Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based on the Harry Potter universe. All recognizable characters, plots and settings are the exclusive property of J.K Rowling. I make no claim to ownership nor do I make any profit.

Acknowledgments: Thank you to my betas James Marx and mineng101 for their work on this story.

Self Promotion: I have a discord server where you can chat and read all of my chapters early. If you would like to join, simply copy the link on my profile and for . I had to write it in that format for the site to allow it on my profile.

Special Recommendation:

If you guys are a fan of this pairing and want to see it done by an author who is quite frankly much better than me, go read the new story Twelve Days by TheEndless7. If you have read Vitam Paramus, you should enjoy the similarities.

Authors Note 1:

Well, I managed to get a chapter done before I leave for training camp so yay to me! On the downside, there will not be another chapter of this story until early February. I apologize for the inconvenience but I will be unable to post or write between the 14th and the 24th of January, and when I get back, I intend to get a good chunk of a future as well as an ongoing project pre written.

Authors Note 2:

Ok, I will speak on this once and once only as I'm honestly shocked the question has even come up at all. Though I know a couple meant it in humour, the question of "why did you have to kill Sirius?" has come up several times recently in reviews, with people even implying it is the main drawback of the story.

Frankly, I don't feel that I should have to explain it as I believe it is quite obvious, but here it goes. Unlike canon, I needed a driven Harry, a Harry who was going to take winning more seriously and one that would grow up far quicker than he did in the books. The best way to do this was through the loss of Sirius, as like in canon, it served as a major shift in Harry's world that forced him to adapt. And yes, before anyone points it out, it was also a useful plot device in terms of the Harry/Gabrielle dynamic, though that was merely a bonus.

"Speech."

'Internal Dialogue.'

Parseltongue.

French/In Story Text.

Memories

Chapter 23: Revelations.

When Harry dreamt that night, it was, to his great surprise, not of Voldemort, the tournament, his parents or the horrors that his mind's eye seemed to think awaited him, but simple, pleasant dreams that he did not remember the next morning, though they did leave him feeling oddly light and fuzzy.

Speaking of odd feelings, Harry awoke feeling far warmer and far more comfortable than he was accustomed to. He felt as if he was blanketed in warmth, and he felt an odd weight against him. His groggy mind did not immediately connect the dots and if he was being honest with himself, he was not entirely sure why he had awoken at all. It was true that he didn't feel particularly tired, but if his body had awoken him in spite of this marvellous comfort it was experiencing, Harry's mind thought it was an act of high treason.

As he thought this, he felt something warm and soft brush against his face before it seemed to tickle him lightly, causing him to twitch. "You 'ave to get up." Spoke a soft feminine voice from near his ear, causing him to groan as he buried his head into what he now suspected to be Gabrielle's shoulder. She giggled. "You are like a child sometimes." She told him, to which he only responded with yet another groan.

"And you're way too much like a responsible adult sometimes." He muttered, causing her to laugh softly once more before she began to poke and prod him lightly with a finger to jolt him.

"We 'ave to get to breakfast and classes. Come on, get up!"

She did not speak loudly, but something about the way Gabrielle spoke with so much authority jolted Harry. He groaned one final time in protest but he did begrudgingly push himself up into a sitting position. He did not remember falling asleep in a bed, though it was how he awoke, curled against Gabrielle with his head resting on her shoulder and their arms around one another. It was odd how such a scene in so many other circumstances would have been considered romantic and the act of two lovers, though in Harry's circumstance, it was simply a strong act of friendship.

'I sort of wish it wasn't though.'

This thought gave him pause as he looked at Gabrielle through bleary eyes, causing her to quirk a perfect eyebrow in question, a gesture that went unnoticed as Harry tried unsuccessfully to sort through his modicum of thoughts. Did he like Gabrielle in that way?

'Well, she does check all of the boxes.' A small voice remarked in the back of his mind.

'Yeah, but she's a friend — my best friend even.'

The fact that his best friend was a girl whom he had truly known for not a few months struck him as a rather depressing thought, but he did not linger on it all too much as he was far too preoccupied with sorting through the jumble of emotions that were crashing through him. As he thought more and more about the tall blonde girl sitting in front of him on the bed, he felt his heart rate quicken as some excess blood rushed to a rather inconvenient part of his body, a spot that was mercifully hidden by the covers that he had not yet removed from himself. Whatever he felt for her in terms of friendship or otherwise, he could not deny that the two mornings he had woken up cuddled into her had been two of the most pleasant experiences of his life.

"'arry." said Gabrielle, finally losing patience as she could tell he was clearly zoned out. He didn't reply at once so she snapped her fingers directly under his nose, a motion that caused him to blink several times.

"Y-yeah, sorry about that, I kinda spaced out."

Gabrielle simply frowned. "What were you zinking about?" She asked curiously, finding it odd how he would not quite meet her eyes as he answered.

"Just last night." He did not love the cover story but figuring it was more believable in their current context as opposed to classes.

