⌗ ⌗ ⌗

"Are you having difficulty with your homework? You haven't written anything in a few minutes... you've just been staring at your parchment."

Iris hummed, slowly lifting her eyes to the person sitting across from her. "I just haven't been able to focus on anything very well lately."

They nodded, "Yes, quite understandable really. The first task is the day after tomorrow, isn't it?"

The brunette girl sighed heavily, pressing the palms of her hands against her closed eyelids. The faint golden glow of the setting sun washed over her as it poured in through a nearby window. "Yeah, and I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing."

"Well I believe in you, Iris," she reassured.

Iris smiled lightly, "Thanks, Luna. You're a great friend."

The platinum-haired girl smiled innocently back, "Yes; I quite like having a friend."

Both girls had agreed that it had been too long since they had last hung out, and so they went and sat in the library, doing their homework together. They talked occasionally, but Iris was glad to have the momentary silence. For the last few weeks, since they had announced the date of the First Task, Iris had found it difficult to find a moment alone, where there weren't random students coming up to her and asking about the task or things relating.

The closer the task got the worse her anxiety became, and the higher her stress levels rose. What wouldn't she have given to be able to sit around laughing and talking, with nothing else to worry about but homework? She imagined how it would have felt to be here if hers and Harry's names hadn't come out of the Goblet of Fire. Her brother, who had taken to wearing their dad's old Invisibility Cloak around practically everywhere to avoid confrontation, wouldn't be wearing the Invisibility Cloak, for one thing. Ron wouldn't be ignoring both of them. The two Potters, Hermione, and Ron would probably be imagining what deadly dangerous task the school champions would be facing on Tuesday. She'd have been full of anxiety, only not for herself, watching them do whatever it was... nervously cheering on Cedric with everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands... 

She wondered how the other champions were feeling. Every time she had seen Cedric lately, he had been surrounded by admirers and looking nervous but excited. In the times that they could get away from their relentless supporters for long enough to steal an intimate moment with one another, they tried not to speak about the tournament; there was enough of that happening elsewhere. Iris would catch a glimpse of Fleur Delacour from time to time in the corridors; she looked exactly as she always did, haughty and unruffled. And Krum just sat in the library, pretending to pore over books, though actually watching Hermione.

Iris thought of Sirius, and the tight, tense knot in her chest seemed to ease slightly. She would be speaking to him in just over twelve hours, for tonight was the night they were meeting at the common room fire — assuming nothing went wrong, as everything else had done lately...

She was scared. But she suffered in silence, bathed in the golden rays of a setting sun.

"Luna?" The bright, wide-eyed girl looked up from her textbook, and Iris continued, "Do you ever get scared?... Just of the future, I guess?"

She pondered over the question for a moment, brushing strands of her long white-blonde hair back from her face, "I suppose... though I'm always excited for an adventure," she hummed, "I can understand your fear, though. After all, someone did put yours and Harry's names in the Goblet of Fire... and it must be for a reason."

Iris tensely absorbed the words, thinking it over. "Right... but what's the reason?" she muttered to herself, eyebrows furrowed tightly in thought, her essay remaining unwritten in front of her for the rest of their study session.

⌗ ⌗ ⌗

For the one hundred and ninety-second time in that week alone, Iris lost focus.

For the tenth time in that week alone, she had let the billowing whispers slip through the cracks of her mental wall, hissing against her skull.

For the sixth time in that week alone, she lost control.

For the fourth time in that week alone, Iris had sought refuge in the girl's lavatory, poorly muffled sobs echoing throughout the stone chamber as she attempted to push the pounding voices out.

And for the first time ever, Lavender Brown came to her rescue.

The Potter girl sat knees pulled up to her chest with her back to one of the toilet stalls walls, hands clamped tightly over her ears as though it would ease the relentless screaming. Eyes clenched tightly shut as tears of crystal spilt over her flushed cheeks, just waiting for it to end. Her lips quivering as she tried to hold back audible sobs.

Iris didn't hear the heavy wooden door to the room open, nor did she hear a soft concerned voice call out, "Hello? Are you okay?"

The girl carefully tested the stall door, noting that it was unlocked before slowly pushing it all the way open. Seeing her dormmate crying on the floor, Lavender Brown kneeled down in front of her, watching with eyes squinted in concern.

