"Congratulations are in order, perhaps, but I believe we've discussed not throwing confetti everywhere? Mister Flint, you and your team will clean this all up without magic, thank you," says Professor McGonagall over the megaphone.

"What? Oh, come on!" shouts Harry, who stands in the centre of the pitch. Just minutes ago he's watched the entire team cast spells of emerald and silver confetti in the air. But even a Saturday's worth of detention duty does little to curb their excitement as the other stands now laugh at them.

"It's school, man, you'll miss it when it's almost done, trust me," says Flint, who continues holding the Quidditch Cup high for all to see and take pictures, as some of the crowd descends upon the pitch.

Oliver Wood nods in agreement as he waits for whatever reception the oncoming Gryffindor spectators have to give. "I can tell you from experience, Harry, that when you're outta Hogwarts there's a part that wants to come back. Life's great when you no longer have classes but it's also a bit sad. Enjoy it, seriously, enjoy even McGonagall's 'punishment' now."

"It's already past lunch, and just about three hours until dinner... but who cares? We've won the Cup again!" cheers Yasmin, who runs over to a heroine's welcome from dozens of Slytherins.

"MORE!" yells Flint, while urging the team to point their wands in the air. "SHOOT THAT STUFF UP!"

Hundreds more pieces of confetti are conjured in the skies, which seem to remain within the perimeter of the stadium. Standing in showers of green and silver, team Slytherin and their supporters go wild on the expanse of grass. In the midst of a gathering crowd, Harry glances right and gawks upon seeing Professor Snape walking onto the pitch. He swiftly looks left and right before firing up his own bit of confetti in celebration before glaring at Harry.

"You saw nothing, Potter. Clean this up later."

Then, the Head of House turns around and stops in his tracks as Sirius Black comes running through the tunnel.

"Harry! Huh? Move out the way, Severus, Harry!"

"Sirius!"

Godfather and godson race across the pitch to embrace each other in a hug, uncaring for any looks of confusion.

"That was some CRAZY flying you did there today, wicked, mental! Honestly, they should've charged people for tickets for this match today." Sirius' enthusiastic congratulations are interrupted by Snape's slow clapping from behind him.

"Oh, yes, very good indeed, Potter." He sneers with a cold smile. "Very good on winning Slytherin yet another Cup. Shame that Gryffindor's so ironically defeated by their own Ex-Captain—"

"Do you hear something, Harry?" asks Sirius.

"—and that the son of their most 'decorated' Chaser in recent history's so adeptly planned their defeat." Snape turns to leave but once again balls a fist as another one of his unwanted visitors comes running down the tunnel.

"Harry! Oh get out the way, Severus, Harry!" Lupin hurries over to congratulate Slytherin's Seeker for a 'magnificent display of wit and cunning'. "Doesn't matter if you lost out to Viktor Krum but it's the end result that matters, right?"

"Professor Lupin? What are you doing here?" asks a surprised Harry.

"Professor? Very funny," replies Lupin, before Sirius speaks:

"Moony's off from work today so I brought him along. Heard from Professor Dumbledore that today's match would be 'special' but nobody really knew why. Any regrets for coming, Remus?"

"Not a slight bit. Haven't seen such a wild game since back in our day."

"How very touching to see this reunion, but I must be off," snarls Snape, who looks ready to draw his wand as Sirius pats him on the shoulder. "Get away from m—"

"Uh-uh-uh, Severus, where do you think you're going?"

"Away! Out this stadium and far away from you idiots."

"Now don't be so mean." Sirius sniggers behind Snape's back as he continues to torment him. "The rules are clear—"

"Since when do you lot care about rules?" Snape smacks away the amused Sirius' hand from his shoulder.

"—that you're Harry's Head of House. There's the Cup, he's won the match with his team, and as their Head you need to stand with them and lift the Cup. Or do you wish to make a fool—"

"...an even bigger one than usual..." whispers Lupin to Harry, as Sirius continues to address the livid Potions master.

"—of yourself out here? People are waiting to see the winning House be received by their 'honourable' Head and most 'esteemed' leader." The amused look on Sirius' face conveys clear disbelief in these adjectives.

