The final task of the Triwizard Cup was fast approaching and although Rubi, Ron and Hermione should have been spending most of their time studying, they were opting to help Harry prepare for the last part of the tournament.

Tired of walking in on Harry, Hermione, Rubi and Ron all over the school, Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes.

Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx.

"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. "Some of these are bound to come in handy."

"I agree with Hermione, keep this up and you'll make it out alive, Harold."

Harry shot Rubi a very unamused look.

"Come and look at this," said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Malfoy doing?"

Harry, Rubi and Hermione went to see.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.

"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously.

"He can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts."

"He looks plain stupid like the dumb ferret he is." Rubi commented, scowling at the sight of Malfoy and his cronies.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's try that Shield Charm again."

***

Sirius was sending daily owls now, along with Fiona. Like Hermione, Sirius seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry's responsibility, nor was it within his power to influence it.

Fiona was unaware of all this, but the only things her letters contained were words of encouragement for Harry and advice on what else may help, along with concern for Harry's well being after the Crouch incident.

June Twenty-Fourth came faster than any of them would have liked.

Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Harry appreciated it all the same.

Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at him, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes. Apparently, Rita Skeeter had found out about Harry's scar hurting in Divination.

A hand touched Rubi's thigh and she stopped scowling at the snakes, turning to look up at Fred beside her.

"Don't waste your time on those idiots, Harry'll shut them up when he wins tonight." Fred told her, causing Rubi to huff before she nodded in agreement.

It was exam day, which was to commence real soon. Rubi soon scampered off to History of Magic, while Harry remained at his spot at the Gryffindor Table.

The door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out.

"Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!"

Utterly perplexed, Harry got up. He walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber.

Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his father's hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at Harry, who waved back, grinning.

Then he realized who was the 'family' McGonagall had mentioned to him earlier.

"Surprise!" Fiona and Molly said excitedly together as he smiled broadly and walked over to them.

"Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry!" Molly bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

"You all right?" said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."

Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them.

"This is really nice of you," Harry muttered to Fiona and Molly. "I thought for a moment- the Dursleys-"

"Hmm," said Molly, pursing her lips. She had always refrained from criticizing the Dursleys in front of Harry, but her eyes flashed every time they were mentioned.

Meanwhile Fiona threw her head back as she let out a lighthearted laugh.

"Ah, Harry. What am I going to do with you?"

Harry sheepishly smiled up at his aunt, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders, ruffling his black locks up, making Harry let out a light groan. Fiona fondly smiled at that, reminiscing about her twin.

"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber. "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year.

"And the Fat Lady?" said Bill.

"She was here in my time," said Molly "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning-"

"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" asked Bill, surveying his mother with amazement.

Molly grinned, her eyes twinkling.

"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll," she said.

Fiona raised her eyebrows with a mischievous smile at that, earning a not so subtle glare from the ginger haired woman.

"Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?" said Bill.

"Yeah, okay," said Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall.

They toured for the majority of the morning, returning to the castle for lunch.

"Mum- Bill!" said Ron, looking stunned, before hastily adding, "Mrs. Black," He acknowledged respectfully, who gave him a little wave, as he joined the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here?"

"Come to watch Harry in the last task!" said Molly brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh... okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Molly looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

At that moment, Rubi came into the Great Hall, practically dragging herself. She dropped into the seat beside Ron and began to pile her plate, a grumpiness aura around her.

"How did the exam go, Rubina?"

"It was fine." The girl mumbled, oblivious to who had spoken before her eyes widened as the voice registered in her mind, whipping her head up to see her mother smiling at her with a slight tilt to her head from across the table.

"Mum!" Rubi exclaimed in surprise.

Fiona let out a light chuckle, "Good to see you too, honey."

Rubi blinked a few times, trying to understand what was transpiring.

"Why are you here?"

"To cheer Harry on tonight, of course." The blonde haired woman replied, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder, the boy sinking into his seat in shyness beside his aunt.

"Oh." Rubi said, "That makes sense."

