Severus settled into his seat in the newly transformed quidditch stadium with more than a few nerves floating around inside him. Truth be told he was terrified about what lay ahead, and he'd already come very close to grabbing Harry and getting as far away from Hogwarts as he could. Luckily, Lucius had been around all morning and his old friend had made sure he didn't do anything rash.
"It'll be fine," Lucius whispered to Severus as he passed him and settled down a few seats away with the other judges.
Severus hoped his friend was right, and nothing went wrong. If anything happened to Harry, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. His son was his life, and the thought of losing him just wasn't worth thinking about. He'd survived Lily's death by focusing on Harry, but if he lost Harry, he doubted anything would save him.
As he tried to settle his nerves, Severus scanned the crowds for Hermione and Draco. Funnily enough they were each sitting either side of the stand he was sitting in. Draco was in the stand to his left, surrounded by Slytherins, who all looked to be having a whale of a time. Outwardly, Draco looked to be just as exuberant as his friends, but Severus could see the tension in his body language. Meanwhile, Hermione was sitting in the stand to his right, not bothering to hide her fear and nerves. She was sitting in-between Ron and Ginny, and while the two redheads chatted across her, she sat biting her lower lip. Severus could feel the tension coming from his sister, and he couldn't help but think how much easier the experience would be if they could have sat together. He could have done with the comfort she would have provided, and it looked like the same could be said for her.
Severus was distracted from his sister, when Dumbledore suddenly appeared in the stand along with Barty Crouch and the other two heads. As the foursome took their seat, Severus looked down at the stony arena and watched as several dragon handlers delivered a dragon into the centre of the arena. The second the handlers were free of the arena, a cannon sounded and the first task began.
When the first student to appear was Cedric Diggory, Severus sat back in his seat feeling a mixture of relief and anxiousness. He wasn't sure if he was pleased Harry wasn't going first, or if waiting was dragging out the torment. Although he was hoping Harry wasn't last out, it would be downright torturous having to wait so long to see how his son fared.
As luck would have it, Harry was last out. Cedric faced his dragon first, and using some fancy transfiguration work on some rocks, he was able to distract the dragon. Not that he managed to distract it long enough, and he ended up being slashed by its tail and gaining a slight bite as he grabbed the egg. Next up was Fleur, who used some of her veela powers to send the dragon into a trance. Severus wasn't too impressed with her trick, as it didn't display how she handled herself as a witch, she just took advantage of the fact she had veela blood. Krum was third, and in Severus's opinion, he displayed the most magical talent. Krum hit the dragon with a conjunctivitis curse, obscuring the dragon's sight leaving him unsighted as he snatched the egg in pretty swift time.
Finally Harry entered the arena, and Severus feared for his son as he observed the fierce dragon Harry would be facing. The others all seemed a lot tamer in comparison to the Hungarian Horntail, Harry was faced with. As if the dragon wasn't bad enough, Severus was also worried about Harry's plan of action. His son entered the arena looking worried, and when he cast a spell that Severus was too far away to hear, he seemed concerned it hadn't worked. Glancing to his right, Severus spotted Harry's concern echoed on the face of his sister. He knew the pair had been working with Draco on a way to get past the dragon, but it would seem whatever plan they'd come up with had failed.
Severus's concern only grew as the dragon suddenly spotted Harry and made a move towards him. As the dragon blazed out a ferocious mouthful of fire, the entire crowd gasped as Harry darted behind a rock just in time. Sitting beside Severus, McGonagall shook her head and began muttering under her breath how irresponsible Dumbledore was for allowing Harry to take part in the tournament. Severus fully agreed with his colleague, but he also blamed himself. He should have put his foot down and stopped all this nonsense, not that he was sure how he could have achieved that.
As he watched Harry dive around the arena, hiding from the dragon, Severus slipped his hand inside his robes and curled his finger around his wand. Just as he was wondering what spell would help save his son, a broomstick came soaring into the arena. As the broomstick flew past the rock where Harry was sheltering, his son leapt onto the piece of wood and went soaring into the air. The dragon immediately followed, but its large frame couldn't match the acrobats Harry could perform on a broomstick. Harry was flying rings around the dragon, and it was clear the dragon was getting increasingly frustrated by the fact it couldn't catch Harry.
Instead of going straight for the egg and risking the dragon still being alert enough to intervene, Harry chose to lead the dragon on a wild goose chase. Several times Harry and the dragon disappeared from view, but every time they slid back into range, the dragon was losing ground on Harry. After a particularly lengthy absence, Harry suddenly appeared over one of the castle turrets. Flying as fast as Severus had ever seen him, Harry re-entered the arena and soring towards the golden egg, he plucked it from the ground without even stopping.
The arena erupted in screaming and cheering as Harry took a victory lap around the arena. Just as he came into land, the dragon reappeared and practically flopped onto the floor of the arena. While Harry was quickly hurried back to the tent, the dragon handlers entered the arena and made sure the dragon was safely returned to its cage ready for transportation back to Romania.
"I think all four champions need a very large round of applause," Dumbledore announced loudly as the four champions were escorted back out into the arena. "A decision about which champion won the task, will be announced shortly."
As Dumbledore sat back down to discuss things with his fellow judges, Severus took the opportunity to calm his nerves. He also checked on Hermione and Draco to see how they were faring. Hermione looked exhausted, and the relief was written all over her face as she laughed and joked with the other Gryffindors. As for Draco, he was laughing and joking with his friends, but Severus could see the strain had eased from his posture. They'd all managed to get through the task unscathed, and Harry had performed admirably. He couldn't wait to speak to his son and congratulate him properly.
