After leaving his father's office, Harry felt slightly reassured as he headed up to Gryffindor Tower. Realistically he would love nothing more than to get out of the whole tournament, but since that wasn't a serious option, he would just have to make the most of things. He trusted his family would protect him, he just wish he knew what he was about to face.

Ironically Harry's first difficulty as a champion arose almost as soon as he entered Gryffindor Tower. The second he stepped foot in the common room, everyone stopped talking and they all turned to look at him. Ignoring the stares, he made his way over to Hermione and his friends who were sitting beside the fire.

"Hey," He said quietly as he sat down next to Ron.

"Hey, is that all you've got to say?" Ron snarled as he jumped to his feet.

"What's going on?" Harry asked warily. Ron was clearly mad at him for some reason, but he was unsure why.

"As if you need to ask," Ron replied with a snort. "I thought we were friends, Harry. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you put your name in the Goblet of Fire. Did it ever occur to you, I might have wanted to enter? Maybe for once, I wanted to step out of your shadow and get some glory of my own."

Harry looked up at Ron and shook his head in disbelief. "You honestly think I did this myself. How stupid are you?"

"I'm not stupid," Ron snapped. "I know what I saw Harry. I saw you grabbing all the attention, again."

"You think I want all this attention?" Harry shouted as he got to his feet and glared at Ron. "I don't want to be in this bloody tournament. Someone entered my name into the goblet without my knowledge, probably someone hoping to kill me. I would love for you to take my place in this tournament. I don't want glory, Ron, I just want to live my life in peace."

"As if," Ron scoffed. "You've done nothing but hog the limelight since I met you. You're always jumping in to save the day."

"I'm sorry, next time I'll leave your sister to die," Harry snapped. "You know what, Ron, think what you like. I don't care."

"Good, because I think you're a stinking no good backstabber," Ron shot back. "A true friend would have told me about their plan."

"There was no plan," Harry shouted as Ron turned and stomped up to the dorms. "Really, there wasn't," He added quietly as he turned back to the others. "I didn't do this."

"I'm sure you didn't, Harry," Seamus said sympathetically.

"Yeah, you'd have to be mad to willingly enter such a dangerous tournament," Dean added as he and Seamus got up to head to bed.

Neville also expressed his belief that Harry hadn't entered the tournament willingly before he also headed to bed. Left alone with Hermione, Harry slumped back down on the sofa. Hermione quickly joined him, wrapping her arm around him as she subtly cast a spell around them so that no-one could overhear their conversation.

"Are you stuck in the tournament?" Hermione asked. Despite the spell she was still wary of what they said, just in case anything went wrong.

"It looks that way," Harry replied. "Apparently getting out of the tournament could take years. I'll just have to take part and be very careful."

"We'll help you all we can," Hermione said. She knew Harry would know she was including Draco in her offer of help.

"I know," Harry said, giving Hermione a small smile.

"And don't worry about Ron, he's just an arsehole," Hermione said.

"We already knew that," Harry said with a smirk.

"I tried to talk some sense into him, but I don't think that's possible," Hermione said. "He's just so jealous of you and so desperate for some fame of his own."

"Pathetic git," Harry muttered. "I've got more important things to worry about than Ron's insecurities."

"Unfortunately, I'm fairly sure he'll come round," Hermione said. "He wouldn't know what to do with himself if he wasn't 'best friends' with Harry Potter."

"I'll have to enjoy the peace while I can," Harry said with a smile.

"You will, and don't worry about the tournament. I'm sure the family will work out who entered you and why," Hermione said.

"I'm sure they will," Harry agreed.

After talking to Hermione for a while longer, Harry said goodnight and headed off to bed. Ron was still awake when he entered the dorm room, but the second Harry entered the room he pulled the hangings around his bed.

"Git," Harry muttered under his breath as he got ready for bed and settled down in his own bed for the night.

C.O.T.D.

The following morning Ron still wasn't talking to Harry. Not that Harry was bothered, he was more concerned with the tournament and the fact he was expected to do his first duties as champion after breakfast.

"Are you nervous?" Hermione asked as they ate.

