If You've Got the Nerve

All three of us scrambled down the stone steps, getting a few scrapes on the knees along the way. George ended up skidding down the last few and sliding a few inches on the smooth ground. He wasted no time in launching back on to his feet and following Fred and I to the Great Hall.

No one seemed interested in out late entrance even though the tables were packed. The foreign students stood out greatly with their unique school uniforms. Lee spotted us first and beckoned us over quickly. Fred and George shot over to discuss the arrivals. I took my time in strolling over to the empty seat beside Lee.

My eyes wandered around the four tables. The Durmstrang boys were crowded in among the Slytherins. A few of them looked less than happy with their current position. The Beauxbatons had a slightly better seating arrangement with the Ravenclaws. It was a blinding sea of blue on that side of the room.

“…didn’t even enter my mind that it was his school,”

“You’re not going to go mental over him, are you?” I asked, having just caught the last bit of Fred’s words as I sat down. He didn’t spare me a glance though.

The plates and bowls were already filled with Hogwarts’ finest foods including a few new dishes. I was poking at a sickeningly green lump of what I hoped was pudding when a strong hand suddenly fell on to my shoulder. I jumped slightly and turned to see who it was. Vinny was grinning at me with brilliantly white teeth.

“I want you to meet my brother!” he said happily.

“Your brother?”

“Yeah! He’s enrolled in Durmstrang. I haven’t been able to see him since summer. He didn’t even tell me that he was coming here.” He was pulling me up from my seat by the hand as he spoke. I was slightly grateful that I didn’t have to pretend to enjoy whatever that food was just to be polite.

“Nox, where are you going?” Vinny and I both stopped. I glanced back to see Fred watching me with a slight bit of caution laced in to his curious expression.

“Vinny wants to introduce me to his brother. Do you want to come along?” Part of me regretted the invitation as soon as it had left my mouth, because the words brought about a kind of deflation in Vinny’s stance. He immediately dropped my hand.

Fred jumped off his seat and strode over to us. He waved off his brother’s questioning. George turned back to his conversation with Seamus and Lee. Vinny led Fred and I across the room towards the Slytherin table.

I don’t think I could ever remember being this close to it since my earlier years when Fred and I would run around the entire place before breakfast. It was best then because nobody was in here except Dumbledore on occasions and he would only watch us with amusement. Fred must have been thinking the same thing, because he nudged me and tilted his head towards a scorch mark that adorned the polished table. A grin grew across my face.

“Here,” Vinny broke in to my memories. He stood beside two much older looking boys. Neither of them showed any hints of a smile. It was intimidating, really. I shrank back slightly against Fred who I suddenly noticed had frozen up.

“He’s not your brother, is he?” I glanced at my friend’s awed face then back at the two boys before us. My mouth opened in a round O of understanding. The boy on the left held no familiarity about his sharp features or dark eyes, but the one next to him was easily recognizable. He was “the best Seeker in the world”, after all.

Vinny gave Fred a small smile then moved his full attention back to me. He placed a hand on the unfamiliar boy’s shoulder.

“This is my brother, Artem True,” Artem smiled at me. It was a smile that brought his handsome features out in a sudden, dazzling, shine. He gently took my hand and brought it to his lips for a second before dropping it. I smiled awkwardly at him, my face flushed slightly. I most certainly was not used to that sort of greeting.

Vinny waved a lazy hand at Krum, “And his friend, Viktor Krum.” He raised a knowing eyebrow at me. He clearly thought it was unnecessary to give Krum’s name, but thought it polite.

“And who is this lovely girl, little brother?” Artem’s words were much harder to make out thanks to his dripping accent. You could tell he spent much more time in his homeland than his brother. Vinny was silent while he stared at me. Then his gaze fell and his face burned a red that rivaled the Durmstrang uniforms.

“Uh…we…uh… weren't…”

“I never really properly introduced myself to your brother,” I supplied with a small smile at Artem, “My name is Anima Nox Heart. You can just call me Nox,”

“So why are you in Durmstrang and your brother is here?” I jumped at the sound of Fred’s voice next to me, having almost forgotten he was there thanks to his silence. His words came out cold which was unusual for him. I gave him and odd look, but his focus was on Artem.

“I live with my father in Solovki, my little brother lives with our mother in London,” Artem answered coolly, apparently unaffected by Fred’s tone.

“So they’re separated?” Fred was slightly hesitant, the ice in his words melted.

“No,” it was Vinny that spoke this time. He sounded almost angry at the sound of the question. Artem gave his brother a glance before moving his eyes back to Fred.

“Their hearts belong to each other, though they reside in different homelands.”

“Because that’s simple…” Fred muttered under his breath so that only I could hear. I suppressed a laugh.

Dumbledore was soon standing at the front of the staff table.

“Nox,” my name sounded strange being spoken in Artem’s thick accent, “I believe your headmaster is preparing to speak. You should return to your own seats.” I nodded.

“It was nice to meet you both,” I gave a last smile to both Artem and Krum before turning to return to the Gryffindor table. Fred followed closely by my side, his hand brushing against mine every so often.

We took our seats just as Dumbledore began to speak. Fred and George leaned forward in their seats, probably hoping to catch a bit of information that would help them trick their way in to the tournament. Bartemius Crouch and Ludo Bagman we introduced. Dumbledore went on about the tournament in a speech that left every student deathly silent.

“The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire.” Something about the name that Dumbledore spoke left a ringing in my mind that put any other slight noise at a far distance.

He tapped the top of the case that had been placed in plain view. It opened and out came a roughly crafted goblet larger than anything even Hagrid had taken a drink out of. It wasn’t that that caused my breath to hitch, though. It was the wave of blue flames spitting from the very depths of the goblet, twisting like gnarled roots.

Somewhere in a far corner of my mind, a beast roared in anger and the heat of flames filled my veins.