Chapter 30
The next couple weeks pass without any incidents. Well, one incident did occur. The twins' aging potion didn't work so they couldn't put their name in the goblet of fire. They're still trying to figure out how they should though.
Other than that, everything has been peaceful. But I don't trust it. Today, after dinner, Dumbledore will announce the names of the Tri-wizard contestants. I know who it's going to be and so Draco has been trying to get me to tell him. I haven't caved yet and I most likely won't for the rest of the day. So I guess it seems Draco has found a use for my reality shifting.
Like I was saying, Dumbledore is announcing the contestants today and I have been sick to my stomach. The past couple of days I have barely been able to get out of bed. The nerves and that feeling in my stomach combined make my head spin. Plus, I am nauseous. It feels like I caught a very terrible stomach bug. Needless to say, Parker and Draco have to keep making excuses for why I'm not in class.
One thing has helped though. Well, two. During the day, if I have free time I will walk down by the lake and hike in the forest. That usually clears my head. And to my surprise the niffler I met last year remembered me, so now I bring food (sponsored by Hagrid) for it whenever I go hiking.
At night I go to the Astronomy tower. Sometimes Draco will join me to make sure I'm ok or to make sure that I don't stay up there too long. One night I fell asleep up there and he found me there freezing, so that's why he likes to come up with me. We don't talk when he comes with me. We sit quietly and look at the stars. Sometimes I forget he's there until he says that it's time to go.
Today is one of those days where I have decided to skip class and take a walk in the woods. I have food stuffed in my pocket just in case I stumble across any little creatures.
"It's too cold for you to be doing this today." Ethan says as he walks up beside me, shivering and slightly over exaggerating on how cold it is.
"Those classrooms are too hot." I reply with a shrug. "I need some fresh air before they call the names." My stomach does a somersault, thinking about the names being called today. Something is going to go wrong or someone who isn't supposed to be called will be called today. Those are my guesses. The latter is what I'm leaning toward.
"You still feel bad?"
"Yes. I barely wanted to get out of bed today but even the Slytherin common room felt too hot. I have a bad feeling that one of our names are going to get called." I say, referring to Parker, Ethan, and I.
"Nobody except Dumbledore, Fred and Malfoy know that we are shifters."
"After my dreams last year, I don't believe that. I think Voldemort knows."
"They could be wrong." He says hopefully. I shake my head in doubt. I don't trust Voldemort or any of his plans. He will probably try to use us for something. Especially since we know the future. And with the way Moody/Barty Crouch Jr. keeps staring at the three of us, I don't doubt that he is up to something.
"This world isn't going by the original plot anymore." I admitted. With us being here, many things have changed. The plot might still look the same from the outside but because Ethan, Parker and I are here, we have somehow become a major part of it. I was only supposed to be a background character. "I feel like we should've been more descriptive with our scripts."
"Maybe you're right."
"Hopefully I'm wrong."
"How's Mr. Bipolar?" Ethan asks, trying to change the subject. I accept the bait because right now I'd prefer to talk about something else. Even if it's how bipolar Draco has been lately.
"He's still being bipolar but I think he has accepted the shifting thing. At least I hope he has."
"Hey! You guys having a meeting without me?" Parker calls from the woods. She appears a second later, her hair pulled back into a ponytail but it's still a mess. Probably from walking through the woods. She has a little creature attached to her leg. A niffler.
I snort a laugh at the sight of the creature clinging to her leg. "I think that niffler likes you."
"Oh yeah, how do you get them off?" She says with an exasperated sigh. I pull out some food from my pocket and place it on the ground for the niffler to get. The creature immediately lets go of Parker's leg and grabs the food before scurrying off into the woods.
"Let's go before he comes back for more." Ethan comments. Parker and I nod our heads, before taking off into the woods. We run all the way to the clearing where the dementors were last year. Parker and I flinch as we stop, thinking about what happened last year.
"You guys got to see what happened, didn't you?"
"It's why my shoulder was dislocated and it hurt to move." I reply to Ethan's comment.
"How bad..."
"Terrifying but Harry's patronus was beautiful." Parker responds.
