A/N: The moment you've all been waiting for! The merge happens at the end of this chapter so read carefully and enjoy! (Grins)

Rejection and Acceptance

Harry was nervous about returning to class on Monday, but Gabriel assured him that he'd be fine. It didn't really matter what everyone else thought; they knew the truth about why they were competing and it was nothing to be ashamed about. But it was harder to face everyone than even Gabriel thought it would be. Harry walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and was slammed to a halt.

The Hufflepuff table was glaring at him. The betrayal, anger, and disgust radiating from them was an almost tangible force. And Harry wasn't the only one to suffer. Feeling like their champion – the real Hogwart's champion – was being cheated, and that their rare chance at glory was being stolen, they turned cold eyes and shoulders toward the whole of Gryffindor House. They weren't the only ones upset either.

The Ravenclaws were affronted because they felt Harry had bypassed the rules in place to prevent his entering, and they had strong feelings about rule breakers. The Slytherins were gleeful and attacked Harry as much as they could, vocally calling him a cheat and an attention seeker. For the first time, Hufflepuffs laughed loudly at the Slytherin's taunts.

To make matters worse, Ron wasn't talking to him and avoided Harry as best as he could. Hermione spent most of her day nagging at Ron to make up with him. Silas wasn't talking to Gabriel, even though he was awake, and would only answer direct questions that Harry asked him with as few words as possible. So Harry was feeling pretty ragged by the time he went to Care of Magical Creatures Monday afternoon. He met the same derision he found in all his other classes, but was surprised when he found it lacking in one specific Slytherin.

"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," Draco said to Crabbe and Goyle as he approached Hagrid's cabin. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer… Half the TriWizard champions have died… how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."

Harry just stared. Draco felt completely neutral, even if the Slytherins around him were gleeful at the prospect of his death and humiliation. The Gryffindors were immediately angry, but there was a tinge of worry for the first time among their emotions. Did Draco just try to warn me? he asked Gabriel.

I think he might have. Gabriel sounded just as confused.

Maybe he's grateful that Silas helped him with Moody? Harry suggested. And he thinks it was me.

Maybe. But Gabriel suspected it was something else altogether that had Malfoy acting strange. He would have questioned Silas, but the Slytherin was in his bedroom avoiding him. Interesting.

Hagrid interrupted their speculations by ordering them to walk their quickly growing Skrewts around the grounds. There were loud moans and grimaces, but everyone moved to do as they were told. Hagrid stopped Harry when he went to get one for himself and instead wanted to talk to him about being a school champion. He was worried, and Harry smiled and did the best he could to make him feel better. Thankfully, Hagrid is a simple and kind person and he believed Harry when he said he thought he would be alright.

xXxXxXx

Harry hid under their invisibility cloak with Neville. He knew his friend wanted to know what was going on with the Tournament and thought it would be best for him to come along instead of having to explain everything again later. He knocked on Severus' door and the Potions Master opened it silently. They slipped in and found Remus sitting on the couch. They removed the cloak and the werewolf smiled at them welcomingly.

"Harry, how are you?" he asked as he brought both teens close for a tight hug.

"Fine," he assured. "Gryffindor is being really great."

"Except for Mr. Weasley," Severus drawled icily.

Harry sat next to Remus, Neville on their teacher's other side, and looked over at the dark-eyed man as he took his favored seat across from the couch. "He's just going through a hard time."

"He's being a prat," Neville said softly. Harry sighed.

"I'm sure Ron will come around," Remus assured the small brunette. "So far he hasn't done anything unforgivable. He's just ignoring you, right?"

"Your definition of unforgivable acts is a bit loose, Lupin," Severus sneered. "In any case, it's more important that we discover who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire and why."

"I've talked to the Headmaster," Remus offered. "He promised that it wasn't due to him that Harry was chosen."

"I've talked to him as well," Severus snapped. "And he said he did put Harry's name in the goblet, but not under a different school."

"Why would he do that?" Neville gaped.

"He wants to test his tool," Severus said darkly, his eyes glittering dangerously.

Remus paled, but said nothing to that. He couldn't deny it and there was no way to justify the headmaster's behavior. Harry bit his lip and ducked his head, looking down at his hands clasped tightly in his lap.

"It would have to be someone competent enough to either bespell the goblet or paper, so I feel confident that we can remove the students as possible suspects," Severus continued. "That leaves the staff, Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman, and the two foreign headmasters."

"I don't think it was anyone on the staff," Remus offered.

"That remains to be seen." Severus glared at him.

"At least we can narrow it down, can't we?" Harry offered, hating the dislike growing in his mentor toward Remus.

"I don't think Trelawney would be able to do it," Neville agreed.

"No," Severus admitted.

"And Minerva wouldn't. She was appalled," Remus pointed out. "And Alastor is vicious when it comes to protecting children. He wouldn't either."

