Pranking hearts

Rhea sat in between Angelina and Katie. The stands were especially noisy. Not even during the Quidditch games are there so many shouts and cheers.

"So who are your bets on?" Alicia asked suddenly over the shouts of the people. All three of her friends glared over at her. "What? Just trying to spark a conversation."

"You are worse than the twins," Katie muttered, elbowing the girl seated next to her, making Alicia hiss and elbow Katie back. Rhea rolled her eyes at her two friends while Angelina just shook her head.

"Just date already," Angelina mumbled, bringing her attention back to the four champions that stood in front of the stands with Dumbledore and Bagman.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in the first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr Cedric Diggory and Mr Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. Rhea might have been the loudest of them all causing Angelina to chuckle, loving to see her friend enthusiastic again. "In the second place, with eighty points - Mr Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place - Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!" Another wave of claps. "So...on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three - two - one -" He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze.

Rhea stared after them until the hedge closed behind them. Feeling an unusual pang of sadness after the two disappeared. Anxiety in her thinking about how much danger awaited them in the maze. Once Viktor and Fleur also disappeared into the maze there was quiet. No one saw anything anymore and all they could do was wait and see who would be the first one out.

The long wait was getting to everyone. Some students were talking together, discussing who might win. Others were found playing games like Exploding Snap or Wizarding Chess. A few decided to sleep which was what Angelina was trying to do, her head rested on Rhea's shoulder. The said girl was looking up trying to spot the stars that were slowly coming up in the dark sky. Katie was on Rhea's other side, slowly drifting to sleep, her head threatening to fall on Rhea's other shoulder. As for Alicia...

"Listen to your heart when he's calling for you!" Katie jerked awake as Alicia belted the lyrics of the song out of the blue. It was very visible that Miss Spinnet was bored. Angelina just groaned, shifting her position a bit but continued resting with her eyes shut. "Listen to your heart, there's nothing else you can do, I don't know where you're going and I don't know why! But listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye," Rhea looked over at her friend seeing Alicia clearly satisfied with herself while Katie looked close to using an unforgivable curse on her.

There were a few people disturbed by Alicia's singing but decided not to comment on that, which was a definite fortune for the girls since Rhea didn't feel like defending Alicia in front of some prat who couldn't put up with the minor disturbance.

"I nailed that one," Alicia said proudly, a large grin on her face as she glanced over at her friends.

"Mhm, I could tell," Rhea stated nodding her head absentmindedly. Katie on the other hand frowned.

"One more time you do that and I'll personally throw you into that maze." She threatened. Alicia got into her face.

"Yeah? Try me then."

"Oh, you asked for it." Katie went to pull out her wand when Rhea stopped her.

"Don't. It's bad enough that Viktor and Fleur had to be pulled out already. I have no desire to look out for you two as well." The two piped down for a while. They resolved to bickering quietly so Rhea wouldn't hurt them.

Suddenly there was a wooshing sound. After long two and half hours of sitting and not seeing any action, the cup appeared before the stands with both Harry and Cedric lying next to it. Harry was covering Cedric's body with his and it looked like he was shaking. Rhea looked over weirdly. What had happened? Angelina lifted her head from her shoulder when she felt Rhea shift underneath her.

"Oh, they're here? Good." She muttered sleepily, allowing Rhea to stand up. There was a noisy chatter that filled the stands. Everyone was curious. Something was definitely wrong. She could feel it from the nervousness of the others. And then she heard it.

"Diggory's dead!" Rhea stopped looking around, eyes trained on the lifeless body on the ground. Now that they moved Harry away she could see it clearly. He was there, lying on the ground, not moving. Not breathing. His eyes opened as they held that non-present stare. He was gone.

"Rhea?" She could hear Angelina speak next to her but her voice seemed to be miles away. All she heard were the last words Cedric said to her. Everything he ever said to her. 'Always Black.' rang through her ears. Deafening everything around her. Angelina went to reach for her arm but before she could Rhea was gone. Running through the crowd down the stairs.

