AN. I don't know where that came from. It just wouldn't leave my mind. I slightly altered Harry's actions during the first task and Krum and Harry are a bit OOC but it was intended. Hope you like it!
Oh, and I don't own anything.
Of Dragons, Brooms and Friendship.
Victor Krum was a highly logical individual. He never rushed into things headfirst preferring to think everything through and get to the bottom of an issue. Thus, when the Goblet of Fire produced a sheet of paper with 'Harry Potter' written on it instead of accusing the teen of cheating he stopped to consider all of the possible outcomes of the situation and reasons Potter might have had to throw his name into the Goblet. Avoiding the age line of one of the most powerful wizards, no less! As far as Victor was concerned, it was no small feat. But why would Potter do it? Knowing his history not because of fame and definitely not because of money - Potters were one of the richest families in Britain.
There was only one reasonable conclusion. Potter's name was put into the Goblet by someone else. The question - who hated him enough to do it - had a simple, but frightening answer. To be honest, Victor was terrified by the possibility of meeting Lord Voldemort. People don't become the most feared Dark Lords of the century without power and readiness to use it. The more he thought of Voldemort the less excited he became about Potter's participation in the Tournament. The boy simply had no chances to win, it would be a feat if he came out of it alive. After all, what can a fourteen-year-old do against an experienced wizard? Yeah... Potter was doomed.
That were Krum's thoughts a month ago, when the Tournament's champions were announced. But now, after getting the golden egg from an irate mother-dragon, he was worrying about Potter. Schools in Europe covered dragons only during sixth year of education. And even if Potter somehow knew the beast's weakness he probably didn't have skills to fulfill the task.
Victor sighed. There, Potter's left the champions' tent. He was pale, although Krum himself probably didn't look very brave when he fought. Finally, Potter noticed his dragon, which was... Sweet Merlin! A Hungarian Horntail. A chill ran down Victor's spine. What the hell were the judges thinking? Were they seriously trying to kill the boy? Now Potter seemed even more pale and -what?- determined? and confident? How could anyone be confident facing this monstrosity? Potter was either insane or a genius. Maybe both.
Before Victor could go into shock, Potter raised his wand and muttered something. It was impossible to hear the words clearly from the distance though. So, Victor waited, watching intently for any visible sign that could help identifying it. And waited.
And waited.
Finally, after watching for two minutes how Potter dodged Horntail's tail, paws and streams of fire Krum heard a whistling sound. Turning his head to see it's cause, the Bulgarian saw ...a broom? Potter summoned a fucking broom? By the time Harry mounted the broom and took off in one swift motion, simultaneously dodging a couple of powerful tail blows Krum has exhausted his knowledge of English swears and switched to Bulgarian. He was so totally beaten by a fourteen-year-old! He hadn't even considered flying around the dragon, and he was 'the best Seeker in Europe' and a member of the National teem! Victor glared at the oblivious teen who was luring the Horntail into taking off and abandoning her position by the nest. And rather skillfully, Krum grudgingly admitted.
Potter suddenly took a sharp turn, avoiding a barrage of fire by mere centimeters and dived under ascending dragon's body. The entire stadium held their breath while Bagman continued his exuberant commentary.
Fifty meters till earth, thirty, ten-
In a brief flash a thought that even he would be hard pressed to survive such a dive passed Victor's mind-
Five, Victor wondered if Potter had bothered to make a will.
Probably not.
Four, three- the Horntail finally understood that the annoying thing she was chasing slipped past her and turned in the air trying to catch the boy.
Two, one-
Victor clenched his fists waiting for the sickening sound of Harry Potter's body hitting the ground... That never came. The Bulgarian watched the boy shout something incomprehensible that slowed his fall to such an extent that he was able to quickly snatch the golden egg and turn his broom parallel to the ground. Whatever spell Potter used wore off after three seconds and the broom regained its speed and shot off with its passenger towards the shelter just in time to avoid dragon's fire.
Victor let out a breath he was holding and stared in amazement at the youngest champion of the Tournament. The youngest champion that had just made a better performance than older and supposedly more powerful and skillful students of all three schools, pulling such a stunt that he, Victor Krum, had never even heard about, much less seen or, Merlin forbid, did. Suddenly, all those rumors about a his adventures seemed a lot less farfetched. Potter was more interesting than his appearance made you think he was. And he certainly wasn't a typical teenager.
A thought started forming in Victor's mind.
What did his father say when he was leaving for England? "Don't waste the opportunity to make acquaintances abroad. Your 'antisocial Quidditch genius' card won't always help you in the future. Make contacts!" Contacts, eh? This was an idea. Mind made up, Krum stood up, vanished his conjured chair and headed towards the hospital tent where Potter listened to that strange nurse that was lecturing him about his recklessness. Krum snorted. Somehow he didn't doubt that this wasn't her first such lecture to Potter nor that said Potter tuned her out at the very beginning of her speech.
Potters head turned to the entrance of the tent at the sound of Victor's footsteps. His expression was resigned, which only served to prove Victor's previous thoughts. He stared at the older boy with the question 'What are you doing here?' written on his face. Suddenly feeling nervous Victor extended his hand.
