Chapter 4: Many Returns

Harry lay on the bed while Madam Pomfrey fussed over him. He hadn't been hurt at all; the worst was that his face was slightly singed by the Horntail's flames. He'd had worse burns growing up. Still, he knew that the quickest way to be released from her care was to cooperate with her; so, he lay there while she performed several diagnostic spells.

"I swear, Mr. Potter, you're determined to take years off my life! Dragons! Whatever were they thinking? Dementors last year and a dragon this year. It'll be vampires next year, I shouldn't wonder. Well lad, you should be clear to go and get your score."

Harry nodded and hopped off the bed, thanking her while she went back to Cedric and began to tend to his leg. As Harry began to walk out, Cedric grabbed his wrist.

"Harry…" he said softly enough so only he could hear. "I owe you one… for telling me."

"It was only fair," said Harry. "I remember our quidditch match last year. You're not one to take an unfair win, and neither am I."

He walked towards the tent flap and was interrupted by the figures of Hermione and Daphne followed by Ron.

"You were brilliant!" shouted Hermione, hugging Harry and making him stiffen from the contact. "You were by far the best!"

"Only thanks to you two," he said, smiling at them.

"It really wasn't a contest," said Daphne, in her dry way. "Krum hit it in the eye and made it squash half its own eggs. They docked him for that. The French witch tried to lure it to sleep, I believe it nearly worked too. But, it blew a jet of fire at her while it was getting sleep and she nearly caught fire. Diggory was probably the smartest after you; he transformed a boulder into a dog, but halfway through, the dragon decided it liked him better and got his leg a bit mangled by the thing."

Harry nodded and smiled. Given how aggressive the others had been with him once his name had come out of the goblet, there was a nice sense of comeuppance in knowing he'd had the best tactic in dealing with the dragon. Of course, he credited the two brightest witches of their age for the strategy. As Hermione released him, Harry looked at Ron, and felt a bit of anger rise up in his chest.

"What do you want?" he asked, trying to remain calm.

"Harry," said Ron, looking at his shoes. "I reckon whoever put your name in that goblet… I reckon, they're trying to get you killed."

Harry glared daggers at the redhead, still furious for the man's behavior at him for the past month.

"Caught on then, have you?"

Ron winced at his words, which instantly changed Harry's anger to guilt. While it didn't excuse the teenage boy's behavior, he did understand that Ron hadn't really believed that Harry entered himself… and while he didn't like the way Ron had responded, the fact was that Ron was one of his very few friends, and they had been through hell and back together. Still, he couldn't just forget Ron's actions either.

"Harry, mate… I'm sorry," he said softly. "I've been a right prat, I know."

"Yeah," said Harry, a bit more gently. "Ron. I want to be friends with you again, but what you did… that hurt. I won't hold it against you, but I need some time before I can really trust you again… you get that right?"

Ron looked at him, and for a moment, he seemed to accept it. However, his eyes narrowed as his gaze fell on Daphne.

"So… what's with the snake?"

Daphne stiffened next to him and Harry intervened.

"She's my friend, and she's half the reason I'm not burnt to a crisp right now. Problem?"

Ron looked as though he wanted to say something very badly, but then seemed to think better of it.

"No," he said. "If you trust her, that's good enough for me Harry."

Harry nodded as they all walked outside.

"Thank you Harry," Daphne whispered into his ear so that only he could hear her.

He felt himself go slightly red in the face as her breath tickled his ear, and he hastily took an extreme interest in the judges while the blonde Slytherin giggled at his reaction. After a long moment the judges all resumed their positions and the crowd's chatter died down. Maxime, the first judge stood up and held her wand straight up into the air. After a loud bang went off a long sliver ribbon shot into the air, which twisted itself into the number eight.

"Not bad!" said Ron, smiling. "Suppose she took points off for how long you took."

Crouch came next and he shot up and number nine. The crowd began cheering along with Ron, who had both fists in the air. Dumbledore stood and put up another nine.

"Quite impressive," said Daphne, smiling softly.

Ludo Bagman came next, and he shot up a ten.

"Ten?!" asked Harry. "What's he playing at? I wasn't perfect!"

"Don't complain," said Ron, thumping him on the back. "Helps your score, doesn't it?"

Karkaroff stood and then shot out a five.

"FIVE?!" asked Ron and Hermione at once, while the crowd booed.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised," said Daphne. "He gave Fleur and Cedric low scores too."

"Cheating scumbag!" said Ron, still in an uproar. "You gave Krum ten!"

Harry was fairly certain Ron was only overreacting due to his behavior from the past month, but it still felt nice to have someone on his side.

"That puts you tied for first, Harry!" said Hermione after doing some calculations in her head.

An hour later, they were walking up to the castle while Harry pondered what they had been told. Their clue was inside the egg? Of course, he hadn't opened it yet, so he'd have to wait and see what it might be. He doubted it would be so simple as a riddle. It was sure to be something that the others would've learned about by now, but there was no guarantee he'd have to same kindness.

