Ah, procrastination is a terrible thing, but at least I get this story written. Did you know there is no word for procrastination in German? Fun fact, I don't know. Well, anyway, I have a lot due this week so I'm hoping to get the next chapter in by next Monday as well, be we'll see. Happy Memorial Day to all ya'll here in the US! So nice to be out of school for the day. Anyway, on to the longest chapter I've written! (With the help of J.K Rowling...)
Disclaimer: I don't own either of the two series'.
Chapter 11
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore's voice echoed louder in the Great Hall, and Harry broke his gaze away from Naruto's. Shaking, he stood up from his table, and began walking towards the door behind the staff table. He was painfully aware of how loud his footsteps sounded in the silent room, as well of the eyes that were drilling holes in his back. As soon as he reached the staff table, whispers erupted behind him.
He reached the door, opening it, only vaguely feeling the presence of someone behind him. The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus mustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear.
Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire,They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.
"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"
She thought he had come to deliver a message. Harry didn't know how to explain what had just happened. Harry saw the shinobi guards standing off to the side. Sakura had been leaning on the wall, but when he entered, she straightened. She made eye contact with him and understanding seemed to dawn on her. She turned to her fellow guards and quietly said something to them in their native language.
Something moved behind him and he remembered with a start that someone had followed him through the door. Turning around, he saw it was Naruto. An uncommonly grim Naruto. A shiver ran down Harry's spine at the seriousness set in the usually cheerful guards face, and he suddenly recalled Naruto's eyes just a moment ago. A quick glance showed him they were back to their normal striking blue color.
There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward.
"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen...lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three, ignoring the ninja off to the side. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion?"
Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Harry. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."
"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"
Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned.
"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. "'E cannot compete. 'E is too young."
"How is it even possible?" Sen asked, stepping forward. "I thought there was an age line protecting the Goblet, so no one under the age of 17 could cross."
"Well...it is amazing," said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Harry. "But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. Besides that we employed you nine, and we have multiple other security measures besides. And as his name's come out of the goblet...I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage...It's down in the rules, you're obliged...Harry will just have to do the best he -"
The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Samui, Kiyoi, Temari, Maki, and Sasuke. Harry heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.
"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"
Harry felt a small surge of anger at being called a little boy. Was this how the guards felt at being underestimated due to their young age?
Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Sakura roll her eyes.
"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.
"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions - or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"
He gave a short and nasty laugh.
"C'est impossible," said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "'Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."
"Everything in life is unjust." Sasuke interjected. Harry started at the quiet voice of the usually silent guard. Everyone paused and looked at him. "Actually, I think the fact that this tournament was designed to be 'fair' is what makes it unfair. From what I understand, the purpose of the tournament is not just for sport but also to prepare students for the real world, and making the tournament 'fair' isn't going to truly prepare them."
Surprisingly, Kiyoi was the one to step forward.
"He's right," he muttered darkly, shooting the mysterious raven haired man a quick glare. "We have a similar test back home, and the point is to cheat. The problem in this situation is not whether it is fair that Hogwarts has two champions, rather that the tasks were likely planned with the skillset of a seventh year in mind, and Harry four years inexperienced."
Silence reigned the room, and Harry felt a lump in his throat form as he fully realized what that meant.
"Still-" Karkaroff broke the silence first, turning to Dumbledore "-Potter wasn't even supposed to be able to compete. The age line was placed in order to prevent that from occurring. Did you assist him because you plan to help him through the tasks and gain more glory for your school?" He smiled got wider and his eyes grew colder.
"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here -"
"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair.
Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Harry, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.
"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.
"No," said Harry. He was very aware of everybody watching him closely. Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows.
"Did you ask an older student or a guard to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.
"No," said Harry vehemently.
"None of us would have helped him." Naruto's voice was colder than Harry had ever heard it. "Besides, he didn't want to be in the tournament."
"Why not?" cried Madame Maxime. "'e woul' 'ave 'ad eternal glory and money!"
"As Snape said earlier, every year Harry gets pulled into some trouble or other, in addition to being famous simply for living because his parents were murdered, and I know better than anyone that someone can only handle so much. He is enough like me that the only trouble he would willingly get into would be to protect someone, and unless someone is blackmailing him, this tournament does not fit in that category." Again, the room was so silent you could've heard a pin drop. Harry wondered what Naruto meant when he said he would know better than anyone.
"How would you know about Potter's activities in past years, and why should we consider you an authority on the matter?" Karkaroff sneered.
