Chapter ten...and either the reviews aren't going through on my email or on the site or you aren't reviewing me anymore. D: Next chapter is the Yule Ball! Yay...anyway. If and when those reviews go through, I'll write more one shots for Frailty if you said so. You know, does anyone even read these?

I don't own RK or HP.

Chapter Ten

"Is it just me," said Kenshin, pointing down at the dragon below. "Or does that one looked worse than the last three?"

When he didn't get an answer, he looked side to side and saw that both Ron and Hermione's faces had gone white.

"Th-that's a Hungarian Horntail," said Ron, eyes saucers on his face. "Harry has to go against that?"

"Oh god," Hermione said, hand over mouth in horror. "I hope he makes it."

Ron just shook his head, face not changing. "I can't believe I thought he put his name in himself…he'd never sign up for this. I'm such an idiot."

"You think?"

By now Kenshin was getting somewhat confused, mainly because no one was telling him anything. From what he managed to gather, though, this dragon was indeed worse than the last three. Disquiet ran through him—he really hoped Harry would come out okay. But of course he would…he had a strategy. Sort of.

When the whistle was blown and Harry entered the enclosure, the audience erupted into cheers, the contagious excitement making the other students momentarily forget their hatred towards him. Kenshin didn't yell anything, and neither did the two on either side of him—Ron looked vaguely sick and Hermione was biting her nails. Down below, Harry shouted the Summoning spell. The Hungarian Horntail looked down at its tasty snack. A moment later, a whizzing sound cut through the air. Everyone turned around.

A lone broomstick came hurtling through air. Kenshin gave a relieved smile; at least it started out okay. Immediately, Harry swung his legs over his Firebolt and took off.

The challenge went brilliantly. His movements were so fluid and, though he still didn't know much about Quidditch, he could at least tell that Harry was an amazing flier. And yes, apparently he did have a stragedy and it was working. The crowd whooped and cheered as he dodged and dived, swerving upwards and teasing the dragon in circles. It was fascinating, even more so than the World Cup in his opinion. When the Horntail sliced Harry across the shoulder, Kenshin joined in the universal gasp around the stands.

It ended as quickly as it started the noise of the crowd was deafening. Everyone stood up and Hermione hugged him, hopping up and down with glee. Ron was clapping. Without realizing it, he hugged Hermione backed (though he didn't jump), smiling widely in relief. Harry just survived a dragon. Amazing.

"Come on!" Hermione shouted over the dim of the crowd. "Let's go down to the medical tent!"

Kenshin and Ron nodded and they hurried down the stands, trying to avoid people. Several times one of them knocked into another person but barely paused long enough to yell a sorry that the other person probably didn't hear anyway. The other two were out of breath by the time they reached their destination. The three darted inside, nearly running into Harry as they did so. Ron backed down a little, face going from euphoria to awkwardness.

"You were brilliant!" said Hermione immediately. "You were amazing! You really were!"

Kenshin nodded and gave another smile. "I'm happy to see you made it out," he said.

But Harry wasn't paying attention to either of them, staring straight past to Ron.

"Harry," said the other redhead. "whoever put your name in that goblet—I—I reckon they were trying to do you in!"

Couldn't he think of anything better to say instead of just pointing out the obvious?

"Caught on, have you?" Harry's voice was cold. "Took you long enough."

Kenshin stood in the middle of the two of them, realizing it was probably good to start backing away. He inched slowly to the back of the tent and waited. It was their moment to renew their friendship after all.

"It's okay," Harry said before Ron could apologize.

"No," said Ron. "I shouldn't've—"

"Forget it."

Ron smiled a very nervous smile and Harry smiled back.

Then Hermione burst into tears. Kenshin to it as his cue to leave. It didn't take too long—only a few seconds really—for her to join him.

"So their friends again?" he asked as she wiped away her tears. They headed back to the stands to hear Harry's score.

"Yeah," she sniffled. "Kenshin, why are boys like that? You're one, so you should be able to answer!"

"Oro?" he said, then realized he just made his "squeak" noise. He'd been trying very, very hard to stop saying that in replace of 'what' or in surprise but apparently it came back. There wasn't going to be a way for him to get rid of this goofy quirk left over from early childhood, was there? "I—I mean, what," he added quickly, blushing.

Hermione just laughed, reminding him very strongly of Tomoe. "Is that a Japanese word or something?" she said.

