33 Before the End
The next month passed far too quickly for the champions, and before they knew it it was the morning of the third task. They had been asked a few vague questions by a hard faced auror named Yaxley about the death of Mr. Crouch. Well, Cedric, Fleur, and Victor had, Harry had been grilled for over an hour with condemning questions like why had he killed Mr. Crouch and where had he learned the Killing curse. In the end nothing had come of the investigation.
Harry had heard back from Sirius and Remus, though they didn't have much that could help. Their theory was Mr. Crouch had been subverted, either at the beginning of the year to enter Harry, or later to affect his position. They had no proof, but it was a working theory on how Harry had been entered.
The morning of the third task dawned fair and bright, though Harry and Hermione had decided to sleep in. The morning light spread across their bed, forcing Harry to wake as it blasted his eyes. Burrowing deeper into Hermione's back, he pulled her tight to him and growled.
"It's too early to be up," he complained, while at the same time savoring the smell of Hermione's hair.
"You know," Hermione sighed, caressing the arm around her, "normally I would agree with you."
"But…?"
"But I happen to know there are several people who are looking forward to spending the day distracting you from everything so you can't get worked up over the task tonight."
"I see," Harry sounded resigned, before brightening, "if it's a distraction you think I need, I have an alternative to suggest."
Hermione groaned as his hand slid up and cupped her bare breast. The night before had been another of their exploration nights. Since their shower after the second task, the pair had slowly become more comfortable with each other, to the point that as the weather warmed, they both started wearing less to bed. They had also become more comfortable with each other's bodies, and the night before Hermione had decided it was just more comfortable to sleep in just her panties.
As Harry tried to distract her from whatever plans she had, Hermione fought not to give in. Harry kneaded her breasts with exquisite care and tenderness, slowly stoking her desire. When he tried to move his caresses south however, he found her hands stopping him.
"As enjoyable as this would be," she purred, turning over to face him. "our friends went through a lot of effort to prepare today, and it would be rude to deny them the chance to show you their appreciation."
"Fine," Harry sighed, giving her a tender kiss, "but after the task, we shall continue this… distraction."
"Agreed, Mr. Potter."
"I look forward to it Mrs. Potter." Harry grinned as he kissed here once more, before rolling out of bed and heading to the shower.
The Great Hall seemed grander somehow this morning. The excited conversations ebbed and flowed, and everyone seemed in high spirits. Hermoine led Harry over to the Gryffindor table, where the other champions, Neville, Luna, Ginny, Cho, and the twins were waiting for them, a pair of seats at the heart of the group left open for them.
"Good morning everyone," Hermione greeted them.
"Morning, Harry, Hermione." Cedric answered for the group, smirking. "Having a bit of a lie in were we?"
"I was trying to," Harry mock glared at Hermione, "but someone insisted we get up."
"All I said was that we had friends who wanted to spend some time with us and it would be rude to ignore them."
The rest of the table chuckled as Hermione explained with such an innocent tone they all knew something had happened, and Hermione had won.
"Mr. Potter," McGonagall's voice cut through the merriment a short time later, "Mr. Diggory, Miss. Delecour, Mr. Krum. Once you are done eating, please proceed to the anteroom where you gathered after the Champions' selection. There is a surprise for you all there. Something to help alleviate the stress of waiting."
"A surprise, Professor?" Harry asked wryly. "I think we've had enough of those related to the tournament so far, thank you."
"While I understand the sentiment, Mr. Potter, I do not believe this will be a bad thing…. Mostly."
"Mostly, ma'am?" Cedric asked cautiously.
"There was one selection that I felt was..." Minerva paused, noting the looks around the group, "less than ideal, however my suggestion was disregarded rather pointedly."
"Dare we ask?" Victor queried.
"I think it's best to show you," Minerva said evasively. "I will accompany you if you so desire, Mr. Potter."
"Yes please," Harry agreed, then looked to Hermione. "Can Hermione come as well?"
"I don't see why not."
"Well, we might as well get this over with," Harry conceded, standing. Hermione, Fleur, Victor and Cedric joined him, bidding the rest of their companions a good rest of the day and agreeing to meet for a picnic lunch that afternoon.
The group proceeded into the anteroom, the eldest champions moving slightly between Harry and whatever awaited them.
"Gabrielle!" Fleur cried, running forward as her sister let out a similar shout of joy and ran to meet her. Behind her stood an older couple, their look telling Harry they were Fleur's parents. Beside them was a middle aged woman with features that had to be related to Victor. Mr. Diggory was also present along with a witch Harry presumed was his wife. This was confirmed as Cedric embraced them both with a huge smile on his face. Our Families he thought, turning to look for the Grangers.
Harry had just a moment to feel his hopes crumble before Mrs. Weasley engulfed him in a bone crushing hug. The less offensive smell Harry recalled from the previous summer at the Burrow was back. Apparently Mrs. Weasley just had poor taste in perfume. He darted a questioning look over at McGonagall, who was standing off to the side as the families greeted each other. Her silently mouthed 'Dumbledore' told the couple just who had decided who his family would be.
"Oh, Harry, it's so good to see you." The Weasley matron gave an extra squeeze before releasing him. "I'm so glad you're ok, and you have such good friends like Ron and Hermione to stand beside you…" she trailed off, seeing the disappointed looks on the teens faces. "What's wrong?"
