I would like to thank everyone that reviewed, your the reason I got this chapter out so early, and to those wondering this will be a Harry/Roman and Ginny story unless people are completely against it, I usually prefer for him to end up with Hermione but Ginny just seemed more suitable for this story.
~R~}
"Wow" said Lavender,
"Uh huh" agreed the other girls sitting outside at six thirty, you wouldn't normally finds students outside that early in the morning, but after Lavender had seen the Roman Pollius training near the lake in only black shorts and a tank top, that showed off his ripped muscles outside of her window, she had immediately gotten dressed and run outside only too see a number of other girls sitting down and watching him already, and not only ten minutes later, a number of other girls had come out with the same idea and it seemed that they just kept on coming, it wasn't just Hogwarts girls of course, their were some Beauxbatons and Durmstrang girls watching, but it was a sea of girls nonetheless
Roman had gotten up at five to start his new training regime, after some warming up exercises and stretching, he had decided to run around the lake, and he had since cursed Hogwarts and it abnormally large lake a thousand times, it was wider then he had assumed, and after an hour and a half of running, he could see where he had started and to his surprise, girls, not some girls but a lot of them, and he inwardly groaned.
When he had completed his run, he dropped down and started doing push ups, he had to be physically fit, not only for the quidditch match's up ahead but for the tournament, 'eternal glory' the words kept crossing his mind and he knew all this would one day be worth it
When he had reached a hundred push ups, he flipped to his back and started doing sit ups
~R~}
There was only ten minutes left of breakfast when Roman walked into the hall and spotted Xavier sitting at the Ravenclaw table, next to a girl with dirty blond hair
Xavier looked up, when Roman approached and smiled and started talking in Bulgarian
"I saved you some toast and juice" he said indicating the plate and cup in front of him, "and my father replied, he sent us the files, they should be here by lunchtime" he smirked
Roman couldn't help but smile, having the son of the minister of magic as your best friend certainly made things easier
"He told me to tell you that if we're found with those files, that he had nothing to do with it"
"Of course" Roman smirked finishing his toast and downing his juice, Luna looked on confused
Xavier handed him the daily prophet, "you won't believe what's going on in this country" he smiled
Curious Roman grabbed the newspaper and started to read, the headline shocked him
Peter Pettigrew Notorious Death Eater Escapes out Of Azkaban
"No way" Roman breathed
"Way" Xavier said "and rumour has it that Dementors are headed to Hogwarts"
~R~}
It was eight o'clock in the evening when Roman entered the Durmstrang ship, he would go back out the minute the Slytherines were done practising on the pitch, he wasn't use to not having access to a quidditch pitch whenever he wanted, but in Hogwarts it seemed to always be booked, every morning, every lunchtime and every evening
He spotted Xavier, who moved towards him
"Their in my room" he smiled and they silently headed towards his room
The room was large, its window showing the Hogwarts ground, their were two beds in the room, but it was currently empty, everyone except the champion had to share
Xavier brought out two large files and they both sat down on the bed, he passed one to Roman and moved closer so that he could see
The files were from the French and British ministries, and they were the files of Susan Bones and Elise Adelaide, some would call it cheating but Roman called it preparing.
They opened the first one and saw a small picture of Elise, it had her entire life in it, reports on her childhood, any accidental magic, her school report, detentions and her grades, and what her career prospects were
"You think our files are like this?" Xavier asked in Bulgarian
"I hope not" Roman said, the idea that someone knew so much about him creped him out, they looked at each other and instantly agreed, they were going to ask for their files and see what everyone thought of them.
