The days after the Yule ball were filled with students cramming for the Beauxbaton's midterm tests that were rapidly approaching. From what Hermione had heard from many of the Beauxbaton students that, since the curriculum was tougher than most were used to, the tests were just as hard. The Hogwarts students were all seen at lunch and free times clustered in groups, exchanging notes and going over practice questions. It was a rare sight that even the pranksters had their nose in their books. The holiday decorations were still adorned over the thresholds and windows, but no one had noticed Christmas too much past a huge feast, presents, and three days of no school, which were spent studying. Hermione made it a point to record everything in her journal for future entertainment.

Thankfully the studying gave Hermione a chance to plan out her technique for the third challenge. No one had time to pay any attention to anything but studying and Viktor was being trained for Quidditch by Karkaroff and a personal trainer that had flooed in for a few months. This left Hermione time to go into the forest between meals and plan with the elves and other residents.

Draco sent her letters about his holiday with his mother. He seemed to be enjoying himself more than he thought. Narcissa had spent a full day with him without checking into the office or dealing with work. It was maybe the nicest day he'd spent with his mother. The letters made Hermione smile, but also made her sad in some part. Growing up in Hogwarts was wonderful, but she'd at least like to know who her parents use to be. Before her thoughts could go any further on those depressing tracks, she'd always shake it off and go busy herself with something else.

It wasn't long before Draco returned and found out about the Yule Ball. He wasn't too happy about her dancing with Viktor, but he was more unhappy that, for the second time, he hadn't been able to take her to the Yule Ball. "Next time," he said. "I'm going to be your date. No one else."

Hermione smiled. "Promise?" she asked.

Draco reached out, taking her hand and linking their pinkies together. "Promise," he said.

She smiled and quickly kissed him. "Good," she said.

Time passed and sooner than most people realized, the tests were over and the third challenge arrived on a bright sunny day. Every spectator eagerly awaited for the challenge to begin as they crowded on the stands placed by the forest in the exact spot as they'd been during the second challenge. Hogwart students waved flags and cheered enthusiastically. Beauxbaton cheered their champion with some sort of song produced in a round, sounding as if it never ended. Whatever they cheered had Jillian grinning as she waved to her classmates. Adrian received well wishes from the Durmstrang students who were most likely saving their energy and cheering for the end.

Hermione pulled her bag strap to reassure herself that the pack wasn't going to fall off her shoulder. Though it may be spring and summer was just around the corner, the weather still had enough nip in it to warrant a cloak. As the cheering continued, Hermione felt her heart pound rapidly in her chest. The contagiousness of everyone's excitement and her task in the challenge made her palms sweat.

The Minister of Magic stepped up onto the platform before the bleachers and placed the tip of his wand to his throat. "Welcome," his voice boomed over the spectators, drawing them into silence. "Today, our champions embark on their third challenge." Hermione slowly made her way to the platform and waited for the Minister to go on. "Our champions will venture into the forest in search of the Tri-Wizard Cup. But they will not be looking for the actual Cup, but a human substitute, who will evade the champions' capture." He waved his hand toward Hermione, who smiled and raised her hand in a friendly wave.

More than one person's eyes went wide and murmurs started to fill the air. Hermione saw the champions exchange confused and surprised looks with one another.

"This is truly something new," the Minister said, his voice drawing everyone's attention back to him. "The first champion who can catch and maintain their hold on Ms. Hermione for more than ten seconds will win the challenge. Champions, the best of luck."

Before the words could have the chance to fade from the man's mouth, Hermione turned and dashed into the forest. The crowd cheered their champions on as they raced after her. A smile spread across her face as she jumped over a log and looked behind her. Adrian was right behind her; no surprise, given his training and stamina. He looked smug, probably thinking he was going to win the challenge easily. Hermione smirked back at him and turned to face forward.

"You might az vell give up," Adrian called. "You can not out run me."

"I don't need to," Hermione called back. She jumped onto a log and grabbed a vine hanging from a tree. She swung a few feet and landed on the ground, vine still in hand. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Adrian jump over the log. The moment his booted feet landed on the ground, Hermione yanked the vine. The Durmstrang student was caught up in a net that had been covered over by leaves. He yelled and said something in Hungarian. Hermione was sure that if it had been translated into English, his words were something her young ears weren't suppose to hear.

"You should wash that mouth out," she called up to him. She looked at the other two champions, who looked shocked and wary of their surroundings. "Just so you know," Hermione called over Adrian's swearing, "I set up traps all over. The creatures in the forest have agreed to help me. Don't go near the centaurs and you just might catch me."

She turned and raced into the brush on her left. The leaves and bushes bended out of her way, clearing a path just for her and closing back up again as she passed. Hermione could hear Jillian and John trying to work their way through the foliage. They'd never get through in time to catch her, but that wasn't going to stop them from trying.

