Fleur walked with a purpose. It had only been a single day since the champions had been chosen, but it felt like ages. Madama Maxime had been bugging her about preparing for the tasks, but she could not. The only thing that she could think about was her fellow champions, particularly Harry.

When he had cast the vow and still be able to use magic she was shocked to her very core. How could someone as young as him be subjected to the torture that he had faced? Was there no protection for the innocent? Apparently not.

Of course that was not the worse part; no the worse part was that no one could see that he sacrificed everything for them. The basilisk was a prime example of that. There was no one else as far as they knew that had tried to do anything about the creature thus forcing the boy to confront it to save the sister of his friend, but what did he get for that? Nothing.

No one saw the hero anymore, and no one believed him. They were far more content to believe that he would cheat his way into something that he wanted nothing to do with. It was infuriating how fickle the children of Hogwarts could be.

Suddenly someone grabbed Fleur by the shoulder. She spun quickly throwing her weight in an attempt to throw her assailant off balance, but they compensated by pulling her close.

"Whoa Fleur calm down." the voice was one that she recognized as Cedric Diggory the Hogwarts champion. She turned her head just a little to confirm that it was him that held her and let out a breath that she had not known that she was holding in.

She was not fond of close contact with people that did not know well. It reminded her of a time when she had nearly been kidnapped by a feeble minded man that could not resist the allure that she expelled.

"Cedric you scared me." the boy abruptly let her go and scratched his head in a sheepish manner. He had not mean to do so, but she had ignored him when he had shouted her name and he had not wanted to make a scene in the middle of the hall.

"I'm sorry Fleur, but I know that you wanted to talk to Harry so I thought it would be better if I took you to him rather than letting you wander around the castle all day."

Fleur had the decency to blush at that statement. She indeed did not know where the boy was, but he nerves and anxiousness had not let he realize it. It would have been wholly embarrassing if she had spent the day meandering about the castle to parts unknown (at least to her).

"Well if you would lead the way." he held back the laughter that threatened to bubble out. He knew that she had not said anything so as not to further mortify herself, but he only found it cute.

He shook his head at that stray thought. Even though most of the guys in his year thought fleur was a bombshell he had not seen her as that way. He was far too engrossed in Cho Chang for that, but now he was beginning to at least see some of what they saw, but he had no time for that. They hd to get to Harry and talk to him.

Fleur followed Cedric as he lead her out of the castle and toward the lake. At first she thought that Harry was taking time to enjoy some alone time out on the grounds, but eventually the duo saw Viktor standing on the shore of the lake with a gaggle of fellow Durmstrang men. Cedric gave them a wave, but it was only returned by Viktor who gave his fellow students a quick gesture of the hand and they dispersed.

"Cedric Fleur vhat a pleasure." he held his hand out for Cedirc to shake and the boy obliged. Fleur held her own hand out and Viktor took it deftly in his and bent to give it a quick kiss.

"So I take it that ve are going to talk with Harry today." Cedric nodded, and he beckoned them to follow him.

Once again the champions found themselves within the castle of Hogwarts. For Viktor this was much different from the previous night. Before he had been looking at the castle with indifference. The castle was something like Durmstrang and the people were just like those students on the superficial level, but he had not been looking around to take in the sights and get to know anyone. He was there to become the champion for his school and bring them honor and glory.

Now he was observing, though not for his own sake. No he wanted to understand why the people around him could treat Harry the way they had. The boy deserved none of their disdain and his participation in the tournament was not his own fault, by they refused to see that. To them he was a trouble making child who could do no wrong and got whatever he wanted. It was baffling how they could view him like that when they saw him everyday.

Eventually Cedric lead his fellow champions up a long staircase that lead the the owlery. He hadn't know if Harry had actually been up there but he had heard that the boy frequented the place whenever he was feeling upset or distressed, and this was probably one of those times.

As luck would have it Harry was indeed in the owlery. He was sitting on one of the windowsills and talking to a large snowy owl that Cedric recognized as Hedwig. They watched the boy silently as he stroked the bird';s feathers.

"And that prat Ron." he spoke softly. "I saved his sister and all he can think about is how I got into the tournament but he didn't. Doesn't he understand that I didn't want that. I'm tired of someone or something trying to kill me every year, but my so called best mate can't even realize that. I guess I must really know how to pick em."

Before he could say more Cedric cleared hit throat. Harry spun around like lighting and had his wand pointed at the trio. There might have been a spell on his tongue, but he let it drop as he realized who they were. He quickly put his wand away.

"I guess you're here for that talk." they all nodded. He sighed and motioned for them to sit. Cedric transfigured them all chairs from random pieces of junk lying around. Harry turned to the door and cast a locking charm and a silencing charm. He knew that it was unfair of him to take away the use of a public room, but there was no way that he was going to chance it with people trying to spy on him so that they could make more juicy rumors.

"So where do you want to start?" he really did not want to talk about anything, but he had promised them. Besides they believed him, and that was something that he needed. He was alone now. His house might have been celebrating last night, but they ignore his feelings. He did no t want to be in the tournament and would have been more content to watch it, but he was forced to face mortal danger again, and all they could think about was how this was the chance for the Gryffindor to become even more famous. It sickened him.

"Vhy did you never go to the teachers?" Viktor asked "Could they not have done what you did?" Harry nearly flinched at the question from the Bulgarian.

