I Can't Stop Digging the Way You Make Me Feel

After that night in the Great Hall, things had gone from bad to worse for Harry. He and Ron weren't talking, people accused him of cheating every time they passed him, and the Slytherin's were being more vile than ever. November came with a vengeance as the sun officially retired and clouds, rain, and blustery winds took its place. It was as though the weather outside mirrored the attitude inside. A couple of days before the first task, Harry approached Emilie outside of class and told her that he'd received a letter from a certain fatherly figure in Emilie's life, asking to speak face-to-face at midnight that night. Harry knew that she'd take any chance to speak to her father, but he also knew he needed a look-out because of Sirius' known status as an escaped convict, someone he could trust. So that night, Emilie quietly snuck out of her dorm and met Harry down in the common room. He was looking at Rita Skeeter's article about him in the Daily Prophet.

"Just ignore it, Harry. She's a twisted, sadistic journalist who uses other people's lives to make her a better writer. You're just stressing yourself out and that is the last thing you need right now."

Emilie took the newspaper out of his hands, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the dying fire. The fire suddenly sputtered out sparks and Emilie and Harry looked at it cautiously. Suddenly, the face of Harry's godfather and Emilie's true father, Sirius Black, appeared in the flames.

"Sirius? How--how did---?"

"I haven't got much time Harry, so let me get straight to it. Did you or did you not put your name into the Goblet of Fire?"

"No!" Harry answered defensively. Emilie gently shushed him and looked between the stairs and the portrait hole

"I had to ask. Now, tell me about this dream of yours. You mentioned Wormtail and Voldemort, but who was the third man?"

"I dunno. I recognize him, I mean I've seen him somewhere before I just----can't remember. But Voldemort's given him a job to do. Something important. He wanted--"

Harry stuttered, unable to fully comprehend what he was about to say due to the confusion that lay around it. Emilie put a supportive hand on his shoulder and gave Harry a look, silently telling him that things would be okay.

"He wanted me. I dunno why but he was going to use this man to get to me. But it's just a dream, right?"

"Yes," Sirius agreed uncertainly. "It's just a dream. But listen Harry, the Death Eaters at the World Cup, your name coming out of the Goblet...these aren't just coincidences anymore. Hogwarts isn't safe anymore."

"It's not like we haven't heard that before." Emilie muttered. Sirius gravely chuckled and Harry cracked a small smile

"In all seriousness, I'm saying that the devil is inside the walls. Igor Karkaroff? He was a Death Eater and no one, no one stops being a Death Eater. And then Barty Crouch, heart of stone. He sent his own son to Azkaban."

There was a sound that interrupted the silence in the common room, causing both Emilie and Harry to look around. Upon seeing nothing and no one, the scooted closer to the fire to talk even more quietly.

"Do you think one of them put his name in the Goblet, then?" Emilie asked

"I haven't got a clue but whoever did is no friend to you, Harry. People die in the tournament!"

"I'm not ready for this---"

"You don't have a choice, Harry."

A door creaked open from the dormitory area and Emilie noticed a shadow approaching the bottom of the stairs.

"Someone's coming." She whispered

"Keep your friends close, Harry. And Em? Keep a weather eye out." Emilie nodded and her father disappeared. She put her hands out in front of her, pretending like she was warming them up, and turned to see who was coming into the common room. It was Ron.

"Who were you talking to?" He asked

Harry looked around back at Emilie. "Just Emilie."

"I heard a third voice."

"Maybe you're imagining things. Wouldn't be the first time."

"You're probably just practicing for your next interview, I expect."

Ron gave Harry a dirty look and walked back upstairs.

"He'll come to his senses, Harry. Trust me."

"I do, but right now I'm not so sure. Thanks for everything, Em."

"Don't worry about it. You know that you can come to me with anything, especially things that involve my dad, your godfather."

Harry smiled graciously and walked up to his dorm. Emilie let out a heavy sigh and laid down on the couch, replaying the conversation in her head.

"Em?"

Emilie sat up and saw George coming down the stairs, looking tired.

"What are you doing up?" She asked

"Harry and Ron storming up the stairs woke me up. And you?"

"I couldn't sleep so I talked to Harry about the first task for a bit."

Emilie moved her legs and George sat down in that spot, pulling her legs back onto his lap. Emilie smiled and looked at the still-dying fire.

