𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄 ― g.weasley

𝟎𝟖│ two potters

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Your instantly heart sank to your stomach. This wasn't supposed to happen. The thumping of your heart drowned out the sound of applause that was echoing through the room.

Hands jostling your shoulders pulled you back to Earth and back to the shocking reality that you had to face.

"Miss Potter?" Dumbledore calls, "Miss Potter, come to the front. I'd like to congratulate you."

His demand confirms that you had heard him correctly, and that alone makes you lose the last shred of hope that you were desperately holding onto.

Your eyes catch Harry's, who looks just as surprised as you. But then your attention falls to the twins and your already-racing heart felt like it'd been forcefully torn into millions of pieces.

They both looked betrayed, yet also scared for you. So many emotions were running through them, almost as many that you were trying to process yourself.

You couldn't do anything other than grit your teeth and stand from the bench to approach your headmaster. You didn't let your eyes wander anywhere other than Dumbledore's waiting figure, not wanting to focus on the crowd of clapping people.

Their applause frustrated you more than anything. Did they not understand how dangerous this situation is? Even if you wanted to enter the tournament, you were practically handing your life into the hands of your morally-grey superiors.

Dumbledore met you with a smile and a warm handshake which you felt like you didn't deserve. You weren't supposed to be Hogwarts' champion - you didn't even want to be a champion.

"Off to that room now Y/n, congratulations again." he whispered, grandly gesturing towards a door that was tucked away in the back corner of the room.

You don't want to say a word to him, but you managed to give your headmaster an unconvincing smile as you exit the room.

The wooden door does nothing to dampen the noise from the hall once you close it behind you. But it does give you a surface to lean against as you take a few moments to catch your breath.

You don't remember when you started panting, but now it seemed like it was an impossible task to make it stop.

Sadly, shutting that room full of applause off from you wouldn't shut the problem out, and soon enough you had to reveal yourself to the other champions.

"Who put my name in?" you croak out to nobody in particular. For the first time it had fully sank in that someone did this to you. Someone must have wanted to kill you - this was too extreme to be some sort of sick prank.

"Is that our Hogwarts Champion?" a shrill voice calls from deeper in the room, "Come on, come in. There's no need to be shy!"

You fight the urge to be petty and point out that there's plenty of reasons for you to be shy and nervous, but you bite your tongue and step further into the room.

"Ah! There you are!" a blonde woman grins, "I'm Rita Skeeter, and you are..?"

"Y/n Potter, Ma'am." you reply politely.

Instantly, you'd noticed that she was a member of the press. You didn't recognize her name or face, but she had a certain aura about her. Being on her bad side wouldn't be good for you, so over-the-top politeness was the best option.

Skeeter's eyes started gleaming with joy as she looked you up and down, "A Potter... I see."

"It's nice to meet you!" a girl with a French accent beamed, stepping out from behind the reporter, "I'm Fleur Delacour."

Thankfully, her introduction allowed you to escape Rita Skeeter's burning gaze, which you greatly appreciated. You already knew Fleur's name (considering it was announced to the whole castle only minutes before yours was) but you still introduced yourself to her in return.

"Y/n Potter." you beamed, shaking her hand and giving her your first genuine smile since you entered the eerie room.

"That's Viktor Krum, but he isn't much of a talker." Fleur whispered, though you were certain that everyone heard the echoes of her voice bouncing off of the stone walls of the chamber.

Her whispers weren't the only thing you could hear, because suddenly the Great Hall erupted with harsh yelling.

Even Rita Skeeter stopped trying to squeeze a word out of Viktor Krum to listen in on what was happening.

You couldn't make out anything that was being said, but suddenly the door to your secluded chamber was creaking open again and the noise got louder.

A shadow spilled out onto the ground, and as the owner of it rounded the corner to reveal themself, your breath caught in your throat for the second time that evening.

There stood your brother, Harry Potter. He quite frankly was looking just as confused as you were.

You didn't even think of Harry trying to sneak his name in, you were too preoccupied with the twins and their aging potion. Or perhaps... the same thing that happened to you had happened to him.

It wouldn't be all that surprising to you.

Frustratingly enough, Rita broke the tense silence with a gleeful laugh, "And I thought one Potter would be enough to draw in some new readers, and now we have both of you? Oh I might faint, this is brilliant!"

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Harry glance at you with a look of pure disgust on his face. Of course the nosy journalist would exploit the Potter name at any given chance - especially when you were both in mortal peril.

Then all of a sudden, the door slammed open again to reveal the intimidating figures of the three Headteachers. You suck in a deep breath as if to ready yourself for the arguments that'd ensue.

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Aside from all of the teachers screaming at your brother, the rest of your time in that room felt like a blur, and not positively. In a way, you relieved that time had slipped by, but you knew that everything would only get worse from here on out.

Your wand had been weighed, and Rita was absolutely delighted when you revealed that your wand contained the exact properties as your father's did. She saw a story in everything - an incredibly frustrating thing to be subjected to.

It only took a few moments of silence for Skeeter to start dragging you and the other champions one by one into a secluded broom closet to host some interviews.

All throughout your interview, her magic quill was scratching ominously at the parchment. You never looked over at it, knowing that nothing you said could get her to strike any of her twisted words from the record.

Skeeter seemed borderline obsessed with your feelings about your family (or lack thereof) and she hardly mentioned the tournament itself.

"Well Miss Potter, I think that our time is up." the reporter announces with a false pout. You return her stare with a wry smile of your own as you exit the broom closet.

Harry shot you a sympathetic look. He had been subjected to his interview earlier, so he knew what you'd just sat through.

"Awful." you simply mouthed to him, shaking your head and waiting for the second that you would be released.

Alas, that release would never come.

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author's note

shorter chapter since there's pretty much no george in here! of course i need to set up the plot, but we're all here for the romance really, so we'll be back to that shortly!

also thank you for being patient with me, i know i haven't updated in too long. it's been a good few months since i published a chapter but i hope you enjoy this book even if it takes me ages to complete <3

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