Skeletons

Chapter 3 - The Goblet Chooses...

When Hermione walked into Harry's office she encountered a similar situation to the last time she had come in unexpected.

'Harry,' she called out when she walked in. She shut the door and surveyed the office. The door to his bedroom was open, but Hermione didn't dare walk in there, she didn't know what she would see.

'One minute Mione!' Harry called from the bedroom, Hermione made a face of disgust, Harry was her best friend but she hated who he had become.

She heard movement and looked up to see Sinistra leaving the bedroom, her cheeks were flushed and she looked incredibly embarrassed.

'Professor Sinistra…' Hermione said in surprise when the woman reached her at the bottom of the stairs, she had been a young teacher when Hermione was at school, but she was still a good bit older than Harry, she was probably in her mid-30's now. It didn't make much of a difference though, Hermione was pretty sure she knew why Harry was sleeping with her. She was still gorgeous with golden brown tanned skin that lasted all year round, and long brown hair, it probably helped that she had an amazing figure too.

'Hermione,' Sinistra said politely, 'it's nice to see you.'

'Sleeping with an ex pupil?' Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow towards the teacher she had gotten on well with.

'I only taught him in 1st and 2nd year,' Sinistra said faintly, attempting to defend herself.

'I thought you had a thing for Charlie Weasley,' Hermione said as Harry emerged from the bedroom once more doing his trousers up.

'I did, but…well I'm pretty sure he goes the other way,' Sinistra said slightly awkwardly.

'Trust me,' Hermione said with a small smirk, 'he doesn't.'

Sinistra gaped for a second and then quickly left the office. Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione as he sauntered down the stairs, 'you and Charlie?'

'It was a couple of months in 2002, I was working over in Romania,' Hermione said, trying to brush it off as she sat down in her chair across from his desk.

'You never told me that one,' Harry said, faintly amused but with a glint of something else.

'Yes, well, you don't need to know everything about my sex life,' Hermione said with a slight glare, 'although unfortunately I seem to know everything about yours.'

'That's because you seem to choose inconvenient times to visit,' Harry said as he sat down in the chair behind the desk and sighed, 'it's been a busy morning.'

'Has it?' Hermione asked, adding in an undertone, 'probably cause you've spent it all fucking Sinistra.'

'Not all of it, I had a class this morning,' Harry corrected and the smug air of it all was beginning to get on Hermione's nerves, she could handle it when it was every so often, but she saw Harry much more than usual at the moment and his lax attitude towards the women he was sleeping with was beginning to piss her off.

'Shut up Harry, and let's talk about what we're actually here to talk about because it's only been a few days and already I'm sick of hearing about your sex life,' Hermione said, her glare not at all playful and Harry knew not to mess with it.

'Alright,' he said, all playfulness gone from his voice, 'what's the plan for today?'

Hermione stopped glaring and started explaining, 'We'll go to the hall as usual for the feast and everything will occur as planned. You will open the feast and be a gracious host, you'll make a speech entirely on your own unless you want me to start telling all of the women who are sleeping with you about your one night stand with Neville-'

'That's low,' Harry interrupted with a slight glare of his own, 'do you know what I had to do to stop that from getting out to the press?'

'I don't and I don't want too,' Hermione said harshly, 'but I'm sick of you getting me to do your dirty work, you are the headmaster and you will do the talking tonight.'

'Fine,' Harry agreed, acting slightly like a child.

'After the feast you will announce the champions as they come out of the goblet and then we will take them into the room off of the hall and I'll explain the rules,' Hermione finished, glaring slightly less at Harry now.

Harry nodded, and the air was awkward and silent between them for a moment.

'I'm sorry Hermione,' Harry sighed as he ran his hands through his hair, 'I'm stressed right now, I hate this as much as you. This bloody tournament, I just wanted a nice peaceful first year as Headmaster, and now I'm worrying about every little thing that could go wrong.'

Hermione knew the playful front was just that, a front, but it hurt sometimes how little she saw past Harry's front, once upon a time she had been inside it, part of it, one of the few who saw who he really was every day. Years of pain had slowly being closing him off more each day.

