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"Guess who?" An excited voice spoke, challenging their companion.

Cedric Diggory had been sitting at the Hufflepuff table, eating breakfast with his friends when a small hand came in from behind him, shielding his vision. The soft familiar melody of Iris' voice had then leaned in, speaking over his shoulder, asking a question she knew he easily had the answer to.

At once, a large grin grew on his face, the corners of his eyes crinkling in delight as he twisted in his seat to face her. Iris giggled as he pulled her into him until their lips met. They kissed only for a moment before Iris leaned back, the corners of her lips drawing up into an excited smile. She pulled one of her hands out from behind her back, revealing a single cupcake resting in her palm.

"Happy Birthday!"

She sat down on the long bench beside him, greeting Issac, Maddie, and Kasper, who all smiled and welcomed her. Iris placed the cupcake in front of Cedric with a small smile gracing her face, happy with how it had turned out. She had gone down to the kitchens late the night before and, with a bit of help from the house elves, made a batch of chocolate cupcakes (Cedric's favourite) each topped with a neat swirl of turquoise frosting and rainbow sprinkles.

Wasting no time, the teenage boy abandoned the toast sitting on his plate and dug into the cake with great eagerness. Iris leaned her elbow on the long wooden table, resting her cheek on top of her knuckles as she tried not to laugh at him.

"You'll get the rest of your gift later."

Her boyfriend paused for just a second, his wide eyes rolling to meet hers as he lowered his cake, "Thank you... you didn't have to get me anything."

Iris blushed, "But I wanted to."

She heard a faint gagging sound and leaned forward, peering around Cedric to witness Issac with his face all screwed up. The four stared at him for a moment.

"If you four could cool down on the coupley things please," Kasper bashfully removed his arm from where it had been securely wrapped around Maddie's shoulders as the two were practically glued together, "us single people are starting to feel left out."

Maddie giggled, "Don't worry Issac, we'll find you someone soon."

That didn't seem to reassure him in the slightest as his eyes squinted at the table in disinclination.

He hummed, "Yeah I think I'll pass... Anyway, are you ready Cedric?"

The dark-haired boy nudged his head toward the Great Hall doors, where Iris knew the flaming goblet rested just outside. The smile on her face deflated as she looked at the large doors.

With a hesitant but certain nod from Cedric, the group of five stood and made their way out of the Great Hall.

When they got out into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the centre of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction.

Kasper, Maddie, and Issac walked around the barrier, gazing in at the goblet in amazement as they left Iris and Cedric alone. He was eyeing the goblet, looking vaguely nervous though excitement also shined through.

Iris stared at her boyfriend for a moment, just observing him as her eyes flickered over his face, taking it all in and memorising it.

"So you're really going to do it?" She said quietly, making him turn to her.

Iris' eye's focus paced back and forth between each of his, not settling on one as she watched him. His lips rolled in as he hesitated, thinking his words over. It was pointless though, as Iris could easily read him; as easily as she could Harry.

"You are." She sighed, nodding as she hadn't really expected anything else.

His head turned to gaze over at the firey goblet, "I have to. I have to try." He turned back to her, "I want to do this. For myself, for my family, for my house --"

"For me?" Iris cut in, shocked as she unintentionally read his thoughts.

He swallowed heavily, glancing down to avoid her searching eyes.

"Cedric..." she loosely took his hand in hers, "Look at me. You don't need to prove yourself to anyone and especially not to me. I am so incredibly lucky to have you in my life, and winning a tournament isn't going to change how I see you because you're already perfect."

His hand squeezed hers, his grey eyes meeting her hazel, "I love you."

Iris' lips parted as she froze, eyes growing wide.

Cedric smiled lightly, glancing at the lit goblet before looking back at her, "I know it's harder for you to say it, and you don't have to right now, but I'm not lying. I'll shout it out for every student in this castle to hear if that's what it takes for you to realise that it's okay to love people. I'm not going anywhere."

She looked at the ground, "I can't say it yet."

"I know, and it's okay."

Iris looked back up to him, raising her empty hand to his cheek, "I support you. If this is something you want to do then... I support you."

Her hand dropped to his arm as she smiled at him before lightly pushing him toward the golden ring. Iris watched as Issac wandered up beside his best friend, Maddie and Kasper not far behind and the four waited along with the rest of the hall, cheers of encouragement ringing out as Cedric produced a small slip of paper from his pocket. He stood just outside the age barrier, waiting a moment to turn back and flash a smile to Iris who readily returned one before he lifted his foot and took a step forward.

