Black Widow

"CAN YOU START A FIGHT CLUB?" DAPHNE ASKED.

Natasha blinked, and then blinked, and blinked again to make sure she heard that correctly. "You want me to start a fight club? Why?" She asked the blonde, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned up against the stone wall.

"Because the Girls of Hogwarts want to learn how to defend themselves -- without wands. A lot of the boys -- hell, even girls -- from pureblood families refuse to ever take the answer no. There have been multiple assaults and it's gotten to the point where a lot of girls are scared. Seeing you fight back against Draco Malfoy -- one of the most stuck up and misogynistic assholes of the school inspired them to want to learn how to fight back." The Greengrass explained, pacing back and forth, "It would make a lot of girls feel safer in this school."

The ginger hummed, thinking it over for a second. She would love to teach the girls how to defend themselves; to put the skills she got from such bad experiences and put them to good use. "I'll do it. But let them know, I'm not gonna go easy on them because the people who want to hurt them, most certainly won't."

Daphne smiled, giving the ginger a nod and walking away from the teen.

Natasha sighed as she watched the lake -- the water moving back and forth. It was starting to get warmer, and soon she would be competing in the third task. "You know, you won't find any whales out there. Only a giant squid." Hermione teased, plopping down next to the ginger. "I was quite disappointed when I found that out. I mean, imagine; doing homework, listening to the waves and the sounds of whales... It would be so relaxing."

Looking over at the dark-skinned girl, Natasha felt a smile creep up onto her face. "It really would. Y'know, I've always loved the water." Leaning back up against the tree she was sitting in front of, she closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. Hermione quirked an eyebrow, leaning up against the tree as well. "How come?" The Muggle-Born girl asked.

"I..." Natasha could feel her throat closing up, her chest tightening as she thought about her childhood. Licking her dry lips, she let out a shuddering breath as she opened her eyes. "Where I grew up, we were right next to a big thing of water. At night, when everyone was asleep... I would listen to it. It was so calming and so human." She couldn't explain why, but she found it so easy to be open with Hermione. She honestly didn't know why!

She killed this girl's parents (granted, they were horrible people, but still!) and they act like it didn't even happen at all. Natasha just... she didn't get it. She felt tied to Hermione in a way she couldn't explain but knew it would never change. "I remember hearing about how easy it was to fall asleep in the Slytherin common room. I mean, you guys are literally underwater!" Hermione exclaimed. Natasha chuckled, her nose scrunching as she watched the girl grow excited about the common rooms. "What?!" The curly-haired girl exclaimed, both of her eyebrows raised -- the crease in her forehead an obvious sign of her being confused on why Natasha was laughing at her.

"Nothing, nothing... Just... it's funny to me that you're getting excited about the common room." The ginger explained, crisscrossing her legs together. "You've never even been in there... Unless my little arsonist also has a record of breaking and entering?!" Watching the other girl's face heat up, she got her answer. "My, oh, my! Hermione, what's next? Stealing Snape's non-existent shampoo and conditioner?"

A smirk crept up Natasha's face as she watched Hermione's face grow more mortified with each word. "N-No!" Hermione stuttered out, her eyes wide as she scrambled backward. "I would never do that!"

Natasha couldn't control herself -- she burst out laughing at Hermione's face. "Romanoff!" Hermione grumbled, slapping the girl playfully on the shoulder. "Don't tease me like that! Merlin, sometimes you're worse than those Wealesy Twin Terrors."

Raising an eyebrow, an image of two identical boys with ginger hair and matching mischievous grins popped up in her head. She remembered passing by the two a few times while they were setting up their pranks. Thankfully, they hadn't tried to prank her yet. After a few moments, the two girls finally calmed down enough for them to stare out at the lake.

"...What was it like growing up for you? After you left that place," Hermione asked curiously, tilting her head to the side as she watched the redhead. Natasha sighed, a small smiling forming on her face as she thought about those years.