'I'm stressed too Harry, but please can we agree to stop taking it out on each other? You're my one ally in this game of politics,' Hermione said, she knew it sounded slightly desperate but she was at the point where she didn't really care anymore. Harry nodded and walked around the desk to hug her, it helped, but Hermione still felt frustrated about the way Harry had gone about the tournament so far.

'Now that we've made that promise, you can't yell at me for what I'm about to tell you,' Hermione said as she got to her feet and began to pace the office.

'How bad is it?' Harry asked, grimacing slightly as he sat back down in his chair.

'Well, tonight all of the judges are required by the rules to be there…to announce the champions and explain the rules,' Hermione said, chewing her lip anxiously.

'So?' Harry asked, not understanding what she was implying at first.

'So, Susan will be here tonight,' Hermione said, and she watched helplessly as Harry slowly began to break apart all over again. His face fell, the twinkle in his eyes vanished and a cold look replaced it.

Harry sighed heavily and literally deflated slightly. The words that had come out of Hermione's mouth had affected him like they were a physical blow.

'Did you ever…' Harry began, a lost look in his eyes, 'did you ever find out why? Was it something I did? Or did she just leave?'

He seemed completely lost and broken and Hermione wished there was something she could do to help, but she couldn't because she didn't have the answers Harry wanted, 'No,' Hermione admitted, 'I don't see her very often anymore.'

'It's not like it matters anymore,' Harry said, his gaze stuck on the wall across from his desk.

'Are you sure you're going to be alright tonight?' Hermione asked gently, she didn't want to upset or irritate Harry but she was worried about him.

Harry nodded, 'I'll be fine…'

'Harry,' Hermione said slowly and quietly, 'if she happened to be single again and sorry about what happened would you…' she trailed off.

'No, I think it's over, we had our time and our chance and it…well it's gone,' Harry said with a deep frown on his face. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive Susan for what she had done, if he tried to get back into a relationship with her he'd probably always resent her, it just wouldn't be the same again.

Hermione chose that moment to change the subject which made Harry happy, 'Oh, I got a letter today from Kingsley,' she said, 'he gave me the dates of the three tasks.'

This cheered Harry up slightly, 'Oh, can you give me any hints?'

Hermione smiled as she sat back down across from him, 'Better, I can give you the dates.'

This brought a smile back to his face, 'What are they?'

'The first task will be on the 27th of November, the second task will be on the 26th of February and the final task will be on the 25th of June,' Hermione said, she smirked slightly, 'do you think you can handle sitting next to Draco for that long? Virtually a whole school year.'

'I don't mind him to be honest,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'we're quite similar in an odd way.'

'I spent so much time at Hogwarts telling you that and you completely ignored me,' Hermione said, faintly amused at her best friend.

'Hang on Hermione, speaking of Draco…I know how to piss Susan off! Pretend to be my girlfriend!' Harry said, the spark back in his eyes.

'No!' Hermione exclaimed, she wanted to make Harry happy and if it was a short prank she would, but this was different, 'she'll be here for every task and the Yule Ball Harry, we would have to pretend for a whole year.'

Harry knew Hermione was right, but it didn't mean he had to like it, 'I want to do something to show her how much better off I am without her, to show her I've moved on, and what better way to do it than pretend I'm dating someone 10 times better than her?'

Harry missed the faint blush that spread over Hermione's cheeks at his comment, he was too lost in his thoughts, his thoughts about Susan.

'Well I'm sorry Harry, but you aren't using me just to get back at your ex,' Hermione said gently, and Harry nodded, 'I know Mione, that wouldn't be fair. I'd ask Daphne, but I know she would never go along with it.'

'Why?' Hermione asked, out of curiosity more than anything else.

'She's scared of commitment, I think,' Harry said, 'it's why we make such a good pair, both of us broken beyond repair.'

'You aren't broken,' Hermione said, her voice a little frail as she made her way around the desk, 'just a little rough around the edges.'

Harry gave a bitter chuckle and let Hermione hug him, 'Maybe,' he said.

'I can think of one way I can help you out for the meeting with Susan,' Hermione said as she grabbed Harry by the arm and led him upstairs towards the bedroom. Harry chuckled, his sense of humour back as he joked about how this was inappropriate behaviour for two friends.

'You're going to help me get dressed, aren't you?' Harry asked in amusement when they walked into the bedroom.

'Yes,' Hermione said as she pulled her wand out, 'but first I'm tidying up.'

