𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 \\ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗷. 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

𝑋𝑋𝐼𝑋.

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮-𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙚

— ✩ ☽ ✩ —

A FEW DAYS later, Caroline couldn't sleep once again. She was so worried that her brain would not allow her to rest. She had gone through every possible scenario she could think of to figure how Harry would survive these challenges. She just had to get him through the first challenge, and the rest would follow. That's what she kept telling herself.

Caroline sat on the couch in the Gryffindor common room as it neared one o'clock. She curled her legs into her body, a gold blanket thrown over them. Her curly hair was tied into a bun atop her head, and her nose was deep in a book of spells Harry could utilize during the challenges.

When she heard footsteps on the stairs, Caroline looked up from her book to see Harry, hands in his pockets as he descended the final step. "Hi," Caroline forced herself to smile for him. "You're up late. Come sit." she marked her page and pulled her blanket back as Harry sat down. He covered them both with it as he sat down.

"You're up late, too. Reading poetry?" Harry asked. Caroline shook her head. She shifted her body so her back was against the armrest of the couch, knees pressed to her chest.

"Spells, actually. I'm compiling a list of useful ones for you to use during the tournament." Caroline said. She saw Harry's cheeks blush ever so slightly, hidden by the glow of the fire in the fireplace.

"You don't have to do that, Caroline. I'll be fine." Harry all but whispered, turning his gaze to Caroline.

Caroline merely chuckled. "Yes, I do. You asked for my help." she reminded the boy.

"I meant just moral support." Harry said with a smile. Caroline returned it.

"I don't want you to be alone during this," Caroline had heard from Dean that Harry and Ron had had a fight, and weren't speaking, leading to awkwardness amongst the friends. The whole school was in a state of awkwardness, because of Harry being selected. "Why are you up so late?"

Harry leant his face close to Caroline. "I'm meeting Sirius. Have you seen him?" he whispered, and Caroline's brown eyes widened, luminated by the fire.

"No, I haven't. How are you meeting him? He's a criminal in everyone's eyes." she questioned. Harry shrugged.

"He just told me to meet him here now," said the green-eyed boy, shifting closer to Caroline so he could better fit under her blanket. Harry bit his tongue, looking away from Caroline. He didn't want to upset her when he asked, but he was just too curious. He had to do it. "So, do you talk to Cedric often?"

Caroline shook her head. "Not really. I ran into him on the first day of classes, and I've greeted him in passing, but that's about it. Why do you keep asking?" she asked. Harry stammered, trying to find an acceptable answer.

Before he could, his eyes landed on the article put out by The Daily Prophet about the Tournament. Rita Skeeter wrote it, and Caroline immediately noticed the lies she put in when she read it. Harry leaned forward to pick up the paper. "Have you read this?"

Caroline nodded. "It's all rubbish." she said, trying to make Harry feel better. Rita Skeeter's voice bled into the air, and Harry stood up, crumpling the paper before he threw it into the fire.

When the fire hissed numerous times, and Sirius Black's face appeared in the embers, Caroline quickly stood from the couch and joined Harry in front of the fireplace. "Sirius. How–?" Harry began.

"I told you to meet me alone." Sirius said, his eyes landing on Caroline. He cracked a smile when he saw his niece.

She waved. "Hi, Sirius." Caroline whispered.

"Hi, Caroline. I don't have much time Harry, so let me get straight to it. Did you or did you not put your name into the Goblet of Fire?" Sirius asked quickly.

"No!" Harry shouted. Caroline shoved his shoulder to remind him to be quiet.

"I had to ask. Now, tell me about this dream of yours," Harry knelt down beside Caroline as his godfather spoke. "You mentioned Wormtail and Voldemort. But who was the third man in the room?"

Harry shrugged. Caroline's eyes were trained on him. "I don't know."

"You didn't hear a name?" Sirius pressed.

Harry shook his head. Caroline focused on Sirius. "No. Voldemort was giving him a job to do. Something important."

"And what was that?"

Harry hesitated. He hadn't told Caroline this yet. "He wanted... me. Voldemort also mentioned something about two children united but not with blood," Caroline furrowed her brows in confusion. "I don't know why. But he was gonna use this man to get to me and to the two children. But, I mean, it was only a dream, right?"

Sirius nodded. "Yes. It's just a dream. Look, you two. The Death Eaters at the World Cup... Harry's name rising from that goblet... these are not just coincidences. Hogwarts isn't safe anymore." Professor Trelawney's warnings from the previous term crept into Caroline's mind.

"What are you saying, Sirius?" Caroline asked.

"I'm saying the devils are inside the walls. Igor Karkaroff. He was a Death Eater. And no one, no one stops being a Death Eater. Then there's Barty Crouch. Heart of stone. Sent his own son to Azkaban." somewhere in the dorms, a door opened, its sound echoing. Caroline and Harry snapped around, looking for the culprit. No one was there. They turned back to Harry's godfather and Caroline's uncle.

"Do you think one of them put my name in the goblet?"

"I haven't a clue who put your name in that goblet, Harry but whoever did it is no friend to you. People die in this tournament." Caroline gasped quietly at Sirius's words.

"I'm not ready for this, Sirius." Harry shook his head.

"You don't have a choice." there was a shadow by the stairs, and Caroline knew someone was coming before Harry did.

"Someone's coming, Sirius." Caroline said, standing up.

"Keep each other close, children." Sirius warned.

It was only Ron coming down the stairs, and it was awkward between the boys. "Who were you two talking to?" he asked. Quietly, Caroline grabbed her spell book and slipped past Ron, walking up to her dorm as the boys conversed. She silently slipped into her bed, and she fell asleep almost instantly.

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