Gabrielle's features softened. "Are you ok?" She asked, to which he nodded.

"I will be now." He said, smiling a rare, genuine smile at her as he could honestly say that though the weight of Sirius's loss still hung heavily upon him, he did feel somehow lighter about the whole situation. "Thank you," he continued, noticing that he didn't really have the words to say everything he wanted to say. "for everything." Was what he settled for.

Gabrielle reached out and took his hand, briefly giving it a squeeze before letting it fall. "Anytime." she said with a sad, if not somewhat relieved smile. "Anytime you need me."

Harry smiled back at her, trying to ignore the odd feeling that had risen in his stomach when she had taken his hand.

'What the hell? This doesn't normally happen.'

"Do we have time to shower?" He asked her, to which she responded by quickly casting the Tempus charm.

"If we 'urry." She decided. A moment later, the room expanded and suddenly what looked to be a door leading to a bathroom appeared. Gabrielle just shook her head. "I will figure out zis room one day." She vowed. "Zis breaks so many rules of magic it is incompre'ensible."

Harry merely chuckled, reminded a bit painfully of Hermione as he did so.

'Gabrielle is not Hermione.' He reminded himself as he looked between Gabrielle and the bathroom.

"Well, ladies first." He said, gesturing as grandiosely as he could from his seated position on the bed.

She obliged him, sweeping gracefully to her feet as she mock curtsied to him in thanks. "You are too kind." she told him. "I do 'ope zat kindness is not merely so you can sneak a look zrough ze door?" Harry blushed furiously.

"N-n-no, of c-course not!" He spluttered, but Gabrielle was merely giggling.

"Hush," she told him with her bright smile well in place. "I was only teasing; you are far too easy." And with that, she swept her way into the bathroom, though not before blowing him a kiss that made him blush again.

'Pull it together Potter.'

Harry's mind continued to wander as Gabrielle showered. He wished for the life of him the two arguing voices would just shut up and leave him in peace but before he could find a way to make them do that, the door opened and Gabrielle stepped out of the bathroom, her hair a bit damp but still perfectly straight and pristine.

Harry blinked. "How did you do that?"

Gabrielle looked confused. "'ow did I do what?"

"Well — uh — don't take this the wrong way, but you didn't spend much time in there at all, but your hair is perfect even though it's wet. I'm pretty sure most girls spend like an hour drying their hair and another half an hour styling it."

"Usually ze ozer way around, but I understand your point." Gabrielle corrected, causing Harry to roll his eyes. "I 'ave advantages that most ozer girls do not 'ave." She told him evasively, causing him to attempt to speak, but she closed the distance between them and rested a finger on his lips to silence him. "Hush," she told him again. "we are going to be late if you do not shower now." Harry nodded, getting to his feet and making his way into the bathroom, showering as quickly as he could and marvelling at the perfect pair of Hogwarts robes the room produced for him upon the completion of his shower.

When he exited the room, he was still trying to pat down his even messier than normal haIr that had been ravaged by the water, something that caused Gabrielle to hide a smile behind her hand, which in turn made Harry roll his eyes again. "Some of us aren't blessed with advantages that others don't have." He quoted, causing Gabrielle to only giggle harder at his futile attempts.

"Come 'ere." She told him, gesturing him forwards. She reached out and began to smoothly brush his hair into place with her hand. "I'm going to leave it ze way it normally is as opposed to perfectly tidy." She told him, seeming to have no doubt that she would be able to control his hair, which prompted him to look at her questioningly. "It suits you." She said.

"Be my guest if you want to waste your t-' but he cut off when she stepped back from him and he could feel his hair stick in a more natural position in a way it wouldn't do for him. "How the hell did you do that?" He asked her. "I was at it with a comb for like — five minutes and you just tousled it around with your hand and it worked?"

"Same answer as before." She said with a teasing smirk. "Come, we need to get to breakfast now if we would like to eat anything." She looked pointedly at him. "And boze of us do want to eat somessing." She emphasized the "both of us" bit and Harry quickly realized that he was not going to eat his customary two meals a day this time.

'I suppose she feels like she's won the whole talking battle and it's onto the next.'

From some, people like Hermione for instance, Harry may have been annoyed with this attitude, as he may have felt as if they were being bossy or controlling but with Gabrielle, it just filled him with an odd warmth; the same warmth he often felt spread throughout his body when she shot him one of her more luminescent smiles.

"Have you memorized the route from here to the hall yet?" He asked her, causing her to furrow her brow in thought.

"I do not know," she answered. "I 'ave only ever come here wiss you and 'ave not really tried ozerwise."

He frowned. "What about the first day you found me?" He asked her, having been wanting to do so for some time now.

She seemed to become a bit fidgety after being asked the question. "Zat was a very strange coincidence." She told him. "I did not even know ze room existed, I just sort of — found it."

Harry sensed that there was likely far more to that story as he could not see how one just "found" the room but he did not press her on the matter.

"Well, let's test your memory then, shall we? Lead the way."