"I'm worried about him, George." She confessed

George looked at her as she sat up, taking notice for the first time just how pretty she looked in the dim firelight. He patted her leg comfortingly.

"He'll be fine. Harry's a lot more skilled than he comes off as. Usually, he seems kind of dimwitted like Ron, but look at all the things he's done with the basilisk and the dementors--"

"Yeah, but this is different. Someone intentionally wants to see him do this and watch him get hurt or possibly die, and I think it's Karkaroff."

"Durmstrang's headmaster?"

"Yeah. He's a former Death Eater and once you're in that crowd, you're in for life because they're all too cowardly to turn against You-Know-You. I mean, look at him. He's creepy and I've seen him sneaking around corners with Snape and we all know Snape's alliance is a little iffy."

"Maybe they're having a secret affair."

Emilie chuckled and George laughed along with her. She then shook her head.

"Harry's battling dragons on Saturday and that's just the first task. They're only going to get tougher. Not to mention that everyone in this school is against him so he's pretty much alone."

"Okay Em, listen to me."

George looked down at Emilie, seeing the worry in her eyes.

"I'm worried about Harry, too. I think deep down, everybody is. Dumbledore and McGonagall certainly are, but there's nothing we can do about it. Like Harry said, the Goblet of Fire has a contract that can't be broken. The only thing we can do is support him and help him prepare the best we can."

Emilie nodded in understanding and leaned against the back of the couch.

"I'm so glad you and Fred weren't able to enter. I'd be more nervous and even more of a mess than I am now and I don't know what I would if you two got hurt or worse."

George put his arm around the back of the couch and hugged Emilie closer to him, placing his head on top of hers.

"Thanks, George." Emilie spoke quietly

George smiled and rubbed her arm. As they sat there in a comfortable silence, thoughts started whizzing around in George's head....thoughts about a certain brunette that he'd known for fifteen years. He thought about how kind-hearted she was, worrying about Harry the way she did, and how pretty she looked, and how whenever she laughed and smiled, he couldn't help but smile and laugh with her.

What was going on with him?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The morning of the first task was exactly like the combined attitudes of the students in the school: gloomy, depressing, and cold. The only brightness that shone in the school was that it was the first weekend when the teacher's decided to lay off the homework, which allowed the the students, especially the older students, to sleep in. And that's what they did. On that Saturday, Emilie, Katie, and Alyssa missed breakfast and slept in until lunch. When Emilie woke up, forty-five minutes before the first task started to be exact, she took a shower, got dressed, grabbed her scarf and gloves, and headed straight for the Entrance Hall. She found Fred and George waiting for her at the bottom of the staircase. Both of them had boxes around their necks.

"You ready?" Fred asked as Emilie jumped the last three steps

"You bet! Let's go."

The three of them headed down the corridor that led them down to the Quidditch pitch. When they got outside, Fred stationed himself at the entrance to the stands while George and Emilie went into the stands to the people who were already sitting and waiting.

"You feeling better since Thursday?" George asked

"No, but the talk definitely helped. Thanks again, really."

George smiled at his best friend and they both entered a row full of students.

"Bets! Place your bets! Bets taken here!" George shouted throughout the stands

"Step up folks! Who fancies a flutter in today's bloodbath?" Emilie also shouted

"Smart money on Krum to survive!"

A rush of people came up to George and Emilie to place their bets and after they scurried off, Fred caught up with them, his face looking pink and gleeful.

"How'd you guys do?"

"That big crowd you just fought through came from us. What does that tell you?"

"That this was the greatest idea we've ever come up with."

"I can't believe you actually pulled this off."

Emilie turned and saw Katie and Alyssa, finally awake and moving, walking towards them.

"To be honest, I don't even know how we're getting away with this. Snape usually ruins all of our fun by now."

"Oh sod him. This is a fun event. Snape and fun are just about as compatible as him and shampoo." Katie smirked

Emilie nodded in agreement and laughed. Fred and George finally took notice of Katie and Alyssa's presence and rushed over to them, standing on either side of Emilie and squishing her in the middle.

"Hello, ladies." They said together, smirking widely

"Would you like to place a bet?" Fred asked

Katie pulled some money out of her pocket and gave it to him.

"Ten-to-one for Fleur. There you go."

