Badgersoul

Chapter 9: Scamming Skeeter

Chapter 9: Scamming Skeeter

I finally gathered up my courage and asked Rose Evans on a date next Hogsmeade weekend. She seemed ecstatic and told me that she had been waiting for me to ask for quite some time now. I apologized for making her wait and she just smiled and kissed me on the cheek before walking away. Pretty sure my face was redder than my team's colors.

**

Leo blinked slowly before turning to Harry, wondering if he had heard correctly. Harry was staring at Dumbledore, a blank expression on his face as though he too was processing what the old man had said. Up at the top table, McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.

Leo spared a glance down his table at the Gryffindors who stared at him and his cousin open-mouthed. He then turned his head to the Slytherin table, spotting Draco who had his face in his hands. He wasn't sure if it was because he was upset that Leo had entered the tournament or embarrassed because, once again, the boy had drawn the spotlight onto himself. For once, Leo could say that it wasn't his fault this time.

At the top table, Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to McGonagall. 

"Harry Potter and Leo Black!" he called again. "Harry! Leo! Up here, if you please!"

Leo rose from his seat, smoothing down the front of his robes as he fixed an impassive expression on his face. He glanced at Harry, who seemed to be nervous and shaking slightly. He grabbed his bicep, walking him to the staff table and up to Dumbledore as quickly and gracefully as possible.

"Well... through the door, you two," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.

Leo jerked his head before pulling Harry along, avoiding the stares of students and faculty alike as he led them through the door out of the Great Hall. They found themselves in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite them.

The faces in the portraits turned to look at them as they entered. They saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus mustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry and Leo walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

"Not bloody likely," Leo remarked in a grim tone.

There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by his other arm and led the two forward.

"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen... lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth and fifth Triwizard champions?"

Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Harry and Leo. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to the cousins and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."