AN: So sorry for the delay guys. This chapter was a little awkward for some reason. The next chapter will be up a bit faster. Also, I've been really horrible about responding to reviews. I'm really sorry guys. I'll try to do better. Just know that I truly appreciate you guys.


Harry was delighted to be back at Hogwarts. The Welcome Feast was amazing, as usual, and there was the added benefit that Draco seemed extraordinarily relieved to be back at school. Once the meal had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up to inform everyone that the Triwizard Tournament was being held at Hogwarts. It hadn't been held in two centuries because of the death toll, but the Department of Magical Games and Sports had managed to arrange it. Students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons would be arriving in October for the selection of the champions and the Tournament. The news that only students that were at least seventeen would be able to enter had not gone over well. The news that there would be any Quidditch either hadn't been accepted readily either.

In the midst of all the commotion, the doors to the Great Hall slammed open. A man limped into the Hall. He had a scarred face and a large chunk of his nose seemed to be missing. One of his eyes was a bright, unnerving blue and it spun and swiveled in its socket, independent from his other normal looking eye.

Dumbledore introduced the man as Professor Moody, their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry wondered if it was Mad-Eye Moody. Ron confirmed the idea by opening his eyes comically wide and then pointing at Moody with a grimace when Harry looked toward the Gryffindor table.

On the train, Ron had told them that his father had been called in early that morning to help Moody. Moody was ex-Auror that was prone to bouts of paranoia. He'd claimed that there was an intruder in his yard and his bins had attacked the prowler by shooting rubbish all over the yard. In all the chaos, the muggle police had been called.

"Alastor Moody," Blaise muttered, eyeing their new professor. "He looks as mental as Ron described him." Vince and Greg nodded, looking at Moody warily.

"Let's hope he can keep it together long enough to teach us," Draco grumbled.

As they were leaving the Great Hall, Ron hurried over to the Slytherins. "This is going to be a nightmare," he said with a groan.

"We just got here," Blaise chuckled, reaching over and smoothing down a wrinkle in the shoulder of Ron's robes. "What's wrong?"

"Hermione," Ron hissed. "She's just realized that Hogwarts is full of house elves. She refused to eat anything else and she's been muttering about slave labor and pension."

Draco rolled his eyes while Blaise and Harry snorted with laughter. Ron scowled at them. "Sure, it's hilarious for you lot," he hissed irritably. "You're not in the same common room with her. I can practically hear her lecturing me already."

"So when you can't be with us," Blaise said, motioning to himself and the other four Slytherins, "go hang around with Dean, Seamus and Neville. They seem like alright blokes."

Ron nodded, though he still looked rather reluctant to go to Gryffindor tower. He offered a wave before hurrying to follow his house mates. Luckily, Hermione had moved toward Ginny and was already talking animatedly.

"So dramatic," Draco sighed, making his way toward the Slytherin common room, nodding to Adrian Pucey as he went.

"That's rich coming from you," Blaise retorted.

"I'm not- Harry!" Draco cried, noticing that Harry was nearly biting through his lip in an effort to not laugh. "You think I'm dramatic?"

"Of course," Harry replied with a grin. "But it's alright. It's amusing and we love you as you are."

"So much," Blaise agreed with a smirk.

Draco tried to scowl, but he didn't quite manage it with Harry smiling so fondly at him. Damn that charming grin.

As they settled into their dorm, Blaise looked between Harry and Draco curiously. After their little kiss under the mistletoe, Blaise had expected more of a change in their relationship. But, months had gone by and the pair were still "just friends". Sort of. They obviously fancied each other and it was starting to irritate Blaise.

Blaise supposed that the situation was rather complicated. There were those in Slytherin who might oppose such a relationship. And Malfoy Senior wasn't likely to approve of it. That left Draco pining over his best friend and feeling trapped by his father's expectations. None of it was fair.

As Blaise stretched out on his bed to sleep, his mind wandered to his own feelings. He really didn't want to think about it. While his mother wasn't likely to particularly care about who he fancied, his feelings were less likely to be reciprocated. The object of his affections had spent much of the train ride talking about girls. It didn't matter much... Blaise enjoyed his friendship immensely. But, the little flutter of attraction that he'd begun to feel around Ron- It complicated things a bit. It was inconvenient and a little embarrassing.