"No! I refuse."

"Why you acting like a little boy, Severus?" asks Sirius, while Harry can hardly believe his eyes in seeing the usually stoic Snape acting out. "Afraid to be put on the spot? Come, come, there's school procedure and tradition to be followed..."

Eventually, Snape sighs angrily before walking forward, though stopping as he's ushered forward by Sirius.

"I can walk on my own TWO legs!" Snape grabs Harry by his left arm before reluctantly leading him forward.

"Oops." Sirius sniggers at the exasperated look on Snape's face upon being spoken to again. "That's going to make you look bad, Professor Snape. Shouldn't you, as Harry's 'esteemed' Head of House, try and comfort him a bit? Cast up some bandages on his broken arm at least."

"Do—it—yourself."

"I'm just some not-so-well-known-as-his-godfather person. You're his role model." Sirius then coughs something sounding like 'really?' before gesturing Snape to help Harry.

"Yes, fellow professional colleague of Hogwarts," says a grinning Lupin. "Fix your Slytherin star student's arm for the spectators around."

Before Harry can even laugh, he finds his right arm bandaged and held in a splint cast nonverbally by a most irate Snape.

"Oh look, Remus. Severus actually cares about Prongs' boy, awww."

"POTTER, CENTRE OF FIELD, NOW!"

Snape forces himself to calm down before approaching the rest of the celebrating team with a slightly pleased expression. Harry, meanwhile, finds himself briefly stopped from walking forward as Sirius and Lupin fist-pump each other.

"Never gets dull messing with old Severus, hahaha!" laughs Lupin.

"Wish I was there to his stupid face when you got sorted into Slytherin, Harry," adds Sirius, who then looks ahead at the smirking Snape. "Oh crap, looks like he's gonna get you back now, sorry."

"Well done all," says Snape casually, as Harry approaches just in time to see his Head of House firing lots of confetti into the air. "Don't worry, Potter has volunteered to clean most of this mess up."

"Wha—?"

The team swarms to shake Harry's good hand before Yasmin grabs him into a tight hug.

"You did?" she asks incredulously. "Thanks a million, Harry! You're the best."

"But I swear I didn—"

"Yeah boy!" Flint pats him approvingly on the left shoulder. "You're a star lad indeed, thanks."

"We'll do just under half and leave the rest to you, man," says Derrick, while Adrian and Bole nod approvingly.

"It was a very close match indeed." Snape fires up slight explosions of more confetti into the air. "But we have shown ourselves to be the best House today." Followed by even more bits of emerald and silver.

"Um, Professor Snape, sir, I think that's enou—"

Yasmin's words are cut off by Snape, who looks at Harry as he continues.

"Now let us officially lift the Cup."

Yet another round of confetti comes raining down all across the stadium, courtesy of Snape who eventually raises the Cup with Marcus Flint. The rest of the team soon gathers around for a photo which is planned to be included in the school's records.

After walking across the pitch, Harry spots Oliver Wood chatting with many Gryffindors, including this year's new students who haven't actually met him before. From the looks of things, it seems he's managed to explain his reasons for siding with Slytherin today. Though some Gryffindors express betrayal, others appear to be understanding. Then, Oliver makes the effort to thank Marcus Flint and, especially, Harry for having him here.

"One day I'm gonna look back at this and laugh it off with my kids and grandkids. 'Ex-Gryffindor Captain returns to school to finally win a Cup... with Slytherin.'"

"Don't go crying on us now, Oliver," says Harry. "How'd the reunion go with the rest of your old team?"

"Fred and George are happy as heck that Angelina's lost the Cup, and I know they'll be constantly reminding her of today's mistakes. Ginny's quite sad that Krum beat you, especially given how everyone saw you being practically chased the entire match. She's a keeper, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah, heard that before. So, think you'll come and watch the rest of the Triwizard Tournament?" asks Harry.

"Unfortunately not, we'll be very busy now and I've already been excused to see the first one. Besides, I don't want to ruin the novelty of today's comeback."

