Author's notes: Here we are with another new chapter. Little bit of trivia, this chapter was cut by nearly 4k words. Just felt like it was getting to be a bit much. So, bad news, this chapter is shorter than it was originally going to be. Good news, I've got an almost 4k word head start on the next chapter. Silver lining, people.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Here is chapter 14 of A Fair Life. Enjoy!
A Fair Life
Dangerous Discussions
By,
Rtnwriter
When Harleen woke on the morning of the first task, she wasn't worried. Well, she was worried, only a complete fool wouldn't be worried under the circumstances, but she was confident in her plan. It was a better plan than the one she'd used the last time at least. When she first woke up though, she was feeling warm and safe and she knew immediately that Hermione was in bed with her again.
She'd only ever felt so good upon waking on those mornings when her soul mate was wrapped around her. She carefully turned within the circle created by Hermione's arm in order to observe her bedmate and let her mind turn over a few thoughts.
It was something that she hadn't really thought much about in the last few days, the fact that she and Hermione were supposedly soul mates. She still wasn't sure exactly what that truly meant either. There just had to be more to it than the two of them simply being suited to each other, right?
Maybe there's something in the library about soul mates? I'll have to check later.
Lost in her thoughts, Harleen didn't notice when Hermione's breathing changed and her eyes opened. She did notice when a breath freshening charm hit her and her eyes focused in time to see Hermione cast the same charm on herself.
Smiling, Harleen met Hermione as the girl leaned in for a kiss.
"I think today is the first time that I really don't want to go to class," Hermione admitted softly after breaking away and letting her head rest back on the pillow. "I kind of want to just stay here and ignore the rest of the world."
"On the very long list of brilliant ideas that you've had, that has to be in the top five," Harleen whispered. "Unfortunately, we can't."
Hermione frowned. "I know," she said. "I still want to though. I don't want you to do this. I don't want to see you get hurt." Tears began spilling from the girls eyes and Harleen sat up against the headboard, gently pulling her girlfriend into her arms.
"Hey, what's all this?" she asked.
"I'm worried about you. I can't do anything to help you with this and that's all I want to do. I hate not being able to help. I hate feeling powerless and that's all I can feel with this ridiculous tournament."
"You are for more help than you realize," Harleen insisted. "Think of it this way, remember when you threatened me with severe bodily harm if I was an idiot about trying to protect you?"
A small laugh burst out of Hermione as she nodded.
"This is similar, isn't it? As much as I want to protect you from everything, I can't do that. All I can do is help you be as prepared as you can be, then trust you to be able to fight your own battles."
Hermione nodded again.
"I know," she murmured. "I know that, I'm just so tired of you being in danger and not being able to help you, and now I have to sit and just watch. That's going to be incredibly difficult."
"You don't have to-"
"If you try to tell me I don't have to come watch the task I will be very angry with you, Harleen," Hermione snapped, lifting herself up to glare down at the smaller girl.
"Well, you don't," Harleen protested. "If it's just going to upset you then maybe you should just stay in the castle?"
"I would be a terrible friend, and a terrible girlfriend, if I didn't come to support you. As much as I hate this whole thing I will be there every step of the way!"
Harleen quickly recognized the stubborn expression on her girlfriend's face and knew that attempting to talk Hermione out of this chosen course of action would be an exercise in futility. Instead, she simply sighed in defeat and nodded her head.
A moment later a sly smile spread across her lips and one hand began to gently caress the other girl's side. "It's pretty early still, isn't it?" she asked innocently.
Hermione smirked and slid down in the bed, pulling Harleen with her until she was lying flat on her back with Hermione hovering over her. "Fairly early, I would think. Why do you ask?"
Both of Harleen's hands were now stroking up and down Hermione's sides, lifting the edge of her pajama top to let calloused fingers glide over soft skin. She lifted her head and placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend's lips.
"Just seems to me that, if it's early, we don't absolutely have to get up quite yet, do we?" As she spoke her hands dropped to Hermione's hips, pulling her closer.
So slowly that it bordered on agonizing, Hermione lowered her body until she was very nearly lying on top of Harleen. "No, I don't think we do have to get up just yet," she whispered. "But what should we do for the next… oh, hour or so?"
"Pretty sure we'll think of something." Harleen reached up and, with her fingers tangled in the other girl's hair, drew Hermione's head down to claim her lips with her own.
Not much else was said for some time.
#####
"You 'ave been grinning all morning, you know zat, right?"
Harleen looked up from where she was sitting off to one side in the champion's tent, waiting for Bagman and the other judges to arrive. Fleur sat next to her, smiling broadly at the grin still present on Harleen face.
"I had a good morning," she said, her grin growing even wider for a moment.
Fleur let out an indelicate snort at that. "I am sure zat you did," she teased with an amused glint in her eye that didn't entirely mask the fear and apprehension the girl was obviously feeling. Fleur leaned towards Harleen and gently nudged her with one elbow. "So?" she asked. "'Oo is she?"
Harleen's mouth dropped open as she jerked back from the blond beside her. "Wh-what are you talking about?" she stammered quietly with a wary glance toward Cedric and Viktor where the two stood on the other side of the tent, talking quietly to each other.
"Do not worry about zem," Fleur reassured her. "Zey cannot 'ear us. Zat 'muffliato' spell you taught us is vairy useful, non?" Fleur was smiling in a friendly, teasing manner that did much to calm the sudden spike of apprehension that Harleen had felt.
"Yeah," she agreed. "It really is a handy little spell."
"So…?" Fleur pressed after Harleen fell silent. "Not going to tell me 'oo she is?"
"I don't know what you mean."
Fleur frowned. "You do not 'ave to tell me eef you do not want to, 'Arleen," she said, "but please, do not keep silent because you zink zat I will judge. I told you, Veela are sensual beings, plus, I am French." She added the last in a haughty tone with a little toss of her hair. "Ze French are not as… repressed as most of ze Eenglish are."
A strangled sounding laugh bubbled up out of Harleen's throat. "Okay, but I still don't see why you'd think there's a girl involved," she tried. "I could have spent some of my morning snogging one of the boys in the school." She had to fight to keep a look of disgust off of her face as she said that.
Fleur burst out into a musical peal of laughter, her head thrown back in mirth.
