Another day went by normally for Alex; he went in and out of classes, turned in work and got more work in return, and there was no trouble on the horizon. Under his eye, Daniel and his friends had no problems thus far.

Alex was about to walk back into the Gryffindor tower when a voice in his mind said, "Master, I have important news for you."

Who else would say master? Even Augustus knew not to say that. Well, he's usually pretty stoic, so it doesn't matter then...

Alex questioned Charles, "And what may that be Charles?"

Charles replied, "Augustus has found a rather interesting development in the forest."

Alex waited for the other shoe to drop.

Charles continued, "There are dragons in the forest."

Alex thought out loud, "Hmm… dragons in the forest. What may they be there hmm…?"

Charles added, "The gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid was there and so was the headmistress of Beauxbatons, Madame Maxime."

Alex continued thinking. What was Hogwarts' gamekeeper and the headmistress of Beaxbatons doing in the Forbidden Forest? No, they're not dating… Alex concluded that it must have to do something with the dragons. But what were the dragons there for?

Alex asked Charles, "Did you managed to see what they were thinking?"

Charles shook his head, "I don't invade other minds without warning master."

Alex groaned, "Charles… when the time we need to utilize your mind-reading skills you claim it's for the sake of morality. But when we don't need it, you read minds for your enjoyment. How fair is that?"

Charles trilled, "That's the point master."

Alex groaned again, "And call me Alex for Merlin's sake; master is derogatory!"

Charles shook his head, "Sorry master, I can't do that." and flamed away.

Alex was standing by himself in the halls of Hogwarts. Finding himself rather exposed and probably looking a lunatic screaming at the wall, Alex decided to start moving. Alex concentrated on the forest and flamed himself there.

Alex walked through the forest having no real sense of where to go. He was simply heading to the direction where the smoke and fire were coming from. Alex lightly stepped on the ground, trying to make himself as silent as possible. Duh! Alex put silencing charms on his feet and disillusioned himself; he should have done that in the first place. Alex then continued towards the direction Alex thought would house these dragons. He got his answer very soon when a roar punctuated the silence in the forest and a jet of flame burst over the treetops. Alex confirmed to himself that indeed there were dragons here. But why? Why would there be dragons so close to Hogwarts? It must be something along the lines of the Triwizard Tournament; if it wasn't, why was Hagrid and the headmistress of Beauxbatons doing here?

Alex continued walking, ever so cautious of his surroundings. He didn't want to live this long to be turned to some fried snack. Alex finally approached the enclosures and noticed a couple men milling about including one red-headed one he noticed. Probably just to make sure the dragons weren't going anywhere Alex thought. Ah… right. Dragon-keepers.

Alex then heard something strange. He swore he heard someone or something moan about the cages… can't be the dragon-keepers milling about. Why would they say that? Alex focused on a large dragon near him. No, it doesn't seem to make sense.

A voice rumbled in Alex's mind, "What does not make sense hatchling?"

Alex instinctively whipped his wand at the dragon in question, ready to erect a shield and get the hell out of here. Alex relaxed when he processed the message, still slightly stumped that the dragon could speak.

Alex heard a slightly deep chuckle in his mind, "Oh hatchling, what do you think that we are? Giant, dumb flying beasts that spit fire?"

Alex could only do one thing he could think of speaking to such a majestic and aged creature, not to mention a very deadly creature, "No, your highness, I was merely surprised."

The voice spoke again in Alex's mind, "Your ignorance has been forgiven hatchling… I have not spoken to your kind for a long time."

Alex was interested at that, "Now how long ago was that, your highness?"

The voice responded, "A full three hundred and seven winters hatchling."

Alex was shocked. Three hundred and seven years? Now how old was the dragon?

The voice answered the question, "Hatchling, my age is not relevant; however, if you are indeed curious of my age, I would say that I am currently spending my nine hundredth and eighty winter."

Alex had overcome his shock and accepted the fact, "Uh that's a long time your highness."

The voice rumbled, "Indeed hatchling indeed… now I suppose this is no idle visit hatchling? Most of your kind are rather ignorant to others."

Alex nodded, "Indeed your highness... I was inquisitive about the nature of dragons being so near the school."

The voice responded, "Ahh… Hogwarts isn't it? I remember a few enlightening conversations with some of the pupils that talked to me."

