A/n: I feel so bad for taking this long to update but people have been forcing me to have a life.

"Look at her hanging all over him," Kurt scrunched up his nose in distaste, "You'd think subtlety was a foreign concept to her; she obviously doesn't need help in Herbology, she's one of the smartest people in our year."

"I doubt Ron would be of much assistance even if she was struggling," Neville gave a mousey shrugged before tending to their Mongolian carnivorous flower after receiving a reproachful stare from Kurt.

"Sounds to me like Kurt's jealous," Hermione smiled wickedly, wagging her brow for effect.

"I most certainly am not jealous of Lisa Turpin and her luxurious strawberry blond hair," Kurt stamped his foot on the soft loamy floor of greenhouse two, "Ron can run off into the sunset and have a football team of red haired children with whomever he pleases and I would care less. That didn't come out right," Kurt crossed his arms indignantly, "but as his very close friend; it is my job to look out for his best interest and I don't trust her, that hair came from a bottle."

"She's bald?" Neville exclaimed with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

"No," Kurt raised a concerned brow, not understanding how Neville had made that great leap, "she totally dyed her hair and it shows."

"You and Ron need to establish some boundaries," Hermione scolded with a small giggle, "this back and forth petty jealousy can't be healthy."

Kurt looked affronted by what Hermione was implying, "there most certainly is nothing 'petty' about anything I do, I will tell you the same thing I once told Seamus and that is that you should never diminish anything I do by adding little bit or petty or any such."

"Besides, Kurt doesn't do jealousy," Finn squeezed himself into the group, "Believe me I tried."

"Believe me when I say I've seen it," Hermione condescended toward the taller boy before realising the possible illicit implications of what she was saying, "the jealousy, I mean."

"And that is all she's seen of me," Kurt held his hands up defensively, Kurt turned to Finn with an irritated huff for where he had inadvertently led the conversation, "what can I do for you?"

"I haven't finished any of my muggle studies assignments," Finn paused for a moment, giving Kurt a nervous and toothy grin, "let's be honest, I haven't started. I was wondering if you and Hermione could lend us your outlines."

"Did you read the book?" Hermione quirked an inquisitive brow, crossing her arms over her chest expectantly.

"No," Finn scratched at the back of his neck nervously before slinging an arm over Hermione and Kurt's shoulders in an effort to establish some camaraderie and play on their sympathies with a flawless puppy-dog pout, "we did read a summary."

Kurt shook and bowed his head in disappointment, "You can't use our outline if you've read the book once, let alone not at all."

"I was busy with the Muggle Activities Club and Quidditch," Finn frowned as he crossed his arms in an effort to strengthen his defence.

"This isn't the country club," Kurt scolded with a wag of his finger, "this is school and your priority should be to learn first and foremost, if need be all extracurricular activities must fall to the wayside."

"The book wasn't even that long," Hermione had her fists balled on her hips, "it took me five hours to read it from cover to cover and take notes; we've had two weeks to read it, that's twenty minutes reading per day."

"You know," Finn tilted his head and smirked at them, "if I wanted a lecture, I would have asked a question in Professor Binns's class but as it is I wanted help in my hour of need." Finn was on the offense now, pointing at each of them accusingly as he spoke, "Besides, the lot of you weren't complaining about my dedication to my extracurricular when you were drinking beer and flirting with senior boys."

"Don't bring me into this," Neville held his hands up in surrender, "I don't even take muggle studies."

Kurt and Hermione rolled their eyes and looked at each other before beginning to chorus an answer, "We're meeting in the library to study for the upcoming transfiguration test and to get our Arithmancy charts out of the way after di-" they paused, the plan was to go back in time after dinner to just after lunch so they could get all their weekend homework out the way whilst they spent time with their respective boyfriends, "defence against the dark arts."

"It never stops being scary when you do that," Neville gulped.

"I can talk to Finn with my mind," Kurt looked Finn up and down, 'your fly is open.' The taller boy bent over to check but there was nothing amiss, "I'm also a very good liar."

Neville rolled his eyes, "What more could I expect from somebody who is frequently accused of being devil spawn?"

"Expecting any different would be expecting too much," Hermione teased.

"But that's what you love about me," Kurt gave a hearty and wicked chuckle, "I can make the good folk bad for a weekend."