"Oh… oh, 'Arleen," she gasped, "I might 'ave almost believed zat eef you did not look as eef you were about to sick up all over your shoes."
Harleen let out an exasperated sigh. Hermione is going to kill me.
"Do not be upset," Fleur continued. "Not everyone would be able to tell."
"Plenty of people have already figured me out," Harleen hissed. "My professor, three of my Quidditch team mates, my godfather, now you!"
"You are 'oo you are, 'Arleen. Why do you try to 'ide?"
"Because people in this country are generally less than accepting of people like me, Fleur. I know it's impossible to avoid it ever getting out, but we wanted some time before people start making our lives difficult."
Fleur frowned, her lips pursed in disapproval. "I zink zat you should ignore zese people and be wiz ze one zat you love," she grumbled, "but I will not press anymore eef you wish for me to let eet be."
Harleen offered a grateful smile at that and nodded her head.
"I'd appreciate that, Fleur. I don't like having to hide it, it's just…"
"People do not know when to keep zere noses out of zings zat do not concern zem," Fleur finished the thought. "I will not say anyzing, you 'ave my word."
Relieved, and determined to talk to Hermione as soon as she could about their situation, Harleen relaxed some and the two fell into small talk, neither wanting to discuss what was waiting for them in the arena. Eventually, Bagman and the judges arrived and Fleur dispelled the muffliato that she'd cast as they went about selecting their dragons.
The selection went nearly exactly as Harleen remembered it and she wound up holding the small statue of the Hungarian Horntail with the number four hanging around its neck. With their dragons in hand, Bagman went through the information and Harleen ignored him when he attempted to pull her aside, just as he'd done last time. She realized now that he was probably laying bets on her performance in the tasks, hoping to recoup from his gambling losses and she had absolutely no wish to help him in any way.
Less than a minute after the man left, Fleur placed a hand on Harleen's shoulder, drawing her attention only to direct her toward the side of the tent with an elegant seeming nod of her head. Turning to look where the lovely French witch indicated, Harleen was surprised to see Hermione standing outside the tent, nervously wringing her hands.
Striding quickly over, Harleen ducked out of the tent and lead her girlfriend a few steps to the side so they would be out of view of the other champions.
"What is it?" she asked of the nervous looking girl.
"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be here, I just… they built an arena! It's like Roman gladiators out there! I was already worried, but now I'm terrified. Pease, what the hell do they have the four of you do-"
Harleen blinked as Hermione's rambling suddenly cut off, her worried gaze wide and directed down at Harleen's hand. The hand that was still holding the miniature of the Hungarian Horntail.
"Harleen?" Hermione asked in a disturbingly calm tone of voice, her face expressionless.
"Uh… yes, Hermione?"
"Is that a statue of a dragon you're holding?"
Harleen winced. "Urm… yes… Hermione," she said, unwilling to even attempt to lie to the girl.
"Right… why are you holding a statue of a dragon?" Hermione asked, her tone leaving 'calm' in the dust and edging toward 'shrill' at an alarming rate.
"I don't have to fight it!" Harleen quickly attempted to assure her girlfriend. "I just have to steal… well, steal an egg from… from her nest," she finished weakly, realizing, even as she said it, that this would do absolutely nothing to calm or reassure Hermione.
The fact that Hermione quickly began to hyperventilate, her complexion going disturbingly pale, proved that realization as accurate and Harleen wrapped her arms around the swiftly panicking, taller girl.
"I swear to you, I will be fine. I've done this before, I know what I'm doing and I have a better plan in mind than I did last time. This overgrown lizard is not going to take me from you."
She kept her voice as calm as possible, letting out an almost unconscious stream of reassurances as she held her trembling girlfriend as tightly as she could. Hermione, in turn, was clinging to Harleen with an almost punishing degree of strength that Harleen bore without complaint.
"I can't begin to tell you how much I utterly loathe this damn tournament," Hermione finally hissed in Harleen's ear.
Drawing back slightly, Harleen pressed her lips to the other girls. "I know, love," she whispered, staring deep into tear filled cinnamon eyes. "I know you hate it, just trust me, I have this under control. I promise."
Hermione drew her into a needy, almost desperate feeling kiss, and Harleen responded with an equal fervor for a few seconds. Their kiss broke, and they practically sprang apart, when a bright flash of light went off from a few feet away, Hermione letting out a startled shriek in the process.
Harleen snarled furiously, her wand snapping into her hand.
"Accio camera! Reducto!"
A large, bulky looking camera was ripped from the hands of a shabbily dressed wizard only for it to be blasted into tiny pieces mid-flight.
"Was that really necessary?" Rita asked, a reproachful expression on her face.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" the photographer snapped angrily. "That's private property you just destroyed!"
"Bill me," Harleen growled, her wand trained on him. "I thought we had an agreement, Rita."
"We do. As long as what I write is factual you have no room to really complain."
"My private life is not for other people to read about in the damn paper!" Harleen snapped.
"If you wanted this to be private then the two of you shouldn't have been kissing out here, in public," Rita pointed out dryly. She turned, ignoring the wand that was now pointing at her to address the man beside her. "Go get your back up camera and get in the stands. I'll meet you there. Oh, and not a word of this to anyone, understand?"
"But she-"
"Do you understand, Bozo? I'll be talking to Miss Potter about this, believe me. I don't want you letting anything slip where someone else might be able to scoop us. Just go get your camera, hurry up."
Glaring balefully at Harleen the wizard slowly turned and made his way up the path toward the freshly built arena. Once he was out of sight Rita turned her attention back to the two girls, ignoring the wand still pointed at her.
"Look, Harleen," she said. "I told you I agreed with your conditions, under the condition that you gave me a chance to change your mind on your stance. We haven't had an opportunity to have that conversation but I think we need to have it sooner, now, then later."
"I don't care. I told you, you can try, but you're not going to change my mind."
"What is it you're trying to change her mind on exactly, Miss Skeeter," Hermione interjected, finally overcoming her shock at the interruption.
"Miss Granger, right?" Rita asked, turning her attention to Hermione and ignoring the way that Harleen growled and interposed herself between the girl and the reporter. "I've heard you mentioned before. Potter's best friend since first year, right?"
"That's right."
"Maybe you can get through to her then. Your friend doesn't want her private life being written about in the papers, but she is a public figure."