"Yeah, I guess I understand. Well, good luck to whatever's in store for your future. Truth be told, I'm really going to miss the old Quidditch teams as the years go by. I mean, we're seeing three of our players leaving this year already." Harry sighs before Oliver gives him a smile.

"Dunno if I said it before, but when you wear that Captain's Badge in the future... think about all this now. Angelina's too proud to admit her mistakes today but if you ever find a good set of players, then treat them fairly. You should consider perhaps taking up professional Quidditch someday, because someone of your talent's bound to make the English National team."

"Let's see where life takes me." Harry smiles, though he knows that nothing's certain while Tom Marvolo Riddle's still out there.

"Maybe we'll cross paths again in the future, you're a good lad." Following Oliver Wood's (probably) final exit of this Quidditch Stadium, Harry returns to his team in the centre of the pitch. By now it seems that most of the crowd has already cleared out, leaving McGonagall's words to ring true as the clean-up begins.

Snape spots Lupin and Sirius still standing at an exit tunnel, to which he sneers. "Visitors are requested to leave the castle now, show's over."

"I'm his guardian, you prat."

"Language, Black, we wouldn't want this to turn into another fight. Last I remember: a crazed beast ended up hurting a filthy dog before a student and his Head of House had to clean the mess."

Sirius seems ready to fight, before Harry walks over to calm him down. "Relax, I say we all just leave things alone and get on with our day. I'll take care of this mess, so don't worry."

"You're no House Elf, Harry, especially not to clean Severus' friggin mess. McGonagall didn't expect the stadium to be this full of confetti!"

Lupin sighs before speaking. "Typical, Professor Snape, typical. Now how about you carry the Cup back before your head explodes from that ego?"

Wordlessly, Snape walks past them to exit the stadium as Sirius, Lupin, and Harry magically begin clearing out the pitch.

"Evanesco seems to do the trick, amongst other spells." Lupin seamlessly slips back into a teaching role towards Harry. "I believe Professor McGonagall will teach this next year so now you get a headstart."

"Friends with benefits, teaching-wise I mean." Sirius pats Lupin on the shoulder while Harry tries out the Transfiguration spell... with mixed results.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in time."

"Professor?" Yasmin (and the rest of the team) seems quite surprised, if not pleased, to see Lupin back for a visit.

"There's no need to call me that anymore. And since nobody's really watching you kids now, just vanish the stuff with magic," he replies cheerfully. "Not gonna waste your Saturday afternoon cleaning like Muggles now, are you?"

"Yeah, screw this weekend punishment!" says Flint, who joins the rest of the team in cleaning the entire stadium by around 4pm. Harry, meanwhile, greets Sirius and Lupin before heading off to the locker room by himself. Once he sits down on a bench, Harry hears someone speak nearby:

"So, will I ever get to see the little godson after a Quidditch match with his arm not wrecked?"

Harry swiftly looks left, at the doorway, to spot a green-haired young woman smiling at him. Her silver eyes glancing upon his bandaged arm.

"Hey! Damn, but you're celebrating Slytherin's victory a bit much there, hmm? Lucky you..." Harry narrows his eyes quite enviously at her.

"Oh don't be so jealous. We all got our own talents and stuff. For example: I'll probably never beat you in a Quidditch match if I ever tried. Shame about your loss to Viktor Krum though."

"The odds were stacked against me from the start, and Gryffindor paid for it. Wanna take a seat next to me, hehe, Nymphadora?" asks Harry.

"Don't make me break your other arm... just kidding." Tonks takes a seat on the bench before glancing mischievously at Harry. "So, I heard someone's got themselves a nice bit of French beauty, hmm?"

"Darn... Sirius must've told you. Her name's Fleur and she's great."

"Well, leetle Harry, she's still your Triwizard opponent, and I hope you don't forget that fact. Because this Tournament's a once-in-a-lifetime chance to shine, for any of you Champions."

Before Harry can reply, a familiar voice now calls down the tunnel outside the locker room.

"'Ellooooo? Are you in 'ere, 'Arry? O' where are you now?"

