Over the next couple of weeks, Violet spent most of her free time with Harry in their strange little room, going over spells he needed to improve or finding new ones that were at the very least within their abilities. It led to a lot of questions from Hermione at first - who was pretty busy with House Elf rights - but they managed to throw off the scent of ever finding out where they were really going. Eventually the daytime ventures turned to nightly jaunts to the room in the lead up to the first task.

The final night was much more relaxed. Violet got Harry to do a final bit of practice with the Summoning Charm, Banishing Charm, and various hexes before calling it and instead getting out a boat load of sweets and chocolates. He was nervous enough, he didn't need extra pressure the night before the first task, thinking something more relaxed was on the books for a couple of hours. She even had some Gobstones on her too.

"You're always so prepared," Harry told her she then pulled out a packet of Exploding Snap cards from her bag. Violet shot him a quick smile, but shrugged.

"Never hurts to be prepared, does it?"

"I guess not," Harry agreed, picking up a Chocolate Frog. "Thanks for doing this, by the way."

"What are friends for?" she replied brightly. "You've been working hard, might as well use tonight to just relax." Then Violet paused, surveying Harry oddly. "If we forget that this tournament exists, are you alright?"

"Err…" Harry wasn't sure where that question had come from. "Yeah, I guess. Why?"

"You've seemed tense in lessons."

"So have you," he pointed out. "Are you alright?"

Well, that got her. Since the incident with Malfoy in the Transfiguration Courtyard, Violet had been going back and forth about whether or not she had a crush on Harry. It was something she had kept to herself and not even told Hermione, mostly because she didn't want it to become a problem. Except if she was being tense in lessons, then it was becoming a problem.

"Worried for you, I suppose," she lied shakily. "Come on. We've never played Gobstones together before…"

The switch in subject clearly made Harry want to question her further. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again and she started rolling marbles towards him. It was hardly important.

The pair of them exit the room by about one o'clock in the morning, and hurried back to Gryffindor Tower under the Invisibility Cloak, Violet muttering about how they should have left sooner because Harry needed his rest. He wasn't too fussed by it, though.

The next morning at breakfast, Violet and Hermione sat with Harry, looking about as anxious as he must have felt. None of that was helped by the fact McGonagall came along to lead Harry down to where the task was to take place earlier than the rest of the school were allowed to go down there.

"He'll be fine. You've been helping him - there shouldn't be a problem," Hermione told her as Ron then joined them. Violet narrowed her eyes at him.

"So um… how are you two, this morning?" he then asked awkwardly.

Violet said nothing and continued to pick at the bacon on her plate. She didn't take her eyes off of Ron, who she noted appeared to be nervous too.

"I don't think that needs answering," Hermione then said quickly. "What about you?"

"I'm not gonna lie, Hermione… I'm bloody worried for Harry," he admitted. He leaned closer towards Violet and Hermione across the table. "I mean… it's a dragon."

"I take it you're beginning to catch on?" Violet asked stiffly, putting down her fork and pushing her plate away.

"Violet-"

"No. You abandoned your best friend. He's more scared than any of us right now, and you refused to believe him!" she snapped at him.

Ron then scowled at her. "Oh yeah? And you never had any doubts?"

"No - never. I waited for him that night after his name came out. I didn't see you staying back. And quite frankly I don't get why you're angry with me for believing him."

"You'd believe anything that came out of his mouth, let's be honest. Don't think I've not seen you two hanging about." Ron rolled his eyes.

Violet sighed, trying to remain composed at his comment that she would just blindly follow Harry as if she wouldn't consider all the facts. "It wouldn't matter if me and Harry were joined at the hip or not - you're his best friend, and you let him down."

She rose from the bench, pulling on her scarf and coat as she did so, with Hermione following suit. She appeared to be just as annoyed as Violet was, so the minute they were out of earshot of Ron they both started complaining rather freely and heartily about the boy.

"He certainly can't say he's worried about Harry and then say all that to you - gosh, Violet, I'm so sorry about him!" Hermione told her.

"That's sweet of you, but I think I'd rather hear that apology from him later on," she replied. Other students were already on their way down to the location of the first task - which was a specially built stadium quite far from the grounds.

