Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K Rowling

A/N: Alright, here we are, the (kind of) finale for the fourth year. About the chapter's length, I just couldn't split this up into two parts; so I decided to give you an extra long one, as some sort of celebration that I actually managed to write this far.

So about the future, I have the entire story planned out in good detail, it is only really a matter of writing it. I have, at the time of posting this, a few more chapters written than posted. Hopefully I can keep up the schedule of once a week for the foreseeable future.

The pairing will be "announced" soon, in the next couple of chapters. I will warn all of you that it won't be much of a focus for some time. It will be there, both characters will appear in the story consistently, don't worry, the relationship between Harry and the as of now unknown girl just won't be the focus. This story hasn't been very romance-centered this far, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Just one last thing before I let you off to read, there will be more than one P.O.V in this chapter. There will be four different ones, actually. I won't say who just yet but I think it will become apparent. This is something which I will continue on exploring, using different P.O.Vs, that is. Don't worry, I won't go the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' route and have more characters than one can remember(even though I really like the series).

I apologise for the ridiculously long author's note. I'll make sure to not make this a recurring pattern.

I would greatly appreciate a review, positive or negative. Thanks in advance.

Chapter 15: Revenge, Retribution and Realisations

The day before the Day. The Day with capital D. The day that had been looming on the horizon since late October. The day which was supposed to be the day of freedom, when the shackles were finally loosened from my ankles. The shackles of the tournament had scrapped less and less, now I barely felt them around my ankles.

I had envisioned this day more times than I want to admit. The third task had been played over and again in my mind on repeat. I pictured the plan going exactly as it was supposed to. More than anything else, I pictured how it would feel. Elation. Joy. Satisfaction.

Consciousness dawned on me slowly and I sighed contently as I shuffled in my comfortable sheets. Contrary to what I expected, I had managed to get some good hours of sleep. I stood up and stretched with a loud jawn. Then I made my way to the bathroom to wash away the sleepiness. Luckily enough, I had been excused from classes today due to the impending crucible.

I stared at myself in the mirror and gave myself a respectful nod. The person in front of me would have to persevere. My pale complexion with just about as much muscle to not look unhealthy would have to persevere.

There was no other option.

The common room lacked its usual cheery atmosphere and chatter, the corridors were desolate, the silence not something I was used to in daytime. It was one of those days of June where the warmth was invasive but not quite at the point of uncomfortable. The evening would turn out to be a fine one, I mused.

I had expected the Great Hall to be entirely empty upon my arrival, perhaps Cedric would be there, but there was actually a fairly large crowd inside. Or more like two crowds. One was seated around the Huffelpuff table, boisterous laughter and conversation echoed throughout the chamber loudly. Cedric's father was seemingly in the middle of some fascinating tale, based on everybody's rapt attention around him. Cedric gave me a small wave as I entered and I shot him a small smile in return.

The other crowd was more recognisable, at least. Mrs. Weasley beamed at me as I approached their small gathering. She enveloped me in a bone crushing hug which left me barely able to breathe. At least she was as she had been during the beginning of the year.

"It's good to see you, Harry," Mrs. Weasley greeted warmly. She put me at arms length and inspected me with a frown. "At least you seem to be eating better here."

I smiled in return, "It's good to see you too, Mrs. Weasley."

Ron's oldest brother, Bill, shook my hand as I had been freed of Mrs. Weasley's scrutiny. "Well done on the first task, Charlie was very impressed with your showing." He leaned in closer to whisper in my ear, "Don't speak of it in front of Molly though, she was not as impressed."

I smiled at him warily, "I'll keep that in mind."

The last two members of the small entourage were my former defence against the dark arts teacher, Remus Lupin and a huge, black dog. The dog barked happily as I ruffed his fur and scratched him behind his ear. Contrary to my godfather, I could actually speak to Lupin. I wondered if the full moon was close, he looked better than I had usually seen him. His last transformation must have been some time ago.

"How have you been?" I asked eventually.

"I've been alright. Had to take some less…savoury work, but I've been getting by." Remus smiled at me, but it seemed forced. "But let's not talk about an old man's troubles. How have you been?"

"That's a long story…"

"We've got time." Remus gestured to the table where bacon, eggs and pancakes were piled.

I definitely wouldn't give them the full story, hence, I settled to give them the safe version Ron and Hermione had received. I sat down neatly and began shovelling some scrambled eggs on my plate.

"Well, it all began on Halloween…"

-()-

It seemed to me as if Mrs. Weasley and Bill had been let in on the secret about my godfather's abilities since they allowed me to slip away to take a walk with the dog by myself.

I was reminded of this time last year when I had seen Sirius for the first time. How much had changed since then?

As I stared off towards the place where I had fought off the countless dementors, I couldn't help but feel a certain emptiness. I couldn't quite place what it was. Melancholy perhaps. Nostalgia even.

Nostalgic for a time when things had been normal. For a time when I had been normal.

Or as normal as I could ever be. I chuckled and the beady eyes glanced up at me. Did I want normalcy?

Was it better to live captured in the crowd than to ascend onto the stage?

I don't know the answer to that question. But I would be lying if I didn't say that the crowd had safety in it. The person on the stage was alone. Exposed.