Harry never realised how skilled Hermione was at the everyday things, he knew that she was a fantastic witch of course, but he was still surprised when in 5 minutes she had the room back to its original state.

Hermione then proceeded to walk into Harry's huge wardrobe and look through his clothes, trying to find something that would make him stand out when he saw Susan. In the end she decided on a slick, serious look so she came out of the wardrobe with black trousers, a purple shirt and black robes with a silver hem.

'Are you sure it won't be too much?' Harry asked as he examined the clothes.

'It's fine,' Hermione assured him, 'but go shower first, you have time.'

'Alright,' Harry said, he didn't hesitate in stripping down to his boxers and throwing his clothes in a pile on the bed. He had no shame anymore, but Hermione wondered if this was something he only did around her, they were acquainted with each other from the time they had spent together during the war, but Hermione had always been a little more dignified than Harry. He slipped away to the bathroom that was attached to his bedroom and while he was gone Hermione tidied up some more, she changed the bed covers and folded the clothes that had been flung carelessly in the wardrobe. She sighed, Harry had always been messy, but never this bad. Ever since Susan had left he hadn't been the same, but she saw flashes of the boy she had known, and she wished they lasted longer than a few minutes.

Harry didn't know it, but Hermione put on a front too, one that he used to be able to see past, but he didn't anymore, not all of the time. She smiled at him when he emerged from the bathroom and they talked about meaningless things as she cut his hair and helped him dress, but then there was the awkward part of any moment like this. Hermione had being doing this for Harry since his first public appearance a week after the war, and ever since the accident this moment always came.

'Do you need me too?' Hermione asked and although Harry hated his injury and hated relying on people he nodded. Hermione sat down cross-legged on the floor and pulled on his socks for him, then she helped him push his feet into his shoes and tied his laces. She pushed herself up into a standing position and glanced at Harry, the shame on his face made Hermione sad, but it also confused her. He had no shame about being practically naked, but he had shame about the fact he couldn't do a few things, like tie his shoe laces.

Hermione glanced at the time, 'Harry, we still have an hour or so until the feast.'

Harry grimaced but didn't attempt to stand up, 'No Hermione…'

'Look it hasn't been bad for a while, but if I don't then it could get worse…please don't let that happen again,' Hermione said, practically begging Harry.

'It…'

'It's painful, I know, but you won't go back to St. Mungo's, and you know it will be much more painful if they do it than if I do,' Hermione said, chewing her lip and feeling guilty.

'Okay,' Harry agreed finally, he undid his shirt and winced as he let it fall onto the floor. He knew what to do, Hermione had once done this often when the injury was new and fresh. He lay down face first on the bed and clenched his teeth, waiting for the pain.

Hermione had seen the scar so many times, but it never got any easier for her, she was glad that Harry couldn't see her grimace. The scar was deep and it always looked angry even though it was over 4 years old now, it was about 60 centimetres long and stretched from his lower back to his mid-back.

Hermione took out her wand and muttered the charm she knew well, a red wave flew out of her wand and went inside Harry's skin. He had been through hell, he had gone through the cruciatus curse, he had been tortured by Lord Voldemort himself, but that was nothing compared to the spell that was to supposed to help 'heal' him. Harry gripped the pillow in his hands tightly and shouted in agony, Hermione didn't want to cry, but she always ended up shedding a few tears. She hated knowing she was putting her friend in so much pain.

The spell began to work through the muscles in Harry's back, soothing and loosening everything, she closed her eyes and felt the magic talk to her in a sense. She could have been a healer, but she didn't like seeing people in pain. The muscles in his back had been stretched so tight they felt like they might have snapped. Harry was supposed to have treatment every 6 months, but it had been over a year since Hermione had done this.

She knew the pain he was in, she had gone through it after the war when the healers thought she had done permanent damage to a muscle in her leg. It had only taken two treatments and she had never been bothered by the pain again, but Harry's injury was much more extensive. It felt like your skin was on fire, you could feel the searing, the burning, like your flesh was burning off. It wasn't of course, but that was how it felt. When cast wrong this spell was brutal, it could incinerate a person in seconds, it could cause flesh to turn black and die. Hermione had to be careful to cast it right, to keep the magic flowing and to never, ever, let the spell remain under Harry's skin for longer than 5 minutes, if that happened his skin would start to bubble with the intense heat of the charm.

