"This is bloody impossible," I huffed, slamming the old book on my desk closed. Sirius had lent it to me. A cloud of dust jumped into the air as I stared at the cover of the book, A Guide to Animagi. Such a good guide it was.

I had done practically everything that Sirius had instructed; I even managed to keep a mandrake leaf in the roof of my mouth for the entire month, which may I add was a terrible experience. It was all soggy, and ugh, it gives me chills just thinking about it again. It felt like the universe was against me.

I buried my head in my hands to take a break from all the mumbled words printed onto the small pages of the book in a language I didn't understand.

Padfoot, who was sitting on the floor of my room, barked at me.

"No," I whined.

Another bark.

"I'm taking a break."

Padfoot stood, and walked over to my feet at the desk before biting down on my pants leg.

"I said. I'm taking a break," I hissed back at him.

Why he didn't just let me relax baffled me. It wasn't like he learned how to do it in any less time than I was making. I felt even less motivated considering Cressida didn't change on the last full moon, but Sirius thought I should keep at it, just to be safe.

Before I knew it, Sirius was standing in the room with me.

"If you always give up, you're never going to actually accomplish anything," he said, plopping down on my bed.

"If you always nag, I'm going to be far less motivated."

"What else am I here for?"

"I'm pretty sure you're here for Papa's cooking."

"Got me there."

I rolled my wand back and forth on my desk, the soft tapping of the wooden wand against the wood of my desk was soothing. I closed my eyes, and tried to just relinquish all the frustration. I had been working on my anger issues within all the meditating I had been doing, yet again something else Sirius said I needed to master in order to master being an animagus.

"How long did it take you?"

"For what?" Sirius yawned, crossing his arms across his chest.

"To become an animagus."

"Oh, well, it took a few months, but I also was doing all my own research while trying to teach two others."

"I thought Harry's dad was smart?"

Everyone always talked about how James Potter seemed to light up every room as if he was the sun or something.

"He was, but he was also extremely busy. You see, Zenith, James only ever had his eyes set on one girl, where individuals like me couldn't decide which."

When did I ask about his love life? Oh, Merlin save me.

"And?"

"If you would just shush and listen for a moment, I'd get to the point."

I obliged.

"James had more than enough time to study because Lily Evans rejected him every opportunity she could get. It was like a never-ending game of cat and mouse, except it was deer and doe. Every one of us could see they were made for each other, except for them. And since James was rejected so much, he began to study literally everything in order to find a way to woo her. It was him that initially sparked my research into animagus."

"Aww, it's the power of friendship," I mused.

"The power of being a pain in everyone's arse," Sirius corrected. "James was like a ball of untameable energy, especially in our third year. I could not escape him. There was no privacy."

Sirius was smiling, and although I could care less about James Potter, I didn't want to take the reminiscing away from him. It was nice to see him happy every once in a while, I know Azkaban had taken quite a toll on him.

The house was oddly quiet today with just the two of us. Papa had gone off to collect ingredients for the next moon's Wolfsbane potion, and Cressida had left to spend the weekend at the Greengrass residence. To be frank, I'm surprised Sirius was staying with me. I would have been fine on my own, I was the most fine out of any of us at this point.

"When are you leaving next?" I asked, after the words left my mouth I realized how bad they sounded. "I mean. When are you visiting Harry next?"

"Early next week I suppose. Isn't the Quidditch World Cup coming up? Harry wrote to me and told me he planned on going. The Weasleys were taking him."

I had wanted to go so bad, but I couldn't bring myself to ask Sirius for the money. I knew Papa didn't have enough to spare, and I'm not sure how he even managed the concert tickets for us. I was plenty grateful for everything he did for us.

"Did your friend invite you?" Sirius asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"He sent a letter, he said he wouldn't be able to get a ticket for both me and Cressida, so I declined his invitation. We are a package deal after all. I do plan on going to the Burrow the night of the cup. I could never reject Mrs. Weasley's hospitality, that woman scares me.

"Well Zenith, it seems you're in luck because I happen to have a lot of money in a vault at Gringotts, and if you and Cressida wished to go, I wouldn't mind. Consider it a late birthday present?"

"Really?" I asked exhilarated.

This was the best gift yet! I couldn't wait to tell Cressida.

It had been a few days since I told Cressida the great news, and over the span of those days I had become a ball of energy.

"Oh, Cressida," I chimed, barging into her room.

"Zenith, get out!" she shrieked, raising her wand.

Thankfully, I knew what was coming.

"Protego!"

"Flipendo!"
We each cast our spells at the same time. I was able to block her knockback jinx, but her door still quickly slammed in my face, even with blocking her spell, I had been pushed back a few feet.

"What on earth are you doing in there?"

"Whatever I'm doing is none of your business. We have our own rooms for a reason."

"We used to share one, don't forget. I've seen it all before."

"That's different. We were children!"

I stood leaning against her door as I spoke.

"We are still children."

"No. We are young adults, just three years from being an adult, Zenith. It's time you start acting on one. No future wife of yours is going to like it if you barge in on her."

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes, annoyed with her nagging.

Suddenly, her door swung open, and my body went tumbling down. Cressida stepped out of the way at the last minute, but didn't make an effort to slow my fall.

"No, problem. I'm all good here," I said, pushing myself up from the planks.

"You're Zenith Black, it's all for show," she waved dismissively as she walked down the hall.

"It's not show when I'm all natural!" I cried, jumping up and following after her.

