✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Y/N's P.O.V.

When Y/N woke the next morning, she was alone on Harry's bed. Groggily widening her eyes and yawning, she checked his alarm clock. It was seven-thirty in the morning, and hour and a half until classes - Y/N cursed her internal clock. She ripped open his curtains and swung her legs off of the bed as quietly as she could. Not bothering to wake Ron and Dean, Y/N stalked down the common room.

Just as she suspected, Harry was sat near the fire, already dressed in his robes, hunched over a table.

"Harry James Potter," Y/N said sternly.

The boy turned around in his seat - the armchair they fought over yesterday - and gave Y/N a sheepish, but charming grin. "Y/N Sterling," he replied in a teasing tone, but it was slightly strained.

"What are you doing awake?" the girl narrowed her eyes at him. He was hunched over parchment, holding a quill. He most definitely wasn't doing homework. Harry Potter did not do homework at seven-thirty in the morning.

"What? Upset you woke up without me beside you?" he drawled, giving her a cheeky grin. His eyes ghosted over her figure - it made her feel a little conscious of her tousled hair and pajamas, since Harry was probably judging her.

She fiddled with her necklace, twirling the miniature Herms and Trouble book in her fingers

Y/N rolled her eyes and walked over to him, peering over his shoulder. Catching a glimpse of his words, she exclaimed, "I knew it! You're writing to Sirius!"

The rest of the letter was, as follows,

Dear Sirius,

I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting. I was half asleep when I wrote to you last time. There's no point coming back, everything's fine here. Don't worry about me, my head's feeling completely normal.

From,

Harry.

"Harry..." Y/N said in a dangerously low voice. "What did we talk about last night?"

"How Sirius can handle himself...and that my scar hurting means something..."

Y/N put her hands on her hips as Harry hung his head and trailed off his mumbling. "And what are you doing right now?" Y/N said.

"Writing a letter that implies he can't handle himself and lying about my scar..."

"So, are we going to change this?" Y/N asked, eyebrows raised, mouth curved into a little frown. Harry gave a huge, dramatic sigh when she sat down on the couch.

Usually, well, sometimes, she didn't fall for his puppy eyes. But this time, under his pleading gaze, Y/N just melted. "Please, c'mon, Silv," said Harry. "It couldn't hurt...I just want to send it...I care for him..."

They held a staring contest for at least a few minutes. Second by second, she succumbed more and more to his pout and furrowed brows. "Fine!" she finally broke. "Fine. I'm going to go freshen up, change, wake up Ronnie and Herms," said Y/N, getting up. "You better be back from the Owlery when I'm done."

"Yes ma'am!" Harry said happily, snatching the letter from the table and standing. He just stared at her softly.

When he didn't move, Y/N blinked at him. "That means go, dumbarse."

"Oh!" said Harry. "Er - uh, yeah. Right. Sorry. See you in a bit, Silv."

And he hurried away, out of the Portrait Hole, out of sight.

What an odd boy. Maybe the Killing Curse didn't only leave a mark, but mentally addled him as well. Hm.

✦

"That was a lie, Harry!" Hermione whispered to the boy she sat beside during breakfast. "You didn't imagine your scar hurting and you know it."

"That's what I told him," Y/N mumbled, taking a bite of her toast and side-eyeing Ron, who was sat beside her and hungrily wolfing down his eggs.

When she'd gone to wake him after waking Hermione, (Like the good friend she is) Y/N found him with one foot dangling off the bed, murmuring about biting books.

What a weirdo, she had thought, before grabbing Ron by his leg and yanking him onto the floor. He'd yelled at her for that, but Y/N just shot a jet water, using Aquamenti, at Ron, then fled to the girls dormitory, where he couldn't follow.

"Didn't have to snitch on me," Harry said to Y/N. "I'm perfectly capable of telling them myself," he added.

"If I didn't snitch, Herms would scold me for being a bystander," Y/N said tiredly, giving her friend a wry smile.

Harry took a bite of his food, turning to Hermione. "I'm not going to be the reason he goes to Azkaban again."

Hermione opened her mouth, probably to reprimand Harry, but Ron said sharply, "Drop it." For once, Hermione heeded him, and fell silent. Harry shot Ron a thankful look, then finished attending to his bacon.

"So," Hermione said casually, but Y/N caught the lilt in her voice. "Where were you last night, Y/N? You never came to our room after going after Harry..."

Feeling herself turn slightly pink, Y/N managed out quietly, "Fell asleep..." she didn't want to specify where. Other people existed and had ears. It didn't help that Fred, George and Lee were sitting a little ways away from them

"In Harry's bed," Ron coughed. "Whaaat...who said that..? Harry's-" cough, "-bed?"

This time, Harry shot Ron a furtive but almost-wary glance. He mouthed something that Y/N didn't understand. Ron rolled his eyes and nodded with a dismissive wave of his hand. The dark-haired, green-eyed boy looked back at Y/N, features forming a smile.