"They may not do so on their own, but there could be outside influences at work," Severus argued.

"I agree," Silas drawled and the others looked at him in surprise. He sneered back. "Crouch Sr. was behaving suspiciously. If someone that high up in the Ministry can be corrupted, than the teachers here would be easy."

"But we'd know," Remus said faintly.

"No, you wouldn't." Silas shook his head. "There is no way to detect the Imperius Curse. There are symptoms of course, but the magical residue is buried under the person's magical signature. If someone really good at casting the Imperius were to do so, you'd never know it."

"Silas is right," Severus said grimly.

"What about Moody's eye?" Neville asked curiously. "It can see all kinds of stuff, can't it?"

"It can see active magic and lingering spell residues, but those fade. He'd have to see the person within an hour or two of being cursed to notice the spell." Severus shook his head.

"That's why it was so difficult during the first war," Remus sighed tiredly. "A lot of Death Eaters claimed to be under the Imperius Curse and we couldn't prove it one way or another."

"So you think that's what happened?" Neville asked, looking back and forth between the two adults.

"Not necessarily. Karkaroff was a Death Eater. He was released and exiled from England because he gave up many more Death Eater names. He could have done this willingly," Severus spoke up. "I will talk to him as soon as I see an opportune moment."

"What should we do?" Neville asked, gesturing to Silas.

"Nothing," Remus said firmly. "Keep your eyes and ears open, but don't worry about this. You two worry about your work and preparing for the first task."

"Do you know what it's going to be?" Silas asked Severus.

The dark-eyed man shook his head, "Not yet."

Silas nodded. "Any progress on the portkey translation?"

"No." Severus sighed.

"What translation?" Remus questioned.

Severus eyed him consideringly, but decided that they could use the werewolf's input. He quickly began explaining what happened and why they needed to be able to move the portkey spell to a second object without destroying the first. Remus became intent and began asking questions.

Silas looked over and noticed Neville looking a bit lost and stood. The adults fell silent to look up at him. "We'll let you work," he said and strode to the door. He held out the invisibility cloak and Neville got under.

"Tomorrow night have Gabriel come and duel with me," Severus called as Silas disappeared.

The door opening and shutting was his only answer.

xXxXxXx

Two weeks passed and everyday was very much the same. Everyone but the Gryffindors were unhappy with Harry, the Gryffindors defended him, Gabriel became more and more vocal in Harry's head as he helped him deal with the situation, Silas maintained his silence, Ron was still not talking to him, Hermione was looking ragged due to the split in their threesome, and Neville was a constant support, even though he was struggling through his own lessons with Rowena.

For the most part, Harry dealt with everything well. He was worried and stressed, but hadn't yet broken under the conflicting pressures. Gabriel wasn't so sanguine. He was getting very annoyed about the other Houses' discrimination. It was unjust and immature. Things began to fall apart Friday, the 13th (Maybe there was truth to that old superstition, after all?), and started with none other than Draco Malfoy, who was still behaving strangely.

"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy asked loudly, gesturing to the glowing badge on his chest that read: Support Cedric Diggory – the REAL Hogwarts champion! "And this isn't all they do – look!" Malfoy pressed the badge and the message changed to Potter Stinks! The Slytherins howled with laughter.

"Oh very funny," Gabriel growled, his wand pointing straight at the smirking blonde, his anger making his emerald eyes smolder. "You're really very witty, Malfoy."

Malfoy met his stare for a brief second before sliding his gaze to someone standing behind Gabriel. Fearing an ambush, Gabriel looked back, but it was only to see Ron standing blank-faced, not at all inclined to support him. He growled again, his anger increasing ten fold. Malfoy being a prat was annoying as hell, but that was his job. Ron betraying him was a thousand times worse. He was supposed to be a friend!

"Want one, Weasley?" Malfoy offered innocently. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want you sliming it up."

Ron went red in the face and whipped out his wand. Malfoy's reaction time was spectacular as he aimed back at the enraged redhead. At the same time, Ron yelled "Furnunculus!" and Draco cast "Densaugeo!" Gabriel just barely managed to jump out of the way of the incoming spells. They met in midair where he had been standing, but Malfoy's had more power behind it and cut right through Ron's. Ron staggered back as it hit him right in the face, while the redhead's spell was knocked to the side and struck Goyle.

"And what's this all about?" said a soft, deadly voice.

Everyone turned to see Severus glide out of the shadows of the hall. Everyone went silent except for Goyle's muffled crying and Ron's whimpering. The Slytherin boy had boils bubbling up across his nose and cheeks while Ron's front teeth were creeping down past his chin and looked like they weren't planning on stopping anytime soon.

"Weasley attacked me, sir – "

"They attacked each other at the same time!" Hermione cried angrily. She was glaring daggers at the laughing Slytherins.

