Break Me, Shake Me
DaggersBloodPain
Chapter Twenty
Scream
He couldn't breathe, his heart was racing and he felt his vision go dark. This couldn't be happening, there was no way this was real. He had to wake up now, this dream had become a nightmare. It was all wrong. Something had to be done to fix this. He felt the earth shift and it brought him to his knees, mind totally blanking as the realization came over him. Someone wanted him dead, and they were doing a damn fine job of it.
It started out simple. It was the night the champions for the tournament were picked. Draco and Harry still weren't on the best of terms over the Krum incident, so Harry had been sitting on his own waiting for the feast to be over and the names drawn. He hadn't even thought of entering his name, it would be too much for him and he knew it. He had a rough enough time just getting through a normal school day. He didn't know who he wanted to represent Hogwarts, but he was hoping Viktor would get the chance to compete. That day in the Library he had mentioned he wanted to compete in the tournament to prove he really was a good wizard and not just talented on a broom.
He was glad when he heard Viktor's name and cheered him on, and he clapped politely when Fleur Delacour was picked for her school. It wasn't until the time came for the Hogwarts champion to be called that things started to go horribly wrong. It was his name! Every set of eyes in the hall centered on him and he couldn't move. He didn't remember moving but he had somehow made it to the anti-chamber where the other two were waiting when the panic attack hit him.
He felt arms around him and heard calming words bringing him out of his panic. "Harry, come back to us. It will be alright come on, wake up. "Slowly, so slowly he wasn't sure it was really happening he opened his eyes and was met with Severus' worried gaze. "It will be ok, we will get this straightened out. Can you stand?"
Harry nodded weakly and carefully got to his feet. His first coherent words were,"I didn't put my name in the cup."
"Well someone did, and your trying to tell me a boy like you wouldn't have tried to put his own name in?" The Durmstrang headmaster asked Harshly, making Harry retreat into the safety of Severus' embrace.
"Igor, that's enough, can't you see the boy is frightened?" Dumbledore broke in trying to soothe rumpled feathers.
"Albus, there must be a way out of this, he is too young." Severus stuck up for his surrogate son.
"It is a magically binding contract, the cup has sealed it, he must compete or he loses his magic." Dumbledore replied sorrowfully.
Harry felt his heart break at that. "Please no, I can't do this, I never wanted this. Question me with any truth serum you have. I didn't make this contract. Please I don't want to die." He was begging and just next to tears.
"Is there really no choice?" Severus asked again, taking in the three heads of the schools.
"No, there isn't he must compete or face the consequences." Madame Maxime answered instead of Dumbledore.
Harry couldn't stop himself anymore, it was just too much to take, he cried into Severus' robes, knowing he was in front of the other champions and the heads of the schools. He couldn't stop, it hurt too much to try. He cried until he slept just like a child would and he was carried back down to his dorm room.
XxXxXxX
The following days were the hardest in his life. It was made survivable only because Draco was talking to him again and he had his library retreat. Draco had realized how badly Harry was going to need him when Severus had carried him into the room and explained what happened as he spelled Harry into nightclothes and bed. When Draco couldn't be with him, Harry went to the library. He was studying as much magic as he could not knowing what the tasks would be he was scared out of his mind.
Three days after his name was pulled from the cup, Viktor found him in the library as Harry has taken to avoiding meals altogether to get away from the stares. The Durmstrang student didn't head for the books but made a beeline for Harry. "We believe you." He said in his gruff voice before Harry could say anything to him.
Harry couldn't quite dare to hope, but asked anyway, "You mean you believe I didn't put my name in?"
"No I meant we, as in my headmaster and myself, I do not know about the others but we saw what happened in that room. You can't fake that kind of reaction. What I want to know, is if you didn't than who did?" Viktor replied.
"I would like to know that myself. We have no way of knowing, too many people crossed Dumbledore's age line to track down a single one that put a name other than their own in. I am just surprised you went out of your way to tell me that after I broke down like that, it must have looked pretty pathetic." Harry responded.
"I don't blame you. I also saw the attack your professor helped you come out of, if you were already sick I can understand how something like that would overwhelm a person." Viktor shrugged it off, not knowing he was one of the few people outside of the Hogwarts staff that has seen Harry have a panic attack. Draco was pretty much the only other one on that list.
"Thank you Viktor, it means a lot that people believe I didn't do this. I don't go looking for trouble, it just has a way of finding me wherever I go. This is just one time belief and proof of innocence means nothing when it comes to that infernal cup. I guess I will just have to learn as much as I can and try not to die." Harry replied honestly.
"Let me help you. I need someone to practice with and you need to learn so it would be a good match." Viktor offered.
"But I am so much younger than you, I would just drag you down." Harry confessed.
"Than you better work harder." Harry was surprised, because with that line it was the first time he had seen Viktor truly smile, and it was a nice change.