Veelas

Tomorrow came fast for them. Hermione was on her way down from her room, muscles still sore when she met with Harry in the Common Room.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked her tired-looking friend.

"I was dead to the world" he groaned as he rotated his stiff shoulders.

"Come on, let's go downstairs, I'm starving." Harry nodded and followed her down to the Great Hall. As usual, the Hall was bursting with chatter and clattering of forks and knives on plates.

They both greeted Fleur at the Ravenclaw table before they slid onto their bench at the Gryffindor table. Silently dishing mountains of food onto their plate, they both dug in with gusto, to the wide-eyed stare of Ginny who was seated across them.

"What has gotten into both of you, this morning?" the redhead asked.

"We are hungry," replied Hermione, spearing a piece of chicken onto her fork and popping it into her mouth, moaning as she chewed on the juicy meat.

"What she said," intoned Harry as he finished swallowing.

"What has gotten you guys so hungry?" Ginny didn't know if she should be worried or amused at her two friends. Sometimes their behaviour made her think of the twins, Fred and George.

"We have been training for my First Task."

"Oh! True. It's already Wednesday. Blimey, you only have till Friday." Ginny realised.

"Don't remind me," Harry grumbled, spearing his egg forcefully.

"Well, at least you are excused from classes till the Task," the redhead said, looking at him in sympathy.

"I'd prefer a full week of potion classes with Snape than going into this Tournament." He announced, Hermione nodding in agreement.

"I can't believe Fleur voluntarily added her name" the brunette grumbled. She didn't get it.

"It is considered an honour to be selected by the Goblet of Fire," replied Ginny.

"More like a death sentence" In Hermione's view, that's what it was. The statistics proved it too.

"By the way, can any of you tell me why Ron is not sitting with us anymore?" asked the youngest Weasley, eyeing her brother at the end of the table.

Harry looked annoyed, "He is not speaking to me."

"Is this still about your selection as a champion? I thought he would have gotten over his petty jealousy by now." She scowled at her brother's immaturity.

"Umm, I…" Hermione sighed before continuing, "I also added to it by rejecting him."

"Oh…" Ginny was not so surprised, "what did he do?" It had to be his brother's fault, obviously. He could be a prat, sometimes. Ok, maybe most of the time.

"He didn't do anything. I just realised that I didn't feel anything for him other than friendship and that it wasn't going to work."

Ginny sighed, "at least now I understand his increased foul mood. I'm relieved though," she said, surprising both Harry and Hermione, "he was sooo not your type."

Hermione smiled widely at that, getting an answering smile from Ginny before they burst into laughter. Hermione was relieved. She had been worried about Ginny's reaction. She didn't want to lose her friend or make her choose between her and her brother. "Thanks Ginny," she reached out and squeezed the redhead's hand in thanks.

"Harry, as you know, The Weasleys except Ron of course, are backing you as Hogwarts' Champion! The Gryffindors are behind you, even the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws. Except for those who weren't chosen, they are still grumbling about it. No support from the Slytherins, not that I expected any. They are pretty pissed that none of the ones in their House was chosen."

"Yeah, I heard the whining. I didn't even want to participate so they can't complain! Thanks for the support though, Ginny. I've had enough pats on my back to break my spine."

"Well, with the First Task coming soon, we haven't seen you much. I guess you have been busy. We were thinking of organising a party in your honour but I guess that'll have to wait till after the First Task."

"I'm not interested in a party, Ginny. I didn't even want to be chosen. I'm more concerned about surviving this First Task"

"Alright, we'll talk about it after the Task then," replied Ginny.

After breakfast, Hermione, Fleur and Harry walked to the Room of Requirement to resume their training.

"Today, we will tackle ze most vicious of ze three dragons, ze 'Ungarian 'Orntail. It iz considered one of ze most dangerous breeds of dragon and should not be underestimated. Its flame can reach up to three hundred and fifty feet and high enough temperatures to burn you into crisps." Fleur explained, pointing at a picture of the dragon in the tome she was holding.

Harry gulped, "I hope that I do not get it". Hermione nodded, "I hope so too."

"You don't know, 'Arry. You should be prepared." Fleur intoned. "Back to ze subject, 'Orntails are very resistant to both physical and magical attacks due to zheir hard scales. Zhey are also extremely fast when flying. Zhere iz unfortunately no specific spell against zhem so we are going to practice two spells from your repertoire. Ze Confundio Spell and ze Accio spell."

"Why Accio?" asked Hermione, knowing the spell already.

"I 'ave heard zat 'Arry is ze Gryffindor Seeker and very skilled at flying. While ze dragon iz good in flight and I don't think you can outrun it for long in the air with a broom, it iz better to 'ave another option, should nothing work on ze ground. Wiz Accio, you can call your broom."

