I thank everyone for all the support I received and the reviews were more than welcome. I also appreciate the constructive criticism and urge everyone to feel free to offer more useful criticism, it helps me grow as a writer. I also thank my beta, thedemonkid, for helping me and fixing the mistakes that I couldn't.

I just edited this chapter to fix a mistake that I missed.

Here's Chapter 12:

Disclaimer: Still don't own these characters or their world.

Beta: thedemonkid


Chapter 12

~Are you ssure that it's already time to go back Crossius? It feels like we've only been here for a few minutes.~ Harry didn't know why he still felt like carrying on with his training, but he seemed to have a lot of energy this morning.

~Yesss I'm sure. You might have the week off, but that doesn't mean that we should ssstay out here for too long. Ssoon sstudents will be waking up and we don't want them to ssee usss here.~ Harry had to admit that Crossius was right, so with reluctance he 'dropped' his wand back into the mouth of his ring and walked back towards the castle.

The 7 foot, green coloured Crossius slithered after him, his colour blending in very well with the grass. Absentmindedly Harry looked towards Fleur's carriage as he walked passed it, wishing that he would see the silver haired goddess float out.

~Ssso, does your Ssilver Lady like ssnakess?~ Harry looked down at Crossius in confusion when he heard this question, it was just so random.

~Like sssnakes?~ Harry asked in confusion, hoping that Crossius wouldn't give him a sarcastic answer.

~Yesss sssnakes, you have a ssnake familiar remember? It would be idiotic of you to not tell your girlfriend about that.~ Said Crossius as though that was the most obvious thing in the world.

~I don't know about that, and plusss, she's not my girlfriend. I haven't actually truly considered telling anyone about you. But if I'm going to, it will have to be Hermione and Ron. Perhaps even Daphne, Tracy, Hannah and Susan. Besides that, no one will know about you.~ Now Harry's voice had become nothing but a hissing whisper. They had reached the doors now, and he didn't want to take the chance of being overheard talking to a snake.

Crossius slithered up Harry's body, folding himself on top of the boy's shoulders. Harry grunted in discomfort, the snake had turned himself invincible, but had not changed his weight.

As part of Harry's training, he often had to do some weight lifting. Carrying the 7 foot Crossius on his shoulders was one of them, although he wasn't as heavy as usual right now.

Silently, Harry wondered where the snake eats. He never bought him any food, never saw him eating, he wondered whether Crossius even eats.

~Of course I eat, you just never see me. Everything has to eat in order for it to survive, hell even grass 'eats'.~ Said Crossius, obviously he had been reading Harry's mind the whole time.

~I still wonder when you are going to teach me Occulumency. You told me that my mind can be read easily, and yet you don't teach me how to protect myself.~ Said Harry in slight frustration. He had a lot of things to learn, how to access his core easily. How to use his elemental power, learn new spells, learn how to duel, learn how to use Aurora, learn how to...

~Enough of that. Sso many thoughtsss at once are giving me a headache.~ Hissed Crossius, stopping Harry's thoughts.

~And plusss, to ensure that you have as much training as possible, I think you should have different teachers. You can ask your Slytherin friends to teach Occulumency. I tried to read their minds this one time, but their walls were strong enough to block out my weak attempt.~ Carried on Crossius, by now the two of them were walking up the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room.

Harry was shocked by what Crossius had just said. He knew that his friends were smart, in fact he suspected that Hannah might be holding back, but perhaps the others were holding back too.

Reaching the common room, Harry headed straight for the showers, while Crossius slithered up on his bed. By the time he was done in the shower, everyone else in the dormitory had already woken up. He dressed in his uniform and went down to the common room, waiting for Ron and Hermione to finish up.

By the time that Hermione and Ron had joined him, Harry had already been tempted to go to breakfast with Ginny and Neville instead, who had left minutes ago.

"Man, what took you guys so long, I'm starving." Whined Harry at his two friends as they walked out of the common room.

