CHANGE OF PLAN

♡

as she bolts through the hallways of her old school, praying her inner eye will clear up and find Cedric, before she wastes all of her energy running aimlessly. She feels faint, she knows she feels faint, she always does after visions, but she can't stop. She is not resting until she knows her friend is safe. He is not getting hurt.

She spots Mia, who's walking out a classroom, holding a piece of parchment with her name on it. Mia looks at Briar, who skids to a halt, and her eyebrows furrow as she looks at her. "Are you all right, Briar?" says Mia, concerned.

"Have you seen Cedric?" asks Briar.

Mia looks confused.

"Um, not since breakfast... I think he's doing some last-minute practice," says Mia. Briar nods, and she frowns to herself. Her inner eye still isn't clearing up, it's still too worn out from the last vision. But she needs to find him. And she knows she doesn't have long — if she doesn't do it soon, she's going to faint, and then what? She won't wake up until the tournament's over, or until it's started, and then there's no point to all of this.

... But there is a point to this. There will be, when Briar finds Cedric.

"Is something wrong?" says Mia, uneasily. "You're worrying me..."

Briar looks across at her, at the girl a year younger than her, who's reaching her hand out, wanting to comfort her. The concern across her face reminds Briar of Sirius, but the innocent nervousness doesn't.

Bless her. Briar likes Mia, sure, and part of Briar wants to look out for her, partly because she's friends with Cedric, partly because she's her godfather's kid, partly because she's a year younger, and she's been through more than Briar could even imagine. For a second Briar thinks about asking Mia to help, but quickly she refuses to entertain that thought... But then she feels even dizzier, and she knows she doesn't have much time until she collapses, and she thinks, I've got to try.

"Mia," says Briar. "I need you to help me."

Mia nods, without a second thought. "OK."

"Cedric can't compete," says Briar.

Mia frowns. "Why not?"

"Because—" says Briar, a little too forcefully, so she stops herself. She sways, and regains her balance, before she takes a breath. You can do this, Briar. You were bitten by a fucking werewolf, you can handle this... All of that suffering has led to this. You're strong enough to stop this. "Because he's going to die."

Mia's eyes widen, tears already gathering inside them. "I—I thought Seers weren't supposed to interve—"

"Yeah, well, I'm saying no to that bullshit," says Briar. "He's going to die and Y—"

The classroom door opens.

And Briar remembers where she is.

The way that the window overlooks a certain part of the grounds, the way that there are initials carved into the castle walls, by kids dead-bored whilst waiting to be let into class. She sees R.J.L. next to J.F.P., S.O.B., P.W.P., the ones she always glanced at when she used to wait outside the classroom before lessons started... after lessons finished, waiting for Fred and George when they were kept behind.

It's the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Shit.

"What is the problem here?" her uncle says, dressed as Mad-Eye Moody. He looks at Briar, and she knows she's given herself away. Her eyes widen slightly and she's already lost all of the colour in her face; Mia, next to her, holds onto Briar's arm, as if trying to comfort her, but struggling, the two of them not close enough for Mia to know what to do.

Mia smiles weakly at Uncle Barty. Briar doesn't look away from him.

"Oh, um, it's fine, Professor," says Mia, and she blinks a couple of times, blinking away the tears. "Briar's had a vision, that's all... I'm going to take her to the hospital wing now..."

God bless Mia Black.

"Yeah, uh, we should go," says Briar, her voice shaking.

Uncle Barty frowns at Briar, and then at Mia.

"You look faint, missy," says Uncle Barty. "You'll be better off waiting in my office. I'll get Madam Pomfrey to collect you."

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Uncle Barty knows.

He knows.

What is she going to do?

He looks at her, as if to say, I have the upper hand, and he looks at Mia. "Unless you'd like Miss Black to wait with you—"

"No!" says Briar. "No, no, that's fine! I'll wait here!"

"I can keep an eye on her," he says to Mia.

Mia looks at Briar, incredibly confused. "Are you sure—?"

"Yeah, uh, it's fine," says Briar. "It's fine, it's fine..."

Mia nods, looking unconvinced. Her hand lets go of Briar's arm, falling down Briar's arm to her wrist, then to her hand, where she squeezes Briar's hand for reassurance. Briar forces a smile. It's the weakest smile she's ever pulled. And Briar was attacked by Greyback, and kept it a secret from her family.

When Mia starts to walk away, Uncle Barty turns to Briar. She wants to vomit.

You were bitten by a werewolf, Briar. Nothing is as bad as that.

You survived a werewolf attack. You can survive this.

The classroom door, then the office door, closes behind her.

Briar doesn't sit down; she stays stood up, even though she left her wand in the hall. She won't go out without a fight. She was attacked when she had no wand! This will be no different.

Her uncle doesn't go into the office with her. She's here because he knows that she knows the plan — she knows Voldemort's being brought back. He didn't kill her in the summer, did he? Maybe he doesn't want to kill her... But he doesn't want her stopping the plan, so she's being locked away...