Gabrielle didn't look thrilled about that suggestion, but she did oblige him. Harry was actually rather impressed, as by the time they reached the Great Hall a short bit later, Harry had only had to stop her from making one wrong turn.

'She's doing a damn shot better than I did when I first got to Hogwarts.' He thought, smiling briefly at the memory of him and Ron unknowingly trying to force their way into the out of bounds third floor corridor on their first full day in the castle. If anyone was looking, they would have seen his eyes darken at the thought of his ex best friend, but no one was watching.

As Harry and Gabrielle slid into their customary spots at the Ravenclaw table, Harry could practically feel the curiosity rolling off of Gabrielle's friends in waves; Sophia in particular was looking more than a little bit impatient for answers.

"If you imply anyssing," Gabrielle told the girl before she could start in on them. "I will contaminate your next order of makeup wiss doxy powder." This shut Sophia up in a hurry as Josephine and Sophie giggled and Harry smiled at Gabrielle as he shook his head.

"And how does such a prim and proper French girl come up with such dastardly ideas?" He asked her, causing her to swat his arm playfully.

"Hush you," she told him with a mischievous smile. "us prim and polite French girls 'ave our ways."

"Did somebody mention doxy powder?" Asked a rather chipper voice from behind them that Harry recognized as belonging to one of the Weasley twins.

Harry sighed theatrically as he pierced Gabrielle with his best accusing stare. "See? Look what you have unleashed on the rest of the castle."

"How did she put it, Gred?" Asked George, to which the other boy made a show of thinking deeply before he snapped his fingers.

"I think it went something like this, Feorge." he said as he looked pointedly at Harry. "Hush you!" The girls giggled as Fred turned to Gabrielle and immediately took on his most gentlemanly like posture. "Say, Ms. Delacour, all jokes aside, you wouldn't actually know where to get doxy powder by any chance, would you?"

'The joke products.' Thought Harry, as it had been one of the ingredients the three of them had been missing over the summer.

"I zink I would be dooming everybody in zis castle if I answered zat question." Said Gabrielle cautiously.

"Please?" Asked the twins as one, making puppy eyes at Gabrielle before she sighed.

"I know somewhere you could likely get it, yes, but to be frank, I am not certain as it is not somessing I 'ave looked into before and ze price would likely be quite high."

"How high are we talking?" Asked George calculatingly. Harry felt a pang as he actually watched the twins' faces fall when Gabrielle mentioned the ludicrous number.

'Merlin, even I wouldn't be buying much of that.'

"That's a shame." said Fred seriously as he turned to Harry. "Are you finally going to be back at practice tonight?" He asked him.

"Yes," answered Gabrielle before Harry could even reply, causing her friends to giggle and Harry to blush but quickly recover.

"Yes mother." He said, causing Gabrielle to simply look at him pointedly.

"You were going to be zere anyways, were you not?"

"Yeah, I was." He admitted, smiling sheepishly back at her before looking up at the twins. "I suppose the team will take it really well when their captain shows up after over a week of no showing, huh?"

"Alibi, remember?" Said George, causing Harry's chest to actually fill with relief as he had forgotten the fake story made up to excuse his absence by the twins.

"Most of the school might disagree with me, but you guys are saints, you know that?"

"We do our best when we're not off saving innocence and combating the forces of injustice!" Said Fred with mock seriousness as he and his brother puffed out their chests in rather good imitations of their older brother, Percy.

"Prats." said Harry through his own chuckles before he looked up at the clock and winced. "I'll see you girls all later, I've got to get to class. See you guys tonight at Quidditch." And he stood, draping his bag over his shoulder and quickly making his exit from the Great Hall, following many of his yearmates to their first class that day.

Nothing of true note took place that day for Harry as his classes were rather low key. Ron shot him a few miffed looks when he performed all of the charms work perfectly and Hermione kept shooting him dirty glares, but aside from that, the day was completely uneventful until Quidditch practice that night.

The practice itself went rather well, with the team pretty much waving off Harry's attempted apology; even the lone Slytherin on the team took it well. It was actually one of the better practices they had ran thus far and Harry knew that they would need it, as their first match would be taking place in less than two weeks time on the nineteenth of November against Viktor Krum and Durmstrang. He thought his team was ready, though privately, he wasn't quite sure that he was ready to take on the boy who most were calling the greatest seeker alive.

"Oi!" came the voice of George as Harry called for the practice to be wrapped up. "What the hell's that?" He gestured to a spot over the forest and Harry glided over to him curiously, looking and seeing, to his surprise, odd plumes of smoke rising above the forest.

"I dunno." Harry answered honestly. He had met quite a few of the inhabitants of the forbidden forest and though some were certainly preferable to others, there was nothing in there to his knowledge that could create fire.

'Well, centaurs can make fires, but I doubt they'd let one get out of control."

"I say we check it out!" Said Fred eagerly, drawing a nod from George as they both peered questioningly at Harry.

