(A/N: I wondered how long it was going to take me to get here. To any who are disappointed, please try to enjoy the chapter anyway and then read the A/N at the end. As a reminder, this chapter is a continuation of the day in the previous chapter.)
(A/N2: Partially beta'd, version 0.8)
Chapter 25 - An Amazing Event
(still June 24th)
At six in the evening, Harry, his bond-mates, and Sirius walked up the path from the open gates of Hogwarts to the castle. Sirius walked next to Harry and told him made up stories of what he thought James would do if entered into the Tournament, causing Harry to laugh as each story became wilder than the last. The three girls walked behind, chuckling and shaking their heads at their silly adopted godfather.
Harry appreciated the diversion, preventing him from worrying about the third task this evening.
At the front doors to the castle, the group was met by the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmistress.
"I'm glad you returned, Harry," Dumbledore greeted him. "However I do wish you had accepted the invitation to come here this morning and spend the day with your family. I arranged for Ginny's mother to be here and she wanted to see all of you, but you didn't show." He sounded disappointed in Harry.
Ginny looked at Harry and shook her head slightly before she whispered, "She never showed up while I was there."
Harry could not figure out what Dumbledore was trying to do. Every possible situation he created in his mind made no sense; therefore, he decided to ignore the issue of Mrs Weasley. "We did arrive this morning and we've spent the day with our family, it just wasn't here." Turning slightly, he said, "Good evening, Professor McGonagall. It's good to see you again."
"Thank you, it's good to see you as well, and that all of you are well." McGonagall turned to each girl in turn. "Miss Granger, Miss Delacour, and Miss … Potter." Looking behind them, she nodded at the last person. "Sirius.
Ginny smiled at her. "It's all right, Professor. It's probably best to call me by my old name for a while yet."
"If we may?" Harry smoothly interrupted, since the professors were not moving. "I'd like to eat before the task and we'd also like to see some friends."
"Of course, Harry." Dumbledore waved them in and slowly led them towards the Great Hall. "You may sit at any table you wish; however, I believe the Gryffindors would like to see you the most."
"That had been our intent," he replied, almost annoyed with whatever little game Dumbledore seemed to be playing. He was so pleased that, after tonight, he never needed to return to Hogwarts again if he did not want to.
"Sirius, you may join us at the head table if you wish." Dumbledore looked like he did not really care where Sirius sat.
"Thank you, Albus, I believe I will." Sirius went around the edge of the room as they entered the Great Hall, before taking a seat next to Hagrid.
Inside the door, Dumbledore and McGonagall headed to their seats, but the bond-mates were quickly stopped by friends and well-wishers. When most of the people left for their normal place to eat, Harry guided his family to the end of the Gryffindor table. Fred, George, and Neville followed. Ginny grabbed Luna's arm and pulled her over too.
To Harry's surprise, a calm looking Ron tapped him on the shoulder and motioned him over to the side of the large room. A quick glance at Ginny showed she was surprised as well.
Harry stood near the wall and balanced on both feet, ready to move quickly if needed. He really hoped Ron did not cause a scene.
Ron looked down for a moment as if gathering his thoughts before looking Harry right in the eye, looking more determined than anything. "Harry, I've learned … well, I guess you could say I've learned a number of unpleasant things lately. There's you and, uh, them." He nodded his head sideways towards Harry's bond-mates. "Fred and George explained a few things about our family that I'd never noticed before. Then my Dad wrote me about some more. Its all, well, changed how I look at things … changed … me. Being forced to look at myself wasn't … pleasant, and I had plenty of time to do just that." He took a deep breath and blew it back out as if very tired. "I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I'm sorry, Harry. I bloody screwed up. I've been an ass to you and to Hermione especially, and a little to Ginny too. I'd have been angry if I'd been in your shoes and you said to me what I said to you. I'm … really sorry…"
A feeling of hope and peace came over Harry, as well as relief that his concerns were not real. "Thank you, Ron. I hope you understand that we won't be best friends again, but we have a chance to try to be friends again. That is if you want to."
Ron started to grin. "I'd like that, I'd really like that." He held out his hand and then grinned more when Harry took it before pulling Ron in for a brief hug.
Letting him go, Harry started to smile. "So, do you think you can tell Hermione that too?"
Ron closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "I'd really prefer not to, but I did figure out I'd have to talk to her too, well, her and Ginny." He gave Harry a questioning look. "Gabrielle doesn't have anything against me, does she?"
Chuckling, Harry clapped him on the shoulder and pushed him back towards the table. "No, I don't believe so. However, you might want to sit in the stands near them during the task. That might be a good time to say what you need to them." Ron nodded as if he would rather not have to do the unpleasant task before he followed Harry back to the table.
Seeing an open place between Hermione and Neville, Harry took his seat and began to help himself to the food.
"Everything all right?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Wonderful." She looked surprised at that answer, as did Ginny, who was paying close attention to them from across the table. "Expect Ron to sit near you during the task and to have an interesting conversation with him."
"Harry…"
"Interesting and peaceful," he assured her. Turning to his other side, he grinned at his friend. "Neville! I've really missed having another male friend around. I've been outnumbered three to one."
Neville chuckled. "Harry, most guys would love to be surrounded by three pretty girls."
Harry grinned and leaned close to whisper to his friend. "Yeah, but the female hormones get pretty thick at times."
As Neville started to laugh, Harry received three less than pleased looks as they guessed at what he had whispered. He just smiled to himself, knowing he would probably pay for that in tickling later. "So, tell me about all the stuff you didn't mention in your letters…"
Harry stood with the other champions at the entrance to the maze. The judges were also present, talking among themselves. The students from all the schools and a few guests, including Minister Fudge, were filling the stands.
Fleur walked over to Harry, looking much calmer than before the second task. She gave him a pleasant smile before she said, «I will not be holding back, Harry. I will do my best to win.»
He returned the smile and bowed his head slightly. «I would expect nothing less, Miss Delacour. Good luck to you.»
Deciding that was a good example, he moved over to Cedric. "Good luck, Cedric."
"You too, Harry. We've missed you these last few months. It's been almost boring without a Harry Potter adventure," Cedric teased.
Harry had to chuckle. "Boredom is to be preferred, I promise."
Moving over to the last one, he said formally, "Krum, good luck tonight."
Krum stood a little straighter and gave a half bow. "Potter, it 'as been an 'onor and gude luck. Ve vill not play a Quidditch game, no?"
Harry returned the gesture. "No, I'm sorry. I will leave after the task and will not return to Hogwarts."
"Too bad." Krum nodded sadly as his guess was confirmed. "It vould 'ave been fun."
"It would have been fun. Maybe we'll have another chance later," Harry offered, not knowing if that would indeed happen.
"Come to Bulgaria and bring team. Bring pretty friends too," he said with a smile and a gesture towards Harry's bond-mates.
Harry could not help but laugh with Krum joining him. "We'll see." He was pleased that the ice had finally been broken with the very reserved Bulgarian.
Bagman cleared his throat noisily, his Sonorus already going. "If everyone will take a seat, we will start the last task." The cheering and applause were loud.
