Hooray! A new chapter! And, you'll be pleased to know that part three is nearly done as well.


Harry did a good job of staying focused on his classes while waiting for news of the first task. He was also learning a good number of new spells outside of class. Adrien was a seventh year, and since they weren't playing Quidditch, he was happy to spend extra time helping a fellow Slytherin win the tournament.

Harry was still being mocked and insulted by some of the other students. Especially the Hufflepuffs. According to them, Hogwarts only had one true champion, and it was Cedric. Harry would have backed out if he could but, according to Mr. Crouch, having his name come out of the goblet created a binding magical contract.

Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet, had come to the school to interview the champions. That had been a fiasco. She'd eagerly latched on to Harry, wanting a private interview, but Dumbledore had stubbornly refused to leave her alone with the youngest champion. Somehow, it hadn't stopped her from focusing most of her article on Harry, mentioning the other champions almost as an afterthought. It had only served to make people every more annoyed with Harry's participation in the tournament. The article itself was completely ridiculous. Skeeter had painted Harry as a rebel, but also a tragic hero. The words "the ghosts of his past" had made Harry snort with derision and promptly toss the newspaper into the fireplace.

The nice part about the situation was that a good number of the Slytherins rallied around their young champion. They occasionally assisted when they saw Harry learning a new spell and scared away students that bothered him in the library. Even Pansy, who had spent the last few years mostly ignoring Harry, sometimes joined their little study group. Of course, she tended to recommend curses that were a little disturbing.

Remus had immediately sent Harry several books on defensive magic. Sirius had sent on a notebook that was full of notes on various charms and hexes that the marauders had created or altered. Some of them were a bit... mature in nature and made Harry blush horribly.

Draco looked down at the notebook with a frown, rolling his eyes at the handwritten notes. "Great," he drawled sarcastically. "Now we can conjure lube. We were desperate for that charm."

Hermione giggled and Pansy snorted.

Draco blushed and his eyes grew wide. He looked up at Harry in mortification. "I didn't mean that we needed-" He sputtered and turned to Hermione. "I wasn't saying- It was a joke."

At that point, everyone was laughing. Draco covered his face with his hands groaning "Oh sweet Salazar. Just kill me now."

Madame Pince, the librarian, rushed over and demanded that they leave. The students swiftly gathered their things and hurried out, stopping just outside the library doors. A few of them were still smothering breathless giggles.

"What do we do now?" Vince asked.

Before the others could respond, they saw Hagrid coming up the hallway. He hurried over, eyeing the cluster of students uncertainly. He relaxed a bit as Harry greeted him warmly.

"Thought you might like to come round for tea," Hagrid said, his smile a bit forced.

Harry stared at him for a moment, wondering why Hagrid was being so shifty. "Alright," Harry agreed cautiously.

"Good," Hagrid said, looking relieved as he took a step back. "And, er- Bring yer cloak. Bit nippy out."

Harry's eyebrows rose on his furrowed brow. "Okay then."

Hagrid offered an awkward wave to the others and gave Harry a pointed look before walking away.

"What a strange man," Pansy said lightly, as if commenting on the weather.

"And he's so subtle," Draco muttered sarcastically. He turned to Harry expectantly. "So what do you think?" he asked.

Harry frowned. "I'm going to assume that he wants me to bring my invisibility cloak," he said quietly, glancing at the others.

"And he clearly wants you to come alone," Draco added with a little huff.

"I'm sure there's a good reason," Harry assured the blond. "You'll be the first to know."

"Dray, I'll keep you company while Harry goes to visit Hagrid," Pansy said, looping her arm through Draco's. She kept the gesture light and friendly, wisely refraining from clinging to him. She was rewarded with a little smile from Draco.

Harry's stomach clenched and a flare of jealousy swept over him. It was absurd, of course. Draco was very popular. He was rich, smart, witty... Obviously plenty of people would want to hang around him. Harry didn't expect Draco to sit alone and wait for his return. And there was nothing to be jealous of. Harry and Draco were best friends, but they had plenty of other friends.