Briar collapses into the chair, feeling dizzier and dizzier...

... Until everything's gone to black.

♡

HOLLY'S NEVER BEEN THIS WORRIED before.

Holly went to Durmstrang, the living embodiment of hell itself, and yet she has never been this worried before. Her palms are sweaty, her hands are shaking, her heart's beating so quickly she's certain it can be heard over the excitement in the hall. She can feel her stomach tying into knots, which tie into even more knots. She wants to cry. She wants to vomit. She wants to run a million miles and escape all of this.

She sits opposite her cousin, who keeps on looking up at her, brows furrowed. What's wrong with you? he asks her, through the link in their heads their mothers made them get in the summer. You look like you've seen a ghost.

She hasn't seen a ghost. She's seen potential ghosts, though. She can see Harry over at the Gryffindor table, with a bunch of gingers she guesses are other Weasleys, and she can't shake the dread she's feeling. She can't believe this is happening... What if he's hurt?

I'm fine, she replies.

"I'm going to the library," says Holly, when she sees Harry stand up. This is her chance. She can grab him, apologise, explain everything — and then it'll be sorted. Nothing will happen. Maybe people will think he just figured it out on his own, maybe Mother won't realise it was her... But she's got to try and stop this. She doesn't want him getting hurt.

She walks past Mia Black, who looks incredibly distressed as she speaks to Cedric Diggory. Holly swears she sees a tear on her cheek, but she doesn't want to double-check. Privacy, you know.

"Uh, Harry—?"

He turns around, and as soon as he realises it's her his expression changes completely. He looks at her as if she's her cousin, and she frowns.

"Can I please just speak to you—?"

"About what? About how I'm scum, or something?" says Harry. Holly doesn't respond. She thinks she's heard Draco say that before, one of the times she didn't want to expose herself as someone that actually cares about the boy who lived. "Or, what? Is there a new article in the Prophet you and your friends have cooked up?"

Holly sighs. "I can explain."

"Yeah, you can," says Harry. "You're just as bad as them."

He starts to walk away, and Holly grabs onto his wrist; Holly sure isn't strong — you don't have Crucio used on you once a day and leave with capable muscles — but she uses all of her might to stop him from walking off. Harry gives her a nasty look. Holly looks at him, a lot more forcefully than before.

"I'm trying to warn you," she snaps.

Harry snatches his wrist away. "I'm not interested."

And with that he walks off. Holly stands in the middle of the hallway, feeling incredibly defeated, and as she shakes her head, beginning to walk away, she sees her cousin appear.

Holly glances back at the direction Harry went.

Maybe she could stop it.

Draco begins, "I thought you were going to the library—?"

"Change of plan," says Holly.

Change of plan indeed.

♡

MIA BLACK LOOKS AROUND — at the men in their black robes, discussing the benefits of transnational tournaments, at the parents of champions wearing toothy smiles, at the teenagers with paint on their face like the Queen song. She has her arms crossed as she stands next to Cedric, who's dressed in his champion's uniform, black and yellow for Hufflepuff. There's gold face paint on her cheeks, a line across each cheek, but the frown on her face is anything but cheerful.

"Ced, I really don't think you should..."

Cedric places his hands on her arms, and he smiles warmly. She looks up at him, and already she wants to cry. She doesn't want to say why she's telling him to not compete — she doesn't think she's supposed to know. She knows even if she told him the truth, he'd walk in anyway. He'd hate to upset his parents; it's not that he wants their approval, or that they'd be angry, but rather, he hates the idea of them feeling awful, because of him. And they would, wouldn't they, if he walked away.

But Mia wishes he would.

"Mia, it's gonna be fine," he tells her. One of his hands cup her face, and lightly his fingers brush against the side of her face, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She clenches her jaw to stop the tears. "I'm gonna come back, and even if I lose, we've got the whole summer to forget about it..."

"What if you get killed?" says Mia, suddenly.

Cedric looks at her oddly for a minute, before he smiles. "Is that what you're worried about?" he asks her, and he laughs, because he doesn't know. But she can't tell him. That'll fuck up like fifteen big things in the universe, surely. She'll save him and her dad will die, or something. "Mia, I'm gonna be fine."

"I'm not saying this as your girlfriend, Ced, I'm saying this as your best friend," says Mia quietly, urgency in her voice. The lights next to them, keeping the stands illuminated, begin to glow brighter. Cedric notices, and he realises: Mia is frustrated. "Please don't compete."

"Champions!" says Dumbledore.

"I've got to go," says Cedric. "I love you, yeah?"

Mia wraps her arms around him. He said that for the first time a couple of days ago. She didn't say it back then. She was too scared to.

"I love you even more," says Mia, and she continues hugging him, hoping that maybe she can just hold him, and he won't be able to walk away...

... She's not that strong though.

Cedric pulls away from her, to look at her face. His expression's lit up completely, because she's said it. And he knows that for her, saying that's a big deal. Mia's had her fair share of boyfriends over the past couple of years and every time she's broken up after they've said the L-word. She couldn't say it back... Not until now...