"I woke up late today, I think the arrival of the delegations last night took a toll on me somehow." Answered Hermione, Ron only gave an audible grunt.

"Fred and George said they're going to try to enter the tournament as well. Can't say I blame them, can you imagine the glory, fame and money that comes with winning the tournament Harry?" Asked Ron, his voiced laced with forbidden excitement.

"No actually. I don't want any more fame than I already have, and I have enough money to support me right now. All I want is a quiet and peaceful year, but with my luck, I doubt that though." Answered Harry, to which Ron snorted at. Harry realised that the other boy thought he was joking. Which he wasn't.

Entering the Great Hall, Harry was shocked and delighted to find Fleur already seating at the Gryffindor table with Ginny and Neville.

Harry grinned and walked towards them, his heart racing faster and faster with each step he took towards them. Towards Fleur.

"Let's sit here Harry, no need to travel that far down." Harry stopped in his tracks when Hermione said this, turning around to see that his friends had sat at the beginning of the table.

"But we always sit down the table, why should we stop now?" He asked in frustration, he didn't like that he was spending time talking about seats when he could be talking with Fleur right now.

"Our seats are taken Harry. And plus, it won't hurt us to change seats once in a while." Said Hermione, her voice clarifying that she didn't want to discuss this any further. But Harry did though.

"Well I want to seat where we always seat. Fleur, Ginny and Neville are seating there. And if you haven't realised, they are our friends too." He said in defiance, to which Hermione and Ron just looked at him with equal defiance.

"Our friends? Since when Harry? Since when has my sister become your friend? I find myself remembering how she annoys you with her constant blushing. And you've never been friends with Neville either, 'cause I remember seeing him always seating alone while we, his 'friends' walk passed as if we don't even see him.

"So do tell me then Harry, when have we become friends with them?" Harry was taken aback by Ron's blunt questions. His mind suddenly went blank once he processed everything that his friend had said.

It was all true of course, at least it was once. He had become friends with Ginny during the holidays, and last night, Neville had begun to open up more. Well, they tried to make him open up.

Having Ginny, Fleur and Harry talking to him and seemed to bring the shy boy out of his shell now and then.

And Fleur was there. Harry didn't care if he wasn't friends with her yet. He was going to spend as much time as he possibly could to be her friend. And right now, and right he was wasting that time.

"Well what if I want to be their friends Ron? What if this is that time that I start making more and more friends in the school? I don't see what the problem is anyway." Harry's voice was surprisingly calm when he said this, the opposite of his internal thoughts.

"Well we want to sit here Harry, so that is where we are seating. If you want to join them, then by all means do. Don't expect us to go with you though." Said Hermione, her voice carrying confidence and a little authority to it.

Harry knew that if this was any other time, he would stay with them.

Harry chanced a glance back at Fleur and co, and his eyes immediately met those of the silver haired girl. Harry suddenly lost thought as he stared at her, wondering once again how nature had been tricked into producing such perfection as her.

He was jolted back to reality when he realised that those sapphire orbs had some worry in them. He also saw panic there too, which he didn't understand until he realised that she was wondering why he wasn't joining her.

It was at that moment that Harry made his choice, here he had two friends whom he had been with for 3 years, whom he trusted above all else.

And there, there was a gorgeous girl whom he hardly even knew, a gorgeous girl whom he wanted to be close to mainly because he was attracted to her.

But there was more to Fleur though, the girl was practically alone. In a new country, new school, and her own fellow students seemed to hate her. He was her hope, he was her chance of a true friendship.

Right now, he was her confidence, and she clearly needed him more than Ron and Hermione. Sure she had Ginny and Neville, but they weren't him.

If it was any other time, he would listen to Hermione and follow her authority, but this was not one of those times.

"I'm going over to join them. I'll see you guys later." Turning to walk away, Harry missed the shock from his friends' faces.

