Disclaimer: In case my last disclaimer wasn't clear, I don't own my own home. In addition, I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 54

For the first two months of his fourth year, life was good for Harry Potter.

He had taken the cancellation of the Quidditch season surprisingly well. After moping about it for about a day, he realized it gave him more time to spend with his friends and Hermione, as well as more time to focus on his studies. This extra time to do homework and practice magic on his own time subsequently propelled him to second in his year, right on Hermione's heels.

He was thriving in Defense. Sure, Mad-Eye Moody was – as Ron kindly put it – "batshit crazy," but Harry was excelling the practical elements, even managing to resist the Imperius Curse, something nobody else proved capable of. Moody had taken to liking Harry, although the boy wizard could do without the ex-Auror's magical eye spotting his and Hermione's intertwined fingers under their desk every other class.

Harry was also thriving in Transfiguration, which ended up helping him tremendously. It all started when Hermione cornered him in the common room roughly a week before her fifteenth birthday.

"You're not allowed to buy me anything for my birthday this year," Hermione said pointedly, slamming her bag down on the table that Harry was writing his Transfiguration essay on. He jumped in surprise before tilting his head in curiosity.

"I'm doing great, how are you?" He couldn't help but smile despite his confusion. Hermione just crossed her arms and he sighed. "Are my presents really that rubbish?"

"The opposite, actually," Hermione cocked her head. "It's because you always give me such incredible gifts and I always feel like I'll never be able to pay you back for them because they're so thoughtful and sweet and – "

"You pay me back every day, just by being you," Harry said automatically. Hermione's eyes widened and she placed her hands over her heart, letting out a small whimper. Harry smiled reassuringly to let her know that he was telling the truth.

"Thank you, Harry. But, please. Don't this year."

"Alright," Harry nodded slowly. "I won't buy you anything."

"Oh, thank you, Harry!" She plopped down on the couch next to him, wrapping her arms around him and planting a lingering kiss on his cheek that turned his entire face scarlet. "What are you working on?"

"Oh, uh…" He turned back to his essay. "The Transfiguration essay that's due next Tuesday. About transfiguring pendants into lockets."

"Ah," Hermione gave him a warm smile before leaning across and plucking it off the table. "Can I give it a read through?" She asked, and Harry nodded. His eyes drifted down from her face to the silver chain that dangled from around her neck, and his own words echoed around his head.

"I won't buy you anything."

The morning of September 19th came, and Harry raced down the marble staircase from his dormitory, grinning from ear to ear. Mercifully, the common room was deserted except for a certain fourth-year witch.

"Good morning, Harry."

"Hey," Harry grinned, standing in front of her expectantly. "Did you get it?"

"I did." Lavender Brown reached into the pocket of her bathrobe and fished out a familiar sapphire pendant attached to a silver chain. "You sure you know what you're doing? She loves this thing, and if you mess it up she'll probably kill you."

"I find your lack of faith disturbing," Harry rolled his eyes before gently lifting the locket from his friend's hand. "Seriously, though, thanks for helping with this."

"Any time," She winked, getting to her feet as Harry drew his wand. "She was just getting into the shower when I grabbed it, so you only have a few minutes." With that, she skipped off back to her dormitory, exaggerating a yawn. Harry grinned and sat down on his usual couch, concentrating all of his effort onto the spell he was about to perform.

He muttered the incantation and flicked his wand, his heart soaring as the silver base of the pendant thickened a few additional centimeters and hinges materialized on the left side. Eagerly, he picked up the necklace and saw that it was otherwise unchanged – the sapphire was still its sparkling self and the chain was unaffected by the Transfiguration. Most importantly, the coordinates were still engraved on the back. Quickly, he extracted a Polaroid from his pocket, one of the pictures Angelina had taken on his and Hermione's first date. He performed the Shrinking Spell on the photograph and eagerly slipped it inside the sapphire pendant that was now a sapphire locket.

Just as he closed the locket and placed it on the table in front of him a pair of arms encircled him from behind the couch. He would have jumped out of his skin if not for the familiar scent of vanilla that wafted over him.

"Good morning, birthday girl."