The noise of cheering in the entrance hall seemed to double as he took a few steps forward, reached up, and dropped the slip of paper into the blazing blue flames, a large grin upon his face.

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Dinner seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in three days, Iris didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as she would have normally. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and then standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Iris simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.

She was exceedingly nervous to hear the selections, and though she wanted no part in the tournament herself and thought it was a horrible idea, Iris couldn't deny she was eager to see how it all played out.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Mr Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored. 

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the champion selections!" said Dumbledore. "I estimate that the goblet requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them to please come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions. "

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, almost all the candles were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. . . . A few people kept checking their watches. . .

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped. 

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to their blue glow.

"The Durmstrang champion is... Viktor Krum!"

"No surprises there!" yelled Ron from across the table as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Iris saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber. 

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames. 

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise from where she was sitting next to Ron, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. "Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, Iris thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms. 

When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next. . .

Iris wasn't watching Dumbledore or the goblet though, she was looking straight at her boyfriend who sat at the table over on the bench closest to her. He was looking back at her, thinking many sweet messages directed towards her before he winked and turned anxiously toward the front of the room.

Iris watched nervously as the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showering out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip, Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment. 

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Iris didn't know how to feel. She couldn't think, going numb and clapping along mindlessly as the next table exploded with applause. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping. She was proud of him, she really was, but Iris was also scared.

The first thing he did as he stood from the Hufflepuff table was reach his hand out to Iris, who immediately grabbed it, squeezing reassuringly as she grinned at him. Cedric then made his way down the rest of the aisle, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again. 

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him. 

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment. Iris' eyebrows were tightly furrowed, confused by what was happening. Something was wrong, very wrong.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out -

"Harry Potter."

There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat. Iris couldn't move. She was completely stunned. Barely breathing, she turned to him.

"Harry?" She whispered.

He turned to her, wide innocent eyes pleading her to believe him.

"I -- I didn't --"

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore stared across the sea of students at him, "Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered from across the table, giving Harry a slight kick in the shins.

Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Iris was barely processing anything as he walked along. The entire Great Hall was staring at Harry, with quite a few people's eyes also flickering to Iris. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, her brother was right in front of Dumbledore, all eyes on him.

Dumbledore spoke something quietly to him before Harry turned and started walking along the staff table just like the previous champions.

When Harry reached the door, disappearing through it, it spurred something into Iris making her stand quickly from the Gryffindor table. She ignored the whispers as she briskly walked down the aisle, following her brother's footsteps all the way down the Gryffindor table and turning sharply at the end and going along the path of reaching the door. Iris had never been more scared or confused. How could Harry's name possibly be in the Goblet of Fire?

She payed no attention to the repeated gasp that echoed throughout the Great Hall, the only thing on her mind being her twin brother. Iris had just about reached the door all the champions had gone through when Dumbledore called out something that made her freeze immediately in her tracks.

"Iris Potter."

Her head turned, finding the perfectly terrible picture of Dumbledore now holding, not one, but two slips of paper in his hands and staring at her with a look of utmost regret and terror.

This would be a moment she would never forget, immortalized forever in her memory as the one thing that would come to throw her entire life off course. For there were now not three Triwizard champions, nor four, but five.

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AHHH

okay first of all, I know I'm always apologizing for taking so long to post but I'm super sorry for the long delay on this chapter!

second of all, thank you guys so much for 70k reads!! that's actually crazy!

third of all, I started rereading the books and now I'm sincerely regretting by decision to go mainly by the movies so that's going to be changing! from now on it's going to be going off the books with hints of the movies sprinkled in

I'd also really like to go back and edit the entire third year because I went back and read some of it and, whew, that's rough. there's also SO many scenes I wish I had added in third year that I'm only thinking about now, so I'll probably start writing those and then just mass edit it all at once 🤷‍♀️

ANYWAY, on a different note, I hope you guys liked the chapter! I really wasn't sure whether or not to make Iris a champion because I'm well aware of how actually insane and cliche that is, but I swear, it has a purpose! I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have to but it's needed in order for the rest of the plot to go the way I want.

Sorry for the super long author's note! Let me know how you liked the chapter or any predictions you have for the future, because I'd love to hear!