The Champions

"You're not going to tell us what happened?" Hermione asked incredulously as Millie laid on her bed in the fourth year girl's dormitory and Ginny listened as she sat painting her nails on Hermione's bed.

"There's nothing to tell."

"You're lying! You and Fred are acting even weirder than last week and you're avoiding Cedric now!"

"Yeah, you and Fred are being weirdly polite to each other and you guys are never like that." Ginny insisted, looking at Millie insistently.

Millie covered her face with her hands in frustration, not wanting to think about the past week and how awkward she and Fred had been around each other. On top of that, the other schools had arrived at Hogwarts and the champions would be announced tonight. This was part of the reason the girls were in their dormitory right then because the common room was packed with everyone talking about the tournament and Millie was getting too annoyed with the large group of people.

"You'll feel better if you tell us."

"Yeah, we can help you work through what happened." Hermione agreed, looking at Millie hopefully.

"Fine." Millie sighed and sat up, pulling a pillow into her lap and staring at it as she started to answer, "Well, basically, it was just so confusing. We got up to the Astronomy Tower and he acted so odd then he asked if I remembered our first kiss."

"What? First kiss?" Hermione exclaimed, sitting up with interest.

"Remember, they played spin the bottle and they kissed?" Ginny reminded her and Hermione nodded so they gestured for her to continue. Millie finished telling them of the awkward night in the astronomy tower and how she was almost kissed by Fred for real before Mr. Filch caught them. Ginny and Hermione were both shocked at what happened but immediately started discussing what this meant for Millie and Fred's future because they were sure this meant that he was madly in love with her. But Millie just ignored them and laid back down, petting Muffin who had come to investigate what was going on.

Hermione and Ginny's riddling out possibilities for Millie and Fred's future continued for a while- Ginny even provided possible names for any future children- before Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil walked in, reminding them that dinner was about to start so the girls got up and freshened up a bit before heading down for dinner.

When they arrived the boys were already there so Millie sped up so she could sit next to Harry instead of having to suffer through an awkward dinner of sitting beside Fred. Ginny gave her an amused look as she sat across from her and next to Fred so Millie just gave her a look telling her to shut up.

Dinner went smoothly, with only one awkward moment when Fred and Millie reached for a roll at the same time and both retracted their hands so fast that it was like they were afraid of what would happen if they touched. But with the incident of George and Fred both being thrown out of the age line and growing beards, along with speculating who would become Hogwarts champion, they were able to avoid anymore awkward situations.

"ATTENTION!" Headmaster Dumbledore stood up, gaining everyone in the Great Hall's attention. Ludo Bagman, the Department of Magical Games and Sports head, and Barty Crouch, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, were both in attendance so they got up and explained more about the tournament, what the champions would be responsible for, and how the tasks would be set up. Eventually, the moment everyone had been waiting for had come. Dumbledore walked to the cup, whispering a spell as he approached that started the process of choosing the champions for each school.

"First up, the champion for Hogwarts is... CEDRIC DIGGORY."

Millie's stomach dropped as the Great Hall erupted in cheers and she swiveled around to look at Cedric, who was being congratulated by the whole Hufflepuff table, as he started to walk up to the front he caught her eyes giving her a small smile. Harry squeezed her shoulder and gave her a small grin to try to cheer her up. She smiled back weakly and turned to Dumbledore as he announced the next champion.

"From Beauxbatons school, Fleur Delacour!" A slim, blonde girl who Ron had been drooling over since she got here stood up and walked to the door in the back of the Great Hall to join Cedric.

"Lastly, Durmstrang's champion is Viktor Krum!" The famous quidditch player stood up, walking to the front, seemingly not taking in anyone's cheers.

Dumbledore turned back to the Great Hall, speaking words of congratulations about the champions and was about to dismiss everyone from the Great Hall when the goblet started to shoot sparks out as it had done before choosing each of the other champions.

Millie turned to Harry, whispering, "I wonder what that is-"

"HARRY POTTER!"

Millie's eyes widened as Harry's name was called as another champion for the Triwizard Tournament. Harry didn't move a muscle, seemingly froze in shock as Professor Dumbledore demanded he come to the front. Millie took the situation in her own hands and pushed Harry out of his seat, hissing at him to walk up there before he caused a bigger scene. Millie watched him walk up there worriedly and exchanged a look with Ginny that said they were both terrified for him. Dumbledore ordered everyone to their dormitories as he and the other professors and Headmasters rushed to the back room containing the champions.