Both Gryffindors nodded at the explanation.

"Let's get to work zhen!"

They spent the whole day and half of Thursday practising their spells together. Fleur advised Harry not to use any more magic after their last practice to allow himself to rest and recharge for the Task the next day.

ᴥ

Hermione sighed as she walked back to the Common Room after dinner, accompanied by Harry.

"I'm so tired. I will take Fleur's advice and go to bed early tonight" yawned Harry, having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. I'm too nervous about tomorrow." Hermione whispered, coming to a stop in front of the portrait that takes her to the Head Girl Room. .

"I understand. Thing is, I'm so tired, I don't think I even have the energy to worry."

"That's good, you need a good night of sleep. I guess I need to find something to occupy myself."

Harry wished her goodnight and was climbing to his dormitory when Hermione called out.

"Harry, do you think you could lend me your invisibility cloak, tonight?"

Harry looked at her, perplexed. It was rare for her to go out after curfew unless for her Head Girl patrols, she was such a stickler for rules. He weighed the request in his head before nodding, "Wait here, I'll go get it."

Three minutes later, he came back and deposited it in the brunette's hand. "Here, take this too in case you want to avoid the teachers, not that you need it as Head Girl but just in case" he said as he handed the Marauder's Map to her.

"Thanks, Harry"

"Don't mention it and don't do anything I wouldn't do. Goodnight Hermione." His teasing parting words reached her as he climbed back to the Boys' Dormitory.

"Goodnight Harry." Hermione whispered back, smiling.

ᴥ

She managed to leave the castle, undetected. She had the Marauder's Map to thank for that. It would seem that Snape was patrolling the corridors and he was such a pain in the ass even with her being Head Girl. The air outside was extremely cold at this time of the night and Hermione wrapped the thin cloak tighter around her as the cold seeped into her body. In her hurry to get to the lake, she had forgotten to take her sweater with her.

She set out towards the lake. After the time she spent with Fleur at its shore, it had become a special place for her. On her way there, she noticed a glow behind the Beauxbatons Carriage, hidden behind the forest trees. Curious, she decided to investigate.

As she grew closer and entered the forest, she realised that the glow was actually a bonfire behind the trees. She could hear voices, mainly female. As she advanced, she pinpointed several Beauxbatons students sitting around the fire, recognising Fleur, Gabrielle and Alexia amidst the faces.

Deciding not to interrupt whatever they were doing, she turned around to walk away but accidentally stepped on a twig, which snapped and resonated loudly between the trees.

"Who iz zhere?" Fleur's voice travelled to her. Hermione looked back to see the girls scrutinising the horizons to find the origin of the sound, their wands out.

"Who iz zhere?! Show yourself!" Fleur called out, louder this time, annoyance laced in her voice.

Deciding to announce herself and apologise for the disturbance, Hermione pulled off the cloak. "Fleur, it's me Hermione. I'm sorry, I was being restless and decided to go for a walk and got curious with the glow of the fire. I didn't mean to interrupt y..." she babbled.

"'Ermione?" Fleur got up and walked to the brunette who had just materialised out of thin air, "It iz ok, don't worry. What a surprise! Come sit wiz us." Fleur invited, taking the uncomfortable brunette's cold hand and guiding her to the fire, to a spot right next to her.

"Everyone, zis iz 'Ermione Granger, brightest witch of 'Ogwarts. 'Ermione, you know my sister Gabrielle and my cousin Alexia." Fleur pointed out at the girls sitting on a log, "Zis iz my cousin Quinn Fabray and 'er girlfriend, Rachel Berry," pointing at Quinn who was sitting in between Rachel's legs who was braiding her hair, "and zis iz my cousin Brittany Pierce and 'er girlfriend Santana Lopez." indicating Santana who was sitting on the ground with Brittany in her lap.

Hermione blushed at Fleur's introduction of her and traded hellos with everyone. Fleur could sense the excitement coming from the circle at finally getting to meet Hermione. All of them already knew who she was to the Veela.

"So… What exactly are you all doing here? I mean, shouldn't you be resting for the First Task tomorrow, Fleur?" Hermione asked timidly, a bit uncomfortable at the eyes on her.

Fleur reached out to take the brunette's hand. She gave it a reassuring squeeze hoping to relax the Gryffindor, which worked.

"It is a Veelan custom before someone goes into battle. We all assemble and have a bonfire to bond" Quinn replied, pulling Rachel, getting her to walk to her front before making her sit between her legs and rest against her chest.

"Oh, are you sure I'm not interrupting?" asked Hermione, timidly. Fleur's hand was still in hers and she realised she liked it there.

