Author's Note: So I have a couple of reviews to answer. To Diana A, I'm not entirely sure if you're referring to a specific part in the first chapter when you say that Harry needs to be more consistent (since I think I did fairly good job of that) or if you mean it in general but he definitely won't be a whiny wimp. He will occasionally make decisions that he second guesses, like everyone does, but he won't cry about things. And as I said at the end of the first chapter, Ron will take a few hits. To the guest who wanted Gabrielle, Daphne, Astoria, and/or Luna in, I'm only assuming that you want a harem and I'll come right out and say that will not be happening. I don't do harem stories. Sorry.

Since I forgot this in the first chapter, disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.


Hunger

Harry sat between Hermione and Ron in the Great Hall as the last of the First Years were Sorted into their Houses. Admittedly the teen was barely paying attention but his focus snapped back into place as soon as he noticed Professor Dumbledore standing.

"I have an important announcement before we eat. This year Hogwarts will play host to the Triwizard Tournament." An outbreak of whispers arose, mostly from the older students. Ron muttered "Wicked!" while Hermione gave an audible gasp. Harry, who had no idea what the Triwizard Tournament was, just stayed silent in the hope that Dumbledore would explain further. "For those of you who don't know, the Triwizard Tournament is a competition that used to be held every four years between Hogwarts, Beauxbatons Academy, and Durmstrang Institute. It was discontinued many years ago but we have seen fit to revive it with new restrictions. Traditionally the students from the other schools would arrive on October thirtieth, the day before the Tournament officially begins, but this year, in an effort to promote better relations between our schools, our guests will arrive at the end of the month. The Tournament will be further explained then. For now let's eat."

The food appeared on the table as Dumbledore sat back down but there wasn't the usual scrambling as everyone began discussing the tournament. Harry, who was most excited at the prospect of seeing Fleur again, was lost in thought and not participating in the conversation between Ron and Hermione. The two had kept in touch ever since the World Cup, frequently exchanging letters and there was even a brief Floo call, and she had hinted that she would be at Hogwarts soon. He assumed that her visit would only be for a few days or maybe a week at the most. There was absolutely no way he could have predicted that she would be there for the majority of the year, at least if he understood Dumbledore correctly.

While they had only known each other for about a month, Harry already considered Fleur a close friend. He felt that she understood him on a level that few others did and as a result, she knew things about him that not even Ron and Hermione did, including what he went through during his time with the the Dursleys. While Ron and Hermione were aware that he was locked in his room during the summer before his second year and that he blew up his aunt they had no idea that he spent the first ten years of his life living in a cupboard under the stairs or that he was constantly beat up by his cousin as he was growing up. Granted he hadn't come right out and told Fleur these things either but he had, in no uncertain terms, made it clear that his time at the Dursleys was less than pleasant and she was able to put the pieces together. From what he had told the French Witch she had been had to deduce that his time at the Dursleys was emotionally and borderline physically abusive. It angered her but there was little she could do about it and though Harry had no love lost for those people (Fleur refused to think of them as his family), it was clear he didn't hold a grudge against them either.

"You there Harry?" He suddenly heard Hermione's voice from a great distance away and brought himself back to reality with a shake of his head. "Are you alright?" She was watching him with a look of concern on her face. "You've been out of it for several minutes."

"I'm fine Hermione," he replied with a genuine smile. "I was just thinking about Fleur. She's become a really good friend and I hope I'll get to spend some time with her this year." The young teen nodded in understanding.

"Have you talked to her much?"

"Yeah we've been sending letters to each other since the World Cup. I've really enjoyed talking to her over the summer. Between that, living with and being trained by Sirius and Remus, and having you and Ron over it's been a good summer."

"Well it's about bloody time mate," Ron replied between bites. "So are either of you gonna try to enter the tournament?"

"I've had enough excitement over the past three years," Harry said while Hermione shrugged. "I'd like to have just one normal year."

"Well I'm gonna enter. I've heard there's usually a cash prize and I'd love to win it. The chance to represent Hogwarts sounds pretty nice too."

