He must have heard wrong. There is no possible way. He had just applauded Diggory and clapped him on the back as he passed the Gryffindor table, when that stupid, stupid goblet spit out a fifth name, and it was his brother’s name! He looked at his parents who were just as stunned as he was and tried to fight the horrifying feeling that was coming through his bond with his brother.

Ever since they had met yesterday the bond had grown stronger and that feint presence was making itself more and more present, even though they hadn’t much chance to interact today since the twins had monopolized Wyatt and Chris had spent most of the day away with Hagrid and his friends. And right now he knew Chris was terrified, and incredulous. That Chris, just like him was waiting for Dumbledore to say it was all a joke. But he never did, instead he insisted Chris join the other Champions and then he had a rushed conversation with the other Heads who were furious. His father looked as if he was going to burst a vein and his mother was snapping at Dumbledore while the others were calling him a cheater. He watched in a daze as Dumbledore dismissed the students and the other Heads and him left through the same door as Chris had and he was left behind not knowing what was happening and imagining the worst as he felt everything his brother was felling and the buzzing of whispering grew through the students.

He never really understood how he ended up punching one of the guys who was calling Chris a cheater. He just felt himself being steered away by some of the students from Magic School and the Weasley twins before a teacher caught on to what he had done.

---

Leo followed the other professors into the room Dumbledore led them into and had to restrain himself from going straight towards Chris and taking him away. He had to remember; to everyone here Chris had nothing to do with him. To Chris, Leo had nothing to do with him. So he focused first on his student who came barreling with questions.

“He can’t be serious? The kid will get killed, he’s terrified” the girl said. And Leo knew why instead of complaining like the Beuaxbatons student was doing to Madam Maxime his student, Olivia, was actually trying to get Chris out. She had a few powers, one of the few witches who had more than one active power aside from the Charmed Ones and their offspring, and one of those powers was empathy. She knew what Chris was feeling.

Chris on the other hand glared at her, “I’m not terrified,” he mumbled indignantly, “or little.” Leo couldn’t help it, his lips twitched into a smile even in this dire situation.

“What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-door?” Madame Maxime asked imperiously.

“I’d rather like to know that myself Dumbledore!” Karkaroff spat, “Two Hogwarts champions? I don’t remember anyone telling me that the hosting school is allowed two champions- or have I not read the rules carefully enough?”

“’Ogwarts cannot ‘ave two champions. It is most unjust,” Maxime said.

“We were under the impression your Age Line would keep out younger contestants Dumbledore. Otherwise we, of course, would have brought along a wider selection of candidates, from our own schools,” Karkaroff said with a steely smile in place and his gaze colder than ever.

 “It’s no one’s fault but Potter’s, Karkaroff.” Snape said softly his black eyes alight with malice and Leo noticed Olivia looking at him intrigued. “Don’t go blaming Dumbledore for Potter’s determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here-“ and Leo saw Dumbledore was about to cut him but  a furious Piper was faster.

“HEY MISTER!” she snapped. “Ever heard of innocent before being proved guilty? He hasn’t had a chance to explain himself!”

“Well put Mrs. Halliwell,” Dumbledore smiled calmly at her and turned to Chris before tempers could cause explosions.

“Did you put your name in the goblet Harry?”

“No sir,” Chris shook his head vehemently and Leo had to silently restrain Piper with his hands on her arms when Snape snorted.

“Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet for you?”

“No,” Chris said vehemently.

“Ah, but of course ‘e is lying!” Madam Maxime cried and Olivia rebutted.

“He isn’t!”

“’ow would you know?”

“I’m an Empath,” Olivia snapped back. “And I can’t feel any deceit from him. Just confusion, terror and a little disgruntlement.” Leo silently thanked his student for her help and he saw Chris looking at her appraisingly.

“How do you know he isn’t faking those emotions?” Karkaroff spat and the girl rolled her eyes.

“You can’t fake emotions! You can hide them! Like they are,” and she pointed at Snape, Moody and Dumbledore in turns and Leo understood why she had frowned at Snape. Though you didn’t need to be an Empath to know the dislike Snape was exuding. “Block them out. But not fake them.”

“Zat does not mean he didn’t put ‘is name in. Maybe he zust didn’t expect to be called!” Fleur Delacour cried.

“She said-“ Leo started gritting his teeth but was interrupted by McGonagall:

“He could have not crossed the Age Line. I am sure we all agree on that-“

“Dumbly-dorr must ‘ave made a mistake wiz ze line,” Maxime shrugged.

“Are you listening to yourself?” Piper snapped. “Albus Dumbledore make a mistake with a basic thing as an Age Line my five-year-old niece would conjure without any problem. What are you on?”

“It is possible, of course,” Dumbledore tried to appease the two hot headed woman. “I am but huma-“

“Dumbledore!” McGonagall snapped. “You know perfectly well you did not make a mistake! Really what nonsense, Harry could not have crossed the line himself, and as Professor Dumbledore believes him and is backed up by an Empath, who has every reason NOT to support Harry, that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I’m sure that should be good enough for everybody else!” and she shot a very angry look at Snape that had Piper and Leo smirking at him. Jerk!

Cautiously Olivia leaned forward and said, “Er- he doesn’t appreciate being called Harry either,” but she backed off at the glare McGonagall sent her way.

“Mr. Crouch…Mr. Bagman,” said Karkaroff with a tone to his voice that greatly disgusted Leo, “you are our- er- objective judges,” and after what Remus had told them about Crouch sending Sirius to Azkaban without a trial Leo was a little doubtful about his objectiveness, “Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?”