When it was quiet again, Bagman continued. "As you can see, we have a maze for the champions to run through for the last task. In the center of the maze is the Triwizard Tournament's trophy. The first person to grab it wins." There was more cheering. "However, there are obstacles in the maze for the champions to get past and to test their skill. Professor Dumbledore has been kind enough to put a covering over the maze so the contestants can not fly over it." He looked at Harry with a superior smile before looking at all the watchers in the tall stands. "To make the task more interesting for you, each contestant will have a charm placed on them that will show a color on the magical covering so you can see where they are." Many cheered at that, causing Bagman to pause.
In the stands, Hermione commented, "I'm glad someone thought of that. The second task was boring to watch." Ginny agreed with a nod.
«Not for me,» Gabrielle replied with a smile. Ginny bumped her shoulder good-naturedly, half knocking the little Veela over. Gabrielle tried to playfully push Ginny back, but the redhead wrapped an arm around the smaller girl's shoulders and held her tight against her. The two ended up giggling together.
Ron looked at Hermione. "Are they always like that?" Neville and Luna both looked interested in the answer too.
"More often than you'd first expect," Hermione answered.
Sirius, Apolline, and Jean-Aimé watched amusedly from the row behind.
"First in will be Harry Potter, then Cedric Diggory, Viktor Krum, and Fleur Delacour, each a minute behind the previous." Bagman turned to the other more independent judge. "Barty, if you would mark each of the contestants?"
Barty Crouch looked a little more haggard then he had appeared even a month ago, but he was steady on his feet. "Mr Potter, as you will be first, what colour would you like?"
"Red?"
"Very well." Crouch cast a spell on Harry, causing his robes to glow red slightly. "It will show more brightly on the ceiling inside the maze." He turned to the next champion to enter. "Mr Diggory, your preference?"
"Yellow."
"Mr Krum?"
Krum looked indecisive for a moment before he answered, "Green."
"And Miss Delacour?"
"Blue."
Crouch looked at Bagman and nodded. Bagman picked up a whistle. "Ready, Mr Potter?" The whistle blew shrilly.
Instead of running in immediately, Harry lifted his wand and cast, "Accio Ginny's broom." A shrunken broom came flying to him from Ginny.
Bagman laughed. "Good cast, Potter, but you can't fly over the maze."
Harry cancelled the shrinking spell and said as he mounted the broom, "I don't want to fly over it, I want to fly through it." He left a surprised judge behind as he flew into the maze.
He had practiced with Ginny's broom over the last week, picking it because it had better control for tight turns. He was sure hers would be better for this than his Firebolt. After talking to his Herbology tutor, he knew he could also blast a hole in the hedge and fly through in an emergency.
There were enough turns that he was flying only a little faster than running as fast as he could, but this allowed him to keep that speed without ever tiring. It also allowed him to ignore some of the obstacles, like the Devil's snare, the pair of Crups, and even a Red Cap.
Flying near the ceiling, he even flew around a Troll, who seemed surprised to see him up so high.
Some golden mist made him feel a little funny, but he was through it so quickly it barely affected him. He resolved to avoid it again in the future.
As he continued to navigate the maze, he heard a faint female scream; but as it was not near, he had no idea where she was. He hoped Fleur was not hurt too badly. There was also no doubt in his mind that his girls would be very upset if he bonded Fleur, giving him a second reason not to go search for her.
Coming around a corner, Harry was completely surprised to find a Sphinx in front of him. Hoping for the best, Harry shot a Blasting Hex at the hedge wall near the ceiling at the end of the corridor. The Sphinx must have figured out what he was about to do and crouched. Harry moved over to the right hedge wall. Carefully timing it, as the Sphinx started to jump for him, he sped up and swerved left and then back right again, brushing the left hedge wall before he was centered and shot through the hole he had created. The Sphinx had not missed him by much.
Shooting through the hole in the hedge, Harry hit a spider wed, almost tearing through it, but not going fast enough to prevent himself from getting stuck in it. It was his bad luck to come through the one place the Acromantula had built a nest for itself. Fortunately, the large spider was down the corridor a ways, but it immediately knew when Harry hit its web. It started to crawl back towards Harry while Harry was throwing Cutting Spells at the web. Cutting the web threads one at a time meant his freedom was coming too slowly.
As the spider crawled closer and closer, Harry became more desperate and stepped up the power. He cast his strongest Cutting curse, one designed to cut stone. It severed two threads of web and a leg on the spider it was so close. As it paused and hissed angrily, Harry changed tactics: he cast a Fireball spell. That melted more of the web and backed the spider up. Seeing a winning tactic, Harry continued to cast Fireball spells until he was free of the web. He noticed he had also burned a hole in a nearby hedge. To avoid having to pass the spider, Harry flew through that hole, hoping this one did not lead to something else as dangerous as the giant spider.
Flying through the hedge wall, Harry entered a long corridor that allowed him to see the trophy sitting on a table. With a grin, he flew over to the trophy. As he neared it, Cedric flew around a nearby corner on his own broom. Cedric flew as fast as he could in the corridor while Harry raced the last few steps on foot from where he had landed. With his broom in his left hand and his wand put away, Harry reached out his right hand. He grabbed the trophy and felt a pull from behind his navel. As the Portkey pulled him away, he looked over and saw Cedric still on his broom with a hand on the other handle of the trophy.
A moment later, they were both dumped to the ground and the trophy rolled away. Both boys shook their heads to clear their thinking and then looked around. They were in a graveyard somewhere.
"Where's the maze?" Cedric asked as he stood to get a better look.
"I have no idea." Harry tried to stand as well, but fell back down to one knee, his broom now on the ground. "I think I twisted my ankle on the landing."
"Hmm, you can probably stay there. I think I see someone coming. Maybe he can tell us where we are." Cedric dropped his broom and raised both hands over his head to make large waving gestures. "Hello! Over here! Can you help us?"
There was something about this that did not seem right. Why would they be in a graveyard? Suddenly, Harry spotted a large cauldron to the left of the approaching man. He was not sure why, but it seemed like a bad thing. "Cedric, you better pull your wand out. I've got a bad feeling about this."
"You mean like we're on a Harry Potter adventure?" he said with a grin. "Don't worry, that chap is coming this way. Oh, there's two of them and one of them is carrying something."
Harry was finally able to see who was approaching them, two large figures emerging from behind a large mausoleum. As he was about to call out, he heard a shrill voice cry out, "We want the one on the ground. Kill the one standing."
One of the men whipped his wand up and cast "Avada Kedavra!"
While Cedric stood there in shock at seeing the Killing curse rush towards him, Harry tried to dive towards the boy to knock him out of the way. As he made his move, he suddenly felt all strength leave him, causing him to only bump into Cedric instead of shoving him hard out of the way as planned. Harry's vision was suddenly blurry and his ears hurt, but he could not miss Cedric lying on the ground and not moving.
Ginny was holding her broom in her hand, shrunken for easier carrying in Harry's bag and Summoning. The broom was yanked out of her hand as the whistle blew.
"It appears he's staying with his plan," Hermione said a little worriedly, her fear of flying not helping matters.
