Peter awoke after a while, feeling his body hurting, especially his head, as if he had been hit with a blunt object. He was surprised he wasn't in his rat form. Thinking a bit, he realized that the preparations for the ritual took a lot out of him, especially his magic. When magically exhausted, he tended to return to his human form even without thinking of it. He'd need a day to recuperate, if not longer.
He then tried to stand up, still hidden among the tombstones. The graveyard was unlit, but occasional car lights traveled on it, letting Peter see some more details. He first looked at where the ritual was supposed to take place. He saw some remains of the cauldron and some vapors rising from where the fire had been. Evidently, the cauldron had exploded, and a shard had probably knocked him down. Looking closely near his position, he found more than one small piece of broken metal, confirming his suspicion.
He then tried to see in other directions. He saw the mutilated corpse of the giant spider and shuddered. It was big enough to devour him in seconds, so it seemed. Near that, he saw a bundle of clothes.
Cautiously, he walked closer, his wand at the ready. The cloth bundle was empty. He could see no sign of baby-mort anywhere. Looking a bit farther, he saw some bones, but they seemed too large to belong to a baby-sized being. Checking them closer, he realized these were the remains of a snake, probably Nagini. It looked like whatever the plan was, it got completely botched by the spider. Luckily, the explosion also killed it.
Peter contemplated what he could do. With his magical exhaustion, he couldn't trust himself to apparate. He doubted he could use the Knight Bus either. He didn't even have the few coins it could cost. What else? He couldn't go back to that Riddle house. There was nothing in there. Staying there, he could only starve to death.
Then it occurred to him. Hogwarts! The tournament was already over, so the audience and the judges had probably vacated the place. He could use the portkey to take him there and then hide at Hogwarts. The house elves would be happy to serve him food and keep him hidden, he was sure. Then, in a few days, he'd regain his magic and be able to transform and find a better place. Yes! That should work fine.
He looked for the goblet and found it where he had first noticed the spider. Without giving it any additional thought, Peter grabbed the handle.
–..–
The judges took their time in arriving at a decision. Karkaroff was adamant not to give Potter the win. "He didn't take the goblet, so he can't win."
"But with the goblet gone, nobody else can win by that criterion either," Percy tried to be 'the voice of reason' after realizing that nobody else would.
"And Potter reached that place first, regardless of the goblet," Bagman said.
"Dis is not right!" Madam Maxime exclaimed.
Percy sighed. This had gone on for more than twenty minutes, with each repeating the same ideas, only slightly differently phrased each time. Didn't these people have better things to do?
Some noise attracted the judges' attention. Moody, who was still sleeping soundly, started changing. His skin looked like it had some bubbles behind it, his hair was lightening and filling, his scars clearing, and his face turning younger. The magical eye popped out, replaced by a live eye. The peg leg was pushed out of his trousers by a flesh-and-blood leg. How he could keep sleeping was something nobody could understand.
Flitwick, who was the closest teacher, approached the bed and noticed at once, "This is not Alastor Moody! This is Barty Crouch Jr!"
That caused some more noise and even some panic among the older guests at the task.
Harry and his wives quickly approached and stood guard, preventing anybody from approaching and also making sure the impostor wouldn't be able to harm anybody.
Professor Flitwick bound the sleeping man with heavy cords as soon as he realized who this was and stood guard too.
Cedric, who was out of the maze by then, joined the others out of solidarity, if nothing else.
As soon as the name Crouch Jr was heard, Harry noticed a Patronus message leaving the place, hopefully headed to the DMLE.
Indeed, it took surprisingly little time for Madam Bones to arrive, heading a group of Aurors. She quickly checked the still-sleeping man and removed two wands, three daggers, and some more magical objects that Harry couldn't identify.
Luna surreptitiously ended her sleeping charm. The man awoke a few minutes later and started shouting. Somebody cast a silencing charm on him. The man continued shouting, but nobody heard him. An Auror then stunned him for good measure.
Although Harry and Cedric stood guard near the fake Moody, the foreign champions still waited on the champions' platform, where they were led once out of the maze. They were then surprised when another person joined them by portkey.
–..–
Peter expected to land in a deserted Quidditch pitch. Instead, he landed on the champions' platform, surrounded by official people close by and the audience, a bit farther. He wasn't ready for that.
In his panic, he reached for his wand. He barely moved his hand an inch when he found several wands pushed into his neck. The two foreign champions were on high alert since starting to understand what was going on and reacted swiftly. Two nearby Aurors were almost as fast to react, making Peter unable to do anything. Before he even had time to think of his options, one of the Aurors stunned him and bound him.
Auror Tonks had learned Constant Vigilance from Moody, the real one, and put it to good use. She was sure to apologize later if the stunned and bound person was found innocent, but the way he looked, she highly doubted his innocence.