"No, you are not, we are pretty much done. You missed the others, they already went to bed. It's just a bit out of the rules to have someone outside of the flock here," said Quinn.

Hermione's face quickly dissolved into fear and disappointment and she tried to get up and leave only to be stopped by Fleur's hand tugging back down.

"Hey, I didn't say that to get you to leave," Quinn quickly explained.

"What Quinn is trying to say is attending our rituals is a privilege usually restricted to family and mates." Brittany tried to clear any misunderstandings.

"Mates?" Hermione was confused at the word.

Brittany quickly glanced at Fleur and received a hesitant nod in return. Hermione was intrigued at the silent communications. "A mate is the person a Veela will spend her whole life with, her soul mate. As you must have noticed, Rachel and Santana here are not Veelas but they are allowed in our rituals because Rachel is Quinn's mate and Santana is mine." She felt Santana's arms tighten around her waist as she said that and she snuggled deeper into Santana's lap.

"Your whole life?" Hermione's voice clearly showed her shock, "Uhm, no offence but how do you know you will spend your whole life with this person?"

"None taken," replied Quinn, "Now, Hermione, this is particular to Veelas only. Veelas have the magical ability to know at first sight who they are meant to be with. Some take longer to come to the realisation because they are not full Veela. For them, while the Veela inside them has already spotted the person at first sight, it takes some time for their human part to come to the same conclusion."

"So you knew just by looking at Rachel that she was the one?"

"I am only an eighth Veela so it took some time. The first time I saw Rachel, she was singing in the auditorium at our glee club back in the US. Her song pulled at my soul and I was left mesmerised. At first, I thought it was because her voice was amazing but after that, every time I saw her, I felt the same pull inside me. I was confused because I had never felt that way before. I only realised what I was feeling when I felt a wave of pure jealousy course through me when one guy asked her out." Quinn reminisced, bestowing a kiss onto Rachel's head.

"Wow…. What about you, Brittany?" asked Hermione intrigued.

"My story is a bit different," giggled Brittany as she heard Santana grumbling behind her. "Quinn and Santana were best friends so after Quinn fell in love, she was determined to woo Rachel and Santana was supposed to help. Since I was Rachel's best friend, Santana's job was to get details about her from me. Thing is, she was a bully at school. I already knew she was my mate for a long time but was not happy with her being mean to people so I never did anything about it. First time she came to ask me about Rachel, she wasn't nice about it and made me cry. It hurts even worse than normal when your mate is the one doing the bullying to you."

"I said I was sorry already," grumbled Santana.

"I know, baby." Giving a quick peck to the Latina's lips, Brittany continued, "After making me cry, I think she realised she liked me. After that there were apologies, grovelling, taking me to feed the ducks. I also became friends with Quinn and helped her with Rachel."

"How did you woo Rachel, Quinn? If you don't mind me asking?" Hermione was fascinated by those girls' stories.

"At that time, I didn't know what answer Rachel had given to that guy who asked her out. I didn't hear her answer. Later I found out that she had said yes." Quinn groused, muttering "Fucking Hudson" under her breath. She only stopped when Rachel picked her hands that were around the brunette's waist and kissed her palms before putting them back around her.

"I was devastated," sighed Quinn.

"Yep, truly devastated" Santana groused, "blondie moped for days! Even came to my house and ate all my ice-cream!"

Quinn threw a glare at her best friend, "But after seeing Hudson with Rachel, I wasn't going to back down. Plus the giant wasn't even treating her properly!"

"A giant?!" Hermione was trying to picture the short Rachel next to a giant guy.

"Oh, he wasn't really a giant" Rachel slapped Quinn's arm, "he was just tall"

"Very tall! Too tall for you, that's for sure! After much drama and fighting with Hudson, she dumped him and agreed to be with me" said Quinn, grinning widely.

"Wow. Really wow… I've never heard things like that. I have a question though, if I understand the Veela know who their mate is and will stay with that person forever but what about the mate?" Hermione asked.

"For the mate, it is zheir choice," Fleur replied, having stayed silent for too long in this conversation, "After having seen zheir mate, the Veela already starts to bond wiz zem. Ze Veela will try to woo zheir mate, like Quinn and Rachel. After zat, Rachel fell in love wiz Quinn as well and then Quinn told her ze implications of being in a relationship wiz a Veela, it is forever. Ze mate can accept ze bond. Ze first 'I love you' from ze mate does just zhat, and it iz sealed by a kiss. After ze kiss, ze bond is established on both sides and grows stronger till it is finalised by making love. A mate can also reject ze bond."

"This is amazing. So both Rachel and Santana accepted the bond."