We reached the Whomping Willow and Sirius calmed the tree with a pat on the designated spot. The shrieking shack was unsurprisingly in a very bad condition. Our previous encounter inside had somehow managed to make the place even more messy and derelict. The dust had settled now; everything was still and peaceful.

"You shouldn't have come here," I said with a sigh at Sirius.

The dog turned into the man and the man sat down on the partly broken bed.

"You're right. Because I should already have been here," Sirius responded with a shake of his head.

"We've talked about this," I remarked with frustration. "A lot of people will be here tonight, ministry personnel included."

Sirius nodded. "I know, trust me. Dumbledore and I have taken some precautions. I will be perfectly out of the spotlight."

I frowned but didn't press further. I simply didn't have any frame of mind to do so. Thoughts of the task pushed all others away like someone elbowing their way through a crowd.

"How do you feel?" Sirius asked and patted me on the shoulder.

I shrugged noncommittally. "I honestly don't know. " I let out a long breath and met his eyes. "I thought it would feel...grand and special once I got here, but it doesn't."

Sirius forced a smile upon his face. "It will come, you still have a couple of hours to go."

"We'll see."

-()-

"Take the entire day off, you need some rest before the task. I want you here at ten o' clock sharp the day of the task."

That was what Rowena had told me yesterday. I wondered how wise that really was. I hadn't been able to master the spell she tried to teach me last night. Surely learning that spell properly was more important than some rest?

The time was now nine fifty five on the day of the task. The corridors were bustling with movement, everyone was loudly anticipating the evening. The rumours had been spreading like wildfire the last weeks. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the champions had some unsettled business with each other.

The fourth floor where my master's study was located was empty as usual. I had to ask her sometime if there was something keeping people away from the corridor, there was simply never anyone there.

I entered the room swiftly to find my master waiting for me patiently in her armchair. She gestured silently for me to sit down and I obliged quietly.

"Today is the day, huh?" Rowena smiled at me shyly. "You've learned a lot this past year, you should be proud."

This time, I couldn't fight the grin which spread itself over my face. I tried to compose myself and Rowena smiled at my failed attempt. "Thank you," I managed eventually.

We sat in comfortable silence for the next few minutes. Rowena didn't seem to mind the complete silence at all.

"This is nice and all," I remarked casually. "But you must have had a reason for bringing me here."

Rowena sighed tiredly, "Not really."

I raised my eyebrows, sentimentality wasn't something my master indulged in much, if at all. She watched my expression and rolled her eyes.

"There is only one thing I want you to take with you." She paused briefly and gave me a reassuring smile. "No matter what happens, make sure you survive."

"I doubt that the tournament will be deadly. Delacour won't want to kill me either."

"Perhaps not, but remember that someone put you in this tournament for a reason. That reason is still shrouded in ambiguity."

I shrugged easily, but this was something I had thought of myself. "Perhaps they just wanted to test me? Some extreme way of seeing what the 'Boy Who Lived' is made of."

"I think we shall just assume the worst case scenario here. They want to kill you. If it turns out to be some elaborate prank, then our worries were for nothing. But if not…" Rowena trailed off and let it be unspoken what possible consequences it could have.

"I will be cautious," I assured her with a firm nod.

"No." Rowena stared at me intently. All signs of her previous levity were gone. "You will survive. I don't care what you do to achieve it. Not even I can teach a corpse."

"Yes master."

Rowena levelled me with a look. "I know that you are a good person, Harry." She let out a long breath. "When I say anything, I mean anything."

I gulped. "I understand."

She narrowed her eyes. "I've taught you to use the dull side of the knife." Rowena raised her wand and conjured a spear. "The knife you own has a sharp edge to it as well, you just have to decide to use it. You know how."

-()-

There were no signs of the quidditch pitch at all. The huge, towering stands which surrounded the green pitch were nowhere to be seen and the tall posts were gone. In its wake, huge bushes had been grown to be over ten feet tall. The bushes were a dark green shade with thorns and vines coalescing inside the bushes. Creating walls which I desired to stay as far away as possible. I was not so lucky, all of the bushes created an intricate pattern which I would have to navigate through.

Although the tall stands of the former quidditch pitch were gone, new stands had been erected in front of the maze. Two thousand had been the rumoured amount for the maximum capacity but I suspected that number was significantly deflated. The stands must have been over ten metres tall and a hundred metres wide. It reminded me of a football arena in the muggle world, but only one side of it.

There were also four, huge, white sheets hanging in the air perilously. They were shielding the arena from the afternoon sun on one side and obscuring the view of the great castle on the other. I knew for a fact that they had another purpose, as long as Malfoy had done his part. It wasn't something I ever wanted to say, but perhaps the Malfoys weren't that bad, after all?

I shook my head. What a ridiculous thought.

The stands had been divided in several sections, one large section towards the left held the Durmstrang students and some people of importance. Beauxbatons had a similar section in the middle, which was much more colourful with birds of fire buzzing around and occasionally quaking words of encouragement to Delacour or words of…discouragement to the other champions.

The third section was by far the largest, the entirety of Hogwarts had been seated in the stands. I recognised several ministry officials sitting next to the judges' little box. Minister of Magic, Cournelius Fudge was talking animatedly with a woman in a pink cardigan and Professor McGonagall. McGonagall's lips only twitched, almost imperceptibly, as the minister made some joke which sent the pink witch into squeaky howls of laughter. I turned away and smirked, Fudge was even more oblivious than I thought. At least he was the minister in a time of peace.

