There's an important announcement at the end.

Thanks to Thobeobo for beta-reading this.

I do NOT own Harry Potter or its universe. All rights go to JK Rowling and her publisher.

ENJOY!

Interlude

April Showers and May Flowers

"Aqua eructo!"

Flora shrieked as the freezing water doused her, getting in her eyes and blinding her. Thankfully, it wasn't as high-powered as it could've been, but Krios clearly wasn't taking it easy on them this time.

Instinctively, Flora shouted, "Protego!"

The magical shield sprung to life just in time to block a Disarming Charm, buying her a brief moment to move closer to Hestia so they could redouble their efforts with a united attack.

Even after two months of training, it was still too difficult to beat Krios if they split up.

Jets of different coloured light flew back and forth as Flora and Hestia exchanged spells with Krios, putting their full effort into beating him. They had yet to successfully do so, which wasn't surprising, but they were getting closer and closer with each lesson. It was only a matter of time before he lost to them.

"Depulso!" Hestia cried at the same moment Flora bellowed, "Reducto!"

Flora's curse blasted a chunk out of the floor, tossing rubble into the air, which Hestia's charm caught and banished at Krios.

He wordlessly waved his wand and shielded himself against the attack before returning a blast of fire.

The flames roared forth, hotter than anything they had used in class to practice the spell, but Flora knew from the first task that it was far from the most lethal Krios could use.

"Aguamenti!" Flora and Hestia shouted together.

Two jets of water exploded from their wands, meeting the fire halfway. Hissing, the mixture turned to steam, forming a cloud that separated the two forces.

"Ventus tria!"

Hestia's spell—a more powerful variant of the basic Wind-Making Charm—cleared a path through the steam, but continued past it and unbalanced Krios.

Leaping at the opportunity, Flora yelled, "Stupefy!"

The scarlet jet of light raced across the room.

Flora and Hestia watched it, anticipating their first victory.

But Krios wasn't out of tricks yet.

He fell backwards, letting the wind push him over, and rolled, tucking his feet close. He sprung back to his feet and twisted his body, dodging the Stupefying Charm. Krios whipped his wand, unleashing an onslaught of Disarming Charms.

Flora and Hestia didn't stand a chance. The spells were too fast.

Their wands were ripped from their hands and their bodies were thrown back into the pile of cushions behind them. Flora grunted as the breath was knocked from her lungs, but the sting of yet another defeat was far more painful than any impact.

"Dammit!" she hissed, punching a cushion.

"So close," Hestia moaned, her head flopping back.

"You're both getting better," Krios praised as he tossed them their wands. "You'll probably be able to consistently put me on defence by the end of summer."

Flora exchanged a tired grin with her sister. Progress was better than nothing.

"We'll get you eventually," Hestia claimed.

"I'm sure you will," Krios smirked. "But until then, I'm going to keep you going until you can't stand."

"Can I at least get dried off first?" Flora asked, wincing at her whining tone.

Krios rolled his eyes and waved his wand, muttering the incantation for the Drought Charm.

It was a spell taught to sixth-years, which, in Flora's opinion, was a good example of just how far ahead of the rest of them Krios was in Charms. She doubted he could pass his Ordinary Wizarding Levels, lacking the full theoretical knowledge, but he was better than any student Flora knew, as far as practical ability was concerned.

"You did well that time," Krios said, moving on to the part of their lesson where he helped them figure out where they had made mistakes and how to improve so it didn't happen again. "I think that was the first time you actually landed a hit on me."

"It was," Hestia said smugly.

Flora snorted.

"What do you think you did wrong, though?" Krios asked, piercing them with a look they had become all too accustomed to over the last couple of months.

"We didn't hit you harder," Flora muttered.

Hestia shot her a grin, but Krios just rolled his eyes again.

"What else?" he prompted.

"We didn't follow up Flora's Stupefy," Hestia frowned. "Or shield, if we weren't going to attack."

"That's one thing, yeah," Krios nodded. "What else?"

Flora looked at her lap, thinking hard about the duel. There were probably a lot of things she had done wrong, even if she didn't know what right now. From the look on Hestia's face, she was clueless too.

Krios didn't speak. He watched them, waiting for an answer Flora doubted they'd come up with, and both sisters knew that he wouldn't say anything until they did.

Flora decided to just go for it.

"I didn't shield your water?" she said sarcastically.

To her surprise, though, Krios smiled and nodded.

"You didn't," he agreed. "If you had, you wouldn't have gotten water in your eyes, which means you two could have stayed separated. I don't know if you noticed, but I was starting to slow down by that point. You might have beaten me if you'd shielded the water."

Flora groaned, "I didn't know you could do that."

"That's why we're doing this," Krios shrugged. "This way you can learn in a safer environment."

Flora and Hestia exchanged glances. He'd said that to them almost every lesson so far, as if he wanted it cemented in their heads that they weren't at any real risk here.

"Get up," he said, waving his hand. "Let's go one more time, then you can rest."

Flora looked at Hestia, who nodded tiredly.

One more time.

The peace and quiet in the library was one of the best things about Hogwarts, not to mention the countless books available. Altair could spend days there and never grow bored. Having someone she cared for join her for that time, however, was even better than being there alone.

"Is Astoria all right?" Luna asked as she dropped into the seat beside Altair. As always, her wand was tucked over her left ear and her butterbeer cork necklace hung around her neck.

