The Protector

Dragons?!

"No, sorry." 

"I told you Hogwarts isn't safe anymore." 

"When is it ever safe when Harry's here?" I rolled my eyes. 

Harry shook his head, "What are you talking about, Sirius?" 

"They are in the walls, demons are. Igor Karkaroff used to be a death eater. And nobody stops being a death eater, even if they wanted to. Barty Crouch sent his own son to Azkaban, for heaven's sake." 

"Wait," I stopped him, "what'd he look like?" 

"I don't exactly know," Sirius answered. "Why?" 

"I saw the man that did the whole "mark in the sky" thing. When I told Crouch his description he seemed in shock. As if it were impossible." 

"Would one of them put my name in the Goblet of Fire?" Harry asked. 

"Possibly," Sirius sighed. "But whoever did, is no ally to either of you. People nearly die in these tournaments." 

"I don't want to do this, Sirius," Harry begged. 

"I'm sorry, but it's out of my hands. You have no choice," Sirius told him. 

I whipped my head around as I heard feet on the concrete steps leading up to the towers. A shadow was descending down. Harry looked to me and I looked to him. "Someone's coming," Harry told him. 

"Good-bye, Sirius," I told him. 

"Bye. Stay together, you two." We both stood up as Sirius disappeared into the fire. I turned to see Ron, still very tired and in his pajamas. 

He got down to the common room, "Who were you guys talking to?" 

"Each other," I answered quickly. 

"Who says we were talking to anybody else?" Harry asked. I mentally facepalmed for that one. 

"I heard another voice," Ron answered. 

"You're tired. Probably just hallucinating," I told him.  

"Wouldn't be the first time you were imagining things," Harry muttered. I elbowed Harry in the gut while maintaining focus with Ron. 

"Actually, you were probably just practicing for your next interview," Ron shot back. 

"Guys," I groaned and made my way towards the stairs that Ron was blocking. "Just stop. Get over it." 

"Wait," Ron gave me a questioning look, "where've you been?" 

"What?" 

"I didn't see you all night. Where'd you go?" He asked. 

"I was just on a date," I chuckled. "It's no big deal." 

"It lasted up until 1 AM?" He asked. 

"Yeah," I nodded. "And to be honest, I don't think it's anyone's business. I am going to bed, now. Good night, both of you," I began to climb the stairs. I heard the two boys after me. I walked into my dormitory and got myself ready for the night. 

***

I leant up against the rough bark. I looked to my left and watched as Harry looked over a book cover while Neville play with the plants in the water. He kept whisper-shouting the same thing over and over again, "This is awesome!" I didn't want to crush his little heart, so I didn't say anything. Harry, however, did.

"Neville." Neville stopped what he was doing to look at Harry. "Can you keep it down?" 

Neville looked down at his plants and looked a bit sad, "Oh, yeah. Sorry."