"Harry! Stop!" I laughed, running away from him. He laughed too, following me. I ran all the way past our favorite tree down by the lake. It was finally warming up and we decided to spend some time outside together. Now he keeps tickling me!
"Gotcha!" He hopped out from behind the tree, catching me by the waist. I laughed and giggled, squirming around in his grip. He spun me around so I was facing him. "I love you!"
"I love you too!" I smiled, pushing myself up to kiss him. Everything in this moment is perfect.
**********Dumbledore's POV********
I watched out the window to my study, Harry and Gracie. The two were down by the lake, looking every bit like a scene from a movie. "Their love for each other is remarkable, especially considering the fact that they don't realize how special they are.
This prophecy could ruin everything. Could ruin that little girl's life if everything doesn't go as planned. This tournament, them being entered, this was not supposed to happen. I don't know how it could have happened!" I watched them together, break their kiss and sit down, holding each other's hand. You'd never know they were a couple of teenagers.
Any minute now their moment would be ruined, Ludo wants to show them the maze set up for the final task. We finished early, so they're pushing the date. "Sirius is already furious with me, as well as Minerva. She has come to care for not only Harry, but her new granddaughter, Gracelyn. As have I. I keep reminding myself, it's not good to become attached. Tell me, have you become attached to the girl?" I turned around to face him, silent tears streaking his face as he looked out the window.
"She's so much like Lilly!" He whispered, his normally stone face soft, with a gentle smile. "She reminds me so much of her! Yet she's got just enough of we father to ruin it all!" His voice grew louder, he seemed angrier.
"Severus, is it really wise to hold a grudge against the girl? Let her show her own character as well as Harry. You'll see, they're both so much like Lilly! Both brave and kind."
"He's just like his father! An arrogant swine!" He snapped, turning to face me with a glare. I sighed, turning back to see a younger child run up to the couple.
"You're wrong Severus. You're very wrong."
************Gracie's POV**************
"Gracie? Harry?" Some little kid ran up to us, smiling happily. This can't be good. "So um, Mr. Bagman wants you guys on the quidditch pitch!" He smiled, then skipped away. "See ya round!" He waved over his shoulder, meeting with his friends near the doors.
"Well. That was kind of weird!" Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. I nodded, looking to my left where the pitch is. Or was.
"What the HELL is that?"
"Who knows. Come on. Lets get this over with!" Harry groaned, sticking his hands out. I took them and let him pull me to my feet. We walked in the direction, and while we were probably the closest to the pitch, we were the last ones there. Everyone turned to look at us, which was kind of awkward.
"Harry! Gracie!" Bagman smiled, coming to pat us on the back. "You're late! In a broom closet no doubt!" He laughed, winking at us. He stood in between us, an arm around each of our shoulders. I rolled my eyes, but pasted on a smile anyway. "Now!" He let go of us, going to stand in front of what used to be our quidditch pitch.
"Uhm, what did you do to our pitch?" Cedric croaked, eyeing the maze with hatred. Harry and I gave it the same look, even Krum looked kind of sad. Ludo laughed, looking at the maze happily.
"Don't worry, don't worry, you'll have your pitch back by next season!" He smiled, patting Cedric on the back. We all looked at him in doubt, but we didn't comment. "Now. This, is the third task!" He gestured to it like it was something magical. Well, it kind of is, but not the good kind.
I rolled my eyes, the fact that it's the third task is obvious. The question is, "What is it Sir?" Fleur asked, crossing her arms.
"This, my dear, is a maze. Filled with magical creatures you'll have to get past to get to the cup, and win he Triwizard Tournament!" He smiled again, motioning for us to follow him. "See here? This is the entrance! Since Harry and Gracie are tied for first, they will get a head start. Then Cedric, Viktor, and lastly Fleur! If you run into trouble and cannot continue, you will use your wand to send red sparks, meaning help. Teachers are posted all over the place in case you need them. They can see you but you cannot see them."
"Will the crowd be able to see?" Viktor huffed, not making eye contact as usual. I think Mione is the only one he talks to and can carry an actual conversation with. Ludo nodded, smiling.
"Of course! We want to be able to see all of your triumphs, or your failures!" He laughed, moving to pay Viktor on the back. "Just kidding, just kidding!" Viktor looked grim, like he wasn't excited about this thing. I on the other hand can't wait! All of this will be over with in, wait! When is the task?
"When is the task Mr. Bagman?" I asked, smiling at him.