"Iris?" she hesitantly asked.

She didn't answer. Lavender watched as, between the occasional body-wracking cry, Iris' lips would move very quickly, muttering so quietly that nothing could be heard but a dull sibilance. Biting her lip, Lavender looked around nervously, unsure of what to do. Finally, she slowly reached her arm out, gently touching Iris' forearm as if to grab her attention.

Almost immediately, Iris let out a shuddering gasp, the firm pressing of her hands against the side of her head loosened as her arms fell to her sides. The teenage girl looked around, tear-stained cheeks and frizzy, messed-up hair as an attribute to mark the events that had just occurred.

"Lavender?" she blinked.

"Hey. It's okay," Lavender said quietly, "You're alright."

"No," Iris whispered, a blank expression across her face, "I'm not. I haven't been for so long now..." her head slowly rolled over to look at her dormmate, someone she had barely spoken to in her four years of living at Hogwarts. They had never had the right opportunity to get along, with conflicting interests and very different friend groups, the two girls just passed by each other, exchanging pleasantries but nothing more. Iris wiped the tears from her face, eyes still watery, "I've always struggled with the way things tend to go in my life, but this... this is something entirely different. And it's just too much."

Lavender lowered herself to sitting across from Iris, legs pulled up to her chest, mirroring the girl opposite her with a solemn look upon her face.

"They just won't stop screaming," Iris said quietly, eyes filled with desolate knowledge. They were the eyes of someone who had seen too much. Too much horror.

And she was tired. Tired of living that way, constantly fighting with herself to keep control of the one thing that was a consistent hindrance on her happiness. She thought too much, heard too much, listened too well.

"Who's screaming, Iris?" Lavender asked hesitantly.

She replied dully, zoned out from the world, "Everyone."

⌗ ⌗ ⌗

"I hate crying," Iris said, not holding back tears very well as they fell loose, rolling down her pale face lit by the glow of an orange fire. "Seems like that's all I do lately," she muttered.

The room was in semidarkness; the flames were the only source of light. Nearby, on a table, the Support Cedric Diggory! badges the Creevey brothers had been trying to improve were glinting in the firelight. They now read POTTER REALLY STINKS. Sirius's head was sitting in the fire, keeping her company as she sat beside her twin brother in the dark of night.

Sirius looked different from Iris' memory of him. When they had said good-bye, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair - but the hair was short and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph Iris and Harry had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding. 

"This bloody sucks," she let out a single sad, mocking chuckle. Harry wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, feeling the same tremendous pressure of the tournament upon himself.

Before she could stop herself, Iris was talking more than she'd talked in days - about how no one believed they hadn't entered the tournament of their own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about her and Harry in the Daily Prophet, how the two of them couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at — and about Ron, Ron not believing them, Ron's jealousy...

"...and now Hagrid's just shown us what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and we're goners," Harry finished desperately. 

Sirius looked at the twins, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them - that deadened, haunted look. He had let the two Potters talk themselves into silence without interruption, but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, but we'll get to that in a minute — I haven't got long here... I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

"What?" said Harry, and Iris felt her spirits slip a further few notches... Surely there could be nothing worse than dragons coming?

"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Iris, Harry, he was a Death Eater. You two know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes – he – what?"

Iris sighed, fidgeting with her hands as she watched the soft flames flickering.

Sirius explained, "He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry said slowly - his brain seemed to be struggling to absorb yet another piece of shocking information. "Why did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names... he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place... He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

"Okay," said Harry slowly. "But. . . are you saying Karkaroff put our names in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."

"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he?"

"It wasn't him." Iris turned her head from where it was looking out the window and up at the beautiful gleaming crescent moon. She looked down at her hands, massaging her thumb back and forth across the opposite palm, a nervous tick she had picked up recently. "He's weak. I uh..." she gestured towards her head, "Wasn't too hard. But he hates us, hates that we're competing and putting even more in the way of Krum winning." Iris shrugged.

Sirius nodded seriously, trusting her judgment more than anything. After all, she had trusted him just a year ago. "Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet —"

"– you and the rest of the world," said Iris bitterly, "That nasty article that they published the other day. They barely said anything about the tournament other than lies made up about Harry me, and the only reason Cedric was mentioned at all was to put him as some sort of lost puppy whose only purpose is being my love interest," she ranted.