"I thought I was going to scare you…" Hermione huffed from behind him before resting her chin on top of his head. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Getting your present ready," He said smugly, placing his hands over the ones that had come to settle on his chest.

"Harry!" She recoiled, swatting him on the back of the head. He winced, but his smile didn't falter. "You promised!"

"I promised not to buy you anything."

"Do you ever listen to a word I say?" She asked warily as she rounded the couch and sat down next to him, narrowing her eyes. "Honestly, Harry…" She rolled her eyes before turning to face the fireplace in front of them, crossing her arms irritably. In doing so, her eyes settled on the coffee table and she stilled. "Is that what I think it is?" She gestured to the necklace.

"Perhaps," Harry did his best impression of Sirius whenever he went into showman mode. "But if you think it is just a traditional pendant, I'm afraid you are gravely mistaken, my dear."

"Harry…" She warned, snatching the necklace off the table. "I love this necklace like you love your Firebolt. What did you do to it?"

"Just practiced a bit of Transfiguration like the diligent student that I am. See for yourself," He shrugged nonchalantly. Hermione shot him one last glare before examining the locket. She hesitantly brushed her fingers against the new hinges and flipped it open, gasping as she laid eyes on herself and Harry embracing and laughing on a bench in Hogsmeade. "I understand if you're still mad that I sort of twisted your words against you, but I couldn't not get the most important person in my life a birthday gift."

"Harry…" She whispered, not taking her eyes off of the picture.

"Do you like it?" He asked a bit sheepishly. "I mean, besides the fact that I tricked you, do you like it? Because I can transfigure it back if you liked it better as a – "

He never got to finish the sentence. Hermione tossed the locket back onto the table and launched herself at him, flinging her arms around his neck and sending him sprawling onto his back.

"I love it, you prat," She giggled before her lips were on his. His mind went blissfully blank as he brought his hands to Hermione's hips while hers lost themselves in his untidy hair.

Harry and Hermione ended up missing breakfast that day.

So, yeah. Life was good for Harry Potter. Life remained good as he continued to excel in his classes, spent some quality time with his girlfriend, and overall had nobody try to murder him. For once, it was shaping up to be a normal year, and Harry was enthralled by it. Sure, people still stared at his scar and a few were begging him to compete in the Triwizard Tournament that Hogwarts was scheduled to host, but he had no desire to do so. He wanted to keep being as normal and relaxed as he could, and the meant he would not be enrolling in anything that had a death toll.

Things were going so great by the time Halloween rolled around, Harry Potter found himself wondering if things could get any better.

He shouldn't have tempted fate. All it took was a burst of red flames from the Goblet of Fire. All it took was one measly scrap of parchment. All it took was just a few seconds, and with that…

Life was bad for Harry Potter.

"So…" Cedric said rather awkwardly as he and Harry exited the now-empty Great Hall, almost half an hour after their names had exited the Goblet, thus making them champions in the Triwizard Tournament. "Guess you and I are competing against each other, huh?"

"Guess so…" Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. They both shared an uncomfortable laugh as they reached the entrance hall.

"How'd you do it?" The Hufflepuff asked as they paused in front of Hogwarts's main staircase. "I mean, even Fred and George got caught and they're the cleverest people I know."

"I didn't put my name in," Harry said firmly. "I'm telling you, I didn't put my name in there. I don't want to compete in this thing."

"Alright," Cedric didn't look convinced, and Harry let out a dejected sigh.

"Look…" He began, shaking his head in disbelief, still feeling rather stunned at what had transpired. "I have all the reason to lie about this, right? I can say that I put my name in there, I outwitted Dumbledore, and with that I'm basically the cleverest wizard in the castle, right?" He waited for Cedric to nod. "But I won't say that, because it's not the truth." The sixth-year still looked dubious, and Harry pressed on. "Cedric, you had all the reason in the world to lie about the Quidditch match last year. Nobody saw me catch the Snitch except for you, right? You could have said you were the one that caught it, you could have broken my winning streak, and you could have been the hero on the Quidditch pitch. But you didn't say that, because it wasn't the truth."

Cedric took a moment to mull Harry's words over, glancing around nervously. "So, what? You just got roped into this?"

