sort of tone Alice imagined she had used when he was a student. “Miss Granger’s Time Turner to be precise. Though how it got to look like that I would dearly love to hear.”

“It broke,” Harry told her after another very pregnant pause. “We got into a fight with Malfoy in the corridor and the Time Turner got smashed...” With help from the others he began to relate the events of the last few hours or days depending on which way you looked at it. Sirius tried to interrupt several times and Mrs Weasley looked as though she was about to faint and kept squeaking in shock every time some new danger was mentioned, but McGonagall and Dumbledore kept them quiet for which Alice was grateful. It was difficult enough without having to repeat themselves all over again. When they reached the part in the tale where the Death Eaters featured Alice realised she was gripping Harry and Hermione’s hands tightly and tried to ease some blood back into their fingers, still she refused to let go, she was afraid she would start crying uncontrollably otherwise.

It sounded even more horrendous to hear the others tell it, how they’d thought Alice was dead for a moment, how they had watched Bellatrix carve into her face... eventually Alice tried to block out the words and stared fixedly at her muddy shoes.

When their story came to an end a deep silence had settled over the adults.

“And you are sure,” Dumbledore was watching them all intently through those piercing blue eyes of his, “that they said they knew where Voldemort was?” Mrs Weasley and Madam Pomfrey flinched and the muscles in Neville’s face twitched.

“But surely he’s not... he can’t be able to – to come back?” Mrs Weasley leant forwards in her seat to place a worried hand upon her son’s knee.

“Muuuum,” Ron protested.

“Voldemort was ever a master of evasion, I would never presume to rule anything out where he is concerned.”

McGonagall began to ask a question, but the Headmaster forestalled her. “I think perhaps that the young ones might benefit from going to bed. It has, after all, been a rather long day for them.”

Alice would have argued, but a yawn was creeping up on her.

“Are you finished with your charges, Madam Pomfrey?”

The Hogwarts Matron nodded, still pale from having heard their story.

“What about -?” Sirius gestured to his own cheek indicating Alice’s injury.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing more I can do about it for the moment,” Madam Pomfrey told them. “It was created using dark magic and will take all my skill to heal, if I can at all. I will need to consult my books. I am sorry,” she said this to Alice as much as to her godfather.

“That’s alright,” Alice nodded trying to bite down the tears that welled within her. They stood and shuffled slowly out into the corridor, Sirius, Mrs Weasley and Bill following behind them.

“Get some rest dears,” Ron’s mother told them dolling out affectionate strokes to their hair and cheeks, “we’ll be here when you wake up. I’ll just need to go and send an owl to your father,” she told Ron. “And don’t worry about a thing, my dear,” she said to Alice, “I’m sure Pomona will be able to think of something, and you can barely see the mark.” She gave them all one last hug before going back into the Hospital Wing followed by her eldest son.

“Off you go now,” Sirius ruffled their hair, “Dumbledore’s right you deserve a rest.”

“Are you going to be...?” Alice wasn’t sure what she wanted to ask and couldn’t think of a way to say it.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her.

With a silence born of extreme tiredness and punctuated only by several sniffs and yawns the Gryffindors dragged themselves up to the dormitories, which she had never been so glad to see in her life, and where Alice promptly collapsed on her bed, fully clothed and immediately fell asleep.

Her dreams were filled with running, blinding flashes of light which occasionally shone green and Death Eaters, lots of Death Eaters. More particularly her dreams were full of Bellatrix Lestrange’s face looming out of the shadows to taunt her, cackling madly or whispering threats in her ear. When the witch rushed from the dark swirl of her nightmares to grab her face once more Alice jerked awake, sweat sticking her clothes to her body as her eyes flew open.

She jumped.

Three pairs of equally startled eyes were staring down at her.

“When did you get back?”

“Where have you been?”

“What happened to your face?”

Parvati, Sally-Anne and Lavender fired questions at her with curious insensitivity.

“You were moaning in your sleep,” Lavender added helpfully.

“Was I?” Alice asked dodging their questions as she sat up, wiping the beads of perspiration from her face.

“Yes.” Lavender told her with far too much enthusiasm. “I couldn’t tell what you were saying though. So,” she perched on the end of Alice’s bed now she was sure the girl wasn’t a raving loony. “Where in Merlin’s name have you been?! The whole school’s been in uproar since you all disappeared! You’ve been gone six whole days!”

Alice was sure she had enjoyed every minute of it.

“I’m not allowed to say,” she remembered Dumbledore’s warning.

“But surely you can tell us,” Sally-Anne wheedled, she went to put a hand on Alice’s shoulder and it was all the other girl could do not to flinch away from the sudden touch.

Breathe, she told herself, just breathe and relax. It was a dream. She was safe now.

“We are your friends after all.”

“What time is it?” A voice asked from the other side of the room. Hermione, who had possessed the foresight to close the curtains around her bed, now pulled them apart and swung her legs round. “I’m starving. It must be nearly dinner time. Do you want to go and get something to eat Alice?”