"That doesn't give people the right to know everything about her. She's entitled to privacy and some peace and quiet, isn't she?"
"Of course she is, but the public doesn't see it that way, even if they're wrong. How do you think I've made my career? By reporting news that is no one else's business, for the most part."
"And what does that have to do with anything?" Harleen snapped.
"Let me talk to you after the task, both of you. I think you need a little lesson in how the world works."
"Why would you want to help us?" Harleen asked suspiciously.
"I may not have liked how you dealt with me at the Weighing of the Wands, but I do respect how you handled yourself. You can't get every other reporter out there to be willing to work with you like you managed to do with me, so let me try to change your mind. I won't write anything about what I just saw right now, yet, but you need to give me that chance to talk to you."
Harleen opened her mouth, ready to utterly tear into the woman in front of her, when the words died in her throat as a hand landed on her wrist and gently pushed her wand down. Surprised, she turned to look at Hermione.
"You need to focus on the task, Harleen," she said, her eyes fixed on Rita. "Worry about that and let me worry about this."
"There's nothing to worry about, I'm not-"
"Harleen, please! Focus on the task. Miss Skeeter-"
"Rita, please, dear," Rita interrupted.
"Miss Skeeter," Hermione continued firmly, "you'll get your chance to change Harleen's mind, but right now your presence is a distraction that Harleen can't afford. Please leave, and we will speak to you tomorrow. Expect a message from Sirius Black with the time and place to meet us."
Pleased with herself, Rita made a hasty exit at that point, making her way back up the path toward the stadium as Harleen turned to more fully face her girlfriend.
"What was that all about?" she demanded. "I don't want any part of having our personal life plastered all over that rag that she calls a paper."
"When she's on our side, isn't she worth her salt as a reporter?" Hermione asked.
"How do you mean?"
"The articles that she wrote after she spoke to you at the wand weighing. They were impartial, well written, informative. Basically, they were good articles. And I don't want to waste time right now trying to convince you of this since you need to focus, Harleen, so just leave it be for now. We'll talk about it later. I'm sitting by Sirius in the stands. Neville, the twins, and Ginny are sitting by us too, so just look for the noisiest group in the lot and you'll find us, no problems."
Harleen couldn't help a small grin at Hermione's description. With Sirius and the Weasley twins in the same location, she could only imagine the chaos that could happen.
"I still don't like-"
"Just let it go, love," Hermione cut in. "Trust me, I have an idea in mind, I just want to think it over and this gives me something to do," she ducked her head and looked at the younger girl through her bangs, "Please? I need something else to focus on other than what you're going to be facing out there."
Letting out a resigned sigh, Harleen nodded her head. "Fine. I still don't think it's necessary, but if it helps you, then fine." She leaned in, lifting up on her toes slightly to press another kiss to her girlfriend's lips before she dropped back and made her way back toward the tent. "I'll see you right after the task, whole and healthy," she swore just before she ducked her way back into the tent.
She blinked several times as her eyes readjusted to the dimly lit interior, as compared to the bright sunlight outside, and slowly made her way back over to her previous seat, dropping into it with a long sigh that drew the other champions attention to her where they were each sitting in various spots around the tent.
"I hate waiting," she muttered and across the tent, Viktor let out a loud snort of laughter.
"Vaiting is the vorst," he agreed. "I alvays feel as if I be sick, vaiting for a game to start."
"Got a herd of Hippogriffs doing loops in my stomach," Cedric agreed while Fleur nodded her head from a seat next to the Hufflepuff.
Grinning, Harleen fished around inside her robes for a moment and came up with a deck of playing cards.
"Anyone up for a round?" she asked in a hopeful tone.
"Do those cards haff charms against cheating?" Viktor asked, his own tone curious as he moved away from the wall of the tent and started toward her.
Harleen frowned. "Probably not? They're just a regular deck of muggle playing cards."
Snorting out another laugh, Viktor drew his wand and conjured a small, square table and four chairs. Sitting, he held out his hand for the deck.
"Come," he said. "I teach charms, and maybe teach to play Poker, if ve haff time."
Curiously, the rest of them approached and sat at the table, nerves briefly forgotten as they set about learning something new while they waited.
#####
Hermione slid into a seat in the front row between Neville and Sirius and was grateful when the older wizard placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She gave Sirius a shaky smile, noting that he looked just as worried as she felt, even though he was trying to hide it. He looked much better than he had when they'd first met him, less gaunt, cleaner and more put together. His still poor health, however, meant that his pasty complexion and the bags under his eyes stood out in sharp relief on his face, despite the broad smile he had plastered on.
"You're not fooling anyone, Sirius," she told him with a sad smile. "You look as awful as I feel."
"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not that a pretty young girl thinks I look awful." His grin became a bit more genuine as he leaned down toward her to whisper in her ear. "Of course, even if the age difference wasn't enough, I know I've got the wrong equipment and that you're taken by someone much prettier than me, so I'll accept the sentiment in the spirit of concern for my health that I'm sure it was offered."
Hermione glared at him and swatted at his shoulder, causing him to burst out laughing for a moment.
"Seriously though. I'm not happy about this in the slightest. Is this how you've felt over the last few years? Constantly watching her get thrown into this dangerous crap, and you stuck there, helpless to do anything more than you've already done to try to help her?"
"Pretty much, yeah," she admitted with a pained expression on her face. "We've helped as much as we've been able to in the past. Me and Ron, mostly, but in the end it's always come down to her. She's always faced whatever situation it was alone."
Sirius placed one arm around her shoulders. "Not always," he said so softly that she almost wasn't able to hear him over the general din of the crowd. "Last year she wasn't alone when the two of you were saving my life. She had you with her, and that made all the difference in the world."
Around them the noise of the crowd grew, drawing their attention and both Sirius and Hermione looked up to see Ludo Bagman standing at the front of the judge's box, hands raised to the crowd and a huge smile on his face.
Hermione let out a shuddering breath as he pointed his wand at his throat and cast a Sonorous.
"Here we go," she whispered.
Please. Please come back to me.
#####
One by one, the champions were called to complete their tasks. Harleen wanted to listen. She wanted to try to keep track of what was happening with her new friends, but the lion's share of her focus was on herself and her own plan.
