"Hang on," Cedric says, pulling out of a sharp dive to give Harry a confused look, "did you just say that this professional wrestling thing is fake?"
"Yup."
"Totally, completely staged? With a winner decided in advance and everything?"
"Yup."
"And all the muggles watching know this?"
"I think so."
"And they still enjoy it?"
Harry shrugs, then tosses Cedric the basketball. Cho loaned it to them earlier before dashing off to cram for her Herbology OWL tomorrow. They've flown past the library a couple times in hopes of catching a glance at her, but wherever she's studying, it's not near one of the big windows.
He and his partners have all hit crunch time. The third task is just four days away, and the OWLs are in full swing. Harry really ought to be more disciplined, but weeks of research and spell practice have left him burnt out. Cedric hasn't said as much, but he gets a sense he's in a similar headspace. He's quieter than usual and prone to getting lost in thought. Harry's caught him at meals staring at the Great Hall ceiling with a vacant, glassy-eyed expression. They could both use a break, which is why he's out here explaining muggle sports to his adorably clueless boyfriend.
"So is there a version of wrestling that isn't faked?" Cedric asks.
"Yeah, but it's not as popular. They don't usually show it on TV unless it's the Olympics."
"Ah, the Olympics. I remember reading about those," Cedric tucks the basketball under his arm and leans in to whisper conspiratorially. "I particularly enjoyed the bit about the athletes competing nude."
Harry rolls his eyes. "That's the ancient Olympics. The modern Olympics require the athletes to wear clothing. Though, I suppose how much clothing depends on the sport."
"Oh? Tell me more about these half-naked muggle athletes."
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Diggory." Harry swats his arm and fails to suppress a grin.
"Fine, fine. Then explain to me again, in professional wrestling- hang on, what's that?"
Cedric points at two specks flying towards them. Harry shields his face from the sun and squints. It's Hedwig and another slightly larger owl carrying a shoebox-sized parcel.
As part of his preparations for the third task, Harry reached out to all the non-Hogwarts Professor wizards he could think of, that being Lupin, Sirius, and Bill and Charlie Weasley. The Weasley brothers sent their replies last week, Sirius has been sending him letters almost daily, but he's yet to hear back from Lupin. He thought Hedwig may have gotten lost, then he remembered to check the lunar calendar and felt terrible for bothering him in the first place.
Hedwig lands on his broomstick handle. The envelope clutched in her beak is addressed to him in Lupin's handwriting. The other owl, brown with bright orange eyes, hovers in front of Cedric. He casts a quick wingardium leviosa on the basketball, then uses his now free hands to grab the box.
"What d'you have there, Persephone?" Cedric says, hesitating before removing the lid. After inspecting the contents his face relaxes. "Mmm! My Mum made cauldron cakes. Want one?"
The cake is still warm when Harry bites into it. If this is what Mrs. Diggory's desserts taste like, then he can understand how Cedric got such a sweet tooth. He offers a piece to Hedwig, but she turns her head away in disinterest. Harry wipes his hands clean of powdered sugar and jelly filling, then opens his envelope.
Dear Harry,
I hope this letter finds you before the final task. Unfortunately the full moon took a bigger toll on my health than usual this month, and I apologize for my late response.
I looked over the list of "Spells and Other Useful Stuff" you sent me. It's quite comprehensive, so much so I don't have anything to add. I'm impressed by your, Ron, and Hermione's thoroughness. I highlighted the things I think are most critical for you to learn. You should focus most on protecting yourself against beasts. If you're correct about Hagrid helping design the maze, there's bound to be plenty of them. I'd also advise not to spend much time on the nonverbal spells you listed, it's advanced magic you haven't learned yet. I have full faith you'll master them one day, but right now your time is limited. If you are set on them though, Padfoot is quite adept at them. Perhaps he could share some tips if he hasn't already.
Professor Dumbledore invited me to Hogwarts to watch you compete. I'd like to attend, but I've missed quite a bit of work recently due to my health so I may not be able to. I hope to see you soon, but if not I wish you the best of luck.
Sincerely,
Remus
PS: Pass along my best wishes to Cho on her OWLs. Padfoot informed me that you're seeing her and Cedric Diggory. I'd ask you to wish him well too, but I'm afraid it might ring hollow when attached to this letter of advice specifically for you.
Harry looks over the notes Lupin added to his list, then sticks the letter in his pocket. He'll show it to Ron and Hermione later. They'll be glad to know Lupin's feeling better, and that they've been on the right track with their practice sessions. With one notable exception, he's got at least a cursory grasp on all the highlighted spells.
Cedric received a letter with his parcel too. At first glance Harry thinks he's reading it, but his eyes aren't moving and he has that empty look he gets when he's lost in thought. He hasn't even touched his cauldron cakes.
