Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based on the book series by JK Rowling.
Chapter 2 - The Dark that Binds
Fleur sat restlessly within her quarters of the carriage. She had been procrastinating for the last hour, not knowing whether to stay in the carriage all day or brave the school that loomed above them through the window. She had no reservations when it came to disappointing her peers. She had friends, then she didn't, then she would have friends again; it was a recurring pattern in her life. When she became a champion they all fluttered back to her side. She didn't want to make the comparison between them and cockroaches but there were certain similarities, like sparkling fickle cockroaches.
"Rachelle, I'm going to the castle for breakfast. Are you coming?" Fleur loudly asked as she closed 'La Voyante' the French magical newspaper.
On the front page was a black and white picture of Draco and Harry glowering uncomfortably, standing back to back in the room they held the wand weighing. She smiled to herself strangely glad her face wasn't plastered on the front pages of every European news outlet. The article itself was laughable at best. It mostly speculated how two fourteen-year-olds could have passed Professor Dumbledore's age line and bypassed the Goblet's restrictions, as well as a large amount of criticism towards the British Ministry of Magic. Her slight grin soon faded as she turned to page two where she saw a large profile shot of herself, in the columns alongside her photo were letters of luck to Fleur.
Then on page three, there was the announcement of the Tri-Quidditch Cup to the public. The day before during dinner Albus Dumbledore had confirmed these rumours with additional news that there was to be a duelling tournament and an academic's challenge. Rumours of a Tri-Quidditch Cup had already been circulating among the students. Word in the corridors said that Ludo Bagman had called in a few favours at the ministry and made everything happen almost overnight. So Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and Hogwarts had now become kindling to the flames of excitement.
Growing up Fleur Delacour hadn't been the biggest fan of quidditch; she had a taste for flying thanks to her heritage but she much preferred to ride the Abraxans at Beauxbatons. She could be found spending much of her time in the stables helping to look after them with the keeper there. When asked she always said that quidditch was a rather vicious sport.
She noticed since the whispers of a Tri-Quidditch Cup had started the whole of Hogwarts' student body was once more in conflict. A new wave of gossip had descended onto Hogwarts, one name was back on nearly everyone's lips; Harry Potter. The argument was as to whether Harry Potter should play seeker for the Hogwarts team as he had done for Gryffindor for the past three years.
Fleur had learnt that many of the students were of mixed views. Despite begrudging the Gryffindor as a champion some students admitted he was the best choice for the role if there was to be any shred of hope of going against Krum. Whereas many vindictively thought he should be banned as it was not fair that he could cheat himself into being a champion and play as seeker. Others then contradicted them deciding Cedric would be the better choice for the position - if only to affront the fourth year. According to Rachelle, who was a quidditch fanatic, that last year Cedric had only just beaten Harry. And this was because the Gryffindor champion had been incapacitated by the presence of the invading dementors which had targeted him several times that year. Fleur shuddered at the thought of those dreaded creatures.
"Do I have to?" A glum voice called back to her from the misty doorway of their dorm.
Rachelle was Fleur's roommate but also her best and perhaps her only real friend. She had shoulder length wild brown hair and a smaller frame than Fleur's. The previous night there had been a unanimous vote that Rachelle was going to be the captain for Beauxbatons quidditch team and seeker. The French school had quickly decided on their team the night the news spread. They were efficient if nothing else.
But when Rachelle realised she would be playing against Viktor Krum she paled and proceeded to lock herself in the bathroom overnight. Only now did she emerge again.
"Can we not just stay here?" She pleaded, falling to her knees at Fleur's feet.
"Non, Rachelle. Come find me in the great hall when you are ready." Fleur petted her head and got up to retrieve her cloak.
Rachelle pouted and looked at Fleur with her large eyes. "Fine, have it your way." She relented with a deep sigh.
"Now get dressed before you give someone a heart attack." Fleur quipped playfully as she vanished from the door. It wouldn't be the first time one of the Beauxbatons boys had tried to sneak a peek inside one of the girl's dormitories, especially one occupied by Fleur.
It was a cold and bitter morning and frost was starting to grasp the tips of the grass. The moisture glinted in the breaking sun. She decided on arrival she wasn't much of a fan of British weather, but she admitted Scotland had a melancholic beauty to it but it was nothing compared to Chateaux Beauxbatons. For her, there was no comparison between the sights of the Highlands and being in the heart of the Pyrenees.
She found her walk to be short and refreshing but cold, making the warmth of the great hall all the more welcoming. Fleur walked through the hall with her head held high as she ignored the usual stares. She felt a slight disappointment to see that Harry was once more not sat on the Champions table with Cedric and Viktor and their friends. Viktor was accompanied by a boy she recognised from sever past duelling tournaments. Seeing him give her 'the look' nearly made her nauseous, thankfully her stomach was a lot stronger than that instead Fleur made her way to sit next to Draco as far away from the Durmstrang pair as she could be.
The blonde wizard grunted hello as she took her place beside him.
"Bonjour." She replied with a smile.
Fleur had made an effort to be nice to Draco after the past week. Draco in return had decided she was more tolerable than those on his house table, so he did not glare when she sat next to him anymore. Which was more than she could say for any other Malfoy she had met. Those hadn't been pleasant experiences for her when she had to attend ministry functions with her mother and father. Since arriving at Hogwarts she hadn't heard the word halfbreed once from anyone which was a relief. She would have hated to hex someone over bad manners.
Cedric found their exchanges highly amusing and couldn't decide who was haughtier in the way they carried themselves. At least both Cedric and Draco were polite enough to her and at least tried not to stare, whereas Viktor managed to ignore her entirely and she was rather grateful for that. Krum practically ignored nearly everyone; it made her wonder why sat with them at all sometimes and not with his fellow students from Durmstrang who chose to remain on the Slytherin table. She was not overly fond of the Beauxbaton's students herself other than Rachelle, and the Ravenclaw table still had its fair share of unwelcome voyeurists.