Draco must never find out.


Their first class with Hagrid wasn't very promising. They were going to be caring for something that Hagrid called Blast-Ended Skrewts. They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters and smelled rather like rotting fish.

"I'm not touching those," Draco said flatly.

Harry couldn't even find it in himself to encourage Draco's participation. The skrewts were rather repulsive. Right away they found that, as the name hinted, one end of the creature would shoot out sparks and the skrewt would propel forward. The males had stingers and the females had suckers on their bellies, possibly for sucking blood. Worse yet, Hagrid's knowledge of the creatures seemed quite sparse.

Their task for that first class was to feed the Blast-Ended Skrewts. Of course, it was made difficult with the fact that Hagrid had no idea what they ate.

"Why would we want to keep the things alive?" Ron whispered, tossing a frog liver into one of the crates. It landed on top of one of the skrewts with a soft splat.

"But, don't you want a pet that can bite, sting and burn you?" Draco asked sarcastically. He smirked when Harry smothered a giggle behind one hand.

"I'm sure they're useful in some way," Hermione said, though she didn't seem to believe her own words.

"I don't think they even have mouths," Blaise muttered.

"How do they eat then?" Vince asked, peering down at the skrewts with a frown.

The others shrugged helplessly. Hopefully they wouldn't spend too much time on the skrewts and would move on to a creature that was less repugnant.

Potions class went better than Harry had expected. Snape was ridiculously strict and bad tempered, but he seemed to be restraining himself a bit. He no longer insulted and bullied students as he swept between the rows of work tables. This resulted in fewer panicked mistakes from Neville. It wasn't likely that Neville would ever be good with potions, but he seemed less likely to kill all of them in a potions accident.

It was a few days in to the term before the fourth years had a class with Professor Moody. Fred and George had declared him to be a cool teacher with loads of real experience.

Harry sat very still, watching Moody stump across the front of the classroom. The new professor had been informed by Remus of the various creatures that they'd covered the year before. Moody was going to be covering Dark Curses. The idea made Harry a bit nervous.

Moody asked the class about curses that were illegal, and Ron raised his hand and answered with the Imperius curse. To the shock of the class, Moody pulled a large spider out of a jar and cast the curse. The spider was made to do cartwheels and tapdance. Most of the class laughed.

Moody then asked for another example. Neville raised his hand and said "The Cruciatus curse." His voice trembled as he spoke.

Moody peered intently at Neville before grabbing a second spider. "Engorgio," he growled, pointing his want and making the spider grow even bigger. "Crucio!"

The spider's legs curled inward and it rolled over. It twitched and writhed. Moody just kept his wand pointed at the spider, watching as it shuddered and twitched more violently.

"Stop it!" Hermione shrieked. Instead of watching the spider, she was staring at Neville, who was pale and shaking.

Moody lifted the curse and placed the limp spider back into its jar. "Pain," Moody rasped quietly. "You don't need knives or thumbscrews if you can do the Cruciatus Curse. What's another curse?" he asked, looking around at the students.

Hermione raised her hand, though it was shaking. "Avada Kedavra," she said softly when Moody nodded to her.

"The killing curse," Moody said, pulling a third spider out of another jar. He pointed his wand again and shouted "Avada Kedavra!" There was a flash of green light and the spider rolled into it's back, obviously dead.

For a moment, the room was silent with horror.

"Not pleasant at all," Moody said finally. "You can't block it, and there's no countercurse. Only one person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in from of me," he said, both of his eyes settling on Harry.

Harry swallowed hard, remembering the sound of his mother's screams just before her death. He'd dreamed of that flash of green light. For a moment Harry wasn't sure if he was going to vomit or weep. He clenched his hands tightly when he realized that they were shaking.

As Moody began talking in more detail about the curses, Harry felt the warmth of Draco's hand on his right thigh. Harry began taking notes while slipping his other hand under the desk to grasp Draco's hand. The gesture was enough to calm Harry's racing pulse.