"You alright 'Arry?" Asked a worried Fleur as Harry dropped down onto the seat next to her, a defeated look evident on his face.

"No I'm not, but I'm sure that eventually I will be though." He said to her, giving her the best smile he could manage in his state, and just by looking at her, that smile became a sincere grin.

She returned the grin, although he could tell that she had many questions that she would have loved to ask him.

"Hey Harry, what did you think about Dean's football rant this morning?" Asked Neville, and it took Harry a few heart beats in order for him to answer. He wasn't used to the boy talking to him, but he guessed Fleur and Ginny had probably spent the morning trying to force him to.

"I didn't hear any rant, was that before or after we went to sleep?" He asked, although he knew that it probably involved some raving about how good football was compared to quidditch and how great Newcastle United are...or was it West Ham? He didn't really remember.

"Well today he decided to speak about some other teams, raving on and on about the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and some other League called the Serie A. It was actually interesting, judging by what he was saying, it seems that this football has more tournaments than quidditch does." Said Neville. Harry was actually surprised by this, not the many tournaments, but the fact that Dean actually spoke about them.

"Yeah, I know a little about those leagues. The Dursleys weren't into sport much, but in the news they would regularly show some match results concerning some teams and the European Champions league. Some teams called Barcelona, Liverpool, AC Milan and Real Madrid seemed to dominate a lot." Said Harry, wondering if Dean would know any of these.

"Well I don't care how many teams they have, how many trophies they win or how many tournaments they play, quidditch is still the best thing that has ever happened to the world." Declared Ginny, dramatically raising her fist then bringing it down hard on the table, and Harry saw her conceal a wince of pain and regret.

"Well I don't know about zat Ginny, quidditch is great an all, but we can't forget 'Arry Potter, what would ze world be without 'im?" Said Fleur mischievously, a beautiful sparkle in her eyes. Harry groaned at this, as the other two members of the group decided on pleasant laughter.

They all carried on with different topics in their conversations, and 2 hours later, the hall was almost empty. It was at this time that Harry realised just how long they had all been conversing, and how none of them even said anything about Voldemort, his Death Eaters or any life threatening dangers.

"Perhaps we should all head outside, my ass honestly hurts because of seating here for so long." Said Harry, midway through standing up and stretching his muscles.

The other three agreed, but before they could go Fleur suddenly pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket.

"I must put zis in ze goblet, ze choosing is tonight." She said, and then hurried towards the goblet and dropped the paper there.

"I zink we should go on a tour fist, I want to see ze place I'm going to be spending ze 'ole year in." Said Fleur, sending pleasant sensations though Harry's body as she leaned on his right arm.

"For that I suggest you head over to the Hogwarts Museum first, they have all kinds of Harry Potter acolytes there." Came a voice from behind them, and without even turning around Harry knew that it belonged to none other than Daphne Greengrass.

"Are you sure that they can't just go to Hogsmeade instead? I heard there is a Halloween sale of Harry Potter toys, glasses, socks, books and all kinds of candy there. But better be quick though, Draco Malfoy and his goons are trying to buy them all." Said the other Slytherin accompanying Daphne, Tracey Davis.

Harry and his group turned around to look at his other friends, Daphne, Tracey, Susan and Hannah, who were unsurprisingly together. Even when Harry first befriended them the year before, they were all hanging out together, forming the unlikely friendship of 2 badgers and 2 snakes.

"Don't mind them Fleur, they are just sore I didn't end up in their house. Everyone knows that Daphne has a wall full of my posters at home, and Tracey...well she doesn't really try to hide the portraits she made of me." Said Harry smugly, to which Fleur stared at him in confusion. He realised that he hadn't introduced them, and thus she probably thought they were all telling the truth and were probably arguing or something.

"Fleur, I would like you to meet my friends Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot and Tracey Davis." Said Harry, to which Fleur seemed confused by.

" 'Ello, it's nice to meet you." She greeted politely, to which the four girls greeted back.

