Hey there everyone, sorry this took so long! My old laptop died and I lost everything, which was very disappointing, and then it took me a while to get a new laptop and find the motivation to start writing the chapter again. Plus, uni has been insane, but semester only has a few weeks left so hopefully I will be able to get out a few chapters during the break. Anyway, here it is, and I hope you all enjoy it. I have been loving reading all the reviews, thank you so much!

I as always do not own Harry Potter

Chapter 10

Harry's first few weeks at Durmstrang flew by quicker than he was expecting, before he knew it, he had already been there for over a month. He had been nervous on September 1st, worried that Dumbledore would find some way to find him and drag him back to Hogwarts but thankfully that did not happen. To Harry's great surprise he was happier than he had ever expected to be at Durmstrang. His lessons were interesting and fun, and he had even managed to make a few new friends. Care of Magical Creatures was fast becoming his favourite subject and he was enjoying potions a lot more now that he didn't have Snape as a Professor and he had Anders as a partner. Most people had been friendly and welcoming, although Annika and several of her friends weren't very nice but Harry just learned to ignore them.

Harry had gotten over his shyness and was now flying most afternoons with his friends. They spent their time racing around the castle and having friendly games of quidditch, it was nice to just fly for fun with no pressure of having to try to win matches or anything. Of course, everyone expected that he would be an amazing flyer due to being a Krum and Harry was happy to say he did not disappoint on that point. It still made him laugh when he remembered the look on Roman's face when he dove in front of him and snatched the snitch from under his nose. Luckily Roman didn't seem to mind and cheered along with everyone else. He had decided to try out for his house quidditch team though actually wasn't too worried if he made the team or not.

That morning found Harry hurrying out of the castle and across the grounds to Care of Magical Creatures. It was freezing and he pulled his scarf tighter around his face to stave off the biting wind as he hurried across the lawn. Timur, Roman and Lukas had still been eating breakfast, but Harry was eager to get to class early. He had taken to arriving to class a little early and visiting with some of the animals or helping Professor Boden set up for the days class. He found that he really enjoyed spending time with the different creatures, especially learning to take care of the sick and injured ones. As he walked into the Care of Magical Creatures building, he didn't see Professor Boden anywhere so he wandered over to the nearest stall to see what creature they would be working with that day.

"We are actually going to be heading outside today," a voice spoke behind him.

Harry spun in surprise seeing Professor Boden walking out of a nearby office.

"A nest of Occamy have hatched and we are going to go into the forest to observe them." The Professor explained at the interested look on Harry's face.

"Oh wow," Harry gasped in excitement. "I've never seen one before, I wonder if they are as beautiful as I've heard."

"Oh yes they are quite exquisite" Professor Boden said with a small smile, "and they know it," he chuckled. "Normally I wouldn't recommend going anywhere near a nest of newly hatched Occamy, but we are fortunate that the ones that live around here are quite use to our inquisitive nature."

Harry nodded in understanding before helping Professor Boden pack up the omnioculars to take with them, I guess they didn't want to get to close to the nest Harry thought as he finished packing them into a box and waving his wand so it was following close behind him.

He turned to see a group of students entering the building, they looked familiar but Harry didn't know their names, he gave them a small smile before turning away. Lukas, Roman and Timur joined him not long after and Harry excitedly explained what they were doing for the lesson. He smiled softly as Anders walked in with Axle, watching the pair out of the corner of his eye as the rest of the class started to make their way outside after Professor Boden. Anders looked happy, he had a small smile on his face and Harry knew that was the equivalent of a full-blown grin on the older boy. Harry's eyes swivelled back around to the front as they began to enter the forest, the cold easing a little as they walked amongst the trees. They walked slowly, keeping a watchful eye around them, Harry knew it was relatively safe so close to the school, but still not a good idea to let your guard down. They were walking in silence so as not to scare any nearby animals and Harry found the quiet pleasantly soothing.

Harry felt his excitement mount as they entered a small clearing, trees and bushes all around. Professor Boden gestured for them all to take a seat on the grass as he began to explain the different features of Occamy. His voice was low and gentle as he explained the various ways that Occamy egg shells can be used in potions before handing out the omnioculars and indicating towards a bush on the far side of the small clearing. Harry raised his up to his eyes and swivelled the knobs until he found what he was looking for; the Occamy and they were just as beautiful as he had read. Their scales shimmered brightly in the sunlight that filtered through the bush, blue's and greens that reminded Harry of the ocean. Harry counted three hatchlings in the nest, they were small, only about as big as his hand but already moving around, their purple wings fluttering softly behind them.

"Wow, aren't they beautiful" Harry whispered to Roman who was sitting next to him.

