"Make sure you get plenty to eat," Tracey said. "They say breakfast's the most important meal of the day, don't they?"
Today was June 24th; the day of the third and final task. The results of the first and second task no longer mattered; whoever won the third task won it all. Oleandra was remarkably calm on the outside, but on the inside, she felt nothing but unrest. The whirlpool of fate had drawn her here, at its centre. After tonight, nothing would ever be the same again.
"Yeah," said Oleandra, managing a small smile. "You're right."
"I still maintain that this whole scoring thing is stupid," said Daphne, who was nibbling on a bite of French toast. "What was the point of earning points if they don't mean anything? Whoever just grabs the trophy wins."
"It's the same thing with Quidditch," Oleandra pointed out. "The entire game revolves around the two Seekers; might as well do away with the other twelve players."
"That's not true," Tracey said indignantly. "It wouldn't be Quidditch without the Keepers, the Beaters and the Chasers. And it's still possible to lose even if you do catch the Snitch; remember last summer?"
"How very fascinating," Professor Snape's voice drawled from behind them. "Miss Greengrass, you're wanted in the room off to the side of the hall after breakfast. Your parents will be waiting for you there."
Oleandra and Tracey gave a small start. They were used to Professor Snape sneaking up behind them, but it was still off-putting to have him materialize as if out of nowhere and start speaking to them! She looked in the direction Professor Snape was lazily pointing towards; there indeed was a door there.
After breakfast, Oleandra trudged towards the room, meeting up with Harry in the process.
"Your guardians, the Muggles, they're here?" Oleandra asked him curiously.
"I really don't want to see the Dursleys right now," Harry grumbled.
"Then don't," Oleandra replied. "Nobody's making you."
"You know, you're right," Harry said, emboldened by Oleandra's words. "I don't have to see them if I don't want to… well, see you tonight…"
Harry nodded to her, and left through the Entrance Hall. Good for him, Oleandra thought. She had heard what the Dursleys had put him through; and now they wanted to join in the glory of Triwizard Tournament? Ha! Fat chance.
Oleandra entered the chamber off the side of the Hall; her parents were there, and so were Fleur Delacour's and Viktor Krum's families. And for some reason, so were the Weasleys. When had Fred and George become Triwizard champions, and why hadn't anyone told her!?
Maxwell, her father, was busy catching up with his cousin Molly Weasley. If Ron, and his brothers and sister were Oleandra's second cousins, then this made Molly, their mother, Oleandra's first cousin once removed. Iris, her mother, was moping in a corner of the room.
"Mother! Father!" Oleandra called out to them. "You've come to watch me compete!"
"There's my little girl," exclaimed Maxwell, turning to face her. "First place! We're so proud of you!"
He had said those last words especially loudly, so that the other parents could clearly hear him.
"We would have liked to hear it from you, and not from one of Astoria's letters," said Iris crossly. "Just like when you entered this tournament, which you weren't supposed to be able to do."
"Come now, dear," said Maxwell soothingly. "She clearly thought herself capable enough to do it; and she has handled the tasks splendidly. You said you wouldn't do this when we left the house…"
He took his wife's hands into his own and stared into her eyes; after a few moments, she couldn't maintain up eye contact and blushed bashfully. Oleandra rolled her eyes at this public display of affection.
"Excuse me? Oleandra?" said Arthur Weasley. "My son— he often speaks of you in his letters— and we were wondering…?"
Molly Weasley made a disparaging noise and sniffed loudly, before turning away in a huff.
"Er— please excuse my wife," he said sheepishly. "She likes to read Witch Weekly—"
"We're just friends," Oleandra quickly said. "That's it."
"Really?" said Mrs. Weasley. "You're sure you're not just playing with his feelings—"
"Molly!" Mr. Weasley admonished her. "By the way, have you seen Harry on your way here? We were told he would be coming…"
Whoops; Oleandra had basically encouraged him not to come.
"He bunked," Oleandra said. "He thought it would be the Dursleys, instead of you; I didn't know the Potters were related to you, though…"
It turned out that they weren't related; they had invited themselves, as his foster family. The Weasleys, which included two of their sons, Bill and Charlie, then left to search for Harry, leaving the other three families alone in the chamber. Fleur regretfully watched as Bill left.
At any rate, nobody was forcing them to stay, and since her parents were waxing nostalgic for the castle, Oleandra spent the rest of the morning following them around as they reminisced about the past and their courtship period.
"You know, your mother used to be determined to avoid me," Maxwell confided in his daughter. "It was a dark time back then, as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was ascending to power."
"What does that have to do with that?" Oleandra asked.
"During the First Wizarding War, my family, the Prewetts, sided with Dumbledore and the Ministry," her father explained. "The Greengrass family has always remained neutral in conflicts, so your mother didn't want to look like a Dumbledore sympathizer by hanging out with me."
"So, what changed?" Oleandra asked curiously.
"We were systematically eradicated," he said grimly. "The Prewetts were marked for death by You-Know-Who; my cousins, Molly's brothers, Fabian and Gideon were murdered by Antonin Dolohov. And then, he went for my branch of the family; my parents and my siblings were all found dead the following day."
"He had always been so full of life," said Iris at last. "One day, he just stopped courting me out of the blue; When I learned what had happened to his family, I felt like I needed to try to cheer him up back to his old self…"
Ah, the old push and pull technique, Oleandra thought to herself. Not exactly a good strategy for a long-term, healthy relationship, but still… To think her father had accidentally seduced her mother by having his entire family murdered…
"We eventually started going out," Maxwell said. "And then we got married right out of school; we graduated in 1979, I think, and a year later, you and Daphne were born…"
Oleandra raised an eyebrow; that was rather fast, wasn't it? Her mother couldn't have been older than eighteen when she became pregnant with her and Daphne.
"At any rate," Maxwell continued on a more subdued tone, "I don't know if it's because of me, but your grandparents on your mother's side disappeared not long after that."
Oleandra looked at her parents in dismay; nothing about their relationship was romantic in the slightest, it was all really depressing!
"It was a different time," said Iris softly. "Nobody knew if they would still be alive when they woke up the following morning; I thought, better share what little time I had left with the man I love."
"Ahem," said Maxwell, eager to change the subject. "Which reminds me, are you excited for your birthday? It's in six days, isn't it?"
"I'm not a child, Father. I don't get excited for birthdays any more," said Oleandra, who could scarcely remember a happy birthday with her family; Daphne had always been the star of the show, and Oleandra, an afterthought. "But I am looking forward to my presents," she added.