The next day was full of Remus staring at me quietly, and Sirius doing the same when he got back from work. As if they were trying to figure me out. A mere science experiment.

I didn't know what to do. Still. Should I sign the form? It was money, so why was I holding back? It wasn't because of Cedric... He hadn't had any problems with signing the form...

When I met with Cedric again, he asked if I had filled it out yet. I debated what I should say- Which, in itself, was odd. Generally, I wouldn't consider telling anything but the truth to Cedric. But here I was.

"Yes," I muttered, and immediately, my gut clenched. Why had I said that? Why had I lied?

But he smiled, and I decided to live in the moment. Guilt could come later, I thought.

But when I got back home, both Remus and Sirius were out, and I saw the form sitting on the table. Mocking me. It seemed normal enough. A slip of paper, of more quality, than... Well, everything in my life, really. It, alone, probably cost more than the table, I reasoned.

I glared at it.

Why did it have to come into my life? I hadn't appreciated the difficulty of the decisions that girls had to make about the Selection. Not until I had to make the same one, anyway.

Suddenly, a rush of something overcame me, and I grabbed a pen and filled it in. Name, age, caste... All the normal things. Skills? I wanted to leave that blank, but I filled in what I could and ran to the corner of the street, where there was a box to collect the forms.

I couldn't help but notice that there were at least hundreds of forms there. I guess that other people didn't have a problem with the prince as I did. Then again, my form was going into the pile as well...

I didn't really know why I did it. I just knew that it was money and that it meant that, technically, I wouldn't have lied completely to Cedric.

The rest of the day was spent doubting myself- Even though I didn't know why. After all, I wasn't going to get through, and neither was anyone else that had put their forms into the box, right?

At least, that was what I had to tell myself. Because otherwise, I might've had to go back to the box and try to get it back.

But, in the night, I couldn't stand it anymore. It was fake. It wasn't me. Was I really someone who would disregard everything I knew was right to get some money? So, I sneaked out when I was sure everyone was asleep, and made my way over to the box, on the street, in the dark. I knew that the rich people had streetlamps, but we didn't. They would come in pretty bloody useful right about now.

But when I approached the box, I realized it was empty. Cold dread swept through my heart, leaving nothing in its wake. They had come and taken the forms. By "they", I meant the people who were working for the royal family, or whatever.

I fell to my knees as I felt the breath being knocked out of me. What I had just done was just making its way to my head now. Kicking me in the gut. What if... What if, for some absurd reason, I got chosen?

No. I couldn't think like that. I had to stop thinking of the worst possible outcome.

"Hey, you okay over there, mate?" a voice called, and I looked up. There, on the other side of the box, was a red-headed boy, peering down at me. I got up, quickly.

"Yeah, I'm good." I lied and held my hand out for him to shake. Just because we were poor didn't mean we had to act like it, Sirius always said. So, he raised me like a gentleman.

At least, on the outside. On the inside, I was the same as the next scraggly Five.

He, as most people did, stared at my hand dubiously, as if he was unsure why it was there. Then he gave it an awkward sideways high-five, and I turned red.

Why couldn't I be normal?

"What's your name?" I asked, and he smiled.

"Ron. And you?" he replied. Ron. Short for Ronald, I presumed.

"Harry," I answered, but didn't expect what he said next.

"Oh, you're dating that bloke, Cedric?" he asked, and I was taken aback. That's how people recognized me? That I was the person dating Cedric?

"Yeah." I nodded, swallowing down the sudden rage that threatened to take over me.

"Well, nice meetin' you. Did you put your name in for the Selection too?" he was already stepping away, as if anxious to go.

"Yeah, I did. And nice meeting you too..." I trailed off, and walked away, as did he.

He seemed nice, I thought. But I guess I had to think of him as a competitor?

No, that was ridiculous. There was no competition- I wasn't going to get chosen, and that was it.

Then why did I feel the urge to declare to the world that I wanted to be picked? Why did I want to do that when I didn't want to be picked?

I shooked my head, climbed into my window, and fell asleep quickly.

The next morning, there was a sum of money, untouched, new, and shiny, on our table. I was too scared to touch it- I felt like if I did, it would disappear.

When Sirius and Remus came into the room, they gaped at me.

"You filled it out?" Sirius asked, his voice holding an emotion that I couldn't place.

I nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think I'll get chosen, anyway."

"Why?" Remus asked. "Why did you do it, and why do you think you won't get chosen?"

Sirius shushed him. "What Moony's asking is... do you want to get chosen?"

"Well..." I chose my words carefully. "I mean, I did it for the money, mostly." I hated to admit it, but... "And, honestly, I don't know if I want to be chosen or not."

That was a lie. I knew I didn't want to be chosen. Didn't I?

Sirius walked away with Remus on his arm, whispering to him. I couldn't make out what they were saying, and I didn't care to. I just stared at the money. I felt a sick sense of pride, even though I shouldn't. I hadn't done anything to feel proud of.

And yet.

When I went to see Cedric, he wasn't there. I waited, but he didn't even turn up. Was he hurt? Did something happen? I walked around to his house, which wasn't very far, but I got stopped on the way by a group of older kids.