After I caught up, I found everyone else sitting in the living room with bags and all the necessary items. It seemed now that they were all waiting on me. Sirius was in his animagus form. We had all agreed it would be best, not all of the Weasleys were as accepting as Arthur.

"Finally, are you ready to go?" Cressida asked, a devious smile loitering on her face.

"We're going to be late if we have to wait any longer, Zenith," Papa said with furrowed brows. "I told Molly we would be there around 19:00."

That goblin, I was going to get her back for this later.

"Sorry, Papa," I replied with a soft smile. I was going to turn up the charm factor. I could beat Cressida at this game. I was always up for a good challenge.

Papa stepped forward, pulling his wand out of the pocket of his robes. Which may I add seemed clean for once, possibly even new. Perhaps Sirius had gotten him gifts as well. I had come to realize Sirius was a chronic gift-giver. He seemed to think it would fix everything.

"Incendio," he chanted.

The fireplace which had been dormant suddenly burst to life with the crackling of embers.

"You first Pads," Papa said, grabbing a handful of silver powder from a small box above the mantle. It was Floo Powder, I had only ever used it a few times.

"The Burrow," he stated, throwing the powder into the orange flames which quickly became a bright emerald. Padfoot crossed into the flames, and was gone.

"Cressida, you're next."

Cressida stepped forward, securing the small bag she had on her back before reaching into the box to collect a handful of silver dust.

"The Burrow," she stated, the emerald flames yet again roaring as she stepped into them disappearing from sight.

I stepped forward, knowing that Papa would want to go last to make sure we were all out of the house safely.

"For the record," I said as I reached into the box of Floo, "I was ready to go three hours ago, I was waiting on Cressida."

"Zenith, you have changed your wardrobe three times today and you expect me to believe Cressida was the late one?"

Okay, that was fair, but like I was genuinely telling the truth here.

"Yeah, but not this time. Zenith Black was actually on time," I declared.

"Well Mr. Punctual, get to the Burrow before you make me late," Papa said, shaking his head with a grin.

I threw my handful of powder into the fire which seemed to welcome me with open arms as I mumbled the location I desired to go to.

I suddenly remembered why I despised traveling by the Floo Network. Everything was spinning, an array of fireplaces and campsites were seen as blurs in the distance. It felt like I was standing on water, but there was nothing around for me to grasp on too; It was a constant struggle to maintain balance. I forced my eyes shut amidst all the wind that seemed to be brushing past me.

As the spinning began to slow, I hastily threw my hands out in front of me to reach for anything to avoid falling out of the fireplace. Needless to say, my hands were ready, but my feet weren't. The second I went to step out of the fireplace into the Burrow, my legs decided they both wanted to be left for the day.

"Ow," I mumbled, standing up and wiping the dust from my trousers.

"Zenith, that's the second time you've fallen today," my sister mused. "Maybe if you wore shoes instead of those bricks," she said, motioning towards my feet.

Was she referring to my Doc Martens? As bricks? I pray that Merlin blesses her, she has no style.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," I whispered to her.

I finally took a moment to greet everyone in the room. I noticed Padfoot sitting at Cressida's feet. Fred and George were talking to Bill in the corner of the room. The Burrow never ceased to amaze me, how so many people could reside in one house, yet it was always cleaner than my room was shocking.

"Oh, Zenith, dear! How have you been?" Molly Weasley greeted, immediately trapping me in one of her bear hugs. I'd seen Ron be victimized many times before. She was an odd woman, and to everyone's surprise, shorter than I was. Her red curls always seemed to bounce, constantly reflecting her energetic personality. Her wild crimson curls were never as perfect as mine, that's for sure.

"I've been good," I grumbled, slowly trying to snake out of her arms. I typically wasn't one for physical affection.

Thankfully, I was saved by Papa's arrival, Molly quickly went to greet her next victim, and I slipped past the rest of the family and upstairs to Ron's room. I knew that's where he and Harry would certainly be.

"Ah, that's blimey disgusting," I could hear Ron from the hallway. It was followed by a laugh from Harry.

"Knock knock," I said, slowly pushing the door inward.

It was horrid timing. As I was walking into the room, I noticed that Harry and Ron were playing Gobstones. Even more, I noticed that Ron had just knocked one of Harry's Gobstones out of the ring. He managed to dodge it, but I didn't. The Gobstone erupted in a cloud of red, splashing some unidentified substance onto me. I quickly closed my mouth, and tried to wipe it off my face.

"Bloody hell," I groaned, trying to clear my mouth. "God, what is that?"

"That's a really good question," Ron responded, throwing a towel my way.

"You know, Zenith, you always have the most dramatic entrances," Harry offered, looking up at me with a grin.

He was only smiling because the Gobstone decided to target me and not him. "You see, Harry, it's a talent of mine. If I can't be the boy who lived. I'm going to be the boy who dies trying."

"That's brilliant, can I quote you on that?" Ron chuckled, clutching his stomach because at this point we were all gasping for air.

I truly had missed my friends. Before long, we had spent hours doing nothing but staring at Ron's ceiling and catching up. Ron and Harry had begun telling me about Fred and George's secret business when they happened to be passing by.

"Did I hear my name?" Fred smiled, standing in the doorway.

Or was it George? I was a twin and guilty of not being able to tell the difference.

"They were telling me about your candies," I said, with a sly smile. I could employ this knowledge to greater use. "Wouldn't you like to try the candy out on someone you can watch a reaction to?"

