The moment Fleur had finished breakfast, she stood, not wanting to remain in the Great Hall any longer. The food had tasted like cardboard in her mouth, but she'd forced it down, knowing that she would need the strength once the task was underway.

Everyone was chattering like locusts about the upcoming final task, asking her what she thought it would be and whether she felt ready. They meant well, but all they were doing was stirring up the butterflies in her stomach until they were thrashing about so hard that it felt like they would escape.

After quickly running through her mental checklist to make sure she had everything she needed, she had a drink of water and stood. 'I will see you after.'

'You have this!' Alexandre called out as she left.

Quite a few of the nearby students stopped to stare at her as she walked past, but she ignored them, focusing her eyes securely on the side chamber where the champions' families were supposed to meet them.

Entering the small side room, she let out a slow breath, the tension seeping out of her body. Cedric was talking to his parents right in front of the door. Further in, there was a dark-haired couple, including a man who was the spitting image of Viktor, Fleur's mother and sister, and two redheads who were presumably there for Harry.

Her mother and sister caught her eye. Gabrielle beamed, while their mother waved, her expression tight with barely concealed concern.

But as she joined them, slipping into French for some hope of privacy, Fleur didn't feel as relieved as she'd thought she would. Instead, her nerves started to build up again. The side chamber should have felt private and comfortable, but instead, it just put Fleur more on edge. They were all one step closer to the task — one step closer to the moment of truth.

She had spent the past four months preparing diligently, determined to perform better on the final task than she had on the previous two. She'd bought and poured over textbooks from all over the world so she would be ready for anything and everything that might be thrown at her.

Then, she'd gathered all the information she could about the previous tournaments, identified what the champions had tried, worked out what her own strategy would have been, and practiced them until they were second nature to her.

It was clear that her friends had thought she was pushing herself too far. To them, even just being chosen as a champion was a great honour, and she should have been spending more time enjoying Scotland, its sights, and its people.

'It is not healthy,' Alexandre had said one night when he went to the kitchen for a midnight snack, only to find her still studying.

But she had refused to let it go. The complications with the second task hadn't been her fault, but that just meant people were going to judge her more harshly on the things she did have control over. If she excelled at everything else, they would see the second task as an anomaly, something out of her control. If she didn't, they would dismiss it, reasoning that she wouldn't have gone much better even without her disadvantage.

She wasn't going to let that happen. Even if she didn't win, she was going to have a better showing this time around.

After all, the whole point of participating in this tournament, apart from challenging herself and pushing herself to new heights, was to get her name out there. For years, she'd dreamt about working abroad. If things went well here, it would help her catch the attention of potential employers.

Fleur tried to push that thought from her mind. When she went out there, she had to be existing purely in the moment. Thinking about the future was all well and good, but worrying about it would just mean she couldn't give the tournament her full focus.

'Was Harry at breakfast?' the red-haired woman asked, her voice carrying across the room. 'I hope he's not feeling ill.'

Cedric frowned. 'I saw him with the Gryffindors. Hang on; I'll check.'

'He'll be fine, Mum,' someone else said, his voice low and husky. 'Ron and Hermione are probably just trying to get him to eat more.'

Fleur glanced up at the sound. She'd barely noticed the second redhead when she walked in, but he was actually rather attractive. His long hair and earrings with fangs gave him a rugged, unconventional look that she quite liked. She'd dated some handsome boys in her time, but none of them had anything on him.

Unfortunately, he looked like he was a good few years older than her. If he'd been her age, she would have asked him out without a second thought. But her mother had taught her that any grown man who wanted to date a schoolgirl, even one who was legally of age, wasn't someone she could trust.

From Fleur's experiences so far, her maman was right. She was used to older men approaching her, but the good ones always backed off when she told them she was eighteen.

Which meant he was either uninterested or unsuitable.

His blue eyes met her gaze. They were clear and engrossing, and her breath caught in her throat.

Then, he smiled at her briefly — politely — perfunctorily — and continued to survey the room before focusing on his mother again.

Fleur raised her eyebrows in surprise. That was interesting. He'd had the perfect excuse for his gaze to linger, but he hadn't taken it.

