THAT WOMAN IS TERRIFYING.

WHEN THE DAY OF THE FIRST TASK ARRIVED, Ivy felt a bit queasy — and it wasn't the aftereffects of Apparating to Hogwarts that made her feel that way. She'd been up all night, worrying about Harry. Sirius didn't get much sleep either, both imagining the worst possible outcomes of Harry going up against a dragon.

Thankfully, since Sirius was considered family, McGonagall let him and Ivy go visit Harry in the Champions' tent. It blocked out the hectic sound of people cheering rowdily and placing bets — Fred and George took it upon themselves to arrange most of the betting pools.

Harry had explained to his godfather that his plan was to use the Summoning Charm to get his broom. Maybe he couldn't defend himself against a dragon, but he could outfly one.

"And you left your bedroom window open so that it can get to you, right?" Ivy asked Harry, whose eyes went wide.

"I don't remember," he mumbled. "Merlin, I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

"No!" Ivy insisted, holding his hands. "Harry, you've got this."

"She's right," Sirius told him, sitting next to him on the cot. "Know how I know?"

"How?"

"You're James Potter's son," he told him. "And more importantly, Lily Evans' son. You've got the sheer luck and the smarts that it takes to beat something like this."

"Do you think they'd be proud of me?" he asked, emotion swirling in his blue eyes.

"I think that Lily would have set Barty Crouch on fire for letting you compete," Sirius joked. "But then she'd be up in those stands with James, cheering their heads off with your name painted on their faces just like Draco."

Instantly, Harry's cheeks heated up. "He doesn't really, does he?"

"Oh, he does," Ivy said, smirking. "Even has a Cedric Sucks button on — I thought it was rather mean."

"I thought it was brilliant," Sirius laughed. Then he nodded to Harry. "It'll be alright, yeah? And then after you finish, you'll throw the biggest party Gryffindor tower has ever seen — and that's saying something because we threw absolute ragers in my day."

"Don't encourage him to break rules," Ivy chastised, making both men smile.

Then they suddenly heard Hermione's voice coming from the back entrance of the tent where they were waiting. "Psst. Harry? Is that you?"

"Yeah," he whispered back, getting a bit closer.

Giving them a minute to talk to themselves, Sirius pulled Ivy to the side. "Want to go with Cedric good luck?"

"Will you be silly and jealous about it if I do?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sirius rolled his eyes childishly. "No," he mumbled.

"Sure," she said with a smile on her face. Then she walked toward Cedric, who was alone now that his father had returned to the stands. "Hey, Ced."

He brightened up instantly at the sight of her and moved to hug her tightly. "V, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. I hate that these are the circumstances we're meeting under," she mumbled. But then she reminded herself that Cedric voluntarily put his name in the Goblet. He wasn't feeling trapped like Harry was. So, she instead smiled. "You're gonna do fantastic. I just know it. You're the brightest in your year."

"I just hope it shows," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Then his cheeks heated up noticeably. "Say, I don't know if you know this, but there's always a Yule Ball when a Tri-Wizard Tournament is held."

"Oh, now I see why Harry and to bring dress robes. That'll be so fun for you all."

"I know," he smiled. "And, um, well, I asked if we were allowed to ask non-students, and we are. Ivy, I was wondering if you'd like to be my date."

Ivy froze, her worst fear coming to light. Cedric was finally asking her out, something she'd been avoiding for years. "Oh, Ced," she began. And from her tone, he knew where it was going, causing his smile to fall. "I'm sort of seeing someone already. Someone I love quite a lot."

He deflated visibly, his shoulders sinking. "Can I ask who?" he questioned quietly.

Ivy took in a deep breath and looked over her shoulder at Sirius, who was still watching Harry and Hermione. "Well, it's Sirius, if you can believe it. I'm sorry, but my answer is no, Ced."

"That's... that's alright," he said, managing to smile sadly. "I just hope he makes you happy."

"Really happy," she insisted. "And I hope you find someone like that too. I'm sorry about the ball — it would've been fun to attend it."

"I'm sorry too," Cedric said, thinking he'd waited too late to make his move.

"Good luck today, Ced," she said softly before kissing his cheek.

Suddenly, a bright camera flashed, which was floating in the air, and pointed at Cedric and Ivy, catching the show of affection. Next to the camera was Rita Skeeter, the nosiest journalist who had ever worked for The Daily Prophet.

"Young love!" she gusted, the feather pen next to her scribbling away on a notepad. "How spitting. If everything goes unfortunately today, you might make the front page!"

Surprisingly, it was Viktor Krum who approached Rita, a dark look on his face. As a celebrity, he thought very little of journalists like her. "You have no business here. This tent is for champions and friends."