Harry glanced around to make sure no one was watching them before he hesitantly nodded and the three of them peeled off in the direction of the forest. Part of him thought this was a bad idea, but what could he say, he was a naturally curious person. Harry suddenly had an odd flashback sort of moment to the only other time he had flown a broom over the forest, when he had eavesdropped on Snape and Quirrell in his first year.

'That feels like it was so long ago.'

They flew ever closer and when they did near what appeared to be the origin of the smoke — a clearing up ahead, Harry gestured for the twins to take cover in the thick foliage of the leaves and branches once they got close enough. When they did fly close enough to see into the clearing though, Harry almost forgot to do so himself as his jaw fell open in a mix of shock and horror.

There, chained in a fenced area were the four largest creatures that Harry had ever seen. Any one of the four could have easily played with Fluffy as if the Cerberus was a stuffed animal. Despite never having seen a full grown one in person, Harry knew all two well what the beasts were, but he could not fathom what four dragons were doing at Hogwarts.

'FOUR dragons.'

He looked at Fred and George who both seemed to be peering at him in unmasked terror. They had all come to the same conclusion. In one way or another, Harry would have to do battle with dragons in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Upon his return to the castle, Harry very nearly faked some sort of excuse and went to Madam Pomfrey for a calming draught. When that idea sounded unappealing in his mind, he very nearly went to the hospital wing under his invisibility cloak to steal a calming draught. He was panicking and had no idea what to do.

'How the fuck do they expect us to compete against dragons?'

He debated going looking for Gabrielle, if for no other reason than the fact that he knew her presence would calm him, but he didn't. The practice itself had not even started until six o'clock and it was passed eight by the time he, Fred, and George returned to the castle. On top of that, Harry had no idea where Gabrielle was. Well, that wasn't entirely true he supposed. He had a suspicion she was likely in the Beauxbatons carriage, but that essentially meant that Harry had no access to her spare knocking on the carriage door and asking somebody to fetch her. Seeing as most of that school thought of him as a liar and a cheat, he didn't think it a good idea to ask them for favours.

So instead, he went to The Room of Requirement and it took every last bit of his will power not to start throwing around the most powerful magics he new. Instead, he thought hard, thought for any bit of information on the Triwizard Tournament. Dragons were a problem, but Harry had a feeling the judges did not expect the champions to outright do battle with them.

'I mean, Dumbledore said there were safety precautions this time.'

It took him several hours of looking through books that the room produced for him but finally, he found what seemed to be a catalogue of past tasks in the Triwizard Tournament. It seemed as if the first task usually did involve some extremely dangerous magical creature, but that was not the only similarity. It seemed, judging by the rather obvious pattern he spotted in the book that almost every first task entailed the champions retrieving something guarded by the creature in question. This prompted another hour or so of research on dragons, something made far easier since the room just presented him with book after book on the creatures. Finally he found what he was looking for.

Though dragons are known wizard killers at the best of times, the majority of the deaths to wizards caused by dragons in the past century stem from a failed attempt to retrieve their eggs; the one thing that dragons cherish and protect above all else.

'Well shit,' thought Harry. 'this is NOT going to go well.'

Harry barely slept at all that night. It had been nearly three o'clock by the time he even attempted sleep and his mind was far too busy depicting all the gruesome ways a dragon could kill him to be at all interested in shutting down for the night. As a result of this, even Harry found himself little more than a corpse the next morning, something made all the more out of character when one considered that Harry could normally operate on little to no sleep. Despite that though, Harry thought privately to himself that it had been many years since he had been this tired as he walked into the Great Hall and tried not to slump into his ever open seat next to Gabrielle. When he saw her, he had a brief burning desire to tell her about the dragons. Two things stopped him though. One was her friends and the other Ravenclaw and Beauxbatons students around them, and another was the fact that to be honest, burning desires needed energy to be fuelled, and Harry found that he had very little of that to offer at the moment.

"You look exhausted." Noted Gabrielle with some concern as Harry groggily rested his chin on his hand.

"Mmm." He answered, sleepily reaching for some tea.

"Did you not sleep well?" Gabrielle asked as she slid a small plate of fruit in front of him. He could have groaned aloud. He could barely eat two meals per day at the best of times, let alone now.

"Not really, no." He answered tiredly as Sophia and Josephine continued to gossip about some new brand of shoes that Harry did not know. As discreetly as she could, Gabrielle leaned towards him and whispered.

"Nightmares?"

"Yes and no;" he answered just as quietly. "there were some of those; there always are, but that wasn't the main reason."

"What's wrong?" She asked, seeming to sense his unease as she peered more critically at him.

"Now isn't the time." He said heavily. "I will tell you," he placated as he knew she would interrupt if he did not. "I actually really want to tell you because I think I need someone to make sure I don't go mental, but not here." Gabrielle looked worried at his words, briefly squeezing his hand under the table.

