Harriet Potter and the Minister of Magic
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize from the HP books in this story. All I own is the plot. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.
Pairings: DM/femHP (eventual). CD/femHP. RW/HG. BZ/GW. JP/LP (past). SS/LP (one-sided).
Warnings: Spoilers from canon (Books 4 to 7). Occasional time jumps from chapter to chapter. Mature content later on.
Notes: This chapter focuses more on Harry than anything else, as I know everyone seems to be angry with James at the moment. (^_^) I really enjoyed writing this chapter, by the way. I had to write it from a teen perspective, so I hope you can all forgive me for the rather immature behavior of some of the characters, including Harry, in here. They're all fourteen here, guys… I doubt I can write too much flirting at this age. :Laughs: There will be time for more development in the future, I promise. With that, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 4 – A Lesson about Boys
Harry was dreading the train ride back to Hogwarts for two very good reasons.
The first reason was that she knew at least half of the school would begin whispering and staring at her the minute she got onto that train, but the second reason was what made her more nervous. She would be seeing Cedric again – and truth be told, she had purposely been avoiding him since they had last seen each other at the Ministry party. She still didn't have any idea what she was going to say, and though Harry had thought long and hard about his question for days, she still couldn't make up her mind.
Maybe if I pretend to act like nothing happened for awhile? She thought quietly to herself, her expression dazed as she blindly followed Remus and Tonks down the long, bustling halls of Kings Cross Station. She heard Sirius hurrying to catch up behind them as he pushed Harry's things after her, her school trunk and Hedwig strapped neatly to the trolley. Once they had reached the barrier that would lead her onto the Hogwarts Express platform, the three adults stopped and let her walk through first.
She complied quietly and once she had stepped onto the platform, she glanced back and waited patiently until Sirius, Remus and Tonks had all passed through. Then, as soon as they had led her quickly to where the other students were already beginning to board the train, Sirius and Remus hastily began picking up her things and placing them into the baggage compartment near the bottom of the train.
"Go on then, Harry! You don't want to be late for your first day of school now would you?" Remus admonished her lightly as he finished with her things and turned back to face her, dusting his hands. "Owl us the minute you wake up tomorrow, alright? Just to let us know you had a safe journey." He reminded her and Harry smiled at this, nodding and taking Hedwig's cage from his outstretched arm.
"I will, Remus. I promise." She paused, looking up hesitantly at Sirius, Remus and Tonks' expressions. When they sighed and looked back guiltily at her, she asked quietly. "Is Dad coming…?"
Sirius and Remus met each other's gazes for a few seconds before looking back at her and hanging their heads. "He–" Sirius paused and ran a hand through his hair. "–he had to run ahead, Harry. He had an early Ministry trial to attend this morning." He began, and when Harry looked disappointed at this, he added quickly. "But he did mention that that he'll try and visit you in Hogwarts as soon as he's free." He tried to smile encouragingly at her but Harry had just looked crestfallen as she looked away.
Instead, she turned to Tonks and Remus instead and forced a bright smile up at them. "Thanks for bringing me here, you guys. I'll see you soon again, right? This Christmas, I hope?" Her smile brightened when Remus smiled back at her and bent down, rewarding her with a tight, fatherly hug.
"Of course we will, Harry. We look forward to that every year." He told her, and once he had released her, Tonks stepped forward and pulled Harry into an overly tight, affectionate hug. "And do try to get yourself a boyfriend by then, sweetheart,. It'll do you some good, you know." She added teasingly.
"No, it won't." Sirius suddenly hissed to Remus, nudging the other man in annoyance and wincing when Remus growled and nudged him back. "Tell your wife to stop influencing my goddaughter!"
Fortunately, Harry failed to notice both men's scowls as she looked up at Tonk's statement and frowned. "What do you mean?" She asked curiously, flushing slightly when Tonks winked back at her. Glancing quickly back at Sirius and Remus to make sure both men weren't listening, the female Auror bent down lower so that she could whisper into Harry's ear. "Remember what we talked about a few nights ago?" She didn't bother waiting for the younger girl's response before she quickly added. "There are actually a lot of advantages to being a girl, Harry. In fact, the more you act like a girl–" She smirked, arching an eyebrow pointedly at Harry's befuddled expression. "–the more boys are apt to treat you differently. And trust me…Most of the time, we can use this to our advantage." She smiled for emphasis.
For her part, Harry continued to look confused at her words and asked out loud. "How?"
Tonks grinned cheekily at her. "You'll find out soon enough, love. Now…" She paused and pointed to something over Harry's shoulder, causing the Gryffindor to whirl around. "–don't look now, Harry. But here comes that guy of yours. Oh my…Who's that lovely Chinese girl with him?" She pretended to tease in a hushed whisper, inadvertently causing Harry to feel to scowl to herself when she caught sight of Cedric Diggory walking towards the train, Cho Chang trailing quickly along behind him.
At the sight of the lovely Ravenclaw chatting happily with Cedric, however, Harry couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy stirring in her chest but before she could comment on this any further to Tonks, the female Auror had laughed and spoken again. "Cedric's a good kid, Harry…And quite a cute boy. Maybe you should consider giving him a chance. It wouldn't hurt you to be a girl once in awhile you know…Go on and let yourself be happy sometimes." She told her, giving her an encouraging smile.
In spite of herself, Harry tore her gaze away from Cedric and looked up at Tonks.
"Do you really think I should give him a chance, Dora?"
Tonks laughed at the hesitation she heard in her voice. "Ah, you're young and beautiful, sweetheart. Experiment a bit. Have fun." She lowered her voice again so that Remus or Sirius couldn't hear them. "Go on and show those idiot boys around Hogwarts who's the boss!" She added cheerfully.
Laughing, Harry wasn't exactly sure what to say in response to this so she just nodded and grinned at her before finally turning around to face her godfather. She rolled her eyes, however, when she saw that Sirius was pretending to scowl at her in indignation. "Oh and I'm the last one you hug now am I, Harry?" He complained, causing her to stick her tongue out at him but reward him with a tight hug.
"Oh you–" She had to tiptoe slightly so that she could fully hug her godfather's tall frame. "–you know you're my favorite idiot dog, Sirius." She teased, shaking her head at her godfather's childishness. She smiled when she realized that Sirius had definitely hugged her the longest, and he refused to let go of her until they all heard the train whistle indicating that the Hogwarts Express was just about to leave.
Reluctantly disentangling herself from Sirius' death grip, she smiled back at Remus and Tonks before reaching for Hedwig's cage again. "Well…I guess I'd better get on the train. I doubt Mr. Weasley will let me borrow his flying car this time." She kidded, although she pretended to consider the idea.
Remus and Tonks glared at her instantly while Sirius just laughed at her comment. "Very funny, Harry." Remus scolded, although he smiled at her in exasperation and shook his head. "Go on ahead before the train leaves." He gave her a smile before pushing her gently towards the train entrance.
Harry grinned back at him before she nodded and grabbed Hedwig's cage again, giving all three adults one last smile and wave before she hopped onto the train. She hung back by the doors, however, and continued to wave back at them until the Hogwarts Express had completely pulled out of the station. As soon as Sirius, Remus and Tonks' figures had faded off into the distance, Harry finally sighed and looked at Hedwig. "Shall we go look for a compartment, Hedwig?" She asked, earning a hoot in response.