They all shared in the laughter of friendship and youth, Finn kissed both Kurt and Hermione on the cheek and whispered a thank you before retreating to the company of his friends. Hermione, Kurt and Neville turned back to the plant they were tending; taking notes and observing the plant as it snapped wistfully at the empty air, it's aggressive nature juxtaposing the beauty of its velveteen red petals that reminded Kurt of the roses his grandmother grew in Sheffield.

Harry leaned over from where he stood beside Dean and Seamus around a plant of their own, "Why does your plant have red petals?"

"It's supposed to have red petals," Neville furrowed his brow, clearly unsure what might possessed Harry to ask such daft question. They all peered round to the flower the three boys had been breeding all term and were shocked by what they saw, "but I'm sure blue is fine too."

"And yours does appear to be stronger than ours judging by the thickness of that stem," Kurt tried to console him whilst stifling a laugh, "You've obviously been feeding it right which means there's something wrong with your soil or watering patterns."

"Well, we water it every lesson," Seamus looked pleadingly at their trio as he hoped they would be able to rescue their project, "and we grew it in acidic soil."

"But I told you it was alkaline soil with an ash compost," Dean scolded.

"No," Harry shook his head, "You said acidic."

"The book says alkaline soil," Kurt pointed out.

"It was Dean's job to read the book," Seamus pointed an accusatory finger, "if I have to feed it then you were supposed to read."

"I did read," Dean argued, "it's not my fault you didn't listen."

"I didn't listen," Seamus puffed his chest up and gawked at his friend, "maybe weird accent, I might have understood what you were saying."

"You're telling me about accent," Dean Scoffed, "that's the kettle calling the pot black."

"I didn't say anything about you being black," Seamus raised his hands defensively.

"It's an idiom, you idiot," Kurt and Hermione chorused in disbelief.

"Don't you two start with me," Seamus warned them, earning him a condescending giggle from the pair.

"Can you help us?" Harry looked pleadingly from Kurt to Hermione to Neville. Kurt and Hermione shrugged, they knew what was in the book and it didn't account for major disasters, "Neville?"

Neville let out a nervous throaty wail before clearing his throat and composing himself, "if you used acidic soil then you need to alkalise the plant, use a baking soda solution until the petals begin to turn colour, then stop or it'll die."

"Right," Professor Sprout announced as she re-enter the greenhouse, "That's all the time you'll be having today, please be sure to pack up your stuff and to leave nothing unattended. Dismissed third years."

Kurt picked up his textbooks and slipped them carefully into his tote; he took off his black dragon hide gloves and placed them in a Ziploc bag that he placed in a larger Ziploc bag with the rest of his Herbology equipment. Kurt, Hermione and Neville were probably the only students who weren't climbing over each other to get to Professor Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson; it wasn't from a lack of interest or enthusiasm, they did enjoy the man's lessons, but rather from the common sense that they had no need to rush as their seats would be waiting for them whether they were first to arrive or last.

Unlike every lesson they'd had before, Professor Lupin wasn't waiting to greet them but rather they took their seats as they waited for the man to emerge from his office and offer them an enthralling lesson on redcaps and hinkypunks. Their class sat in sociable noise for the good part of five minutes while they waited to be educated, Draco attempted to antagonise Harry with taunts about his upcoming quidditch match; it was something along the lines of lightning attracting lightning, he obviously thought it was a clever way to make fun of Harry's scar and the fact that his own over acting had spared Slytherin from playing in such foul conditions, but Kurt had corrected this misconception by pointing out that lightning was often of the same charge and as such would repel each other.

"You can seize the foolish and nonsensical wand waving," Professor Snape stormed into Professor Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, with a slight flick of his wand all the shutters closed and plunged the classroom into a darkness, "The talking can go with it. Open your books to page three hundred and ninety-four."

"Excuse me sir," Harry asked Professor Snape as he was rolling down the projection screen at the front of the class, "Where's Professor Lupin?"

"Not really any of your business Potter," Professor Snape sneered between stained yellow teeth, "just know that your professor is incapable of teaching, at the present time." Kurt was suspicious of the pacing of that statement, it was a well concealed insult to the attentive listener, "Turn to page three hundred and ninety-four!"

