It turned out that the things the champions lost, were actual people. Ced had to get Cho from the bottom of the lake, Krum had to get Granger, Delacour had to get her sister and Potter had to get Ron.
Though Delacour couldn't rescue her sister, giving her a score of twenty-five. Krum got a score of forty, Potter a score of forty-five for reaching both Ron and Delacour's sister even though he came out of the water last, and then there was Cedric who got forty-seven points and added together with the points from the last task, Cedric and Harry are tied on the first place.
All the way back to the castle, Marco and William were fighting. It wasn't just bickering. They were full on yelling at each other, both sounding equally upset. Marco had pushed and pushed about why William has been upset earlier and that made my brother mad so now they're yelling at each other while walking in front of me.
They were walking rather quickly too, meaning I'd almost have to run due to their height. They were yelling so loudly that people we passed on our way looked weirdly at them, trying to understand why these really tall boys were screaming at each other in anger, and one of them being a head boy didn't make it any better.
I had never seen them be this upset with each other. My brother kept running his fingers through his black hair to tug at it out of frustration while Marco made hand gestures to show how upset he was.
I didn't really listen to the words that left their mouths. Not until William stopped walking to look at Marco who was forced to then stop as well. He cocked an eyebrow at my brother, questioning why he had stopped.
"Do you ever shut up?" William asked. "I'm genuinely curious because right now your voice is all I'm hearing so could you please... just shut up."
"Will!" I scolded immediately, taking a large step towards the two. He had never talked to Marco in that way. He was protective of him, not wanting anyone to hurt him in any way.
"Mate, what the fuck is your problem?!" Marco raised his voice again. "I don't know if someone hurt you, but don't you dare talk to me like that. I am still your boyfriend and you need to respect me like I respect you!"
"Not for much longer." William simply replied with a scoff following his sentence.
"Not for much longer?" Marco frowned. "What the fuck's that supposed to mean?!"
"Why don't you try and use that big Ravenclaw brain of yours and try and figure it out?!" William snapped at him before he continued to walk. Marco looked at me with a confused and hurt look before he looked back to William, then followed after him.
"Don't you dare!" He yelled. "Don't you fucking dare break up with me, William!"
He placed a hand on my brother's shoulder, causing Will to turn around, and as he did, he swung as Marco, hitting him right in the jaw. Marco stumbled back at the force, landing in the grass. He grasped his face, staring up at William.
In the split of a second, I had run forward, standing between the two with my face towards my brother.
"William!" I yelled, causing him to look at me. "I don't know what's been going on with you lately, but you do not hit your partner. Doesn't matter if it's a girlfriend or a boyfriend. You do not hit the people you love!"
I was conflicted. My brother looked somewhat broken. His eyes showed nothing but pain and he looked like he was about to cry.
"Go back to the castle." I told him. "I told you back then to never hurt Marco and you just did, so get the fuck away!"
I pointed towards the castle, looking at him as I waited for him to turn around and leave. His eyes left my face and he looked out at the crowd of students who had gathered.
He looked at me again before he turned around to leave. I then turned to make sure Marco was okay. He had already gotten back up, moving his hand to his lip which was bleeding. He looked at the blood on his hand, then towards William, and before I could stop him, he had run after him, tackling my brother to the ground.
I flinched when I saw Marco on top of William, punching him in the face over and over again until William forced Marco against the ground, clutching his shirt in his hand as he now punched him.
Students had started cheering, shouting "fight, fight, fight" over and over again while repeatedly pushing their fists into the air.
I had absolutely no idea what to do. I didn't want to risk getting an elbow in the face by trying to break them up, and it didn't seem like anyone else were going to step in and help.
I sighed when I realised what I had to do. I undid my coat, taking it off and letting it fall onto the ground. I pushed up my sleeves, then I tackled Marco to the ground as he was now the one on top of William.
A second later, I had my best friend pinned against the ground, his arms over his head as he struggled for me to let go. I know that if he really wanted to, he could easily get away from me, but he didn't want to accidentally hurt me.