Harry's very reasonable thoughts did little to soothe the little ache he felt in the chest. He couldn't be selfish with Draco's attention. But he suddenly wanted to pull Draco back to their room with their hands clasped together. Draco would smile at him and Harry would be unable to resist kissing him.

"Harry?" Hermione said, breaking through Harry's increasingly sappy fantasy. "We should go to dinner."

"Right," Harry said, shaking himself. "Let's go."

Draco eyed Harry curiously as they all moved toward the Great Hall. But Harry seemed to be relaxing, so Draco didn't pry. His attention was drawn back to Pansy as she chattered on and on about the latest school gossip.

Pansy was still annoying at times, but she was more tolerable. Honestly, Draco enjoyed the gossip and the discussions about fashion. Harry wasn't nearly as eager to talk about fashion trends and hairstyles. It was a pleasant change of pace. Draco had Harry for everything else.

After dinner, Harry left to meet with Hagrid. Draco found himself sitting in the common room with several other Slytherins. Some of them were flipping through books and noting some useful spells. Astoria Greengrass and Pansy were watching as Draco cast a few charms on badges similar to the ones that Hermione had made for S.P.E.W.

"That looks fantastic," Astoria praised, picking up one of the badges. It was round and dark green with "Support Harry Potter" written out in shiny silver letters. She lightly tapped the badge with one finger and it changed, flashing a picture of a lightening bolt, like a cartoonish version of Harry's scar. "Brilliant Draco."

"Thanks," Draco said, admiring his handiwork. "I've been working on these for a little while."

"Harry won't like it," Blaise commented.

"I know," Draco admitted, "but I think having a bit of extra support will be encouraging."

"That's so sweet," Pansy sighed. "I'll wear a Potter badge." She pinned one of the finished badges to her robes and handed one to Astoria. A moment later, a good number of the Slytherins had taken a Potter badge to wear.

Before Draco could feel too pleased with himself, Harry stepped into the common room looking pale and shaken. Draco jumped up from his place on the rug and rushed to Harry.

"What's wrong?" Draco demanded anxiously as Blaise hurried over as well.

"It's dragons," Harry said faintly, trembling with a combination of fear and cold. "I've got to get past a dragon in the first task."

The common room fell silent.

"That's completely mental!" Pansy cried indignantly. Astoria's horrified expression seemed to indicate her agreement with that assessment.

Draco swore under his breath, his hands coming up to rub Harry's upper arms comfortingly. "We'll figure this out Harry," he murmured. "Come on. You need your rest." He guided Harry down the hall to their dorm.

Horror was creeping across Harry's skin, and seeping into him. How was he going to survive against a dragon?

Harry had followed Hagrid into the Forbidden Forest, carefully hidden beneath his invisibility cloak. Hagrid had met up with Madam Maxime and then led her and an invisible Harry through the trees until they'd come across four dragons being handled by ridiculously muscular dragon keepers. One of the dragons was particularly vicious, roaring and spewing flames everywhere.

Harry had stayed long enough to look the dragons over and then made his way back to the castle. Hagrid had been thoroughly distracted with the Beauxbatons headmistress anyway.

Harry was barely aware of Draco and Blaise gently prodding him into changing into bed clothes. His mind was too preoccupied with the memory of the dragons, their massive scaly bodies glinting in the light from the flames that one of them was spitting ferociously.

Harry had been nervous about the tournament already. But now he felt weak with terror. It was all too real now, and Harry couldn't fathom a way to get through it.

"Harry? Harry breathe."

Blaise's voice sounded strangely muffled in Harry's ears. He drew in a gasping, shuddering breath in an attempt to pull himself together. His head throbbed and his chest felt tight.

To see Harry succumb to what appeared to be a panic attack, was heartbreaking. Draco bit back a sob, pulling Harry close. He wrapped one arm around Harry's waist while his other hand cradled the back of Harry's head. "Get Snape," he urged Blaise, his voice strained.

Blaise hurried away while Draco managed shuffle toward Harry's bed. He stretched out on the bed, allowing Harry to curl into him. The front of Draco's shirt was growing damp with Harry's tears, but Draco didn't care.

"We'll do everything we can," Draco murmured softly. "You're so strong Harry. You're amazing, and I know you'll get through this."

