"Are you sure Hagrid won't mind if I come along?" Violet asked nervously as they made their way through the Stone Circle. The evening autumn light was fading behind the castle while they made their way down Hagrid's, Invisibility Cloak in hand.
"Course he won't," Harry insisted. "Besides, it's not like I could have brought Ron along… and Hermione won't… sorry - I just made it sound like you were my last option. You're not, by the way. This is just-"
"Something you and Ron would normally do together," Violet finished off for him, quickly. "Nice save, Potter."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, so we're doing surnames now?"
"Well… no, it just seemed to fit the bill at this moment."
Harry chuckled, going to push Violet playfully. "Alright then, Merryworth, have it your way."
Violet rolled her eyes and promptly looked away from Harry, trying to ignore the fact that she had begun to blush madly at the way he spoke her surname in that instance.
"What do you suppose Hagrid wants to talk to you about? Did he give you any ideas?" Violet then asked to break through the silence that had befallen them.
Harry shook his head. "Nope. Suppose we'll find out in a few minutes."
By the time they reached Hagrid's, the giant himself was waiting outside his front door with a lamp.
"Harry! Violet! Good to see yeh both," he beamed down at them. "Now what yeh see tonight - yeh can' say a word ter anyone, got that?"
The pair looked at each other nervously before nodding in agreement.
"Good! Good… now follow me."
With that, he started to lead them into the forest; not drastically deep, but deep enough to make the teens wonder what on earth he could possibly be going to show them.
"You brought yer father's cloak like I asked you?" Hagrid asked once they were far enough away from the edge of the forest. Harry held it up and showed it to him. "Good. It'll cover you both, righ'?"
"Yeah," Harry replied.
At that point, an almighty roar echoed through the forest, stopping the three of them in their tracks.
"What was that?" Violet asked, gulping.
Before Hagrid could even answer, someone else was calling out for him - a French voice. He ushered the pair of them to get under the Invisibility Cloak, and he carried on walking. The pair remained a good paces behind them, and were pleasantly surprised to see Madame Maxime. What they weren't pleased to see was the excessive flirting between her and Hagrid.
"I didn't think this evening could get anymore… odd?" Violet offered to Harry politely. As he was holding onto the Cloak above them, she'd taken to keeping grip on his upper arm so as to actually keep up the same pace as him. Plus it made the whole ordeal of them being under the Cloak together less irritating.
"Gross. The evening just got gross," he opted to correct her.
"I guess…" she sighed in agreement, but they both smirked at each other.
Soon enough they came to a clearing that had four, large shaky containers, and several people struggling to handle them. The walls of each container fell away to reveal cages that had a dragon in each one. None of those dragons were happy at all.
"Oh my god," Violet breathed.
"No way…" Harry was in total disbelief.
As Madame Maxime stepped away from Hagrid to try and get closer, Harry yanked the Cloak off and headed back over to Hagrid, Violet hot on his heels.
"Dragon?! That's the First Task!"
"One for each of yeh. But remember Harry - vastly misunderstood creat-"
He was cut off mid sentence as one of the dragons breathed fire right in their direction, missing them by a couple of metres as it hit a bush in front of them.
"Although… that Hungarian Horntail can be a nasty piece of work. Poor Ron nearly fain'ed when he saw 'em."
"Wait - Ron was here?" Violet asked with a frown.
"Of course! His brother Charlie brought the dragons over from Romania. Didn't tell you that?"
"No," Harry said. "Ron didn't tell us a thing."
Hagrid looked down at the two of them rather dubiously before going to catch up with Madame Maxime.
Clearly annoyed, Harry started to head back the way they had come, not even bothering to put the Cloak back on. Violet hurried after him.
"Harry - I know you're probably angry-"
"No need to point out the obvious!" he snapped at her. Taken aback, Violet came to a stop. Harry kept on walking, teeth gritted and determined to get out of the forest as quickly as he could. When he realised Violet wasn't right behind him, he slowed down and turned to her.
She was chewing on the inside of her cheek, her eyebrows curved upwards in what he could just about make out to be worry or upset. Sighing, he made his way back over to her.
"Sorry…" he mumbled, which was when she started to walk with him again.
"I know you're probably angry, but of course Ron saw the dragons if it was Charlie that got them here!" Violet reminded him. "He only didn't tell you because he's mad at you, obviously. Unless… well…"
"What?" Harry tried his best not to sound tetchy, but became painfully aware of the fact that he still did, judging by the look Violet threw him.