"Without doubt. She is my only love," replied Rachel, turning to nuzzle Quinn's neck, kissing the milky nape in front of her.

"Britt Britt is my everything," Santana confessed, kissing her blonde fully on the lips.

"It iz very rare for incompatible pairs to be made. Legend iz zhat people were made in pairs, already made for each ozher but sent to Earth at different times in different places. Zhey were made to lose zheir memories of zheir mate and had to find each ozer by zhemselves. The veela did lose zheir memories but, by miracle, zheir hearts retained zhe ability to recognise zhem at first sight," Fleur narrated what her grandmother had told her.

"Now we can tell you more, Hermione but we need first a vow from you. It's like an Unbreakable Vow." Alexia butted in, "all zhese things we 'ave mentioned are Veela secrets. To know more, we need zis vow from you zhat will stop you from telling our secrets to anyone else. Some things we cannot talk about as those are reserved for family and mates. Do you want to do ze vow?"

The unending thirst of knowledge that Hermione had wouldn't have allowed her to refuse so she accepted the offer, "Yes, I'd love that."

"Alright then, give me your right hand," Alexia instructed, offering her own, palm up.

Hermione eyed the offered hand for a few seconds before slipping her own hand into it.

"Britt, get a feather from Fleur," instructed Alexia. Brittany went behind Fleur and waited a few seconds before lifting her shirt a little bit and pulling something. Hermione saw Fleur wince before Brittany rounded back and gave Alexia a tiny beautiful silvery-blue feather with dark blue accents.

"This will leave a mark on your wrist. It looks like a tattoo, is that fine?" Alexia asked. Hermione nodded, eager to see what would happen. Putting the feather inside Hermione's wrist, Alexia took Fleur's hand to cover the feather up and started muttering spells in Veelan.

Hermione watched mesmerised as blue glittering swirls sprouted from under Fleur's palm, swirling around her arm. She felt a ticklish and warm feeling on her wrist.

As the swirls disappeared, Fleur lifted her hand, Hermione saw that the feather had left a perfect imprint on the pale skin of her wrist, an exact replica of the real feather.

Fleur took the feather in the hand and with a small incantation, a small hoop appeared at the quill of it. "I thought you might want a souvenir" smiled Fleur as Hermione watched the tiny feather levitate and attach to her charm bracelet.

"Thank you" whispered Hermione, fingering the soft feather while eyeing the feather tattoo which still felt warm on her skin.

"Now zat ze vow iz done. We can answer more of your questions, Hermione but it iz best we leave it for anozher time, it's late." said Alexia.

"Alright, I suggest we go to bed, especially you Fleur. You need a good night of sleep for tomorrow. Pack up, girls," ordered Quinn.

"Do you wish me to accompany you back to ze castle, 'Ermione?" Fleur asked, taking Hermione's hand again. She could not get enough of touching the brunette.

"Ah, no, it won't be necessary, Fleur. I have the invisibility cloak. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, yes. I 'ave somezhing to give to 'Arry before ze Task."

"Alright then, good night Fleur."

"Bonne nuit, 'Ermione."

Fleur watched as the Gryffindor disappeared under the cloak and she waited till she stopped hearing her steps before she went back to her carriage with her family.

ᴥᴥ§ᴥᴥ

The First Task

Hermione breathed deeply, walking alongside Harry as they made their way to the Quidditch pitch, trying to calm the nervousness she was feeling. It felt like she was the one competing today! But no she wasn't but two of her friends were and she was so scared for them. Who decided the first task had to be dragons, anyway?! She wanted to go and give them a piece of her mind! No…wait! That would be too precious to give. A piece of her mind? Can you imagine how much knowledge could be stored in that piece? Maybe she could hex them into pigs instead? Ha, that would teach them! Then she would feed them to those dragons so that those pigs would know what it felt to be stared at as if they were a meal…

"Hermione, are you all right?" asked Harry, raising an eyebrow at the weird faces his friend was making since morning.

"Yeah I am. Why do you ask?" she frowned. Harry just shook his head and continued walking till they reached a ring of tents a few metres away from the pitch. The Champions tents. They could already hear the uproarious voices, honking and shouts coming from students already seated in the Quidditch stands.

They both walked into the ring and easily identified Fleur's tent, a Beauxbatons flag flapping on top.

They heard rustling and Fleur emerged from the tent, dressed in some sort of leather armour. She wore a long-sleeved light blue shirt covered with a dark blue leather chest guard, with matching pauldrons. Her forearms were covered with gauntlets. Her legs were covered with skin tight black leather pants that disappeared in her knee-high boots. Hermione's eyes bulged out at the sight. How could someone look so good going out to battle?! Fleur and leather was an amazing combo. Attached to the blonde's waist was a light blue sash covered with a large black leather belt, the buckle the crest of Beauxbatons, Fleur's wand already sheathed into the belt.

