As the last task rolled around, Kit found herself increasingly overwhelmed.

How she wished her tongue and vocal cords would just form the words that her brain was refraining from sharing.

Since that night, she had felt herself falling apart all over again. She had prayed that Roger Davies remembered something, but when she'd seen him, he recalled nothing, and told her all over again that he was stressed and was cancelling practice for all those reasons....

She hadn't gone to the Slytherin Common Room that night, or the next, or any night after that. She could feel Draco's stare on her constantly. Every time he tried to subtly ask what was wrong, she'd brush it off. Blaise was suspicious, of course, but Kit had taken care of that.

"So, what's up?" Blaise asked her during a study session in the library. "You don't come around anymore."

Her initial response was just staring, because she was unsure what to actually say. But then, she had known what would rationalize it without making him suspicious.

"I think I fancy Draco," she said casually. Technically, it wasn't a lie. She had been wondering it, ever so randomly, along with wondering what it might have been like to receive a kiss from Draco. She wasn't sure what her feelings were, aside from a rekindled friendship.

Blaise's eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward, now more engaged, his eyes shining curiously, and his mouth twisting up into a smile. "Really?"

"I think so," said Kit, blushing and looking down for the effect. "I can't stop thinking about him."

This was also true. Even when she hadn't been hanging out with him as often, all she could think of was him. At night when she lay in her dorm thinking how she didn't visit out of fear to be in the hallway, she found herself smiling a bit amidst the paranoia. He was so protective of her. There was hope for him, even though she feared that Lucius would attempt to corrupt him the instant he found out what kind of person Draco was now.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" asked Blaise eagerly. "Are you going to tell him?"

Kit's eyes widened. "Oh, Merlin, no! That'd be too impulsive. Besides... I dunno. I would think he may accept, considering how he acts. But he also might reject me. And what if it ruins things? What if we have a terrible break up and then our arranged marriage is still standing and just... ugh. No, I can't tell him. That'd be the stupidest thing I could do."

Blaise looked highly disappointed. "Kit, I highly doubt you'd have a bad breakup—"

"Well maybe not but I don't think telling him now is the right thing to do."

"But Kit, maybe you should be honest right now—"

"Blaise, I know that perhaps Draco and I are your dream pair, just like you and Hermione are to me—"

"Woah! Hermione and I—"

"—but it's not happening. We're not even fifteen yet, and they say people change a lot in O.W.L. year and sixth year. Draco and I are barely becoming friends again— it's been less than a year, and I'm not going to jump into anything like a relationship given our situation. We're both still under our parents' control and his father could hurt him if he saw him being too soft. There's too many factors going into it, Blaise. If things go well for the next two years... maybe I'll tell him in our seventh year or something."

Blaise let out a soft sigh. "You're right. Sorry, I shouldn't have insisted."

"Don't be sorry. I... I'm not ready for a relationship either way. Eventually, maybe, I will be."

Just like that, Blaise had fallen for it. He had believed that this was her reason for avoiding the Slytherin Common Room, and he'd been fine with it. Of course, he still clearly suspected something else was going on, but he hadn't voiced his questions about it.

Truly, Kit wanted to tell someone. She wanted to owl Sirius or slip a note to Flitwick, or stay behind and spill everything to McGonagall. She wished she could sit Blaise and Draco down and carefully tell them every detail so they could keep her safe.

That was where the trust issues and the paranoia came in.

Moody had gotten violent when he had assumed she told. And even now, not a single prefect or Professor had been able to catch him. Ever since the Quirrell ordeal with the three headed dog and finding out the Chamber of Secrets was real, Kit hadn't trusted Hogwarts was safe at all. This made it worse. Would she ever be safe? Would her friends be safe?

Who could she trust? She had thought Moody was one of the best Aurors, and he turned out to be nothing but a scumbag. And Dumbledore? No, she would never trust that man. What would he even do in response? Moody was one of his friends. Dumbledore could be just as creepy...

The paranoia. What the hell would Moody do to her, to her friends? Would he have enough time to hurt them before someone did something? Would anyone do anything? Would they believe her? She was too much of a troublemaker. Perhaps they'd get her in trouble for even suggesting that Moody could do something like that.