"No matter," she muttered. "We've got what we wanted—"

With a quiet bang, the camera in the air exploded, sending a puff of smoke up in the air. Ivy flinched back toward Cedric, and as the smoke cleared, she saw Val with her wand raised. The Auror was hired as security for the task.

"Oh, guess you don't have what you wanted," Val said with fake concern. "Out, Skeeter."

Rita muttered under her breath, no doubt ready to write some lie about Val abusing her power or something. Not that Val cared — she was grinning smugly at her stunt, as were Krum and Sirius.

The last thing Sirius wanted to see at the breakfast table was a photo of his girlfriend kissing the cheek of another man.

"Let's keep the explosives to a minimum, shall we?" Dumbledore said while joining them all. Then he addressed all of them. "Good day, Champions. Gather round, please."

Knowing they needed to leave, Ivy quickly kissed the top of Harry's head before Sirius dragged her from the tent by her hand. It didn't take long to find the rather small group of people supporting Harry — people were still a bit pressed, thinking he cheated to get his name entered. But all the Weasleys were gathered along with Hermione, Draco, Remus, and a few other Gryffindors.

Fred glared at Sirius as he took a seat right next to him, his eyes following the way he wrapped his arm around Ivy.

"Mum," Fred spoke up, deciding to cause a bit of chaos — as if fighting off dragons wasn't chaotic enough. "Sirius and Ivy are shagging."

"Freddie!" Ivy hissed, her cheeks burning.

Meanwhile, Sirius was shrinking under Molly's steely glare. "Does it help if I say we're in love?" he asked with a sheepish smile. He feared Molly just as much as he'd feared Lily when she was alive.

Molly's face was turning red with fury, her green eyes flitting between a terrified Sirius, a mortified Ivy, and a smug Fred, trying to process the information.

"She is young enough to be your—"

"Yes, my child," Sirius cut her off, rolling his eyes. Remus thought he was very brave to cut off Molly Weasley. "And while I care a great deal about your opinion — as I'm sure Ivy does as well — I love her and I don't feel a need to justify our relationship. Not when I'm bloody certain I'm going to marry this girl one day."

If Ivy had been blushing before, her cheeks were on fire now as she looked at Sirius with parted lips. Sure, he'd given her his family crest to wear, which everyone in the Wizarding World knew was some kind of promise. But was he really so certain so soon into their relationship?

Rather than acknowledge what he'd said, Sirius pulled Ivy even closer. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch my godson kick a dragon's ass."

Draco snickered at that comment while Hermione and Ginny were giggling at Sirius' declaration of love, wishing they had someone like that in their lives. Meanwhile, Molly continued to stare daggers through Sirius' head as Arthur whispered to her quickly, trying to defuse her anger.

It didn't work.

In fact, Molly didn't stop glaring at Sirius — something he was painfully aware of — until Harry was stepping out to take on his dragon. A hush fell over the excited crowd as Dumbledore announced the beginning of his turn.

"Three of our Champions have now faced their dragons, and so each one of them will proceed to the next task. And now, our fourth and final contestant, Harry Potter."

Along with the others, Ivy jumped up and cheered as Harry entered the rocky arena, just out of sight as the Hungarian Horntail that Charlie had just released. Harry spotted the golden egg he was meant to procure but had no choice but to hide behind some rocks as the dragon hunted him.

When it shot fire at him, Ivy screamed and hid her face in Sirius' chest, who didn't look away, too terrified he'd miss Harry getting hurt. Ivy couldn't watch as Harry stumbled around the arena, so she missed when he finally realized he had a wand he could use.

After a minute or two of Harry hiding and dodging attacks, his Firebolt finally appeared, zooming past the stands and to his waiting hand. In an instant, he was on the broom and flying off.

"Darling, open your eyes," Sirius said in disbelief as Harry flew away from the arena. Ivy opened her eyes just in time to see the dragon fly overhead. Soon, they were both flying around the castle, nearly impossible to see without binoculars.

"Isn't he meant to stay in the arena?" Ivy asked anxiously. She hoped he wouldn't get points off for leaving.

"Most definitely," Sirius muttered.

"He's a brilliant flyer!" Draco said, grinning widely. "That dragon doesn't stand a chance now that he's got the Firebolt."

"That's gonna be some roof damage," George said, peering at the dragon that was dangerously close to the roofs of Hogwarts.

Then before their very eyes, Harry flew through the gaps in the bridge leading from Hogwarts, and the dragon followed only to crash into it and drop into the water below.

