"Highmaster!" I shouted as I knocked on the door of his office. The Captain's quarters. The door opened and Karkaroff stood before me in his heavy coat.

"What is it, your highness?"

"I wish a word," I spoke.

"Come in," Karkaroff said after a moment. I entered and stood behind the chair in front of his desk. He sat in his own chair. "What is it you wish to talk about?"

"Viktor."

"What about him?" Karkaroff asked, curious.

"I will train with him every day. I will still attend Defense and Duelling classes, but the others are to be postponed until next year. I'll double up if I have to. I want to train with Viktor and give him a thorough exercise that's necessary for the tasks. But I won't help him figure out what said tasks are."

Karkaroff looked at me blankly, "Your father will not approve."

"I know," I nodded. "That is why I will inform him. And I will give you galleons necessary to keep your support."

"Galleons are not necessary, Your Highness," Karkaroff sighed. "I do not wish for Viktor to train alone. He will not have the same agility as if he were to train with someone else. You are a perfect match. You will push him harder and he will be motivated if you were the one to tell him what to do. I will back you up should your father demand my reasons."

I nodded, "And if he has a problem, sir, I will be sure to deal with it with him. I do not want this school closed down. I love it far too much."

Karkaroff nodded and I was dismissed. I left and ignored Viktor as he stood at my door.

"Training, four thirty sharp," I hissed. He gulped, nodding, and I shut my bedroom door. I huffed and sank down on my bed where I just cried. I was so scared. Definitely not for myself. But for Viktor. Anything could happen. Anything. I suddenly hated my parents. It was their fault. Viktor had no choice, I understood that, but that didn't mean he had to get himself killed in the process.

Before dawn, I had arisen, freshly showered and in my pair of black yoga pants and a black t-shirt. My red socks stuck out of my black tennis-shoes, which had to be knee highs. I loved them. Kept my legs warm.

Viktor was waiting for me on the deck and I nodded to him before grabbing my Firebolt and launching myself off the deck.

"First thing we'll do is run," I shouted over the wind as we reached the Black Lake.

The routine continued for weeks. Even after he had an interview with Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet. I already didn't like her. We ran every morning, me on the broom, pushing him faster than possible. Then we dueled for an hour. That was when the sun rose. Then we rested for five minutes where we then began to pour over the books. Then breakfast. Then more running. Then books. Then dueling. Then lunch. Then dueling. Then books once more. Then dinner. From then on, we studied tactics.

He was exhausted by the time the sun set. When the first yawn appeared, I sent him to bed.

When October approached, I had shed fifteen pounds, just training with him. I was thinner, stronger, and more alert. This training wasn't just benefiting him, but me as well.

"Water?" I asked as Viktor let out raspy breaths.

He shook his head, straightening, "No. What now?"

"We aren't finished running."

"We?" Viktor demanded, his Bulgarian running together. "You aren't even running!"

"Ah, but you are," I returned calmly. "Keep going."

And he did. I had him running miles before letting him take a break. I then cast a cleansing charm on us and headed for the castle. Lunch was calling me.

"This is ridiculus," Viktor insisted. "I do not need to be fast in the games."

"You do," I insisted. "You need to learn how to be fast on your feet, not just a broom. A dragon could be chasing after you. Do you want to find out what it is like to be dragon chow?" He seemed amused.

"The first task is dragons."

I glanced at him in surprise as we climbed the path. "What do you mean?"

"The first task is dragons," he informed me. "Highmaster had snuck into the forest and discovered them."

"Snuck into the..." I trailed off, realizing what this meant. "What dragons?"

"He wasn't sure," Viktor admitted. "But somehow, we will have to deal with them."

It was cold on November 24th, but not as cold as Durmstrang this time of year. The clouds hung over the Quidditch pitch. Everyone from all three schools was gathered in the seats. I had chosen a spot up front, Dimitry and Perun beside me. Merlin, Viktor better be alright. The task was explained to us and my heart gripped with fear. Nothing came between a mother and her egg.

