Harry stood outside with the rest of the school as he waited for the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrung to arrive. It was late October and and he was starting to freeze standing so still. The night was only young but it was uncharacteristically cold for this time of year and he only had his summer robes on. Still, he was used to the cold from all the time he spent at the Dursley's without blankets in the night, so it did not bother him all that much.
Despite the cold, he waited patiently with the rest of his classmates, who were getting restless. Ron was going through a list of different ways the students might arrive, with Hermione knocking each one on the head. Harry had to admit, most of his idea's were fairly ridiculous, the Durmstrung students riding in on dragons was about as extreme as it got.
"Ronald, your ideas are getting more and more ridiculous. Can't you just wait and see when they turn up?" Hermione was irritable. Ron grumbled in reply.
Suddenly, Dumbledore spoke up. "Ah! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
The students frantically scanned the are around them, unable to locate the Beauxbatons students. Finally a 6th year gained their attention, pointing to the sky above the forest.
There was a large, something. Flying through the air towards Hogwarts. It started off too small to make out but grew larger and larger until Harry worked out that it was some kind of flying carriage. It was powder blue and pulled by a dozen winged horses.
"Hermione, what are those?" Harry asked her quietly.
"Uh, I actually don't know." Hermione replied.
"Wait, what? You don't know something?" Harry teased.
"Shut up you." Hermione ended the conversation there.
The carriage landed with a crash that made a few students jump before coming to a screeching halt. Harry couldn't believe what he saw next.
A student (he assumed) opened the door and folded out a set of golden steps. After which the largest woman he had seen in his life emerged. She was on par with Hagrid in size but Harry was still in awe. If she wasn't the size she was she would have been quite beautiful, Harry summed up in his head, in an older sort of way. She was dressed in black satin and and plenty of jewellery.
Dumbledore started to clap and the rest of the students joined in as the Beauxbatons students filed out of the carriage. The clapping stopped however as the last girl got out. Harry recognised her as the beautiful blonde from the top box at the World Cup. She really was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, he thought to himself. However it seemed all of the guys around him were mesmerised. He looked around to see most of them staring at her, open mouthed. Ron was drooling until Harry punched him, quite hard, in the arm.
"Hey! What was that for?" Ron squealed.
"Don't stare. Its rude." Hermione got there before Harry.
Harry felt quite sorry for the girl, with everyone staring at her. But the trance seemed to be broken by Dumbledore greeting the large woman.
The large woman, after her conversation with Dumbledore, gathered up her students and led them into the castle. The beautiful blonde seemed to recognise him on the way past and gave him a warm smile, which he returned before focusing his attention back on Dumbledore. Hermione unfortunately, seemed to notice the exchange.
"What was all that about Harry?" Hermione asked.
"What was what about?" Harry asked back.
"That girl and you." Hermione pressed.
"Oh, um. I don't know really. She was in the top box from the world cup and I think she might have recognised me." Harry scratched the back of his head.
"Why can it never be me." Ron whined from Hermione's other side.
"Probably because you couldn't help but drool when you saw her." Hermione snapped at him.
Ron fired back a retort which Harry didn't catch as he zoned out. They had only been at school for two months and the bickering between his two friends was pretty bad. He tended to zone out whenever they started.
They were interrupted however by a loud rumbling.
"Now what is that?" Ron hesitantly asked.
"The lake." Harry heard Lee Jordan shout.
He looked over just in time to see a ship burst through the surface of the water. The ship looked like something out of an old pirate tale. The students started to disembark and he got the feeling they were from somewhere cold, their uniforms were built to keep body heat in. A shifty looking man, he assumed to be the headmaster, went up and shook Dumbledore's hand. His eyes were drawn back to the students though as the last of the Durmstrung entourage emerged. He didn't need the painful elbow in the ribs and pointing from Ron to tell him what he already knew. He recognised the man.
It was Viktor Krum.
.
Half an hour had passed since the students from the other institutions had arrived. They were all now seated in the Great Hall, Harry could see why they had needed extra table space. The foreign students had settled in it seemed with the Durmstrung students sitting with Slytherin and the Beauxbatons students settling in with the Ravenclaws. It gave him great pleasure to see, as he looked across the hall, that Krum was completely ignoring Malfoy's attempts to make conversation.