"Hey, you okay?" He asks.
"Huh?" Cedric's expression comes back to life, and he quickly folds up his letter. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a note from my Dad, wishing me luck for the third task and all."
Harry nods. They've been good on their pact not to help each other with the third task, so much so they avoid talking about anything even bordering the subject. But Cho's told him some things. His Dad sends him these letters. They're meant to be encouraging, pep talks and frequent reminders of how proud he is of his son, but they only serve to stress him out. Cho never got too specific about the contents, and of course Cedric hasn't mentioned them, but Harry imagines his name comes up in them, and that the things Mr. Diggory says aren't the kindest.
"Well, I suppose I should put this away," Cedric says, gesturing to the box, "and then I think I'll get back to studying, if that's alright with you."
"Of course. Tell your Mum I said thanks for the cauldron cakes."
"Don't worry, you'll get to tell her soon enough."
Cedric leans in and swallows him in a lingering kiss. Harry reciprocates, sighing and putting a hand on the back of his neck, but he can't shake the feeling something's off. Cedric didn't check for onlookers. Granted, they're far away from any windows and most people are inside studying for exams, but it's unlike him to be so reckless.
He can still taste Cedric on his lips as he and Persephone fly away. Cho's basketball hovers forgotten in midair. They're probably not going to see each other again until the night of the third task. He wishes they hadn't left on such a strange note, but they'll have all the time in the world to talk when the tournament's finally over.
Harry looks at Hedwig, who's fallen asleep on his broomstick handle. "Suppose we should head in too? Be responsible and all?"
Hedwig doesn't stir. Poor girl must be exhausted after her journey to Lupin's. He'll give her a lift to the Owlery, then figure out what to do for the rest of the afternoon. He could practice more, but he'd be on his own since Ron and Hermione are studying for exams. He's found he's far less productive when they're not around to keep him on track. Plus the weather is gorgeous, clear skies and a gentle breeze, and he's only got a week left to enjoy it before his broomstick is locked away at Privet Drive.
Someone's doing chaser drills around the towers when Harry gets to the Owlery. He's seen them before during his Sundays with Cho and Cedric, they were out flying almost as often as them, but none of them could figure out who they were. His first thought is that he hopes they didn't catch him and Cedric snogging a couple minutes ago. His second thought is- is that Ginny Weasley?
"Oh uh… hello Harry," Ginny says, because it's definitely Ginny. She smiles awkwardly and her cheeks are pink from the sun- or is it embarrassment?
"Yeah, fancy meeting you here. Ron never mentioned you flew."
"Ron doesn't know. None of my brothers do."
"Well you ought to tell them. You're really good. Especially considering- are you on one of the school broomsticks?"
She nods, then tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "So um… how are you feeling? Hermione mentioned you're still having trouble remembering things?"
Harry hasn't abandoned all hope of recovering his memory. It has to be buried in his subconscious somewhere. It's just taking it's time reemerging. Not for lack of effort. He's taken up meditation and journaling, and he's read every book in the library about memory charms. Last week he met with Dumbledore after a dream about Voldemort and Wormtail made his scar burn. In an attempt to spark something, Dumbledore used thing called a pensieve to show him one of his memories of Mr. Crouch. All he got out of it though was that Mr. Crouch took his job very seriously, had little love for his son, and employed Cho's mother as one of his aides.
Harry sighs. "Yup, the whole night is still one big blank."
Ginny offers a sympathetic smile. "Sorry. I know better than most how frustrating that is."
"Right, you would huh?" He says, recalling the events of two years ago with Riddle's diary and the Chamber of Secrets.
"Something I used to do when I had gaps in my memory was ask other people what they saw me doing at the time," she says. "It never actually brought any of my memories back, but it helped me piece things together. Maybe it would work for you too?"
Harry's already heard Cedric's account of what happened. According to him: he ran out of the forbidden forest in a panic and demanded an audience with Dumbledore. Cedric held his hands, told him to be careful, and they went their separate ways. Fleur and Mr. Bagman offered their version of events too, but he still remembers bidding them both goodnight. His memory doesn't get hazy until after, when Krum taps him on the shoulder and asks to have a quick word.
"I've tried that, and yeah, it's helped a bit. I just wish I could talk to Krum. Karkaroff still won't let me near him. I thought Hermione might know since they're… involved, but it sounds like they haven't talked about it much."
Ginny stifles a giggle. "They're just friends. Hermione turned him down last week. She likes him, but I think her heart's set on someone else."
"Really, who?"
She raises an eyebrow. "You can't tell?"
"Err… I've been told I'm not very good at picking up those kinds of hints."