"Her family's important" Xavier read, "their pretty high up politically"
"Look at her grades" Roman said, his eye brows going higher, "this girls smart" he said shaking his head
"So are you!" Xavier said trying to cheer his friend up, "this is nothing you can't handle"
"Thanks" Roman smiled; it reminded him of the pep talk Xavier had given him right before the quidditch world cup
They moved onto Susan Bone's file
"Her aunt is powerful" Xavier said, "but apart from that, nothing we can't handle"
"She's good at charms" Roman commented, "could be a problem, later on"
"Yeah right" Xavier said taking the files out of Romans hand, "these two are no match for you" he said waving the files around, "you'll win this thing, hands down, alright" he said, "Now can we please talk about something else" Xavier smiled
Roman smirked and said "what's going on with you and that Ravenclaw"
Xavier lost his smile
~R~}
Roman flew around the quidditch pitch as fast as he could, Quaffle in hand, he was trying to perfect a quidditch move
He would throw the Quaffle through a hoop, then dive and try to grab it before it hit the floor
He barely grabbed the Quaffle before it hit the floor and pulled out of the dive
"Nice move" said a voice and Roman saw James Potter, standing at the edge of the pitch, "pretty easy to score without a keeper" he smiled looking nervous
Roman didn't know what to say, there was a small chance that the man in front of him could be his biological father and it wasn't like the man was shouting and screaming, demanding him to take a test, he had been nothing but polite
"Are you offering?" Roman asked
The man looked shocked before a small smile graced his face
"Why not?" James said and went over to end of the pitch and got himself a broom, and then flew to the hoops, "give me your best shot" he said, words he would live to regret
James was a better keeper then Xavier but Roman was just a damn good chaser, scoring shot after shot, James did manage to save quite a few to Romans surprise, an hour later they mounted off their brooms and sat on the grass.
Roman had brought his backpack with him, filled with sandwiches and drinks
"Thank you" James said taking the sandwich and drink offered to him
"Vat ver you doing 'ere?" Roman asked suddenly
James understood and said, "I came to see Hagrid, he's the caretaker here, he's a family friend and I visit him from time to time"
"Do you often play quidditch" Roman said, "you are not a bad keeper"
James laughed, elated that he was having an actual conversation with his possible son; he couldn't wait to tell Lily
"I actually use to play for the house team, right here at Hogwarts, for Gryffindor...I was a chaser" he smiled
"Ver you any good" Roman asked intrigued
"I think so" James smiled, "we won the quidditch cup twice, so I guess that's something"
"Zat iz imprezzive" Roman smiled
"So, how did you get in to quidditch" James asked, determined to keep the conversation going
Roman took a bite out of his sandwich and said, "my fazzer took me to my first game ven I vas four, and I immediately fell in love wit it, he brought me my first broom after a month of begging" Roman said wistfully and James had trouble swallowing his bite, he had taken Alexander and Annie to a ton of quidditch matches but he had always dreamed of taking Harry as well, the fact that another man got the chance, left a sour taste in his mouth
"Vat difference vil it make?"Roman suddenly asked, shocking James
"What?" James said confused
"If I vas your zon or not vat difference would it make, I don't vant a relationship wit you or your family, I 'ave a family and I 'ad a great fazzer, I do not vant another" the boy said coldly
James took a deep breath and then said calmly, "I understand that and no matter how difficult it is for us to accept, you are not Harry you are indeed Roman, and if the test came back positive your life would be in turmoil" he looked into Roman's emerald green eyes, "but our lives have been in turmoil for the past sixteen years, wondering if Harry is alive or not and one way or the other this test will bring my family piece even if you decide that you want nothing to do with us"
Roman stood up and packed his stuff away
"Fine" he said much to James's surprise, "I'll take ze test but no matter ze result, I am not 'arry Potter and I vant nothing to do vit you" and with that he stalked off.