"You know there's gonna be a lotta people who enter into this tournament right Ron?" Hermione questioned, looking at her friend with sympathy. "I don't wanna sound negative but don't be surprised if someone else is chosen." Ron made a noncommittal noise and continued eating, not appearing to be at all concerned. "I'm concerned with what's gonna be in the tournament. According to what I've read there's always three tasks and all of them are incredibly dangerous. There's been multiple deaths, which is the reason the tournament was stopped in the first place. Hopefully they'll make it safer now but I'm not sure if it's worth the risk." Hermione realized that Ron was paying attention to his food and Harry was lost in thought again, causing her to huff and return to her own food.

The events that happened at the Quidditch World Cup seemed to have been driven from everyone's mind with the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament but Harry couldn't help but feel that they were somehow connected. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the Death Eaters joined together for the first time in nearly thirteen years the same year that a long dormant tournament was revived. Despite what he told Ron, the Boy-Who-Lived had a feeling in his gut that this year was going to be the same as his first three, if not even more hectic. It was an overwhelming thought and Harry found himself even more thankful for Sirius and Remus pushing him over the summer.

"You never did say what you were taught over the summer Harry," Hermione suddenly asked, almost as if she could read his thoughts. "Did they go through all of the fourth year books?"

"Not exactly. Sirius said that the teachers here would take care of that. Most of what I was taught isn't something that we'll learn in school. He and Remus taught he how to fight and we dabbled in the Dark Arts. They said that Voldemort and the Death Eaters aren't going to limit themselves and that we can't afford to either. I don't think that Mrs. Weasley was happy when she found out about it but at least she didn't say much, which honestly surprised me. I expected her to fight it more. They're helping me create my own spells and become an Animagus too, though it's gone really slow so far."

"Really? Becoming an Animagus is advanced and dangerous magic and creating your own spells can be disastrous. Are you sure about this Harry? We know that Sirius was reckless and I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Yes I'm sure about this Hermione," Harry replied, irrationally angry with the brunette. He knew that she was merely concerned for him but he also knew that Sirius wouldn't do anything to endanger his life. "Sirius might have been reckless in his younger days but he's calmed down now. He didn't even wanna teach me to be an Animagus, I had to beg him to show me. He knows that creating new spells is dangerous but we're doing it as safely as we can. Everything in life carries some form of risk and it's up to each of us to decide if it's worth it."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it, sensing that doing so would cause an argument and she really didn't want to do anything to cause animosity between her and Harry. Harry was the one person she could always count on and she didn't want to put that in jeopardy. Besides she reasoned that Harry knew his limitations and even he wouldn't continue trying to learn something that was too dangerous or beyond his skill. She also had to grudgingly admit that Remus all but told them that Sirius started working on becoming an Amimagus in his second year at Hogwarts and it only took him three years to learn. There was honestly no one better to teach him.

"Did Sirius ever tell you how he knows Fleur's dad?" she asked instead, changing the subject to a safer one.

"It wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it'd be," Harry responded, irritation still lacing his voice. "Apparently Monsieur Delacour is one of the few who understood the threat it could pose to the rest of Europe is Voldemort took over England. He was instrumental in getting the French Ministry to help the Order. They were mostly silent allies, primarily dealing in espionage according to Sirius, but they were a great help." The rest of the evening was spent discussing either the World Cup or the Triwizard Tournament and the possible connection between them. When Harry finally laid down in his bed that night he was content with the knowledge that in just a few weeks he would be reunited with his newest friend.


Their first week of classes proved to be rather uneventful until Potions class at the end of the week. Harry had been learning Occlumency from Dumbledore ever since he told the headmaster about his dream and as a result he now found it much easier to ignore Professor Snape. The older man seemed to be oddly infuriated by Harry's new attitude and spent the entirety of the class attempting to provoke him. When nothing worked he resorted to purposefully dropping the vial of Harry's potion that he brought up to be graded. At first he sneered triumphantly, believing this would elicit the response he wanted, but he was shocked into silence when the teen shrugged and walked back to his cauldron. The professor watched as Harry filled two more vials with the potion, slipped one into his pocket, and brought the other one back up to his desk.