Draco went on and on, whispering soft words of praise and encouragement. He wasn't even sure if Harry was aware of it. Harry was still shaking and crying, but he hadn't said a single word. Draco pressed a gentle kiss to Harry's scar, wishing desperately that he could protect him.

Blaise burst back into the room with Snape and McGonagall on his heels. Draco carefully released Harry, his heart fluttering when Harry objected with a quiet whimper.

McGonagall sat down on the bed, pulling Harry up and into her embrace. He sobbed and hugged her tightly. "It's alright Love," she said, smoothing down his hair. She was suddenly very grateful that Harry hadn't outgrown his need for her comfort.

"I don't want to do this," Harry gasped through his tears. "I can't get past a dragon."

"Hush now," McGonagall crooned, kissing the top of his head. "We'll find a way." She didn't bother asking how he knew about the dragons. It didn't matter at the moment. She had planned on telling him herself. This was her Harry. Her son. She didn't give a fig about the tournament rules when it came to the survival of her boy.

Snape held out a vial to Harry wordlessly. Harry took it and drank the potion without question. "We won't let you do this alone," Snape said quietly.

"Mr. Bagman said that we aren't supposed to get help from teachers," Harry responded miserably.

"This is... an unusual case," Snape admitted. "It's clear that someone sought to bring you harm by entering your name in the tournament."

"You believe me," Harry said, hopeful surprise filling his green eyes.

"I do," Snape replied tersely. He gave Harry a hard look. "You are one of mine. I look after my Slytherins." He paused, frowning in thought. "We will simply have to come up with a strategy."

"Thank you," Harry said, suddenly sleepy and content. Whatever potion he'd been given was clearly working.

"Rest now," McGonagall said, guiding Harry to lay back down. She tucked him in and kissed his head, smiling when he immediately drifted off to sleep. She turned to Blaise and Draco. "You're good boys," she murmured. "I'm glad Harry has you. Try to keep him calm and we'll make sure he gets through this."

The two professors left, leaving Blaise and Draco to watch over Harry. "I'd better check on the others," Blaise sighed. "I caused a bit of a panic when I ran out earlier. Pansy and Astoria were having kittens. One of the first years was crying."

Draco nodded absently, preparing himself for bed. Blaise left the room, intent on smoothing over the tension in the common room. None of them needed to know that Harry had gone to pieces. It was nice to know that Harry had genuine support from some of the other Slytherins. If Harry was going to get through this, it was going to take some Slytherin cunning.


"I need to tell Cedric about the dragons," Harry said quietly, spotting Cedric sitting outside with a group of Hufflepuffs.

Draco scowled. "We have to get to herbology," he argued. "And, the way I see it, Diggory is the competition."

"He'll be the only one that doesn't know," Harry objected. "I'm sure Madame Maxime has told Fleur, and I saw Karkaroff near the edge of the forest. You know he had to have told Krum. This way, it'll be fair." He grinned when when Draco rolled his eyes and waved him away impatiently.

Harry approached the older Hufflepuffs, swallowing hard when they eyed him with obvious dislike. "Could I talk to you?" Harry asked, focusing on Cedric.

Cedric obliged, following Harry a few paces away from the others. He hadn't believed Harry about not entering the tournament, but Harry had always seemed nice enough despite his house affiliation. He shot his friends a quelling look when one shouted "Ced's the real champion!"

"Dragons," Harry blurted out. "That's the first task."

Cedric froze, his mouth dropping open. "You're sure?" he asked stiffly.

"I saw them," Harry replied grimly. "The others already know."

Cedric swallowed hard and nodded. "I appreciate the warning," he said. He shot a look over at his friends. "Listen, I've told them to leave you alone. It's just-"

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, suddenly weary. "It doesn't matter." He offered a parting nod and returned to Draco.

Draco was glaring at the Hufflepuffs. "Ungrateful wretches," he growled, tugging Harry toward the greenhouses.

"Forget about it," Harry said. "I shouldn't even be a champion."

Draco frowned but didn't argue. He felt better when they got into Greenhouse Two. The other Slytherins were all wearing the badges that Draco had made. Pansy and Astoria pressed on theirs, flashing the lightning bolt symbol.