Before the war Hermione had been squeamish about blood, and charms such as this one. Now however things were extremely different. Harry was all she really had, and if she hadn't learned to do this then he would probably be in a much worse situation now, paralysed from the waist down, according to the healers, if he hadn't gotten the right care quick enough. Luckily he had.

'Hermione,' Harry gasped, taking his hand off of the pillow and stretching it out slightly. Careful not to misdirect the spell Hermione took Harry's hand with her left one and shut her eyes again as she heard him moan in pain.

Susan had never been great at healing charms, she was into sport, she always had been, and while she had gotten by okay in school she had never been exceptional. She hadn't known the charm and she hadn't felt comfortable doing it, so the task had fallen to Hermione who had contemplated training as a healer before going into the Ministry. Harry had never wanted Susan in the room while he had his treatments, but Hermione knew that she had heard the screams of pains, she had heard Harry beg Hermione to stop the pain, and that had been enough. Hermione didn't think Susan would have been able to handle being in the room with Harry through these sessions.

After what felt like eternity Hermione's wand vibrated slightly and the second she felt that slight vibration she ended the spell. Harry had tensed up as his natural reaction to the pain, but the moment that it stopped his whole body went loose and he seemed to melt into the bed. Hermione tucked her wand away and sat down on the edge of the bed, by instinct her hand found his hair which was coated with sweat from only 5 minutes of the spell, he was breathing heavily and either didn't have the strength or willpower to push her hand away when she ran it through his wet hair.

'Better?' Hermione asked gently as Harry's body slowly began to recover. He gave a small nod, but said nothing.

'Can you sit up?' Hermione asked, still stroking Harry's hair. Again he nodded so Hermione helped him sit up and propped him up against the pillows.

'I'll be back in a minute,' she said, she knew he was still too weak to speak. The treatment took a lot out of him, but he was usually alright about half an hour after it.

Hermione made her way into the office where she threw some floo into the fireplace and said Daphne's name, the fire came to life and Hermione heard the tapping of heels across an office before she saw Daphne's face appear in the fire.

'Granger,' she said politely.

'Hi Daphne,' Hermione said, just as politely, 'I wondered if you had any pain relief potion around at the moment? I know I could ask Poppy, but she's always so low and I feel guilty for taking it from her.'

'Sure,' Daphne said, 'I'll pop through with it.'

'You can just pass it through the fire,' Hermione said quickly as Daphne's face vanished, she bit her lip, Harry would go crazy if Daphne saw him the way he was at the moment.

Hermione couldn't do anything about it though, she couldn't stop Daphne from walking through the fire or strutting towards the staircase.

'No, Daphne, don't go up there,' Hermione said desperately as she hurried up the stairs after the woman, 'he doesn't want-'

Hermione couldn't finish what she was trying to say in time, Daphne had already walked into the room.

'I brought you a pain reliever potion,' Daphne said to Harry whose eyes snapped open in shock, 'just like Granger asked, but I think you owe me an explanation as to why you need it.'

'I don't owe you anything,' Harry said under his breath, 'you're someone I have sex with every so often, not my girlfriend,' his breathing was irregular and harsh, 'get out,' he all but growled.

'You're right, I'm not your girlfriend. Who would want to date a cripple like you?' Daphne asked bitter and harsh as she threw the vial of potion onto the bed.

'Hermione,' Harry said in a dangerous tone of voice, 'get her out of my sight, now.'

Hermione was a fantastic witch, people always underestimated her quick spell casting however. In seconds she had levitated Daphne and pushed her back, slightly forcefully onto the landing outside the door. With her wand she shut the door and locked it, not just with alohomora, but with stronger locking charms too. Daphne made a childish noise of frustration and stormed away down the stairs.

'I'm sorry Harry,' Hermione said, 'I tried to make sure she didn't come through the floo, but I couldn't overpower her.'

Harry shook his head, still feeling weak, 'Don't worry about it,' he said, trying to force a smile and failing miserably.

'I think it's safe to say that Daphne may have been good enough for your bed, but not for your heart,' Hermione said softly as she sat down on the edge of the bed and uncorked the vial, 'here, take this.'

