LAURA GOT up, quickly following her fellow champions to the side chamber. She caught up to Cedric and Fleur, starting to talk to them to try and escape the nerves they were all feeling.

"So, who from your family is coming today?" Cedric asked. "Fleur said her parents and her little sister are visiting, and my parents are."

"My parents came over from the US," Laura smiled. "They also brought my cousin since he's already on Summer break."

"Lucky," Cedric sighed. "Well, at least we don't have exams, huh."

"Thank Merlin."

The four of them walked into the room, walking over to their own families. Laura saw Fleur's little sister, sending her a small wave and smile, which she returned.

"Mom, Dad!" Laura exclaimed, running over to her parents and getting wrapped in a big hug.

"We've missed you so much," her mom said, holding Laura tightly. "It's been weirdly quiet in the apartment with Nick home but with you still in school."

"It's always quiet when you're gone," her dad chuckled, "but Nick is so loud we miss our wild child."

"After this, I'll be home soon," Laura smiled, then she remembered something. "Wait, I'm staying with the Malfoys for a week..."

"We can wait an extra week, Bean," her dad reassured her.

"Mmm, well, Draco and I got into an argument this morning," Laura said, rolling her eyes as she let go of her parents. "It should be fine between us, but he's not in the best standing with me right now."

"Aw, well, I guess you have to come home," said a voice behind her parents.

A giant grin spread across Laura's face, pulling Nick into a tight hug.

"Oliver!" she exclaimed. "Oh my Merlin, you have no idea how much I've missed you. Harry's been my dueling buddy lately, and he's been so serious."

"Damn, well, I guess you have to come home after tonight," Nick shrugged, then grinned, pulling away from the hug. "I'm kidding. I've missed you, you idiot. My little Laura's growing up–" Nick wiped away a few fake tears "–soon, she'll be attempting a giant maze as we watch nothing happen for hours."

"I've missed this," Laura said with a happy sigh. "Harry's convinced I'll be killed or that Voldemort would return. He's been like 'That could get you killed,' or 'Be more serious,' I'm serious, Laura.' It's all so... serious."

"If he's anything like James, I bet he tried to see what your Patronus is," her dad quipped. "Remus told me he's pretty good, but you're my daughter."

"Well, it would've been impressive if I didn't have a major thing happen," Laura said, frowning. "No more badger Patronus for me, it's a ferret now."

"Is it because of Draco?" her mom asked, giving her a nudge.

"Yes," Laura said with a small smile, then turned the conversation around. "Pansy told me you have something for me, Nick."

"We have something for you," her dad said with a chuckle. "Nick isn't the only one."

Her mom pulled out a small box. She carefully handed it to Laura. Laura gently opened it up, seeing a charm to add to her necklace. Laura smiled upon seeing that it was a Horned Serpent charm. She gave her parents and Nick a hug.

"This is so cute. Thank you all so much, I love it."

Laura put the charm into her pocket, turning back to her family.

"So, would you care to give us a small tour?" her dad asked.

"Of course, of course," Laura said, leading them out of the hall. As they started to make their way out, they passed Amos Diggory, and he turned around.

"There you are, are you?" he said, causing Laura to look around and see him look her up and down. Laura raised an eyebrow, unsure how to respond. "Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now that Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Laura asked, her dad putting a hand on her shoulder. "What are you on about–"

"Ignore him," Cedric said in a low voice, frowning at his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament- you know when she made out that you were the only Hogwarts champion."

"That old crusty hag," Laura muttered under her breath.

"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did she?" Amos Diggory said. It was loud enough for Laura to hear as she started to leave with her parents and Nick. "Still... You'll show her, Ced. Beaten her once before, haven't you?"

Laura stopped and turned around, looking at him with narrowed eyes. Her dad put a warning hand on her shoulder.

"If you're referring to any of the tasks, I'd like you to try and do these tasks yourself," Laura said. "I look up to Cedric. He's talented and amazing at what he does. You're trying to add fuel to an unlit fire, Mr. Diggory-"

"You still could have corrected her," Amos said again.

"That awful Skeeter lady doesn't listen to me at all," Laura said hotly. "I don't know if you read today's paper, but she drags me into the dirt for doing nothing. I know you're offended that Cedric wasn't mentioned in an article, but since he's not, he doesn't have to deal with people hating him in the newspaper and at school.

"Now, I'm hoping we can resolve this conflict because this is an awful way to start an important day," Laura said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to spend time with my family, and I advise you to spend time with yours. I'll see you tonight. Thank you for supporting me, Cedric."

She and Cedric shook hands before Laura brought her family out of the Great Hall.

"Okay, stand up for yourself, and don't let other people walk all over you," Nick said, snapping. "First-year Laura would be so confused seeing you."