Once class dismissed Harry followed his friends into the hallway, glad to escape Moody's presence. Right away, they saw Neville standing alone and starting out a window. They approached the boy cautiously.

"Alright there, Longbottom?" Draco asked quietly.

Neville jumped slightly, looking a bit surprised at being addressed by Draco. "Fine," he responded, his voice sounding a bit high. "Great lesson. What do you think we're having for lunch? I'm starved."

Draco looked at his friends in alarm. Clearly, Neville wasn't okay.

"Neville, what-" Hermione began, but she stopped when they heard the heavy thumping footsteps of their professor.

"Come with me Longbottom," Moody said, his growling voice sounding gentler somehow. "We can have a cup of tea."

Moody looked around at the others. "You all right Potter?" he asked.

"Yes," Harry said, his voice sounding a little hoarse.

Moody nodded. "It seems harsh," he admitted gruffly. "But you've got to know. No point in pretending that it's not out there." He turned back to Neville. "Come on Sonny. I've got some books you might be interested in." Neville shot the others a nervous look before following Moody down the hall.

Draco grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him back into the empty Defense classroom. Their friends followed curiously. To their surprise, Draco yanked Harry into a tight hug.

"I saw your face when he used the killing curse," Draco murmured. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Harry responded quietly, returning the hug before pulling away. "It just... made me remember..."

"Oh, Harry," Hermione whispered, moving closer to hug Harry as well. Ron and Blaise patted Harry's shoulders while Vince and Greg looked on with concerned frowns.

"I'm alright," Harry assured them. "It was unpleasant, but I suppose Moody's right. We do need to know this stuff. I fared better than Neville."

"There's a reason for that," Draco said, glancing at the classroom door. "Longbottom's parents were tortured with the Cruciatus Curse. They went mad. That's why he lives with his grandmother."

"Poor Neville!" Hermione gasped.

"We probably shouldn't repeat that," Draco went on. "He probably wouldn't want everyone to know."

"Of course," Blaise agreed. "Poor bloke."

Classes continued and the teachers piled on the homework. Ron, who had chosen to continue with Divination, amused them all with predicting an assortment of ridiculous and unfortunate events with a star chart. Hermione was the only one who expressed disapproval over him not taking homework seriously.

In addition to classwork, Hermione had been doing a great deal of independent reresearch. Finally, she proudly presented a box to her friends as they all sat in the library. "I've just finished," she announced, looking quite pleased with herself.

Draco and Harry exchanged a way look as Blaise opened the box and pulled out a badge. "Spew?" Blaise questioned, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Ron snorted.

"S.P.E.W." Hermione corrected with a frown. "It stands for Society for the Promotion of Elvish Wellfare."

"Oh," Harry said blankly. "Er- That's interesting." Draco raised his eyebrows in disbelief, but Harry carefully avoided his gaze.

"So, how many members do you have?" Blaise asked politely.

"Well, if all of you join, it'll be seven," Hermione said eagerly. "We can recruit more members. I was thinking two sickles to join. That'll buy a badge. The proceeds can go toward our leaflet campaign. Harry, you're the secretary so you may want to write all this down."

She beamed at them all, obviously excited and pleased with her work.

"No," Draco said firmly, standing up.

Hermione blinked up at him, surprised. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"We've got enough going on without this nonsense," Draco responded. "And it's just rude to inform Harry that he's your secretary without giving him a choice in the matter."

Hermione flushed. "I didn't mean my secretary..." she argued. "It's for our organization. And-"

"This organization is ridiculous," Draco said sharply. "House elves have been serving wizards for centuries."

"That doesn't make it right," Hermine hissed angrily. "Your family was obviously horrible to Dobby. What about your other slaves?"

Draco flinched slightly, obviously stung by this comment. Harry reached up to touch Draco's arm, but Draco shook him off. The blond swiftly gathered his books and stormed out of the library without a word.

Hermione sat back in her chair with an angry huff. The others frowned, looking between the library door and Hermione.

"That comment was a little too far," Blaise chided her quietly.

Hermione looked at Blaise, her expression hurt. "Didn't you hear what he said?" she asked incredulously. "To be so dismissive of slavery..."