"You were very good. I thought you would crash there. I am very impressed." the words were foreign and felt not right - Krum was far from fluent but Potter seemed to understand the message.
He nodded and shook the offered hand. "Thank you. I'm still not sure how I got out of there without a scratch." He seemed to be appraising Victor. Than, he asked "Were you injured? Sorry, I didn't really pay attention to Bagman's words."
Victor saw genuine concern in his eyes. It was surprisingly pleasant to see such emotion directed at him. "No, I'm OK. I blinded the dragon and it didn't notice me. It damaged the eggs though. I think that red headed handler was going to kill me" It was the reason why Victor didn't go to seat with other champions. The murderous glare of dragon reserve worker that sat with them.
Potter chuckled. "That was probably Charlie. His is a brother of my best friend, Ron." Something changed in his expression. Victor was trying to remember who was this 'Ron' character. If he was the best friend, then he should have been with Potter most of the time, right? But all Krum could remember was a pretty bushy-haired girl that spent a lot of time in the library.
"Who is Ron? I haven't seen him with you." Only after he said that he realized that the question was probably a bit too personal. But he didn't have time to apologize because Potter answered with a grimace "We had ... a row. He thinks that I cheated to get into the Tournament"
Victor raised an eyebrow "He isn't very good friend then." He bit his tongue and quickly added "I am sorry. It is not my business."
Potter shrugged "Don't worry. You are probably right. He's always been a bit jealous of me" He grinned darkly "It may be a good thing that I saw this now. I certainly won't be able to rely on him in the future" and Potter fell silent. Victor felt awkward, so he said the first thing that came to mind attempting to ease the tension.
"The spell you used to slow down. What was it? I know 'Arresto Momentum'. It makes you land slower but you flew further. You didn't land."
Potter grinned, this time sincerely pleased with himself. "I have been learning more spells since my name was announced and came across some very helpful books. The spell I used is called the Impedimenta curse. You know it?"
Victor shook his head. It sounded familiar but he wasn't sure where he had heard it.
"It's a curse meant to slow things down and it isn't really hard to learn. The tricky part was to use it only on my broom but not on myself. In that case I wouldn't be able to get the egg and turn the broom. I wonder, if the dragon would've eaten me before or after I crashed into its nest?" They both chuckled. Victor realized with astonishment that he actually enjoyed chatting with Potter, something that was usually a chore for him. He thought that he didn't mind that whole 'making contacts' thing that much anymore.
Potter started saying something but was interrupted by Ludo Bagman.
"A-and the judges have made their decisions! Let's see, who they think is the best champion! Fleur Delacour used a strong Calming charm and nearly succeeded in avoiding the dragon! She gets 36 points for her performance! Our second champion, Cedric Diggory, showed his Transfiguration skills but was heavily burnt. He has 33 points! Victor Krum attempted to blind the dragon with Conjunctivitus curse which lead to it crashing the real eggs. For this, some points had to be taken from Mr. Krum!"
Bagman then broke the news about him and Potter tying for the first place with 46 points. The crowd roared and Bagman went on about something but neither boy payed attention. Potter was gaping like a fish clearly having not expected this and Krum noted with surprise that he was genuinely glad for the other's success.
Victor grinned at Potter's astonished face. "Congratulations. Now, let's go back to the castle before the crowd gets to us, Potter" he watched with amusement as the teen shook himself out of his stupor and nodded.
"Call me Harry. All my friends do" he muttered absent-mindedly. It was Victors turn to freeze in shock. He had never had a friend before. All of the people that associated with him were 'acquaintances' at best. His father's position as Bulgarian minister and later his career as a Seeker made him wary of people. But Potter should not be interested in Victor's fame, he had plenty of his own.
A friend.
A real friend!
He smiled his first open smile and followed Pot- no, Harry, to the front doors.
"Then it's Victor to you"
Perhaps his father's advice was a good one after all. Victor certainly hoped so.
-The End-
Well, that's it. Not sure if I am satisfied with it. Maybe I will make it a full story, maybe leave it a one-shot. If I do wright further(unlikely) It will be Harry-against-everyone(not actually everyone, just Ron, maybe Molly and a bit of Dumbledore but without Damby!bashing.) Harry will get to travel, first of course to Bulgaria and then maybe more. I intend to make Harry and Krum either into a good fighting team or into political sharks. There will be a lot of fluff and friendship mixed with bad childhood experiences for both of them - Dursley will be a bit worse than in canon and Victor will also get some childhood trauma. There will be no slash, I don't know if I want Harry/Hermione or Krum/Hermione and Harry/Luna(I like that pairing). Or maybe I should make Krum a sister or a cousin for Harry? Tell me what you think.
Oh, and I don't have a beta, so if you noticed some mistakes(probably a lot:)) please tell me, I will correct them. if someone wants to adopt - go ahead, just tell me so that i can read it.
is there a story similar to what I described? I would really like to read one but I'm not in the mood for searching. I haven't actually seen one about Krum, his character, his past and so on. Fleur, yes, but nothing detailed Krum. It's a pity really that we don't see a lot of his character development even in canon.
And, finally, although I like constructive criticism, flames based on nothing are not appreciated and will be used to make barbecue.
Ksunik