This is a better plan than I had last time, she tried to reassure herself. Just flying against the Horntail before was only half a plan, at best. No injuries. Not this time.
Despite her confidence that she would be able to complete this task, there was no denying the spike of fear in her chest, or the churning acid in her gut.
Before she realized it, it was her turn. Standing, she lifted her head high and made her way out of the tent, her wand clasped tightly in one clammy, trembling hand.
#####
Oh my God…
"She looks so small," Sirius said, unintentionally finishing the thought that had first raced through Hermione's mind when she saw Harleen exit the tunnel into the stadium. Really they were right. Even before she changed, Harleen hadn't exactly been tall for her age, but now, she looked positively tiny compared to the massive bulk of the dark death machine the handlers had chained in place inside the stadium.
The first three dragons hadn't been nearly as big, they hadn't been nearly as aggressive, and despite the fact that her girlfriend was going to be facing a bloody dragon, of all things, she'd begun to feel a little better about the whole situation, especially after watching how easily Fleur, Cedric, and Viktor handled their own dragons. The moment that massive monster had been led into the stadium though, all her fears and worries had shot through the roof and Hermione found herself gripping Sirius' hand as tightly as she could, barely holding onto her self control.
On her other side Neville was quietly muttering a string of curses that she didn't have the heart to even attempt to scold him for. In fact, she almost thought she might join him.
"Merlin's bloody beard," one of the twins blurted out from behind them.
"How is Harleen going to deal with something like that?" the second twin asked in an aghast tone.
"Hermione?"
Hermione turned slightly to let Ginny know that she was listening but she absolutely refused to take her eyes off the tiny figure of her girlfriend.
"Harleen must have told you what she was planning, right? I mean, you probably helped her come up with a plan, you're the brightest witch in the school, you had to have helped her?"
Slowly, Hermione shook her head.
"Harleen wouldn't let me help," she croaked out. "She promised me that she had a good plan, but I have no idea what it is."
Ludo called for the task to begin and Hermione slid forward onto the very edge of her seat, her heart leaping into her throat as Harleen raised one hand and shouted out a spell that she couldn't hear over the noise of the crowd.
#####
Come on, Harleen thought, her eyes never leaving the dragon in front of her. Damn, she looks even bigger than she did last time… or maybe that's just because I'm smaller? Fucking Dursleys.
A moment later a grin split her lips and she looked up as a whistling sound reached her ears, just in time to see her Firebolt come swooping in from the direction of the castle to come to a stop hovering right in front of her.
"Yes!" she couldn't help but cry, a sense of elation flooding through her. Grabbing the broom in her left hand she warily moved to the side, keeping a careful watch on the dragon where it sat hunched over its nest as it watched her with a frightening intensity.
"Okay," she muttered as she attempted to take a calming breath. "This is going to be the hard part."
Closing her eyes, knowing that she was far enough away to be out of range of the dragon's fire, she lifted her wand in her right hand, still clutching the broom in her left as she carefully intoned the words to a spell only recently learned.
"Quinque gradus replicationem," she said as she swept her wand through the motions of the spell. A tingling sensation settled over her as the spell took hold and Harleen slowly opened her eyes, grinning broadly as the first part of her plan took effect.
#####
"Her broom?" Sirius questioned as the item came to a stop in front of his goddaughter. "That's… I'm not sure if that's brilliant or insane," he admitted.
"No one beats Harleen on a broom," one of the twins crowed excitedly. "She's gonna outfly that giant lizard! It's brilliant."
"No…" Hermione trailed off, watching as Harleen didn't immediately mount the broom and take to the sky.
Beside her, Sirius turned his attention to her, a confused expression on his face. "Hermione?" he asked.
"She's not flying. I mean, she isn't already in the air. The broom landed a minute ago, why wouldn't she be in the air already if that's all she was going to do?" she asked.
Down in the arena Harleen was waving her wand through the motions of a spell. A spell that Hermione didn't recognize in the slightest.
"She's planning something else."
Spell apparently completed, Harleen lowered her wand and even from where they were sitting in the stands, Hermione could clearly see the broad grin that broke out on her girlfriend's face as she lifted her right foot and slowly took a single step forward.
Then another.
And another.
In all, Harleen took five careful, deliberate steps forward but the thing that had the audience gasping in shock was that, for each step she took, she left another Harleen Potter behind her.
The visual effect was unusual. One moment, Harleen was standing there, quite alone, then it was almost like another Harleen took a step out of the one standing on the sand. Five steps later there were six Harleen Potters in the arena, each with a wand and a broom clutched in their hands, and each looking completely real and solid, as far as Hermione could tell.
"What the hell kind of a spell was that?" Sirius demanded.
Shaking her head, Hermione remained silent, unsure how exactly to respond, but for the first time since the Horntail had been brought out, she was beginning to feel a sense of hope that Harleen just might make it out of this situation in one piece.
#####
"Woah, okay, that took a bit more out of me than I expected," Harleen muttered, a wave of dizziness passing over her for a moment. She grimaced and shrugged it off, turning to face the five illusionary copies of herself that she'd just created. "Damn if it didn't work though," she said.
The five replicants that she'd just created smiled at her in an eerie unison and spread out until they stood in a single line facing her, soldiers waiting to receive their orders.
"Okay," she said, pausing to wipe the beads of sweat that had accumulated on her forehead. "Not going to be able to hold this for long, so let's go."
At her mental command, the five copies surged forward and surrounded her, the six of them milling about until, as one, they each mounted their broom and shot into the air.
#####
"Fuck a duck!" Sirius blurted out when the six versions of his goddaughter burst into the air, each splitting off in a different direction.
"What was that all about?" Ginny demanded in a worried tone.
"Mixing around like that confused things," Hermione spoke up, absently, her eyes focused on one particular image of her girlfriend as she swooped and dove through the air, all six of them harassing and annoying the dragon hunched protectively over its nest. "By coming close together and milling around that way it's almost impossible to tell which of them is the real Harleen anymore. Most of the people here probably have no idea where she actually is in all that," she added, flinging one hand forward the gesture to the six figures as they sped through the air.
"It's smart," Neville noted. "I don't know how she did it, but creating those copies will make it harder for the dragon to know who to focus on."
"Not entirely."
Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and the twins turned their attention to Sirius who was staring intently at the battle taking place on the sand.