The back of her neck prickled, and she looked to his left. His mother was watching her, her eyes narrowed and suspicious.

That part wasn't as unusual. Fleur was used to people blaming her for others' behaviour, as if her looks somehow meant she wanted to manipulate everyone and could be held accountable for their choices.

With a frustrated huff, she turned back to her family. 'Is Papa coming?'

Her maman nodded. 'He has a meeting, but he will be here after lunch.'

'Oh, I forgot!' Gabrielle pulled a colourful woven bracelet from her pocket. 'This is for you. I made it the Muggle way so you can take it with you. I hope it will bring you luck.'

'Thank you! That is very sweet.' Fleur raised her left hand. 'May I put it on now?'

From the way Gabrielle beamed and insisted on putting it on for her, Fleur knew that had been the right answer.

'Are you scared?' Gabrielle asked when she was done. 'Excited?'

'A little of both, I think.' Despite the pressure, Fleur did like to test herself. She'd been a very competitive child, and she'd always enjoyed pushing herself to her limits and beyond. The magnitude of this event didn't change that. 'Are you? Do you want to see me win?'

'I want to see you come back safe.'

'How could I do anything else?' Fleur smiled. 'I will be wearing your bracelet the whole time.'

Gabrielle didn't seem mollified. After all, she'd been there for the first two tasks; she knew how dangerous they had been. Even though both girls knew their parents had followed up on the issue with the lake with both the French and British governments, Gabrielle still felt bitter about it. Fleur suspected that wouldn't go away anytime soon. 'Do not do anything too risky.'

'I will not do that. But we are not going to stand around and talk about the tournament all day, are we?' Fleur pushed all thoughts of the tournament, the attractive man, and his suspicious mother aside. 'How is life back home? How is school?'

-x-

Standing on the Quidditch pitch in front of the gathering crowd, Fleur was well aware that a number of people whose departments she was planning on applying for were in attendance. Unfortunately, the nature of the task meant that they wouldn't be able to watch the champions' progress, so the only metric they would have for her performance was whether she had to be rescued from the maze and, if so, how long she lasted before that happened.

She would be at a disadvantage to reach the Cup. The order they entered the maze was to be determined by the number of points they'd accumulated in the tasks to date. That meant Harry would be entering first, followed by Cedric, then Viktor, with Fleur bringing up the rear. She was going to have to be at the top of her game to make up the lost time.

But she wasn't going to let that put her off.

All in all, Fleur was in a much better state of mind than she had been that morning. She had always been close to her family, and having the opportunity to spend time with them had done wonders for her anxiety.

She was still nervous, of course. Only a fool wouldn't be. But it was manageable now — enough to give her an edge without being distracting.

And beneath those nerves, she was hopeful. She knew herself and her capabilities, and she was as prepared as it was possible to be. All she had to do was trust herself and let her instincts do the rest.

'What do you think?' Viktor asked as he moved to stand beside her. 'Are you ready?'

At the beginning of the school year, Fleur hadn't known what to think about him. The Bulgarian Quidditch team used Veela as mascots, which was contentious in the part-Veela community, with some people seeing it as degrading while others viewed it as empowering. But he'd always been respectful and considerate, and they'd bonded as the two "foreign" champions.

It didn't hurt that he was the one who had brought Gabrielle out of the lake.

'Yes,' she said. 'And you?'

'Ready enough. Ready to be home. I like it here, but I was away for months for the World Cup, and I miss the music and hot springs of home.'

'I do not know. I think I would like to stay.'

'Game time!' Ludo Bagman exclaimed, bounding over to them. ''Course, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Krum? Well, let's not keep the people waiting. Delacour, you're here too — Diggory's over there — and oh, yes, Potter's over there too. We have a full squad!'

Fleur met Viktor's exasperated look with one of her own, and he shrugged.

If she did succeed in getting a job at the Ministry, she was going to make sure she stayed as far away from Bagman's department as possible.

But for now, she had something to prove to her family, the crowd, and herself. Putting on her bravest smile, she turned to face the crowd, ready to face anything the organisers could throw at her.