FAYE TONKS

YEAR FOUR

CHAPTER SIX

The hall was filled with rude remarks about Harry as he walked up to Dumbledore. He was shocked as well. He glanced over at Hermione, Ron and I and I gave him a half-hearted smile. Ron was glaring at him. He obviously thought Harry put his name in. At that moment, I wasn't sure if he put it in or not. He'd have to be a complete idiot with suicidal intentions to put his name in, and it's not like he hasn't had his chances. I thought about it and what reason did I have to accuse Harry of putting his name in the Goblet?

Harry walked up to Dumbledore who was eying him suspiciously. He handed him the piece of parchment.

"He's a cheat!"

"He isn't even seventeen yet!"

Professor McGonagall put a hand on his shoulder as she looked at him worriedly. The look on his face was enough to tell any intelligent person that he didn't put his name in the Goblet. He didn't want to be a champion, I knew that much.

He was on the receiving end of many glares and, in the case Hermione, all of the teacher and me, worried glances. He disappeared in through the door.

"Off to bed now," said Dumbledore weakly.

He and many of the teachers followed him down the stairs. Hermione and I shared a worried glance before making our way to the common room.

We walked in silence until we were past the Fat Lady.

"Lousy git," muttered Ron.

"Pardon me?" Hermione asked.

"I said 'lousy git'."

"Who's a 'lousy git'?"

"Harry stinkin' Potter!"

"Why?" Hermione questioned furiously.

"Oh I'll tell you why!" he practically shouted. "He put his name in the Goblet of Fire without telling me! Probably wanted all the glory for himself!"

"How can you say that?" I said.

"Because I can!" he yelled. "He loves the attention!"

"Did you see his face Ronald?" Hermione asked. "He was just as shocked as the rest of us!"

"He's a great actor then, isn't he? Got you fooled, eh Hermione?" he said. "What bout you Faye, do you believe that he put his name in the Goblet?"

Hermione and Ron stared at me, expecting an answer. I decided to be honest and tell them what I think.

"Well – um – at first I wasn't sure, but then I thought for what reason did he put his name in, I mean, he's had enough chances at death as it is! And his face – you can't put on a face like that, it was genuine I – I know it was!"

"Got you fooled then, hasn't he?" Ron said viscously. "The both of you, I can't believe you're taking his side!"

"We're not taking anyone's side! For goodness sake Ronald we're just stating our opinions! Are we not allowed to have opinions anymore if you don't approve of them? Is that it?" Hermione shouted.

"I'm going to bed," said Ron. "Come talk to me when you've come to your senses."

And with that he left us. Oh brilliant, I thought. Here goes another war.

I looked over at Hermione and saw that she was nearly in tears. She let out a whimper which told me that she was only stopping herself because I was there. I took her hand and dragged her to our dormitory. I sat her down on her bed and held her in my arms. She started to cry into my shoulder as I patted her head and stroked her hair.

"He-He's such an-an idiot!" sobbed Hermione. "He-He's so inconsiderate of-of other p-people's f-feelings!"

"I know," I whispered softly. "He's a nincompoop."

She half-laughed in between sobs. She pulled back and stared at me for a second.

"You're a lovely person, you know that Faye?"

"I try," I joked. "Now go to sleep. I'll handle Harry."

"But we should b-both be there for him," she said. "I'll be a b-bad friend if I don't go down!"

"I'll tell him you're upset and that you believe him. Is that okay?" she nodded. "Well then get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

I went down to the common room to see people surrounding and annoying Harry. Everyone was asking him how he did it.

I walked over to him and clasped his hand and dragged him over to the corner of the room.

"Gonna snog him Tonks?" George skitted.

"Oh shut up!" I snapped.

They laughed and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I know you didn't do it," I said.

"You do?" he asked.

"Yes. Hermione does too, it's just that, well, Ron doesn't believe you."

"Why?"

"Because he thinks you're an attention seeking git."

"But I'm-"

"-Not," I interrupted. "I know. Are they going to force you to compete?"

He nodded.

"Of course," I said through gritted teeth. "They don't give a shit about you're safety, they only care about their reputations."

"Where's Hermione?" he asked.

"In our dorm. Ron upset her, she's crying up there. She wanted to come down, but she's a mess."

"Really?"

"Yes," I said. "I think you should get some rest. You're gonna have a rough day tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Let's see," I said sarcastically. "Harry Potter, they boy-who-lived got picked to compete in a deadly tournament despite all of the other attempts on his life by You-Know-Who. He must have put his name in to get more fame! We're all saying this because we're jealous gits!"