"Of course, are you volunteering?" George asked.

"No, but Cressida is, she's so into research. She'd love to test it out for you!"

This was going to be so good. I was going to get her back.

"I'll go ask her right away."

"George, wait! There's no need for that. I can get her to, just toss me one."

"I'm Fred."

Damn it! I had a fifty-fifty shot, and guessed wrong. I seemed to have the worst luck today, but it started turning around as soon as Fred tossed me the small wrapped toffee.

"Thanks," I breathed, a genuine smile forcing out my dimples.

"Boys!"

"That's Mum, I assume she wants us to help with dinner."

The lot of us raced downstairs, as any good teenage boy would do - we made it a race.

Harry nearly rolled down the stairs, thankfully Ron caught him.

I immediately found Cressida, see, I had ulterior motives.

"Cressida," I smiled, walking up to her as she sat on a brown, velvet couch in the Weasley living room.

"Shh!" she whispered.

I was confused, but then I realized she was pointing at something across the room. Padfoot was curled up in Papa's lap, and the two of them were out cold. Papa looked so peaceful, his head was laid back on the chair, and one of his arms was placed around Padfoot, pulling him close.

"Have you been here the whole time?" I whispered.

"No, Ginny and I were on the pitch for a while. Wait," she paused, drawing back away from me. "What is that wretched smell?"

"Harry and Ron were playing Gobstone."

Just as I was reaching into my pocket to give her the toffee, Ron grabbed me by the collar pulling me back.

"Are you giving that to her?" he whispered.

"Duh?"

"You can't!" he breathed, seeming genuinely upset.

"Why not?"

"It could upset her."

"She'll get over it."

"Please help set the table outside, boys," Molly Weasley pitched, pulling us both from our conversation.

There were a multitude of different utensils in the air, completely a variety of tasks all on their own. A pack of knives were hard at work chopping vegetables, while a frying pan seemed to be burning down some butter. I loved to watch people cook, it's a shame I'm so terrible at it.

By the time we reached the patio, Charlie and Bill were moving the tables across the lawn with their wands. Bill conjured two tablecloths to cover the tables effortlessly. Harry, Ron, and I placed silverware and napkins on the table.

Dinner passed pretty quickly, then it was time for the main event - desert. I was sitting between Ron and Cressida at a table that seated mostly my fellow students: Hermione, Harry, Fred, George, and Ginny.

"Cressida, I got you some toffee!" I said, pulling the small brown candy from my pocket and placing it by her plate.

"Where'd this come from?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Ah, you know, from Hogsmeade, I've had them for a while. I'm afraid they're getting old."

"You say they, but I only see one."

I knew she'd be suspicious, so I prepared a decoy. I reached into my other pocket and pulled out a seemingly normal piece of toffee. I sat it down on my plate.

"Zenith, can you pass me the chocolate cake?" Ron asked, pointing over my shoulder at a small white bowl. I reached for it and carefully handed it to him.

I turned back towards Cressida who seemed to still be watching me, but something had shifted. She was no longer watching me with suspicion, it was more like curiosity. Her dark eyes narrowed, and she tapped her index fingers together.

I rolled the piece of wrapped toffee between my fingers. I hated sweets, but it would be worth it seeing her reaction. I carefully peeled the wrapping off and popped it in my mouth.

It was at this point I noticed the Weasley's Ton-Tongue Toffee was no longer sitting by her plate, my face dropped, and then she grinned, flaunting a nearly consumed piece of toffee, normal toffee.

I felt sick.

No, really.

I doubled over and began coughing as my tongue seemed to snake out of my mouth. Instead of its normal texture, it was purple and slimey, and grew longer by the second. I tried to catch it to keep it off the ground.

Cressida was laughing like a madman, and Ron motioned to Fred and George who came running over.

"Oh, it's brilliant!"

"Truly a beauty."

"Wix wit," I croaked, struggling to talk with my tongue continuously folding over onto itself.

"Shh!" Ron hushed, forcefully shoving my head beneath the table. "If Mum sees, we're dead!"

Fred and George were mumbling to each other, both of them armed with their wands.

"Have you ever used that spell before?"

"No."

"Well, no time like the present."

The Weasley twins looked at one another and then me.

"Reducio," Fred incanted.

Whatever he did worked, within seconds I could feel my tongue again, but it was a weird feeling. It was like I was hurling, but in reverse. I didn't wish to experience it again.

"Zenith, trying to sneak that candy to a lady is foul," my sister smirked.

"I thought I could catch you with your guard down."

"When is my guard ever down, dear brother?"

After my tongue had completely returned to normal, I excused myself from the table. I knew we had to be up early tomorrow for the Quidditch Cup. I walked back through the garden, and found my way up the familiar staircase to Ron's room. As I laid down the blanket and sleeping bag I had brought from home onto his floor, I finally took a moment to realize he had acquired more Chudley Cannon decor than he had when I had previously visited. Each inch of the room was covered in bright orange posters, small flags, and of course jerseys. Ron was such a nerd.

Suddenly, I heard Harry and Ron on the stairs. They were as loud as always, they entered the room and the lights were off. I swear they must've hit every single item between their cots and the door, including me.

"Ow," I whined, sitting up and grabbing my foot, which one of the two had just crushed.

"Zenith?" Harry whispered.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, mate. I quite literally didn't see you there."

"Harry."

