November 19th 1994

Marina woke up, for a moment confused. She was not in bed and her perspective was all wrong. It took a second for her brain to catch up, processing the dog and raven next to her – as well as an unconscious, but human again, Remus.

It was the morning after the full moon, and Marina would love nothing more than to curl back up into a ball and stay asleep. Or stay a lynx permanently.

Skeeter's article had come out ten days ago, and as predicted it had been a doozy. Viktor and Fleur had been mentioned exactly once – both names misspelled – and the rest had been all about Harry and Marina – Skeeter's skewed version of their life story.

She'd quoted Harry saying that he thought Lily and James would have been proud of him competing, when they both knew they'd be terrified. Her Dad had been outraged.

The part about Harry still crying over their deaths sometimes had transformed school to hell for her brother. And to top all that, she'd interviewed a few naïve students:

"Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school."

That probably been the part about the article that had bothered Harry the least, given that most of it was true – except for the insinuantion of romance of course.

Marina, on the other hand, had been dubbed an ice queen, not caring the least bit that her mother was dead – and competing to impress her equally reckless father. Also, she apparently intimidated her friends to the point they feared for their lives – because why else would they support her?

Then the so-called reporter had – finally – plastered the photo of her and David they'd taken at the World Cup all over the front page, next to Harry's portrait, and proclaimed that her crossing lines was nothing new, as she was seducing an Auror (!) into an illegal relationship.

"... one of the most promising aurors in a long time, has fallen victim to Marina's allure. Her best friend's older brother, Mr David Nott has been by Ms Black's side all her life, and now she has obviously decided to take it a step further, despite the fact that she is still a student at Hogwarts..."

While the facts were somewhat true enough, there was nothing illegal about it. She'd covered her bases with Amelia, who had assured her that, student or not, the Maturity Exception ensured that David would not get into trouble.

He was the reason she forced herself to turn back too. It was his birthday today and the day after the moon was included in Harry's and her special permission to leave school – so she was actually home for it, for the first time. David was, of course, at work and wouldn't get home until well after five pm, which left all of two hours before she'd have to get back to the castle – and detention duty. She'd gotten him the dragon hide boots he'd been staring at for almost a year but had never bought them, saving the money for a rainy day.

Marina had no such qualms and he'd been spending loads of money on her, so she'd went and gotten them instead. And with Elias an board, they'd be completely alone at the guys' place for the first time in... ever, come to think of it.

November 21st 1994

'Promise me you'll worry about yourself for a change, not just Harry,' David had said when she'd had to leave on his birthday.

Thanks to his mother, she'd managed to cook his favourite meal for dinner and they'd spent the entire time oddly peacefully – not something either of them was particularly used to.

Of course they couldn't completely ignore the erumpent in the room, so they'd talked about the Tournament. David was every bit as terrified as her father and Remus. More so than Harry and her even – though she suspected that would set in soon.

Marina couldn't promise him. Even while battling the basilisk or Death Eaters, part of her had always been worrying about Harry. Not that David would be any different if it had been one of his siblings they'd been talking about.

'I love you,' she'd told him instead and kissed him goodbye, before leaving him stunned on the spot. She hadn't waited for a reply.

Now she was at Hogsmeade with her friends, well aware that everyone was buzzing with exitement about the task tomorrow.

Harry was starting to feel the fear he'd had a choke-hold on thus far however.

When Hagrid asked them to come to his cabin at midnight, Marina was sorely tempted to say No – at least pretending to be a Prefect – but the gamekeeper had never asked them outright to break the rules before. Curiosity won out.

Marina had disillusioned herself and Harry was wearing his Cloak. All evidence pointed towards them being spectators to Hagrid's date – with Madame Maxime.

They'd barely followed the oversized pair for a minute, when she saw it.

Dragons.

Of course, Marina thought to herself in mute horror, that was why Charlie was here – when he so clearly didn't want to reveal the girlfriend yet.

She stared at the four fully grown and dangerous beasts, while they were busy fighting against their cages and spitting fire.