She had found a friend in Cho Chang who often came to sit with Cedric, which helped her feel significantly less outnumbered by the boys when she and Rachelle were both near. She noticed this was much to the chagrin of the female students who had their eyes set upon Cedric and Viktor but Cho paid them no mind. The cold shoulder both Draco and Harry received when they joined them had also not escaped her notice. She felt pity for the way they were being treated by everyone, especially as they stood by their claim that they didn't enter.
Fleur's opinion of Draco had slowly changed day by day. More than once she had heard her father rather flustered in anger because of insults towards her mother from a Malfoy. He seemed rather uncaring towards that part of her heritage since she announced it at the wand weighing. When she asked Draco about the French side of his family he shortly replied he had nothing to do with them, as far as he was concerned they were very very distant cousins.
At least it's a great deal easier to talk to him than Harry she thought. Fleur was still plucking up the courage to look at him most of the time, let alone talk to the boy. She wasn't obsessed, but the less she saw of him the more curious she grew, seeing as it was the Harry Potter. Even in France Harry Potter Le Survivant was famous. She had heard most of the rumours surrounding him by now from various sources, meaning from everywhere but Gryffindor.
Depending on whom you listened to, Harry had now supposedly murdered a teacher in his first year and gotten away with it. In his second he had started outright attacking students leaving them petrified and was hailed as 'The Heir of Slytherin' because of him being a Parselmouth, leading to the mysterious disappearance of a teacher yet again.
Naturally, these stories were twisted by the growing acrimony of the students. According to Cedric and Cho, many students believed it was blatant favouritism on Dumbledore's part that he had not yet been expelled. It seemed obvious every year there was something unpleasant happening around him.
What had truly sparked Fleur's interest though was what she had heard about his last year at Hogwarts. Not only had he spent the better part of his time fighting with the dementors that were meant to protect the school from an escaped killer, but Harry had also done so by learning the Patronus charm. He had managed to form a corporeal shield at thirteen, a spell even Fleur was still yet to master, and he could only have learnt it from their werewolf Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that year. A man Harry had been seen with regularly and had befriended. Stranger still, he had openly spoken of his disgust for the sacking of said teacher when the school found out about his condition. Werewolves were creatures of ill repute, known to be 'dark and dangerous' rather than misunderstood and subjugated, this stand had damaged Harry's reputation further, giving the students more reason to believe he could very well be on the path to darkness.
Sympathetic to werewolves? She really couldn't help but wonder about him.
These were only rumours though, and for good reason. Fleur had heard of many things from the Beauxbatons rumour mill about herself. She had apparently slept with every boy in her year now and seduced three teachers. A difficult feat considering she was still a virgin. She knew better than to listen to gossip and took Cedric's opinions far more seriously than anyone else's.
It was Draco who seemed to know him best though and was very informative.
At first, he didn't have much to say other than "Scarhead is a git, but anyone who thinks he is the next dark lord is a fool." which wasn't really reliable since Draco admitted to the fact that they had been enemies since their very first day.
Cho said he seemed nice, not that they had really spoken. Strangely though no one else had much to say on Harry himself or what he was like. He had spent his time at Hogwarts with only two friends, one of whom he was inseparable with and the other had now abandoned him. Again she felt sympathy finding his situation all too familiar. That was until the 'friend' was pointed out and she caught him half-eating half-drooling while staring at her, then she felt Harry may have dodged a curse.
The frustrating part for her was that the Gryffindor champion appeared so randomly and unexpectedly. The unpredictable movements of the wizard filled her with anxieties foreign to her and made her palms sweat. In her entire life Fleur's hands had never sweat before. Then there was the fact he was always with the pretty brown haired girl who had been introduced as Hermione. They sat at the end of the table talking in hushed voices, rarely taking part in the conversation.
To Fleur's surprise, the boy in question ventured forth into the great hall, ignoring the few heads that turned in his direction. His face as usual was unreadable. Beside him was Hermione, the two were talking and looking over the Gryffindor table. He had taken to always presenting a cold exterior. She had noticed that Draco was similar, only when Harry was heckled he responded with a biting retort rather than sour glaring.
As if on cue he passed Gryffindor table and Harry was abruptly stopped by an older student; he had short golden hair and a large stocky build. He stood for a moment blocking the way before suddenly falling over and vanishing out of sight to the silent laughter of many. Harry stared bewildered with disbelieve at someone at the Gryffindor table but Fleur could not see who. Harry laughed shaking his head then masked his expression before sitting down with them.
"Who got jelly-legged?" Draco asked with a slight smirk. Something Fleur was sure the table wanted to know.
"Some seventh year, Lewis King - you'd think they'd learn by now." Hermione answered bitterly.
"I've had more trouble from him than any of your Slytherins put together. I only transfigured his duvet into seaweed." Harry said while savagely taking a bite of toast.
"I know of him." Cedric said in a tone that surprised both Harry and Fleur who looked at him shocked. "We've have had problems with him bullying some first and second year Slytherins that had friends in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. At the start of term, he kept hexing them all so their socks would bite their ankles and toes. My friend Alistair was furious and that is something no one should see."
"Children should be allowed to befriend who zey want non? Ze 'ouse system 'ere seems to cause more problems zen eet solves." Fleur said bluntly.
"It isn't really the houses that are the problem; it is the long-standing prejudice of wizards. King is a pureblood but hates anything that even seems dark, which just as destructive in itself." Hermione stated.
"Take Slytherin for example, full of cunning, self-serving and ambitious students. But I'm inclined to believe they aren't all evil darklings like Draco. However Gryffindors would say otherwise, it's all just nasty mix of elitists, purists and post-war children who don't know how to get along." Harry said sternly seeing Fleur frown before she held his gaze thoughtfully and nodded.
Harry's eyes narrowed trying to decipher her expression.