"Oh please dear! Call me Ludo! And the task will be Saturday! I know it's a bit short notice, but we finished earlier and figured we should move the task up. You're dismissed, see you then!" He chirped, walking away from all of us. Fleur, Cedric, and Viktor left, but I stayed there. Staring. Harry wrapped his arms around me from behind, kissing my cheek.
"Five days. Five days and this is all over!" He sighed, hugging me. I smiled, but didn't answer. "We should probably go, the gang is waiting!"
"Okay. Lets go!" I smiled, turning around. I took his hand and we walked back to the castle. Nat, Fred, Ron, and Mione were waiting at the door, all of them looked furious. "What's wrong?" I sighed, kind of cautious, I have a feeling this isn't going to be good.
I was right. They all blew up.
"Woah woah woah! Slow down!" Harry held his hands up, trying to get them to calm down. "Hermione, you tell us!" She took a deep breath, then blew up.
"Ginny went on a date with Malfoy!"
"I saw that coming first year guys! And think about this!" I put my arms around Ron's neck and wiped my hand across the air like you do when your introducing something. "Ginny Weasley! The girl who changed a deatheater! A Weasley story: True Love, or Self-Destruction?" I giggled, removing my arm. They all scowled, shoving me away.
"I don't like this! What if it's the other way around huh? What if he changed Ginny?" Fred snapped, holding onto Nat for support. They all nodded furiously, even Harry looked a bit iffy. "Gracie, she loves you more than all of us combined! Please talk to her?"
"Talk to who?" Ginny skipped up to us, holding hands with the devil himself. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Wait. You guys were talking about me, weren't you?" She whispered, her face taking on a look of hurt and pain.
"See what you did?" I hissed, pulling her into my arms. "I told you I saw this coming! I told you she could change him!" I snapped, looking at Draco. He kept inching towards Ginny, attempting to comfort her. "I trust you Gin! And they do too, they're just protective, that's all. Come on, how many people are as lucky as our group? Each of us have at least five people to care for and protect us at all times!" I smiled, pushing her away to look in get eyes. She rolled them.
"Yeah, I know. But you guys should trust me enough to know I'm not going to turn evil. Especially from one date! And besides!" She smiled, stepping back to take Draco's hand. "He's not as bad as you think he is!" No one said anything. This is the same argument I made a few years ago. I didn't say anything, just turned away awkwardly. "Gracie, please? Come on!" Ginny begged, so of course I gave in. Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair again.
"Draco. I gave you a chance, didn't I?" He nodded his head sheepishly. I stepped forward, glaring at him, but I looked him right in the eye, and he looked back. Kind of nervous, but he kept eye contact. "And you blew it, didn't you?" Again he nodded. "I'm a nice person. So I'm going to give you one more chance. Not only to date Ginny, but as family. Family doesn't do this sort of thing to each other, and we aren't going to do this anymore. Now, about Ginny. She is my little sister. She has been since the day she was born. She made me a big sister. So I'm a little, er, protective." I stepped forward, getting right in his face. "If you hurt her, or any other friends of mine I swear to Merlin above Voldemort won't have a chance to kill you because I'll do it myself! Got it?" I hissed, glaring at him. He looked like he wet his pants.
"G, got it!" He stuttered, nodding his head furiously. I stepped back, a smile on my face.
"Good. Then you have one more thing to do before you can have my blessing!" I smirked, crossing my arms in front of me.
"Anything!" he sighed, looking at Ginny like she was the sun of his world.
"Apologize. To Harry, for messing with him about the tournament. Mione, for that horrible name you called her, and Ron and Fred for making fun of the Weasleys all these years!"
"What about me? He put me through high emotional distress!" Nat huffed, glaring at Draco. I rolled my eyes, as did he, but I could see the small smile on his face.
"Only Natalyn." He chuckled, shaking his head. But the he looked up, completely serious. "I'm sorry. To all of you! For everything Gracie said, Nat's stress levels, and anything else I've done to any of you. Gracie, you didn't say anything about being sorry to you, but I am. Can you forgive me?" They all mumbled under their breath, but I smiled, nodding at him. Ginny was absolutely glowing, and that's what matters.
"Brilliant! You have my blessing! Bye!" I waved, skipping up to Harry and taking his hand. We walked into the castle, and once we were a safe distance from the others, Harry stopped, then burst into hysterical laughter.
"Blimey Gracie! That was brilliant!" He laughed, smiling at me. I smiled back, even winked.
