Since eating meals together had become rather a larger affair than they'd intended, the four champions had to find other ways to get together and discuss progress on the eggs. One afternoon a week or so before term was due to end, they sat out by the lake on a large blanket Fleur had conjured, surrounded by Warming charms courtesy of Harry and Viktor. Harry had gotten pretty good at them over the summer — Sirius still couldn't stand being cold.
"I vote we put the eggs away until after Christmas," Cedric said, lying back on the blanket, his hair mussed and sticking out at funny angles. "All the screaming is doing my head in."
"I put a Silencing charm on mine," Fleur volunteered. Harry snorted.
"Pretty sure that defeats the purpose."
She shrugged. "Eet stops eet from screaming every time eet falls off my dresser."
"How often is that?" Cedric asked with raised eyebrows, which looked a little odd from Harry's perspective as the Hufflepuff was upside down. "Often enough," Fleur said evasively.
"The rest of the Durmstrang students haff banned me from opening mine vhen they are around," Viktor sighed. "I agree, leaving them until after the Yule Ball is best."
"I'm fine with that," Harry said, nodding. He leaned back on his hands, glancing out across the lake. "Oh look, it's snowing." Just a little bit, fine flakes beginning to dust the surface of the lake. Viktor scoffed.
"That is barely even snow," he dismissed. "In Bulgaria, there is four feet already."
"And I bet it's bloody freezing." Cedric grimaced. "No wonder you're so good at Warming charms."
"It is necessary," "Especially for flying."
Viktor
agreed.
That reminded Harry of the conversation he and Viktor had had weeks ago, before the first task. "Hey, Fleur; do you play quidditch? Do you even have quidditch at Beauxbatons?"
"Of course we 'ave quidditch," Fleur said, mock-offended. "I am seeker for my 'ouse team."
Harry looked at Viktor, and they both burst out laughing. "I told you!" he crowed. "Must be something about seekers. Reckless idiots, the lot of us." "You play seeker also, 'arry?" Fleur checked, wanting to make sure they weren't laughing at her. Harry nodded.
"Cedric, too. Viktor and I were talking about it the other day, I wondered if the Goblet was looking for seekers. Gotta be something a bit wrong in the head with all of us, flying around at top speeds looking for a tiny golden ball while the other team tries to knock us off our brooms." There was something a little bit mad about every quidditch player, but seekers were probably the most bizarre.
"I haff never met a sane seeker," Viktor declared wisely. "And I haff met a lot of seekers."
"Sounds about right," Cedric agreed, snickering. Even Fleur laughed.
"I do not think a sane person would enter zis tournament, non?" she agreed ruefully.
"Ve should all fly together sometime," Viktor said, looking out over the lake. The snow was making a vague attempt at coming down harder, settling on the railings of the Durmstrang ship. "A four-vay seeker match."
Harry imagined it, grinning. "That would be brilliant. Where, though?" The quidditch pitch was out of bounds for the year; something to do with the tournament. Harry was pretty sure he didn't want to know a thing about it until he absolutely had to. "We do not need goals for seeking," Fleur pointed out. "Anywhere on ze grounds will do."
"First Wednesday of winter break?" Cedric suggested. "Just keep it between us, a little friendly game. Nothing crazy."
"You're on," Harry agreed, grinning. He was going to go against the seeker who caught the snitch in the World Cup final. It was going to be epic.
.-.-.-.
Worrying the edge of his cardigan between his fingers, Remus sat down opposite Sirius, whose expression was grave. "Severus has news, doesn't he?" the animagus presumed. He could read Remus easily, after all these years. Remus nodded.
"The Mark is dark enough to make out properly, now," he admitted, stomach churning. He hated looking at that stain on his love's skin — it felt like they were nineteen and terrified all over again. "He's had letters from most of the old crowd. They're confused, but hopeful. They're all just… waiting." Severus could feel it coming, he said they could all feel it coming. One day soon, their lord would call them, and they would answer. "He said Karkaroff's been even shiftier than usual," he added with a grimace. A growl came from Sirius before he could stop himself. They both hated the idea of that scumbag being around Harry, but there was nothing any of them could do. "Any word from the Ministry yet?"
"Nothing official," Remus said with a shake of his head. "There are rumours, of course. Fudge is in complete denial, won't hear a whisper of it. No one has even seen Barty Crouch since the first task; he's sick, apparently. Still no word on Bertha."
"We all know she's dead," Sirius murmured, grimacing. "Especially if Harry's dream is anything to go by. Poor Bertha was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was always good at that."
Remus didn't remember much about Bertha Jorkins from school — she was three years older than them — but he remembered her always managing to stumble across things she shouldn't. Once she'd almost walked in on him and Severus kissing, in their fourth year. Only Severus' quick thinking with a Dissillusionment charm had saved them.
"I suspect Voldemort could be resurrected right in front of Fudge's face and he'd still deny it," Remus mused. "Merlin help us if he ends up being our wartime Minister. We'd be doomed."
"He's exactly who Dumbledore wants in power at a time like this," Sirius pointed out. "A useless moron with all the courage of a flobberworm. No chance of him mobilising any useful defence force. Just sit back and wait for Albus Dumbledore to save the day." He made a faint noise of disgust. "How is the old coot, anyway?"
Remus grinned at that. Sirius was going to love this. "Harry and his new friends seem to be pushing his buttons in all the wrong ways," he said, perking up. "Severus said they've all started mixing houses at mealtimes. Apparently you can hardly tell which house table is which, these days."
•
🚀New updates on my Ko-fi!🚀
Support me and read the novel, now available in PDF, with the advanced chapters.
•
https://ko-fi.com/cmrowling