"Admit it Scarhead, I have grown on you over the last week." Draco commented with disinterest, absolving the growing tension between the two.
"Yeah, like a fungus Malfoy." Harry said putting down his empty bowl of porridge.
"As happy as I am to have you join us today I best get to charms. Have a good morning everyone, I'll see you at lunch." Cedric said, flashing a half smile at them. He picked up his bag and quickly strode to the entrance hall. Krum nodded passively and took his leave as well, his friends accompanying him.
"We should go as well Harry; we'll be late for transfiguration." Hermione reminded him, swiftly taking off. Harry quickly grabbed an apple and said his short goodbyes to Fleur and Draco who were still eating lazily.
While looking back to the two remaining champions Harry collided into someone. For a second all he knew was someone had slammed into his chest. Harry saw that it was a student from Beauxbatons. She had a slim build with wild brown hair and large brown doe eyes. Because of her size she had simply been thrown off balance by the collision and staggered backwards, nearly falling over. Unfortunately, her bag continued to fall and impacted the floor. Books and parchment went everywhere. Harry straightened the girl up and quickly started to pick up the contents of her bag.
"Sorry 'e said. Sorry. Connard." She muttered as she also scrambled to the floor too.
"Sorry?" Harry asked slightly confused.
"Ah non, forgive my clumsiness. I am 'aving a baaad day." The young witch said sadly, her eyes sparked with annoyance though it was not directed at Harry.
"It isn't even nine o'clock yet..." Harry gave her a small smile, bending to the floor.
"Zen I suspect I will be 'aving a very shit day zen." She said darkly.
"I'm sure it can't be all that bad." Harry said wryly with a trace of a small smile.
At this the young witch looked at him closely, taking in the dark messy hair and sharp vivid green eyes. He was instantly recognisable. She blinked in surprise.
"I'm Rachelle, Rachelle De Larroque and I'm sorry. And zank you for 'elping me wiz zis mess." she said smiling brightly while holding out her hand.
"Harry." He replied and shook it. "I should have looked where I was going, so I'm also to blame if anything."
Helping her up Harry became suddenly aware of the onlookers and the odd stare they were getting. "I've got to go to lesson, it's been a pleasure. I'll see you around."
Rachelle watched him leave smiling to herself. She turned and spotted her best friend and walked over to sit with her who just looked at her worriedly.
"Well, finally." Fleur said impatiently sipping her drink.
Later that day Harry stood in his head of house's office. He felt extremely small as she looked down at him with a serious expression. Admittedly he had stormed out of lesson with no intention of returning, but trauntign was till against the school rules.
"Professor, we both know divination is a waste of time for me. So I don't see why I can't -"
"Mr Potter, for what you are suggesting you would be required to catch up on a full years worth of work in two subjects. It would be impossible." She interrupted.
Harry stared back under McGonagall stern gaze. His plan should be easy enough to pull off since McGonagall probably hated divination as much as he did. He was only asking to drop one subject in exchange for two and his timetable would be no different than Hermione's. He knew he was asking for a lot of rope, in which he could possibly hang himself. Not literally of course, but that mattered little with the Tri-wizard looming over him.
"Professor I can cope. I don't even have any exams at the end of the year, so it'd still be so much more productive than being stuck up in that loft getting headaches from weird fumes. I don't need tea leaves to tell me fate has painted a target on my back, I'm already well aware. Come on Professor, because of the tournament it isn't like I can actually fail." Harry retorted.
"Well, I am happy to see you have new found enthusiasm in your education at least. " She said defeated. She was in no place to refuse a student so adamant to drop the subject in pursuit of something they deemed more useful.
"Sorry Professor," Harry said feeling abashed.
"Don't be, it seems you can be just as stubborn as your mother Mr Potter. I just want to be certain you can manage."
"I can Professor, I have it worked out. Hermione already said she can tutor me in Arithmancy."
"Very well then, I can talk to Professor Babbling about getting a classmate to tutor you for Ancient Runes. I do not think it would be fair on Miss Granger becoming own private teacher for the year."
Harry simply laughed. "I feel like she has been my private teacher for potions for the past three years professor, it'd be nothing new. But I agree I don't want to upset her grades. Though hopefully, mine do start improving."
"Harry your grades have always had very high potential. I have seen great improvement this year and last year especially, particularly in Transfiguration and Defense. Adopt Miss Granger's work ethic, work hard, make some real progress and I don't doubt you could possibly be one of the top students in time for your O.W.L's."
"Hermione's work ethic? Now that might be an impossible goal. Thanks Professor I won't let you down."
Harry left Professor McGonagall's pleased with himself for having persuaded her to let him drop Divination and take Ancient Rune and Arithmancy in its place. Using his favourite shortcuts he proceeded to the library, where Hermione sat with a smile and a small plate of sandwiches she had taken from the hall.
"It's unlike you to bend the rules, no food in the library you know." He said lightly announcing his presence.
"Quiet or you'll have none, I take it from that smile we have a lot of work to do." Hermione said pulling out her copy of last year's 'Numerology and Grammatica'.
The two set to work through the break with Hermione determined to get him through three chapters with a full understanding of them. Harry thought that goal was pushing it a little but made no argument he was determined to try at least. In theory Arithmancy wasn't as uninteresting as Harry and Ron had assumed. The subject covered a wide basis and while it was a disciple that studies numbers, it focused equally on their magical properties and variety of uses. Harry learnt that they were heavily involved spellcraft, rituals, circle and glyph formations for Ancient Runes, Alchemy and Astronomy.
For their final class of the day they had double Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry's favourite lesson by far. Professor Mad-eye had begun to teach them the basics of defending themselves in a duel. They had all paired up and begun to put into practice what they had learnt in theory.
