I must apologise to everyone, I understand that it's been over a year since I last updated, but the reason for that is because life happened and I just lost all interest in writing and reading. I didn't want to abandon this story though because I knew that I would come back to it. This is me coming back. I can't promise that I will always be able to updated like I once did, but I am finally finding my passion again and hope that my readers will be patient with me because I am a bit rusty so it won't all be as good as before from the get go.

I'm in desperate need of a beta. if anyone is interested, please PM me. and that person must please understand that I might disappear now and then but I always come back.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and most of the characters in this story don't belong, that honour goes to J. and Warner Bros.


CHAPTER 9

Pain! A lot of pain!

That was the first thing that registered in Harry's mind, and caused him to fly out of bed in shock.

"AWW..." Harry screeched as he fell to the ground while clutching his let foot in his hands.

He had been in blissful sleep, a slumber without dreams, then all of the sudden his big toe felt like it had been dipped into lava.

But almost as soon as Harry took hold of the foot to examine it, the pain was gone.

He could have imagined it all, but he was certain that he hadn't gone to sleep with two small fang marks on his toe though.

"CROSSIUS, DID YOU BITE ME?" He screamed out into the room, not even noticing that he was speaking English, or that his best friend could still be asleep in his bed.

~It'sss a good thing that I put the sssilence bubble around usss isn't it masssster?~ Hissed Crossius as he slithered out of Harry's bed, exactly where his feet usually lie.

~You bit me!~ Exclaimed Harry indignantly, as though that was a good enough reason for him to shout.

~Well pehapsss if you had woken up earlier I wouldn't have had to bite you. Although I do have to sssay that you should get usssed to it now while you can, because when we get to that ssschool of yours, you will be waking up much earlier.~

~No I won't.~ Huffed Harry childishly. And his suddenly childish like frown did nothing to help his dignity either.

~You will now. I told you that you need to improve on your appearance, you need sssome mussscle and to increase your height if you're to sssucceed.~ Hissed the snake back.

~Dumbledore isn't exactly ripped is he? I mean...don't get me wrong, I know I need to improve my height, but my body weight is fine as it is. It's what makesss me sssuch a good ssseeker. Well besssides skill.~ Stated Harry with a slight proud smile at the end.

Sure he never gave himself as much credit as other people give him, but even he knew that he was above the level of the regular seeker his age.

~When you took me from the shop we agreed that I would help you, well thisss is where we begin.~ Hissed Crossius as he slithered up Harry's arm and settled around his shoulders.

~I did sssome reading lassst night when I couldn't sssleep, and I found a ssspell that I would like to practice. If all goes well, it could jussst become my favourite ssspell.~

~Then you will have to show the ssspell to me later. Right now you need to rush to the bathroom.~ Harry didn't need to be told twice, he got up and quickly did his bed.

As soon as he was done with that, he took out a towel from the drawer and rushed to the bathroom.

There he wasted no time ingoing about the normal quick routine and finishing in record time. He dried off and quickly wrapped the towel around himself.

He knew that there were towels in the bathroom already, but he didn't really feel comfortable with using those.

As soon as Harry stepped out of the bathroom and started along the way to the bedroom, he realised that he should have brought all his clothes with him instead.

Hermione was just coming out of the bedroom he shared with Ron, with a strange deep pink tint on her cheeks which clashed terribly with the slightly annoyed expression on her face.

As soon as she saw Harry she stopped in her tracks and stared at him with a blank look.

As Harry drew closer to her he almost asked what the problem was until he remembered that he hadn't parted on good words with his friends.

Harry stopped a few feet away from Hermione and sheepishly wondered what to say now.

"Uhm...hey Harry." Greeted Hermione nervously, making Harry flinch slightly.

He would have rather she not greet him at all than to for him to hear his own best friend get nervous when greeting him.

"Hey Hermione, did you just wake up Ron?" Harry asked in as usual a voice as he could manage.

