Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

If You Can Help Her – Chapter 28 – Slugs and Dragons

"So Ginny," asked Harry with a grin, "Would you be my optional date for the Slug Club meeting?"

"Actually," replied Ginny smirking, "I was hoping you would be my optional date, so I'll have to decline your offer." They both chuckled.

Hermione looked pensive. "I wonder if I should invite anyone."

-IYCHH-

The week went by quickly, and Hermione hadn't asked anyone to the party. Before she knew it, it was Friday at about six o'clock, and Hermione was studying alone in the common room. She was wearing a nice outfit for the party, but nothing special. She supposed that Harry and Ginny were off in a broom closet trading tonsils, at least she hoped that's all they were doing. Their 'experiment on anatomy' they'd talked about the other day had her a bit concerned. She didn't notice a certain red-haired boy walking up to her until he said, "Er, hello."

She looked up in surprise. "Oh, hello Ron."

He looked at his trainers and shifted uncomfortably for a few seconds before saying, "Can I…er talk to you?"

"You are talking to me," she replied with a small grin. "Have a seat."

He sat down and looked at her nervously. "I, er, well, I'm sorry I forgot about your birthday."

She stopped herself from smiling in victory. She wanted a full apology. She gazed into his eyes. "What else?"

"Er, well, covering up for it with that perfume."

"Go on."

"Getting mad at Harry for helping me."

"And?"

"Er, well, dating Lavender to make you jealous, and believing Harry had entered his own name in the goblet, and being jealous of Harry."

Hermione looked deep in thought for about a minute. "I think that about covers it."

Ron looked at her expectantly. "Well?" When she didn't respond for a few seconds, he asked, "Do you forgive me?"

"I'm not sure if I can. I mean, as soon as we had a fight you ran to another girl. How can I trust you?" asked Hermione.

Ron took a deep breath as his ears turned pink. "Because I know that you're not like the other girls, now. I mean, Lavender is nothing like you. You're different. I don't know how to say it, but I promise not to go with another girl if you take me back." He put his head down and waited for her answer.

After about a minute of agonizing silence, Hermione sighed, "I suppose, since you asked so nicely, I could give you a chance. Sort of a probation. Tonight, in less than an hour, I'm going to a party. I can take a date if you want to go."

Ron's face broke out in a huge smile. "That sounds great!"

"Good. It's supposed to be a bit formal, so try to wear something nice."

"You mean like my dress robes?"

"No, not that formal. Just something nice."

-IYCHH-

Harry and Ginny had been practicing their animagus meditation, not snogging. After dinner they'd quickly changed into nicer clothes and left the common room for the one-eyed-witch passage. They got a little caught up in the training, so they were about five minutes late for the party. They opened the door to Slughorn's office, and were immediately greeted by the professor himself.

"Hello, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley! How wonderful to see you! I guess you lost track of time in a broom closet somewhere." He chuckled to himself while winking at them. "Let me introduce you around."

He took them from person to person around the room. Some people Harry knew. Others he didn't. He noticed that all of the champions were there with dates. Fred was with Angelina. Viktor was with Cho Chang. Fleur was with Cedric Diggory. Harry was surprised to see Hermione with Ron, but didn't comment on it. He knew that they were speaking to each other again, and figured that he'd find out what was going on soon enough.

The guest of honor was a famous witch who'd gotten the Order of Merlin, First Class for something Harry didn't even pay attention to. He was very bored with the party once he'd met everyone. He turned to Ginny and asked sarcastically, "Enjoying yourself?"

She grinned. "About as much as you. I should never have come here with you."

"You didn't come with me; I came with you."

Ginny chuckled. "You asked first."

"But you declined," Harry reminded her as he started chuckling.

"Why don't we leave together? I don't like pretending to enjoy myself," suggested Ginny.

They turned toward the door when Slughorn put his hand on Harry's shoulder and started talking. "Harry, my boy, we really haven't gotten a chance to truly know one another since I started teaching. I'd like to be friends with you. You know, with my connections I could help you to advance in almost any career. If you wanted to work in the ministry for example."

"For those idiots?" Harry exclaimed before he could help himself.

"What? You disapprove of the ministry?" asked Slughorn, looking more interested than disapproving.