Fred put her money in the box and shut and locked it. He and George then took the boxes off and put them down on the ground by their feet.

"So, does anyone know what the first task is?" Alyssa asked

"Dragons." Emilie, Fred, and George answered together

"Well okay, then. How'd you guys find out?"

"Charlie helped bring them over from Romania and Dumbledore let us cut our last class on Wednesday to go say 'hi'." George explained

"I wasn't allowed to, so I snuck out with Harry that night." Emilie said

The cannon suddenly fired and Cedric entered the Quidditch pitch, which had transformed into a giant, rocky obstacle. There were many cheers and applause for him, but the look on his face gave away the fact that he wasn't paying attention to his fans, but to the large dragon in front of him, guarding a golden egg.

After an hour of watching Cedric, Krum, and Fleur dodge their dragons to retrieve their golden egg, it was finally Harry's turn. Emilie's nerves were on the brink once again as he stepped out from the champion's tent into the rocky fortress. She was one of the loudest to cheer and then the pitch became completely silent. The dragon was nowhere in sight, so Harry started towards his egg. All of a sudden the dragon appeared out of nowhere and snapped viciously at him.

"Bloody hell, he got the Horntail." George commented

"Vicious, vicious dragon." Fred added

"Thanks. That makes me feel so much better." Emilie said

Every time the dragon made brutal contact with Harry, whether it be throwing him around or attacking him with its strong, scaly tail, the crowd flinched along with Harry as he became more and more injured.

"Your wand, Harry! Your wand!" Hermione shouted from a couple rows in front of Emilie. Harry pointed his wand to the sky, his incantation masked by the dragon's roar. Harry ducked behind a rock just as the dragon blew fire at him. And then suddenly, many things happened at once. A whizzing noise was heard and then Harry, in full confidence, stepped out into the open, and hopped onto his Firebolt. The crowd cheered loudly at his sudden move.

"There's our Quidditch star!" Alyssa shouted between cheering and whistling

"Suck that, Viktor Krum!" Emilie laughed

"Yeah, Gryffindor represent!" Katie applauded

Harry flew around the pitch, nearly out-flying the chained dragon, but received groans of disappointment when he failed to capture the egg when he was oh so close to it. He flew higher and higher, attempting to go for it again from a different approach, but then the dragon's chain snapped. Harry flew underneath the tent covering the teachers' seats and the Horntail followed, tearing the tent off, and chasing Harry into the open sky. Everybody cheered loudly.

"Yeah, well done, dragon!" Fred and George yelled loudly, high-fiving each other

The buzzing in the stadium died down as everyone anticipated what was going to happen next. The cry of the dragon was heard throughout the air and then there was nothing.

"Oh no." Emilie whispered into the wind

"Don't worry, love. I'm sure he's fine." George said reassuringly

Emilie turned her gaze back onto the horizon and she suddenly noticed a tiny black dot drawing closer and closer to the stadium.

"What the hell is that?" Katie asked, noticing the dot as well. Pretty soon, everybody was cheering as the figure of Harry flew closer. He dove down and scooped up his egg, tumbling off his broom as he did. The Gryffindor's in particular cheered until their voices turned hoarse. Since he was the last one, everybody started clearing out of the stadium.

"See? He did it! And he did it with the fastest time. And you were worried."

Emilie slapped George's arm as they headed back to their common room. Harry came in moments after Emilie, Fred, George, Katie, and Alyssa did and the entire common room burst into even more applause. Fred and George went over to him and picked him up onto their shoulders.

"We knew you could do it, Harry!" George said

"Lose a leg!"

"Lose an arm!"

"Pack it in all together, never!!" The twins ended together

Emilie and Alyssa rolled their eyes as Seamus Finnigan tossed Harry his egg, demanding him to open it. When he did, a loud screech filled everyone's ears. Fred and George dropped him to plug their ears.

"What the bloody hell was that?" A voice broke through as soon after Harry closed the egg. It was Ron. The tension between them immediately went to awkward.

"Okay everyone, get back to your knitting. It'll be awkward enough without all you nosy sods listening in." Fred said

They all turned away and sat down on the couch, warming up next to the roaring fire.

"Was it me or did that sound like Percy singing?" Emilie said

"That's what I thought." George replied

Emilie looked back at Harry and Ron and saw that they were talking normally again. She smiled to herself. Boys.