A/N: I was disappointed with myself. I was trying to make the first task a little different, but my muse wasn't giving me anything. Last night I post this chapter - not happy with it - go to sleep, wake up and BAM, an idea forms in my head. So, I rewrote the whole thing. I hope you like this better.
No, I'm not going to bash Ron, but I'm going to shove him to the side. There is also a difference between bashing and using him in the plot. Let's face it, in canon, he is a jealous prat who acts and speaks before he engages his brain. That's how he'll be played in the story and his actions will reflect that.
I'm not going to bash Dumbledore, AT ALL. This is going to be a sensible Dumbledore.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.
Chapter 3
Hermione heard him whoop again as he performed that...oh, what did he call it? Something odd sounding and it looked incredibly dangerous where you dove towards the ground and pulled up at the very last second. Nearly gave her a heart attack when she had first seen him do it. He then had a taste of how a book can be used outside of reading with her assault on him. He was just laughing while she berated him for doing something so reckless, so foolish, so Gryffindor!
"Ah, my dear, but I am a Gryffindor," he had said, dodging her bibliophilius assault. She had half a mind to use Banishing Charms with her assault, but the endearment had somewhat melted her anger. She knew it was in jest, but a girl could dream, couldn't she?
They've been trying to research something for the first task, and Hermione decided to look int he restricted section with that pass that Madam Pince gave her in confidentiality. She knew Hermione quite well from all the times she was in the library and knew that girl thirsted for knowledge like a thirsty man in the desert, so she entrusted a restricted section pass to her, knowing that she would use it well.
Hermione was even looking up ancient spells, trying to find something for Harry to use. She had heard in passing from Cho Chang's little group that Cedric was going to use transfiguration.
'Yes, and your little boyfriend wouldn't know about the dragons if it wasn't for Harry,' Hermione thought, remembering how Harry walked over to talk to the 'true Hogwarts Champion' while they were walking to the RoR. Cedric looked utterly pale, before hurrying off toward the greenhouses to find his head of House.
Harry had this asinine idea of out flying a dragon. That was another reason to hit him, and she did - lightly - over the head with her planner. She shook her head at the Gryffindor and went back to her reasearch, but was coming up short...and she was getting frustrated.
"Anything?" Harry asked as he flew over, still wary of her book assault if he said something stupid. She looked up and shook her head, he could tell that she was exasperated, bordering frustrated. 'She really needs to loosen up,' he thought, before he had an idea.
"Hey, do you want to go for a ride?" Harry asked, seeing that she looked incredibly uncertain as he held out his hand for her. She looked and forth between his hand and face a couple of times, nibbling on her bottom lip, before dropping her gaze and mumbling something the he couldn't quite catch.
"What was that?"
"I said, I hate heights," Hermione said meeting his eyes, a blush coloring her cheeks like she was embarrassed. Harry swooped down more until he was right next to her. He reached his hand reached down to hers and grasped it, gently tugging her off her seat and behind him.
"No better way of conquering your fears than facing them," Harry said, Hermione's expression still uncertain. "Come on, it'll be fine. I promise."
He added, what he hoped was, puppy dog eyes and even pouted his bottom lip out for good measure. It seemed to work because her face crumbled and she sighed deeply, swinging her leg over and mounting the broom behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and when he was sure she was set, he kicked off a bit. She squeaked in surprise and her hold around his waist tightened. Harry registered that it certainly wasn't uncomfortable and her body heat felt quite good against his back.
"Please, don't let me fall," she whispered softly into his back. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear it, or if it was a silent prayer to a deity, but he answered anyway.
"Never."
-oOo-
"So? So?"
"Okay, okay...I had fun," Hermione admitted, laughing at Harry's childish pestering. He whooped in victory and pumped his fist in the air, making her laugh even harder.
She had to admit she enjoyed being on the back of the broom with someone controlling it then actually in control of the broom. Harry was the youngest Quidditch player in a century too and a natural at flying, so it definitely helped ease her fears. She could have sworn he promised, 'Never' when she pleaded that he not let her fall. She hadn't meant for him to hear her and she wasn't sure if he did, but she hoped that was really what he said and not a figment of her imagination.