But isn't that her luck? The one time she wants to say it, the one time she really feels that way, he's going to leave her.

"I'll see you soon," says Cedric, and he kisses her.

He moves to walk away. Mia shakes her head, and she holds his hand.

"You're going to die, Ced, that's why I don't want you to compete," says Mia, speaking quickly. Tears gather in her eyes. Cedric looks incredibly confused. "Briar told me. Please don't compete, I don't know how and I don't think she did either, but something's going to kill you — if you compete you're going to die—"

Cedric smiles weakly. "Well, uh, at least I know to be careful."

"Ced..."

"I'll see you soon," he tells her, trying to reassure her.

He walks away, towards where the other champions are standing. Mia stands there, stairs for the stands on either side of her, and she steps backwards. She doesn't want to stay for this. She looks up towards where the Ministry officials are standing, hoping her mum's here. Mum doesn't work in the Ministry, but rather at St Mungos, and her work with children and families has been enough to gain her a good reputation since what happened to Dad. She was invited, and she was going to come... But Mia can't see her. Fuck's sakes, Mia needs her mum. The entire world could end and Mia's mum would still be there for her — but where is she, now?

Mia starts to cry, turning away from the entrance to the maze before Cedric steps into it. She hears people cheer for him, and she covers her ears with her hands, just as a girl with ice-white hair (she thinks it's Malfoy?) rushes past her. She wants to think that maybe, because he knows, he'll be able to avoid it, but how will she know? Either he comes back dead, or he comes back alive... But the Seer told her the first one and Mia can't help but believe that's going to happen. Her best friend's going to die...

♡

HERE'S THE THING — HOLLY WASN'T sure how to stop it. But, as she stood in the stands, she saw why she needed to try something, anything, to fix what she's done already. Holly gained his trust, Holly told her mother the things he said. Holly's done enough to need to fix this. She won't let this rest on her shoulders, too.

Holly rushes past Mia Black, who's crying (she feels awful) and she turns the corner, past the stands. She holds onto her wand. She's already checked the stands for her dad. Obviously her mum's not there, she's going to be in the graveyard, watching the horror show unfold, but her dad could've been here...

But he's not. Holly tries to see this like she's still at Durmstrang: with calmness and strength. She's on her own? OK. That's fine. She can handle this. She can perform the Unforgiveable Curses, arguably Crucio is the best spell she can do, even now, she can figure this out...

... She's got to.

So Holly thinks about what her dad said during the summer, when he was talking her through Apparation. She's too young to do it legally, but you know what? There's no other option. Fingers crossed she doesn't lose, well, a finger.

She pictures the graveyard; she went to the house next to it in the summer, thinking her parents were there for work, but later realised it was a house belonging to the woman they've been blackmailing. Holly walked through the gardens, up towards the old caretaker's house, now a luxury home owned by a muggle plastic surgeon; Margo pulled her away the instant the muggle appeared, but that's not important. Holly saw the graveyard, too. She remembers the graveyard well enough to get there.

Holly remembers the gravestones, the way the grass was long enough it would brush against your ankles, dampening your works. She remembers the awkward footpath, no longer used, the last grave plotted being that of Voldemort's family. She remembers the chill in the air, the light rustle of the trees swaying in the wind, and she squeezes her eyes shut. Come on, Hol.

It doesn't work. Holly remembers how you can't Apparate on school grounds so she starts to bolt away from the school. They don't own the forest, her dad always jokes that's how he would escape, so she runs towards it. She keeps on closing her eyes as she runs, trying to Apparate, but it still isn't working. She runs some more. She closes her eyes. She runs some more — she almost trips and falls, but she runs to the forest, and she closes her eyes, and—

—she's not at Hogwarts anymore. Instead she's in a graveyard, the same one from the summer, but she doesn't have enough time to breathe a sigh of relief. Immediately she falls over, a massive cut slitting open the skin on her leg. Holly can't even stop herself, she lets out an awful cry of pain, trying to hold onto her leg but the blood spilling onto the grass regardless.

Her skin's torn open, from her upper thigh to her ankle; even the skin on her knee is torn apart, and every time she tries to bend her knee to move, she wants to cry in pain. But she needs to help her friend. She can get her Splinched leg sorted when she gets back.

"Holiday?"

The next few minutes are a blur. Holly tries to stand up for Harry, but her mother raises her wand, as if to kill her — but before she knows it, her dad is pulling her out of the way, as she protests about her friend being left behind. "You're going to die, Holly, if you don't come with me," he snaps at her, carrying her and hurrying through the graveyard, towards the house she wasn't allowed to go near. Her dad pounds on the door, and forces himself in, begging the kind plastic surgeon to let them in...

... And then her dad whispers a spell, and her eyes begin to feel heavier, and heavier, and heavier...

♡

AND BRIAR WAKES UP when her uncle returns.

Briar sits up straight, her eyes already darting to the clock. Forget the dickhead in the room, she needs to see the time.