"It was." I mumble. Before anyone else moves, I move to the waters edge and sit down on the rocks. The water is basically frozen, like it was the other two times I have been here. It looks prettier frozen without the dementors swarming it.
Parker and Ethan join me a second later, sitting on either side of me.
"We're like our own little trio. Though two of the members hate each other."
Parker snorts a laugh saying, "I wonder which two." She gives Ethan a glare before observing the frozen pond once again.
"I was a little jealous that you guys got to go with them." Ethan comments.
"Don't be." I reply. "I got the majority of my ribs broken. Fortunately I got lucky that none of them punctured a lung."
Ethan looks at me concerned. "You broke your ribs."
I shrug. "The whomping willow technically did. I got the thicker end of the branch when it hit Harry and Hermione."
"I don't know how you're the only one who got their ribs broken, it hit all of us pretty hard." Parker adds to the conversation.
"At least I was the only one." I mutter. I know getting hurt is inevitable but I don't Ethan and Parker to have any real near death experiences here. I'll take the brunt of whatever happens to us to make sure they are OK and can still experience this world. Even if it means that I would die from the injury. I go back to my real reality anyway if I die here. They will to but I don't want them to go through that.
"If we die we go back. It doesn't matter." Parker responds.
"Are you a legilimens?" I ask. Parker smirks before saying, "It's about time you figured it out."
"Things are starting to make sense now." I joke.
"We should start heading back." Ethan says as he stands up. I smirk as I see him start to shiver from the cold.
"Are you cold?" I ask mockingly.
"No. I'm not cold, I left some homework in my dorm that I need to finish. That's all."
"Mhm, sure." I say as I stand up and brush the dirt off of my skirt and pants. Parker joins us a second later and we head back through the woods. This time we don't run into any creatures. But I leave the food in my pocket spread out on the ground just in case any animal wants food.
"You know I wonder why the wizarding world calls mythical creatures, creatures and not animals." I say, thinking out loud. Parker and Ethan shrug. Other than that I get no response.
The rest of the walk is quiet. Ethan heads to his common room and Parker and I head to ours. We find Draco sitting on one of the couches talking to his friends. Pansy, in my opinion is sitting too close to him but I'm not going to say anything. I just glare at her as I'm walking by to get to my dorm.
"I hope one of us makes prefect next year instead of pugface." Parker says as she lays down on her bed.
"Same honestly." I plop down on my bed and stare up at the ceiling. I take a few deep breaths and try to close off my brain. Lately, with my stomach acting up, my occlumency hasn't been working too well. My nerves have been getting in the way of being able to black my thoughts out. It is a bit concerning, not being able to block them out. Some memories that I completely forgot I had keep popping up, like ones from when I was really little. Ones about my dad too.
"What if one of our names are picked? Like you said?" Parker asks, drawing me out of my haze.
I shrug. "We'll have to be extra careful. And extra there for each other, no matter who it is." I give her a look that says, "That means Ethan too."
She sighs and says, "Fine. Though I doubt he would do the same for me. And if he did it would be to get on your good side."
"I guess." I shrug. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up before dinner." I close my eyes and shut off my brain like a light switch to shut off a light.
I watch as Parker runs through hedges and bushes, running away from something unseen. Or running to something. She bumps into someone. Cedric Diggory. They draw their wands on each other before exchanging a few words and seemingly coming to an agreement.
They take off running in the same direction until somehow they run into Harry. They bring him along with them until they stop and find a glowing blue cup. Everything in me wants to yell to Parker not to touch. It's dangerous. It could get her killed. But I can't. I don't even know if I'm actually with them or just watching.
Suddenly, everything spins and we are in a graveyard, Cedric is dead and Parker is hiding behind a gravestone clutching her wand to her chest. A second later Peter Pettigrew lures Parker out and a green light flashes before my vision. Once it clears, I see Parker laying next to Cedric with that same lifeless look in her eyes.
"NO!" I want to scream but nothing comes out. Tears fall down my face and I drop to my knees. Why her? Out of everyone, why her?
"She's that special to you?" A snakey voice whispers behind me. "Pathetic. It's funny how much you care for them. People you barely know. It's pathetic."
