~
When the the students of Hogwarts found out that Eleanora Marks was dating Cedric Diggory, shock waves ran through the school. The two were seemingly opposites, with Eleanora being the best friend of the two biggest pranksters in the school, and Cedric being the Hufflepuff golden boy prefect, but somehow it just worked. Of course, the main thing they had in common was quidditch.
Cedric and Eleanora's trips to the quidditch pitch became a weekly occurence that they both looked forward to as the weather got colder. Most nights at the pitch they only ended up actually playing quidditch for a few minutes before opting for other things. Between these nights, the two spent almost every minute together.
"What's that?" Cedric asked softly as Eleanora pulled a small white envelope from her bag and started fiddling with it absentmindedly.
"What? Oh-" She looked down at it like she hadn't realized she'd pulled it out. "-letter from my dad. It came this morning."
Cedric didn't know much about Eleanora's family, but he knew there was something going on. He'd known Eleanora since they were eleven; he'd seen the way she reacted to family questions, he'd seen the bruises she'd showed up to school with before she moved in with the Weasleys. He sat back on the couch where they'd been cuddling by the fire and rested his arm behind her. "Were you... planning on opening it?"
She smiled, looking up at him with tired eyes. "I was thinking about it."
Cedric nodded, not wanting to pressure her. He wound his fingers through hers and watched as she tapped the envelope against her leg. She frowned down at the fire with a faraway look in her eyes. "Alright," she said at last. "I'll open it."
Dear Eleanora
Once again, I'm not exactly sure where we stand, but I felt the need to write to you with the latest news before anybody else does. First of all, your sister misses you very much and keeps asking if you can come here for Christmas, but I reckon you'll want to stay at school this year. We heard about the Cup and Daisy wishes she could go to Hogwarts early. Are you entering? Please be careful.
Anyways, after what happened over the summer, your mother was tracked down at a neighbor's house with a really bad head injury, but was otherwise fine. She says you saved her life and keeps asking me for confirmation that you're alright. We've been in contact over the last few weeks. It seems like she's finally waking up to what's been happening to you and her and Daisy ever since Stephen entered your lives. She feels horrible. Daisy'll be staying with me indefinitely for her own comfort while Eveline goes through this, and I have news you're going to like.
Your mother and Stephen are splitting up. The engagement's off (although it didn't seem like a wedding was ever going to happen anyways), and your mum's working to get him out of your lives completely. It's not as simple as just breaking up, though. Stephen's memory needed to be modified after Severus stunned him, so he doesn't even remember what happened. On top of this, he owns most of yours and your mother's belongings since he was the main financial provider for the family for so many years. Your mum can keep the house since it's technically in my name, but mostly everything else is Stephen's. They're battling it out now. It's nothing you need to worry about, I just wanted to warn you that she'll most likely be writing to you soon. I know you're probably angry with her for putting you and Daisy in danger for so many years, and she understands that, but now isn't the time to confront her about it. She needs all of our support right now. Just be gentle.
On a different, but no less serious note, we need to talk about the conversation we had before you left for school. I need to know how you feel about all of it, and I need you to know that I'm not the same person anymore. Everything I did, I did to protect you and your mother and sister. I deal with the repercussions and the guilt of it all everyday, but I don't regret it. I could never regret doing something to keep you safe. I need you to know all of this so you trust me with Daisy. She can't go back to your mum's, not yet. You know I'll do anything to keep her safe, Eleanora. It'll all be okay.
Love, Dad
A slow smile spread over Eleanora's face. Cedric looked up from the letter, eyeing her in confusion. "So... your mum leaving this- Stephen- that's a good thing?"
Eleanora didn't answer immediately. Her eyes were scanning over the second paragraph again and again, soaking in the words. Then, holding the letter in one clenched hand, she flung her arms around Cedric, tackling him onto the couch. "A good thing?" she said, laughing hysterically. "It's brilliant! It's absolutely brilliant..." She propped herself up on his chest and kissed him, only breaking apart when she started laughing again. She rested her chin on her hands, looking up at Cedric's face, unable to keep the smile off of her face.
"You two are disgusting, you know," George said as the twins entered the room. Eleanora sat up, positioning herself on Cedric's legs.
"Oh, get a girlfriend Georgie." She grinned at them and thrust the letter towards Fred. "Look at this."
Cedric sat up and put his arm around Eleanora again, setting his chin on her head while they watched the twins read. She leaned back into his chest, a warm and content feeling spreading through her.
"This is great!" Fred cried when he'd finished reading. Eleanora sprung off of the couch to hug him. He buried his face in her shoulder and murmured, "This is great," more softly. When they broke apart, Fred sank down next to Cedric on the couch while Eleanora went to hug George.
"So what've you two been up to?" Cedric asked Fred, hoping to get to know Eleanora's friends better.
Fred flashed him a wicked grin. "Something that I really shouldn't tell a prefect." He winked at Cedric. Eleanora turned to the pair, George's arm still around her shoulders.