Chuckling, Harry took that as an affirmative response and slinked through the train, poking through several of the compartments along the way in search of her friends. After about fifteen compartments filled with students, however, when Harry stumbled upon an empty compartment near the middle of the train, her resolve shuttered and suddenly, she had realized just how sleepy she was.
"This looks comfy…Why don't we just stay here for awhile, Hedwig? Let's wait for Hermione to find us, huh?" She commented to Hedwig lightly as she set the cage onto one of the seats. Then, yawning sleepily, Harry plopped herself down onto the opposite side and leaned against the backrest.
Blinking, she leaned back and reached into her shirt, pulling out the silver locket dangling from her neck and staring at it in thought. As she grasped the heart and clicked it open, Harry sighed and stared at the picture of her parents staring back at her with warm, encouraging smiles. It was a picture of her mother and her father back when they were teenagers, and Harry found that she often loved staring at the small picture – wondering how her father had really come to change in the last few years.
He hasn't spoken to me since I accosted him about mom during the party. Harry thought miserably to herself. He didn't even come to see me off. He acts as though I did something so horrible. She sighed again and shook her head, closing her locket with a light 'click' and looking out the window.
For awhile, she watched as the scenery in front of her whizzed by – and it wasn't long before she soon drifted off into a deep sleep. Pretty soon she heard somebody else entering the compartment with her and sleepily thinking that it was Cedric or Hermione, Harry murmured an incoherent greeting in response and snuggled back against the seat. She heard Hedwig hooting pointedly at her to get her attention but she ignored this and gave another yawn before drifting off into a deep slumber again.
Harry wasn't actually sure just how long she had been asleep since then, but when she felt the train give a sudden lurch as it passed by a bump track, she jerked awake instantly and looked around. Blinking, it took the Gryffindor a few hazy moments to realize exactly where she was or what she had been doing, but as soon as she heard the male voice speaking in front of her, she froze right in her place.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty."
Lifting her gaze, Harry stared – wide-eyed and her cheeks flushing – at the familiar smirking blonde seated in front of her. Inwardly trying to decide for herself whether the Slytherin had been sarcastic or not, Harry stared dumbly at him for a few minutes, her throat too dry to speak. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice her confusion and instead, turned another page of the book that was on his lap.
Horrified, Harry then realized with a jolt of surprise that a large, expensive jacket had been carefully draped over her form and with a gasp, she moved away, gathering the jacket into her arms.
"Malfoy, what–"
"You're quite welcome for the jacket, by the way." Malfoy answered her calmly, his lips twitching with mirth as he looked up and met the gaping, disbelieving expression on her flushed face. "You were shivering when I entered the compartment an hour ago." He drawled out with a pointed look.
She sputtered at him in embarrassment, unable to think of anything coherent to say in response.
"I–I was…That is…Why didn't you wake me up then?!"
Finally looking up from the book he was reading, Malfoy watched her curiously, the smirk on his face growing as he seemed to inspect her appearance from head to toe. "You looked cute sleeping." He arched an eyebrow as his gaze lingered on the short, tailored dress she was wearing before he grinned.
"You make a pretty good girl. I do believe I like you better this way." He remarked arrogantly, pointedly choosing to ignore the way Harry's features had scrunched up at him in indignation. "In fact, if I hadn't known any better, I wouldn't even have known that it was you." He added with a soft snigger.
"Oh shut up!" She hissed, her eyes narrowing as she hurled his jacket back at him in disgust. "And take your disgusting jacket back, Malfoy! I don't need your germs all over me!" She growled childishly, her cheeks still burning with how, despite herself, she had unknowingly been snuggling contentedly into his jacket while she was asleep. She even had his scent stamped in her mind to prove it.
"What are you doing here anyway? Who told you that you could sit in here with me?!" She added angrily, but Malfoy just arched an eyebrow at her reaction and responded with an annoyed glare.
"This compartment is where I usually stay, Potter. It's you who's trespassing here, you know. You're lucky I didn't kick your sorry arse out when I found you." He retorted, sneering at her when Harry seemed to blink in surprise at his words. Blushing again and suddenly realizing that she may, in fact, have been the one at fault, Harry cursed under her breath and stood up, reaching for Hedwig's cage.
"Fine, I'll leave then." She ground out, but even before she had managed to head towards the door, Malfoy's eyes suddenly widened in alarm and a heavy blush stained his cheeks as he called out.
"P–potter!" He stammered, suddenly gulping as his eyes focused on something below her navel.
Irritated, Harry paused and turned, glaring at him again with narrowed green eyes.
"What?!"
His cheeks flushed almost as red as a tomato, Malfoy managed to lift his gaze up and meet her eyes, his features suddenly settling into a decidedly amused smile that Harry couldn't quite make out. When she stared at him in question, the corner of his lips began to tug upwards into an impish smirk.
"You should fix your skirt, I think."
His grin widened as soon as Harry had realized what he meant and despite herself – as soon as she had seen the way her skirt had accidentally hitched up way above her thighs when she stood up – she let out a surprisingly girly squeak of embarrassment and hastily yanked it back down. Blushing horribly at the wide smirk she could see on Malfoy's face, Harry tore her gaze away from his instantly.
"I–I…I'm leaving now." She tried to sound calm and impassive as she had said this but unfortunately, her words had come out in as a shy, high-pitched squeak again. To her horror, the Slytherin leaned back contentedly against his seat, stretched his legs and looked at her with a smug grin.
"So…snitch-patterned knickers, Potter?"
Harry froze – and if it was even possible, her cheeks grew even redder at his words.
"How surprisingly fitting for you." Malfoy commented after a decidedly long moment's pause. When he saw that Harry had whipped around again and gaped at him with wide, horrified eyes, he quickly added. "Oh don't worry about it so much, Potter. I think they're actually quite cute." He teased, and Harry had to bite her tongue to keep herself from cursing the blonde Slytherin into the next century.
"Malfoy, shut up–"
"In fact, I think they give a whole new meaning to the phrase 'finding the golden snitch'." Malfoy teased her again, his lips twitching when he saw the uncharacteristically look of shy feminine indignation on Harry's face. Unable to say anything in response to that, Harry began to sputter a few times at him.
"I…I…I just…You can't–" She blushed again and glared at him, furious with herself for reacting this way and even more furious with him when she saw how Malfoy was obviously enjoying her reaction. When a few more attempts at trying to speak failed her, Harry finally gave up and she whirled around, hastily snatching up Hedwig's cage and practically bolting for the exit as she managed one last squeak.
"You pervert!"
Harry ran out of there before the Slytherin could utter another word – although she could have sworn that she caught a glimpse of Malfoy bursting out laughing just before she left. Not wanting to dwell any longer on the embarrassing scene that had just happened, however, Harry shook her head and began plowing through the compartments ahead in search of any of her Gryffindor housemates.
She managed to pass by Cedric's compartment along the way, and although Harry would have wanted to join him when he had smiled at her and beckoned her over to sit beside him and his friends, she froze by the entrance when she saw who was seated on his other side. To her credit, Cho Chang was also smiling at her and inviting her in. Inwardly fuming, Harry forced a smile at them but declined. She barely noticed the way she was glaring at Cedric until the Hufflepuff stared back at her in confusion, but before he could chase after her, Harry had already scowled and scurried off towards the end of the train.
