As expected, every person at Hogwarts was keen on hearing the details of what happened down in the Black Lake during the Second Task. Of course, Harry and Analeigh told their side of the story, and so did the other champions to those who asked them, too. However, it seemed that people were also very interested in the point of view of the hostages, and so, they turned to Hermione and Ron.

Whereas Hermione's account of what happened was as close to the truth as it could ever get, Ron's version of the events would subtly change over time. Analeigh didn't mind, though; it did make for a very interesting story, and it didn't harm anyone. Harry didn't seem bothered by it, either, instead finding his best friend's storytelling very entertaining.

It took everything in Analeigh not to burst out laughing a week later as she overheard Ron retell the events of the task.

"I was against around fifty merpeople, you know?" he was saying, and Padma Patil seemed to be giving him her full attention nowadays. "They practically beat me up until I stopped resisting and then they tied me up. But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve. I could've taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."

"What were you going to do, snore at them?" Hermione scoffed. As funny as her comment was, Analeigh knew that Hermione had genuinely been on the edge recently since a lot of people — even those she wasn't familiar with at all — had started to tease her for being the thing Viktor Krum would miss the most.

Then, March arrived and it was sunnier and drier than it had been the previous weeks, though the harsh winds still survived. One morning, a brown owl with extremely ruffled feathers dropped a letter onto Harry's lap in the Great Hall.

"It's from Snuffles," he said.

"Snuffles? Who's — oh," said Analeigh in realization. She knew by then that Sirius Black was innocent, but she hadn't actually met the man. She also hadn't spoken to him through the fireplace yet since he was being extra cautious with who he came in contact with. Since he had only met Harry, Ron, and Hermione last school year and the three of them (and Dumbledore) were the only ones who knew the full truth about him, he wanted to limit his discussions with only them. Analeigh understood his reasoning for they couldn't risk his safety by including more people into their conversations. However, the trio still filled Analeigh in on some of the details of whatever they spoke of, and Sirius was also aware of who Analeigh Heart was. Hopefully, the two of them could meet when things got better.

Harry ripped open the envelope at lightning speed to reveal a letter no longer than two sentences.

Be at stoke at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.

"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade, has he?" Ron said in disbelief.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.

"I can't believe him," Harry said worriedly. "If he's caught..."

"Well, he's made it this far, hasn't he? Hogsmeade isn't swarming with dementors anymore, either. I think he'll be alright," Analeigh tried to reassure him.

Before they could enjoy their weekend in Hogsmeade, the four of them still had to go through another obstacle: double Potions. That afternoon, they were both dreading and excited for their last class of the day because while it meant having to endure Snape for two hours, it also meant that they were getting closer to the weekend they were highly anticipating.

"What will you be up to tomorrow, then?" Ron was asking her as they walked down the corridor. "You know, since Snuffles isn't exactly comfortable meeting you just yet."

"Oh, I have other... plans."

"What plans?"

"With Cedric."

"What are you gonna do with Pretty Boy Diggory?"

"She has a date with him, you daft flobberworm," Hermione interjected. She still seemed to be more irritable than usual because of all the Viktor Krum rumors.

"What was it I said?" Ron asked in bewilderment at her snappy remark, only for Harry to shrug back at him, equally confused. Boys, Analeigh thought.

When they had arrived at the dungeons, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and a number of other Slytherins were standing outside the Potions classroom in a huddle. Pansy's face lit up mischievously when she spotted the four Gryffindors nearing them.

"There they are, there they are!" she pointed out, causing the huddle to break apart. Analeigh could now see that the girl was holding a copy of the latest issue of Witch Weekly and she just knew this wasn't going to be good.

"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy taunted, throwing the magazine in their direction. Hermione caught it in surprise but didn't have time to say another word because Snape had opened the dungeon door and ordered them to enter.

While Snape began the class by writing down the ingredients for their Wit-Sharpening Potion on the blackboard, Hermione hurriedly opened the Witch Weekly magazine with Harry, Ron, and Analeigh eagerly surrounding her. In one of the pages, they finally found what they were looking for: an article entitled 'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache.'