"More or less," Harry sighed, gratitude washing over him. If Cedric believed him, maybe all those people who were staring and whispering when his name had come out of the Goblet could be convinced as well.

"Alright then," Cedric shrugged. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, though."

Harry let out a genuine laugh and grinned. "I expect nothing less."

With that, they split. Harry ascended the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower and Cedric departed towards the Hufflepuff common room. As the former jogged up the sandstone staircase, trying to sort through the events of the past half hour, he hoped he would be able to rationalize it all with everyone just as he had with his fellow champion.

He was vaguely aware of entering the common room, of being cheered and hailed as a hero. Even Angelina Johnson swept him into a tight hug and whispered something about a Gryffindor being in the tournament, but he could barely process any of it. He was scanning the common room frantically, hoping to explain to his friends what had happened, but there was no sign of them. He slipped away from the Weasley twins and managed to make it to the stairs to his dormitory, staggering up towards his room.

He wrenched open the door to the fourth-year boys' dormitory and paled. Sitting expectantly, either on beds or on pillows on the floor, was every single member of the Gryffindor Gang. Each of the boys were lounging on their respective beds. Parvati and Lavender were on throw pillows between Seamus and Dean's beds, and Hermione was perched on the edge of Harry's bed, looking particularly tense.

"You guys have to listen to me – " Harry began, but it was Neville who cut him off, which took him by surprise.

"You didn't put your name in there, did you?"

"W-what?" Harry blinked before he processed the words. "Oh, yeah. Er, no. I…I mean I didn't. I didn't put my name in the Goblet of Fire."

"Why'd it come out?" Ron tilted his head, looking more befuddled than anything. "Did you have someone put it in for you?"

"No," Harry shook his head vigorously. "Someone did put my name in there, but I didn't ask them to. And now I have no choice but to compete in this death tournament."

"Everyone downstairs thinks you put your name in there," Parvati spoke up next. Harry nodded in acknowledgement. "They think you're the hero of Gryffindor."

"I'm not," Harry insisted, and he was relieved to see looks of sympathy and understanding on his friends' faces. "I'm not some hero. I'm basically being held hostage."

"Can't Dumbledore do something?" Seamus pursed his lips in thought. "He's the Supreme Mugwump of the committee that put the tournament together, can't he stop this?"

"Supreme what now?" Harry stared in confusion.

"Supreme Mugwumps cannot overrule the International Confederation of Wizards, they can only offer guidance and represent the body itself in international affairs," Hermione recited matter-of-factly. Harry only understood about two thirds of those words but trusted Hermione to be telling the truth. "Plus, the Ministry of Magic still holds most of the cards since they're the ones who put this together, so it's up to men like Barty Crouch more so than Dumbledore."

"Percy's been ranting nonstop about how Crouch is such a stickler for the rules," Ron sighed, twirling his wand. "I suppose he insisted that you compete, because it's in the rules that if your name comes out you have to compete?" Harry just nodded. "Well, I hate to break it to you mate, but that's some shit luck you got there."

Harry found it in himself to laugh, and he walked over to his bed, apprehensively sitting next to Hermione. "I didn't put my name in there," He insisted one more time.

"Well, of course you didn't enter yourself," Hermione reassured him, taking his hand. His entire arm flooded with warmth and it slowly permeated his entire body, dissipating some of his anxiety. "The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name!"

"We're your friends, Harry," Dean smirked. "We all saw your face. The rest of the school might think you're a hero or some big cheat – " He snapped his mouth closed as Hermione glared at him. "Point is, we believe you."

"Well, we believed Hermione when she dragged us all up here," Seamus grinned. "I wasn't sure what to think, but the second we got back to the common room after your name came out, she made us all come up here and started lecturing us about how much you wanted a normal year."

"Especially after you spent all of last year thinking a mass-murderer was after you," Lavender added. "Anyone who knows you can see that these past two months are the happiest you've ever been at Hogwarts, because it's been the most normal two months you've ever had here."

"Hermione made a point of reminding us that we're you're friends," Neville added, "and that we ought to support you in this."