Not surprisingly, she finally managed to find Ron, Neville, and Hermione seated at the very last compartment of the train. Neville and Ron were in the middle of a game of chess and Hermione was reading a book when Harry clambered in, and without as much as a greeting, she plopped herself down beside Hermione and let out a sigh of exasperation. When the three Gryffindors blinked at her and gave her a bewildered look, Harry rewarded them with a pointed glare and spoke up in an irritated voice.
"You know…Most people would go looking for their friend if she went missing for some time." She told them with a scowl, but Ron and Neville just smiled sheepishly at her while Hermione scoffed. "We thought you were with Cedric, Harry. With all of the publicity surrounding you two this summer, we figured you'd have forgotten about us – your lowly friends – anyway." She sniffed, and at her words, the scowl on Harry's face finally sobered and she glanced back guiltily at Hermione's frowning expression.
"Aw 'Mione, come on…Don't be like that. Look, I wanted to apologize to you guys about not being able to write back as often as I normally do but you wouldn't believe what my Dad had me–" She was cut off when Ron had suddenly exclaimed at her, his loud voice causing her to jump in surprise.
"Bloody hell, mate!" His eyes widened and he tore his gaze away from the chessboard for a few moments as he stared at Harry as though she had grown an extra head. "Are you wearing a skirt? Merlin's beard, I would never have believed those papers until I saw you with my own eyes! You look–"
"–like a girl." Neville supplied for him with a wide-eyed expression as he and Ron both inspected Harry's blushing appearance from head to toe. For a few seconds, it looked as though the two Gryffindor boys had gone into shock – but then Hermione spoke up again, drawing their attention back to her.
"She is a girl, you prats…" Hermione admonished them, rolling her eyes at their antics when Ron and Neville continued to gape at Harry like they were staring at an entirely new species. "And just for the record, so am I. It wouldn't hurt you two to acknowledge that once in awhile." She added huffily.
When Ron and Neville glanced back at the girls with slightly sheepish smiles, Hermione and Harry both scowled at them in exasperation. "Well…It's not that we don't notice you guys are girls, you know. It's just that…Well… We never thought of you as 'one of them' until now." Neville tried to explain as he glanced over at Harry again and pretended to whistle appreciatively, causing her to glare at him.
"One of them?" She asked, earning an exasperated look from Ron as he explained in response. "Technically, for guys, there are two types of girls. Girls who are their friends and thus do not need us to be nervous around them…aaand girls who look like…well…you." He pointed to Harry again and instinctively, remembering the incident awhile ago, she self-consciously pulled down on her skirt.
"Was I just insulted here? I'm still not getting what you mean guys." She admitted miserably.
When Ron and Neville met each other's eyes and stared at her again, Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry's ignorance and gave her a reluctant smile. "I think what they mean is…You look very lovely, Harry. And personally, I'm happy that you and Cedric got together this summer–" She was cut off when Harry flushed and glowered, ignoring the way Neville was suddenly grinning at her like a Cheshire cat.
"Hermione, Cedric and I are not together! Don't believe a single word of what that Skeeter woman says, she's just trying to spread more of her false rumors about me and Cedric!" She tried to protest, but Ron interrupted her by scowling and shaking his head at Hermione's words in indignation.
"Harry, I can't believe you're going out with that pretty-boy! You can do much better than that!" He scowled at her, but before Harry even got a chance to protest again, Neville added to Ron's words. "Gran and I were a little surprised when we saw the newspapers about you and Cedric … But I'm happy for you, Harry." He told her with a smile, but Harry just flushed again and shook her head furiously.
"Guys, I'm telling you I'm not dating Cedric Diggory! That was just some rumor that started after that scene in the Ministry party!" She rushed out, but as soon as the words 'Ministry Party' had left her lips, Harry was suddenly reminded of what she had intended to tell her friends about in the first place – and the expression on her face instantly became grim. "Speaking of the Ministry party… I think I may have overheard something suspicious–" Harry paused for a few seconds and stood up, purposely slamming their compartment doors shut before she turned to her friends' tense, questioning faces again.
"I have something important to tell you guys."
"Shh! Stop staring, you guys! It's embarrassing!" Hermione hissed at Ron, Neville, and Harry as the three Gryffindors continued to gape and stare stupidly at Viktor Krum across the room. The tall, Bulgarian Quidditch player was currently seated at the Slytherin table and was calmly eating his dinner along with his other Durmstrang schoolmates who had arrived at Hogwarts earlier that afternoon.
Pointedly ignoring the way Hermione was nudging her in impatience, Harry watched in self-satisfaction as Malfoy – who was seated just to the right of Krum – kept trying to engage the Quidditch player in an active conversation but was apparently not having any luck. In fact, if Harry didn't know any better, she could have sworn that Viktor Krum looked incredibly bored with Malfoy's conversation and he proved Harry's theory correct when Krum finally tuned Malfoy out and turned back to eat his dinner.
Seated at the Ravenclaw table just adjacent to the Slytherins, an entire horde of Beauxbatons students were also eating dinner and a pretty, silver-blonde girl named 'Fleur Delacour' stood out easily amongst them, attracting the attention of practically every male in the room. Most of the Hufflepuff boys and a good portion of the Gryffindors were the ones who were staring at Fleur the most – and that included Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus as they continued to gape and drool over Fleur in silence.
Highly amused at the sight her friends made, Harry let her gaze wander around the Great Hall again in silence, taking in the mixture of differently colored uniforms all around. The two schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, had arrived that afternoon for the announcement of the TriWizard Tournament that evening – and soon after, pandemonium had broken loose, with Hogwarts students all around asking each other what was going to happen and who was going to be the Hogwarts champion.
On her end, Harry already knew who was going to be the champion for Hogwarts.
All throughout summer, as they continued to exchange letters, Cedric had often told her about how much he wanted to join the upcoming TriWizard Tournament this school year and how he knew that it would make his father proud. Of course, Harry had encouraged him and supported him all the way, and she knew that it was only a matter of time now before Cedric was chosen as their champion.
Harry was broken out of her thoughts by the smattering of applause all around her that indicated that the sorting ritual for the first years was finished, and Dumbledore was already stepping up onto the podium to make his customary welcoming speech. As always, the Hogwarts Headmaster smiled cheerfully at them and there was that definite twinkle in his eyes as he looked down and met their gazes.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome my dear students! Especially our guests tonight, of course. Let's all give them a warm round of applause again!" He encouraged, and he waited until the obligatory applause and smiles he got from the Great Hall had died down before he continued his speech.
Harry tried to keep her attention focused on him, and she listened as the Headmaster began by announcing the new rules and regulations Hogwarts had initiated for that school year, then something about their caretaker, Argus Filch, prohibiting the use of "screaming Yoyos" and "ever-bashing boomerangs" in the school. Seated across from her in the Gryffindor Table, the Weasley twins scowled when Dumbledore had looked at them as he said this, but soon, the Headmaster smiled and spoke on.
"Finally, I apologize for this dreadful announcement but I'm afraid that this year, the usual Quidditch Cup between our houses has been cancelled." The Headmaster paused again as soon as he heard the well-expected shouts and complaints from the student side of the Hall – and the loudest ones complaining were probably the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, as they were Quidditch champions last year.