"Aren't they great?" Pansy gushed. "Draco worked so hard on them and they're lovely."

"You made badges?" Harry asked, staring at his own name written in silvery letters.

"You need to know that we're behind you," Draco said, giving Harry a little nudge.

"And Slytherin should be proud to have you as our champion," Astoria added.

Harry blushed as he looked at the others. Even Theo Nott was wearing a badge. Having supporters didn't make Harry's task easier, but it did make him feel pleasantly warm.

Once herbology was over, they made their way to Professor Moody's class. There, Harry was even more surprised. Blaise had passed several badges on to Ron and Hermione. Now, most of the fourth year Gryffindors wore the badges as well. Seamus and Dean beamed at him, indicating their badges excitedly.

"Thanks Draco," Harry murmured, taking his seat. Draco sat next to him, reaching under the desk to squeeze Harry's hand.

At the end of class, Moody called Harry to stay behind. His friends left with an assurance that they're meet him in the library. Harry squirmed a bit under Moody's intent gaze.

"What are you going to do about your dragon?" Moody asked.

Harry blinked. "I- Well, I don't know yet," he stammered.

"The key is to play to your strengths," Moody said, his gaze never wavering from Harry's face. "What are your strengths? What are you good at?"

"I don't know," Harry muttered. "I don't have much in the way of talent. I'm a fair flyer," he admitted.

"Better than fair the way I hear it," Moody commented with a twisted little smile.

"But I can't take a broom in with me," Harry argued.

"Right," Moody agreed. "You'll only have your wand. So you use your wand to get what you need."

Harry nodded slowly, biting his lip as thoughts tumbled in his mind. "Thank you," he said hastily, eager to speak with his friends. He bolted from the room when Moody waved him off.

In the library, his friends latched onto that glimmer of hope. "You need to learn a summoning charm," Hermione said, flipping through their charms textbook eagerly. "We can help you learn it."

"We need more than that," Draco insisted. "He can summon his Firebolt, but it won't matter if that dragon gets him before he can get away."

"We need back up plans," Ron agreed. "We need a strategy to cover as many scenarios as possible."

Harry diligently practiced his summoning charms while his friends researched. There wasn't much time to prepare but he was determined.

And then the research paid off in an unexpected way. Two days before the task, Draco eagerly pulled Harry along to Professor Snape's office. "I've checked with Snape..." Draco said breathlessly. "You're not going to believe this." He beamed and pushed Harry into a chair in front of Snape's desk.

Harry glanced between Draco and Snape curiously. "What's this about?" he asked. To his disbelief, Snape smiled very slightly.

"I have a spell to teach you," Snape drawled. "Let's begin."


Draco sat in the stands, his hands clenched together in his lap. Sirius was sitting next to him holding Remus' hand. They'd come to watch the tournament and had gladly accepted seats next to Draco and his friends.

"This is horrible," Draco said miserably.

Sirius nodded, his entire body tense. It was going to very difficult to watch Harry face a dragon.

Hermione hurried over, nudging people aside to get to her friends. She squeezed into the open space between Ron and Remus. She leaned forward to catch Draco's eye. "Harry's alright," she said loudly over the chatter of the crowd. "Calmer than I expected."

Draco barely paid attention as the other champions faced their dragons. They had survived, and that was all he needed to know. He was horrified when he realized that Harry would be facing the most vicious of the dragons, the Hungarian Horntail. That complicated matters.

The great beast was brought out and situated on the rocks to guard a clutch of eggs. Nestled with the dragon eggs, was a golden egg. Harry would have to retrieve the golden egg. The dragon was chained, but that didn't bring Draco much comfort. An angry mother dragon wasn't going to let chains restrain her for long.

Harry stepped out of the tent and into the prepared arena. Draco could hardly breathe as he watched Harry duck behind a large boulder swiftly. Harry flicked his wand, but otherwise remained oddly still. A few tense moments later, the Firebolt zoomed from the castle and straight into Harry's hands.

The dragon growled and crouched over its eggs, but Harry still didn't mount his broom. Draco leaned forward eagerly, peering through a set of binoculars in time to see Harry point his wand at his throat and mutter a spell.