"Well if she hasn't told you then I won't say anything. And you're not that bad at picking up hints. You must've realized I used to fancy you."
"Yeah, but I'd have to be really dense not to get it after the 'Eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad' thing," he says, causing Ginny to wince and her ears to burn bright red. "And I missed the signs that you started fancying someone else."
"That's not your fault. I've been keeping quiet about it. I don't want my brothers to find out," she looks away and says quietly. "They're just going to make fun of me when they do."
"Hey, it's alright. If I promise not to say anything to Ron, will you tell me who you're seeing?" He asks, hoping it might cheer her up a little.
She considers a moment. "Only if you tell me what's going on between you, Cho, and Cedric. And you give me a go on your Firebolt."
He smirks. "You drive a hard bargain, but alright."
They swap broomsticks in the Owlery. Hedwig isn't too thrilled about getting woken up, but she gives him an affectionate nip on the finger and flies lazily towards one of the water bowls. He and Ginny do a few laps around the castle, tossing Cho's basketball between them. Harry can barely keep up with her, and he suspects it's not entirely because of the shitty school broomstick. This summer when he's staying at the Weasleys, he'll have to insist Ginny's included in their backyard Quidditch games.
"So, going to tell me about this mysterious boyfriend of yours?" He asks.
"Girlfriend, actually." Ginny says, blushing slightly. "Do you remember Ron's date to the Yule Ball?"
"Luna Lovegood?"
She nods. "We'd been friends for a while, but then we shared a dance at the Yule Ball and I… realized a few things about myself."
Harry laughs. "I think I might have an idea how that feels."
"Stupefy !"
Harry casts his spell and the gargoyle they'd "borrowed" from outside the Slytherin dungeon crumbles to pieces.
"Reparo ," Ron says, and the stone chunks reform into the statue. "That's five in a row. Not bad! Want to give it another go?"
After a month of practice, Harry's only now- the night before the final task- getting the hang of stunning things, and thus far he's only been successful on the ugly gargoyle statue. When faced against Ron or Hermione, his hands go cold and clammy and a pain like an electrical current sparks in his chest and runs down his spine. Sirius reckons it's because of the incident in the forest. A mental block stemming from a traumatic experience. He still has the cigarette burn scar on his sternum, though like Cedric said, it's starting to fade.
Harry glances at the clock above the common room fireplace, quarter to 11. He yawns. "Nah, let's call it a night."
"You're certain?" Hermione asks. "We don't mind, you know."
"Thanks, but I'm getting kind of tired."
"Ok, but let's do some more practice tomorrow afternoon. I'd like for you to get a bit more comfortable with stupefy, a nd it can't hurt to try out impedimenta a couple more times too."
For all his talk about being tired, Harry finds himself tossing and turning. It's the first time he's had the luxury of going to bed at a reasonable hour the night before a task, and of course he can't fall asleep. He really couldn't hope to be in a better position for tomorrow. He's done everything in his power to prepare, and he isn't scrambling at the 11th hour to learn a spell or find a potion. He isn't even all that nervous. Mostly he's ready to get this over with. He misses hanging out with Ron and Hermione without any discussion of strategy or tactics. He's tired of sneaking around with Cho and Cedric because people would assume they're working together if they knew they were in a relationship.
Harry rolls onto his side and glares out the window. He still doesn't know how he wound up entered into the tournament. Not for the first time, he finds himself resentful of whoever threw his name in the Goblet of Fire.
As he's finally dozing off, a memory pops into his head. He's in a dimly-lit forbidden forest, staring up at a stone-faced Viktor Krum.
"What is your relationship with Herm-o-ninny?"
"None of your business."
No, that's not right. He wouldn't have said that.
"None of your… None of… We're friends."
"Just friends?"
"Yup, just friends. We've never seen each other, nor have we-"
"Stupefy!"
A jet of red light strikes Harry hard in the sternum. Krum stands above him pointing his wand at his chest, then he isn't. Someone else's lit wand tip is hidden between the trees. His memory flickers between Krum and the stranger, familiar and unfamiliar.
"Stupefy!"
The words come from Krum's mouth, but it's not his voice. In all the times he's replayed the memory on loop, it's never been his voice. It's too gruff and it lacks his heavy Bulgarian accent. Harry plays it again in his mind, and again and again and again. It's a man's, someone quite a bit older than him, probably Irish judging by the accent. He's heard it before, but he just can't figure out where.
The pounding in his head swells until it's too severe to carry on. Harry sits up and rubs his temples. The headaches usually go away once he puts his mind on something else, but tonight it lingers. At least he still has Madam Pomfrey's pain relief potion.
"Ooh… sneaking off to see Cho?" Ron whispers.
"Huh?"
