Sly gulped as he tried to remain in his pose. Rita buzzed around, grinning excitedly. “What a charismatic quartet. Hello!” She burst forward, grabbing onto each of their hands and forcing them to shake. “I’m Rita Skeeter, I write for the daily prophet. But of course, you know that, don't you.”
Rita took a breath before continuing. “It’s you we don't know. You’re the news. What quirks lurk beneath those rosy cheeks? What mysteries do the muscles mask? Does courage lie beneath those curls? In short, what makes a champion tick. Me, myself and I want to know. Not to mention my rabid readers. So, who’s feeling up to sharing? Mmm? Shall we start with the youngest? Lovely.”
Sly couldn’t react as Rita grabbed him and pulled him into a closet.
“This is cosy.”
Sly paused, writing the words beside him. “It’s a broom cupboard.”
“You should feel right at home then. Don’t mind if I use the quill, do you?” Rita motioned to the quill floating by her side.
‘You’re welcome but I doubt it will notice me.’
“So, Harry-” instantly, Sly corrected his name- “here you sit, a mere boy of twelve-” once more Sly corrected his age- “about to compete against three students. Not only vastly more emotionally mature than yourself but have mastered spells that you wouldn’t attempt in your dizziest daydreams. Concerned?”
Sly blinked. ‘Not really.’ He couldn’t die so he wasn’t worried about taking on the competition. It didn’t mean he wanted to compete though.
“Course you’re not just any ordinary boy of twelve-” Sly corrected his age- “are you? The story’s legend. Do you think it was the trauma of your past that made you so keen to enter such a dangerous tournament?”
‘I didn’t enter,’ Sly responded simply.
“Course you didn’t.” Rita winked. “Everyone loves a rebel, Harry.” Rita turned to her quill, ignoring Sly’s attempt to correct his name. “Scratch that last. Speaking of your parents, were they alive, how do you think they’d feel? Proud? Or concerned that your attitude shows at best a pathological need for attention, at worst a psychotic death wish.”
Crossing his arms, Sly’s eye twitched. ‘Hey, my eyes aren’t glistening with the ghosts of my past and even if I was, I have a family now. My parents are Molly and Arthur Weasley. And they know I didn’t enter.’
Storming away, Sly left.
~~~
Bursting into his room, Sly groaned, falling onto his bed.
“That bad?” Justin chuckled slightly, glancing at Sly as he rolled over.
‘Terrible! She wouldn’t call me by my name, or the right age. She kept making assumptions about me!’
Roger paused, sitting on Sly’s bed as he began comforting the distressed teen. “It’s okay, we won’t believe a word she says.”
Sly smiled, leaning into the comfort of his closest friend. ‘Wait… where’s Kevin and Wayne?’
Snorting, Justin grinned. “Well, Wayne has gone to Quidditch trial outs while Kevin is going to watch him.”
‘I thought quidditch was cancelled this year?’
Justin nodded. “Apparently, Mad-Eye got practice back on but there aren’t any competitions this year.”
Sly smiled as he shared a look with Justin. ‘I’m sure he’ll enjoy that.’
Snickering as a group, Justin laid back, groaning as he continued to stare at the textbook. “How can something be so simple but so complicated at the same time.” Hitting his head against the textbook, Justin scowled at the laugh he received.
Sly glanced up, raising his eyebrow as he glanced at Roger. He had curled up and fallen asleep. Shaking his head, Sly grabbed his homework and began working, doing his best to not disturb Roger.
~~~
“Have you seen it?” Appearing out of nowhere, Wayne held up the article, passing it to Sly who frowned.
‘Harry Potter aged 12, suspect entrant in the Triwizard tournament. His eyes swimming with the ghost of his past causing his highly questionable behaviour. One cannot help but wonder what the boy-who-lived had going on inside his head. We’ve yet to hear from his new ‘family’ to learn of their opinions on the turn of events.’
Throwing the paper down, Sly couldn’t control his magic, causing it to burst into flames. None of the badgers said anything as Justin waved his wand and extinguished the fire.
“Are you okay?” He glanced at Sly in worry, chewing his lip as he spoke.
Taking a deep breath, Sly ran a hand through his hair, shaking off the unease he felt. ‘I’m fine.’
“You sure, because you do not look like it.”
Kicking Justin, Kevin scowled. “If Sly says he’s fine, he’s fine and we shouldn’t-” another kick- “push-” kick- “it.” Wayne sighed, grabbing Kevin and stopping him from delivering another kick to Justin’s shin.
Grumbling, Justin moved away from Kevin, rubbing his knees. “Did you have to do that?! We get it, you’re overprotective, doesn’t mean you get to abuse us. Look at that, I’ve got bruises. This is double standards.”
“Yep,” Kevin popped, a smirk on his face.
Rolling his eyes, Roger turned to Sly, a soft smile on his face. “Ignore the article. No one will believe it.”
‘You sure?’ Glancing at Roger, Sly pouted slightly. Roger bit his tongue, nodding as he ruffled Sly’s hair.
“Yep!”
Calming down, Sly smiled, laughing lightly in his weird garbled way. ‘I’m glad.’ Relaxing, the group shared a grin. Blinking, Sly turned sharply to Wayne, clearly remembering something. ‘How did trail outs go?’
Sly’s simple question led to Wayne launching into an hour-long excited rant about being on the house team. At some point Draco had joined them, sitting beside Wayne as they began trash-talking lightly, both having a sense of pride from being on their respective teams.
Ama slithered along the ground, wrapping around Sly’s neck. ‘Another note arrived,” she whispered, holding out the note for Sly who tilted his head.
Opening it under the desk, Sly read through the lines.
‘Hey cub, how did the interview go? I expect you to be amazing. Don’t let that nosy woman get in your head. Rita tends to blab on. I hope you managed to handle her. Padfoot.’
“It’s a little weird how informed this person is,” sly muttered as Ama shrugged.
“As long as it's not cursed, it’ll be fine. If they try to do anything, I’ll eat them.”
“Don’t say that Ama.”
Ama did not care.
YOU ARE READING
Death Parts Us
FanfictionWhen Sirius Black breaks out of prison, seeing his godson hanging around that rat, he does the most logical think that occured to him. He was going to break into Hogwarts and rip that stupid rat into a million pieces. He couldn't imagine a single t...