Bagman called the champions and their respective headmasters together just by the entry of the maze and explained the rules and conditions excitedly. He stumbled over his words like he was a four year old who wanted to explain something exciting to his parents. The headmasters focused entirely on Bagman's monologue, but the champions were not the same. Which was fair, it wasn't that hard to understand the rules.

First to the goal wins. Simple as that.

Krum kept on shooting Cedric dirty looks which he only responded with a broad smile. I had to give it to him, for a Huffelpuff, he sure knew how to wind people up. Myself, I could feel Delacour's glare driving into the side of my head like one of Uncle Vernon's drills. I tried to remain composed and keep a neutral expression, but my heart sounded like a drum inside my chest. If it beat any louder, the others would surely hear it.

Cedric would begin the task, then Krum would go a few seconds later. About a minute after that, Delacour would begin her attempt. Dead last and far behind the others, would be me. I didn't mind, I was as prepared as I could realistically be. As long as Delacour didn't win, I was fine. That was a lie, but what can I say?

Cedric began his excavation into the maze with a resounding bang and ear splitting cheers from the crowd. Krum left soon after to a somewhat quieter goodbye which left only me and Delacour standing on the starting line. She was standing ready to begin running at any moment, I sat on the ground to make it appear as if the entire situation was of no concern to me.

"Catch my wind, Potter," Delacour whispered venomously and departed, leaving me in a cloud of dust. I sat and fiddled with my wand absently as I waited for cannon to shoot its fourth and final blow. I searched furiously along the ground where Delacour had just stood. I saw a silvery glint and grinned victoriously.

"BANG!"

A large banner with 'Potter for President' stood out towards the right side of the stands. I waved in their direction, guessing that was where Ron and Hermione were. With a deep breath, I began walking inside the darkness of the maze.

I summoned the silvery hair and pointed my wand at it. "Invenius." The hair burnt in purple flames and I felt a pricking in my hand. A dot of blood had appeared.

It wasn't for nothing, a line the colour of white sprang out of my wand and further into the maze, turning a sharp right a few metres ahead.

It was now or never.

-()-

Harry waved at our banner and the knot in my stomach grew even larger. He wasn't ready for this. No matter how many jokes he made or comments on how much 'preparation' he had done would make him ready. He was the youngest fourth year, going up against the best Durmstrang and Beauxbatons could offer.

Ron cheered loudly next to me as Harry strided inside the maze. At least you could see that he was a Gryffindor through and through. To his credit, he didn't seem concerned at all. It was a front though, I knew my best friend well enough to know that. Could I still call him my best friend?

"He will be fine, Hermione." Ron gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "He could face 'You Know Who' back to full power and still come out unscathed."

That brought a fond smile to my face. "I know Ron, but it is not Voldemort I worry about…"

"Don't worry about Delacour. If anyone should worry, it is her. I've rarely seen him so…determined on something."

"He shouldn't seek revenge." I sighed tiredly. "If only he let us help him."

"I know, Mione. I know. You can't fault him though. Still, he…"

At that moment, Ron was rudely interrupted by Bagman's amplified voice booming over the Hogwarts grounds.

"In an effort to make the tournament more engaging than ever, we organisers and the gracious Mr. Malfoy has arranged a system which shall make this the best triwizard tournament finale of all time!"

I was warily reproachful at that statement, what did that mean? The answer would come soon after when the four white sheets which had been hovering in the air oddly were filled with colour.

One image appeared on each sheet, all of them were dark. In the middle of each screen, a champion was walking inside the maze. I stared wide eyed at the magical wonders, how had they managed that? That was basically floating pieces of television.

On the screen to the far right, Krum was fighting some kind of green lizard with three eyes. What impressed me even more was that you could hear Krum shouting spells and the beast's cries of pain as it was dispatched. Everyone sat with their eyes glued to that screen until someone suddenly shouted.

"Potter's in trouble!"

My heart sank like the titanic as I almost broke my neck whipping my eyes towards the screen closest to us. I breathed out as I watched him work, 'trouble' was a large overstatement. He had encountered a dementor, or more likely a boggart, but as I knew, he was more than proficient at the Patronus charm. Gasps of awe met the shining stag which illuminated the stands through the screen. This would spark more rumours about Harry than everything else he had managed combined.

She turned around to look at the judges box. Dumbledore was sitting and smiling fondly and Karkaroff was glaring sourly at the stag. I turned back to see Harry continue on his path, it would take more than that to defeat him.

The next big event happened when Cedric's perspective suddenly flew several metres backwards. Cedric had done the same thing, but he seemed fine and got up quickly. A large troll stood in his way and swung its clubb threateningly. How could he not have seen it earlier? Did they use some kind of muting charms on the hedges to make sure that you couldn't hear what was ahead? I really hoped that McGonagall had been part of constructing it, then she could tell me.

Anyway, Cedric wasn't cowed by the three metres tall piece of stupidity.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Cedric said calmly but firmly. The club in the troll's head started to float which made the troll stop and track the club's movement dumbly. They definitely hadn't gotten any smarter since I last met one.