"What do you mean, Sirius?" Hermione demanded.
"Dragons don't just use their eyes to spot prey. They're apex predators, they pretty much have no natural enemies in the world, save for magicals. Hagrid could probably tell us more but I seem to remember that they use their sense of smell and hearing as much as most beings use their eyes, plus their vision actually is capable of detecting wavelengths that human eyes can't."
"S-so… what does that mean?" Neville stammered out.
"It means," Hermione started, swallowing thickly as a wave of terror washed over her, "that the dragon probably knows exactly which of those copies out there is the real Harleen."
#####
Crap, crap, crap, crap, Harleen thought as she jerked her broom in a tight turn, corkscrewing around a jet of flames. She ducked down, plastering her body as close to the handle of her broom as she could, dove under the dragon's head, out the other side, and shot up into the air until she was hovering a hundred feet above the arena.
"Why isn't this working?" she muttered, watching the Horntail glare at her and ignore the five copies of her that were still swooping and flitting about her head and body. "The copies aren't fooling her, she knows where I am. Dammit!"
Lifting her right hand she flicked her wrist and caught her wand as it shot out of her sleeve. A quick wave dispelled the illusions.
"So much for having a better plan!" she suddenly shouted at the dragon, glaring balefully at the creature as if it was her fault.
In the next moment, Harleen nearly fell off her broom as a deep, feminine voice seemed to fill the arena.
"It isn't my fault that you don't pay attention in class, little witchling."
#####
Hermione let out a panicked shriek when Harleen suddenly bobbled in the air, briefly losing control of her broom.
"Merlin this woman is going to give me a heart attack," she groaned after her girlfriend steadied herself and managed to remain in the air though she appeared to be extremely startled.
"You and me both, sister," Sirius said as he blew out a relieved breath. "I really don't know how much of this kind of thing I can take."
Behind them, Ginny and the twins, joined by the Flying Foxes, were screaming their heads off.
"Come on, Harry!"
"Show that overgrown salamander you don't mess with a lion!"
Sirius and Hermione exchanged a look.
"I'll help you kill them if you help me hide the bodies?" he offered to which she could only offer a weak grin.
"They're just excited, not enough reason to kill them… yet."
"What's Dumbledore doing?"
At the sound of Neville's question, she turned back toward the arena and the judges box to see the Headmaster standing at the small railing at the front of the box. Raising his wand he swept it in a wide circle while his lips moved through the incantation of some spell.
#####
"What in the name of…"
"Why are you here?"
"Yipe!" Harleen jerked up on the handle of her broom, rising a dozen feet into the air as a jet of flames came uncomfortably close to the bottoms of her shoes.
"Who is that?" she shouted, head twisting back and forth in search of the person that belonged to that voice.
"So, it's not just a lack of attention, but a deficiency of intelligence? Disappointing."
Eyebrows climbing rapidly toward her hairline, Harleen looked down at the dragon below her.
"Are you…"
Her question died as the horntail began to shake, a deep rumbling sound echoing out of her throat. It took all of five seconds for her to realize the dragon was laughing at her.
"Definitely low intelligence."
§Hey! I may not be a genius, like Hermione, but I'm not stupid,§ she snapped, entirely unaware that she'd slipped into Parseltongue.
"Hermione? Is that the one with the wild hair?" The horntail's head turned toward the stands where Hermione and the rest of their friends were sitting for a moment before turning back to look up at Harleen again. "Her scent is all over you, little witchling."
§What does that have to do with anything?§ A moment later, Harleen blinked and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm actually talking to a dragon," she muttered incredulously.
"She is important to you, this 'Hermione'?"
Harleen's eyes narrowed angrily and she dropped a dozen feet through the air, coming closer to the dragon.
§I really hope you aren't threatening my girlfriend,§ she hissed furiously.
The dragon laughed again. "Yes, definitely important to you, and no, I am not threatening your mate. As important as she is to you, my clutch is even more important to me, so I hope that impresses upon you how serious I am. I still want to know why you're here. Why have I been brought here? What is it that you want?"
#####
"She's actually talking to the bloody dragon?" Sirius blurted out, aghast.
"Apparently," Hermione responded, just as dumbfounded as the wizard beside her. Whatever spell Dumbledore had been casting, it had made it possible for everyone in the stadium to hear what Harleen was saying, not that they'd honestly been able to understand most of what was being said. Harleen had only spoken two, maybe three times in English and the entire rest of her discussion had devolved into Parseltongue.
Strangely enough, they couldn't hear the dragon, either in Parseltongue or anything else.
"Why can't we hear the dragon?" Neville asked in a confused tone, his expression matching his voice.
Hermione could only shrug helplessly. "I don't know. Maybe her voice is just too low for regular human ears to be able to hear her?"
"Talking is good, right?" Ginny asked, leaning forward until her head was stuck between Neville and Hermione, a worried expression on her face. "Talking means Harleen might be able to convince the dragon to give her the egg."
"I'd like to think so, but we all know that Harleen isn't exactly the most diplomatic person in the world, is she? Talking is good, I'm just worried she'll say something to make the horntail angry."
#####
"They have done all this, dragged the four of us, and our young, across the world, just for a competition?"
Before today, Harleen hadn't known that a dragon could be incredulous, much less sound it, but there it was. This dragon was clearly dumbfounded that wizards had gone to so much trouble for something so small.
§Pretty much. I've been saying it for a long time, wizards are stupid.§
Below her the dragon appeared to be eyeing her skeptically.
"What is the purpose of this competition, then?" she asked.
§It's supposed to promote international friendships and show off the 'honor' of our school, or something. I am being forced to compete against my will,§ Harleen explained as calmly as she could. §I didn't ask to be here, and I don't want to be here, but I have no choice in the matter. If I do not compete I will lose my magic.§
The dragon suddenly reared back and let loose a thunderous roar.
"These fools have wagered the essence of the competitors?" she bellowed as Harleen clapped her hands over her ears at the sudden, and painful, volume the horntail reached in her fury. "They would risk destroying that which makes you witchlings and wizardlings what you are? Without your magic, you would be like a dragon without her wings!"