"What?! But they can't do that! That's completely unfair!" Fred Weasley had wailed in front of Harry, and she couldn't help but agree with him as she frowned and glared up at Dumbledore again. Around them, the rest of the students – including the Slytherins – began shouting and yelling furious complaints at the Headmaster again but Dumbledore held up a hand to silence them, cutting them off.
"Now, now, my dear students… I'm sure you're all aware by now that there is a special event to be held in Hogwarts this year. And I assure all of you that this will be a very exciting and a very enjoyable school year – because this year, Hogwarts will be hosting the–" Dumbledore stopped when the entrance doors to the Great Hall suddenly burst open, drawing everyone's attention to the back of the room.
Whipping her head around, Harry watched with wide, curious eyes as a large, cloaked stranger suddenly slinked into the Hall, a loud 'clank' following him loudly with every step he took. Paying absolutely no heed to the stares and whispers all around him, the stranger walked up to the Staff table behind Dumbledore, and once he was completely in the light, the students gasped when they saw him.
The man's face was unlike anything they had ever seen – every inch of his skin marked with a scar and his nose missing a large chunk by the front. What was, perhaps, the most unsettling about his appearance were his eyes – or rather, his glass eye – which was currently whizzing about as it glanced around the Great Hall at the many student faces gaping at him. His other eye was normal, if not sharp and beady, and his hair was dark gray and frizzy, as though it had been ages since he had brushed it.
Ignoring the stares all around him, he walked calmly up to Dumbledore and shook his hand, talking to the Headmaster for a few seconds before Dumbledore smiled and gestured for him to take his seat at the Staff table. Once he sat down, the whispers and murmurs around the Hall started up again.
Ron turned to glance at Harry instantly and sharing a look, they both shrugged at each other before turning back to look at the man with gaping stares. Frowning in confusion, Hermione caught the look they had shared and leaned over to Harry, whispering into the other girl's ear to get her attention.
"Who's that?" She whispered, drawing Harry's attention as she turned to Hermione. Before she could answer, however, Dumbledore had spoken up again and had drawn all their gazes back to him.
"Before anything else, may I introduce our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher this year… Professor Alastor Moody!" Dumbledore told them all cheerfully, suddenly breaking the stunned silence of the students in the Great Hall who had been watching since Professor Moody had entered.
As more whispers and murmurs broke out amongst the students again, Ron turned to look at Harry and met her wide-eyed look of surprise. "Bloody hell, they hired Mad-Eye Moody as our new DADA teacher?" He grinned and shook his head. "This is going to be one interesting school year, then."
"Who's Mad-Eye Moody?" Hermione had turned to Neville beside her, watching as the Gryffindor boy smiled back wryly at her and gestured to the front of the room where Professor Moody was seated. "He's only one of the most notable Aurors of his time, Hermione. " He began, pointing to the carved wooden leg attached to where Moody's left leg should have been under the long staff table.
Paling, Hermione lifted her gaze up from the leg to Moody's face again just as Neville continued. "My gran tells me that he's one of the greatest Aurors in the Ministry right now…And that the reason he relinquished the Head Auror position to Sirius Black was because he could no longer lead the department without putting the entire Ministry in danger given the reputation he's earned among a lot of Dark wizards. They all want to kill him, I wager." Neville shuddered as he said this, shaking his head.
Hermione wanted to ask him some more questions but fortunately, Harry had been listening in to Neville's comment and had leaned in towards them to add more. "Mad-Eye Moody was Sirius' mentor, you know…Back when he was still an Auror-in-training." She paused, her voice turning grim. "Sirius told me that the reason Moody lost his eye, his leg, and even all those scars he has on his face were the result of all the nasty encounters he had with a bout of Dark Wizards. Half the cells in Azkaban are filled thanks to him. The other half, I'd bet, are thanks to my Dad." Harry added with a rueful smile.
Ron nodded at her statement and added further. "He's become overly cautious and paranoid since then. Can't even drink from a goblet of juice without suspecting that someone's out to kill him. Look." He gestured to the front of the room again, and they all turned to watch as Professor Moody took out a hipflask, sniffed it a few times, before taking a long swig from it and setting it back into his robes.
Hermione shuddered at their stories, her eyes narrowing as she took in Moody's countenance.
"That's awful. I can't imagine living through life always having to worry about someone wanting to kill you." She commented idly, but she winced the minute she noticed Harry glaring pointedly at her.
"Thanks, Hermione." She said sarcastically, causing Hermione to wince and offer a guilty smile.
"I meant…Well…Sorry, Harry."
"Anyway, as I was saying–" They all turned back to listen as Dumbledore went on with his speech. "–this year, our very own Hogwarts is fortunate enough to be hosting the TriWizard Tournament…Which will be held with two other prestigious schools of this country, of course – Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang. We're very pleased to announce that we will be participating–"
"You're JOKING!"
Harry, Ron and Neville – as well as most of the Gryffindors – ended up laughing at the way Fred and George Weasley had both exclaimed out loud in excitement at Dumbledore's announcement, breaking through the Headmaster's speech. Thoroughly amused at their loud reactions, Dumbledore smiled back wryly at the Weasley twins before he nodded and turned to address the other students.
"I assure you I'm not, Mr. Weasley…" He answered good-naturedly, giving them all a bright smile. "The TriWizard Tournament was started more than seven hundred years ago. It's a friendly magical competition between the three largest schools in Europe, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. Each school will be sending in a champion to represent them in the tournament." Dumbledore explained carefully, watching the reactions playing out on many of the students' faces.
"Now…Take note…The three schools originally alternated amongst themselves every five years to determine the tournament's host…But as the death toll had mounted so high back then, the Ministry decided to ban the tournament ten years ago." Dumbledore continued, and it was at this that Harry's eyes finally dawned in realization, thinking back on how busy her father had been with the preparations.
"Death toll?!" Hermione's eyes narrowed and she turned back to glare at Harry. Neither she, nor anyone else paid her much attention as the students began whispering amongst themselves again in their excitement. Even the Slytherins looked interested, and Harry sneaked a glance over at Cedric by the Hufflepuff table to see that her friend was looking even more determined about joining than ever.
"After years of trying to convince the Ministry and our dear Minister that no one is going to die this year – and as some of you may be aware, the Minister himself used to be a former TriWizard champion back in his day – " Dumbledore took that moment to pause again and smile at Harry across the room. "They have finally agreed for us to hold the tournament once again. And so, as our new friends have finally arrived, I do hope we all do our best to welcome them to our school. So… Do you have any questions?" Dumbledore ended his words with a bright, cheerful smile at everyone listening.
For a moment, it appeared as though everyone in the Great Hall was too busy buzzing with news about Dumbledore's announcement, but then a student from the Ravenclaw table suddenly yelled out.
"What's the prize?!"
Dumbledore chuckled at his question, and waited until everyone had quieted down before he answered. "I'm glad you asked that, Mr. Carmichael. The prize is the prestigious TriWizard cup, along with the glory of your school–" Ron and Neville made a face at this but their reactions were soon outmatched by the rest of Dumbledore's words. "–and lastly, a thousand galleons money." He finished.
"Bloody hell, I'm up for it! When is it then?" Fred Weasley suddenly yelled out, looking excitedly at his twin brother as the both of them nodded and exchanged an ecstatic high five in agreement.