Cedric released the spell and a loud thud resounded from the screen, making some wincing. Loud cheers greeted the falling troll as Cedric trudged past the lump form.

"Diggory is really good, only a genius would have thought of that." Ron leaned in and whispered in my ear.

I shook my head but smiled broadly, of all methods Cedric could choose, why did he have to choose that method?

Not much of note happened from then on, Harry dispatched a blast ended skrewt in an impressive fashion, leaving many in the stands with raised eyebrows. Krum met a sphinx whom he took ages to get past, clearly, intelect wasn't his strong suit. Delacour encountered very little, the most difficult obstacle was the hedge blocking her path occasionally.

That changed suddenly as Harry's voice could be heard from the stands. "Found her."

Truthfully, Delacour and Harry appeared on opposite sides of the same clearing only seconds later. I wanted to scream in frustration, the chances of any of the champions meeting should have been low. So of course they had to meet. I looked at the judge's box again.

Karkaroff and Madame Maxime leaned forwards in anticipation. Dumbledore smiled as always, but it seemed a little forced to me. Bagman was literally bouncing, saying he was as excited as a child on christmas eve was a gross understatement.

"Fancy seeing you here, Ms. Delacour," Harry started the encounter calmly. I rolled my eyes at that, he had tracked her, somehow.

"Cut the crap," Delacour snapped aggressively. "I want my vengeance," Delacour continued in her accented English.

"What do you want vengeance for?" Harry asked in what I suspected was feigned curiosity. "If anything, I should be the one to seek revenge."

Delacour shook her head, making her silvery ponytail bounce behind her head. "You know, I actually thought you were for real at first."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "What is that supposed to mean?" I looked around the stands. Everybody had their eyes glued to the two left screens which conveniently were positioned next to each other. I spared another look at Bagman who looked like his wet dream was coming true. Was this tournament rigged? Far too many things just happened way too conveniently. It did provide entertainment I supposed, which only strengthened my belief.

"After our first meeting at the top of the tower, I thought you were being yourself. And I thought that that person was sweet." Delacour somehow grimaced in a pretty way. Veelas really has it too easy.

"I am that person, you realise that right?"

"No." Delacour fidgeted with the wand in her hand which Harry eyed warily. "You manipulated me, you moved me and Roger like pieces on a chess board."

Several whispers broke out in the stands at that statement, perhaps there would finally be some clarity on what happened between the French champion and Harry.

Harry stared at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? I…I told you the truth…"

Delacour scoffed. "Perhaps you told some truth, but how do you explain Roger Davis?"

"What is that I have to explain exactly?"

"You know what. I went to pay him a visit to let him know that I was most…displeased by him not appearing. He barely seemed to see me though, so I went to Madame Maxime and she told me that it was clearly the work of a confundus charm." Delacour smirked triumphantly.

"If he was confounded, then it certainly wasn't me. Did it ever occur to you that he was manipulating you, not me?" Harry shook his head in frustration.

I know what you did, he even remembers seeing you that day. You can not cover your tracks that well."

"So you decided that you wanted to put me in a coma because of that?!" Harry looked at her incredulously.

"Essentially, yes. It was quite easy after that. My schoolmates were eager to help. Those Slytherins were trickier but after some…convincing, they were onboard as well." Delacour smiled sweetly. "You thought you could fool me that easily." Delacour raised her wand at Harry. "He who laughs last, laughs longest."

"Indeed." Harry raised his own wand and positioned himself half turned against her. "I've been looking forward to this Fleur."

"So have I, Potter. So have I."

A bolt of red light flew from Delacour's wand without her uttering a word which forced Harry to sidestep inelegantly. A few gasped at the violence, but most were leaning forwards in their seats, anticipating the coming duel. You could have thought that there was only two champions, Cedric and Krum were left like discarded toys.

Delacour sent bolt after bolt after Harry who seemed to be able to dodge each attack with no margin to spare at all. The beast of worry awakened in my gut again. He wasn't close to ready for this.

What confused me was how Harry didn't attack at all. He simply sidestepped every curse sent his way, occasionally having to conjure a magical shield to protect him. I was admittedly not someone with any knowledge on magical combat, but even I understood that you had to attack to win.

No matter what Delacour did, she couldn't catch him though. I wanted to say it was luck that saved him but if you avoided certain defeat by a millimetres margin consistently, you must do something right.

Delacour seemed to realise this as well because she stopped her onslaught abruptly as Harry leaned backwards like you did in limbo and let the curse flow over his head.

"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be daring?" Delacour taunted. "You are a coward."

Harry didn't say a word but kept his eyes firmly on Delacour's wand, waiting for the slightest movement. Delacour began muttering in a language I didn't understand and nothing happened at first. Harry appeared to realise what was going on because he sprayed something on the ground around him. Some kind of protective circle?

The crowd began to see what was happening now, several vines had sprouted from the grounds and were approaching Harry slowly. There must have been more than ten different long branches which stretched themselves closer and closer to the Hogwarts champion.

The branches must have been no less than four metres away from Harry when he finally did something. He muttered something intelligible and something else broke up from the ground, something very purple. A pair of purple hands appeared and started some kind of wrestling match with some of the vines. It didn't stop all of them though. Delacour's chanting increased in speed and fervour and Harry was forced to conjure a shield to repel one of the branches. It stopped the attack briefly but it was soon resumed.

