AN: Here's my next chapter. Thankfully its only been around a week. I'm hoping I can keep this constant updating pattern. Though fair warning, I start college back at the end of August.

My best friend has helped me a lot with this chapter. I was originally going to write the Gringotts scene in Chapter 18, but somehow I forgot all about it. Got too into writing this chapter for you all, I guess. And of course I wasn't the only one, my best friend totally forgot all about it when we were discussing what I was going to write this chapter. Which I brought to her attention this morning. So I wasn't the only forgetful one. I promise it will be in Chapter 19.

Enjoy!

~NicoDiAngeloLover7

Touched by Death – Chapter 18 (A Watchful Eye)

Harry's mind had been on Sirius' letter for the past week. The words were still a bit frightening to him, but his last words had been comforting and reassuring. He never had an adult tell him that they loved him, but Sirius was different. Marcus didn't count, though he knew that Slytherin did. It was amazing feeling to know that someone actually wanted him and wasn't just a burden that someone was forced to take care of.

The small Gryffindor was still waiting for Marcus to tell him that Sirius sent him a letter back. Unless the Slytherin thought it would be amusing to have his Godfather just surprise him. Unless… Marcus did get the letter and knowing someone was meddling with his mind, decided it was safer for him not to know. His shoulders dropped slightly, Marcus definitely wouldn't tell him, not with the risk that Dumbledore could find out and stop them. Sirius would never risk that, the man cared too much about him.

Harry's head snapped up suddenly, making Seamus and Neville jump slightly in their seats. The two Gryffindors were sitting beside him, with Dean in front of him. They were all currently in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table. That was when the doors to the Great Hall had slammed open.

Harry's eyes went wide, the schools had arrived. Harry assumed they were from Durmstrang since they were wearing thick robes and cloaks draped over their shoulders. Marcus had mentioned to him that it got very cold in Bulgaria or maybe the school was cold in general. His curiosity was pipped, he wondered how they arrived. The Head of Houses, Dumbledore, Marcus, and the Headgirl were missing. No doubt they were allowed to watch how the foreign students arrived. As they had determined that it would too much of a crowd if the entire school watched. So, the entire faculty kept it a secret when they would arrive and only gave an approximate day. No doubt to keep any lurking students from snooping and wanting to watch. Harry was so getting that memory from Marcus later.

Harry studied the students from Durmstrang as they walked in. He spotted a few females, but they were mainly male. He rolled his eyes when he could hear Ron trying to get Krum's attention. The red head had tried several times since the year started to talk to him, but Harry mainly ignored him. He seemed to appear that he gave up, especially when he had caught Dean or Seamus glare at the red-head. He hadn't had Ron try to approach him since. That didn't mean that Harry didn't try to get a look at Krum, it was hard to see what he looked like during the match at the World Cup. He could understand why people seemed to flock to the Bulgarian. His hair was much shorter than Marcus'. The Slytherin's hair was still short, but it was starting to curl slightly. Krum seemed a little cold, Harry assumed that it must be a mask. Marcus had a similar one before he got to know the Slytherin better. It was amusing a little to see Marcus' mask, he definitely preferred the soft look more. Harry still thought his boyfriend was better looking.

There was a lot of disappointed looks when the Bulgarian students chose the Slytherin table to sit at. Harry did snort when he saw the outraged look on Malfoy that Krum chose to seat far away from the blonde. The snort caught Seamus and Neville's attention towards him. Harry silently gestured over to Malfoy's facial expressions and where Krum was currently sitting. Harry knew they noticed when he heard their snickers. It was hilarious that Krum had decided to sit beside his boyfriend. And he knew that Marcus surprised Krum when the Slytherin barely acknowledged him. Harry knew that Marcus was a big fan of Quidditch. But Marcus knew how much he hated his fame. And that those who didn't mind their fame as much, yet they loved any spare moment they could have. Harry was trying to stare more at Marcus, because it looked like he was working on something.

Harry tore his gaze away from Marcus when the Slytherin caught him. Harry could clearly tell he was probably raising an eyebrow at him in question before jerking his head a little to the side. A clear gesture to get his ass over here. Harry then glanced at the trio around him and gave an embarrassed smile.

Neville smiled good naturally, "go ahead. We'll meet up in the Common Room later today."

Dean grinned as he teased, "might want to hurry. He may get impatient…"

Harry rolled his eyes as he walked over to the Slytherin table.

