A/N: So sorry about the long wait. I was never really happy with this chapter, and so started working the next, and then work caught up. Basically just a bunch of shit. On the bright side, double chapter? If anyone is still following this, thanks.

November 25, 1994

Harry went to bed straight after the First Task. When he woke up, he wished it was all a dream. This was a freaking nightmare. This was worse than being chosen as a champion. Last night had been terrible. He had his whole house basically banging on his bed. He had to cast a silencing charms on his bed and sticking charms to the curtains in order to discourage people from getting in. Unfortunately, Susan and Hannah were in Hufflepuff. He would have even taken Daphne or Neville to keep him company, but he was left alone to face the Claws.

He came out of his bed… to see all of him roommates staring at him. He scowled, and got dressed ad made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Honestly, he should have gone to the kitchens, but wanted company.

He almost immediately regretted his decision when he saw that every single face, even the international delegations', was staring at the entrance, seemingly waiting for him. As soon as he walked in, whispers broke out, and he could hear some of them as he walked towards Susan and Hannah.

"His hair is back to normal."

"What about Thomas? Does he…"

"Does his family even know?"

"OF course he knew. He used it."

"Not seen…"

Finally, he sat down by Hannah, Susan on Hannah's other side.

"How are you holding up?" Hannah asked.

"I didn't even do anything. Just went to bed."

"Everyone's been talking about it. And, well, you're not going to like this," Susan put in, giving Harry this morning's Daily Prophet.

There, right on the front page, was a moving picture of him, his hair white and controlling the ice. Even through the small photo of the paper, one could tell that the eyes were different. The headline didn't make it any better: "Brother of the Boy-Who-Lived, an Elemental?"

The one upside of all of this is that his powers seemed easier to control. Perhaps a metaphorical block was lifted with the panic usage of his powers. He didn't even have to channel in order to turn the paper into a frozen slab. He threw it aside, knocking over a few plates and bowls and garnering a few glares. He glared right back, cowing them with his stare.

"They couldn't even deign to use my name. Great. So it's safe to say that everyone in Hogwarts knows?"

Hannah looked sympathetic. "Harry, I think it's safe to say that all of Magical Britain, and then some," she said while pointing to the international delegations, "knows."

"Auntie is doing her best to keep people away from you and trying to get some peace, but there is only so much that she can do that is within her jurisdiction. It's especially hard since we kept her in the dark. Not that I blame you!" Susan hastily added. "I know you only barely trusted us enough."

"Yea, tell your aunt thanks. Any respite I can get is a relief," he said, smiling at Susan.

Hannah put an arm on his shoulder. "You know, if you ever need help. I mean, you saved us from the dragon, but you know that even in any other case…"

Harry just smiled at his friend. "Thanks Hannah. That means a lot. For now though, I have to take a walk. At least now, I might be able to just be public with this."

Harry walked out. He didn't make it five steps out of the Entrance Hall before a voice called out to him.

"Potter."

"Back to Potter now, Daphne?"

A glare crossed her face. He blue eyes just seemed to bore into his, her black hair framing her face in a way that made you want to run. "Well, it seems that I have to go back to that, seeing as you neglected to tell me about you being an elemental and all."

"Daphne, you more than anyone knows the value of information."

"Yet I notice that Bones and Abbot were privy to your counsel. I have known you for twice as long as they have."

"I acknowledge that. That is why I chose to back you in Slytherin's little civil war. But, if you think I'm going to trust Slytherin's Ice Queen, someone who regularly pushes people away, you have another thing coming. Susan and Hannah, while a bit thick when they were younger, have earned my trust. They have always been at my side. Friends. We have been… allies at best."

Daphne just crossed her arms and nodded. "Fine, I suppose that's fair. At least you're thinking. Not really surprising coming from the Ravenclaw. I suppose I have never exactly been forthcoming with my secrets either. And given the current reactions, I can understand why you didn't want the information getting out. From what my father told me in his quick letter, people in the DoM are already calling for you to be researched, possibility for a way to replicate the effect in future children. After all, it's been centuries since an elemental has been spotted."

"Yea, since the time of the Founders, or so I've heard."

Daphne just shrugged. "The important, if not unfortunate, part is that you will be sought after. I bet you the old coot is trying to figure out how to use you as well."

He scoffed. "Yea, probably from day one before he even figured out I had powers. Don't worry, I'm watching my back."

"Good, because this new development really helps me as you're still backing me. No one wants to mess with an elemental."

Harry just snorted in response. "Of course you would think that way."

Daphne just gave him a look of false innocence. "I have no idea what you mean by that."

"Just bugger off now, will you? I need some time to think."

Daphne stopped short. "Harry."

Harry turned back to acknowledge the change in tone.

"This is useful for me, I'll be upfront. But, even my icy exterior has limits. And like I said, we have known each other since we were children."

The unspoken offer passed between them, and Harry nodded in acknowledgment. "Thanks Daphne, I'll keep that in mind."

Daphne just nodded.

"You know, suddenly, all those little incidents make so much more sense. I had always just thought it was some accidental magic responding to your emotions. But now, Neville and I have a clear idea." At Harry's raised eyebrow, she shrugged. "He and I talk. After all, it's not just you we're friends with. And then she turned away. Harry walked away, back towards his area by the lake. However, he stopped short once he saw who was waiting for him.

"What are you doing here?" Harry managed to growl out through his teeth.

Delacour got up, her platinum blonde hair spinning around her as she turned to face the person she had scorned, the person who had saved her.

"I just wanted to apologize."

"For what? For being a bitch?"

Fleur winced at the accusation, but did not deny it. "I… I will admit that it was not in the best taste to say what I said to you."

"Understatement," he grumbled under his breath.

"But, I wanted to apologize straight away. I just, never got the chance."