"Mrs. Weasley," Hermione asked, "When was the last time you heard from Ron? Or any of your children?"
"Well, it's been a while I'll admit," Molly conceded, "but that isn't unusual during the school year, why?"
"Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, "from the time we boarded the train, Ron has been less than supportive of us. First he continued to deride Hermione and her situation, then, when my name came out of the goblet, he got even worse. I won't go into details, but ask your other children. Ask the twins what he did that was so bad they stopped trying to remove him from the situation and merely acted to avoid being hit by the retaliation."
"Well, boys will be boys I suppose…"
"No," Hermione cut her off, "I agree, there are times boys will be boys and girls will be girls, but this went so far beyond that that it isn't applicable. I'll admit that since Christmas he has been better, even seems to be figuring out just how badly he screwed up, but it will be a long time before he's anywhere close to the friend he was before."
"I...Just how bad was it?" Molly sighed.
"Ask the twins and ask about Ginny too," Harry told her, his arm going back around Hermione, "And think about how lucky he was to get off as lightly as he did."
"Ginny?" Molly was obviously rather confused, "Why do I need to ask about her? Did something happen? You didn't break up did you? Is that why she's not here with you?"
"Here with me?" Harry looked over at Hermione questioningly. Receiving a look just as confused as his he turned back to Mrs. Weasley. "Why would Ginny be here with me?"
"Well, seeing as she's your girlfriend I would hope she'd be here with you."
"My what?" Harry sputtered, shocked at the statement. "What… where… why would you think that?"
"Well since you took her to the Yule Ball…" Molly trialed off seeing the looks of utter dismay and confusion on the teens faces. "But you didn't, did you?"
"Mrs. Weasley," Harry said softly, as if breaking bad news, "I've been dating Hermione since October. I plan on continuing to date her until the day I ask her to marry me. The twins and most everyone else has been at least accepting of this. Ginny, however, has been actively rude and negligent to her, to the point that we don't really consider her our friend anymore. She's actively tried to break us up, and refuses to believe that we're together. She has some delusion that we're meant to be together and no one will stand between her and that dream."
"That bad?" she asked, sighing deeply.
"Honestly probably not for Ron, but he didn't just burn the bridge, he doused it in petrol before he lit it. Ginny... Ginny blew it up and set fire to the splinters, then blew the ashes to the four winds." Harry explained, then when he saw her look of confusion added, "Petrol is a muggle product they use to power their cars, it burns very easily and very, very hot."
"Is there no recovering?"
"I won't say there is no chance we won't become friends again, but I will say we will never be as close as we were."
"Well, I suppose I have some conversations to have with my children," Molly admitted, "but that is no reason to let today be any less enjoyable, we are like family after all. Come on, introduce me to your fellow champions and we can visit for a while."
"Sure," Harry agreed, looking back to the others, "Here comes Miss Fleur Delecour and if I'm not mistaken, this little bundle of energy is her little sister Gabrielle." Harry knelt down as Fleur lost her grip on her sister's hand and she ran into his arms.
"Gabrielle! Behave," Fleur scolded.
"But it's Harry. He already knows me."
"He might, but his family does not." Fleur pointed out. "You don't want to embarrass him in front of them do you?"
Gabrielle's eyes got wide, before struggling down and turning to Mrs. Weasley and curtsying. "It's a pleasure to meet Harry's family."
"Er… she's not…" Harry stammered embarrassed.
"I… well… I wish I was his family," Molly said sadly. "The best I can hope for is honorary aunt maybe."
"I'm sorry, I just assumed…" Fleur tried to apologize.
"No worries dear," Molly waved her off, "there was no way to know. From what I understand, you wouldn't enjoy meeting his family anyway."
"Fleur, Gabrielle," Harry said, "this is Molly Weasley. Mrs. Weasley, this is the Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delecour and her little sister Gabrielle."
"Weasley?" Fleur asked, a hint of disgust tingeing her voice, "Any relation to that red headed... "
"This is his mother," Hermione cut her off, "and she was unaware of his actions this year."
"I see," Fleur sounded unconvinced, "well, given she would also be the mother of the twins, I shall try not to hold the youngest boy against her."
"Definitely need to talk to my children," Molly murmured under her breath as they moved on to meet Fleur's mother and father
While Fleur, Cedric, and Victor spent the morning with their families, the twins took the opportunity to call a family meeting with their mother about their youngest brother and sister. The look of confusion on their sisters face would have been comical if not for the harassment Harry had received all year.
For lunch, Harry and Hermione joined Neville and Luna for a picnic. They had invited the other champions, but they wished to have lunch with their families, and Cho had decided to join Cedric.
For a day originally supposed to be filled with friends, the addition of family made it all the sweeter. Each family made the rounds, meeting the others at some point throughout the day. Krum's mother invited everyone to come to Bulgaria this summer, while the Delecours made their home in the south of France open to all who wished. The eldest Weasley brother Bill showed up just before dinner, and he and Fleur seemed to hit it off rather well. Dinner was held for all the champions and their families in the anteroom. Cho, Neville, and Luna joined them by popular demand and much revelry was had. For possibly the last time, the champions sat, laughed, and joked, until the headmasters and headmistress, with Professor McGonagall trailing, entered. The laughter died, and all heads turned to them.
"It's time," Dumbledore said somberly, and led the others from the castle to face the last task.