"Yes that Skeeter lady is rather horrid, but reading between the lines of that woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

"So. . . what are you saying?" said Harry slowly. "Someone's trying to kill us? But – why?"

Sirius hesitated.

"Sirius," Iris urged.

"I've been nearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark... and then – did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins?" said Harry, glancing at Iris for confirmation. 

Sirius nodded, "Exactly... she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumoured to be last... and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but. . . it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" said Harry.

Iris hummed, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, you two. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So... so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Harry. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

Iris was sure it couldn't have been Karkaroff, she had read his mind, seen his stringent ways, and yes, he was an awful man, but she hadn't seen anything to do with him putting their names in. On the other hand, there was no one else she could think of at that moment who could have done it.

"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know... Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you both and make it look like an accident. "

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harry grinning bleakly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff. "

"Right – these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell – dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon —"

"Yeah, I know, we just saw earlier today," said Harry. Iris nodded in agreement, eyes wide as she remembered the enormous creatures.

"But you can do it alone," said Sirius. "There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just –"

But Iris held up a hand to silence him, her heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. She could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind them, feeling a buzzing mind drawing nearer. 

"Go!" she hissed at Sirius. "Go! There's someone coming!"

Iris and Harry scrambled to their feet, hiding the fire – if someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar – the Ministry would get dragged in – they, Iris and Harry, would be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts –

Iris heard a tiny pop! in the fire behind her and knew Sirius had gone. She watched the bottom of the spiral staircase. Just before the mystery person reached the view of their eyes, Iris realized who it was. Though her question was why had Ron decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling them how to get past a dragon?

Dressed in his maroon paisley pyjamas, Ron stopped dead facing the twins across the room and looked around. 

"Who were you talking to?" he said. 

"What's that got to do with you?" Harry snarled. "What are you doing down here at this time of night?"

"I just wondered where you –" Ron broke off, shrugging. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."

"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted. He knew that Ron had no idea what he'd walked in on, knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but he didn't care – Iris was appaled by the thoughts running through her brother's head at that moment.

"Harry," Iris hissed, warning him to shut up.

"Sorry about that," said Ron, his face reddening with anger. "Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practising for your next interview in peace."

Harry seized one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges off the table and chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.

"Harry!" Iris shouted quietly at him, mouth open, aghast.

"There you go," Harry said. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky... That's what you want, isn't it?"

He strode across the room toward the stairs; Iris half expected Ron to stop him, and honestly, she wouldn't have blamed him if he had been absolutely furious with Harry. She watched her brother storm upstairs to his dormitory, irritated with his stereotypical moody teenager attitude.

"I'm sorry, Ron," Iris said quietly.

He did a little half-shrug, his mouth pulling to the side in a small sad smile. "S'okay... I kinda deserved it..."

Iris walked over to the stairway up to the girl's dormitories, pausing only when Ron called out softly, "Good luck... with the First Task."

She looked over her shoulder at one of her best friends, giving him a thankful look as the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, "Thanks, Ron."

⌗ ⌗ ⌗

it's been so long omg

I have a couple things to cover really quick—

first of all, as you probably noticed if you read this story before (two?) weeks ago, I changed the faceclaim. I learned that elizabeth olsen is pretty problematic and I don't want to use someone like that as the face of my bb iris, so she's played by ella purnell now!

second, with all this coronavirus stuff happening right now, I'm hoping to be able to have more free time to be able to write (though we've all seen how well I do at that, hello procrastination queen here) but I was rereading some of my old chapters when I was switching all the gifs over to ella and WHEW y'all actually read that?? the entire third year of this book is rough and so now I really really want to go back and edit/add more scenes to that portion of the story. I have so many more ideas and more developed writing skills now than I did when I first wrote all that, so I'm going to go back and start doing that! new updates are still my top priority though, so I'll be working on the next few chapters before editing the entire book, it'll just be editing a chapter or two at a time, and nothing huge or drastic!

SORRY FOR THE SUPER LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE!! Anyway, I hope you're all doing well, stay safe and healthy! I love you guys! <3