" – and he hit Goyle," Malfoy continued, ignoring Hermione.

"Hospital wing, Goyle," Severus said easily.

"Malfoy cursed Ron!" Hermione yelled. Ron's teeth were now to his collarbone. "Look!"

Severus looked him over absently and drawled, "I see no difference."

It might have been a good thing that Ron couldn't talk for his eyes promised murder before he spun and ran down the hall. Hermione and the other Gryffindors, except for Gabriel and Neville, clamored at the same time about the unfairness of Severus' treatment. Unfortunately, Hermione's shrill voice was the only one that they could make out and Severus smiled evilly.

"Let's see, fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Weasley and Granger. Now get inside or it'll be a week's worth of detentions for every one of you!"

xXxXxXx

Harry found himself sitting in Potions, listening to Severus snap out the instructions for the day. He could feel a simmering of anger from his fellow Housemates and good humor from the Slytherins. Draco was the smuggest of all of them. Frowning, he looked around and noticed Ron wasn't there.

Gabe?

The alter sighed. Malfoy and I got into a fight, but then Malfoy turned it against Ron, who wasn't sticking up for us. They dueled. Ron missed and cursed Goyle with painful boils. Malfoy's aim was dead on and hit him in the face. It made his front teeth grow past his collarbone. Hermione stuck up for him and got a detention. Ron has one as well because he left without permission.

Harry bit his lip unhappily. He felt bad for Ron. The redhead had been feeling miserable all week, and Harry wished he could do something to help him. The stupid tournament was definitely not worth losing their friendship over. Ron was the one to stand by him this summer, even though he didn't know what was going on. He didn't want their friendship to be over because of a stupid goblet. Ron was the very first person his age to ever be nice to him and accept him. Harry couldn't just forget that.

A knock sounded at the classroom door. Everyone stopped working on their antidotes. Severus glared at them and motion started up again. But the door creaked open and a third year Gryffindor peeked in. Harry bit his lip. It was Colin Creevey; the boy who had been following him around and taking as many pictures as he could. He ducked a bit, but the persistent blonde found him and beamed brightly.

"Yes?" Severus drawled sweetly.

Colin blanched, but gathered his courage. He wasn't in Gryffindor for nothing. "Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry upstairs."

"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," he said so coldly that Colin began to tremble, his eyes as wide as they could get.

"Sir – I'm sorry, but – Mr. Bagman wants him. All the champions have got to go; I think they want to take photographs…"

Severus practically growled, "Very well. Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please, sir – he's got to take his things with him." Colin was already backing out the door. "All the champions – "

"Very well!" Severus snapped. "Potter – take your bag and get out of my sight!"

Harry scrambled to obey, hiding his smile as he felt his mentor's disgust on his behalf. He was touched Severus had tried to shield him at all, especially since they were in class and he couldn't be overly demonstrative. Colin started talking and staring in awe as soon as the Potions classroom door was shut behind them. Harry did his best to subdue him, but the boy was incorrigible. He was glad when Colin was refused access to the room where the photos were being shot.

The classroom Mr. Bagman has chosen was small, but seemed bigger with all the desks pushed up against the wall. Three had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with red velvet. Bagman was standing there with a witch wearing magenta, clashing strangely with the tablecloth.

Viktor Krum was standing in the corner as usual and Harry was shocked at the level of dislike, annoyance, and anger radiating from him as he glared at the cameras. Harry felt bad for him. Cedric and Fleur were talking in the center of the room. Both were happy. Fleur was touched with a hint of smugness, while Cedric was bubbling with nervous exhilaration. The last person in the room was the chubby man holding a very large black camera.

"Ah, here he is!" Bagman cried delightfully when he spotted Harry. "Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come… nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony and a small photo shoot, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment."

Harry nodded nervously as the levels of agitation rose in the other champions. Cedric and Fleur were glaring at him in annoyance at the fourth champion remark, but Viktor's invisible distress lessened as he considered him thoughtfully.

"And I'm Rita Skeeter," the witch smiled sweetly, but Harry could feel her lust and greed rising as she weighed him with her eyes. "I'm going to be doing a piece about the tournament for the Daily Prophet." Her stiff curls didn't even bounce as she strode around the table to stalk up to Harry. "I wonder if I could have a little word with the fourth champion before we start? The youngest champion, you know… to add a bit of color?"

"Certainly!" Bagman waved them away.

"Lovely," Rita grabbed his arm and quickly hustled him out of the room. Her crimson nails dug into his skin and he cried out in dismay. "We don't want to be in here with all that noise." She said loudly, hoping to cover up his cry so that no one felt obligated to stop her. "Let's see… ah, yes, this is nice and cozy."