The ride itself was exhilarating and hanging on to Harry was...confusing. Confusing because it felt so good. She held on to him for dear life, burying her face in his back and listening to his heartbeat when they were up high.
She noted that he also smelled really good, like grass and something else, but she discreetly took gulps of his scent when close to him. He was laughing the whole way and she could tell that flying filled him with joy that she could never understand. She guessed that she could compare it to receiving a new book or getting good grades in her classes.
They were walking up the path towards the entrance when a pair of red-headed twins blocked their way, their usually bright and mischievous faces were solemn.
"Harry," they both said at the same time, Harry noticing that even their voices were flat.
"Fred, George," he said, his jaw locked as he met their gaze with a head held high. Their abandonment was one of the ones that stung the most, considering that they always considered Harry a brother to them.
"Do you want me to go?" Hermione whispered, feeling uncomfortable with the staring match and to be in the presence of anything that shared blood with Ron Weasley.
"No," Harry said, shaking his head vehemently, before turning back to the twins. "What do you two want?"
Surprisingly, they dropped to their knees and looked up with apologetic eyes, "We acted like arses-"
"-and we don't expect you to forgive us-"
"-we wouldn't forgive us if they situation was reversed-"
"-but we just wanted to apologize to you for believing that you entered."
"Truthfully, we were a little jealous since we wanted to enter-"
"-but we realized that we shouldn't have taken it out on you."
"So, what we're trying to say is-"
"We're sorry, Harry," they finished in unison.
Harry was surprised to see the twins so serious. They both looked at him, waiting for an answer, their faces showing blatant guilt and sorrow at their abandonment. Not exactly sure what to say, he turned to Hermione, but saw that she had a shocked look on her face, he assumed was from their impeccable way to finish each others thoughts and sentences. He turned back to the twins.
"Give me a little bit of time to forgive, but I do appreciate this, guys. Thanks," said Harry, the twins standing up and dusting the grass off their trousers. They flicked their eyes from Hermione to Harry, back and forth a couple of times, growing smiles on their faces. Harry frowned, before it clicked in his brain, "Oh! Guys, this is Hermione Granger, fourth year Ravenclaw."
"Nice to meet you," Hermione said, still wary as they were related to the cretin that almost got her killed when she was twelve. It was a natural reaction to not trust anything with the name Weasley attached to it.
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Granger," they said, each taking one of her hands and placing the kiss on the back of it like chivalrous gentlemen.
"We'll see you guys later," Harry said, him and Hermione continuing back up to the castle, the twins watching them go with growing grins on their faces. George turned to look at his brother, his grin turning into a smirk.
"What do you say to a bet, uglier brother of mine?"
"I say five galleons that they're together by Christmas hols, and I will say it again, you're just jealous of my good looks," Fred said, before shaking his brother's hand.
-oOo-
"Think of the happiest memory you can, it has to be the happiest as the Patronus runs on positive emotions," Harry told Hermione, who was frowning as she tried to follow what he said.
Hermione frowned as she realized that she didn't really have any good memories. Her early primary school years were full of bullying and sadness, her early Hogwarts years were full of bullying and sadness. She thought about using the memory when she found out that she was a witch, but that was tainted with the memories of her early Hogwarts days. She was so innocent and naïve back then, thinking that Hogwarts was going to solve all of her problems.
She thought about using her memories of her parents and her love for them, and she did love them, but sometimes they did many things out of pity. They would take her on vacations every year, but she saw the looks they gave her when she would prefer to stay in and read instead of go out with friends. They loved Hermione, she knew that, but the pity was unbearable. It seemed that everyone in her life, including herself, had these expectations of her. Her parents wanted her to be more sociable and have friends, she herself wanted to get perfect grades and she also wanted to make friends, but no one accepted her for her.
Friends. She looked over to Harry, who was waiting patiently, an encouraging smile on his face. Her friend, Harry. She could call him that, right? She wouldn't have dared to call him that a month ago. They were friends though, right? From what she observed, Friends help each other in times of need, friends are there for one another to talk to, friends listen to problems and help you figure them out, friends have fun with each other.
