Amie and The Return (Harry Potter fan-fic) Book 4 COMPLETED

The Third Task

As the month progressed, Amie found herself getting more and more nervous. She couldn't imagine how Harry and the other champions were feeling, but at least they didn't know what would come. The 24th of June would end the world as they knew it. Harry, especially, would change. Voldemort would be back.

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Soon enough the day was upon them. Amie woke up at six in the morning and found it impossible to fall back to sleep. So she did something she usually did when she was nervous, but she hadn't done in a long time - she threw on training clothes and went out running. Since it was June it wasn't that cold outside, but the sun wasn't properly up yet. Amie ran around the castle once, and then she ran around the lake. She thought it felt nice to stretch her legs, but for once her mind didn't stop spinning.

"What are you doing here?" a voice stopped her in her tracks, and Amie spun around to see Draco Malfoy sitting on the bench next to the shore. Amie panted heavily.

"I'm running, what's it to you, Malfoy?" she spat. Draco kept quiet, clearly seeing she was not in the mood. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Draco looked up, frowning.

"What's it to you, Jones?" he repeated her words nastily.

"You know what, whatever," Amie said angrily, and she ran away from him, back up to the castle. Sometimes Draco Malfoy really got on Amie's nerves. Occasionally she'd miss him as her friend, but at times like this, she was glad they weren't friends anymore. Amie was fuming as she rushed through the corridors and up staircases to get to the common room. 

"Amie?" George had just exited the portrait hole with Fred and Lee when Amie rounded the corner of the corridor. Amie was sure her eyes were red, so George's confused look was understandable.

"Not now, George, I'll meet you in the great hall," Amie said, giving George a peck on the cheek despite her ugly mood. Then she said the password and stormed inside and up to her dormitory.

After a long shower that really calmed her down, Amie put on her robes and headed down for breakfast. She found Dean and Seamus in the common room, and together they walked to the Great hall.

"How do you think Harry'll do today?" Seamus asked them.

Amie kept quiet while Dean and Seamus enthoustiastically discussed various outcomes of the Third Task. The thought of what the evening would bring brought a knot of worry and unease into Amie's stomach. And she didn't feel better when she walked into the noisy Great hall, and found that Hermione and Ron looked anxious and upset, and Harry was reading a Daily Prophet with a creased forehead.

"What now?" Amie mumbled to herself as she left Dean and Seamus behind to join her friends. As Amie sat down, Hermione looked up and gave a small smile.

"Been out running?" she asked, knowing her best friend.

"Yeah," Amie answered absent-mindedly, watching Harry. "What's going on?"

"Skeeter," Ron answered:

"What bull story has she cooked up now?" Amie said angrily.

"She says that Harry's dangerous, and disturbed in the brain. She mentions his scar and the fact that he can speak to snakes. That piece of information she got from Malfoy," Hermione added the last part with contained anger. Amie'd opened her mouth to reply, but at that point Harry put the paper down.

"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" he said, sounding less angry than Amie'd guessed.

"Oh, Harry," Amie said. "I'm happy you're taking this lightly, but you have to be prepared that other people won't,"