There was a Chinese Fireball, scarlet red with golden spikes around its head and a bad attitude.

The second was a Welsh Green, with green scales and two spiked horns on the head.

The third was a Hebridean Black, with its dark scales, ridges along the back and an arrow-shaped spike at the end of its tail. It was one of the most vicious dragon breeds still alive.

The fourth and last was a Hungarian Horntail, the most dangerous of all. It had black scales and spikes along its tail – the same bronze colour as its horns.

Merlin help us, she tought when Harry blindly reached over and held onto her arm.

Dozens of witches and wizards were trying to control them but gave up and stunned the beasts into submission instead. Charlie was officially insane, choosing this line of work.

Speaking of, the Weasley had spotted Hagrid and was coming over once the dragons were knocked out.

As the two crazies discussed the different breeds, Marina quietly sank to the floor, feeling dizzy. Dragons.

"... she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?" Charlie asked and she realised they must have switched to the subject of Hagrid's choice of date.

"One for each champion. What've they gotta do – fight 'em?" Hagrid asked.

"Just get past them, I think," Charlie mumbled. "We'll be on hand, just in case. They wanted nesting mothers-," Oh dear Merlin. "-, I don't know why... But I don't envy the champions."

No kidding.

"How are Harry and Marina?" Charlie asked, trying to draw Hagrid's attention away from the eggs his colleagues were bringing.

"Fine."

"Hope they'll still be fine after they've faced this lot," Charlie huffed grimly. "I didn't dare tell Mum what the first task would be, she's already losing it." Then he imitated Molly as she broke down about Harry competing and the fabrications Rita Skeeter had published.

Marina sensed Harry leaving, but she was still kind of rooted to the ground. Dragons.

A blonde woman, a few inches shorter than Charlie, came over to them. She was wearing the same protective clothes as the redhead, proclaiming her Dragonologist as well. Her skin was weather-worn too, but still fairly pale. She had obvious muscles, if not quite as pronounced as Charlie's and, she was sure, the other men's. Her eyes glinted gunmetal gray – the second Marina could actually see them, due to the fire.

Charlie saw her coming – and Marina immediately sensed an emotion she was familiar with by now. She was getting a preview of the girlfriend.

"Hagrid, this is Irina Talinov," Charlie introduced her proudly. "Irina, this is Hagrid – the school's gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

Hagrid managed to snap out of it long enough to shake the woman's hand and wink at Charlie.

"We should've kept feeding them Calming Draught," Irina muttered, exhausted. Her English was flawless – but you could still hear the Russian accent.

"They'll have calmed down by tomorrow," Charlie assured no one in particular, or maybe himself.

"Great deal of difference that will make," Irina sighed. "Can't we just tell your friend she's about to have to face a dragon?"

And Marina already liked her.

"Can't, it's cheating," Charlie refused – even though he was desperately tempted. "And she'd tell Harry."

"So?" Irina demanded. "You said they don't even want to do this but have no choice." She apparently accepted that fact on Charlie's word only, earning major brownie points. It would impress the Weasleys too.

Finally, Marina was able to move again and decided that she'd done enough eavesdropping. Plus, the lot of them would get into trouble if she got caught.

Now she just needed to figure out how to get past a dragon. No big deal.

November 22nd 1994

Suffice to say, she hadn't slept worth a damn.

Harry had told her at breakfast that he'd bumped into Karkaroff the night before, so at least all the champions were on equal footing.

And in the early morning hours she'd figured out how to survive whatever dragon she'd have to face – her favourite charm. She'd spent all night with her mind spinning, tossing around everything she'd ever heard about dragons. Much like any reptile, dragons needed and preferred heat; rather fortunate they could breathe fire.

The beasts couldn't stand the cold for too long, so her Glacio Charm should do the trick – if she could concentrate long enough to put enough power behind it.

Maybe she was being naively optimistic, but she felt calmer now that she had a plan.

Which left her brother.

Non-verbal spells – which he'd sometimes use absentmindedly without noticing it – wouldn't help him against a dragon. And he hadn't yet discovered his talent for fire-spells – which would do him absolutely no good either. In this case, you did not best fight fire with fire. His prowess at Runes was off the list as well.