"Potions are not to be taken from the room Potter," he said with contempt.

"I know professor but I feel that this is necessary. Now when you tell Professor McGonagall or the headmaster that I didn't do my work I have proof that I did." Snape looked at Harry with rage in his eyes and had to grudgingly admit that he had been backed into a corner. With no other alternative, he graded the potion in front of him (giving the teen a fair score no less) and ordered him to finish up and leave.

The rest of September passed surprisingly uneventful for Harry, or at least as uneventful as could be considered for him. He had a few expected encounters with Malfoy and Snape had taken to insulting and belittling Hermione, Ron, and Neville but neither situation was unusual for the teen. After training with Sirius and Remus for the last month of the summer, Malfoy was barely even an annoyance to him and a quick visit with Professor Dumbledore and his Head of House helped defuse the situation with Snape. He was still insufferable of course but at least after that he spread his wrath amongst the Gryffindors instead of focusing on just a few.

Perhaps the most unusual aspect was that Harry was actually doing his homework on time and studying, though admittedly it was mostly an attempt to make the time go by faster until he could see Fleur again. Whatever his reason for doing it, the additional work was certainly paying off and he was noticeably improving in all his classes. Hermione was happy about the change while Ron humorously lamented that he was the only one of the three who still knew how to enjoy life. Nevertheless the redhead now found himself studying just as much as his two best friends (though he insisted it was because there was nothing else for him to do) but he still didn't put forth as much effort as they did. This caused Harry and Hermione to laugh, knowing that no matter how much things changed there would always be something that stayed the same.

After what felt like an eternity the month was finally drawing to a close, which meant that the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be there soon. Harry couldn't wait to see Fleur again and his enthusiasm was both amusing and annoying to his friends. They had exchanged a few more letters since Harry had returned to Hogwarts and it was enough to confirm that she would indeed be there for most of the school year. The only thing that hampered his mood was that he wasn't sure how Hermione and Ron would react to her presence. They were pleasant enough to her in the aftermath of the Quidditch World Cup but now she would be in a position where she could possibly be competing for his time and attention. He knew that Ron had a jealous streak and Hermione had always been by his side since they became friends so it would be interesting to see how everything played out.

Honestly Harry didn't want to have to choose between his new friend and his old friends and would love nothing more than for the three of them to get along. With his luck though he wasn't counting on things to go that smoothly and was already preparing for the worst. He wasn't going to abandon any of them but neither was he going to let anyone push him or influence him into a direction he didn't want to go. He was sure that Fleur would be mature enough to let him make his own decisions without giving him grief or making him feel guilty but Ron and Hermione were another story. While Hermione was mature enough to let him decide what to do, she had the tendency to gently try to influence him whenever she felt that he was making the wrong decision. Ron was much less subtle and could be downright nasty when Harry was doing something the redhead didn't agree with.

Harry was noticeably more anxious than usual the day that Fleur was scheduled to arrive to the point that even some of the professors noticed. Professor McGonagall even asked him to stay after class and expressed her worry over him, which shocked the young wizard. He managed to convince her that he was just impatient and dashed out of the classroom as soon as he could, determined to be one of the first to greet their guests. He all but ran back to Gryffindor Tower, dropped his books off, quickly changed, and rushed outside where the other students were already starting to assemble. Ron and Hermione joined him shortly after, the humorous smiles on their faces giving him hope that they might all be able to get along after all.

There was a lot of speculation amongst the students as to how the schools would arrive. The normal methods of arrival-brooms, Apparation, the Knight Bus, and Portkeys-were obviously out of the question and no one could seem to agree on an entrance that was spectacular enough. The rumbling of chatter ceased as everyone suddenly noticed a disturbance on the surface of the lake and they all waited on baited breath to see what was going to happen. Whatever anyone expected certainly wasn't what actually happened. The disturbance grew larger and larger until finally a single wooden beam rose from the water. It floated there for a few seconds before rising even further to reveal that it was attached to an enormous ship.