"Looks like it," Ginny answered a little more calmly as she watched Harry fly into the maze to get to the spot marked with a white "X" in the center. She had liked his plan with the broom.
When the whistle blew again, they watched Cedric summon a broom from the stands as well, probably from Cho. Luna had told Ginny that Cedric and Cho were still dating.
Viktor also summoned a broom, as did Fleur.
Ginny looked at Hermione, chuckling before she said, "Well, I guess they've all decided to copy Harry."
"It is a good strategy," Ron commented, surprising them by entering the conversation. "It also makes watching the racing dots more fun."
Indeed, all four coloured dots were zipping along, their colour clearly visible on the top of the maze. They would pause occasionally, but otherwise they rarely slowed down except to turn.
"Hermione, I'd like to apologize for the things I've said to you over the years, especially this year and our first year," Ron said, barely able to look at her. "As I told Harry, I've learned a lot of things in the last few months that have changed how I see life, and me. I'm sorry for being such a prat and saying what I did to you. Ginny, I'm sorry I wasn't the best brother to you either."
Hermione was surprised, and a glance at Ginny showed her to be surprised as well as proud.
"Growing up isn't easy, is it?" his sister asked with acceptance in her expression and voice.
"No. It's been rather unpleasant."
"Thank you, Ron. I accept you apology," Hermione told him. "We won't be around much for the next few years except for holidays, but I suppose we can write and see how that goes."
"I would like that." Ron looked much happier and relaxed, as if he had lost several burdens.
They watched the dots continue to race around the maze, including Fleur's blue dot which came near Krum's green dot briefly before it moved a short ways towards the back of the maze and came to a complete stop, causing concern from the French contingent. They all noticed Harry's red dot stop for a moment, then head on to the center. At the same time, they could see Cedric's yellow dot also heading towards the "X" in the center.
"Who do you think will get there first?" Neville asked the group at large. Considering it was a group that all supported Harry, it was not surprising Harry was the only name shouted.
To everyone's surprise, the red and yellow dot converged and then disappeared.
«He's gone! He's not here and we must go to him!» Gabrielle shouted in distress as she jumped up.
«Gabrielle! Stay here!» her mother commanded.
«We must go now! He is hurt!» Gabrielle grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her up.
Ginny closed her eyes for a moment. «She's right. He's not near here and he's hurt. I can feel where he is.»
Neville, Sirius, and Ron looked and listened with confusion. While they did not understand the French that was spoken, the tones of voice and expressions did bode well.
«No, we can't!» Hermione jumped to her feet also to try and stop the other two. «You can't Apparate here and we haven't learned how either.»
«I'm going!» Gabrielle screamed as she pulled out her wand.
«I can feel the magic, Hermione. Are you coming or not? Decide now!» Ginny pulled her wand too and grabbed Gabrielle's arm with her free hand.
«But…»
Ginny spared only a brief angry glance for Hermione's indecisiveness and lack of willing to do what was needed. «Go next to Harry on three, Gabi. One. Two.»
«Wait!» Apolline shouted and lunged for the girls to stop them.
Ginny felt a hand on her arm as she counted, «Three!» She had already been concentrating on where Harry was and now she pulled all the magic she could find, both hers and Harry's, as she willed herself to be next to Harry. She felt herself, Gabi, and Hermione all being pushed through a tube together, hit a wall, then break through it to go further through the tube.
All three girls landed and stumbled a step, a cracking sound fading away as it bounced through the graveyard. They saw two men standing in front of them, one holding something and one with his wand out and pointing over where Harry was lying on the ground on his side, leaning on his elbow. They could feel he was still alive and hurt, but that was all they knew and needed to know for the moment.
"Reducto!" Ginny shouted as she cast at the man on the left, the one with his wand out and pointing in Harry's direction. The man dodged such that the spell only tore through his cloak without hurting him.
«You will not hurt my Harry!» Gabrielle screamed as she started to morph, little silver feathers sprouting all over her body. Her wand fell to the ground and a ball of fire appeared in her right hand as she made a throwing motion, causing the man with the bundle to duck and stumble around as he avoided the fireball. A fireball also came from Gabrielle's left hand. She alternated hands as fast as she could, forcing the man to stay on the defensive and hold a shield up without returning any offensive spells.
Hermione snapped out of her momentary state of shock from having successfully Apparated through Hogwarts's famous wards and cast a transfiguration spell on the grass to grab the feet of the man that Ginny was fighting so that he could not dodge as well. He was putting up a good defense and also casting the occasional offensive spell, even with the two girls against him.
Harry was surprised to see his bond-mates there, but he was happy for the help after Cedric had been killed. As magic felt like it was flooding back into him, he suddenly understood why he had had a moment of weakness. He was about to start helping Gabrielle when he heard a voice say, "Master?" He turned and saw the biggest snake in his life - not counting the Basilisk. On instinct, he cast a Slashing curse as the snake coiled to strike. The curse hit the snake in the coils and cut it into six pieces, causing a screaming hiss as it died.
"No!" came a shrill cry.
Harry turned back and sent a Piercing curse towards the man Gabrielle was fighting, just as the man held the bundle in front of him as if to block a fireball. The Piercing curse broke through the weakened shield, went through the bundle and the man as if they were tissue. Both fell to the ground limp.
«Gabrielle, help them!» Harry instructed.
Almost without pause, Gabrielle started directing fireballs towards the other man. He had to go totally on the defensive now. Seeing the success of his last spell, Harry cast another Piercing curse. It also broke through this man's weakened shield and hit him in the hip, causing him to scream. The scream ended quickly as he was hit with a Blasting hex and two fireballs in the chest just before he fell to the ground.
Although the stench of the burning man was awful, Harry walked on his knees the three steps to grab Gabrielle and stop her from hurling more fireballs. He was surprised to feel the soft downy feathers on her arms, then the silvery ridge feathers coming down the back of her head, much like a Mohawk. She turned in his arms and he saw her transformed face for the first time. It was changed only a little, the mouth area protruding a little more than normal and the downy feathers here lay flatter, as did her ears. As she threw her arms around him, he noticed a little longer feathers hanging from her arms. Her Veela allure was also much stronger than normal, drawing him to her - almost irresistibly so. Surprisingly to him, she was not ugly this way but very interesting looking.
Harry heard Gabrielle whimper softly as he felt small movements under his hand that was near her neck. Pulling his head back a little, he saw her feathers go way, her hair return, and her face shift back to normal. She went limp in his arms, causing him to pull her close again, holding her in her exhausted unconsciousness.
Looking to the side, he saw that Hermione and Ginny had put the flames out, but there was no doubt about the man's fate. Although neither girl looked very good, Hermione looked worse, like she was going to be sick to her stomach.
"Sit down if you need to. We'll take a minute to rest before we try to return," he told them.
Both girls sat down next to him, looking away from the men.
"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked weakly, still looking as if she was about to be sick.
"Cedric and I arrived in the center from opposite sides and grabbed the trophy together. It brought us here," he waved a hand around, "wherever here is. Cedric saw those men coming over and one of them said to kill Cedric." Harry had to pause for a moment. "I tried to push him out of the way of the Killing curse, but I became so weak I couldn't do much and, well…" He could not go on.
