KEYNOTE: That Dark Mark is given personally by Voldemort as a sign of honor and loyalty. As the Mark summons his followers to meeting points nobody wants a traitor bringing Aurors with them. Harry can't apparate, so Voldemort has two years before he either seduces or kills him.

AN: I feel your anger, but guys I had a dragon toast Harry in the first task then had Albus Dumbledore kill him, what were you expecting for the Final Task? Harry to win because he shits rainbows. If you wanted this fic to continue to book six, it needed an entertaining villain. Maybe not for your enjoyment, but for mine and without my enjoyment nothing gets written, does it? Disorder of the Phoenix, aside from being my first fic, failed because I waviered because of crappy reviews like the ones I'm getting now. I don't apologize for having a plot, I am having far too much fun ;)

Chapter 11 - Champions

"Potter," a voice growled from behind a hedge as Harry got shakily to his feet.

"Who's there?" Harry called, raising his wand, though it shook violently.

He kept telling himself that he was alright, that he was alive, that he would find a way to kill the Dark Lord and put this nightmare behind him.

A man, who looked like a younger, yet more battered version of Crouch emerged behind a bend of greener.

"Who are you?"

"The Dark Lord let you live. What did he say? What did he do? Did he punish them? Did he punish the others for betraying us?"

"What?" Harry asked.

"What did he say, Potter!?" the man shouted, the look in his eyes was all Harry needed to know that this man was insane.

He backed up a few steps.

"What's that on your arm?" the stranger asked abruptly.

Harry yanked down his sleeve, "Nothing, nothing," he said lamely. It clearly was not 'nothing,' anyone could have read that in his reaction.

"He marked you? But it is an honour… An honour!"

Which was Harry's cue to leave, "I don't want your damn honour."

"Crucio!"

Harry spun, the curse missing him. He started running. He had lost one fight today he didn't want to lose another. Dumbledore was on the other side of these stupid hedges. He just had to get to Dumbledore.

"Arry!" Fleur shouted.

"Run!" Harry shouted back, catching her arm and turning her back the way she had come.

"What's going on?" Viktor demanded, running with them, "Where have been?"

A jet of green light burst behind their heels. "Run! He's going to kill us!" was Harry's answer.

Fleur, Harry, and Viktor ran in step with each other. Whoever the bastard was behind them couldn't keep up with three athletically trained teenagers. His curses, however, had a longer reach. Bushes were charred and melted intermittently.

"Where were you? We've been looking for hours?" Fleur asked, her breath only slightly breathy.

Harry's response wasn't even a full sentence. "Cup. Portkey. Voldemort," he painted.

"What?" Viktor demanded.

"I will kill you, Potter! It was me who was supposed to be rewarded! You were supposed to die! I will kill you!"

His subsequent curses missed. Fleur turned and shot a spell over her shoulder while running.

There was a yelp and they gained a few more corners. Harry was following Fleur and Viktor who apparently knew the maze well enough now to not get lost. Until they hit a dead end.

Viktor sent a blasting curse into the leaves, it was absorbed. Harry used the same spell as did Fleur. Their three joint spells made a ripple and a window, but the hedgerow grew back before they could have jumped through it.

They all cussed in their native languages.

Fleur stepped in front of them and sent a fireball so big, so hot, the flames were blue-white.

The hedgerow did not grow back, but the flames didn't expand after Fleur let her power recede.

They ran through. A skrewt came at them which Harry reductoed so violently that not even its magical armored plates could save it.

They ducked around another corner just as their pursuer was catching up to them.

Viktor threw back a returning curse which they heard ping off a shield. "Who is this man?"

"Death Eater, I think," Harry gasped. He was running on adrenaline, he felt both like he could run forever and that if didn't rest soon he would pass out.

Passing out wasn't an option.

Suddenly, a fire started up behind them, a fire that grew large and furious behind them. There were screams throughout the maze, as if the creatures for the task were fleeing for their lives too.

Harry spared a thought for the Sphinx he had met.

The fire grew, Harry and Viktor cried, "Fleur!"

"It isn't me!" her voice was high pitched with panic.

They all glanced back; shapes of magical creatures rose and fell in and out of the inferno, a silhouette of a man walking through the blaze, the fire spilling from his wand.

Walking. Clearly, he thought he had them, and he almost did, the flames were closing in around them fast.

"Fiendfyre!?" Viktor bellowed.

Fleur's cussing was long and elegant as they all pressed forward, faster than they had done before.

They made it back to the entrance of the maze, finally.

