Chapter Two

Severus hated these meetings but he really hated this one. He was going to have to swallow a great deal of crow and was not looking forward to it.

"Very well, where shall we start? Aw, Pomona, how is Mr. Diggory fairing?" Albus Dumbledore asked thee plump herbologist over his half-moon spectacles.

"Quite well, what with not knowing what is to come. I would say his time as a Quidditch player has helped. He's putting a great deal of effort into his studies to prepare," the Hufflepuff Head beamed in pride for her badger.

"Excellent to hear, what of our other student, Mr. Potter?" he asked looking at McGonagall expecting an answer from her or Moody only to be surprised to hear something from the last person he ever dreamed to speak.

"I believe you should stop this incessant nattering amongst the dunderheads we teach, Albus. It will not end well if it continues," Snape stated without his normal drawl or sneer causing everyone to stare at him.

"Severus, I don't believe I understand," Dumbledore stated.

"Albus, I just came from a purgatory of two hours with Gryffindors and Slytherins and the amount of idiocies was appalling even to me,"

"Don't start that again," Minerva interrupted expecting for him to start on her lions.

"Even I'm not so blind as to see that nearly the entire school is against him once more, or that the fact that no one is helping him, a fourteen year old going up against three seventeen year olds,"

"We can't help him, the rules state quite clearly,"

"Bollocks, Albus! I've seen Karkaroff, Maxime, and Pomona all helping their champions," Severus snapped, Sprout's cheeks pinked slightly as Dumbledore glance over to her.

"I'm sure, should he come to us we will help him," Dumbledore placated only to be brought up short by his Potions Master's retort.

"You old fool; Potter will never come to you for help, or any one of authority. It never worked in the past three years has it; the bit with the wolf can be over looked because he didn't hold himself over him or turned him away when he came to see him. He is turning to books from the Restricted Section. I saw three alone in his bag just this afternoon. It's unknown how long he's been in there. This is not a test that you should push him into lightly, Albus, you will only create one more Dark Lord,"

"Severus?" McGonagall muttered as the Headmaster stared in shock, his mind a whirl of thoughts.

"I know in the past I have not shown the best attitude toward him but even I can see where he could go. I attempted to warn him of that path but I refuse to lie to myself in thinking he would take it. I am a cruel and bitter man, I admit it, but I am not evil enough to wish anymore darkness on everyone,"

"Where…I mean, what has caused this change towards Mr. Potter?" Sprout stammered.

"There have been recent ordeals that have forced me to see things as they are, not as I perceived them," Snape muttered.

"Is he a threat?" Moody asked in a gravelly voice causing everyone to remember that he was there.

"It depends on how far he is pushed," Snape answered with a very worrying look on his face.

"Then we watch him and prepare for the worst," Moody added.

"So this room can change into anything" Hermione asked as she slowly looked around her at the massive room for practicing magic, including target dummies, bookshelves filled with everything from hair care spells to 1,001 Ways to Fillet Your Enemy, and an entire corner set aside for potion making. She finally turned back to stare at her friend.

"Well yeah, though you have to leave it if you want to change big things like needing a full bedroom instead of say just a couch or hammock to sleep in,"

"Is this where you've been sleeping? Oh Harry," Tears threatened to burst from her eyes at the sight of Harry's shrug.

"It's not so bad actually. I don't have to worry about anyone trying to kill me in my sleep. Come on, I'll show you my set-up," Harry added with a small grin as he lead her out of the room.

"Not to mention your talk with Hagrid," Hermione muttered as she watched him pace the hall three times once more.

"Oh that, it wasn't so much a talk as him leading me into the Forest and showing me what I am supposed to go up against," Harry stated as the door once more appeared. He opened it then held it for Hermione to enter. She was once more caught speechless as the cozy room was smaller and at a total difference to the one she had just left. Where that one was open with a high arched ceiling and gave plenty of room to move in dodging spells, this one was smaller but with a huge fireplace covering most of one entire wall with a blazing fire that kept the room warm but not stuffy. She looked around to see a comfortable looking couch in black suede with green and red throw pillows to accent it, a table with four chairs to the right of the couch and fireplace separating it from a double bed that was made with a black comforter with a crest that held the roaring lion of Gryffindor but also had Slytherin's serpent coiling around it but facing away as if to attack the same enemy. The shield behind them was silver while the snake was green and lion red. Hermione then noticed Harry's trunk at the foot of the bed and an empty owl perch standing next to it. She looked back to find Harry watching her intently.

"This is amazing, Harry. There are so many possibilities," she stated her voice an airy murmur, and her eyes shining.

"Nothing seems odd to you?" Harry asked, confusion coloring his voice even if his face was blank as if to prepare himself for her to go running and screaming. Hermione instantly went to him wrapping her arms around him.