Alex didn't respond to that and simply sat on the ground, ever wary of the dragon-keepers roaming around. That was when Alex was struck with a thought.

"Your highness, I believe you are not here without a reason, am I correct?"

The voice replied, "Indeed hatchling, we are not here without reason. The two legs have a plan-wait, wait, wait there hatchling, before I am willing to impart such information, I would like to have a pact."

Alex asked, "A pact? Like a binding agreement?"

The voice rumbled again, "Indeed hatchling. For the information I am about to give you, you will give me something of equal merit in return."

Alex was slightly suspicious, "And what would this entail?"

The voice was slightly amused at the cautiousness of Alex, "Do not worry hatchling, I will not strip your magic if you do not follow the pact. HOWEVER, I will make your life miserable if you agree to the pact and refuse to fulfill your part of the bargain."

Alex asked the obvious question, "So what would I need to do?"

The voice answered, "For giving me a chance at escaping, I will bequeath you the knowledge of the First Task."

Alex thought about it. Yes, it would give him an upper hand, but exactly how much of an upper hand? How would he benefit? Alex examined the wards and the cages around the dragons. It will be a little difficult to take them down without anyone noticing… but it's very possible to execute. That in exchange for something vital for the First Task…

Alex made his mind up, "Alright your highness, I agree to the terms."

The dragon looked at Alex and rumbled, sending a small plume of dark smoke out of his nostrils, "Hatchling, call me Jack and that's an order."

Alex replied, "Hello Jack."

The dragon looked away towards the other dragons, "Good. The next order of business… as I have seen your memories, you are well adept at breaking wards, so breaking us out will be a piece of cake. Now to my end of the bargain. The First Task is to retrieve a golden egg that is protected by a dragon."

Alex instantly caught on, "No wonder there is four dragons! So a dragon for each champion then?"

The dragon looked back at Alex, "Indeed hatchling. The entire point is to retrieve the egg. Beyond that, I am not sure what you do with the egg. The half-giant and the two-leg that passed by didn't mention much about the egg."

Alex nodded slowly, chewing on the information, "So… apparently Hagrid and Maxime have wind of the First Task… there's no doubt that Maxime will tell Fleur…"

Alex snapped his fingers and made sure no one looked at his direction, "Alright Jack, thanks. So after the First Task, I need to break you guys out right?"

The dragon replied, "Indeed hatchling unless you wish to incur the wrath of four dragons."

Alex violently shook his head, "No thank you Jack, I'll do what is asked of me."

The dragon that labeled himself "Jack" twitched his jaw, "I see that you have some sense not to deny a dragon. How rude of me not to introduce everyone… Martha! Sam! Beth! Meet a hatchling!"

Alex almost gripped his head in slight agony as three voices rumbled simultaneously in his mind,

"Greetings hatchling."

Jack snorted as he felt the pain Alex was having. Alex glared at Jack, "You think it's funny?"

Jack shook his head, "No I don't. I find it questionable that a boy of your age is involved with four dragons who you never met in your life."

Alex shrugged, "Everyone learns something new everyday Jack. For instance, I didn't know you could communicate with us humans."

Jack snorted again, causing a billow of black smoke to stream out of his nostrils, "Pfft! If it's not for those ignorant historians and politicians, everyone would appreciate who a dragon really is."

Alex kept that in mind, "It's rather amazing… so I think I'll be off for now. I need to let the other champions know about this."

Jack questioned Alex, "Why hatchling? You would lose a competitive edge against your opponents."

Alex replied, "That's not how I roll Jack. Not to mention, what's the point of a competition where someone has an upper hand just because he or she refused to share it with others? Ok, if you go that way, fine. For me? No way. It's not fair and the competition wouldn't be fun."

Jack nodded, "it is good that you value equality and justice over victory… you are proving to be different from the other two-legs hatchling."

Alex smirked, "I take that as a compliment."

Jack snorted a jet of flame at Alex, who jumped away, "Not so fast hatchling, you have a long way ahead of you. Now do what you must do."

Alex walked out and before he could be a couple feet away from the dragons, Jack spoke again, "Hatchling? Our deal has one more request; I want you to conjure a couple braces of chicken and batter them when the First Task starts."