The professors were all on their feet, wands raised against the flames. A few of the professors who likely weren't as good with defensive spells, such as the Muggle Studies professor and Hagrid were herding the students and other spectators toward the castle.

Harry had foolishly believed they were safe now, there were the professors, there was Dumbledore. But apparently, Fiendfyre was a force of nature that could distract from the Death Eater throwing curses at the champions.

"Avada Keda-"

Only physical objects or beings can stop an unforgivable, Harry, remember that.

Quicker than he could form words for, he levitated the podium the band conductor had been using in front of himself and Fleur.

"-vra!"

Harry had the barest of moments to realize that Voldemort's advice had just saved his life, but then Viktor started dueling the Death Eater.

Fleur and Harry joined him. As did Mr. Delacour.

Incredibly, the wizard was able to hold them all off, the professors still attempting to subdue the flames crackling and hissing behind him.

"Stupify!" Harry roared as someone yelled, "My son! Sto-No!"

The crazy wizard fell backward into the jaws of serpent formed of cursed flame. The image of the man bursting into flame seared itself into Harry's memory as the absent judge, Crouch, charged at Harry. Mr. Delacour caught him, holding the man back.

"You killed my son! 'That's my boy! That's my son!'"

Fleur wrapped her arms around Harry and pulled him back. Viktor stood between the grieving father and Harry.

They watched as what was left of Barty Crouch's sanity cracked.

Harry's knees went weak and Fleur caught him, falling to the ground with him.

Fudge and Percy led the man off, and Mr. Delacour had joined the professors fighting the cursed fire. It took another half an hour before they were able to vanquish the flames.

Fleur's arms were the only thing keeping Harry together. Viktor stood sentry for them.

"What happened?" McGonagall asked when the pitch was nothing but a smoking scorch mark on the Earth.

Madame Pomfrey fell to her knees beside Harry and Fleur, scanning them with her wand for injuries.

"He was in the maze," Harry managed to say, even though his throat was so dry it was hard to speak.

Pomfrey summoned three glasses of water, which the champions all took gladly.

"It shouldn't have taken you all three hours to find the cup," McGonagall noted, "I was about to go in looking for you."

Mr. Delacour looked to infuriated with the whole situation to speak.

Harry wasn't sure what to say either. He had essentially just killed a man, Death Eater or no, he had still been a person. He thought it would be a bad idea to bring up that he had been briefly kidnapped and marked by the Dark Lord.

He needed to talk to Dumbledore in private, or perhaps Snape. Snape might be able to give him more information if he was in a sharing mood.

"Who got the cup?" Maxime asked.

Harry and Fleur exchanged a glance that said more than either could voice, they turned as one to Viktor and pointed.

His brown eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded. He had been in the lead, and though Harry had gotten there first, the cup had not been a victory.

"Durmstrang wins!" Bagman announced jovilly.

There was a profound silence that seemed to take in the three slightly traumatized champions, the enraged healer and father, the wary professors, the charred Quidditch pitch, and the empty stands.

"I hate humans," a female voice said.

Harry turned to see the Sphinx sitting a few yards away from them, as if she were a queen looking over a ruined banquet.

"Where's Karkaroff?" Maxime asked suddenly.

"You don't think he was taken by the flames, do you?" Viktor asked.

Snape shook his head, "He probably ran off with the rest of his students. Coward."

"Where's Alistar?" Flitwick asked.

No one could find Moody and no one dismissed the idea that he might have been taken by the flames.

Madame Pomfrey got the three champions off to the hospital wing.

Once the lights were out, Fleur snuck into Harry's bed. Viktor sat at the foot of his bed. Harry clasped hands with Fleur before he revealed what had been done to him.

"Is he stupid?" Viktor asked in a low voice, "You would never join the Dark Lord."

Fleur nodded, "You aren't the type, even if you were, he murdered your parents. What's he thinking?"

Harry shook his head, "He said Dumbledore doesn't trust me. The Headmaster isn't my favorite person at the moment, but I don't hate him. At least not enough to go dark and give up all my values in the process."

"That mark doesn't make you his slave, but you should still keep it quiet," Viktor suggested.

"I know," Harry said sadly. "But I have to tell someone. The Headmaster will know what to do."

"Tell Severus Snape first," Viktor advised.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because your Dumbledore might be a powerful man, but powerful men sometimes forget what it is like to be small. And if you decide to play the Dark Lord, going to another Death Eater will help your case."

"Viktor," Harry said slowly, "it's a trap. No matter what he says, no matter what he offers, he means to kill me. He just seemed to have come up with some screwed up plan before he beheads me."