"Stop flirting with my boyfriend, Fred," she said in amusement.
Fred laughed and turned back to Cedric. "Speaking of which, could we steal Eleanora for a bit for some anti-prefect activity?"
Eleanora reached her leg out to kick Fred's shin, and Cedric grinned and stood up to say goodbye.
"Don't get too corrupt," he said, giving her a quick kiss.
She smiled at him sweetly. "No promises. I'll meet up with you later."
Eleanora watched him go, and then settled herself on the couch next to Fred. "Just because he's a prefect doesn't mean he'll report us for every little thing," she said, although nothing could spoil her good mood now.
George shook his head quickly and sat on the other side of her. "We can talk about that later, we've got more important business to deal with."
"Bagman?" she guessed.
Fred and George nodded solemnly. "He'll be at the cup," said Fred.
"So we were thinking we could write him one more time, asking if he'll talk to us in person," said George.
"We've got to make it clear that we don't want any trouble, we just want our end of the bet."
"We already made that clear," said Eleanora. "I dunno if he's going to go for it." The twins looked disappointed, so she added, "But it's worth a shot."
They spent the rest of the afternoon sitting by the fire writing another carefully worded letter to Ludo Bagman. By dinnertime, they had a pretty good draft together.
"I'll copy this down more neatly and then we'll send it off," Fred said, tucking the letter back into his bag and standing up. "Now let's eat, I'm starving."
~
The next morning, during her free period, Eleanora hurried down to the dungeons to talk to Snape as usual. This time, though, when she sat down at her usual desk, she pulled out the letter from her father instead of her latest piece of homework. Snape didn't look up from his work.
"Professor?"
"Hm?"
"Do you remember over the summer... when you had to come to my house and- uh- stun my mum's boyfriend?"
Snape put his quill down and looked up at her, one eyebrow quirked. "Yes, I believe I have some recollection of that," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Right, well..." she took a deep breath. "I never properly thanked you for that."
"As I remember it, you were more concerned with staying conscious, understandably."
Eleanora smiled a little and creased the edges of the letter in preoccupation. "Well, thank you. I just wanted to tell you that my mum split up with him. Stephen- I mean."
Snape nodded without saying anything. Eleanora took a deep breath and continued. "I also wanted to apologize for... that. I sent Circe to get help but didn't specify where from, I meant for her to go to the Weasleys, I'm not sure how she got to you."
Snape crossed his arms over his desk. "She didn't come to me directly," he said, not meeting her gaze. "She went straight to Dumbledore."
Eleanora let out a groan and sank down in her seat. "That's even worse."
"When she arrived in Dumbledore's office, he brought her straight to me and I arrived just in time." He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something more, but closed it again. Eleanora nodded in silence, wanting to ask why Dumbledore would bring the problem straight to Snape. Yes, Eleanora was close with Snape, but not enough to call on him for help in near-death experiences.
"Right, well- thank you again." Snape nodded his recognition. "Oh," she added, "-and sorry about Bill, I know he sort of... overreacted at first."
Snape's lips curled into a sneer. "What else could you expect from a Weasley?"
~
Later that day, Eleanora sat in the Great Hall with Cedric, studying for an upcoming Charms exam. Neither of them were much good at Charms, so they kept leaning across the table to ask Beatrice or Phillipa questions.
"Honestly, Eleanora, why'd you take N.E.W.T. level Charms? You've always been bad at it," Beatrice shot at her after Eleanora had stolen Beatrice's notes for a third time.
"First of all, that's mean. And- McGonagall said I had to take Charms." Eleanora scribbled something down in her own notebook and then slid Beatrice's back towards her. Beatrice rolled her eyes.
"What time will you be back in the common room tonight?" Phillipa asked, also taking Bea's notes, although Bea would never call her out on it. Eleanora shrugged.
"If you two want it to yourselves, we could go do something," Cedric said, posing it as a question to Eleanora. She nodded and continued to write in her notebook.
"That would be great," Bea said, closing up her books and standing up. "I've got to ask Professor Sinistra a question, I'll see you all later." Then, after bending down to kiss Phillipa on the cheek, she disappeared out of the room.
"Is she in a bad mood?" Cedric asked. "I can never tell."
"Don't worry, none of us can," said Phillipa, smiling.
"Hey, Cedric!" came a voice from behind them. Eleanora and Cedric both turned to see Ernie Macmillon, a fourth year Hufflepuff boy, hurrying towards their table. "Cedric!"
"What's up?" Cedric asked, making room on his other side for Ernie to sit down.
"They've just posted a notice, the other two schools are coming this Friday. After that, you'll probably be able to enter your name in the tournament. You too, Eleanora, I heard you're planning on entering too, although I would rather have a Hufflepuff as the Hogwarts representative, no offense."
"None taken," Eleanora smiled. "We'll just have to wait and see."
"Yeah, thanks Ernie," Cedric said.