"Now for the results," Dumbledore called, as he got to his feet once again and silence fell in the stadium. "In fourth place, is Miss Fleur Delacour. In third place is Mr Cedric Diggory, and joint first is Mr Viktor Krum, and Mr Harry Potter."
Once again the stadium erupted into cheers, and Severus allowed himself a quick smirk before schooling his features into his normal look of boredom. As the cheers died down, the crowds began to get up and leave. Hoping to grab a quick word with Harry, Severus quickly got to his feet and left the stand. As luck would have it, he managed to grab Harry just as he was entering the champions' tent.
"That was pretty impressive," He told his son, making sure to keep his voice down so no-one could overhear.
"Thanks," Harry replied with a relieved smile. "For a minute there, I thought it wasn't going to work."
"It worked brilliantly," Severus said. "I'm proud of you, Harry."
Severus just had time to tell Harry to enjoy his celebrations, before the crowds got a bit too close for comfort and they were forced to separate. However, Severus had managed to speak to his son, and that brief interaction would sustain him until they could talk properly.
"There you are," Lucius said as he caught up with Severus as they were entering the castle. "I thought we could go for a drink. I don't know about you, but I could do with one after that."
"A drink sounds perfect," Severus replied. "Let's just head down to The Three Broomsticks."
"The Three Broomsticks?" Lucius frowned. "What's wrong with The Hog's Head?"
"I prefer The Three Broomsticks," Severus replied with a casual shrug.
Fifteen minutes later, Lucius knew exactly why his friend had chosen the cosier pub in the village. It had nothing to do with the state of the pub, or the quality of the drink, it was purely down to the landlady, Rosmerta. The second Lucius witnessed his friend interacting with the landlady, he understood what the appeal of the place was for Severus. His friend had a thing for the pretty blonde landlady, and judging from the flirtatious smiles she was throwing Severus's way, the feeling was mutual.
C.O.T.D.
It took Harry longer than he would have liked to get back to Gryffindor Tower, but eventually he managed it. After the task, Madam Pomfrey checked each champion for injury before they could get changed. They then all had to give a brief interview to Rita Skeeter, although Harry really wasn't sure why they were bothering. The woman just wrote what she wanted, and she never bothered to listen to the answers to her questions. As if that wasn't bad enough, the champions were then allowed to see their families again, and for Harry that meant getting swamped by Molly Weasley and listening to her gush over how amazing he was. However, finally it was all over and Harry found himself outside of Gryffindor Tower, his golden egg under his arm.
"Ah, here's the hero," The Fat Lady gushed, giving Harry a wide smile. "Well done, Harry."
"Thanks," Harry said, muttering the password.
The second the portrait swung open and he entered the common room, Harry was greeted by a wave of clapping and cheering. Making his way through the crowds, he had his hand shaken by several people, while several others clapped him on the back and congratulated him.
"Impressive stuff, Harry," Fred said with a wide grin. "Although we had faith in you all the time, didn't we George?"
"Of course," George replied. "We knew you could do it, Harry."
"Yes, we did," Hermione said as she stepped up beside her nephew.
"Hermione." Harry swept Hermione into his arms the second he saw her. Even though he'd gone with his flying plan, he'd had several of her recommended charms running around in his head, ready to use as back-up.
"I was so worried," Hermione admitted quietly. "That was the scariest thing I've ever witnessed."
"It was the scariest thing I've ever done," Harry said with a shaky laugh as he and Hermione broke apart.
"It might have been scary, but you were brilliant," Ginny enthused, before she flung herself at Harry.
Harry was so taken aback by Ginny's hug that he dropped the egg, causing the top to twist round and an awful wailing sound to emerge. Everyone in the common room clapped their hands over their ears to drown out the noise, while Harry picked the egg up and hastily closed it.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron's voice called as he hesitantly approached Harry.
"You're talking to me again, are you?" Harry asked, unable to keep the snappish tone out of his voice.
"Sorry about that," Ron said sheepishly. "I was being an idiot."
"Nothing new there," Fred and George muttered simultaneously.
Ron shot his brothers an unimpressed look, before turning back to Harry. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I was a moron. I know you didn't enter that tournament willingly. I never should have said the things I did. I hope I haven't blown our friendship."
Harry was awfully tempted to tell Ron where to stuff his friendship, but considering they still didn't know how long they would have to keep up their act, he accepted Ron's apology. "Let's just forget it ever happened."
"Nothing like this will ever happen again," Ron vowed. "In the future, I will always be by your side."
"So what is the egg?" Hermione asked, breaking into the conversation. She'd heard enough of Ron's grovelling, and was guessing so had Harry.
"A clue as to the next task," Harry answered. "It'll be in February, so we've got until then to work out what on earth the thing is."
"Maybe you should open it again," Hermione said.
"No!" Ron, the twins and everyone else who was nearby all called out.
"It wasn't exactly very pleasant, Hermione," Harry said to his pouting aunt.
"Pleasant of not, it's a clue and you'll have to decipher it," Hermione argued.
"Yeah, but not yet," Ron said. "Tonight, we should celebrate Harry's triumph. He won the first task alongside Krum. Forget about the next task for one night, and let's have fun."
"I'm all up for that," Harry said with a grin. After the day he'd had, relaxing and just hanging out sounded like the perfect way to end the day.
"Fine," Hermione said as a smile crept over her lips. "Let's celebrate."
And celebrate was exactly what all of Gryffindor Tower did for the rest of the day. Harry was their hero, and he spent the rest of the day being fussed over as people celebrated his victory in the first task and speculated about whether he could win the entire thing. After all he was Harry Potter, and if anyone could win the Triwizard Tournament as an underage wizard, it would be him.