Grinning a slight bit, Tonks changes back to her usual purple-haired, brown-eyed look, which confuses Harry.

"Huh?"

"I'd prefer to limit the amount of people knowing what I am. Green and silver will raise questions, yeah," she replies.

Then, Fleur peeks into the room before smiling. Her sleek, soft hair falling downwards as she leans.

"Zere you are!" She then gasps a slight bit upon seeing Harry's splint. "My leetle teddy bear is broken..."

A most boisterous laugh comes from Tonks who essentially slips off the bench while doing so.

"I'm never gonna hear the end of this..." mutters a sighing Harry, before Fleur hastily speaks.

"And 'oo is zis? 'Oo are you, woman?"

"Her name's Tonks, she's my godfather's cousin. Tonks, meet Fleur, Fleur... Tonks."

"Pleasure to meet leetle Harry's girlfriend. He's sure set his sights very high, hmm, nice hair."

"Tonks." Harry narrows his eyes at her. "Give it a rest already, man, I already know what you're gonna do when we're all back at Sirius' place."

"I'm gonna give you two some privacy..." Tonks greets Harry with a wink before exiting the room, though something tells him that she's not entirely honest.

But with Fleur now alone beside Harry, the former sits on his right while tapping on the splint.

"'Ow bad ees it? Zey should 'ave sent you straight to ze 'Ospital part of zis big ugly castle! Are you in a lot of pain, per'aps?"

"I'm fine, really. Takes a lot more than a broken arm to stop this Champion."

"But you 'ave lost to Krum."

"But I have won the match and the Quidditch Cup, so we outsmarted them all. Slytherin worked as a team to get this one." Harry grins smugly before, eventually, Fleur smiles too.

"You are very clever, should I be worried in ze Tournament about you?"

"Yes you should, heh." Harry kisses Fleur on the forehead before being pulled to his feet by her.

"Come, you are going to ze 'Ospital place right now."

"One moment, please." Harry checks through his locker to slip on his hoodie before opening a zipped pocket. Then, he pulls out the Marauder's Map before opening it. "I bloody knew it!"

"Is zat not—"

"Yep, I knew she'd do just that." Harry sighs upon seeing Tonks' name right outside the locker room. "It's not polite to spy on people, you know. Unless you're me with an Invisibility Cloak. Who's the pervert now, huh, Tonks?"

"WHAT?" she shouts from outside before hurrying back into the room, after Harry's concealed the Map. "How'd you know I was listening? There are no Sneakoscopes in here nor have you used any revealing spells."

Harry smirks from getting a one-up on an Auror. "Go ask Sirius in private, I'm sure he'll tell you just how I know so much about this school."

"Zat is not a vairy polite zing you 'ave done, Mees Tonks! What if 'Arry and I were doing something private in 'ere now?"

"Oi, shhh, don't give too much info away to her," mutters Harry, while seeing a most amused expression of Tonks.

"Like what? Let me hear what my cousin's godson gets up to with girls... in private. I already know he's a pervert."

"'Ow dare you!"

"Relax, she's just joking," says Harry.

"Gosh, she's a feisty one, for you that's a perfect match indeed. Anyway, see you around then, Harry, and don't go trying anything with her until both arms are working!" Tonks laughs before turning around and taking her leave from the stadium. Eventually, Harry and Fleur begin walking up the slopes to return to the castle.

"I was going to 'elp you with ze cleaning up, but zen I got delayed by many boys in ze stands."

"Why'd they approach you?" asks Harry curiously, as the pair now make their way towards the grand staircase.

"Because it is basically February soon, or did you forget what 'appens on ze fourteenth of zat month?"

Harry face-palms himself before laughing. "Valentine's Day! Oh my gosh, how could I forget? Um, there's something I'd like to do on this one, but I'm not sure if you'll agree .."

"Let me 'ear it and decide."

As they reach the fifth floor corridor, Harry informs Fleur of Ginny's poem she'd sent him back in '93, courtesy of Lockhart's hired singing dwarves. Fleur now pauses for thought while Harry makes his suggestion, before she eventually nods at him.