"Oh yes...you and Ron are the only people who still aren't ready. Everybody else are waiting downstairs, we are apparently running out of time so we all have to eat in the car." Stated Hermione, seeming to forget about everything just for a short while.

"Oh...I'm sure that Mrs Weasley isn't happy about that." Said Harry, stating the obvious with a slight chuckle, although honestly the chuckle was actually forced.

Harry stood quiet for a while wondering what to say, until he saw that Hermione's eyes had wondered away from his face and now rested on his exposed abdomen.

Harry almost blushed at the intensity of her stare until he realized that she had pity in her eyes. Although Harry had forgotten, he still had the scars on his body from the Crucious curse.

A cold shiver went down his spine as he remembered the pain from that night, but almost immediately that shiver became a pleasant warmth as he remembered why he endured that pain to begin with.

It came as a surprise to Harry that he hadn't thought about Fleur at all that morning.

"Well, please excuse me Hermione, but I guess I have to hurry and get dressed now." Said Harry as he rushed past his friend and entered the room before she could say anything back, if she was even going to.

He sighed as he closed the door and turned around to face the room, and he almost wished he had stayed outside with Hermione.

"Hey Ron!" He greeted his friend with fake enthusiasm, he could tell from Ron's frown that he remembered what happened yesterday and he too hadn't forgiven.

"Hey Harry!" Ron greeted back with the same enthusiasm as Harry's from before.

"Were you in the shower?" Asked Ron, if they weren't in a bad space already, Harry might have criticized him for stating the obvious. But now however...

"Yeah, you should probably head there too before it's too late, Hermione tells me that we have to leave soon." Harry answered with a slight smile. Ron smiled back, nodded and headed out the door behind Harry without another word.

Harry sighed as he walked towards his trunk, he knew that it would be like this, but this wasn't the first time that he had a disagreement with his friends and it certainly won't be the last.

When Ron got back from the shower Harry was already done dressing and making sure that he had everything he needed in his trunk.

"I didn't know you had new clothes Harry." Stated Ron as he eyed Harry's clothes up and down.

Harry turned from where he was tending to Hedwig in her cage. Harry allowed a smile to adorn his lips as he too looked down at his clothes.

In place of Dudley's over sized t-shirt, he now had on a slightly tight, dark navy blue acromantula skin t-shirt with long red plain sleeves.

He changed his usually large jeans for a pair nicely fit navy blue jeans with a red belt and red stripes at the end of the leg sleeves.

On his bed there was a navy dragon scale jacket with red stripes. And after many fruitless attempts to tame his hair, he finally resided to a red hair band to tie the hair back.

Harry wasn't someone who obsessed over his appearance, but he had to admit that his look easily made him one of the best looking boys in Gryffindor. Not that he was looking at any boys as good looking.

"Yeah, I thought it was time that I finally forgo Dudley's old cast offs and actually have my own clothes. At least these clothes fit me for for a change." He said with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Yeah...sure." Ron muttered softly as he turned to his bed. Harry sighed softly and took his trunk along with Hedwig's cage and went downstairs, not before he put on his jacket.

When he got there, he found everyone seating at the table, their food already done and simply waiting for Harry and Ron.

As soon as Harry got there, Mrs Weasley wasted no time in shoving a plate full of food in front of him and Harry wasted no time in digging in.

Soon they were joined by Ron, who too needed no encouragement before he dug in.

When they were both done, they all headed outside where they would be taking a car ride to the train station with Mr Weasley.

The car outside was the same car as the one Harry and Ron trashed in their second year, only difference was that now it was fixed and the paint was changed to red.

They all quickly said their goodbyes to Mrs Weasley who was the only one remaining behind and Percy, Bill and Charlie had already left for work.

In the front of the car, sat Hermione and Ginny in the passenger seat and obviously Mr Weasley in the driver's seat. In the back sat Ron who was the closest to the left passenger door, Harry next to him, next to Harry was one of the twins, George perhaps? Next to him was finally the last twin.