"I do not, for the life of me understand how Harry could have a girl like you literally hanging off his arm Fleur. Do you honestly not see those glasses?" Said Daphne light heartedly, but Fleur seemed to take it seriously.

"I do see ze glasses, and I 'ave no problem wiz zem." She said defensively, and Harry sensed some rising anger from her. As much as he hated seeing her getting upset, he was rather happy to see just how much it angered her when people made fun of him.

"It's fine Fleur, they are just joking, it's what they always do." He said, a kind smile on his face trying to calm her down. Luckily, it seemed to work, and she even apologise to the other four girls.

Harry decided that all of them should show Fleur around, to which she agreed wholeheartedly on, wanting to make up for her earlier anger towards the Slytherin and Huflepuff girls.

"Zis school is big, it's bigger zan Baeuxbaton." Said Fleur in astonishment as they reached the 6th floor.

"How big is your school? We've only covered 6 floors, there is still another floor to go." Said Hannah, and all the Hogwarts students looked at Fleur.

"It's not as big as zis school, alzough it is more beautiful." She answered, once again leaning on Harry's arm. She had been doing that occasionally during their long walk, and each time it sent shivers through his body.

"How do you guys even sort your students anyway?" Asked Susan.

"We 'ave three 'ouses, all three of zem were formed to 'onour the three First Clans from France and Russia. We 'ave ze 'ouse of Al'Thor, 'ouse of Tar'Marea and ze 'ouse of Demodred." Answered Fleur.

"Only two houses, that seems too little." Said Ginny, whom Harry now realised fit in so well with the group, that it seemed she had been with them for years. It was then that Harry actually realised that the group was actually very knew.

He had only met the Puffs and Slytherins last year when Hermione and Ron were in a rift and he decided to spend some time alone. Neville still looked like he had been forcefully dragged along.

This was the first time he hung out with Ginny, and he wondered if the girl had any friends. And Fleur...well this was long her second day in the school. Very new group indeed.

"I think we should head outside, perhaps we can go to the big tree Harry?" Asked Daphne, to which Harry suddenly felt nervous about. The big tree is where they usually hung out to hide from the school, but now it had changed from what it used to be.

He hadn't been there ever since he mistakenly changed it's colour.

"Sure, Fleur will have a full year to tour the school anyway." He agreed, and then turned and lead the group through a secret passage that he knew, one that would help them reach the grounds much faster.

They reached the place in no time, and sure enough, the group were shocked when they saw the large white-ish tree.

"What the hell happened to our tree?" Exclaimed Hannah, a shocked expression on her face.

"Is that natural? I've never seen a tree like this before." Said Daphne, who curiously walked towards it.

"It's not natural, I changed it's colour by mistake when I was training yesterday morning." Said Harry sheepishly.

"What spell could have caused that?" Asked Tracey, and Harry decided that they should all sit down first before to telling them.

He told them about the book he had bought, but decided to leave the part about where he had bought it. He told them about the Potter Vault, told them about finding Aurora and about buying Crossius.

"Can we see zem? Ze snake and ze sword I mean." Requested an excited Fleur, and Harry suddenly felt like he was breaking her heart when he told her that he had left them in his dorm.

"Well be sure to bring the book as well. I think it's time that we all learn some new spells, don't you?" Said Susan, and the group agreed with her.

"Are you sure? They are some advanced spells." Asked Harry, although he was hoping that they would agree to it. Training with his friends would truly help him improve.

And he suddenly realised that this meant he would have to get Hermione and Ron too.

But that would be a problem because they didn't like the Slytherin girls, and Hermione would definitely disprove with the book.

"Isn't that a good thing? It means we will know powerful spells, that's hardly something to be cautious about Potter." Said Daphne.

The group agreed on this, and even decided that they would need to find a place to train. The tree is hardly a safe place for such things.