"Yes?"

"You're as hopeless as a blind worm."

At this point, Ron made himself present by dying of laughter. I was quite the comedian afterall.

"I'm aware," Harry said, his voice coming from a different spot. My guess was that he had settled into his cot.

The three of us talked for quite sometime after that. I was almost asleep when Harry started up again.

"Is the ceiling bowing in?"

I heard Ron shuffle, and then he spoke, "Um. It's possible, I'm under the attic, you know."

"Is that safe?" I yawned.

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Morning arrived too fast. Before I knew it, I was fully dressed and hiking up a hill behind Arthur Weasley, Padfoot at my side, and Cressida following behind me with Papa. The rest of the Weasleys were in front of me. We had been up before the sun, having to travel a ways on foot since we couldn't all Apparate legally. The majority of Wizarding families were traveling by Portkey, including us.

"What items are Portkeys?" Harry asked Mr. Weasley.

I knew the answer to this. I remembered asking Papa this years ago. Typically Portkeys were small objects, something that a muggle wouldn't go around and pick up. The one at our house that went to King's Cross was an old wheelbarrow. The more the item seemed like junk, the better the Portkey it made.

By the time we reached the top of the hill, the sun was trying to peek through the cloudy meadow. The soft blue began to illuminate the dark ground ever so slightly. Each breath of air seemed to burn with exhaustion. I was really out of shape.

"Okay, everyone spread out and searched for the Portkey. Remember, it's going to look like litter," Arthur said.

Everyone seemed to split up and we began hunting, it hadn't been two minutes before an unfamiliar voice began to yell at Mr. Weasley.

"Over here, Arthur! I've got it!"

"Well if it isn't Amos!"

As soon as I saw the man, I realized there was a familiar student standing behind him - Cedric Diggory.

"This is Amos Diggory! He works at the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," Arthur introduced, as he did Padfoot left my side.

I turned over my shoulder to see where he was going, and he went to stand by Papa. It made sense. I had read the kind of stuff the Ministry wrote about the aid of Magical Creatures. It was horrible. The Ministry really was crooked, maybe I only thought that because of Sirius, maybe because I hated politics.

"I assume you all know my son Cedric," Amos said, stepping aside and holding his arms out towards his son.
I knew him alright, he was Hufflepuff's seeker, the one who stole the win from us in the first match of the season last year. I still had a grudge, as did Fred and George because they seemed to ignore him.

"You've got a big group this year Arthur, all family?" Mr. Diggory asked, looking around at the lot of us.

"No, just the redheads, the rest are friends," Mr. Weasley responded, pointing at his children. "The rest are friends of Ron, this is Hermione Granger, Zenith, and Cressida Black, and Harry-"

"Harry Potter?" he asked, flabbergasted.

That was the typical reaction Harry got.

Harry nodded, seeming to not care at all. Amos began to talk to him privately, and I noticed Cedric casting a glance toward Papa and Padfoot, mostly Papa. He elbowed his father, who turned his attention toward Papa as well.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin," he said, in a tone that was anything but greeting.

"Mr. Diggory," Papa nodded with more respect than the prior had offered.

"I didn't know you'd be joining us. I didn't know someone of your stature had the means to attend such an event."

There was silence, and I could see Papa shifting uncomfortably. Who did this man think he was? You couldn't just say that in front of a group of people. I shook my head aggravated, I know that Papa would be more upset if I ran my mouth.

"I'm sure you know of the Black family wealth," Cressida said, stepping into the conversation. Her tone cut the silence like a sword.

"Well of course."
"Then, you have the answer to your rude question," she said, ending the conversation.

Arthur cleared his throat, and then looked at his watch, "I think we best get going," he said awkwardly.

I gave Cressida a double thumbs up over my shoulder, she smiled, and waved me away.

We gathered around a small old boot on the top of the hill, everyone reaching forward to touch it with the exception of Padfoot, who Papa had one hand around.

Mr. Weasley began to count down from three, his eyes never leaving his watch, "Three....two....one."
The Portkey activated immediately. I felt as if someone had wrapped something around my stomach and pulled me forward. My feet left the ground, and my vision blurred, but I could still feel Cressida, and Papa's hands beside mine on the boot. The ground seemed to greet me even harder than the Portkey had pulled me. The only people who remained standing after we reached the stadium were Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, Cedric, and Papa.
Papa went ahead to talk to a wizard who did a very sad job passing as a muggle. His outfit nearly made me sick with how poor it was put together. Zero fashion sense, no muggle would dress that wrenched.

"This way," Papa said, calling me and Cressida over. She hadn't spoken very much this morning. I just accredited that to her not being a morning person, but as she walked ahead of me, I could tell she was upset.

"Are you okay? That Diggory guy just doesn't understand you know. Everyone always talks about how dreamy Cedric is, unfortunately, they don't know that side of him. Even though his hair is perfect, his morals aren't. He may have pretty eyes, just, you know what I'm saying right? Don't let him get to you," I attempted to strike up a conversation.

She giggled at me, "Thanks, Zenith," her smile alerting me that everything was okay.

We ended up having our own tent, separate from the Weasleys, and funny enough, our tent was closer to the stadium. I think this was Sirius' doing. I knew for a fact that this space had to be costly. In fact, our tent space was right next to a plot belonging to the Abotts, and past them was the Greengrass family. Cressida had left to go greet Daphne, she wanted me to come along, but I already had enough of a headache.