"And as a muggleborn, you don't understand the wizarding world as well as you think you do," Blaise said patiently. "I'm not defending enslavement. But it's not that simple. And you should know that Draco is sensitive about his family. He doesn't want to be like his father. Your comment was cruel."

Hermione swiftly snatched up her box of badges and marched away. Ron watched her go with a sigh. "Great, now they're both in a strop," he muttered. "Who do we go to?"

Blaise closed his Transfiguration book tiredly. "We'll give them some time," he said. "Harry should probably be the one to talk to Draco first. He could have been more polite about disagreeing with Hermione. But he was right about Hermione's approach. She can't just go ordering people about like we work for her."

"And her new committee?" Harry asked, rubbing at his temples.

"I think it's got some merit," Blaise admitted. "Seeing Dobby made it clear that elves are often treated poorly. But, they also seem to enjoy the work they do. Have you ever met a Hogwarts elf? Downright cheerful," he said.

Just before dinner, Harry went to the Slytherin dorms. If Draco wasn't there, he was going to grab the Marauders Map to search for him. Fortunately, Draco was in their room, curled up on his side on his bed.

Harry approached the bed and sat down. For a moment neither of them spoke or moved. Then Draco lifted his arm to pull Harry down. Harry obliged and stretched out on the bed, smiling slightly when Draco rested his head on Harry's shoulder.

"Do you think I'm like my father?" Draco asked softly.

"Of course not," Harry responded, rolling onto his side so that they were face to face. "You're a good person Draco. And you freed Dobby. Hermione was just hurt by what you said."

"Hermione doesn't know everything," Draco growled. "She can't just do some research and decide that she knows better than everyone else."

"I think she was just hurt about the way you responded," Harry said calmly. "She worked hard and she was excited about her idea. You could have tried a little harder to be understanding."

Draco frowned, toying with Harry's tie mulishly. "I didn't like her just ordering you around," he grumbled.

Harry smiled. "She's a little bossy," he admitted. "But she means well. Besides, you're always bossy with me."

"That's different," Draco argued.

"How's that?" Harry asked, amused.

Draco finally met Harry's eyes, only to blush and look away. "It's just different with you and I," he murmured, his fingers stilling against Harry's chest. "It always has been."

Harry felt his own cheeks grow warm. He didn't often get time completely alone with Draco. Suddenly, Harry was acutely aware of the fact that they were both laying on Draco's bed. It was completely innocent, but Harry's thoughts were at risk for becoming less innocent.

They'd never really discussed what was between them. It hadn't been necessary. But Harry found himself wondering if their relationship would always be like this. Harry wasn't blind to the attractions of various classmates, male and female. Was Draco attracted to any of them? Draco was very good looking. Other students were bound to notice.

Just acknowledging that there was a special distinction in their relationship made Harry feel nervous and flushed.

Draco frowned at Harry's pensive expression, but he chose not to pry at that moment. "Let's go to dinner," he said lightly.

Harry refocused on Draco's face and smiled. "Sure," he responded. They left the room together, their hands brushing together but neither reaching to grab hold.


Harry was both horrified and intrigued when Professor Moody announced that he was going to place them all under the Imperius curse. Hermione had balked at the idea but remained where she was when Moody said that she could leave if she wished. From a practical standpoint, Harry supposed that it would be good to be familiar with how the curse felt, just in case he encountered it later.

It was amusing but disturbing to see Moody making the students do bizarre things. Dean hopped around the room singing "God Save The Queen". Pansy twirled like a ballerina. Lavendar imitated a squirrel. Seamus danced an Irish jig.

When Harry was called forward, Draco bit his lip anxiously. Professor Moody made Draco very uncomfortable. Watching the man point his wand at Harry made Draco's skin crawl.

Draco watched as the professor cast the curse and a blank, content expression appeared on Harry's face. After a pause, Harry bent his knees as if preparing to jump. But, he didn't jump. Harry held very still. Draco looked to Harry's face and saw that the blankness was gone. Those green eyes were alive and obviously fighting the spell.