That left really only one thing Harry excelled in – Quidditch.

After she'd told him all that, he'd been desperate. He wasn't allowed his broomstick, only his wand. So the only way for him to out-fly whichever of the beasts he'd have to face was to Summon his Firebolt to him into the arena. It was the one charm he'd been having nothing but trouble with.

Hermione and Daphne had volunteered to help him practise and took turns doing so. Draco and Theo kept the nosier – and the nastier – students at bay, using their surnames to exact influence.

Marina's friends made sure that no Prefects or teachers would catch them once the pratice went past curfew. She had another mission however.

Entirely fed up with everything going wrong, she'd strongarmed the twins into telling her where their little brother was – she hadn't had the patience to Summon the Map – and they'd reluctantly spilled that Ron, Susan and Hannah were outside, doing homework for Muggle Studies.

The three of them looked up when she arrived – and immediately became weary.

"You're right to feel bad," she huffed and glared at the lot of them. "This has been going on long enough. So pull your heads out of your behinds and be there for your friend already."

The girls experienced an adequate amount of guilt, but Ron forced his down, looking at her defiantly. Marina looked around to make sure they were alone – and glared back.

"He has to fight a dragon tomorrow," she told her brother's best friend grimly. "A fully grown, viciously dangerous dragon."

Because no matter which one he'd get, they were all breeding mothers and dangerous.

Ron paled dangerously, dropping his parchment.

"Still think Harry got lucky, being entered?" she questioned sarcastically. "Because personally I think whoever did this is trying to kill us."

Which immediately brought her mind to Bellatrix and Crouch Jr – not that she had mentioned any of it to Harry. He was preoccupied enough.

Properly chagrined, the three kids packed up their stuff and the girls hurried after Ron as he sprinted towards the castle. Maybe she'd overdone the guilt-trip a bit, but her brother would be facing a dragon tomorrow. He could really use his best friend back.

November 23rd 1994

"He what?" Marina asked, stunned. She'd left her brother and his friends to train last night and had instead listened to Angelina and Katie, trying to cheer her up – she hadn't told them about the dragons, though, so she couldn't really take the pep-talk to heart.

And now, as if her head wasn't spinning enough, Harry had just told her how Mad-Eye had offered to help him – which constituted cheating. The Mad-Eye she knew wouldn't do that.

Oh, he wouldn't tell on them for having found out about the dragons or about their friends rallying to help them – but outright offering Harry a solution... something wasn't right.

Marina didn't have the luxury to ponder what had gotten into her mentor, however. Because time had the funny habit to pass twice as fast when you really wanted it to slow down. Her classes went by in a distracted daze none of the professors called her on, and before she knew it lunch time had arrived.

They'd just forced themselves to eat a bite or two, when McGonagall hurried over to them.

"Potter, Black, the champions have to come down to the grounds now... you have to get ready for the first task."

Harry and she stood, his fork clattering onto his plate. Silence descended as they followed their Head of House outside, who seemed as anxious as their friends.

Outside, Fleur and Viktor were already in the tent that had been erected in front of the dragon enclosure. Both of them looked paler than usual.

Bagman – who looked like an oversized cartoon character among them – was chipper as usual, not at all concerned that they might get hurt when facing the dangerous reptilian beasts they'd imported. When he explained that their task was to get a Golden Egg, she felt rather squeamish. She had a bad feeling about this.

They listened to their school mates arrive, hundreds of pairs of fett passing by and all of the students chatting and joking. They were probably taking bets on this too. Fred and George for sure.

Once they were, presumably, all seated, Bagman announced that it was time and held open a small, purple silk sack.

"Ladies first," he said brightly and offered the sack to Fleur.

The French girl put a slightly trembling hand inside and pulled out a tiny, moving model of a dragon. She'd gotten the Welsh Green, No.2. Fleur didn't seem surprised at all, so Madame Maxine had warned her.

Bagman offered her the sack next and Marina swallowed before reaching in – though her hand remained steady.