He had debated on not telling her at all as her sister Fleur was direct competition to him and he knew that as soon as he told Gabrielle, she would likely tell Fleur immediately, as she truly did adore her sister. Harry had decided that didn't constitute a reason not to tell Gabrielle though as to be honest, he would not let anyone, spare Wormtail and Voldemort themselves walk into a fight with a dragon unprepared and frankly, he had decided he would inform the other champions himself anyways.

'It's only fair anyways, and that's ignoring the part where I'd rather nobody died.'

She peered at him critically once more, biting her lip as she did so but eventually, after an agonizingly long moment, she nodded. Harry did his best to soldier through the small plate of food that Gabrielle had placed in front of him. It was a rather steep task for him at the moment but he managed it, if for no other reason than to provide her with some form of victory during the meal. Before too long though it was time for class and after a rather uneventful first period, Harry made the familiar trek down towards the potions classroom that he despised so much.

He could tell before he reached the door that there was going to be some form of conflict. The Slytherin contingency were all gathered around the entrance to the potions classroom talking in low, hushed voices. The few Gryffindors that had thus far arrived were standing a fair bit away from the Slytherins, choosing to talk in smaller groups as opposed to a large contingency of their own.

'Well, this doesn't look overly promising.'

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Harry saw the unmistakable blonde head of Draco Malfoy look up and he saw his lips curve into what Harry thought was likely his most cruel rendition of a smirk. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the champion himself." he drawled smugly, drawing the attention of everybody in the corridor onto the two of them. "Good to see you, Champ! Finally took your head from out of the sand, have you?"

Harry's jaw tensed. "You're one to talk about cowardice, Malfoy. You're default rebuttal is to talk about running to daddy for help and you won't even open your mouth without at least having your two trolls by your side to back you up when things get too hot."

The corridor fell completely silent at that and Malfoy sneered. "There is a difference between cowardice and caution, Potter. Unlike some less astute names I could mention, I see no reason to run head first into danger." Malfoy's smirk crept back onto his face. "Even if your point has some merit, so what? I run from potentially dangerous situations, you run from the big bad bullies of Hogwarts who don't like you anymore. Who's the real coward here." Malfoy did a rather impressive imitation of a baby at the end and Parkinson among a few others burst into laughter.

"As a matter of fact," continued Malfoy, his smirk only creeping further across his face if such a thing were at all possible. "I even decided to make you some tokens, Potter. Tokens to show you exactly what we think of our surprise champion. Malfoy gestured for all of the Slytherins who had thus far arrived to turn and they did so. All of them were wearing lurid green badges with the words Support Cedric Diggory, The Real Hogwarts Champion emblazoned upon them.

Harry just nodded. "I agree with the sentiment." He said flatly, causing the Slytherins to suddenly look far less amused. "It does make you a bit of a hypocrite though, doesn't it Draco? What happened to the load of Hufflepuffs being duffers?" The ghost of a scowl flashed across Malfoy's face as he too evidently remembered those comments in Madam Malkin's the summer before their first year at Hogwarts but he recovered quickly.

"I'll take a duffer over an incompetent cheat any day of the weak, Potter." He said coolly. "That's not all these little beauties can do though." he assured him. "As a matter of fact, they echo a statement I have never backed down from." He tapped the badge on his own chest, an action mimicked by those Slytherins behind him and suddenly, emblazoned upon the badge were the words Potter Stinks.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ok, so you're an immature, uncreative child who spends too much time and energy keeping track of my personal hygiene. I fail to see how this was supposed to get me all riled up, Malfoy."

"I don't need to keep track of your hygiene to know the truth, Potter." Spat back Malfoy, clearly growing annoyed at the lack of reaction. "Your head's been buried in the sand and your blood is dirty. You reek of sand and mud, I can smell you from-" but Malfoy never finished his statement. At the word "mud" and its obvious implications, Harry's wand was in his hand in an instant and he slashed it towards Malfoy, sending a banishing curse straight at the boy. He would have been hit straight on if not for Goyle shoving him to the side at the last possible second. Malfoy drew his own wand and tried to fire a spell at Harry, but he sidestepped the first easily, faked a dart to the right and leapt left, opening Malfoy up to his disarming spell which sent his wand spinning towards Harry.

"What is going on here?" Asked a cold yet calm voice from the entrance of the classroom. The atmosphere in the corridor changed almost at once as everybody turned to see the sallow skinned, hook nosed Potions Master sticking his head out of the door. Harry could have cursed as he saw Snape's dark eyes rest upon Harry and more particularly, the extra wand in his hand.

"Potter attacked me, sir!" Cried Malfoy indignantly, a sentiment that caused most of the Gryffindors to argue, though they were shot down by the Slytherins.

"That is enough," said Snape sharply, cutting across the bickering as he turned to Harry. "Twenty points from Gryffindor, Potter. Ten for using magic in the corridors and ten for the attack of a fellow student and a detention Saturday night, 7:00 in my office."