Hermione knew she wasn't exactly the funnest girl in the world, but she had been having fun with Harry in the couple of weeks. They had laughed a bit and Hermione felt like she was shedding the protective layers she had put up when she learned how cruel people truly were. She was actually joking with Harry and laughing at jokes she would have considered juvenile. Harry was changing her, for the better, and she also thought that she was changing him quite a bit.
What scared her was how scared she was that he was going to leave her. She was scared that after the first task, his friends would 'see the error of their ways' and 'take him back' and he would believe them, leaving her once more. The last couple of weeks had been the greatest of her life. She was scared by how much she needed Harry, a boy who a month ago had forgotten she existed.
However, she focused on their time spent together, their laughs shared, and their broom ride that he took her on. She smiled at the warmth filling her, copulating with her magical energy as it built and built, growing stronger and stronger, before shifting to her wand, ready to burst.
"Expecto Patronum!"
While the Patronus was non-corporeal, and it wasn't all that bright, it was still brighter than what Harry had done on his first time and he was incredibly impressed with the witch. He was slightly envious with how quick she was able to grasp things and wanted to know what her secret was. Was it her determination? Was she motivated by something? He wished that he had paid more attention in his first couple years of school, maybe actually try to make friends with her, and he would have been a better student.
She had a light sheen of sweat on her forehead from the amount of magical energy she used and she was breathing like she had run around a bit, but he knew how tiring it could be and summoned the bar of chocolate from his bag.
"Wow...I wasn't even that good on my first time. Good job," Harry told Hermione, who smiled and tried to catch her breath. He was curious, "What memory did you use?"
Hermione blanched in horror. What would he say if he knew that she used memories of her time spent with him. What would he think of her. Would he think that she was weird? Would he think that she had no life? Well, it was a fact that she didn't really have a life, well, not until his name was pulled out of that Goblet. How pathetic that probably one of the worst day's of Harry's life, was one of the best for her.
"Er, w-well...it's kind of personal," Hermione stuttered through her explanation.
"Oh, no I'm sorry that I asked. It's fine," Harry said, before walking back over to their table. He smiled like the cat that ate the canary, "I taught Hermione Granger something, I taught Hermione Granger something!"
"Yes, well, miracles do happen, you know," Hermione said in a haughty tone, laughing at the faux-offended look on Harry's face.
-oOo-
"Harry!" Hermione yelled as she burst into the Room of Requirement, ignoring the ache in her leg as she ran over to him, seeing him blowing up training dummies. 'Boys,' she thought with an eye roll. She set her thing down on the table and Harry turned to her.
"What's up, Hermione?
"I found it! The spell you could use for the task," Hermione said, watching as Harry visibly inflated and his face brightened.
"Let's hear it."
-oOo-
"Hey, Harry."
"Hey, Hermione."
No more words needed to be said. No more words could be said. Harry was about to face a dragon, a dangerous creature, and he could die. One wrong move, and then it could be all over. They met in the Great Hall for breakfast, Fred and George sat close to Harry, along with Neville and Hermione, due to Harry's insistence. She felt a little uncomfortable with all the Gryffindors looking at her oddly, but took her seat next to a shaking Harry. She made sure that he got plenty of protein in him, gently insisting that he eat more than the little bit of fruit he was able to choke down.
She winced as she could feel him shaking, not that she blamed him. She would be nervous too if she had to face a dragon. A bloody dragon, at fourteen years old! She shook her head and forced herself to choke down some breakfast that she hoped would stay down through the day. Some of the Champions family members were coming to the Great Hall to eat breakfast, but Harry just stood up when he was finished and nodded to the twins and Neville's offers of good luck. His eyes pleaded with Hermione to walk with him and she immediately did so.
They walked around the Lake in silence for a while, neither having anything to say, but took comfort in each other's company. When Harry's watch said it was time, they walked to the Champion's tent. The look on his face was absolutely breaking Hermione's heart and she tried to offer him any comfort that she could.