I settled into the tent with Papa and Padfoot.

"Colloportas," Papa whispered, pointing his wand at the entrance of the tent.

I had heard the spell a few times before, but never remembered what it did. After that, he cast a silencing spell.

"Pads, it's okay. It's safe, at least here. No one can get in or out for the time being," Papa said, sitting down on a chair in the middle of the room.

The tent was large. It had a full-size kitchen, and a living room with a sofa, and two armchairs. The floor was carpeted, and a plenitude of lamps illuminated the room. There were two bedrooms as well.

I went to explore the tent as I could hear Sirius and Papa talking in the main room. I didn't want to intrude.

I climbed into the bed, and stared up at the ceiling when I noticed it was full of constellations, the whole tent was actually. The walls were plastered with thousands of stars, twinkling. I looked at the different constellations, and tried to name the ones I knew of.

I was so calm I nearly jumped out of my skin when a loud buzzer sounded.

"Zenith! The match is starting, let's go."

I had played, and watched probably over a hundred Quidditch matches combined, but nothing had even remotely compared to this. I had never seen so many wizards in one place, and on that note, the clothing, so many different nationalities. It was beautiful, the way that everyone was brought together.

Cressida who sat beside me was in just as much awe as I was.

"You know it seats nearly a hundred thousand," I told her, I had read that in one of my Quidditch books.

As the match began, mascots from each team performed a show. From Bulgaria, there were veela. I had never seen veela in person before. They were beautiful. Their skin seemed to sparkle in the bright stadium lights, and their dancing seemed to enchant the entirety of the audience. Their long silver hair flowed eloquently in the wind. At some point Harry had even attempted to climb out of the box before Hermione stopped him, Ron wasn't in any better shape. He was reaching over the wall too.

Hermione turned to me confused, "They didn't affect you?"

"No," I replied, equally as confused, "Are they supposed to?"

"Well, they are creatures of seduction you know for all people attracted to wo-"

"Zenith!" Cressida said, hastily cutting into the conversation. "Who do you think is going to win?"

"Ireland of course, Viktor Krum might be an incredible Quidditch player, but Lynch, he's a beast only fueled by his team."

I began to rant about how amazing Ireland was when I realized it began to rain money from the sky.

"Zenith, just shush and look at the Leprechauns!"

I managed to grab a few of the gold coins, pocketing them as a souvenir. The game began not long after, and it was a match of speed and violence. The Bulgarian beaters didn't hold back as they sent everything they could at the Irish Chasers, who were doing their best to dodge the bludgers, and keep in possession of the quaffle. It was truly exhilarating.

A large gasp sounded in the arena as both seekers began to plunge at the ground. Krum leading, but just by a hair.

"Come on Lynch!" I cheered, yelling over the wall of the stadium.

"Are they going to crash?" Cressida questioned over my shoulder.

"That's not possible. They're professionals!"

"They're ruthless, they'll do anything to win."

Cressida was right, as soon as the words left her mouth, Krum pulled up and Lynch slammed straight into the ground. He was feigning, he hadn't really seen the snitch at all, he just wanted to take Lynch out. That dirty cheating-

"It's a time out as Aidan Lynch receives attention from the trained mediwitch on staff!"

The rest of the game seemed to go by in a blur. No, literally, both teams were flying so fast it was hard to track with your eyes. It was giving me a straight up headache, but it wasn't an experience I would have traded for the world.

By the middle of the game, I was ready to wash the green and orange face paint off because Ireland was losing by an unbearable amount.

"Zenith, you can't lose faith, there's still the snitch!"

"Cressida, do you see Lynch? Yeah me neither, it's because he still hasn't come back from Krum taking him out!"

"Krum didn't take him out, he just outplayed him."

"You're only saying that because you like him!"

"And you don't?"

"No! He plays for Bulgaria!"

"That doesn't make him any less talented, nor any less attractive," my sister said, tracking the Bulgarian seeker with her eyes.

He really wasn't all that. Admittedly, he was good at Quidditch, way better than me, which I don't admit lightly, I still couldn't understand the hype. Just look at his hair, it was short and unkept, which was a combination I thought to be impossible. He looked more like a bodyguard than a student, he was rectangular - a block of muscle. His dark brown eyes were huge, and it was like his eyes were a never-ending abyss, like I said, not an attractive guy.

Within the next ten minutes, Lynch had returned to the game, and it brought a new sense of energy into the stadium. The Irish fans erupted with excitement as Lynch kicked his firebolt off the ground. Ireland began to make up for lost time by scoring goals; their chasers seemingly more motivated than before.

"Look!" Harry said, pointing to a flash of gold in the sky.

The snitch. Harry really was a great seeker.

As both seekers seemed to catch the light of the small ball, every wizard and witch in the stadium jumped to their feet to try and see which seeker would catch the snitch. Lynch and Krum were neck-in-neck, both of their hands inches away from the snitch. They both raced for the ground, and for the second time of the day, Lynch collided with it.

"Who's got the snitch?" Ron asked, which seemed to be the question of the day.

"Krum does! Look!" Cressida pointed as Krum began to rise, holding the small trinket of gold.

It wasn't enough for Bulgaria to win, Ireland had won by a mere ten points. I immediately turned to Cressida to rub it in her face, she was supporting Bulgaria, you see we could never support the same team.

"I told you Ireland was going to win!" I boasted as Papa and Padfoot led the way back to our tent.