Just like before, she found herself crying. She hated it. The feeling of tears in her eyes, how it made her nose run, how it made her look all blotchy and weird, how it made her feel weak. It was pitiful but she couldn't stop. Now that Roger had cancelled any and all Quidditch practices previously scheduled to take place in the flat area near the Pitch, she took that time between classes to go cry. After, she'd wash her face and find Su to ask her for makeup tips in the remainder of the free period. No one suspected anything. Su was even encouraging her to keep washing her face before.

Kit wished her friends could read minds. But would she even actually want them to know the details? They were in danger because she couldn't gather up the courage to tell. And if she told, she'd be putting them in a worse type of danger either way.

She tried to focus on the final task, just like everyone else. Once June had settled in, everything was excited and tense all over again. Kit, Blaise, Hermione, and Ron had taken to helping Harry with learning spells and hexes for the final task.

It turned out that they were a good combination of teachers. Ron was basically in charge, making notes and suggestions of what Harry should be learning. He wasn't basing his choices off of research like Hermione was, rather through experience based on what he'd heard from his father and older brother. The others were recommending things here and there. Hermione had done most of the research about spells, while Blaise and Kit had done most of the teaching.

Blaise, as it turned out, was an excellent teacher. While Hermione tried to show things to Harry based off the textbooks and her notes, Blaise deviated and instead was the one who took in what she was saying, to then tell it to Harry in a way that he understood. Blaise had worded things so well that Harry had been grasping concepts better than usual. Kit was pleased to see how good the boys were getting along. Blaise was becoming more and more of a regular in their group.

Kit, of course, was still impatient as always, but the recurring anxiety whenever she thought back to Moody due to his name being mentioned so often (it seemed he'd recommended this for Harry) had left her being a good enough teacher. Blaise and Hermione were taking care of charms, while she had been more involved with hexes and transfiguration spells that might come in handy. She had been especially useful in teaching Harry the Shield Charm, as he had struggled to get it right.

Aside from the training, Harry had let Kit and even Blaise know that Sirius was sending daily owls to check on Harry. It seemed Dumbledore had told Harry that he thought Voldemort was growing stronger. Kit felt a great panic sweep through her when he told her, since Moody seemed to be tied to him. And yet, with that imminent fear, she couldn't bring herself to speak up. Knowing his ties to her parents, her sister, and the Dark Lord... more the reason for her to rationalize staying quiet. She could barely process why this was happening to her. Now, he was just more dangerous.

The morning of the third task, on June twenty fourth, Kit thought that maybe things wouldn't be so bad. Harry was prepared as ever.

Unfortunately, the idiotic Rita Skeeter had made things significantly worse. Her new article had been owled to everyone that morning.

'HARRY POTTER DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS'

The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.

Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know- Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.

It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potters brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You- Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion.

"He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."

The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public.

"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Theodore Nott, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power."

Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."

Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.

"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" said Harry lightly, folding up the paper.

Kit whirled around to face the Slytherin table, where Theo was guffawing at the paper, with Pansy now holding onto his arm. Seemed she had finally moved on from Draco since Draco didn't trash talk anymore. She scrunched up her nose, and looked around, seeing Draco was nowhere near them. Where had he gone?

"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Ron said, making Kit turn back to them. "There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard—"

"The window was open," said Harry. "I opened it to breathe."

"You were at the top of North Tower!" Hermione said. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"

"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!" said Harry. "You tell me how she did it!"

"I've been trying!" said Hermione. "But I... but..."

An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Are you all right?" said Ron, frowning at her.

"Yes," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again. "I've had an idea. I think I know... because then no one would be able to see... even Moody... and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge... but she's not allowed... she's definitely not allowed... I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library— just to make sure!"

Just like that, Hermione was gone.

"Oy!" Ron called after her. "We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes!"

"Ooh, I failed that," said Kit, furrowing her eyebrows. "I really am not good at remembering anything historical. I'm the worst in Ravenclaw House for the subject."

"Hermione's the best for us!" said Ron, finally turning back to them once Hermione was completely out of sight. "Blimey, she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class— read again?"

"S'pose so," Harry said. Just then, Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward him.

"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.

"But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time.

"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said simply. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them." She moved away, and Kit checked Ron's watch.

"Well, I've got to get to my Herbology exam," sighed Kit, waving at the boys and departing, not realizing that Harry had remained behind looking very confused.

After her exam, she returned for lunch. Before she could go to the Gryffindor table, she was stopped by Cedric.

"Hey," he said quietly, grinning a bit.