Natasha giggled, licking the batter off the spoon. "Are you sure this is sanitary?" The 11-year-old asked, handing the spoon over for Clint to lick. He shrugged, his shoulders barely missing the cupboards as he was sitting on the counter.

"I mean, you're talking to the kid who grew up in a circus and cleaned up elephant poop every day for 4 years." His skin seemed to glow as the sun lit up the room, Natasha wincing slightly at the bright light. However, Clint didn't seem affected by it at all; in fact, he seemed to relish it. "I never got sick from eating all the weird shit there, so this shouldn't do anything!"

A smile formed on her face as she thought of her brother, Clint. "Yeah, it was good. I have a brother, his name is Clint. You saw him at the ball and... I had a sister." her smile slowly fell off her face as she thought of Yelena.

"Had?" Hermione questioned.

 
Natasha nodded, playing with her fingers slightly as she thought of the blonde girl. "Yeah. Her name was... Yelena. I don't know if she's dead or alive, but... I'm gonna find her. After this tournament is down, I'm gonna search all summer for her."

Hermione couldn't seem to help herself; a soft smile formed on her face as she watched Natasha. "Well, I hope you do find her."

"Yeah, me too..."

Natasha couldn't help it, she blinked in shock at the size of the group. It took her a few days to figure out everything, and where to meet but she had finally figured it out. There were at least 30 girls and twenty boys -- some that were on the smaller size. Hearing Daphne clear her throat, she turned her head towards Daph, who stared out at the crowd with her wand pressed up against her throat.

"Thank you all for coming," Daphne said with a fake smile on her face as she looked out into the crowd. "Hogwarts students have lost their respect for their fellow students. Believe me, I am my biggest fan, and even I feel like I'm gonna be squashed like a bug. Natasha here has offered to teach us how to defend ourselves -- without wands."

The students all cheered, a few of them jumping up and down and hugging each other. "Natasha," Daphne smiled, gesturing for Natasha to take her place. Clearing her throat, she raised her wand to her throat.

"First things first -- I'm not gonna go easy on you, because if you get attacked; they aren't gonna go easy on you. Second, no wands." She pursed her lips as she watched the students pull their wands out of their robes, placing them in the basket that Daphne held as she walked past them. "And lastly -- be prepared to get your ass beat. If you don't want that, feel free to leave."

Her eyes wandered throughout the crowd, watching the students murmur to each other; a few of them looking uncertain. However, it seemed wanting to know to defend themselves overweighed that, and they all stared up at her expectantly. "Any of you guys know how to throw a punch?" She asked.

Hearing the bell ring, Natasha started to pack up. Snape cleared his throat and gestured for her to come over. Giving the man a small smile, she was an eyebrow curiously as she waited for the broody man to speak. "Ms. Romanoff," He started, "As your head of your house, it's my duty to know of clubs, and... a student slipped out that there was a fight club happening. What is that about?"

Giving the man a charming smile, she told the man, "They requested I teach them how to fight. Technically, it's not a fight club; it's a self-defense club." He hummed lowly, staring her down for a few moments before giving a nod, waving her off.

"As long as I don't have to heal one of you idiots, you have my permission to do it." He drawled out, looking back down at the paper he was grading, only to simply draw a huge 'X' across the essay. However, instead of leaving, she simply stared at him -- watching his body language. Looking up from the paper, he snapped, "What?"

"...Why do you always wear long sleeves, professor? While yes, the dungeons do get cold during the colder months but... It's almost May. I would assume you would wear something thinner; perhaps short-sleeved. Unless you're covering something?" His eyes seemed to slightly widen at her words, his left eyebrow twitching as he stared down at the girl.

He cleared his throat, his voice low and gruff as he whispered out, "...And why do you think that, Ms. Romanoff?"

"Well, I did take a few classes about human behavior and I do have some friends in the B.A.U. You carry this heavy amount of guilt, and it's been weighing you down for years, and... whenever I'm around, it seems to intensify. Whenever talk of the war comes up, you touch your arm and show signs of guilt, and... you just zone out." She explained to the man, who sneered at the young girl, standing up aggressively.