"I was convincing him to calm down about..." Y/N glanced around them, "Padfoot."

"Didn't work, obviously," Ron snorted. "The idiot still went and sent-"

The first bell, signaling the end of breakfast, rang. They had ten minutes between classes. Y/N swung her schoolbag over her shoulder, watching as the bread crumbs and food remnants on their plates vanished, courtesy of the house-elves. Hermione turned her nose up.

"'Cya in class!" Y/N said, walking away.

"Where're you going?" Hermione called.

Y/N looked back for a moment. "Meeting up with Fred, George and Ellie! Maybe Lee!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "Got some planning to do!"

Before she turned again, Y/N could've sworn that Harry was scowling, his green eyes fixed on her right wrist. Not at his own bracelet, no. At Elijah's. It was odd, since he was fine just a moment ago, so what had happened? She supposed breakfast had upset his stomach, or he had a headache.

She shrugged it off and walked towards the exit of the Great Hall, spotting a small huddle of four in the corridor. If there weren't two gingers, she wouldn't have distinguished the group to be her pranksters.

"Heya, pretty rascal," Elijah greeted her with a hug. When he wrapped his arms around her, Y/N breathed in his cologne. He smelled faintly of almonds - she didn't even know that was a scent - and strongly of vanilla.

Lee gave her a side-hug, while the twins smothered her in fake, mocking, motherly kisses, imitating Molly Weasley's voice. "Y/N, dear! It's so nice to have you around again!" and, "Call me Molly, dear! You're family!"

"Get off me, you oafs," she grumbled, but Y/N was smiling when released from their hold. Checking Fred's watch, she clapped her hands. "Okay. We have...five minutes."

"Um...It's eight fifty-one," said Fred. "We have nine minutes."

"I have to walk to class, dipshit," Y/N said. "Get on with it."

"Right," said George. "Okay, have you talked to...uh...what was his name again?"

"Jake," supplied Elijah. "We sort of, you know, need him on board for this. If not, we'll have to scrap the whole idea."

Y/N expected Lee to look confused, but he was following along just fine. She supposed the twins filled him in on what they were doing.

With a scoff, Y/N said, "I haven't talked to Jake since end of last year," she said. "We.. it's not really talking...more like using a stick to draw in the mud. I still don't know how he understands and can write in English..."

Lee sighed, "Alright, just talk to him soon? Before the weather gets worse and you refuse to go outside."

"I go outside all the time!"

"What a liar," Elijah said. "Last year, you refused to go on a walk with me when it was slightly windy."

"No!" said Y/N, like a liar. She remembered the time that Elijah had snuck into Gryffindor common room and found her on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. It was six in the morning when Elijah shook her awake and tried to get her to go outside.

Lee checked his own watch. "Right, we'd better get going. See you, Y/N."

"Alright, bye," she said, smiling. As she walked away, she heard George's voice thanking Lee.

"If it weren't for you, we'd be late for everything. We love you, Lee. So much. We have so much appreciation for you in our hearts."

"Yeah, Lee," said Elijah. "Lee for Head Boy!"

"Lee! Lee! Lee!" they chanted, turning heads. Y/N sent them a wry smile, then got lost in the swarm of students who were also trying to get to their own classes. It was the mundane life - maybe this year would go normal and they'd get to watch the Triwizard Tournament with no worries.

Maybe.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Over the next couple of weeks, Y/N's life was pretty normal. She would regularly hang out with Fred, George, Elijah (sometimes Lee), and Cedric. Cedric was, obviously, separate from the pranksters. When she was with Cedric, Liana and Mathew would often be there. They were positively adorable, and Liana doted over Y/N, happy to finally have another girl to hang out with.

"Cedric and Mathew are fun and all," said Liana. "And I hang out with my girlfriends all the time, but I never have female presence when I'm with these dorks." she pointed at the two boys. "I love this!"

Whenever the four of them would hang out, it was a lot of teasing the boys. When Y/N got the chance, she would whisper in Liana's ear about how she and Mathew were adorable.

Cedric said she couldn't tease them together, so she'd tease them separately. When Y/N said it to Liana, her lips quirked up into a pretty smile and she blushed lightly. When Y/N brought it up with Mathew, he stuttered out a "Thank you!" and flushed.

Every time Cedric mentioned that he was going to, "Go for it," "It," being the Triwizard Tournament, Y/N reprimanded him, reminding him how utterly dangerous it was.

He never listened.

Y/N went out to the Black Lake occasionally, trying to convince Jake the Giant Squid to get in on their plan. Elijah came with her sometimes, curious to see Jake.

The Squid always flicked water at the boy, who would hide behind Y/N, causing her to giggle. "Why did it do that?!" Elijah yelled.

"Probably because you keep calling him, who has feelings, 'it,'," said Y/N, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry!"