His wrestling hands were burning then branches where they made contact, two branches lay dead on the ground, unmoving. Harry took a deep breath and pointed his wand straight forwards. Vivid purple flames sprang out of his wand without a word, completely annihilating the branches closing in on them. That was more powerful than I had ever expected him to be, I didn't know of any spell which did something like that.

The purple glow illuminated the stands with a violent fervour. It was a beautiful colour, the flames so, too. Beautiful flames of incredible destruction. I shivered.

I would have expected Delacour to be at least concerned about the impending inferno rushing towards her violently but she let herself be consumed by the flames entirely.

It was deadly silent, only the smallest hint of crackling flames was heard in the entire arena. I didn't dare to breathe. I had expected Harry to do far worse. I wasn't unhappy he had done well. Very well. Better than what could realistically be expected from anyone at our age. Better than I could picture myself doing.

A chilling realisation dawned on me that evening, Harry was leaving me and Ron behind. He was far better than either of us.

Harry was leaving me behind.

I always thought it would be the opposite when it came to magical prowess.

Silence stretched on for an eternity as the purple glow spurned aggressively. The same question rang in everybody's mind.

Has Harry Potter killed Fleur Delacour?

-()-

The 'manipulation of nature' which Delacour used was incredibly disappointing. I had been expecting far better, Rowena had prepared me for bushes jumping at me in droves and trees acting as golems. Branches creeping towards me slowly was very unimaginative. She had traded flair for power though, handling one or two or even four was easy, but ten. No way. Rowena's hands worked well but I didn't have the capacity to create more than two.

"Her strength is fire, don't use fire."

Rowena had said it so simply, but still taught me a spell to create violent, obviously purple, flames.

It was rather unfortunate that the one thing that could save me from the imminent threat would strengthen her in the long run. It wasn't much of a choice though. It didn't matter how strong or not she may become if I wasn't conscious.

Delacour disappeared completely in the purple inferno of heat I summoned. The flames twisted and turned without a pattern but receded in strength slowly. I knew that my master had told me she wouldn't fall to flames, but how could she survive that.

But sure enough, a human shape could be seen after a few seconds of squinting to see inside the flames. As the flames receded entirely, I realised that she didn't look entirely human anymore. Her skin had taken a silver colour, almost shining the same way as her hair. What stood out the most was her eyes, the normally cool, blue orbs were literally burning with orange flames.

An orange inferno with which to stare inside her soul.

I stood almost transfixed by her burning glare and had to dive inelegantly as she fired a stream of orange flames where I stood. I got to my feet as quickly as possible but had to dive to the ground again as another stream of fire surged towards me. The hedges had caught fire as well, even though they were charmed. Sweat ran down my entire body profusely as I was getting cooked alive in what was quickly becoming a furnace.

I had never thought about what hell would feel like but this was a strong candidate for it.

I wiped the sweat off my brow and sent a lightning the colour of claret straight for her chest. Delacour summoned a shield easily and the spell disappeared with a resounding gong. Fleur took her shield down and fired two bolts of red in quick succession. I jumped out of the first one and the second was blocked with a conjured stone. I snarled viciously.

A rope of literal fire flung from Delacour's wand and tried to take a grip of my wrist. I humped out of the way but was quickly followed by the orange, crackling whip. I slashed my wand and a strong, purple hand appeared and grabbed the rope and jerked it out of Delacour's grasp. I didn't know how the physics of that worked but I didn't have time to think about it either.

A great wave of fire emerged from Delacour's wand with a roar of fury.

"Aguamenti," I cried out desperately in an attempt to smother the flames rushing up towards me. It succeeded in killing the flames but hot steam rose in the air and struck me with a painful embrace of agony. I cried out in pain and had to cover my eyes as the steam disappeared. That gave Delacour the perfect opportunity, which she took when a jet of pink light flew from my wand and hit me in the chest.

It felt like everything went in slow motion as the spell collided with me. At first, I thought nothing happened. But then I felt a small itch on my chest. I wanted so desperately to scratch there, to make it stop, but I resisted the urge to get myself in a fighting stance again. My hair looked like I was fresh out of the shower and sweat was pouring down my face which made it difficult to see through the drops of water clouding my eyes.

The uncontrollable itch spread from my chest quickly and soon my arms and legs had succumbed to the itch. I felt myself panicking as my body trembled and twitched on its own. I was losing control over my own body. My wand arm spasmed and made me drop my wand. My knees hit the ground with a heavy thud and not soon after I was lying in the scorching hot dirt and twitching uncontrollably.

Delacour with her burning eyes stood over me with a mocking smirk. "Not so brave now Potter." I managed to see a swift movement of her hand and heard her whisper something.

What happened next was…odd. It felt like someone put an enormous boot over my body. I would have squirmed out of discomfort if I could.

"Admit what you have done."

"I have nothing to admit," I spat out hoarsely.

I think Delacour shrugged where she stood. The invisible boot started pressing down on me. I felt myself having to wheeze for breath. It felt like the entirety of me would burst like a balloon at any given moment. I couldn't think. The pressure was too much.

Then it disappeared.

"Are you certain that you told me the truth earlier?"