His chest seemed to heave up and down, but yet, he couldn't seem to get a word out. Natasha continued, "It seems you want to move on, but whatever guilt have; it's turned into an obsession to try and fix whatever you did. And because of this guilt, the man you were before; he's barely hanging in there." Her face was calm, but her heart was beating inside her chest. "You somehow feel as if you're responsible for my mother's death--"

"Get out!" He seethed, his black eyes narrowing in anger and despair -- for himself. "Get out of my classroom!"

However, Natasha wasn't gonna stop. "Why do you think you're responsible for her death, Professor? Why?--"

"Be quiet, you insufferable girl!--!"

"--Did you say something? Did you?--"

"---Stop!--"

"--What did you do?--"

"--I TOLD THE DARK LORD ABOUT THE PROPHECY ABOUT YOU AND THAT ENDED UP GETTING LILY KILLED AND YOU PARENTLESS!" He screamed, his voice hoarse as silent tears rolled down his face. "I was there; I heard the prophecy! By telling the dark lord about it, I killed Lily! She's dead because I couldn't keep my mouth shut! And I tried -- I tried to save her. He promised he wouldn't kill her if she let him kill you but... I knew deep down that her love for you was bigger than anything in this world. This was no way she would let him kill you..." his body shuddered as he explained what happened. "And after she was killed, Dumbledore took you to her sister's place. I tried to find you; tried to prove to Lily that I wasn't this monster she thought I was, but you weren't there..."

Natasha became quiet as she listened to the potions' master. He tried to find her? Her mother had a sister? Then... why did she end up in that place? Why did she have to grow up there? "You tried to find me?" She whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at the man.

Severus sighed, pulling out a glass and his favorite whiskey, pouring himself a generous amount -- dunking it back in one go. He couldn't do this conversation sober. "Of course I did. Lily was my best friend and in the final letter, I got from her, it was revealed to me that she named me Godfather to you." Natasha's eyes widened but she let the man continue, "Black was in jail, and his boyfriend of his was nowhere to be found, so... I was the last person standing who could take you in. I tracked you down to Tunney's place but... she said she gave you up a while ago. She hadn't even had you for four days and just... gave you up."

Her mother's sister didn't even try to raise her? She just.. flung her out to the streets like trash? That woman was responsible for every bad thing that happened to her! "She just gave me up?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember the woman. All she got were flashes of screeching and a long neck.

He nodded, pouring himself another glass but taking a smaller sip this time around. "She said she 'didn't want the freak of Lily's' in her house. She didn't want you to influence her son's life." He rolled his eyes as he thought about the woman, "She wasn't very good at coming up with excuses. She could've just told me she didn't wanna raise you, and I would've taken that as an answer. She told me where to find you but... there weren't any records of you even being there."

"They must've found me by then. I was probably out of the country when you finally tracked me down." Natasha muttered under her breath. Snape hummed in agreement, leaning back into his chair as he let out a heavy sigh; his face tired. "You were. I wanted to ask Dumbledore but...He doesn't know about me being your Godfather. For 13 years, I lead him to believe I didn't care for you."

Quirking up an eyebrow, she gave the potions master a questioning look. He rolled his eyes, an annoyed look on his face. "I do have emotions, Natasha. I care for you, however, you annoy me 90% of the time. Considering you're the only student I tolerate in this school, I would take that as a win."

She couldn't help the laugh that slipped out of her mouth. "Okay, Professor Snape..." Shaking her head in amusement, she stared at the man with a small smile on her face.

Before anyone knew it, it was the day of the final task. Natasha yawned tiredly as she made her way down the stairs, giving Sirius and Remus a smile as she made her way over to the coffee machine. "Good Morning, Rosie!" Sirius cheered; chunks of pancakes stuck between his teeth as he spoke with his mouth stuffed full of food.