"Werewolves?" Ron asked shakily as the pages in his book were turned forcefully by a flick of Professor Snape's wrist.

"We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks," Hermione panicked, "I haven't prepared for this lesson."

"Oh look," Draco pointed with a smarmy smirk, "Weasley and Granger are afraid."

"Please, I still remember you practically pissed yourself at the mention of werewolves in first year," Hermione chortled with a wiggle of her brow, "I think somebody doth protest too much."

"It's a substitute lesson," Kurt stroked her hair as he assured her, ignoring her back and forth banter with Draco, "it doesn't really count for anything."

"When you two are done I would like to carry on with the lesson," Both Kurt and Hermione blushed, having been caught out. Professor Snape turned on the projector and a series of slides depicting werewolves in ancient times began to lazily circle, "Now who can tell me the difference between a werewolf and an animagus?" Hermione and Kurt's hands shot up, just because they hadn't prepared for this lesson didn't mean they hadn't already read that far ahead, "No one? How disappointing."

"Please sir," Hermione was frantic in her efforts to be noticed and called upon but Professor Snape continued to ignore them, Hermione decided to answer anyway, "An animagus is somebody who has undergone strenuous training in a branch of transfiguration in order to gain the skill that allows them to transform themselves into an animal at will but remain sentient. A werewolf is forced to transform at every full moon and has no recollection of who he is, he might kill his best friend if they crossed paths."

"This is due to the Lycanthropy virus which one contracts when they are bitten by a werewolf and survive," Kurt continued where Hermione left off, "this virus bonds with the cells in the body and causes them to mutate over the period between the Waxing Gibbous and Waning Gibbous phases of the moon."

"Speaking out of turn, five points from each of you," Professor Snape scowled at them both, "is there anything you'd like to add?"

"A werewolf cannot understand human speech under normal circumstances, they only respond to the call of other werewolves," Kurt blurted out, he had read Things That Go Bump in the Night and wasn't going to short change himself, Malfoy howled.

"Thank you Mr Malfoy," the blond haired boy had a smarmy sneer on his face, Professor Snape now stood in the isle between Kurt and Hermione, "Under normal circumstances?"

He was waiting for them to trip up and they wouldn't give him that satisfaction; Hermione answered the question, "When the Wolfsbane Potion is ingested accordance with the strict guidelines, a werewolf will retain some dexterity and sentience; nullifying their threat to the innocent."

"What is the main ingredient in Wolfsbane Potion?"

"You asked this question slightly differently on our first potions lesson," Kurt smiled broadly, "the monkshood flower, which is extremely poisonous. Before you ask, the potion was invented by Order of Merlin First Class recipient and famed Potioneer Damocles Belby."

"How lovely it must be to be an insufferable know-it-all," Professor Snape drawled with a nod that showed the pair that they had managed to mildly impress the potions master, "in an effort to remedy the ignorance that plagues a majority of this class I want you to write a two thousand word essay on lycanthropy and how to identify it, on my desk Monday morning."

"But sir," Harry whined, "there's quidditch tomorrow."

"Well then I suggest you get to work immediately," there was an air of malevolence about his speech, "loss of limb won't excuse you. I suppose you brought it on yourself, if you and your peers had shown as much enthusiasm with regards to this lesson and the subject matter as this pair of malapert witlings then this essay wouldn't be necessary; everyone must submit and nobody is exempt."

"Hummel was right about the lot of you Gryffindors," Draco sneered across the classroom, Kurt was surprised to hear his name and to have Draco Malfoy agreeing with anything he'd said, "You're all a bunch of snivelling babies who like to make your problems into everybody's problems."

"I didn't say that," Kurt waved his hands defensively.

"As I recall you did," Professor Snape tilted up his chin with a light flip of his greasy hair.

His friends turned to look at him with wide eyes, "that was a poor paraphrase and the context was completely different." But there appeared to be no convincing them, "whatever."

~0~

Kurt plopped himself down between Ron and Harry, they had been avoiding him for a good part of the last twenty-four hours and they were overdue for a piece of his mind. Both boys moved to get up and leave but he held them in place, "Stay."

"Really?" Ron raised a brow, "You're sitting at the Gryffindor table?"

