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EIGHTEEN COMEBACK KID

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       THE ENTIRETY OF JUNE sees Holly with an ambitious look on her face, her eyes on the prize. She's been allowed a month to prepare for a maze, and she's going to use every second she can to be ready and waiting for the third task. She knows that the other champions are relaxing and know two spells, they'll be fine but that's not how she's going to win. Preparing like that is leaving it to chance — she doesn't know what will be in the maze, and therefore, she's going to ensure she's ready for every single possibility.

       Every morning and every evening, if you looked out into the school grounds, you would be able to spot a girl with white-blonde hair practicing and practicing, with a couple of her friends by her side, alternating to fit her friends' exam schedules. Often Pansy was helping her out, but it was mostly Draco, which quickly became a blessing in disguise. Not only would his presence clear the surrounding area from the other students, but he was a lot more truthful to Holly, in the way only family can be. "Parkinson's obsessed with you, she wouldn't notice how slow you are with the Impediment Curse," he told Holly, the third evening of him helping her practice. The next day, she had that curse down to a science.

       It would be weird, once the tournament was over and done with, to not see a girl outside, practicing as hard as she possibly could. It would be weird for the students hurrying back to dorm rooms before curfew to not see a girl with white-blonde hair bolt past them, accompanied by one of her friends looking a little less concerned about getting into trouble. Even on the evening before the final task, the same thing occurs — she hurries back to her dorm room, moving alongside her cousin, and ignoring the note balled-up in her pocket.

       I'm sorry.

       Kitchens, midnight.

       H.

       Holly finds this upon someone throwing it at her head, on her way to her lesson after lunch. She's about to leave the hall with Pansy as she discretely unfolds the tiny piece of parchment, reading the note, and she glances back at where Harry's sitting, then back to Pansy. The two walk to their lesson and Holly ignores her heart sinking.

       Does he even know what he's sorry for? Because for years, by the sounds of things, all of the Gryffindors have held some sort of hatred towards Slytherin — and what? All because they became Death Eaters? Or does it go back even farther than that, back to when the school was being constructed, and just because Salazar Slytherin wanted to open the school only for children of wizarding families, that since then the house has been deemed as evil?

       But he knows her. Knew her. Surely he knew her enough to know that she wasn't evil — sure, she admits that she's been lying to keep her friends happy — but she's never meant to do harm. And that's what upsets her — Harry knew Holly, and yet he still thought Slytherins were evil. And, like every other idiot that's mistaken all Slytherins as evil, Holly's going to prove them wrong, when she runs into that maze and grabs onto the cup first.

       The morning of the final task, Holly sits with her friends at breakfast with a massive smile on her face, because she knows. She's got this task wrapped around her little finger. Everything this task could throw at her, she knows what to do and how to do it in seconds flat. This task is the serpent she's tamed.

       "Acromantula?"

       "Big spider, the super-dangerous classification — use Bludgeoning Hex, Stunning Spell, or the Immobilisation Charm," says Holly, as she pops a strawberry into her mouth. "Oh, and they like to eat humans, no biggie, and their venom's poisonous."

       "Yes!" says Pansy, grinning.

       Millicent says, "Sphinx?"

       "The cool lion thing, dangerous but not the most dangerous," says Holly, eating another strawberry. She knows the classifications, the proper descriptions, but come on. She knows this. She knows what she's on about. She knows about every creature there could possibly be in that maze. "Likes puzzles and riddles."

       "And—?"

       "Only dangerous when protecting something?" says Holly, wiggling her eyebrows at Millicent, who grins and nods. Holly smiles brightly, and she shrugs. "I mean, if the worst-case scenario happens and I get attacked by something and I don't know what to do, I'll whistle and enlarge Vivien. Look—!" She puts two fingers in her mouth, and whistles. Vivien, the size of her palm, bolts into the hall, sitting on Holly's shoulder. "I won't make her bigger now, but look at the little cutie, she knows tricks. Vivien, play dead—"

       Vivien drops onto the table. Daphne laughs.