"Okay zen, fine. She 'as 'elped you with ze Krum problem zat you almost won. But you will spend ze day with me, yes?"

"Of course. But if you're feeling annoyed at my almost divided attention then feel free to speak your mind. Better the truth than keeping things fake."

"It is not zat bad, which could be worse. If you were going around kissing and dating every girl in sight zen I be vairy upset. But only three uzzer girls zat you like is... okay for me, I suppose." Fleur then punches Harry on his good arm. "Naughty leetle boy."

"If it makes you any happier, I don't think I'll send Hermione anything, because she's with Krum. It's bad enough that I'm still expecting Rita Skeeter to write some sort of article on us so I'd rather not give that nosy reporter anymore fuel. And Pansy says I should spend the day with you before you're gone, so she's cool with nothing on Valentine's. That just leaves Ginny."

"You still 'ave no male friends outside of Quidditch practice. Will zat ever change or are you really zis much more comfortable with girls?"

Harry sighs as they reach the entrance to the hospital wing. "The guys in my year are jerks and you know it, Slytherin ones I mean."

Madam Pomfrey practically pulls Harry towards a bed where she removes the bandages from his right arm.

"Look at all this swelling! I ought to give Professor Snape a lecture about sending his injured students my way sooner than this. Hold still, this might hurt more than a bit."

Fleur's presence certainly helps Harry through the numerous healing spells he's made to endure as Madam Pomfrey gets to work. A few minutes later sees Harry's arm healed as good as new before he finally makes his way to the Great Hall.

"You 'ave not even 'ad lunch! You must be starving, 'Arry," says Fleur, as they descend the grand staircase. "Eet is deener now, I do zink."

"Nearly five, yeah. Time sure flew by today." Harry then sighs upon entering the Great Hall where quite a few students look at him and snigger. "Great, I guess it doesn't matter that Slytherin won. Everyone's pleased that Krum beat me to the Snitch. I'm really not in the mood for all this now."

"Zen we will work together in ze second task and make sure to beat him zere, correct?"

Harry grins slyly while nodding, though he keeps Bagman's information to himself now. While making his way towards his usual seat, Harry spots Krum being admired by the Durmstrangs as well as the Slytherin minority (just over a dozen) who are against Harry.

"To Hell with those traitors," says Pansy angrily, once Harry takes his seat between her and Fleur. "How can people in our own damn House have the nerve to hate you? It should be illegal to hate our sweetheart."

"Careful, Pansy, Fleur might think you're stealing me for Valentine's Day."

"Oh please." Pansy flicks her hair before tilting her nose in the air. "I can't steal what's already mine, hmph."

Most of dinner passes by rather uneventfully for Harry, before Nott walks over with Zabini. The pair of boys and their smirks cause Harry to sigh in frustration, while Pansy and Daphne seem ready to hex them.

"Oh look, we have a true loser over here. I guess the whole world now knows that Harry Potter sucks as a Seeker indeed." Nott cackles with laughter at his own words.

"You are irritating 'Arry so please go away."

"How about you please try to be a human? Oh wait, you can't... because you're not fully one," retorts Zabini. "Don't you dare try that stupid veela charm crap on us here, you hear?"

"Just say the word and I'll hex them right here and now. Don't give a crap if we're in the Great Hall," whispers Pansy.

"What's she whispering to you, Potter?"

"None of your business, Nott. Get the hell out of my face and go sit down near Krum. Lick his balls or arse or something 'cos that's all you're good for."

"WHAT?" Nott's shouting has many students (and staff) glancing towards the Slytherin section. "Think you're pretty clever, huh?"

"Will you please, as zey say, 'pees off' and go away already? You are disturbing ze peace of our dinner with your rude be'aviour!"

Through all the quarrelling between Fleur, Pansy and Harry against Nott and Zabini, Alyssa eventually makes her way from the Ravenclaw table. The taller of two Parkinsons at Hogwarts now stands behind Nott as she speaks.

"Dude, you're making a fool of yourself so go sit down."

"Make me."

