harry pov

*FLASH*

*FLASH*

The light from the camera was blindingly bright. The other champions and I were getting our picture taken for the daily prophet.

"What a charismatic quartet." A lady said, while examining us all. She had white blonde hair, red lipstick, and was wearing all silky green clothing.

"I'm Rita Skeeter." She introduced, while shaking all of our hands quickly. "I write for the daily prophet. But of course you know that, don't you?"

I did not know that, and by the looks of the other champions, neither did they.

"It's you we don't know. You're the juicy news. What quirks lay below those pretty little cheeks?" She asked us all, while getting a little too close.

"What mysteries do those muscles mask? Does courage lie beneath those curls? In short, what makes a champion, tick?" She said, as she slapped Cedric and I on the back. "We all want to know. So, who's feeling up to share?"

None of us said a word and she examined us all.

"Shall we start with the youngest? Lovely." She continued, grabbing my arm and dragging me into another room.

She took me into a very small closet and shut the door behind her. "Hm, this is cozy."

"It's a broom cupboard."

"Well, you should feel right at home then. Don't mind if I use a quick notes quill do you?"

Did she just- never mind.

I had no idea what a quick notes quill was, but I shook my head anyway. We sat down on two boxes at the very back of the closet, and she crossed over her legs.

"So tell me Harry. Here you sit, a mere boy of twelve-"

"I'm fourteen."

"-about to compete against three students, not only vastly more emotionally mature than yourself, but who have mastered spells that you wouldn't attempt in your dizziest daydreams. Concerned?"

"I-I don't know, I haven't really thought about it." I stopped and peered at the quill scribbling away on a notebook.

"Just ignore the quill. But of course, you're no ordinary boy of twelve, now are you?"

"Fourteen."

"Your storys legend. Do you think it was the trauma of your past that made you so keen to enter such a dangerous tournament?"

"Uh no. I didn't enter."

"Of course you didn't." She winked at me, as though she thought I was lying. "Everyone loves a rebel, Harry." She looked over at the quill. "Scratch that last bit. Speaking of your parents Harry, if they were alive, how would they feel about you entering this tournament? Proud or concerned that your attitude shows, at best, a pathological need for attention, at worst, a psychotic deaths wish?"

How many times do I need to tell her, I didn't enter! I ignored her and peered back over at the quill to see what it was writing.

"Hey! My eyes are not glistening with the ghosts of my past!"

In the time remaining, I was asked the most ridiculous questions and watched as the quill wrote down things that were far from the truth.

And, I was called twelve for the rest of the interview.

----

Florence and I were stood in the owlery waiting for a letter from Sirius.

"When are you and Ron going to start talking again?"

"When he apologises."

"So.....never." She groaned, and sat on the window ledge. "He's hurting too you know. He misses you."

"Then, he can just-just apologise or something. I don't know." I sighed. "It's not my fault he doenst believe me. Out of all people, he should."

I told him the truth, and if Ron really does miss me so much, then he can just tell me. And believe me. That would make a start.

"I know, Harry. He's being a rubbish friend. But with everything going on-"

"With everything going on or not, he should be on my side."

Florence hesitated. "He will be. Just give him time."

An owl flew in through one of the windows. It landed in front of me and I took the note from it's mouth and read it out loud.

Harry,

I couldn't risk sending Hedwig. Ever since the world cup, the Ministry's been intercepting more and more owls and she's too easily recognised. We need to talk, face to face. Meet me in the Gryffindor common room, 1 am this Saturday night. And make sure you bring Florence too.

~Sirius

"How's he gonna get into the school?" Florence asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess we'll find out tonight." I shrugged as we walked out of the owlery. "Is it Ron day or Harry day for you today?"

"Well, Ron and Celeste are at Hogsmeade, and I think Hermione's in the library studying. So that leaves me to babysit you."

"I prefer the term hanging out over babysitting." I laughed.

"Well I am babysitting you, aren't I, little Harry?" She asked in a baby voice.

I scoffed. "Oh really? We're doing this now?"

"We sure are. Do you want a snack Harry?" She mocked in her baby voice again and curled her lip. "Someone looks hungry!"

I picked her up and lifted her over my shoulder. "Ahhhh let me down!" She screamed through laughter.

"Not until you say we're just hanging out!"

"Fine! Fine! We're hanging out!" I set her back down as she crossed her arms. "That is no way treat a lady Harry James Potter!" She pointed her finger at me.

"You enjoyed it though." I smirked.

She blew some hair out of her face and scoffed. "Whatever."

We began to walk back to the castle, talking and laughing like usual until we bumped in to a certain Hufflepuff on the way.

"Well hello, you two." He grinned.

"Hey, Ced. What's up?"

Cedric turned to me. "Can I steal her for a moment?"

I tried to hide the fact I was gritting my teeth together. "Sure. She's all yours."

She isn't really.

He slapped my back. "Thanks, bud."

Cedric took Florence's hand and took her over to the window at the other side of the hall. I was stood awkwardly at the other side, pretending I wasn't watching.

He was leaning down to her, whispering in her ear as she laughed and tried to keep it in.

I tried not to show my jealously, but it really was getting hard.

After a couple minutes of pure torture, she laughed one last time and waved goodbye to him. She walked back over to me happily.

"What was that?" I asked her.

"Oh nothing. Just planning to meet and finish our plan for a prank on the twins." She explained, as we walked back to the common room.

I know Florence might not like Cedric that way, but I see the way he looks at her. It's the same way I look at her, which means I've got some competition.