After running a bit, she stopped and looked around, getting her bearings. The knobbly tree on her left was the landmark she'd used to map out her traps and pranks. If she went left, she could use- But maybe she should save that one for later. On her right was the- No, she better save that one, too, for when she really needed it. Ah! Yes; the one behind her and to the left. She'd basically be running back to the champions, but it a was a good prank.

Hermione turned and saw John making his way through the last of the brush. How did he-? Hermione didn't finish the mental question, though, because John was detangling himself from the last of the vines. Looks like she'd have to use that prank on her right, then. She gave him a smirk and a wave before turning and running.

John crashed after her as she jumped over another log. Looking over her shoulder, she saw him glance at the ground before running after her. He wasn't going to fall for that again. Hermione jumped up and grabbed a vine hanging. It shot into the air, pulling her along to deposit her on a thick branch. John stopped under the tree and looked up.

"You are so cheating," he said.

Hermione laughed. "I was only told to avoid you," she called down to him. "There was nothing said about making it easy."

"Why not come down and let Hogwarts win?" John said.

"I could," Hermione said, "but where would the fun be? Besides, you could use the exercise, John." She jumped to her feet and climbed higher into the trees. She jumped to another tree branch and another until she reached a tree with a split big enough to hide a small girl. It was the perfect place for Hermione to camp out for a while. She might have to avoid the champions, but that didn't mean she intended to run all around the forest. Especially with all the complicated politics between the magical creatures.

She curled herself into the nook and pulled out a sandwich from her bag, along with her journal and a muggle pen one of her friends had sent her as a novelty. It worked really well and didn't require her to balance an ink well on her knee. She opened the book and turned to a clean page.

It's been forever since I wrote, but now I have time. I'm currently hiding in a tree. I'm the human version of the Champion Cup and I'm suppose to give the Champions a run for their galleons. I put a couple trip wires up everywhere for them to stumble into. It took a bit of doing, and bribery with lots of sweets, but I managed to get the creatures of the forest to either help me with some of my traps or leave the competitors alone. The centaurs weren't too happy to let the elves run free in the the forest near their territory, but have agreed to let a few elves stand guard so none of the Champions wander into unsafe territories.

Being at Beauxbaton is nice, but I miss Hogwarts. I miss the students, the ghosts, Hagrid, Mini, and, of course, Sevy. They're family and I miss them. Draco's back from his winter holiday with his mother. He didn't want to go, at first, but I made him. I don't know my family, so there's no way I'm going to let Draco not know his. He said it was OK, which is a start in that relationship. And I think it's helping ours, as well.

Hermione looked up from her writing at the sound of rustling leaves. She closed her book and stashed it away in her bag, along with her pen. Climbing to the edge of her hiding space, she peeked over the edge and down at the ground. Jillian was standing at the base of the tree, looking around for any sign of Hermione. The young girl watched the Champion turn in a circle before running off in a direction.

Hermione chuckled to herself and finished her sandwich before leaning back in her niche. This challenge was going to take a while. Might as well relax and listen to the sound of her traps being tripped.

Diary, I have counted at least ten of my traps having been sprung. Most of them have been tripped by Adrian. It seems that he doesn't have any luck when I comes to navigating a forest. I should mention to him not to try camping. He's passed by this tree at least three times, Jillian came around again, and John is pretty close to finding me. I think he may be more at home in the forest than a mermaid is in a lake. What is he, part deer?

Anyway, it's been a couple of hours since this Challenge started. I've eaten most of my snacks and I even took a short nap, I'm so bored. I thought this would be fun, but hiding in a tree is starting to become less fun by the second. I think I'll end this now. I don't know how, but I know Kati's missing me and I really don't think a dragon barging into centaur and elf territories is going to help their feud any. Not to mention she might knock over my hiding spot.

Hermione put her things away and secured her bag firmly on her shoulder before crawling to the edge of her hiding spot to check if the coast was clear. No one hanging around the base of her tree, so she eased herself out onto a limb and checked a little farther out. Still, no one was around that she could see. She looked at the horizon and could see the sun setting over the castle grounds and the flags waving from where the spectators waited for a winner. Might as well come down and let the Champions have a go at catching her.

Hermione reached out and grabbed a vine, wrapping it around her waist once. She stepped off the branch and the tree lowered her to the ground, pulling the vine away from her body to retreat to the canopy. Hermione turned toward the castle and started to leisurely stroll back. What would the Champions do if she just showed up at the start line? Would she have to go back in the forest again?

A rustling from her left cut off her thoughts and brought her head toward the sound. She stood still, ready to run if it was a Champion, but she didn't move in case it was a creature a person generally shouldn't run from if they could help it. Until she knew which was which, moving was not an option.

The shade she stood in suddenly got a lot darker and black rolling smoke swirled around her feet. Hermione suddenly felt goosebumps rise up all over her body. Everything in her was petrified with an unexplained fear. The smoke flowed over the plants and Hermione watched as it slowly started to form into something human. Fear chocked off her thoughts and she could only stare with wide eyes as the figure loomed over her. She registered in the back of her mind that her necklace was warm and glowing from under her robes, but all her attention was on the ghostly figure.