On the other hand, their classes were becoming more and more demanding. One faithful day, October nineteenth, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they found our just how strained they would be.

Professor Moody announced to the class that he would be performing the Imperius curse on them, just to see if they could resist it. The whole class stared at him wide-eyed and slack jawed until Hermione said something.

"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor!" said Hermione uncertainly.

"It is illegal, Herms," Y/N whispered in her best friend's ear. "This guy's a raving lunatic, he can't do that!"

As Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room, Hermione continued, "You said - to use it against another human was -"

"Dumbledore wants you to know what it feels like," Moody told them. "If you want to learn how to resist it the hard way, when someone is casting it on you, be my guest."

"No, I just-"

"You can leave, if you would like," Moody said gruffly, jerking a thumb to the door.

Hermione fell silent and turned pink, muttering. Y/N knew that Hermione would rather eat bubotuber pus than miss such an important lesson.

Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. Y/N watched as, one by one, her classmates did the most extraordinarily concerning things under its influence.

Dean hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem (Y/N would make fun of him later). Lavender imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state.

Ella Mackley of Slytherin was forced to put her hand in a jar of spiders. Ron shuddered beside Y/N, who gave him a reassuring pat on the back and whispered, "They're in the jar. You're safe."

Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

It was absolutely disgusting to watch. Sure, Moody said that they needed the training, but wasn't this harsh? And very, very illegal?

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."

Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, "Imperio!"

It made Y/N want to throw up. She, Ron and Hermione hadn't been tested yet, but seeing Harry like that made her heart sink. Feeling that familiar tingle in her palms, stinging in her eyes, Y/N took deep breaths to calm herself down.

There was silence for a couple seconds, then Harry bent his knees as though preparing to spring and jump onto the desk in front of him.

Harry had a confused expression plastered across his face, as though debating something with himself. Then, he moved.

Y/N onlooked, shuddering slightly. Harry had both jumped and tried to prevent himself from jumping - the result was that he'd smashed headlong into the desk, knocking it over, and, by the crack that resounded in the room, fractured both his kneecaps.

"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody's voice. "Look at that, you lot! Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter!"

With a wince, Harry sent the professor a withering look, then limped over to Y/N, Ron and Hermione.

"Scarboy!" Y/N exclaimed, grabbing his hand and rubbing it comfortingly. She pushed his messy, now sweaty, jet-black hair back with her fingers. "Are you okay?"

" 'M fine," Harry mumbled, leaning against her.

Y/N frowned. "Go to the Hospital Wing later, 'kay-?"

"Miss Sterling!" Moody called. It snapped her out of her stupor and made Harry jump slightly. "Your turn."

Wanting to walk into this with full confidence, Y/N strode to the middle of the room. She knew this probably wouldn't end well - these were Unforgivable Curses. In a school classroom. It made her stomach churn.

Moody drew his wand and pointed it directly at her. "Imperio."

It was a blissful feeling.

She couldn't hear a thing.

Y/N's mind went completely blank for a moment, then, it was filled with someone else's thoughts.

Pull your wand out and point it at Potter.

Obediently, Y/N slipped a hand into her inner robe pocket, quickly whipping her wand out the way Remus always did.

Remus...Remus would think this was weird, her mind argued.

Point it at Potter.

Lifting her arm, Y/N blankly saw Harry's face flash in fear when her wand was upon him. His mouth moved, eyebrows raised, but she didn't hear his voice.

Go on, any spell. Do any spell.

Right, but why though? said Y/N's thoughts. This is really a waste of time. Should've made me do a spell on Malfoy, not Harry.

Just do it!

No thanks.

Why?!

I don't really want to...

Do it. Point it at Potter, go on...you want to see how scared he will be.

Nah, I'll pass...don't really like people telling me what to do, Y/N's thoughts claimed. It was true. In complete honesty, she didn't want to see Harry scared because of her.

JUST DO IT!

Almost involuntarily, Y/N's hand jerked and she felt her lips move. She didn't know what spell she was about to recite, but judging by Harry's panicked reaction, hurrying out of the way, it was bad.

His face looked so...afraid. It hurt her a little bit, but she couldn't stop. Her wand followed him, through his running movements.

At the last second, her mind said, What are you doing?! That's Harry!

Instead of whatever spell her body was doing to do, Y/N took the reins back (or...at least one rein back) on her mind and yelled, "Rictimsempra!"

Harry, who's expression relaxed for half a second, was hit with the spell. He doubled over in what Y/N desperately hoped was laughter, since she still couldn't hear anything.

Then, suddenly, all her senses came back to her.

The classroom was loud, impossibly so. Harry's laughter was loud, and there was a ringing, almost thrumming in her ears. She almost assumed it was the Herms and Trouble necklace, before remembering that nobody had written in it recently, and that she was developing a headache.