On the spot, Harry had to answer. "Well, it might be better now that Fudge is gone. I think Madam Bones is doing much better than he did. But in the past year or so, the ministry has seemed to be nothing but idiots. Take the Quidditch World Cup for example. I was there. There were hundreds of ministry people there, and they couldn't capture even one of the Death Eaters. Probably one of them was the person who impersonated Hagrid and entered me in the tournament.

"When the Dark Mark was conjured, almost all of the ministry people who should have been chasing the ones who were actually terrorizing muggles apparated to where Ginny and I were and shot at us instead, simply because we were near where the Dark Mark was conjured. To me, that proves they're idiots. How about how they locked up my godfather Sirius Black for twelve years without a trial, and then wanted to give him the Dementor's Kiss after he escaped. Hopefully, Madam Bones will make a difference, but the point is that I can't control who's in charge of the ministry, but I'd have to obey them if I worked there."

"You really do have a good point there my boy. I've certainly seen the ministry make its share of blunders, and I don't think I'd want to be a part of those mistakes myself. So what are your goals, anyway?"

Harry's ears went pink. "I don't really know yet what I want to do after Hogwarts, but I know it won't by working for the ministry. Maybe a career in Quidditch would be nice. I'm a fair flyer you know. I'm a pretty good Seeker."

"The best Seeker in the school, and you were the youngest in a century!" interrupted Ginny, who was still at his side. "You've caught the snitch with a broken arm. You even once caught it in your mouth. The only time you didn't get the snitch was when a hundred Dementors interrupted the game and nearly killed you."

"Well," replied Slughorn happily, "I definitely have some connections in professional Quidditch…"

-IYCHH-

About a half-hour later, Harry and Ginny finally got out of there, after finding out that he was planning on having several more of those torture sessions. "Maybe I can claim I'm training for the tournament whenever he has a party," suggested Harry.

"And I'm helping you," added Ginny. "I wonder what's up with Ron and Hermione."

Harry sighed. "Who knows? Hopefully they got their differences sorted out."

-IYCHH-

Time flew by quickly. Ron and Hermione seemed to be getting along a lot better than they ever did before. Harry and Ginny were also getting along with Ron. About a week before the first task, Ron came into the common room looking petrified. He walked up to Fred and said shakily, "Come here. I've got something to tell both you and Harry."

Fred and George (who were getting along the same as usual) followed Ron as he walked up to where Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were seated together studying. "Hi, Ron," greeted Hermione, "You look awful. What happened?"

"Ch-Ch-Charlie's here."

"That's great!" exclaimed Ginny. "Is he here to watch the tournament?"

"Actually," explained Ron, "He's here to help with the first task. He brought four dragons." Ron swallowed as Ginny and Hermione paled. Harry looked terrified. Ron continued. "A Swedish Short-Snout, a Chinese Fireball, a Welsh Green, and a Hungarian Horntail. One for each champion."

"Um, er, well, thanks for the information," replied Harry, getting up.

"Where are you going?" asked Ginny, as she got up and followed him.

"To call Sirius on my mirror!"

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea."

They both bolted up the boys' staircase and Harry took his two-way mirror out of his trunk. Harry looked at it and shouted, "Sirius!"

A few seconds later, Sirius' image appeared. "Hi, Harry. How are you doing? I hope this doesn't take too long, cause I'm on a date."

Harry blushed. "Er, it won't take long. I just found out that the first task is dragons."

"Dragons?" repeated Sirius incredulously. "Hold on a second."

The mirror faded for about a minute, and then Sirius' image appeared again. "I told her this would take a few minutes. Now, the first thing to know about dragons is that you have to aim your spells at their eyes. What I suggest is…"

-IYCHH-

The week went by quickly, with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione working together so that Harry could complete his strategy. Before he knew it, Fred, Viktor, Fleur, and he were inside the tent waiting to find out what dragon they would have to face. Bagman brought in a purple silk sack and had them pull out a model of their dragons in turn. Fleur got the Welsh Green. Viktor got the Chinese Fireball. Fred got the Swedish Short-Snout. Harry, naturally, got the Hungarian Horntail. The order they'd go was Fred, Fleur, Viktor, and Harry. Bagman pulled Harry aside to offer help, but Harry refused, saying that he knew what he was going to do. He rotated between nervously pacing and sitting down from the time that Fred went out to face his dragon, until it was his turn.