"Everyone - look at Zabini. Perfect form for when facing a single opponent. Facing sideways, legs shoulder width apart, yes that's a good centre of gravity! You need to be poised to avoid attacks at any moment. See there - his wand arm, not rigid in the slightest, relaxed muscles for fast casting. Now your wand, your wand wants to be at chest height, that's what you're aiming for, the largest target area of the body, which is why you want to be making yourself as a small a target as you can."
Harry watched as Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott cast hexes and curses at each other, both of them only muttering their spells inaudibly under their breath. Blaise conjured a swarm of bats that melted into smoke while directing it at Nott, as the smoke surrounded him the bats became corporeal again hitting Nott in the face making him unbalanced as he banished them.
Blaise tried to follow up his attack with a stunner but Nott rolled. In a circular motion, Nott slashed his wand vanishing the remaining bats into a smoke screen. With a second swipe, he sent a ball of flame at Blaise.
He tried to deflect but upon the impact of both spells, the ball of flame froze mid-air and shattered into shards of ice showering Blaise causing him to shield his face with his arms. The smoke fell and Nott then pressed his counter-attack.
While fascinated Harry could not help but feel a little behind, he knew his fair share of curses and he felt he could cast with equal speed and accuracy but given the chance, he didn't feel he'd be able to keep up with the pace of this kind of duelling. It occurred to him that Blaise and Theodore knew the theory of duelling beyond what was taught in the fourth year curriculum.
When Blaise looked up he saw a bludgeoning curse coming straight for him, stepping to the side he narrowly managed to avoid it. With the shards still on the floor, he constructed a jagged wall to shield him.
"Reducto! Reucto! Reducto!"
Theodore tried to break through it with no avail as Blaise was already muttering a fortification charm. He pressed forward with his shield as Theodore tried to cast around it. Shockingly Blaise suddenly discarded the icy barrier mimicking Theodore by shattering it sending the shards at his friend. Theodore threw up a shield of his own but Blaise sent out a stunner breaking through the now weakened protego charm. Theodore's magic fractured beneath the red bolt and it struck him square in the chest.
"Well done Zabini! Do you see that? That is how you break a strong defence, relentless attacking! Ten points to Slytherin!" Moody exclaimed giddily. "I hope you all learned something today. In the real world more often than not in a fight it isn't stunners you'll be facing. Now you know the kind of level of duelling I'll be expecting from you all, next week you'll all be giving it a go so I want you research a stock of your own spells you can use, these need to include both charms and transfiguration. As you've seen both come extremely useful in a fight for both offensive and defensive strategies! If you are unsure go back to your books. Class dismissed!" Mad-eye clapped and laughed enthusiastically as he went to revive Nott.
As the fourth year students got up all enthusiastically talking about the lesson Seamus came bounding up to Harry.
"Harry, I have a message for you from Cedric. He said he wanted to see you on the quidditch pitch at five. 'Mione make sure he gets there and doesn't disappear on us. It's important." The Irish wizard grinned and walked off without another word.
After another hour in the library studying the basics of ancient runes, Harry and Hermione as requested began to make their way to the quidditch pitch. Harry had given the prospect of joining the school team little thought due to the predicament of already being under so much attention as an unwanted champion, he didn't think he had the time with the tournament and now two new electives as well. Hermione found this greatly amusing.
"Even you have to relax sometime; god knows you can't when you refuse to be in the common room with Ron in there all the time." She reasoned.
Harry sighed at her stubbornness, she was right of course. He hadn't sat down and laid back all week. His routine consisted of waking up for an early breakfast, lesson, library, lesson, lunch, lesson, library, dinner then library before going back to bed, and very often using the invisibility cloak in between to dodge the students littering the corridors.
"Harry, last year I managed to take all possible subjects and get top marks in all of them except Defence. I am sure you could manage a couple of evenings of quidditch practice a week."
"Last year you had a time-turner, all I have is you 'Mione." Harry said jokingly.
"Ah but Harry I'm worth ten time-turners." Hermione laughed with him as they neared to the pitch. Harry could see a congregation of people already there in one of the stands. "You have also forgotten that I am not all you have, and I know that everyone by the pitch is there to prove it." She said with a grin.
Harry stared at her with disbelief.
As they got closer and climbed up the stands to where everyone was sat Harry could now distinguish who had made an appearance. Cedric was there sat in the middle grinning at Harry's bewildered expression. Next to him were Fred, George, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. They all smiled at him and waved him up. Harry's eyes were drawn to Cho Chang who sat to the other side of Cedric, she was smiling at him. When Harry's eyes met hers his stomach went into a knot. He decidedly looked away and up to a Hufflepuff boy hanging at the back next to Draco and Seamus peering very intently at him.
On the bottom row beneath Cedric's was Dean who was sat next to Padma Patil and two Hufflepuffs and a Ravenclaw consisting of: a girl with long black hair and pale freckled skin, a boy with brown messy hair and a grin so large and wicked that it would put the Weasley twins' to shame and on his other side another girl who had a comely face and an elaborate braid over her shoulder, none of these three he had met before.
"Anyone want to tell me what is going on?"
"Wait, Cedric and Hermione-" George began in the twin's usual mismatched method of communication.
"-didn't tell you?" Fred finished.
"Oh those tricky blighters."
"Meddlesome kids, Hermione how could you?" Fred said sounding convincingly shocked.
"Ced, where has your sense of honour gone?" George grinned winking at Harry.
The false outrage merited them a laugh from the others and a sly grin from Hermione.
"Well, I thought it would be better if it was a surprise." Hermione said in a small voice.
"A surprise what though, that's what I'd like to know." Harry said.
"I approached Hermione with the idea, Harry. I know how much this whole thing has been hard on you, with the way the school's been treating you and Draco. We wanted to show you how many people believed that you and Draco didn't enter yourselves into the cup." Cedric explained.
"Goody for us." Draco muttered, who was then promptly elbowed in the arm by Seamus.
"Oh shit." Harry said. He was touched by the gesture; even though it was only a small fraction of students, he was astounded that there were even this many people in the school who did not follow the hysteria.