Harry could have cursed Snape right there but he didn't, managing to hold in his anger, if just barely. The greasy git made his blood boil. To the class's dismay, Snape announced that they would be working on antidotes. If that was not enough, Snape was rather suggestive that one member of the class would be testing their antidote against some rather potent poisons and his eyes lingered for a bit too long on Harry. As a byproduct of this, Harry found himself paying more attention to his potion than ever before as his heart beat unusually fast. He never did test his antidote though, as about twenty five minutes into the class, there came a soft knock on the door and Snape opened it to reveal a shockingly beautiful, shockingly familiar silvery blonde girl standing in the doorway.

"Yes?" Asked Snape curtly, not bothering to ask Gabrielle's name if he did not know it, choosing also to ignore the dumbstruck look on many of the male's faces within his classroom.

"I apologize for interrupting your class professor, but I 'ave been asked by your 'eadmaster as well as Mr. Bagman to retrieve 'arry Potter for ze ceremonial weighing of ze wands. I was told 'arry would not be coming back to class today."

Harry could practically see Snape seething at this news but he evidently knew he could do nothing about it, for after shooting one last withering look at Harry, he looked back at Gabrielle with an admittedly annoyed, though far more neutral expression. "Very well, off with him then."

Not quite believing his luck, Harry hurried to collect his things before he exited the classroom with Gabrielle, sighing as soon as the door closed behind them and immediately noticing how tense he felt. Clearly he was not the only one who noticed, for Gabrielle, who walked a pace behind him, placed her hands on his upper shoulders and began to massage the area lightly, drawing another sigh out of Harry, this time one of contentment.

"You are very tense." Said Gabrielle as they continued to walk, her stopping the mini massage when she noticed much of the tension leave him. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," said Harry honestly. "just way too tired to put up with Snape's bullshit today, and that's not even factoring in Malfoy."

"What did zey do?" Asked Gabrielle.

"Nothing important." Shrugged Harry, but Gabrielle stopped in mid stride and shot him a patronizing look, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she straightened up to her full height.

"Clearly it was important enough to bozer you." She said a bit snottily. "So, what was it zey did?"

Harry sighed. "You just had to kill the mood, didn't you? Malfoy insulted my mother and sort of sparked a duel. I shouldn't have reacted, I know, but like I said, I'm way too tired for his bullshit right now. Snape docked me a ton of points and ignored Malfoy completely; I have detention on Saturday, too."

"This is ze professor who you claim has ze questionable hygiene?" Asked Gabrielle, causing Harry to crack a rather weak smile in spite of himself.

"Claim? Did you not see the git?"

She smiled. "I did, but I was mostly watching ze class, if I am being honest."

"Lucky you." Quipped Harry, causing Gabrielle to giggle as they made their way up the marble staircase and towards an abandoned classroom that Harry had used in his younger years before his discovery of the Room of Requirement. "Quick question," he asked. "what is the weighing of the wands?"

"It is a ceremony zat is traditional in ze tournament, but it also serves as a test. A wandmaker or expert comes to assure zat all of ze champions wands are in fine working condition before ze beginning of ze tournament itself."

"Ah," said Harry with a nod. "will they do the same for duelling?"

"You 'ave never actually been in a duelling competition, 'ave you?" He shook his head and she smirked arrogantly. "You 'ave no chance once we duel." She teased. Once again, Harry found that he felt rather uncomfortable if not unhappy when thinking about the idea of duelling Gabrielle. "Your wand is checked minutes before any duel." She explained, causing him to nod along once more. He supposed that made sense.

"Fair enough, I guess." He said before taking on his own best rendition of a confident smirk. "As for no chance — we shall see, Ms. Delacour, we shall see."

She smiled back at him, seeming to have complete and utter confidence in her victory. "We will indeed, Monsieur Potter, we will indeed."

At that moment, they came to the door of the classroom and Harry sighed heavily. "Are you leaving then?" Asked Harry, unsure whether or not Gabrielle would be allowed inside.

She shook her head. "Non, being ze sister of a champion 'as its benefits, though I will be with Fleur." She shot him an almost apologetic look and he felt his heart sink a bit at that but he nodded.

"Understandable." he said with a weak smile. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't keep them waiting any longer." And he pushed the door open.

The classroom itself was rather unremarkable, with most of the desks Harry remembered being there noticeably absent today. There were, however, several people gathered within the room. In a corner, the beautiful Beauxbatons champion stood alone, twirling her pale wand thoughtfully between her fingers. When she spotted Gabrielle though, her eyes lit up, though they did seem to do their best to shoot sparks at Harry, something that earned the older girl a glare from her younger sister. Leaning against a wall not far away from Fleur, a completely neutral, seemingly bored expression upon his visage was the Durmstrang champion, Viktor Krum. His eyes flitted to the two figures entering the room, though they lingered for only a second. Cedric was pacing back and forwards, throwing his wand up in the air and catching it as he did so. He seemed the most fidgety out of the three present champions, though he seemed more anxious than actually nervous. He smiled at Harry and actually gestured for the younger champion to join him. Before Harry could make it though, a loud, enthusiastic voice that Harry vaguely recognized as belonging to Mr. Bagman rang throughout the room.