“Sure,” her friend smiled, grateful for the excuse to slip away. “Let me just go and freshen up a bit first.” She grabbed some robes from her trunk and padded across to the washroom. It wasn’t until she had shut the door behind her and caught sight of her face in the mirror that Alice stopped. Beginning beneath her eye and curving towards her jaw before coming to rest at the corner of her mouth was a pale, pink line, slightly shiny and puffy, the scar stood out noticeably against her pale skin, It looked a week old at least thanks to Hermione’s healing charm, but it would still be immediately obvious to anyone who looked at her.

Turning quickly away from herself Alice washed and changed before brushing out her long, curly hair and trying to coax it to cover her face. As she gazed into the mirror her reflection gingerly reached up and traced the scar’s arc with a tentative finger. It changed the whole shape of her face, made it more lopsided and seemed to swamp everything else. Blinking away the tears which had sprung up again Alice turned away and went back to the others.

“I’m ready,” she told Hermione. She might as well get this over with.

The boys still seemed to be asleep so the two girls made their own way down to the Great Hall, they hadn’t even made it over the threshold though before they were suddenly attacke by a skinny, redheaded whirlwind.

“Alice, Hermione! You’re alright! Of course I knew that, Mum said you were, but you’re back! Are the boys with you? Oh Alice...” Ginny released them from their hugs and trailed off as she caught a glimpse of Alice’s face.

“It’s fine, honestly,” Alice waved off her concern. She didn’t really want to talk about it or be reminded. It was enough that half the tables already seemed to be staring at them. “Let’s just get something to eat and you can fill us in on everything we missed.”

Ginny paused for a beat before deciding to do as she was told and accompanied the older girls to the nearest available space at the Gryffindor table.

“The Third Task mainly. It was to get through a maze set up on the Quidditch Pitch and the Triwizard Cup was at the centre. Cedric won by the way. It was a bit of a shame really, no one really got excited about it because you lot had gone missing and now the fact you’re back is all they’ll talk about so he’s not really going to get a spot in the limelight.”

Alice was surprised to discover she only felt slightly sorry for him over this. Too much had happened for her to worry much about the outcome of the Tournament.

“So, have the other students gone home?” Hermione looked around the Hall for evidence of the foreign students.

“No, they’re staying on till the end of term. They -”

“What on earth happened to Malfoy?!” Alice had just caught a glimpse of the Slytherin slinking into his place bearing a slight limp, his arm in a sling and a patchwork of bruises littering his face.

“Oh.” Ginny somehow managed to look abashed and amused all at once. “That might have been Fred and George.”

“What?” The girls asked in unison.

“Well, when you disappeared the whole school went mental, they didn’t know what to think and there were so many rumours going about – anyway, Malfoy had been shouting his mouth off to the other Slytherins about how he had something to do with your disappearance and the twins caught wind of it. They decided to teach him a lesson. I don’t even think they used their wands!”

Hermione scowled over at the boy for a moment whilst Alice tried not to remember the last time she had seen his father. “I bet he’s just putting half of it on,” the brunette opined. “Madam Pomfrey could fix all that in a heartbeat if she wanted to.”

“I think that’s exactly the point,” Ginny’s grin broadened. “I think she had heard the rumours too.”

That did manage to lift the corner of Alice’s mouth into a smile which stuck despite the fact it made her cheek twinge a bit. They ate largely in silence after that or until the twins appeared anyway and scooped Alice bodily from her seat to give her a welcoming hug. To their everlasting credit neither of them said a word about her face.

Several days passed and they found themselves the object of constant curiosity from the other students. If they weren’t being openly harassed and quizzed on what had happened to them then students were standing on tiptoe to stare. All the newfound, unwanted fame Alice had had to put up with since the start of the year magnified tenfold. The scar began to subside slowly, but she remained very conscious of it and the staring didn’t help. Neither did the nightmares; every night Bellatrix Lestrange would return to carve into her face anew.

Lack of sleep and stress made her irritable and twitchy so to cheer her up one day her brother took her flying. Soaring over the forbidden forest and the overgrown Quidditch pitch allowed her to forget, if only for a while, what had happened. It was only afterwards that it was brought up again, and surprisingly Alice was the one who did so.

“Harry, are you alright?”

“Yes, why?”

“You’ve been somewhere else for the last fifteen minutes. I was calling the Tornadoes all sorts of names and you didn’t even blink.”

“Oh... sorry, it’s just that… never mind. What were you saying?”

“No, come on, tell. You don’t get off that easily.” She saw the reluctant set of his jaw and her own stubbornness kicked in. “Harry James Potter, if you don’t tell me what the matter is I’m going to hit you with this broomstick!”

Harry grinned and pretended to duck to avoid such a fate. “Alright. Alright,” he protested, “I’ll tell.” His expression sobered again and he gazed out towards the distant edge of the lake which they seemed to have stopped beside. “It’s just been that all year, since I found out about the prophecy, I’ve been able to forget almost. Even with everything that’s happened this year, it hasn’t been directed at us or at me, I’ve almost been able to be normal and forget that…”

“That Trelawney predicted you would have to kill Voldemort,” she whispered.