He heard Dumbledore at the front of the room.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and most particularly, guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable." He beamed around the room.
One of the Beauxbatons students laughed at his words.
"The Tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink and make yourselves at home." He concluded.
The sound of clattering of plates, scraping of knives and forks filled the room as students filled their plates with food. Harry looked around at the range of new dishes that filled the table and decided for tonight he might stick away from them.
"I can't believe that Krum is really here." Ron looked over at the surly looking Bulgarian.
"Really Ronald, he is just a quidditch player." Hermione scolded.
"Just a… just a quidditch player." Ron spluttered in disbelief. "She really has no clue does she."
"It is just a game." Hermione replied while scooping up some of a soup Harry didn't recognise.
"He is the best seeker in the world Hermione." Ron said as Harry sighed. They were always at it.
He heard a voice come from behind him. "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"
Harry turned around and saw the beautiful blonde girl from Beauxbatons, at this distance he could see she had big, round, blue eyes.
"I'm sorry, which one is that?" He asked her, not knowing what on earth bouillabaisse was.
"It is zat one." She replied, pointing to the soup that Hermione was eating before.
"Ah, right." He turned to Hermione who was now looking at him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ron turning purple. "Hermione are you done with the soup?"
"Bouillabaisse Harry. And yes I am." Hermione replied. Harry grabbed the fish soup and handed it to the Beauxbatons girl.
She thanked him and turned to walk back to her table when he had a though. "You were at the World Cup, weren't you?"
She turned back to him with a smile. "I was indeed. My name is Fleur Delacour."
"Harry Potter." He replied sticking out his hand. She took one hand off the soup and shook it. Her hand was slender in his, but he let go of it quickly.
"I know who you are 'Arry Potter. My sister wanted me to say 'ello to you for 'er." She said, at the mention of her sister, another smile graced her face. "Anyway "Arry, I should be getting back to my table."
With that she left. Harry turned back to his friends. Ron still looked like he had swallowed a bee while Hermione was looking at him with a strange look. He decided to find out about the latter.
"What?" He asked Hermione.
"Nothing." She replied with a grin. Harry shook his head and returned to his dinner. Ron, it seemed had finally snapped out of his stupor.
"What is wrong with you?" Hermione asked him.
"I am telling you, that is not a normal girl." He responded, still a little dazed.
"Don't be ridiculous Ronald, of course she is a normal girl." Hermione said with disgust. "If you could have not oogled her for 5 seconds you would have realised.
But Harry had seen her walk back across the room, most of the boys she walked past had a similar look to Ron on their faces before being brought back to reality by someone close to them. But Harry decided it was a thought for another day as Dumbledore spoke up again.
"The moment has come. The Triwizard tournament is about to start. I would like to introduce two people before we open the tournament. Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch." Dumbledore indicated to his left.
Harry hadn't even noticed them turn up.
"Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch have worked tirelessly to set up this tournament for you so I hope that you treat them with the respect they deserve while they are here." Dumbledore lowered he hand that had been indicating to the two men. "Now, tomorrow night at the Halloween feast the champions from our three schools will be chosen. Let me introduce you to the thing that will be making the choices."
Harry looked to the centre of the platform where a protective box was melting away before his very eyes. It revealed an old stone cup.
"This is the Goblet of Fire, any student wishing to enter must write their name and school on a piece of parchment and drop it into the cup. Students will be able to submit their names for selection from dawn tomorrow until 6pm in the evening. Submissions will then be closed and the champions drawn in the evening. Now I believe that Mr Crouch wants to make an announcement." Dumbledore let Barty Crouch have the floor.
"It has been decided that for your own safety, no student under the age of seventeen will be able to enter the tournament." Barty Crouch announced. But before he could return to his seat there was an uproar from the students sitting in the hall.
"SILENCE." Dumbledore roared above the noise of the students.
"I give you a final warning. This carefully before you enter this tournament. Being drawn from the cup means you will enter a binding magical contract. Once drawn, you must compete. The champions will face dangers beyond what any of you could imagine. Just be sure that you are willing to compete before putting your name in. And with that, I bid you all Goodnight." Dumbledore sat back down.