'Thank you,' Harry said hoarsely and he drank the contents of the entire vial in one gulp.

'How do you feel?' Hermione asked as she set about cleaning him up a little. It seemed pointless, the shower he had just had.

'Like every muscle in my body is screaming at me,' Harry replied, already sounding just a little bit brighter.

'The usual then,' Hermione joked and Harry actually chuckled.

'How long do we have until I have to make an appearance downstairs?' Harry asked, glancing at the clock on the wall.

'30 minutes, so we should leave in 15,' Hermione replied as she went into Harry's wardrobe and got him a new pair of trousers since the ones he was wearing were soaked through.

'Do you need a hand?' She asked, but Harry shook his head and got to his feet, he was a little shaky but he seemed to be in less pain. Hermione tried not to watch or hover over him as he changed his trousers and redid his shoe laces then put on his shirt again. She passed him his cloak and helped him into it and then glanced at the time.

'Ready?' She asked, and she wasn't just asking if he was physically ready for what to come, she was asking if mentally he was ready to see Susan again.

'As ready as I'll be ever be,' Harry replied, holding his arm out to Hermione who slipped her arm through it with a small smile. Together the two friends made their way down to the great hall for the Halloween feast.

'Hermione, you know how you asked me if I was ready?'

'Yes Harry?'

'I lied,' Harry said, swallowing a lump in his throat as he and Hermione walked to the front of the entrance hall to greet Susan.

Hermione glanced over at Harry and saw so many things in his eyes, longing for the woman standing on the other side of the hall, resentment towards her, and more than a little anger.

They were still arm and arm and Harry was gripping Hermione's arm so tight that she couldn't remove it even if she wanted too.

'You'll be fine Harry,' Hermione promised, gently tying to ease her arm out of his grasp. Harry loosened it and let Hermione free her arm, she slipped her hand into his instead and he sent her a small smile, a gesture that he appreciated her support.

Harry kept his eyes on the ground until they reached Susan who was leaning against the wall waiting for them. She didn't look any different to Hermione, still as beautiful as she had when she had been dating Harry. Susan had long red hair that was poker straight and flowed down to the middle of her back, she had emerald green eyes, slightly darker than Harry's. She was any mans perfect woman really.

'Harry,' Susan greeted politely, but in a monotone when the pair approached her.

Harry dropped Hermione's hand and looked up at his ex-girlfriend, 'Susan,' he said in the same tone.

'It's good to see you,' Harry said, forcing the words out of his mouth.

'Don't bullshit me Harry, you don't want me to be here at all,' Susan said, she crossed her arms over the pale blue robes she was wearing.

'You're right,' Harry said honestly, 'I've been dreading this since the moment I heard. I'd rather have Ludo Bagman back again.'

'He's in St. Mungo's with mental health issues,' Susan said with narrowed eyes.

'Exactly,' Harry said with a smile at the girl.

'Funny,' Susan remarked sarcastically.

'How's life been treating you?' Harry asked, really not caring about her life or what she had been doing recently.

'Not too bad, but it obviously hasn't done much for you. Still a skinny runt I see,' Susan said with a raised eyebrow.

'Trust me,' Hermione said with a smirk, 'you haven't seen him naked for a while, he isn't a skinny runt.'

Harry grinned at Hermione and Susan raised an eyebrow at the woman, 'Really? I'll believe that when I see it.'

'Well that's a shame, because you won't,' Harry said, the bitterness in his voice made it clear that he was still harbouring feelings for the redhead.

'No, but from what I hear most of the staff of Hogwarts do on a regular basis,' Susan said, but the dig didn't bother Harry.

'What about you? Are you still dating that woman you left me for?' Harry asked, again sounding very bitter.

Susan narrowed her eyes at Harry, 'No, we went our separate ways, if you must know.'

'Really? I'm almost sad to hear that,' Harry said sarcastically, 'did she break up with you or did you run away again?'

Susan didn't let the dig get to her, she was pretty thick skinned, 'It was a mutual agreement actually.'

'A mutual break up?' Harry asked in mock surprise, 'wow, that must be nice. Not that I'd know, I've never experienced it.'

Hermione chose this point to interject in the argument, she took a step forward and said, 'look, I know this is difficult but you have to put on a united front for the press for the duration of the tournament.'

