Dursley's Choice | The Dursley series #2 |

♧ Chapter 5 ♧

Everyone watched with fire in their eyes as the Goblet erupted two more pieces of parchment, Audrey's brows furrowed, "That isn't possible..."
"Harry Potter... Audrey Dursley!"

-♧-

Her pumping heart sank to the bottom of the black lake in that moment. She met Harry's eyes briefly before she took off towards Dumbledore, her legs like jelly, "They're cheats!"
"They aren't even seventeen!" Dumbledore studied her intently as she took her name, Audrey looked in desperation at the teachers. None of them could form words towards the second year girl, or her cousin.

Panting heavily, she swiped her cousins hand making their way into a room full of trinkets, "Kiddo..."
She met Cedric's champagne eyes worriedly as the wave of teachers flooded in questioning the two children. Dumbledore called them to silence, taking the two to the side, "Did you two put your names in the Goblet of fire?" He said calmly, "No sir!" They chorused, Madame Maxime stepped forward, "But ov course zey are lying!"
"To hell they are! The Goblet of fire is an exceptionally powerful object- only an exceptionally powerful confundus charm could've hoodwinked it" Mad Eye growled, "Magic way beyond the talents of underage children!"
"You seem to have given zis a lot of thought, Mad Eye!"
"It was once my job to think how dark wizards do Karkarof, perhaps you remember?"
"This doesn't help Alastor. We leave this to you Barty" Dumbledore encouraged Barty, forming a crowd of faculty members. At this time, Audrey's heart refused to stop racing at a hundred miles an hour, her palms sweating as they awaited Barty's conclusion; "The rules are absolute. The Goblet of fire institutes a binding magical contract- Mr. Potter and Ms. Dursley have no choice. They are, as of tonight, Triwizard champions..."

-♧-

Her head down in shock, Audrey and Cedric walked to their common room in silence. Cedric's eye darted to the young girls face and back constantly, Audrey couldn't escape the tears flowing down her face, "Please... stop goggling at me like I'm some sort of zoo animal"
"O-okay..." as they reached the kitchens, Cedric couldn't take it much more, "I have to ask-"
"I didn't do it! I swear on my mother's- my mother's..." she ran into Cedric's arms. Without thinking, he soon wrapped his arms around her tightly, hearing every soft sniffle and sob; "It'll be okay Audrey"
"H-how can you- promise that?!" She said between her sniffles, "Because I'll be right there. I'll be there right next to you when we compete. I'm not leaving you're side, got that kiddo?"
Nodding into his chest, she fainted in his arms, "I got you! I got you..." Cedric murmured; swiftly lifting the girl, he carried her back to her dorm.

-♧-

Glares were shot faster than accio spells, Audrey could feel the students shunning her away at every turn: the Gryffindors despised her, the Ravenclaws detested her, Slytherin was envious of her and Hufflepuff, they didn't understand. Why was a young girl so driven to 'put her name into the goblet'?

Unable to think about what her friends would think, she skipped breakfast, making a sprint for the library. "Cheat! Cheat! Scumbag!"
"I heard she did it for-"
"To show off and win it for her-"
"Hey! Got something to say? Say it to my face you cowards!!!" The halls were silent, everyone's eyes on her, she spotted them: Nik, Liza, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and even the twins, all watching her solemnly. A down pour of tears threatened to escape her as she scurried into the library; she ran to the furthest corner and shrunk into it. It sounded like a whisper, Audrey's eyes were red rimmed and puffy, "Audrey" she recognised Liza's voice instantly, "Is that you down there?"
"Do- do you believe, that I..."
"No! No! Not at all! I trust you. Nik does too, can we come over?" She nodded, wiping her tears,
"By all means become social outcasts with me"
"Weren't we already, Princess?" Nik greeted her. His soft smile made her heart melt even more as she broke down in his arms. The two comforted her for a prolonged period of time, missing first and second period, for their friend.