I panted heavily, as if I had just ran to Ben Davies and back. Once I had gotten my breath under at least a little control, I looked up at the beautiful girl. "Fuck you."

She shrugged. "Okay, since you don't want to give up, I will have to make you." Delacour waved her wand and a metal spear with a gleaming sharp point appeared in mid air. At the same time, I felt the pressure disappear off my body. The tip of the spear caught fire as Delacour whispered something.

It now reminded me of a huge, metal match. I patted around the ground for any trace of my wand and almost sighed in content as my fingers grasped the all too familiar piece of precious holly. With another flick of her wrist the metal spear flew straight towards my chest. I reacted instinctively and did what I had done so many times before. The movement of my wand was jerky and poor but the spear turned into a huge butterfly seconds before it hit my chest.

A giant matchstick into a giant butterfly.

We both stared at the butterfly dumbly for a few seconds, Delacour's mouth was hanging open in surprise. Then she closed her mouth and shrugged, "Cool transfiguration."

She waved her wand intricately and aimed to fire a spell at me. I was faster and waved my wand as I had done in the first task and muttered, "Feriollo."

Delacour cancelled her attempted spell and raised a shield to protect herself from my projectile. Nothing came at her, which made Delacour laugh gleefully.

"Pitiful Potter, can't even fire off a spell. I bet you can…" She was interrupted in her monologue by a jet of pink light striking her clean in the head.

Delacour fell to the ground like someone had hit her hard across the head, which she probably felt like to be fair. I stumbled towards her and winced with each step. Parts of the itch were still surging through my body.

"Petrificus totalus," I whispered hoarsely. Her arms and legs immediately straightened out and flew into her body. Her raging embers of eyes had been smothered completely, her eyes were as cool as the dark lake, not a spark in sight. Fear emanated from her eyes and I couldn't help but feel powerful then and there. Here she was, I could finally get my revenge.

Was I wrong for feeling like this? I felt disgusted with myself and elated at the same time.

"Do to her what she did to you," a voice whispered in the back of my head.

"No," I thought solemnly. "It isn't right."

It was, though. If there ever was something called justice, this would be its most true form. Perhaps I hadn't been very nice to her, but her vengeance had been way out of proportion. It felt like a potion shimmered inside of my head, just below the point of boiling. My hand twitched to do something. I had imagined this. Delacour had to pay.

I felt a desire so deep to only hurt. She was a symbol for everything I have had to endure this past year. Didn't I deserve this one moment of pleasure after this long and arduous journey?

I waited to feel the joy wash over me as I had imagined it doing so many times. It never came.

I stood one the beach with my bare feet in the sand, waiting for a wave to wash over me. It never did. It was dry as a parched throat.

Just as I was about to raise my wand and send a crackling bolt of lighting at her. Just to feel something. I remembered.

I remembered mine and Malfoy's plan. I hadn't even thought of this before the task. It hadn't even crossed my mind that I would want to do things I didn't want anyone to see.

How would people react if I used the paralysing curse I had learned? The lighting bolt?

I sighed heavily.

I was here, at the precipice of success. At the precipice of finally giving that sweet, sweet wine of revenge to my throat which had been dry for so long. It couldn't end like this.

It couldn't.

But it had to.

It felt like I would explode as I watched the petrified Delacour on the ground. After all of this preparation.

After all of this desire for revenge.

She was saved by my own stupidity.

"Ompugno," I whispered indifferently.

The giant butterfly flew towards her with a roar I never knew butterflies could emit. It took a large bite of her right arm. A fleck of red liquid appeared on her rope.

"I promise I won't make it eat you, just a bite or two," I said to her bitterly, returning her own words to her.

Her eyes were alight with pure fear. I didn't know if I wanted to smile or gulp.

I took a shaky breath and began walking away from her soon-to-be mutilated form. She had several cuts all over her face and her clothes were torn. I paused for a brief second and looked at her over my shoulder.

I allowed myself a small smile and turned around and shot a stinging hex at her.

After that I strided forwards with as much elegance I could muster in my throbbing body. I finally reached the end of the corridor and turned around the corner, leaving her to the mercy of the butterfly.

Not a single part of me wanted to go back and help her.

-()-

Krum didn't say a single word from where he stood at the other end of the tunnel. He glared at me with all the might of Durmstrang behind him. I looked down at my robes and took a deep breath.

It was time to prove to people that Hufflepuffs could fight as well. Perhaps some of my housemates could finally get some recognition, even if I would be out of school next year and never see it.

I remembered our previous duel at the top of the table in the Great Hall. A stalemate. Incomplete. Unfinished.

Well, not for much longer.

I felt my heartbeat in my chest like a large drum. I felt the adrenaline course through my veins; screaming at me to act. To move and to attack.

So I did.

Lights danced in front of my face as I exchanged bolts of belligerence with the Bulgarian man. A stunner dodged. A cutting charm blocked.

Krum jumped out of the way expertly and was as agile as an eagle. Nothing I could do stopped him. Every time he stopped and sent a blast towards me himself, I was forced to block with shields or other means.

I had to win.

If I didn't, everyone who ever said that Hufflepuffs are weak were right. I had been given an opportunity. An opportunity to finally prove to everyone that our house was the best.

