I walked into the Gryffindor Common Room. The fire was still going but everyone seemed to be asleep. Well, no wonder they're asleep, Bridget. It's probably like...10. I sighed and flopped onto the couch in front of the fire place. I listened to the fireplace crackle. What time is it, anyways?
I got out my pocket watch: 12:57 AM. I gasped, "I was with him for...almost seven hours!"
"Bridget?" I heard a familiar voice come from behind me.
"Hey, Harry," I chuckled slightly. "What are you doing up?"
"Remember Sirius wanted to talk to us," He came over with a questioningly look on his face. "Where have you been?"
"I just went to my tree," I told him. That was the truth. The only thing I didn't add was that I was with Draco and we had a little picnic...but it's not like he needed to know.
"I don't believe you," he laughed and picked up the newspaper lying on the side table, "but I guess I'll have to." He looked over the front cover. I saw his face contort as he flipped it open. I looked at the front cover.
I rolled my eyes, "Why are you even reading that?"
He looked up to me, "I want to see what she said about you."
"No, you don't," I shook my head.
He looked back to the page, "'Bridget Meadows may be the helper of the Triwizard tournament, but she has a huge life behind the scenes. Not wanting to be known just for Potter, she signed up for helper. I sensed a bit of jealousy while we talked in our interview. Other than the jealousy, there's some secrets that lay beneath her cold exterior. Ms. Meadows has a lover who she has chosen to keep quiet. Who do you expect it to be: Cedric Diggory or Harry Potter?'"
I got up and grabbed the newspaper. I looked at the page, ripping it in half. I smiled. I threw the paper into the fire and it came up in flames.
"What was that last question about?" He almost laughed.
"Shut up."
The fire then got both of our attention. The flames started to die down and it spewed out a few sparks. I got a little closer. A face appeared out of the flames. "Sirius!" Both Harry and I whispered. "How in the world-?"
"I do not have much time to explain, so listen closely," Sirius began. "Did or did you not put your name in the goblet?"
"No," Harry whined.
Sirius and I both shushed him, and Sirius began again, "I was just making sure. Now tell me more about this dream. You mentioned Wormtail, and Voldemort. But who was the third man? Can you remember?"
"I don't know him," Harry shook his head. "Never heard a name. All I knew was that Voldemort gave him a job to do."
"How come this is the first time I'm hearing this?" I looked at Harry with a confused look.
"What was this job, Harry?" Sirius asked.
"Voldemort...wanted me," Harry seemed worried. "He was going to use that man to get to me."
"I'm not letting that snake anywhere near you," I shook my head. Then my mind started to race and I zoned out of the conversation. This man wants to get to Harry and that would be doing extreme measures. Could he be...no...it can't...but it might...just be this so called, "Moody".
"Bridget?" Harry's voice snapped me back into reality.
"Sorry, I was thinking."
"Did you hear me?" Sirius asked.
"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."
Can't Harry be a little bit nice to him? To anybody besides me?
"Magical Underwater Plants of the Highlands," Harry was looking at the cover of a book.
"Oh," Neville's face lit up, "yeah! Moody gave that to me whenever we had tea." I wonder why? I watched as Neville looked behind me and gave a wave. I turned around. Hermione was whispering to Ron as they (followed by Ginny) descended down towards us.
I got up and leant against the tree. Harry came around to my other side. "Hey, guys," I nodded. Hermione looked to Ron, then walked towards us. She tried to smile at me but I could tell it was fake, "Ronald wants me to tell you guys," she began to ramble off some names. She looked in confusion trying to figure out how to work this, "Hagrid's looking for you."
"Well, you...wait...what?" Harry asked, while I just nodded.
She sighed, "Ron was told by Dean, who was told by Parvati..." she seemed just as confused as we were. "I would rather not repeat it. Hagrid's looking for you two."
"You tell Ron-" Harry tried to snap back, but Hermione wasn't seeming to have it today.
"I am not some owl!" She turned towards us.
"Really?" I asked. "Then why couldn't Ronald tell us that himself? Why did you tell us for him if you aren't an owl?" Hermione just looked to me, almost in an angry glare. "Why won't you two just talk to us? Like how it used to be?"
