For the most part, life was the same. Hermione and her two friends managed to talk and get over the awkward implications of the news article that had shocked them the week before. While Hermione and Fred had also managed to talk and sort things out, he was still avoiding Hermione, quite obviously, at all costs. This led to another article being written about their dramatic breakup which Skeeter pinned towards Fred 'not being able to keep up with the tournament and such a promiscuous partner', which upset Hermione, but didn't surprise her.
Now it was the day of the first task. Hermione put in all her free time towards helping Harry as well as trying to learn more about how he was put into the games in the first place. Despite his general disinterest in the tournament, within a week she had managed to push in enough information to help him get through. Now was only a matter of watching him and Fred get through the task.
The day was warm and sunny, with very little clouds over the sky. Perfect to be outdoors, in Hermiones mind. They left the common room and joined the hoards of students making their way onto the fields near Hogwarts where a makeshift arena stood, as well as tents outside of it which Harry, Fred and the other champions currently were. Ron and Hermione took the opportunity to visit the two. In spite of the regulations, Hermione managed to sneak herself into the champions tent while Ron waited for her outside. She scanned around quickly before going up to Harry who was anxiously standing by Fred. "Hermione!" Harry said in shock with a smile. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just worried about you. Both of you, actually," she said, turning to Fred, who avoided her eyes in return. "Make sure you guys focus, we'll be cheering for you, okay?" Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder and shuddered, nervous to face whichever official would tell her she needed to leave, but only turned to face a stone cold boy in red.
"Hermione, yes?" the boy asked, stretching out his hand. Hermione then realising that it was Durmstrangs champion, Viktor Krum.
"Oh… Yes, hi," Hermione smiled in return, shaking his hand. "Viktor, right?"
"Yes. It is nice to meet you. The officials are coming soon, I would leave if I was you," he said, managing a soft smile, before returning to his resting face. Hermione looked down his direction and saw as Fudge, Ludo Bagman, Dumbledore and the other headmasters all shuffled through the entrance.
"Oh, thank you. Alright I'll go now, but good luck. And good luck to you, too, Viktor. Nice to meet you," she said, before leaving the way she'd come in and meeting with Ron.
"Was that just Viktor Krum you were talking to?" Ron asked as they left.
"Yeah… Surprisingly nice," Hermione said as a final statement before the two found seats by their Gryffindoor peers. While most of the Hogwarts students chanted for Fred and even Harry, Hermione noticed a small group of Slytherin holding the Durmstrang flag and joining the opposing school in chanting. "Draco really is a moron, isn't he?" Hermione mumbled.
"Is indeed," Dean piped from behind, to which Hermione turned and saw him, Seamus, Luna and Neville all holding a large banner with "Go Potter!" written across it. Hermione smiled at them and turned around again to watch the event.
Formalities came and passed and finally the first dragon was led into the centre of the crowd- a Welsh Green Dragon. Being in Hermione's eyes, the weakest of the four, she hoped to see Harry or Fred walk out with no such luck- instead out came Fleur Delacour. The task began and they watched her as she played the defensive- after an extensive period of both dodging attacks and moving around the terrain, Hermione began to realise her tactic. Finally, as she reached a cove area that could hide her, she allowed the dragon to come closer, leaving the egg exposed, before turning around and charming it immediately. Fleur swooped the golden egg with pride and displayed it as the crowds cheered for her, many of the Hogwarts boys whistling and hollering- including Seamus much to Deans disapproval.
The crowds hushed down as the Welsh Green was ushered out and a Chinese Fireball was brought in, Hermione curious and concerned as to who was next. The crowd was once again completely quiet as the gate opened for the champion to walk in- and with a drop of her heart she watched as a brightly grinning Fred Weasely jogged into the game. Instantly the crowd around her went mad with chanting for the Hogwarts student, Fred even managing to spot his brother and point in a jokingly arrogant manner. The dragon instantly shot a fireball towards the boy, to which Fred dodged with fair ease, rolling across the ground before coming back to his feet swiftly. Hermione looked with awe at how easily he had moved from the attack. She watched as Fred pulled out his wand, jogging away from the dragon before pointing up and shouting a charm. While she couldn't hear him, she knew exactly what he had done.
Dodging another fireball, Fred ducked before jumping back up and grabbing onto his broomstick that had quickly swooped through. The crowd instantly broke into screams of excitement as the young boy flew in circles around the dragon as he untied an artifact from the side of the broom. It wasn't a beater, though. In fact much to Hermione's surprise it was a muggle baseball bat made of metal. Now holding the bat, Fred stopped in his tracks and looked the dragon up and down with a smirk, waiting for it to attack. Hermione gulped, knowing that this plan could go one of two ways. The dragon took a deep and concentrated breath of rage before finally bursting out a fireball, its jaw completely unhinged and facing Fred like a goal mark. Swiftly but surely, Fred responded by whacking the giant fireball with his complete force, redirecting it into the dragons open mouth. More cheering broke out as Fred temporarily spun out of control, his bat now mainly melted and likely useless for another attack- however that would be unnecessary. Hermione watched as the dragon heaved and choked on its own flames before falling to the side knocked out cold. Fred swooped down and jumped off his broom to capture the egg, receiving more of an already loud cheer from not just Hogwarts, but the other schools too. Fred held the egg up and smiled as brightly as ever before walking out of sight once more.