      Holly takes part of the sausage off of Pansy's plate, and gives it to Vivien, stroking her head. "Potter was able to summon his broomstick, wasn't he, in the first task?" says Holly. She glances over at the Gryffindor table as she mentions him, and she quickly returns to her friends, picking up the smug look starting to slip. Pansy makes a grumble. She knows what happened, she was there when Holly returned, grabbed her and led her into the bathroom, and starting ranting hysterically. "So they can't be pissy if I summon my pet dragon, can they?"

      They finish eating their breakfast, and just before they leave, Snape walks up to him, his usual unimpressed expression across his face. "Miss Lippincott," he says, and Holly turns to him. Her friends slowly gather their bags, waiting around to see what the issue is. "The champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast."

       "Will do, Professor," says Holly, and she smiles politely. She turns to the side to look at her friends, and adds, "I'll see you later?"

       Pansy nods, and Tracey gives Holly a little smile before they all walk off, in the direction of their first lesson. Holly stays sitting at her table, eating an apple. The hall begins to empty around her, and she continues to bite into the apple, glancing around and seeing the other four champions sitting around, waiting.

       And then, he sits opposite her. 

       "Um—"

       "What do you want, Potter?" says Holly, and she takes a bite into her apple. She thinks she saw her cousin do this ages ago, when he fell out with Theodore for like, a day, and her cousin — being related to her — made Theodore feel as terrible as possible. Holly remembers thinking, the apple adds effect, nice. "Surely you wouldn't want to sit here, what with all of the evil children that sit here every single day, and laugh at their wicked little jokes and—"

       "I'm sorry."

      "I wasn't finished," says Holly, glaring. "Anyway. As I was saying. You know what us Slytherins are like, nothing but murderers and criminals and servants to You-Know-Who. It's not as if the other houses picking on our first years influences their mindset, does it? It's not as if being sorted into a house where, when the hat says Slytherin, the other houses boo and the kids on your table have to explain. The other houses don't like Slytherin. They see us at what some — some — of our parents are. They don't see us as good leaders, as the house Merlin was in. They only see us as the ones that shouldn't be trusted, that all think that muggles are terrible and that everyone that isn't pureblood should be burned at the stake, that all want You-Know-Who to be powerful."

       "Um," says Harry, looking like he isn't quite sure what to say. She gives him a look, and he frowns. "Not to be rude, but — have you finished?"

       "I suppose," says Holly, eyes narrowed.

       "I'm sorry," says Harry. Holly raises her head, as if she's waiting for him to continue. "I don't think you're evil, or disloyal. I wasn't thinking when I said it."

       "Hm," she says. She's going to drag this out for all it's worth. She cried because she got so upset over this, and she thinks the last time she shed tears, it was because of Durmstrang. This whole month, she's felt her heart sink whenever she saw him, whether it be in lessons or in the hall. She's never been this upset, not because of something a friend said.

       Harry looks at her, like he's waiting for her to say more than just a little noise. She rolls her eyes after a minute of him just looking at her. "There are few things that can upset me and you managed to say one of the worst," she says. In her head, she adds, if you take out referring her to her mother, or anything somewhat negative about her father. "Do you honestly think Snape's only motive would be because he's Slytherin? How does his house justify anything? Wasn't the guy that ratted out your parents a Gryffindor?"

       "Well, yes," says Harry. He looks exasperated. Holly continues to eat her apple, and she glances towards the room Snape mentioned a couple of minutes ago. "But Snape's been picking on me since I got here, he has it out for me, it isn't just because of his house—"

       "Then why did you say because he's Slytherin?" asks Holly, frowning. She isn't dropping this. She isn't going to accept any sort of apology unless she genuinely thinks he knows what he's saying. "Look, I know that my friends can be mean and that their views of muggles are skewed — but you can't think an entire house is like that."

       "I know that now," says Harry, and after some hesitation, he adds, "Sorry."

       Holly looks at him for a minute, and eventually she sighs, because shit. She thinks she actually missed him. She thinks there were some parts this month where she wanted to speak to him, even though he said what he did. So she gives in, and she smiles slightly. "Do you know why we're staying behind, then?" she asks.

       "Our families are here to visit," says Harry.

       Her eyes light up. 

       "Well, come on, then!" she says, and she jumps to her feet, setting off towards the room to the side of the hall. She thought her dad would be arriving later on, not this morning!