Alex immediately stood still, "What? So you want me to just conjure a couple dozen chickens and batter them for you to cook?"

Jack hummed, "Indeed hatchling."

Alex slightly groaned to exaggerate his situation, "Ok… that's fine. Is there anything else I am missing out on?"

Jack said, "No, that is all hatchling."

Alex felt the probe removed from his mind and he quickly flamed to outskirts of the Gryffindor Tower.

Alex looked around and found himself staring at a wall and grass on his feet. Shaking his head in annoyance, he closed his eyes and properly flamed himself to his intended destination.

Alex opened his eyes and quickly entered the Gryffindor common room. He searched for the boy usually in the middle of a crowd of Gryffindors that were under his "rule." To his surprise, Alex found none. Today, Longbottom was alone on a chair staring listlessly into the flames of the fireplace.

Alex walked stiffly to Longbottom and said, "Longbottom, the First Task is to bypass a dragon to retrieve something important."

Amazingly, instead of sneering at Alex or loathing Alex, Longbottom looked up at Alex with a neutral expression, "Is that all?"

Alex nodded, "I didn't do this for your sake Longbottom; it is just fair in the nature of the sport. Do not think that I am trying to appease you Longbottom, I am very far from it."

At that point, Longbottom was back to his usual self, "Oh yeah Alex? I-'

Alex tuned the brat out from his audial sensors and walked out of the common room. He needed to take a trip to the Beaxbatons carriages and the Durmstrang ship before he could hit the bunk.

Alex flamed himself to the Durmstrang ship first. Quietly, he walked into the ship and looked for anyone to start a conversation to start pinning down the location of Viktor. It didn't take long for Alex to meet a Durmstrang student and no other than Viktor himself.

Viktor jumped backwards slightly and emitted a small squeak before glaring at Alex. Alex grinned and spoke in Russian, "Thought I was going to jump you Viktor?"

Viktor shook his head, "I was merely surprised that an intruder dared to venture on Durmstrang property. I had to take appropriate measures."

Alex rolled his eyes, "And appropriate measures is to jump like someone put a brand on your ass and squeak like a girl?"

Viktor reddened slightly, "Forget it Alex, now why are you here?"

Alex resumed his normal expression, "Viktor, the First Task is to retrieve a golden egg that is guarded by a dragon."

Viktor didn't react to Alex's slight surprise, "And?"

Alex fired back, "What do you mean and? Isn't this important?"

Viktor shook his head, "No, I thought you already knew."

Alex was slightly irked, "How?"

Viktor stroked his chin as if he had a long beard, "Oh, I don't know, the headmaster ring any bells?"

Alex was slightly taken aback by the sarcasm, "What do you mean Viktor?"

Viktor at this point lowered his tone, "So you didn't get informed by your headmaster Dumbledore?"

Alex looked at Viktor like he was crazy, "No! Why would he?"

Viktor made a small noise and said, "Oh."

Now Alex asked Viktor, "So Karkaroff told you about the First Task already?"

Viktor nodded, "Yes Alex, Karkaroff told me. Well, I still thank you for letting me know and being a good sport."

Alex grinned, "Why wouldn't I? Anyways, that's out of the way, good luck on the First Task Vicky!"

Viktor grinned in return, "Same to you Alex."

Alex mentally counted.

3…

2…

1…

"Hey! It's Viktor you moron!"

By that time, Alex flamed himself out of the ship to avoid any possible repercussions. Viktor groaned in defeat and trooped back to his room. He wasn't sure if he should curse his friend into oblivion or thank him for his honesty.

Alex walked up to one of the carriages and knocked on the door. Alex heard a squeal and some things knocking over. Oops…

The door swung open to let forth a rather flustered looking Beaxbatons student who cursed at Alex in French.

Alex simply smiled and said in French, "And a good day to you madame. Now am I here for an idle chat or am I here for a question?"

The girl slightly blushed in embarrassment, "Sorry, I didn't know you knew French."

Alex smirked, "Well, now you know not to curse at people even if they are ignorant to your cursing. Now do you know which carriage Fleur occupies? I need to tell her something."

The girl replied, "The carriage all the way at the end, you won't miss it. Are you up to something?"

Alex said, "No, I just need to let her know something about the Tournament."

The girl pestered, "Are you looking to ask her out? She's not interested you know."