Fleur brought his hand to her lips, "That's not going to happen."

Harry nodded, "I'm going to kill him. No matter what it takes. He killed my parents, hurt thousands of people… and now this?" He laid his fingers on the mark that felt charged, like the buzzing of a live wire. "This is a reminder that only way to win is with him dead, permanently."

Viktor sighed, "And so another war begins."

"We will triumph," Fleur degreed, "Voldemort is going to rue the day he crossed us."

Harry laughed, and had to hold his free hand to his lips to muffle the sound.

"I don't think there is anything funny about that statement of fact," Viktor remarked coldy.

Harry shook his head, "It's not that. It's just… well, this is how revolutions start, huh? A couple of kids huddled in a hospital bed, plotting the demise of an evil emperor."

"We are not kids," Fleur said haughtily, "We are Champions."

The next day Harry found himself in the dungeons. The Hogwarts students weren't overjoyed at the outcome of the tournament, and some were downright awful to him and Hermione. But nobody was really surprised.

Viktor had been slated to win from the First Task.

Karakuroff had never shown up and several representatives had shown up from Durmstrang to bring their students home to celebrate.

Hermione had buried herself in the library after Viktor had set off. They were still dating, but neither was thrilled about the long distance. Though with Viktor graduating and following his Quidditch career full time, they wouldn't have been much closer even if they were in the same country.

Professor Moody was eventually found in a Barty Crouch Jr.'s trunk. Crouch Jr. had been jugging poly juice all year. Hogwarts was just having a bad year in the public eye.

Harry knocked on Snape's office door. The door swung open a few moments later, revealing a snarling potions professor.

"I'm busy," he said shortly.

"I need to talk to you," Harry said, undeterred.

"Didn't you hear me, Potter? I'm bu-"

Harry yanked up his left sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark.

Snape's onyx eyes went wide, his mouth going slack. "Get in here." He locked the door behind Harry.

"What happened? Tell me everything. Every detail."

Harry told him everything he could remember.

Snape sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face, he got up and pulled a balm out his desk draw. "Put this on. Re-apply it once everyday, it lasts for three days, but get in the habit of applying it every single day. I'll brew more and send it to you. If someone knows what they looking for it won't too much good against a revealing charm. But it will keep it hidden if you are in the shower, or fool enough to wear short sleeves."

"Thanks," he said, taking the balm, and though he could still feel the simpering magic of it, Harry was glad to be freed from the sight of it. "What does it do, exactly, Sir?"

Snape sighed, "He can call you, which will hurt, and do you little good because you can't apparate. And he can use it to find you in return, especially, if you press your wand to it and try to activate the mark. So don't mess with it. It doesn't come off. Trust that enough of us have tried."

"I could cut the arm off," Harry suggested.

"And how would you explain that, Mr. Potter? You suddenly took offensive to your arm and decided to lop it off?"

"Pomfrey could grow it back."

"It's Dark Magic, Potter. It's unpredictable. I can't tell you what might happen if you do that."

"Has anyone done it before?"

"No, because it would have been a waving flag for a guilty conscious. And as of until now, the Dark Mark has never been given to anyone unwillingly before."

"So what do I do?"

"You keep your mouth shut, we play the game, and do our damnest to keep you away from the Dark Lord. It was a full reseraction, I think. Did he use your blood?"

"There was a large cut on my right arm, Pomfrey found it last night."

Severus cursed, "Your mother's blood wards might not work then. Shite."

"Wait. What blood wards?"

"Your mother's death, Dumbledore used your family ties to keep you safe. Didn't you ever wonder why you were kept with muggles? There were hundreds of families who would have taken you in. But you were safest there. We will have to find somewhere else for you, but I don't know that we have a choice but to send you back without raising suspicions."

"Can't Dumbledore get me out of this?"

"No."

"But he helped you."

Snape shook his head pulling on a lock of greasy hair, "Dumbledore trusts me."

"Good for you. But why can't he help me?"

"He doesn't trust you, not anymore."

Harry's throat went dry, "Oh."

The potions master sighed, "Potter, listen to me. It is imperative that you keep quiet."

"Why? Why did he even mark me? We all know he wants me dead."

"Because by giving you the mark you can't blab."

"I couldn't have talked if he killed me either, and he could have killed me."

"I don't know why he didn't kill you."

"What would happen if the ministry did find out about the mark? What would they do to me?"

"I don't know."

Harry felt heavier, as the reality of what had happened to him settled on his shoulders.