§Preaching to the choir, sister,§ Harleen said with a derisive snort. §So, in their infinite wisdom, the morons running this show have placed a fake egg in your nest. I am supposed to steal it from you and it has a clue to the next task. I swear that I do not want to hurt you, or your young at all. Again, I didn't want to be here, but I have no choice in the matter.§
The dragon tilted her head, studying Harleen with an eye nearly as large as the witch herself was.
"I imagine you are hoping that I will simply give you this false egg?"
Harleen shrugged.
§The thought did cross my mind,§ she admitted.
Several long seconds passed in silence as the dragon studied her.
"Did you know that one cannot lie in the Noble Tongue?"
Harleen blinked in confusion.
§The what now?§
"The Noble Tongue? The language of serpents and reptiles that we have been speaking this entire time?"
For the first time the dragon sounded confused and Harleen found herself blinking again, this time with a sense of consternation. She suddenly sat up straight on her broom and looked around wildly, only now realizing that the crowd that had been making a significant amount of noise had gone utterly silent, every single eye fixed unerringly on her and with most of them wearing expressions ranging from disbelief, to outright horror.
§Oh… crap. This isn't going to be good,§ she sighed, letting her face drop into her hands.
Grabbing her broom she pressed it down, diving for the floor of the arena and quickly dismounted some twenty feet away from the dragon to sit on a small boulder with a sigh, her broom leaning against the rock beside her.
"Why is this not good? It is a rare gift for one of your kind to be able to speak the Noble Tongue. You should be honored to have this ability."
Harleen winced and rubbed one hand across her face. The dragon sounded annoyed by her reaction even as she shifted, resting back on her haunches as she hovered protectively over her nest.
§I didn't realize that I was speaking in the Noble Tongue.§ Harleen frowned and paused for a moment. §Noble Tongue. Noble Tongue.§
"Seriously? I can't say 'Parseltongue' in Parseltongue?" she muttered incredulously.
"Explain yourself."
§Right, sorry.§ Harleen quickly shifted her attention back to the dragon. §There have been very few humans with the ability to speak the Noble Tongue,§ she started, §and invariably the ones that are the most well known have all been very bad people. The large majority of wizards and witches in this country see it as a 'dark' gift. They are immediately distrustful of someone that can speak it and will tend to assume that one who can is dangerous.§
"A speaker is dangerous,"the dragon declared. "There is magic that can be done, spoken in the Noble Tongue, that is more powerful than that which you humans normally use. A spell cast in the language of serpents cannot be undone unless also attempted in the language of serpents."
That certainly got Harleen's attention and she leaned forward on her rock. §Do you mean that if I cast a stunner in the Noble Tongue, that no one would be able to revive them unless they also cast in the same language?§
"Precisely."
"Oh… well, that's interesting," she muttered, leaning back again on her seat as she considered the implications of that piece of information. There appeared to be an entire avenue of magic that she might need to study. It could give her quite the advantage against her enemies.
§Is there any way I can convince you to give me the false egg that is amongst your clutch?§ she asked hopefully. §I would really rather not continue to fight over it with you if there is any way to avoid it.§
"As I already said, it is impossible to say something that is not true when speaking the Noble Tongue. I believe that you do not wish my young any harm. However why should I give up something for nothing?"
Harleen sighed and shrugged helplessly. §I wish I could offer something in payment, but I don't know what I could possibly give you.§
"There is little that a dragon wants that any human could possibly provide,"said the dragon in a rather condescending tone.
"I figured as much," Harleen grumbled to herself.
"I am a Dragon, little witchling. Dragons are not materialistic like you humans. We do not need... 'things'." She said the word 'things' with such disdain that Harleen couldn't help but let out a short, barking laugh.
§Even if there were something that I could offer you, I don't know what I have available. I have no idea if I have property maybe you could live on, or the finances to buy something that you did want, whatever it might have been. Maybe I could talk to the handlers on the reserve about your living conditions? Are you happy with how you are all being treated? Do you have room for yourself and your young to stretch your wings?§
"The wizardlings and witchlings care for us quite well," she admitted. "We are allowed to be wild, instead of them attempting to domesticate us, but it is… nice, having them nearby in case something untoward happens and we require assistance."
Not that Harleen wished that the dragons were being mistreated or something, but it would have made things easier if she could have talked to Charlie and the rest of his team to offer suggestions on how to make things better.
She leaned back on her seat again, hands behind her on the stone to support her upper body as she considered the massive creature in front of her. Think, Potter, she admonished herself. Think. You can't fight your way out of this one, not anymore. Who knew that Dragons could speak? It's not her fault that she's here any more than it is yours so either of us getting hurt, or her eggs getting damaged… simply not an option. But what can I do? She doesn't want to just give up the egg for nothing but she doesn't know what she wants and I don't have a clue what to offer.
Sighing she slumped back the rest of the way until she was lying on her back, staring up at the bright blue sky above with a dejected air about her, her arms splayed out to her sides. "If only I knew Legilimency, maybe I could enter her mind and find out what she most needs," she muttered under her breath.
She lay there in silence for several seconds as the crowd began to grow restless around her. Yeah, yeah, keep your hats on people. I'm doing my best out here. All my planning went right out the window… "OH!"
Sitting up sharply she stared wide eyed at the dragon.
"I think I know a way to find out what you want."
Shaking her head she tried again. §I think I know how to find out what you want,§ she said excitedly.
The dragon tilted her large head to one side, eyeing Harleen speculatively.
"What are you referring to, little witchling?"
#####
Watching her girlfriend converse with a multi-tonne apex predator while floating in mid air on a flimsy piece of wood was somewhat nerve wracking. When Harleen went and landed on the ground just twenty feet away from the massive beast, Hermione's nerves were officially shot. Then the girl sat down on a boulder, broom leaning beside her and with no sign of her wand!
"She's honestly going to be the death of me. I swear, she's trying to just destroy every last one of my nerves."
"I'm sure she knows what she's doing," Sirius attempted to reassure her, though he didn't sound particularly convinced, himself.
"You realize, if she dies, I'm going to kill her."
Sirius chose not to respond to the impossibility of that particular statement and instead simply wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.
"Is my goddaughter stupid?" he suddenly asked as Harleen and the dragon continued to parley down on the sand.
"What?" Hermione jerked upright against him, half pulling away to turn and look incredulously at the former marauder. "Of course not. She's very smart to be honest, she just hasn't always put in the kind of effort that she's capable of."