"We admire your new clothing there Harry." Said the furthest twin, after the car had already drove off and the Burrow disappeared from view.

"It's so different from your usual attire, long hair, new clothes, a hair band to tie the long hair back, next thing you will be walking around without your glasses." Said the other twin, both of them speaking in serious voices, but were ruined by the forever present sparkle of mischief in their eyes.

"It's nothing big. I just decided that it was time I buy new clothes, couldn't have Fle...er...people wondering why I choose to dress like that any longer." Harry answered back to them, a slight blush rising at the last words.

"Aye...we hear you Harry. After all, we were wondering now too." Said the closest twin.

"True that brother, if you ever see her again Harry, I'm sure she will be mightily impressed. After all, Fleur Delacour is a very impressive witch herself." Stated the other twin casually, but Harry knew they were trying to make him blush now, and they were succeeding.

"Oh stop it you two. Harry doesn't supposedly have to buy new clothes for a girl. Especially one he will never see again." Said Hermione with a little hint of anger in her voice. But Harry felt his own anger rise. He knew that for the first time ever, he finally found a girl who completely took his breath, a girl who had no idea that he was the bloody Boy-Who-Lived but still showed interest in him, and finally, a girl who he could actually talk with freely without having the sense of holding back anything.

So yes, he was angry that people kept reminding him that he would never see said girl again.

"You could have asked me to help you pick your clothes Harry. You've never done any shopping before, while I have many times before. I could have helped pick better clothes than those." Harry blinked a few times at Hermione, not registering what she was saying at first while he tried to clear his mind, but once he did though, his anger suddenly came out into words.

"Do my clothes not please you Hermione? Perhaps you don't like my taste, or is it the fact that I did something without you, yet again?" He asked her venomously, and suddenly everyone in the car was quiet, all looking at him besides Ginny and Mr Weasley as though he had summoned fire onto his face.

In fact, Harry was beginning to think that he had, because now he was starting to feel that same sensation from the World Cup when he battled the Death Eaters, but knowing what that could do, he quickly pushed that feeling down.

And that was what the rest of the ride was like, just silence besides from the twins who were whispering to themselves mysteriously.

When they got to King's Cross Station, the twins were the first to grab their trunks and say their good byes to their father, then disappearing through the barrier.

The remaining four also said their goodbyes to Mr Weasley who was late and had to rush to work urgently. They all crossed the barrier, and walked towards the train in silence.

Harry noticed though, that almost every girl he walked passed stopped what they were doing just to stare at him. Some even had hungry looks in their eyes, one of these girls being his fellow Gryffindor Lavender Brown.

Ron didn't seem to like the attention Harry was getting and he quickly assured them to the train, saying they had to find a compartment before the train left them there.

After searching for an empty compartment, they finally found one at the far end of the train and all sat down, with Hermione and Ron both against the windows and Harry next to Ron with Ginny next to Hermione.

"So Harry...er...how is the studying coming along?" Asked Ginny, awkwardly trying to dispense the tension that had settled in.

Just then the train launched into motion, and slowly moved away from the the station.

"It's good, in fact I've been studying so much that I believe I'll be able to catch up in no time. If I studied any more I would be too qualified." Said Harry, grateful for her attempt.

"There's no such thing Harry. You still need to..." Hermione began to chastise Harry once more, but was interrupted by Ginny who didn't want to be in for another argument.

"You know what, I just remembered that there is something that I need to do. Yes that's right, I need to uhm...er...yes, must Luna and possibly Neville too. I'll see you guys at Hogwarts." With this Ginny took her trunk and from the speed in which she disappeared, Harry could have sworn that the trunk was a portkey.

Harry glared at the direction in which Ginny had gone, feeling betrayal rising at her for leaving him there alone.

"I hope this year will be good. Last year was by far the best one we've ever got." Said Harry with false enthusiasm, and thankfully it seemed to ease the tension.