Quickly, he shook his head. They reached the inside of the tents. The scores were going up: 8…that was good…9...even better…9…again, very good…10…wow, a perfect…4…that was cheap.

"He tied for first," he said as the crowd cheered and Hermione grabbed his arm in happiness again. "And no, it's not a Japanese word. It's just something I did as a kid. It never went away."

To this she nodded, her look of utter happiness still there. With a gentle tug of the arm, she led him away, back towards Harry and Ron. He detangled his hand from hers but she didn't seem to notice.

"I'm so relieved," she said quietly, a statement meant only for him, as the backs of the other two boys came into sight. "I really…I was really afraid it would go wrong. I never wanted to say it, but I was so afraid for him. Sorry…it's not like I could say it to him or to Ron, who was so convinced that Harry was in the wrong."

"That's fine," he answered. They caught up with the other two boys. Rita Skeeter stalked by them, anger coming off of her in waved. Kenshin winced. Anger was a terrible feeling. "Hi."

"Hey," said Ron immediately. "Did you see that Karkaroff gave Harry a four? I can't believe it!"

"I know," said Hermione with a nod. "It was unfair. He gave Krum a ten and he came off much worse for wear."

Kenshin resisted the urge to ask was 'worse for wear' meant. He decided to stay quiet, knowing that this was their moment, the three of them who'd been through so much with each other. For now, he'd allow himself to be left out. He didn't mind.

Once the excited chatter stopped and they were inside, Harry filled Ron in on what Sirius said of Karkaroff. Every so often Hermione would add something and after a few nudges from her and Harry, Kenshin did too. Together they headed up to the Owlery, where Harry wrote a letter to his godfather. Ron caught Pigwidgeon. The laughing returned. Though he may not have been friends with the other three for all that long and even though he still kept himself slightly separate, he was happy that it was the four of them again. With his words, Ron tried so hard to repair that.

When they reached the common room a little later, it was an explosion of congratulations. Since it was in such a confined space, the noise hurt worse than it did back at the task. After grabbing some food, the four of them settled into a corner to eat.

"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee, picking up the golden egg Harry captured from the dragon. "Open it Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside of it!"

"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," said Hermione automatically. "It's in the tournament rules…"

"We helped him for the last task," Kenshin pointed quietly as Harry said so only the two of them could hear, "He's right, Hermione. I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too." Their friend guiltily smiled.

"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!"

After the eggs went from Lee to back to him, Harry pried it open. It was hollow on the inside, but it was filled with terrible screaming. Kenshin, on instinct, covered his ears from the pain. Like all his other senses, years of training as a swordsman had heightened all five of his natural one and given him a sixth, so loud noises hurt him more than it did for others. His eyes flashed because it shrieking reminded him of agony, which reminded him of killing, which reminded him of what he was. Harry snapped it shut. Relief. His eyes went back to their natural color. The headache came swiftly, but stayed, made worse by the sound.

"What was that?" said Seamus, looking at the egg. "Sounded like a banshee…Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"

"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville and Kenshin had to agree, though he doubted the champions would be treated that horrible so deliberately. The other boy's sausage rolls fell to the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing…maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the showers, Harry." Kenshin covered his mouth with his hand to hide his laughter.

"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" said Fred. Hermione looked down apprehensively at the plate shoved in her face. "It's all right. I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch—"

Neville quickly spit out the bit of the custard cream he had in his mouth.

"Just my little joke, Neville…"

Hermione took a jam tart. Kenshin looked to Neville—he doubted for some reason that Fred was joking. "Did you get all this from the kitchens?" she asked. He mental sighed; he knew where this was going.

"Yep." Fred smile and her and went on to imitate the squeaky voice of a house-elf. " 'Anything we can get you sir, anything at all!' They're dead helpful...get my a roast ox if I said I was peckish."

"People eat roast ox?" Kenshin asked, looking to Ron who sat next to him. The other boy laughed.

"No," he said. "Fred just means that if he asked, they'd get it for him."

"How do you get in there?" said Hermione.

"Easy," said Fred. "concealed a door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and—" He cut himself off. "Why?"

"Nothing."

"Going to try and lead the house-elves out on strike now, are you?" said George. "Going to give up all the leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion." A few people laughed. She didn't say anything.

"Don't you go upsetting them and telling them they've got to take clothes and salaries!" said Fred. "You'll put them off their cooking."

Before a full blown argument began, Neville turned into a large canary, proven Kenshin's theory that Fred had not been joking.