"You thought they were going to lose thirty minutes ago."

"You have no proof."

"I would only need proof if I was wrong, I'm not wrong."

"She's got a point, she's never wrong," a familiar voice cut into our conversation.

"Draco!" Cressida said excitedly, running to greet him.

She gave him a hug, in which he returned. Ew.

Malfoy stood out in the midst of the travelers, his attire was a sharp contrast to the colorful and lively environment. He was wearing an impeccably tailored all-black suit. The jacket was sleek, and seemed to highlight his slender frame. The height of this outfit was the undershirt. It was a deep green that gently contrasted against the monochrome look of his suit, the fabric subtly shimmering as the sun began to set.

"Earth to Zenith?" Cressida asked, swiping a hand in front of my face.

"I'm here, although I wish I were elsewhere."

"Aw, don't be modest, Black. I know you missed me," Draco said, a soft smirk on his face.

I simply ignored him. I had learned from past experience it was just best to pretend I didn't hear his annoying voice.

I watched as he pulled Cressida aside and whispered something to her. Her brown eyes followed whatever he was telling her, her body language shifted.

"Just get a bloody room," I hissed, turning away from the two of them.

Cressida simply grinned, and wrapped her arm around Malfoy's arm, pulling them even closer together.

"Oh we will, Zenith, we will! Just let Papa know that I'm at the Malfoy's tent!" she said, walking ahead, tugging Draco with her.

"Wait!" I called, following after both of them. "You can't actually go with him, it's too late. Papa will be worried you see.

"We wouldn't want to upset your pet would we?" Lucious Malfoy snarled, stepping out from behind me, his cold eyes narrowing with disdain. His voice was laced with venom, each word dripping with sarcasm.

Draco quickly shook Cressida off of himself, and walked past the both of us to his father. "Ah, Father, I was just visiting with friends."

"Visiting with a friend," his father corrected. He looked at me with disgust, then turned to my sister, "Good evening, Miss Black. Did you enjoy the game?"

"It was great!" I said, stepping by her side. "We loved it."

"I don't remember asking you, boy," Lucious glared at me. His cold grey eyes bore into me, sending a chill down my spine. I could now see where Draco got it from

"Well, I didn't remember asking for permission."

"You're just like your disgraceful father, Sirius Black, I remember all the trouble he and his group of misfits caused."

"At least he's not working for Voldermort," I spat.

Lucius shifted uncomfortably, a lot of individuals were too afraid to use his actual name. Personally, I didn't see the big deal with the guy.

"What would you know about the Dark Lord, boy? Come Draco, let's go, we have better things to do than to waste our energy talking to scum."
"Goodbye Cressida, I'll see you at school," Draco said, keeping his head down as he followed behind his father.

And I thought I had daddy issues.

Cressida and I made our way back to the tent not long after our run-in with the Malfoys. Papa sealed the tent with a spell, and cast a variety of other spells, including a silencing charm, and a protection charm. Not long after that, Sirius had shifted back and he began to cook something in the small kitchen.

The exhaustion of the day was beginning to kick in, so I left the main room and collapsed in the bed I had reserved for myself. I didn't even bother pulling the blankets back. I fell asleep immediately.

"Zenith, we have to go, hurry up," Sirius said, gently shaking me. There was a tone of urgency. He frantically searched around the room for something.

"What are you looking for?"

"Where's your bag? The one your sister got you, the one with the clothes?"

"Why?" I questioned, rubbing my eyes.

"Something's happened, and we need to go," he said, tugging at my arm.

"We need to go? Are you staying like that?" I questioned groggily.

I mean, he didn't even bother getting a muggle disguise before we left home, he kept saying he didn't need it. He was dressed in the fanciest of robes.

"Moony needs me. The full moon is just around the corner and it's starting to get to him. I'm afraid something could happen to him if I'm not there."

"So, the 'something' that's happened is bad?"

Sirius just turned at me and gave me a look.

"Yeah, yeah, I was asking for that," I waved him off before reaching for my wand on the nightstand, "Accio bag."

The small black backpack that Cressida had gifted to me quickly made its way to my hand. I tossed it to Sirius who frantically began to pull stuff out.

"Woah, woah, you're destroying my organization!" I cried, finally having a reason to jump out of bed.

"Zenith, we really don't have time to be dragging our feet."

"Just give me a moment."

I took the bag from him and began to search in it myself. Everything that I kept in it was muggle clothing, and all of it was organized by color. I was assuming that Sirius wanted something to cover as much skin as possible. I grabbed a long sleeve shirt, and a pair of baggy sweatpants that had weathered coloration. In addition, I grabbed a baseball cap.

"Here, and keep your head down," I said, passing him the clothes.

He nodded and took off into the order room. I quickly packed the remainder of my things and followed after him.

Upon reaching the main room, I spotted Cressida. She was standing by the opening of the tent cautiously looking outside.

"What's going on?"

"See for yourself," she said, stepping out of my way and allowing me to look.

It was awful. The previous sounds of drunk singing, and celebration had long dried up, and was replaced by screams and the pattering of running feet. Immediately, the stench of smoke stung my nostrils, tents were burning throughout the block of land. I could see muggles and wizards alike running into the woods, trying to escape.

A spark of green flew past our tent, it whistled as it ripped through the air. A crowd was approaching, loud laughter, and drunk cries. It was a group of wizards, close together. They seemed to be marching slowly across the entire field. I tried to see who they were, but that's when I noticed, not a single one of them had a face. They were all wearing masks, and they were all wearing long, dark robes.