"She wrote another article about this? Why does she keep bothering you?" Analeigh murmured in annoyance, recalling the first time Rita Skeeter wrote about Harry, Hermione, and Krum after the First Task.

"I can't believe her," Hermione said under her breath.

A boy like no other, perhaps — yet a boy suffering all the usual pants of adolescence. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.

"Well, that's one way to talk about Harry's life," Ron mumbled.

Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."

However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest.

"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."

"Pretty?" Analeigh read in disgust at the same time Hermione said incredulously, "A love potion?"

"I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione once they had finished reading the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of — of scarlet woman!"

Analeigh, Harry, and Hermione all turned to Ron with raised eyebrows at his choice of words.

"Scarlet woman?" Hermione repeated, hiding her giggles.

"It's what my mum calls them," Ron defended with reddening ears.

"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," Hermione said, throwing the magazine onto the empty chair next to her. "What a pile of old rubbish."

She gave a sarcastic smile and wave to the Slytherins who had been waiting for some kind of reaction from her. Now that that was over, the four Gryffindors prepared their potion ingredients and got to work.

A few minutes later, Hermione spoke up again.

"There's something funny, though," she said thoughtfully. "How could Rita Skeeter have known?"

"Known what?" Ron asked. "You haven't been mixing up love potions, have you?"

"Don't be stupid."

"Wait, so..." Analeigh said as if a light bulb had lit up above her head. "Krum really asked you to visit him over the summer?"

It only took Hermione's blush for them to know that the answer was yes.

"What?" Ron said in shock, dropping his pestle loudly on the table.

"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione explained in a small voice. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to —"

"And what did you say?" Ron asked quickly, grinding his pestle onto the desk instead of his bowl with the assigned ingredient. Analeigh snickered at his actions, amused at how desperate he was to hear Hermione's answer.

"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione continued, not answering his question just yet.

"But how could Rita Skeeter have heard him?" Analeigh asked in confusion. "She wasn't there... or was she?"

"Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the Second Task —"

"And what did you say?" Ron repeated, pounding his pestle even harder onto the table.

Harry, being the good friend he was, discretely took the pestle away from Ron's hands, not wanting him to damage the table or his hands any further.

"Well," said Hermione. "I was too busy seeing whether you and Harry were okay to —"

"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger," a voice that sent a chill up Analeigh's spine said from behind. "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Analeigh winced at Snape's words and the fact that they had been caught by him. By then, the entire class was looking at them, wondering what the commotion was.

"Ah..." Snape went on, spotting the copy of Witch Weekly. "Reading magazines under the table as well? A further ten points from Gryffindor. Oh, but of course... Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings."

The Slytherins in the room laughed at their head of house's words. To make matter's worse, Snape began reading the article out loud.

"Oh, Merlin," Analeigh muttered worriedly. She wished the class would just be over already to cut her friends' humiliation short.

Snape ordered for the group to transfer seats after that embarrassing few minutes he spent reading the article; Analeigh moved to sit beside Neville, Hermione went to Pansy Parkinson's table, Harry moved to the one directly in front of Snape's desk, and Ron was left behind at the back. Snape even threatened Harry with Veritaserum because apparently, someone had been constantly stealing from his storage of ingredients in his office. Thankfully, he was interrupted when a knock sounded from the dungeon door.

"Enter," Snape drawled. It was completely unexpected that Igor Karkaroff entered.

The students all watched curiously as he walked up towards Snape and said, "We need to talk."

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," said Snape.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me," he said determinedly, which Analeigh struggled to hear since she wasn't at the front row like Harry was.

"After the lesson."

Like an annoying pest, Karkaroff stayed behind Snape's back the entire lesson. Analeigh couldn't hear much between the two professors anymore after that. After the class ended, she filed out of the room with the other students, but Harry was clever enough to deliberately knock over his bottle of armadillo bile to crouch behind his desk and clean it up to eavesdrop some more.

"What's so urgent?" Snape finally addressed Karkaroff again.

"This," the man replied, pulling up his sleeve of his robe and showing Snape something on his left arm. "Well? Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since —"

"Put it away!" Snape hissed, scanning the classroom for signs of anybody who must have seen.