Hermione gasped. "That was probably when we came to you. We made you weak and he…" She turned and lost her dinner. As she finished, she used a weak Aguamenti charm to wash her mouth out.
"I'm sorry, Harry. We were only trying to help," Ginny told him, laying a hand on his arm that held Gabi against him. She looked over at Cedric, who was only a few feet away. "Wait a minute…" Ginny crawled over to the boy. "Look, blood is oozing out of his hand in slow spurts."
"He's not dead!" Hermione cried and pushed to her feet so she could run over. "What was that spell?" she asked herself as she pulled out her wand. "Uh, Ferula!" Bandages came out of her wand and wound around Cedric's bleeding hand, making it more obvious what had happened. "The Killing curse must have hit him between his fingers, causing him to lose his last two fingers, but it must not have been direct enough to actually kill him." She looked at Harry. "We need to get him to Madam Pomfrey as soon as we can. Hopefully, she can heal him, if he hasn't lost too much blood."
"I hope he makes it too, then he can be The-Boy-Who-Lived," happy that Cedric had a chance. Harry received two glares for his joke, which he had hoped would lighten everyone's mood.
"Maybe the trophy would take us back?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"We can try. Get everyone together and hold on. Ginny, I think you'll have a free hand. Summon the trophy to you. If it's still a Portkey, then it should take us home." Harry hoped it work as they arranged themselves.
When they were holding onto each other and ready, Ginny summoned the trophy. She caught it and nothing happened. "That didn't help," she said negatively.
"We have no option but to fly back," Harry stated as he looked around for his broom. He also saw Cedric's, although he wished they had a third.
"That could take hours and we don't know which way to go. If we're in the south, it might even be faster to go to London and then Floo back," Hermione told him.
Harry nodded his acknowledgement of the good idea. "You have a good point. So let's fly to the nearest town, figure out where we are, then we can decide how to get back."
"Great, I hate flying," moaned Hermione as she reached for Cedric's broom. "Can a broom even take three of us, because it'll have to be three on one and two on the other."
"None of us are heavy, so it should work. Ginny?" he queried.
"You're right. It probably won't be very fast, but it will be faster than walking or even running. Or…" the redhead grinned. "Let me have my broom, Harry. I can scout which way to go to save us some time."
"Good idea." He handed it over and she took off.
"How's Gabrielle? Hermione asked quietly.
"She's not hurt, I can tell that. I believe she just exhausted herself between coming here and then transforming. I would guess either would have been fine, but both of those one right after the other?" he shrugged, knowing he was having to guess. He petted the girl's head, although he was not sure if he was trying to give her comfort or reassure himself.
"You should know that it was her idea to come here." Hermione hung her head. "I'm ashamed to say that I tried to talk them into not coming."
"Because the adults could handle it better?"
She nodded.
Raising her head up, he carefully leaned over and kissed her gently. "You're just as brave, Hermione, you came anyway and I'm glad of it." She moved closer and he put his free arm around her to show her she was still his.
Ginny returned a few minutes later. "There's a road not far from here. If we can get there, we can summon the Knight Bus and take that back to Hogwarts."
"Brilliant!" He always enjoyed making her blush, which she was now. "I'll take Cedric by putting him behind me and you can tie him to me. Ginny, you fly the other broom with Hermione in the back to hold Gabi who'll be sandwiched in the middle."
A few minutes later, they were flying towards the road Ginny found. Ginny also summoned the Knight Bus, which appeared about ten seconds later in its usual noisy fashion. An old man stepped off. "I'm Robert and this is the Knight Bus for the … Bloody Hell! What happened to them?" He was looking at the two unconscious people.
"Long story, but help us get aboard and then take us to Hogwarts as fast as you can," Harry told him.
Robert pointed Hermione to a bed and she floated Cedric to it. Ginny floated Gabi in while Harry limped onto the bus on his own. "We have three other stops to make first, but we'll get you to Hogwarts," the man told them.
Harry wanted to say something very impolite, but held himself to just drawing his wand and pointing it at the man. "We have a medical emergency and many people, including the Minister for Magic, think we've all been kidnapped. You will take us to Hogwarts first and then you can go wherever you need to."
Robert looked at the driver, not believing what was happening. "Look, you can't interfere with the Knight Bus. You can get in trouble for this, lad."
Harry jabbed his wand and shot a Stinging hex out, causing it to hit next to the man. "I said this was an emergency. Surely you can change your order in an emergency." His wand held steady on the man.
"True, that is in the rules. Emergencies do take precedence. However, that will be fifty-five Sickles, or three Galleons and four Sickles," Robert informed him.
"Fine," Harry agreed through gritted teeth. "The Minister can pay you, or Professor Dumbledore. Just go!" He waved his wand and let a few red sparks out.
"Frank, to Hogwarts." Robert grabbed a pole at the front of the bus and they took off. It was not long before the bus screeched to a halt in front of the gates of Hogwarts, almost throwing the students off the bed.
As the students left, Harry looked at the two men who ran the bus. "Thank you for coming here first. I also hope you remember where you picked us up because I believe the Minister will want to go back there very soon. You'll also get paid for both trips then."
The bus left quickly and the students slowly flew back to the Quidditch pitch. Harry had no idea how long they had been gone, but it was not long enough since it looked like everyone was still there. Even as they flew in at twice the height of the Quidditch stands, Harry could see Madame Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff talking to Crouch and Bagman, and the two school masters were arguing something vigorously. He also saw Apolline, backed by Jean-Aimé and Sirius, arguing with Dumbledore. He would have bet his broom that was conversation that he would have found amusing.
Deciding to put those he cared about at ease, he did not care what Dumbledore thought, he descended quickly to land near Gabrielle's parents.
Ginny took a gentle spiral down, to pacify Hermione who was clutching her sides tighter than necessary to keep Gabrielle between them.
Silence spread as people saw Harry land, then cheers went up and people surged towards him. Fortunately, Sirius, Jean-Aimé, and Dumbledore kept most people back. Minister Fudge made sure he was included in the group where they landed. McGonagall helped pull Cedric off the broom behind Harry and rushed him to the tent to see Madam Pomfrey. Apolline grabbed Gabrielle when the girls landed and held her tightly.
"What happened, Harry?" Jean-Aimé asked, also looking very concerned at his daughter.
Harry tried to reduce the parents' fears first. "I believe she's only exhausted. I can tell you she's not injured in anyway." Both parents relaxed substantially.
"Harry?" Dumbledore questioned him more with his look.
As he was about to answer, Harry saw Croaker and Bones come through the circle of professors and Aurors who were holding people back. This could work out well, he thought. He explained about the Portkey, the men, the girls arriving, the fight, finding Cedric alive, and finally their trip back - all as briefly as he could.
Dumbledore looked very thoughtful for a moment. "Can you take us back there, Harry?"
"If someone will heal my ankle since I twisted it, we could take the Knight Bus back to where we were picked up and then return to the graveyard. You could walk it, but flying would be faster." Harry looked at Apolline. "Could you keep Gabrielle here? I think she's had enough for this evening."
"Gladly," his mother-in-law agreed.