Along the way they ran into Ginny and quietened down on their ranting about her brother. Violet went completely quiet - it had been a while since she'd last spoken to Ginny, and in that time she had realised her steadily growing feelings for Harry; something that would conflict with the other girl. She couldn't bring herself to talk around her, lest she said something stupid or acted in a strange way.

She ended up walking on ahead the closer they got to the stadium, and that was when she noticed a small tent attached to it; casting a glance back at Hermione and Ginny, Violet made a beeline for it.

She pulled back the flap of the tent ever so slightly, trying to see where Harry was; in the process, she was almost spotted by Cedric to dipped back out of sight. She caught a glimpse of her friend, though, and began to whisper for his attention.

"Harry? It's Violet," she said quietly. She watched as his silhouette appeared on the other side of the fabric between them, her heart beating too loudly for her liking. "How are you feeling? Now you're here?"

"Well… about as fine I can be," he said. She could hear the half smile in his voice.

"Confident?"

"Hardly."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on… after everything I've gone through with you the past two weeks?"

"That gives me confidence. Battling a dragon doesn't," he murmured.

"Right. Of course. That makes sense…" Violet sighed quietly. "I should… probably go. I sort of ditched Hermione and Ginny to come down here…"

"Wait!"

He'd reached outside of the tent and pulled her inside it - and in for a hug at the same time. Violet was most certainly taken aback by it.

"Thank you," he murmured into her shoulder.

"Anytime," she said.

Any semblance of a nice moment was taken away by a large flash. The two of them broke apart to see Rita Skeeter and her photographer approaching them; the former woman positively pleased at such a sweet sight.

"Would you look at that? The quiet girl likes Potter!" She was talking to a floating quill and notebook next to her. "How charming."

Violet went to say something, but Harry shook his head as a warning. He gave her a knowing look, and she thought back to all the Daily Prophet articles Skeeter had been recently spouting about him, so stood down.

"Or perhaps they're just friends," Cedric piped up, walking over to the four of them. "The quiet girl has a name, you know - not that you deserve to know it anyway. And I dread to think how you know she's the quiet girl. Maybe you should leave."

Needless to say, Violet couldn't keep the shock off her face due to Cedric standing up for her and Harry like that. Before she could even say thank you, he turned to them and gestured with his head for her to go.

"Good luck, Harry. I'll see you later," she said to her friend before hurrying off before anybody else saw her.

She made her way up into the stands of the stadium, managing to find Hermione and Ginny pretty quickly - they were also with Ron, whom she elected to ignore.

"Where did you go?" Hermione asked.

"Spoke to Harry. Rita Skeeter was there too…" Violet muttered. "I'll tell you more about it another time."

As the tournament began, it was then that everyone realised how truly brutal it was; or at least, everyone who thought Harry had somehow put his name into the Goblet of Fire. The moment Cedric stepped out into the arena to go and collect the golden egg and face off a dragon (all, of course, wonderfully commentated by Ludo Bagman), Violet risked a glance at Ron to see him go white as a sheet.

It was horrifying, and Violet couldn't bear to watch. She mostly hid behind her fingers as Cedric, then Fleur, then Krum managed to fend off their respective dragons and retrieve their eggs. It was only when Harry came out that Violet managed to watch normally, not between her fingers like the rest of the crowd.

The worst part was that they all saw the dragon before him, and he nearly got walloped by it due to his sheer focus of trying to get to the egg. Of course, he ended up getting hit by the dragon a few times, as well as nearly being set on fire.

What the hell was he doing?

Before Violet could even vocalise that thought to Hermione, her friend was already yelling: "Your wand, Harry! Your wand!"

How he managed to hear her - actually, Violet didn't particularly care. He had already cast the Summoning Charm for his Firebolt. Well, she had to give him credit where credit was due. That was clever. It did ultimately mean that he took off from the stadium - the dragon going with him. All they could hear were the roaring sounds and the odd scream from Harry, until it went deathly silent.

Violet's heart dropped into her stomach; Hermione must have felt the same, as she gripped onto her hand. It seemed to be a competition between the two of them who could squeeze the other's hand the hardest.

Then when they were thinking the absolute worst.

That's when they heard it.

The distinct, sharp rush of wind as Harry came speeding back towards the stadium.