The students started to shuffle out of the hall. Harry had a question that had been on his tongue since Dumbledore made his speech.
"Hermione." He caught her attention. "What happens if you break a magical contact?"
"You lose your magic." Hermione said, simply.
Harry stopped halfway up the stairs, Ron bumped into him.
"So you become a squib?" Harry wanted to clarify.
"You become a Neville yeah." Ron laughed.
"That is horrible Ronald." Hermione yelped as she slapped his arm. "Neville is a fine wizard. But yes Harry, you lose the ability to use magic."
Harry thought about this the way up to the common room. It had been a long day and he bid Hermione goodbye as he and Ron trudged up to their dormitory. Harry's thought had been changing though from squibs to a nicer topic. He fell asleep thinking of big, round, blue eyes.
.
Fleur woke up with the chirping of the birds outside her window. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. 8:36am. She sighed and stretched before getting out of bed. She looked around her room, a small but cosy room with a bed, a couch, a desk and a small ensuite. Each of the students had a room to themselves. She looked in the mirror and gave herself a decisive look. Today was the day, that she would enter herself in the tournament. It was time to show her peers that she was not just a pretty face, that she was equal to, if not more powerful than the rest of them. There was a nagging voice in the back of her head however that said otherwise. What if she didn't do well in the tournament? Wouldn't that only confirm their suspicions?
She shook the thought from her head as she walked into the bathroom. She got in the shower and let the hot water fall over her body. The steam helped clear her head. She couldn't think like that. If she was selected, she would give it her all.
Her thoughts drifted back to the previous night. She had to know if he really wasn't affected by her. Thats why she pulled the stunt with the soup. And it only reinforced what she already knew, he wasn't like most men.
She got out of the shower and prepared herself for the day. She sat in front of the mirror and tried to decide what make up to wear. In all honesty, she didn't even have to bother with it, but she did, as most girls her age do. It was a comfort thing, to make her feel like a normal girl. She loved the fact that she was part Veela, and she was proud of her family, but sometimes she liked being human too.
It was as she left her room that the mask she wore took over. She knew it was bitchy, but it was a part of who she was. Well, it was a part of the Fleur that everyone saw. The real Fleur was only known by a handful of people, Mélanie and Zoé included. She passed a few people on the way to find her two friends and let out a few icy greetings on the way.
She reached Mélanie's door and knocked, to which there was no answer. She tried Zoé's just to be met with the same response. A quick scan of the meal room confirmed that they must have already gone. She left the carriage in a huff and marched her way up to the Great Hall. She didn't even bother to greet the people on her way up to the castle.
She really couldn't blame her friends for leaving without her, they knew that she enjoyed sleeping in. She entered the Great Hall to find them sitting at the Ravenclaw table again.
"Good Morning." She said as she sat down.
"A little early for you to be up isn't it?" Zoé raised an eyebrow at her, but the grin on her face gave her away.
"Ah well, today is going to be an exciting day, no? I barely slept last night to be honest." Fleur replied.
"And still wake up looking like that, what it must be like to be a Veela." Mélanie teased.
Fleur swatted her arm and reached over for some toast. "You know its a curse. When are we putting our names in the goblet?"
"Well there is no rush, but they have to be in before 6pm." Mélanie responded, looking down at the paper that had just been delivered. "Not much in the way of news. I wish they delivered the French papers here."
"It would be nice to know what is going on back home. I guess we just have to wait for letters." Zoé said, the last part added absentmindedly.
They continued their conversation which grew more and more meaningless by the minute. But Fleur enjoyed it. It made her feel like she was back at Beauxbatons.
Soon they were filing out towards the room that the goblet sat in. They slipped in and decided to people watch from the back, Fleur not wanting to cause a scene. She watched as Victor Krum walked into the room, surrounded by his entourage. All of the students backed away from the cup as he approached. He crossed the age line then put his name in, leaving without a word to anyone. She felt that was probably how it would be when she went up, from all of the boys anyway. She sighed, she really hated the attention.
Cheers filled the room as two identical looking red heads and a dark boy jogged into the room. She watched on as they sat down and had a hushed conversation with Harry and his two friends.