"Don't start a 'Really?' war with me because you will lose," Kurt's tone was flat but the intensity radiating from his gaze spoke volumes of how angry he was with the pair, "I should have had this conversation with you yesterday but I was busy."

"Good to know you prioritise," Harry grumbled, "how was your date with Cedric?"

"I wouldn't call it a date but it was lovely, thanks for asking," Kurt smiled condescendingly, "but what I wanted to say was how appalled I was by the fact that you actually listened to something Draco Malfoy told you about me, you idiots; that's me insulting you by the way." Kurt grabbed each boy by the ear and twisted, "you think I'd say things about you behind your backs? Having heard the kind of things I am willing to say to people's faces do you honestly believe that I'm too afraid of you two to do the same? If this is what you're truly choosing to believe then just maybe you must have your heads so far up your own asses that you can taste the shit."

Kurt released them and got to his feet, both boys rubbed at their bright red ears. Ron broke the silence that had enveloped their small group of friends, "Is this the part where we apologise?"

"Save your apologies for someone else," Kurt waved them off, "This is the part where you switch on your brain and you think about what you've heard and the Kurt you call friend, see if you can consolidate the two." Kurt began leave but stopped, "Oh and Harry, all the best with today's quidditch match."

"Are you off to support Cedric?" Ron called after him as he was leaving the great hall.

"No," Kurt stopped and turned back with a tight lipped smile, "I have to see Hermione before she leaves to get her braces tightened and I have an appointment with Professor McGonagall."

Harry:

"Is it me or was the ear pulling unnecessary?" Ron whined as Kurt retreated from them.

"We were being pig-headed," Harry shrugged, he was ashamed that he had doubted Kurt for a moment let alone an entire afternoon, "he has every reason to be angry, let's just say we got off lightly."

"Really, I think my ear feels differently but do share," Ron sat with his chin in his hands waiting for Harry to explain the situation.

"He could have burned our face," Harry could hear Kurt saying that it was one time in the back of his mind, "We'd deserve it, why would we listen to Malfoy and Snape of all people? Kurt's our friend."

"Oh yes," Ron rolled his eyes, "who's side do you think he's on anyway?"

"Kurt's always on Kurt's side," Luna's wispy yet merry voice sliced through Harry's thoughts, "Good morning Harry Potter, Ron Weasley."

"Hi Luna, Ginny," Harry waved as he stirred his cereal wilfully, "having a good morning?"

"Better than most," Luna shrugged, Ginny only gleamed at them without speaking.

"It's easy to tell which side you're on," Ron grumbled which caused Harry to catch sight of Luna's jumper, he had to force back a laugh; the jumper had the head of a lion on the front with the main done in woollen fringe.

"Oh that's what you meant," Luna nodded slowly, "Kurt's on Hufflepuff's side."

"Why am I not surprised?" Ron moaned, "That boyfriend of his has gone straight to his head."

"Or it could be the fact that his brother is on that team," Harry heard himself defend Kurt, it felt right even if it was from Ron; he'd never considered this ever because Kurt generally took care of himself, "wait, Luna, what did you mean by 'Kurt is on Kurt's side'?"

"Well," Luna shrugged as she peppered her easy over eggs, Harry cringed as he watched her eat them with a thick slice of toast that was generously lathered with blueberry jam, "What I meant is that Kurt doesn't do 'Good' or 'Evil', 'Right' and 'Wrong'; he does what has maximum benefit for his agenda and that which he holds dear."

"Why would you say that?" Harry furrowed his brow; as fond as he'd grown of Luna Lovegood, he was yet to understand her thought processes and eccentric manners of thinking.

"Well, Ron did ask who's side Kurt was on," Luna sipped at her overly sweetened tea, giving a small shudder of delight as she tasted the sweetness on her tongue, "I was simply giving you the answer."

"And the answer was simple," Ron argued, "Kurt looks out for number one."

"Why does it feel like we're back in first year?" Harry groaned, the Kurt and Ron show was one thing but when they didn't speak to each other it was even worse because they made their arguing everybody's problem, "Hermione, Neville and I agree that you two need to establish some boundaries, you're exhausting to be around."

"I resent that," Ron huffed around a mouthful of bacon.

"I resent you constantly bickering because it spills over onto the rest of us," Harry grumbled under his breath.