Roman just nodded to transfixed by the sight before him to respond.

Professor Boden didn't try to talk or teach them as they watched, the class just sat in silence basking in the moment. It was a nice feeling. After about 15 minutes of watching one of the adult Occamy ventured further out into the clearing and Harry put down his omniocculars as they were no longer needed. The Occamy started slithering back and forth in the clearing, making intricate patterns, sometimes using its wings to flutter off the ground before landing softly again. Harry gave a bemused smirk as he heard Professor Boden mutter "show off" under his breath.

Harry was shocked into stillness when he heard a hissing reply, "well look at me, of courssse I'm going to show off."

In all that had happened Harry had completely forgotten about his ability to talk to snakes, it hadn't even crossed his mind when he'd head what animal they were studying today.

This was bad, Harry Potter was the only known Parseltongue in the world, so he definitely had to keep this ability a secret, which turned out to be easier said than done as the snake started a running diatribe comparing it's beauty to people in the class.

"Look at that horrible horrible hair, it can't even compare with the beauty of my scales… none of them even have wings, how mundane."

Harry clamped his hand over his mouth to stop a snort of laughter bursting out, ignoring the look of confusion Roman shot him.

The Occamy was quite funny, maybe he could try to come back another time on his own and have a chat with the self-absorbed creature.

The class returned to the Care of Magical Creatures building not long after and were set the task of sketching the Occamy while Professor Boden explained everything of importance about the creature.

Harry jerked in surprise as a soft voice sounded over his shoulder, "that's a beautiful drawing Harry." Harry turned to see Anders had moved and was now sitting beside him.

"Oh, thank you." Harry said shyly looking down at his drawing. "It's got nothing on Timur's though, he should consider a career as a professional artist with the way he can draw."

Anders chuckled dryly, "I know, he has been showing everyone up for years."

"Well let me see yours then" Harry quipped, and Anders turned his parchment around to show a drawing just as beautiful as Timur's.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, "I think that might be even more beautiful than Timur's," Harry said quietly as he reached out and gently traced a scale with his finger.

He glanced at Anders to see a faint hint of pink gracing his cheeks.

They started packing away their things, chatting as they made their way to charms together. They arrived at the classroom and Harry went to walk away to find a seat with one of the twins or Timur like usual, when he felt a warm hand land on his shoulder. He turned in surprise to see Anders right behind him.

Harry stared at him for a moment, confusion marring his features. What was Anders doing?

"I was wondering if you would like to sit with me today Harry?" Anders asked, a questioning look in his eye.

Harry hesitated a moment before responding with a soft smile, "sure, that would be great" Anders felt his heart flutter at the sight.

Harry followed Anders to a table at the back, thinking. They had never sat together before outside of potions. They had grown closer though since their first meeting, regularly chatting after class and still spending Thursday nights together studying. He was actually becoming closer to Anders than to anyone else at the castle, so it was with a small smile that he took his seat beside Anders and waited for the lesson to begin.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

It soon became the norm for Harry and Anders to sit together in most of their classes. It wasn't unusual for people of other houses to sit together but still it gained some unwanted attention. Mostly in the form of gentle ribbing from Roman, Lukas and Timur at night in their dorm. But they let up after a while, after they'd had time to get use to the sight.

Harry for his part found that he quite liked sitting next to Anders, the other boy was smart and always happy to help with anything that Harry didn't understand. He also had quite a snarky sense of humour that Harry found he really enjoyed.

That afternoon found Harry out flying with Anders, Axle, Roman and Lukas. It was freezing cold so there wasn't as many people flying as normal, after about 30 minutes Harry began to understand why, his hands were numb, his face felt frozen and he was finding it difficult to breathe due to the cold. Even though it was still only Autumn it was a lot colder than he was used to. He angled his broom down and landed roughly, the others landing around him.

"Alright there Harry?" Lukas asked in concern as he climbed off his broom.

"Yeah, all good, just a bit cold, think I will head back inside now." Harry explained through chattering teeth.

Anders frowned, "I will walk you back up Harry."

Harry just nodded, to cold to say much else as they trudged back to the castle.

"You are so petite Harry, it probably isn't a good idea for you to be out flying in this kind of weather."

Harry frowned at the word petite, but his brain couldn't seem to come up with an acceptable response, frozen as it was from the cold.

He felt something heavy settle over his shoulders and looked up to see Anders wrapping his own cloak around Harry shoulders.

"Oh, Anders don't do that, then you will get cold." Harry tried to argue but Anders wasn't having a bar of it, tying the cloak securely around Harry's slender neck and wrapping it around him securely.