Draco Malfoy scoffed and yelled something she barely heard, which only added to her annoyance and anger.

Y/N turned to face Moody, who had a lopsided grin on his marred face.

Her fists, balled up, were clenched around something. Opening her hands, she found a silver ring. It was shaped like a dragon, curled up, wrapping around the finger of whoever slipped the ring on.

Y/N rolled her eyes, not having time to think about it, and carelessly let the piece of jewelry clatter to the floor.

Seeing Moody's face alit even more anger in Y/N. How could he do that to students? He was about to make her perform who-knows-which curse, or spell, or jinx, on Harry! He was a lunatic. She didn't care if this was to prepare them, it was disgusting.

Wand still in hand, Y/N pointed it at Moody. Her palms weren't just tingling, they were burning, especially the area that had come in contact with the dragon ring.

Her eyes stung, emitting a glow across her hands, and Moody's expression looked like a mix of curiosity, excitement, confusion and anger.

"Wand down!" Moody ordered.

Y/N didn't listen. She kept it pointed at him. "Why should I? You just made me turn my wand on a student - you controlled me-"

"That's the point," Moody snapped. "Would you rather someone else control you in the midst of battle?"

"No! But-"

"Then stop," he said through gritted teeth. Something about the way he was eyeing her made Y/N uncomfortable. Like he'd just discovered something new. It was utterly disturbing.

"Look at that, everyone!" Moody barked. "Look at that. You saw how she changed the spell last moment, yes? Oh, it takes strong will and a stubborn mind to do that! - remember, if someone is Imperiused, you'd see it in their eyes."

An hour passed, and Moody insisted on putting Y/N and Harry through their paces until they could mostly, or entirely, throw the curse off.

Each try left her feeling drained, angry, confused - every time, her eyes would glow and her palms would tingle. A new sensation found itself in the mix - a contracting throat.

The fourth time, she found Moody's metal hip flask in clenched in her hands. How did that even get there?

She couldn't do anything but watch, surprised and confused, as the metal slowly morphed, taking on the shape of a knife. Setting it firmly on the desk, her mind reeled.

The liquid inside the flash, however, seeped down her hands. It was familiar, oddly so, but she wasn't in the mental state to contemplate it, since her mind had just been intruded upon multiple times.

The bell rang, but Y/N barely noticed, the ringing in her own ears being too loud. Hermione nudged her gently, "C'mon, Trouble. We've been dismissed."

On her way out, she heard whispers of,

"Did you see her eyes?"

"Yeah, duh!"

"They were glowing!"

"What a freak-"

"Shut up, Ella, your parents don't love you."

So, now her...condition...was a known fact, now. But she was sure that nobody but Moody realized how the hip-flask morphed into a knife of all things.

Not wanting to worry her friends, Y/N kept quiet, at least for now. She'd spill later. For now, she was profusely apologizing to Harry, holding his hand, and pouting when he laughed in her face. Ron and Hermione were walking behind them, wanting to give them space as Y/N kept apologizing.

"It's okay, Silv," he said gently. "Really."

"Why didn't you move when I initially pointed my wand at you?" Y/N asked, worried.

Harry answered almost immediately. "I knew you wouldn't do anything to actually hurt me," he explained. "But, I must admit, when you're angry, you're scary. 'Specially with those glowing eyes."

That pinched at Y/N's heart a little bit. The whole situation did.

"Oh," she said softly. "You agree with Ella Mackley, then?"

"What?!" Harry scoffed. "No, Silv! I don't think you're a freak. I think you're intimidating when you want to be...it's..." he trailed off.

"It's...?"

"Um," Harry said, blushing. "This isn't my opinion, er, at all, but, um..."

"Um...?"

"I mean, er, well, not me, of course - but others...might find it rather attractive," he stuttered out, looking anywhere but Y/N's face,

Well, even through her immense confusion and angst, that made Y/N feel a little bit better.

✦

That night in her dormitory, Y/N unpacked everything that happened to Hermione. Immediately, the brunette panicked, blabbering about checking the Library and cross-referencing a ton of books that Y/N didn't even know.

"How did the metal morph?" Hemione whispered, eyes wide.

"I dunno," Y/N said glumly. "I don't know what to do, I don't know what's happening."

Hermione frowned, "It's been happening too often. I see you got frustrated over work sometimes, and your eyes are rimmed with a white glow."

"I do?"

So it was happening without her even realizing. Fucking great.

"Maybe you should letter Remus?" Hermione suggested timidly. "He obviously knows something, judging by what he said on your birthday."

Y/N nodded weakly, and got up from Hermione's bed, where she was curled up to tell Hermione about the extent of what happened. She rummaged around, finding things to write.

It was a simple letter.

"Hi, dad

When you get this letter, answer and I'll explain. Don't want intercepts on the first letter.

What is wrong with me?

Love you.