"I'm neutral," Luna motioned her indifference, "I just don't think you should upset him, you two could play clean."

"I think you're all blowing this out of proportion," Ron waved them off, Harry got to his feet and turned to leave without saying anything, "Where are you going?"

"To see if today's match is cancelled," the rain had been coming down in buckets since the Saturday past and Harry wasn't particularly excited about going out to play Quidditch today because it was looking particularly nasty with lightning, gale force winds and near freezing temperatures, if they'd been elsewhere Harry might have called it a tropical storm, "Before I go though, I just have to give my kudos to Luna; you told us the weather was going sideways and we brushed you off."

"You get used to it when you're me," She beamed a smile at him and he felt a pang in his chest.

"Being brushed off?" Harry couldn't stop the look of sympathy that was creeping onto his face, "that's awful."

"No," Luna laughed, it was soft and lilted like a silver bell, "being right."

Harry walked up the long table to where a majority of the quidditch team was seated, Harry didn't let his gaze meet Fred or George's because he wasn't in a mood to talk much and so he chose to address the team captain directly, "Oliver, is there going to be a quidditch match in this weather?"

"Of course," Oliver gave a chuckle, he realised that Harry wasn't joking, "You don't cancel quidditch."

"I've heard you say that once before," George exclaimed.

"And that match was cancelled," Fred continued.

"Along with the rest of the season," the boys chorused.

"That won't be the case today," Cedric gave them an arrogant smirk, "I've spoken to Professor McGonagall and convinced not to cancel the match under any circumstances."

"That doesn't sound very smart," Fred shook his head.

"Or like much fun when you think about it," George frowned.

"We'll catch a cold out there," they chorused before crossing their arms over their chest.

"We'll have the advantage," Oliver smirked, "we've practised in the rain and we're stronger, Hufflepuff won't stand a chance. Did you know that Hufflepuff hasn't been out on the pitch since before the rain started? Probably because Diggory's off with the thin one… what's his name?"

"Kurt?" Harry raised a brow in a similar manner to his friend, he was wondering if he'd do anything if Oliver said something bad about his friend.

"That's the one," Oliver nodded.

"I wish we spent more time with Kurt," George grumbled.

"Instead of out in the rain," Fred nodded as he laid a soothing hand on his brother's back.

"You can say that again," Angelina Johnson nodded, "I just got my hair braided the other day and look at it now, rain is not a friend of black hair."

"I understand your pain," Lee Jordan extended his hand toward her in solidarity.

"Don't even try it," she gave him a cold look and the team burst out laughing at the expense of the boy, "if I've told you once, I'm sure I've told you a hundred times that this," she gestured at the space between them, "isn't going to happen."

"You're words say no," Lee slid away from her, "but my heart says yes, I'm going respect your decision from overhear, outside your personal space like a gentleman."

"I'm not sure if that's not creepier than the touching but I appreciate the sentiment," she peered at him suspiciously.

"I have to go," Harry felt his stomach flipping over and knew that he had to find a bathroom or there would another mess for Mr Filch to clean up, not that the man didn't hate Harry enough as it was, what was more debris on the bonfire of hate that burned between them? As Harry climbed the grand staircase he was almost shoved to the ground by Bomballerina and Crookshanks as they whizzed by him in pursuit of Scabbers, he knew that if Ron had seen this then the bridge between him and Kurt would never mend; Harry made the flash decision to scoop up Scabbers and put him back in their room, for the sake of piece. This made Crookshanks quite cross, he showed his frustration by pawing as the leg of Harry's pants whilst Bomballerina growled with reprieve.

Harry merely stepped over them and made quick work around the staircases to where the portrait of The Fat Lady had been, the portrait of a knight was in its place; Percy had let slip that this had been the only painting willing to take the job after the vandalism of the last holder of the post, he'd felt that this obvious information was privilege and gone as far as to say 'you heard it from the head boy'.

"Sir Cadogan at your service lad," the armoured man in the portraits said, standing at attention, "What's the password?"

"Fortiter."

~0~

Harry was being heavily buffeted by the wind as he hovered over the Quidditch pitch, he was struggling to stay in place as the wind tried to throw him off his broom but he managed to stay put despite the extra weight from the beanie, scarf and jumper set Kurt and Hermione had forced on him in an effort to curb his susceptibility to the elements. Harry's stomach did summersaults as the match was about to begin, he hated making a spectacle of himself and when he played quidditch that was exactly what he did, he had all eyes on him and most were half hoping he'd fall off his broomstick and break his leg or crack his skull either out of spite or healthy competition.