Suddenly, Harry made a awkward movement and crashed into the desk. Professor Moody clapped his hands appreciatively. "Did you see that?" he asked the class. "Potter fought and damn near beat it. Let's try that again, Potter. The rest of you, watch closely. Watch his eyes. That's where you see it."

After four more tries, Harry was able to throw off the curse completely. Professor Moody was rather pleased, and made comments like "They'll have trouble controlling you!" Bit of a creepy thing to say.

As they left the classroom, Harry rubbed at one hip carefully. "Should we go see Madam Pomfrey?" Draco asked.

"No, it's just a little sore from slamming into the desk," Harry responded.

"It was really impressive," Blaise said. He frowned as Hermione hurried down the hall, leaving them behind. "You two still not talking?" he asked Draco. Draco shook his head.

"She's not talking to me either," Ron said. "I might have told her that spew is stupid and that house elves like working for us."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "You're just insulting her by calling it spew. It's S.P.E.W., and you know it," he chided.

"It's a stupid name," Ron pointed out. Vince and Greg chortled.

Blaise shook his head. "Completely hopeless," he murmured, fighting a smile. Ron grinned.


Finally, the end of October came around and the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrived. The Hogwarts student had all gathered in front of the school to wait when a gigantic horse-drawn carriage flew over the forest and then hit the ground with jarring force. It was pulled by a dozen winged horses that looked to be the size of elephants.

A woman, whose size rivaled Hagrid's, emerged from the carriage. She was followed by twelve boys and girls in their late teens. They looked rather cold in their fancy silk robes. Dumbledore spoke with the woman, Madame Maxine, for a few moments before ushering them into the warmth of the castle.

"That is a big woman," Seamus muttered. Ron and Harry nodded their agreement.

A moment later, there was a low rumbling sound coming from the lake. The students watched in awe as a ship began emerging from the center of the Black Lake. There was a splash as an anchor was thrown into the shallows and a plank was lowered to the bank.

A man with short hair and a goatee approached the castle and greeted Dumbledore heartily. His smile didn't reach his eyes. The students behind him were all boys, wrapped in think cloaks of fur.

"Viktor, come along, into the warmth," the man, Professor Karkaroff said to one of his students. "Dumbledore, you don't mind? Viktor has had a head cold-"

Harry hissed when Ron punched him in the arm. "Harry, that's Viktor Krum!" Ron practically squealed.

"I saw him. Can you stop hitting me?"

"This is brilliant!" Ron went on, ignoring Harry's complaint and still swatting at Harry's arm hysterically. "We'll get to meet him!"

Draco pulled Harry out of Ron's reach and slapped Ron's hands away. Behind them, Seamus, Dean and Neville were cracking up.

When they all got back to the Great Hall, Ron excitedly called out to the Durmstrang students, but it was too late. They'd moved toward the Slytherin table and selected seats there.

Viktor Krum settled himself at the table next to Harry. Blaise nearly laughed when Draco scooted a little closer to Harry and eyed Viktor suspiciously.

Dumbledore said a few words of welcome and then food appeared at the tables. In addition to the usual fare, dishes from Bulgaria and France had been included.

"We saw you play at the World Cup," Harry said to Viktor. "The Wronski Feint was brilliant."

Viktor looked pleased by the compliment and Harry's calmness. "Thank you," Viktor replied in a thick accent. His eyes caught on Harry's distinctive scar. "You are Harry Potter," he noted.

"Er- yeah," Harry responded sheepishly. "These are my friends." He politely introduced Draco, Blaise, Greg and Vince. Draco seemed torn between pleasure at meeting the famous Quidditch player and annoyance that Viktor was sitting and talking with Harry.

Blaise began chatting with Viktor, allowing Draco to relax. The blond hadn't expected the sudden surge of jealousy. It wasn't as if Viktor and Harry had been flirting. And Draco felt confident that he was much better looking than Viktor. He was a little embarrassed about his weirdly territorial reaction. Harry was his best friend, and was allowed to talk to whomever he liked.