"Ginny's happy. I made him apologize in a way that I can't get in trouble for, and he might change! I'm happy!" I shrugged, smiling at Harry. He sobered up for a minute.
"Might change?"
I nodded, running my hand through my hair. I need to quit doing that so much! "Yeah. I'm not totally convinced he'll change. And I don't want Crabbe and Goyle after Ginny like they did when I tried to get him to change. Not that she couldn't take care of herself, but still. And Draco is still a Malfoy. He has to live up to the expectations his parent set, whether he wants to or not. He doesn't have a choice. So I don't think he'll really change," I mumbled, walking closer to Harry. He opened his arms and I walked into them, hugging him tightly.
"Don't worry. Anyone can see how much he really fancies Ginny. He'll find a way to keep her safe and to change." He kissed the top of my head, then started walking backwards, lifting me a little bit so that I was pulled with him. I peeked over his shoulder to see him heading for the Great Hall. I turned back to him, raising an eyebrow. He just winked, giving me a sly smirk. I laughed, resting my head on his shoulder.
"Okay okay. Lets go eat!" I giggled, he groaned, like the happy one.
"Yes!" He laughed, pushing the doors to the hall open. Some people turned to see who was coming in, but Harry was shielding me, the only thing you could hear was our laughter, if you were even paying attention. We got a few smiles from our friends and Fleur poked us when she walked by. Harry pulled me over to our seats before he finally let me go. "So, what are we going to spend our week doing?" He asked, piling his plate with stuff.
"What do you mean your week?" Nat asked, taking a seat across from us. I hadn't even seen them come in, but everyone took a seat, except Ginny.
"Hey, is it alright if Draco sits with us?" She asked, looking kind of nervous. He stood there awkwardly, holing Ginny's hand. I smiled and patted the seat next to me. She sent me a relieved smile and sat down. "So, what's this about a week?" Everyone turned towards us.
"Bagman gave us a week. The last task is Saturday. It's a giant maze thing filled with creatures that could potentially hurt us. And we have to find the cup in the middle to win." I shrugged, taking a bite of my food.
"All the stuff we've learned about in Hagrid's class this year? Yeah, those things and more I guess." Harry stated, we acted like that was no big deal. But they all knew it was, they aren't stupid. All of those things were dangerous. Someone always ends up in the hospital wing after his lessons.
"Gracie! Your going to get hurt! Potter and I aren't great friends or anything, but I don't even like the thought of him going in there!" Draco rolled his eyes, looking a bit worried.
"Relax. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself!" I teased, rolling my eyes.
"Trust me, I know." He grumbled, rubbing his jaw. "Besides physically being able to take care of yourself," he fake glared at me, smiling a bit. "you can act your way out of anything!" He laughed, ruffling my hair. I scowled swatting his hand away, a few people around the us laughed or chuckled, even Ron and Fred smirked.
"Better be careful doing that mate!" Fred winked, smirking at him. Ron laughed while Draco looked suspicious.
"Gracie will rip your bloody arm off!" Ron laughed, as multiple others did as well. Even Draco. Meanies. I blushed, scowling at all of them. I flicked a piece of my roll at Ron.
"I do not!" I laughed, watching him cross his eyes where it hit his nose. Ginny was all smiles and giggles, you could tell she was ecstatic. Thanks to moí! Just kidding. But anyway.
"Well, I think we know how your going to spend you week!" Mione sighed, looking a bit sad. Am I the only one giving her a weird look, no? Okay, good. Just making sure. We all looked at her weird because no, no I really don't know how I'm supposedly spending my week. She rolled her eyes, glaring at us. "In the library of course! You need to learn to defend yourself!"
"No way! I've studied so many spells this year I could be a teacher!" I scoffed, crossing my arms.
"Yeah. For first years!" Fred laughed, banging his hand on the table. The others laughed, but I think they were laughing at Fred more than with me. He looked kind of mental. Even I laughed.
"Okay okay, kind of dramatic!" I laughed, holding up my hands in surrender.
"Says the queen of drama!" Nat snorted, rolling her eyes. They all laughed again.
"You guys are horrible!" I giggled, attempting to glare at them. "You make me sound like some mental drama queen!" I laughed, then I felt Harry's hand slip into mine under the table. I smiled at him, then turned back to the others.
"Alright so maybe your not that dramatic!" Ron chuckled, shaking his head. "But come on! We all saw your little display in Hogsmeade with Fudge!"