He knew that well.

We had studied profusely in the library on everything we could find.

Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff boy that looked very wish-washy, was first.

He dodged the Swedish Short's snouts fire breath before transforming a rock across the arena into a dog. A Labrador, to be exact. I blinked in surprise, but as the dragon went to devour the fake animal, Diggory lurched for the egg, and sealed it in his grasp. Perhaps he was doing something right.

The victory was short lived as Diggory's dragon turned suddenly at the cheers and sent a fire ball towards him. Diggory cried out in surprise as the Dragon Tamers went to calm the Dragon and get it out of the arena. Diggory's face was covered in burns. Healers rushed to his side to help him off the field. Everyone was leaning forward in anticipation.

I was screaming on the inside. Please, Viktor, do what we rehearsed.

The frilly French tart was next. Fleur Delacour. A Common Welsh Green was waiting for her, panting out breaths of fire as she stared it down. Perhaps she was brave.

And for hours and hours, it seemed, she stared at the dragon. It slowly thought of her as no threat and that's when she struck. She used her wand quickly, sending a sleeping charm at the creature. It gave a roar of surprise, but fell limply beside the eggs in sleep.

Fleur smiled triumphantly and made her way towards the creature, stepping up onto the tallest rock. And she reached down into the egg pile just a the creature let out a snort in it's sleep. A fire ball caught her skirt on fire - but who wore a skirt to an athletic challenge? - and she calmly used her wand to distinguish the blaze before clasping the golden egg.

Viktor better be mindful of the flames. Two out of two contestants so far had been caught on fire.

A Chinese Fireball was brought into the field next, and another egg was placed. My fingers tightened on the rail in front of me as I leaned forward.

"It's Krum!" people whispered around me. And then Viktor walked out of the holding tent with determination in his eyes.

"Just like we planned," I murmured. "Vitya..."

A ball of fire went into Viktor's direction. I kept my face neutral as he dodged it and then sent a Conjunctivus charm at the dragon's head. The dragon let out a rawr of anger and Viktor ran for the eggs, but not before the dragon's large claws slashed and seemed to catch Viktor's cloak. Viktor went sprawling on the rocks. I let out a strangled breath.

"Please, get up. Get up!"

The Fireball, in it's anger, was letting out streaks of fire everywhere, trying to get out of its daze. It's feet stepped onto a few eggs, causing them to smash and ooze everywhere. Real eggs, then. Viktor pulled himself to his feet, and grabbed the golden egg. He quickly backed away from the dragon, but I could see the damage. A few gash marks on his arm where the claws had caught him were bleeding profusely.

At least he wasn't dying.

He dodged another jet of fire and Dragon Tamers over took the field.

My fingers were strumming on the rail as I waited to be told I could go see him. Karkaroff was standing just a few feet from us, peering over the rail to the healers tent. Please... please... He had to be alright.

Karkaroff saw me watching him and gave me a nod. I launched myself to my feet and made my way over to him, and he guided me down the stairs to the beams underneath us.

"The healers are cleaning his wounds," he informed me, holding open the tent flap.

"Thank you, Highmaster," I spoke before walking inside. The Hogwarts healer was applying some orange salve to Diggory's skin to heal the burn, Delacour was being checked over for any burns or bruised patches of skin. Viktor was giving a grunt of pain as they ripped his shirt off and started to place a vial of potions onto the skin.

He muttered something about it stinging, before he spotted me. I gave a relieved smile and wrapped my arms around his neck, "Thank Merlin you're alright," I murmured in Bulgarian. "I was so worried!"

He used his good arm to hug me back, "I'm fine. We've been practicing."

"They took points off for the dragon crushing some eggs," Karkaroff spoke, appearing behind me. I let go of Viktor slowly, but not taking my eyes off the wound. "You are in first place."

"First place!" I gasped. "That's amazing!"