Alex replied, "No, it's not that."

The girl continued, "if you are that insistent, then are you up to something funny?"

Alex sighed, "It's nothing I can say except to the champions at this point. And for the final time, no! I am not asking her out."

The girl was about to open her mouth when Alex decided to leave. Hearing a stream of babble behind him, he briskly walked to the carriage that supposedly housed Fleur. Alex was wondering why the hell he had to play the good Samaritan. Maybe because of the fear of karma? Nah, it's the spirit of fair play.

Alex knocked on the carriage door and waited.

The door opened a few minutes later and the silver-haired champion walked out.

Fleur asked in French, "And what are you doing here Alex? How did you know I was here?"

Alex answered, "For the first question, I'm here about the First Task. And for the second, I asked the lovely girl in a carriage at the front where you were and I was pointed to this carriage."

Fleur replied, "Was the girl a little shorter than you? Have brown hair, blue eyes, and fair skin?"

Alex nodded, "That's the one. Anyhow, the First Task is to retrieve a golden egg that is guarded by a dragon."

Fleur was nonplussed, "And?"

Alex nearly groaned. So the other schools had already informed their champions? He had to give a point to Dumbledore for his sportsmanship.

"So Madame Maxime already told you?"

Fleur nodded, "Of course. So Dumbledore didn't tell you?"

Alex shook his head for the umpteenth time, "Nope. Not a single word. Not to Longbottom also apparently as he was surprised. Viktor though already knew because of Karkaroff."

Fleur simply said, "Oh."

A moment of silence in the air hung before Fleur broke it, "Well, thank you Alex for your sportsmanship. I appreciate your honesty."

Alex shrugged, "It's all in fair play. Good luck on the First Task Fleur."

Fleur replied, "And the same to you Alex."

Alex walked away and seeing that he was out of view of the carriages, he flamed himself back to the Gryffindor tower.

Alex again walked into the common room and walked up the staircase to the boy's dormitories. Seeing that the rest of the boys were snoring away, he flamed himself back home. He had failed to notice the shadow in the dormitory that did not belong to anything in the room and the shadow clung to Alex.

Alex promptly plopped himself against a sofa; today he felt like watching some of the Telly. Before he could grab a remote, he found himself pinned onto the couch forcefully. Alex cursed at his inattentiveness; he should have noticed the magical aura of a person even if they were disillusioned, and right now, there is obviously someone pinning him to the couch.

The person disillusioned and Alex found himself staring right into a pair of pink orbs.

Alex lamely said, "Hello Tonks. Fancy meeting you here."

Tonks slightly growled, "Is that all you have to say for yourself mister?"

Alex found himself smirked at her. A month ago, he would have shoved her off. Now he knew she wasn't a threat, he just relaxed, "Not at all Tonks."

Tonks gripped Alex's arms slightly harder, making Alex slightly wince, "Don't let me repeat myself. What were you doing?"

Alex sighed, "Alright! Chill out there! All I did was find out what the First Task was and let the other champions know. Happy?"

Tonks continued to have Alex under her vice-like grip, "Hmm… I suppose that is an excuse. However, you have to make it up to me."

Alex groaned, "And what would that be Tonks? Cleaning out your trunk?"

Tonks grinned, "Oh no mister, something worse than that."

Alex replied, "And what would that be Tonks?"

Tonks said, "Your worst fear; a kiss!"

Tonks promptly smacked her lips against Alex, who didn't complain at all.

After a minute, they let go of each other and panted slightly, "Wow Tonks… it just as good as the first time."

Tonks slightly giggled. Wait, Tonks, you are a damn Auror! Aurors DO NOT giggle! Tonks tried to compose herself slightly, "So you are saying that I am a good kisser Alex?"

Alex resolutely nodded, "Of course Nymphadora."

"Oh you are going to pay for that mister!"

A/N: And here it is. Now I have to take a break; I'll be out of town for a week for an errand and I won't have much time to make the next chapter. Expect the next update most likely about 1-2 weeks.

Anyways, thanks for reading and the two reviews for the last chapter; it's better than none! Thanks also to those that have fav'd and followed also.

And as always, feel free to drop a review. Let me know if there's any quirks, imperfections, or whatever your opinion is.

And as a last note, anybody want to beta my work? Feel free to PM.