The first red haired twin got up and walked over the age line. he stepped over it then yelled out triumphantly. At the sight of this the second twin jumped into the circle, ready to put their names in the cup. Suddenly there was a loud sizzling sound and both of them were hurled out of the circle, each sprouting quite impressive, however grey, beards.
The room filled with laughter, with even the twins joining in. Fleur even allowed herself a slight chuckle. A voice filled the room.
"I did warn you." Dumbledore said looking at the twins. "I suggest you go up to Madam Pomfrey, she is already attending to a couple of students who thought an ageing potion might work. However I must say, their beards are not as good as yours."
With that the room dispersed, leaving only a few people hanging around. She decided this would be an excellent time.
"Lets put our names in." Fleur only realised now how nervous she actually was.
"No time like the present." Zoé chimed in.
The three of them approached the age line, took a collective deep breath, then stepped over it. Fleur knew that it would let them, seeing as they were old enough, however she was still thankful the did not sprout a beard.
"On three." Mélaine said. "One, two, three."
And with that Fleur knew there was no going back now.
.
Fleur was tapping her foot in anticipation at the feast.
"Stop it." Mélanie hissed at her. "You are drawing attention to yourself."
Fleur, who hadn't even realised she was doing it, slipped back into her icy state. She bent over and whispered in her friends ear. "Sorry. I am just so nervous."
"I have realised, you haven't eaten a thing." Mélanie scolded.
Fleur looked to the front as Dumbledore spoke up. "It seems that it is time to announce the three champions."
"The Goblet looks like it has made its decision." Dumbledore said as the fire in the goblet turned from blue to red. A big burst of flame spurted out the top and threw a piece of parchment into the air. Dumbledore caught it and read the name.
"The Durmstrung champion is, Viktor Krum." He announced to the cheers of the students sitting. Krum was patted on the back by all of his school mates as he walked up to Dumbledore, who shook his hand then pointed him towards a door at the back of the hall.
"No surprises there I suppose." Zoé whispered.
Fleur tensed up as the flames in the Goblet turned red again and another piece of parchment was thrown into the air. Again Dumbledore caught it and read the name.
"The champion from Beauxbatons is, Fleur Delacour." He read out to her shock.
It took all of Fleur's self control to not display the surprise that was running through her body right now. She got up to the applause of the students however she noticed most of the Beauxbatons girls were not happy.
She walked gracefully up the centre of the hall and to Dumbledore, who congratulated her then pointed her towards the same door that Krum had gone through. She took one last look at the students then walked through.
It was an interesting room, she thought. Filled with magical paintings and a warm fire in the back. She saw Krum pacing the room.
"Ah, congratulations." He said.
"Ze same to you." She replied. He wasn't taken by her aura either, although, she reasoned, Veela were the Bulgarian team mascot so he would have been used to them by now. She turned to the door as another figure walked through.
"Hello Fleur, Viktor." He started. "Since you didn't get to hear my name called, I am Cedric Digory."
He looked elated to be champion. She decided to ask. "So what do we do now?"
"I am really not sure. I guess we wait for the others to get here." Cedric said.
Fleur heard the door open and an angry buzzing filled the room before the door was closed again. She saw Harry had just come through the door. She figured he had come to deliver a message for them.
"Ah 'ello 'Arry, do zey want us back in ze 'all?" Fleur asked him. She never got a reply as the door swung open again then slammed shut a couple of seconds later.
Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch entered the room. It was Ludo that spoke up. "Extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary. Gentlemen, lady. Let me introduce you to the fourth Triwizard champion."
Fleur stared at him for a moment, not believing what she had just heard. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled.
"Oh, very funny joke, Mr Bagman." She broke into laughter now.
"Joke?" Bagman repeated her. "It is no joke, Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"
Her mood changed completely, she looked around and saw that the other two champions looked just as confused as she did.
"But evidently zere 'as been a mistake. 'E is too young to compete." She was getting a little frustrated now.
"Well, it is amazing." Bagman said, then he turned to Harry. "But his name has come out of the Goblet. I don't believe he can get out now. harry, you will just have to do the best you can."
