𝙿𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 - 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦 | ✔︎

Chapter 24

The whole time the tournament was on, Natasha and the other three 'valuables' were fast asleep, their heads full of all the things a good dream should hold. Natasha dreamt of the greatest prank ever pulled at Hogwarts, surrounded by her parents, who were laughing together, Fred and the rest of the Weasley's, and James and Lily, who had Harry right next to them.

Hermione dreamt of becoming the Minister for Magic, whilst being married to a certain red head and seeing all of her friends in office beside her.

Cho dreamt of Cedric and only Cedric, of his hair, and his eyes, as she was led through almost a story of their marriage and children running around.

And little Gabby dreamt of a faraway land where she and Fleur could run free from the strict rules of their family. She had a white wood wand, with flowers decorating the base.

Each girl was dreaming of the things they so desperately desired.

Meanwhile, the champions had just entered the Black Lake, and the onlookers were chattering their teeth as a cool wind surrounded the platforms they were viewing from. Some students had placed charms on their clothes to keep them warm, but Fred, Lee and George usually relied on Natasha to do this, but since she was currently at the bottom of a lake, they had to rely on their knitted wear from Molly.

When Harry finally reached the spot where the four girls were, he was initially shocked to see that Natasha was his valuable. He thought back to the times they had spent together up in the Owlery, and her connection to Sirius. Sure, he had spent more time with Ron and Hermione, but Natasha was family – something he had always wished for.

He noticed that Viktor was freeing Hermione, and as he sped away Cedric arrived, pointing to his wrist as he freed Cho. Harry nodded and quickly blasted the ropes surrounding Natasha, pushing her above his head before going to Gabby.

The mermen and mermaids jeered and clawed at him as he successful saved Gabby, before he grabbed both girls by the back of their clothes and kicking as hard as could to get them to the surface.

Natasha's face looked peaceful as she was unconsciously dragged back up to the platforms, but inside her mind, her dream was slowly disappearing. She was running towards her parents, but they kept on getting further and further away; she was waking up.

With the mind Natasha held, it should have shocked no one that she would have unconsciously fought the spell she was under. Her wand was safely locked away in Minerva's office, and she had no means of saving herself.

They were a mere 50 metres away from the surface when Natasha's eyes opened and the charm on her broke. She whipped her head over to Harry who looked at her shocked as the effects of the Gillyweed wore off, and he and Natasha were getting dragged back down into the lake.

Without thinking, Natasha helped Harry grab Gabby and threw her up to surface, as she slowly drowned. She knew in the back of her mind she could attempt one last spell with no magic to help her and Harry, but even a wizard like Dumbledore only mastered wandless magic when he was many years older than Natasha.

Natasha thought back to Fred and her father, and with one last thought of consciousness, she closed her eyes and muttered a strange string of words not even she knew. Immediately, she and Harry were blasted into the air, and whilst Harry smacked straight onto the platform, Natasha was able to land on her feet, before collapsing into someone's arms.

"Miss Black, are you alright?" Severus whispered quietly into her ear, and Natasha shook her head as he gently dropped her onto the floor. As much as Severus loathed Sirius, Aurelia had trusted him to watch over the girl when she entered Hogwarts, and he wasn't going to let his cousin down.

She looked so much like Aurelia that it physically pained Severus to leave the girl to everyone else. His cousin had been his rock during school when things had gotten tough for him, and now he wanted to be Natasha's rock if she ever needed to talk.

Of course, Sirius would never allow that, and James would be swearing profanities on the other side if he knew of the relation between the two. But Severus didn't care as he slipped a carefully rolled up piece of parchment into Natasha's robe pocket, hastily leaving as Fred took Natasha into his arms.

"Nat, come on, are you ok?" he asked frantically, and Natasha responded by coughing up a litre of water from her lungs. He immediately rubbed her back and both Minerva and Madam Pomfrey rushed through the crowd surrounding Natasha and Harry.

Fleur was trying to get through to the two Gryffindor's, and she kissed Harry's cheek in gratitude. Madam Pomfrey refused the girl's request to see Natasha as she worked on her, but a small thumbs up from an exhausted Natasha was enough for Fleur.

"Everyone away! This girl needs to go to the hospital wing immediately!" Poppy Pomfrey shouted, and with the aid of Severus, Minerva and Albus, Natasha was levitated up to the hospital wing, followed by Harry and Fred.

As she was lain down on the hospital cot, Dumbledore sat in the chair beside Natasha, as Poppy promptly dried Natasha and helped with her drowning lungs. "Miss Black, could we possibly have a small chat?" the headmaster asked, and Natasha nodded, finally able to open her eyes a bit more.

"What's up professor?" she asked, propping herself up on her bed so that she was eye level with the wizard. He reached into his robes and pulled out Natasha's wand, handing it to her promptly. The beechwood wand had a phoenix core, which Natasha shared with her father.

"Your wand was locked away in McGonagall's office during the tournament Miss Black, however you managed to cast a wandless and wordless spell which consequently saved you and Mr Potter," he said, and Natasha looked down at her wand, rubbing her fingers against the star patterned base.

When Mr Ollivander had first seen Natasha enter his shop, he instantly pulled out that particular wand. Not because it shared the core her father's wand held, or because it was a beech wood wand, but due to the stars etched into the wood.

He had created that wand after Sirius and Aurelia had bought their wands when they were eleven, even though they themselves did not know each other. It was just a feeling he had, after handing Aurelia her wand, and he didn't realise he had etched the stars in until the third star appeared.

"Do you understand Miss Black, that wandless magic is the most difficult kind of magic in our world?" the headmaster asked, and Natasha nodded, meeting his eyes.

"I was desperately trying to save Harry. I didn't even know the spell I used. It was as if-"

"-someone else said it for you," Dumbledore finished. "There's no doubt Miss Black that you performed the spell, but I was wondering if I could take a quick look at your bracelet," he asked kindly, and Natasha unclipped the gold clasp of the gift she had received on her birthday, which had a locket with a portrait of her mother attached.

Albus ran his thumb over the locket before opening it, to reveal a smiling Aurelia. Though it was miniscule, it still managed to capture her glistening eyes. "Professor," she said, and Albus smiled kindly.

"Miss Hope, or shall I say, Mrs Black, how lovely to see you," the old wizard said, and Aurelia nodded, the canvas encasing each and every one of her moves. She had been painted wearing her favourite blue dress, a throwback to her days as a Ravenclaw student.

"And you Albus, but please call me Aurelia. Mrs Black makes me feel old. Hello Natasha," she said, waving to her daughter. Natasha waved back and leant back on her pillow, content to just hear her mother speak.

"Aurelia, you wouldn't happen to know why Natasha here was able to save herself?" the professor asked with a strange glint in his eye, and Aurelia smirked as the same glint appeared in her own.

"Of course, not Albus, why would you ever think such a thing?" By now, Natasha had fully succumbed to the exhaustion of the spell she had used, and was fast asleep, leaving Albus to talk to the portrait of Aurelia.

"Are they safe?" Aurelia asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes dear. Natasha, Sirius and Severus are all safe, I can promise you that."