In the next moment, the sound of strange hissing filled the arena. The chatter of the spectators abruptly fell silent before the murmuring began.

"He's speaking parseltongue!" someone said excitedly.

"That's... unnerving."

"It sounds so creepy."

Draco smiled, watching as the dragon stopped growling and cocked its head slightly. According to his research, Harry would likely be able to make the dragon understand him, even though he wouldn't be able to understand the dragon. It was thought that, as a reptile, the dragon may be able to recognize and understand snake language.

The dragon let out another low growl, though it was a bit quieter than her previous sounds. The hissing resumed and Draco desperately wished that he could understand what Harry was saying.

While everyone looked on, Harry slowly stepped around the boulder to face the dragon. He hissed out more syllables in his strange language, careful to keep his wand down at his side with his other hand raised.

The dragon eyed Harry, growling again. And then it lowered its head to nudge at the golden egg.

The arena went quiet.

Harry's pulse thundered in his ears. He stared in awe as the golden egg was dislodged from the pile and sent tumbling down the rocks. Harry lurched forward to grab it but froze when the dragon roared.

"Mercy!" Harry hissed out desperately. "I wanted to retrieve my prize. I'll come no closer." The dragon peered at him, still growling. She remained where she was, her bright amber eyes staring at him unblinkingly.

Harry dropped into a reverent bow and then slowly picked up the egg. He was dangerously close to hyperventilating as he walked away from the dragon and back to the tent.

Cheers erupted and Draco thought that his heart would burst would happiness. Harry hadn't even needed the broom.

It took a few moments for the judges to discuss, but Harry was awarded first place. He'd managed to get the egg quicker than anyone else. Viktor took second place, Cedric took third, leaving Fleur in fourth.

Harry stepped out of the tent and immediately saw Draco talking to Remus, Sirius and McGonagall. He rushed into Remus' open arms, relief flooding through him. After a moment, he hugged Sirius tightly and then McGonagall.

"You were brilliant!" Remus praised.

"It was Draco's idea," Harry said, turning to beam at the blond.

Draco smiled. "You were so brave," he said. "I'm really proud of you."

"Too bad you didn't get to fly," Sirius mused. "That would have been great."

"It might have looked more impressive," Harry admitted, "but it probably would have made her angry."

"What were you saying to it?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Told her my name," Harry replied, frowning slightly as he recalled the event. "I told her that I meant no harm to her or her eggs. I said that the golden egg wasn't hers and that I needed it. The sooner I got the egg, the sooner she could go home with her eggs."

"That's it?" Ron asked incredulously.

"That's it," Harry replied with a little shrug.

Ron sighed and then grinned. "Did you wee a little bit?" he asked, making Blaise and Sirius snort.

"Nearly," Harry laughed.

Viktor approached the group, peering at everyone before looking at Harry. "That vos very impressive Potter," he said, his voice a low rumble.

"Thanks," Harry said. "Same to you." He glanced at his family and friends with a smile. Harry introduced Sirius and Remus and then Ron and Hermione. Ron was comically wide eyed when finally introduced to his favorite Quidditch player.

Remus and Sirius remained at Hogwarts for a few extra hours, delighted to spend extra time with Harry. They spent most of that time sitting together at the edge of the Black Lake. At dinner time, they each embraced Harry warmly, knowing that they had to leave.

"We're so proud, Pup," Remus said. "Just keep up the good work and be careful."

"Keep in touch," Sirius added. "We want to know everything. We'll come back for the next task."

Harry reluctantly returning to the castle, smiling a little sadly when he found Draco coming out to meet him. "You'll see them again soon," Draco said lightly. As they headed toward the Great Hall, he gave Harry's hand a little squeeze.


"Stupid Rita Skeeter," Draco grumbled, shoving the Daily Prophet away and reaching for his cup of tea.

"What now?" Blaise asked, setting his toast aside.

"Her coverage of the tournament," Draco explained, pushing the plate of eggs closer to Harry. "She wrote an article about a love triangle between Harry, Hermione and Viktor Krum."

