Chapter 5:

Harry sighed as he looked at his Ancient Runes Study Guide.

He knew it was a very good subject to have in conjunction with arithmancy- Merlin alone knew he'd gotten that lecture enough times... it was just that it was so dull it made the thought of listening to Mister Gregg from the Claw and Dragon tell him about his days as a muggle fisherman seem again seem like a very viable option.

Another sigh as he thunked his head onto the table.

Dry. Dry, dreary, utterly devoid of anything but mindless scribbling... and that was only the first page. Who cared that a unicorn stood for 'one'? Who?

The scrape of a chair had him looking up in the hopes of seeing Daphne or Millie there so that he could leave everything Rune related and help them with their potions essays... But instead he found himself blinking at a very paranoid looking Hermione.

Shit. She's gonna make me do the runes work... Was his first thought. Quickly followed by: Wait- shouldn't she be doing Weasley and Longbottom's homework for them? His instinct quickly took over and he scanned the library for any threats, his previous lethargy completely evaporating.

'Are you ok?' he scribbled on a piece of scrap parchment.

"Uh, me? I... think so..." There was a dazed look he didn't like and he gave her a hard stare. "Oh, no, I'm not hurt or anything! I just... I think I just got kidnapped by an urban legend..."

'What, like the HWA?' He scribbled jokingly.

"You knew they existed?" She asked, wide eyed and hushed.

'Uhm, Mione, they're nothing but a legend...'

"No! It's not! I just got kidnapped by them! And then they threw me out! Though they did give me a very good cupcake..."

'… That's it. I'm taking you to see the nurse...'

"No! Really! They were all over me and Cho was playing good cop and that Li Su girl from arithmancy was playing bad cop and they wanted to know about this afternoon and whether we were dating and then they forbade me from ever having anything but a platonic relationship with you!"

Harry raised his brows at her in a clear 'Really' gesture.

"I'm not crazy damn you!"

'Then why aren't you in the HWA? Something you're not telling me here Mione?'

"Well... No... I mean... I couldn't have dreamt it- my imagination isn't that good!"

Another look from Harry had her deflating before she grinned in triumph and put the sparkly pink wrapper from the cupcake onto the table.

"Ha! Proof I wasn't dreaming!"

'So you mean to say that there is a powerful organization at work within these walls that consists entirely of females?'

"Yes!"

'well that's good then.' Harry wrote, punctuating it with a decisive nod of his head.

"Yes, well, I... what? What do you mean by 'that's good then'?"

Harry sighed before pulling out a new piece of parchment. 'It's just good to know that there is a sensible, mature organization that is running Hogwarts behind the scenes. After all, men are ruled by testosterone. We tend to get violent, women tend to talk things out.' He shrugged it in her direction, and Hermione got a sort of far away look.

The one she always got when she was puzzling something out.

"You know, Harry, you're right. I mean, I'm pretty sure that even now they're talking about sensible issues facing the population of this castle with the whole Triwizard Tournament thing."

Harry grinned and nodded at her.

"Yes, you're right. And they weren't even violent when they kidnapped me! Proof that this is a good thing!"

A more enthusiastic nod from Harry and Hermione smiled at him.

"Thanks Harry. Sometimes I get so lost in this quagmire of trashy testosterone that I forget that women are resourceful, intelligent beings that have always run things behind the scenes."

Another nod of his head and then Hermione was grabbing his Runes textbook.

"Righty! Let's see how far you've gotten with tomorrow's lesson..."

A thunk as Harry's head hit the table again had Hermione fussing over him and telling him how many brain cells he was killing off.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, Li Su narrowed her eyes and scribbled something onto her notepad. "Not a good start, Granger. Not. A. Good. Start."

Suddenly Hermione went completely silent. Harry gave her a little prod in her shoulder and she seemed to deflate.

"Hey- why do you think I'm not in the HWA?"

HP-BaB-HP

There was indeed, quite a lot of talking going on in the HWA meeting.

However, it seemed to be skirting the issue of the Triwizard Tournament with a deliberateness that was almost forced.

"Yes, Draco is still quite the catch...Looks wise anyways." Katie agreed with Hannah Abbott. "But his personality is just plain atrocious."

"Yes, I'm trying out behaviour modification on the Firsties- trying to make them more trainable you see?" Pansy told a curious Cho.

"And? Do you think it's working?" The Chinese girl asked.

"Well, it's early days yet. But I think it's having an effect..."

"I was hoping to try out for the team this year." Ginny Weasley complained to Angelina.

"Oh- that would have been so awesome! I think you have a great build for seeker- and let's face it. With Harry bloody Potter around we need a good seeker..."

The snatches of unorganized conversation continued thusly- carefully avoiding that subject.

That is, until Tracey Davis heaved a long suffering sigh and cleared her throat.

"So: who's not excited about this Tournament thing?"

An uncomfortable silence blanketed the room.

"Oh, come on you guys! It's not going to be that bad!" Hannah tried to force a smile.

"Not that bad- not that bloody bad?" Daphne burst out. "I don't know. If all of our previous years are something to go by, and You-Know-Who really is out there, then this is a huge security risk!"

"That's true- especially since so few people know and believe that he's returned..." Susan Bones mused.

"Now, now ladies. Look: You-Know-Who has kept pretty quiet so far. So who's to say that he'll try anything with this Tournament? That would kind of ruin his whole cloak and dagger routine, right? Especially since the ministry will be here regulating everything..." Mandy Brocklehurst soothed.

