Redamancy (d.m)

Chapter thirty two-propaganda

"You're in the daily prophet, (y/n)" Hermione said, handing me a rolled up copy of the newspaper the next morning at breakfast
"What? But it's supposed to be all about the champions" I said, taking the newspaper
"It is" she replied, motioning for me to read it.

The entire page was taken up of details I was confident did not occur during Harry's interview with Rita Skeeter. I skimmed over the pages looking for Fleur and Viktor, finally locating them crammed in the very last line. There was no mention at all of Cedric, to my disappointment. Starting to read the article, my lip curled in disgust

"I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. . . . Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it. . . . I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me"

I looked up at Hermione and a mortified Harry, Ron was nowhere to be found

"I mean, don't get me wrong this is bull, but where am I supposed to be?"
"Keep reading"

So I did

"Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one (y/n) Lestrange, a stunningly pretty pureblood girl beloved by society as well as her peers at school" I scoffed, tossing aside the paper, "well I am stunningly pretty so at least there's an ounce of truth in Skeeter's shitshow"

I had a strange feeling that this was only the tip of the iceberg, with Skeeter sticking her nose wherever she could, hoping to discover a shocking expose piece on my life. This meant pretending Cedric didn't exist around her or her photographers. Just yesterday, I had been entangled in a hectic make-out session in a deserted dungeon hallway when Skeeter appeared like a pesky fly, and I had to aggressively shut Cedric in a broom closet before she could see him. Hermione insisted I join her and Harry in the library most days, helping Harry with the summoning charm, which he continued to struggle with. Whenever Hermione's repetitive lectures drove my mind to boredom, I wandered over to Viktor, who also spent a lot of time in the library, unfortunately surrounded by his fangirls.

"Hey (y/n)" he said in a friendly greeting as I spilt the piling books out of my arms and onto his table, the distant chattering of Hermione in the background, "come sit"
"Gladly, but if you start rambling on about summoning charms I will slap you across the face with a book" I threatened, glaring back at the group of offended girls crowding around Viktor, "isn't there a whistle you can blow to make them shoo?"
He snickered, shaking his head, "They don't ever seem to have anything better to do"
"Well anyways, what're you doing" I asked, changing the subject
"Researching" he replied, indicating the pile of book he had spread out, all with different titles pertaining to dragons, "it's the first task" he added in a whisper, making sure no one else could hear, "Karkaroff saw them in the forest, Delacour knows too"
"But...that's against the rules!" I reprimanded, keeping my voice low, "I have to tell Harry-and Cedric!"
"I...I guess it is only fair if they know as well" he said reluctantly, flipping through a book titled Northeastern Dragon Species and the Secrets to their Taming, and I smiled gratefully at him

"Harry!" I exclaimed, bursting through the common room door hours later with a stack of books Krum had already gone through, "its Dragons!"
He sat on the carpet facing the fireplace, and bricking turned around at my queer announcement, and said "what?"
"The first task, its dragons, Viktor's just told me, everyone knows but Cedric. We've got to tell him tomorrow"

The colour drained from his pale face, becoming a shade of ghostly while despite the cast of warm light from the fire.

"Dragons?" He croaked weakly, and I nodded, giving him the books
"You've got to get past one of them, they must be guarding something" I said thoughtfully, moving to sit next to him by the fire, which i realised with a start, contained the tired face of Sirius Black.

Harry followed my gaze, his face breaking into a small smile as we shuffled closer to the flames. He demanded we tell him everything, and we did, his expression turning from surprise, to suspicion, to worry. He in turn warned us about Karkaroff, and his past as a death eater, finally returning to the worrisome topic of the first task

"There's a way, a simple spell, all you need is to just-"

But I held up a shaky hand to silence him, focusing on the footsteps drawing steadily closer from behind

"Sirius get out of here" I whispered, my tone panicked, "someone's coming...go!"

And with a light pop, Sirius' head vanished from the dancing flames.

"What are you two talking about?" Ron said, walking slowly down the staircase in his maroon pajamas
"What's that got to do with you?" Harry snapped
"I just thought-never mind" said Ron lamely, turning to ascend the stairs
"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry said, provoking him
"Sorry about that, should've realized you two didn't wanna be disturbed, busy practicing for your next interview, then?"
"You both are acting like toddlers" I said calmly, getting up from where I was sitting, "Ron-you should've believed Harry when he told you he didn't put his name in, Harry-you should've have been so stubborn with Ron. Either talk it out or just punch all your anger out on each other, god knows I could do with a laugh"

As I trudged up the staircase that led to the girls dormitories, I heard a faint click of metal from a badge Harry had thrown at Ron, sighing at the immaturity in the both of them.

The next morning I walked with Harry after Cedric and his friends when they left for class, frowning at the sight of Malfoy's badges pinned on the robes of some of the boys who had been quoting Skeeter's article.

"You go on, I'll be right there just let me tie my hair up" I said to Harry, who nervously walked up to Cedric, met with immediate jeering from his friends.

"Oi read the badge, Potter"
"Careful, then, he might start crying about his mum-"

I smirked satisfyingly as the teasing stopped once they caught sight of me approaching. I observed the closest of Cedric friend's, one whom had not been light in dealing out insults to Harry

"What's your name?" I asked, my name falsely sweet
He looked terrified at his friends, before stammering, "Z-Zacharias Smith..."
"Well Smith, do you like having a dick?"
"Wh-what...?" He was practically shaking with fear, which only made me more motivated
"What I mean to say is" I continued, twirling my wand between my fingers, "if someone were to, say, cut off one of your balls, would you be...upset?"

At this, he and his friends scurried away with horror, and Cedric was shaking his head at me with a suppressed smile

"She's crazy" he chuckled, looking at Harry, then at me, "you're crazy"
"Oh shut up, Harry, tell him what you need to, if I'm late to Herbology again, Professor Sprout'll turn me into a shrivelfig" I left for Herbology after pecking Cedric lightly on the cheek