Not soon after Fred, George, and Ginny came to sit next to them too.

"How was the exam, love?" Fred gently coaxed as he dropped into the space beside his girlfriend.

Rubi huffed in annoyance, "Could have gone better, Binns is so boring that I can barely pay attention in his class, therefore I could barely recall information for the exam." The girl rambled, finishing with a pout on her lips.

Fred watched her with adoration and amusement.

"How about your exam, Freddie?"

The ginger haired shrugged, "It was alright."

Rubi nodded before turning back to her plate, unaware of the two sets of eyes on her, who watched as Fred wrapped an arm around the girl, bringing her into his side. Rubi peered up at him with a fond smile before returning to her lunch.

"Pay up, Molly." Fiona whispered into the woman's ear, who looked at her with mild surprise.

"But we don't even know if they're an item." Molly retorted, watching as Rubi laughed at something Fred whispered into her ear.

Fiona's lips curved up at that, "Trust me, Molly, no one knows better than me how to hide a relationship."

Molly's eyebrows shot up at that before rolling her orbs, as she discreetly handed Fiona two galleons.

Hermione turned up, halfway through lunch,

"Are you going to tell us?" Ron began but fell quiet when Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at Fiona and Molly.

"Hi there, Hermione." Fiona warmly greeted, "How did your exam go?"

"It went well, thank you for asking, Mrs. Black." Hermione replied brightly before her expression faltered as her eyes landed on the woman beside Fiona.

"Hello, Hermione," said Molly, much more stiff than usual.

"Hello," said Hermione, appearing slightly nervous.

Harry looked between them and opened his mouth to speak but Fiona beat him to it,

"Oh come on, Molly, you didn't seriously believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you?"

"Exactly, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, "It's all false, Hermione is not my girlfriend."

"Oh!" said Molly. "No- of course I didn't!"

But she became considerably warmer toward Hermione after that.

Harry, Bill, Fiona and Molly whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast, and before they knew it they were heading down the stone steps onto the grounds.

"Just remember, Harry." Fiona started saying, eyeing her godson with a firm gaze. "You've made it this far. You have one last task and then you will be free from this tournament. Remember to use the spells you practised and keep your head on straight, do not panic, do you understand?"

Harry nodded, attempting to ignore the way his stomach was in knots. "Yes, Aunt Fiona."

The woman nodded before her features washed into compassion.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Her nephew nodded, "I'm okay."

Fiona let out a sympathetic sigh, embracing the boy. He didn't deserve all he had to and continues to go through. He's just a boy after all.

"You've got this, Harry, I believe in you."

"Good luck, Harold." said Rubi as she came up behind the boy, ruffling his hair, "You'll do great!

Harry parted from the Weasleys and the Blacks and Hermione, walking onto the Quidditch field.

Cedric walked past Rubi and she called after him, "Good luck, Cedric!" The boy turned around at his name, winking as he held up a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Rubi!" The girl grinned at him in return, watching him walk off.

The Quidditch pitch was completely unrecognizable.

A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy.

The stands had practically all filled up; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

The champions nodded.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers.

"Good luck, Harry," Hagrid whispered, and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze.

Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each- Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!"

The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky.

"In second place, with eighty points- Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!"

More applause.

"And in third place- Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

Harry could just make out Fiona, Molly, Bill, Fred, George, Rubi, Ron, and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands. He waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at him.

"So... on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three- two- one-"

He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze.

"Good luck, Harry." Fiona whispered out as she watched her nephew step into the maze and disappear within its walls.

Beside Fiona, her daughter was clutching Fred's hand tightly.

Something gave her a really bad feeling, even though Fred assured her everything will be alright, an ominous feeling remained within her.

Let Harry make it out in one piece.

Rubi prayed, as the audience watched the remaining champions enter the maze.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well! I am so sorry for having not updated in months, I just haven't been on this platform much. But I decided to pop back on and post updates for anyone that may have been waiting. 

Take care and see you in the next one! <3