"'Ermione! 'Arry!" exclaimed the blonde, waving as she walked closer to the duo. "You 'ave finally arrived. 'Ow are you feeling 'Arry? Ready?"

Harry grimaced and shook his head, "I am not in a hurry to go in there." Hermione comforted him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I understand but we 'ave to go. Zere iz no ozer way. You can do it,'" Fleur smiled encouragingly.

"Champions! Please come forward!" Ludovic "Ludo" Bagman shouted. He was the government official of the Ministry of Magic, along with Barty Crouch who were charged to oversee the safe running of the Tournament.

Fleur, Harry and Hermione came closer to the man as they spied Krum coming out of his tent, wearing a red and brown uniform and bearing the coat of arms of his school.

"Miss Granger, you are not allowed here. This place is for the champions" Ludo pointed out, shaking the sac he had in his hand.

"Umm…" Hermione glanced at her two friends, taking a step back before she heard, "Let her stay, Ludo. Now proceed with the Champions" said Dumbledore as he walked towards them.

"Right. Each of you, starting with you Mr Krum. Put your hand in the bag and select your opponent." Ludo instructed, holding the bag in front of the Bulgarian who dived his hand inside and retrieved a mini Chinese Fireball dragon who snorted a small puff of fire at him.

"Excellent. Next is you, Mr Harry Potter." Hesitantly, Harry reached inside and picked up the first thing coming into contact with his hand, revealing to be a Common Welsh Green. He breathed a sigh of relief, it was the easiest dragon.

"This leaves this one to you, Miss Delacour" said Ludo as he reached into the bag and retrieved a Hungarian Horntail miniature and placed it onto Fleur's palm.

"You will go in this order itself. First Krum, then Potter and lastly Delacour. Mr Potter, I advise you to get changed. Mr Krum, follow me." And with that, he walked away, the Bulgarian following.

Harry released the breath he had been holding in, "Thank god! I got the Common Welsh Green."

"That's great Harry, it will be easier than the others would have been!" Hermione hugged him, happy that he had gotten the easiest one, "You, on the other hand," she turned to face the blonde, "got the most dangerous one" she whispered, eyes full of worry. Harry's face turned into a grim one.

"Ah, no need to worry, I can 'andle it." Fleur smiled, trying to reassure them. "Now Harry, go change. I 'ave left you a special uniform in your tent." she pointed out. Harry nodded before disappearing inside the Hogwarts tent.

"Are you sure you are going to be ok, Fleur?" asked Hermione, taking a step closer to the Veela.

"I will try my best," said Fleur honestly. She hoped that the training she had done in the Forbidden Forest was going to be enough. "Uhm, I 'ave somezhing to ask before I go…"

"Yes?"

"Would it…uhh, be possible for me to 'ave somezhing of yours to take to ze battle? For luck?" Fleur asked timidly, scratching her head in embarrassment.

"Oh! Uhm, I'm not sure what I can give you. Ah actually" Quickly scouring through her cloak pockets, she pulled out a red handkerchief with HJG embroidered on it, "It's all I have on me that I can give you." Hermione explained shyly.

"It iz plenty enough. Would you do me ze honour of tying it to my right wrist?"

"Sure" Hermione wrapped the handkerchief around the slender wrist in front of her and tied it with a nice knot. "Here" she patted the wrist as she finished.

"Thank you, 'Ermione. Now I feel I can handle any dragon!" she winked at the brunette.

Hermione stared at the blonde. She couldn't understand how the blonde was so relaxed when she felt like she was splitting at the seams with worry and fear.

"Hey…" Fleur cooed, wrapping her arms around the bushy-haired girl. She had clearly seen the fear reflected in the brown orbs and felt bad that she couldn't do anything to alleviate the fears of her Gryffindor, "I will do my best, ok?" she whispered, "now give me a proper 'ug just in case…"

The rest of the words were not uttered yet Hermione understood clearly. She wrapped her arms tighter around the blonde and squeezed. The smell of jasmine and morning dew enveloped her, making her feel a bit better.

"Now, go and sit in ze stands. You do not want to miss it." Fleur said, backing up a little bit yet keeping the brunette in her arms. She leaned down and kissed Hermione on both cheeks before releasing her.

Harry came out of his tent, dressed in a red and gold jersey and black pants and boots. Hermione quickly gave him a hug before walking towards the Gryffindor stands, turning to give them a last wave as she disappeared inside the stadium.