"I think he is surprised." Seamus deadpanned, obviously amused.
"Mhm must be all the warm fuzzy feelings happening around here." Draco bit back quietly.
"I'm gonna knock you out in a minute if keep on being a downer Malfoy." Seamus warned. Draco returned with a dark glare.
"Lee and Neville would be here as well, but courtesy of Snape they couldn't make it and Angelina is in Alchemy club." George and Fred said in their usual method.
"So the people here you do not know are; Alistair Thaxted."
The dirty blonde haired Hufflepuff at the back next to Seamus nodded, he wore his house scarf loosely around his neck and had dark blue eyes, Harry could see his prefect badge gleaming in the sun.
"These three strangers are Laura Madley, Oliver Rivers and Sophie Roper and you already know Cho."
Harry noticed her grasping Cedric's hand, pushing those feelings out his mind he grinned and nodded at Cho before greeting the others. Alistair said it was good to finally meet him and Sophie looked him up and down with nod of approval.
"There was really no need for this, but I appreciate it all the same - really." Harry said. He wanted to say something else but couldn't quite find the words, it felt like there was a stick in his throat.
"Potter," Draco said stepping down toward where Harry stood. "shut up and have a butterbeer." To this testament Draco shoved a bottle into his hand.
"I think that is the smartest thing Malfoy has ever said." Seamus whispered to George who smirked.
"In normal circumstances smart and Malfoy never go in the same sentence, but for this occasion we'll let it slide." Fred muttered back.
"So in the light of the Tri-Quidditch tournament, who wants a game?" George proposed standing pulling out a quaffle from thin air with a wide grin.
Cedric took the opportunity of everyone's surprise at the magic trick to take a swipe at the red ball. He cleared the stands with a giant leap, falling in slow motion before landing softly and running in the direction of the locker rooms which held his broom.
Laughing, taking off ties and robes, Harry and all of the others ran off to the locker rooms following Cedric's example. It was an act of solidarity, the various students decidedly skipping dinner, sitting with their friends in exchange for a friendly game of quidditch and a few butterbeers. They played late into the evening, rotating teams of three on three chasers with their designated keepers while Harry generously offered everyone a turn on his Firebolt.
Harry, after getting to fly in the air once again decided, that given the opportunity he was not going to miss out on his shot at beating Krum at quidditch.
On their way back to the castle everyone began to walk their own paths. Harry walked with Fred and George lagging behind, the twins acting little uneasy trying to distract Harry from the sight of the common room after he glanced at the map. Gryffindor tower felt a lot fuller recently, ashamed Gryffindors spent less time outside of the tower, rejected by many students from the other houses, just as they had rejected Harry.
"Fancy a trip to the kitchens?" Fred said turning to Harry, "We'll catch up with Hermione later and bring up some food." They waved the others off and quickly disappeared down a passageway.
"So," George began with a serious voice.
"You should know Harry-"
"We'd like to apologise on behalf of Ron-"
"Sorry he is a spineless git, and here we were thinking he was getting better." Fred continued.
"We thought you humbled him a bit." The twins looked down sadly.
"Guys, It doesn't matter. He'll get over this eventually. To be honest I feel guilty about driving a wedge between you and him." Harry said.
"It isn't like we're picking sides. He is supposed to be your best mate, we thought we'd just lead by example." George shrugged.
"You stick up for me too much. I know it was you guys who struck Lewis Kings this morning with that jelly legs jinx."
"You may not be aware of this Harry but after Dad and Bill you're the only person who can even tell us apart."
"And you saved Ginny from getting her soul sucked out by the diary."
"We've said it before, so allow us to say it again. You're as much family as he is mate."
"There's no doubt about it. You are an honorary Weasley."
"Thanks guys, Ron will come round, I know he will." Harry said optimistically. It wasn't very often they were this serious about anything, not unless it was important.
"That he will Harrykins. Ah we are here, now, prepare for you mind to be blown."
The trio had just reached the portrait of the pear, Harry was fairly certain they were beneath the great hall. With a flourish of an arm and an elaborate bow Fred proceeded to tickle the pear in the painting. Harry wasn't sure what to expect but oddly enough the pear let out a high pitched giggled and squirmed in its fruit bowl. The frame swung out revealing the entrance to the kitchens.
Harry stared at them both dumbly. "You just… tickled a painting? And why do these things even continue to surprise me?"
Fred and George simply laughed, taking great enjoyment in Harry's confusion. Almost immediately after he stopped speaking Harry was thrown to the floor by a speeding house elf tackling his legs.
"Ow." Harry groaned loudly, looking up to see a house elf with tennis ball sized eyes bouncing on the balls of his multi-socked feet. "Dobby?"
"Harry Potter sir, what an honour it is to meet again!" the house elf squeaked.
"Pleasures all mine," Harry grumbled getting up to find himself in a large room with scurrying house elves cleaning, preparing and cooking all manner of delicious smelling foods. "How have you been Dobby? And what are you even doing here?"
"Wonderful, Harry Potter sir! Dobby now has a job here at Hogwarts!"
"That's good news, er how are you finding it?" Harry asked taking a pumpkin pastie from a tray that came speeding past.
"It is better than Dobby's last job, Professor Dumbledore has been kind. Dobby is even getting paid now!"
Now Harry was looking at him he could see Dobby's appearance was completely different, The house elf was wearing an overly large knitted jumper that hung past his knees, many layers of different and brightly assorted socks and upon his head a tea-cosy in the shape of a chicken. Harry couldn't help but grin at the rather outlandish appearance.
"That's er great news Dobby; these are my friends Fred and George by the way."
"The Weazey twins had not mentioned they were friends of the great Harry Potter."
"None of that 'great' stuff Dobby." Harry muttered.
"Well, we didn't think Harry knew many house elves." Fred shrugged, "Didn't realise this was the elf you freed from the Malfoys."