"Apparently the Hogwarts boy lost a large sum of points for unsuccessfully retrieving the egg and getting burned. He didn't distract the dragon successfully. The French girl," Karkaroff explained. "Caught herself on fire. While you got injured, it wasn't severe like those two could have been, and you succeeded in distracting the dragon."

"Fantastic," I grinned. "You did wonderfully!"

"Thank you," Viktor told me. His arm was wrapped up tightly and then placed into a sling that could be removed in the morning. I kissed his cheek lightly.

"We shall have a party of celebration tonight," I murmured in his ear. "Everyone brings drinks and we just have fun."

"The Highmaster would not-"

I giggled, "I never said he had to find out."

I pulled away to see Karkaroff giving us a suspicious look, "I must return to judge Potter's performance."

He left without another word and I was left alone with Viktor while the healers awaited Potter to arrive.

"You ever get hurt again," I swore to him in a dark growl, "I will hurt you more!"

He chuckled, "I'm fine!"

"You don't understand what I felt!" I gasped. "You almost were roasted! You almost got cut to pieces!"

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Katya, please."

I sighed, "I was just so worried."

"Don't be."

"The tasks will only get more dangerous," I told him, my gaze traveling to the egg in his lap. "Please, be more careful."

"I vill," he promised. He rose to his feet, and handed me the egg. I was a bit surprised, but clutched it in my arms as I followed him to the tent flap so we could watch Potter's task. The others soon joined us.

"What do you reckon he'll do?" Diggory asked.

We didn't know. The French tart's sister, who look about fourteen, was beside her as they watched quietly. Potter walked onto the field and the Hungarian Horntail nearly pummeled him with its tail. I was suddenly glad Viktor had the Fireball.

"Mon Dieu!" Fleur gasped as the tail smashed at the rocks to kill Potter.

I had to agree with her. My God, indeed.

"Accio Firebolt!" Potter cried.

He was going to fly. It was smart of him, until the dragon got loose and chased him around the grounds. There was dead silence as we waited for him to return. Absolute dead silence. We couldn't see from the tent anymore, so we went to the stands, gasping as he appeared out of nowhere and the dragon was gone from view.

"He cheated!" I gasped. "You weren't allowed a broom!"

"But he didn't start with a broom," Diggory told me. "He started with a wand. And he used it to get his broom. A loophole."

"But that's not fair!" Fleur insisted. "He still used a broom!"

"Harry Potter and Viktor Krum are tied for first place!"

I felt my anger seep through. "Tied? You do not tie! He violated the rules! His dragon was focused on him the entire time and he's obviously hurt more than all of you-"

"Cedric Diggory is in second place! And Fleur Delacour comes in third!"

I didn't think that was fair either, and I voiced my opinion, "Diggory was nearly burnt to death, and Delacour wasn't harmed at all. Hers was the most successful of the two." It obviously wasn't being graded fairly.

Potter deserved at least third for nearly taking out the judging panel as well. And destroying the school. He didn't get points off for that?

"It's favouritism," Delacour told us when Diggory went to congratulate his school mate. "Durmstrang and Beauxbatons aren't zee favoured schools 'ere. Vhile I do not zink I deserve first, as your performance vas very good, Monsieur Krum, I do not zink I deserve last."

"I do not either," Viktor said in agreement. "Whoever is coaching him isn't following the rules and looking for cracks."

"And he's 'arry Potter," she said bitterly. "They're going to score 'im 'igher because 'ee is zee boy 'oo lived."

Perhaps she wasn't a French tart.

"I think we could become friends," I admitted to her. I gave Viktor a look, "You two have to stick together."

She seemed happy with this, "I vill vatch your back, Monsieur, eef you vatch mine?"

Krum nodded, offering his hand, "I can agree to this term."

They shook hands and I couldn't help but smirk to myself. International inter-communication.

Potter and Diggory approached us, and Potter gave the two champions a timid smile. "You guys did great out there, if all the stories are true."