"Only a narrow-minded git wouldn't believe that you didn't put your name in there," Ron concluded, sporting a wry smile. "And only a really narrow-minded git would dare disagree with Hermione Granger."

Harry turned to Hermione, his heart swelling with affection and gratitude. "You really believed me? You convinced these guys?"

Hermione gave a shy smile and nodded, blushing a bit under Harry's stare. Harry's smile widened and he wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder and squeezing her as tightly as he could. "You're amazing," He whispered into her hair, inhaling the vanilla scent that always calmed him down. "Truly, truly amazing."

"That's my cue," Seamus leapt off his bed. "Any second now those two are gonna start sha – "

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Finnegan!" Hermione snapped before returning her attention to hugging Harry. The rest of the Gryffindor Gang cleared out to give them some privacy, but all they did was hug and enjoy each other's presence for a while. Eventually, Hermione's yawns were too much to bear and she went off to bed, giving Harry a quick good-night kiss on the forehead before departing.

Harry leaned back on his bed, letting his eyes flutter closed as the party continued to rage below him. He knew what would happen tomorrow. He knew the entire school was probably going to be out to get him, except Gryffindor, who probably viewed him as the Messiah. It was like the Heir of Slytherin nonsense all over again. But he found it in himself to smile as he drifted off to sleep. He might be facing a mob tomorrow, but he had an army of eight by his side.

Life was alright.

Harry was surprised when he saw that the dormitory was deserted when he woke up. He pulled on a plain hoodie and jeans, grateful that it was a weekend, and decided to brave the castle and go to breakfast. He descended the stairs and marched across the common room, ignoring the smatterings of applause from his housemates. He walked resolutely to the portrait hole and found himself face-to-face with Hermione when he pushed it open.

"Hello," she said, holding up a stack of toast, which she was carrying in a napkin. "I brought you this…want to go for a walk?"

"Good idea," said Harry gratefully. He took a piece of toast and absent-mindedly munched on it as they descended a few staircases in content silence. Harry moved towards the Great Hall but Hermione grabbed his free hand and tugged him back. "Want me all to yourself, is that it?" He couldn't help but smirk.

"Glad to see you're still a prat," Hermione rolled her eyes as she led him towards the entrance to the Great Hall. She pulled him back once again to keep him out of sight of those eating breakfast. "Listen to your friends," She whispered with a smirk of her own.

"Say 'cheater' again, Malfoy!" Seamus roared before a BOOM echoed across the banquet hall. "I dare you. I double dare you, you git! Say 'cheater' one more time!" Clearly Malfoy had opened his mouth because another BOOM went off. "Plenty more where that came from, you smarmy little brat!"

"Mister Finnegan!" The unmistakable voice of Minerva McGonagall rang out, and even though Harry couldn't see her he could tell her lips were in their trademark tightly-pressed position. "If you hurl one more set of fireworks across the Great Hall I will be forced to give you detention for the rest of the year!"

"You heard him, Professor!" Harry heard Dean protest. "We can't just let him smear Harry like that. He's not a cheat!"

"There are better ways to do that than with explosives, Mister Thomas."

"Where's Potter anyway?" Draco Malfoy's snide voice made itself hear, and Harry rolled his eyes. "Surely such an attention-whore like himself would be here in front of everyone – "

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

"Finnegan! Thomas! Weasley! Mister Longbottom, I expected better from you!" McGonagall sounded genuinely shocked that Neville had thrown one of the four fireworks that had just exploded. "I will see you all in detention on Saturday evening."

"Just one detention?" Malfoy cried out in protest. Harry couldn't resist finally leaned around to peer into the Great Hall. The Slytherin was covered in soot and ash, as was everyone near him, including a few irate Durmstrang students. McGonagall was leering over Harry's four roommates, who didn't seem ashamed in the slightest, not even Neville. They were all holding more fireworks, looking ready to launch them at a moment's notice.

"Twenty-five points from Slytherin for foul language, Mister Malfoy," McGonagall didn't even turn around.

"Come on," Hermione pulled Harry away from the Great Hall and back into the entrance hall. "They insisted they go down to breakfast and defend your name. Seems they're doing quite the job."