Bagman, who had up until now been acting as if this was the greatest thing that could happen, and it was all Leo could do not to snap at the man to shut it, that this was his son that was in danger here, turned to Mr. Crouch, who up until now had been completely quiet, standing outside the circle, his face half hidden in the shadows, and Leo’s doctor and Whitelighter eyes immediately detected that this man was suffering from something because he did not look well at all. When he spoke however he did it in a curt voice that held no hint of weakness or emotion, “We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names came out of the Goblet of Fire must compete in the Tournament.”

“WHAT?” Piper shrieked. “Are you crazy? He’s just a boy!”

“Piper,” Leo tried to calm her down.

“No, I won’t calm down! You people are nuts! He is a minor! He did not enter his name! He does not have to-“

“It is a magical binding contract madam,” Mr. Crouch said simply. “Either Potter competes or he faces the consequences of breaking the contract and they are not pretty.”

“What does he mean by that?” Piper hissed towards Leo and he saw that Chris had turned towards him with a hopeful look, a look he would have to crush.

“Depends of the type of contract, it can range from loss of his magic in a mild contract to death in Unbreakable Vows,” Piper’s and Chris’s faces went ashen and Leo was astounded by the fact that no one here saw the resemblance between them. But then again, with tempers running so high anyone was hard pressed to notice anything. Piper’s behavior alone should have been a huge hint that something was amiss, but he couldn’t blame her. He was just as scared at what was happening as she was.

“You mean I either die on the tasks or from breaking the contract?” Chris asked shocked.

“We don’t know-“ Leo started trying to explain. Trying to give his son some hope.

“The Goblet of Fire constitutes an Unbreakable Vow,” Mr. Crouch solved the problem for them.

“Well, if Barty says so,” Bagman said. “Then it is. He knows the rule book back to front.”

Karkaroff insisted on submitting other names for the Goblet but Bagman shot that idea down. Leo could only focus on his wife and son who looked as if the world had ended and was actually glad everyone else was busy crying injustice about Hogwarts having two champions and throwing accusations here and there about who would have done this and did not notice the very weird actions of his wife, or at least weird for those who didn’t know the truth. She turned towards Chris and said firmly, “Don’t worry. You won’t have to. We’ll find a way out of this.”

Chris looked at her with a mixture of fear for his fate and resignation. He shook his head, “Yes I will. You heard him.” And he knew that the only reason Chris wasn’t over thinking Piper’s action was because he must be numb.

“You’re a minor.”

“And who’s going to complain? My parents? They’re dead and my relatives will jump at the chance of me getting killed by one of the tasks,” and Leo’s heart sank at the pure certainty in Chris’s voice that he had absolutely no one to fight for him. “Thanks Mrs. Halliwell. I know you mean well. But I’m used to it.”

And that moment Leo and Piper felt the exact same, their hearts breaking in tiny pieces as they heard his declaration. No he was suppose to be safe, to be cared for, happy and loved. That’s why they chose the Potters. Why did it have to go so wrong?

Their attention was pulled to the others as Dumbledore rebuked Moody for something he said to Karkaroff about fighting Dark Wizards, or thinking like Dark Wizards.

“How this situation arose we do not know but it seems as we have no choice but to accept it. Both Harry and Cedric have been chosen to compete in the Tournament, therefore they will do it-“

“Ah, but Dumbly-dorr-“

“My dear Madam Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it-“

But Maxime didn’t and Crouch came forward with Bagman and explained the First Task to the champions, how they had to face the unknown with only their wands, or in Olivia’s case, her active powers and spell casting. Dumbledore tried diplomacy and invited them for a night cap but was refused by all. Going against all his instincts that were screaming for him to go with Chris, to comfort him, he instead accompanied his student out.

Once outside in the empty Great Hall he watched as Chris and Cedric talked and left.

“You should go celebrate with your friends,” Leo said to Olivia. “The Headmaster extended the curfew for our students and lent one of the classrooms. They’ll be there waiting for you. I can accompany you if you want.”

Olivia looked at Chris’s retreating back and then at Piper who had not taken her eyes off of him. She bit her lip, “Are you sure there’s nothing to be done? The kid did not put the name in. He’s an innocent. Aren’t we supposed to protect the innocents?”

Leo felt proud, Olivia had every right to be as indignant as the others but here she was putting her duty as a good witch first. Of course, he knew that the biggest reason she believed Chris was because she knew his feelings.

“We’ll find a way to help.”

She looked at Piper once again, and Leo feared she could sense her emotion even through the blocking potion the she still took, but apparently she couldn’t. She was just intuitive, “He’s the same age your boy would be isn’t he?”

Leo nodded a lump forming in his throat. She was thinking they were relating to him because he reminded them of Chris, not because he was Chris.

“He is also the son of a former charge of mine, and the boy the Elders asked us to help protect,” he explained.

“Then I’ll talk to the others sir. Don’t worry. He won’t get grief from us and we will perform our duty. He’s our innocent after all.”

Leo smiled at her, “Thank you,” he said even though he had his doubts that she would manage. The other Magic School students might not be so easy to convince.

“You are a great witch,” Piper’s voice came towards them ad Leo hadn’t noticed she heard them. “You’ll be a great force of good,” she smiled. “But you’re a kid too, and you deserve to compete and win. Don’t hold back on his account and know you can come for us for help.”

Olivia nodded and walked ahead. Leo pulled Piper into a hug, “I’m proud of you,” he whispered and walked after Olivia.