"Zis iz it" breathed Fleur.

Nodding, Harry echoed, "This is it. Thanks for the clothes."

"Do not mention it, 'Arry. It iz resistant to flames and shall protect you."

They both wished each other good luck before Bagman came to get them.

ᴥ

Hermione was happy that Ginny had saved her a seat in the front row. She wanted to make sure she could keep a close eye on Harry and Fleur and she needed an unobstructed view for that. Ron had decided to come out of his self-imposed exile and was sitting in the second row, behind Ginny. The Quidditch pitch had been altered to a new terrain, covered with black volcanic rocks, and large boulders scattered around.

"We are now officially starting the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament," announced Bagman from the Officials stand, flicking his wand, obscuring the arena down below by a thick mist. "On the jury, we have headmasters and headmistress of Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons respectively with myself, acting as the impartial fourth member of the jury based on the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Magic. The aim of the First Task is to retrieve the Golden Egg placed in the arena which is a vital clue to the Second Task. The Champions will face dragons as their adversary in their quest for the egg." He explained. "While the arena is open and destructible, rest assured that there has been a protective shield erected around it thus spectators are not to worry about wayward spells or destroyed foundations and walls as we have assured your safety."

"Our first contestant, going against a Chinese Fireball, is Victor Krum from the Durmstrang Institute of Magic!" Loud cheers and banging erupted from the stands for the World Cup player, especially from the Slytherin stand where all the Durmstrang students were located, the mist dissipating as he walked out of the tunnel. As Krum stepped forward, louder cheers erupted from the stands as they could see the Bulgarian clearer until a loud growling was heard, quieting everyone down. The boy pointed his wand at the direction of the sound, advancing slowly, trying to spot from where the sound had come from.

It took him one hour, running all over the place trying to avoid the claws of the Chinese Fireball, not successfully all the time, before Krum transfigured a nearby rock into a dog which started barking at the dragon, distracting it enough for the scraped and bloody boy to swipe the Golden Egg and make a run for it. Not impressive but efficient, thought Hermione as she waited for the cheering and clapping around her to die down, the mist having returned onto the arena. She was getting more nervous as time passed by. She knew who was next.

Karkaroff lifted his wand to spell his score to the audience. He gave his champion a nine, Dumbledore a seven, Maxime a seven and Bagman an eight.

"The score comes to a total of thirty-one for Mr Krum!" A new wave of applause was heard before Bagman could continue.

"Next, with a Common Welsh Green as his opponent is Harry Potter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Harry took a deep breath at the announcement of his name, nodding at Fleur beside him as he felt her squeeze his shoulder in encouragement. He walked down the tunnel to emerge into the Quidditch pitch or that's what he thought. The new terrain took him by surprise as the mist dissipated around him. He could hear the cheers and shouts erupting around him from the stands but he kept his focus as the mist vanished totally at the other end, revealing the Common Welsh staring at him with red eyes.

He gripped his wand tightly, pointing at the beast and shouted out "Somnum", watching as the blue spark shot out towards the dragon until suddenly the dragon vied away, the spell missing it totally. A roar was heard and he found himself getting charged by the dragon at full speed.

He turned and ran, jumping over the sharp uneven rocks around him before hearing a melodious roar which made him remember the instructions of Fleur.

Fleur: Common Welsh give out a distinctive melodious sound when ze are about to breaze fire.

He launched himself behind a boulder, narrowly missing the jet of flames that the Common Welsh had breathed at him, singeing the end of his hair.

He could feel the rumbling of the earth as the dragon walked around, confused to where its quarry had gone. He stealthily peaked from behind the boulder, seeing the dragon looking away from him.

Jumping out from behind his shelter, Harry shouted another sleeping spell, this time hitting the dragon squarely at the head, making it whine as it fell down. He breathed heavily, rooted in place to make sure that the dragon was not going to get up again before sprinting towards the Golden Egg and collecting it to the ear-slitting cheers and applause of the students. He gave a wave to Hermione and Ginny who were screaming like banshees, waving at him while jumping around and hugging each other. He didn't notice when the dragon beside him snored and snorted out a small jet of fire onto him. Engulfed in flames, he quickly realised he was not feeling the burn and registered that the clothes that Fleur had given him had protected him. Grinning happily, he proudly walked out of the arena.

Fleur ran to him and hugged him as soon Harry emerged from the tunnel.

"You did it 'Arry!" congratulated Fleur, happy that the boy had emerged without much of a scratch except small scorch marks on his protective jersey.

"Thanks! It was all thanks to you!" Harry thanked the blonde, hugging her back.