"We don't like to assume you have fans everywhere." George rolled his eyes.
"But that is obviously our mistake." The two twins grinned at each other.
Dobby gave a low bow to the twins before they were overly spoilt by the house elves trying to please them, plates of confectionery, cakes and pastries being pushed into their arms. Then a sobbing wail came from the other end of the kitchen. All the other house elves tried to hurry them out of the portrait but Harry remained his eyes on the source of the sudden loud crying.
"Anyway Harry, grab that crate of Butterbeer and we'll be off." Fred said turning to the door.
"I'll see you again sometime soon Dobby" Harry said as Dobby passed him the beer crate.
"Dobby understands sir; he has heard the happenings of the tri-tournament. I wish you the best of luck Harry Potter, for what you did for Dobby - Dobby is always at your service."
"Bloody hell Harry. Is there anyone not in your debt?" Fred and Geroge said in unison.
"I get around." Harry gave a shrug and grin, unable to help himself.
When they returned to the common room via passageways they interrupted what seemed to be a one-sided shouting match between Ron and Hermione. Ron stopped mid-sentence as they entered, his mouth falling agape at the plates in the arms of Fred and George. At the sight of an upset Hermione Harry gave him no time to say another word.
"Ron, this had better be good, or you'd better get out." Harry said dangerously, putting the crate of butterbeer on the floor. The common room was mostly empty thankfully, but still those present turned to get a good look at him.
"Giving me orders?" he retorted. "Ron Weasley Harry Potter's lackey, does whatever he's told right?"
Harry's magic flared causing the fire in the common room to roar into life. Harry bared his teeth. "I don't know what you have said or done but I'm going to give you to the count of ten to apologise and then leave."
"What are you going to do?" Ron said defiantly gripping his wand.
Harry turned to look at Hermione, as he did so Ron raised his wand a spell on his lips.
"Expelliarmus." Harry said rapidly, Ron's wand was flung into the air. Harry caught it and threw it to Fred who nodded at George and the both of them grabbed Ron by the scruff of the neck.
"Sorry, family business." Fred said angrily through gritted teeth to the rest of the house.
"Brain operation. Urgent, must go..." They said obviously embarrassed. The others in the common room looked away awkwardly or quickly went to their dorms.
"You okay 'Mione?"
"I'm fine honestly." She said but Harry could see that she was a little shaken even if it was her own temper making her tremble. Her cheeks were red and he could see her eyes had been watering.
"What did he say?"
"He came over spilling some –drivel- about you, and me not knowing what I was thinking, how could I side with Malfoy over him, being an embarrassment to the house, that everyone was talking about us behind our backs. Then he just started calling me stupid and naïve all sorts of other things. I got so annoyed and angry, I told him being naïve would be me ignoring the truth out of spite and jealousy. After that well, he sort of… exploded."
"Oh Hermione," Harry chuckled softly, taking the book from Hermione's hands. "After tonight he won't say another word. George and Fred will make sure of it."
Elsewhere in the castle Draco Malfoy strongly refrained from using an unforgivable to get Crabbe and Goyle out of his way so he could enter the dormitory. Their two hulking bodies tried to look intimidating to the annoyed and very irritated Malfoy. He found himself having to duck when he heard an involuntary high pitched squeal escape from one of them as the two were sent flying out of their doorway and up the staircase in reverse causing a crunch on the Slytherin common room floor.
He turned to see the smirking face of Blaise putting his wand away.
"Thanks." Draco muttered.
"You're welcome." He said lightly as he shrugged.
As Blaise went back to his business pretending he wasn't there, Draco eyed him suspiciously. It is getting weird around here he thought.
Draco had always been on neutral terms with Blaise, there had never been animosity between the two. Yet it wasn't in Blaise's nature to stick his neck out for anyone, especially not someone in Draco's situation.
Up the stairs, in the common room a girl looked on to the scene that had played out. She had long platinum blonde hair that seemed almost white. With cold eyes, she watched as Pansy and Millicent got up struggling to help the heaving masses of Crabbe and Goyle from the floor. Theodore Nott sat next to her smirking to himself at Blaise's handiwork for the sake of their small entertainment. Theodore was skinny with a face that was almost entirely cheekbone. His dark deep-set blue eyes were framed by sharp angular eyebrows giving him the strong resemblance of a bird of prey.
"Draco, Draco, Draco. He just isn't the same, is he? I think might actually miss him capering around like he owns the place." The girl said, her voice like silk.
"I rather like the new Malfoy. Humility suits him much better than arrogance."
The blonde girl silently agreed, she had noticed Draco had been different ever since summer, he felt forced. After the house shunned him for his association with Harry Potter when the incident involving the goblet of fire happened, he completely withdrew from his old self. She was sure the two were surely connected somehow if only tenuously.
She knew he and Harry were seen together at the quidditch world cup having shared a box with the minister of magic. Friends in high places, no surprise there she thought. It had once occurred to her that the whole rivalry could be faked during school. Malfoy was certainly capable if he tried, he had a lot to gain in Slytherin by opposing him just as he had standing beside him.
But there had always been too strong a hatred between them for that to be the case. Malfoy on his ways to being a blood purist like his father and Potter friend of muggle-borns, werewolves and blood-traitors alike. At Hogwarts she had only ever observed the boy-who-lived from a distance, listened to Draco drone on about his arrogance, unfair treatment and his use of fame. None of which she had truly seen. It was questionable how he managed to get on the quidditch team in his first year, but then again he was exceptionally good, she was there to witness his stunt with Malfoy and the rememberall.
Much like the rest of the school she also couldn't say anything for sure on the matter of the current Harry Potter.
"I admit it is interesting to watch him interact with Potter. Inter-house unity from the biggest rivals in Hogwarts. Participating at our age is... valiant." The platinum blonde witch bit her lip.
"You sound like you'd be sad to see them go." Theo commented.
"Things would be rather boring around here without them going at each other." She joked coolly.