"Hold on," Hermione suddenly said as they were just outside the tent, causing Harry to turn to her, brows furrowed. He watched as Hermione took out her wand and tapped his glasses muttering 'haereos'. He felt a suction sensation, before it faded, though he still felt the glasses sticking to him. She gave him a small smile, "There, they won't fall off."
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said with a gracious smile, before she shocked the hell out of him.
Hermione did something no one had ever done to Harry before. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. No one had ever hugged Harry before, well, maybe his parents, not like he could remember. Padfoot and Moony weren't the touchy feely type; Harry reckoned it was from Sirius' isolation in Azkaban and Remus' fear of rejection with his lycanthropy.
Harry stiffened up immediately, but inhaled and caught her vanilla and parchment scent, which seemed to soothe his nerves and allowed him to bring his hands up and hug her was incredibly nice. 'I could get used to this,' he thought as he allowed his eyes to close in contentment.
However, they heard a loud popping and jumped away from each other, turning to see the smoke of a camera and a blonde lady stepping forward out of the tent. Harry groaned as he realized that it was Rita Skeeter. She was dressed in puke-green, which Harry thought was her signature color. Her claw like nails were sharpened to points and painted blood red, just like her lips, which were curled into a feral grin as she gazed at her next story through her glasses.
"Oh, young love," she sighed wistfully, "Who's your friend, Harry?"
"None of your business," Harry hissed, trying to block Hermione from Rita's view.
"Oh, don't be like that. Readers are curious about the young champion, especially after the lovely article I wrote-"
"You mean that rubbish full of lies? There's a word for that in the muggle world called libel," Hermione retorted, watching the reporter's her beady bug eyes as they focused on her.
"Ah, she speaks. Tell me, dear, what's it like snaring the 'Boy-Who-Lived'?" Skeeter asked, her quick notes quill already writing something down, until it promptly blew up on the spot and a most welcomed voice to Harry was heard.
"Picking on children now? Have you no dignity?" Harry grinned as he saw his godfather putting his wand away after destroying the quill. Remus standing beside him, glaring at the reporter. "Beat it, Skeeter."
The witch sneered and strutted away in her tall heels, the photographer following behind her. Sirius turned to his godson and who he assumed was the famous Hermione Granger. 'Oh this will be fun,' he thought, internally rubbing his hands together in glee and cackling in a parody of a muggle supervillian.
"We went to school with her little sister. Bint named Margo," Sirius shuddered and shook his head, Remus rolling his eyes at his friend, before turning to Harry.
"Sirius, this is Hermione-" Harry was cut off by Sirius lightly bumping him out of the way and painting one of his famous charming smiles on his face that made all the witches swoon.
"The lovely Miss Granger. I am exceedingly pleased to meet the witch my godson won't shut up about," Sirius said, before placing a kiss on the back of her hand. Harry glared at his godfather from behind Hermione, mouthing profanities that made the old dog smile. Remus came to the rescue and knocked his best friend on the back of his head with an eye-roll.
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Black and nice to see you again, Professor Lupin," Hermione said with a large smile as she saw one of her favorite teachers.
"Hermione, call me Remus. I'm not your professor anymore."
"Excuse my language, but it's a bloody shame that you aren't."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Remus said, before Professor Dumbledore walked over to them.
"Harry, you should get in. They're getting ready to start," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he glanced at Hermione's worried face. He noticed that the boy looked focused, something he had never really seen before. He was quite pleased with how this was developing. 'Maybe I could tell him by next year...'
"Good luck," Hermione whispered as she hugged him one last time, before letting go and following his godfather and Remus to the spectators side. Harry felt a surge of determination rise inside of him, and he wanted to do good in this task. For her, for Sirius, for Remus, and for himself.
He walked in the Champion's tent with his head held high.
-oOo-
'Just my luck...biggest fucking dragon...so great to be Harry bloody Potter...' Harry was muttering to himself in his thought as he stepped out of the tent. He knew that it was just his luck to pick out the Hungarian Horntail, but it never ceased to amaze him how Murphy's law affected him. Actually, it should be changed to Potter's law.
He glanced up at the crowd for a flicker of a second, but his eyes immediately landed on his support system: Sirius, Remus, and Hermione, who were all trying to smile at him in encouragement. Unfortunately, they looked more like grimaces instead of smiles. 'That's comforting,' he groused before glancing around.
