Fleur and Sarah had wanted to put their name in the Goblet the very next day but unfortunately, they could only actually do that at the last possible moment. The reason was not that they couldn't find enough time but because whenever they went to register their names, one thing or the other happened.
The first time it was the resident Poltergeist throwing objects around at whoever neared the Goblet. It was quite obsessed with Fleur for some reason, throwing water balloons and whatnots at her.
The second time, the trio lost Sakura somewhere in between. They went to find her but got lost in the castle instead.
"This is simply too ridiculous," Fleur complained, "Just why would these stairs change at all? If this is what they call the British sense of humor then I am not liking it at all Sarah."
"I did hear about Hogwarts being a bit… intriguing," Sarah replied (Fleur scoffed), "but this is too much indeed."
As the two were grumbling and climbing up the stairs, Fleur gave a yelp.
A step from the stairway had vanished all of a sudden resulting in her tumble.
"Oh this is too much!" She raged.
"Hahaha," someone's laugh sounded.
Fleur looked up to find a bemused Boy-Who-Lived.
"And just what," She said in a chilly tone, "are you laughing at?"
Poor Harry instantly shut up.
"..." he muttered something.
"What?" Fleur snapped.
"T-that's a trick step. You've got to remember to jump," he explained nervously.
"Blasted school and it's blasted staircases!" she cursed.
With the help of Sarah, she started to extract herself out of it.
"Careful! No, no, not that way. You'll only end up..." Harry warned.
"Owwww!" Fleur hissed
"...spraining yourself."
"Ouchh," Fleur cried and sat down on the stairs. She had apparently sprained it quite bad.
Harry, upon seeing the injury on Fleur, descended the stairs in speed. Without thinking about just what he was doing, he bent down and took Fleur's ailing leg on his hands and began examining it as if it were a perfectly normal thing to do.
"Doesn't look like a fracture. Madam Pomfrey will fix it up in a jiffy but you'll still have to rest for at least a day," he observed.
Fleur was too much in pain to even register what had happened while Sarah was scandalized at the picture of young Harry comforting Fleur with such warmth.
"Come on, let's bring you to the Hospital wing," he said and tried helping Fleur up but couldn't. Even with his help, Fleur seemed incapable of standing up.
"Where is Sakura when you need her," Sarah remarked with worry.
Harry had the decency to be embarrassed. One of his clones had vanished and he had to go and replenish it once again. That was why he had left the two for just a while but upon returning back had found that the two had ventured in his search instead.
"Don't worry about it, here, let me help," he said and just like that, scooped Fleur up in a princess carry with extreme ease.
W-w-w-what? Sarah screamed inside. Just what was this situation? If the male population at
Beauxbatons were to be shown this exact picture, would they not band together to murder Harry?
Regardless, if she had any complaints then they remained unvocalized. Fleur was also not in a good state of mind to properly chide the boy for his hugely inappropriate behavior (besides, it was a medical emergency).
Harry then led the way and brought Fleur to Madame Pomfrey without even breaking a sweat.
"You'll rest here today. I'll inform your headmistress," Madame Pomfrey said to Fleur after treating her while motioning the other two outside. A tired Sarah and a very reluctant Harry left the wing.
Later in the morning, when Fleur regained consciousness, she found Sakura by her bedside, sleeping soundly like a baby. The girl was warming up to her slowly. Just a few weeks before, whenever Fleur got closed to her or touched her, she would act so nervous and fidgety that it was frankly exasperating. Now though, she allowed Fleur to get a bit closer. That certainly was a progress.
Fleur then saw the signs of magical treatment of her legs. The memories about last night then came flooding. She first turned a shade of red in anger at the audacity of that brat. To carry her like that of all things! Then she also remembered how she had felt so comfortable in his arms as if she knew that feeling from somewhere before and then proceeded to turn a very different shade of red.
His help at such difficult time notwithstanding, Fleur vowed to hex the guy to Paris lest he ever touched her again.
Boys were boys. Wherever Sakura accompanied Fleur, both of them were ogled quite a bit. The Harry inside Sakura was feeling very very violated but he couldn't possibly go and punch Roger Davies in the face now, could he? Fleur had already mastered the art of not giving a single thought to such matters at all. Even now, as the two made their way towards the Goblet of Fire, her head looked straight at the Goblet and nowhere else. Harry, though, was constantly looking around, not only because his eyes would automatically seek his friends but he was also watching out for any signs of danger. Hogwarts was safe but he wasn't going to take any chances.
Fleur walked gracefully towards the goblet, passed the age line with ease and dropped her name inside. Some of the other girls from Beauxbatons, including Sarah, did the same. They were frankly appalled that Sakura had not put her name in. She was a recent transfer student but her feats of taming the Abraxan and rescuing Gabby had already spread all over the school like wildfire.
As they were returning, Sarah pointed to someone in the hall and said to Fleur, "Hey, Fleur, look."
All of them turned to see a lone Harry Potter sleeping with his head on top of a book and snoring.
"What an uncultured fellow." Fleur remarked, "And how do they even tolerate this kind of behaviour in this school? Had this been Beauxbatons, he would have been severely reprimanded."
"He is a star student," a new voice, Draco Malfoy, said.
He had approached the three ladies along with Crabbe and Goyle and had heard the earlier remark.
"He gets away with most of the things simply because he has the stupid monicker of the Boy-Who-Lived." He said in disdain.