I know I should probably just pull myself together and ask her out already. I would, if I knew she liked me back. If she doesn't, then it'll be awkward and our friendship will be ruined.

And I can't risk losing her.

I was going to go talk to Ron about it all, until I forgot. He's still bloody mad at me. For something I didn't even do.

"What should we do now?" Florence asked as we walked aimlessly through the corridors.

"We should make Hermione proud."

She laughed and knew exactly what I meant. We went up to our dorms and returned with all of our books and got to studying.

----

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I must've fallen asleep while studying. I looked over and saw Florence lying asleep on the couch with a book lying on her stomach.

I walked over to go and gently lifted the book from her stomach, making sure to fold a corner of the page she was on. I looked back at her and stopped. Her face lit up against the warm glow of the fire. I smiled.

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 12:55 am. It took me a minute before I remembered.......... Sirius!!!!

"Flo! Flo! Wake up!" I said as I shook her.

Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up straight. "I'm up! I'm up!" She got off the couch and yawned. "Jeez. You could've been more gentle."

I smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

We took a moment to look around for any signs that Sirius was here.

"Sirius?" I called out quietly.

There was no response.

"Sirius?" Florence whispered as she walked around the common room.

I walked over to the table where a copy of the Daily Prophet was sitting. I opened it to the page of my interview with Rita Skeeter.

"Harry Potter, age 12, suspect entrant in the Triwizard Tournament. His eyes swimming with the ghosts of his past, and chocking back tears he-"

I scrunched it up and threw it straight into fire. She didn't put one thing that I actually said during the interview. I was so frustrated with it all.

Florence walked over to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Before I got to answer, the fire began to hiss and it blew out two puffs of smoke. We slowly walked over to take a closer look. When we peeked in, a face appeared. Not just any face, it was Sirius.

"Sirius? How-" Florence stared in amazement.

"I don't have much time, so let me get straight to it." He turned to me. "Harry, did you or did you not put your name into the goblet of fire?"

"No!" I whisper shouted.

"Sh! I'm sorry, I had to ask. Now, tell me about this dream of yours. You mentioned Wormtail and Voldemort, but who was the third man in the room?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't hear a name?"

"No. Voldemort was giving him a job to do. Something important."

"And what was that?"

"He wanted...." I hesitated and saw Florence looking worriedly at me. "Me. I-i don't know why. But he was gonna use this man to get to me. But I mean........it was only a dream right?"

Before Sirius answered, Florence spoke with hesitation. "Sirius, I-I've been having dreams too."

I looked at her in shock. Why hadn't she told me?

"Dreams about what?" Sirius asked her.

"A-a graveyard. And flashes of green light, and-and screams. I don't know what it means, but it's the same dream every few nights. It's not real though, is it?"

There was a silence.

Florence's voice quietened. "Sirius?"

"No kids, just dreams. Look you two, the deatheaters at the world cup, Harry's name rising from that goblet, these are not just coincidences. Hogwarts isn't safe anymore."

"What are you saying?" I asked him.

"I'm saying, the devils are inside those walls."

I had an idea of who, and Florence said exactly who I was thinking.

"Igor Karkaroff?"

"Yes, he was a deatheater and no one, no one stops being a deatheater. Then there's Barty Crouch, heart of stone, sent his own son to Azkaban."

I could've sworn I heard a door creak in the distance.

"Do you think one of them put my name in the goblet?" I whispered.

"I haven't a clue who put your name in that goblet, but whoever did it is no friend to you. People die in this tournament."

I heard Florence's breath hitch. I don't think she's really thought about how dangerous this tournament really is. In fact, I don't think either of us have.

"I'm not ready for this Sirius." I panicked as my voice began to break.

"You don't have a choice. One day both of you are gonna grow up and see how things really are, okay? You need to be ready."

"I hope I never grow up at all." Florence said quietly.

I turned to look at her. What does she mean?

"Someone's coming." Sirius whispered. "Harry, Florence, keep each other and your friends close." He finished as his face disappeared into the flames.

"Who are you talking to?" Ron asked tiredly from the stairs.

"Each other." Florence said quickly.

"No, I heard a third voice." He snapped back.

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

"You're probably practising for your next interview, I expect." He sent me a glare before disappearing back into the dorm.

Suddenly I couldn't bear standing anymore. I walked to the couch and sat down with my head in my hands.

"Harry?" I heard Florence's voice close to me as she sat down. "What's wrong?"

"Sirius. Ron. This stupid tournament." I mumbled. "I just want it all to be over."

She sighed as her hand lay inches from mine. "It will be, soon. You just have to get through it. It doesn't even matter if you win, Harry. No one will think any different of you, especially not me."

I turned to her. I wanted to tell her how much her words mean to me.........how much she means to me. I wanted to simply slide my hand over to hers and hold it. But I couldn't.

"Why didn't you tell me about your dreams?" I asked.

Her voice quietened. "I-I just thought it wasn't important. I mean with all this going on, I didn't think it was the right time."

"It's always the right time Flo. I'll always listen to you, you know that." I said, as I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

Why did I do that?! I quickly brought my hand away.

She smiled and her cheeks glowed red. "Thanks, Harry."

"I should be thanking you. I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to be friends with, you know, having a new life threatening problem every year and all."

She laughed lightly. "Well, getting to be with you even for a second makes up for it."

That made me smile. "So, what's you and Cedric's prank on the twins then?"

Her face lit up as she began to go into detail about their brilliantly elaborate plan.

I smiled knowing that she was happy.

That's all I've ever wanted, for Florence to be happy.