"Good point, Mandy." Katie nodded at the girl. "Security will be tighter here than ever before, so the odds are nothing will get through..."

"But there will be a bunch of strangers who will be coming to live amongst us for the year." Pansy pointed out. "One of them could be here as a spy for You-Know-Who."

"For that matter, I think we should get a foe glass and use it to go check the new DADA teacher..." Marietta Edgecombe said uneasily.

There was momentary silence as everyone took in this information.

"Fuck." Tracey muttered. "We are so screwed."

HP-BaB-HP

Viktor Krum grinned as he mounted his broom.

This was his territory. Here he shone. He wasn't gangly and flatfooted and clumsy and ungainly here, no. here he crushed any opposition.

And the opposition would be crushed.

Sure, he'd not won the duelling competition (his footwork was only good enough to get him into the quarter finals), and he'd landed dead last in the potions test(he was terrible at that subject), and he'd been barely beaten in the spells area.

But no one would beat him in the flying challenge.

He would be visiting Britain for the second time. And this time he would win again.

Okay, so he was a little bit competitive. But what was life if you didn't play to win? If he hadn't steadfastly clung to his dreams to be a professional quidditch player, he would never have made it.

Viktor Krum worked hard when he wanted something.

His work ethic tended to pay off.

Not only in quidditch, but in his studies as well.

Even with the year he'd taken off of school for the World Cup, he'd managed to keep his grades high enough to get into a well respected community college for a diploma in Magical Sports Management when he'd completed his schooling- which had made his parents far more proud than when he'd made the National Quidditch team.

He understood their reasoning very well- they had explained it to him. And it had allowed him to make his decisions with his future in mind.

But nothing would ever conquer his love for flying.

"All flyers to the starting point!" Professor Arnaut shouted.

Krum smiled at the rest of his classmates, before pulling to a stop mere feet from the professor. Arnaut just gave him a weak glare, far too used to him by now to really have any bite in it.

"Ready- steady- GO!" Arnaut swept his hand downwards and then it was just Krum and the obstacle course in front of him.

The first obstacle was ten poles that the flyers were supposed to weave through, and Viktor laughed delightedly as he weaved around them- upside down on his broom. Yes, it was showing off, but this was where he felt comfortable.

This was what he loved.

Next there were ten hoops on ten different levels- each a little smaller than the last- that they had to fly through.

Viktor did little loops through them, effortlessly staying in the lead.

Then he had to catch ten balls thrown at him by children from the lower years and put them each through their respective hoops (also on different levels and of decreasing size).

It took him, maybe, five seconds?

Another obstacle- this time dodging flying debris, then a quick loops of the qudditch field and Viktor Krum stopped inches in front of his Professor's face again.

"Very funny Mister Krum. Still. Krum wins! You will be sailing with all the other contenders. Now get out of my face please!"

Looking over his shoulder, Krum grinned to see that the next in line was only now entering the quidditch pitch again.

Oh yes, he loved flying.

And he was fucking good at it.

HP-BaB-HP

Thunder crashed.

Lighting split the sky.

The rain drummed incessantly onto the thatch of the roof.

Wait- a thatch roof? Why was there...?

Another flash of lightning blinded him.

And then there was something crawling on him, something long and slimy. Harry tried to bat it away but it caught his hand.

A pinprick of pain.

Which became a tearing feeling and suddenly the world's spinning all around him and he can't seem to stop it. A deep seated nausea makes itself known.

He lands on the floor with a thud. Cobwebs assail him and when he finally manages to swipe them away, he realizes he recognizes the cramped space around him.

The closet the Dursleys kept him in for seven years.

His next breath dies in his constricting throat.

The smell of desperation still clings to it. The little marks he made to count out the days of his punishment. The mattress where he had to stifle his childish cries. The book of fairytales he saved from the trashcans- that he'd taught himself to read and believe.

It had taken him a while to realize that only princesses got saved from the dragon.

And only the princes ever got the princesses.

The rest of the world had to save themselves, make do with what they got. The Dursleys were his dragon and his alone. So when he'd gotten the chance to go- he'd run as far as he could on his short legs could carry him.

But this place... this place would always haunt him.

The appeals for help.

The need for love, for attention.

For a sign that he was something.

Someone.

To not have the Dursleys warn him not to speak to anyone, or have them use him as the butt of their jokes. Not to be the one they took their anger out on.

Harry flinched at the phantom sound of a belt hitting sensitive flesh.

'You want to cry boy? I'll give you a reason to cry!'

Tang of blood.

'SHUT UP!'

Smell of piss.

'BAD BOY!'

Crack of bone.

The alarm had Harry sitting up with a gasp and before conciousness fully kicked in he ran into the bathroom.

His dinner had decided to pay him a visit.

Damned nightmares. They were getting more personal.

As Harry leaned his feverish head against the cool of the toilet bowl he knew that today was going to be hell.

HP-BaB-HP

A/N 2: Finally! We're getting into a bit of a plot here. It's not quite going to be thick yet, but important things are happening. Next chapter will be flashing forward in time a bit.

Thank you all SO much for your reviews! Even if I couldn't respond to them all this week (I was writing chemistry... and I royally suck at chemistry.) they still made me grin like a loon.

And to those who wondered how I know my math lecturer snuggles her textbook at night... -Waggles eyebrows suggestively- Ahem. No- she told us all that she does. And then promptly encouraged us to do the same... XD