The Gryffindor got a lot of suspicious looks and a glare sent from the Potions Master.

There was an older Slytherin currently sitting on the other side of Marcus. He looked to be in fifth or sixth year. There was a harsh growl, "move…"

The Slytherin didn't even look at Marcus before he scrabbled for another seat, far away from Marcus.

Harry snorted, "demanding, are we?"

Marcus glanced up at Harry, "he was in your way. So yes."

Harry took the empty seat and snuck a glance at the Bulgarian seeker. Harry guessed Krum was 17 or 18, but he looked amused.

"Your friend is very interesting…" Krum's accent was very thick, and it took Harry a minute to understand him.

"Yeah… he can be very protective," Harry was stunned that Krum spoke to him, though secretly pleased.

Harry saw Krum give a small nod. "You fly pretty good." Harry flushed slightly, even to him that sounded awkward as hell.

Marcus gave him a strange look.

Harry wound up shooting the Slytherin a glare and rolled his eyes. He was not going to deal with a jealous boyfriend when he didn't need to be.

"Thank you," Krum's voice had less of an accent there, so it was easier to understand. "You play Quidditch?"

Harry shook his head. "Not anymore, I was a Seeker. Marcus was the Captain and Chaser on the Quidditch team."

The Bulgarian looked impressed, though confused when Harry said he didn't play anymore.

"Harry is a trainee Healer," Marcus explained. He glanced back down at the parchment, making a few changes in ink.

Krum nodded his head, "a worthy profession." "Was?"

"Can't really manage a Quidditch team when you're Headboy," Harry voiced drawled a little.

Marcus snorted, "Nobody can save those bloody idiots if Malfoy's on the team…"

Krum made a short laugh, he had heard stories about the Malfoy family. He was not impressed by the Malfoy heir. "A high honor. It is not easy I imagine."

Marcus made an affirmative noise.

Harry turned his attention from Krum to Marcus, "what are you writing?"

"First Hogsmeade visit next month. Professor McGonagall needed some help with planning it. She needs a possible date while working around the tournament. And no, I'm not telling you."

Harry pouted, "Fine. I'll find out later."

"Much later," Marcus added.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Do you have to make a list on who's allowed to go?"

Krum didn't make another comment but seemed to listen in on the conversation. It was like it was amusing the famous Seeker.

"Yes, and Malfoy is almost at the verge of not going."

Harry's eyes brightened.

"Don't even… I don't want to hear his whining anymore than I have to," Marcus' gaze snapped to Harry's 'innocent' face.

"Didn't say a word," Harry pointed out.

"I can still hear you thinking…" Marcus retorted.

Harry rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. He then took the opportunity to look at the list that Marcus was working on. There were only names from Slytherin and Gryffindor. There were a few names that Harry recognized, but the list wasn't very long. One of the names that stood out was a certain red-headed Weasley.

"So why is Weasley on here and what about Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw? And how do you know which students can go or not if they're not in Slytherin?"

Marcus put down his quill for a minute and quipped, "Weasley had been spotted on several occasions of bullying some of the first and second years. Guessing Granger hasn't been reeling him in or something."

Harry looked taken back for a second, "Well I know he was jealous and everything. Maybe that's striking out… McGonagall won't be pleased."

"Oh, she was livid," Marcus confirmed. "To answer your other questions, I'm only responsible for Gryffindor and Slytherin. Whoever that Headgirl is, she's over Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. We do our separate work and it gets done faster this way. And if you must know, I have the prefects reporting to me." Marcus last comment was teasing.

"No doubt you terrify every single Hufflepuff if you were responsible for them," Harry snickered.

Marcus never denied Harry's statement.

Harry wasn't sure what to expect a few days later. The students from France and Bulgaria had arrived a week or two ago and everyone was gathered in the Great Hall. There had been a big outcry about that Quidditch was cancelled. He had even caught Dean's look of disappointment, Harry knew full and well that his friend was looking forward to trying out this year.

The outcries quieted a little when Dumbledore had announced it was because of the tournament. After all, the tournament was known to be dangerous. So, naturally everyone was curious to get a hint on what the first task might be.

Harry knew they would be disappointed, no doubt nobody would know what the task was until the day of. Least the audience wouldn't know what the task was. The Gryffindor didn't doubt that the champions would know beforehand. Marcus had told them that the champions and their headmasters were known for cheating to get ahead of the other schools in the past. That wouldn't change just because the champions and headmasters were different since the last tournament.