It was a broom cupboard. A wave of memories from his childhood swirled beneath the surface of his thoughts and he shivered, wrapping his arms around himself tightly. Rita was not unaware of his distress, but brushed it off as unimportant. Harry would have dodged out the door, but she was blocking it, perched on an overturned bucket. He watched her dig things out of her large crocodile-skinned bag silently. He just wanted this to be over.

"You won't mind, Harry, if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally…" She didn't give him a chance to answer as she set an acid green quill upright on the roll of parchment she had set up on her lap. She released it and the quill remained standing. Now she leaned toward Harry and smiled her falsely sweet smile. "Now, Harry, what made you decide to enter the TriWizard Tournament?"

"Er – I didn't…" Harry began, but was distracted when the quill began writing furiously and didn't seem like it was going to stop. He tried to get a look at what it was writing, but Rita blocked with a bejeweled hand tipped with her crimson nails.

"Ignore the quill, Harry. Now – tell the truth. No one will judge you. Why did you enter the tournament?"

"I didn't," Harry repeated. "I don't know how my name got into the Goblet of Fire."

Rita raised an eyebrow, "Fine. How do you feel about the tasks ahead? Excited? Nervous?"

"Nervous." Harry bit his lip. "I'm worried someone will get hurt."

"People have died in this tournament," she nodded sagely. "Of course, you've looked death in the face before, haven't you? How would you say that's affected you?"

Harry thought of his condition and his fractured mind and sighed. "Can't really say."

She smiled sharkishly, displaying three gold teeth. "Do you think that the trauma in your past might have made you keen to prove yourself? To live up to your name? Do you think that perhaps you were tempted to enter the TriWizard Tournament because – "

"I didn't enter. Really, I didn't," Harry interrupted her gently. "I'm telling you the truth."

"Alright." Her eyes glittered. "Can you remember your parents at all?"

"No," Harry said sadly, looking down at his hands.

"How do you think they'd feel if they knew you were competing in the tournament? Proud? Worried? Angry?"

Distress rose up in him and he felt his insides go cold. He had just come to terms with the reality of his parent's murder and didn't really want to confront the issue of what they would think of him, let alone what they would think of him being in the tournament. To distract himself, he looked back at the paper and noticed Rita had stopped shielding it from view. It read:

An ugly scar, souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the otherwise charming face of Harry Potter, whose eyes are deep and old due to the tragic life he is fated to live. The pressure of living up to his fame, earned that fateful night when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named came to kill him as well as his family, has finally pushed him too far and he finds himself in over his head now that he faces the dangerous tasks before him. Tears filled those startling green eyes as our conversation turns to the parents he can barely remember. When I ask how they would have felt about him entering, he hesitates and bites his lip as he shamefully drops his eyes…

Silas stood and snapped out, "Infernos!"

The quill and paper went up in a whoosh of flame so hot it burned white. Rita jumped to her feet, screaming. Her robes were burning and she slapped at them in panic, not even thinking of going for her wand. Silas watched all this with a blank face, not moving to help her. The cupboard door slammed open and Dumbledore yelled a water charm. The fire went out, leaving a singed and gaping hole in her robes. Rita was wearing a white lacy blouse and a red skirt underneath. There weren't even ashes left of the quill and parchment.

The ancient wizard stared hard at Silas before turning his attention to the gasping and trembling reporter. "Ms. Skeeter, let me help you," he said kindly while offering his hand.

She stared at it blankly for a moment before she visibly pulled herself together. "Dumbledore. How are you?" She smiled, but it was shaky and her eyes were still too round. "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference?"

"It was enchantingly nasty." He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling full blast. "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat."

"I was just making a point that some of your ideas are old-fashioned." She was recovering quickly now. "Harry and I will be with you in a moment, Headmaster. I won't keep him from the weighing."

Dumbledore considered this. His eyes looked to Silas for any hint on which way he would prefer things to be handled, but the teen was as expressive as a blank slate. Dumbledore's hesitation allowed Rita to shut the door gently. She turned to the teen, fury and threats in her eyes, but Silas spoke first.

"I don't appreciate my life being made into entertainment or dramatized to better your career." He said softly and she stared at him open-mouthed. "Please keep to the facts or, better yet, don't mention me at all. You have three other perfectly fine subject matters outside this room. And if I find you misrepresenting me again, Ms. Skeeter, I will retaliate."

"Are you threatening me?" she hissed, shocked.

"I'm warning you," he corrected gently, but his eyes were hard and sharp.

"They are ready." Dumbledore opened the door again. "Come, Harry."

Silas endured the weighing of the wands in silence, standing unobtrusively in the shadows. Cedric and Fleur stood tall and proud in the spotlight, but Viktor was skulking on the other side of the room. Silas turned to leave when all the wands had been tested, but Bagman's shouted demand for photos stopped him. He sighed and went to stand where he was directed by the cameraman. Rita stared at him the whole time, her eyes hungry. He met her stare and hoped she read the warning in them.

xXxXxXx

Harry ate dinner alone with Neville. His brother explained that Ron was still in the hospital wing getting his teeth fixed and Hermione was with him. Harry didn't mind. He was too busy listening to Gabriel's delighted descriptions of Silas catching Rita on fire and the following wand weighing and photos. He smiled and sighed; he was very glad he was in Hogwarts and couldn't be reached by the press. They got up to Gryffindor Tower to find Hermione back.

