Loving Lily: A Snily Story

Chapter 64 - Words

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————

Severus and Lily offered Harriet their guidance.

Lily encouraged her with gentle words of advice.

Severus taught his daughter the most effective stunning spell she could manage.

There were plenty of powerful potions he could have brewed, far beyond even the capabilities of the champions who were the proper age, but he lamented the fact that those concoctions were all against the Triwizard Tournament's rules.

Each night, Tom coached Harriet on her Parseltongue by giving her pronunciation instructions through his written words.

She practiced her new dialects with Anuman while Draco watched from afar with a jealous, worried pout.

It frustrated him to know that not only did Harriet once again steal fame and recognition that could have been his, she faced awful peril against which he could offer her no real assistance.

As her celebrity grew for various reasons in those weeks before the task, Draco's misery increased.

Harriet Snape seemed to slip further and further away from him.

Out of all the gifts Narcissa and Lucius had lavished upon him since the moment of his conception, Draco remained most grateful to his parents for their acceptance of Voldemort's demand.

The knowledge he and Harriet had been betrothed to one another at birth was the only comfort that allowed Draco to close his eyes at night.

While he tumbled through fitful dreams, he clung to that truth as if it were a lifeline which kept his heart beating.

—————————————————————

The dreaded first task of the Triwizard Tournament arrived startlingly soon.

Hermione, Ron, Lily, and Sev had spent weeks working on several different potential strategies for whatever situation Harriet would encounter with the dragon, but anxiousness still plagued her.

What if their efforts failed?

What if she embarrassed herself in front of everyone?

What if-

Harriet's mind swirled with nauseating questions while each champion reached into a small pouch that morning and blindly selected a scaly opponent.

Her throat went dry when she became lucky enough to pull the Hungarian Horntail.

Despite her boldness and bravery, Harriet's head swam while Viktor completed the first task.

"They honestly expect us to get an egg away from a dragon?!" Harriet hissed to Cedric and Fleur while they waited to hear who would go next.

Fleur frowned but Cedric shrugged and said, "A golden egg.......What did you think we'd be doing, Snape? They said it'd be dangerous."

"Yeah, well-" Harriet started, but Cedric stopped her.

"-Maybe you should have thought about all this before you put your name in the Goblet." He shot back.

Harriet scowled as she prepared to angrily proclaim her own innocence when Dumbledore walked through the swaying doors of the tent and nodded, "Now then, Mr. Diggory, you'll be up next."

Cedric nodded at Harriet as their heated exchange ended prematurely, but as he stepped out of the tent, she and Fleur exchanged worried looks of repressed woe.