As the week slowly drifted by, Beth, unsurprisingly to her peers, spent a lot of her time in the library studying or just passing the time by lightly reading, flipping rapidly through copies of the Daily Prophet to see if there was any mention of her or Sirius Black, or she pretended to be studying but was really doodling on spare parchment as she was so, so bored most of the time. 

Adrian hadn't really tried talking to her again -- other than two nights ago when he spat out a snarky remark about her and Aleks as he passed her in the common room. She had been blowing Fred off, but he wasn't really in the library this past week so it was easy to avoid him. But Aleks, he was hanging around in the library quite a lot, he and Viktor Krum. They were the only two Durmstrang students who were always in the library. Aleks had tried talking to Beth a couple times, but she had made it clear that she wanted to get some studying done.

Aleks did seem like quite the academic student, but Beth couldn't brush off the thought that perhaps he was in there just because she was. 

Harry and Hermione were also seen in the library together quite a lot this week as well; Harry was, after all, a fourth champion for the Triwizard Tournament, along with Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum. Everyone was quite shocked when his name was called out. Beth wasn't shocked at all -- that boy always seemed to be in some sort of trouble. 

As of right now, Aleks was standing by a nearby bookshelf pretending to be interested in a book he was flipping through, but Beth could clearly see him from the corner of her eye stealing glances her way. She had even made brief eye contact with him twice, which only made him smirk at her. 

As the bell rang for lunch, Beth quickly tidied up her area and placed her belongings back in her bag before rushing out the door before Aleks could even open his mouth to say something to her. He was nice, which, for some reason only irked her even more. She couldn't help but feel people only showed the slightest interest in her for reasons other than herself... it was sad. 

Beth skipped down the marble stairs and into the Entrance Hall, where there was a crowd of students trying to make their way through into the doors of the Great Hall. There was a stout little man carrying around a large fancy camera, and in front of him a blonde woman in glasses and hideous lipstick with an enchanted quill and notepad floating at her side. This was Rita Skeeter; Beth had read moronic things she had been putting in the Daily Prophet. 

Beth hadn't expected it, especially as she zoned off into her own little world, but there was suddenly a huge flash right before her eyes and Rita began speaking to her rather quickly, but Beth had missed the first few things she said as Beth blinked, trying to process what had just happened. 

"...know I'm only here for the Tournament but I can't help myself, I must write about you, Miss Black. Would you be willing to participate in an interview? It'll only take a minute and you can stand right there."

Beth blinked and then frowned. "No, I'd rather not. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to--"

"Tell me... what is the name of your biological father? As you're probably well aware, this is a rather controversial topic in the Wizarding community. Some say the infamous mass-murderer Sirius Black... some say otherwise. Indulge me!" 

Before Beth got the chance to say anything rude to Rita Skeeter, another person did. 

"Indulge yourself right out those doors, woman!" Fred exclaimed, coming around and slinging an arm around Beth's shoulder. When he looked down at her with a smile, Beth sent him an icy glare. 

The photographer took a photo and there was another great flash. 

"Oh, sweet young love!" Rita went on as though Fred had said nothing, her enchanted quill scribbling away on the notepad. "Seems the youngest Black gets around just as her family did, especially that Sirius Black. Which Weasley are you...?"

"Out of our way, demon woman," Fred said casually as he guided Beth away from her, and only when they were away from Rita and inside the Great Hall did Beth throw Fred's arm off her. 

"I don't need your help," she said hotly, crossing her arms. 

"No, but she did. You would have given her hell," Fred winked, walking away to the Gryffindor table. 

As Beth made her way to the Slytherin table, her mouth had a mind of it's own and twitched into a small smile. 

Beth had to stay awake until 1:30am in her common room. That was what Harry Potter had said to her. When she asked why, Harry hesitated and then stammered, but eventually got out that Sirius had sent him a letter asking him to tell Beth to wait in the common room at 1:30am and to make sure it's deserted. 

"So you two have been sending each other letters but he can't send one tiny letter to me asking how I'm going?" Beth said slowly, narrowing her eyes at the nervous looking boy. 

"Uh-- er--"

"Never mind. Thanks for telling me. Bye," Beth said shortly, whipping around and stalking off. 

Beth wasn't usually up this late, in fact she couldn't remember the last time she was awake so late. The common room was empty as she sat by the crackling fire, struggling to keep her eyes open. The occasional loud cracking in the fireplace would jolt her wide awake, until she began to drift off and the next loud crack sent the girl jumping awake. 

She began to drift off again, but was woken up by a different sound-- a loud pop in the fireplace and heavy breathing. Beth jumped up off the sofa and her jaw dropped. The face of Sirius Black was staring back at her from in the fireplace. She scrambled down onto her hands and knees quickly until she was sitting with her legs tucked underneath her. The annoyance she had had for Sirius Black when she learnt he had been sending letters to Harry Potter and not her drained out of her immediately; she had no time to be mad about it. 

"Oh my! You're actually here... how are-- what--"

"I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fireplace, but they could be back at any moment so I don't have long. I've just finished speaking with Harry-- but tell me-- how have you been?" Sirius asked.

"I... well, same as always. I'm okay."

"I'm sorry I haven't owled you. I know you're probably upset I owled Harry and not you, but it was an emergency... about the Tournament and... well, he wanted some advice."

"I'm not upset. I get it. You knew him longer than me."

"No," Sirius said sternly. "That isn't the point. It was an emergency. If you should ever find yourself in any trouble, I'll be there."

A warmth spread through Beth's stomach and it was all she could do not to smile stupidly. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, until Sirius spoke again.

"So... what was that in the Daily Prophet I read about you today? You and the Weasley boy..."

Beth groaned and covered her face in her hands. "I've avoided reading it but I'm sure it's something stupid. It was written by Rita Skeeter after all."

"Says something about a Durmstrang boy as well... Should I be worried?" he joked, giving her a playful solemn look. 

Beth smiled and shook her head at him. Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but there was a  faint noise behind him.

"I've got to go, Beth. They're just outside. Keep in touch."

And then his face was gone and it was just an ordinary fire. Beth slowly closed her mouth after having opened it to wish Sirius well, staring hard into the fire in hopes he would come back. It was weird... she had barely even spoken with her uncle before... not even five minutes of conversation the entire time she's known him, and she already liked him much better than she did her deranged mother.