Unbeknown to the two Alex Potter had been watching them from his dorm room, although he couldn't hear a word they said, his father and the Durmstrang champion talking and playing quidditch did confuse him
~R~}
Roman sat in the Hogwarts library, ignoring the cluster of girls staring at him and going through every book on dragons he could find, large creatures that could possibly eat him, scared him more then anything
He had to admit Hogwarts had a pretty amazing library, one of the best he had ever seen
"Are you okay?" asked a voice startling him, Roman jumped up and spotted a bushy haired girl wearing Hogwarts robes
"Yes, yes" Roman said quickly, "I vas just looking around" he lied, it would not do good for anyone to find out that he knew what the first task was
"Maybe I can help?" the girl offered and then she stuck her hand out, "I'm Hermione Granger"
Roman shook her hand, "Roman Pollius" he said, "I doubt you can 'elp" he said, "I'm looking for bookz on large magical creaturez"
Hermione smiled at him and then walked behind some book shelves, she came back a while later with three large books
"I assume this if for the first task" she said as she placed the books in front of him and started flicking through them, Roman could do nothing but look on, when she looked at him, he realised that he was suppose to answer, he nodded his head
"Well" she said as she sat down next to him, "since you don't know what the first task is going to be about you should really stick to what your good at" she said businesses like, "like charms, or potions or transfiguration-"
"Flying" Roman suddenly said, shocking her
"What?" Hermione asked confused
"I am good at flying" Roman said, "don't get me wrong, I am zmart, but I am most excellent at flying" he smiled
"I don't doubt you are" Hermione said, "and if you think flying will help, the first thing you should do is summon your broom" she said as she turned back to the books
~R~}
Sirius watched as Roman walked into the room behind the teachers table and towards a woman with hair so bright that it looked silver and Viktor Krum
The women jumped up and hugged Roman and started rapidly talking in Bulgarian
Sirius picked out the word 'Rommy' and failed to hold in chuckle
It was the day of the first task and the other two champions were also in the room with their families
Sirius and James where there to take the families to the stadium
The girl suddenly grabbed Roman's ear, the one with the earring and started scolding him, even though she was talking in a foreign language Sirius knew what a scolding looked like.
"Ouch" Sirius commented, then realised that his friend was deep in his thoughts, "earth to James" he all but yelled
"What?" James asked, staring at Roman and the people he was with
"What's the matter?" Sirius asked, then realising what his friend was looking at he added "I thought he agreed to take the test"
"He did" James frowned, "but even if he does turn out to be Harry, he doesn't want anything to do with us"
"Did he say that" Sirius asked watching the boy excitedly talking to his family
"Yep" James said
"It doesn't mean that it'll always be like that" Sirius said, "hell, none of us thought he would do the test, it'll take some time, you've missed sixteen years of his life, we all have, and you just have to take it one day at a time"
There was a pregnant pause, then James said "wow, you've really grown up, Sirius" he smiled
"Don't go telling anyone" Sirius laughed, "I have a rep to keep"
~R~}
Roman sat on a stool inside the big tent with the other champions, on the outside he was cool and composed but on the inside he was squirming like a little child, this oddly reminded him of when he was eight and he had broken Juliet's favourite doll, he was seated in his fathers office waiting for him to return to punish him, the memory did nothing to calm his nerves.
He had figured out a way to beat the dragon, his broom, he was quick and nimble, more then a match for any dragon and it was thanks to Hermione Granger that he had thought of it.
Bagman walked in wearing his old Wasps quidditch robes, it was a hideous yellow colour and Roman was sure that the robes would match his vomit.
"Ah, you're all here, fantastic" Beamed Bagman, unaware of the tense atmosphere
Roman could have sworn that he see saw Elise's fingers twitch towards her wand
"Well, time to get started" Bagman beamed holding up a sack
Roman could hear hundreds of voices outside the tent, and he felt exactly as he had the day of the final quidditch world cup, he kept his mouth shut for fear that if he opened it, he would throw up.
"Each of you will select a small model of the thing you are about to face" beamed Bagman, "there are different varieties, you see, and I have to tell you something else too...ah yes...your task is to get the golden eggs"
"Ladies first" smiled Bagman and Susan Bones stood up and put her shaking hand inside the sack, and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon-a welsh green with the number two around its neck
Susan shrieked and dropped the little dragon, "Dragons" she paled, " we have to face Dragons" and then seeing the unsurprised looks on Roman and Elise's face she whirled on them, "you knew we were facing dragons" she said scornfully
"It iz a competition" said Elise, flipping her hair, "get over it"
Susan looked like she wanted to say something but kept her mouth shut, picked up her dragon and went to sit down
Elise went next; she pulled her hand in the sack and pulled out a scarlet Chinese fireball, with the number one around its neck
With a resigned sigh, Roman pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, with the number three tied around its neck.