Harry almost suggested the Chamber of Secrets, no one but him and...well...Voldemort could enter it. But then he realised that if Ginny was going to be a full fledged member of the "group", going there would be torture for her.

They descended into cheerful conversation, but as much as he tried, Neville couldn't seem to blend in yet.

Before they knew it, the sun had gone down and it was now time to go back.

"You're a brave person Fleur. Taking part in this tournament and all." Said Hannah as they all entered the school building.

"Yeah, I'm sure you know the dangers that come with this tournament. You don't really seem like the girl who would risk her life just for attention." Said Susan.

"I'm not doing it for attention, I 'ave my reasons and to me, zey are fairly reasonable." Said Fleur in her defence, her answer clearly leaving no room for further discussion on the matter.

"Alright then, we'll see you all tomorrow." Said Daphne as she and Tracey went to their Slytherin house and Susan and Hannah went to Huflepuff.

The rest of the group went to the Gryffindor house, and were surprised to see that everyone had already begun to eat.

"Your attention please." They hadn't been in the Hall longer 30 minutes before Dumbledore called attention.

"Now, the time we've all been awaiting has finally arrived. It is time to announce our champions. To those who are lucky and blessed enough to be chosen, we wish you well and hope that you have a safe tournament." Said Dumbledore, before walking towards the Goblet of Fire.

"Now for our fist champion." He raised his hand as the Goblet's fire suddenly turned colour, becoming a dark red and a piece of paper flew out of it, only to be catches by Dumbledore.

"Ah, and the Durmstrang champion is...Viktor Krum." The whole Hall erupted into loud applause at this announcement, none of the Durmstrang students seemed jealous at all.

Krum on the other hand, his expression was...well you could have told him that the grass is green in spring and he would have given you the same expression.

He walked towards Dumbledore, who showed him the way to a door behind the professors' table.

Dumbledore repeated his movements from before, and once again a sheet of paper flew to his hand.

"And the Baeuxbaton champion is...Fleur Delacour." At this announcement, there was a mixture of reactions.

Fleur seemed shocked, proud and delighted. Harry was delighted and worried. The Baeuxbaton students seemed furious and the rest of the students just clapped neutrally.

Fleur got up and headed towards the same door as Krum.

"And now, for the Hogwarts champion we have...Cedric Diggory." At this announcement, every single Hogwarts student erupted in cheers and loud applause.

Cedric, the boy from Huflepuff, put on a large grin as he went to join the other champions.

"Ah, what a delightful event that was. Now that we finally have out three champions..." Suddenly Dumbledore was cut off as Goblet once again erupted in red flames.

Dumbledore and the other professors seemed confused as they stared at it, then another paper flew from the Goblet.

Dumbledore took a while to read it, but somehow, even before he read it, Harry knew what it said.

"Harry Potter." The whole place went quiet, not a single person daring to make a sound.

Harry felt dizzy, he felt like he was about to vomit. But looking up and seeing Dumbledore's expectant expression, he stood up and walked towards the door that the other champions had gone through.

As Harry walked into the room, he still felt dizzy. He still couldn't believe what had just transpired. Although since this was him, he shouldn't have been surprised. The hall was still quiet as he made his way to the door.

The room was of average size. There was a large fireplace with a two couch on the right and a three seat couch on the left.

Currently, Krum leisurely lied on the three seat couch, Fleur on the two seat while Cedric stood in front of the fireplace, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"'Arry, why are you 'ere?" Asked Fleur as she finally noticed him. Of course Krum and Cedric were the first to see him but hadn't said anything.

"I'm not too sure myself Fleur." He answered as he slowly made his way to her couch. Just as he sat down next to her, the door suddenly burst open and in came Dumbledore along with the other headmasters with Ludo and Crouch.

"What is the meaning of this Albus? What kind of stunt are you trying to pull with this boy?" Came an angry question from Igor, as the four students all stood up, all looking lost.

Dumbledore ignored the man, instead walked to Harry.