"Suppose."

"The Hufflepuffs will be angry that you stole the glory from Diggory. The Ravenclaws will be upset because you outsmarted the Goblet – I know you didn't but they don't know that – and they couldn't find out how. And the Slytherins will be either jealous of you getting more fame, like Malfoy, or will know that you don't want this and start to skit you."

"Wow. You've really given this a lot of thought."

"I know," I said. "Now get to bed. You'll need your strength."

"Night," he said.

"Night, Harry."

One word came to my mind.

One word described Harry's fate.

Doomed

The next morning Hermione and I waited for Harry to come down the spiral staircase.

"Hello," said Hermione, holding up a stack of toast. "I brought you this … want to go for a walk?"

"Good idea," said Harry.

We went downstairs, crossed the Entrance Hall quickly without looking in the Great Hall, and were soon striding across the lawn towards the lake. We kept moving, munching on our toast, as Harry told us what happened when he left the Gryffindor table.

"Well of course we knew you hadn't entered yourself," Hermione said. "The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who did put your name in? Because Moody's write Harry … I don't think any student could have done it … they'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's –"

"Have either of you seen Ron?" Harry interrupted.

"Erm … yes … he was at Breakfast," she said.

"Does he still think I entered myself?" he asked.

"Well … no, I don't think so … not really," Hermione answered.

"What's that supposed to mean, not really?"

"Oh, Harry, isn't it obvious?" I said. "He's jealous!"

"Jealous?" Harry said incredulously. "Jealous of what? He wants to maje a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"

"Look, Harry," I said. "It's always you who gets the attention, I know you don't ask for it," I added seeing Harry open his mouth furiously. "But he has all those brothers to compete with, and you're his best friend he always gets pushed aside whenever someone sees you, and he deals with it, but I suppose this is just one time too many."

"Great," said Harry bitterly. "Really great. Tell him I'll swap ant time he wants. Tell him he's welcome to it … people gawping at my forehead wherever I go ..."

"I'm, not telling him anything," I said shortly. "Tell him yourself. Hermione and I are not owls."

"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry said, so loudly that several owls took flight in alarm. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or –"

"Don't say that!" I said. "It's not funny, not at all!"

"Harry I've been thinking – you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back into the castle?"

"Give Ron a good kick up the-"

"Write to Sirius."

"Sirius! As in Sirius Black?"

"Yes, he's innocent," Hermione said. "It was Peter Pettigrew, he was an Animagus, a rat."

"Oh," I said. "He's my mum's second cousin."

"Really?" said Harry. "I never knew –"

"Okay, back to the more important subject!" Hermione said shortly. Harry and I shared a glance and smirked. "You've got to tell Sirius what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts … it's almost like he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me –"

"Come off it," said Harry. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting into the castle if I tell him someone's entered me in the Triwizard Tournament –"

"That would be amusing!" I joked. Harry and I bursted out laughing until Hermione shot me a look. "Sorry…"

"He'd want you to tell him," said Hermione sternly. "He's going to find out anyway –"

"How?"

"Honestly? You don't know?" I asked, Harry shook his head. "Harry, this Tournament's famous, you're famous, put two and two together, I'd be surprised if there isn't anything in the prophet already. And I'm sure Rita Skeeter is dying to twist something up –"

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Rita Skeeter, she's a writer for the Daily Prophet. She always writes lies in it, twisting up people's words. It's rare for her to even write one honest thing."

"OK, OK, I'll write to Sirius," Harry said, as he threw his last piece of toast into the lake. We watched it float for a moment before heading back to the castle.

"Whose owl am I going to use?" Harry asked as we climbed the stairs. "He told me not to use Hedwig again."

"Ask Ron if you can borrow –"

"I'm not asking Ron anything," Harry said flatly.

"You can use Bang," I said.

"Bang?" Hermione asked.

"Yes Bang, my owl. He's black so he won't be spotted during the night."

We went up to the owlery to get Bang. Hermione gave Harry parchment. He sat down against a wall and write his letter.

"Oh, Faye," said Harry. "What's your Mum's name?"

"Andromeda Tonks."

"Kay."

(the letter)

Dear Sirius,

You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here it goes – I don't know if you heard, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't know who put my nsme in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn't. The other champion is Cedric Diggory.

I was wondering if you know a woman named Andromeda Tonks? Her daughter's in my year, her names Faye Tonks. And was she a metamorphmagus? Because Faye is, and also her sister is, Nymphadora Tonks, the auror.

Hope you're OK, and Buckbeak – Harry.