He only got out of bed to grab a potion vial from his trunk, but he remembers now, Cho's Astronomy OWL is tonight. If he can catch her after the exam ends and before she returns to Ravenclaw tower they could hang out for a short while. He's barely seen her since exams started. Their last conversation was a couple days ago when he returned her basketball and passed along Lupin's message. Like the rest of the fifth years she looked absolutely exhausted, but otherwise in good spirits. Of course he wants her to do well on her OWLs, and he's also been up to his ears in third task prepwork, but he really misses spending time with her.
In addition to the pain relief potion, Harry grabs his cloak and his map, then tiptoes down the stairs and out the portrait hole.
The exam is still in progress when he arrives. Professor Sinistra calls out the five minute warning. He waits, going over defensive hexes in his head until a stream of fifth years make their way down the Astronomy tower stairs. He catches Cho at the end, talking to a few girls in Ravenclaw robes. Funny how approaching her with her friends around once turned his feet to lead and tied his stomach into knots. Tonight he taps her on the shoulder with the same ease he writes his name.
"Hey, it's me," he whispers. "I've got my cloak on. Have a minute?"
"Of course. Hang on a sec." Cho dashes back to her friends. He can't make out what she says, but they nod and carry on without her. Once they're out of eyesight, he slips the cloak over her. "Sorry, I didn't want them to worry."
"Good thinking. What did you tell them?"
"That I need to visit the Owlery. Come to think of it, I do have a letter I need to send to my parents."
"You can borrow Hedwig if you want."
"That would be great, thanks."
Cho lights the tip of her wand and slips her arm around his waist. Quietly, they make their way to the Owlery.
"So how have your exams been going?" he whispers.
"Good! Except for Defense, that was a bit of a disaster, but I think I've done well on everything else."
"What happened in Defense?"
"When I was trying to capture a pixie I got Flipendo and Incendio mixed up and er… accidentally set the proctor's table on fire," she says. "Don't worry! The proctor was fine, but I doubt they'll give me very high marks."
Harry gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, you were planning on dropping it anyway. And I bet you did brilliant tonight."
"What about you, are you ready for tomorrow?"
"As much as I can be."
"Do you need any help preparing? My last exam is tomorrow afternoon, so I'll have plenty of time afterwards."
"Nah, I've got Ron and Hermione helping me. You should relax after finishing your OWLs."
"I'll relax when the task is over and my boyfriends are out of harm's way."
They find Hedwig on a low-hanging ledge curled up with Persephone. The two appear to have taken a liking to each other. Hedwig's eyes perk up when Cho fishes a letter out of her bag. Cho smiles and gives her a pat on the head before attaching her note to her leg.
"Have a safe trip, Hedwig. Send my love to Bao if you see him," Cho says as Hedwig flies off. She then turns to him, casting him a coy smile. She looks awfully pretty with the stars twinkling behind her.
"What?" he asks, feeling unexpectedly flustered under her gaze.
"Nothing, you just look cute in your pajamas."
"Oh, I um… thank you. You look cute too."
"No I don't. I'm running on three hours of sleep and I forgot to put on eyeliner this morning and-"
"You always look cute."
Harry brushes a strand of hair from her face and leans in, kissing her on the mouth. Cho puts her hands on his shoulders and pulls him closer, telling him without words that she's missed him too. The taste of coffee replaces her usual strawberry lip gloss. They haven't kissed since their date in the abandoned potions classroom. They've been too busy or there were too many people around. Tonight though, the only ones who can see them are the owls.
"We should probably head back," Cho says as they break apart. "My friends are expecting me any minute now."
"Alright, I'll walk with you to Ravenclaw Tower," he says. He shakes out the cloak, then takes the map out of his pocket.
"Oh! Is that your enchanted map of the castle? Can I have a look?" He nods, and hands her the map after opening it. Cho makes the most adorable delighted faces as she looks it over. "This is fascinating. I wonder what kind of spellwork went into making this. Hey look! There's Cedric." She points at the dot labeled 'Cedric Diggory' in the Hufflepuff dormitory.
"Looks like he's not sneaking off for a bath tonight."
"Shame, we could have joined him." Cho says, casting him a mischievous look.
"And we would've immediately been caught. The anti-PDA charms in the prefect's bathroom are the strongest in the castle."
"Alright, alright," Cho laughs and continues scanning the map. "Looks like Phoebe and Jessica went to bed. Marietta's still in the common room though. And… oh! Ijeoma is sitting with Rhys. I'll have to ask if anything happened, she's fancied them since- wait..." Her expression shifts to confusion, then worry. "No, that can't be right."
"What is it?"
"Harry," Cho points at two dots on the map, "why is Mr. Crouch in Professor Moody's office?"