Harry groaned. "She came into the tent when Hermione came to see me," he explained. "Her photographer got a picture," he added, nodding to the photo of himself and Hermione hugging. "Krum told her off for bothering us."

"Hag," Draco sneered. "To make matters worse, she said very little about the other competitors. She mostly wrote about Harry speaking parseltongue."

"As if the Hufflepuffs need something more to get their knickers in a twist over," Blaise said, rolling his eyes.

Harry sighed. He really didn't need more reasons for the Hufflepuffs to dislike him.


Harry looked around to see if any of his housemates knew why they were all gathered in a seldom used classroom in the dungeons. They all looked as baffled as he did.

Snape swept into the room wearing a sour expression. "In accordance with tradition," he said, "we will be participating in the Yule ball. This is, regrettably, a dance." He paused while the students began muttering excitedly. When they'd settled he went on. "Professor McGonagall is instructing her Gryffindors on waltzing. Luckily, a few of you aren't completely hopeless and will be able to assist in instructing the others.

As music began to play, Harry began to feel rather nervous. This was one thing that Remus hadn't really taught him. There hadn't been a need for it. And now, he was going to need to learn in a large group setting.

"Don't look so worried," Draco chuckled. He held his hand out, his smile suddenly turning a bit shy. "I can teach you."

Despite the embarrassment, Harry enjoyed dancing with Draco. He was graceful and wonderfully patient with Harry's clumsy movements. Harry's fingers flexed lightly against Draco's waist while his other hand clasped Draco's gently. Draco's free hand rested against Harry's shoulder. They were face to face and Harry was gazing into Draco's lovely gray eyes.

"See? Not so bad," Draco said softly. "Your dancing isn't nearly as terrible as I feared."

"I'm not sure if that's actually a compliment," Harry chuckled, glancing around at the other pairs of dancers. At least they looked as awkward as he felt.

Draco's heart was racing and he felt a little lightheaded. He wouldn't say that he'd been oblivious, but he clearly hadn't fully understood what he felt for Harry. There was now no denying it. Draco had always shied away from thinking to hard on it. He was expected to uphold tradition. He would have to marry a pureblood witch and continue the bloodline. But in the flickering lights of the dungeon classroom, with Harry gently holding him close and slowly twirling them around the room, Draco accepted what he really wanted. Draco wanted to be with Harry. While their friends had started showing interest in various school mates, Draco only ever wanted Harry. He had no interest in dating anyone else. This wasn't just a crush to Draco. His heart was full and aching with the desire to push beyond the boundary of their friendship.

But that wasn't possible. Draco's father would be furious. He didn't want to think of the consequences of angering his father that way. He had no doubt that Lucius would find a way to keep them apart.

"You alright?" Harry asked.

"Fine," Draco responded, straightening his posture a bit. "Try a spin here... Needs work, but not bad."

Later, they met in the library to study with their friends. Fred and George had joined them to gleefully remark that Ron had been made to dance with McGonagall. Ron's face burned bright red as he did his best to ignore his brothers.

"So, now we've got to get dates for the ball," Ron said, eager to change the subject. "Do you lot have anyone in mind?"

Harry shrugged awkwardly and Draco didn't look up from his book. "You?" Harry asked.

"Don't know," Ron responded miserably. "It's gonna be bloody awkward asking someone though. All the girls are always standing in groups and giggling. Except for Hermione," he added, not noticing when she scowled at him. "Harry mate, you could go with whoever you like. I overheard some girls talking about you. One of them was Cho Chang. She's not bad looking. And some of those Slytherin girls would probably like to go with you. You're first place in the tournament!"

"Astoria thinks Harry's fit," Blaise confirmed with a smirk. Harry blushed. "And I heard Pansy, Milicent and Tracy going on and on about how bloody gorgeous Draco is." He laughed when Draco blushed as well.

"And there's Ginny," Ron added helpfully. "I'm sure she'd go with you Harry."

"Oh Merlin," Harry groaned. "I get it, alright? I'll think it over."

The ball would be there before they knew it, but Harry was torn. How was he going to ask someone to go to the ball? The person he wanted was off limits, and was probably going to ask stupid Pansy Parkinson to be his date.