So, I hope you all enjoyed yesterday's twist, and will continue to see how things change - a little 'divine' interference, and some scary beasts to keep you reading - the first task should be coming up in the next few days...

Please read and review :)

Kyae x

Day 10

Dragons

By the time Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna met up again, there was only one shop left to go to, and, naturally, it was the favourite of a certain witch – the book shop.

Following his friends around, Harry began to dawdle, looking idly through the books, until he saw a muggle 'post-it' stuck to the front of one, the elegant, precise writing on it written in muggle ink pen, oddly like Sirius'.

'This will help you Potter – there is one in the castle whom you should not trust, and one who you can with your life, but the line between trust and betrayal is thin. We know that more than most. Study as much as you can – you have been given the unique advantage of knowing your course for the next three years. Become more like that Granger girl. RAB.'

Shaking his head at how Hermione-like the letter sounded, Harry picked up the book (Study of the Mind – the three O's) and many others, taking advantage of the time here – after all, he was the first to admit dying five times in a space of an hour was extreme, so any help he could get would be useful for this tournament...

-o-O-o-

"Harry?" Looking up from his pile of books, Harry saw Hermione Neville and Luna waiting by the door, books of their own besides them. "What took you so long?"

"Urm... extra reading... they looked interesting..." Harry mumbled, going quickly to pay for them before following his (he realised) true friends back to the castle. "Hey Neville – you know that book Moody gave you – what was it about?"

"Oh, just magical herbs." The boy blushed, but continued when no one ridiculed him. "I thought I might grow some myself and do some experiments..."

"That's a great idea!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes shining with ideas. "Many home-grown plants are better in potions and stuff – much better than that you can get at the apothecary. Maybe we should grow our own for potions and stuff – I'll get you all better in no time!"

The good-natured laughter that followed instantly stopped at the arrival of one Draco Malfoy.

"Well, well, if it isn't Potter, the mudblood and the loonies."

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked once it became clear that the Slytherin wouldn't let them through.

"You know, I never thought your standards could lower Potter – Weasley was bad enough, but these two? A squib and a lunatic. You're all disgr..."

The boy never finished his sentence; the impact of being punched by three, and hexed by the fourth will often stop one from talking. There was no blood, but Malfoy was readily sporting two black eyes and a broken nose that began fading from view.

Of course, Harry had seen the hex in a book, but never thought he'd use it that quickly.

"Wait till..."

"My father hears about this!" The quartet joined in as Malfoy ran off, presumably to snitch on them.

"I really shouldn't have done that again..." Hermione laughed, looking at her hands, Neville and Luna nodding, but defiantly.

"It serves him right Hermione – he's made our lives hell for over three years. Why can't we get revenge at some point?" Neville responded, his eyes gleaming with power.

"But what about when he tells the teachers...?" She continued in her fretting.

"They won't see anything." Harry smirked, laughing at the three puzzled faces in front of him.

"What?"

"That hex – well, it's one that covers all injuries, making them appear normal for three weeks, but they're not. Malfoy will still feel the pain, but no teacher will see... I... I shouldn't have done it but when he called you that I couldn't stop myself..." Harry tried to defend himself from the brunette, but gave up happily when he realised that she was glomping, not strangling him.

"I suppose he'll never get a date then for the ball with a crooked nose..." Luna wasn't being malicious, more factual as she wandered off, her eyes suddenly becoming completely colourless.

"Pomphrey'll fix it straight away though once the charm has gone..." Hermione called after her, but the Ravenclaw had already gone.

"Maybe someone else will punch him." Neville shrugged, leading the way to the common room, Harry and Hermione following silently, both contemplating the situation. "Oh hi Ginny!"

"Hello Neville, Hermione... Harry..." Harry didn't fail to notice the blush on Ginny's face when she spoke to him, but for some reason it didn't fill him with the same warmth it had before... she just looked like a kid now, a kid with a childhood crush. She wasn't his Ginny after all... "Urm... Hagrid was talking to me and Ron earlier... he said he wanted to see you tonight, at around 6, and to bring your cloak... He said you'd know what he meant anyway... Ron refused to deliver a message so..."

She didn't even wait to see what the reaction was before rushing off to the other third years, her face bright red.

"You two wanna join me?" Harry offered, realising sadly that Ron wasn't warming to him slightly now – why wouldn't he warm him about the dragons? They were deadly after all... Had he really changed things that much now?

"Sorry Harry – me and Luna are gonig to work together on some coursework – she's trying to skip a year to get away from her classmates..." Neville suddenly blushed, so to help him feel less embarrassed, he turned to Hermione, giving her a sweeping bow.

"Well then, it looks like it will just be you and I, Lady Hermione, going on this twilight walk." He grinned as she took his hand, her eyes gleaming mischievously.

"I look forward to it Mr Potter." She teased back, as he took her arm, going through the castle and picking up food on the way to Hagrid's hut, the walk (with a detour to the black lake) taking just over an hour, the three meeting at the pumpkin patch at half 7.

-o-O-o-

"Dragons?" Hermione mouthed to Harry as they watched the four cages be revealed, Hagrid and Madam Maxine some way away making sickening sounds. "You... you have to fight dragons...?"

"Yeah..." Harry replied lamely, staring at the four in horror yet again.

It was one thing battling the brutes the first time round – he was young, naive, and thought that everyone hated him. He had almost not cared if he had died...

But this time... well, he was enjoying life this time round. He had friends that were true, a godfather who was staying around this year, and people who would support him – who were training him.

And, Cassi would kill him (again) if he ended this life before the age of 200.

And that Reaper was one hell of a scary being when she was angry.

'Think this time Potter, or I will be there cheering the dragon on...' Cassi's voice filtered through the air, causing Harry to shiver.

"Are you cold Harry?" Feeling his shiver, Hermione cast a warming charm on the two.

"Just had the feeling of someone walking over my grave, ya know?" He grinned, pulling her closer to him, sheltering her as they moved away from the dragons and back to Gryffindor tower.