Nearly everyone was silent until Harry was spotted again. Everyone erupted into cheers as he zoomed past, heading straight for the golden egg. He snatched it up before the dragon was even back out of the water, and Charlie and the other handlers were off to subdue it before any damage could be done.

"That's my boy!" Sirius shouted, knowing he'd gotten his egg in the fastest of the four times. Then he slung an arm around Remus' shoulder, who was just as excited. "Just like James!"

Harry was ushered to the first aid tent with the others, as he hadn't come out unscathed. And while he was there, everyone was waiting anxiously for the score announcement.

In the end, he tied for first place with Krum, who only scored so high because he didn't get a single injury at the hands — or rather snout — of his dragon. It was safe to say that not only had Harry surpassed everyone's expectations, but now Ivy thought he might not just have to survive the tournament — maybe he could win.

| | |

As the kids still at Hogwarts partied away in the Gryffindor common room, the adults went back to Sirius' house to celebrate. Once he'd had a scotch in him, Sirius grabbed Ivy and began to dance with her around the living room to Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy as she giggled in his arms.

However, it put a scowl on Molly's face, who still wasn't alright with the relationship. "Sirius," she said in a firm tone, "a word."

Though he was terrified of being yelled at, Sirius didn't show it. He instead kissed Ivy's forehead before following her into the study.

"So," Charlie said, smirking at Ivy. He came to sit next to her on the couch. "You and Sirius, eh? Saw that coming from a mile away."

"You were around us once. It wasn't that obvious," she insisted.

Charlie just snorted and shook his head. "Whatever you say, Cottontail," he said, picking up Fred and George's nickname for her. "Say, where's Val? She's the only one that can out-drink me."

"Oh," Ivy said, anxiously looking at Remus, who was sitting with Arthur. Charlie asked the question that Remus wouldn't let himself. "Viktor Krum spotted her and asked her back to the party on the Durmstrang boat — wants to thank her properly for helping him during the riot."

"Is that right?" Remus asked, clearly jealous even though he had no right to be. After all, Viktor was successful and age-appropriate — everything Val needed in her life.

"She won't be there all night," Ivy said, trying to make him feel better. Trying to let him know she wouldn't be staying the night with the Quidditch star. "I'm sure she'll come by before heading home."

"I'm sure I'll be gone before them," he muttered, looking down.

The uncomfortable tension in the room was palpable, and Charlie did his best to move them on from it. He talked emphatically about the dragons' behaviors during the first task, which was more excitement than he'd seen in years.

All too soon, Sirius was returning with Molly three steps behind him. His cheek was red, giving Ivy the idea that maybe Molly had slapped him.

"Everything okay?" Ivy asked gently as Sirius sat at her other side.

"That woman is terrifying," he muttered as Molly went over to Arthur, seeming sated for now. "Safe to say she doesn't approve."

"Surprised she didn't kill you," Charlie spoke up. "She's been planning our wedding for years. Kind of glad someone swooped in and got in the way of that — no offense, V."

"She'll understand that you don't want to date anyone eventually," Ivy said softly, knowing how particular Charlie was. He just simply didn't feel that way about people, and he was sure he wouldn't meet anyone that did make him feel that way.

"Maybe," he murmured. "So, Sirius, what'd she say to you?"

"Oh, you know, the usual — she's too young, I'm too old, don't ruin her life, don't knock her up, you'd better marry her for this to be worth it."

"That's the second time you've mentioned that now," Arthur said, raising a mischievous eyebrow. "Say, Ivy, any opinion on that front?"

Ivy's cheeks heated up and she wanted the ground to swallow her whole. "I'm, uh, gonna get another lemonade."

Then she was scurrying off as Molly smacked her husband's chest — she was quite disappointed with all the men today.

Unfortunately, Ivy couldn't escape in the kitchen because Sirius followed after her. He leaned against the wall, watching as she refilled her cup with pink lemonade, which he always kept on hand for her.

"Darling, I've not scared you off, have I?" he asked, only partly joking. "It's a bit early to be talking about marriage."

"It is," she agreed softly, looking at him shyly. "And it's not... not that I'm bothered by it. Suppose I'm just alarmed by, well, how much I like the sound of it. One day."

Sirius' heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, and he crossed the length of the kitchen to reach her, wrapping his arms around her. "One day," he agreed. "I'm going to marry you. Ivette Black has a nice ring to it. Though I'd understand if you didn't want a name tied to such dark magic as your legacy."

Ivy stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. "We can start a new legacy. How's that sound?"

He shot her a breathtaking smile, one that made her insides twist and flutter like pixies were trapped in her. Merlin, she could look at that smile for the rest of her life.

And if Sirius had his way, she would.