"What are they wearing?" I asked, absolutely disgusted by their clothing choices.

"Zenith, forget about their bloody outfits, look!" Cressida pointed up.

I then noticed. Above the mass of wizards, I noticed something floating in midair. More than one something, there were four struggling figures being contorted into different shapes, each new one as horrifying as the last. It was as if they were merely puppets, and the group of dark wizards were their masters.

"That's sick," Cressida said, turning away from the wizards as a woman and young girl were flipped upside down, their nightdresses flipping revealing their undergarments.

Suddenly Sirius appeared behind us, "Do you two remember the Portkey from earlier?"

I nodded, but why would we need the Portkey if Sirius wasn't in his animagus form? "Why do we need it?"

"I don't think Remus can apparate right now. It's too close to the full moon, today has absolutely exhausted him. Especially not with a side-along, and I can't take all three of you."

Papa limped into the room, favoring his left leg, I assumed his hip was beginning to hurt. He typically didn't move around much before the moon. I guess I had gotten caught up in the events of the cup to realize it was only a few days off.

"Zen, Cressida, can you two get to the Portkey? Sirius and I will be right behind you," he gave us a reassuring smile.

Cressida nodded, and grabbed my hand, pulling me after her. We made a bee line for the trees, and Cressida led me to the place we had entered the field from. She stopped when she ran right into someone.

"Sorry!" she gasped, quickly leaping up, ignoring my outstretched hand.

"Cressida?" a soft, equally-stunned voice responded.

It was too dark to see much of anything.

"Lumos," I muttered, cupping my hand around the end of my wand to limit it from alerting the marching wizards to our location. "Malfoy?" I questioned, realizing the tall and slender blonde.

"Zenith?" he questioned, his eyes taking a moment to readjust to the little bit of light I had summoned. "What are the two of you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same."

Although we had run into him a few hours ago, now he seemed entirely different. His once pristine suit was ripped in multiple places, and he was covered in dirt.

"You have to leave, and fast. This is only the beginning."

"The beginning of what?" I questioned, positioning my wand so it was directed at him.

"No time for questions, just get your father to apparate you out of here."

"He can't, not right now," Cressida said.

"I didn't mean that one. Get Sirius to get you out of here."

Wait. How did he know about Sirius? We agreed not to tell anyone. Especially anyone associated with the dark arts.

"You told Malfoy?" I asked, absolutely enraged.

"Yes, you told your friends."

"That's different!" I argued.

"Black! You're both pretty, not shut up" Malfoy said, gaining attention from both of us. "Just, get out of here, both of you," he said, taking off in the direction that we had come from.

Both pretty? I was not pretty.

"Put your wand up, and let's go."

I couldn't tell how long it had been when me and Cressida reached the Portkeys, but Sirius and Papa were nowhere to be seen. They couldn't have been foolish enough to run into the mess and try to help. Could they?

"Oh my goodness," Cressida mouthed quietly. I turned to her, but she was staring straight up at the sky.

Something was happening in the clouds. A ghastly green skull emerged from a tendril of brooding smoke. Its hollow eyes glowed with a sinister light, and a serpent began to emerge from the skull's gaping mouth. It was as if it was alive. The symbol in itself seemed to enact fear, yet I had no clue what it meant.

"What is it?"

"It's the dark mark. The symbol of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It hasn't been conjured in our lifetime, Zenith."

"Who conjured it now?"

"I don't think I want to know," she said in a hushed tone.

"Good we won't be staying to find out then," Papa said softly. He was being supported by Sirius who I almost didn't recognize. I had never seen his hair completely up. He looked naked!

"Papa!" Cressida yelled, wrapping her arms around him. She always tended to get nervous in these kinds of situations. I felt a wave of relief wash over me, knowing then and there that we were going to be okay.

In the days following the Quidditch World Cup, I received many letters. Ron had sent me quite a few himself. Turns out Harry's wand had been used to summon the dark mark. Nobody could figure out who summoned it though. The Weasleys were okay, and everything was settling back into as normal as it could. Muggle and Wizarding Newspapers alike were recapping the night that many of us would remember for quite some time.

"Zenith?"

"Come in," I said, looking up from the letter I was reading.

Sirius walked into the room with a bag over his shoulder. "Moony and I are heading out."

Heading out?"

He must've read the look of confusion on my face because he clarified his statement.

"It's the full moon, I just wanted to let you know we were heading out."

"And Cressida?" I asked.

"She's staying here."

"Is that safe?"

I knew nothing had happened last full moon, but even so, I wanted to make sure before we took any chances.

"Remus and I have looked into everything we could find. Madame Pomfrey is a miracle worker after all. She must've got to the bite just in the nick of time."

Sirius smiled at me and began to leave, closing the door behind him.

"Wait!" I called out; he stopped.

"Yes?"

"Good luck, and stay safe, both of you."

"Thank you, Zenith."

The house was empty without Sirius and Papa, and I spent the remainder of my day packing for Hogwarts, since Cressida and I would be leaving tomorrow. I wasn't sure if Papa and Sirius were going to be back early enough for breakfast so I decided I would try and make something for everyone, if Cressida didn't beat me to it.

At some point, I drifted off to sleep. Allowing the events and concerns of the last few days to become just mere events in a thoughtless mind. That was until I heard the screaming.