I regarded him coldly, touching Viktor's arm briefly to let him know I was leaving, before departing from the tent without a word.

I needed to speak with Karkaroff.

"Why are they cheating?" I demanded.

"What do you mean?" he asked, surprised.

"Potter performed the worst out of all of them!" I told him. "He endangered not only the crowd and himself, but the judges! How did they not dock points for that?"

"Because he used a out of the box method," Karkaroff muttered, obviously irritated.

"But it's obviously cheating! He used a broom! The rules state a broom isn't allowed!" I insisted.

"And the judges have reviewed it. I was overruled by Mad-Eye," he growled. "We can only hope the next task goes better."

I was suddenly aware I was still holding Viktor's golden egg. I tightened my grip protectively. "If Potter wins this, I will find dirt," I threatened. "He's cheating. He has to be! Someone on the inside of the tournament is telling him things!"

"Like I haven't told Viktor? And Olympe hasn't told Miss Delacour?"

"That's different. You aren't telling us what to do," I insisted. "You're giving us a nudge. Potter's not advanced in spells. He's being told what to do! How else would he have learned the Accio charm in his fourth year? That's a sixth year spell!"

"I will make the point to the judges," Karkaroff informed me.

"And Delacour," I told him, "performed better than Diggory, and she got last. Diggory got burns on his face, and she had no scratch on her. Are they judging by how dangerous the situation is?"

He stayed silent and I knew he couldn't answer. I groaned in frustration, and gave a small bow as I departed. Dimitry and Perun met me at the tent flap, where we waited for Viktor.

"He gave you the egg?" my brother asked.

"I'm not in the mood," I snapped.

"What did he do to make you mad?" Dimitry asked.

"He didn't do anything. It's the stupid judges," I muttered. "Potter cheated! Diggory didn't deserve second!"

"You're mad because Krum has to share first?"

"No! That they're judging unfairly!" I insisted. "Viktor's in first as far as I'm concerned, and I'm happy with it, but those judges are blind to every school but Hogwarts. I expect a proper party tonight."

Dimitry seemed amused by this, where Perun frowned.

Viktor stared at the egg as we sat on his bed, the party raging on just to the room beside us. We had had a few drinks, but none to inebriate us like our classmates. "Do you just open it?" I murmured.

He gave a light shrug and moved his hands towards the pure golden object. It had to be worth a fortune. And then he twisted the mechanism on the top, causing it to split open.

I gasped as I heard shrieking and fell off the bed in my jump. The noise shut off immediately and I stared at him from the floor. "What in Merlin's name was that?"

Viktor seemed to be panting slightly and I could see he was in a twinge of pain from having used both arms to secure the egg once more. The wrappings were twinged a little red from the exertion, but nothing threatening. I collected myself off the floor and deposited myself next to him, staring at the golden thing.

"It sounds familiar."

"A creature," I murmured. "What creature shrieks like that?"

"It almost sounds like a mandrake," he spoke. "But it doesn't have the cry quality to it."

"So, it's not a mandrake. Otherwise we'd be dead or passed out," I said gently, poking the egg with my hand. It rocked, but righted itself. "Maybe... a ... I don't know."

"We'll look in the morning, Katka."

I blushed at the nickname, my gaze dropping to my fingers in front of me. "Vitya, I-"

His rough hand gently lifted my head up so I was looking at him, "You look tired."

"I haven't slept well," I admitted. "I was worried about the task, to be honest. But now that you're safe-"

He sighed, "Let's get to bed."

He took the egg, placing it on his bedside table, before standing up and pulling off his shirt. He moved, shirtless, to his trunk at the foot of his bed, and changed into his dark red pajamas. I had changed long ago into my silky black ones.

He climbed into his bed, pulling back the covers for me to join. I knew that if it were any other night, Karkaroff would have thrown me off the ship. But since Viktor had gotten first, he was giving us a bit of a break. It's not like he wasn't going to be my husband, anyway.