She handed him an unopened letter with a hot glare, "This came for you."

Harry flinched at her cutting emotions, "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you stick up for Ron?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, but he hadn't been the one Out. There was nothing he could do and Gabriel was very much against helping Ron with anything less than a life or death situation until the redhead apologized.

"We have detention tomorrow night, so don't expect to see us around." She spun and stormed up the stairs to the girls' dorm.

Neville wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders, "Ignore her."

Harry nodded and turned his attention to the letter. They read it together.

Harry –

I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted – we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?

He can't say anything in a letter because it might be intercepted, but he has no problems writing that you need to be alone in the Gryffindor common room at a certain time? Silas sneered. He's brainless!

Do you really think the owls are being intercepted? Harry fretted.

No, but his logic is abysmal! Silas said in disgust.

Be quite, Sy, Gabriel hushed him. What else does he say?

I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself and while you're around school there are powerful people looking out for you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under everyone's nose. Be on the watch, Harry. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd as quickly as you can.

Sirius

Brain dead, Silas repeated. He might as well say what he needed to. He said everything else.

"Are you going to do it?" Neville asked.

"What does he mean, though?" Harry looked at him anxiously. "He's going to come here that night?"

"He'll probably use the floo," Neville guessed.

"Oh." Harry looked over at the fireplace. "I guess I can do it."

xXxXxXx

Two days later Rita Skeeter's article was released in the Monday morning Daily Prophet. Harry stared at the article aghast. The whole front page was a picture of him (or really Silas) and the headline: Harry Potter: Hurting Teen or Champion? And the article continued on pages two, six, and seven. Only the last few paragraphs were about the Tournament at all and the other champions were hardly mentioned. The whole thing just examined him with quotes taken from his peers. Two of the most damning parts were on page two and read:

Lavender Brown shared with me that Harry burst into tears during Defense class one day when the ex-Auror and current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Alastor Moody, was covering the three Unforgivables in class. Our young hero couldn't stand the reminder to his tragic past and broke down. The professor took him aside after class and he returned looking better, but still weak. Obviously he is troubled and has every right to be. When asked, his roommate Dean Thomas commented that he didn't know if Harry ever cries at night about his parents. The Gryffindor Hero doesn't really talk to them much, preferring to stay by himself or with a small select group of friends. What other secret's lie behind Harry Potter's hard green eyes?

And…

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl, who like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. Can she bring comfort to his obviously painful life? We all hope so, and if she can't, I'm sure there are millions of us girls out there willing to help Harry overcome his past. Maybe this is why he snuck his name in the Goblet. He wants to prove he is more than the Boy-Who-Lived. Maybe he wants to be the Boy-Who-Lives.

Silas read the article and saw red. No way was that bitch going to get away with this! He fumed silently in their head for days as he contrived the demise of her career. And the ones who spoke to that horrid woman would suffer as well. And for that he'd need Draco's help. He convinced the blonde to have his Slytherins pester Lavender, Dean, and Colin as much as they could, constantly asking questions about Harry and never giving them a moment's peace. He was pleased when the days went by and the three grew more and more harried and distraught. Unfortunately, Harry was also suffering.

Harry faced ribbing constantly for the article. People handed him hankies and snickered, cat-called him and Hermione, girls flirted blatantly with him, and he had to endure all the teachers telling him constantly that his parents would be proud of him. McGonagall especially doted on him, but Hagrid came a close second. He felt smothered under all the attention. He felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. He was having a hard enough time confronting his emotions; he didn't need to do it under the eye of hundreds. His agitation made his sleep restless and Gabriel was slowly coming to a boil.

Silas did his best to sooth both of them, but he could only do so much. Neville helped as much as he could, but he was still shaky himself and was only one person. Ron wasn't talking to him still and Hermione only encouraged the harassment when she tired to help. Severus gave them sanctuary at night and Remus' office was haven during the day, but as the week passed and the harassment didn't ease, things were getting bad enough that there was going to be an explosion soon.

xXxXxXx

"Look," Gabriel snarled as he slammed his book shut. He had had enough. Harry couldn't even come to the goddamn library without being stared at like some freak specimen of humanity! "Why are you always in here and why do you have to stare at me like that?"

Viktor Krum blinked, his face in his normal scowl. He sat two tables away and had a book open in front of him, but his dark eyes shifted to Harry more often than not. Gabriel stood, shaking with anger and stress. He stalked over to the other Champion and leaned on the table, putting their faces close together.