"She would," Laura laughed as they walked out onto the groups, wandering around. "Thank goodness my attitude comes in handy."

🪐➶.✧༄

When it was lunchtime, they were back at the Great Hall, going over to the Slytherin table. Laura immediately found her friends, dragging her parents and Nick over.

"Hey," Laura smiled, sitting next to Draco. Draco sent Laura a strange look when Nick didn't sit next to her but on the other side of Draco. "Don't ask me, he's just Nick."

Draco turned to Nick.

"What are you doing sitting next to me and not Laura?" Draco asked the brunet.

"I know you and Laura argued earlier," Nick said out of the side of his mouth so only Draco could hear. "Let me see the article. I want to see how much damage you did."

Draco sighed, passing the newspaper to Nick, who secretly read it.

"Yeah, do you have an issue?" Nick asked after reading it while everyone talked and laughed. "She was telling me you did something similar earlier this year... Is this like a thing that pertains to your house? Since you're a... snake?"

Laura laughed loudly as her dad said something about Snape. Blaise and Pansy tended to never break a smile or laugh when something about their professor was said. However, they were now doubled over in laughter at what he had said.

"Felix, Belle."

They all slowly looked at each other before looking behind Laura and her dad to see that Snape was there. Laura, Pansy, and Blaise were terrified this would cause them to get into trouble, but Laura's parents just grinned at him.

"Severus, we were just talking about you," her dad grinned.

"I can tell," Snape said, his voice slow, causing Blaise and Pansy to look even more guilty. "Are you enjoying your visit to the castle so far?"

"Laura is an awful guide, but we've loved it," her mom smiled.

"I can only know so much from wandering the castle for less than a year," Laura said, putting her hands up in defense. "We should've had Dad do the tour. He went here, and I doubt much has changed."

"Oh, you are so right," her dad chuckled. "It's okay, I can take over after lunch."

"I will see you all later. Enjoy your lunches," Snape said, leaving.

"That was terrifying but so funny," Blaise said once Snape was far enough away not to hear what they were saying.

"What happened?" Draco asked him, and Nick leaned back into the conversation.

"You had to be there, Blondie," Laura said with a shrug.

"What a great chap," her dad smiled. "I miss when we were students. We did lots of stupid things."

"He's mean to me," Laura complained. "I wish I could joke with him, but he's always getting mad at me."

"That's because he's our friend," her mom pointed out. "Severus is not only your godfather, but he's your teacher. You can't have the same friendly relationship with him that we do. If it was one of your uncles, then sure."

"He's also still Sev," her dad sighed. "No matter what, he didn't like your Uncle James, and I will admit I act a lot more like James everywhere but with Severus. You might be reminding him of your uncle, so be patient."

"Fine," Laura sighed.

They continued talking; at one point, Nick tapped her on the shoulder, signing at her when she leaned back.

'Snake boy is problematic. He feels bad, though.'

Laura rolled her eyes.

'I know, that's the problem,' Laura signed back. 'What's he going to do to make it back up?'

'He said he would tell you how.'

"How what?" Laura said out loud, raising an eyebrow.

Nick shrugged, nudging Laura's shoulder to get her back to the table. Laura was confused, but Draco nudged her leg with his, getting her to make eye contact with him.

"Is there any way you can get Granger to talk to me?" he whispered into her ear.

"Yeah," Laura nodded.

"So, how are exams coming along for you three?" Her dad said, getting Laura, Draco, and Nick back into the conversation. "Laura was telling me she got out of them this year."

"Boring, like always," Blaise said with a sigh. "But Laura's quite a good tutor if you can get her to focus on what we're studying."

"Our dorm was especially studious this year," Pansy added. "I've been more confident with my tests so far."

"I will say it has been distracting having Laura in the room with us," Draco said, nudging Laura. "She's not doing anything but reading, but I think having someone in the room openly not testing distracts most people."

"Hey, that's not my fault," Laura nudged Draco back, frowning. "I would be willing to sit in the library or the common room, but they want me in class."

Students then started getting up.

"Is it really time to go already?" Blaise groaned, looking at his watch.

"I know, but we're almost done," Pansy sighed, getting up. "We'll see you lot at dinner. Have a good afternoon!"

"Bye, Pansy, bye, Blaise," Laura said, waving them goodbye. She was then caught off guard as Draco kissed her on the cheek, causing her face to turn a shade of pink. "Bye, Blondie."

"Wait, there's still a few minutes left, d'you think I could talk to Granger right now?" Draco asked.

Laura glanced around, her eyes landing on Hermione, Ron, and Harry, who were still chatting.