Then he saw the dragon and he felt his stomach drop to his feet. It was a lot bigger than he thought and his heart was pounding against his ribs. Bigger than he thought, it was bloody huge! Bigger than anything he had ever seen before, even the Basilisk.
Then the dragon saw him, 'Oh shit,' he thought as he quickly ran and ducked behind a cluster or large rocks, but not before the horntail let out a breath of fresh fire, which caught on his arm a bit. He patted the area with his gloved hands, putting out the small flame but seeing that he was scorched a bit. 'Bloody hell, that burns! Okay, let's not get burned again!'
"Your wand, Harry! Do it, now!"
He heard Hermione screaming at him and effectively pulling his head out of his arse, 'Thank you, Hermione Granger,' Harry thought as he did exactly as she asked and pulled out his wand.
"Speculum duplicem!" Harry muttered, glancing around the rock to see the horntail blow some fire to him. He felt all the magic in his body shifting as he focused on his emotions just like Hermione said. He felt the angry emotions - the hurt, the betrayal, the anger at being abandoned. He realized that those emotions weren't helping and were actually hindering as he felt his magic almost deflate. He then felt the scorch of the fire as the horntail blew the fire against the stone he was behind, making it heat up. 'I'm going to be burned alive!'
"Oh, shit!" he had actually exclaimed it this time as panic started setting in, his breath quickening, his heart had moved from pounding to slamming in his chest.
Then, like a beacon of light, a couple of faces came into his mind. Hermione. Sirius. Remus. They were the ones who truly cared about him. He focused on the night that Sirius was declared free, that Moony taught him the Patronus, the feeling of hope he was given when Hermione offered to help and the feel of her holding onto him as they rode on the broom, "Speculum duplicem!"
He felt a shift in his magic and raised his eyes to see...himself.
He did it, he created the double and smiled at the fact, seeing his double smile as well. He peeked around once more, seeing the horntail coming toward him as it caught sight of his double. He decided that it was now or never and jumped to a cluster of rocks next to him, the double going the opposite way, but in plain sight of the dragon. Harry smiled when he saw the large beast trying to follow it, though couldn't fully because of the long chain that was keeping it in place.
"Harry Potter has created a mirrored version of himself and the dragon is following it! Incredible!" Ludo Bagman's voice announced. Hermione smiled as her idea was working and Harry performed the spell so well, much better than he had when they practiced. They had a couple of back up ideas, but this one was the best and it had worked!
"Well done, Harry," Hermione muttered, a large smile on her face as Harry ducked into another cluster of rocks, the horntail still trying to go after his double form which was in plain sight.
"All right, Pup!" Sirius bellowed as he and Remus smiled joyfully. Sirius then turned to the girl who was responsible for helping Harry, "You, Miss Granger, are in for a big Christmas present!"
Hermione just smiled at Sirius and turned back to watch Harry as he continued onto this routine, the dragon moving farther and farther away from him and toward his double. Harry smiled and flickered his eyes up to his supporters once more, seeing Hermione nod her head and mouthing 'Go!'
He nodded and decided to make his move, hopping over the rocks and running toward the eggs, seeing the golden one for him to take. He chanced a glance behind him, seeing that the rapid movement of his double completely distracted the horntail and that the dragon was trying to fly toward it, but was still chained up.
With one more glance behind him to see the dragon effectively distracted with his double, Harry ran toward the egg and reached his hands out to grab it.
"He's done it!"
-oOo-
When he walked back out of the tent, Harry sighed in relief that it was over. He had an accomplished smile on his face though, as he had completed the task, relatively unscathed except for some burns on his arm that were healed quickly by Madam Pomfrey and a couple of scratches on his face from the rocks, which were also healed quickly from the woman who could regrow the bones in his arm in a day. 'Damn Lockhart,' he thought with a shake of his head.
After he had grabbed the egg, the dragon caught sight of the real Harry and blew some fire toward him, but thankfully the dragon handlers were able to take care of the dragon and subdue it with a half-dozen stunners that brought it down.