She pulled out the Hebridean Black, No.1. Naturally.

The tiny model hissed and puffed miniature flames, all the while trying to claw through her gloves.

Viktor was next, and he didn't even so much as blink when he pulled the Chinese Fireball, No.3.

Marina knew what was left and wondered if there would ever be a time when her brother wouldn't get the worst lot ever.

Harry, feeling equal parts afraid and resigned, pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, No.4.

All four champions looked at each other in silent commiseration. Then they grabbed each other by the shoulders, keeping the other ones together. Suddenly, it seemed, Fleur understood exactly why she and Harry hadn't wanted to do this.

Bagman left them to it, hurrying off since he would be commenting the task – just what they needed, the man's two-cents.

A whistle blew – and Marina knew it was time.

"Kŭsmet," Viktor said simultaneously to Fleur's "Bonne chance." Some things didn't require translation. Harry just squeezed her hand once.

Then she forced her legs to carry her outside and get it over with.

She was looking up at hundreds of faces, looking down on her from the stands that had been magicked here during the night.

And on the other end of the enclosure was the Hebridean Black – the irony of the beast's name was not lost on her, despite her nerves. The female was crouching low over her clucth of eggs, all twenty-five feet tense with aggression, and her purple eyes never wavering from Marina.

Marina, mentally cursing whoever had entered her to the deepest depths of hell, hit herself on the head with her wand and disillusioned herself. The Black could still smell her but at least it couldn't see her anymore – and she needed to get close enough to unleash Antarctica on the beast.

She vaguely heard Bagman shout something but ignored it – the crowed really didn't matter. Staying alive did.

Despite her invisibility she approached slowly and cautiously. Underestemating a dragon would be foolish.

As if to prove her right, the Black lashed out with its tail – which grazed her left arm.

The blow threw her backwards a few feet, the pointed tail had ripped through her robes and skin. The wound pulsed with every beat of her heart, sending pain through her system, and bled strongly.

But it had been worth getting hit: she'd spotted the golden egg among the others.

Marina was dimly wondering if they'd all lost their collective minds, letting them go up against breeding female dragons to steal an egg from their clutch. It was nothing short of stupid.

No matter. She made herself visible again – one hit by the stray tail had been enough, thank you – and the Black roared when it realised how much closer she'd gotten.

But it was too late. She was close enough.

"Glacius maximus extremus!" she yelled, willing ice out of her wand with all her might.

A small blizzard came bursting out of said wand's tip, hitting the dragon full force.

The Black roared – in surprise or pain, she couldn't say – and stomped its massive limbs. The ground shook beneath her but she just crouched down.

Furious, the beast breathed fire – but her ice had gotten too strong and the flame didn't even breach the first layer.

Vey slowly, the dragon was succumbing to the cold, hunching its massive body as if to ward it off. It sat then laid down – letting loose something that in another animal she'd have called a whine.

But Marina couldn't take pity. The blood loss plus expending this much magic was making her dizzy, so she had to finish this now – or the female would kill her for the failed attempt.

Once she was sure the beast wouldn't get up in a hurry, she approached – still blasting ice.

When she reached the clutch of eggs though, dread sank her stomach. Her blizzard hadn't just hit the mother, but her eggs too.

Dragon eggs without heat would result in very much dead dragonlings.

Without even thinking about it, Marina grabbed the bloody golden egg – ending her turn in the task – and stopped her blizzard.

Then she pointed her wand at the eggs, making the half-frozen mother twitch and growl.

"Incendio," she mumbled, exhausted. But the fire came, engulfing the eggs. It wouldn't hold for very long probably, not as tired as she was, but that was what Charlie and the others were here for.

She dragged herself away from the beast and the eggs.

Her father, Remus and McGonagall were waiting fo her.

Marina barely had time to wonder where Carmen was, as she handed her Dad the egg, before everything went black.

She woke in the first-aid tent. Madame Pomfrey was in a spectacularly bad mood, rambling about the basilisk, dementors and now dragons.