"Listen to me, Potter. I am going to keep you alive. I am going to keep you alive if it kills me."

Unfortunately, that seemed like an all too likely scenario.

Hermione was not happy about the Dark Mark and started listing off solutions to removing it. Fleur had helpfully suggested they could burn it off. But Harry decided that Snape was right. The best way to stay alive was to play the game, which meant keeping the mark.

He didn't tell the twins, but he did give the triwizard winnings -which Viktor had left him, to them.

It was the last day of term, and Harry would be headed home. He hadn't told Snape that he would be moving in with Sirius who had spoken to in the fire. Sirius was confident that the Black wards would hold, at least long enough to get them to safety if there was an attack. The Dursleys without the surety of the his mother's blood wards was no longer a feasible option, no matter what Snape assumed.

Fleur tugged on Harry's hand, "It's going to be alright, 'Arry, I swear it."

He looked at her and his heart broke, "I'm going to miss you."

She cupped his face in her hands, "It will be a long summer, but lots and lots of letters. We'll work on your French."

His heart felt sharp in his chest, "It is going to be a long two years, if we make it that long."

She shook her head, her silver hair spilling over her shoulders, shifting in the wind that promised a warm summer. "I'm transferring to Hogwarts for my last year. My father, my Headmistress, and your Headmaster cleared the paperwork. You and I get be in the same classes since they advanced you."

Joy, raw, pure joy filled him. He kissed her, holding her close, and in that moment let all his troubles be for a time.

When they parted, he said, "I love you."

Her smile was stunning. "Je t'aime, 'Arry, Je t'aime."

They held onto each other, and Harry decided that for this, for this love, for this life, he would do anything, anything.

The train ride back to London was fraught with anxiety. The plan was to pick him up in Surry.

Aurors and Death Eaters would be after them, but the 'safe' options had burned up at this point.

Harry had asked Sirius to put up some extra wardings and alarms around the Weasleys and the Grangers. Sirius had perhaps a bit too much sneaking around the Arthur or Molly spotting him. His description of 'guarding the hen house with barbwire and bear traps' worried Harry a bit. He sincerely hoped he hadn't put bear traps around, Ron would probably step into one.

Whatever Sirius had done, wasn't the same as the wards that would be around their new home, but something was better than nothing.

When Harry had asked about Fleur's household security, she had laughed at him and said, "If my father wouldn't be up on charges for harboring criminals and kidnapping national heroes you could live with us. Anyone who tried to take you would be dead."

It didn't seem like a bad plan to wait out Voldemort there, but where Fleur could take care of herself, he would never ask anyone to put Gabrielle in danger.

Hermione was pretty quiet on the ride back, there hadn't been enough time for her to even begin searching for solutions.

The twins were a bit too preoccupied with plotting their joke shop, to think anything beyond teenage romance being the cause of Harry and Hermione's somber demeanors.

Getting off the train, Harry looked around for the Dursleys, happy that this would be the last time he would do so. Hedwig had already flown off to Sirius' home already, her cage shrunk in a letter he had sent with her.

Lucius Malfoy gave Harry an appraising look as he passed by, as did Nott's dad. Harry ignored them both, despite the crawling sensation on the back of his neck.

The Dursleys were waiting at the curb. Harry placed his trunk in the back without a word, without a greeting. He waved at Hermione and her parents, who waved back cheerily.

The road to Surry was longer than it had ever been before. Dudley mocked his new scars, Aunt Petunia fretted over how they would explain it to the neighbors, and Uncle Vernon decreed that it was 'most fritting, now everyone will see you for the freak you are.'

Harry ignored them too. Freedom was so close, so close he could taste it on the tip of his tongue.

The car parked in the drive.

Harry pulled his luggage out of the trunk and said, "I think I'll go for a walk."

"Be back in time to make dinner," Aunt Petunia ordered tartly.

Dudley took one parting shot at Harry, which he ducked effortlessly. The Dursleys trooped into Number Four Privet Drive without a backward glance at their nephew.

Harry turned away from them, walking to the park, feeling as if his feet had wings. He went to his favorite swing and waited.

It was nearing sundown when a black dog with a sleek coat emerged from the woods. He sat directly in front of him, ears perked.

"Hello godfather," Harry said to the dog.

Sirius gave him a canine grin and wagged his floofy tail energetically.

END OF BOOK FOUR

AN: So, assuming you still hate me, I can only say that book five will be far less angsty than the cannon. I am bringing sassy back. Please, please review, share your thoughts and reactions with me?