She was bumping into everyone but she didn't care. She just wanted to get to him. She almost reached him, tears falling down her face as she jumped down the stairs. Seeing his father and mother cry by his side. Desperate for their child to come back to them. The painful sobs of Mr Diggory were wrecking her body. She felt as if someone was stabbing her over and over again. Cho was standing not too far away, crying her eyes out. Ced's eyes were closed for him, and that's when Rhea lost it. Her knees buckled as she almost fell to the ground if it hadn't been for someone catching her.

A pair of strong arms held her upright, keeping her from slumping to the ground. A hand on the back of her head stroked her hair soothingly as she sobbed into the person's chest. Smelling the scent of smoke and cinnamon.

"He can't be gone." Rhea stammered out of herself with a heavy heart.

"It's going to be okay Rhea," George whispered to her comfortingly, his words also laced with sadness.

"No, no, no. He's gone, George."

"I know." He said, his fingers running through her hair as he gently started to lead her away. Not letting her look up. She didn't need to see more. George sent a look to his brother who seemed to be frozen still on the stands, regretting ever hating Diggory. He sighed before leading Rhea back to the castle, knowing everyone else would join eventually.

***

The night of the incident Rhea sneaked out of the dorm, out of the common room and out of the castle. Sitting down by the Black Lake. She felt immense sorrow attacking her heart. She felt like she was choking yet she could breathe freely. Everything was so weird and felt unreal. Ever since she saw his body she felt like a chunk of her has been torn out from her body.

She didn't even know why she felt so beaten by the death of Cedric. They were friends of course. This past year very good friends. But she wasn't his girlfriend. She didn't spend every day with him. She wasn't even part of the Hufflepuff house. For years prior she only acknowledged his existence on the Quidditch pitch. Occasionally, getting paired with him in classes. There was nothing that was connecting her to him.

But yet there was. Cedric was the first boy who openly confessed his feelings to her. He was the first and only one to openly consider her as more than a friend. Dates with him were something more than the infrequent meet-ups with boys in Three Broomsticks filled with empty talk. With Cedric it was different. She could tell he actually used to have feelings for her and wasn't there merely for her looks or to get help on some of his subjects. He was there because he wanted to get to know her. And that was heartbreaking. Because she never got to the point where she would be able to say she knew him.

Sobs were threatening to break from her chest when a hot breath breathed on the back of her neck. She turned around and saw a black dog standing behind her. She didn't bother wiping her eyes from the tears as she turned her whole body around, throwing herself around the neck of the animal.

"Dad." She sobbed into the fur of the black dog that in the next second turned into a human. Sirius Black sat there on the ground, hugging his daughter close to him tightly.

"Shh, it's okay my little star. Everything will be alright." He whispered hugging her tighter.

"I wanted to go see Harry, but I can't force myself to go."

"Harry understands darling, you don't have to worry."

"I feel so tired Dad. I don't think I can take it anymore. Everything seems to be crumbling down and I don't have the strength to fight back anymore." Rhea wailed, for a moment not caring how vulnerable she appeared. Everything has downed on her finally. Not only was she crying about Ced's death. She was crying for herself. For all the terrible things that happened to her.

Sirius didn't know what to say. Furthermore, he didn't have much time. He had an assignment given to him by Dumbledore that he needed to carry out. He just wanted to see his little girl, not knowing how truly broken she was. Harry told him she and Cedric were friends, luckily opting not to mention the drama between her and Fred. But he didn't expect it to be quite as bad.

"Darling you just need to get some rest. You'll see everything will turn around one day."

"But it won't be the same." She sobbed. Sirius couldn't help but think back to the day he lost his best friend. The day he found out James was dead. He might have felt even worse than Rhea now.

"No, it really won't. It will be a lot different and it will be hard but trust me when I say you can pull through, okay? Things in the world always change. They do and we all know it. That doesn't mean that change can't become a good future." He said pulling his daughter so she could look into his eyes. Seeing the glimpses of her mother in them made him smile weakly. He really missed her as well. "Listen to your pops okay, when I say that the future holds wonders for you. You will lose people you love on the way, that's for sure, but with every loss comes new gain. You just have to keep yourself strong enough to seek it."