The scream of sheer delight that erupted from Hermione's mouth made Violet jump, but she couldn't hold back relief herself, pretty much collapsing against the barrier in tears as Harry finally made his way to the egg, retrieving it at last.

Violet couldn't speak for the other houses, but by god did Gryffindor house know how to throw an excellent party - perhaps even the best, in her eyes. Everyone was in the celebratory mood because Harry had achieved some of the highest marks for his go against the dragon in the first task. She had a sneaking suspicion that all the beverages and food that were currently present in the Common Room had most definitely been sorted out by the resident mischief makers Fred and George.

Now it absolutely did not matter if Violet thought the parties were good, but Violet never participated in them. It was far too much for her liking. For today, however, she kept out of sight towards the back of the Common Room, watching as Fred and George lifted Harry up onto their shoulders (the latter with the golden egg), while the whole of the house was cheering him on.

As much as she was relieved that Harry had gotten through one task, Violet knew that her relief would be short lived when the second task inevitably crept up on him. She still couldn't believe that they had allowed this to carry on - Harry was far too young, they all must have known by now that he most definitely did not put his name in the Goblet. She wondered if this raging support from Gryffindor also stemmed from relief that he hadn't been a complete gonner.

Thankfully, he hadn't been too bashed up. He still needed to go see Madam Pomfrey about his shoulder which had a particularly nasty scrape on it; he'd been swept up by the crowds back to the Common Room before he could even go there. Violet made a mental note to drag him there if need be.

She was rudely brought out of her thoughts by Harry opening the egg - it screeched horrifically across the room, causing Fred and George to drop the boy as they followed suit with everyone putting their hands over their ears until he closed the egg up again.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" came Ron's voice from the portrait hole.

Fred made sure that nobody eavesdropped on the entailing conversation between the two friends, while Violet inched closer to listen in on them.

"...Everyone was thinking it behind your back," she managed to catch the end of whatever Ron had said.

"Brilliant. That makes me feel loads better," Harry replied.

"At least I warned you about the dragons."

"Hagrid warned me about the dragons."

"Oh no no, I did. Don't you remember? I told Hermione to tell you that Seamus told me that Parvati told Dean that Hagrid was looking for you," Ron then explained very quickly, turning bashful a moment after. "Seamus never actually told me anything, so it was really me all along. I thought you'd be alright, you know, after you figured that out."

Harry looked at his friend oddly. "Who could possibly figure…" He slowly started turning towards Violet, who was now pleasantly surprised, "that… out… oh my god!"

Ron glanced between the two of them. "What? What's going on?"

Harry sighed, shaking his head as he chuckled. "Violet said that the whole thing might have been your way of trying to make peace!"

"Well… she wasn't wrong there. And Vi, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I've been a bit of a git, haven't I?"

She shrugged, but shot him a small smile. "It's alright. Nothing I can't handle." She then pointedly looked at Harry's gashed shoulder. "You need to go to the Hospital Wing and get that sorted out."

"I can do it later-"

"No. Now. They'll all still be here when Madam Pomfrey is done."

"True. Come with?"

"Obviously," Violet raised an eyebrow at him, and he started to head out of the Common Room with her right behind him.

"What did Ron say to you this morning?" Harry asked her once they were alone.

"He might have made a remark about me believing anything you'd say… also about us two hanging out together. I wonder if he thinks there's something more going on," she told him carefully, yet awkwardly. Violet's eyes darted to Harry to see he was now just as pink in the cheeks as she was. "Which there's not."

"No. Definitely not. We're just close."

"Yeah! Exactly."

And for what would not be the last time, the moment under the tree in Violet's garden was in their minds. Malfoy's comments about them having a "lover's quarrel" drifted to the surface, somehow ringing loudly in their ears too. Rita Skeeter's shrill "the quiet girl likes Potter!" somehow echoed throughout the quiet halls of Hogwarts.

To address a comment I got recently: no, Harry is not going to be gay. Give it until the Yule Ball (which is 3 chapters away!) and then you'll see what I've been getting at this whole time.

Anyway, thanks for the support! Can't believe how many of you have followed and favourited this? Hope you're in it for the long haul, this is gonna be a looooonng fic (it goes beyond Deathly Hallows, and completely ignores Cursed Child because that shit ain't canon okay).

Comment?

-OL.