"So, if she's not stupid, then we can assume she's not being stupid out there with her safety right now, correct?"
Hermione frowned, turning back to the scene in the arena.
"Maybe? Probably, actually. But while she's smart and everything, she is usually pretty reckless in regards to her own welfare and safety. She doesn't always seem to realize that something she's doing could easily get her killed, she just does it because she thinks it's the right thing to do."
"If she thought she was in danger from that dragon do you think she'd be that close to her? Or would Harleen keep her distance? At the very minimum she'd be astride that broom and ready to take off at a moment's notice, right?"
"Potter's going to get herself killed out there, the stupid bint!"
"Put a sock in it, Parkinson!"
Hermione and Sirius both turned in their seats to face the row of three Weasleys and three Gryffindor Chasers behind them and one row further up sat Pansy Parkinson with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of her, as they glowered at everyone around them, except for Sirius. Even they weren't stupid enough to try to appear threatening to an adult wizard the caliber of Sirius Black. More than a decade in prison or not, he had been a world class dueler in his youth and fought on the front lines in the first Blood War.
"She's actually laying down, just waiting for that dragon to roast her," Parkinson practically crowed, pointing gleefully down into the arena.
Hermione couldn't help herself. She spun back around to look and did indeed find her girlfriend lying on her back on the rock she'd chosen for a seat. She wasn't paying any attention whatsoever to the mass of teeth, scales, spikes, and claws with combustible halitosis that was crouched right in front of her.
Suddenly, Harleen popped up into a sitting position, letting out a startled 'OH!' that burst out over the audience, thanks to the Headmaster's spell that allowed them to hear what was going on down on the sand.
"I think I know a way to find out what you want."
Harleen's voice had dropped to a low murmur, before she suddenly shook her head and spoke in Parseltongue again, probably repeating what she'd just said for the dragon's benefit, Hermione thought.
Raising her wand, Harleen stood and closed her eyes in concentration.
"Anyone want to bet if the dragon will roast her, or simply swallow her whole?" Pansy asked, giggling irritatingly and otherwise ignoring the glares and scowls being directed at her by the vast majority of people around them. "I've got ten galleons on death by dragon fire."
Down on the sand, Harleen's mouth opened and she carefully spoke the words to an incantation that had a ripple of muted conversation sweeping through the crowd.
"Accio Sorting Hat."
#####
Harleen smiled when the hat landed in her hands and she ignored the murmuring of the crowd to lift it up and set it down on her head, the brim dropping low over her eyes and obscuring her view.
Are you awake? she thought.
Several seconds passed by in silence save for the noise of the audience and then she suddenly felt a presence against her mind, mental fingers stretching out to touch her awareness.
Well… isn't this interesting. It's been some time, Miss Potter. I must say, I don't usually speak to a student more than once, just when they're sorted into their House. This makes the fourth occasion that we've encountered each other…
The voice in her head trailed off and she felt a spike of surprise.
Well, well, well… you certainly have had quite the adventure, haven't you, young lady?
Harleen almost smiled but managed not to. I'm beginning to think that I'm just never going to be allowed to have a normal, quiet life, she admitted ruefully.
No, I dare say you will not. I haven't encountered a time traveler such as yourself in some time… oh, five hundred years or so, I'd say.
Harleen balked at that, blinking in surprise beneath the brim of the hat. Others have gone back like I have?
I can't say who, the hat responded, but you would not be the first person to be on their last chance with the after life. Why do you think the rule was created to allow the Last Chance Clause in the first place? Others have needed it before you.
She let out a sigh. It's nice to know I'm not alone, at least. I was feeling kind of… incompetent, for aparently dying so many times before. I wasn't sure I was really up to this whole destiny that's supposed to be in front of me.
The hat made a scoffing sound that almost seemed to echo inside her mind. A destiny wouldn't be placed in front of someone that didn't have the capacity to complete it. You simply had too many outside forces working against you at the time. I'm glad that you found your proper gender, it will make completing your destiny easier. I really wanted to say something when I looked into your head at your Sorting but it wasn't for me to tell you.
Harleen shrugged. I'm not sure I would have believed you back then. I was so new to the idea of magic that I wouldn't have known what to think.
Very true. But you didn't summon me from my shelf in the Headmaster's office to reminisce. What can I do for you today, Miss Potter?
Shouldn't you already know? You're inside my head aren't you?
The hat scoffed again. Well of course I know. I can see the whole plan, here in your head. Most people tend to get a bit disconcerted when I know things they haven't explained for themselves.
Harleen shrugged again, leaning back on her seat as she did so, her feet kicking idly in front of her. It'd save time if I don't have to explain what I'm thinking. Do you think you can do it? Will there be any kind of language barrier?
I can connect to any sentient mind, the hat said, sounding affronted that she appeared to doubt its abilities. Place me on her head and I'll find what she's looking for.
Happily, Harleen jumped up, a broad grin spreading over her lips. Thank you, so much. I really appreciate it. And…
I won't be telling anyone about your trip to your past or anything else that I saw inside your mind, never you worry. I keep the confidence of everyone that I've ever sat on and would never break that.
Nodding quickly she thanked the hat again before sweeping it off her head and turning her attention to the dragon, who was watching her calmly, if curiously.
"Uhhh…"
Hat in hand, it suddenly occurred to her that she needed to place a magical item on the head of one of the most deadly magical creatures on the face of the planet.
"What troubles you, little witchling?"
§Well, I have an idea, but suddenly trying to do what I wanted to do… kind of terrifies me to no end,§ she admitted ruefully and the dragon snorted, expelling a relatively small cloud of smoke and soot. 'Relatively small' meaning it only completely enveloped Harleen, hiding her entire body from view, as opposed to hiding half the arena.
In the stands she heard a panicked shriek and promised herself that she would do something really nice for Hermione as soon as she could to make up for the stress this was putting on her poor girlfriend.
The cloud quickly dissipated and Harleen wrinkled her nose at the smokey smell that now clung to her.
"What is it that you wish to do?"
§I need to place this hat on your head,§ she explained. §It can see inside your mind and can quickly use what it learned in my mind and what it will see in yours to determine if there is some mutual understanding that we can come to that would be acceptable to us both.§
The dragon's head tilted to one side again as it studied her.
"And why does this concern you?"