"Madam Pomfrey thinks it's just a late flu," Altair said with a frown. "I'm not sure, though. She's been getting paler for days, and it seems like she gets tired faster, too."

Luna furrowed her brow, staring down at the tabletop.

"Maybe she's just stressed," she suggested. "She and Krios are close, and with the third task coming closer, his stress could be affecting her."

"Maybe," Altair said quietly.

Truthfully, she was worried about Krios, too. He had been gradually secluding himself more and more this year, and now it was rare to see him for more than a few minutes when he stopped in the Great Hall for meals or visited them in the common room before bed. He was almost always off somewhere else in the castle, and no one seemed to know where or what he was doing.

No one but the Greengrasses and the Carrows, at least, and they all refused to tell Altair.

She would never admit how much it hurt to be excluded like that.

"Hey," Luna said softly, resting a hand on one of Altair's. "What's wrong?"

Altair squeezed Luna's hand, grateful for the comfort.

"I just miss Krios sometimes," she murmured. "He's been so distant lately."

"He's competing against wizards three years older than him," Luna reminded her. "He has to put in a lot of training to match them, and it looks like it's paying off, really."

"I know," Altair said, and she did. That didn't mean she had to like it, though. "I guess I just got used to him always being there, over the last couple years."

Luna smiled and squeezed her hand again.

"When do they learn what the third task is?" Luna asked.

"Tonight," Altair said, biting her lip. Technically, Krios had found out months ago what it was going to be, but as much as she trusted Luna, Altair couldn't tell her that. "I hope it's nothing too dangerous."

"The last one wasn't, so there's a chance."

"But the first one…" Altair took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut. "Krios did an amazing job in the first task, but there's no way to guarantee he'll do the same if it's something like that this time."

Luna wrapped her arms around Altair, hugging her close.

Altair sighed, leaning into the embrace. Luna's hugs were always amazing.

Worrying could wait. Right now, Altair just wanted to enjoy her friend's comfort.

"I'm glad it's warm outside again," Astoria said, swinging her arm back and forth, dragging Krios's hand with it, his hand gripped in hers. "I don't like the cold much."

"I never would have guessed," Krios smiled.

Astoria grinned and bumped her shoulder against his as they walked.

It was bright and sunny with a cloudless blue sky. This May, in particular, had been warmer than usual, which Astoria wasn't about to complain about. It would make the late summer heat awful, if it continued like this, but for now, it was perfect for an afternoon stroll on the Hogwarts grounds after a long day of preparing for final exams.

"Four weeks," she said softly, "then this is all over."

Krios squeezed her hand and grinned, "I can't wait."

In four weeks, they both would have finished their exams and the tournament would be over. After that, they'd have a whole two months of summer to enjoy themselves and relax. It had been a very long year, and Astoria looked forward to spending as much time with Krios as she could.

They strolled down towards the greenhouses. Krios unlocked one that had some of Professor Sprout's least dangerous plants within and they slipped inside.

Astoria smiled, looking around at the multitude of flowers, varying between every colour of the rainbow and several different shapes and sizes. It was such a beautiful room, and she wished they could spend more time in here during lessons—she would much rather learn to care for plants like these than mandrakes or Devil's Snare.

Krios released her hand and walked towards a bunch of pure white asphodel. He gingerly plucked one flower from the group, then turned to her.

Astoria smiled softly at him as he approached her.

He carefully slipped the stem of the flower beneath her headband, returning her smile.

"Beautiful," he whispered, "as always."

Krios leant forward and kissed her forehead.

Taking her hand in his again, they continued exploring the greenhouse. Astoria picked out whatever flowers she thought would look nice in a bouquet, with Krios helping her retrieve the ones she wasn't tall enough to reach, and tied them all together with a ribbon they found in a drawer.

"Well," Astoria said, looking at her final product, "it's not the prettiest, but it'll do for now."

Krios snorted.

"We should probably head back to the castle," he said. "Dinner will be starting soon."

Astoria wasn't too happy to hear that. She wanted to spend more time away from everyone else, just the two of them lost in their own world, but that would have to wait for another day.

"Fine," she sighed. Then she smirked at him, "But I expect another late night trip to the kitchens."

"As you wish, my lady," Krios agreed with a bow. He took the flowers from her with a wink, wordlessly offering to carry the bouquet for her.

Astoria giggled as she intertwined their hands, wrapping her other arm around his.

She wasn't sure if this was what love felt like, but if it wasn't, it was pretty damn close.

Announcement: I am currently in the process of fixing a lot of issues with this story. Basically all of year one is getting rewritten to get rid of so many bad things I don't even know where to begin listing them. Because of this, there won't be another update here for a couple weeks while I figure it all out and make sure everything is consistent through later years.

I won't be changing huge details or anything, aside from the depiction of the Potters. I don't like the way James, Lily, and Evan are characterized earlier on in the story, and having rewritten most of that already, I can honestly say that this is a change for the better.

I'll be posting the rewritten and revised versions on Ao3 and my new website as I finish them, if you want to follow it from the beginning again to see the changes as they come. If not, that's fine, not everyone is quite that excited about this story. The username for my Ao3 account is available on my profile, and the website can be found through my Discord server.

Once I've caught up to where the story is now, I'll replace the chapters here and post chapter 30, the third task. As of posting this, I'm about a third of the way done already, and it's been all the hard stuff so far. It shouldn't take long to get through the rest. With luck, I'll be updating here again by July's start.

THANKS FOR READING!