"Bloody hell, what just happened?" Millie asked in bewilderment as she walked next to Hermione and Ron up to Gryffindor tower. Hermione looked just as confused as she did and shook her head in obvious confusion. Ron, however, looked rather angry and didn't hesitate in sharing his opinion.

"What happened is that bloody famous Harry Potter couldn't stand missing a chance to get everyone's attention on him. What a git. You'd think he would've told his best friend he entered but no!"

Millie looked at Ron with obvious distaste, "Ronald Weasley, that is your best friend, don't say things like that! Harry was obviously just as surprised as everyone else when he got called up there. No way he put his name in!"

Before Ron could retort, Fred and George rushed past saying something about running to the kitchens and a party. When they got to the tower, Ron headed up to his dorm immediately, not saying anything else since being scolded by Millie. Hermione and Millie decided to wait in the common room until Harry got back and, as they waited, a party broke out in there, Lee having went and retrieved a Gryffindor banner and the twins bringing back a ton of food for the party.

The twins walked over to where Millie and Hermione were sitting in a pair of armchairs away from everyone else. George sat on the arm of Millie's chair as he asked them, "How do you think he did it? Blimey, wish he would've told us so we could too."

"You can't possibly believe he entered himself!" Hermione scolded George.

"How else did he end up a champion?" Fred asked Hermione.

"Obviously, he's being set up by someone but the real question is why." Millie stated, giving both the boys a disapproving look for believing that Harry would enter himself.

"But why would anyone do that?" George asked her, confused. Unfortunately, Millie and Hermione didn't have an answer to that so they just shrugged. "Well are you two going to come join the party then?"

Hermione and Millie just shook their heads, Millie answering, "No, we are just waiting on Harry to get back but you two go have fun."

Fred gave her a searching look but got up and went with George to where Lee was, presumably, spiking the punch they had gotten from House-elves. Millie must've watched them for too long because she turned back as Hermione asked, "So, Cedric was chosen as a champion too, what do you think about that?" Hermione had gotten out her knitting stuff to continue making socks and other things for the house-elves.

Millie eyed the knitting with distaste but, having failed to talk her out of it on multiple other occasions, she simply answered, "It would appear so."

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"Ugh, I don't know. I feel sort of badly since he's been trying to speak to me all week and now he must be so nervous... what should I do?" Hermione took her eyes off her knitting as she knew Millie was being serious in asking for her advice, which she so rarely did. Millie has always been very headstrong and independent, having grown up with a single man but also being pawned off to nannies or the Weasley or being left to her own devices when she was old enough, she learned to think for herself at a very young age.

"Mil, I know this whole situation has been confusing for you but I think you should talk to Cedric, at least as his friend because the tournament is going to be very daunting." Millie nodded her head, accepting her friend's advice and thankful that she didn't try to make her feel badly about being confused.

As there was a sudden roar of cheers, Hermione and Millie gathered that Harry had arrived so Millie went to save him from the crowd. As she caught up to him, the twins were badgering him and Lee was trying to swaddle him in a Gryffindor flag. After she divested him of the flag, shoving it at Lee and giving Fred and George annoyed looks she led him back over to Hermione, letting him sit in her vacated seat and seating herself on the arm of the chair next to him.

"Er, thanks Amelia." Harry said, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion but not saying anything else as he stared at his hands. Hermione and Millie gave him a moment before Hermione timidly broke the silence asking him what happened.

"I'm competing. Mr. Crouch and Bagman say that the Goblet of Fire is binding and I have to compete. The other heads... they were really mad. It was...I swear I didn't enter my name. You believe me, don't you?" At the last part Harry eyed both of them hopefully and they both, of course, answered affirmatively, knowing he didn't do it. When Harry asked where Ron was, though, Millie and Hermione exchanged glances. Millie sighed before answering, "He's just a little...put out Harry. He'll get over it."

When Harry asked that Ron believed that he didn't put his name in, there was an awkward silence as neither of them wanted to break it to Harry that Ron believed he did. Harry was obviously irritated and none of them were feeling the party atmosphere so they all headed up to bed, none of them knowing that they were all extremely worried about the coming months and how Harry would fair in the tournament.