Beyond the Darkness

28. And Then There Were Four

The next few weeks were critical to those students seventeen and over, and even the younger ones. All of them were gathered in the room with the Goblet of Fire each day, anxiously awaiting to see which of their classmates were going to chuck their names in. Sasha frequented by the room herself to make sure things were going like they should be. At one point she spotted Fred and George executing a scheme to put their names inside the goblet. She leaned against the doorway, amused to see what would happen to them when they crossed the line. Sasha knew Dumbledore had drawn an age line around the goblet.

Surprisingly they got across the age line just fine. The twins dropped their names into the Goblet of Fire then shouted in victory. Their victory was short-lived though because the blue fire in the goblet started spitting. A blast of magic hit Fred and George both and knocked them a few feet away on the floor. Sasha tried hard to suppress a laugh when they looked up at each other. Both of them were sporting full grayish white facial hair, mustache, beard, and long hair. They started fighting. It was quite hilarious, but her laughter was cut short by a brush of wind. She looked just in time to see Viktor Krum walking toward the goblet. Igor Karkaroff was right behind him.

Igor stopped right beside of Sasha as his student walked on. "What are you doing in here?" he sneered.

"Keeping an eye on things," she answered coldly. "And you?"

"Making sure nothing happens to my champion."

"You're awfully sure of yourself, aren't you?"

He turned to her swiftly. "I'm sure of one thing," he whispered harshly. "Severus will betray you. He is not the man you think he is."

Sasha smiled. "See. That's how little you know about him, Karkaroff. Severus Snape will never betray me."

He snuffed. "You will see. The time is drawing nigh. It grows darker everyday."

She swallowed, a sinking feeling in her stomach, but she kept her voice cool. "Sounds like someone is a little paranoid."

"Maybe you aren't paranoid enough. You're dead when the Dark Lord returns."

"Maybe, Igor. But so are you." She glanced over at him.

He narrowed his eyes at her, but he didn't answer her. Sasha wasn't fooled. Igor was scared and getting more skittish everyday. She had wondered though why Severus hadn't told her anything about the Dark Mark getting darker. Making a mental note to ask him, she ducked from the room leaving Igor to his own thoughts.

Once out in the hall, she took a deep breath and concentrated for a second. She located Severus and opened her eyes again. When she did, she wasn't alone.

"Dumbledore."

He smiled at her. "I didn't want to startle or disturb you. Is there someone you're looking for?" The twinkle in his wise old eyes told her that he already knew."

"Not anymore," she answered vaguely. "I found him."

"Good."

"Not that it's any of my business, Albus, but what are you doing here?"

"Ah, the age line has been disturbed," he replied. "I'm simply coming to clean up the mess."

"You mean Fred and George?"

"Was that who it was?" he chuckled. "Though I did suspect they might try, I didn't really expect it to be so soon."

Sasha laughed. "It was quite fun to watch."

"And you didn't warn them?"

"No. Hermione did. They should have listened to her. She really is a very smart witch."