She couldn't say never had her own contempt for Harry Potter and she wasn't never much of a fan of Draco either truth be told. However it had taken recent events to really question what was said about Harry to be true, she was aware all rumours are embellished but also a grain of truth from which the rumour had to grow from. It wasn't like she could just suddenly start asking questions either, so she had to quietly observe.
And this latest unforeseen side effect has just sped up her timeline. She had expected them to be fighting now more than ever.
"I suppose it'll be interesting to watch at least. What do you think caused it?" Theodore asked.
"Without a doubt it was an outside party. Anyone with half a brain should be able to see that they had nothing to with it. Your Death Eaters most likely." She thought aloud.
A plot to kill Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy; it was a clever way to go about it he thought. Unless they could trace whoever put the names in the goblet the conspirators would go guilt free. Theo winced at the mention of his father's allegiance, it was of no secret to some Slytherins but still he didn't allow it to be spoken aloud by those with that knowledge. She made it sound like he was on the fast track to becoming one.
"My father has mentioned nothing of it, not that he would to me. But surely no one would dream of involving Lucius's only son and heir?"
The witch smirked at that. Someone did far more than dream it.
"I'm sure some of them must harbour some hatred for the man. Political move maybe? Unless... it was Malfoy Senior himself, what better way to cleanse yourself of suspicion than to send in your own flesh and blood?" She rolled her eyes with a hollow laugh. "I suppose there's no point in us second-guessing, it's mostly irrelevant and irreversible now anyway, if Mad-eye, Snape and Dumbledore can't figure out how it was done and by whom then we most certainly won't."
"I don't think I have ever seen you doubt yourself before." Theodore's lip curled.
"I'm fully aware of what I'm capable of, solving the case of the Goblet of Fire with such little information is impossible." She said dismissively, she didn't like the way Theo implied she overestimated herself.
"I think you just enjoy seeing Malfoy miserable."
"Well, maybe a little. It works for me that the more he spends time with Potter the weaker his position within the house will become. I'm counting on that when I deal with Lautner next year I want no competition."
"If you leave it too long and Malfoy will have his head turned. The poison will already be in the cup, as it were." Theo voiced his concern. Daphne merely smirked at the phrase, in her opinion Theo was far too cautious.
"As long as we offer a hand to him before the first trial he won't refuse, you don't seem to understand fully yet Theo; This isn't about sides and it goes far beyond houses and families." She looked thoughtful.
Never a good sign in Theo's opinion, as it nearly always resulted in damage.
She looked up at the dungeon ceiling tapping her fingers against her thumb in a rhythmic pattern, her tick.
"I know that face. What's going on in that brain of yours?" Theo asked.
The witch raised a finger. Whenever the witch would think deeply she could not help the continuous specific drumming of her digits.
"Only that things are always changing, it seems there is much that even I cannot predict or control." She closed her eyes before glancing back down to her book smiling. "Maybe Potter will learn what a game changer he will be, even in the pureblood circles. He might be a half-blood but the Potters are an ancient and noble house, which means ancient blood. One of the last surviving nine and I believe I am correct in thinking he is a candidate to the Nobel House of Black, with his only rival to that title and all it holds being his new friend Malfoy. Heir presumptive and heir apparent. " The girl sighed longingly. "So much potential, one day the whole wizarding world will practically revolve around him and he doesn't even realise it yet." She said, a calculating expression on her face.
She had always valued truth above all things, she owed it to herself to discover what that really meant. She had made many mistakes in the recent past, she refused to make any more.
Her lips curved upwards as her hand traced over her place in her book. She suddenly shut the old leather bound pages with a sharp snap.
"Just so we are clear Theo, wait a few more days before reaching out to Draco. Nothing fast as you know, make it seamless, just a few words here and there. Blaise will be lending a hand too."
The girl stood up from the leather sofa, illuminated by the dying fire, her book in hand.
"Aren't you going to bed? You'll need your rest for the quidditch trials tomorrow." Theo asked curiously as she made her way in the opposite direction of the dormitories.
"Seeker tryouts are last thing in the afternoon. I'll be fine Theo." The young witch replied.
It was late when Ron slipped back into the common room quietly with George and Fred, without a word he went straight up to bed with a pale defiant face. Hermione looked up from her book to see Harry scratching in notes with his quill.
"I think I'm going to go to bed. Try and get some sleep won't you? It's a big day tomorrow." Hermione's eyes glittered with concern.
"Yeah, yeah, of course." Harry replied absent minded from his armchair. He watched as she took the stairs to the girl's dorm room, her steps tempering the silence.
Finally, he was left alone by the common room fire. After he finished his notes, he sat quietly for a moment before he took out his map. He was content to watch it till he was sure all was as it should be that night in Hogwarts. He had taken to watching the map in the hours of the night as Sirius suggested it in his last letter. Studying it closely he could small markings making up the walls. Harry had noticed that there were shapeless patterns within them, like a flowing current. In his curiosity, he couldn't help but wonder what they could be.
As he scoured over the map one last time he saw the familiar ink trails of footprints. That's odd Harry thought. He watched the footprints leaving the dungeons but the illustration had no name attached. Harry, slightly alarmed by the anomaly, snatched up the map and quickly retrieved his invisibility cloak from his room. He double checked the whereabouts of the teachers on night duty and made sure Filch was nowhere near the route he was going to take before he slipped into his shoes and ducked through the fat lady's portrait.
Making his was way down towards the second floor as quietly as he could, he trailed the steps of the nameless walker. The inky footsteps avoided those on patrol just as effectively as he could, because of this it was unclear at first as to where they could be heading, with that in mind he deduced from their corridor and how they avoided the presented stairs the only place they could be heading was to the library.
Harry told himself he was just going to take a look, to see if it was anyone dangerous or suspicious. With the strange happening around Hogwarts any other action would be very unwise.