She didn't answer. Neither did Ron nor Ginny. Hermione just turned away and began to walk back up the hill. Ron and Ginny followed. I sighed and leant against the tree. "I kinda wished we had friends like you, Neville."
"I am your friend, right?" He seemed confused.
"Of course," I smiled at him. "I forgot."
----
I didn't like all the mist and fog surrounding us. That was one of the things I hated about the Forbidden Forest. So mysterious. So ominous. I hate that. Just get straight to the point.
"You brought your father's cloak, right?"
"Yeah," Harry answered quickly, "but where are we going?"
"You'll see," Hagrid seemed on edge. And he looked different. His hair seemed...clean. He was also sporting a weird looking flower on his neat coat. "But pay attention. This is important."
Things got quiet, until I spoke up, "What's with the flower, Hagrid?"
"It's...It's nothing," Hagrid began to blush.
"Have you combed your hair?" Harry asked.
"Actually, I have," the giant nodded. "Thought I probably should."
Wait....I smirked, "Hagrid...Are you...seeing someone tonight?"
He got wide-eyed, and was about to answer when a roar/screech came from ahead of us. It happened so quickly that I couldn't make out what was making the sound. Soon a smaller noise came, almost like a growl. I was about to ask what that was. But another voice stopped me, "Hagrid?"
French, tall lady.
Hagrid was nearly about to leave us standing there like fools, until something snapped and he turned around. "Put on the cloak."
Harry and I obeyed and covered ourselves in the fabric. We silently followed the guy to a very abnormally tall woman. Called it. She looked down to his face, "You came. For a moment, I had thought you forgot about me."
"I would never have forgotten about you, Olympe."
Harry and I both gagged. I mean, I'm all for romantic stuff...if I'm in it. Or they aren't like my parent. It was kind of weird since I saw Hagrid as an older uncle.
They only exchanged a few sentences before we were dragged off again. Hagrid brought over the madam to a bush. A form of light came from behind the bush. It wasn't until Hagrid pulled back the branches and twigs when I began to worry. There were four cages. Workers were trying to keep them under control, but it came to no avail. They were going crazy.
Dragons...Dragons? Dragons!
Harry and I both whipped off the cloak when the lady got slightly closer to the beasts. "Dragons?!" I nearly yelled.
"They are the first task?!" Harry seemed just as shocked as I was.
I watched one of the dragons shake off it's thick metal cage. Within it was another cage with thinner bars. It looked to both Harry and I. Opening it's mouth, it spit fire towards our direction. All of this happened within the span of Hagrid saying, "Dragons are very misunderstood creatures."
"I'm sure they are," I nodded sarcastically, "along with basilisks." The bush in front of us was almost in flames.
"Well, the Horntail is a bit difficult," Hagrid swayed. "Ron almost lost it when he saw these."
"Wait," I looked up to Hagrid, "Ron was here?"
"Yeah. Charlie came with the dragons. I would've thought Ron had told ya."
"Well," Harry sighed, "he didn't."
***
"It says here," I began to read Harry the information while we began the hunt to find Cedric, "'The Horntail has one of the longest fire-breathing ranges (up to fifty feet).' So we'll need to make sure you take a fire-protection potion before hand or something."
"How would we even know how to make it?" Harry asked.
"I could find it in the library. Just like where I found this, Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them. I'm sure we'll be able to get it done." I looked around and saw Cedric hanging with his buddies. "There he is."
We approached these people as we tried to get down into the quad area. They all smirked and motioned towards something on their chest. I looked down to them. "Really, guys? Just let us go."
None of them moved. I huffed, "Move."
They shoved their badges into our faces. I pushed past them and Harry followed me. Harry actually for in front of me. We both rushed towards Cedric. "Cedric."
He sat up, "What's up?"
All his friends were being weird. Going 'ooo' or saying things like, 'go on Cedric' which was slightly pissing me off. "Could we talk to you alone?"
"Sure," he seemed genuinely concerned.
Harry and I walked over, behind the tall shrub; which shielded us from his friends. He looked down to both of us. "Dragons are the first task," I told him.
"What?" He seemed in shock. "Are you serious?"
"We saw them last night," Harry nodded.