"As for Harry's past, we read the file." Sakura deadpanned. Everyone's head whipped toward her. She was back to leaning against the wall, Temari, Maki, and Sen standing stiffly next to her. "As for Naruto, that is an issue that you don't need nor have the right to know. All you need to know is that our lives are very different from your luxurious and protected lives, and though Naruto can relate to Harry more in particular, all of us have seen the lengths people will go to to get fame and money. We know those types of people. That is our authority on the subject. Some of you might not understand this, but sometimes that's not what people want. Harry already has fame and money. He's had his share of trouble, and he will have more. We can see in his actions and his eyes that he didn't want this, yet he has it."
Maki spoke up after a pause to let Sakura's words sink in.
"I do not understand what we are doing standing around here arguing."
"He could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that -"
"Before you say anything, Madame Maxime," Maki interrupted, her eyes freezing Madame Maxime, who had been about to speak, "Dumbledore did not make a mistake with the Age Line. I did a quick check of the Goblet before coming in here. There was a faint presence of someone who was not a student, and they must have been the person who entered Harry without his knowledge." She glanced at Temari, then at the rest of the shinobi before continuing. "It is fortunate we mostly know each other enough that we know each other's skills, so we can quickly adjust our previous guard plans to working on the identity of the perpetrator."
Dumbledore nodded.
"Yes thank you. In the meantime, I do believe we should acertain that Harry can't just back out of being a champion."
"Mr. Crouch...Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our - er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"
Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.
"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."
"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.
"I am still sceptical of how much we can truly trust you so called shinobi to be able to protect us, and now you are giving us advice! All of you are only slightly older than the champions themselves, the oldest among you being at most a decade older. I understand things are different for you "back home," but how do you expect us, who are three times your ages, to take to heart your wisdom?" Karkaroff sneered.
"You should pay more attention, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "There's a reason we hired them. I believe we asked for some of the best in their villages, too. Can you not tell, with all the experience that comes with your mighty age, that they deserve the respect and consideration of their 'wisdom' that you so blatantly disregard? Besides, you can't pull any empty threats of leaving the school or firing your guards. Krum's name was pulled from the Goblet, so he has to compete, and the shinobi were hired for the duration of the Tournament and the year and by the coalition of our schools. Your student and guards are bound by a contract to remain here, convenient, no?"
Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk.
"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."
Harry could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.
"Don't you?" said Moody quietly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."
"Evidently, someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.
"I thought we had already agreed that was not the issue." Temari growled in the corner.
"No one agreed, just listened to your lectures!" Karkaroff shot back. Temari merely rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"I quite agree, Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards -"
"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," growled Moody, "but...funny thing...I don't hear him saying a word..."
"Pretty sure that's 'cause none of you will let him get a word in edgewise." Naruto grumbled behind Harry. Harry felt a swell of gratitude for the shinobi- for all the shinobi- for what they had said.
"Ze ninja 'ave already eztablished zere waz zamone 'who placed 'iz name in ze Goblet, but why?" Fleur Delacour asked, stomping her feet.
"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it," said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl.
An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, "Moody, old man...what a thing to say!"
"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime," said Karkaroff loudly. "Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons."
"It's a good quality for a teacher to have." Omoi spoke up for the first time this evening. "It could save them and their students."
"Unless it's their students that they're afraid is going to assassinate them," Temari muttered. Sen and Sakura burst out laughing, Naruto chuckled behind Harry, and Maki failed to smother her smile but shot her leader a disapproving glance. Everyone else in looked over in confusion, and Harry felt a slight discomfort at what Temari had said. What did that even mean, and why was it so funny?
The laughing died down and Sen gestured with her hand.
"Sorry, hah, continue," Moody stared at them for a bit longer, his eyebrow raised, before continuing.
"Imagining things, am I?" He growled. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boy's name in that goblet..."
"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?" said Madame Maxime, throwing up her huge hands.
"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" said Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament...I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category..."
"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly, "and a very ingenious theory it is - though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously..."
Harry felt Naruto tense, and he glanced back Naruto seemed to be in a silent conversation with Sasuke, before turning and having another silent conversation with Sakura across the room. She muttered something to the girls near her, who nodded their heads and Maki quickly pulled out a scroll and scribbled something on it before handing it to Sen. Sen took out a fan from somewhere, and with a flick of her wrist, the scroll was gone. Harry glanced around the room to see where it had gone, but all he could tell was that the other champions had been the only other ones to witness the exchange. Cedric made eye contact with him and raised his eyebrow, but Harry shook his head in confusion.