Harry's eyes were also attracted to the scene only a few feet away from him, and he was the first to notice, "This is Peter Pettigrew, the traitor!"
Madam Bones heard him and dispatched one Auror to check the stunned man. The Auror returned, confirming Potter's words, not that she doubted it.
The audience was suddenly very interested, much more than throughout the whole tournament. What was happening near the judges' table was more interesting than all three tasks put together.
Am Auror was sent to bring a few doses of Veritaserum. He returned almost immediately. A dose was given to the impostor before he was forcefully revived.
His interrogation was an eye-opener. He told of how he escaped Azkaban, how his father had kept him under Imperius for years, and how he eventually overcame that curse and cast it on his father. He told of how the Dark Lord and Wormtail saved him and of the plans to resurrect Voldemort using Potter in the ritual. Then, when Lord Potter whispered in Madam Bones' ear, she asked about how one got the Dark Mark.
"It is a mark of honor given by the Dark Lord to his most loyal followers. One needs to show one's loyalty by killing an innocent. It's essential for the dark mark to hold," the madman gloated.
"Can one take the mark under imperius?" she asked.
"No. One's intent to serve the Dark Lord to the fullest is essential in the marking ritual."
Harry looked around, noticing a few "Imperiused" Death Eaters trying to leave the place stealthily. Before he could cast anything, he noticed some Aurors already stunning these people and taking them into custody. He still kept his wand at the ready, just in case, noticing that both his wives acted the same.
Once the initial interrogation of the impostor was over, he was stunned and bound even tighter before Madam Bones turned her attention to Peter. He was also dosed with the truth serum before being revived. His questioning was concise, and Harry supplied a few more questions this time.
"Were you the Potter secret keeper?"
"Yes. They wanted Sirius, but he thought he was too prominent and suggested me instead, since nobody normally noticed me."
"Then, did you betray them?"
"Yes. I gave the secret to the Dark Lord as soon as I had a chance and then led him to the house."
"Are you a Death Eater?"
"Yes. I got my mark before graduating from Hogwarts."
"Why did you join the Dark Lord?"
"He was winning. With the 'light' side using only stunners, it had no chance to win, and I feared being on the losing side."
"Who killed the muggles when you confronted Sirius Black?"
"Nobody. I sent a blasting curse behind me, intending to only distract him long enough for me to transform and hide. It hit a gas pipe, and that caused the explosion that killed them. It worked even better for me."
That was enough for a preliminary interrogation. Harry was sure that this would ensure Sirius's freedom soon. At least he hoped nobody would succeed in preventing it, although he suspected some would try. He had a feeling Dumbledore would not be happy to see Sirius free.
–..–
Once the public interrogations were finished, Dumbledore announced, "While Mr Potter finished first, some judges are not sure this was according to the rules. Therefore, the ceremony for giving the winner the prize will take place in the great hall tomorrow evening. Hopefully, the judges will agree by then."
Harry didn't mind it. He didn't need the money and planned to give it to the three other champions, although he doubted any of them needed it. Still, they had entered the tournament willingly, so they deserved some recompense.
Harry also looked around, noticing the tens of "Imperiused" Death Eaters captured when trying to sneak out. There were more, he was sure, but that excuse could no longer hold. He wasn't sure if the corruption in the Ministry would allow many to escape justice again, yet their social standing would suffer, of that he felt sure. That would be less than he wanted but more than he could expect even days earlier.
Then, he could look forward to Sirius getting his freedom after his innocence became clear. He no longer needed Sirius to become his guardian since he no longer needed any guardian, but he needed his 'unca pafoo' as some dementor-recalled memories showed him. It would be nice to have Sirius as a kind of funny uncle figure. He couldn't contemplate having Sirius as a father figure, though.
His gaze wandered back to the two girls at his sides, his wives. Only a few months earlier, marriage was something he couldn't even contemplate, yet now he was married not to one but to two. Fate was probably rolling in laughter about him.
Nevertheless, he liked it. Luna had been a big and certainly unexpected surprise and turned out much better than he could ever have considered. Hermione was unexpected in a very different way. She'd been his best friend almost since they started Hogwarts. She'd supported him when nobody else would and cared for him even when it made him resent her. He'd never considered her as a romantic interest until Luna made him aware of Hermione's feelings and of his own. He was now very glad she did.
As they slowly walked back to their apartment, Harry thought of the approaching summer vacation, of spending all that time with his two loves. Suddenly, even thinking of having children in a few years no longer seemed impossible. He was looking forward to having children with both his wives and raising them to be good and honest people. Until then, he could still practice making them and enjoying his two wives in ways he could not have even considered before the Yule ball.
He hugged them both and gave each a chaste kiss on her cheek.
Oh, there would be some obstacles to overcome, he was sure, and Dumbledore was probably the biggest one, but with both his smart wives at his side, he just couldn't feel worried. He could only look at the future with anticipation.
The End