"Shouldn't have said that," says Pansy, who laughs loudly as Nott is grabbed by the scruff of his neck.

"Let him go!" says Zabini, before Harry stands up.

"Touch Alyssa and I'll make you regret it."

"Oooooh he's so handsome when he's angry," says Pansy, while looking at Harry before Alyssa drags Nott back to his seat. "Thanks, but my cousin can handle herself too."

"Yeah, so can mine, except that he probably hates me." Harry sits down to finish what's left of his dinner as the students poke fun at Alyssa dragging Nott away. "You alright, Fleur? Sorry you had to hear such insults yet again."

"It is not so much an insult eef it is true, since technically I am only three-quarters 'uman."

"Yeah, and one quarter amazing too." Harry's compliment has Sally-Anne, Tracey, and Millicent giggling with one another. "I already said that Nott guy's like cancer here."

"Zank you, mon chéri, but I am above such childishly stupid stuff, 'mph!"

Tracey looks at the indignant Fleur before pointing at Harry. "Yeah but Harry's childish as well, you know."

"But 'e is not stupid and zat is what matters. Stupid as in making fun of people for zings zey cannot 'elp. So what eef I am of ze veela descent?"

"Yeah, screw Nott and the rest!" Harry smacks his hand on the table (briefly startling the eating Pansy). "Veela descent makes you more sexy, yeah."

"Okay, calm your hormones down now," says Pansy. "Not at the food table, well, not at this food table though."

Following dinner, Harry excuses himself to spend the next few hours until curfew in the library by himself. Even Hermione seems to have left for the common room, before Harry gets to work on his anonymous poem.

"Man, this is awkward," he mutters, but eventually gets to scribbling something on parchment:

Her eyes are as brown as a scrumptious chocolate pie,

Her hair's the resplendence of the sunset sky.

So sweet and so warm, I adore your lovely form.

She grips me like a Devil's Snare, one delectable éclair,

too bad she'll never beat me in the air.

"Short and sweet." Harry grins upon placing the parchment in an envelope addressed to Ginny. But with Valentine's Day just over two weeks away, he yawns before finally returning to the common room. For the next two weeks, he continues to balance academics with preparations for the Second Task. Now that this year's condensed Quidditch season is over, and the pitch being prepared for the Third Task, it's easier to focus on academic work.

"Lucky you," says Daphne, one Thursday evening in the dormitory. "No exams 'cos you're a Champ. What a bunch of cock if you ask me, hmph!"

"You jealous, hmm?" Harry leans to flick her hair before getting shoved away as she's quite busy.

Sunday, the 14th of February, finally arrives and it's one stormy day outside. Harry feels quite sorry for the foreign students (mostly the Beauxbatons girls) needing to trudge their way up to the castle. He therefore awaits Fleur in the entrance hall before breakfast while couples walk hand-in-hand all around.

"Good morning, and Happy Valentine's Day to you." Harry would cast some cleaning spells and charms to comfort her if she hadn't already taken care of it herself.

"Good morning, my leetle Valentine. You need not worry about me, of course, I am not a 'elpless damsel in distress. Did you send zat poem of yours to your friend? Eet was a nice one to read."

"Yep, had it delivered straight to her common room earlier. I even checked the Map and saw her right where the envelope should have been." Harry recalls seeing Ginny soon joined in the common room by Fred and George, who've no doubt read it aloud as more dots joined them.

Once he's settled at the end of the Slytherin table with Fleur and the girls, Harry munches down breakfast. Then, half an hour later, Hedwig swoops down to deliver him a letter. While Harry opens to read it, Fleur feeds bits of egg and bacon to the snowy white owl.

"What's it say? Who's it from?" asks Pansy eagerly, before Harry reads:

"There should be just one, but that's easier said than done.

Charming he may be, green eyes of ecstasy, wild hair so sexy, he's still a leetle baby.

All that cheek, yet he probably can't handle his own broomstick.

Oh don't be so glum, someday I'm sure he'll find the right bum."

"The hell?" Pansy soon shrieks with laughter at Ginny's reply to Harry's anonymous poem. "You made yours too friggin obvious, silly. That's what you get for giving your own game away."

