BY fates design

Letters from afar

The next day started before the sun could creep through the waters of the Black Lake, Cassiopeia sat at the end of her bed, twisting her hair into an intricate braid before standing to slip on her shoes. October 30th. All names would have to be entered into the Goblet of Fire by tomorrow evening to complete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which meant that many of the names would be entered today.

Exiting her room, Cassiopeia sat in the common room as she waited for the rest of her house to wake. It was the weekend, thus there were no lessons scheduled for the day giving the students time to relax and think about the upcoming tournament. Fred and George were the first to enter the common room, boisterous laughter hovering around them as they came.

"Morning, Cass." They chorused, sitting down either side of her, their arms draped across the back of the sofa behind her. "We have a genius plan on how to enter the tournament." George boasted.

"Yes, how truly genius your plan turned out to be." Cassiopeia teased, raising a brow in the direction of the red haired twins.

"You weren't even there to see it." Fred rolled his eyes, freckled nose scrunched in faux exasperation.

"No, but I was there to see the aftermath the next morning." She reminded, "I still have the pictures."

"It's not going to work." Cassiopeia shut the book she was reading, "and even if it did, entering the tournament is foolish. You could die." She opposed.

"Oh, but it will work. We've made aging potions." Fred pulled to vials from his cloak. "Plus, eternal glory? That is not something to pass up on the of chance of death." He rolled his eyes, putting the vials back into his cloak. Shaking her head, Cassiopeia sighed, leaning back in her seat with her legs crossed over each other.

A few hours later, they gathered in one of the schools spare rooms, the usual tables and chairs were gone, the Goblet of Fire sat proud in the centre with steps up the sides of the rooms, students lining them. Occasionally, someone would throw their name into the azure flames followed by students cheering.

Many of the adults looked disturbed by the prospect of people actually applying to participate in the tournament, Euphemia particularly looked bothered by it. "I just know James would have been foolish enough to sign up should this opportunity have arisen for him." She stated under her breath, more so to herself than anyone else.

Cassiopeia sat beside Achlys and Jake as they watched, her head rested on the Ravenclaw's shoulder. Suddenly, she feels someone tapping her back, looking behind her, she sees Ginny grinning.

"That's Diggory, Cedric. He came with us to the Quidditch Cup over the summer. Supper cute, right?" She whispers, nodding towards a Hufflepuff boy as he tosses his name into the flames, watching it burst into a puff of smoke. Cassiopeia hummed, studying the Hufflepuff closely, as though trying to determine something about him, "not my type." she shrugged, resting her head back on Achly's shoulder.

For Durmstrang, Viktor Krum threw in his name while his headmaster stood behind him, after him came Fleur Delacour from Bouxbaton. Both received polite applause and cheers from the watching children.

"Siopiea" Achlys nudges her, nodding towards the exit of the room, Lux hovered by the door, his sapphire flames casting an icy glow over the stones. Standing, Cassiopeia walked out, the blonde Ravenclaw following her as they move through the deserted hallways.

Sitting in the courtyard, Lux perched on Achlys's lap, dropping a white envelope onto Cassiopeia's lap before chirping happily. Picking up the letter, Cassiopeia recognised the messy Ancient Greek in a second, her lips tugging up into a smile despite her best efforts to remain neutral.