"Oh—sorry, Neville!" Fred yelled as everyone burst out laughing. "I forgot—it was the custard creams we hexed—" When Neville turned back, he joined into the laughed, a cloud of feather pooling at his feet. "Canary creams! George and I invented them—seven Sickles each, a bargain!"

It was hours before anyone went up to bed. For the first time since the summer, Ginny came over to talk to them as the twins collected money and handed out order forms. People kept turning into canaries and no matter how many times, it always started laughter. Sure, the night was filled with an annoying amount of sound and the party went on longer than he would have liked, Kenshin found himself having fun.

It was a nice feeling, he decided.

----

Harry felt like crawling into a dark hole out of embarrassment as he came back from asking Cho to the ball. Her words were still ringing in her his head.

Oh—Cedric, Cedric Diggory.

Maybe if he'd asked her out a week ago…even a few days ago, she'd be going with him. But he hadn't been able to work up the courage. Courage. And he called himself a Gryffindor. Wasn't bravery part of the house description? He was pathetic.

When he entered the common room, he found Ron, Kenshin, and Ginny sitting in a corner. Since it was during dinner, they were one of the few people there. Ron was sitting in a chair next to Ginny. Kenshin was flopped over the couch. For some reason, a look of complete misery had worked itself over Ron's face.

"What's up, Ron?" said Harry as he joined the, sitting at the end of the couch where Kenshin's head didn't reach.

"Why did I do it?" he said, looking up in horror. "I don't know what made me do it!"

"What?"

"He—er—just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny. Harry noticed that she and Kenshin were avoided eye contact, probably to keep from laughing.

"You what?"

"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron said eye, shaking his head. "What was I playing at? There were people—all around—I've gone mad—everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall—she was standing there talking to Diggory—and it sort of came over me—and I asked her!" He groaned and put his face in his hands. That so…so…stupid. There was no other way to put it. Then again…"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then—I dunno—I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it." Ginny finally let out her smile.

"She's part veela," said Harry. "You were right—her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it—but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang." Yeah, he added in his head, don't worry, I embarrassed myself too. "I asked her to go with me just now. And she told me. Who're you going with, Kenshin?"

The other boy looked up at him. "Ginny," he answered, taking Harry by surprise.

She blushed. "Yeah…I asked him after lunch." Well, that would be interesting. Then he held back a laugh, realizing something: She was a few centimeters taller than him. He was around one fifty-seven or so and she was on sixty-one. Not enough that it was particularly noticeable, but still.

"This is mad," said Ron. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone—well, except for Neville. Hey—guess who he asked? Hermione!"

"What?" said Harry, even more surprised than he was before.

"Yeah, I know!" said Ron. He started to laugh. "He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff—but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville…I mean, who would?"

"Don't!" said Ginny. "Don't laugh, he's going with someone in my year. A Ravenclaw, you don't know her."

"And she really is going with someone else," said Kenshin. Harry looked down. The other boy's face flushed. It was a day for blushing apparently. "I, uh, asked her a few days ago."

Both Ron and Harry turned to him. "Seriously?" Ron said.

"Well," Kenshin mumbled. "Besides Ginny, she's the only girl I talk to…and it wasn't until Ginny asked my out that I realized you were allowed to bring someone younger…besides, I wouldn't mind. Both she and Ginny are nice to me." Ginny smiled in an embarrassed sort of way. Well…this was awkward.

Hermione climbed through the portrait hole and spotted them. She went over, saying, "Why weren't you three at dinner?"

"Because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" said Ginny in annoyance.

"I thought the two of you were going together," Hermione said, mystified, motioning back and forth as Ron said, "Thanks a bunch, Ginny."

Harry decided it was best to just stay quiet for the time being because he saw a bickering match about to start—it was written all over Hermione's face.

"All the good-looking ones are taken, Ron," she said. "Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you."

"Then who're you going with?" he demanded. Harry noticed Ginny and Kenshin looking away again.

"It's none of your business," she snapped, crossing her arms.

"Aw, c'mon, Hermione, you can tell us!"

"It's none of your business," she said.

"But—"

"I already told you, it's none of your business!" She walked off, leaving an air of annoyance left behind her.

"This is getting ridiculous," said Ron. "You two are lucky, at least you can go together!"

"Wait here," he said to Ron as Lavender and Parvati walked through the portrait hole. Taking a deep breath and got up. Normally he wouldn't bother, but desperate times called for desperate measures. "Parvati?" he asked. "Will you go to the ball with me?"