The door opened again and a swarm of people including Dumbledore, Madame Maxime, Karkaroff and a few Hogwarts teachers she didn't know the names of entered the room. She sought to reason with her headmistress.
"Madame Maxime! Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete with us." She shot Harry a cold look that would have made most people cower. She was angry now. And Harry didn't indeed back up a little bit from her.
Dumbledore paid no notice of this and rushed straight to Harry. He asked calmly, but as a Veela she could sense people's emotions, and Dumbledore was anything but calm.
"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire Harry?" Dumbledore asked him.
"No, sir, I didn't." Harry replied, obviously shaken up.
"Did you get an older student to put it in for you?" He asked again, still maintaining his calm exterior.
"No." Harry replied, a little bit more defiantly.
"This is ridiculous Dumbledore, of course he is going to deny it. There must have been something wrong with the age line." Karkaroff said.
"It is a possibility." Dumbledore replied.
"You know very well that you didn't make any mistakes Albus." An older looking witch interjected.
"In any event, 'Ogwarts can not 'ave two champions. It is most unfair." Madame Maxime said, placing a hand on Fleur's shoulder.
"It does not matter." Barty Crouch spoke up. "Potter's name has come out of the Goblet. As of tonight he is, our fourth Triwizard champion."
Fleur tuned out after that. The respect she had found for the boy for having the power not to stare at her was gone. She looked at him while the argument raged on in the background, although now she was not listening. Harry looked back at her and must have seen the look of disappointment on her face as he looked away quickly.
She suddenly noticed people leaving the room and Madame Maxime put a hand on her shoulder and started to lead her out of the room.
Harry opened his mouth to speak as she approached him. "Fleur I didn't put my name in."
She walked straight past him and out into the hall.
.
Fleur came back to the cabin to find that no one had stayed up to see her get back. She was slightly disappointed. Knowing her school mates, she should have expected it. Although it did still hurt. She got back to her room and opened the door, only to be engulfed by her two best friends.
"Congratulations." Mélaine said.
"You definitely deserve it." Zoé beamed at her.
Fleur could tell that they really meant it. She was silently thankful that they were friends then responded to them. "I really appreciate it you two."
They sat down on Fleur's bed and brought out a cake that they said the house elves had made while they were waiting for her to come back. It was one of the benefits of being a young part Veela, she could eat as much as she wanted and not put on serious weight, she just hoped it stayed that way as she got older. They talked excitedly about the tournament until they got to the topic that she knew they wanted to know.
"So what happened with the 'Arry?" Mélaine asked.
Fleur's features darkened. "He has to compete. A binding magical contact or something. It is not a fair competition."
"He is only fourteen Fleur, he won't be much competition." Zoé spoke up, it was not often that she was the voice of reason.
"I was pretty cold with him. But he should have known it was coming, entering his name in the Goblet like that." Fleur cut another small sliver of cake.
"Are you sure he entered it? I mean how did he get past the age line?" Mélaine asked her.
She thought about it for a second. At the end of the day, it didn't matter how he did it, just that he managed to enter himself and was now a direct threat to her in the tournament.
"I don't know how." She answered truthfully. "But he did and that is all that matters."
They finished up talking about other things then Fleur bade them goodnight, making them take the cake with them so she wouldn't eat it all. She changed into her sleeping clothes and got into bed. Sleep should have come easily, she was happy that she had been chosen. But she was also confused. She did not get the feeling that Harry was lying when he said that he had not entered his name in the tournament. However she could have missed it, she reasoned, she was angry. There was another emotion there however.
Was it worry? Was she worried about his safety? Don't be ridiculous, she thought, you have spoken to the boy once before tonight, but he was only fourteen. She crushed that thought. He was now a competitor, a threat to her chance to show the world how she was more than just a 'half breed creature'. Hard as she try though, he was on her mind as she fell asleep.
AN
I have taken quotes from the book for use in the story. I am trying to keep it fairly canon for the moment so it makes sense to use quotes from the book where they fit. This does not mean I am copying the book, I am just going along with it for now.
Bigger response than I could ever imagine for my first chapter. Just. Wow.
Thankyou, is all I can say, definitely makes me want to keep writing.