THE BLACK LAKE

Sage Fontaine-Black stood on the shore of the Black Lake; Remus, Maia, Rowan, and Anna-Lee were on either side of her, and both Jessie and Madeleine were somewhere in the crowd of students.

"What're we meant to be looking at?" Rowan grumbled. "Is it some sort of swim race? Like, is this just the Hogwarts version of a swim meet?"

Sage shrugged, squinting at the surface of the lake. From her vantage point, she could see the four champions on the edge of the dock. "I dunno. Harry said something about mermaids in his last letter, but he wasn't sure what the task actually was." She explained in a low voice, leaning over to rest her head on Rowan's shoulder. "But hey, if we're going to watch the lake for hours, d'you mind if I steal a bit of that firewhisky you've got hidden in your bag?"

Rowan went red, and she silently pulled the flask of alcohol out of her purse, passing it over to Sage without a word.

"Bloody mooch." She muttered under her breath, but she cracked a grin.

Then, the sound of a gunshot echoed off the lake's surface, and the entire gathering of spectators ducked.

The four champions were shoved into the water. Sage had to be held back from running to save her baby from drowning, even though she'd taught him to swim when he was three.

"Fontaine, relax." Remus said lowly to her, although he, too, looked quite anxious. "Dumbledore wouldn't put him in a position that would hurt him or get him killed."

She whipped her head around to look at him. "So you're telling me that you wouldn't be horrified if Jessie was participating in this? You'd be halfway to the bottom of the lake by now if it was your kid in the water." She seethed.

He raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything in response; she'd only just started calling Harry her child a few years ago, after almost a decade of insisting that he was still Lily and James's baby. Despite the fact that he was not biologically hers, however, she had raised him, and for all intents and purposes, he was hers, through and through.

The group of adults watched the surface of the water for another hour before there was any sign of movement.

The boy with reddish-brown hair who Sage had discovered to be Amos Diggory's son surfaced first, grinning widely and helping a pretty girl with black hair stay afloat.

The next person to come up sputtering was the blonde from Beauxbatons, and she seemed to be crying. She was dragged out of the water by a few other Beauxbatons girls, but it looked like she was truly despaired to be leaving the lake.

After the French girl came the burly-looking boy from Durmstrang, pulling Hermione up with him.

Sage's jaw dropped—why was Hermione with the Bulgarian boy?

Minutes later, Harry Potter's dark head popped up above the surface, and this time, Remus didn't stop her from running to the dock.

"Move. Move. Get out of my way." She grumbled as she shoved past students and professors alike.

She knelt at the edge of the lake and reached her hand out to Harry. He grabbed onto her and allowed her to haul him out of the water, stumbling into her arms and shivering with his whole body.

She cast a drying spell in order to make sure he didn't contract hypothermia. "Are you alright? Come on, look at me. You okay?"

She heard snickering from behind her. "Poor Potter needs his mummy to take care of him."

Lucius Malfoy's weasel of a son was sneering at her, and she wanted nothing more than to hex him into next year. He bore every inch of his father's pinched face, with absolutely zero trace of his mother's quiet and reserved personaltiy—Sage might not have been fond of Narcissa, but at least she kept her mouth shut.

"Aunt Sage, don't." Harry managed to speak through chattering teeth. "It's not worth it."

She glared at her godson. Even when he was little, he'd always been more level-headed than she was, and if it weren't for him, she'd probably have joined Sirius in Azkaban by now.

"In last place, with twenty-five points: Miss Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons. In second place, with forty points: Mister Viktor Krum of Durmstrang. And tied for first place, with forty-seven and forty-five points respectively: Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter of Hogwarts!" Albus Dumbledore boomed, the tip of his wand pressed to his Adam's apple.

Sage's eyes widened in shock, and she looked at Harry with a grin.

Before she could congratulate him, however, Ron and Hermione had yanked him into their arms, jumping around in pure excitement.

She shrunk back, the realization of Harry no longer needing her settling down in her bones. Her baby boy was so grown up now, and she wasn't sure whether she should be happy or sad.