Harry, whose excitement had begun to peak when he first saw the beam, felt himself start to deflate at the sight of the ship. His gut told him that this was the Durmstrang students instead of Beauxbatons as he had hoped. While it was impressive, it didn't seem regal enough for what little he knew of the French school. The ship was silent for several long minutes until a gangplank was finally lowered to the ground and the students began filing out. There was the usual reaction from everyone when meeting someone new (excitement mixed with apprehension) but no one said much of anything until one particular person was noticed.

"Blimey that's Viktor Krum!" someone exclaimed. An excited outbreak of chattering instantly started up and everyone craned their necks to get a better look at the Quidditch star.

"I didn't even know he was still in school!" Ron said excitedly. "Do you think he'll sign my robes?" Harry gave a noncommittal noise of agreement but honestly wasn't paying much attention to his friend. While the arrival of a famous Quidditch star was indeed exciting, it did little to hold his interest at the moment. He began to ponder how the Beauxbatons students would arrive again when he heard someone point out something in the sky. Without looking up Harry knew that this was the moment he had been waiting for, the moment when Fleur would finally arrive. He raised his head and saw a magnificent carriage being pulled by six flying horses. It would have almost been akin to a scene out of a fairy tell were it not for the fact that the horses were huge.

The students watched in wonder (Krum and the other Durmstrang students had already entered the castle) as the horses landed gracefully in front of them and out of the carriage walked the biggest woman any of them had ever seen. She began talking to Dumbledore in a heavy French accent while her students filed out behind her. Fleur was one of the last to walk out (Harry noticed that the other students seemed to look to her for leadership) and the teen felt himself releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He pushed through the other students to the front of the crowd and impatiently waited for Fleur to notice him with a face-splitting smile. It was obvious that she was searching for him too and in just a few seconds she noticed him. She returned his smile and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him as he pulled her into an emotional hug.

"I 'ave really missed you 'Arry," she greeted him, not appearing to want to release him any time soon. "'Ow 'ave you been?"

"Better now," Harry responded just loud enough for her to hear. "I was starting to think that the month was never going to end."

"Fleur?" a Beauxbatons student asked, obviously confused by her actions. "Are we not supposed to go inside with Madame Maxine?"

"Oui, you go on," Fleur answered him, never moving from her spot. "Tell Madame Maxine zat I will come in with 'Arry and ze other 'Ogwarts students." The boy nodded and followed the rest of his schoolmates inside, leaving Fleur with Harry and the other students who were still out there. The two finally broke apart and walked inside with everyone else, talking the entire time until Fleur had to reluctantly go to the Ravenclaw table with the other Beauxbatons students.

"Welcome one and all," Dumbledore began as soon as everyone had been seated. "I see that some of you have already met some of our guests," his twinkling eyes met both Harry's and Fleur's, causing the two teens to blush, "but for the rest of you I would like to introduce the two prestigious schools of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons." The headmaster led the entire hall in a round of rousing applause. "I know you will all make them feel welcome.

"Now before we eat I know that all of you are wondering about the Triwizard Tournament. On October thirty-first three students will be selected to represent their respective school. An impartial judge, who will be revealed on October thirtieth, will choose the Champions. Only those who are of age will be allowed to submit their name for consideration." An anticipated outbreak of clearly unhappy protests arose at Dumbledore's comment and he waited patiently for everyone to quiet down. "There will be more time for that later however. For now let us enjoy the feast."

Their positioning at their respective tables and the noise in the Great Hall made conversation between Harry and Fleur awkward and virtually impossible and they were barely able to exchange a few words before Fleur had to go back to the carriage. All in all it was a bittersweet reunion but they both felt better knowing that they had eight months to make up for it.