"And when she got me in trouble with McGonagall at the pitch that day!" Draco pointed out, poking my side. I squirmed, leaning towards Harry.
"And at the burrow! When you all came to save me with the car and she got us all out of trouble!" Harry laughed, pulling me onto his lap. Draco glared at him, which made Ron smile more.
"Finally. Someone who understands!" He clapped Draco on the back, giving him a smile. "You aren't so bad Malfoy!"
"Come on! She's fourteen! And she's sitting on his lap!" Malfoy hissed, glaring at the two of us. I exchanged a look with Harry, we both thought Ron was over that. Thank to Draco for resurfacing his negativity. Ron nodded sympathetically.
"Think about it. Your her cousin and you feel that way. That's my little sister!" Ron sighed, he and Draco exchanged looks.
"Okay you guys are insane! Bye!" I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Anyone coming?" I asked, standing up and straightening my robes. Harry nodded and stood up, so did Nat and Fred. We all skipped to the common room, well Nat and I skipped. Not so much the guys. "Uh, what's the password?" I whispered, leaning closer to Nat. This is the first time since I've been to Hogwarts that I have forgotten the password.
"Balderdash?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders. The fat lady gave us a dirty look, shaking her head. "Awe come on! You've known us for years!" Nat whined, poking the picture. "Come on! You know you want to!"
"Gracelyn Black has never forgotten a password!" She miffed. "Help! Help! Help!" Professor McGonagall and the head boy came running, Filtch followed after them. Seeing the commotion, Snape decided to stop by as well. "These impostors are trying to break into the common room!" It was then that I noticed Fred and Harry were gone. Weird.
Anyway, I groaned, dropping my head backwards. "I can assure you, we are not impostors! I just forgot the password! It changed, remember?"
"Gracie has never forgotten a password!"
"You changed it! I forgot! Professor, please do something!" I groaned, turning to Professor McGonagall. She pursed her lips, looking at me funny. I groaned again, resting my head on the wall. "Come on! Ask me something only I would know!"
"Ooh ooh ooh! I've got one!" Nat raised her hand, jumping up and down. I looked at her.
"You know, you could be an impostor too! But go on. Might as well. It's either going to be stupid or embarrassing! Just wait!" I sighed, talking to Grandma McGonagall.
Nat smirked, giving me this evil little look. I'm scared. "How big is Harry's dick?"
"Natalyn!" I screamed, mortified. My face was on fire and I was furious. "I don't know! How could you ask something like that? What do you think I am? Some teenage sleeze?" My face was burning and she was rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically.
"It's definitely Gracie!" She laughed, wiping away the tears of laughter. I glared at her, my face will NOT stop burning. I turned to Professor Snape.
"Okay can I have a serious question please?" I hissed, sneaking peeks at Nat. I seriously want to strangle her right now. Like I would know that! Professor McGonagall was shaking her head, but at least she's starting to believe us. Snape's lip curled, he looked a little bit, amused?
"While Ms. Black's question was, accurate," he paused, smirking. "I believe my question will do the trick. Gracelyn Black, what is your wand and give me a fact about it?" I rolled my eyes, easy. But how would he know? Eh. Bother question for another time.
"12" holly and Phoenix hair, it's similar to my father's but an exact replica of Lilly Evans. Or Potter. Either one." I shrugged, smiling at him. He nodded, waving for the portrait to open up. She glared at us, but opened anyway. "Thank you!" I smiled, pulling Nat into the common room. Once we were inside, and out of view of a teaher, I punched her as hard as I could. In the arm. But still.
"Ouch! You SUCK!" She yelled, glaring at me and holding her arm. Harry and Fred tore off the cloak off, laughing hysterically. Nat an I jumped like thirty feet in the air, then we glared at them, crossing our arms.
"That was brilliant!" Fred laughed. "Nice question love!" Fred winked, rolling around on the ground. I glared at him, while Nat smiled, moving to sit on top of him. Blegh.
"Yeah Nat. So uh, how big is Fred's?" I smirked, crossing my arms. She was distracted, so it worked.
"Pretty dang bi- hey!" She yelled, her face turning red. I stuck my tongue out in a moment of immaturity, then smiled happily, skipping to the couch. I sat on Harry's lap, taking his hand in mine.
"So, how do you want to spend our week?" He asked, smiling at me. I stopped to think for a few minutes, then smiled.
"This!" I pulled his lips to mine, smiling into the kiss. Ah, if this is how my week goes, it'll be amazing!