When he turned to talk to Ernie some more, Eleanora spotted the twins across the hall at the Gryffindor table. She packed up her books and stood, putting a hand on Cedric's shoulder to lean down and say, "I'm going to go visit the twins, I'll see you later." He nodded and leaned up to kiss her before she left to slide into the seat next to George.
"Any luck?" she asked, leaning in and speaking softly.
"None," said Fred. "He's not answering." Eleanora sighed.
"It's a bummer, alright," George said gloomily."But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."
"Who's avoiding you?" said Ron, coming up behind them with Harry and Hermione and making Eleanora jump.
"Wish you would," said Fred, looking irritated at the interruption.
"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," said George.
"Have you got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?"Harry asked. "How's the aging potion coming, Eleanora?"
"Haven't started it, but it shouldn't take me too long. I've got all of the ingredients."
"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling" said George bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."
Eleanora snorted at this. "I'm sure we'll find out when the other schools arrive," she said.
"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Ron thoughtfully."You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before..."
"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," said Fred."McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."
"And they're always really dangerous, of course," Eleanora added.
"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.
"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," said Hermione, and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised, "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage."
She noticed them all looking at her and said, with her usual air of impatience that nobody else had read all the books she had, "It's all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."
"What are you on about?" said Ron.
"House-elves!" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts, A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"
When nobody said anything, she continued, "You do realize that your sheets are changed, your fires lit, your classrooms cleaned, and your food cooked by a group of magical creatures who are unpaid and enslaved?"
Ron now rolled his eyes at the ceiling, which was flooding them all in autumn sunlight, and Fred became extremely interested in his bacon. George, however, leaned in toward Hermione."Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?"
"No, of course not," said Hermione curtly, "I hardly think students are supposed to —"
"Well, we have," said George, indicating Fred and Eleanora, "-loads of times, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world —"
"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione began hotly, but her next few words were drowned out by the sudden whooshing noise from overhead, which announced the arrival of the post owls.
"Here, Hermione," Eleanora said, rummaging around in her bag. "I actually agree with you, I think it's sick." She handed her two sickles. Hermione beamed.
"Eleanora, you've been to the kitchens just as often as we have-" George started.
"Yeah, and I think they should get payed for what they do- thanks Hermione." She took the badge Hermione had given her and fastened it to the outside of her school bag.
"Thank you!" Hermione beamed. "I do hope you'll come to the meetings."
"Yeah, let me know about those," Eleanora said, and then turned back to the twins to discuss entering the tournament.
~
On Friday evening, Eleanora and the twins met Cedric and Lee in the entrance hall to watch for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The entire school was gathered, and the place was chaotic. Professor McGonagall kept running around, telling people to fix their hair and straighten their uniforms.
"Miss Marks, at least tuck your shirt in," she sighed when she saw Eleanora's disheveled appearance. She'd given up on forcing Eleanora to adhere to the dress code a long time ago.
"Only for you, Professor," Eleanora said, winking and tucking the front of her shirt into her skirt. McGonagall shook her head with a wan smile and hurried over to tell Ron to straighten his hair.
"Oi! Pavarti!" Eleanora called to Pavarti Patil. Pavarti turned around. "I like your butterfly clip!" she said, pointing to the large ornamental butterfly fastened to the end of Pavarti's braid.
"Thanks!" said Pavarti.
"Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair." Professor McGonagall had reappeared. Pavarti scowled and removed the butterfly.
"But Professor-!" Eleanora started to argue.
"Not the time, Marks. Follow me, please, first years in the front... no pushing..."
They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Eleanora stood between Cedric, who was talking to Lee about a quidditch match they'd both gone to over the summer, and Fred, who was staring off into the distance, watching for the schools to arrive.
"How do you think they'll get here?" Eleanora asked, shivering a little in the chilly air.
"Dunno," said Fred, tucking half of his face into his sweater and bouncing on the balls of his feet, hands in his pockets.
Before he could say anything else, a sixth year shouted, "There!"
Everyone looked. They saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant. The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed —then, with an almighty crash, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes
A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. An enormous woman stepped out, dressed all in black satin with many magnificent opals gleaming at her throat. She walked towards Dumbledore with a gracious smile. Everyone stared as she exchanged words with Dumbledore.
After her, about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. They were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces. After a few more minutes, the students disappeared into the school to warm up.
Eleanora bounced up and down to keep warm and leaned into Cedric. "Makes me wish I was in Beauxbatons. It's freezing out here." Cedric wrapped his arms around her and rubbed hers to keep her warm.
"The lake!" yelled Lee, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"
What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the lake, in the middle of a whirlpool . . .
Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank. People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes.
They approached the school, dressed in dark cloaks made of fur. The man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair. "Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.
"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, "How good it is to be here, how good. . . . Viktor, come along, into the warmth . . . you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold. . . ."Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students.
"Oh my god, Ced-" Eleanora said, "It's Victor Krum."
oh my god im sorry this was so long