Fleur turned her alarm clock off, sat up and stretched, then slowly made her way out of bed to prepare for her day. Since it was Saturday and there were no classes she planned to spend the day exploring the castle. She wanted to after the feast the previous night, hopefully with Harry and his two friends as guides, but unfortunately Madame Maxine had ushered them all back to the carriage as soon as desert was over. She couldn't blame the woman but it was definitely a disappointment. Now she would most likely have to go on her own since she didn't know any of the other Hogwarts students and none of her classmates were as eager to see the magnificent castle as she was.

After a light breakfast she donned her cloak and set off to look through the enormous structure. Everything about it amazed her, from the talking portraits (she had never seen so many in one place) to the moving staircases. She was completely lost in her explorations, not even realizing that it was after lunch, until she ran into a certain blonde that she remembered all too well who brought her elated mood crashing down.

"Bonjour mademoiselle," Malfoy greeted her with a bow, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him as usual. "A lady as gorgeous as you shouldn't be wandering the castle alone. Allow me to be your guide."

"And why would I want to do that?" Fleur asked, crossing her arms over her chest. The contempt in her voice was not lost on the young Slytherin and a scowl crossed his face. He quickly hid it though and pressed on.

"Because I am Draco Malfoy, part of one the oldest pureblood lines in Britain and directly related to the famous and powerful Black line." A smirk played at the corners of his mouth when he finished speaking, obviously proud of his blood status and sure that he had impressed her.

"Do you zink zat 'olds any meaning to me leetle boy?" Fleur responded, mirth dancing in her eyes at the ridiculousness of his statement. Malfoy's face went red with anger and he reached for his wand but an unexpected voice made him pause.

"Is that any way to treat our guests Draco?" Harry asked as he, Ron, and Hermione walked up. Malfoy blanched at Harry's presence (his past few altercations with the Boy-Who-Lived had ended in embarrassment for him) while Fleur looked both relieved and for some reason irritated at the interruption. The young Slytherin realized the odds were definitely stacked against him and opted to retreat, though just like at the Quidditch World Cup he couldn't resist having the last word.

"You'll pay for this Potter, you and your little whore." Anger flashed across Harry's face and he went for his wand. Though Hermione, who knew him well enough to know how the insult would affect him, stopped him, Malfoy understood that he had crossed a major line and rushed away with Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

"I did not need you to defend me 'Arry," Fleur told him when the four were alone. "I am perfectly capable of fighting my own battles."

"Of course you are," Harry responded with a smile, all the anger leaving his face. "I wasn't trying to rescue you I just wanted them to know that you're not alone. Draco Malfoy is the type to attack you when your back's turned if you've humiliated him. I wanted to make sure he knows that I don't appreciate him doing anything like that to my friends."

"And why would he pay that much attention to you?"

"Ever since we've come back from the summer he's tried to challenge me several times and he's always been beaten. The last several times I went even further and completely embarrassed him." The smirk on Harry's face and snorts of amusement from Ron and Hermione made Fleur smile as well. "If there's one thing Malfoy can't stand its humiliation." Harry suddenly became very serious and all trace of mirth left his voice. "Trust me Fleur I know better than anyone else here at Hogwarts that you don't need anyone to rescue you." There was a moment of silence and Hermione took the opportunity to step forward.

"I know we saw we each other before but we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Hermione Granger." She pulled Ron up beside her and gave the redhead a pointed look.

"Ron Weasley," he told her, his face slightly red and not meeting her eyes.

"Fleur Delacour," Fleur responded, shaking Hermione's hand and smiling at Ron, who turned redder and looked away entirely. Normally Fleur would be put off by his behavior but she knew that he was most likely not used to talking to an older woman and at least he wasn't stumbling over his words. "It iz a pleazure to meet you. 'Arry 'as mentioned you both many times. I am glad to meet 'is two best friends." Off to the side, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. While it was still too early to tell, this was a good sign that his friends would get along. "Speaking of ze World Cup, I know you 'ave been training since zen 'Arry and I would love to find out 'ow much better you are."

"Is that a challenge Ms. Delacour?" the young wizard asked with a smile.

"Oui Monsieur Potter," Fleur responded, a smile adorning her features. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, who were both looking at him with smug expressions.

"I think we can make that happen."