Brutal. | Fred Weasley

four!

"But I didn't finish!" she argues. Aurelia shakes her head.

"You nearly did and that's good enough," she tells her sternly. She looks like she wants to argue again, but a knowing look from Aurelia is enough to stop her.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was the first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Cheers explode from the stands, mostly from yellow-robed people. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points." People applaud for him too and Aurelia recognises the name from Quidditch. She'd never been a massive fan of watching it, but she plays sometimes when there's a friendly match or two on at Beauxbatons. She plays as a Beater a lot.

"Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect. He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own. Most of the judges," Bagman sends a nasty look to Karkaroff at this, "feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However, Mr Potter's score is forty-five points."

Aurelia joins in applauding, beaming at Harry when she briefly catches his eye. She's cold and wet, but she's thankful to Harry for sticking around to ensure her safety. She does wonder briefly if he knows who she is yet.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June. The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions," Bagman finishes.

Madame Pomfrey begins herding them all towards the castle to change into dry clothes and warm up properly, but Aurelia is somewhat enchanted by the rich forest to one side and the rolling hills to the other.

"So this is Hogwarts?" she hums to Fleur, taking in the large castle, impressed.

"The food is heavy here," Fleur states. "Nothing like Beauxbatons."

Aurelia lets out a fake gasp. "They actually serve real meals?" she asks jokingly. She's constantly making fun of the soups and light meals of Beauxbatons. Although she's mostly used to it now, whenever she goes home, she's happy to eat fuller and more dense meals.

Fleur laughs sarcastically, nudging her gently. "I heard about the possibility of you moving here next year." Her voice is slightly sad.

"You're not going to be at Beauxbatons next year anyway," Aurelia reminds her. "But I don't think I'm going to move. I'm happy in France."

Fleur looks slightly happier at that fact. As soon as they step through the double doors, Aurelia's attention is stolen away by the overwhelming amount of things that she wants to look at. A large staircase with portraits lining the walls is where Madame Pomfrey leads them. There are groups of people shoved into frames that they certainly don't belong in. The figures whisper animatedly amongst themselves as the group of eight make their way up and Aurelia feels exposed under the scrutinising eyes. She leans over to Harry.

"Uh, do they stare like this all the time?" she asks, scrunching her nose up slightly. Harry looks over at her in surprise that she's talking to him at all after falling into easy conversation with Fleur in French.

"Not normally, no," he answers. Ron had informed him just who she is and he's cautious about everything she's saying. "I'm not sure why they're staring now." She nods slowly before her attention is taken again.

They're shepherded into the Hospital Wing, a bright and clean room in the castle. Aurelia is happy to see her warmest jumper waiting on a bed, probably courtesy of Madame Maxime, since she'd been getting colder and colder. Scotland is certainly colder than the Pyrenees and that's a distinction that has made Aurelia very uncomfortable. She hates the cold, it's a pointless sensation to her, but what she hates marginally more is the sensation of warming charms. She's granted the return of her wand soon after by Madame Maxime and she flicks a quick drying spell towards her uniform wordlessly. It gains strange looks from Harry, Ron and their friend who had been Krum's hostage, but she ignores them as she pulls the jumper on over the blue.

"How are you both feeling?" Madame Maxime asks, smiling at both of her students.

"Fine," Aurelia nods as Fleur offers up a similar smile and nod.

"Don't be too upset, Fleur, you still did very well," she reassures the blonde as Aurelia waves her wand to dry her hair out. The red becomes much more vibrant when it's dry and Fleur gasps happily.

"Your hair!" she exclaims. "It's got red! It looks amazing."

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Aurelia teases. "I've been going totally crazy since you've been gone. Turning desk chairs into pigs, walls into windows, doors into walls. And you know that one Nicholas Flammel portrait in the Headmistress's office? He had pink hair for a while."

Harry recognises the name, but nothing else as Fleur pulls Aurelia from the Hospital Wing. The dark haired girl calls a 'thank you' to Madame Pomfrey as they leave quickly to find something to eat.

"You're joking!" Fleur laughs, shaking her head at her friend's antics.

"Would I lie to you?"

The bustle of the rest of the school filing into the castle meets their ears fairly quickly. Aurelia is quick to assure Fleur that she'll tell her all about her time at Beauxbatons once they're sat down with some food in front of her and the rest of their friends are present. Everyone else is already in the Great Hall, excluding the other Champions, but their arrival hushes most of the chatter. Eyes follow Aurelia's every move, but she refuses to duck her head. She sees her friends sat with blue-robed Hogwarts students, the powder blue of Beauxbatons a far cry from the richness of the Hogwarts blue. Ravenclaw, she recalls from the back of her mind somewhere. Hogwarts sorts into Houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and two others whose names are evading her memory. The Beauxbatons students, sensing the change in the air when Aurelia and Fleur walk in, split in the middle to make room for the two of them.

Aurelia is well liked, that's just a fact. The students and families in the magical community in France don't care about her last name, especially when they know she is also a descendent of one of the missing Caideux sisters. It's the best kept secret of the European magical community. Beauxbatons students protect their own, fully French or not, and Aurelia classifies as one of them. They'll close ranks, protect her from the harsh stares and harsher words of the Hogwarts students.

Fleur and Aurelia settle easily between two of their other closest friends and begin exchanging stories at a rapid rate. Aurelia will tell them a story from Beauxbatons and they'll return a story or two about their time at Hogwarts like the Yule Ball, the First Task or the day to day running of Hogwarts and the ways they differ. Food is passed between them all, Aurelia revelling in the familiar British foods. Some of the Ravenclaw students had loosened up upon seeing her interact with the Beauxbatons students and are also joining in the conversation, which transfers from French to English frequently (Aurelia's assigned most of the translations by default as the most natural bilingual among them). It's not until she raises her eyes to the yellow-accented table that she realises that there's a familiar face among all the strangers.

"No fucking way," she mutters as he grins over at her. She stands from her spot and quickly makes her way over to the yellow table, excusing herself and taking a spot cleared for her at the instruction of her friend.

"Nico fucking Caspian, how come you never told me you were a wizard?!"