"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a menacing voice, bringing Harry's attention back to the professors' exchange. "It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff - as you ought to remember…
"Alastor!" said Dumbledore warningly. Harry wondered for a moment whom he was speaking to, but then realized "Mad-Eye" could hardly be Moody's real first name.
Moody fell silent, though still surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction - Karkaroff's face was burning.
"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. We will have the shinobi look into the matter of how Harry's name got submitted to the Goblet. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do..."
"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr -"
"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."
Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited.
"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?"
Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.
"Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes...the first task..."
He moved forward into the firelight. Close up, Harry thought he looked ill. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his wrinkled skin that had not been there at the Quidditch World Cup.
"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard...very important...
"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.
"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers or shinobi to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."
Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.
"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"
"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"
"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry," said Mr. Crouch. "It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment...I've left young Weatherby in charge...Very enthusiastic...a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told..."
"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?" said Dumbledore.
"Come on, Barry, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly. "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here than at the office!"
"I think not, Ludo," said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience.
"Professor Karkaroff - Madame Maxime - a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.
But Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Harry could hear them both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, exited, though in silence.
"Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."
Harry glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left together. He was aware that most of the shinobi flickered out of the room, with the exception of Naruto, Temari, and Samui, who remained in the room to discuss things with Dumbledore.
The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burned low, giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins an eerie, flickering quality.
"So," said Cedric, with a slight smile. "We're playing against each other again!"
"I s'pose," said Harry. He really couldn't think of anything to say. The inside of his head seemed to be in complete disarray, as though his brain had been ransacked.
"Well...see you, then."
Instead of going up the marble staircase, Cedric headed for a door to its right. Harry stood listening to him going down the stone steps beyond it, then, slowly, he started to climb the marble ones.
"Are you okay Harry?" Harry jumped at the voice. He turned around and saw Sakura standing a step behind him.
"Merlin! Stop just appearing like that!" He exclaimed. Her mouth quirked.
"Sorry. Habit, I guess. And payback; our sensei used to do that to us all the time." She said, gesturing to him to continue walking up the stairs. He did so and she fell into step beside him.
"So, how are you feeling?" She asked again. Harry sighed.
"I dunno- scared, I guess." She nodded.
"About what I suspected. Listen, it's okay for you to feel scared. Know that you will not die during this tournament; that's what we are here for, after all. Lean on your friends, too. You've seen how people have reacted. That's just the beginning. Hermione's smart, she'll reason that you couldn't have put your name in and she will stay by your side. Ron, on the other hand-"
"Ron will stand by me too!" Harry defended angrily. Sakura side glanced him.
"I know that he's a good friend and would stand up for you, but this situation is about the glory and fame. Harry, being a friend of someone famous and of someone known for her smarts, it can't be easy for Ron, especially in a big family like his. He'll be bitter about you being in this Tournament, even if he would normally defend you. You just have to understand what he's going through, okay?"
"You're wrong. He won't care about that!" Harry's voice wobbled slightly.
"Maybe, but I doubt it. Trust me. I grew up in a team with the town prodigy and the idiot loser, but the loser kept surpassing me even when I tried to convince myself I was better than him because of my smarts. Then that loser became the village hero. I can't totally empathize with Ron, but I can enough to know that he's going to feel betrayed and ostracized." They came up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Sakura turned to face Harry.
"Try not to get too angry, and instead reach out to him. The time leading up to the next task will be terrible if you don't have both your closest friends to help you." Harry didn't meet her striking jade eyes.
"I'll try." He ground out. She smiled sadly, then flickered away.
After she was gone, Harry took a couple seconds to collect himself, then after a deep breath gave the Fat Lady the password.
The blast of noise that met Harry's ears when the portrait opened almost knocked him backward. Next thing he knew, he was being wrenched inside the common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom were screaming, applauding, and whistling.
"You should've told us you'd entered!" bellowed Fred; he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed.
"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George.
"I didn't," Harry said. "I don't know how -"
But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; "Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor -"
"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!" shrieked Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers.
"We've got food, Harry, come and have some -"
"I'm not hungry, I had enough at the feast -"
But nobody wanted to hear that he wasn't hungry; nobody wanted to hear that he hadn't put his name in the goblet; not one single person seemed to have noticed that he wasn't at all in the mood to celebrate...Lee Jordan had unearthed a Gryffindor banner from somewhere, and he insisted on draping it around Harry like a cloak. Harry couldn't get away; whenever he tried to sidle over to the staircase up to the dormitories, the crowd around him closed ranks, forcing another butterbeer on him, stuffing crisps and peanuts into his hands...Everyone wanted to know how he had done it, how he had tricked Dumbledore's Age Line and managed to get his name into the goblet...
