Circi | 2

FIFTEEN

"He's Back"

June 1995, 6 months later

The tournament was coming to a close.

To Circi, the only excitement to come from it was the introduction of Dragons in the first challenge where Harry nearly died. This was before Christmas. After Christmas, she stood on a platform above the Black Lake, freezing her toes off beside Draco and watching the water for an hour. Apparently the champions had to fight grindylows and mermaids to save a loved one tied to the bottom of the lake but, of course, all she saw was water and the occasional ripple.

She bore no excitement from the tournament and paid no attention to Draco's attempt at forming a bet with her like he had with their Father. So when they entered the spectator stands on the quidditch pitch for the third and final task, you can only imagine her irritation at see a large hedge maze laid out in front of them tall enough to block nearly everyone's view of the actual layout.

She stood between Draco and Leslie at the back of the stands. Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy were loudly talking in front of them and Carmen, sidling up to Draco, crossed her arms and shrunk in on herself. She spared only enough time to smile and greet Circi but shrugged Draco's arm away.

The champions line up outside the maze entrance. Cedric's father had come to watch and stood talking to his son whereas the other champions were accompanied by their headteachers. Draco leaned over to Carmen in an attempt to talk to her but she shut him down. He then leaned over to Circi, undeterred.

"What's the bet Potter comes last." Sighing and rolling her eyes, she keeps her eyes on the green wall.

"Very low considering he's come second mostly." Draco huffs and leans towards his friends. Circi rolls her head back and looks at Leslie. She holds out her fist, almost discreetly, and they begin playing a simple game of rock, paper, scissors.

The band struck up, exciting the crowd, but the two of them continued playing. They hard snippets of Dumbledore explaining about the maze and the order the champions would enter the maze but Circi was too focussed on maintaining her winning streak. She groans when Leslie slaps his paper over her rock and they look up to see red sparks coming up from the maze.

A few minutes later one of the professors appears with Fleur, who was just recovering from consciousness. They can hear echoes of yelling and leaves rustling but nothing more.

"I spy," Circi began, stifling laughter at the irony of what she was about to say, "something green." They then continued to go back and forth, varying in the glaringly obvious and the more discreet. At some point Krum had returned, sedated and apparently cursed.

The crowd was screaming, cheering on Cedric mostly but Harry as well. As if the two could hear them.

But at that moment they appeared down below. The cup was glowing in Harry's hand and he was clinging onto Cedric, who was lying still beneath him. Leslie had spied something yellow, and Circi was the first to see Cedric between them so she called out 'the winner'. But then there was a scream. And silence. And a gasp, this time closer and from Carmen.

She was moving before most others, slowly and hesitantly. Circi watched her walk down the steps as her triumphant grin fell.

Harry was crying, why was Harry crying?

"He's back," the Gryffindor called out. "He's back! Voldemort's back." The world seemed to slow down.

Circi vaguely registered Carmen making it to the field below but nothing more. His words were echoing around in her head. He was back. Next to her, Draco was shaking her arm, he was talking to her, dragging her, carrying her. But she couldn't think, couldn't talk or walk.