"Of course I'm nervous," Harry replied. "I've been entered into a deadly tournament, and I have no idea what awaits me."

"Maybe you'll find out after breakfast," Hermione suggested.

"I hope so," Harry said. "I think not knowing what to expect is the worst thing about all this. Maybe if I knew what to prepare for, I could calm my nerves slightly."

"I'm sure everything will be alright," Hermione said as she gave Harry a peck on the cheek.

"I'm sure it will," Harry replied, offering Hermione a small smile as they prepared to part ways.

As Harry turned to head into the anti-chamber, he ran head first into Draco. Draco snapped at him to watch where he was going as he subtly slipped a piece of parchment into his hand. Snapping back at Draco, Harry gave his friend a quick nod as he turned and headed into the anti-chamber. Once in the anti-chamber, Harry quickly read the note. It contained a quick good luck from Draco as well as a request to go to Severus's office at lunchtime. Harry shoved the note into his pocket as Dumbledore entered the room with the other two heads. A few minutes later the other three champions were present and Dumbledore called for quiet.

"Your four have a big responsibility," He began. "The eyes of the wizarding world will be on you. Remember you'll be representing your school, and I'm sure you all want to do them proud. This is your chance to shine, even if you don't win the tournament, you can make a name for yourself. Take this opportunity, and use it. The first task will be held on the twenty fourth of November, but there is one more thing you need to do before then. You are going to spend the morning talking to a journalist from the Daily Prophet. There'll be pictures taken, and interviews with all four of you. Remember, the whole world wants to know what happens with the tournament."

Harry wasn't at all impressed at the thought of talking to a journalist, and he was even less impressed when Dumbledore ushered a blonde woman in a lime green skirt and jacket into the room. Harry instantly disliked the woman as she scrutinised him with a hungry look on her face, while Dumbledore introduced her as Rita Skeeter. Her eyes lighting up at the thought of interviewing Harry Potter, Rita turned to the photographer who had followed her into the room. Immediately she began barking orders and posing the four champions as the photographer snapped his pictures.

"You've got until lunchtime to do the interviews, Rita," Dumbledore told the reporter. "Harry, Cedric, once Rita is finished with you, you can return to your normal classes."

"I think we'll start with the youngest," Rita said with a wide smile. "Little Harry Potter."

Before Harry knew it, Rita had grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him out of the anti-chamber. Second later she thrust him into a darkened room, and when she flicked on the light, he found they were in a supply cupboard.

"This will do nicely," Rita remarked as she transfigured a couple of boxes into chairs. "Sit down, Harry. I won't bite."

Harry sat down on one of the chairs and watched as Rita settled herself on the other. With a flick of her wand, a notebook and a fancy quill appeared hovering in mid-air in front of her.

"You don't mind if I use a quick-quotes quill do you?" She asked, even though it was clearly a rhetorical question. "So Harry, why did a boy of twelve chose to enter such a dangerous tournament?"

"Firstly, I'm not twelve, I'm fourteen," Harry corrected. "And secondly, I didn't enter the tournament. Someone else put my name in the goblet."

"Do you think it's your tragic past?" Rita asked, having not paid the slightest bit attention to what Harry had said. "Are you desperate to prove yourself? Especially now You-Know-Who is back. Are you trying to make your dead parents proud?"

Harry frowned at Rita, before focusing on her quill which hadn't stopped writing although he'd barely spoken. "What's that writing?" He asked, tilting his head to read some of what was going down in her notebook. "Hey, my eyes aren't glistening with the ghosts of my past. Nor am I about to burst into tears as you talk about my mother."

"Don't worry, it's just a bit of fluff for the piece." Rita waved a dismissive hand as she moved the notebook out of Harry's line of sight. "Now tell me about some of your other adventures. You've had quite an eventful life, haven't you?"

Despite the fact Rite asked hundreds of questions, Harry barely managed to answer half of them. No sooner had she asked one question, then she was answering it herself and moving on. After nearly half an hour she had pages full of nonsense written by her magical quill, and Harry had spoken very little. Not at all impressed with the over the top reporter, Harry was finally able to leave the supply cupboard and return to his normal life as a student.