"Oh, be quiet Harry, do you want to freeze to death" Anders mumbled.

Harry immediately felt the difference, the warmth of Anders cloak settling into him. He breathed a sigh of relief and glanced up at Anders to see that he was already watching at him, a look in his eye that Harry couldn't quite interpret.

"Thank you" Harry said shyly, and Anders just nodded in response guiding Harry quickly back to the castle and into the warmth.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The next morning Harry woke with a throbbing head and felt as though his throat was on fire. He rolled over in bed groaning, his muscles aching at the movement. He tried to pull himself up but was struck by a wave of dizziness and collapsed back into bed with another groan. The curtains around his bed were pulled back and Lukas stuck his head in.

"Ok there Harry?"

"No, I feel terrible" Harry moaned piteously. It was not often that he got sick but when he did it was usually quite severe.

Harry felt a cool hand against his head, "you're burning up, I better go and get the nurse."

With that Lukas was gone and Harry, unable to keep his eyes open any longer drifted off to sleep again.

He awoke a little while later to a severe looking woman standing over him.

She looming over him frowning as she helped him to sit up a little.

"Here you go young man, drink this." She forced a small bottle to his mouth and poured it in before he could protest. Harry spluttered as the liquid went down.

"You are running a high ever and will need to stay in bed and rest for the next few days." The woman said sternly. Harry tried to concentrate on her face but found his vision swimming. "I've just given you a fever reducer mixed with a mild pain-relieving potion, you will need to take another before bed so I will come back and check on you again then. Your teachers will be notified that you won't be attending classes." With that the school nurse cast a spell on him, Harry assumed to monitor his condition, before sweeping out of the room.

Harry sunk back down into the bed weariness claiming him once again.

Timur, Lukas and Roman had been watching the interaction and looked at Harry as he drifted back to sleep. The small teen looked terrible, face flushed, sweat gleaming on his brow as he stirred restlessly.

"I'd say flying in the cold yesterday has caused this," Roman said softly, gently pushing Harry's sweaty hair off his forehead.

"His body isn't used to the cold weather here, we will have to make sure he takes better care of himself," Timur said thoughtfully. "We better get going, we will come back and check on him at lunch time, bring him something to eat.

The other boys nodded before pulling the curtains shut around Harry's bed and letting him rest.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Anders walked into potions feeling a tingle of excitement run through him at the thought of seeing Harry again, though none of his feelings showed on his face. He sat at his usual desk and waited. However, the class started with no sign of Harry. He saw Timur, Roman and Lukas sitting at their usual desks and wondered where Harry was. His gut clench uncomfortably at the thought that something might be wrong with Harry. He found it difficult to concentrate as he diced his slugs and threw them in his potion.

He waited, but Harry didn't show up to the next class either. He made his way to Roman after class, trying to appear casual but failing miserably.

"Hey Anders, anything I can help you with" Roman smirked, as though he didn't know exactly why Anders had approached him.

Anders blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Harry, where is he? He hasn't been in class all morning and I just wanted to make sure he is ok."

"He is actually ill," Roman explained. "Probably from flying out in the cold yesterday. The nurse has been to see him and given him a fever reducer, but he will be in bed resting for the next few days."

Anders brow furrowed in concern.

"We are going to visit him at lunch if you would like to see him," Timur put in politely from his place at Romans side.

Anders nodded, feeling thankful that Timur had made the offer.

"OK, well we'll meet you near the hall doors at the start of lunch. We will grab some food to take down to Harry."

"Thank you" Anders said sincerely before walking off, his pace slow and measured as though forcing himself not to rush.

Timur looked at the twins a little awkwardly. "You don't think Harry will mind that we invited Anders down to see him do you?"

"Nah those to are thick as thieves, if anything he will probably be glad that Anders cared enough to visit" Roman responded, not worried at all.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

At the start of lunch, the four met in the entry to the hall, each had a plate of food in their hands. Anders silently followed the others to their common room. All the other students were in the hall having lunch so there was no one to think it odd Anders heading to the Concinne common room. He had actually never been there before, but he knew that the common rooms of all the houses were similar.

They entered the dormitory to find that Harry's drapes were still pulled shut around his bed and the room was quiet. Lukas pulled it open to find Harry tossing and turning restlessly in his sleep. He didn't look any better than this morning, but he thankfully didn't look any worse either.

Lukas grabbed a narrow shoulder and shook it gently, feeling the heat that was still radiating from the smaller teen. "Wake up Harry, we've brought lunch."

Harry let out a soft snort as he woke and green eyes blearily began to blink open, he looked around in confusion.