Susan uncrossed her arms and pushed herself off of the wall, 'I can do that Hermione, he's the one who seems to struggle controlling himself.'

'Harry can control himself perfectly well,' Hermione said with a glance to her best friend, 'after all he is the responsible Headmaster of Hogwarts now.'

'Which has great pay by the way,' Harry said to Susan, 'which I would have used to buy you a nice house if you hadn't ran away.'

'I'm quite happy in my small flat thanks,' Susan said casually and Harry glared slightly at her once more.

'Come on,' Hermione said before they could fight anymore, 'we better get to the great hall, you have your announcement to make Harry.'

Harry nodded and walked towards the hall, leaving Hermione and Susan to walk a few steps behind him. The short walk to the great hall and down it to the head table was awkward and silent and felt like it took forever. Eventually they reached the head table and Harry politely told Susan to take her seat between Draco and Hermione. When everyone was seated the feast began Harry stood up and gave a brief speech, 'Happy Halloween!' he said, it felt strange, opening the feast like this. Halloween had never been a happy time for him, it was a reminder of his parent's deaths.

'At the end of the feast the champions who will compete in the Triwizard Tournament will be announced, but until then, eat, drink and have fun!' Harry said, he then sat back down and the hall became loud with chatter and the sound of the plates and cutlery chinking together.

'Do you know what you're going to say yet?' Draco asked in vague amusement from next to Harry.

'No, I never plan speeches, I come up with them on the spot,' Harry explained as he helped himself to some food.

'That much is clear,' Draco drawled and Harry rolled his eyes but didn't respond to the Slytherins jibe. Draco got bored and turned to Susan, and Harry happily spent the majority of the feast talking to Fleur about her children, and getting glared at by Daphne periodically.

'Why is Harry getting glared at by that blonde?' Susan asked as she surveyed her ex-boyfriend. The question wasn't directed at anyone, but Hermione answered it.

'Because he's spent the last few years sleeping with her and from what I witnessed I'm pretty sure he broke it off with her earlier today,' Hermione replied, she too glanced over at Harry just in time to catch him rolling his eyes at Daphne when he caught one of her glares.

'He's been sleeping with her?' Susan asked, not quite believing it.

'Apparently so,' Draco cut in, 'she was a Slytherin, in our year, her name is Daphne Greengrass.'

'I remember her a little,' Susan said as she looked at the girl, Hermione was worried the moment she saw envy in the redhead's eyes.

'Why did he break it off?' Susan asked curiously, she wasn't eating much and Hermione wondered why.

'Uh, she walked in after one of his treatments, he doesn't like people seeing him that way…you'll remember,' Hermione said, trying to keep her voice down so Draco didn't hear.

'I remember,' Susan said slightly darkly, and nothing more was said. Hermione had to hide her glare and bottle her anger, it had maybe been a little difficult for Susan, but she hadn't held his hand through it all, she hadn't stroked his hair afterwards, or calmed him down when the seizures came. That had all been Hermione, Susan didn't know the half of it.

'It's not just her either,' Draco said, taking his gaze away from Harry to look at Susan, 'remember the Astronomy teacher? Sinistra?'

Susan nodded as she thought about the woman, then her eyes widened, 'he's sleeping with her too?'

'I've seen her slipping out of his office late at night,' Draco informed Susan and Hermione rolled her eyes, 'you shouldn't be walking about the castle late at night Malfoy.'

'Who put you in charge Granger?' Draco retorted and Hermione rolled her eyes yet again and went back to her food.

'I don't believe it,' Susan said with a chuckle, 'I mean when I was dating him he was insecure and shy, and now he's sleeping his way through the staff of bloody Hogwarts.'

Hermione swallowed a harsh comment about how Susan had made Harry that way and kept her mouth shut.

Draco seemed surprise at this news, 'I didn't know you and Potter dated.'

'Yeah,' Susan said with a small smile, 'for a while.'

'A while? Try 3 years,' Hermione said, unable to avoid letting this comment slip out.

'3 years?' Draco echoed, still surprised.

Susan nodded, she looked down at her plate, 'Yeah, June '99 till July '02,' she said.

'Yeah, the day before Harry's birthday,' Hermione said, saying it in a perfectly neutral and polite way but with underlying annoyance. She kicked herself, she was supposed to be the one making sure that everyone was getting on, not the one causing conflict.