With that, they strode across the hall out onto the grounds, making their way towards the lake.

"Thank you for this," Harry said after a bit. "I don't know if I can handle anything like the Heir of Slytherin debacle all over again."

"You shouldn't have to," Hermione sounded a bit tense. "You obviously didn't put your name in there, but everyone – "

"I'll be alright," Harry cut her off, squeezing her hand. "Honestly, I will. And as much as this will probably suck, I've got the most fearsome band of witches and wizards at my back."

"Death Eaters?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"The notorious Gryffindor Gang," Harry and Hermione both let out a quiet laugh and lapsed into silence once again. "Just have to make sure I don't die during this, right?"

"I won't let you," It was Hermione's turn to squeeze his hand. "I'm going to the library later to read up on past tournaments to see what to expect in terms of the tasks. If we prepare you enough we can keep you out of mortal danger enough to survive."

"If we prepare enough maybe I can win," Harry snorted. "Then I can really stick it to everyone."

"Do you really want to win?"

"I want to sit in the stands next to my girlfriend and cheer on my school's champion, but that seems out of the question now, doesn't it?"

"I suppose," Hermione let out another laugh. They stopped, opting to sit underneath a shady tree and gaze at the lake in front of them. "You know what you should do? When we get back to the castle?"

"Yeah, give Malfoy a good kick up the – "

"Write to Sirius."

"Oh…yeah I guess that makes sense," Harry nodded slowly, turning to face her. "Maybe he can offer some help. I'm sure someone from the noble house of Black has been a Triwizard champion, right?"

"Perhaps. But he would want to hear about this from you," Hermione rested a hand on his knee. "Rather than in the news, I mean. The fact that you're competing is probably going to be in the Daily Prophet by Monday. Not only are you a fourth champion, but you're Harry Potter. You're already quite famous."

"Really? Never noticed…"

"Don't get smart with me, Harry. You need to write to Sirius."

"I will," He nodded again, throwing her a grateful smile. "Thank you. I suppose I'd be rather screwed without you, wouldn't I?"

"Bold of you to assume you'd be alive without me."

"Ha-ha," Harry rolled his eyes but smiled again. Hermione giggled to herself and polished off the last of her toast. "Should we start heading back?"

"We can…"

"Got something else in mind?" Harry turned, and she was staring at him expectantly. "Ah…yes, I suppose we can wait a bit before we go back."

Hermione gave him one of her radiant smiles before she was leaning in, and as Harry felt her impossibly soft lips meet his, a single thought bounced around his brain as he let his eyes close and he lost himself in a particularly passionate snogging session with a certain bushy-haired witch.

Life was good.

A/N: First of all, thank you for 1,000 reviews! Now, I know this chapter is probably a bit choppy compared to what I've written before, but hopefully it's not unbearable for you all. I didn't want to drag a whole load of sequences featured in this chapter out into their own chapters, so I put them all in here. If it bothers you that much, write your own story. *shrugs*

References worth noting: "You pay me back every day, just by being you" is paraphrasing Jim Halpert of The Office during what I believe is the series finale or the episode prior to the series finale. "I find your lack of faith disturbing" is a blatant Star Wars reference. "Say 'cheater' one more time" is a more kid-friendly version of Samuel L. Jackson's iconic rant in Pulp Fiction.

Oh, one more thing, I know some of you were probably hoping for Hermione to have Harry all to herself while everyone turns on him during this whole ordeal. I get it, it's nice to read that stuff. But Harry has a lot more friends in my story, and thus, they're all on his team. Yes, even Ron. The redhead doesn't consider himself the ignored best friend, since…well…he's not Harry's best friend. Plus, having the Gryffindor Gang in his corner just might make the tasks a bit…easier for Harry. We'll see. I'm revealing nothing. So, in conclusion, if you're mad that Ron's not a cunt, write your own story.

Thank you, once again, to everyone out there who has followed, favorited, or reviewed this story. You guys make my day and really help to boost my confidence. Especially now that the daily updates aren't really happening anymore, it's nice to see that y'all are actually enjoying the story for reasons other than its update speed. Thank you all, and stay safe!