Anders was standing to the back of the group but could see Harry clearly and couldn't help to think how beautiful he looked sprawled out on the bed, cheeks flushed. He silently groan and mentally chided himself for being a thoughtless creep. His friend was laying in bed sick; it definitely wasn't the right time to be ogling him.

Harry tried to push himself into a sitting position, his arms straining with the effort, he was obviously still feeling weak. Anders rushed to the side of the bed, gently taking Harry under the arms and helping him sit, propping a few pillows behind his back to make sure the younger was comfortable.

Harry turned when he felt the strong arms grip and pull him upwards. "Anders" he squeaked embarrassingly, surprised to see the blonde.

Anders looked unsure for a moment. "I, ah hope it's OK that I'm here Harry. I just wanted to make sure you were ok, but I can leave if you like?

"No!" Harry said a bit to quickly, grabbing Anders hand. "I mean, no it's fine, you can stay."

Anders stared at Harry intently for a few seconds, obviously judging the sincerity of the words before nodding. He leant over and picked up his plate of food from where he had sat it at the end of the bed. He sat beside Harry and offered him some food off his plate. The blonde had purposefully chosen light food that would be easy on Harry's stomach. The other boys pulled up chairs and sat around quietly eating.

"So, have I missed anything in class this morning?" Harry asked after he finished nibbling on a sandwich square, sinking a little further into the bed as weariness started creeping up on him again.

"Nah, nothing important" Roman said nonchalantly as he took a big bite of his sandwich.

Timur merely shook his head.

"Oh good, I would've hated to miss something important" Harry said sleepily. He struggled in vain to keep his eyes open as they kept trying to drift shut. His hand drifted to his side, dazedly running over the soft material of his blanket, not realising that he was actually tracing the soft material of Anders pants.

Anders caught the confused hand in his own, running his fingers over the palm soothingly as Harry coasted off to sleep again.

They called a house elf to clear away the finished plates of food before tucking Harry back into bed and leaving for their afternoon classes.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

It took 3 days before Harry was feeling well enough to return to classes. Luckily, he had plenty of visitors to keep him company during that time. Timur, Roman and Lukas brought him lunch every day and Anders brought him dinner. They explained that he could've called a house elf to do it but they wanted to spend time with him. Harry had been touched when he heard their explanation. Sam, Axle and Anastacia visited often as well, bring him notes from classes and catching him up on anything that he had missed during the day. Anders often stayed for a while after dinner, sometimes they talked, sometimes Anders would read to him. It turned out Anders had quite a soft spot for adventure novels and Harry would often fall asleep to the sound of Anders soothing baritone. The school had owled Viktor, Andon and Anna to let them know Harry was sick. They sent a talking get well card and a huge box of sweets to cheer him up, which Harry happily shared with all his friends.

When Harry walked into the hall for breakfast on the fourth day after he had fallen ill, thankfully nearly back to normal, he couldn't help but shoot a bright smile to Anders and Anastacia as he saw them watching him from the Atticus table.

Anders blue eyes scanned him critically as though assessing for himself that Harry was really well enough to be back in classes.

Harry blushed a little at the look of concern before smiling again and walking to his usual seat at his table.

He started buttering some toast after he poured himself a glass of juice.

"Harry!" Martin and Blake cried as they saw him sit down.

"Finally, up and about again" grinned Martin. "Glad you're feeling better."

"Thanks for keeping me company while I was sick" Harry said with a warm smile at the pair, "I'm so lucky to have so many wonderful friends here."

Blake and Martin looked touched by the sentiment before they began regaling Harry with a tale of Martin falling in Hippogriff dung during their Care of Magical Creatures class yesterday afternoon.

Harry laughed in amusement, "well that at least explains the weird smell when you both visited yesterday."

"Oi, I do not smell" Martin said indignantly as he surreptitiously leant down to sniff himself.

"Of course, not" Harry said with a grin that left no doubt as to what he was really thinking. Green eyes dancing with amusement as Martin huffed.

Just as Harry was about to reach for another piece of toast, an owl dropped a letter on the plate in front of him.

He started reaching for it assuming it was from Viktor when the handwriting caught his eye. His heart started to beat faster as he looked closer and realised just who's handwriting it was. Hermione.

He jumped up from the table, mind boggling, blood draining from his face and fear curdling in his stomach like acid. He thought he heard someone calling his name, but he couldn't hear anything properly through the rushing sound filling his ears. Not even thinking he pulled his wand and blasted the letter, leaving nothing but ashes behind and leaving a scorch mark on the table. The force of the spell knocking him backwards over his chair. He fell heavily on the cold stone floor but didn't stop to think about the pain as he stumbled to his feet. By now the whole hall was watching him, but Harry took none of it in as he fled from the hall.