"My turn now," smiled Fleur before pointing out at a medical tent a few feet away, "Go zhere to get Madame Pomfrey to check on you. I 'eard zhere iz a magic screen in zhere from which she iz watching the competition. You can watch me from zhere."

Harry wished her good luck and watched her disappear into the tunnel before he hurried into the medical tent. He wasn't going to miss anything.

ᴥ

Hermione had finally calmed down from her jumping and screaming after the amazing display of Harry. She could finally stop worrying for him for a moment. The jury had given her friend great marks, Dumbledore awarding him a nine, Maxime and Bagman giving out an eight while Karkaroff dished out a seven, bringing Harry to thirty-two points, one point ahead of the Bulgarian Seeker.

Now as Bagman was preparing to announce Fleur, Hermione was feeling a bit sick. Her throat was constricted and her stomach felt like she had swallowed live slugs. She instantly remembered Ron vomiting slugs in second year which didn't help.

"Lastly, we get to see the most vicious species of dragons, the Hungarian Horntail against which was pitted the Champion of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Fleur Delacour!"

Hermione's knuckles went white as she tightly gripped the edge of her bench. For a few minutes, she felt like she had entered a water bubble, the deafening cheers and clapping of the students in the stadium becoming a low buzz before she managed to regain her senses. Breathing deeply, she fixed her eyes onto the tunnel entrance which was hidden behind the mist.

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Fleur tightened her hands into fists, waiting for her name to be announced. She was nervous as she had never done before what she was going to do in the next few minutes. She had learnt the technique years ago, even practised them with her Grandmother before. All Veelas learned dragon language in the Veela Village.

She had asked for special permission to use the Floo, to contact her grandmother, from Madame Maxime the day she had learnt that she was going against a dragon. The giantess had granted permission after learning that it was concerning the Tournament and had made everything available for her Champion.

Fleur had spent hours talking not only to her grandmother but also to her mother about the feat she was going to try to achieve. Her grandmother had been concerned first but had given her all the information she had needed. Her mother had just listened, worried for her daughter yet hadn't discouraged her from it for she knew, they all knew that the outcome of completing what Fleur was planning was an amazing one. Fleur had sensed the trust and pride coming from her Veela family that night and had taken all her encouragement from it. Now was the time to put all their teachings into action and make her family even prouder.

Hearing her name, Fleur took the cue to enter the arena, ending into a haze which started dissipating slowly around her. As the visibility around her increased, she noticed the different movement of the mist at the other end of the terrain, like being disturbed by puffs and breaths.

She relaxed herself and allowed her Veela heritage to take over, feeling it flow within her. She felt as her skin started tingling and knew ancient hieroglyphs had started forming, in fire red, on her skin, feeling it snake all around her arms to her collarbone, starting her partial transformation.

The dragon's roar broke everyone's daze as they realised the presence of the beast, fully visible now that the mist had disappeared totally, its neck covered with wide-spaced spikes with golden highlights on it. The black scales, on its body and wings, shining in the sun as it reared its trident horned head towards Fleur, eyeing the girl with its yellow eyes.

Fleur shouted in Veelan, "Vin Al Mies Eld!" creating a blast of showering gold sparkles towards the dragon. [Hear my voice and come forth, I summon you in my time of need.]

The Horntail roared louder, swinging its neck furiously dispelling the gold showers, breaking it, before throwing twin jets of fire at Fleur, who jumped out of the way. [Dragon: I do not befriend so easily Veela, not those below my worth.]

Fleur had predicted that, as dragons were wary and proud animals. She bowed down to say she accepted the challenge. The Horntail growled, running at her and swiped her with its sharp claws which Fleur dodged with a well-practiced roll on the ground, unsheathing her wand.

Angry at the quickness of its prey, the dragon turned its neck and roared out a heavy blast of hot flames towards the crouching blonde.

"Glacius!" Fleur uttered with intricate waving of her wand, creating a blast of frost, freezing the flames solid before they shattered like glass, scattering around. She stood up fast, running in the opposite way to create some distance between the beast and herself. The ground started shaking under her feet as the dragon started its pursuit, legs pounding onto the rocks.

Fleur had only enough time to dive behind a large boulder before the dragon swiped its head into it, breaking the top, scattering rock pieces all over Fleur. Crawling, she managed to get back on her feet, only to see the Horntail, swinging its tail onto her which caught her squarely in the chest, sending her crashing against the stadium, the small shield she had quickly erected around her, taking most of the damage.

"Fleur!" screamed Hermione in fear, the blood draining off her face as she ran to the edge of the stand box. The dust was settling around the area where Fleur had hit the stadium, breaking the planks and sending fragments of wood everywhere. She gripped the railing till her knuckles went white as she tried to see Fleur through the dust.

