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Disclaimer: No matter how many times I wish, it never happens...I still don't own the rights to Harry Potter or Fairy Tail
A few weeks later, Sting called another guild meeting, and they went over their plan for the first event.
Hermione stood up at the start of the meeting.
"Harry was told by Hagrid that the first task will involve dragons," she said simply, before sitting down and smirking at Sting and Rogue's gobsmacked expressions.
"Holy fucking shit..." Sting swore under his breath. "Real fucking dragons?! Hell, I haven't seen one of them since Weisslogia and Skiadrum disappeared."
Rogue nodded, and Sting turned to Hermione. "Weisslogia and Skiadrum are the dragons that raised us, like Igneel did with Natsu. That's why we're adoptive brothers - because our dragon-fathers were brothers, and in dragon clans, that kind of relation meant we were brothers, or something - I never paid attention in the dragon-culture lessons."
Rogue smirked at his brother. "Not just dragon-culture. He always thought that 'lesson' was synonymous with 'nap-time'," he explained to Hermione with a chuckle. The brunette just rolled her eyes.
Sting grinned. "Hey, I needed my beauty sleep..." He said, grinning.
"Still do," muttered Minerva under her breath, and Hermione had to choke back a laugh. Oblivious, Sting turned back to the topic of the first task.
"This should be a piece of cake for Rogue and Erza. I'm guessing that these will be regular, fire-breathing dragons, so Erza can use either her flame-resistant armour or her protective armour, and Rogue can withstand most flames if he makes a shadow-cocoon," Sting said, and Rogue nodded in agreement.
Over the next hour, they came up with a foolproof plan to help Rogue and Erza retrieve the eggs, and Hermione made a mental note to ask Professor Snape if they could brew some felix felicis - just in case.
As the morning of the first task dawned, Rogue shadow travelled into the Gryffindor common room where Erza, Hermione, Sting and the others were waiting for him. They met up with the rest of Sabertooth in the entrance hall before going to breakfast. Both Durmstrang and Hogwarts students were already in the Great Hall, so when the Mahoutokoro group and Hermione walked in, all heads turned to look at them.
Lucy had summoned Cancer and Virgo to give all the girls make-overs, and most of the boys jaws dropped as they stalked towards the front of the room. Minerva waved her hand and summoned a table with her magic, taking a seat to the right of Sting, who sat at the head of the table.
Rogue, Erza, Hermione, Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Yukino sat down and smirked at everyone who was staring. Hermione removed her outer robe, which revealed her guild mark, making the Mahoutokoro students who didn't already know gasp in surprise.
Breakfast itself was a solemn affair - after all, people had died before in the tri-wizard tournament. When they had all finished, Hermione's group rose as one, and made their way to the arena that had been specially built for the tournament.
Sting clasped Rogue's hand in some kind of handshake before making his way to the stands, followed by everyone except Erza, who left to talk to Jellal, and Hermione.
She stood there awkwardly at first, but suddenly grabbed Rogue and hugged him fiercely. "If you die out there, I'll kill you," she hissed, and he smiled gently at her.
"I'll be careful, don't worry," he said, and stopped abruptly as if he was about to say something but decided not to.
Hermione raised her eyebrow in a silent question, and Rogue audibly gulped. "If I-If I survive, willyougototheyuleballwithme?" He asked, so fast that Hermione could barely make out the words. She grinned at him.
"Don't be an idiot, Rogue. Of course you'll survive," she said, and began to walk away.
"Oh, and by the way, yes, I'll go with you," she winked, and Rogue walked into the champions tent with a stupidly huge grin on his face.
"Gather round, gather round," said Barty Crouch. "Okay, this task will require you to steal a golden egg from the nest of a dragon - yes, a real dragon! You will be judged on the skills you display, how fast you can complete the task and your teamwork. We have three dragons - a Chinese Fireball, a Common Welsh Green and a Hungarian Horntail. Each team will select a dragon from this bag, and that will also decide the order in which they compete."
Barty held out a velvet bag, and Viktor, Cedric and Erza drew their dragons. Viktor and Petya would face the Chinese Fireball, Harry and Cedric would face the Common Welsh Green, and Erza and Rogue would face the Hungarian Horntail, with the Durmstrang champions going first and Mahoutokoro last.
Waiting inside the tent, Rogue sat stoically in his chair, eyes closed, waiting to be sent in. Erza was in the opposite corner, sharpening her favourite sword, and he could hear the skree, skree of the whetting stone.
The noise was strangely comforting, and ten minutes later, when Cedric and Harry went in, Rogue opened his eyes and went to sit by Erza. The red head wordlessly handed him a dagger, and he tucked it in his boot and tied his shoulder length hair back with a leather band.
Gathering his shadows in preparation, he and Erza stood by the doors, waiting for their cannon to go off. As the shot sounded, they nodded at each other and ran out onto the field, only to be greeted immediately by a blast of fire. When the smoke cleared, Erza took to the air, wearing her flame-empress armour, distracting the dragon whilst Rogue talked to it.
"Oh mighty Horntail, I beg you, please do not kill me or my comrade. I come with honourable intentions. One of the eggs the humans have placed in your nest is an imposter. Please allow me to remove it," he hissed in the strange raspy tongue of the dragons.
The dragon turned her attention from Erza to him. "Why should I believe you, hatchling?" She hissed in return.
Rogue inclined his head. "You must simply investigate your nest and locate the imposter. If you give it to me, I shall dispose of it," he replied, and the dragon wandered over to her nest. Sniffing the eggs, her reptilian eyes widened in surprise as she realised that one of the eggs was indeed fake. She carefully picked it up in her mouth and carried it over to Rogue and Erza, who had now landed on the ground.
"I must thank you for bringing this to my attention. As a reward, I shall not kill you or your comrade," she said, dropping the egg into Rogue's hands before giving him a wide, fanged grin.
The shadow-dragon slayer smiled in return, and held the egg over his head in a sign of triumph. The crowd went wild, and no-one cheered louder than a certain bookwormish brunette in the Hogwarts stands.
After the champions were cleaned up, and any wounds treated, they were allowed to mingle with their schoolmates. As soon as Rogue left the tent, he was thumped on the back by Sting, who congratulated him, as did the rest of his guild. Then, Hermione cane rocketing out of the crowd after greeting Harry.
She grabbed him in a bone-crushing hug, giving him a face full of hair. "I'm so glad you're safe," she whispered into his chest, and squeezed him even tighter. Luckily for Rogue's ribs, the judges chose that moment to announce the placings.
"In third place, we have Durmstrang School for Young Wizards and Witches. For this, they gain no points. In second place, we have Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who have a total of 5 points. And in first place, we have Mahoutokoro Academy of Magical Prowess, who now have 10 points!" Dumbledore announced over the loudspeaker. Hermione cheered with the rest of her new friends, and joined the parade as they carried Rogue and Erza into the Great Hall for lunch.
A/N - Dragons. Rarrr. I'm sure Natsu's depressed about not being the champion now, but it's for the best - I mean, he probably would have spent the whole time trying to get the dragon to tell him where Igneel was...even if it didn't know...
I love all you wonderful reviewers, keep doing what you do best. Hope you're enjoying the story so far •^_^•