"Harry?" Hermione touched his shoulder to get his attention. "If you don't mind, I'll stay here with Gabrielle and Apolline."
"I'll come with you," Ginny volunteered.
Harry felt his ankle suddenly strengthen and the pain go away. Turning, he saw Madam Bones putting her wand away. "I can still do simple healing spells just fine," she told him."
A scream caught everyone attention. The crowd around Harry hurried over towards the commotion, except for Hermione and Apolline who was carrying Gabrielle. Those two moved Gabrielle towards the tent where Madam Pomfrey was.
Harry arrived in time to hear some brunette seventh year Ravenclaw girl explain what she had screamed about.
"…was knocked down when everyone started running around, but we didn't notice him for a few minutes. We tried to make him comfortable until Madam Pomfrey was able to come over, but I guess she's been too busy. Then he just started changing a minute ago. He was Professor Moody then he was this man, whoever he is. The only thing I know that does that is Polyjuice."
Director Bones leaned over a straw-coloured hair man about Sirius's age in Professor Moody's clothes. She removed a flask from his waist and smelled its contents. "It's Polyjuice all right. I also know who this is, and he's supposed to be dead." She stood up. "Where's Barty Crouch? Aurors? Find Crouch immediately and detain him for questioning." Several started moving away and through the crowd.
Croaker came over and knelt down by the man. He lifted the man's left sleeve to show a bare forearm. He cast a few spells on the man's arm, but nothing changed. Looking up, he saw Harry and smiled. "Harry, do you see this?"
Harry looked carefully. "I don't see anything."
"Exactly," Croaker said triumphantly as he dropped the arm and stood. "You've done it, lad. You've done it!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Fudge.
Croaker pulled the top Ministry people, Dumbledore, Harry, and Ginny into a tight circle for a more private discussion. Sirius and Jean-Aimé poked their head through a gap as best they could to hear. "This is the son of Barty Crouch, or Junior, a known Death Eater…"
"Impossible," Fudge refuted vociferously. "He's dead."
"Yes, he's dead just like Peter Pettigrew was when Mr Potter found him crawling around in Hogwarts last year," Bones said, supporting Croaker's claim. Fudge sputtered at her correction.
"Junior here is a known Death Eater," Croaker continued. "I know for a fact that he had a Dark Mark on his left forearm. That Mark is now gone and I bet it will be gone from the forearm of every living Death Eater. We could check Snape or Karkaroff since they're here," he said with a grin. "Anyway, the Mark is gone because the master is now completely dead - just like all charms end when the caster dies."
"Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that you thought You-Know-Who wasn't really dead?" Fudge queried, showing he was smart enough to follow Croaker's logic.
"Exactly, Minister," Croaker confirmed. "We've been studying to find out why he didn't die when we saw evidence of his continued existence. We found out why He didn't fully die and have been removing his connection to this plane of life. I would guess that bundle that Mr Potter said he shot a spell through was Voldemort." Fudge shuddered at the sound of the evil name. "Dumbledore is right. We must go take a look."
"I don't believe it," Fudge muttered.
Croaker bound Crouch Jr. "Amelia, do you have enough people to guard him until we return."
"I should, but I'll send for more," Bones replied.
"Then those of us who are going, to the gates." Croaker pointed the direction and started to slowly walk.
Bones had a quick conversation with the Aurors present before she joined the march. Harry and Ginny followed after him, as they had to lead the way. Dumbledore, Sirius, Jean-Aimé, Bones, and four Aurors came as well.
When they flagged down the Knight Bus, Dumbledore ended up paying the three Galleons and four Sickles for Harry's first trip as well as another six Galleons and eight Sickles for the current ride.
Robert and Frank dropped them off in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, with only a few lights in the distance. Frank had claimed they were near Little Hangleton. Only Dumbledore looked like he had any idea where he was based on the name.
Harry and Ginny pulled out their brooms and took to the air to get their bearings. Once they were sure, they lead the group flying towards the graveyard that was about a mile away. The adults followed the two on brooms, Apparating by line of sight to cover the distance in four short jumps.
Bones and Croaker took the lead of the investigation in the graveyard, although Dumbledore poked around a lot, Harry noticed.
"This is, or was, Walden Macnair," Croaker said identifying the man who had been pierced through the chest, before he started to look at the bundle the Death Eater had been holding.
"But he works for the Ministry!" Fudge objected strenuously.
"I'm quite sure other Death Eaters do too," Croaker said almost distractedly while he continued to examine the bundle.
"I believe this was Theodore Avery, also a 'known Death Eater'" Bones said a little distastefully after checking the burnt body.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked tiredly and with a tinge of disappointment. "Did you have to kill them?"
"The first spell they used was the Killing curse, Professor," Harry replied heatedly, "and they were two adults against students who haven't even had their OWLs yet. I think we're allowed to defend ourselves as much as we can."
"Quite right, Mr Potter," Bones said with authority as she stood. "There will be no charges pressed against any of you for this."
"Most definitely not," Croaker added as he also stood, finished with his examination. "Our project is indeed done. I want to take a sample of what's in the cauldron, but otherwise, this can all be cleaned up."
Fudge looked and sounded confused. "Wait, what project?"
"This … thing," Croaker finally decided as he pointed at the small body next to Macnair, "housed what was left of Voldemort's spirit…"
"No, absolutely not!" Fudge objected. "He died over ten years ago."
Croaker shrugged. "You may deny reality all you want, Minister, but it doesn't change the truth. The truth is that it's easily proved that Voldemort did not die in 1981, although the part of him that was alive was quite pitiful. Several of us have been working behind the scenes to help send him on beyond this life, and Mr Potter finished the task tonight."
Fudge looked around between all the parties. "I still don't believe it."
"And that's why we didn't tell you," Croaker told him as the self-appointed spokesperson. "However, it doesn't matter now. If fact, I think I'd prefer this not even be mentioned, other than some former Death Eaters tried to kidnap Mr Potter for nefarious purposes. We will have to explain why Misters Potter and Diggory disappeared from Hogwarts, and we have Crouch Jr to explain. Amelia?"
"There are some very definite advantages to not spreading all the details around," she said slowly, thinking it through as she spoke.
"Indeed we will not say anything about You-Know-Who at all," Fudge demanded.
Harry looked at Ginny sadly, a look that she returned. It was exceedingly obvious to both of them why the Wizarding world was in the state it was when truth was covered up. He wondered how Sirius dealt with the Ministry as much as he did.
Bones ordered the Aurors to start cleaning up the scene and taking the bodies away while Croaker took his sample of the potion in the large cauldron. Dumbledore created a Portkey that took them all back to Hogwarts.
Harry was amazed that it was still crowded on the Quidditch pitch. Searching his connection to Hermione, he led Ginny to the tent. Inside, he saw Fleur and Viktor for the first time since the start of the task; both were resting and looked asleep, with Apolline watching over them. Madam Pomfrey was attending to Cedric while Hermione looked on. "How is he?"
Hermione turned and wrapped Harry in a hug. "Cedric is going to live. It looks like the curse hit the webbing between his fingers, causing him to permanently loose the last two fingers of his left hand, but he'll live."