§I rather seriously doubt there are many humans that have attempted to put a hat on a dragon's head and lived long enough to tell anyone about it,§ Harleen responded as dryly as she could in a language consisting mostly of hisses.
The horntail shook with laughter again. "True,"she said. "I doubt such a thing has happened before. In this case, I will allow you to place that item on my head if it will help us both be free of this task."
That said, she leaned down until her chin was nearly resting on the ground right in front of Harleen. Even with as low as the horntail brought herself to the ground, Harleen still had to use her broom to get enough height to place the hat on top of the dragon's head, the brim expanding as she lowered it so that it sat squarely between the large horns at the crown of her head.
Silence reigned for some time, even the crowd in the stands going quiet as they all watched and waited. The quiet lasted for so long, in fact, that when the tear in the brim of the hat opened and its voice echoed out over the stadium, most of the people in attendance actually jumped slightly in surprise.
"Hogwarts offers sanctuary to Lilliom, the Hungarian Horntail and her clutch!" the hat bellowed. "She, and her young, will be protectors, guardians of Hogwarts. Let any that would argue this decision remember the school motto: 'Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus'."
#####
Below them, Sirius, Hermione, and the others watched as Harleen took the sorting hat off of the dragon's head and then accepted the golden egg as the horntail pushed it out of her nest to let it roll to a stop by the witches feet.
"What just happened?" Sirius asked.
"I haven't the foggiest," Hermione returned faintly as Harleen picked up the egg and started walking toward the exit. As the girl in the arena began to move it seemed to galvanize Hermione into motion and she leapt to her feet to run down to meet her girlfriend at the exit, her mind already buzzing with questions.
"Awww… that stupid dragon couldn't even kill Potter correctly," Pansy whined, ignoring the glares that were almost immediately turned in her direction. "I really wanted to see Potter bleed. Maybe we'll get lucky and the little cheater will-"
When Pansy started speaking Hermione had gone ramrod stiff, her arms straight at her sides and her hands curled into fists. She spun on her heel and strode back to the seat she'd just abandoned, stepping up onto it and over the back as Fred and George, after taking one glance at the look on her face, scrambled to get out of her way. Reaching up, Pansy cut off in mid-sentence as Hermione's hand fisted into the front of the other girl's robes and she yanked her down until the two were almost nose to nose, the Gryffindor glaring furiously at the pug faced Slytherin witch.
"Look, you stupid, inbred, incompetent little bitch!" she snapped. "Harleen is not a cheater. She didn't enter her name into this damn tournament and doesn't want to be part of it at all. Just because you're a sad, weak, small minded, simpleton, doesn't mean that you get to spread your vitriol about wherever you damn well please, and if I hear one more word out of you I'm not going to be held responsible for my actions!"
"You lousy mudblood! Let go of m-"
Pansy cut off again, this time with a pained cry as Hermione pulled back her right arm and let fly, punching the struggling girl right in the nose with every ounce of strength she had in her body. Pansy was flung backward to land in the seat behind her, both hands flying up to her abused nose even as Hermione cried out in pain as well as she hunched over and cradled her hand to her chest.
A pair of hands grabbed her and only Sirius' voice in her ear stopped her from immediately putting up a struggle. Above them, Crabbe and Goyle seemed lost as to what to do, their attention shifting from a screaming and cursing Pansy to the rest of the group that now had their wands out and pointed at the three hapless Slytherins. When faced with more than a half-a-dozen wands, as well as the icy glare that Sirius directed at them, the two boys did probably the smartest thing either of them had ever done, they left, leaving Pansy behind.
"Come on," Sirius murmured in Hermione's ear while she did her best to stifle the tears that wanted to spill down her cheeks. "That was a damned good punch, but I think you might have broken your hand. Let's get you down to see your girl and let Madam Pomfrey take a look at that hand."
Hermione nodded, letting the older wizard lead her gently away.
#####
When Harleen stepped into the hospital tent she felt as if she were in a daze. Her plan hadn't worked. In fact, all she'd managed to do with that spell she'd found was wear herself out. She could feel the lethargy dragging at her even as she lifted one foot and put in front of the other.
Somehow, despite her big plan going completely wrong, she'd still managed to get the egg and she did it without actually getting injured for once! Of course, Hermione was probably going to crack a few of her ribs with the hug she was expecting to receive once the girl reached her, but Harleen considered that a small price to pay for all the stress and worry that Hermione must experience just by being friends with her, much less being her girlfriend.
"All right, Miss Potter, come sit down over here and let me have a look at you," Poppy Pomfrey ordered when Harleen stepped fully into the tent, already rushing over and wrapping one arm around Harleen's shoulders to lead her over to one of the beds in the tent. Across from her she could see Cedric sitting up in his bed and grinning happily at her, despite the thick orange burn paste he had on one arm. Harleen guessed that was an improvement over the amount of burns that he'd had the previous time.
"I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey," she tried to protest even as she found herself pushed into one of the beds. The egg, her broom, and the sorting hat were all taken from her arms. The egg and hat were set on a small table that appeared beside the bed with her broom stood leaning against it before Madam Pomfrey turned back to her, a fierce scowl on the matronly woman's face.
"I will be the judge of how 'fine' you are Miss Potter, not you. You have already proven yourself to be an unreliable source of information in regards to your health and it is my job, not yours, to know what is wrong with my patients."
"But the dragon didn't even touch me," Harleen protested. "I swear, I didn't get hurt at all. Just a little tired."
"Hmph."
That was the only sound Madam Pomfrey made as she started waving her wand over Harleen's body, silently casting her diagnostic charms and Harleen sighed and leaned back in the bed, her arms crossed over her chest. Across from her, Cedric was obviously doing his best not to burst out laughing at the scene playing out in front of him. Both hands were clamped over his mouth, the portion of his face that was visible above his hands already turning red and his shoulders shook with the effort of containing his laughter.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, pretty boy," she grumbled good naturedly. "You're the one sitting there cooked medium rare."
That did it for Cedric. He threw his head back and absolutely roared with laughter, tears streaming down his face in record time as his body shook and one fist pounded on the mattress next to him.
Amused by the older Hufflepuff's reaction, in spite of herself, Harleen sat back and let Madam Pomfrey fuss over her, doing her level best to relax as she waited for whatever was to come next.