- Y/N"

She sent it off with Bandit, who was somehow already at her windowsill. Bandit apparently sensed her sadness and nuzzled into her neck lovingly. With a soft hoot, he flew away into the moonlight sky and Hermione came to hug Y/N.

It was a small gesture, but Y/N couldn't stop the appreciation she felt in Hermione that moment. Y/N, too overwhelmed by all the emotions she was feeling, let a tear slip.

And then another.

And another.

And then she was stifling sniffles and rubbing tears away.

Hermione pulled back to study Y/N's distressed expression, and her face was immediately illuminated in white light. It didn't make sense - Y/N wasn't angry right now, so why were her eyes...doing the thing?

"Trouble...your tears..."

"What about them?"

Swiping thumb across Y/N's face, Hermione collected tears from under her beautiful e/c eyes. They stayed wet on her finger. When Y/N looked closer, she saw that the liquid was glowing, heavenly and pure and white, just like when her eyes were illuminated.

She'd never cried glowing tears before, so that was new. Not even the times when she'd been even more devastated than she was now.

Perhaps this was an odd dream.

Why did her tears want to be dramatic right now? Weren't there better times for that? Like last year, when Harry fell from his broom? It was all so odd. Y/N was immensely glad that she'd sent the letter, otherwise, she would go crazy from not knowing.

Hermione kept wiping her tears away, side-glancing at Lavender and Parvati's beds, making sure they didn't wake up and behold the sight of Y/N Sterling's glowing tears.

Not that they would make fun of her, no! Just...this was a little private and personal. Lavender didn't exactly know how to keep a secret...but it was okay. What she doesn't know, she can't talk about. Parvati was better with secret, but she told Lavender everything, which would result in the first situation.

Hermione just comforted her throughout the night.

"Trouble, your tears look like liquid moonlight."

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

According to their professor, their O.W.L.S. were coming up. In fifth year. All the fourth-year students groaned when their workload's started getting more demanding.

History of Magic was just plain boring. Care of Magical Creature's was still rather disgusting, with the Skewts growing at an abnormal rate. Herbology...Y/N (accidentally) killed more plants and had to profusely apologize to Professor Sprout every class.

There were some classes in which Harry just couldn't focus in. Charms was one of them. Y/N sat with Hermione, but could hear Ron constantly chastising Harry about not paying attention to their Summoning Charm lessons, while not listening himself.

"Not knowing the charm will come and bite you in the back, Harry," said Ron.

"Okay, mate."

"No, I'm serious," Ron continued. "Pay attention!"

Y/N and Hermione gave huge, fake gasps. Hermione began, and Y/N carried it along, like Fred and George did sometimes:

"Ronald Weasley-"

"-Is telling-"

"-Harry Potter-"

"-To pay attention?!" Y/N finished.

Grinning broadly, the two girls innocently looked at Harry and Ron. Ron was scowling at Hermione, but Y/N saw the softness in his eyes. Harry pouted at Y/N, so she patted him on the cheek consolingly.

He leaned into the touch. When Y/N pulled her hand away, his pout deepened and she laughed lightly in his face.

Transfiguration was easy. Y/N had a breeze, while even Hermione struggled sometimes. Since the class wasn't difficult at all, it gave Y/N time to mull over the events of Moody's classroom that faithful day.

One evening, as October was coming to a close, Y/N finally received a letter back from Remus. It had been a while, and she was worried when he hadn't responded, but after reading the letter, he explained.

Y/N.

There is nothing wrong with you.

Never say that again. Please.

Tell me what else happened, I'm assuming something happened to trigger this sudden letter.

Please tell me.

I'm sorry this response is so late. I'm not at home right now, rather, on a...mission. Can't say more. That is why Bandit took a little while. Poor owl was exhausted.

Letter back quick.

I love you so much.

- Dad

The girl sighed in relief. The quartet was lounging in the common room, Hermione was finishing up Transfiguration homework, while Harry and Ron, neglecting their homework, played chess.

Fred and George were huddled in a corner, doing Godric-Knows-What. Ron had gone over to them earlier, asking what they were up to. This was how it played out:

"It's a bummer, all right," George was saying gloomily to Fred.

"But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."

"Who's avoiding you?" said Ron, sitting down next to them.

"Wish you would," said Fred, looking irritated at the interruption.

"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.

"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," said George.

Ron got nothing out of them, and trudged back to the chess game, disappointed. It was Harry's turn.

"Knight to D3-"

"Harry, could you take your legs out of my lap for a sec?" Y/N requested, shifting in her spot on the couch. She needed to get parchment and something to write with.

"Hm? Oh, no, don't get up, Silv," said Harry, cocking a brow and swinging his legs off his couch, sitting up. "What do you need? I'll get it."

Oh.

That was sweet.

"No, it's fine, Harry," Y/N said, wondering how the boy could be so insanely perfect all the fucking time.