Harry could not help the grin that broke out. "That's really good to hear. I'm glad he's going to make it." He looked around to find his last girl, but didn't see her. "Where's Gabrielle?"
"She woke up and had to go to the bathroom," Hermione replied. "I sent her to the Quidditch changing rooms a few minutes ago."
Out of instinct, Harry pushed his magic through the bond to find his youngest bond-mate and was very surprised to feel her not close by, but much further way in the direction of the castle. "She's not there, she's in the castle." He pulled the broom out and strode towards the tent opening. As he reached the opening, he suddenly felt Gabrielle change: she was hurt. "Ginny! Bring Hermione now!" He threw his leg over Cedric's broom, which he had been using, and flew up and into an immediate hard right turn. As he came around the tent, he pushed the broom has hard and as fast as it would go, sparing no concern for his safety.
While the grass sped by and it took only a couple handful of seconds to reach the main doors of the castle, it felt like forever to Harry. His heart was racing, afraid of what he might find. Fortunately, the doors were open and he flew in, slowing only enough not to splatter himself on the wall. Reaching out to her, it felt like she was near where the bathrooms were. He continued to fly down the corridor, taking the last turn as fast as he dared. He did not like what he saw as he rounded the corner and enjoyed letting his anger out.
(A little earlier…)
The Pepperup potion they had given her had helped her feel a lot better; however, it did not take care of the problem of needing to go to the bathroom.
"Hermione?" Gabrielle pulled on the older girl's sleeve. "I need a bathroom."
"The Quidditch changing rooms has one. They're right outside and to the left, the building next to us. Do you need me to go with you?"
"No, they are near." Gabrielle got up off the table and left the tent. The building was right there. It took a moment, but she found the door and it was locked. As she was about to go back to Hermione, she saw the castle in the background and decided that probably was the nearest place to go, so she started walking.
He was so frustrated. He had been careful, discreet, and vigilant, but the Veela girl from Beauxbatons was always with multiple people. He needed to find her alone because she was his ticket to restoring his honor and fortune - well, mostly his fortune, but there was some bragging rights to go along saying you had captured a Veela. It had taken almost every Knut he had to buy the equipment to capture her and it had been frustrating to be patient for months, but it would all be for naught if he could not get her alone. He was sure that the chaos of the third task would present him with the best chance to catch her alone. So far, he had been wrong.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the younger Veela leave the Healer's tent alone. Granger stepped out for a moment to watch her go towards the Quidditch changing room before stepping back inside. With glee, he started walking his way over towards the small building, nodding to friends as he went. When he reached the small building, he grew frustrated again because she had disappeared. Starting to panic, he searched the area quickly and then let out a sigh of relief when he saw her heading towards the castle all alone. With a smile, he started to follow her, keeping to the shadows as much as possible.
The Galleon signs were multiplying in his head as he considered what he could get for a young virgin Veela.
Gabrielle walked quickly into the castle. She thought she remembered where the bathrooms were on the first floor from her previous visit, and they were where she remembered.
Feeling much better after her visit, she walked out of the bathroom and straight into a wand pointed at her, causing her to freeze.
"A little Veela all alone just for me," he chuckled.
Gabrielle knew she could never pull her wand in time, but as he said, she was a Veela and she had been learning to use her powers. Tonight had been a very good example of what she and her ancestors could do. Pulling as hard as she could, she tried to turn her allure on, but nothing happened - not even the smallest feeling of allure.
He laughed now. "Why the face little girl? Did you lose something?"
There was no doubt in her mind; he had done something to her, but she could not figure out what. All he had in his hands was his wand. She started to inch backwards, hoping to hide in the bathroom.
"I didn't say you could move," he said, sounding annoyed.
She bumped into the bathroom door behind her. Remembering Harry's talk about a signal, she slammed her fist into the door as hard as she could as his wand started to move, hurting her hand and knuckles something terrible.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
As her body stiffened, Gabrielle felt real fear for the first time in her life. There was no doubt she was breathing, but that was almost the only thing for the next few seconds. When she tried to blink, she found that worked to, but nothing else did.
He took a long moment to look her over. "You'll fetch me a very good price, little girl."
She felt dirty now and her fears doubled as every bad story she had heard about Veela slaves flew through her head. She would have screamed if she could have.
"Shall we go on a trip together?" he drawled.
In her mind, she knew there were only two ways out of this. Concentrating on the good one, she felt hope for the first time and would have breathed her relief deeply if it had been possible.
As he started to close the three steps between them, a fast moving shape flew by and she saw a foot kick the evil blond boy in the head, causing him to go flying down the corridor. She wanted to weep with joy. A broom was dropped and she felt her body relax as the spell was released just before the arms of her true love wrapped around her, holding her as if he never wanted to let go - and she did not want him to let go. The tears started to flow now and she made no effort to stop her sobs.
"Gabrielle, my Gabrielle," Harry whispered softly to her, "my precious Gabi." He held her while she cried and while he tried to get his breath back. He was so worked up he could barely breath.
Two sets of feet came running over and more arms flew around them. They all held each other for a long moment with lots of heavy breathing and some sniffles.
"What happened?" Hermione asked softly.
Gabrielle sniffled again. "H-he s-s-said, h-he was going t-to s-s-sell me." She felt Harry stiffen and then start to pull away.
"Harry, no!" Hermione shouted as she grabbed at his arm, which he shrugged and pulled out of her grasp.
"Malfoy owes me for what he's done over the years and this - this is too much! You do not sell people into slavery - especially that kind of slavery. He will not get away with it! Ever again!" he shouted fiercely.
"Harry…"
"I say we just Vanish him," Ginny growled.
"Ginny!"
"How would you feel about being sold as a sex slave?" Ginny asked her friend angrily.
Gabrielle whimpered and threw herself at Ginny, clinging tightly to the sympathetic girl.
Ginny shot a contemptuous look at Hermione. "I think that answers the question rather well."
"Of course no one wants that!" Hermione backpedalled quickly. "You know I hate slavery, but you're discussing murder." It was silent for a long moment after that stark comment.
"Hermione, Ginny," Harry said in too calm a voice for the situation. "Take Gabrielle back to the tent and find Sirius. Tell him we need to leave just as soon as I return and I won't be long behind you."
"But Harry…"
"Hermione!" he said sharply, cutting her off before he continued in the fake calm. "I promise I won't kill him directly and when I walk away he'll be alive. I also promise that I will doing this only in emergencies, but as the head of the house of Potter, go follow my command." He hated reaching into this part of the Pureblood culture Sirius had shared with him, but they did not have the time to argue.
When Hermione continued to stand there in disbelief of what he had said to her, Ginny reached out and shoved Hermione a little back towards the way they had come. Hermione looked at Ginny also in disbelief. Gabrielle separated from Ginny a little and reached out towards Hermione and grabbed her robes and pulled. It was slow, but the two younger girls pulled the disbelieving older one towards the broom they had arrived on. Under Harry's intensely watchful eye, Hermione mounted the broom with Ginny in the front and Gabrielle in the middle before they left for the tent.