Fleur groaned, she had bruised her ribs for sure and her right shoulder felt dislocated. She could also feel wetness on her neck, she probably got cut when she collided with the stadium facade. As she painfully pushed herself back on her feet, she could see another tail attack coming her way to finish her off. She ran towards the dragon, to Hermione's horror, when she suddenly jumped, somersaulting amazingly high over the swinging tail, twisting mid-air to land on her feet, facing the back of the beast.

The dragon roared with rage, as its tail hit the stadium wall, wiping it off but totally missing its target. It was furious with its quarry having escaped again. Flapping its wings furiously, it took off into the sky before diving towards Fleur.

Fleur watched as the dragon approached quickly. It was indeed really fast in the air. She called upon her Veela, feeling her wings rip through the shirt and leather on her back, completing her full transformation. Just as the dragon was going to reach her, she powerfully flapped her wings, rising higher. The dragon crashed heavily onto the rocky ground, creating a large crater, cloud of dust and debris surrounding it.

Hermione watched the flapping wings in awe. There were shimmering in the sun, a beautiful bluish silver. In this battle, with the armour and destruction around, it made Fleur look like an avenging angel.

Fleur looked on…waiting for the dust to settle down. Had she managed to defeat it? The ground suddenly started to rumble and the dragon burst straight up from the dust cloud, flying fast towards her. They collided, Fleur thrown up, crashing metres away. Fleur, groaning in pain, looked up from where she laid, seeing the Horntail circling the stadium from above, roaring out and suddenly started shining in blue. It iz recharging itself! realised Fleur. Getting up, she ran and expertly climbed on the tallest boulder she could find, Fleur flapped her wings as fast as she could while muttering incantations with her wand. The air swirled around her, growing bigger and bigger till it formed a tornado. She sparked the tornado, turning into a huge fire column. Pushing it towards the dragon, she watched as the fire whirl caught the dragon, whirling it inside its core. With a flick of the wrist, Fleur inverted the flow of the tornado. The ground rumbled and cracked as the tornado spit out the dragon onto the ground instead of into the air.

The rumbling dislodged Fleur from the boulder and she slid down. The dragon took her moment of imbalance as an advantage and head-butted her, sending her in the air before she hit the ground hard, the crack of her left leg breaking ringing loud in her ears as her vision swam from the excruciating pain. Seeing the dragon was going to pound her into the ground, she raised her wand and shouted "Nos Retardo" , the spell emerging as a burst of silver vapour, slowing time around Fleur and the Horntail.

Hermione was shocked at the light silvery mist, resembling a non-corporeal patronus, which was enveloping Fleur and the dragon, slowing everything down from the flapping of the dragon wings to the settling of the debris around. She watched in shock as Fleur was not slowed down at all which the blonde used to her advantage, quickly casting a spell to her broken leg to get it to hold and carefully approaching the Horntail till she reached a close enough distance.

Fleur put the dragon between herself and the stadium walls. She breathed in deep, watching the dragon turning towards her in slow motion. She had to defeat it now, this was taking too much of her magic and she was too battered up to continue. Bracing herself, she concentrated all her magic into her wand and shouted "Atrox Vis!"

A huge red stream of force erupted from her wand, crashing into the Horntail, its power remaining steady as it pushed the beast hard and crashed it into the walls of the stadium, destroying the structure totally as beams broke and wood flew all over the place in splinters.

For a while, nothing was heard except the sound of falling wood. Fleur kept her gaze fixed on the hole in the stadium facade before she heard a whine coming from the dragon. [Dragon: I accept]

A burst of gold streaming vapour erupted from the dragon and flowed in the air, swirling around and enveloping her. Fleur watched in awe as her body absorbed the magic, a warmth wrapping around her, till all was absorbed into her body.

Fleur grinned widely. She had done it, she had befriended a dragon. She had made a soul friend! She walked to the Golden Egg, picking it up to the deafening cheers of the crowd around her who had been stunned silent for so long, their hearts in their throats. With the Egg in hand, she limped towards the dragon, who had gotten up and was shaking debris off its back.

"'Ello" she murmured, grinning as the dragon turned to her and brought its head to her level before huffing in her face and gently butting her in the chest which made her groan as she remembered her bruised ribs. The Horntail whined in apology and Fleur just smiled, using her good arm to pat the dragon in affection, caressing the scales on its head.

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These are special spells that Fleur has. Her Veela heritage allows her access to more advanced magic.

[Nos Retardo- The spell slows time around the caster, while she moves at normal speed which makes her seem like she is moving faster.]

[Atrox Vis – Unrelenting Force, self-explanatory. A huge blast of force that stays unrelenting for a few seconds.]

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