Looking a little concerned, Dumbledore glanced at them before shaking his head. "I'm afraid, Mr. Weasley, that the Minister and I have made sure that no one below the age of seventeen is allowed to enter the tournament. So please do not bother submitting your name if you are still underage." He told them, though his blue eyes were twinkling with good humor when he saw Fred and George's reactions.
"That's rubbish! You don't know what you're doing!" George Weasley exclaimed at this in outrage but before he could voice out anymore of his reaction, Dumbledore decided to continue further.
"So…As I said…I expect each and every one of you to give our guests a warm welcome. Those who are interested in joining–" Harry met Cedric's eyes from across the Hall and when he smiled briefly at her, she smiled back and nodded at him in encouragement. "–I shall be making further announcements about the tournament soon enough. So, let's all dig in now, shall we?" Dumbledore finished jovially as he sat back down and the food began to appear on the empty dishes before them.
Shaking her head, Harry was just about to reach across the table to retrieve a piece of chicken when she heard Neville complaining loudly as he was shoved to the side. Blinking, Harry turned to her left just in time to see Seamus Finnegan plopping himself down onto the seat Neville had been sitting on. Before she could ask him what in Merlin's name he was doing, the Irish Gryffindor gave her a flirty grin.
"So…Potter–" He began, and in spite of herself, Harriet could not help but lean backwards away from Seamus when he began leaning in a bit too closely for her liking. "–I heard from Ginny that you and Cedric weren't going out after all. Is that true?" He asked her, his smile growing when Harry narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him but nodded. "Yes…We aren't. Why do you ask?" She winced and began scooting further away from him when Seamus grinned and lean even closer toward her at her answer.
"Oh nothing at all, really. It's just that…I couldn't help but remember that one time you were asking me for help with your Irish mythology for History of Magic." Seamus, for his part, seemed completely oblivious to the way Ron, Dean, and Neville were trying – and failing – to hide their sniggers at his obviously failed attempts at winning over Harry's interest. In fact, Harry was short of scowling as she leaned away from him and was practically backing away into Hermione to avoid his looming face.
"–Seamus, I really don't think–" Harry winced in annoyance when Seamus raised his arm and attempted to wrap it in what he probably thought to be a 'discreet' manner around Harry's shoulders. "And I thought to myself, what better time to help you with that than this lovely evening? We could hang out together in the Common Room later after dinner…So what do you say?" Seamus grinned widely at her and tried to lean even closer towards her again but apparently, Harriet had enough.
Without warning and paying no attention to the fact that practically everyone seated around the Gryffindor table was watching them, she placed her hand over the arm Seamus had wrapped around her and twisted – causing the Irish Gryffindor to squeak in pain as he was forced to yank his arm away.
"Ow ow ow ow, Harry, wait! I take it back, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry!" Seamus began to whine incessantly, his face flushing bright red when he heard the laughter of their housemates around them. Narrowing her eyes, Harry growled warningly and twisted his arm again, causing him to whine louder. "W–wait, I'm sorry! I really am, I didn't mean it! Will you let me go now?!" He whimpered loudly, his features scowling furiously when he saw Dean and Neville laughing hysterically at him across the table.
Once Seamus had quieted down and offered Harry a wide, pleading smile, she finally narrowed her eyes and relinquished the death grip on his arm. Still wincing and cradling his poor, mangled arm to his chest, Seamus let out an exasperated sigh and looked up at Ron and Hermione's smirking faces.
"Jeez…Still a wolf…Just looks like a pretty sheep." He commented idly to himself. "I figure it won't be long until this lovely little flower falls for my manly charms." He added, giving Harry a wink.
At his words, Harry saw red immediately and jumped up from her seat with raised fists.
"YOU WANT TO REPEAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID TO MY FIST, FINNEGAN?!"
"I suggest you run now, Seamus." Neville interjected quickly, shoving the other boy out of his seat. Fortunately, Seamus didn't need telling twice as he bolted out of there immediately – oblivious to the loud laughter that rang out around the Gryffindor table as everyone watched a fuming, red-faced Harriet Potter, skirt and all, chase a frantic and panicked Seamus Finnegan right out of the Great Hall.
To Harry's surprise, it turns out that what Tonks had told her about boys had been right all along.
Since the school year had begun, ever since Harry had started fixing herself up more – paying more attention to her hair and appearance and reluctantly wearing the clothes that Hadriana had picked out for her, she realized that the boys around school have been treating her more and more differently.
She first noticed it with the simple way Ernie Macmillan had automatically opened the door for her when she was walking behind him on her way to the Great Hall – something that he had definitely never done for her before. That same day, without any prompting on her part, Dean Thomas had offered to give her an extra roll of parchment when she had just about run out during their Transfiguration class. Then a few days after, Cormac Maclaggen – who up until now had been avoiding her like the plague since the time she had punched him in the nose in front of everyone in the Great Hall – offered to carry her school bag for her while they had been on their way back to Gryffindor Tower.
And if all that hadn't been enough to drive Harriet over the edge, things had started to really freak her out when even Slytherins boys like Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy had begun acting strangely around her as well – with Zabini giving her one of his expensive quills during Potions and Malfoy stopping behind her in the library and easily reaching up to help her retrieve a book she had been trying to reach from a high book shelf. When Harriet turned back around and gaped at him – and she remembered distinctly that she had been wearing a short, flowing skirt that day – Malfoy had just smirked at her and said, "Don't mind me, Potter. I was just looking for a glimpse of the golden snitch."
It took a few seconds of Harry staring at him in confusion before she got the full meaning of what he said – and when she did, instead of punching him or insulting him like she normally would have, she blushed like an errant schoolgirl and dashed away, hugging her book protectively against her chest.
It was almost as if all the boys in school were only realizing now that she was actually a girl.
"I'm telling you, Harry!" Lee Jordan, one of the Gryffindor sixth years and a close friend of the Weasley twins, explained to Harry and Hermione as they were making their way down to the Common Room. "Guys will not normally go out of their way to be nice to a girl or help her out! In fact, the only reason a guy would voluntarily help a non-friend girl out is because he wants to get into her pants!" He insisted with a knowing, superior smile but Harry and Hermione had blatantly refused to believe him.
And it didn't even end there.
In particular, Harry noticed Draco Malfoy had been acting more and more strangely around her since the school year had started. In fact, she almost wished that she could have the old Malfoy back.
Strangely, the blonde wasn't nearly as mean or horrible as he was back in third year and to her confusion, none of the things he did now were as painful or destructive as the things he used to do to her. But in truth, Harriet found his current perverted antics toward her now infinitely more annoying.
The loud insult matches and physical fights he used to start with her along the school hallways had lessened considerably – in fact, none to date this year. She also noticed that he had begun to hover around her – a lot. He sat or stood behind her during class, poked her or tickled her waist whenever she passed him in the school hallways, earning himself a sharp nudge from her or hissed insult in the process.
Sometimes he would annoy her during class by throwing paper at the back of her head or leaning in close and then blowing directly into her ear, causing her to squeal in shock in the middle of the lesson.
Just the other day, Malfoy had pushed his antics further when he had leaned in close to her in the middle of McGonagall's lecture, hooked a finger behind the strap of her bra underneath her thin white blouse, yanked a few inches and then let go. The resounding 'SNAP!' of the elastic against her back caused Harry to screech in shock, which in turn had sent Malfoy and his friends into loud hysterics.
