No second chances| Book Two

The Helplessness of Family

"Five galleons on Cedric." Ron said beside me.

"Five galleons on Adrian Pucey." Harry said from my other side. I chuckled at their debate and shook my head.

"Who do you think it'll be, Mar?" Harry asked.

"No one I know I hope." I sighed. I looked slightly up ahead to see the twins walking in front of us. George talked Fred's ear off, probably about a new prank while Fred kept his head down.

I frowned at the thought of him being in this bad mood of his again. But I didn't have much time to think before an arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"Ready to kiss my shoe yet?" Cedric teased jokingly. I rolled my eyes, shoving him from me slightly before moving to give him space in between Ron and I.

"You haven't been picked yet." I informed.

"Oh, dear, Marley, the pessimism is very overrated." He sighed. I chuckled with Harry as we all entered goblet hall to see the choosing.

The goblet stood at the end of the room with bleachers moved for us all to find places to sit and watch.

"Let's go, we'll lose a seat!" Harry said, grabbing my hand and pulling me excitedly. I rolled my eyes with a chuckle before I quickly sat down, grabbing Cedric down with me.

"This is just exciting, isn't it?" Hermione asked, leaning into my ear from behind to get my attention.

"Until Cedric gets picked and brags about it for a week." I laughed. Cedric shoved me playfully and turned to talk to his friend on his other side.

As everyone got seated, the chatter became louder and louder in my ears. Only making me more nervous.

Suddenly, the torches dimmed, leaving nothing but the goblet to give us light.

Dumbledore stood up front and I felt someone grab my hands. Harry on one side in excitement, Cedric on the other in nervousness.

"Now! The moment you've all been waiting for.." My heart began to beat quickly as I watched the man in front of us prepare for the choosing.

Dumbledore turned to the goblet and we all watched as it flashed a red flame before spitting out a piece of paper.

"The durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" He yelled. The durmstrang boys yelled loudly and everyone cheered.

I turned to Hermione and gave her a knowing look which she simply ignored.

Then, he turned once again and grabbed another name.

"The beauxbatons champions is...Fleur Delacour." Same again with the cheer and applause.

Now it was our turn.

I squeezed the boys hands tightly and watched as the flame spit out another name. My heart shredded harshly to match my leg that was bouncing just as much.

"The hogwarts champion is..."

I took a deep breath.

"Marley Rowen!"

The noise left my ears. And for a moment the world was in slow motion. Nothing seemed real. I felt as if my dreams had flood from my head to the outside and were giving me false memories.

He was safe.

I did it.

He was safe.

I felt myself smiling and turning to the boys who stared at me in awe and delight.

"I didn't even know you put your name in." Cedric said with a laugh. I smiled even brighter and stood up, walking to the front.

A flash of red hair caught my eyes and I looked over just in time to see Fred looking at me in anger. I frowned for only a second before I looked away and took my paper and Dumbledore's hand.

He pulled me close to speak into my ear.

"I hope you know what you're doing. Because the path you chose may be far more treacherous than the original." With that, the man let go and I walked towards the back with the other champions.

The room felt cold as I went through. I saw the two other champions huddled together talking by the fire and decided to join them.

"Hey, guys." I chuckled. Fleur looked at me first. Her face swelled before she stood up and rushed to give me a hug.

"I'm so happy to not be the only girl." She sighed in relief. I chuckled and patted her back before turning to Krum. He had a poker face on as usual but gave me a curt nod of respect.

The door opened again and we all turned, ready to get our instructions only to find a tiny body walking towards us.

"Harry?" I called. Harry looked at me, fear filling his face.

"Harry Potter!" A voice yelled. The rest of the champions and I looked over to see several teachers rushing into the room. Dumbledore ran to Harry, grabbing him and shoving him against the wall.

"Harry, did you put your name in the goblet of fire." He yelled.

Oh shit...

I ran out to Harry and got in between him and Dumbledore.

"Everyone just calm down. What the hell happened?" I asked quickly, holding Harry back behind me.

"Did you ask one of the older students to do it for you?" Dumbledore asked, looking at me.

I scoffed and looked around.

"Harry is like my little brother. Why would I put him in harms way like that." I said to them.

"But, of course, he is lying." Madame Maxine boomed.

"The hell he is. The goblet of Fire it's an exceptionally powerful magical object. Only An exceptionally powerful confundus charm could've hoodwinked it. Way beyond the magical talents of a fourth year." Moody said.

"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought, mad-eye."

"It was once my job to think as dark wizards do, Karkaroff. Perhaps you remember well."

"Shut up!" I yelled. Both men looked at me and I turned to Crouch.

"Please fix this." I begged. "He's too young." Crouch sighed and looked away.

"The goblet is final. It creates a magical binding contract. I'm afraid Mr. Potter is the fourth Tri-Wizard champion." My heart dropped and I looked over at Harry. That scared look in his eyes that he gave me because he was too afraid to admit he was in trouble.

But I knew, and I was always going to protect him and he Knew that.