'How come you didn't see it all in the papers?' Susan asked, completely ignoring Hermione.

'I've lived in Europe since about a week after the final battle,' Draco explained, 'I've taught at Durmstrang since the start of the 1998 term. I get the prophet sometimes, but I'm a little out of touch with life here.'

Upon this news Susan proceeded on updating Draco on all of the big Quidditch achievements that he had missed out on in Britain. Hermione rolled her eyes and struck up a conversation with Neville who was on her other side.

'How is he?' Neville asked quietly.

'Not great,' Hermione replied, making sure Susan couldn't hear them, 'he's still in love with her.'

'I thought he might be,' Neville said as he glanced at Harry who seemed to be trying to force himself through the feast. Neville reached into his cloak and pulled out a hipflask with his initials on it, he poured some into his drink and then poured some into Hermione's.

'Firewhiskey,' He said with a wink and Hermione chuckled, 'I appreciate it.'

'Is it true about him breaking it off with Daphne?' Neville asked and Hermione smiled slightly, 'well they had a pretty big fight this morning.'

Neville only gave a small nod, but Hermione saw right through him, 'how long have you liked her for?'

Neville's face turned a faint shade of pink, but he replied, 'Merlin knows, since I arrived here pretty much, so about 4 years,' he sighed and Hermione put her hand on his shoulder, 'I'm sorry Nev.'

'Don't be,' Neville said, drinking from his firewhiskey infused pumpkin juice, 'she's much too good for me.'

'Don't put yourself down,' Hermione told him, 'no one is too good for you unless you tell yourself they are.'

'Thanks Hermione,' Neville said with a small smile, 'Harry doesn't deserve you.'

Hermione would normally have chuckled at this comment, but at the moment it hit home a little and she merely looked down, 'he doesn't deserve anyone at the moment, but he needs someone.'

'I'm glad you're here to help,' Neville said honestly, 'trying to deal with him when you're busy is tough. He only listens to you a lot of the time.'

'I miss the way he used to be Neville,' Hermione said with a sad sigh as she glanced over at Harry who was now talking to Draco and Susan.

'Who would have thought the precious chosen one would become such a player?' Draco was saying and Susan was chuckling.

'Hey you're just jealous,' Harry said to Draco, and then he winked at Sinistra who was further along the table and her cheeks turned bright pink.

'I'm not jealous,' Draco said casually, 'I sleep with people my own age.'

'Older woman are fantastic,' Harry said, just as casually and with an air of cockiness, 'you should try it sometime.'

'Wow, you really are a complete asshole,' Susan said, partly in jest and partly in surprise.

'No, I'm a guy who gets everything he wants,' Harry said simply, smirking at Draco and Susan.

Hermione turned away in disgust and only Neville saw the glint of sadness in her eyes.

'I miss who he used to be too,' Neville said in a whisper as he slipped her some more firewhiskey.

Eventually everyone finished eating and Harry got to his feet to make his speech. He caught Hermione's eye and she smiled at him, Susan caught this exchange out of the corner of her eye and frowned. Hermione had a feeling that Harry's speech might be genuine tonight, after all she had seen more of the Gryffindor boy she had known so well today than she had for a long time.

Harry made his way to the small podium at the front of the hall and took a breath before speaking.

'In a few moments the goblet of fire will make its decision,' Harry said sincerely to the eerily silent hall, 'and the champions for each school will be chosen. Once your name has come out of the goblet there is no going back, a contract has been made in your name and you must see this tournament through. I know from personal experience how difficult it is, how painful it can be, and more than anything, how terrifying it is,' Harry was speaking from the heart and Hermione couldn't keep the smile from her face.

'This tournament may be a competition, but more than anything it is a chance for you to make friends and experience a culture different to your own. Some of you may be sceptical and see these students from foreign schools as the 'enemy' but that isn't the case. I made friends when I competed in this tournament, I made 3 fantastic friends for life,' Harry paused for a breath but didn't break, he wanted to seem strong as Headmaster, 'one of those friends sits next to me as a judge in this tournament, another sends me postcards every time he plays Quidditch in a new country, but the third doesn't sit with me, or send me postcards,' Harry paused again, partly for dramatic tension and partly to pull himself together slightly, 'Cedric Diggory became one of my close friends during the time I was involved in the Triwizard Tournament, and his death deeply affected me and his other close friends. Therefore this Tournament will be named for him, in his honour.'