One of the worst and most annoying things he had done in the past week, however, had been during Potions. Harry had just stood up and was on her way over to one of the ingredient cabinets near the back of the class when she had passed Malfoy behind her and he bent down, seemingly picking up something he dropped. On her way back to her seat, Harry noticed that he was grinning widely but thinking he was trying to get her attention again, she ignored him and walked past him. What she didn't realize, however, was that Malfoy had placed a small mirror just in her path and as she walked by him, the mirror had given the smirking blonde a very good view of the black, lace knickers she was wearing.
Needless to say, it was the first detention Snape had given her that year for punching a Slytherin.
Nevertheless, the most unsettling of all the male attention she had received by far that year was still from Cedric Diggory. The Hufflepuff's recent behavior confused Harry thoroughly as he busied himself this past week in making sure he carried her bag and accompanied her to all of her morning classes, meeting her everyday for a few minutes before lunch, before dinner, and then spending about an hour talking to her and asking her about her day before they both went off to sleep in their dorms.
She had written to Sirius about it first, asking him for advice but to her frustration, all her godfather had been able to tell her so far was, in his very colorful words, "How dare that scheming bastard think he can cozy up to my goddaughter like that?! Ignore the bloody jerk, Harry! You're way too young to be thinking about boys right now, and I'll not allow it! That's enough about boys from you!"
Rolling her eyes, Harry had stuffed the letter back in its envelope and fell back against her bed with a sigh. Shaking her head, she stared up at the ceiling of the girls' dormitory in thought, thinking back on everything that had progressed about her and Cedric's relationship since the party that summer.
True to his words, Cedric hadn't brought up their discussion during the Ministry party again, and Harry was sure that he wasn't going to broach the subject again until Harry herself had initiated it. He was sweet that way, Cedric, and his constant thoughtfulness and concern for her feelings was one of the things that Harry admired most about him. Though Harry had to admit, she was still nervous and uncertain about the way Cedric seemed to be allowing more of his affections for her to show in public. He would hold her hand as they walked down the hall together, and she noticed him frowning more and more whenever he saw Seamus trying to snake his arm around Harry's shoulders during mealtimes.
And though Harry would never admit it to anyone – not to Hermione, not even to herself – it did give her a strange warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach during the times she caught Cedric frowning at Seamus, Dean, or even Ron and Neville whenever they got too close to her. Above anything else, that fuzziness was what confused her most of all because she had no idea how she felt about him.
Their friends, both from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, were definitely starting to get suspicious – that much was for sure – and Hermione was even beginning to accuse her of lying about nothing going on between them. For his part, Cedric wasn't denying anything about their rumored relationship – but he wasn't confirming anything either and that gave Harry the leverage she needed to decide for herself.
Though she knew that at some point, she was going to have to find out for herself if she really did like him, she couldn't help but feel that she owed herself a chance to try it out least – and the only way she would be able to do that was if she finally answered Cedric and confirmed their dating status.
"Cedric's a good kid…And quite a cute boy. Maybe you should consider giving him a chance. It wouldn't hurt you to be a girl once in awhile you know…Go on and let yourself be happy sometimes."
Thinking back on Tonks' words brought a reluctant smile to Harry's face and so, with that nervously wracking her mind, she fidgeted around nervously as she waited for Cedric in their usual meeting spot just by the entrance to the Quidditch pitch. To her surprise, the Hufflepuff was unusually late, and after glancing at her watch a few times and noting that it was 9:35, Cedric finally appeared from the hallway – looking slightly out of breath as he smiled at her and quickly raced to where she was.
"Sorry! I'm really sorry I'm late, Harry." He winced and paused to take a few intakes of breath as he stopped beside her, a small white box tucked underneath his other arm. Curious, Harry raised an eyebrow at this and when Cedric followed her gaze, he grinned sheepishly and opened the box – allowing Harry to see what was inside. To her delight, stuffed inside the box was a selection of all her favorite pastries from the Hogwarts kitchen and at this, she couldn't help smiling back at him in earnest.
"Oh you…I knew it. Are you making it your personal life mission to make me fat before the end of the school year?" She teased as he led her over to the usual bench they sat in – the one overlooking the Quidditch pitch – and plopped down on it with a grin. Shaking his head, he patted the space beside him and waited until Harry had scooted herself closer to him before he held the box up to her again.
"Harry, you could be the fattest girl in the world and you'd still be the most beautiful." He quipped at her and at this; Harry couldn't resist blushing and making a face at him in mock disdain.
"Diggory, you have got to do better than that." Harry commented dryly, causing the older teen to laugh and shrug as he watched her take a chocolate pastry from the box in his hand. "In all seriousness though, you look very pretty tonight." He told her, though after he had spoken he managed a laugh and shook his head. "Well, you look pretty every night but you look particularly beautiful tonight. I think it's because it's the first time I saw you smile like that since this summer." He commented softly.
Blushing slightly at his words, Harry used the momentary distraction of the chocolate pastry in her hand to avoid looking at him, though she could feel Cedric's intense gaze on her as she answered. "I didn't have a reason to smile since this summer…Until now, that is." She blushed darker as soon as she heard the words leaving her lips but to her surprise, Cedric looked confused and watched her curiously.
"Why is that…?" He asked, taking a pastry for himself and nibbling distractedly on it for a few moments as Harry stammered and hurriedly tried to think of what to say. The opening was perfect – she could have admitted to him everything she wanted to say right now but for the life of her, she could not form the right words to say. Before she knew it, she had laughed instead and began to ramble endlessly.
"Oh well…You know…With school starting and all that. Being with my friends… Getting to hang around everyone again and anticipating the new school year… Of course, I don't really look forward to all the workload we'd have to be doing and I hate the fact that Quidditch's cancelled but then–" Harry blinked rapidly and tried desperately to think of a way to break herself out of her own endless talking.
Fortunately, Cedric didn't appear to mind her rushed words and he smiled affectionately at her, nodding encouragingly for her to keep talking. Swallowing the lump in her throat, a bead of sweat had fallen down the side of her face as she struggled to think of how she could possibly tell him what she felt.
"–there's the tournament to look forward to, I guess…Oh and the fact that everyone thinks we're a couple is a little strange and…great…too, in a way–" She paused for a minute, and out of the corner of her eye she saw that Cedric had paused as well and was now staring intently at her as though waiting for her next words. "—and I've been telling myself that I ought to be correcting them for it. Since we're not exactly boyfriend and girlfriend yet…Officially, I mean…But then, I thought to myself–" Harry's voice had softened now and she had lifted her eyes and stared at him, smiling at the way his eyes lit up.
"–would being Cedric Diggory's girlfriend really be that bad…?" At this, she couldn't help smiling in amusement at the way Cedric's eyebrows had arched and the way he blushed at her teasing words. "We'd be the center of media attention, sure…And everybody we know in school is bound to think we're just together for another political stunt. But that's not it at all, no…" Harry bit her lip and finally, she set the pastry she held in her hand back down into the box so she could intertwine their fingers together.