Harry would never have played quidditch if not at Professor McGonagall insistence, he had never played sports before and wasn't sure he had the dexterity for muggle sports based on the few muggle activities club meetings they'd had but he had agreed to try quidditch because he had assumed he would hate it and be so bad at the first practice that Oliver Wood would ask him not to return; Harry had been shocked not by his skill, he figured that if he could be a wizard and not know it then he could be the perfect athlete and be oblivious of that, Harry had been shocked by how much he enjoyed flying. There was a rush that was unique only to flying, he supposed that it must have been similar to riding a motorcycle but exponentially intensified; it was complete with the exhilarating feeling that accompanied travelling at high speeds, being suspended high in the air and the danger of being maimed in an accident.

Madam Hooch released the snitch and they were off and at it, Harry found himself flying side by side with Cedric Diggory as they zoomed after the golden snitch with limited visibility in spite of the water resistance charm Hermione had put on his spectacles; it was troubling that she knew more charms that worked to improve his glasses than he did when one considered she didn't wear glasses. The snitch was difficult to see under normal weather conditions but today it was just plain impossible, Harry wasn't even sure if Cedric was following him to the Snitch or if he was following Cedric because he was sure he could have pulled ahead of the older boy and his Starsweeper V on the Nimbus 2000 yet they stayed neck and neck until Cedric broke formation and for a moment it threw Harry for a loop before he realised that they had been chasing nothing but each other, Harry wasn't wise to Cedric's tactics as a seeker as their match with Hufflepuff last year was cancelled and he never had the opportunity to play the boy in this position; Ron had told him that seekers were small and agile, sometimes the smallest person on the team, but Cedric was taller than Harry by a head as well as being wider by almost half but he was keeping pace with Harry on a slower broomstick.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts by the faint ring indicating a goal had been scored, he almost didn't recognise it because it usually boomed around the quidditch pitch but was nothing more than a faint whisper with most of its vigour lost in the wind. Much to Harry's relief, the point had been for Gryffindor and he let out a haggard breath; it would be awful if Hufflepuff pulled ahead and Cedric caught the snitch whilst he was still trying to stay on his broom. To Harry's relief Cedric didn't appear to be seeking the snitch, he was busy captaining the Hufflepuff defence. For the first time all match Harry spotted Finn, the boy seemed to disappear and reappear around the pitch almost instantaneously and Harry was glad that he wasn't a seeker because he seemed to be more agile than Cedric; you noticed him only when he moved to intercept a pass or whack away bludger, when not at work Finn melted into the background and with the senior he was partnered with they were a spectacle to behold.

Harry suspected that the Hufflepuff team hadn't spent this past week with Kurt, they were throwing further and truer than ever in spite of the weather; Harry suspected strength training. Along with this they had worked out a great hand to play, based on the way they were able to keep time with their team, pursuing Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson Relentlessly; intercepting pass after pass at this point. Suddenly Malcolm Preece was shooting down the pitch with the quaffle in hand and every member of the Hufflepuff team moved to flank him, they sped toward the hoops in a 'v' formation; deflecting any attempt of interception and making it obvious that stopping them fell on the keeper alone, they passed the quaffle back and forth between them as they moved and in an instance there was the wind washed ring of a scored goal and the match was tied at ten all.

Harry suddenly caught sight of the snitch hovering near a smirking Professor Snape just a short distance from him, Harry took off in a dive as the Snitch appeared to be free falling, it levelled it's flight barely a foot above the ground but Harry was on its tale as it whizzed from side to side along the floor. Harry lost sight of the snitch as a bludger plunged deep into the mud beside him and splashing it on his crimson robes, only missing him due to his erratic flight pattern. Harry looked around but couldn't see where the snitch had gotten to, as Harry searched his peripheral for the golden snitch he heard the ringing again but was glad to see that it was Angelina Johnson who had scored instead of the Hufflepuff side.