"At the lake the other day - when Hermione passed on that message from him to see Hagrid. What if that was his way of telling you about this?" she suggested quietly. "As a way of making peace?"
"I don't think Ron would go that far - if he wanted to make peace, he could have walked up to me the other day and said it himself." The bitterness in his voice could not be hidden, and Violet understood why. His best friend had decided to abandon him, after all. The only thing she could do was stick by him.
So, reluctantly, Violet agreed with Harry. "I guess. It was just a thought," she mumbled. "More importantly… how do you think you'll tackle the dragon?"
"Honestly, right now, I think I just want to go to bed, Violet," he admitted. "We can go over it tomorrow."
"Right. Of course. Take it all in…"
Their walk back up to the castle passed by mostly in silence.
The next day during lunch, Harry was on a mission to seek out Cedric, and he dragged Violet along with him. She wasn't too enthused by the idea of going along, nor with the fact that Harry wanted to help him out. It also didn't help matters that most of Hogwarts were sporting badges that had "Support Cedric Diggory" on them, but crudely switched to "Potter Stinks" every time Harry walked past. That along with a few other Daily Prophet articles by Rita Skeeter certainly hadn't helped his reputation around the school.
"Harry, you can't be serious about telling him!" Violet hissed as they hurried down one of the many corridors.
"It's not fair if he doesn't know!" Harry told her. "Fleur knows, and I expect Krum does as well… You know, Ron knows… why not Cedric?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because the night your name came out of the Goblet he told me he thought you cheated!" Violet retorted. Harry skidded to a halt and pulled her aside.
"What?"
She winced, realising she hadn't told him that. "I forgot to mention, I'm sorry…"
He sighed, adjusting the strap of his satchel, ignoring a goading "you stink, Potter!" from someone passing by. "No, it's fine - I mean, he's not exactly the only one, is he?" When Violet didn't respond, he carried on talking. "I'm not leaving him in the dark. Come on."
Harry beckoned for her to follow and they turned a corner to the Transfiguration Courtyard, where they spotted Cedric surrounded by a gaggle of his friends. As they were about to enter the grassy courtyard, their way was blocked by Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott.
"Like the badges, Potter?" Ernie asked.
"Excuse me," Harry said tersely, wanting to get through. Neither of them budged.
"Could we please get past?" Violet then asked. "Harry has somewhere to be."
"Mad Merryworth speaks for you now?" Hannah had mock confusion written all over her face.
"Don't push it." Violet was about to square up to Hannah when the Hufflepuff flinched in fear, as did Ernie.
"Careful, Hannah, you don't know what hex she might chuck our way," Ernie said, and the pair of them moved out of the way.
"Well… that certainly came in handy," Harry tried his best to joke, but Violet wasn't having it. As they approached Cedric - lounging on a bench with his friends fawning over him - the older boy sat up pretty straight. The Hufflepuffs made fun of Harry but equally gave Violet a wide berth.
"Can I talk to you?" Harry asked him.
"Er… sure." Cedric stood up and allowed the fourth years to lead him away.
Certain he wasn't going to be overheard, Harry cut straight to the point. "Dragons. That's the first task."
"Are - are you serious?" Cedric was just as in shock as they'd been about it.
"Yep. They've got once for each of us."
"Fleur and Krum… do er… do they know as well?" His gaze shifted to Violet for a moment, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Yeah, they know too," Harry confirmed.
"Right… right… guessing you told Merryworth then?"
"Actually, I saw the dragons. We both did," Violet said.
"And Merryworth rightly told me what you said to her. About me cheating," Harry then said. "Take it from her - Violet - who knows me well enough to know that I didn't. Why would I wanna put my name in the Goblet, Cedric?"
As if it finally clicked together in his brain, Cedric nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I suppose you wouldn't, would you?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then held out his hand to Harry. "Sorry about that."
Not entirely expecting the gesture, Harry cautiously shook Cedric's hand. For some reason after letting go, Violet noted that Harry appeared to be quite flustered.
"Listen - about the badges - I've told them not to wear them," Cedric then said.
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
"No, seriously, it's not the nicest thing… and um… Violet. I don't think your nickname was ever appropriate."
She was too stunned to even say anything in response, and merely nodded.
"See you around, guys…" Cedric went back over to his friends.
As Violet and Harry were about to make their own exit from the courtyard, the latter caught sight of someone and started heading right towards them. When Violet realised he was about to have a go at Ron, she frantically tried to get him to change his mind.
"It's not worth it - Harry - come on - Harry!"