       "I don't have any family — my aunt and uncle won't be there—"

       "My dad'll be there! And I think his fiancé's coming, too!" she says. She briefly recalls the letter she sent to them, telling them that they must pretend to be wizards because of the lie Margo made years ago, and the one Holly's keeping up. "You can stand around with us, you'll love them, they're some of the most amazing people to ever exist—"

       A massive smile sits on her face and she bolts through the hall, a blur of white-blonde hair and dark uniform passing the empty tables, a less interested boy in red uniform following.

       She swings the door open, letting go of Harry's hand, and spots the two men standing next to the fireplace, both of them equally amazed by something as simple as the mantelpiece. Augustus Lippincott and Eugene Kastellanos continue to look around, every so often exchanging a look at the family speaking in Bulgarian, and the mother and daughter speaking in French.

      For a second she almost cries, she's missed him so much. She runs towards him, and he hugs her tightly. "Dad!" she exclaims, and she steps back, jumping up and down. She goes to the side, where Eugene pulls her into a hug, before she looks at the two of them. "So much has happened, I'll let you know everything — but oh my God, this was your best idea yet, I love it here! You need to meet my friends, they're really nice—!"

      "You need to show me around, Hol," says Gus, and he grins at her. "Ilvermorney's far different to this place... And you know what Eugene's mother's like, she was too scared about You-Know-Who to let him go to Scotland for school..."

       Her dad's so cool.

       "Yes!" says Holly, and she continues to smile from ear to ear. She looks over her shoulder, and she sees Harry talking to two ginger people, so she figures part of Ron's family came to visit. That's sweet. "It's really cool here..." She glances at Viktor, who's parents are speaking to each other, and he's standing next to them. "Oh, Dad! Do you remember Viktor, from Durmstrang?"

       "Oh, yes," says Gus, and Viktor looks a little more alert, as Gus steps forward to shake Viktor's hand. He smiles warmly at Viktor, and Viktor glances at Holly, who smiles. "Thank you very much, for helping out Holly. I heard you were the one that got her on the team?"

       "Yes," says Viktor. "She is very good at Quidditch."

       "I've heard," says Gus, and he lets out a laugh, as he steps back a little, standing in line with Holly. "Not very good at Quidditch myself, but I've always enjoyed it."

      Holly smiles at her dad, and moves him a little away from Viktor, as his parents move to start speaking to him. She can see her dad looking around the room, observing every old castle wall, every old window, every moving painting.

       "Oh, and this is my step-dad, Eugene," says Holly, motioning towards him. Eugene, who looks like he's only just realised who You-Know-Who is. She'll have to give him a crash course before her friends show up. "He was homeschooled, so he hasn't seen Hogwarts before."

       "Worried mothers can be good teachers," says Eugene, and he forces a laugh, which causes both Holly and Gus to smile.

       "Show us around, then, Hol!" says Gus, and Holly nods, the smile still on her face. She's glad that her year's busy in the History of Magic exam this morning, because she thinks she'd go insane if she was forced to sit in a stuffy classroom when her dad and step-dad were standing around, elsewhere in the castle.

       She leads them out, back into the hall, and she glances over her shoulder at them. "So, this is where we eat, today I had fruit and it was very nice," says Holly, a spring in her step. Eugene, who has a strange addiction to fruit, smiles at that. "I told you about the houses — the one over there, that's my table, they're all decorated to match the colours of the different houses. So my one's green and silver... And then there's blue for Ravenclaw, yellow for Hufflepuff, and red for Gryffindor."

       "Very nice," says Gus, both him and Eugene looking genuinely interested by the colours of the table decorations. Holly understands why, because they would've gone to a muggle school when they were her age, not a huge castle hidden away in Scotland. So everything to them, by the looks of it, produces a look of amazement... And even she, when she first got here, had the same look on her face, because Hogwarts is nothing like Durmstrang. Hogwarts celebrates magic. Durmstrang uses it for power.

       Holly's about to explain the subjects, but she sees Cedric and his parents standing with Harry and the two Weasleys. By the look on her dad's face, he's noticed them, whilst Eugene's busy watching the Bloody Baron float past on the other side of the hall.