-IYCHH-

Professor Dumbledore looked at the gathered crowd. He knew that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as well as Sirius Black, were out there somewhere, mixed in with the huge crowd that was gathered for this event. He pointed his wand at his throat and cast, "Sonorous," magically amplifying his voice. He then gave his speech. "Welcome, welcome witches and wizards alike, to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament!" There was a bit of applause for which he paused. "The question that's been on everyone's mind since the tournament began is about to be answered. The first task is…Dragons!" There was a huge gasp from the crowd. "Each champion will have to get the golden egg that their dragon is guarding. Now, the first champion will be Fred Weasley, going against a Swedish Short-Snout. Let the task begin."

A whistle was blown, and Fred Weasley strolled happily out to the area with his wand in his right hand. He pointed it out toward the crowd and cast, "Accio canary crème." Some kind of pastry floated out from the crowd where George was sitting. Fred caught the pastry and tossed it near the dragon. He then levitated the pastry near the dragon's snout. The crowd started to chuckle as the dragon grabbed the pastry in its mouth and started chewing it.

Fred started to inch closer to the eggs until there was a popping sound, and instead of a dragon, there was a canary. Fred ran as fast as he could past the confused bird. He grabbed the golden egg and dashed to the proper tent just before it turned back into a dragon and let out a huge roar while the dragon keepers ran forward to subdue it. The crowd erupted in laughter and hand-clapping as Madam Pomfrey confirmed that he was uninjured. The judges scored him as follows. Dumbledore: 10, Karkaroff: 4, Maxime: 9, Bagman: 9, Crouch: 9 – 41 points.

-IYCHH-

From the tent, Harry heard that Fred had gotten past his dragon quickly, and judging by the laughter mixed in with the applause, he did it in a humorous manner. He waited for the next two champions, who took a lot longer to complete the task than Fred. Finally the whistle blew and it was Harry's turn.

The youngest champion walked out to face the Horntail, wand at the ready. He knew that the only vulnerable spot on the dragon was its eyes, and that he'd have to aim carefully if he'd hit the target. He walked out to where the dragon could see him and pointed his wand at the right eye, casting, "Stupefy." The dragon started to fall, but then caught itself and breathed fire toward him. Harry performed a freezing charm he'd learn for this task, which stopped him from getting burned.

The now enraged dragon charged straight at Harry, who aimed at the left eye and shouted, "Stupefy, Petrificus Totalus, Stupefy," until the monster finally fell down about two feet in front of the now shaken up raven-haired teenager. He took a deep breath and shook himself, not even noticing the applause as he slowly walked toward the eggs in a daze. He leisurely picked it up and walked into the tent, still shell-shocked. He was quickly brought out of it by arms being thrown around him followed by a passionate yet short kiss.

When they separated, Harry looked like he'd been confunded. "G-Ginny?" he asked. "I'm glad that's over!"

Sirius walked up and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Great job, cub! Although you really ticked off that dragon. I especially loved the way that you put out the fire with a freezing charm!"

Mrs. Weasley then engulfed Harry in a bone-crushing hug. Then Ron and Hermione congratulated him as well. The judges scored him as follows. Dumbledore: 10, Karkaroff: 4, Maxime: 9, Bagman: 10, Crouch: 9 – 42 points. Harry then asked, "How did Fred do?"

-IYCHH-

Naturally, Gryffindor house had the biggest party Harry had ever seen. It was even better than the one they'd had last year when they'd won the quidditch cup. The two best champions were the guests of honor. Fred was thoroughly enjoying the attention, but Harry simply was going along with it because otherwise he'd offend everyone. He was still a bit shaken up by how close that Horntail had gotten to him. He thought to himself, 'I should've just summoned my Firebolt and flown at the egg. That would've probably been easier.'

During the party, Hermione asked George how to get to the kitchens, and the twins sold a ton of Canary Crèmes. Both Harry and Fred opened their golden eggs at the same time, at the insistence of the crowd. They immediately closed those eggs, at the insistence of their hurting ears. Fred joked about the loud, screeching sound, guessing, "I think we'll have to survive Percy singing at us."

-IYCHH-

For the next week, Harry dreaded being in the halls. He was constantly either congratulated on his performance or hit on by girls. The latter truly irritated Ginny.

He was sitting in transfiguration class when Professor McGonagall announced, "This year on Christmas, we are going to have a Yule Ball."

-IYCHH-

Chapter end