"Yeah me too mate. Perhaps we will learn more in Defence this year than we did last year." Stated Ron, as he too began to loosen up.

"I certainly hope so, we are getting closer to our OWLS and NEWTS, we can't afford to have incompetent professors." Said Hermione, she too was beginning to loosen up now.

Their chats continued undisturbed by the crack in their friendship, and would have carried on that way had it not been for annual arrival of Malfoy.

"Well what do we have here? I did well when I used an air refreshing charm around me when I walked this way, Merlin knows how mudbloods stink." He sneered as he glared disgustedly at Hermione, reminding Harry of Lucious' reaction at the World Cup when he saw Hermione.

"Back off Malfoy, those insults are getting old." Growled Ron, as his hand moved slightly towards his wand.

"Ah, Weasley, how could I forget about you? Perhaps you should buy some new clothes, that way you will actually stand out. Right now those battered clothes make you seem part of the seat you are seating on." He said to Ron suggestively, as though he was actually saying this out of care.

"And I see you're still walking around with your goons Malfoy. After all these years I had thought you would finally grow up and stand up for yourself, guess I was wrong." Harry growled, deciding that he had heard enough of Malfoy's insults towards his friends.

"Crabbe and Goyle were born to follow me Potter. That's just the way it is. In fact, all their generations were born to follow Malfoys. So no Potter, I still haven't separated, and never will.

But you on the other hand, you can't seem to do anything on your own either, always following the mud blood's every command no matter how you feel about it." Malfoy sneered back at Harry, and the two boys continued to glare hatefully at each other, neither willing to back down or blink first.

"That is it Draco, if you don't turn around and leave our compartment I swear I will curse you." Shouted Hermione as she jumped to her feet, her wand in hand and shaking with anticipation. What shocked everyone though were the held back tears and the anger evident in her face.

"I would like to see you try Granger. This is not a test where you only have to rewrite what you memorised from a textbook, if you try to hex me, I won't hold back and it might get messy on your side of the field." Growled Draco, waving his hand dismissively at Hermione, as though he only saw her as a fly buzzing by which he can just slap away.

"He is not worth it Hermione, don't get yourself in trouble for no reason at all." Harry said soothingly to her as he put his hand on her arm, and this luckily calmed her down.

"Oh well, that was disappointing. I was hoping you would do something stupid there Granger, but I see that I was wrong. I have seen you people enough now, I will go back to my compartment and see if I can cleanse my eyes, Merlin knows they need it." At this, Malfoy turned around and stalked away. But his two goons looked at them menacingly before turning around and following their 'born leader'.

"We should probably change into our school robes now." Said Harry after they had all calmed down and he noticed that it had become dark.

"Okay, I will go out while you two change." Said Hermione as she opened the door and walked out. Once Harry and Ron were done changing, they called Hermione back and went out so she could change too.

It didn't take very long before the train reached the Hogsmeade station, and Hermione suggested that they all hurry out so they wouldn't miss the carriages.

Hermione took Harry and Ron's hands as they struggled through the piles of the students, but luckily for them Malfoy and his goons walked past them, with the goons pushing everyone out the way easily to create space for Malfoy.

Harry, Ron and Hermione shamelessly fell behind Malfoy to ride on the traffickless ride.

Once they were finally out the train, they rushed towards the carriages. But once they got there, Harry almost had a heart attack.

Right in front of the carriages, who up until now had been pulling themselves, were winged horse like creatures. Their dark and bony figures made Harry step back in fear, but once the closest one turned it's milky eyes on him, he realised that there was nothing to worry about.

"Harry what are you doing?" Asked Hermione with worry in her voice when Harry began to brush the horse-thingy's head.

"I'm just brushing it's head Hermione, it doesn't look every threatening to me." He answered, still looking at the horse-thingy and giggled when it licked his hands softly, it's tongue felt so soft and cold.