Rhea nodded, dried tears still visible on her cheeks. Sirius smiled, wiping the trails off with his thumb. He ruffled the girl's already messy hair before planting a soft kiss on her forehead. A ghost of a smile could be traced on Rhea's face, causing her father to chuckle.

"Now go back to bed, darling. I'll see you soon, when Moony brings you back from the platform." With that, he turned back to dog form. For a moment watching, to make sure Rhea would enter the castle before he took off towards the direction of the shrieking shack.

***

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, on the last morning when they were in the Great Hall. Rhea already managed to hug Harry almost to his death, finally able to approach the boy since it happened. "of another year." He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall. Rhea felt Angelina squeeze her hand under the table, drawing small circles on the skin of her hand. "There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."
Harry caught a glimpse of Cho through the crowd. Tears were pouring silently down her face. He looked down at the table as they all sat down again. He then glanced over to Rhea who was fighting the urge to dive into gloom again. He could see it clearly on her face. A benefit of sitting right opposite to her.

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff House," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about." Rhea could feel the pressure in her head which was threatening to explode with a headache. "Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence. Angelina held Rhea's hand tighter. Alicia was found hugging Katie who maybe was trying to appear fearless but was freaking out on the inside. Fred and George both swallowed thickly. It was in his head that he wanted to approach her now. He wanted to hold her close, to assure her it would be okay. But Rhea was too far from Fred's reach now. And honestly, she might not even want him to be near.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are."

"Doubt my dad will be horrified since he already knows. He might try to convince me to stay out of it though." Rhea muttered to herself.

"It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory. There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter." Many heads turned to stare at Harry. Rhea felt sorry for the boy for having to witness it all. "Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honour him."

Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to him. Rhea sent the boy a wink, forcing on a smile to make him relax. Harry smiled back at her, not being able to stay glum when seeing her smile. When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued.

"The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened - of Lord Voldemort's return - such ties are more important than ever before." Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. "Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. It is my belief- and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst."

As much as many wanted to hope Dumbledore wasn't right they knew better. There were a few of them that were right at the epicentre of it all. Whether it was through the involvement of their parents or their friends. They knew. Difficult times were to come on them. That is why Rhea was glad to be finishing her years at Hogwarts next year. As much as she will miss her second home she couldn't wait to enter the life of the adult. She didn't know what she would do after school as her profession. Being Auror didn't feel so right anymore. But she was sure she wanted to be involved in the downfall of the Dark Lord.

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory." Rhea bowed her head, saying silent words of goodbye to her friend under her breath, hoping he could hear her before she exited the Great Hall with her three friends following in tow so they could pack the last of their things. Rhea truly couldn't wait any longer to be home.

***

Fred and George were walking through the train on their way home for the summer. They couldn't really sit in their usual compartment since Fred and Rhea still weren't on speaking terms. And being the gentleman he is he didn't want to bother her there so he opted to search for a different seating, George offering to join him.

"Let's see if our dear brother has a spot for us with him," Fred suggested, aiming his way towards the compartment where he knew Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting. Surprisingly Malfoy and his goons were also there which made the twins groan. They weren't in the mood to deal with Malfoy's trash talk.

"You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!"

"Did he just..." George muttered anger boiling in him.

"Too late now. Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well - second - Diggory was the f-" And that's when the twins had enough. Coming from behind the three and shouting their spells. It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. When everything cleared out the twins glanced down at the ground. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were on their feet, all three of them having used a different hex combined with the spell the twins had used.

"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside. He felt a little bad since he knew Rhea would frown on behaviour like this, but knowing her she would really shout at him so much he would faint either way.

"Interesting effect," George uttered, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"

"Me," Harry answered, putting his hand up.

"Odd," George stated lightly, shrugging his shoulders. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor." He clapped his hands nodding towards his younger brother and Harry to come to help him. The two boys came over and together they kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut.

"Exploding Snap, anyone?" said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards from the pocket of his slacks. All of them agreed. Harry was finally past his phase of thinking of Fred as the terrible destroyer. And was able to communicate with the older boy normally. Though if anyone asked he was still on Rhea's side of the fight. They were halfway through their fifth game when Harry decided to ask them a question that was nagging him.