"What are you looking at? Huh?"

"I vas studying. I vas not looking at you."

"Study somewhere else!" Gabriel growled.

"Do not vurry. I vant nuffing from you. I know also vhat it is like to have vem all eat pieces until vare is nuffing left."

Once Gabriel translated the mangled English, he felt his anger melt. He sighed. He knew very well that he was taking out his frustrations on the Seeker and that was wrong. "I'm sorry." He stood and roughly rubbed at his face.

"It is fine. Sit. Maybe my glare vill keep them at bay. It vorks vell for me."

"Yeah. Okay." Gabriel smiled and went to get his books. He came back and took a seat next to the older Bulgarian.

Harry came back and blinked, surprised at where he was and who he was with. Gabriel explained shortly what happened and Harry flushed with embarrassment. He peeked discreetly at Krum from the corner of his eye and found the teen scowling furiously at his book. He opened his empathy a bit and was shocked to find contentment, sympathy, and amusement in the dark teen. He smiled and turned to his studies.

As the days passed, Harry made sure to sit by the Seeker whenever they were in the library together and he was no longer bothered there anymore. He also got to know the Seeker a bit. They never talked much, but just by listening in to his emotions Harry learned a lot. Krum rather hated attention and enjoyed the quiet. He also seemed to have an obsession for books and had developed a crush on Hermione, who was completely oblivious.

He was also very anxious and angry about the up coming first task. He had never wanted to enter, but now that he was chosen he was determined not to fail or look bad. Not because he cared what everyone thought of him, but because he might lose his scholarship to Durmstrang if he did poorly and he had to graduate. Harry asked why once, but the Seeker shook his head and refused to answer. The tight anxiety spoke for him, however, and Harry worried about him.

xXxXxXx

November the 21st came and it was three days before the first task. All the students in third year and up were allowed to go to Hogsmeade. Hermione tried to talk Harry into going with her and Ron, but he gently refused. Ron was still not talking to him and he wanted to have fun today and not force himself into a tense confrontation or listen to Hermione nag at him and Ron all afternoon. Instead, he grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and went with Neville.

His brother looked tired. His Elemental lessons were tiring and difficult. Neville wouldn't talk about them much, but Harry knew that progress was slow going. More than ever Harry wanted to have a good day and help Neville feel better. They went to the candy store and the joke store and eventually ended up in the Three Broomsticks for drinks.

"Maybe you should wear your cloak more often," Neville chuckled.

"I might." Harry sighed in content and leaned against his friend. "This is so nice! Not one person is looking at me."

"No, people are looking at me now!" Neville blushed as two sixth year Hufflepuffs shot him a curious glance. "They think I'm talking to myself."

"Don't move your mouth so much," Harry giggled.

"Are you nervous about Tuesday?"

"Yeah." Harry sighed. "But not for myself. Gabriel can take care of things, but what about the others. Krum is really upset about it and Cedric is growing more and more distressed and less excited. Only Fleur is still happy about being in this Tournament. What if they get hurt?"

"Harry…" Neville sighed. "Look, Dumbledore said things are safer than ever before. They will be there if anything goes terribly wrong. Don't worry so much. Severus will be there and so will Remus. No one's going to get killed."

"But you can't promise that they won't get hurt," Harry pointed out.

"No. I can't." Neville frowned into his drink. "Whose bright idea was it to do this thing again?"

"I think Minister Fudge."

"Oh yeah." Neville looked up and smiled. "Look, there's Hagrid and Professor Moody."

Harry smiled and started to wave before he remembered he was invisible. But Moody looked over and Harry froze. Was he looking at him? The scarred professor said something to Hagrid and they both made their way over. The half-giant beamed down at them and said loudly, "Hello there, Neville!"

"Hi, Hagrid," Neville answered with a smile.

Moody leaned forward, as if to look at something on the table and whispered, "Hello, Harry."

"Can your eye – I mean, can you…?"

"Yes. It can see through Invisibility Cloaks." Moody grinned his fearsome grin. "And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."

Hagrid bent down to stare at the table like Moody had. In a whisper that was as loud as a normal speaking voice, he said, "Harry, meet me tonight at midnight at the cabin. Wear the cloak."

The professors said their goodbyes after that and left the boys. Harry looked over at Neville curiously, "What do you think that was about?"

"I have no idea." Neville shrugged. "Want me to come?"

"Sure." Harry nodded even though Neville couldn't see him. "We can both fit under here."

"Don't forget you have to be back by one o'clock to talk to Sirius."

"I know." Harry bit his lip.

He probably wants to talk to us about the task. Gabriel offered. All the teachers have wished us luck and given us a pep talk.