"But you must have noticed —"

"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" Snape raised his voice, and just then, he spotted Harry still at his desk. "Potter! What are you doing?"

"Cleaning up my armadillo bile, Professor," Harry explained, innocently holding up the rag he used.

Karkaroff abruptly turned on his heel and left the dungeons in a hurry. Following his lead, Harry then quickly packed up his belongings to escape Snape's wrath and to tell Hermione, Ron, and Analeigh what he had witnessed.

★ ★ ★

While that Potions lesson was a burden to sit through coupled with the fact that Harry overheard and saw Snape and Karkaroff discussing something sketchy, the highlight of their week was that they could finally visit Hogsmeade. Analeigh had asked for some cookies from the house elves and told Harry to give them to Sirius, wanting the man to at least have a good impression of her even if he didn't fully trust her yet.

"Do I look fine?" Analeigh asked Hermione as they made their way to Hogsmeade, fumbling with her clothes.

"You look great, Leigh," Hermione reassured her. For the rest of the carriage ride to the village, Analeigh could only hope that Hermione was telling the truth.

When they reached Hogsmeade, Analeigh bid goodbye to Harry, Ron, and Hermione as the three of them went on their way to meet up with Sirius. The dirty blonde haired girl was left on her own, her nerves eating her up alive as she made her way to a newly opened restaurant that Cedric had told her about.

Last year, she had gone on a date with a Ravenclaw boy in the year above her. They obviously didn't progress after that, though, but they had a nice time. But, she was nowhere even close to being as nervous and tense as she was right now.

The place Cedric had told her to go to was a quaint little restaurant at the end of the street. It was evidently a new business, small in size and not bustling with witches and wizards just yet. However, Analeigh quite liked it already with its aesthetic interiors, the homey smell of food cooking in the back kitchen the moment she entered, and the fact that it wasn't crowded. Because of that, it was easy to spot Cedric already waiting at a table in the corner of the restaurant.

Analeigh beamed at him and slid into the booth across him, trying to calm her nerves.

"Before we officially start this date," was the first thing Cedric said, sounding all serious. "I just have one rule: no talking about the final task."

Analeigh made an amused face and asked, "And why is that?"

"We've spent so much time around each other as partners and champions. I want us to spend time with each other just as ourselves," Cedric shrugged.

Analeigh couldn't help but giggle at his words.

"What?"

"That was cheesy," she admitted, not bothering to stop her laughter.

"I was trying my best to be romantic here," Cedric whined.

"It was cheesy, but... it was really sweet, too."

Like they had agreed, their conversation barely touched the topic of the third task. They spoke a bit of the previous tasks and the tournament in general, but for the most part, they talked about each other's lives.

Analeigh found out that he had lived in Ottery St. Catchpole his entire life, which was why his parents were friendly with the Weasleys aside from knowing each other from work at the Ministry of Magic. She learned that he truly did excel in both academics and Quidditch, and he expressed that it sometimes embarrassed him that his father, Amos, would boast about his achievements to others, but at least he knew that his dad supported him wholeheartedly.

Cedric found out that Analeigh did live in France as a child, only moving to England when she turned thirteen after her father accepted a high offer to work in the Department of Magical Transportation, which also caused her to transfer to Hogwarts. He listened intently as Analeigh retold stories of her short time in Beauxbatons, or the antics she'd cause out of boredom in the summer while her mother baked more pastries for her shop. They spoke of their family, likes, dislikes, childhood stories, dreams, and so much more that they couldn't keep track.

As nervous as Analeigh was at the beginning, she was thankful that Cedric made her feel comfortable, making their date feel like it was something so natural and not forced at all.

Once they had finished their meal, Cedric suggested that they grab a drink at the Three Broomsticks. Like most Hogwarts students, they felt that their trip to Hogsmeade would be incomplete without one. Since Cedric had paid for their meal, Analeigh insisted on paying for their drinks as they exited the restaurant.

"What kind of man doesn't pay for everything on the first date?" Cedric questioned rhetorically, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

"An advanced one," Analeigh challenges. "One who knows that boys aren't the only ones who need to pay during a date."

"But —"

"No buts."