"Of course not, I don't care about Houses; the only important thing is you. Now, tell me what's been going through that mind of yours that has kept you distant from me," she added as she dragged him over to the couch where she promptly pushed the center of his chest back. He fell back sitting as she sat next to him, twisting to face him and giving him her most expectant look. He let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his messy black hair.

"Alright, well first of all Hagrid decided that I needed some help so he let me follow him, under my cloak of course through the Forest. Mione, it's dragons. We have to go up against dragons! There's one for each of us, I'm sure Delacour knows as well as Krum as for Diggory…who knows. Mione…" Harry buried his face in his hands as he leaned forward.

Hermione stared at the boy next to her a moment in shock. She couldn't have heard him right; dragons were just…just, no!

"Dragons? Are you sure? I mean what could they possibly want you to do to it? It takes six fully trained handlers to simply stun one…"

"I have to get a damn gold egg. I have to risk my neck to get an egg and from nesting mother no less. Merlin!" He jumped to his feet to begin pacing the floor between them and the fire muttering about the stupidity of wizards bringing back the tournament in the first place. Hermione sat motionless as her mind was a whirl once more only this time it was tormented by seeing Harry as a mangled corpse of burns and claw gashes. She shook her mind free of those thoughts with a scream and ran to stop her friend in mid-stride with a bone crushing and desperate embrace.

"No! We'll…we'll think of something. Let's start with your research. Tell…tell me about that," she stammered as she buried her face into his neck. Harry stared down at the mass of hair to see the fire highlighting the red and gold tents to the soft brown, a gentle tickle of vanilla and pears pulling his nose around to nuzzle the soft tresses. His chest constricted as the thought of the possibility of losing her once more flashed in his mind. His research, he had forgotten that he had told her of it earlier. His arms instinctively tightened around her, catching her attention.

"Harry?"

"I…I, Hermione, I can't…you'll leave…" he managed through a tight throat. Hermione lifted her head to look at his face that for once revealed what he was thinking. The worry and anguish that she saw sent her mind back to remembering the amount of books that were darker in the other room, then to the time where she had found him in front of the Restricted Section.

"Tell me, Harry, I haven't left you yet, and I won't. I'll always be by your side," she stated cupping his cheek as his green eyes snapped to hers.

"Dark Arts, I've found a few curses that have the prospects of giving me a better chance of surviving. I've looked at everything else, but I just can't find anything like them among the Light stuff. Hermione, please, I couldn't take it if you thought less of me for it…Mi?" his voice faded as she stepped back from him with tears brimming her eyes.

"Mi, please say something, anything," he pleaded.

"Dark Arts…why would you even think of them? It's the very thing that everyone is calling you now. It's the thing that I thought we were trying to defeat by stopping Voldemort? I don't understand," she finally muttered after a few agonizing seconds of silence where the crackle of the fire was the only noise in the room.

"I don't care about them anymore, Mi, they've turned against me so many times already. The Death Eaters and Voldemort aren't using trip-jinxes and ticklers; I might as well fight fire with fire. Mi," Harry stopped as a hardness came over his friend's usually warm brown eyes.

"What are you going to do? Send a dark spell at the next person who mutters something against you? Harry, they are called dark for a reason. They can erode at your humanity, your morals. They are no reason to look into that path, Ronald and Malfoy aren't worth your soul," she berated with a wave of her arm towards the door.

"This isn't about them, they are nothing! School yard bullies can't do anything to me anymore after Dudley and his gang, after living with Vernon for ten years straight and three summers. Hermione, the only reason I'm in this fucking tournament is because Voldemort or some supporter of his is trying to kill me without it looking like them! I don't know where to turn! All Dumbledore does is twinkle his damn eyes and pats me on the head, McGonagall doesn't listen; Sirius and Remus can't help because one is on the run from the Ministry and the other is a pariah in his own right! I have nowhere else to turn to! I don't want to die without taking Voldemort out first," Harry exploded but came to a world-weary whisper as he dropped his hands to his sides while he turned away from Hermione to gaze into the flames. Hermione stared at her friend as she finally let the tears that had been burning her eyes since he had first said dragons. Shaking her head as she slowly stepped up to gently touch his shoulder, the muscles beneath her fingers tensing.

"Oh Harry, I know that is why you have to be a part of this barbaric thing. I'm just afraid that if you start down this path that I won't be able to bring you back at the end. I care about you and I don't want to have to face a time where I will either have to kill you myself or see you being sent to that awful prison,"

Harry looked over to her seeing the tears freely falling.

"It won't come to that, Mi. As long as you're with me I won't fall that far. You keep me human," he added framing her face, brushing her tears away with his thumbs. He gave her a small grin as she finally smiled her own small one before she once more buried her face into his neck taking comfort in his arms.

"What are we going to do?" she mumbled, her lips brushing across his skin sending a shiver down his spine.

"We'll think of something, we always do," he answered leaning into her hair.