"Well, there you are!"Said Bagman, "you have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on your dragon, Ms Adelaide, you will be first, then Ms Bones and then Mr Pollius-now I must go, I'm commentating you see"
Bagman left the tent, and the three champions were left alone, Susan Bones looked green and Elise was starting to shake, Roman wasn't sure he could walk without throwing up, why, oh why, did he put his name in that stupid goblet.
'Eternal glory' he thought mockingly, what good was that when you were dead
A whistle blew from a distance and they all looked at Elise, she stood and briskly walked out of the tent
It was soon Susan's turn and the finally Romans, he slowly got up and left
He saw hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from the stands and their was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, and for the hundredth time that day, Roman wondered what had possessed him to put his name in the goblet.
He took a calming breath and raised his wand high up into the air
"Accio Firebolt!" he shouted
He could feel everyone's eyes upon him, this was as bad as the quidditch world cup, the Horntail raised her spiked tail and wacked it into the ground, leaving a yard-long gouge mark in the hard ground
'No' he amended feeling the bile rise up in his throat; this was worse then the quidditch world cup
And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling towards him, it stopped dead mid-air beside him, Bagman was shouting something, But Roman wasn't listening and the crowd was making a lot of noise
He swung his leg over the broom, and kicked off from the ground, he soared upwards high above the stand and high above the Horntail, he finally felt safe and he was now determined to get the egg
"Clever idea" roared Bagman, "we all know he can fly but how good is he against a dragon"
He looked down at the clutch of eggs and spotted the golden one and he dived, he flew this way and that, ducking and diving, making the Horntail angrier and it was obvious that the crowd was getting excited
Ten minutes later Roman flew even closer, 'come one' he thought, 'get up'
He had finally angered the Horntail enough and she reared, spreading her wings at last, as wide as those of a small aeroplane-and Roman dived , before anyone realised what he had done , he was speeding towards the ground as fast as he could go, towards the egg now unprotected by her clawed, front legs-he had taken his hands off of his Firebolt-he had seized the golden egg-and he was off soaring out over the Horntail and the stands, the heavy egg safely in his hand.
Applause shattered the wintry air like breaking glass
"Look at that" Bagman was yelling, "Fifteen minutes, Roman Pollius got his egg in just under fifteen minutes, brilliant! But what more do we expect from the Durmstrang champion"
The air suddenly felt cold and Bagman stopped talking, Roman was still high up in the air above the rest of them but even he could hear when the crowd below drew back breath and he soon realised why, flying towards him were Dementors.
~R~}
Xavier could do nothing but watch as Dementors surrounded his best friend
"Fly down" Juliet yelled in Bulgarian, but it was doubtful that Roman would be able to hear
The whole crowd seemed to be in shock as the Dementors moved closer to Roman until one was right in front of him
"Expecto Patronum" yelled out a voice and Xavier saw that Professor Dumbledore had stood up, his wand aimed at Roman and the look on the mans face terrified him, the phoenix patronus scared off ten or fifteen Dementors but their were a lot more and one of them had Romans head tightly in his grasp, suddenly Romans broom came crashing as well as his wand and the golden egg, only the Dementor that was sucking his soul out was holding him in mid air, suddenly most of the adults stood up as if the sound of Romans broom had awoken them all, and as one, they all sent out a patronus, and in a few seconds the Dementors had run off and Roman was hurtling down headed straight towards the ground, it was only Dumbledore's quick thinking that saved him.
Dumbledore used a spell that slowed Roman down and gently laid him on the ground.
The minute his body touched the floor, the rest of the crowd seem to awaken, the Durmstrang students ran towards him, with Karkaroff and Juliet in the lead, Dumbledore right behind them
"This is a joke" roared Karkaroff, "you have Dementors attack our champion"
"vil 'e be alright" Juliet asked Dumbledore, who had created a stretcher and placed Roman on it
"Minerva" he said to one of the Hogwarts professor, "tell Poppy to return to the infirmary at once and send for help from St Mungo's, Igor you shall take your students back to your ship, Madam Maxine you shall do the same, the heads of houses will take students back to their dorms" he said in a voice that left no room for argument,
Xavier ignored Karkaroff and followed Juliet and Viktor to the infirmary, from the corner of his eyes he spotter Rita Skeeter looking like Christmas had come early