"I didn't," he said, over and over again, "Someone else entered my name."
But for all the notice anyone took, he might just as well not have answered at all.
"I'm tired!" he bellowed finally, after nearly half an hour. "No, seriously, George - I'm going to bed -"
He wanted more than anything to find Ron and Hermione, to find a bit of sanity, but neither of them seemed to be in the common room. Insisting that he needed to sleep, and almost flattening the little Creevey brothers as they attempted to waylay him at the foot of the stairs, Harry managed to shake everyone off and climb up to the dormitory as fast as he could.
To his great relief, he found Ron was lying on his bed in the otherwise empty dormitory, still fully dressed. He looked up when Harry slammed the door behind him.
"Where've you been?" Harry said.
"Oh hello," said Ron.
He was grinning, but it was a very odd, strained sort of grin. Harry suddenly became aware that he was still wearing the scarlet Gryffindor banner that Lee had tied around him. He hastened to take it off, but it was knotted very tightly. Ron lay on the bed without moving, watching Harry struggle to remove it.
"So," he said, when Harry had finally removed the banner and thrown it into a corner. "Congratulations."
"What d'you mean, congratulations?" said Harry, staring at Ron. There was definitely something wrong with the way Ron was smiling: It was more like a grimace. Harry felt a sense of foreboding. Had Sakura been right?
"Well...no one else got across the Age Line," said Ron. "Not even Fred and George. What did you use - the Invisibility Cloak?"
"The Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have got me over that line," said Harry slowly.
"Oh right," said Ron. "I thought you might've told me if it was the cloak...because it would've covered both of us, wouldn't it? But you found another way, did you?"
"Listen," said Harry, "I didn't put my name in that goblet. Someone else must've done it."
Ron raised his eyebrows.
"What would they do that for?"
"I dunno," said Harry. He felt it would sound very melodramatic to say, "To kill me."
Ron's eyebrows rose so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his hair.
"It's okay, you know, you can tell me the truth," he said. "If you don't want everyone else to know, fine, but I don't know why you're bothering to lie, you didn't get into trouble for it, did you? That friend of the Fat Lady's, that Violet, she's already told us all Dumbledore's letting you enter. A thousand Galleons prize money, eh? And you don't have to do end-of-year tests either..."
"I didn't put my name in that goblet!" said Harry, starting to feel angry.
"Yeah, okay," said Ron, in exactly the same sceptical tone as Cedric. "Only you said this morning you'd have done it last night, and no one would've seen you...I'm not stupid, you know."
Harry took a deep breath. Remember what Sakura said. He's feeling betrayed. He wanted the glory, and the money. Control your temper.
"Listen Ron," He said in a much calmer voice. "The guards said they felt traces of someone around the Goblet, someone who wasn't a student. Moody thinks someone entered me with a different school, hoping I'd die in the Tournament. Think about it. Dumbledore said the Tournament hadn't been reinstated for a long time because of the high death rate. Who do you know wants to kill me?"
Ron flinched and was silent for a minute, his hair covering his eyes.
"I...I guess that makes sense…"
"Look, I'll need both yours and Hermione's help to get through the tasks. They were planned with a seventh year skillset in mind, and we've had less than four years of an education. Hermione and I will need help finding information and spells, and you've got a great tactical mind and you've grown up in a wizarding family. You might think of something that we never would have thought of. Please?" Harry sat down on his bed, trying to win his best friend over.
"I guess…" Ron seemed a bit more enthusiastic now, and Harry detected hints of pride in his voice. Just one more push.
"And if I win and don't die I'll buy you a new broom with the money, okay?" Ron's eyes lit up and a smile stretched across his face.
"I believe you, mate! I'm sorry I doubted you before…" Harry waved it off.
"It's okay. It was my bad for starting to get worked up. I'm just happy I've got my two best mates helping me with this now." He smiled, letting out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding.
"Anyway, we should probably get to sleep now; you're probably going to get swarmed tomorrow." Ron pointed out, eyeing the door where loud noises could still be heard. Harry nodded.
"'Night Ron,"
"'Night Harry,"
So, the shinobis' presence is finally starting to change things. I know I used the book a lot, but I think I changed it enough. Review! I love you're opinions and knowing that people are still reading and liking my story!