In several ways, Harry was not proud of what he had just done, but he also knew it was a necessity. Jean-Aimé's words came back to him about sometimes having to make decisions even he did not like.
Harry took a deep breath and surveyed the scene for a moment. Making up his mind, he levitated a still unconscious Malfoy over so his head was next to the bathroom door, propping it open a little. Malfoy's wand went nearby but out of reach. Lastly Harry summoned his broom and stepped over Malfoy so he was in the bathroom but with the door open, propped on the Slytherin's head.
As he moved and positioned Malfoy, a blue stone with gold flakes fell out of the top of the boy's shirt and onto his bare neck. Now Harry understood how Gabrielle had been overpowered so easily: a Veela Capture Stone. He reached down and grabbed the necklace and pulled hard, snapping the thin gold chain, and placed it in a pocket.
Ready for the confrontation, he cast a body-bind on the Slytherin and revived him. As Malfoy came around, Harry squatted down so Malfoy could see him easier. The boy's eyes went wide.
"It's not so fun when the tables are turned, is it Malfoy?" Harry slowly, allowing the fear to build. "Worse yet, you picked the wrong girl to go after. Oh, I'd be really angry at you for trying to sell any girl as a sex slave, but picking Gabrielle was a very - very - very bad choice." Harry found it interesting that Malfoy could breathe faster in a body-bind. He was quite glad the spell prevented messes from lower down.
"I learned a spell recently from my Defense tutor that I've been dying to try out and you're going to volunteer to help me, Malfoy. But before I do it, I should tell you one other thing." He leaned a little closer and whispered, "I'm the one who destroyed your house to send your father to prison because your father tried to kill Ginny. So take a moment and think about what I'm going to do because you tried to torture Gabrielle by selling her. Hmm?" He was sure Malfoy's eyes could not go any wider than they were now.
Standing up, he stepped back to close the door to just a crack so it rested against Malfoy's head. Allowing only his wand to stick out, he used as much power as he could. "Obliviate! You tried to capture the little Veela girl but she pushed you so you fell against the door and you just came to. You remember your mother telling you that if you did not capture her that you should immediately tell a friend you had to go meet your mother and then go to the path next to Hagrid's hut and follow the path into the forest. You mother will use a clicking sound to get your attention." He ended the active portion of the Obliviate spell and silently canceled the body-bind. As Malfoy shook his head as if coming to, which allowed the door to close, Harry silently stepped back and readied himself, just in case he botched the spell and Malfoy came in after him.
Harry had done his best to erase the last five minutes of Malfoy's memories, now it was up to Fate as to what happened to him. If the spell failed and the Slytherin came into the bathroom after him, Harry would fight him and show him no mercy. If the boy walked away, then what happened would happen.
Listening carefully, Harry heard scraping noises and then Malfoy's footsteps going way. Counting to ten, Harry slowly opened the door, ready for everything, and looked around. The corridor was empty.
He silenced his footsteps, cast a Disillusionment charm on himself and hurried out on foot. He was pleased he had finally made the Disillusionment charm work, as was Professor Martin. Harry caught up with Malfoy as the boy went out the front door. Harry mounted his broom and flew high enough that he and his broom would not be seen in the darkness and followed Malfoy.
It did not take long for Malfoy to find another Slytherin coming back to the castle. They talked for a moment before Malfoy changed directions, heading for the Forbidden Forest. With a smile, Harry headed towards the Quidditch changing rooms as fast as he could go, looking for his family as he descended. Sirius was near the tent with a distraught Hermione, a determined Ginny, and a still scared Gabrielle who clung to Ginny. Apolline and Jean-Aimé were there too. He found it amusing that his youngest bond-mate was the only one tracking his location as he flew over and landed, then cancelled the Disillusionment.
As Harry rounded the corner of the tent, Gabrielle ran to him. Fortunately, he was ready for it. Leaning down, he scooped her up and held her to his chest while he walked to the group.
"Harry? What's going on?" Sirius demanded. "Everyone…"
"Not here, Sirius," he said authoritatively, like a head of house, stopping Sirius cold. "We are leaving now. I'll explain when we get home. Everything else here can wait until tomorrow - full stop. I think you said you had a Portkey. Do we have to be outside the gates to use it?"
"Err, yes," Sirius said much more meekly, surprised by the take-charge attitude Harry was exhibiting.
"Then let's go. I'll explain at home." He marched towards the gates, still carrying Gabrielle with his group following him.
A number of people waved at him, so he put on a fake smile and nodded to them or said "Hi". He saw Neville and Luna standing close together and talking.
"Hey, Harry!" Neville called out and walked over.
"I'm sorry, but this is not a good time, Neville, Luna. I hope you'll forgive me, but we need to leave immediately. I promise we'll all get together soon after you go home for the summer and I'll do my best to explain then." He never stopped walking, forcing his friends to walk with him.
"Uh, sure, Harry. Congratulations, by the way."
"Thanks, Neville."
"And Fudge is looking for you to give you your award."
"He can give it to me later. I really will find you next week," Harry promised sincerely.
"I know, I trust you, Harry."
"Thanks Neville," Harry threw over his shoulder as Neville stopped trying to keep up. He noticed Ginny whispering furiously to Luna, probably trying to condense a three minute conversation into one minute. When Neville dropped back, so did Luna, leaving only the seven to continue their journey. Harry was happy no one else tried to stop them along the way.
At the gates, Harry gave a commanding look at Sirius, who pulled a small British flag on a stick out of an inside pocket without a word. When everyone was touching it, he activated the Portkey and they all left, landing in Sirius's living room seconds later.
As everyone started to stand, almost everyone started asking in their own way, "What happened?"
"Enough!" Sirius shouted. The voices petered off allowing him to say, "Let's all take a seat and let Harry tell us what was so important."
"And why Gabrielle is so upset," Apolline insisted.
"What happened?" shouted an almost hysterical Emma Granger, with Dan holding her at his side and not looking much better. "Where have all of you been? You should have been home almost two hours ago! Dumbledore almost killed you again, didn't he?"
"Oh Merlin!" Sirius swore, followed by several other words that should have landed him in trouble, but did not because everyone understood the gravity of his error. "I knew I forgot something important! I'm so sorry I forget to send word we'd been delayed," he told the Grangers. Dan acknowledged the apology with a tight nod as he continued to try to calm Emma down.
"We're all alive and no one's really hurt, Mum. I'll explain after one other thing first." Harry directed Gabrielle to Ginny for the moment and put his arms around Hermione, who stood stiffly in his arms and for the first time not hugging him back. He heard his mother's quiet sobs in the background, but did his best to ignore them to deal with a more important person: his first bond-mate and wife-to-be.
Sirius quietly called his elf and ordered tea while Harry took a deep breath before trying his best to repair the damage he had created.
"Hermione, I'm so sorry I had to do that," he whispered into her ear. "Please understand that there was no time for discussion as anyone could have come along and found us. Also, I was holding onto my temper by the smallest of threads and I didn't want to lose my anger on you. You know I disagree with most of the Pureblood customs and I promise you, I'll only ever force my decision on all of you without discussion under the direst of emergencies and I hope it never happens again. Forgive me, please," he begged her. She continued to stand there stiffly, making him almost start to cry for hurting her so badly.
