The Potter siblings sneak down to the common room, ensuring no one was behind them. The pair had received word from Sirius that had specified the date and hour to meet him and that date and that hour had final befallen the Potters.
"Sirius?" Harry whispers.
A discarded news paper lay on the large, plush sofa that faced the common room fireplace. Harry reached down when he notices his face plastered across the front page like Delilah's had been on Skeeter's 'scandalous' scoop on Delilah. Harry's eyes scan the article, the large headline centred in the middle of the page in large block capitals.
THE CHAMPIONS ARE SELECTED
Harry's eyes continue reading Rita Skeeter's inside scoop into the 'twelve-year-old boy whose eyes swim with the ghosts of his part' and still admits to 'crying about his parents to his cold, unfeeling older sibling.
Harry hands Delilah the paper and her eyes begin to scan the article, hazel orbs flicking back and forward as her brain processes the rubbish that was Skeeter's article.
Harry Potter aged 12, a suspect entrant in the tri-wizard tournament was interviewed by attractive blonde reporter Rita Skeeter, forty-three, whose savage quill has punctured many inflated reputations. An ugly scar, a souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the otherwise charming face of Harry Potter, whose eyes were swimming with the ghosts of his past. Tears fill those startling green eyes as our conversation turns to the parents he can barely remember and the sister who appears to have gained aggression problems from the trauma of her parents' deaths. 'I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it. But when I go to Delilah for comfort, she's cold and unfeeling, making me feel like my emotions aren't valid. I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me. Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts, finally a happy twist in the struggle that is Harry Potter's life. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. When asked if the rumours of his sister being a Banshee were true, Harry clammed up his once warm exterior turned cold in a desperate attempt to protect his beloved sister from the same fate as Meredith Walker who famously ended up in St Mungo's a decade ago and has been locked away for the safety of everyone ever since.
Delilah rolls her eyes before scrunching the paper into a ball, and throwing it into the crackling fire.
"She didn't even talk to me this time and she still slated me. God what a bitch," Delilah sighs but the siblings are both distracted by a spluttering sound coming from the fire before a loud gasp fills their ears.
Delilah's eyes move to the gasping fire before the logs change and move to reveal a wooden version of Sirius' face.
"Sirius?! How-"
"I don't have much time you two so let me get straight to it. Harry, did you or did you not put your name into the goblet of fire?"
"No!"
"He handled it better than Dumbledore" Delilah mutters.
"Shh- 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 dunno"
"You didn't hear a name?" Sirius asks.
"No. Umm Voldemort was giving him a job to do. Something important"
"What was that?"
"He wanted me and he also wants D. I dunno why, but he was gonna use this man to get to us. I mean it was only a dream right?" Harry asks.
"Yes. It's just a dream. Look you two, the death eaters at the world cup, your name rising from that goblet these are not just coincidences. Hogwarts isn't safe anymore" Sirius hisses.
"What are you saying?" Delilah asks.
"I'm saying the devils are inside the walls," Sirius says. "Igor Karkaroff, he was a Death Eater. And no one, no one stops being a Death Eater. Then there's Barty Crouch, a heart of stone sent his OWN son to Azkaban"
"Do you think one of them put my name in the goblet?" Harry asks.
"I haven't a clue who put your name in that goblet Harry but whoever did it is no friend to you. People die in this tournament"
"I'm not ready for this Sirius," Harry says.
"You don't have a choice" Sirius's tone was the deadliest serious she had heard from the man. "Delilah, Skeeter's article has exposed you for what you are, this puts you in more danger than you know"
"Someone's coming!" Delilah whispers as the creaking sound of stairs fills her ears.
"Keep your friends close Harry. And keep Delilah closest, she's the only one who can help you now"
Delilah and Harry's eyes move to the stairs, the creaking continuing as Ron reveals himself to the siblings. Delilah's eyes move to the fire, and Sirius was gone. The only thing left was the charred, ashy remains of the daily prophet, Rita Skeeter's face was staring back at Delilah.
"Who are you two talking to?" Ron asks.
"Who said we were talking to anyone," Harry replies.
"I heard voices," Ron says. "More than just yours and D's"
"Maybe you're imagining things, wouldn't be the first time," Harry snaps.
"You're probably just practising for your next interview I expect," Ron says.
"Cut it out, both of you," Delilah's tone reflected the annoyance she was feeling at the two boys who were being extremely childish.
Ron sighs, not wanting to be on the receiving end of Delilah's fury, before leaving the room. Beginning his ascent of the stairs, Ron's footsteps were slow which allowed Harry's anger to boil over. The bespectacled boy launches a quill at one which hit the boy surprisingly hard.
"Maybe now you'll have a scar," Harry's voice was cold towards his best friend.
Ron rolls his eyes before continuing his ascent to his dormitory, disappearing from the sibling's eye line when he turns the corner of the spiralled stairs.
"What am I going to do D?" Harry asks, leaning into his sister who wraps her arms around him.
"I don't know Harry," Delilah says. "I really don't know. Keep continuing your lessons with McGonagall. Learn defensive skills"
"I thought the best defence was a strong offense?"
"That's when you know you're stronger than your opponent,"
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