"Sirius," Remus scolded the man-child, slapping his shoulder playfully, "that's disgusting! Chew with your mouth closed!" Sirius smirked, seemingly about to make a dirty joke, but Remus quickly shut that down by shoving his hand on the man's mouth. Smiling at Natasha, he said, "Good Morning, Natasha. Did you have a good night's rest? BIg day today."

"Yeah." She lied to the sandy-haired man. She had gotten 5 hours -- at max. She had spent all night going over spells she could use for the tournament. Without Tom, researching became much harder -- especially if she didn't understand the spell completely. And it wasn't like she could search up what the spell was on the internet! "I slept pretty well last night."

Both men nodded, taking her answer. Remus probably didn't believe her as he worried too much. "Are you guys coming to school with me?" She asked the two men. Sirius gave the girl's a thumbs' up, his eyes wide with joy. Remus gave the girl a soft smile, finishing his cup of tea.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Pup." The sandy-haired man replied. She smirked, taking a sip from her coffee as she leaned against the kitchen counter. "Is Clint coming?" Remus asked the red-head beauty.

Natasha shook her head, "No," She started, "Fury has him on a mission. I'm supposed to join him after the tournament." Sirius and Remus shared a look, a look of worried shared between the two men. Natasha caught onto their line of thought, and quickly tried to get rid of their worries. "Don't worry. Fury is gonna give me a two-day break." Granted, it was gonna be on a plane, but they didn't need to know that. She can get plenty of rest on the plane!

Letting out a yawn, she rubbed her eyes as she took the last sip of her coffee, rising out the cup and placing it in the sink. "I'm gonna get ready. Meet you in an hour?" She asked the two men, who gave the girl a thumb's up. "Great. See you in a bit."

Dragging her hands along the two braids in her hair, she watched the great hall. Everyone was so excited, and even she could admit, she was a bit excited. However, the fear of having to fight some unknown creatures in the maze outweighed the excitement. "Is the great Natasha Romanoff nervous?" Blaise asked with a cheeky smile, leaning up against the girl slightly. "And here I thought you had no emotions."

"Shut up, Blaise!" Daphne snapped, flicking the boy on the nose as she sat down next to Natasha. "Just because Natasha is better at controlling her emotions, doesn't mean that she doesn't have any!"

"Okay, you know what, Greengrass--"

Clearing her throat, Natasha quickly gained the attention of her two friends. "Are we gonna argue about whether or not I have emotions, or...?" She trailed off, her two eyebrows furrowed as she looked between her two friends. "I mean if you wanna go at it; be my guest." A smirk slowly formed on her face.

Daphne rolled her eyes, huffing slightly. "Yeah, I don't feel like arguing with Boy Wonder here." Daphne snarked, at Blaise, who gasped dramatically as he brought a hand to his chest. "I know that's probably an insult, but I'm quite honored you consider me to be 'Boy Wonder', Daph." Blaise chuckled, cooing mockingly as he squished the blonde girl's cheeks.

Slapping his hands off her face, Daphne shuddered as she grabbed a napkin out of some Slytherin First Year's hands, wiping her face off of 'Blaise Cooties' as she-so-lovingly calls them. "Blaise, I swear to freaking Gandalf and beyond, if you do that again--"

"--You'll 'shave my luscious locks'... yeah, yeah, I got it." Rolling his eyes, he adjusted his septum piercing -- using a spoon as a reflection. "Honestly, Daph, do come up with better threats. That one got old real fast." Giving the girl a smug smirk, with the spoon he just used to adjust his piercing, he used said-spoon to eat his breakfast with.

Shaking her head with an amused smile, Natasha honestly couldn't have asked for better friends. There was something about Blaise and Daphne that was so comforting, so real.

Her plump lips spread themselves into a large smile as she looked between her two friends with fondness in her eyes.