"You going to tell us, then?" he asked looking over at George. "Who you were blackmailing?"

"Oh, that." George hummed, casting a glance at Fred to see if he wanted to confess.

"It doesn't matter," Fred dismissed, shaking his head impatiently. He put out a card quickly for a second catching Ron off guard. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."

"We've given up," George shrugged, putting out another card that unfortunately exploded right into his face. He coughed softly, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the mess from his face. Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept on asking and nagging about the blackmail, and finally, Fred gave up with a sigh.

"All right, all right, if you really want to know...it was Ludo Bagman." Fred huffed mixing the cards.

"Bagman? Are you saying he was involved in -"

"Nah," George cut Harry off quickly. "Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains."

"Well, what, then?" Ron asked impatiently.

Fred hesitated for a moment, then said, "You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"

"You mean the prediction Rhea made? That turned out true?" Harry asked curiously. Fred sighed, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"Yeah, she did, didn't she?" George looked over at his older brother with a smirk. It was only a matter of time. George cleared his throat grabbing Fred's attention. "Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots."

"So?"

"So," Fred groaned impatiently, slamming the pack of cards down, "it vanished, didn't it? By the next morning, it had gone!"

"But...it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" sweet Hermione believed in the goodness of people. Unfortunately not the right people. George laughed very bitterly. He couldn't believe someone so smart could be so trusting.

"Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."

"In the end, he turned pretty nasty," Fred continued for his twin, "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."

"So we asked for our money back," George said glowering.

"He didn't refuse!" Hermione gasped as if it was some kind of fascinating story that she couldn't believe.

"Right in one," Fred nodded her way.

"But that was all your savings!" Fred rolled his eyes at Ron for the obvious statement.

"Tell me about it," George muttered annoyed. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"

"How?" Harry asked curiously. Fred laughed.

"He put a bet on you, mate. Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins." George reached over to Fred who was talking and grabbed the cards from him. Shuffling them one more time.

"So that's why he kept trying to help me win!" Harry concluded finally glueing the pieces together. "Well, I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"

"Nope," George popped the 'p', shaking his head. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after the third task." George sighed deeply and started dealing out the cards again.

After a few more games and a few pleasant hours, the Hogwarts Express pulled in at platform nine and three-quarters. The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Ron and Hermione struggled out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying their trunks. George tossed Fred his backpack as the two got ready to leave the compartment.

"What do you reckon mum's making for dinner?" George asked, adjusting his backpack.

"Dunno mate, I don't care as long as there's a lot of it." Both twins laughed and were about to step over Malfoy who was still lying on the ground in front of the compartment.

"Fred, George wait a moment," Harry called to the two identical boys. The twins turned. Harry pulled open his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings.

"Take it," he said, and he thrust the sack into George's hands. George took a step back, eyes growing wide.

"What?" Fred choked on his words, looking flabbergasted.

"Take it," Harry repeated firmly. "I don't want it." Fred and George looked at each other utterly confused before turning back to Harry.

"You're mental," George stated, trying to push it back at Harry who moved out of the way.

"No, I'm not. You take it and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."

"He is mental," Fred nodded in George's direction as if confirming his previous statement.

"Listen," Harry started with a sigh. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."

"Harry," the younger twin huffed, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."

"Yeah, think how many Canary Creams that is." Harry grinned at the two who just stared at him in disbelief. "Just don't tell your mum where you got it...although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it...."

"Harry," Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand.

"Look," he said flatly, "take it, or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favour, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you. Oh, and for the love of Merlin, mend things between you and Rhea. I hate seeing her like that." He left the compartment before they could say another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Fred sighed not knowing what to say while George was struggling to hold up all the gold. The two of them caught sight of Rhea outside the window. She received a hug from their mum before she rushed towards her uncle. Fred got just a brief glance of Rhea's eyes before she was apparated away by her uncle.

"Eh, come on then mate. We gotta get going or mum's gonna leave us here." George said reaching towards Fred's bag and opening it to stuff the money inside. Fred huffed at the weight of it all but decided not to complain. The twins were quick to exit the compartment and make their way to their family so they could go home.