"I think…I've been smiling more now…Because…I genuinely really do like you too, Ced–" Harry tried to ignore the way her heart had fluttered happily at the devastatingly handsome smile Cedric had given her at her words. "–and I think I'm…ready…to give this…thing–" Harry laughed nervously as she gestured her finger back and forth between them. "–whatever it is we have going on between us, a chance." She finally blinked and looked up, meeting Cedric's blue gray eyes with a shy, hesitant smile.
"So I guess, what I'm trying to say is…If your offer still stands, Ced–" She bit her lip but leaned forward, stopping just as her face was inches away from his. "–I would love to be your girlfriend." She told him softly, and she smiled at him again when Cedric appeared to be staring at her with a dazed look on his face. She hesitated for a few seconds at this, trying to decide for herself if she should push through with what she had planned, but sure enough, just as Cedric blinked and was about to speak, Harry closed her eyes and took that opportunity to lean forward, pressing her mouth sweetly against his.
She pulled away the instant their lips had made contact and then, she could do nothing else but blush horribly and stare wide-eyed up at the older teen with a look of embarrassment on her face. For a few terrifying minutes, Harry was almost afraid that Cedric was going to laugh at her and mock her for her obvious inexperience with kissing but to her surprise, the Hufflepuff's expression suddenly softened and he smiled back slowly at her, his eyes filled with warmth and his cheeks flushed with exhilaration.
Breathing heavily, he leaned forward until their foreheads were resting against each other and reverently, he closed his eyes and raised a hand, using it to stroke the hair away from her cheek. When he opened his eyes again and stared at her, Harry couldn't help but shiver at the heat she saw in his gaze.
"Wow." Was all he whispered, but before Harry could even begin to understand what he meant, she gasped in surprise when Cedric suddenly leaned forward, wrapping an arm tightly her waist and pulling her against him. Grinning, he didn't give her any more of a chance to react before he had already leaned down, stopping just as their lips were centimeters apart before he uttered in a husky whisper.
"My turn."
Harry floated back to Gryffindor tower on a cloud that night, and even bumping into Professor Snape along the way – and earning herself a detention for the trouble – hadn't been enough to dampen her spirits. She entered the Common Room with a goofy, foolish grin on her face and as she expected, Hermione and Ginny were on her instantly, laughing, giggling and demanding to know what happened.
She hadn't really given her friends much of an opportunity to guess, however, because as soon as anyone had asked, Harry had just smiled stupidly at them and confirmed what everyone else knew.
Harriet Potter was Cedric's Diggory's girlfriend.
Cedric Diggory was Harriet Potter's boyfriend.
Harriet Potter and Cedric Diggory were dating.
No matter which way she thought about it and twisted the words around, it sounded better each time and it brought Harry back to that happy, lovesick place. In fact, she was so happy that Harry was almost certain that should Remus have forced her to cast another 'Expecto Patronum' charm, she would have been able to produce a silvery white stag that was the size of the entire Hogwarts Castle.
Ron and Neville had made a face the minute she had told them, and as she expected, Fred and George Weasley had responded by grinning at her and prancing loudly around the Common Room.
"Harry and Ced-wic…Kissing in a tree…K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Fred grinned as he stopped in front of the armchair Harry was glaring at him from and leaned down, pretending to make loud kissy faces at her.
"First comes love…Then comes marriage…Then comes Harry with a baby carriage!" Fred, George, and Lee Jordan had all burst out laughing at their childish antics. Truthfully, Harry had even preferred their reactions over the reactions of her other housemates. Colin Creevey and his brother Dennis had irked her when they had burst into tears upon finding out, and in the usual creepy way that only stalkers knew how, Colin had reacted by stomping up to her and hurling all the pictures he had of her at her face.
Harry had definitely not been amused.
She hadn't written to her father or her godfather yet about what had happened, either, though she wasn't exactly eager to go about it anyway. Instead, Harry figured that James and Sirius were bound to figure it out on their own anyway, and once they did, then she would deal with their reactions. She had, however, owled Tonks and Remus the same night she had accepted Cedric's proposal and while Tonks was ecstatic for her, Remus expressed his usual fatherly reservations – but wished her the best.
Thankfully, once all of the news and excitement about her and Cedric becoming a couple had died down – both in the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Common Rooms –Harry's normal day-to-day schedule had pretty much resumed. She would attend her classes in the morning, meet up and have lunch with Cedric at noon before heading off to her afternoon classes, hang out with either Hermione or Ron and Neville in the evenings before dinner, and then spend a few cozy moments with Cedric before bedtime.
One of her more amusing afternoons was when she had been spending her time with Hermione in the library, helping her friend get some research done for one of their assignments. The afternoon had started off normal enough, with Harry and Hermione bustling over a horde of thick textbooks while people went in and out the library doing their usual business. It had only been when none other than Viktor Krum entered the room – followed by an entire horde of his fan girls – that Hermione had begun to scowl and muttering darkly under her breath as flipped furiously through her books in annoyance.
Harry watched her in amusement as the brown-haired Gryffindor grumbled on and on about how Viktor Krum was nothing but an insensitive git who broke the 'sanctity' of the library by daring to bring his fan girls there and disrupt everyone else's studying. When Harry had bluntly pointed out to Hermione that she was, in fact, the only one who studied there during the afternoon, her friend had glared angrily at her, huffed, and stomped away, leaving Harry gaping after her in bewildered shock.
Evidently, Harry's unwilling involvement with her friends' troubles didn't stop there.
The following afternoon, just as she was hanging out with Ron and Neville in the Gryffindor Common Room over a game of exploding snap, Ron had surprised her when he started ranting on and on about how Hermione's constant nagging was beginning to annoy him. When Neville and Harry had innocently teased him about it, Ron had flushed horribly and glared at them as though they were daft.
"Are you two mental?! I'd sooner like a rat than that emotional nerd!" He scowled and stomped away, and Harry exasperatedly asked herself why her friends were walking off on her a lot these days.
Harry was thoroughly relieved when about two weeks after the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and Dumbledore's announcement of the TriWizard Tournament, the Headmaster had followed this up by announcing to all the students over dinner just how exactly the TriWizard champions were to be chosen. The process, as far as Harry understood, involved submitting your name and school into the "Goblet of Fire", a goblet that Dumbledore had taken out in the middle of his explanation.
As she listened to the Headmaster's discussion, Harry noted that the Goblet of Fire looked just like any other goblet she had seen – except for the fact that it was made of gold and it had blue flames emanating from its mouth. Once Dumbledore had explained the process of selection to everyone – that an interested candidate was to submit his name to the Goblet and by next week, the Goblet would be magically choosing a champion from each school – Harry looked up and met Cedric's gaze with a smile.
Thus, when the day had come for Cedric to submit his name into the Goblet of Fire, Harriet had expected that her boyfriend would be excited about the upcoming tournament. What she hadn't expected, however, was that Cedric actually looked nervous as they walked towards the Great Hall that morning and Harry was more than surprised when instead of leading her to where the other students had gathered around the Goblet of Fire, he shook his head and yanked her outside towards the gardens.
Once outside, he sighed and leaned his head against her as he mumbled out in a miserable voice. "Harry, I know I should be looking forward to the tournament and all that…And I've been training for this the entire summer, but…I have to tell you…I'm a bit nervous." He bit his lip and looked up, managing a crooked smile at Harry when she seemed to look at him in surprise. "I just don't know if…I can take the rejection. I mean, what if the goblet doesn't choose me? I don't know if I can handle the humiliation."