"And there he is! The youngest champion, in the flesh!" The Head of The Department of Magical Games and Sports practically bounded over to Harry and seized his hand in an almost vice like grip as he shook it enthusiastically. "We were getting worried, Harry. We thought you would be late."

Harry had to resist the urge not to falter under the attention of the room as he responded to Bagman. "I'm sorry, sir. I hope it didn't cause any inconveniences."

"No, no," Bagman assured, seeming to wave off the mere idea of such a thing. "not at all dear boy, not at all. Come while we wait for Albus and the wand expert." he said as he led Harry towards a woman whom Harry did not recognize. "Harry, I would like you to meet Ms. Rita Skeeter of The Daily Prophet! She has been oh so eager to meet you."

"I'm sure..." he responded, trying to keep the ice out of his tone as he pierced Rita with the closest thing he could manage to Dumbledore's ex ray like stare. "It is odd though that she would be so eager to meet someone who she seems to think is the next Voldemort in training." At his words, all in the room but Krum, Fleur, Gabrielle, and Maxime flinched. Harry had a feeling Mr. Crouch likely would not have, but the man himself did not seem to be present.

It took the fashionably dressed woman a moment to respond. "W-why Harry, I do try to keep my opinions out of my writing. Anything I write is likely not the opinion I hold, just what I think would grab people's attention."

"If zat is ze case..." Said a soft yet firm voice from the same corner Fleur stood in, drawing everyone's attention to Gabrielle, who was looking at Skeeter with a demeaning though mostly emotionless look; it was as if she was looking at an insect, something she viewed not worthy of her time and attention. Harry had to resist a shiver, he did not know the kind hearted girl was capable of a look like that. "you should not write somessing wissout just evidence, Ms. Skeeter. Zat alone implies an opinion piece, and zat is ignoring ze more personal language in your articles zat indicate the same."

The room was near perfectly silent until Rita once again recovered, turning back to Harry, seeming to realize Gabrielle was a foe she did not wish to cross whits with. "Well, I am sure Harry here would not be opposed to clearing the air? An article to renounce the claims?"

Harry did not react for a moment and Rita seemed to take that as an acceptance, for she smiled and grabbed his arm, making for the door. Harry made to pull his arm away from her, but found it locked in an almost vice like grip. He shot a rather dangerous look towards the woman, but if she noticed, she acted completely oblivious. He was debating whether or not he should draw his wand but he never got the chance, as the two of them never reached the door.

"I do not zink it is wissin your legal rights to interview a minor wissout expressed consent, Ms. Skeeter." Commented Gabrielle, looking ready to block their entrance if need be.

Skeeter scowled, showing clear annoyance for the first time. "Nonsense, I am sure Harry is agreeable-"

"'arry?" asked Gabrielle forcefully. "Do you want to be interviewed right now?"

"Uh — no." He answered, thanking his lucky stars this girl was on his side.

"Zere you go." Said Gabrielle, causing Skeeter to begrudgingly let go of Harry's arm, though not before shooting a rather venomous look towards Gabrielle, one that the teen returned with an equally deadly glare. Before the situation could become awkward however, the door to the room opened and in swept Dumbledore, wearing midnight blue robes and being accompanied by the very man whom had given Harry his wand at the age of eleven — Mr. Ollivander himself.

"Good morning to you all!" Greeted Dumbledore cheerfully, seeming to ignore the rather tense atmosphere in the room that Harry was sure he did not fail to pick up on. "I do apologize for our lateness. I must admit that sometimes, in my old age more than ever, I seem to fall ill to curiosity and alas, today was one such day as I could not quite find it within myself to restrain the myriad of questions that I had for dear Garrick when we struck up a conversation about some of the more intricate pieces of wand lore." His eyes twinkled merrily as he looked around the room at all of them. Harry almost snorted aloud.

'Boy can the old man put on a show when he wants to.'

"No matter, Dumbledore, no matter!" Chorused Ludo Bagman cheerfully. "We're all just happy to start! Well, shall we get this out of the way and get some photos for the Prophet at the end? Ms. Skeeter does need some material for her small little piece on the tournament after all."

"Maybe not so small, Ludo." Said Rita a bit suggestively, but Dumbledore's eyes had found the reporter now, and Harry could swear the twinkle in his eyes, though still present, had dimmed a notch or two.

"Ah, Ms. Skeeter, a pleasure as always. I have found myself rather engrossed in some of your more colourful works as of late. I especially took interest in the one over the summer where you referred to me as an obsolete dingbat."

Rita seemed to fumble with words again before speaking. "Only the views of some of the public, Dumbledore."

"Oh, dear Rita, I assure you I understand and take no offence. As a matter of fact, I thank you for expanding my vocabulary!"

"Well," continued Dumbledore with a smile as he looked around the now silent room. "shall we begin then?" He received several affirmative nods and turned to look at Mr. Ollivander. "The floor is yours, Garrick."