Harry managed to attend a couple of classes before lunch, and during them he filled Hermione in on his interview with Rita. Ron still wasn't speaking to him, so the pair were able to talk in relative peace. Harry was even able to quickly tell Hermione about the note he received from Draco.

At lunchtime, Hermione decided to accompany Harry to Severus's office. With Ron not talking to Harry, it was the perfect opportunity for the pair to slip away unnoticed. When they arrived down in the dungeons, Severus was waiting for them in his office alongside Draco.

"I just wanted to see how things were going," Draco explained. "I was pretty worried last night when your name came out of the goblet."

"Weren't we all," Harry replied, giving his best friend a smile.

"Luckily, I've got a pile of protection spells and potions to keep you safe," Severus said. "And I suppose it's also pretty fortunate that you've already got a few protective spells on you."

The spells Harry had on him were a result of Severus's worries about Sirius. Even though he was on the run again, they didn't know if he'd be back. Severus had been worried that Harry's godfather would try and snatch him, so they'd protected him so no-one could take him anywhere without his permission. However, they were going to need a lot more spells on him to protect him from what was to come in the Triwizard Tournament.

"Do you have any idea what the tournament will involve?" Harry asked as his father began to administer the potions and cast the spells.

"I know the final task will involve finding the actual Triwizard Cup itself," Severus answered. "But other than that, I know nothing. As a judge, Lucius will find out about the tasks ahead of time. He'll warn us what's coming up."

"And we'll prepare together," Draco reassured his friend. "You're not in this alone, Harry. Hermione and I will help in any way we can."

"Look at you two, on the same wave length," Harry said, throwing the pair a mischievous smirk. "Hermione said the same things last night. Isn't it cute how you can speak for one another?"

"Harry," Hermione warned in a stern voice.

"Sorry, Aunt Hermione," Harry returned, causing Hermione to snarl at him while Severus and Draco chuckled softly.

"There, we're done," Severus announced ten minutes later. "The spells will keep any serious harm from coming to you. Although, you'll still have to be careful and have a plan of action going into every task."

"We'll make sure he does," Hermione promised her brother.

"And I'll be there at every task in case anything goes wrong," Severus added. "I'm telling the three of you now, if I seriously fear for Harry's life, I'm breaking cover. I will not stand back and do nothing while my son is in danger, and I don't care who knows it. Hopefully, it won't come to that, but I thought you deserved to know it would happen if things got dicey."

"If it happens, it happens," Harry said with a shrug. "Hopefully we'll be prepared and I can get through this tournament unscathed."

"Not to mention the Yule Ball," Severus added with a wicked grin.

"The Yule Ball?" Harry looked to his father for more answers.

"A traditional part of the tournament," Severus explained. "It's an old fashioned ball, where the champions start off the dancing."

"Dancing?" Harry paled at the thought of dancing. Unlike Draco, he wasn't elegant and had never mastered the art of dancing.

"The dancing isn't the hard part," Severus laughed. "The hard part is finding a date and asking the girl to the dance."

"We have to take dates?" Draco asked, his grey eyes briefly flicking over to Hermione before returning to his godfather.

"Well, Harry has to take a date as a champion, but most people will turn up with dates," Severus answered. "But don't tell anyone I told you about this. Dumbledore's planning on making the announcement later in the term. He wants a few weeks of peace before he breaks the news about the Yule Ball and we have to deal with students going all starry eyed as they pick partners."

"Is there any chance I can skip the ball?" Harry asked.

"No," Severus replied with a chuckle. "Now the three of you better get going before you miss your lunch entirely. And Harry, don't stress about the tournament. The second Lucius knows about the first task, we'll let you know. Until then, try and relax."

"Of course," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes at his father. "Why wouldn't I relax? Not only am I entered into a deadly tournament, but now I have to worry about dates for some dance. My life is completely in control, and there isn't anything to worry about."

With a final chuckle, Severus herded the trio out of his office and sent them off to grab some lunch. For the time being, he'd done all he could for Harry. His son was perfectly safe for the moment, and he'd be there waiting at every task to ensure it stayed that way. Nothing was going to happen to Harry, not on his watch.