Draco blushed when Harry turned to look at him. He waved away Harry's questioning look, but his breath caught when he felt fingers tentatively brushed against his thigh. Draco managed a smile, hoping that he didn't look too dazed. Harry's brief touch had been arousing and the Great Hall was no place for an erection.

Harry returned to his dinner, wondering at Draco's flushed face. Of course, questioning it may only result in mortifying Draco, so Harry held his tongue. Instead, Harry occupied his thoughts with contemplating what it would be like to kiss Draco again. Or how it would feel to touch Draco somewhere other than his hand or leg.

Okay, those thoughts were definitely a bad idea in a room full of people.

As everyone began returning to the dorms, Harry and Draco exchanged shy smiles. Both were very relieved to be feeling calmer and grateful for the extra security of roomy school robes.


The champions for the three schools would be selected by the Goblet of Fire. To the dismay of the twins, Dumbledore drew an age line around it to prevent underage students from entering. This didn't stop the twins from attempting it, which resulted in them sprouted impressive long white beards that could rival Dumbledore's.

Ron chattered on about what it would be like to win the tournament. Ron would have entered if he could. Some of his friends from Gryffindor agreed. His friends from Slytherin did not. Harry, the most daring of the Slytherin group, was content to sit in the background. It was a relief that he could focus on his school work while someone else ran off to do dangerous tasks.

A week later, everyone was gathered in the Great Hall and the Goblet of Fire spat out a name from each school. Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons. Viktor Krum from Durmstrang. Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff, from Hogwarts.

The new champions were applauded and Dumbledore motioned for silence. But the flames in the Goblet had brightened again, and another slip of parchment flew out. Dumbledore caught the paper and stared at it in surprise.

"Harry Potter," Dumbledore said, his voice tense.

Draco watched in horror as Harry reluctantly got up and followed the other champions. As he went, other Hogwarts students jeered and called him a cheat. Across the hall, Draco could see Ron's expression turning from shock to anger.

"Did- Harry didn't put his name in, did he?" Blaise asked, his brow furrowed.

"Of course not," Draco answered, clenching his hands together. "He's not old enough. He's not keen on the attention. And, most importantly, he's not stupid. People have died during this tournament."

"So somebody did it for him," Blaise concluded grimly.

Draco made an odd sound in his throat, his expression fearful.

"It's alright," Blaise soothed, gripping Draco's shoulder. "Just stay calm."

Most students began leaving the Great Hall to return to the dorms. Draco, Blaise, Vince, Greg and Hermione remained, waiting for the champions to return with the professors. In the anxiety over Harry's name coming out of the goblet, the disagreement between Hermione and Draco seemed meaningless. The moment the rest of the students had left, she launched herself into Draco's arms for a hug.

"This is so bad," Hermione whimpered. She took in a shuddering breath. "I'm so sorry Draco."

It was a little too much for Draco. His thoughts and emotions were frayed. Something was very wrong and Harry could be killed in a tournament that he wasn't meant to be in. At the moment, Hermione's fear was more than he could take. Tears were not an option, but Draco's eyes were beginning to burn anyway.

Luckily, Blaise noticed Draco's struggle and reached out to gently tug Hermione away. "Just try to stay calm," Blaise said reasonably. "Getting all worked up is just going to make Harry feel worse. We've got to be strong for him. Where's Ron?" he added, looking at Hermione.

"Ron is-" Hermione paused, shifting uncomfortably. "Ron is having a difficult time, I think. I heard him talking to Seamus... He's assuming that Harry found a way to enter and just didn't tell him. I think he's been feeling insignificant. He's the youngest of six boys and that's a lot to live up to. And the Weasleys don't have much money." She sighed regretfully. "I'm pretty sure that he's really jealous and it's not letting him think clearly."

The others nodded, though Draco seemed far less understanding than his friends. In his mind, nothing excused abandoning Harry.

When they professors and champions had finally come back, Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff looked angry. The Hogwarts teachers looked tense while Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman from the Ministry looked a bit puzzled.

Harry was pale and looked quite shaken as Dumbledore led him along with an arm around his shoulders. Harry seemed relieved to see his friends. Draco pounced on him immediately, hugging him tightly. Dumbledore smiled slightly and stepped away, moving away with Snape and McGonagall. McGonagall was watching Harry anxiously.

