Dark Sister

Chapter 12 Battle for the Cup

Thanks to the tireless attentions of the healer and her little brother Eden made a speedy recovery from her injuries. She had missed two week's worth of classes and had to spend all of her spare time making up the missed lessons. Severus would attempt to help her but she would not allow it. "Severus, if I allow you to help me with my assignments how will I learn anything," she asked?

"Come on Eden, what you have to learn in your books is so much more interesting than what I've been learning," he argued.

Eden laughed as she put the finishing touches on her potions essay. "You seem to forget that I had to learn all of what you are learning now before I could get to this level," said Eden as she checked the progress of her simmering potion.

"I guess that you are right, but you know things that aren't in any of these books," commented Severus.

Eden got up from her seat in the common room and looked down at her brother. "Don't touch my potion. Since you are so eager to learn something more challenging than can be found in a textbook, I have a little something that I can give you," she said as she left the room to get something from her trunk. She returned quickly with five old looking leather bound tomes, and handed them to Severus.

"These books were given to me by my father. I'm going to lend them to you, so that you may learn from them as I have," she said as she watched Severus carefully open one of the books on his lap.

These books contain knowledge on the Dark Arts," he exclaimed in a whisper of amazement.

"How do you think that I learned those two spells that I taught to you? They're not exactly what one would consider a spell worth teaching to students with impressionable minds, such as you," she said as she added a measure of powdered snake fangs to her caldron and started stirring the potion.

They read and worked in silence for a while until Severus looked up from his new book into the dark emerald eyes of his sister who was busy stirring her potion. "Eden, now that we've met, will you still hide yourself from me and Lilly when you follow me," he asked?

"Perhaps, if there are no muggles present, I will consider it," she said as she extinguished the flame under her caldron allowing it to cool a bit before ladling the completed potion into vials and labeling them.

"What about Mum, can I tell her that I met you," he asked?

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Severus. It almost killed her to let me go to my father all of those years ago. Perhaps it would be better if you keep our meeting to yourself for the time being," said Eden thoughtfully. "You wouldn't want to hurt our mother would you," she asked?

"No, she gets hurt enough by my father," said Severus sadly.

"Don't worry about him Severus. Sooner or later our mother will wise up and decide that she's had enough of his abuse," said Eden as she cleaned out her caldron.

"I'm not so sure that it's going to happen that way, Eden. She's been putting up with it all of my life," said Severus distractedly.

"Well, there's no accounting for taste. Love can blind a person past the sense of all reason," said Eden as she gathered her things.

The month of May came quicker than anyone expected, and it was now time for the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The three Champions stood inside the champion's tent awaiting the final task which was to be completed in the dark of night. A maze had been erected inside the quiddich field and the Tri-Wizard Cup had been placed in the center of the maze.

Music played by the school band and the crowds cheered on their school Champions. The champions were led out of the tent and into position in front of separate openings into the maze. "Now it is time for the final task. The three champions will enter the maze and will make their way to the center where the Tri-Wizard Cup has been placed," came the voice of the referee.