"Miss Potter, is this true?"
I inhaled a deep breath in attempt to steady my nerves, readying myself to confess that I had protected Harry, but not casted the charm to put his name in the Goblet of Fire. My defence was not very strong, however. Who would believe me?
"I um-"
"-Check her wand." My lips parted at the sound of Severus' voice, the entire crowd's gaze now focusing on him as he showed a motionless, bored expression in comparison to my shocked one.
"If you want to know what her last spell was, Alastor, check her wand." Snape eyed the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor as though it were obvious. Yet Moody appeared enraged at his words. "But, Severus, she could have-"
"-Unless, of course, you are insinuating that a thirteen year old could demonstrate such a spell without her wand?" The Potion's Master's eyes narrowed onto the man who stood with his jaw clenched tight as he fought to control his fury.
"May I, Miss Potter?" Dumbledore's voice sounded from beside me, his hand outstretched and waiting for my wand to be placed into it. The twinkle in the Headmaster's eyes did not give me any relief, however, as I handed him my wand. Both he and Bartemius Crouch Sr began to inspect it, performing the relevant spell to see which charm I last performed.
"Ah, but a simple levitation spell taught to first years." I tried to keep my sigh of relief barely noticeable. Thankfully, it was, as I was handed back my wand. With an apology from Professor Dumbledore that he had to take such measures. I wasn't quite sure why, but Professor Moody seemed to have a severe distaste for me. But I had decided I would never attempt to infiltrate his mind again, after the occurrence that took place in our second Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.
The celebrations resumed, Hermione making her way over. And, to my surprise, Ron was following behind her. "You were amazing! You really were!" She shrieked in excitement. Ron, however, stood beside her with a terrified look in his eyes; his face paler than I had ever seen before.
"Harry, whoever put your name in the Goblet-I-I reckon they're trying to do you in!" He stammered. Harry merely scoffed in retort, "Caught on, have you? Took you long enough." I rolled my eyes at this, knowing my sibling had every right to be angry at the boy who was now trying to apologise and make amends. Ron opened his mouth to speak, but Harry's thoughts towards forgiving him echoed through my mind.
"I shouldn't have-" Ron began, Harry shaking his head and cutting the boy short, "-Forget it. It's ok." He nodded with reassurance, Hermione bursting into tears as the two pulled each other into a brotherly hug. They parted, eyeing Hermione in disbelief. "There's nothing to cry about!" Harry exclaimed, causing me to chuckle as I wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulder.
"You two are so stupid!" She sobbed, pulling all of us into a group hug which was soon brought to a halt as the scores were to be announced.
Due to a very biased score from the Bulgarian Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, Harry and Viktor Krum tied first place. But nobody complained, as we made our way back towards the school to celebrate. The Hogwarts students had very quickly changed their attitude towards Harry and I since his win, the Gryffindor students deciding a party in their Common Room would be a necessity. Unfortunately, I would be the only outside house to be invited, leaving Draco and the rest of our group in Slytherin to get ready for the night's celebrations.
I took my time on my appearance, curling my hair and dressing in a black leather jacket with a white tank top and denim, ripped jeans. My makeup was minimal but I decided on adding black eyeliner and mascara to highlight my green eyes. I wore the necklace Severus had gifted me my first Christmas at Hogwarts (as I had every single day) and Draco's emerald bracelet which happened to match perfectly with one another.
On my way to the Gryffindor tower, however, I decided to make a pit-stop in a certain Professor's classroom in the dungeons. My knuckle tapped against the wooden door thrice as a voice spoke from within, "Enter." As it had too many times before to count. But it had been a while since I last made a nightly trip to Severus' office; for I had grown too distracted with the occurrences last term and Harry's name being pulled from the Goblet of Fire.
Opening the door, I stepped inside and found the man sitting by his desk, marking parchment by candlelight; a few locks of ebony hair falling loose from the safety of being tucked behind his ear. "Miss Potter. I did not expect to see you, this evening." His lips curled slightly as his gaze averted from the piece of paper onto my own.
"I'm sorry, Severus," I sighed, "I know it's been a minute."
The man's lips pursed, but he nodded in acknowledgement of my statement, his eyes forgiving and soft. "And what is it that brings you to my office this evening?" By this time, I had already taken the unoccupied seat opposite his desk, now meeting his eye-level. I paused for a moment before answering, deliberating the right words. "You knew it was me, earlier." It came across as a more direct statement than a question. Severus scanned the room quickly, as though he was checking for any sign of another presence.
"I did." He answered simply.
"Why didn't you tell Dumbledore?" I queried, my eyebrows furrowed as I shook my head in attempt to find my own conclusion. Evidently, it was futile, and Snape's mind was a brick wall, as always. The Potion's Master inhaled a deep breath, clasping his hands together and pondering his next move. "Because, as Professor Moody said, the blame would have been on you for putting your brother's name into the Goblet, also. And if I need you to complete the task of overseeing Harry throughout this competition, I would prefer you to be in the school as opposed to the confinement of Azkaban Prison."
I scoffed at this, knowing there was only a half-truth to his words. Snape cared for me because of my resemblance to my mother, there was no doubt about that. But part of me had hoped he had grown to care for me of his own accord; separate to the feelings he once had for Lily Potter.
"I don't think that Professor Moody likes me very much." I stated with an ounce of defeat.
Severus nodded, "That's because Alastor is insane. All of the years he spent chasing dark Wizards made him go loopy. If I were you, I would try to stay away from him, from now on." His words lingered in my mind for a few moments. Perhaps his bizarre ways of teaching and seeming vendetta for me were due to all the years he spent hunting dark witches and wizards.
"Well, thanks for looking out for Harry, I suppose." Sighing once more, I decided on quickly changing the subject. I rose from my seat to leave him alone, in the room.
"Where are you off to, now?" The man asked, his eyes darting to my outfit which was definitely not sleeping attire. Shrugging, I placed my hands into my leather pockets, knowing it would be useless to lie to him. "There's a small get-together in the Gryffindor Common Room. Invitation only, I'm afraid." I subdued a chuckle, trying to picture Severus at a party. Something told me he wouldn't fit in with the rest of the students.
He fought to hold back a smile, his lips curling slightly in their corners. "Well, don't stay up too late. You have Potions first thing tomorrow." Thankful he hadn't scolded me, I sent a small salute his way before making my way to the door. "Have a good night, Severus." The Head of Slytherin did not hesitate to answer, almost too quietly for me to hear, "You too, Emerald."
That evening was the first time I had ever gone into the Gryffindor Common Room, a small party of the third-year upwards celebrating Harry's accomplishment. Swarms of students gathered around him, hoisting both my brother and the golden egg into the air. Music blared and some of the older students drunk fire whiskey. I, however, would be sticking solely to Butterbeer for the night. I shrieked with the crowd, joining Hermione and Ginny as we began to chant for Harry to open the egg.
I watched as my brother twisted the seal atop the golden orb, opening it as a deafening shriek sounded throughout the common room. Everyone dropped to the floor, covering their ears as my brother fumbled to close the egg. In doing so, the shrieking stopped, leaving a ringing sensation to linger in my eardrums as everyone began to recover from the noise.
"Great! Something else we need to figure out." I sighed angrily, to which Harry nodded, glaring daggers at the egg as though it could open again, at any given moment.