True, Harry thought.

xXxXxXx

Harry and Neville tumbled into the common room, their eyes still wide after seeing the dragons and running into Karkaroff. Gabriel was reassuring Harry that he could handle a single dragon and Silas was silent as he contemplated what lay before them. Luckily, the common room was empty and the fire flared just as they flung the Invisibility Cloak off.

"Sirius?" Harry asked as he knelt before the hearth. Neville hung back a bit, keeping watch to make sure no one would walk in on them. If anyone found out about Sirius they would tell and the Ministry would go after Sirius again.

"Hey, pup. How are you?" Sirius' face asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. I just found out the first task was dragons."

"Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute – I haven't got long here… I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

"You didn't! Sirius, you could get caught!" Harry cried, distressed.

"Listen!" Sirius hissed. "Harry, Karkaroff was a Death Eater. Moody caught him and the Ministry sent him to Azkaban, but he made a deal and got exiled from England instead."

"I knew that. Severus told us and he's checking to see if he was the one to put my name in the goblet, but they haven't found any leads yet and Severus says when he talks to Karkaroff, he's not giving anything away."

"We know he's a good actor, so that doesn't mean he's innocent. Look, I've been reading the Prophet and I think Bertha Jerkins was caught by Voldemort in Albania. I've heard some rumors that that's where Voldemort was last seen. The Death Eaters are even more active, as you know from the World Cup. I think Voldemort knows about this Tournament and wanted you to be the Champion. It's easer to kill you this way and make it look like an accident."

"I know," Harry said sadly.

"Don't worry, pup. We're here for you and so are the others." Sirius smiled. "We'll get you through this. Now, as for those dragons…"

"Harry!" Neville whispered in warning.

"Go, Sirius!" Harry jumped to his feet. "Someone's coming!"

Sirius disappeared with a soft pop and Harry spun to face the stairs, but it was only Ron. The redhead frowned, "What are you two doing down here so late?"

"Nothing." Harry said and waited.

"Fine." Ron glared. "Should've known you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing your next interview in peace."

Harry flinched back a bit, his green eyes pooling with hurt. Neville snapped and snatched up a POTTER REALLY STINKS badge off the table and threw it at the redhead as hard as he could. It hit Ron in the forehead and bounced off. The redhead's mouth gaped open and his blue eyes were huge with shock.

"There you go," Neville snarled. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky… That's what you want, isn't it?"

Ron said nothing and stormed up the stairs. Harry turned to Neville and hugged him, "Thanks."

"No problem," the brunette murmured, still angry. Ron was really pissing him off! Harry didn't deserve that shit! "Let's go to bed. It's late and we have school tomorrow."

"Yeah. Okay." Harry smiled and followed his brother up to bed.

xXxXxXx

No one could focus on their school work on Monday. The school was practically buzzing with excitement about the first task tomorrow. Hermione pestered him constantly, demanding to know what he planned to do and trying to give him tips that she read about. Harry tried to assure her that he had a plan, but she wouldn't let it go since he couldn't tell her exactly what he was going to do. Gabriel said he couldn't make a plan until he actually knew the task, but he did promise that he knew spells that would affect a dragon. Silas backed him up.

Around lunch time, Harry found Cedric and offered warnings about what they were facing. He figured all the other Champions would know since the Headmasters from the other schools had been there that night that Hagrid had shown him as well. Cedric looked terrified and grateful at the forewarning and practically ran to the library.

When he went to the library himself, later that night, he found Krum sitting quietly. The Seeker tried to warn him about the dragons, but he assured him that he already knew. They sat in silence after that and it was nice. Harry made his way through the quiet halls and bit his lip. He was halfway back to the Gryffindor common room when he stopped and went into an empty classroom.

Harry? Gabriel asked.

"I… Gabriel…" Harry took a deep breath and clenched his hands into fists to hide the fact that they were shaking. "I don't want to go away tomorrow. I want to be there for Krum and Cedric. I want to help them."

Gabriel said nothing for a long minute. What are you saying?

"I know I'm not the Core, but I was thinking… I made you, not Silas. Silas made me and I couldn't cope with everything he handed me so I created you…. I think… I think I'm ready to do it with you. I'm ready to fight for my friends and everyone else. I think I can do it."

Harry… you… you want to… merge?

"Is that bad?" Harry bit his lip hard. "Don't you want to?"

I don't know, Gabriel answered. I want to be around to take care of you and Silas. I don't want to go away…. But I do know that I wouldn't be going away if I merged with you. I would be with you, as you put it. Still… it's scary, isn't it?

"Yeah." Harry agreed and slumped into a chair. "I think so, too. Every time I think of merging with Silas, I get a bit scared… Where is Silas? What does he think?"