Even Fleur has to admit that it's a decent comeback. "O' my, ze very red-'air girl 'as got you on zat one. Eet is now poetry warfare, yes?"

"Oh hell yes!" declares Harry, while looking to the far left towards the Gryffindor table. Seconds later, he locks eyes with Ginny as the latter raises her brows and appears quite challenging.

Now the morning post arrives as countless owls swoop down upon many tables, with the Daily Prophet being hot on today's list. Whatever fun and laughter Harry's had thus far comes to an abrupt halt as those around him read out the front page of today's newspaper.

Hogwarts' Deadly Love Triangle

We've all seen that spectacular Quidditch match on the 30th of January indeed, but what do we really know about the makings of that clash? writes Rita Skeeter. Sit back as I reveal the truth surrounding Harry Potter's loss against Viktor Krum.

One is a boy like no other, a young man overcompensating for the loss of his parents (and love) by surrounding himself with girls. Whether it be on friendly or romantic terms, Harry Potter is surely a walking, talking, Love Potion going around the school. Even the likes of Miss Fleur Delacour seems to have fallen for his charms, but she is not the topic of today.

The other needs no introduction at all: Hero of the World Cup and a rising star of Quidditch that stamps out any Seeker in his path, including poor young Harry. Now what do these two have in common that led to a vicious exchange of Bludgers, blows, and crashes on that fateful Saturday? Why, it's none other than a Muggleborn fling by the name of Hermione Granger.

She's ambitious and with a craving for famous wizards even Harry cannot hope to satisfy. One wonders if Miss Granger even considers poor Harry worth looking at now that her Bulgarian sweetheart has proved his superiority. Or perhaps she might play both sides to spy on Harry's plans for Viktor Krum, since they've already had an altercation in the library over a simple book. In fact, Viktor Krum has already invited Miss Granger to his homeland over the summer holidays while claiming that he's "never felt this way about any other girl before".

Where does all this leave our deprived, heartbroken young Harry? Can the underdog of the Triwizard Tournament find solace in Miss Delacour or some other girl? Doubtful.

"We've warned him over and over to stay away from the Muggleborn, but Potter never listens to anyone," says Theodore Nott, an ambitious fourth-year student.

"He's been eyeing her since the moment he came to this school, regardless of us trying to open his eyes," adds Blaise Zabini, fellow classmate of both Theodore Nott and Harry. "Bit of an insult to Slytherin to be eyeing Granger, no offense intended."

"We almost brought him to his senses in our first two years, but then Potter went and got heroically smitten over Granger," says Draco Malfoy, son of the wealthy and affluent Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. "A shame, really, since he had a bit of potential for better things."

Misters Crabbe and Goyle, fourth-year Slytherins as well, were unavailable for comment but nonetheless express similar views of distaste towards the scarlet woman of Hogwarts.

In the meantime, Harry Potter still has plenty more options to choose from now that Miss Granger has thrown him away. Only time will tell how our young Champion will fare with such betrayal.

"Screw this." Harry grabs the newspaper from a startled Pansy before standing up from the table.

"Are you nuts?" Millicent watches as he holds the rolled up newspaper then dropkicks it against the nearby wall.

"Hahaha! You shouldn't let Rita Skeeter get to you like that, it's how she makes her living," says Sally-Anne.

"Nah, this time there's some truth in there that I can't take. Fleur, let's get outta here before the attention comes my way." Harry gestures for them to leave, which she agrees with.

"Stupid arse'ole news reporters, works on my nerves. I say we go find one of your empty classrooms and cosy together, 'Arry."

"Yeah, great idea."

Unwilling to face anyone today, Harry heads off to spend the rest of the morning moving about the castle. His tactic works in that they come across few unwanted faces throughout the day, especially avoiding any of the Gryffindors and Slytherins sniggering at the article. Lunch hour is spent arriving early and leaving soon as Harry seeks to stay out of the public eye for a change. It also helps to cosy up with and enjoy the rest of Valentine's Day in the presence of Fleur.