He saw puke-green out of the corner of his eye and turned his head, seeing Rita talking to Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy. He rolled his eyes, figuring that they were probably telling her more lies about himself, painting him as a glory seeking child like she did in the first article.
"Harry!"
The boy in question smiled and turned to the source of the call, seeing Hermione walking over to him as fast as she could with her leg. She had a wide smile on her face and hurried over to him, "You did great!"
He beamed at her praise as she pulled him in for a hug, being mindful of any injuries, and both of them letting out unconscious sighs of relief. They both held each other for a bit, reluctant to let go, but did so to prevent awkwardness between them.
Sirius and Remus walked over and congratulated Harry, before saying goodbye and walking to Hogsmeade to Floo back to Grimmauld. Remus was close to casting a silencing charm on Sirius as he was about to tease the two about being so close, but thought better of it as he didn't want to ruin his godson's chances. He wholeheartedly approved of the girl, just from talking with her as they sat watching the task.
Remus had put in a good word, describing that she was the best in their year, probably the brightest witch in the entire school, but what really made Sirius give his approval was the look of pure anguish on her face as she watched Harry compete, digging her nails into her face. Murmuring encouragement under her breath and then the cheering when Harry grabbed the egg, the relief and happiness in her eyes that he was okay. She really cared about him and that was enough for Padfoot. Harry had too many fake people come through his life and he knew that this young lady was not one of them.
Harry and Hermione were about to enter the Great Hall for the feast, seeing everyone crowd around the Champions, excitement buzzing around the Hall. Harry decided he didn't want to deal with the large crowd and turned to the girl with him, "Hermione, do you wa-"
Unfortunately, it looked like his wishes weren't going to be taken into consideration as he was cut off by a large crowd of Gryffindors swarming around him. He saw Hermione get pushed away by the crowd and shrunk back as everyone started yelling in excitement. All the Gryffindors who weren't talking to him, who were calling him a cheat, who were ignoring him. His ex-best friend, Ron Weasley, was at the front of the crowd, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders.
"Mate, that was absolutely brilliant!"
"You should have seen the look on Karkaroff and Krum's face!"
"Fleur looked like she was going to pitch a fit!"
"Did you see how big that dragon was?"
"It was the most dangerous one!"
"It was no competition to our Harry!"
Harry was incredibly uncomfortable with all the excitement and glanced around for the only girl he wanted to talk to. He saw that he was boxed in from all sides, everyone trying to talk at once, but saw through a gap a sight that made his chest feel like it was ripping in two.
Hermione was limping away from them, towards the way of the Ravenclaw Tower, her shoulders slumped and her head down. He realized that she thought he was going to abandon her because everyone was talking to him again. Everyone was so excited with his win and she thought that he was going to forgive them. That same determination from before the task welled inside of him again. 'Hermione Granger, for the first time in your life, you're wrong.'
"Oh, just because I do good in this bloody tournament, you all think that all is well? 'Our Harry'? Where was this when you were all calling me a cheat? When you weren't talking to me?" Harry's voice was deathly calm, but his green eyes were blazing with anger, making everyone take a step back from him. Ron let go and stepped back with them, never seeing Harry like this before, "No. No, you all abandoned me when I needed you. So, you can all sod off!"
Everyone was shocked. They thought that Harry would just forgive them for the misunderstanding, just like he did with the Heir of Slytherin incident. They realized that they really put their foots in it this time and backed up as Harry broke through the crowd.
"Oh, Ron?" Harry stopped, turning around to the redhead, "Consider our friendship officially dead. I don't need fair-weathered friends in my life."
Ron frowned at the statement, obviously not understanding it and Harry rolled his eyes before continuing on his way.
"Hermione! Hermione, wait up!" Harry called, running after her retreating form. He saw her stop walking and turn around with a cute confused expression on her face.
"Harry? What is it? Aren't you going to celebrate your victory?"
"Yeah, I am. But there's only one person I want to celebrate it with," Harry said, before moving up close to a whispering distance, "What do you say to dinner for two in the Room of Requirement?"
Hermione's only answer was a bright, beaming, and beautiful smile.