As Harry continued to search for the snitch, scanning the stands as he slowly increased altitude; there was another ringing and ten more points for Gryffindor thanks once more to Angelina Johnson; as his scanning of the stands continued he came to rest on something that made him do a double-take. In the elevated and secluded part of the grandstand where the Gryffindor team sat during the other houses' matches was a giant black dog, it only appeared at the edge of the shadows for a moment and when Harry tried to get a better look by swooping nearer, it disappeared. Harry looked around the stands to see if anybody else had seen the dog but there didn't seem to be any kind of acknowledgement of anything out of the ordinary, finally his gaze came to rest on Kurt who was standing under a red umbrella but he wasn't watching at the match but his line of vision moved as if he was watching something that was moving at great speed in a sharp ascent.

Harry followed the lithe boy's line of vision hoping he was seeing something strange as well and it came to rest on the Golden Snitch, it was currently in a sharp incline, but more than that his vision caught on Cedric who was watching him watch the snitch; they both took off from opposite sides of the field, headed straight for each other rather than for the snitch. Harry was anxious but didn't want to turn away first but they were headed for a head on collision, at the last possible moment they both pulled up and began to climb at great speed and determination. Cedric and Harry moved parallel to each other as they climbed to what was starting to look to be a photo finish; Harry noted that the temperature was dropping rapidly as the rain turned to sleet and the droplets froze onto his clothes and face, the weather didn't devastate him too badly due to the many layers Hermione and Kurt had forced on him.

Harry fell behind for a moment as he viewed the clouds as they had risen above the rain into the clouds, the angry heavy grey clouds seemed to have formed into the Grimm; the giant spectral dog Professor Trelawney had warned him about, was that what he'd seen on the abandoned part of the grandstands? Harry shook his head, reminding himself that Professor Trelawney was a phony, and was back on the snitches tail and shoulder to shoulder with Cedric. Suddenly there was a bright flash of lightning with an almost simultaneous loud crack of thunder, Harry brought his hands up to shield his eyes and when the smoke had cleared he was alone- Cedric and the golden snitch were gone but in their place there was chill that penetrated his many layers of clothing like knife. Much to Harry's horror this chill was followed by an all too familiar death rattle, from the dark clouds emerged more tall, thin, cloaked figures than Harry found he could count before they closed in on him; Harry did not hear the high pitched scream of the woman from the train this time but rather a nonsensical exchange between a woman and what he could only describe as somebody with a terrible lisp who was in the process of losing their voice.

'Step aside woman,' the hoarse lispy whisperer demanded. 'No, not Harry, please not Harry,' the woman pleaded, they were talking about him and he was there! Was it the dementors he was hearing? How did they know who he was? 'take me, kill me instead.' The woman's voice continued to plead nonsensically; the more Harry heard, the weaker he felt and suddenly he felt his grip loosen on the broomstick and he was falling. 'Please have mercy, have mercy please, leave my baby,' the woman begged but the whisperer simply let out a cold gravely laugh in response, the woman screamed like she had on the train and darkness enveloped Harry.

~0~

Harry woke from a dreamless sleep without opening his eyes, maybe he was still asleep just now beginning to dream or maybe he was dead; Aunt Petunia told him when he was younger that there was a special place in the seventh circle of hell for freaks like him and his parents, were they stumbling in the damp darkness with him?

"Is anybody there?" Harry called out, his voice echoed back to him.

"We're all here," A soft and comforting voice said, it felt familiar on Harry's ears but he could not place it.

"Where?" he became distraught, as the voice sounded close but he could discern where about, "are you still there? I can to see you in the dark."

"I'm closer than you would think," the voice assured him, he felt warmth on his skin but it wasn't a touch or a warm breath but it came from the outside in, "All you have to do is will yourself to me."

"Is this death?" Harry's voice sounded softer and more afraid than he was comfortable with, "Am I dead?" there was no reply from the voice, the silence was cold and lonely, "Who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter," the voice was smiling, he didn't have to be able to see to know, "that I am is enough."

"Are you the woman?" Harry asked, "the one who was screaming?"

"No." it was a cold and finite answer.

"Do you know her Harry?" the voice asked him.

~0~

Harry sat up right in bed, the dark room he recognised as the hospital wing in the dim light from his frequent visits and the bed he knew from its hardness but like the last year there was somebody next to his bed but it wasn't Dobby the house elf, "Kurt?" The boy raised a finger to his lips and Harry lowered his voice, "what are you doing here?"