She giggled. What a terrible sound. Harry waited, praying that this would work.

"Yes," she said and became yet another person who blushed. "All right then."

A weight was lifted from his chest. Sweet relief. "Thanks," he said. "Lavender—will you go with Ron?" Please work…

"She's going with Seamus," said Parvati and they went into fits of giggling again. Thank god Ginny and Hermione didn't do this. Cho didn't either…no, don't think about Cho!

"Can't you think of anyone who'd go with Ron?" he said, voice low enough that no one else could hear.

"What about Hermione Granger?" said Parvati.

"She's going with someone else."

The two girls were shocked. Harry was very glad Hermione wasn't here; she'd be so hurt. She wasn't bad…he'd never get other girls.

"Oooh—who?"

Harry shrugged. "No idea," he said. "So what about Ron?"

"Well…I suppose my sister might…Padma, you know…in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like."

"Yeah, that would be great. Let me know, will you?"

He went back to the other three. "I'm going with Parvati," he said, then turned to Ron. "She's asking her sister Padma in Ravenclaw."

Ron nodded, no longer seeming as miserable.

Harry sighed, feeling that this ball was a lot more trouble than it was worth.

------

"You didn't tell them I was going with Viktor, did you?" Hermione asked, turning to Kenshin. They were in the forest again. But she noticed it was slightly different now—he was a little further away from her. It wasn't by much, but the feeling was definitely still there. With a small sigh, she realized this was probably because she had a boyfriend now because Viktor didn't ask her to the ball, but to go out with him in general. "They'd laugh at me."

"Don't worry," he said. "I didn't. But, you know, they didn't laugh when they found out Ginny asked me."

"It's different," she said with a headshake. "She's Ron's sister, not someone he wants an autograph from. And they know you two aren't anything serious—wait, are you?"

He shook his head. "She just wanted to go to the ball and I needed a partner."

"I'm so sorry for having to turn you down, but Viktor…"

"It's fine."

There were a silence, but she didn't mind. After all, she'd noticed by now that he needed these. The quiet moments. It might have been five months, almost six, but he was still, well, shy. Not as much, though. She watched as their breath came out, visible in the cold air. It was warm enough to her, but he was shivering badly, despite the sweater and school required winter cloak they both had on.

Fifteen minutes later, something in the forest gave a loud shriek. She jumped and the boy next to her laughed.

"Hey!" she said, hitting his arm lightly. "It's not my fault. It just scared me, that's all. I hate not knowing what makes those sounds. Actually, I hate most of the things in the forest. The unicorns are fine and so are the centaurs and I don't know a lot of the creatures, but I'm always afraid I'll come across a boggart or something in here. Or something that's honestly dangerous."

"What a boggart?"

"It's a creature that hides in dark places and went realized, it will change into the closest person's worst fear. They can't do anything more than that, though."

"Did you ever come across one?"

"Yes. Last year the entire Defense Against the Dark Arts class did. It was fun because you're supposed to think of something really funny you can change it into and with a spell, make it that."

"What did it turn into for you—oh, sorry, that might be personal."

"It's not, just a little embarrassing. My boggart takes the form of Professor McGonagall telling me I failed her class. If you had to guess, what would yours be?"

For a moment, he was quiet, thinking. Then his hand started to go up to his face, to his scar, but he let it fall. "Spiders," he answered. "Since it probably couldn't have me drowning."

It was a lie and she could see it, but she didn't mention that she could tell. "Ron's worst fear was spiders, too. They're nasty, I'll admit, but I don't see how you can be so terrified by them."

"When I was seven," he said. "I was sparring with my teacher. He hit my harder than he meant to and I went flying backwards. I went right into a bunch of spider—thousands, if I had to guess and I'm not exaggerating—and they immediately started to crawl all over me. Teacher got me out and together we managed to get them all off. I cried for about an hour out of fear and during the nights that followed, I got nightmares."

She shivered and it had nothing to do with the cold. "I can see why you're scared. That's horrible. You should be happy you aren't allergic, Kenshin."

"Yeah. Hey, you need to met up with Kr—I mean Viktor, right?" She nodded. "Then I'm going to head back to the common room. You're meeting in the library, right?" Another nod. "C'mon, I'll walk you until we have to part."

With a small sigh, exhaling his breath in a puff of steam, he said the Invisibility spell and fixed his sword his waist.

Silently, they walked back.