Harry stopped speaking momentarily and rather than a round of applause there was an awed silence which made him uneasy. He looked to Hermione and saw her wiping a tear, McGonagall even looked impressed and she gave Harry a small nod as if to say that he had done the right thing.

The hall was still silent as Harry asked Filch to bring the goblet in and everyone waited with baited breath as the goblet was wheeled to the front of the hall. You could barely hear anyone breath as everyone, the staff included, watched the goblet to see who it would choose. After a few seconds the blue flames turned red and started spitting until a slightly burned bit of paper floated out. Harry caught it quickly with his seekers instinct and unfolded it.

'The champion for Beauxbatons Academy for Magic…' Harry said, and there was an intake of breath, 'is Gabrielle Delacour!'

Fleur beamed and clapped proudly as her little sister stood up with a grin and walked over to Harry who smiled, shook her hand and said congratulations. She walked past him and entered the door off of the great hall. The Beauxbatons girls were still cheering and clapping after she was gone.

Harry turned back to the goblet as its flames turned red and spat once more. Another slip of paper flew out and again Harry deftly caught it and looked at what was written on it.

'The champion for Durmstrang Institute is…' Harry paused once more, to create tension in the room, 'Agmund Erikson!'

'Which one is he?' Hermione asked Neville in an undertone as a fairly muscular boy made his way towards Harry. He had blonde hair about the same colour as Draco's that was shoulder length and blue eyes, he was fairly attractive.

'The cocky one,' Neville whispered back, 'Malfoy's prodigy.'

Hermione sniggered at this and was pretty sure that Draco heard since he shot them both a glare shortly after.

The boy reached Harry and shook his hand then followed Gabrielle into the antechamber. Harry turned to the goblet for the final time and waited for the flames to turn red and spit, which they did. The final slip of paper flew out of the goblet and Harry caught it as quickly as he had caught the last two. He glanced down at it and announced.

'Finally…the champion for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is…' Harry announced, leaving the longest pause yet just to create suspense, 'Lacey Nott!'

Harry knew the girl well, she was a 7th year Slytherin, and he was fairly certain that she was the younger sister of Theodore Nott, who Hermione had gotten on well with when she returned to school. She stood up and made her way over to Harry from the Slytherin table with a grin on her face.

'Lacey Nott?' Hermione asked in a whisper, she was directing her question at Neville as she asked, 'as in Theodore's relation?'

'His little sister,' Draco replied, he clearly had amazing hearing because Susan was in between he and Hermione and she had talked rather quietly.

'I didn't know he had a little sister,' Hermione said as she watched as Lacey reached Harry. She had brown hair reaching the middle of her back and light green eyes, the same colour of eyes that Theodore Nott had…

As the girl walked past the head table Hermione mumbled to herself, 'She has the exact same eyes as Theo.'

'How would you know what colour Theo's eyes were?' Draco asked, looking at Hermione suspiciously.

Hermione tried to cover up her mistake, but she couldn't control the blush that spread across her cheeks, 'oh, we both came back to do our N.E.W.T's, we were fairly close.'

'You don't just remember someone's eyes because they were a friend to you,' Susan said, her eyes were narrow and focused on Hermione, 'only one pair of eyes are burned in my mind and I know why that is,' she said with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione blushed again at what Susan was implying, Harry's eyes were burned into her head, of course they were, you didn't easily forget eyes like his, and they had dated for 3 years.

'We kissed once or twice,' Hermione said quickly, 'neither of us had many friends when we came back to school. That's it.'

Thankfully for Hermione the feast ended there and amongst the movement of students Hermione managed to get up and scurry towards Harry without too much hassle.

'Nice speech,' she said with a proud smile as they walked towards the antechamber together.

'I don't know where it came from,' Harry admitted as he opened the door and held it for Hermione. She smiled at him just before they walked over to the three champions, 'I do, the heart.'

Harry smiled, he knew deep down that she was right, but he hadn't spoken from the heart in public like that for years now.

TBC :)

A/N: Nice long chapter for ya! Hope you liked it! :D