"Harry there is nothing there to brush mate." Said Ron, and when Harry turned to look at them, he saw the worry in their faces and their eyes didn't seem to register the creature at all.

Harry looked around and saw that he seemed to be the only one who could see them, which was just great in his opinion. Another thing that made Harry freaking Potter special.

"You were supposed to play along and pretend as if there was a horse there guys. It's no fun just getting on a horseless carriage you know." He muttered to his two friends as he too climbed onto the carriage, deciding to lie to them so they won't worry any more about him seeing his own things.

This seemed to assure them slightly, and they both agreed that it is strange that the carriages pull themselves, but blamed it on magic though.

Throughout the whole ride to the castle, Harry kept stealing glances at the animals, and made sure that his friends didn't see him though.

When they came upon Hogwarts, Harry couldn't help but beam. Finally, he was home.

The great hall looked as spending as always to Harry, and he couldn't help but scan the staff table in search of a new face. He frowned when his eyes fell upon a battered and scarred man, who's face looked like a dog's chewing toy and his nose was missing a chunk too. The most surprising thing though was his large eye, which Harry could see was mechanical.

"Who is that?" He asked Hermione and Ron when they sat down.

"I don't know Harry, we can't know everyone and everything after all." Answered Hermione, and Harry could tell that she didn't like saying that she didn't know something.

"What is Dumbledore playing at. I knew he was barmy, but this Once the sorting was done, Dumbledore stood and told the usual rules such as the forbidden forest being forbidden. He also introduced Mad-Eye as Alaster Moody, who sure enough was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

Everyone dug into their food when Dumbledore finished his speech and conversations ignited as usual.

"Maybe he won't be bad, I mean if he is a retired auror then we are sure to learn a lot from him." Said Hermione, once again seemingly reassuring herself. But Harry actually agreed with her though, they were surely going to learn a lot now.

"Just hope he doesn't go and blow our heads off." Muttered Ron through a mouth full of food.

"Honestly Ron, don't talk with food in your mouth." Hissed Hermione as she swatted Ron lightly on the arm. Knowing what was about to come, Harry tuned them out as he finished his food.

"May I have your attention?" Everyone stopped what they were doing and saying to look up at Dumbledore.

"I have an important announcement to make. Some of you may already know, but to those who don't, Hogwarts has been selected to host the prestigious Triwizard's Cup this year." Excited muttering broke out at this, but many, including Ron, Harry and Hermione were looking at each other questioningly in confusion.

"Some of you might be wondering what that is." Said Dumbledore, looking pointedly at Harry and co. for a brief second.

"The Triwizard's Cup is a tournament held between the three fine European schools which are Hogwarts, Baeuxbatons and Dumstrang. For now we will not go into the gory details, all you need to know is that in a week's time, the two schools will be arriving and will be spending the rest of the year with us.

And it is for this reason that I ask you all to look representable when they arrive and to please show them hospitality and make friends with as many of them as you can to make them feel well come.

That is all for now, good night." With this, everyone stood up and broke into excited chatter.

But Harry was quiet though, his mind seemed to be stuck on one thought. Fleur had said that she was in Baeuxbatons, and when they separated, she said that "this might not be the last time they see each other."

Could it be that she knew about the tournament? And best of all, was she coming too? A large smile broke onto his face, he knew that he would see her again, he could feel it.

And this just made this year the best one ever without it having started yet.

When night came, Harry slept peacefully with the same large and now idiotic grin on his lips. His dreams were not pledged by nightmares, but rather by the encounter with the silver haired witch in a week's time.


Well that is my first chapter in over 18 months, I understand that it was ridiculously long, but please bare with me for now. And I ask you once again to have patience, I'm a little rusty so my dialogue and story telling will come back to me. Once I have a beta, we will re-edit the mistakes I made.

Once again if anyone is interested in being my beta, please PM me.

As always Read and Review...if you want.