I hope no one lynches me from straying so much from the original story, but I really need to make it work just for my story. I hope that you all like it. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and following, it really makes my day.
A/N I do not own Harry Potter or anything from his world
Harry watched curiously as he saw the brunette's head bobbing through the crowd. He had been disappointed before, when she hadn't shown up, even though no one outside of Gryffindor had been invited to the unofficial house meeting. Tons of other kids had shown up anyways. They all wanted to know why the meeting had been called. Harry noticed that Danni's face was flushed, and he chuckled. Had she run all the way here?
Then he turned to pay attention to the upperclassmen who were standing in the bleachers so they could be seen over everyone else. One of them was holding the magical bullhorn that was used to make the announcements during a quidditch game. The first one to speak was a kid Harry recognized as a seventh year, Darnell. "I'm so glad so many people showed up. Was not expecting word to spread outside of Gryffindor at all. At all." he chuckled. "Well, I'm here now to talk to you all about this event called the triwizard tournament. It only takes place every five years. We're not sure exactly how, but one of us will be chosen to represent all of Hogwarts. We thought that everyone deserved a fair chance to know that. So do your best to impress your professors in any way possible if you want to be that one."
One of the other kids grabbed the bullhorn. "What my friend forgot to mention is that you have to be at least seventeen years old to be chosen. So I thought that we should all work together and chose one of us. We can't remember exactly how the choosing works, since we were only second years when we last witnessed it. But if we all band together to choose one contestant, that person is more likely to be chosen."
Some random student in the crowd shouted out. "What exactly is this tournament?"
Darnell took the bullhorn back. "It's a competition between us and two other schools, and you compete in some challenges to earn points to win the triwizard cup for your school. It's a very big deal."
Harry began pushing his way through the thick crowd as more students shouted out questions, and the older students fumbled to remember the details of the tournament. They said that it had been held one of the other schools last time, and only the sixth and seventh years at the time had been allowed to go, so the students who had been younger at the time couldn't watch the events.
Harry didn't really care. What was the point if he wasn't even old enough to be in it? And since it was only every five years, he would never get another chance after this. He shoved his way through the mass of people, and it took forever to get to Danni, who had placed herself in the center of the thickest knot of students.
He came up behind her, and put one hand on her shoulder. She spun around so fast it was like she was expecting a ghost to attack her or something. Not that the ghosts were really known for attacking people. Her eyes were wide, and she was practically panting. Harry cocked his head to the side, as if to ask her what was wrong.
She shook her head, and turned back to the excited kids on the bleachers. He wasn't taking no for an answer. Something had obviously spooked her, and to Harry's surprise, he actually wanted to know what. He was honestly interested. He grabbed her arm, perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary, and tugged her away.
Danni was small, and even though she was excellent at running, she wasn't strong enough to resist Harry. And he almost thought part of her looked relieved that he was being persistent. He pulled her outside, and raised his eyebrows. It was almost eerily silent. He had never noticed before that the walls of the field were sound proof, since he was always within the stands whenever other people were there.
He breathed out with mock annoyance. "So? What's up?"
Danni shrugged, even as she craned her neck to peer around in every direction, like she was afraid that they had been followed or something. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Harry shook his head. "Come on, I can tell that something's wrong. And if you don't tell me now, I will bother you until the end of time. So come on, spill. What's got you looking like you're about to die."
She gulped, and opened her mouth, and Harry smiled to himself. She was about to share, and that thought made him illogically happy for some reason. But then her eyes widened even more, if that was possible, and she took a sharp breath. Harry turned, and saw Professor Moody hobbling up to the stands.
Before he could really see them, Danni grabbed Harry's arm, and he was taken by surprise. She yanked him around the corner, and plastered herself flat against the canvas wall. She was forcing herself to take quieter breaths, and she motioned for Harry to do the same. He sighed. Maybe she was just crazy, and that was the end of it.
Curiously, he looked around the corner. The guy was gingerly looking inside the stadium, like he was afraid it was going to bite off his head or something. Harry turned back to Danni, to tell her that it was just a harmless teacher, and he frowned. She had closed her eyes, and her face looked more peaceful than he had ever seen it. Her head was tilted to the side, like she was trying to hear something better.
She opened her eyes suddenly, and Harry saw a familiar look. They were completely filled with fear. Her breathing sped up, and she put a finger over her lips to tell Harry to be silent. He was so confused. Why was she suddenly so utterly frightened? But if she really wanted him to comply, he would. How else would he prove that he's not such a bad person?
After a few minutes, Danni let a whoosh of air out of her mouth. She looked at Harry, and he couldn't tell what she was thinking. "I'm… I'm really sorry about that. I'm not usually that weird, it's just…"
"Just what?"
Danni shook her head. "Nothing. Sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you later, okay?"
And then she was off, before Harry could question her further about what had just happened. He looked around, and saw that the crazy teacher had already wandered off. He wanted to go after Danni, but he was cut off by the crowd spilling out from the stadium. If he knew how many times this crowd had saved Danni, he would have been unnerved by its constant perfect timing.