"Yeah, come with me," Laura said, getting up. She turned to her family. "Malfoy's got to make some amends, I'll be back, probably with Harry."

Her parents nodded. Laura and Draco quickly made their way to the trio. Harry and Ron shot her a strange look as they got close.

"Why'd you bring this git over?" Ron said, looking at Draco.

Laura quickly covered Draco's mouth.

"We need to talk to Hermione," Laura said. "Draco has some things he needs to tell her.."

Hermione looked confused and caught off guard at this.

"I don't know what he has to say, but I promise it's not rude," Laura said. She sent a pleading look to Hermione, who hesitantly nodded.

The three took a step away from Ron and Harry. Draco took a deep breath, then looked around.

"Do you see any bugs?" he asked quietly.

"I don't see any," Laura said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Oh," Hermione said, her eyes widening. "Is this about that awful Skeeter woman?"

"Yes," Draco sighed, leaning back in. The coast was clear. "Skeeter is an illegal animagus. She's unregistered, a beetle, and would transfigure to get information from me, Goyle, and Crabbe. She would also do this to get information in secret. That's how she got information for this last article and that one that got Krum mad at Harry."

"Oh my Merlin," Laura said, her eyes widening.

Hermione's hands moved to her mouth and hair, narrowing her eyes at Draco.

"How do you know she's an illegal animagus?" she asked. "I don't think that awful woman would tell you herself."

"I looked it up," Draco said, folding his arms. "Through all the files and lists I looked through, 'Rita Skeeter' wasn't listed anywhere. I know we don't think highly of each other, Granger, but I wouldn't lie to you and Laura about this."

"Huh," Hermione said skeptically. "Laura, what do you think?"

"I know what he's talking about," Laura said, looking between Draco and Hermione. "During the Yule Ball, Draco and I ducked out, and I saw a small beetle by Hagrid and Madame Maxime... the next article that awful woman wrote was exactly about the conversation we accidentally listened to."

"There was a beetle in my hair after the second task," Hermione thought, running a hand through her hair again. "I never thought I would say this, but thanks, Malfoy. I'll keep this in mind."

"I know I haven't been the best to you three-"

"You've been awful," Hermione said bluntly.

"-and I know it sounds strange, but with Laura around, I've started to see the error in my ways," Draco said begrudgingly, ignoring Hermione's interruption.

"We'll see how long that lasts," Hermione said, shooting Laura a questioning look. "You're not coming back next year, right?"

Laura's eyes widened slightly at this question. It seemed as if both Hermione and Draco only then remembered she was standing there. Draco looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed, seemingly only then remembering Laura was only supposed to attend Hogwarts for a year.

That the year was almost over.

"I- I'm not sure yet," Laura said awkwardly. "But that's beside the point-" Draco looked at his watch and sighed, signing to Laura that they needed to leave. "-there must be something we can do to finally put a stop on Skeeter, right?"

"Right," Hermione nodded. "Well, I'll see you tonight, Laura. Good luck at the final task."

"Thanks, Hermione," Laura smiled, then turned to Draco as Hermione left with Ron and Harry. "Hey, thanks for doing that. I appreciate it."

"It's going to cause some problems, but that's okay," Draco said. "We have some things to talk about, Laura, but I need to take the exam. I'll see you at dinner."

"Good luck," Laura said, kissing Draco's cheek before letting him go take his exam.

🪐➶.✧༄

After having her dad give a tour and then bugging Harry during his free period, Laura found herself staring at her dinner.

She felt super nervous about the third task now. She couldn't explain it. She didn't feel like she could stomach any of the food.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, squeezing her hand, watching as Laura poked at her food.

"Just nervous," Laura said with an attempt at a smile on her face. However, it dropped once she realized that Bagman and a new face, Cornelius Fudge, were sitting at the staff table. "I should be eating, but I just can't."

"Drink some water then," Draco said, squeezing her hand again before letting her return to dinner.

"Hey, you're going to do amazing tonight," her dad said with a nudge, seeing Laura's expression. "You're mine and your mother's daughter. You're an amazing witch with many capabilities."

"I know," Laura said, wiping her hands off on her robes. "It's just such a daunting task and something that I don't want to win either."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," her dad said with a smile. "Just stay safe and have fun. We both know you're not the type to take things too seriously."

"Thanks, Dad," Laura said with a small smile, elbowing him softly.

When it was finally time, the enchanted sky started turning purple. Dumbledore stood up, and everyone fell silent. Laura had not gotten any less nervous, even with her dad's words.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes, I will ask you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now?"

Laura stood up, taking a deep breath. Everyone at the Slytherin table cheered for her.

'Time to show the world who Laura Pickering is,' Nick signed to her as she got ready to leave.