Natasha would admit; she was a bit frazzled! But, she wasn't freaking out! No, she was not! She stared up at the maze in awe and fear, a feeling of respect for anyone who managed to navigate around that hell-hole. Now, she may be an assassin and spy, but Natasha never got the chance to ever go through a corn maze like other, 14-year old girls got to do. No, she was out kicking people's asses and thinking of different ways she could strangle Clint. She could hear the sound of feet tapping across the pavement as someone made their way up to her. Turning around, she locked eyes with the beautiful brown eyes of Hermione Granger. Giving the girl a (flirty) smile, Hermione returned one shyly. "Hey, Hermione." Tilting her head to the side, she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hi, Natasha," Her face extremely flushed, Hermione chewed on her bottom lip anxiously; her lips dry and cracked from how much she had been chewing on them. "Um... Good luck." Rushing forward, Natasha honestly wasn't even aware of what was going on until she felt Hermione's plump lips graze her left cheek.

Her eyes widened drastically as she watched the dark-skinned girl walk away with a sheepish smile. Oh, my god... They were right; Natasha did have a crush on Hermione! Hearing the horn blow, Natasha snapped out of her fantasies and made her way over to the field, Sirius following behind her with a hand on her back; a nervous but proud smile on his face.

"You're gonna do great, Natasha," Sirius muttered, only loud enough for the ginger to hear. "Especially with that good luck kiss you just got." Natasha was pretty sure she got whiplash with how fast she turned around, staring up at her godfather with an embarrassed look on her face.

Pointing a finger into his chest, green and grey eyes met each other. "You didn't see anything!" Natasha hissed, her cheeks slightly red, "I do not have a crush on her like everyone says I do!" Of course, Natasha knew she had a crush on the girl, but she wasn't about to admit that; her pride wouldn't allow that.

He raised an eyebrow in amusement, his lips quirked up in an amused smile, "You sure, Rosie? I don't think I've ever seen you so flustered! To think that my daughter -- the queen of having no emotions -- is flustered!" Narrowing her eyes in anger, she pushed his chest; which shook as he let out a mighty laugh. "So quick to anger!"

"Sirius, I swear to God--"

However, before she could finish her sentence, the clearing of a throat interrupted that. Turning her head towards the noise, her eyes locked onto Dumbledore's figure. Immediately, everyone quieted down as they stared at the man, awaiting his response. "Earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Triwizard cup deep within the maze. Only he knows its exact position." Her eyes trailed over to the man with a woody leg, who was staring at her in an odd manner. His tongue flicked between his lips as he stared at the ginger, a look in his eyes that Natasha recognized all too easily.

Madness.

Natasha could see it seeping out of him, dying to be let out. Her left index finger twitched slightly as she turned away from the man, bringing her attention back to Dumbledore. It's a big deal, so while it will still be on her mind, she has bigger things to focus on right now. Such as not dying in a maze. "Now, as Mr. Diggory and Ms. Romanoff, tied in the first position, they will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Mr. Krum, and then Ms. Delcaour. The First-person to touch the cup will be the winner!"

The crowd burst into loud cheers.

"I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter. Should at any point should a contestant wish to withdraw from the task, he or she need only to send up red sparks with their wand. Contestants, gather around!" Smiling at Sirius, she made her way over to the group where Dumbledore pulled them close; a troubled look in his usually sparkling eyes. "In the maze, you'll find no dragons or creatures of the deep, instead you'll face something even more challenging. You see, people change in the maze. Oh, find the cup if you can but be very wary; you could just lose yourselves along the way."

With that warning, he backed away and told the champions to prepare themselves. Giving Dumbledore a suspicious look, Natasha had a feeling he knew more than what he was letting on. Walking back over to Sirius, the man pulled her into a tight hug, tucking her underneath his head.

"I know you can win this, Natasha! Good luck and... please don't die." Sirius sniffled, his arms tightening around the girl as he held her tight to his chest. "I'll be fine, Sirius." Pulling back, she gave the man one last smile.

Going to walk away, she stopped after a few steps, turning around a shouting, "Love you!" Before turning back around and making her way to the entrance of the maze. Giving Diggory a nod of good luck, she made her way into the maze, unaware of how much her life was gonna change that night.

And it wouldn't be for the better.