Victory

The final week and a half before the task was an absolute madhouse. So far there had been no leaks of the alliances, neither on the Gryffindor-Slytherin or the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff front. Kaeley often sent wicked smiles Beth's way, having absolutely no idea that she knew about her little secret.

Beth and Sirius met up in the corner of the library every day. She had been right, he was brilliant at hexing and jinxing, but he did not have an aptitude for potions. It was fine though, that was what Beth had been studying non-stop.

"I wonder how they'll put us in though." Beth finally said, during their final study session before the task. All of the champions had been excused from all homework for the final week. They had spent all of their time strategizing, picking apart the rhyme and practising potions and hexes.

"I'm hoping they just drop all of us in a room." Sirius leaned back in his chair. "Probably won't though."

"If we have to pick the right doors then presumably we have to find something." Beth answered. "So they could drop all of us in different rooms." They fell silent for a few moments, a giant elephant had just walked into the room. "Do we try to find each other?"

Sirius thought about it for a few moments, weighing his options. Beth had proven herself to be more than useful, and definitely above the level he was at in his third year. Still, it was a competition, and there could only be one winner.

"We don't." He decided. "If we run into each other we work together, but don't go out of your way. Beating them is more important."

Slytherin and Gryffindor had been feuding since the start of their houses, nearly a millennium ago. Both wanted to be on top, to prove that either bravery or ambition could get you there. It had never even occurred that Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw wanted in on that fight. But now that they were, with a huge advantage as well, the two houses finally managed to agree on one thing: that could never happen.

Beth had definitely warmed up to Sirius, though Lauren's thoughts on him seemed to have crept her way into Beth's brain. 'He's a blood traitor,' she had said. 'He'd betray his own family, why wouldn't he betray you?'

Why wouldn't Sirius betray Beth? Well, she had the enchanted parchment for one, though he did not know what kind of curse would come over him if he betrayed her. Celia had done the enchantment and hadn't been to keen to share with Beth what type of curse would happen if either of them broke it. Beth also did not care that much about blood purity, and she could definitely understand the pains of having a family that did care.

"Beth?" Sirius said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Right." She snapped back to reality. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I asked if you were nervous," he laughed. "I think I already have my answer though."

She laughed sheepishly at him. "Nervous is an understatement." She said. "My father will kill me if I mess things up tomorrow."

Any time she brought up the subject of family, he'd shut down. It was understandable though, clearly the Black's weren't overly fond of their son who had stopped the 'always in Slytherin' lineage. Beth couldn't even imagine what her father would do or say to her if she had to tell him what the sorting hat had told her.

That night though, a black owl pecked against the library's window. Sirius had left her only a few moments ago, it was as though the creature had been informed to only give her the letter in private. Beth quickly opened the window and allowed the owl in, but it merely showed her its claw, and set off once she had grabbed the letter.

She was not very surprised to see her father's handwriting.

"Dear Elisabeth,
Marcus Marcier informed me that you have started an alliance with Sirius Black. Though I am saddened that you did not entrust this information to me, that is not what I am writing to you about today. I must urge you to reconsider this alliance. Sirius is an outcast in his own family. His own mother has no kind words to speak about him, even with him being the champion of Gryffindor. This alliance will reflect poorly on our family name, Elisabeth. The Dark Lord might think we support Dumbledore.
You are smart and gifted enough to get through the first task without his help. I wish you all the luck and wisdom in the world tomorrow. Make our house proud.
Dad"

* * *

Beth did not sleep at all that night. She could not stop thinking about all the people who doubted the alliance. Which were a lot of people.

Her gut feeling told her she was doing the right thing. Her mind was still on the fence about it, and all her friends and family told her to betray him on the first occasion. All she could hope for was that Sirius had better friends than she did.

In her dreams, she followed Sirius around a maze. He kept telling her to look straight ahead. "Don't look back." He urged her on, grabbing her hand and leading her further in. The hedges on either side of her had faces in them. First, it was Celia, then followed Regulus and even Slughorn made an appearance.

The further they went, the scarier the faces became. Her father's eyes followed her, burning holes into her hand. Then came their neighbour, Mr Bornhix, a known Deatheater. "Just a little further." Sirius would tell her. "Almost there."

Beth never got to see what was at the end. She woke up covered in sweat, with Celia by her side. "Did you dream of her again?" She asked in a comforting tone. Beth shook her head and sat up straight. Her hand instinctively wrapped around her necklace. The sky was grey outside, it was the day of the first task.

Overall, she may have gotten two hours of sleep. She certainly looked it. Celia managed to go back to bed, but Beth was wide awake. She left the dorm behind her and headed for an early breakfast. She knew the task would be held at noon, so she had plenty of time to get ready. Though there really wasn't much else to do.

There were some students already in the Great Hall, most of them looked like they had a rough night as well. She was also not the first champion in the hall, she wasn't even the second. Both Kaeley and Cephas were already up. There was no point in hiding the alliances anymore, so Kaeley was sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

Both of them smirked at Beth as they noticed her standing in the door opening. They had been waiting to spill the tea, to let the school know of their alliance.

"Morning." Sirius appeared beside her. "Looks like none of us slept then. Good, I thought I'd be the only one."

Cephas looked like he had understood what happened, while Kaeley was still figuring it out. Though they had never even touched before, Sirius wrapped his arm around Beth in a side hug. The look on the young Hufflepuff's face was absolutely priceless.

"Imagine if you hadn't listened in on them." Sirius said as the two walked over to the Gryffindor table.

"We'd be done for." Beth answered. Kaeley and Cephas were speaking in fast whispers to each other. Where Kaeley still looked dead surprised, Cephas was angry. One of the advantages of working with her had just exploded right in front of his eyes.

Beth sat next to Sirius for breakfast. There was no point in talking things over again, they had done so a million times already. Besides, they could never be sure who was listening in.