       "Still... you'll show him, Ced," says Mr Diggory, and before either Holly or Eugene can stop him, her dad's pleasantly strolling in the direction of him. Holly and Eugene exchange a look, and Eugene smiles apologetically at her, before they follow him. "Beaten him once before, haven't you!"

       Mrs Weasley begins, "Rita Skeeter goes out of her way—!"

      "You must be the other two Hogwarts champions!" says Gus, looking towards Harry and Cedric. Holly hurries her pace to catch up to him, trying her best to smile nicely at the two boys as she appears. She glances at her dad and sees the smile on his face, the sort that suggests he's got more motives than just being friendly. To her, he looks a little annoyed someone would think his daughter would lose. "Very nice to meet you — I'm Holly's father. And this is Eugene, in three weeks he'll officially be Holly's step-father."

       "Dad," Holly hisses, trying to make him shut up. She knows he's going to say something to suggest that he thinks that she's better than the rest of the contestants, because he's been doing it ever since she was competing in primary school sports days, and every time, she would stand next to him, trying to get him to stop talking.

       "Hello," says Eugene, finally catching up. He smiles at Cedric's parents, and at Mrs Weasley, moving forwards to shake their hands, but Gus lightly pulls him backwards, his gaze still fixed on Mr Diggory. Holly knows her dad well enough to know that he's pissed off. How dare anyone think the same that he does about his child — of course Cedric's dad is going to think his son can win, Gus is convinced Holly will, they're parents, that's what they do.

       "I'm Cedric's dad, Amos," says Mr Diggory. "I was just saying—"

      "I heard," says Gus. Holly tries to mouth to Cedric, I'm so sorry. She glances back at her dad, who still looks a little annoyed. "But we'll have to see later today, won't we? For all you know, my comeback kid here could beat both of them."

       Gus gestures to Holly, and he flashes a smile at them. Holly scowls at her dad, because she knows that in his mind, my comeback kid here could beat both of them translates to my comeback kid here will beat both of them. Like, sure, she believes this too, and she's mentioned many times in her letters to her dad that she's going to murder everyone in this competition by winning, but she's never said to their faces hi, yes, I'm going to win, fuck you.

       Cedric says something to his mum about showing them his common room, and they walk off, leaving Holly glaring at her dad, Eugene looking like he's gotten used to this over the years, and Harry and the two Weasleys standing next to them, not quite sure what to do. Harry clears his throat.

       "Um, this is Holly," says Harry.

       Holly smiles at the woman. "Hi."

       "I'm Ron's mum," says Mrs Weasley. "And this is one of his older brother's, Bill."

       Bill smiles. "Hi."

       "This is my dad, and my step-dad," says Holly, nodding towards the two. She smiles politely at Mrs Weasley, before she glances back at Gus and Eugene. "Um — how about I show you my common room?" As soon as she sees her dad nod, she begins to walk in that direction, quickly muttering to Harry as she passes him, "Sorry about him." She sees Harry smile slightly at her.

       The three start to walk towards the hall's doors. Gus looks over his shoulders, at the three beginning to leave the hall. "So that one's Harry?" asks Gus, and Holly nods. Holly sees Eugene looking around at every little area of the hallway, and she slows her pace, knowing how new and exciting this must be for him. She remembers on her first day, walking a little slower with Pansy so that she could take everything in, and marvel at the castle. "OK. So if Viktor's here from Durmstrang, does that mean the — excuse me — bastard of a principal—?"

       "Dad," she says, her voice holding a sense of urgency, even if she was trying to speak quietly. "If you see Karkaroff, don't go after him — he's one of the judges and although this task is more about getting the cup, please don't do anything that'll anger him. He's horrible."

       "You shouldn't have to describe a teacher like that," says Eugene, frowning. Holly supposes he's correct. She turns the corner that leads towards the dungeons.

       "And if he's biased, because you left that school," says Gus, his lips curving down at the mention of Durmstrang. "I'll personally get it resolved, all right? I'm not letting them walk over you, especially some — excuse me — dick that thinks he can get away with treating you, or anyone, badly. And you shouldn't allow it, either."

       Holly nods. "He's still scary, though."