Mr. Ollivander's grey eyes roamed over the four of them before he spoke. "I think we will start with Mr. Krum, if he would be so kind." Krum stepped forward and slipped his wand from his sleeve, handing it somewhat reluctantly over to the older man, though his hawk like eyes followed the implement as if it were a snitch. Mr. Ollivander twirled the wand between his long fingers in silence for a moment before he spoke in an admiring tone. "Hornbeam, ten and one quarter inches with the heartstring of a dragon serving as the core." Krum nodded curtly. "A Gregorovich creation if I am not mistaken?"

"You are not," Said Krum shortly but not impolitely. "one of the last he ever sold."

"A fine wandmaker, one of the very best I have ever met in fact. This wand seems thicker than usual, perhaps a bit rigid, but I have full faith in Gregorovich's work." He waved the wand, causing a flock of birds to materialize in the air and titter excitedly before flying out of the open window. Ollivander nodded approvingly, handing the wand back to Krum with a small smile. "Perfectly functional." He declared, allowing his eyes to roam over the three remaining champions. "Mr. Diggory, if you would be so kind?"

Cedric stepped forward, offering Ollivander his wand, handle first. The man took the wand in his hands and his eyes lit up almost at once. "Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it? Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn... Twelve and a quarter inches... ash... pleasantly springy." He waved the wand and wine poured from its tip as if the wand were a fountain. Ollivander countered the charm and presented the wand back to Cedric. "It's in fine condition. I'm sure you polish your wand on a regular basis?"

"Yes, sir. I just polished it this morning." Cedric confirmed, earning a few sniggers around the room.

His eyes fell immediately on Fleur, who had stopped her talking with Gabrielle as soon as Krum had handed over his wand.

'It's almost like she's trying to measure people on their wands.'

Harry did not know nearly enough about wand lore to do the same, though he figured it may actually prove to be a valid strategy.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, If you would do me the pleasure?" Fleur stepped forward gracefully and presented her wand with an overwhelming air of confidence. It took Ollivander longer to speak upon holding Fleur's wand and she seemed to grow more smug the longer it took him to do so. She seemed to think, like Harry did for the briefest of moments that her wand had stumped the esteemed wandmaker. A few long moments later though, Ollivander did speak and his voice was filled with interest and curiosity for the first time. "Yes, nine and a half inches... inflexible.. rosewood... and containing... dear me.. "

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela. One of my grandmuzzer's."

'Wait — veela — one of my grandmother's?'

Suddenly, memories flashed through Harry's mind, memories of the Veela at the Quidditch World Cup and the way they had drawn him in. Memories of how the boys drooled over Fleur but more importantly in his mind, Gabrielle. The warmth he had suddenly started to feel towards her in the last number of days.

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela. One of my grandmuzzer's.'

'What the fuck!'

He looked towards Gabrielle who was looking at him rather nervously, a look that turned into one that briefly resembled fear when she caught the look in his eyes.

Harry was so distracted by this revelation and its potential implications that he very nearly missed his queue. He did indeed miss it if one was being technical, but the expectant looks of the others prompted him to walk towards Mr. Ollivander and distractedly hold out his wand, not even managing to bring up the paranoia that would usually be bubbling inside of him.

Mr. Ollivander's eyes gleamed. "Oh yes, I remember this wand as if it were yesterday. A stubborn wand — holly and phoenix feather — eleven inches — it sat on my shelf for many years and is by far one of my two most curious creations." He shook his head and looked at Harry. "You will have to prove its aptitude, Mr. Potter."

"W-what?" Asked Harry, snapping a little bit more back to the present.

"This wand is bonded very tightly to you and the feather of a phoenix will serve only its master." Ollivander offered him the wand handle first, doing so in the same manner that Cedric had presented his own wand to the older man. "Something a bit more complex, if you could."

Harry didn't have the brain power to think of anything complex so instead, he simply reverted to the one impressive spell he was more familiar with than any other. "Expecto Patronum." He incanted, raising his wand and watching as the familiar silver stag burst from its tip, causing most in the room to gasp or look shocked. Harry had eyes for none of them though, as his mind was still filled with the possibilities of the days revelations and more particularly, the questions he now had for the girl who he sincerely hoped he would still be able to consider his best friend.

Authors Endnote:

I know I promised Quidditch, but quite frankly, that's still several thousand words away, as the chapter I had planned is currently 12k and counting. So, I decided to take the first 8k-ish words and post them as this chapter. If I had waited until the full likely 15k+ word chapter was finished, I'd never have had this up before I left the country.

For those of you who don't understand Harry's feelings at the end of the chapter, read his revelation carefully and if you still don't get it, it will be explained more blatantly in the next chapter.

Next chapter will feature Quidditch, duelling and the first task, I promise.

PS: I apologize if the accent in this chapter isn't great. I have somebody who normally does it for me, but they seem to have vanished off the face of the planet.

If anyone thinks they can do better than me and would like to volunteer at least until my acquaintance hopefully pops back up, please PM me or express your interest via review.