This was greater than whatever there was between Krum and I.

I knew what everyone said behind our backs.

Hufflepuffs are the worst.

They are just rejects.

Hufflepuff is the house for those who aren't good enough to be anywhere else.

Every single person who got selected for Hufflepuff felt some sort of disappointment. I knew because that was what I felt. And every year, you would see the first years appear through the trapdoor to enter the common room with a downtrodden, sullen expression.

Every single one of those looks would be gone by the end of the week.

I guess I only wanted to show that they should never have to feel that way in the first place.

-()-

The summer evening chilled quickly after the sun went down. The contrast between the scorching hot confines of my duel with Delacour and the fresh air was huge. Even if it was late June, I felt myself shivering every now and then, clearly, my assigned clothes didn't do their job properly. Where were Rowena's quality robes when you needed them?

I drifted around aimlessly within the maze, only hoping to stumble across the cup somehow. I encountered a sphinx and another boggart but they seemed trivial to the crucible I had just been through. I tried to picture Delacour's mutilated form in the maze. What would she look like? How long would it take for someone to save her?

I walked at a leisurely pace around the maze, turning both left and right when I felt like it. I encountered very few obstacles, which was a relief. Something was nagging at the back of my mind that this was only the calm before the storm.

"AAAAAAH!"

A blood chilling scream rang out over the maze which made my hairs stand on end. I paused in my step but strengthened my resolve to continue towards the source of the scream. I approached the corner slowly with my wand ready to fire a curse at any moment. In one quick movement, I darted around the corner and aimed my wand at the person standing in the corridor.

"Stupefy."

"Stupefy."

Both of us cried out the same spell and the two red lights collided in mid air and exploded in a rain of red sparks. As the spark disappeared I recognised the familiar colours of yellow and black which Cedric wore.

"Don't shoot, it's me. Harry." I held my wand hands up in surrender and looked at Cedric.

Cedric visibly relaxed and we both let out a deep breath.

"I thought you were Delacour," Cedric said tiredly. "But you look like shit."

I looked down at my robes and couldn't really refuse his statement. There were several patches which were burnt and dirt covered all of me. The entirety of my robe's left arm was almost completely charred. Strange, I couldn't remember ever being on fire.

I chuckled mirthlessly, "Delacour didn't go out easily." I looked him over from top to toe. "You don't look much better either." And he didn't, he had a large gash across his left cheek where he was bleeding profusely. Entire patches of hair were missing from his head, as if someone had taken hold of them and ripped it off. We would have been a comical sight if we hadn't just fought to the death.

Cedric shook his head tiredly, "Krum used every dirty trick in the book, and then some, but he's out."

I approached Cedric slowly and raised my hand to give him a high five.. "Now I think one thing is indisputably clear, Hogwarts is the best school." Cedric luckily didn't leave me hanging and we both chuckled at our victories.

"Shall we split up again?" Cedric looked at me questiongly.

"I think that is for the best." I scanned the clearing where I had found him, there was no trace of Krum, but small fires indicated that fighting had taken place. "I take the left exit, you take the right?"

"Sure."

Cedric disappeared out of the right exit and I continued my trek around the maze. The foggy darkness and looming bushes suddenly didn't feel so intimidating, I didn't have to worry about much anymore. The actual threat were the other champions, not the meek challenges the judges had planted.

I must have wandered around and around for an hour before I found something. There were pathetically few obstacles to get past, a troll, a blast ended skrewt and another boggart. It was almost concerning how uncreative they were with this challenge. Hopefully Malfoy had done his part so the crowd got some entertainment if nothing else.

Just as I was about to give up hope that I would ever find the cup and complete the task, I found the cup to complete the task. It was shining at the end of the long corridor of hedges that I had just walked into.

"RUN HARRY! RUN!" Cedric screamed behind me as he came running from behind. I stood frozen in the ground for a second but soon saw what he was talking about. The hedges behind Cedric had sprung to life and their vines were grasping and reaching for Cedric's body.

I began running down the corridor and heard Cedric's footsteps grow closer and closer. Heavy pants could be heard from behind and I was probably panting just as hard. I pushed and pushed to run faster but the cup looked to me a hundred metres away. Suddenly, I reached a clearing I hadn't seen earlier and I was only a metre from the cup.

I stopped in my tracks abruptly and stood transfixed at the shining cup. My dreams had involved this cup, but I had never actually thought of getting it.

"AGGGHHH." I whipped around at Cedric's scream and saw him lying at the ground and slowly getting ensnared my the growing vines. I had won. Everyone else was out, I had the cup within my grasp. It was over. I waited for something to feel but nothing came.

I slowly reached out to grab the cup when I got a bad feeling, perhaps there would be something more. The task had been concerningly underwhelming, perhaps there would be a final battle or something akin to that when you grabbed the cup.

I cast the same spell I had used on the egg to reveal enchantments and as I had guessed, it was a portkey. There was a distinct possibility that I would be transported to a final task to overcome, all in the sake of entertainment. I sighed heavily and shot a look over my shoulder.

I had already won everything I wanted to win. The cup didn't matter to me. It would matter to Cedric. He had stood behind me when very few other had, this was the least I could give him.

Another thought struck me.

I remembered what I'd learned in the first task. The best way to win a fight is to have someone else fight it for you.