"Parchment and a quill?" Harry assumed, eyeing the letter in her hands. He didn't peek over to read it, but proceeded to stand up when Y/N nodded and grabbed some paper, an inkpot, and his favorite eagle-feather quill from his back.

He handed everything to Y/N, then smiled, sat down in his previous position, and continued his chess game with Ron.

Hermione nudged Y/N with a smirk, to which the girl muttered, "Shove off, Herms." Then in a slightly louder voice, "Thanks, Scarboy."

"Don't mention it-"

"Hah!" Ron said triumphantly. "Checkmate."

"I want a rematch!" Harry said. "I bet you messed with the pieces when I got up to help Y/N-"

"I did not-"

Y/N and Hermione tuned out their bickering. Hermione went back to her homework, while Y/N began to write her response to Remus.

Hi, Dad.

Yeah, something happened.

I was in Moody's class, and he was doing some spells on us to test our resilience. He did the Imperius Curse on us, dad. Is that legal? When he did it on me, I tried to resist, I really did.

He tried to make me hurt Harry.

I changed the spell last second, and Moody said that I was good at fending off the spell. And he did it again and again. He did that with Harry, too.

But after I was done, I was just...so angry.

And my eyes did the thing again, and my palms were burning. And my throat hurt? And then when it was over, I found a silver ring in my hand. I think. I think I dropped it? And then Moody kept putting my through my paces like a dog, and eventually, I was pretty close to throwing off the curse entirely.

During one of the last tries, at the end, I found Moody's metal hip flask in my hand. I looked down, and it was morphing into a knife.

Dad I'm so confused.

And scared.

Please help.

All my love,

- Y/N

"I'm off to the Owlery," Y/N said, lightly taking Harry's legs off of her lap and getting up. "See you guys later-"

"We'll go with you," said Hermione said immediately, slamming her books closed and shoving them in her bag.

Y/N shot her a grateful look. She really didn't want to be alone right now.

Harry and Ron put away their chess game, and the four of them filed out of the common room. Dinner, which the quartet has skipped (due to a large lunch), had just finished, so people began to flood the halls.

Feeling a hand grab hers, Y/N knew it was Harry. He softly brushed her knuckles with his thumb, conveying that he was there for her without words.

When they arrived at the Entrance Hall, a sign was put up on one of the walls. Looking closer, it read,

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early. Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.

"Only a couple days away!" said Ernie, from Hufflepuff. "I wonder if Cedric's seen it yet...better go tell him!"

"Cedric?" Ron muttered to them. "Why would he need to know?"

"Ced's going to try for it," Y/N said through gritted teeth. "The dumbarse won't listen to me when I say it's dangerous."

They kept walking and Y/N heard Ron mutter to Harry, "That idiot, Hogwarts champion?"

"Watch your mouth, Weasley," Y/N snapped as they turned a corner.

"It's Ronnie to you," Ron grumbled, but he fell silent.

The rest of their walk to the Owlery was relatively calm, aside from the times that Harry unknowingly made Y/N's face burn because he squeezed her hand. She sent the letter off with Bandit, hoping desperately that Remus would reply as soon as possible.

✦•······················•✦•······················✦

On Friday morning, Y/N was sitting beside Harry when Hedwig swooped down in front of him, letter clutched in her beak. He thanked her, then she flew off as he opened the letter. It was from Sirius.

Nice try, Harry.

I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar.

- Sirius

"Why d'you have to keep changing owls?" Ron asked in a low voice.

"Hedwig'll attract too much attention," said Hermione at once. "She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps returning to wherever he's hiding...I mean, they're not native birds, are they?"

Harry rolled up the letter and slipped it inside his robes, then went back to eating. His right hand brought his toast to his mouth, while his left hand drifted down to Y/N's knee.

She froze, but Harry didn't make any indication that she noticed. This boy.

The rest of the day passed. Nobody paid much attention in class, too excited for the other school's to arrive, and to finally get this show on the road.

When the bell rang early, Y/N, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall, where the Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, fix your tie!" Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron.

"Did you hear that, Herms?" Y/N asked, nudging her best friend. "Fix your tie!"

"Y/N! Quiet down!" Hermione said, flushed.

"Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair, McGonagall continued.

Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.

"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front ...no pushing..."

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was evening, with the sky darkening fast, and a crescent moon revealed itself from behind the clouds. They stood for what seemed like hours, but Y/N, who was checking Ron's watch every five minutes, knew it had only been half an hour.

"Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

"I doubt it," said Hermione.

"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky.

Y/N scoffed and nudged him. He grabbed her hand as she said, teasingly, "Use a broom to flu hundreds of miles?"

"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

Hermione sighed. "You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?"

They waited and waited. It was completely dark when Dumbledore finally stood from the back row, where he was with the other Professors. "Ah, unless I am mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons has arrived."