Apparently, the blood loss had caught up with her. Her Dad was nowhere to be seen – but David was.

"That was impressive," he said, forcing a smile. He needn't have bothered, since he was as pale as a ghost.

"How long was I out?" she asked and squeezed his hand. But she didn't have time to reassure him right now. Not yet.

"You missed Fleur – she tried to hypnotise her dragon, I think. Let's just say it failed. She's over there, being treated for the burns." He pointed to another corner of the tent.

"Krum hit it in the eye with a pretty nasty Conjunctivitis Curse – it trampled the eggs in pain."

"Charlie is not going to like that," she mumbled, sympathetic. The Black hadn't clawed at her when she'd lit a fire under the eggs – even though it could have, sluggish as it had been.

"Neither did the judges. The real eggs weren't supposed to be harmed."

"Let's go," she said, ignoring Madame Pomfrey's flustered outrage. There was no way she'd stay lying on this cot while Harry was facing the Horntail.

David slung an arm around her shoulders and grabbed the egg with his free one, then they hurried to the enclosure.

Marina grinned as soon as she saw her brother up in the air. He didn't sense at all nervous anymore either.

Harry dived – in his usual speed which automatically made her worry he'd crash – and pulled out about half a second before the Horntail spit fire his way. Harry remained unconcerned and focused.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" Bagman yelled exitedly. "Are you watching this, Mr Krum?"

Yes, he was. He'd joined her and David without a word.

"He really can," Viktor agreed grumpily – that was just the way he talked.

"He's pretending he's playing Quidditch," Marina ventured. "That's the only time he's so focused and relaxed at the same time."

On his next dive, the Horntail got Harry with its spiked tail and she winced as she sensed his pain. But Harry had caught the Snitch in his second year with a broken arm, so the cut's sting barely even registered with him.

Realising the dragon wouldn't move, Harry started circling above her head, irritating her.

"He's goading her," David mumbled, transfixed.

"To get her away from the eggs. He can't get close as long as she's sitting on them."

And he flew higher, still circling. The Horntail was following his progress, head turning this way and that.

"Get up already," Marina muttered under her breath.

Harry rose a few feet more and finally the Horntail had enough and reared up, roaring.

But before she'd so much as spread her wings, her insane brother dived down – between her front claws – and grabbed the Golden Egg.

Before speeding away as if dementors were after him under thunderous applause.

Charlie and the other dragon-keepers ran inside to calm the Horntail and Marina saw her Dad and Remus greet an elated Harry.

She sacked against David in relief. It was over.

"He did great," David said and rubbed her arm – the one that wasn't in a sling.

This had only been the first task. She was dreading what they'd come up with for second and third.

After everyone had calmed down, Harry's and her friends had gathered together. Snape had tried to insist that her Dad and Remus had no business being here now that the task was over, but Dumbledore had granted their request to stay until curfew.

All of Hogwarts was celebrating them both – even McGonagall had given high praise.

But Marina was, once again, feeling off. She was getting tired of feeling like it too.

The fact remained that she'd expected someone else to show and chastise her for not dragging her egg upstairs and trying to figure out the riddle right now. He hadn't lectured her about tending to the real dragon egg as opposed to getting out of the enclosure, either, or given a warning about becoming complacent.

Mad-Eye was nowhere to be found.

"Dad," she mumbled quietly so Harry and the others wouldn't hear. "Something's wrong with Moody. Has been all year."

"What do you mean?" he asked and hugged her closer. Remus was listening.

"Something's... off. He hasn't been acting like himself lately.

I mean... as much as it's like Mad-Eye to show fourth-years the Unforgivables... I don't see even Mad-Eye being callous enough to use the Cruciatus in front of Neville.

And turning Zabini – who's taken Draco's place as most annyoing Slytherin ever – into a ferret... maybe outside school he'd do it, but not under Dumbledore's and McGonagall's noses.

Plus... someone did put Harry's and my names into that Goblet. And Mad-Eye doesn't do negligence."

The two men looked each other over her head for a minute. Then they pulled her up.

"Let's go."