"What do you mean? You could have walked up to me at any point and just said, "I'm sorry.""

"Well, you weren't making it any easier either! You were always avoiding me!"

"That's because I figured you were just as shallow as the rest of them! You didn't seem all that different that night. I thought you'd understand! To be looked at for something you're not, something you don't want to be! Whenever I met someone, I was always, 'The brother to the Boy-Who-Lived'! And now, it's even worse! Everyone in Magical Britain, if not the world by now, knows who—no, what—I am! Is that why you're apologizing now? To get on my good side? Now that you know what I am? That I'm the one who was at the World Cup?!"

Before he had realized it, his hair was white, his scar was glowing, and the surface of the lake had frozen solid. As it was November, it wasn't implausible for it to have frozen over already, but it was still liquid when he came out. Fleur took a step back.

"It's true, partially, that now that I know that you are the one who saved me from that situation at the World Cup, my feelings are a little biased. I've wanted to meet you for a while, to see what kind of person would help someone in a situation like that, especially someone like me. But, it's also true that I have regretted my words since they came out, because like you said, I know what it's like to be accused of being an attention whore."

Harry looked into her eyes. His icy blue met her sapphires, and there was a defiance in them that he could relate to. But, he also saw sincerity.

Harry sighed. "I accept your apology, and I forgive you. I can understand doing things in the heat of the moment. Just don't do it again."

Fleur's face brightened. Harry cut her off before she could say anything. "But, this doesn't mean we're friends. We're just, not enemies. Just competitors."

She nodded her head. "I can accept that. So, have you done anything with the egg?"

Harry shook his head. "Even if I did, I probably wouldn't tell you. Competition, remember? But, no, especially seeing as I just found it at the foot of my bed this morning."

"You didn't take it with you?"

"I walked out, remember? I don't even know how I did in the First Task."

"Well, if you're worried about that, you placed first. The judges viewed your approach as the best as you got off without injury and relatively harmlessly tamed the dragon. The fact that you saved scores of students from being burnt probably also helped."

Harry snorted once more. "Yea, I suppose that would." He had turned around to leave when Fleur had called him back.

"Harry!"

Harry turned around with a questioning look on his face.

"I know we're not friends, but I would like to be."

Harry gave her a nod and turned again, but she wasn't done.

"I know this may be forward of me, but, why did you save me?"

"I had no reason. I saw a possible confrontation, and I saw people I hated, old death eater wannabes, surrounding and attacking an innocent girl. That's more than enough reason for me."

That was the answer she had been expecting, but for some reason, she still felt slightly disappointed.

"Last question. You mentioned my father at one point."

"Yea, James told me about him." Fleur made a mental note to ask him about why he calls him 'James' later.

"I don't think that's true. Barring your…. relationship with your father, you also seemed to be more familiar with the name that a passing remark."

Her eyes seemed to bore into his, trying to peel back the lies.

Harry just sighed. "Fine. I will admit that I have been in France and… on the bad side of the law there."

Fleur gasped. "It's not serious, is it? Or else I might have to tell papa."

"No, it's more like, I had gotten involved with some shady figures who Jean Sebastian would be more interested in. It had to do with my abilities."

Fleur waited for me, but it seemed as if Harry didn't want to or wasn't willing to share more.

"Well, thanks

"Talk to you later De- Fleur."

"Bye Harry."

Harry went back to his spot by the lake. He laid back, before deciding the test his powers. Flex so to speak. He had never been able to openly practice before. Even when he was in the forest by Potter Manor, he had to be discrete. He partially unfroze a section of the lake, bending the slush to his will. It was the most efficient way he found to manipulate ice. Making something from scratch is easy. Working with already made ice was harder. Being in the slush allowed him to easily manipulate shape at will.

He shaped it first into his snowflake, before changing it into 6 large spears. Pushing his hands, they flew, straight and true, all six impaling a tree by the edge of the forest. He then recalled them, breaking them into smaller and smaller pieces along the way, until they looked like tiny arrow, more like needles almost. There were thousands of them, and they all flew towards the same tree. The tree fell before the onslaught, but not before taking hundreds of the needles in its trunk.

The final thing he wanted to do was test the extent to his powers. It seemed like he got a small boost, and he now had more reason that ever to be able to accomplish what he was about to try. He held out his hand, and a smaller piece of ice came to him. He concentrated on everything he knew about chemistry, and how he knew sublimation and evaporation could happen and did happen. He focused on the image. Slowly, he saw steam rising, some of it directly from the ice, and some from the water that was now pooling in his hand. He stopped, breathing heavily. It was a start.

"Maybe now that I've seen it, I'll be able to replicate it more easily. I don't know about the other direction though." Harry guessed he was breathing hard because, as much as he knew about chemistry and the molecular structure of water and ice, it was still hard to conceptualize, and his magic had to compensate for what he couldn't imagine. But, it was a start.

"Well done, Mr. Potter," a slightly high pitched voice called out.

Harry turned around, knowing by the voice who it was.

"Good afternoon Professor Flitwick. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I had originally come out here to talk about something else, but now that I'm here, I am hoping to talk about your abilities."

"Perhaps after the tournament, sir. You'll have plenty of access to me as a Ravenclaw for 3 more years."

"Of course, of course," Flitwick said while chuckling. "Well, I still have something to say to you before you go. I just thought to tell you, since I wasn't sure if you were aware, as you head of house that there will be a Yule Ball."

"I fail to-"

"And the Champions shall open then ball with a dance. With a date."

Harry just cursed. It was almost as if Flitwick knew what he were going to say. "Thank you, Professor."

As he walked back to the castle, he laughed to himself. 'Harry Potter, defeater of a dragon, unable to get a date.' This was going to be great.