I jumped up, covering my ears to escape from the blood-curdling screams. I forced my eyes shut as I heard the muffled cries through the wall. Each cry of anguish seemed to cut through the darkness like a knife, sending shivers down my spine. With trembling hands, I reached for my wand, and climbed out of bed, my adrenaline pumping.

I made my way out of my room and down the hall to Cressida's room, the source of origin. I felt uneasy, anxiety was stirring in the pits of my stomach. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.

I pushed the door open, and when I did I was met with a scene of agony. Cressida's room was a mess, the blinds were ripped down, and the curtains torn. The worst part of all was her. Her bones seemed to be breaking on their own, sticking out, pushing against her skin. Every fiber of my being told me to take a step forward and help to ease her pain, but the second I did, the floorboard creaked underneath me.

Cressida turned to me, and her face was loitered with anguish, sweat beads dripping down her face.

"Run," she breathed before the screams engulfed us once more.

The urgency of her voice forced me into action, even though I didn't want to leave her, the echo of her screams haunted my every step.

As I raced down the dimly-lit hallway, I forced my eyes shut, trying to calm down for a moment. I thought back to everything Sirius had taught me about being an animagus. It took a clear head, and visualization of the animal. Unfortunately, even after countless hours of meditating, I hadn't seen an animal yet, only fur, and that could be anything.

A loud crash from Cressida's room was a mere warning that I didn't have any time to waste.

Think, think, think. What animal was it supposed to be?

I grimaced as a loud howl pierced my ears.

Cressida started towards me, or well, it wasn't exactly Cressida anymore. Instead, it was a werewolf.

Sirius was wrong.

Sirius was so wrong.

Sirius was seriously wrong.

Panic surged through me like a tidal wave as I stared into the eyes of a creature that had previously been my sister. As she continued to step towards me, I was frozen in fear. I didn't know what to do. A sense of helplessness rushed over me, I was completely on my own.

I raised my wand, I didn't want to hurt her, but I was going to have to.

Cressida lunged at me from over the couch, I said the first spell that came to mind hoping to dodge her attack.

"Stupefy!"
She went flying backwards, knocking over the coffee table, and landed on Papa's favorite chair which broke immediately.

She whined in pain, and I felt it in my very core.

"I'm sorry, Cressida!" I mumbled, preparing my stance as she shook off the scraps from the chair and began to circle me.

She growled deeply in response, a tone so low it seemed to make the floor vibrate. Her eyes tracked my every movement, and there was no thought behind them at all. Only the eyes of a predator tracking it's prey.

"Incarcerous!" I cast, my wand shaking in my hand. Or well, it was me that was shaking, trembling.

She yelped in pain as chains quickly wrapped around her.

I felt something warm on my face, I reached for it, but saw nothing. It wasn't blood, no it was my tears. This was wrong. I was hurting her. I couldn't do this all night, I wasn't going to be able to do this.

Hopefully, the chains would hold her.

An angry growl sounded in the room, the snarl drowned out the sound of the chains snapping and clicking onto the wooden floor.

"Cressida, we can talk about this," I said, as I moved to the kitchen with cautious steps, I positioned the kitchen table between the two of us as a makeshift barrier.

"You know, if you would just go outside, and go hunt some rabbits, they would probably taste far better than me. You know, it's practically cannibalism if you eat me. We've got like half the same DNA."

Talking seemed to be getting us nowhere as she slashed at the table. Papa was going to kill me, you know, if Cressida didn't do it first.

All of a sudden, she lunged at me from the other side of the table.

"Flipendo!" I cried, flipping the kitchen table up, but it wasn't enough, her force outweighed that of my spell. Instead her and the table landed on top of me, sending me to the ground. I grunted in pain and shock as the weight of the table lay on top of me. In the process of getting knocked back, my wand had rolled away from me.

Cressida's claws began tearing into the table, the only thing that was protecting her from me, and I knew I didn't have long. If she got through that table and her claws hit me, I was done for.

I couldn't reach my wand, but I could reach a section of the table that had been knocked off in our fight. I reached it with the tip of my fingers, continuing to knock it closer towards me until I could wrap my hand around it. Finally, I got it, and I closed my eyes as I brought it down on Cressida's back.

She yelped in pain and took a step back, that was all I needed to crawl out from under the table. I grabbed my wand, as I made a mad dash for the living room. I just needed to get to the fireplace.

I ripped the lid off the box of Floo Powder we had, and cupped it in my left hand as I quickly lit the fire in the fireplace. I didn't have time to throw the powder as Cressida barreled into the room. I dodged her by a hair as she couldn't slow down due to the momentum, but I fell backward into what remained of our coffee table, the glass piercing my back. I didn't have time to worry about the pain, the adrenaline seemed to take care of most of it.

I threw the Floo towards the fireplace as I pushed myself off of the ground, I stumbled forward as Cressida lunged at me once more, and then everything went dark. 

let's pretend for a moment i didn't just drop the most devious cliffhanger for a 1 month break known to man-kind 

it's been one hell of a third year hasn't it? me and agc would love to thank you for the journey you have traveled with us thus far. we can't wait to see you in a month and bring you the joy of year 4! which shall showcase many new items... like uhh dragons, and mermaids, and oh my edward cullen gets slayed! 

let us know what you think just happened to our boy zenith in the comments! also we love each and every single one of you readers. <3
here's a small shoutout to our readers who read every week <3 (or at least the ones who comment)

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