Everyone bristled, eyes scanning the vast grounds around Hogwarts castle. Y/N swiveled her head, but saw nothing. Many students were eagerly whispering now, then a sixth year student, with an attractive voice...oh, Elijah, called, "There! Over the trees!"

Sure enough, barreling through the air, was...something. Y/N couldn't quite discern what it was. A younger student yelled, "Its a dragon!" losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid - It's a flying house!" Dennis Creevey shouted confidently.

Well, Dennis was closer. Approaching them was a giant, blue carriage, pulled by a dozen winged horses, all palominos It was truly a sight to behold

The carriage touched down on the lawn, causing the first three rows of students to rapidly scurry backwards. As it reached the ground, there was a loud splashing sound, originating from the Black Lake. Y/N turned her head and saw a frenzy of tentacles, smiling to herself at Jake's antics.

"Ah," Dumbledore said once more. "I see Durmstrang has arrived as well. Good. Now, let's make this introduction hasty."

✦

So, Beauxbatons was a fancy French school, with boys and girls that dressed and acted very posh. Durmstrang was rather the opposite, where everyone looked rather brash, but Y/N supposed that everyone's personality is to each their own.

Ron almost had a stroke when he saw the first person to step off the Durmstrang boat - which, by the way, rose from the depths of the Black Lake and surprised everyone.

Back to his freaking out,

"I don't believe it, guys!" Ron said. "Krum. Viktor Krum. In our castle."

Y/N gave him a weary smile, "Just ask him out at this point, Ronnie."

Ron scowled as they sat down at Gryffindor table, while the students from the other schools looked around awkwardly. Slowly, someone from the Ravenclaw table beckoned some Beauxbaton's girls over, and the flood of new students began.

"Budge up, make some space!" Ron exclaimed, pushing Y/N and Harry, eyeing Krum. "No - shit!" he swore, as Krum took a seat beside Malfoy at the Slytherin table. "Yeah, smarm up to him, Malfoy...but Krum can see right through him..."

Y/N was barely listening to Ron, for her eyes were on Harry. He was staring at something far, and when Y/N turned, she saw it was Cho Chang, who was conversing with a pretty blonde girl Y/N had never seen.

So Cho had been the one to offer hospitality first, and Y/N thought it was such a sweet gesture. Well, until Harry couldn't keep his eyes off of the black-haired Ravenclaw.

Maybe what Remus said last year was right. Harry really could have anyone. Maybe he flirted (she hoped it was flirting) with Y/N as practice for the other girl.

He was the Boy Who Lived, he could have anyone. Why go for his best friend that he already 'has' as a best friend.

I just don't want him playing with your feelings!

Harry would never, though. He was sweet and humble. And he would never.

But the way he was looking at Cho...with admiration in his eyes...

It made Y/N's stomach do a weird sort of flop, like a dead fish. Like something out of the Black Lake.

Two gingers caught her eye down the table - Fred and George. Fred spotted her face, then put two fingers under his chin and lifted it, nodding his head at Y/N, while George mouthed, "Chin up, sis."

So they'd noticed.

Y/N averted her eyes and stuck out her tongue, taking her wand from her pocket.

She knew she'd need it for the prank. Yes, they usually did the Start of the Year Prank on Halloween, but they decided to respect boundaries (The whole...Triwizard Champion Choosing) and do it a day early.

A group of girls down the Gryffindor table were squealing,

"Oh? Do you guys have quills?"

"No!"

"Do you think he'll sign my hat in lipstick?!"

"Really," Hermione scoffed. "He's just a Quidditch player."

"Just a Quidditch player?!" Ron said, open mouthed. "I don't care about you, but I'm getting his autograph if I can."

Y/N grinned, deliberately not looking at Harry, gazing straight at Ron. "Viktor, I love you, Viktor, I do-"

"Shut up, someone will hear!" Ron scowled, hiding his face in his hands.

Dumbledore announced the commencement of the feast, then how the Tournament will officially start after dinner.

The Head's from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang sat at the teacher's table. Madame Maxine was a giant woman, very tall, with black hair slicked into a bun. Professor Kararoff was a scruffy looking man, with greying hair and an odd goatee.

The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Y/N had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.

"What's that?" said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.

"Bouillabaisse," said Hermione.

"Bless you," said Ron.

"It's French," said Hermione, "I had it on holiday summer before last. It's very nice."

"I'll take your word for it," said Ron, helping himself to black pudding.

The Great Hall was a mess of voices and laughter, the foreign students joining in. The Beauxbaton's baby blue uniforms and the Durmstrang's blood red capes stood out from the all-black Hogwarts uniform.

At that moment, a voice said, "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"

It was the girl from Beauxbatons who was sitting beside Cho Chang. She had finally removed her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth.

Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.

Y/N snickered very loudly, Hermione sighed, but Harry said, "Yeah, have it," pushing the dish toward the girl.

"You 'ave finished wiz it?"