       "Well, that makes sense," says Gus. He stops walking, and turns to her, to look at her in the eye. "But don't you ever think that it was right for that school to treat you like that. You deserve more than how they treated you."

       Holly smiles softly, and she hugs her dad.

       "You know," says Gus, as they continue walking. "I bet your friend Harry would look a lot better if he had a haircut..."

       "Dad!"

—✧—✧—✧—✧—

       THE MORNING IS SPENT with Holly showing Gus and Eugene around the castle, happily explaining all of the different subjects and the different little tales that occurred in different classrooms. Like when she and Pansy messed up, big-time, on the Divination homework and confidently told Trelawney that they had predicted they were going to die horrible deaths at young ages with none of their dreams and wishes completed. Her dad did not find this very funny, but then, he's never been in a Divination lesson, she pointed out, where the teacher gets excited over death predictions.

       The three sit at the Slytherin table a few minutes before lunch begins. Holly's made sure to fill them in about how they've got to pretend that they're wizards, that her friends fully believe this. Neither of them look happy about this, but, whoops, this is the situation Holly's been given by her mother and she's chosen to continue, because she likes to hope that maybe, her mother lied for a reason better than I sound bad, having a kid with a muggle.

       Holly quickly brings up their wedding, once she sees the concern on their faces. And the mood quickly changes, as they begin to explain the plans for their wedding, which is set to be in the second week of the summer holidays, and, like she kindly requested, in Hawaii.

       "It's mostly going to be our family, and a couple of my friends from high school," says Gus, as he waits for the table to, as Holly described the minute before, 'become covered with every meal you could ever ask for, courtesy of the wonderful house-elves in the kitchens.' "My parents and Eugene's are going to stay for the full fortnight, too, so that me and Eugene can, no offence, have our honeymoon without you."

       Holly shrugs. "That makes sense."

       "But hopefully," says Gus, looking very optimistic. Next to him, Eugene smiles. Holly raises an eyebrow. "You'll win this tournament, like we know you can, and we can treat the holiday as a present for you, too, because of how well you did... And if you lose, we can still treat the holiday as your present, because even if you don't win, you put your heart and soul into competing in this tournament and you should be proud of that! Not everyone can put that much of themselves into something, and it's amazing, how committed you've been to this!"

       "Come on, Dad," says Holly, grinning. "I'm going to win this." And then, she briefly explains how all of the other houses think her house is evil, and how if she wins, her house does, which they all want because Slytherin is never seen as the hero. When they first hear everyone hates my house, they both look concerned and annoyed.

       Her friends appear a minute after the bell rings, managing to miss her dad and step-dad's excitement when plates of food appear across the tables. Pansy and Draco sit on either side of her, Harlow and Daphne next to her parents. Gus shares a smile with Holly, as Harlow and Pansy collectively explain how well Holly's been doing in the tournament so far.

       "And you're Draco?" says Eugene, turning to him. Draco nods, and gives him a strange smile, like he's trying to suck up to him, but also, not looking like he's trying to do so. "It's nice to meet you. It's funny, actually, you and Hol actually look blood-related."

       "Yeah," says Daphne, and she smiles at him. "At the start of the year, a few younger students thought that they were twins."

       Holly shrugs. "It's the hair," she says, and Draco looks like he agrees.

       "So, Hol," says Gus, as he begins to pile salad and chicken onto his plate. Holly keeps on seeing the other Slytherins glance down the table to look at her dad, and some of the students on the other tables look over. She supposes it's because his presence raises the subject of Holly's mother — plus, her dad's ability to sink into any situation and look like he's been welcome there since the dawn of time, is taking effect already. He's eating at the table as if he went here as a teenager. "The final task. Do you know what it is?"

       "I forgot to tell you!" says Holly. "It's a maze."

       "A maze?" says Eugene, nodding to himself. He eats a mouthful of lettuce and chicken, thinking to himself. "Have they put obstacles, or something, inside of it? It seems a little easy, if it's just a maze."

       Holly nods. "There's going to be different creatures around the maze, so we've been testing me and my knowledge of all sorts of creatures, so that if I come across anything, I know what it is, it's strengths, it's weaknesses, and how to get past it," she explains, and Gus looks pleased. It's the same look he had when she was littler, and she'd come home from primary school with full marks on a spelling test, one that she practiced with him for every night that week. "And then they said that there'll be spells to get past, so we've been practicing all sorts, especially the defensive ones, to make sure that I'm ace at all of them, and I'm quick to use them." She smiles in Draco's direction, and he nods back.