Harry adjusted his course and took a shortcut, regularly looking over the map. He found he was correct in his guess as he saw the footsteps lazily pacing the library. Harry slowed his pace and checked to see if there was anyone likely to be coming around soon. With no noise, he came in by the shadows of the library curious as to who takes midnight reading sessions in the dead of night.
The great study room full of countless volumes of books was eerily quiet. Harry silently passed the towering shelves of books and empty tables with unlit lamps. Above him floated candles with wisps of smoke like they had been recently snuffed out.
"It is an unsettling thing, to be noticed when trying to hide isn't it?" A soft voice called out as he entered. It was a girl's voice; Harry stiffened and grasped his wand underneath the cloak. "Everyone has a certain unique reaction to it, but it's even stranger so for a girl to be noticed by someone like you, of all people."
Harry continued forward, the voice was soothing and gentle, he could hear her slow breathing close by.
Who is she speaking to, there isn't anyone else here is there?
On the next aisle, he turned right and stood facing the sweet sounding girl and apparent owner of the nameless voice. Harry realised that as there was no one else around, and that the only person she could possibly be speaking to was him.
She was standing over a table with an open book, the pages glowing blue. The pale light illuminated little around her. It was hard to tell in the dark but she had pale eyes, blonde hair and dark lips.
"There you are." She whispered looking up at the empty space where he was stood. "Well you have everything covered don't you?" she said with the smallest hint of amusement. "You can show yourself, there is no point in hiding now."
Only her eyes remained unfamiliar. For the girl had cold steel grey eyes, her stare was new to him since he had never taken the time to truly look at her long enough.
He had heard others talk about her once. They said she didn't know how to smile and that her glower made her plain. He had never voiced his disagreement, she was cold but she was anything but plain.
Harry panicked, for a moment he thought about turning back. She had known he was here. She had known he was coming but she apparently already had his identity figured out.
Knowing he had been exposed let the invisibility cloak fall to the floor, revealing himself to the girl. She eyed him strangely.
"We haven't been properly introduced. I am Daphne Greengrass." She sat on the table, her legs slightly apart and her hand outstretched. Harry politely grasped it.
"Harry Potter. We're in classes together aren't we?" He asked.
"Defence, Magical Creatures, Astronomy and Potions. I'm surprised you recognise me seeing as we've never spoken before." Daphne said her lips twitching slightly.
"It's, um hard not to remember a face like yours. What are you doing here?" Harry asked fumbling with his words slightly, studying the still posture of the girl.
"I was waiting for you. I am rather pleased actually. Seeing as you didn't make me wait very long." She answered, her face giving nothing away.
"And you just knew I'd show up?"
"No. But I hoped if I came by often enough you'd stop by." She walked behind the table and sat down. Harry followed and sat opposite.
"So, you wanted to meet me?" Harry eyed her suspiciously.
"Doesn't everyone?" She answered his question with her own. "I suppose most are afraid. You have no idea how imposing you seem from afar."
"You don't seem to share that problem."
"Well, desire got the best of me." She shrugged. Harry noticed the way she wet her lips before she said the word desire and suddenly his throat became very dry. "I wanted to ask you a few questions on how you do it. But it seems you've answered that already, so now I am somewhat delighted and even more curious about you." Her reply came back soft and cryptic.
He couldn't help but feel like a mouse in the paws of a kitten, playfully toying with him.
"Do what? I'm really not following." Harry said, less confused and more annoyed.
"It seems you were following me though. I noticed how frequently you disappear out of sight, such an evasive personality you have. Then there is also the question of how you can get from the Gryffindor tower on the seventh floor to the here in such a short amount of time." Her voice turned serious, losing the playful tone it held before.
Harry could tell she wasn't playing games anymore as she slid her book across the table to him. On the dimly lit blue pages, Harry leaned over and stared completely stunned, his inky footsteps were nameless too. Slowly he pulled out and opened his map to compare it to the book, the pages identically mapping the library.
"You were tracking me?"
"It didn't take me very long to figure out you were the only one without a name. Did you think you were the only one?" She asked peering at his map with sharp eyes. "Yours is not very old, a replica or an invention? And that invisibility cloak, you really are the real deal."
"Family inheritances." Harry stated standing up.
Daphne let out a laugh not caring about the volume of her voice, unafraid of attracting any attention.
"I should imagine with your bloodline. Seems to me for all that fame and spotlight you really do prefer to stay out of sight. I can appreciate that." She stood too and stepped close enough to Harry to make him feel uncomfortable.
"Let's just say it comes naturally to me. Or used to - at least." Harry muttered. Daphne smiled at that, nearly causing Harry to take another step back.
"Yes, I am very sorry to hear of your most recent misfortunes." She said sadly and sincerely. "I'm sure things will look up."
To his surprise, she smiled again. The distant Slytherin girl who glared and glowered, known only for her icy nature had actually smiled twice. Harry blinked unsure what that smile had meant.
Harry stood wordlessly as Daphne stepped closer. She was blushing slightly, with her smile pulling to one side charmingly. Daphne cupped his cheek and leant up. In a very short sweet moment, Harry's mind went blank.
His cheek suddenly felt very hot in the sudden absence of her lips. He was left only aware of the smell of antique paper, old leather and orange blossoms.
"Forgive me. It was nice to finally meet you, Harry Potter. I'll be seeing you around." Daphne bit her lip. Her face returned to sad and stony as she disappeared into the darkness of the library, her ancient book in hand.
Harry had to admit there was a touch of something ethereal about Daphne Greengrass. Although the age difference showed in their development, she was just as attractive as the French champion. Strangely though, as Fleur Delacour's beauty and presence demanded to be felt, Harry sensed something about Daphne was colder, three years had passed and she had almost gone entirely unnoticed by him. She sat in class as an abstract thought in the back of his head, just out of reach like a thought he had never pondered upon before.
Harry for a moment imagined how awful it would have been if he had never met this girl.