Harry sighed at him in exasperation, removing his hands from his hair and holding them in her own. She blew away the strands of hair that had been falling over her eyes and pointedly shook her head at him, a teasing smile on her face as she reached up and poked the taller teen lightly on the nose.
"Cedric, you have got this tournament in the palm of your hand, okay? I doubt there's even a single person in Hogwarts that Goblet would dare to choose over you. I know that, the Hufflepuffs know that, and I think even Dumbledore does. This is your tournament. You've got this." She smiled back up at him when Cedric's shoulders seemed to relax at her words and he nodded, managing a small smile back.
"I got this." He agreed, and after giving her a grateful smile and quick kiss to the cheek, he took her hand in his again and led her carefully back into the Great Hall. As soon as they were inside, Harry felt more than a dozen pairs of student eyes following them instantly but she ignored them and watched, patiently, as Cedric led them to the front of the Hall where the Goblet was glowing an eerie, bright blue.
When Cedric stopped just before reaching the Goblet, Harry caught sight of a pair of white-haired, bearded students yelling and wrestling angrily with each other just inside the age-line circle.
"You said this would work!" Fred yelled at George as he tackled his twin brother to the ground.
"Well it was 'your' lame idea!" George yelled back, and before long, the two bearded Weasleys were entangled in an amusing wrestling match that those watching couldn't tell which twin was which.
As soon as Harry realized that the white-bearded figures were, in fact, Fred and George Weasley, she joined the laughter of the other watching students – and even Cedric had managed to crack an amused smile. After the Weasley twins were ushered out of the room by Dumbledore and the Hall of students around them had quieted again, Cedric took a step forward towards the age line and paused, swallowing the lump in his throat. Then, after glancing back quickly at Harry's encouraging smile and giving her another kiss on the cheek, Cedric let go of her hand and walked solemnly up to the goblet.
Raising his hand, he tightened his fingers around the paper containing his name carefully, before he nodded once and tossed the slip into the Goblet of Fire's bright blue flames. In response, the goblet seemed to flicker and glow brightly for a few seconds – as though processing the information – then within a few seconds, the flames had dimmed again and Cedric let out a sigh of relief as he turned back around and smiled at his cheering and applauding Hufflepuff housemates. Beside them, Harry was also cheering and clapping as well, though she did have to stand there for a while longer than she would have liked as she waited awkwardly until Cedric had finished talking and laughing happily with all of his friends before he finally walked back over to her. Then, rewarding her with his handsome smile, he took her hand in his again, raised it to his lips to give it a kiss before he nodded and led her towards the exit.
They were just about to make it through the Hall doors when a small group of Slytherin students suddenly sauntered into the Hall from the opposite side, causing Harry and Cedric to freeze in surprise.
"–and so then I told my father of course that I wasn't going to stand for that rubbish and do you what he said?" Draco Malfoy was laughing loudly as he led Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle and a few other Slytherins into the Great Hall, his arm was wrapped around Pansy's waist as they walked. "He said that he could get those jerks expelled from the school if I liked. My father is a patron of this wretched school, you know. They have to do what he says." Malfoy continued to brag as he shoved through the doors, oblivious to Harry and Cedric as they politely tried to maneuver their way around his large entourage.
When they realized that the group was much too large and that they would have to wait for them to pass, Harry sighed in annoyance and snapped, ignoring the way Cedric nudged her in warning.
"Malfoy, if you could stop emitting all that hot air for one minute, would you mind letting us through? You're blocking the way." Harry growled, her anger getting the best of her in that moment.
The minute he had recognized her voice, Malfoy's silver eyes had snapped up to her face instantly and the initial surprise in the Slytherin's expression slowly gave way to amusement. Failing to notice Cedric standing beside Harry, Malfoy's arm seemed to have automatically unwrapped itself from Pansy's waist and he smirked at her, one his eyebrows arching teasingly as he spoke in a loud voice.
"Why hello, Potter…Any golden snitches today?"
The blonde had anticipated Harriet's blushing response instantly and when he did, he grinned cheekily back and stepped toward her, his eyes gleaming as they lingered over her slim, fitted dress. "I'm a seeker, you know…I wouldn't mind searching for the golden snitch once in awhile." He added in a deliberately playful tone of voice that caused the blush on Harry's face to darken even more in dismay.
Backing away, Harry found herself trying to hide her blushing face away from Malfoy's smirk.
"Sh–shut up–"
"What are you on about, Malfoy?" Frowning warningly at the younger boy, Cedric finally called Malfoy's attention to him for the first time since the conversation had started. Visibly startled at the tall Hufflepuff's presence, Malfoy's eyes suddenly widened as they riveted to him and for a few minutes, it was almost as though the Slytherin had been caught off guard that he couldn't think of what to say.
Finally, when Pansy forcibly caught her boyfriend's attention by impatiently whining and tugging on his arm, Malfoy seemed to snap back to his senses. He smirked at first, looking as though he was about to reward Cedric with an insult but to Harry's surprise, when the blonde's eyes had dropped down to her and Cedric's intertwined hands, the smirk on his face froze and a dazed, disbelieving expression crossed his face. He stood there for a few minutes, blinking dazedly at Harry and Cedric's intertwined hands until Harry couldn't take it anymore and, she yanked her hand away from Cedric and snapped.
"Malfoy, will you get out of our way?!"
Blinking himself out of his daze, Malfoy suddenly cast a dark, withering glare at Harry again before he turned to Cedric and gave him with a particularly vicious, hateful sneer. "How sweet…The Ministry now has another cutesy poster couple to distract the brainless public from their shortcomings." Malfoy's eyes hardened, and Cedric almost recoiled at the absolute hatred he saw flashing in his eyes.
The Slytherin sneered malevolently at Cedric again before he turned and leveled his angry, blazing glare at Harry. "How utterly predictable of your father, Potter…You and your politics. Is he campaigning for his next term already?" He mocked in disgust before turning away, shaking his head at them. "So it turns out that you are doing what your father wants you to do. You disgust me, Potter!"
Harry was confused for a minute, especially with the sudden rekindling of all that hatred in his words after not having heard it for so long but before she could say anything else, Malfoy had already turned back to his friends and wrapped his arm around Pansy's waist again. "Come on, you guys. Let's get out of here. We wouldn't want to intrude on the Ministry of Magic's new poster couple." He sneered at them again before he took off, leaving Harry gaping after his retreating form in stunned confusion.
Turning back to Cedric, she smiled weakly when he shrugged at her and gave her an amused grin.
"So…lunch?"
A/N: Don't you all just think that a perverted, fourteen year old Draco is adorable? :laughs and shrugs: Okay, I guess not but it was funny to write! (^_^) Please forgive the brief CD/femHP scenes I wrote in here, but I seem to have a soft spot for that Hufflepuff and I just can't let Harry reject him like that. This is still a DM/femHP fic, I promise. It will just take a while for Harry to warm up to Draco. (^_^)
Next Chapter: the TriWizard Champions, how do you all think Cedric will react when Harry's name is pulled out of that Goblet? How do you think James will react? Or Sirius? Or Remus? Dun-dun-dun!
Do tell me your thoughts about this one; I really need your feedback about this story, yeah? Please don't forget to review! Until next time! :D