"Where do you think you're going?" they asked, and I scrunched my brow. I'd never seen them before. They looked... well, they looked intimidating, to say the least. After all, I reasoned. They were bigger, stronger... And they looked poorer too. Which meant that they wanted money or food.

Neither of which I had.

A chill ran up my spine.

"What do you want?" I asked. My voice didn't come out deep and intimidating- Quite the opposite, actually.

"Empty your pockets. Now." the biggest one demanded. He had dark blond- almost brown-ish hair, and slightly blue eyes. But he was abnormally plump. I say so because in the lower castes we hardly have enough food- how would he have enough to make him so... chubby?

Why was I trying to be kind in my thoughts? This guy was trying to take all I had. Which wasn't anything, actually.

Which I told him. Suddenly, I was grabbed by the arms and held down while the guy- the leader, I supposed- patted down my pockets. When he found them empty, he hissed.

"Hold him down." he barked, apparently oblivious to the fact that his cronies were already doing so. Then he kicked my head.

And my vision swam, my brain turning into mush.

And he kept on doing it. And my skull seemed to implode, cave into itself, the pain spreading to my entire body.

Then I blacked out.

***

When I came to, I was alone. I put a hand blearily on my head because it seemed like it was splitting apart.

My hand came away with blood.

I couldn't help it. I screamed.

I hadn't been beat up like this, not since I was really small. But here I was, curled up into a ball on the ground in a deserted street.

At least I kind of knew where I was.

Slowly, I got up, but immediately felt the bile rise in my throat as I fought to keep from falling over.

Keeping one hand on my head, I walked back to my house. I hadn't even realized my lip and nose were bleeding until I looked back and saw the trail of blood that couldn't have just come from my head.

When I got home, for once, Sirius and Remus were up.

"Where the hell were you?" they asked. I realized I had no clue what time it was, but judging by the fading light in the sky, and the looks on their faces, it was too late.

"I-" I started, but then they caught sight of my face.

"What the hell?" Sirius shouted, while Remus got a tissue and began wiping the blood off. "What happened?"

I debated lying, but then I realized that I wanted those pricks to get caught. So I described everything. I couldn't leave out anything- That would make my story seem fake.

When I was done, both of them were shaking their heads in shock.

"How dare they?" Sirius clenched his fists, and Remus put a reassuring hand on his arm. But Remus himself looked angry.

For a moment, I felt overwhelming love for both of them. They were so protective, they did their best...

"It's okay. Just... I'm going to sleep now, okay?" I asked, but both of them shook their heads.

"There's going to be another announcement today," Remus informed me, and I scowled.

"Why do they have to do it in the night?" I asked, even though it wasn't really a question. I couldn't actually question anything- I was just an insignificant Five.

"Well... What's it going to be this time?" I asked. "I really want to sleep."

Both of them rolled their eyes at me, though some worry still lingered there. "You'll have to watch and find out."

So, once we were settled in front of the TV, all we could do was wait for it to blink on. But when it finally did, I was almost asleep and tuned out everything except for the part where His Highness, Draco Malfoy came to the stage. He didn't look nervous tonight. Quite the contrary. He looked like everything I'd expect from a prick of a prince. Arrogant, detached...

Just his normal, then.

His voice was steady too, as he made his announcement.

"As you know, today was the last day for forms to be taken in. We have already deemed who will be going on to the next round, which is simply getting a photo taken. We have the names here, and there will be a total of a thousand people getting their names read out for the picture-taking. It will take place..." he droned on and on, but I'd stopped listening. A thousand? Damn, and they had to choose thirty-five people? Well.

Anyway, I didn't have to really listen now. They were going in alphabetical order by last names, so I was listening for Cedric's name. My head snapped up when the name Dudley Dursley popped up. The name itself meant nothing to me, but the grainy photo showed the guy who had beat me up.

I felt like throwing up.

At least the name "Diggory" hadn't come up. Cedric was safe.

I almost fell asleep. I did, I think, actually. There were a lot of names... Then it got to the letter "P". I couldn't help but listen. I didn't know what I was hoping for, anymore.

"Potter, Harry." the prince announced, and an old picture of me showed up. But I wasn't focusing on that.

What the hell?

What the hell?

Sirius and Remus were sitting still, unsure of whether to clap for me or not. I didn't know whether to clap for me or not.

Just a picture. I reassured myself. It's just a picture.

But I'd been chosen. For some reason, I'd been chosen.

I couldn't stop it anymore. I rushed to the trash bin and threw up whatever I'd had. Which wasn't very much. I had to listen to the rest of the announcement, as was the law, so I sat back down, but I was panicking.

"Weasley, Ron..." the prince said. "That is the final name."

Ron... The name made me remember. And when the redhead showed up on the screen, I felt the tiniest bit comforted.

But not really.

I had two concerns.

First, what would Cedric say? I mean, I'd gotten through, and he hadn't... But he'd wanted it more than me. I felt guilty, though why I could not say.

Second... Did I have to go? Even if I didn't want to?

I knew what everyone would ask if I told them my second concern. Why did you sign up if you didn't want it? It would perhaps be said with a touch of annoyance, or a lot, depending on who it was.

That was a good question.

I didn't know the answer.