"Well, well, well," said a voice snapping Harry from his musings. "What do we have here, but a know-it-all mudblood, a broke blood-traitor, a damaged orphan and a wannabe Gryffindor?"

"Bit lengthy, wasn't that Ferret?" asked Daphne, assuming her Ice Queen voice. "You wouldn't just be salty because you've lost the pool, would you?"

"Pool?" asked Harry, looking at her.

"Yes. Several of the students in Slytherin made a bet about where you'd be in the rankings after the first task. Malfoy put you in last, but Tracey, Astoria, myself and a few select others made a much smarter bet."

"He got lucky and you know it Greengrass!"

"Now, now, Draco. Don't be a sourpuss merely because you now owe me a few galleons. Or, are you unable to match your bet? I had heard rumors your family wasn't so well off these days."

"My family is fine, you traitorous little…"

"It's a shame daddy hasn't taught you proper manners," said Daphne, cooly. "Now I'm off to have a bite to eat with the current favorite champion. You should go see Madam Pomfrey because I'm afraid you look a bit pale… although that could very well be your average complexion, now that I think on it."

They walked past Malfoy and his two cronies while Ron tried to hide his laughter and Harry smiled brightly at Daphne. When they were in the great hall, she relaxed and pulled a plate towards herself.

"Daphne!" Harry said brightly. "That was brilliant!"

"That is the way to insult people in the so-called 'high society' of purebloods," said Daphne, making air-quotes around the words high society. "I've gotten a fair bit of practice in from some gatherings as the Greengrass heiress. Astoria has a bit of skill, but she's still a novice I'm afraid."

Ron smiled as he grabbed a chicken leg.

"Well it was no punch in the face, but that was still awesome! Never thought I'd see the day when I rooted for a Slytherin."

"That's ok," said Tracey, appearing over his shoulder and sitting next to them. "Never thought we'd eat lunch with a Weasley, either."

Astoria came over and sat next to her sister, handing her a small number of galleons.

"Your winnings from the pool, sister mine."

"They're multiplying!" said the redhead in mock worry, making Harry laugh.

"I can't believe you've made friends with another lion," said Astoria, rolling her eyes.

Harry looked between them and found there was some beauty in the fact that three Slytherins and three Gryffindors could all sit and eat together. It was certainly nothing he would've seen in his first year at Hogwarts. Still, he supposed this was part of what Daphne had meant by 'shaking up the established order.'

"Anyway, thanks again Hermione, Daphne. Without you two I would've died… or at least had to do something way more foolhardy."

"Well once it couldn't see or hear you, all you had to worry about was its sense of smell," said Hermione. "Too bad Daphne and I didn't have time to take care of that."

"What?" asked Ron, confused.

"What'd you two do?" asked Tracey.

"Well, the idea was possible in premise," said Daphne. "We wanted to etch some runes into Harry's robes that would mask his scent. We could've done it if we had a bit more time, but set runes into fabric is surprisingly complex. We could've also looked into another charm for it, but Harry had his hands full already with the three spells he had to learn. In the end we decided to go with the sound and sight hoping that the crowd would help hide his smell."

"I have to admit," said Harry. "I didn't think much of ancient runes but I didn't realize what they could be used for. I'd transfer from divination if I weren't already two years behind. Oh well, maybe I could study up on it some after Hogwarts. Daphne and Hermione explained to me how runes are used in all sorts of things from enchantments to wards. Too bad we didn't have time to do it."

"Still," said Hermione. "If we know what the next task will be, we'll have plenty of time to do something with them next time. Really the only limit is the runes you know and how much space you have to lay them out."

"Well, runes or no runes I reckon you could win this thing Harry," said Ron. "I'm serious."

Harry laughed, shaking his head while he put an apple and some bacon on his plate and began to eat.

"Honestly Ron, I'm just looking to live. Let one of the other three take the trophy."

They continued to laugh together and eat until they were full and Harry let the full weariness of his tango with the dragon hit him.

"Well we'd better head up to the tower, Harry. Reckon Fred and George will have gotten ahold of some butterbeer by now. Maybe even some firewhiskey."

"Typical Gryffindors," said Tracey. "Can't even celebrate properly. You could at least explore a broom closet with a girl, Harry."

Harry felt himself go red again, and examined his shoes while Tracey laughed at him.

"Barking mad that one is," said Ron, standing up.

"You know it!"

Harry stood as well and the three of them began to head up to Gryffindor tower, Ron happily describing what the other champions had attempted in greater detail. Honestly, it felt good to have Ron back, but Harry had meant what he'd said earlier: it would take some time before things were right again. Still, this was definitely better than being at odds with him.

It even seemed that some of the other students were starting to come around. He noticed less of the POTTER STINKS badges around, and a few of the students even shouted out a form of approval as he passed them.

Harry shrugged. They public would always be fickle where he was concerned. He was determined to focus on his friends, and support them the same way they supported him.