"You two need to stop!" I shouted as I looked between Marco and my brother who sat up, bringing a hand to his face, then flinching at the pain from his split eyebrow. "You have to figure this out in some other way than fighting."
I stood up, grabbing into Marco's arm to tug him up as well. He wiped his mouth from the blood that was spilling from it and looked at me like a child would look at its mother if it had just been scolded.
"William, get up." I said, motioning for my brother to stand as well. "Weak people uses violence to prove their point. I want you both to go wait for me in the quidditch changing rooms."
As the two walked towards the quidditch stadium where the changing rooms were, I turned around to pick up my coat, only to see the crowd still being there.
"Oh piss off." I groaned. "Have you never seen two people fight before? Keep your noses out of other people's business, thank you very much."
I picked up my coat and pulled it on before I followed my friend and my brother towards the changing rooms.
When we reached them, I closed the door behind them and pointed at the benches. They sat down, several feet between their bodies.
"William?" I asked, looking at my brother. "You've been acting really off for the past couple of weeks. I'd strongly advice you to tell us what the issue is before you fuck up the best relationship you've ever had."
He looked up at me before leaning back against the wall, folding his arms over his chest.
"I don't have to explain myself to you."
I looked at him for a moment without saying anything, then I let out a laugh.
"You got so angry when my boyfriend hit me, then you go and do the same to yours." I said. "But the three of us all know that this isn't about Marco. Tell me what's going on or I'll write dad and tell him you're being an asshole."
"Don't compare me to Cameron." Will said. "I am nothing like that manipulating pig."
Marco sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes which made William look at him.
"Anything on your mind, Partridge?"
"Just that you're ugly." Marco shrugged. "Can't stand to look at you right now."
"Mature." William scoffed, taking his turn to roll his eyes.
"Oh— as if you're mature? You punched me in the face because I talk to much. Make that make sense please."
"Seriously?" I asked. "Stop fighting! Marco... shut up for a moment. Will, why are you in a mood? Did someone say something? Do something? Did one of us do something?"
William stood up and took a step towards the door before I stepped in front of him, pressing a hand to his chest to push him back.
"I don't want to talk about it, Allie."
"Well, I don't really care." I said. "Why won't you tell me? Is it because I'm your younger sister? Because you're insecure about something, because—"
"Did you cheat on me?" Marco blurted. Williams expression changed completely, from sadness to confusion as he snapped his head in Marco's direction. "Because for some reason you are pushing me away and— and you haven't even kissed me properly for weeks."
William scoffed as if the accusation offended him. He turned towards Marco, shaking his head.
"I didn't cheat on you." He said. "I'm no cheater."
"Then what the fuck is your problem?!" Marco raised his voice. "You need to tell me why you are acting like a fucking brat right now or I am breaking up with you. Oh wait— you already broke up with me, isn't that right?"
"I got a fucking letter!" William yelled right as Marco finished speaking. We both looked at him as he let himself drop down on the bench again. "Dad sent me a letter."
He sighed deeply before he looked at Marco. "I'm sorry. Allie's right. It's got nothing to do with you. Dad just sent me this letter and I— I'm sorry I took it out on you."
"What letter?" Marco asked while I leaned back against the wall, letting them have their conversation and sort out their fight.
"Our family is hosting this ball in July and— h wants me to act straight with al of his friends being there." He said. "Doesn't want any of them knowing that his only son is gay. Oh— and if I don't do this for him, I'm cut off. The man says he's got no issues with my sexuality, but he hasn't been comfortable around me ever since I came out — wouldn't look at us when you stayed with us some time during the summer. So either I spend my entire life, hiding my sexuality when his friends are around, or I simply do not have a dad anymore."
That's it.
Both Marco and William looked at me as I pushed myself off the wall and stormed out of the changing rooms.
I had been hoping that my dad would come to his senses and fully accept William. I know how hard it's been on him since coming out. Mum accepts him, always has. She doesn't care about his sexuality — as long as he's happy. But dad... dad's not comfortable with homosexuality, meaning he's willing to cut off his only son instead of supporting him.