"Well...um...do Fleur and Krum know?"
"Yep."
"Alrighty," he seemed a little uncomfortable.
"Read the badges," One of his douches of a friend called out to us for like the twelfth time.
I watched Cedric roll his eyes, "I've asked them not to wear them. I really have-"
"It's fine," I replied. "Not like they're the only ones."
"We've got to go," Harry nodded. "See ya, Cedric." Harry had his focus on something walking through the bridge. He began to walk towards it with a quick pace. I silently followed him. We got to the entrance the same time as they did.
"You're such a git, you know," Harry confronted him.
"Harry-" I shook my head.
"You really think so?" Ron asked, completely ignoring the fact that I was there.
"I do believe so, yeah," Harry crossed his arms.
"Harry-" I tried to tug on his arm.
"Anything else you'd like to add?" Ron asked.
"Yeah...S...Stay away from me."
I groaned and pulled Harry away from the mess he was creating. We stopped right underneath a tree. "Harry. Why in Merlin's beard would you do that? I understand the whole needing to confront him thing but you were just making a deeper hole for yourself. Stop. If he doesn't want to be your friend then don't talk to him. It's that simple."
"You wouldn't understand," he shook his head.
"What?"
Then someone jumped down from the tree which was behind me. "What'd you do, Potter?"
I rolled my eyes, "Please don't."
"Were you causing my lovely trouble?" he came over and hugged me from behind. Little ass hat.
"Oh shove off, Malfoy," Harry glared. "Besides we need to go. Bridget and I have to prepare for the first task."
"But I haven't seen her for a while. You spend time with her twenty-four-seven. I want her now."
"No. She may be your girlfriend, but she is my best friend. My sister. So you will let her go," Harry was walking closer.
Draco held me a little bit tighter, "Have I told you about the bet my father and I made?" he tried to dodge what Harry said. "He bet you wouldn't be able to survive five minutes. I had slight faith in you so I said ten."
"What?" I looked up to him. But he was still smirking at Harry. I rolled my eyes, and tried to get out of his grasp, "I appreciate you having faith and wanting to spend time with me, but I have to get going. Harry and I have to prepare."
"But I haven't seen you for a while," Draco looked down to me in confusion. Normally, I would want to spend time with him, just not today.
"I know," I backed away from him, "but I really have to go. I'm sorry." Why am I saying sorry? It's not my fault I don't want to die.
"But you promised we could hang out," he seemed to be getting upset.
I was about to speak up, when Harry did instead, "She said she had to go Draco. What don't you understand?"
"I don't understand how she would rather be with a dim-wit like you than her own boyfriend!"
Okay, now this is just getting pathetic. Just when I thought I'd have to stop a duel, he showed up last minute.
"Oh not in this courtyard, you won't," a voice called before a light appeared in Draco's place. The light faded and replacing Draco was...A WEASEL? Professor Moody practically ran up beside Harry. Moody began to mutter insults underneath his breath as he flung the ferret around.
"Moody! What the hell?! Leave him alone!" I yelled at the lunatic.
"Alister!"
Yes! The big guns are coming to get ya!
"Alister Moody!" Her voice echoed from over the crowded courtyard. "What are you doing?" Soon enough she was right next to me.
"Teaching," Moody answered as if annoyed.
"What could you possibly be teaching? Is...that a student?!" McGonagall was getting enraged.
"Technically it's a ferret," the professor mumbled. People began to laugh as the ferret went down Crabbe's pants. I just cringed in disgust. Goyle tried to help with the situation, but got bit in the process. It also makes me ship them even more.
The weasel was back on the ground within a few minutes. With the flick of her wand, Draco was back to his human self. Draco looked to me, then back to the professors. "M...MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!" Draco ran off. I sighed and began to walk towards the Library.
From behind me I could hear Harry's footsteps over the arguing of McGonagall and Moody. "Hey, Bridge?"
"What?"
"If Draco stayed in his ferret form, would that be considered bestiality between you two?"
I stopped in my tracks, and my face was getting flushed. I turned to Harry about to curse and jinx him, but I shut my mouth. I hit him with my book instead. Hitting his head would be more efficient than having him not be able to walk straight for a week.