Finally, she whispered. "He was still alive when you left him?"
"He was, and talking to a friend when I flew away." When her arms started to slowly move to his back, he crushed her to him. "Thank you," he hoarsely whispered.
"I expect you to keep that promise, Harry."
"Only during the very direst emergencies," he whispered before breathing, "Mia," so softly even he could not hear it.
But Hermione did and now pulled him to her tightly. When they let go, she kissed him on the cheek and sat on the left side of the couch as everyone watched in fascination, with only the girls understanding.
Ginny pushed Gabrielle to him and then sat on the right side, leaving only enough room for him in the middle. Taking the hint, he sat in between the two older girls and pulled Gabrielle into his lap, who snuggled in as best she could. With them settled, the five adults took a seat too. Zoot, the house-elf, brought tea around to everyone. Without exception, a quiet moment was spent sipping and contemplating.
"During the third task," Harry started in an almost normal voice, "I did well, by-passing most of the creatures and traps because of my strategy to fly. However, when I reached the center and the trophy cup, Cedric Diggory showed up at the same time and we grabbed the cup together. It was a Portkey trap, by a Death Eater I presume?" He looked at Sirius.
"Barty Crouch Jr was a convicted one, yes," Sirius confirmed. "I'm sure they'll find that he was the one who caused this."
"The Portkey forced us to travel to a graveyard where two men waited. They tried to kill Cedric with a Killing curse, while I did my best to push him out of the way. I believe that was the moment my … bond-mates," he said with pride, "chose to come rescue me."
"It shouldn't have been possible because of the wards and that we've never Apparated before, but…" Hermione could not finish.
"We Apparated to Harry and started to defend him, fighting the men," Ginny explained. "Hermione and I against one, and Gabrielle and Harry against the other. They finished their man first and then helped us defeat ours."
"In the process," Harry took the story back, "Gabrielle transformed, for the first time I would guess." She ducked her head down and buried it in Harry chest.
"Gabrielle!" her mother exclaimed with surprise and a hint of pride. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Apolline, it's fine, or at least we're fine with it," Harry assured her to calm her down. "She was magnificent and wonderful and deadly, everything she's supposed to be as my bond-mate … just like my other two bond-mates," he said with a smile and looked at the other two girls, who returned his smile - although Hermione's was a little more restrained.
Apolline looked her daughter over. "Are you all right? Why didn't you tell me?"
«I'm fine,» she said as she pulled her head out and faced everyone again. «I'm fine and I defended my Harry.»
He squeezed her around the stomach and kissed the top of her head. "After that, we traveled back to Hogwarts where there was lots of explaining to do. We also found out that Professor Moody was really the Death Eater Crouch, and then we took everyone important back to the graveyard to show them. There, we found a dead Voldemort." He looked at his parents and smiled. "Our project with the Ministry is done and we have no more worries now other than going to a new school in September."
Emma started to cry again, but happily now. Dan almost looked to be tearing up, but he managed to hold it back as he comforted his wife.
"Hermione and Gabrielle stayed at Hogwarts, so when Ginny and I returned from showing where Cedric and I had been taken, we found Gabrielle had gone to the bathroom. However, she wasn't next door as expected."
«It was locked,» Gabrielle said in a small voice.
"If it was locked, then either someone was in there or it was a prank," Ginny said. "You should have gone back to Hermione," she said gently. She said it again in French to make sure the girl understood.
«But I saw the castle and knew a bathroom was there. It wasn't that far away either.»
Harry shook his head and translated for his parents and Sirius. "She said she saw the castle and decided to go there. I felt her become hurt and flew there as fast as I could. When I got there, Draco Malfoy had her in a body-bind. He had captured her and said he was going to sell her."
"No!" Apolline shouted and jumped to her feet partially transforming. Her arms sprouted feathers and a fireball appeared in each hand. "I'll kill him first!"
Feeling an intense pressure, Harry looked over at Dan and Sirius and saw both of them glazing over. "Apolline!" he shouted.
"Apolline!" Jean-Aimé shouted as well, but also grabbed her arms, she shook him off but her fireballs went out in the process. The struggle caused her to really look at her husband and lose her transformation as her rage subsided.
"Apolline!" Harry shouted again. "I took care of it." Slowly, he felt the Veela allure lessen and noticed a look of conscious intelligence return to Dan and Sirius.
Jean-Aimé pulled her back to the couch they had been sitting on and pulled her into an embrace to comfort her as well as calm her down.
"I took care of it," Harry continued when he could. "I sent the girls back and then I Oblivated him."
"That's all you did?" Apolline still was not completely over her anger and it showed by the fiery look in her eyes and the tone of her voice.
"If you'll recall, an Oblivate spell leaves you in a suggestive state for a moment. So I erased the last five minutes of time and told him that his mother had given him instructions that should he fail to get the girl, that he was to meet her in the Forbidden Forest for more instruction and help."
Everyone was looking at him strangely.
Hermione finally said, "You sent him to the Centaurs, didn't you?"
"No…"
Before he could explain, Ginny said gleefully, "You sent Malfoy to the Acromantula."
Except for his parents, every eye went wide when he nodded.
"What's that? Those? Whatever…" Dan asked.
Harry explained with a grin. "Giant spiders that can grow to the size of your car, and their nest contains hundreds of them, and they're wickedly fast."
"Oh my…" Emma gasped.
"I don't know that he did go there, but I put that suggestion in his mind and I saw him walking that direction when I left." He turned to Hermione. "I let Fate decide what happened to him, but he was still very much alive when I last saw him." He saw her acknowledge that with a nod. "After that, we left as I was concerned for our safety. What happened to Fleur and Viktor? I saw them in the tent."
"They're fine now," Apolline said. "Mr Krum was put under the Imperious by the fake Moody and he attacked Fleur. Fortunately, he didn't hurt her very much before she was able to get away, although she passed out a few moments later. She was healed before we left."
Sirius cleared his throat in the ensuing silence. "Fudge was looking for you to give you half of the prize money. Dumbledore wanted to talk to you about something he wouldn't name. And Croaker wanted to have a meeting with you."
Harry sighed. "I guess I'll visit the Ministry tomorrow. Until then, I'm taking a shower and going to bed because I'm so tired. Ladies, meet me in my room when you're ready for a sleeping party." Ginny and Gabrielle giggled and raced for the stairs together, with Gabrielle going more slowly. Harry took a blushing Hermione's hand and led her up as well.
Emma shot Apolline a concerned look, who did not look embarrassed. "They only do it when there are distressed and they know that full pyjamas are required."
(A/N: And thus ends year 4 with everyone not quite as innocent, but with more hope and peace.
I've found it interesting how many people wanted Fleur to join the bond. However, if you go read book4, you'll find that Harry hears Fleur scream, but that's the last mention of her until after the task. Since she didn't get rescued there, I didn't rescue her here. I believe this is a situation where the movie differs from the books, but it's been a while since I've seen the movie.
The story isn't done yet. There are another 3 or so chapters to wrap up loose ends. I should have a better idea how much more there is by the time the next chapter posts.)