"I swear I didn't," Harry muttered hastily. "You're always with me- You'd have seen."

"It's fine," Draco assured him, one hand petting Harry's messy hair while the other pressed into Harry's back. "I know you didn't put your name in."

"We believe you Harry," Hermione said, squeezing his hand once Draco released him. Blaise, Vince and Greg nodded.

Harry glanced around, frowning. "Where's Ron?" he asked.

Hermione bit her lip. "Ron-" She grimaced. "He'll come around Harry. I think he's really struggling. He's always in somebody's shadow."

"That's no reason to not be here for Harry," Draco snapped heatedly.

"I didn't say it was," Hermione retorted.

"Let's stay calm," Blaise interrupted, though he looked upset himself. "Ron will calm down and realize that Harry didn't do this. There's no point in fighting."

"Sorry," Draco muttered to Hermione. "I'm just worried. This is really dangerous," he added, looking at Harry.

"Then we're going to work together to give him every advantage," Hermione said. "We'll practice spells, talk strategy... Whatever we need to do to get through this."

"Thanks," Harry said softly, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

"Let's go," Draco said, looping his arm through Harry's. "Vince and Greg? Will you walk Hermione back to the Gryffindor common room?"

Vince and Greg nodded, smiling at Hermione. Hermione pressed a quick kiss to Harry's cheek before leaving with them.

"Come on then," Blaise sighed warily.

Once Blaise was ahead of them, Draco slid his hand down Harry's arm to entwine their fingers. Harry smiled, giving Draco's hand a little squeeze. For the moment, he'd focus on how wonderful it felt to hold Draco's hand. Everything else could wait.


"Come on Ron," Blaise said patiently. "You know that Harry couldn't have put his name in the Goblet."

Blaise had dragged Ron to the library immediately after their classes ended for the day. The red-head had spent the day avoiding Harry completely while other students made snide comments to the boy who lived. Harry was hurt by Ron's attitude and Draco was becoming more and more upset about it as the day went on. Blaise wasn't about to let it continue.

"Don't you get tired of being the sidekick for the great Harry Potter?" Ron asked, his tone bitter.

"I'm no sidekick," Blaise retorted sharply. "And neither are you. We're his friends. His best friends. Harry would be the first person to say that he needs us, and you know that." He was relieved when Ron sighed heavily.

"I guess I just got a little worked up," Ron muttered. "I should have known. It's a stupid thing to get angry about anyway."

"Well then, you should probably talk to Harry," Blaise said. "He's pretty upset. And Draco is unbearable right now. Ah, right on time," he added, seeing their other friends walk into the library. He beckoned them closer when Harry seemed hesitant to come in.

Ron stood up as Harry approached. Harry appeared as if he hadn't slept well, but he was looking at Ron hopefully. "Blimey, Harry- I know it's not your fault," Ron blurted out.

Harry's sudden relieved smile made Ron feel like a right arse. Surely Harry was worried and afraid. And Ron had been a complete tit about the whole thing, running off when one of his friends really needed him.

For a moment, Ron worried that Draco would be a prat about it. But the blond just looked oddly grateful to see Harry's relief.

They all sat down at the table, pulling out books and parchment to begin their homework. Harry sat contentedly between Ron and Draco, some of his anxiety over his predicament melting away.

"So," Ron said suddenly, drawing their attention. "We've got to talk strategy. I say we look into past tournaments. Maybe there are some patterns for how the tasks are chosen."

"That's a good idea," Blaise said with an approving nod. "We also need to make sure Harry knows enough spells. He needs to be ready for anything. I was thinking we could ask a few older students for tutoring."

"And the teachers," Hermione added. "They won't have much time available, but they may be able to show him a few spells."

"If we can figure out the first task, we can better prepare," Draco commented, tapping his finger on Vince's book. Vince grunted in thanks as he spotted the answer to the question he'd been pondering. "For now, we'll just focus on adding to Harry's spellcasting repertoire."

"Sounds easy enough," Harry quipped with a little grin.

"Shut up and do your homework," Draco laughed giving Harry a little shove.