Having a second hand in whatever task was left could be very helpful. I let out a long breath and turned around to Cedric.

"Reducto." The jet of blue light hit the churning vines and they stopped moving with immediate effect. "Fancy a victory for the entirety of Hogwarts, Cedric?"

Cedric twisted free from the vines which trapped him and stood up to take some quick steps away from them. He shot them a nervous look but turned to face me. He smiled at me tiredly. "You've won fair and square. You take it."

"No. I don't want the victory for myself." A lie. "I would rather be united in a victory for Hogwarts, not a victory for me." Another lie. It almost physically hurt me to say it, for all I cared some of my fellow Hogwarts attendants could burn in hell for what they me go through the past year.

Cedric chuckled humorously, "And they say Hufflepuffs are the loyal ones. Okay then."

He walked up to me and raised his hand to hold it right over the cup. "On three?"

I nodded determinedly and tried to prepare myself for anything. It couldn't be worse than facing Delacour, right?

"One." Cedric began.

"Two," I continued in a whisper.

"Three." We both grabbed a handle each of the cup and as expected, I felt the familiar tug at my navel.

-()-

Retribution at last. Yes, Potter had definitely not upheld his part of the agreement. He had promised me that he could deal with Delacour, which he clearly couldn't. Delacour had won fair and square, Potter had just defeated her with pure luck. It was all good though, she had revealed her machinations in front of everyone as planned.

I knew that Lucius Malfoy wasn't seen as someone very nice by a great many people, but since I was his son, I couldn't help but disagree. He had helped me orchestrate the screens which showed what happened in the task, and made sure the champions knew nothing about it. Except Potter, but he was the one who came up with the idea, or part of it.

The plan had seemed far fetched at first, but seeing it work out as intended, or almost as intended made me want to gloat in satisfaction. I could almost feel myself glowing, my father had complimented my 'surge of independence', claiming it was about time I 'took the step out of his shadow'. I couldn't help but agree.

I focused on the screens again as a murmur grew in the crowd. The hedges at Diggory's screen had out of nowhere come alive and reached for him viciously. Diggory did the only sensible thing in that situation and ran as fast as he could. He turned around the corner and a speck of red could be seen further down the corridor of hedges.

A glance at Potter's screen confirmed my suspicion and I heard several gasps and cheers as others saw what I had also spotted. The triwizard cup was in sight, it would be a race between Potter and Diggory seemingly. Potter had a head-start but that didn't stop parts of the Hogwarts crowd to begin chanting.

"DIGGORY! DIGGORY! DIGGORY!"

That awakened the red side of our stands and soon chants of "POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!" were roared as a counter. I spared a glance from the running contest to look at the other schools' crowds. Most of them weren't even looking at the screen, a Beauxbatons boy had tears pouring down his cheeks. I had to chuckle at the sight of them, this was retribution, and how good it felt.

My eyes returned to the contest and silence fell over the crowd as Potter emerged the victor at the same time as a vine finally caught up with Diggory. Potter didn't touch the cup, he only waved his wand swiftly.

Potter was obviously deep in thought but his jaw squared resolutely and just as I thought he would grab the cup he spun around.

"Reducto." A blast of blue light hit the vines trapping Diggory and they died immediately. "Fancy a victory for the entirety of Hogwarts Cedric?

Diggory freed himself from the green vines and stood up with great haste. "You've won fair and square. You take it."

One part of me wanted to go up and give them both a slap. They had eternal glory and pride in their grasp and they didn't take it. Didn't they realise that a shared victory wouldn't have the same prestige as one for yourself. It was just ridiculously unselfish.

"They're idiots," I muttered under my breath.

Someone clearly heard me. "Just because you've never done something for someone else in your sad little life, doesn't mean that everybody is the same, Malfoy."

My head spun towards the source and I saw the ugly bush of brown hair. I sneered in her direction. "Nobody asked for your opinion, Granger." That said, I turned back towards the final moments of the tournament.

"No. I don't want the victory for myself. would rather be united in a victory for Hogwarts, not a victory for me," Potter said with a small smile.

Why did he have to be so incredibly good? He made everybody look so bad next to him. If he hadn't been a fool for throwing something so valuable away, I would probably have envied him.

I snorted at the thought. That was a lie. Potter was an idiot for throwing something like that away for nothing but being able to say that he was good.

I wondered how many would call me good. Not many.

Did I want to be called good?

Potter and Cedric stood together and they took the cup together and my ears almost burst from the cheer which erupted from the Hogwarts parts of the stands.

I didn't join. Malfoys didn't cheer.

Granger's words were stuck playing over and over in my mind. I couldn't tell why.

Potter may be an idiot and the perfect person to kill if I ever wanted to kill someone. Still, working with him over the last couple of months had shown me that perhaps he had some part of him which was a little bit partly good.

Would he say the same thing about me?

Could I say the same thing about myself?

If I was being honest, maybe not. Or at least not based on what I had done over the years.

Something gnawed in my stomach deep inside. I hadn't helped Potter out of kindness, I had done that for myself.

I let out a frustrated sigh.

I resolved to be someone good. My father was a good man. I had to be as well.

Potter was an…almost good man.

I couldn't let myself be worse than him.

I wouldn't allow it.