The Gauntlet was a competition between groups of seven trainers, each with a single Pokemon, to knock the most points off their total before the end of the match.

Each team was split into three positions, with two Dashers, four Defenders, and a Runner.

Dashers were meant to complete various challenges to remove points, like hitting targets, collecting flags, reaching checkpoints, or defeating Pokemon released by the judges.

Defenders needed to trap or drive off the Dashers, preventing them from completing the challenges, and pin down the Runner, whose sole job was to reach the end of the course.

"So, you want us on the Gryffindor Gauntlet team?" Nasrin summarized, looking between Professor McGonagall behind her desk and Oliver Wood now that he ran out of steam.

"Indeed." The Head of Gryffindor replied, smiling. "Mister Potter's run through the desert ruins showed promise of a great Runner."

"And your abilities will make you a great Defender." Oliver agreed. "With Alicia out of commission, I'll need someone with your skill set to replace her."

The pair of First Years shared a look, mouths stretching into bright grins, and nodded.

"We're in!"

"Great!" Oliver cheered, jumping up as Professor McGonagall moved to open her office door. "We have practice Monday to Thursday for two hours after classes, at-"

A jumble of falling bodies and aborted shrieks cut the Gauntlet captain off, and everyone stared at the rest of Gryffindor's First Years in surprise.

"What were you all doing?" Professor McGonagall demanded, frowning.

"It's not Harry's fault!"

"Draco's a bloody liar!"

"Nazz was just protecting him!"

"Please, don't punish them!"

Their pleas all tumbled together into a cacophony of noise, and Nasrin bit back a smile as Harry got a little teary-eyed all over again.

"That's enough!" The Partnership Professor ordered, silencing her students with a stern look. "If you must know, as punishment, Mister Potter and Miss Universe will be helping the Gryffindor Gauntlet team win the Silver Cup."

A beat of silence, and Nasrin laughed as they were swamped in enthusiastic hugs and cheers, Hermione's hug nearly knocking her over.

This?

This was everything.

The Gryffindor common room was dark so late at night, only starlight filtering through the windows allowing Harry to see anything when he stepped off the teleporter, Eevee yawning in his arms.

"All those days, watching from the windows…"

Curled up on one of the low, wide windowsills, rosy ringlets glowing silver, Nasrin quietly sang to her quiet Egg, Ariel sprawled across her shoulders.

"All those years, outside looking in…All that time, never even knowing…Just how blind I've been…"

Green eyes met black across the room, and Harry closed the distance as if in a trance, the words resonating in his chest.

"Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight…Now I'm here, suddenly I see…Standing here, it's all so clear…I'm where I'm meant to be."

Star slid off her shoulders as Harry sat, flipping onto his lap as Eevee crawled over Nasrin's knees to tuck himself around her Egg, purring.

"And at last, I see the light…And it's like the fog has lifted…And at last, I see the light…And it's like the sky is new…And it's warm, and real, and bright…And the world has somehow shifted…All at once, everything looks different…"

The half-Gem paused, as if deliberating on the next words, and they fell in a whisper that Harry almost believed he imagined.

"Now that I see you…"

The silence that followed was…comfortable, Harry realized.

There was no need to fill the space between them with small talk, or any urge to start a conversation, as if everything was already known between them.

Harry hardly minded Ron's chatter, or Hermione's study-induced lectures, or even Flora's attempts at conversation in Neville's stead, but sitting here with Nasrin, Ariel a warm weight in his lap and Eevee cooing happily as she scratched right behind an ear, was enough to ease him into a doze after so many sleepless hours.

The pinkette smiled sleepily as she watched Harry slip into easy dreams, memories of her own dream fading like shadows in the dawn.

Everything was just fine.