"I know them well enough now. It's easy to care for people when you actually have a heart." I hiss as my voice seems to return. He wants me to argue back.
"I had once, but it was blackened and then destroyed, just like yours will be." He laughs a cynical laugh before placing his hand on my shoulder. I don't bother to look at him.
"I'm nothing like you. And I sure as hell won't become like you."
"No?" He laughs. "Your Weasley boy will die and you have done nothing about it. I'd say that's very cold hearted of you. You're letting all this stuff happen to your friends but not doing a single thing to stop it."
"If I stop it, that gives you an upper hand." I lash out at him but he grabs me by the throat, cutting off some of my air supply before I can do anything.
"Snape has been teaching you well. Too bad I'm stronger." He squeezes my throat a bit tighter, to the point of where I can't breathe at all.
Suddenly he drops me and I land on my knees with a hard crunch.
"It's funny how you need a teenage girl to help you stop a boy you couldn't even kill as a baby. It's pathetic really. You should've just let Bellatrix get him. She would've got the job done." I taunt him. He lashes out and smacks me across the face. I don't even wince.
The last thing I hear is him say, "Cruicio," before light floods my vision and my breath returns back to me.
"He entered your dream again, didn't he?" Parker says but it sounds distant. I grab her my the arm and pull her into a hug, crying into her shoulder.
"I don't think the occlumency is fully working." I mumble into her shoulder. She wraps her arms around me, returning the hug and letting me sob.
By the time I'm done, I'm trembling and slightly struggling to breathe again.
"He threatened to kill you." I finally choke out as I pull away from Parker. Her blue eyes grow sad, and concerned.
"Hopefully it's nothing."
"I wish people would stop saying that." I cry out, as I plop back down on my bed and cover my eyes with my hands. "I know you're trying to be optimistic but I can't when I get haunted by the sight of seeing everyone die. I don't trust Voldemort or what he has planned. Like I told Ethan in the woods we changed something and now the plot is messed up."
Parker sighs. The bed shifts, telling me she's going back to her bed.
"I'm gonna go for a walk." I get up quickly and leave the room. Parker doesn't try to stop me or follow me. She just lets me be.
I make everything hazy. Blocking my mind out to everything. I don't know who's walking by me. I don't even know where I'm walking to. I just know I'm walking blindly in a castle that I probably shouldn't be walking blindly in.
Very vaguely I feel someone's cold hand wrap around me. It feels familiar but I just can't place who it is right now.
"Snap out of it, Felicity." A deep accented, voice tells me. I block out the command. I feel safer like this. "Felicity please. It's me Draco. Come on don't make me do what I had to do the other day. Please." Draco the name is familiar. Then my brain shuffles through everything with the name Draco and my head starts to clear. The blonde in front of me becomes clear. I even realize that we stopped in the middle of the hallway.
"Dray, please stop and let me do this." I say angrily.
"It's not healthy for you when you do it to the of not being able to remember who anyone is. You need to stop." I sigh and rest my head against his chest.
"Why don't you want to kiss me again?" I say realizing what he just said.
"Because I realized that's a good way to get punched in the gut if you don't realize it's me." He laughs.
"Wow, such self-preservation. Very Slytherin of you." I chuckle in return.
"Well they do call me the Slytherin prince."
I lightly push him away and say, "Don't let that get to your head." I start walking off, knowing he will follow me. This boy doesn't know the meaning of personal space most days. Right now, I can't decide whether I mind or not.
"Unfortunately for your plans, it's time for dinner." Parker calls from behind us. Draco and I wait for her to catch up before heading to the Great Hall.
The tables were filled to the brim with food, most likely to celebrate the champions who will be chosen tonight. Fleur Delacour. Viktor Crum. Cedric Diggory. And Harry Potter. Unfortunately I have a bad feeling Parker Sallow will be the fifth name called.
Draco, Parker and I sit down in our usual spot. Pansy, sitting off to the left side of Draco, glares at me as if I'm in her spot. I just ignore her like usual because I am not in the mood for her shit. Draco rests his hand on my knee, drawing circles that send shivers down my spine. I almost grabbed his hand to stop him but after a couple of minutes it helps settle my stomach a little.