"I went to them, but no one listened to me. I was a child who could not possibly know what I was talking about." It hurt him to say that, but he knew it was true. If McGonagall had believed him in his first year he would never have had to face Quirell. If anyone adults had listened to him in his third year then his godfather would have been freed and he would have a true loving family, but no one did. He was either a child, or an attention seeking brat, or some other rubbish.

"Why do you let ze otzer students treat you ze way zey do? They taunt you, speak badly of you, and even make up nasty rumors but you never do anything about." this time Fleur spoke. She understood that some of the things that they were asking or would ask would make him uncomfortable, but she had to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Harry took a deep breath. He could feel something building up inside of himself with ever question, but it was not the anger that he was accustomed to.

"In my second year everyone learned that I am a parsletongue, and they said I was a dark wizard and that I had opened the chamber of secrets. No matter how hard I said it wasn't true they didn't believe me, and the professors were just as bad. Even though they never said I was the heir of Slytherin they never tried to stop the other students from saying it. They allowed them to isolate and alienate me."

Cedric shook his head. "So they left a little boy to fend for himself? Are they really that cruel?"

"Yes they are. I thought this place was my home and even though things happen I keep trying to tell myself that there are people who care for me but then they let things like this happen to me." he felt wetness on his cheeks and suddenly he realized that he was crying.

That was something that he had not done in a very long time. In fact the last time that he remembered himself crying was when he had tried to play with one of Dudley's toys only for the boy to snatch it away and tell Vernon. The whale of a man had cuffed and sent him straight to the cupboard, and while the physical blow had not been incredibly hard (even Vernon would not seriously harm a child) the feeling of being unloved was painful.

"When I first got here things were amazing. I thought that I could finally be with people who would understand me, but I traded one bigoted world for another. One moment I'm a hero and the next moment I'm a villain. I didn't want the fame of the Boy-Who-Lived. I only wanted to be myself, but it seems that that can never happen."

Seeing Harry Potter cry was too much for the champions. Last night he had shown himself to be quite emotionally strong (if a tad on the angry side), but now he seemed to be nothing more than a little boy who only wanted to be accepted.

Fleur quickly got out of her chair and strode over to the distraught boy. She scooped him into a gently hug. She shifted him so that he was in her lap with his face in her neck and she began to sing a song that her mother often sang to her when she was young.

Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit fére

Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo

Maman est en haut

Qui fait des gateaux

Papa est en bas

Qui fait du chocolat

Fais dodo, Colas mon p'tit fére

Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo

Almost immediately his crying stopped and slowly he drifted off to sleep. She sang softly for a few more minutes and when she felt that he was well and truly asleep she stood with surprising strength.

"Cedric ez zere anywhere else zat we can take him? I don't want anyone to see him like this." Cedric nodded and turned to the door. Viktor had already undid the charms that they had put on it when Harry had fallen asleep, because he was of the same mind as Fleur. The boy was a trooper, but he could not keep the mask up forever. It was best that they separated him from those who would do him harm (physically or mentally).

The blonde Hufflepuff led them to an empty classroom that he knew was unused. They applied the same charms to the door as they had the owlery and Viktor transfigured a bed. Fleur gently laid the boy into it. He looked so different in his sleep. He was not the boy who had to be a hardened man to protect himself from those around him, but the could be the child that he had wanted to be.

Without a word Fleur pulled the covers of the bed back and gently slid into it. She put an arm around Harry and drew him close. He struggled for a moment before snuggling into her. Cedric and Viktor could only look at her.

"Ze people of this school are fools. He needs love and care, not to be ridiculed and treated like an outcast." she whispered so as not to awaken the boy.

"Yea I know, but are you sure we should be doing this? Shouldn't we leave it to the teachers?" he knew that they would disapprove of that, but he was only bringing it up because he wasn't sure if they could provide that for the boy. He was in obvious need of someone who cared for him, but could they be the ones? They had only really just met him.

As though reading Cedric's thoughts Viktor replied. "Ve may not have known him long but ve can see the need of this child. Those teachers of yours have had years to give him the affection that he deserves, but they allow him to be treated with contempt by those around him. If you vere in his shoes vould you trust them or people who have at least tried to do the right thing?"

Cedric sighed. "I guess you're right."

Viktor let the conversation drop and conjured two chairs. He and Cedric made to sit, but Fleur gave them an odd look.

"What?" Asked Cedric

"Why are you two seeting in chairs? Isn't it uncomfortable to sleep like zat?"

"Well I wasn't planning on taking a nap right now." the hufflepuf replied

"Neither vas I."

Fleur scoffed. "You two shoud lie down it would be better zan looming over the boy when he awakes."

Cedric blushed. "We only have room for one bed Fleur, and you two are already in it."

"Then get in. We are not going to be doing anything inappropriate, so it shouldn't matter."

There was an awkward silence, and Fleur thought for a moment that she had said the wrong thing. But she really was only thinking about how Harry would feel. Plus Viktor and Cedric did not turn into idiots whenever she talked so she was sure that they would be fine to share a bed with her.

Finally Viktor climbed into the bed without a word and tucked himself closely to Fleur's side. Cedric seeing decided not to fight it and also climbed into the bed but he was on Harry's side. Harry stirred for a moment and Fleur began to sing again so that he would stay asleep. Before any of them knew it they were joining him in the realm of dreams.