"You...child," the smoke hissed. "You are dragon." She slowly shook her head. "Yessssss...Sssstrong blood. Very...delicioussssss." The shadow wavered for a second, momentarily looking like a cobra, before it darted forward.

Hermione fell back as her necklace shot a ray of gold light toward the shadow, her palms striking the ground. She watched in wonder as the shadow cringed from the light and retreated into the brush again. After a few more seconds of a steady stream, the light faded and the locket remained warm against her skin, chasing away the cold in her body. She took deep breaths to return her heartbeat to normal. What was that thing?

"Ah, ha!" Adrian said, bursting through the brush. He smiled down at her and brushed some dirt off his cheek. "I have caught you." Hermione looked up at him, still stunned, but only nodded. The Champion looked her over and raised an eyebrow. "Did you fall?" She nodded again. Adrian reached down and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her out of the forest.

When they appeared back at the bleachers, the Minister of Magic proclaimed in his booming voice, "Our winner of the Tri-Wizard Tournament is Adrian Dubinich of Durmstrang!"

The students cheered as Adrian walked over to the Medi-Witch waiting on standby. He set Hermione on a portable exam table and the witch started looking over her scrapped hands and knees. The witch cleaned the scrapes and let her go after that, seeing no other injuries. Hermione jumped off the table and walked off to find Kati, feeling a pull towards her dragon.

She found Kati laying down on grass a little bit away from the bleachers. Her wings were folded against her body and Draco was relaxing against her side. Kati was entertaining him with the tip of her tail swishing in front of his face as he lazily tried to catch it. They both looked up when she drew closer.

"Have fun on your game of chase?" Draco asked, sitting up straighter.

Hermione walked over and sank down next to him, leaning on his shoulder and a part of Kati's wing. "I'm really tired," she said, closing her eyes. "Durmstrang won, by the way."

Draco shrugged and looked down at her. "Scrap yourself up?"

She looked down at her knees and palms before shrugging, the evening's events catching up to her. "I fell and Adrian found me," she said. Her head fell onto his shoulder and she closed her eyes, her mind consumed with dreams of dark clouds and gold light.

The Hogwarts train was ready to leave and only waited for its students to finish with their good-byes. Hermione and Viktor were talking with Fleur Delacour and the other students they'd grown close to, swapping contact information and making plans for the summer. Draco had been called home the night before for some family matter. Hermione didn't mind because now she didn't have to worry about him being angry with saying good bye to Viktor.

But the students were all too soon separated and put on their respected transportation methods and headed back to their schools. Hermione spent the ride half listening to the girls in her car talk about their new boys, but most of her attention was on Kati, who had chosen to fly above the train back to Hogwarts. The dragon seemed extremely happy at flying the long distance for the first time. Hermione not only could see it in the way she flew, but also through their connection. It was slightly surreal, as she could feel the wind under Kati's wings as if she were the one flying up there, as well. Her bond was nothing she'd heard of from Hogwarts. Was that why she'd been the black smoke's attention?

For the first time since the Challenge, Hermione really thought about the smoke. She hadn't told anyone what had happened, unsure if she had actually seen what she'd seen. A talking cloud of smoke wasn't something one could just spit out without being jilted, even in the Wizarding World. She'd have to look though the library for anything relating to what she remembered.

Hogwarts threw a great welcome home/end of the year feast for the returning students. The hall was abuzz with talk of the Tournament, the ball, and, of course, the fact that the school had just gained itself a dragon mascot that really liked Hermione. A few students worried that it might set fire to something. A few students hoped that Kati would set fire to something to get out of classes. Hagrid, though, was like a child with a new toy. He'd always wanted to study dragons and now he had one in his own back yard. He kept looking out one of the Great Hall windows during the feast, staring at Kati, who had been given a large helping of meat to dine on.

Hermione got asked about everything and she enjoyed telling them all about her stay at the Beauxbaton School. The boys asked about the girls and the girls asked about the boys. Everyone wanted to know about Kati and one or two asked about the challenges. The party was loud and festive. Especially for the Hufflepuffs, who had managed to win this year's House Cup for some reason. Many people were baffled by that outcome, but it was smoothed over with talk of the Tournament.

By the time the feast ended, Hermione was exhausted and ready for bed. She stood up from her seat and made her way up to her room, ready for some sleep. She could feel Kati moving around the castle to get closer to Hermione's room and smiled as she realized that she would always know where the dragon would be. Talk about a tracking spell.

She got to her room and got ready for bed, feeling Kati curl up for her own rest. Hermione crawled into her own bed and settled down for the night. She drifted off. Somehow, she thought she saw Sevy come into her room and kiss her forehead, but sleep was just too hard to resist. But she did have a dream of flying and something about a dragon chasing her tail. She was pretty sure those were from Kati.

AN: I know it's been a while. No excuses. Hope you enjoyed, because we start Hermione's first year of schooling next chapter.