Third Person POV:
The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Harry over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker. The shock of finding himself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing him had started to sink in. The first task was drawing steadily nearer; he felt as though it were crouching ahead of him like some horrific monster, barring his path. He had never suffered nerves like these; they were way beyond anything he had experienced before a Quidditch match, not even his last one against Slytherin, which had decided who would win the Quidditch Cup. Harry was finding it hard to think about the future at all; he felt as though his whole life had been leading up to, and would finish with, the first task. . . .
Admittedly, he didn't see how Sirius was going to make him or even Willow feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people, but the mere sight of a friendly face would be something at the moment. Harry wrote back to Sirius saying that he would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested, and he and Hermione spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that — Filch would skin them alive.
In the meantime, life became even worse for Harry within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry and Willow both. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.
The article had appeared ten days ago, and Harry still got a sick, burning feeling of shame in his stomach every time he thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported him saying an awful lot of things that he couldn't remember ever saying in his life, let alone in that broom cupboard.
I suppose we get my strength from my parents.
I know they'd be very proud of us if they could see us now. . . .
Yes, sometimes at night we still cry about them,We're not ashamed to admit it. . . .
I know nothing will hurt us during the tournament, because they're watching over us. . . .
But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming his "er's" into long, sickly sentences: She had interviewed other people about him and even Willow too. And Willow's outburst had no affect on her. But of course nothing had or would have had an effect on her.
Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts.
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.
All the while Willow has been keeping it on the down low.
Her close friend, Pansy Parkinson, says that Willow has been seen roaming the halls of Hogwarts alone at night.
Like a black cat in the darkness.
From the moment the article had appeared, Harry had had to endure people — Slytherins, mainly — quoting it at him as he passed and making sneering comments. He noticed his sister does not have this problem from what he saw. Though I am sure after what Pansy Parkinson told Rita Skeeter he was sure that they were not on the best terms.
YOU ARE READING
A Greater Power
Fanfiction**On Hold** Willow Black is the only daughter to a man she has never known. Born to a woman who was a drug abuser, Willow learned how to survive at a young age. Now as a Seventh Year Slytherin, Willow will be tested in ways she never thought possibl...