She offered him a small smile. "Hi... um, good luck tonight."

"Thank you. Here— meet my parents."

Kit's eyes widened immediately as Cedric's parents came out from behind him, having been seated at the Hufflepuff table.

"Nice to meet you," Mrs. Diggory said, taking Kit into her arms. Mr. Diggory took Kit's hand and shook it while she was still hugging his wife.

"Cedric's told us plenty about you," he said. "Says you're brilliant, and that you play Quidditch as well!"

"Er— thank you. I'm Kit Thompson, nice to meet you."

"Yes, yes, I met you when you were a little girl," Mr. Diggory said pleasantly. "Your mother brought you to deliver something to your father before he was Head of Magical Law Enforcement. You've grown so much."

Kit wasn't able to let her confusion be processed, because soon, they bade her farewell. It seemed Cho had come in, and Cedric had taken his parents over for her to meet them.

Not wanting to make Cho think something was going on, she left quickly, seeing that Ron's family was here for the third task— to watch Harry.

"Oh, Mum, this is Kit!" said Ginny once she approached. "Ron and I's friend that I mentioned."

"Are you saying she's not our friend?" asked the twins in unison, making Kit giggle slightly as she shook Mrs. Weasley's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am. And you two—" she looked at the twins. "We are friends. We just don't talk enough."

"That'll have to change," George said, wiggling his eyebrows and making Kit smirk as she sat down. She was soon introduced to Bill Weasley as well. For a moment, she felt almost sad at the fact she had no siblings of her own— they seemed to get along so well (except for Percy).

Halfway through lunch, Hermione arrived, and Kit recalled the tiny egg her friend had received for Easter. "Hello, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley, much more stiffly than usual.

"Hello," said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold expression on Mrs. Weasley's face.

Harry looked between them, then said, "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione's not my girlfriend."

"Oh!" said Mrs. Weasley "No— of course I didn't!"

But she became considerably warmer toward Hermione after that. Kit wondered why Ginny or Ron hadn't owled their mother to set the facts straight.

Around the end of lunch before classes started again, Blaise came by to give Hermione a stack of parchment. It turned out that he had been borrowing her notes to study for his next exam.

"Here," he said with a grin. "You're an angel. I'm going to pass for sure. Normally, I can't read what I write."

Mrs. Weasley's eyebrows had gone up immediately, and she had watched Blaise jog away after he gave them all a quick wave. Kit fought back the urge to smirk.

After the remainder of her exams, Kit had returned for dinner and once again found herself seated with the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and even Blaise, to her surprise. As it turned out, Draco was still not around.

"Where is he?" Kit whispered as she wiped her mouth.

"Dunno," admitted Blaise. "I saw him in all our exams but he keeps rushing out after and I don't know where he goes. Something is up."

Kit grimaced visibly. She had a horrible feeling in her stomach. Had he told?

As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."

Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him, while the Hufflepuffs cheered for Cedric. Kit saw him lean down and kiss Cho before heading out.

"Good luck, Harry," she said, though she found herself still watching Cedric.

Five minutes later, everyone was released to go. Kit hung back with Blaise to avoid the crowds, as Hermione promised to save them a spot as she went ahead with Ron.

As they reached the doors of the Great Hall, Kit finally caught a glimpse of Draco. Behind him were her parents, and his.

"Katherine." Her parents walked up, and Kit stopped dead in her tracks. Draco gave her an apologetic look. He told.... He told...

"Draco invited us to watch the Tournament tonight," her father said as he patted her shoulder. "He said that you had wanted us to come."

Draco gave her a look as if to say 'go along with it,' so she calmly nodded. "Yes, I thought you might like it," Kit said flatly. "We thought you might enjoy er— the thrill, especially since the two Hogwarts champions are tied."

Her parents didn't seem at all suspicious. In public, they looked normal, kind, and possibly even loving. Her mother came forward and used a small cloth to wipe her face gently. Her father greeted Blaise with a  smile. Draco and Kit shared an awkward look. He knew it was all a falsehood.

As the Malfoys and Thompsons began to walk ahead, Draco hung back with Kit and Blaise.

"What the hell did you say to them?" Kit hissed lowly.

"Nothing about that," answered Draco calmly as he looped his arm in hers. "I was subtle. I convinced them that they should come see, take a break. I'd like them to be here if anything goes wrong."

Kit felt her cheeks