Harry's eyes then went wide when he saw the Goblet of Fire be revealed. It looked like an ancient stone goblet, though the rim looked like it had runes glowing every few minutes. The Gryffindor was a bit curious if the goblet was an ancient artifact and if it held ancient magic as well.

Harry eyes finally left the ancient goblet and scanned the faculty table. His ears kept listening to the words from Dumbledore. The old man was currently explaining the rules behind the tournament and the new age limit. It took a sonorous charm to get the hall quiet, it was no surprise that all the outrage came from Hogwarts. It caused a silent relief that swam through him, maybe this year would be different. There was hope souring within Harry that maybe this year he wouldn't be put into any danger. Afterall, Harry was only 14, three years away from the required age.

The Gryffindor never met Dumbledore's eyes as the man continued to speak. Marcus had been serious about him not meeting his eyes, scared of another mental intrusion. Harry didn't even try to protest about it. Considering the little trust he had and the fact he was missing memories scared him, did most of the work. Harry's eyes flicked to Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore was now explaining about the deadline for entering. They had set a deadline to be the night of October 30th and the selection would take place on the 31st. The day created a minor concern for 14-year-old. October 31st seemed to keep the tradition of bad luck for the raven. First it had been his parents' murder, a troll being released, the ordeal of the Chamber of Secrets, and Sirius breaking into the Tower. It was like all the bad events happened on October 31st, though Harry didn't realize knowing Sirius would be a good thing at the time.

Harry then turned to the three Gryffindors around him. Neville had said something to all of them. "Who do you think will be the Hogwarts champion?"

"Could be anyone, there's several Gryffindors who's of age," Seamus pointed out.

"Don't forget about the other houses, could be any of them," Dean reminded.

"Harry, what about Marcus? He's seventeen, right?" Neville suddenly asked.

The small raven's eyes went wide, clearly alarmed. "He is, but he's not entering." Harry remembered clearly asking Marcus if he was going to enter.

Marcus had brushed the question off at first, thinking it was a stupid in the first place. Until he realized how worried the Gryffindor had gotten, Harry going pale was a fast indicator. So, Marcus had admitted that he thought the tournament was stupid and there was no way he was going to enter. Especially since if he was chosen, he would be exempt from his N.E.W.T.s, which was something he was never going to do. The Slytherin wasn't going to get this far and then just not take the required tests for his career. Marcus had noticed that Harry got calmer when he explained, it helped that Marcus had no need for the reward.

Harry's answer got all three boy's attention.

"Why not?" Seamus asked.

"It could be because I have no need for those galleons or the fame. Or maybe the fact I am Headboy and I'm not going to waste precious time for a stupid tournament," Marcus' sharp voice cut in.

Seamus, Dean, and Neville almost went into shock, not realizing that Marcus had been right behind them. Harry had seen the Slytherin coming and apparently his bright smile hadn't been a clear enough sign.

"Could have warned us," Dean muttered once he got over his shock.

Harry laughed, "and where would the fun be in that?"

Neville glared at Harry halfheartedly, "you spend too much time with Marcus."

"As do you," Harry retorted.

"He's got us there, mate," Seamus quipped.

Marcus let out a small laugh. "Never thought I see the day, I would get along with Gryffindors."

"Hey!" was Harry's outburst. "You're dating a Gryffindor, you can't complain. Unless you're going to start acting like a Hufflepuff again."

Marcus rolled his eyes, "more like I'm dating a Hufflepuff…"

Had Dean, Seamus, and Neville just met Marcus, they would be certain that Harry was going to get cursed. After all, Harry had just insulted a Slytherin, usually there was retribution for such an act. Now, they just laughed alongside with Harry as the couple bantered back and forth.

Without another word, Marcus reached and grabbed Harry out of his seat. The sharp yelp got the Gryffindor annoyed looks from everyone around him.

Harry looked up at Marcus with curious eyes. All it took was a look from the Slytherin for Harry to clue in what was going on.

Seamus, Dean, and Neville seemed to get the idea that something important was happening. Because they didn't say a word as they watched Marcus pull Harry out of the Great Hall. Dumbledore had already finished speaking and dinner had appeared on the tables. But it didn't escape the three Gryffindor's notice that there were sharp eyes watching the receding steps of Harry and Marcus.