"Harry my boy, tell me, do you have anything to do with what just happened. Did you get an older student to put your name in the Goblet Harry?" Asked Dumbledore, and Harry was quick to deny it all.

"The boy is lying. What other excuse is there for this? The boy entered his name and I'm sure that you helped him Albus." Said Igor once again, the man clearly fuming.

"Oh quiet down Igor. If Dumbledore was going to attempt a way to cheat us, surely he wouldn't pick a 14 year old boy for zat. Zere must be anozer reason for zis." Said Madame Maxime.

"Well whether Harry Potter entered his name or not changes nothing. The Goblet chose him Albus, the boy has to compete." Said Barty Crouch, finally looking interested in the world.

"Compete? I don't want to compete, for once I just want a nice uneventful year, I don't want to be a part of any of this." Said Harry desperately, so upset that he felt like crying.

"What are Harry's options Ludo?" Asked Dumbledore softly, as though he already knew the tragic answer to that question.

"Well, it doesn't matter whether Mr Potter put in his name not, the Goblet chose him. Now he has to compete, if he doesn't...I'm afraid the Goblet will take his magic." Everything seemed to go on a standstill at Ludo said this.

Harry felt like he could feel the grass growing, hear an ant's footsteps from a mile away.

"The boy is already in this now, no need to waste valuable time pondering how it happened. Let's get down to the important information so we can all get going." Said Barty Crouch, his bored expression now back in full force.

Harry was still lost though, he just couldn't pay attention to anything, that was until he felt Fleur's hand on his own. He looked at her, and suddenly he felt his worry begin to lessen.

She had a determined expression on her face, an expression that told him she had confidence in him.

"Alright listen up, your first challenge will be held on the 24th of November. We are not entitled to tell you what it is about, so I suggest that you learn as much as you can because a large fire is coming your way.

'Also, in two days time, you will be coming back here at 3 o'clock to do your wand check. It is compulsory so none of you are to miss it." With this, Crouch turned around and exited the room, with Ludo following closely behind after saying his goodbyes.

Everyone else left soon after as well.

Currently Harry and Fleur stood at the doors of the Entrance Hall, looking at her carriage in the dark night.

"I'm glad that you believed me Fleur. I get the feeling that most of the people here won't." Said Harry.

"Zen zey are fools 'Arry. It was obvious zat you didn't do anyzing, you looked so shocked when you came in." She said assuringly, smiling at him.

"Maybe we should work together in this? You know, for a better chance at survival." Suggested Harry, hoping that she would agree. He would feel safer for her if he saw her training and working with him.

"I would love zat. I should be heading to ze carriage now, Madame Maxime said I must not stay too long." With this, Fleur gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked to her carriage.

Harry watched until she entered it before he went to his dormitory.

~Am I going to sssurvive Crossius? I'm in a tournament that I didn't even want to be in and I'll be facing againssst three 7th year sstudents. How the hell am I going to win thiss?~ Harry was finally back on his bed, he was lucky enough that everyone in the dormitory was already asleep when he arrived.

~It all depends on how much you want this massster. I can make you sstrong enough. I can make you a win, I can make you powerful, but you have to be determined enough for it.~ Answered Crossius, who, thankfully, was rather sympathetic towards Harry.

~I told sssome of my friends about you. We've all agreed that you should teach us all, perhaps then we can all reach the level we need in time. That is if you are alright with it of course.~ He said, hoping that Crossius would agree to it. He had a feeling that the snake knew more about magic than any of them.

~I'll have to give you answer to that tomorrow massster. For now, we should both go to sssleep.~ Answered Crossius, and surprisingly, Harry sensed the tiredness in his voice.

~Good night Crossius.~


Just edited one minor mistake in this chapter. Thanks to everyone for pointing that out for me.

Once more I remind everyone that not everything is guaranteed to make sense at the moment, but believe me I am building up to something and I ask for your patience.

Read and review.