For once, he's sleeping. He wants to be rested for tomorrow. Gabriel grinned. Boy will he be shocked if this works. He knew that if he were to hesitate, he'd be setting a bad example for Harry. If he, the brave hero, was afraid of merging, how would Harry bear it? So he took a deep breath and allowed himself to drift closer to the surface of their shared mind. Harry's conscience resisted a bit, not allowing him Out at the same time as him, and he didn't push. He understood that sometimes, in order to win a battle, you had to go slow and be thorough. So he waited and let Harry set the pace. And suddenly their edges began to blur.

As if someone were whispering in his ear, he heard, I can accept that I am competent. I can accept that I have the ability to fight. I accept that I have courage to face the things that scare me. I can accept that people can depend on me and I won't let them down. I believe I am strong. I believe that I can be a hero.

And Gabriel added his own voice; I accept that I like to be neat and organized. I accept that it is okay to be afraid sometimes. I accept that protection other people's feelings are as important to me as doing the right thing. I love my family and I accept that it is okay to depend on others. I accept that I can't force people to see things the way I do and I care for them the way they are.

xXxXxXx

Silas jerked awake and wondered what was going on. The air felt heavy and charged, like it was about to storm. He frowned and hurried from the room, but when he opened door and saw what was happening in the sitting room, he froze. Unease, fear, and shock crawled up from his stomach and wrapped around his chest.

White, gentle lightning was striking Gabriel's door and lashing out at the window that led to the Host. Harry's hands were reaching through and Gabriel, now a ghost, held tightly to him. Slowly Harry's arms disappeared and Gabriel was pulled toward the window, all the while fading.

"Gabe…" Silas said hoarsely. What the hell were they doing? But he knew. He knew what was happening. Harry was merging with what he had once rejected. Silas had no idea what had started this, but felt suddenly young and unsure. He'd been with Gabriel for so long, he wasn't sure what would happen now that he was gone.

"Sy…" Gabriel's and Harry's voices overlapped, but weren't quite one. "I am still going to be around to make sure you rest. You won't be able to hide away in here anymore." They laughed a strange double laugh. "You'll have to participate more to keep us/me in line. You'll have to speak up and make decisions with me/us now, instead of letting us/me make them for you. I/We worry about you. You need to interact more with the world. You are our/my balance…." The voice stopped wavering and became steady, whole. "Silas, you are my other half and now we are even again. I need you, Sy. I will always need you."

And with a bright flash of light, Gabriel disappeared. Silas was flung off his feet as the room shifted sharply with a loud crack. It sounded like a bone breaking, or maybe a bone snapping into place. The grumble of stone grinding against stone shook the ground. Silas' vision went white and then black with the abrupt change in internal pressure. Boy howled, frightened, and Demon's dark chilling laugh echoed in his ears as he fainted.

xXxXxXx

Severus stalked through the school. Neville had come to him when Harry hadn't returned by midnight. He had flooed Remus and now the three of them were searching the castle. He wondered if Harry (or more likely Gabriel) had gotten into trouble or was hurt. Or was it just anxiety about tomorrow that had him reluctant to return to bed? Either way, Severus was getting angrier with every minute that passed and he couldn't find his student.

With a snarl, he flung open the next classroom door. He almost moved on before he registered the still figure collapsed on the floor. He rushed in and shook the teen's shoulder, hissing his name. The teen didn't even twitch in response. Grinding his teeth with worry, Severus knelt and lifted Harry into his arms.

The teen's head fell back limply and his arms dropped to the floor. Severus stood and hurried to the dungeons. He muttered diagnostic spells as he went, but they revealed no physical injuries or magical anomalies. The only things wrong were a slight increase in his blood pressure, an erratic heart rate, and shallow breathing.

"What happened to you now?" Severus whispered harshly as he strode into his rooms and gently laid the teen on his couch. He quickly summoned his hawk from the corner. With a quick hand, he pinned a note for Remus to find Neville and for both of them to return. The graceful bird accepted the letter and silently flew from the room as he opened his door once again.

When that was done, he returned to Harry's side. He decided that it would be unwise to force the teen awake and settled in to wait. It wouldn't bother him if Harry was disqualified from the first task. He'd have a lot of explaining to do, however, so Severus stared at his charge unblinkingly as he began to formulate plans for if the teen did not wake in time.

Remus and Neville arrived shortly, both were breathless. Severus told them he had no idea what happened and that they could only wait, so the two joined him in his watch, all of them hoping the small teen would be alright. Neville sat on the floor and held Harry's hand while Remus sat in the chair next to Severus'. No one spoke or made the slightest move to go to bed even as the hours dwindled and dawn came.

Chapter End.

A/N: Sorry for ending it there, but I had to. Tell me what you think of how the story's turning out. I want to warn everyone that we're going to slowly veer away from canon from now on.

Next chapter: You'll see the result personality of Harry/Gabriel. It will also have the first task and explain what happened with the mental portkey Dumbledore has placed on them. I might even get in info about their Animagus transformation and what's been going on with Neville in his Earth Elemental training with Rowena.