It had been something that had never been far from Alice’s mind, although she had tried to ignore it. The fact that Voldemort’s return had been a vague possibility rather than a certified fact had helped, but with the Death Eaters on the loose it would surely only be a matter of time. Harry hadn’t said anything though so she had followed his lead and ignored the subject. No longer.

“You know we’re with you Harry, don’t you? You’ll never have to do this alone.”

“But it says -”

“I know what it says, but it also says that you will have a power the Dark Lord knows not or some rubbish like that. Well, what if your friends are that power? I’m fairly sure that Voldemort won’t have any of those if he’s out there.”

“You know, for someone who is supposedly so quiet, you don’t half like to interrupt a person,” Harry chastised her, but the smile on his face belied his words.

“Only when they’re being nonsensical. Besides if you thought for one minute you would ever be able to do anything without me, Hermione, and Ron tagging along then you’re stupider than you look.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” she slung an arm round his shoulders and steered him back towards the castle. “If I was Ron at this point I would point out that dinner is probably on the table and this will solve everything.”

Harry smirked. “You’re better looking than Ron though... and shorter.”

Alice elbowed him in the ribs and the two of them laughed their way up to the castle.

Alice lived for these little moments of relief, when she managed to forget and could enjoy being with her brother and her friends. Fred and George seemed to have made it their missions to ensure she laughed as often as possible. She told them all everything was fine, that they needn’t worry about her. After all, hadn’t they been through almost exactly the same experience. Poor Neville had been forced to confront his parents torturers for goodness sake! Surely if anyone deserved sympathy it was him? It didn’t stop the nightmares though and after the second time Hermione commented that she had been muttering in her sleep Alice made sure she put a silencing charm around her bed. She didn’t want to worry anyone unnecessarily or disrupt their nights.

It was with some disappointment too that her friend was told she would not be given a replacement Time Turner. McGonagall impressed upon Hermione gently, but forcibly that given everything that had happened both Professor Dumbledore and she felt it would not be wise to issue a new one. Hermione muttered darkly about how none of it had been her fault for a while, but it was with less upset that she conceded to drop Divination and after some thought Muggle Studies too which allowed her to operate under a normal timetable for a change. Alice couldn’t help but feel that it was for the best really, the risk of magical disaster was all too great as they had seen for themselves and if nothing else it was probably better for Hermione’s health and energy levels that she was forced to study normally for once, or as normal as it ever got for Hermione.

The end of term cam briskly upon them and Alice soon found herself trying to force her trunk back aboard the Hogwarts Express.

“It feels different now,” Harry observed, staring out of the window as they sped along and watching the countryside melt from grey and purple hills into deep green meadows and fields. “The air, it’s as though it knows something has changed, that it all will change.”

“Let’s not think about that now,” Hermione told him resting her head on his shoulder as she fiddled with the corner of the book she was reading. “We’ve got the whole summer to look forward to. Let’s just enjoy it, can we?”

Harry smirked and said nothing.

“Did you hear?” Neville asked suddenly. “Apparently Mad-Eye won’t be coming back to teach next year.”

“What?”

“Why?”

“But he was brilliant!”

Protests filled the compartment.

“I heard Professor Flitwick telling Professor Sprout,” he continued. “Apparently Mad-Eye feels that with the current situation his skills will be put to better use outside of Hogwarts.”

“That’s a shame,” Ron glanced up from where he was attempting to create a tower of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and failing miserably at it. “He was really good. Completely barmy, but he taught us some cool stuff.”

“I wonder who we’ll get next year?”

Hermione flipped open her book and began to read. “Someone good I hope, it’s about time we got a good Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

“But he was good,” Alice told her, shocked.

“I know he was,” Hermione agreed, “but Ron’s right, he was completely off his rocker. It would be nice for once to have a normal teacher who doesn’t try and kill us every twenty seconds.”

“She does know what school we go to, doesn’t she?” Alice whispered to Neville as Ron suddenly dived for his bag and began rummaging around before tearing out a sheet of crumpled, stained parchment. “I don’t think normal ever comes into it. Ron, what are you doing?”

“Hang on,” he held his tongue between his teeth as he concentrated on scribbling something down. “There, done. Sign that please.” He thrust the parchment towards Hermione who just stared at him in blank confusion.

“Here,” Harry took it from him and began to read, a slow smile spreading across his face as he did so. “I, Hermione Granger, did admit on 3rd of July 1995 that Ronald Weasley was right about something.”

As their laughter echoed around the carriage and chased itself along the corridors of the train a tiny knot of tension in Alice’s stomach seemed to dissolve. Whatever would come next, whatever the world, Death Eaters or even Voldemort, should he return, had to throw at them, she had her friends around her. Together they could face anything and support Harry through even the darkest of troubles and she had to hold on to that thought.

A/N: So there you have it loyal readers! Book 4 complete! Hope you enjoyed it, have a Merry Christmas and I’ll be back with Book 5 in the New Year. I love all your reviews and thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment on my work.

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