Cedric chuckled fondly at how strong-willed she was about something as simple as paying for Butterbeer. He noticed Analeigh's arm swinging back and forth as they trudged towards the Three Broomsticks and he just couldn't help himself. Waiting for the exact moment that it swung right past his hand, Cedric slipped his left hand into her right one.

Surprised at the action, Analeigh halted in her steps and looked up at him. Cedric was about to say something to tease her, but the words died in his mouth when he realized that he was becoming flustered at their contact as well.

The two Hogwarts champions cleared their throats awkwardly, neither of them saying a word. As if they had both just mentally agreed with one another, they decided to keep walking to the pub, hands still interlocked with one another.

The Three Broomsticks was crowded as usual, but they didn't mind. It actually made the pub feel cozier.

"There's an empty booth over there," Cedric said after a moment, easily spotting one with his tall stature.

"I'm going to get us our drinks," Analeigh reminded him.

Cedric grinned at the way she glared at him determinedly and raised his free hand up in defense.

"Okay, okay, I won't fight back," he said.

He dragged her along with him as he weaved through the other customers inside the pub. It was a slight challenge seeing as they had come in during rush hour, but they eventually neared the bar where Madam Rosmerta awaited. Just as they were about to reach her, an unwanted face popped up before them.

"Well, if it isn't two out of three of the Hogwarts champions."

Rita Skeeter had appeared in front of them, blocking their way to the counter. Her blonde curls were as perky as ever, her attire in an annoying shade of green, and she still had a sickly sweet smile plastered on her face whenever she approached people.

"Oh, and on a date, I see," she said interestedly, glancing at the couple's interlocked hands. "Is this going to be another heartbreak for Harry Potter?"

"What are you talking about?" Analeigh asked, genuinely lost as to what she was going on about.

"Dear, dear, I know Miss Granger isn't the only female close to that poor boy."

"They're friends," Cedric deadpanned, his grip on Analeigh's hand tightening.

"Of course, they are," Rita agreed, placing what was supposedly a comforting hand on Cedric's arm. "But, don't tell me you haven't noticed another possible romance blossoming for Harry? Word has it that he and Miss Heart here shared more than just one embrace after the Second Task. They looked awfully touchy."

Analeigh frowned at her words. While it bothered her that Rita was making it seem like she had something more than a friendship going on with Harry, it bothered her even more that she knew exactly what had happened after the task when she wasn't supposed to be there. How was she so accurate?

"Who would even tell you about that?" Analeigh said, sighing as if she was tired just from being in Rita's presence. "I doubt that people come clamoring for your attention with fake news like that. Maybe they would if you were a bit more... relevant."

Rita's eyes flashed dangerously, clearly miffed at her words.

"That's what you think, dearie," she said, keeping the fake smile on her face. "Maybe you're 'not like the other girls,' but people live off of the news I report. They love my work."

"Well, if all you do is write exaggerated versions of gossip you've eavesdropped on, then I suggest you leave right now," Cedric said, shrugging the woman's hand off of his arm. "We're just here to get a Butterbeer, and you're blocking the way."

Rita blinked at Cedric, apparently not expecting his blunt words. It looked as if she had more to say, but it seemed that her image was more important to her.

Widening her smile that had almost been completely wiped off, she instead chose to say, "I'll let you two get on with it, then. Have fun."

Fortunately, she left them without picking another fight. It was only when she was out the door that Cedric loosened his hold on Analeigh's hand, having been too agitated to notice earlier.

"Sorry," he said when he realized it. "She just really annoyed me back there."

"She really is a nuisance."

"Exactly. Why does she have to go out of her way to bother people so much?"

Sensing how worked up he was becoming, Analeigh sighed and said, "Forget about her for now. I'll go get the Butterbeers."

"Extra whipped cream, please."

A/N: I reread some parts of GOF for this chapter and it rly made me see that there are so many scenes there that we didn't get to see in the movie (like Ron being jealous during Potions up there ^ HAHA). I get that it's hard to condense a book into one movie and simple moments like those aren't as important, but it still would've been nice to see entertaining scenes like that bc they really show the characters' relationships with one another hehe ❤️