Hermione felt desperate to see him, hoping Krum would be the next to participate so she could leave to see him. After his dragon was ushered out, she found herself taking back what she'd said. The Swedish Short-Snout was ushered into the field, which meant only the Hungarian Horntail was left, meaning that he'd have to get out now or he could be in deep waters. To Hermiones deep disappointment and concern, Viktor Krum walked out the gates with his staple stone cold look, and the event had then begun.
"Save my spot, I'm going to the washroom," Hermione mumbled to Ron, who barely noticed as he focused on his idol. Hermione found herself out of the stands and took the same route she had before to sneak into the champions tent. Popping her head in, she looked about for Fred, soon finding him sitting alone with a towel around his neck and his shirt on the ground. Noticing that the important officials were no longer in sight, Hermione walked in quickly towards Fred, taking a seat across from him. Only now did she realise it was the first time she'd ever seen him shirtless, and tried not to look.
"I know you don't want to talk to me anymore, but I'm really proud of you," Hermione started, getting a wide eyed look from Fred.
"It's not that I don't want to talk to you, you know. I just don't want the press to write any more rubbish about you… But thank you 'Mione," he said, which was now a surprise to Hermione.
"Oh…" she started. "Well regardless. I was nervous for you, but I knew you could do it,"
"I know you doubted me, Granger. I did too- but I did it!" he said, his usual smile returning to his face. "Honestly its a lot easier down on paper."
"Well obviously, Weasely. It's one thing for me to doubt you- but doubting yourself?! Why that tactic?" Hermione asked in fright, also returning to her usual self around him.
"There's no such thing as perfect," he grinned, sitting upright and further distracting Hermione and exposing a burn on his rib side. "But I think I got pretty darn close. Those muggle beaters are quite good, you know."
"They're called baseball bats, and yeah they are," Hermione replied. "That burn looks quite nasty though, have you had it treated?"
"Yeah just a bit, wanna kiss it better?" he winked, making Hermione blush and furrow her eyebrows.
"You are quite unbearable, Fred," she replied with a smile. "Also, where's Harry?" she asked, looking around at his absence.
"He's already out there," Fred said, looking at her confused. "Went out just as you came in."
Hermione's heart dropped and her face went white and she shot towards the gate to look into the arena, only to see him and the dragon both gone.
"Oh my God, it ate him!" she shouted in a deep horror.
"I've never heard such stupidity from your mouth, Miss Granger," the voice of Professor Mcgonagall said from beside her. Hermione, who thought the area was cleared of officials, turned in shock as she faced at her houses head, the girls cheeks turning red out of instinct. "He used a similar tactic to Mr Weasely, though it led to Potter leaving the arena on his broom."
"Oh. I hope he's okay," Hermione said, feeling guilty for not watching his event.
"What are you doing here anyways?" Mcgonagall asked suspiciously.
"Just to wish him good luck. I didn't think Krum would finish his task in such a short amount of time," Hermione replied, turning to leave. "I'll be going now, professor."
"I see. He'll likely get points for that. Mr Potter only has two minutes to surpass him as the fastest."
Hermione walked away quickly, waving at Fred who was now laying on the ground, and now running back to her spot in the stands. Just as she finally arrived, she looked up to find Harry, followed by a massive dragon. He was speeding directly towards the ground, Hermione noting that if he crashed it would be lethal. Just a moment before coliding into the rock, Harry swiftly pulled up and grabbed the golden egg before flying out of the dragons way. The Durmstrang students fell into a deep "ooh" at the manoeuvre while everyone in the crowds cheered.
"That was Krums move he just did!" Ron said, grabbing Hermione by the shoulder and jumping madly. The two fell into a loud chant with the rest of Hogwarts for Harry before he made his way into the champion tent. "I think he actually beat him for time." Ron added.
"I can't believe how quickly Krum finished though, are you sure?" Hermione replied. "How did he do?"
"Great, but he lost points for damages," he replied, pointing at a large dent in the arena walls.
Cornellius Fudge walked into the arena wand in hand and stood in the flat centre that once inhabited the dragons. Holding his wand to his throat, he began. "We have calculated the points from each champions performance," a silence fell over the three schools. "Despite successful retrieval of the egg in the fastest timing, the neglect for arena confines have put Harry Potter in… Fourth place!" The school, Gryffindoor especially, still cheered for Harry- Hermione and Ron clapping loudly.
"For swift and successful use of charms, despite the lack of reaching full expectations of the judges, Fleur Delacour has reached Third Place." Beuxbatons cheered for their champion as well as Hogwarts and Durmstrang, expectantly waiting to see who would come first. While Krum was faster than Fred, the damages would have costed points. And same goes for Freds burns.
"In Second place, for swift speed at the expense of damages to the arena… Viktor Krum!" Durmstrang both chanted in disappointment and pride for their champion- soon dulled out by the cheers of Hogwarts at the winner. "Silence all!" Fudge chanted.
"Finally, for the most creative use of resources, only held back by a single injury, Fred Weasely has won the first task!" the crowds broke back out into cheers of glee, eventually exiting the stadium to celebrate within the school. Hermione happy that her worries could be eased just for a moment.