       "Do you know the others have been doing?" asks Gus.

       "They haven't been doing as much as our Holly," says Pansy. Immediately Gus and Eugene beam at the use of our Holly, the same way that Holly smiles whenever Pansy says it. "Every morning and every evening, Holly's been practicing. I think Potter's been practicing some lunchtimes—?"

       Gus frowns, and he glances at Eugene, who also looks a little confused. "Didn't he fight You-Know-Who?" asks Eugene, and the others around him nod. Holly wants to smile, because she loves this. Look at them, within five minutes of meeting her new friends he's speaking to them as if he's known them as her friends since the start of primary school. "Well that must mean he knows a thing or two about defending himself... So maybe he only needs a few lunchtimes to warm up — but that doesn't mean he'll be as quick as you, Hol, or as clever."

       Holly rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah," she says, and she eats a cherry tomato. "You're just being nice to him because you want to give him a haircut."

       Pansy lets out a laugh. She looks at Holly suggestively, and Holly glares back at her, as she watches her best friend return to eating her food, a smug smile plastered across her face.

       "Ladies and gentlemen," says Dumbledore, rising from the staff table. Holly glances at Gus and Eugene, who look genuinely interested and excited to see how the school works, how the head teacher acts. "In five minutes' time, I will be asking 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 the stadium now."

       Holly gets to her feet. Her friends are grinning at her and wishing her luck; both Gus and Eugene smile at her, and Gus says, "You can do this, Hol."

       You can do this, Hol, she repeats in her head, over and over, and she leaves her friends and her family and walks towards Bagman and the rest of the champions. She goes over the different spells and creatures in her head, as she stands next to Fleur, smiling softly at her.

       They make their way towards the Quidditch pitch, and Holly walks with a spring in her step. She's got this in the bag. She knows every creature, every way to get past them. She knows every defensive spell, and she knows how to carry them out as smoothly as possible. She has this entire task wrapped around her little finger, this task is a serpent she's charmed, this task is hers and she's going to win.

       The stands begin to fill a couple minutes after they get to the field. Holly, recognising that she's going to be running and such, moves to the side of the other champions standing around, and she does some of those weird "warm-up" exercises they made the class do before P.E. at primary school. After trying to run laps during November and crashing into the mud because she didn't stretch before she started, she's realised that, yeah, maybe Mrs Smith was right when she said the warm-ups before P.E. were helpful.

       Holly sees Hagrid, Moody, McGonagall, and Flitwick walk towards them. She straightens her posture and steps a little closer to the rest of the champions. "We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," says McGonagall. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

       Holly nods.

       "Off you go, then!" says Bagman, to the four teachers. Holly watches them walk away, her eyes narrowing as she sees the direction that Moody goes.

       Butterflies swarm her stomach. Holly feels the slightest bit nervous. If her theory about Moody's correct, she doesn't like the idea about him helping out, watching the maze. If he's actually Crouch — as crazy as it sounds, she's been told — and if Crouch was definitely a Death Eater, she can't imagine the horror caused by him being close to the maze, being able to slip into it if there's any danger.

       "Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand!" says Bagman, using Sonorus to magnify his voice. Holly sees her friends in the stands, and she grins. "In first place, with ninety points — Miss Holliday Lippincott of Hogwarts School!" The Slytherins in the stands begin to shriek and cheer. Holly smiles. It isn't just her in first place — it's her entire house. "Tied in second, with eight-five points each — Mr Cedric Diggory and Mr Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School! In third, with eight points — Mr Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute! And in fourth place — Miss Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

       "So... on my whistle, Holly!"

       She nods.

       "One..."

       Holly looks at the maze.

       "... Two..."

       Her eyes narrow a little. She's going to fucking win this.

       "Three!"

—✧—✧—✧—✧—

to quickly explain eugene's name: his dad's greek and his mum's english + her dad was called eugene hence the v british name with the v greek surname

also!! two chapters left then we're on ootp yayayayay