It was late when Megan finally got through all her homework, and almost everyone had gone to bed. She glanced at the stairs leading up to the boys' dormitories, where Ron had marched off without even looking at her. She pulled out a picture she always kept on her. It had been taken at the triwizard Cup, with Ron's arms around Harry's and Megan's shoulders yawned, while Cedric and Hermione waved, the prior with his arm around Megan's waist. The other Weasleys were waving too, grinning.

"... How can you be this close and just... fall apart...?" she wondered alound to herself. Her eyes stung slightly. She hurriedly wiped them and put the picture back in her pocket. She sighed. and stretched before packing up her books. It was a short night, but she made sure she got up early. Carefully so she didn't wake anyone, she got dressed and slipped downstairs. Then, she used the privacy of the early morning in the common, pulled out a quill and some parchment, and wrote:

Sirius.

You wanted updates, well, wait for it because it's not good. I have no idea how it happened, but last week was the selection of the three champions for the Triwizard Tournament, I expect you heard it was happening at Hogwarts this year. And I got chosen as the fourth champion. Yes, not third, fourth. They had an age line, no one under seventeen could enter, but somehow I got in anyway. They seemed to reckon I was entered under a fourth school. I wanted to tell you before but I never got a chance to, everyone was always trying to either applaud me or humiliate me. Ha... And the worst part is there's nothing any one can do, I'm magically obliged to compete. Cedric's the Hogwarts champion, and thank heaven, he's okay with me being in too. I think...

She didn't mention Ron. She didn't want to sound childish.

Hope you're okay, and Buckbeak. Be careful.

Love Megan.

She didn't dare mention how worried she was. Or scared. Or upset she was about both Ron hating her and Cedric's obliviousness to her feelings. It was irrelevant to the situation, even if it made it a lot more painful that it needed to be, and felt unfair. Why did her friend have to hate her for something she had no control over? And why did the one guy she fell in love with have to be with someone else? She sighed and put her letter in an envelope. She then headed to the Owlery and used another school owl, this time a screech owl.

It was good that Megan had her classwork to take her mind off things, because not much else was comforting around her these days. Ron still refused any contact, even though Harry and Hermione tried talking some sense into him. And the other students' hostility was weighing her down too, though she did her best to keep it from Cedric, who was doing his best to see her from time to time or send bird notes as often as he could. And he was as supportive as ever. She tried to show him equal support. One evening, Megan was just reading his answer to her latest note when she came face to face with Ron.

"Oh... hi, Ron." She said.

"You've got an owl." He said. "I kept the letter so no one would read it."

He handed it to her and marched off.

"Thanks..." she managed to say as he vanished.

But she wasn't sure he heard or listened. She sighed, torn between the desire to talk to him and slap him. Then, she headed up to Harry and Hermione and whispered:

"Sirius answered."

They looked up, alert. She sat between them and pulled the letter open.

Megan.

I can't say all I would like to in this letter, in case it's intercepted. We need to talk, face to face. Can you ensure that you are alone in the Gryffindor common room this Saturday at one am?

Now, I know you're capable of looking after yourself, and that you have your friends to help you. And while you're around Dumbledore and Moody, I doubt anyone will be able to hurt you. But it seems like someone is trying very hard just the same, and I don't like that at all. Entering you like that without anyone noticing would have been really risky, particularly under Dumbledore's nose.

Keep an eye open, Megan. And I still want to know if anything unusual happens. Let me know about Saturday ASAP.

Sirius.

"You want us with you?" Harry asked.

"No. It's best if it's just me, we'll look more suspicious if we're seen together at that time of night." Megan sighed. "But I don't like that he's taking so many risks!"

"Well, you're not going to stop him, Megan..." Harry said. "He's as stubborn as you."

So it was decided. And Megan sent another owl to Sirius with a note saying:

Sirius.

Fine by me. BE CAREFUL.

Megan.