"I was concerned," Kurt whispered as he looked Harry up and down, making him feel smile not just from his greater height, "You fell more than a hundred feet, from a height that would have killed you if physics meant anything here; you broke your radius, tibia, fibia, humerus and clavical all on your right side. I think they should have sent you for a head CT because you might have a bleed, maybe a full body CT wouldn't be too cautious either."

"What happened?" Harry asked, wanting to rub his head which was throbbing because he'd tried to remember happened but not wanting Kurt to be more concerned than he was, "I lost consciousness at some point."

Kurt told him everything that had happened during the quidditch match up to the point where he and Cedric disappeared into the clouds, Cedric had been suffered from a mild lightning strike and as result had minimal nerve damage on his right hand but the bad news had been that he had caught the snitch just before that; Gryffindor lost the match. Cedric had apparently offered to replay the match when Harry was better due to the difficulty Harry had experienced with the dementors but Harry knew that the Hufflepuff side had won the match fair and square. Kurt had told him that when he fell all the players still on broomsticks at the time had tried to catch him but he was falling too fast, Professor Dumbledore had luckily been present and cast the arresto momentum charm whilst Kurt and Hermione tried to get good aim from their great distance; the damaged he suffered was minimised by the charm and the many layers he was wearing.

"I've got more bad news," Kurt took a deep breath before continuing to speak, "Your broom is now nothing more than splinter, technically no because I was able to reassemble it but it doesn't fly anymore."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Harry slumped back on the bed.

"On the plus side," Kurt smiled broadly, "Turns out Lisa Turpin is into you and was trying to get to you through Ron, she was here for like an hour."

"How is that good news?" Harry raised a brow, "I can't fly on Lisa Turpin."

"You can ride her to new heights," Kurt smiled suggestively but Harry couldn't bring himself to laugh, "It was good news to me."

"Neville said you said, and quote 'I don't trust that bottle blonde skank farther than I can throw her and her cheap extensions'," Harry tilted his head, "why would it be good news that she's into me?"

"You can take care of yourself," Kurt pointed out, "she would eat Ron up."

"He says the same thing about you and Cedric," Harry mumbled under his breath.

"Cedric is sweetheart," Kurt countered, "if anyone's going to be eaten it's him, on Friday he conjured a room full of tulips for me."

"Sounds like he's trying to get lucky," Harry scoffed.

"Harry Potter," Kurt was left flabbergasted, "even if he is trying to score then you should know as a sports player that every attempt at scoring doesn't necessarily result in a goal or try."

They laughed for a moment before a cold silence washed over them, only the rain coming down outside and the wind's roars filling the space their laughter had left, the room was filled with an energy that seemed almost nefarious in nature, "I've been seeing it, the grim, it was in the grandstand during the quidditch match as well as the clouds."

"Oh, it's the power of suggestion," Kurt shook his head, "that's what Professor Trelawney does, she plants a seed in your mind and when something that vaguely resembles her prediction happens it serves as a validation of her abilities. I assure you that there is no darkness within me."

"I saw it that day during the summer outside your house too," Harry pointed out, "caught a glimpse of it for a moment but it was soon gone."

"My neighbours don't keep dogs," Kurt laid a comforting hand on his left knee, "I'm not as good at being nice as Hermione but without implying that you're crazy, it's just in your head."

Harry was silent, neither accepting nor refusing Kurt's logic; the silence returned but just as soon as it was here Harry filled it with a slip of the tongue, "I hear my mother dying as well, when the dementors are near, I hear her pleading with Voldemort to leave me alone and then screaming before dying." Kurt didn't say anything and Harry Kept speaking, "She'd be alive if she'd let him kill me, they'd both be alive if they'd let him have me."

"There isn't a parent in the world who would want that for themselves," Kurt's voice was firm, "Both your parents and my mother laid their lives down so that we might go on to live our own lives, not so that what be haunted by the ghost of their sacrifice."

"It's the only time I've heard her voice and she's dying," Harry made a sound he could only identify as midway between a chuckle and a sob, "what kind of life is that?"

Kurt reached out a hand and a small smile, "the kind of life you make it."

Hope you like it!