He kept batting her away.
"You're a right foul git, you know that right?" He spat Ron. he was with Seamus, who looked rather uncomfortable at the exchange.
"You think so?" Ron scowled.
"I know so!"
"Right. Anything else?"
"Yeah! Stay away from me!"
"Fine," Ron shoved past Harry into the courtyard.
Violet sighed deeply, and rounded on her friend after that. "You feel better now?" She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Really? You're going there?"
"You're both being incredibly immature. So yes. I am going there."
"Well what do you want me to do?!" He was frustrated. "Because you're right - he's not going to see sense about this or apologise until I lose a limb or die!"
"Don't sink to his level, maybe?" Violet suggested. "Me and Hermione believe you. I know that's not enough for you because neither of us are Ron, but can it be enough? Please?"
Harry's shoulders sagged as he simmered down, realising there was some truth behind Violet's words. Before he could even respond - and agree - with her, the last person he wanted to interact with had decided to jump in.
"Potter and Mad Merryworth - having a lover's quarrel?" Malfoy's voice drifted over to them, chiding. They looked over to him to see he was lounging in a tree, his cronies hovering around the base of it. "Never realised you could speak so much, Merryworth - or show an emotion, actually…"
Instinctively, Violet went to go get out her wand as she and Harry approached the tree, but the boy pushed her behind him gently. He could have sworn Malfoy looked a little frightened.
"I'm surprised you know what an emotion is," Harry then quipped. "Since all you know from your father is how to be cruel."
Malfoy jumped down from the tree. "How dare you speak about my father that way." He sauntered over to Harry and stared him down, about a few inches gap between them. They were drawing a crowd now, and Violet kept a tight grip on her wand as she stood behind Harry.
"You know, we actually have a bet. I reckon you won't last ten minutes in this tournament," he told Harry in a low voice, and then stepped back shrugging. "He disagrees. He doesn't believe you'll last five."
"I don't give a damn-"
Violet had elbowed Harry out of the way and was - for the second time that year - pointing her wand at Malfoy, who just laughed while the crowd began murmuring.
"You really think I'm scared of you, Mad Merryworth?" he spat at her. "You've got a death wish just like your mother-"
It looked as if Violet was about to lunge and physically attack Malfoy, rather than use magic. Harry had managed to step in in time and wrap his arms around her, so that her arms were pinned to her sides and she couldn't do anything. She was angry to an extent; not like she'd been when Dexter had gone for her, but he firmly believed that the build up of the nickname and the fact it was Malfoy was driving her to the edge yet again.
"We're going," Harry told her quietly. "Come on."
She didn't fight him as he began to usher her towards the edge of the now dispersing crowd, making her walk backwards in the process.
"Malfoy - you're pathetic. Learn some new insults!" Harry yelled back over his shoulder at the boy. He managed to spin Violet around so that she was walking normally, so neither of them saw the fact that Malfoy was about to hex the pair of them.
That was when Moody burst through the crowd.
"Oh no you don't, sonny!" he barked and suddenly in place of Malfoy was a ferret.
Harry and Violet turned round to see Moody having a brilliant time making the ferret bounce and go down Crabbe's trousers. It certainly got a good giggle out of them and the rest of the students that were still watching. It was a shame that McGonagall had heard all the commotion from nearby and came over to transform Malfoy back into a human again, before giving Moody a good telling off about using Transfiguration as a punishment.
Once everything died down, Moody beckoned Harry away - alone.
Violet awkwardly waved goodbye to her friend, feeling somewhat deflated after all that. She'd really been about to punch or slap Malfoy. Not entirely uncharacteristic of her, but it was still a strange feeling regardless. Perhaps there really was a point for her to reach the end of her tether. She sighed and pocketed her wand, realising that whatever courage had flared up within her in that moment he was goading her, was courage that stemmed from that fact that Harry was by her side.
She fiddled with the end of her long braid as she did when nervous, trying to figure out why that was, and she wondered if perhaps Bill had been right in the summer about the fact she could have had a crush on Harry. She always felt much braver around him. Was that to do with having a crush? She couldn't be sure. She'd never had a crush before.
For once, it was all a bit confusing to her.
"Are you alright, Miss Merryworth?" McGonagall's voice jolted her from her thoughts. Violet for once hadn't taken notice of the fact her teacher was still standing there.
She gave her a shaky smile and nodded. "Yes, professor."
With that, she wandered off towards the library, thinking that a bit of downtime before Charms might do the trick.