As much as Harry wanted to transfigure Malfoy to a little ferret for insulting his main body then and there, he held himself back.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mademoiselle, I am Draco Malfoy." He introduced himself with surprising elegance.
"It's a pleasure as well Mr. Malfoy," Fleur replied politely.
"Mr. Malfoy is my father. Please, call me Draco instead."
Say what you will about the ferret, he sure could be quite charming.
"Draco then," Fleur agreed easily, "is this a usual occurrence? Him sleeping so uncouthly in the open?"
"Oh yes, he does it all the time. He has no regard for the rules and the manners of the school, you see. It was shameful enough before but now he has gone and disgraced our prestigious school in front of our guests too. I ask you to not judge Hogwarts based on this one anomaly alone Miss Delacour."
The Gryffindors around them were seething, Sakura included. Some of them were rolling their sleeves to come over and give Malfoy a good thrashing. But none of them ended up doing anything because someone else had come to Harry's defense instead.
"Mr. Potter is a very diligent student who has consistently improved himself and now ranks among the top of his class."
Minerva McGonagall had somehow chanced upon the conversation.
"And you, Mr. Draco, you should know better to belittle your fellow student in front of our guests."
He felt that the guests bit at the last was a little strained. And was THE Minerva McGonagall praising him? He couldn't help but feel proud.
"Sorry Professor," Draco said meekly and promptly excused himself out. He knew better than to play a game of verbal sparring against the sternest witch of Hogwarts.
"I ask you all to be seated," McGonagall said, "the Goblet is ready and it will soon be time for the Champions to be announced."
Fleur pursed her lips but went on ahead and took a seat regardless. Sakura and Sarah followed.
"Playing favorites, Minerva?" Severus Snape asked McGonagall.
The staffs had already gathered at the staff table and the feast was now ongoing. After the Halloween feast ended, Dumbledore was to announce the champions.
At Snape's inquiry, McGonagall made a very threatening gesture with her eyes.
"Like I said, Severus, I shall not tolerate a student of this school belittling other, specially in front of guests," she replied.
"You'll tolerate one of your lions sleeping in the hall then? And snoring, no less," Snape drawled.
"The Great Hall is not classroom, Severus. Students are free to get some rest here. Especially Mr. Potter," She said.
"You always had a soft spot when it came to Potters," he replied with animosity.
"Oh cut it you two," Pomona interfered.
"Yes, yes," Flitwick squealed, "You know Minerva didn't mean it that way Severus. All of us have felt the amount of work Mr. Potter is putting in his studies. Why, when I was once passing through the corridor of the third floor, he was practicing the Summoning and the Banishing charm in an empty room with such diligence that I would have awarded him 20 points then and there were it not for the fact that it was after the night curfew."
"The boy is brilliant in my class too," Mad-eye Moody said while taking a swig from his flask, "He alone in the class can resist my Imperius Curse (Sprout and McGonagall frowned). That takes a huge will-power."
"His Arithmancy is progressing steadily. If he continues in this way he is sure to be an accomplished Arithmancer," Septima also chimed in.
"And he is simply a genius in runes!" Bathseda Babbling exclaimed. "Why, the boy takes to runes as a fish to the water. Ancient Greek, Egyptian, Persia, you name it. He has somewhat of an obsession with Japanese Runes for some reason though. Keeps on asking me about some Fuuinjutsu thing but alas, I have never heard about it."
Severus hmphed at the enthusiastic recounting of various teachers about Harry Potter. He couldn't deny them, though. He too had noticed the boy's progress. Whatever occasional questions he threw at the boy would be answered with promptness and sometimes, Potter also asked a few insightful questions. His potions was no longer as abysmal as it used to be. In fact, that last Wit-Sharpening Potion was, as much as Severus hated to say, well brewed.
"If I may have your attention," Dumbledore stood up.
"It's time for the Goblet to choose the Champions."
Harry was exhausted. That was precisely the reason why he had fallen asleep on the Great Hall. Dinner feast be damned, he could always procure it afterwards by asking the house elves, sleep was much more important.
That was why, when he was woken up so unceremoniously by someone shaking him up with vigor, he couldn't help but yell,
"Will you stop it for a second Ron, I am trying to get some bloody sleep here-"
Unfortunately, it was not Ron. It wasn't even Hermione. It was headmaster Dumbledore himself.
"I-I am so sorry Professor," he stammered, "I didn't mean to sleep. I was just so tired and I thought I would take a nap and I somehow slept through and Ron and Hermione didn't even wake me up-"
"Calm down, Harry," Dumbledore said in a flat tone.
This was weird. He had never heard Dumbledore speak like that.
"Will you follow the Champions to the waiting room?" He said.
Harry blinked.
Dumbledore, upon realising that Harry had slept through it all and perhaps did not know where the waiting room was, said, "Will anybody guide Mr. Potter to the waiting room?"
"I'll go," a voice said. Sakura, Harry realised.
"Come on," without waiting for anyone to tell anything else, Sakura made her way from the Beauxbatons table and forcibly pulled up Harry and started leading him on.
On the way, Harry realised that the entire student body of Hogwarts was staring daggers at him.
"What the hell happened?" He asked in trepidation.
"Our luck happened boss," Sakura replied bitterly, "Your name came out of the Goblet."
Harry took a while to register just what his clone was saying.
"Fuck!"
He couldn't help but exclaim.
"10 points from Gryffind-"
"Oh shut the hell up Severus!" McGonagall cried.