I grab some turkey and some mashed potatoes with gravy, along with a few pieces of garlic bread. My favorite meal from Hogwarts. I have my cup fill up with hot chocolate with whipped cream since it is very cold outside. And because I really want hot chocolate.
"So, Felicity, who did think will be called to be champion?" Draco asks as he starts eating, keeping one hand on my knee.
"I don't know Draco. I haven't been paying attention to who has put their names in the goblet." Parker snorts, trying not to spit out her hot chocolate. She knows Draco has been trying to get me to tell him the names and she knows that I haven't budged yet.
"Dammit." Draco mumbles under his breath. I laugh, before taking a drink of my hot chocolate. The burn of the chocolate warms me up instantly, but it doesn't do well with my stomach, so I put the drink down and wait for a little bit. Nausea rolls through me as Mad-eye walks by the table, eyeing Parker and I with his mechanical eye. At a different table, George throws me a look, letting me know he saw it too. A look of concern crosses his face, like he's thinking what I am thinking. Something isn't right.
"What's wrong love?" Draco whispers directly in my ear. He is so close that I can feel his breath on my neck.
"Just uneasy. Something doesn't feel right." I say. My breath hitches and seems to slow, at how close Draco is. He's never made me this nervous before. "Stop trying to distract me." I whisper. He laughs, then surprisingly places a kiss on my jaw, just under my ear. I turn to look at him, confused by what he is doing.
"I'm not trying to distract you." A smirk plays on his face, but it does nothing to help the unease.
"If your parents find out..." I mumble.
"Right now I don't care." I shake my head, before going back to eating and ignoring Draco. The look in his eyes stuck with me though. I can't describe it. Or like I've never seen anyone look that way at me before. It looked like he wanted something from me that I didn't know how to give. Like the kind of look I've only read about in books. Books that people my age probably shouldn't be reading. A look of lust. Maybe even desire.
Or maybe I imagined it. I look over at him, seeing that look in his eyes has disappeared. Pansy glares at me from the other side of Draco, so maybe I didn't imagine it.
"You would look better if you ate less. And skipped dessert." Pansy commented, as she quickly looked down at my half finished plate.
"How bout you would look better if you weren't such a jealous bitch?"
"And you would look better if you weren't fawning over someone else's boyfriend." Parker says adding on to my comment.
"Maybe check your boyfriend before you go making comments, Sallow." Pansy responds, jerking her head in the direction of the Weasley twins. One was eyeing Draco and I with a slight glare. The other was paying attention to his food. Let's just say George wasn't the one staring in my direction. Which means Pansy can't tell the difference between the twins.
"What are you talking about?" Parker asks, confused.
"I think your twin keeps looking at Wilhite over here." Parker snorts as she realizes that Pansy is talking about the wrong twin. Draco knows it too, but his grip on my knee tightened.
I move closer to Draco and whisper in his ear, "Jealousy is a nice color on you Malfoy." He smirks as I pull away but doesn't respond verbally.
Suddenly, the lights start to dim and Dumbledore steps up to the glowing blue goblet in the center of the room.
"Now the moment you've all been waiting for," Dumbledore door pauses dramatically, "Champion selection." He dims the lights even lower, to the point where it's just the Goblet lighting the room. In the dramatic style of Dumbledore, he circles the cup, before placing his hands on it like some silent ritual is being performed.
Then, suddenly the blue flames above the cup turn a purplish color and a piece of paper flies out, right into Dumbledore's hand. Viktor Krum's name is on the paper. Dumbledore announces it and Viktor walks off to another room behind the teacher's table while everyone claps for him. Another paper comes out of the fire, which Dumbledore catches as well. The paper is fancy and round, looking like a ballerina skirt. The name on the paper Fluer Delacour. Everyone claps for her but suddenly, everything to me seems too loud.
"And our Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory." The whole room erupts in claps for him. I shake my head, putting my hands over my ears to block out the sound.
Suddenly, everything goes quiet as the goblet erupts into purple flames once again. Dumbledore catches the fifth paper and my stomach drops.
"Harry Potter and Parker Sallow!" Dumbledore's voice erupts through the silence. I was right. It was Parker.