"Yeah," Ron said breathlessly. "Yeah, it was excellent."

Afterwards, Ron raved about how the girl was a Veela, and she certainly was. She was absolutely beautiful, turning everyone's heads. Harry seemed barely affected by her. Y/N mentally scoffed - how could he ignore a literal angel but stare at Cho Chang?

Y/N didn't want to think about it. On top of her eyes and tears glowing, and the morphing metal, she had a lot on her mind.

Pulling her wand out, Y/N met the twins' eyes again, Lee's eyes, then Elijah's beautiful, soulful, brown eyes - she couldn't help but get butterflies at them. They all nodded. In concentration, she muttered a powerful, "Vocarei Aquam," and prayed it worked.

After that, she added a quick, "Impervius," making sure to cover Fred, George, Lee and Elijah, or they'd be salty. Elijah sent her another handsome smile, and gestured to her wrist. To the bracelet.

If Harry was going to go for Cho...

Irrelevant. At least, right now.

"Are you okay, Silv?"

"Hm?" Y/N said, snapped out of her reverie by Harry's voice. "Oh, yeah."

"Are you sure?" asked Harry. "You're gripping your wand really tight..."

Y/N didn't answer, but just smiled when Dumbledore stood up and began to explain the Tournament. Y/N basically tuned out his information speech, her smile turning into a frown when Harry's eyes drifting to the Ravenclaw table once again.

✦

"Once again," Dumbledore said, after going on a long rant about the Triwizard Tournament and it's rules, aided by Ludo Bagman and Mister Crouch. "Mister Filch is particularly persistent about all the lavatory leaks and water spills. If you could please inform him immediately-"

SPLASH!

A giant wave of water cascaded through the Great Hall's open doors, submerging the students in crash. Floating on top of the water was Jake the Giant Squid, happily waving a tentacle at Y/N, who smiled back while everyone else was screaming their heads off.

With a flick of her wand, water was collected into a large sphere for Jake to float in. The water from the floor recycled and rained down from the ceiling, along with various kinds of fake rainbow-colored fish.

Soaked from head-to-toe, Harry, Ron and Hermione couldn't help but laugh along with Y/N.

Looking around, she saw that even the students from other schools were laughing - that was part of the plan, of course. It would make everyone less awkward.

Students were jumping from their seats, trying to catch the fish. The four troublemakers grinned to each other, trying to look inconspicuous.

Every. Single. Teacher. Was soaked.

The majority didn't seem to mind - even Madame Maxine, who looked a little stuck up, was laughing beside Hagrid, her arm draped over his. And Ludo Bagman, who was a Ministry Official. They impressed a Ministry Official to the point where he wasn't even mad.

The only ones that harbored some problems were scowling. Moody, Karkaroff, Mister Crouch, and of course - Severus Grease Ball Snape.

He abruptly stood from the teacher's table, and Y/N rolled her eyes.

Ugh, he was so annoying. Just because you can't have fun doesn't mean you can't condone it. Did they hurt anyone? No! Is Jake okay? Yes!

His curtain-like hair soggy, and water dripping down his hooked nose, he cast a sonorous charm and yelled, "STOP! EVERYONE STOP!"

The Hall quieted a little. Not much, though.

"Severus, don't be like that-" Dumbledore began, the hint of a smile playing on his elderly features.

"NO! today is a momentous night, it is the start of a Tournament and these five-" he pointed his wand at Y/N, Fred, George, Lee and Elijah, "Are responsible for this!"

"He's just angry we made him wash his hair," Y/N muttered. Jake clapped his purpley-red tentacles in appreciation. We love Jake.

"Five detentions, Miss Sterling," Snape snarled.

"How the fucking hell did he even hear that?!" Y/N complained to her friends, the hall was still tittering with laughter, but not at her - at Snape.

"Three more."

"But-"

"And that's on top of the five detentions you all shall receive," he referred to the other four pranksters, "for this ridiculousness."

"He's just mad he was never that funny."

─── ☆: *.⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ .* :☆ ───

hi guys!!

im sosososo sorry this chap came out so late - i js had a busy and mentally straining week (not rly in the right headspace yk?) so i hope you'll forgive me bc this chap is like 7500 words :3

lowkey i had fun writing it tho >:)

i kinda wanted to put the whole..like..goblet of fire choosing but im tired and yeah !!

also no emojis its too late my brain is barely working

ALSO i skipped over all the information bc if i wrote it i would prob give myself a writers block and i don't think y'all wanna read that either, so win-win !!

ok guys im gonna go pass out now good night SEE I PROMISED IT WOULD BE OUT TODAY! (it's 11:50 pm where i am. everyone is asleep. it is a school day.)

if ur reading this, it'd be really cool if u could check out my friend's  @pottersfirebolt harry x reader! it's acc so good u won't regret it <3

OKAY IM DONE YAPPING

bye, love you, troublemakers!!

- dizzy