Author: enchanted nightingale

Beta Reader: pussycatadamah

Timeline: Book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Pairs: Harry/Lucius

Disclaimer: The characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I merely use them in my plot for fun.

Chapter 40 – All Paired Up

They were leaving charms, nearly a week after Snape's talk with Harry when a Ravenclaw approached the green eyed teen while he was in the company of Hermione and Neville. The witch seemed to realize pretty fast what was going to take place. She kept tugging at Neville's robe sleeve, trying to make him walk faster and give Harry and the girl some privacy.

"Um, Harry? I can call you Harry, right? Do you have a girlfriend?" the witch asked.

Neville choked at the question and Hermione tugged at his arm harder.

"Hermione, knock it off will you?" Harry said, noticing the by play. "There's no need for privacy, really." He turned to the Ravenclaw witch. "What is your name? You are a year under me, right?"

She blushed. "Ilka McGregor," she offered. She was now alternating between staring at his face and her shoes. Harry was reminded of Ginny back before second year started.

Harry smiled at her. "You are cute," he told her. "And since you have that blue tie on, smart as well. I'm sure you'll find a nice boy."

Ilka was now staring at him, all hurt and a bit angry.

"You see," Harry went on, "I already have a boyfriend."

"Boyfriend!" Ilka said.

Behind her Hermione was in a similar state. "Boyfriend?" she spluttered.

Harry beamed a smile at Ilka; walked up to Neville and together the two Gryffindor's pulled Hermione after them and towards Transfiguration.

By diner time, the entire school knew that Harry Potter had rejected a witch from Ravenclaw because he was already in a relationship with a wizard. Hermione was still spluttering over the fact that she had been in the dark about this. Harry had previously denied involvement with Bill Weasley but they had never discussed the matter further. Neville was an excellent buffer as he actually sat down with Hermione and had a talk with the witch before she could act rashly and say something to Harry; something she might regret later.

"Why didn't he say something?" the witch asked Neville. "I know he's still hesitant to trust because of Ron's idiocy but I'm his friend!" she was ranting to Neville.

The Longbottom heir had directed her to a classroom, where he locked the door and asked her to make sure they were not overheard before letting her complain, rather vocally too.

"You forget Hermione that you are judging too," he finally told her when the witch paused to breathe, ten minutes later. "I have eyes and ears, and I have seen how you sometimes treat Harry like he's, well... slow would be the right word to use."

"I do not!" Hermione protested.

"Except you really do," Neville insisted. "You keep treating him like a child... or a younger sibling or something. Think about it carefully and you will see I'm right."

Hermione blinked rapidly and opened her mouth to argue. Neville just squeezed her shoulder gently and stared at her.

"I... I do that?" Hermione muttered.

"You criticise many things about him, from the way he writes his essays or does his homework, to why he does not spend hours upon hours in the library to what he chooses to eat," Neville gave several examples. "When he was entered in the Triwizard Tournament you kept criticising him on how he was preparing for the tasks."

"But he was not reading any books!"

Neville pinned her with a look. "So? I have seen by now that Harry does better with practicals. He's always better with his spell, always. The Patronus Charm is a very good example. He showed me the stag he can produce. Now my Gran has mentioned many times how my dad was an Auror and even he could not produce anything but mist even as he graduated Auror Academy at twenty. That's impressive. The enchantment he used for the Dragon, that was brilliant use of Old Magics. Those need magical power to do."

"But..."

"Are you listening to me?" Neville said, exasperated at yet another interruption.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, I actually am and I don't like what I'm hearing."

Neville studied her face. She did look like she was considering everything he was telling her.

"I don't mean to imply anything," she finally said. "And I know he's smarter than he wants people to think. It just... I can't stand to see him not give it his all, like he's holding back."

"Why would he need to hold back?" Neville asked.

The witch pinned him with a look. "Why would you?" she countered, "All these questions now, defending Harry, showing a side that I had no idea you even had."

The wizard shrugged. "So I may have grown some backbone," he said.

"No, it's more than that," Hermione said. "Both Harry and you have changed, grown more distant. You have that look in your eyes sometimes, like you are not just teens, like you are weighed down. Last year at least it was more prominent. Now you are both more relaxed."

"Well, V-Voldemort is dead now," Neville stumbled on the name initially but said it in one breath.

"See!" the witch said. 'You say that name now when you just used to pale and stutter."

"Yes well, Harry desensitized me over the summer," Neville admitted.

"You are becoming best friends, closer than Harry had been to Ron."

"I'm not Harry's best friend, I don't think so," the Longbottom heir admitted.

"No, that has to be Bill Weasley," the witch mused. "But you are getting there. Harry... he never really talked to me, confided in me, or Ron for that matter. Usually he would just blurt out things about himself on accident and not because he wanted us to know," she admitted, sounding a bit defeated and Neville realised that she must be a bit jealous too.

She had to be realising that she was being left behind, not purposely. The wizard knew that Harry would never forget a person he befriended; he did not have it in him. But he did test people and waited to see how they measured. Bill Weasley had passed the test. Lucius Malfoy and more surprisingly his son, Draco, seemed to have passed the teen's judgement as well. Harry had also, slowly, befriended Snape, in a weird way and he had drawn Neville closer. He had done the same with his father's friends and had started to do the same with Hermione when he saw how Ron had reacted when Harry got even more recognition than usual. And it seemed the smarter witch in their year had not realised yet that she was being tested. Harry genuinely liked her and wanted to trust her with his relationship and the changes in his life but he had been burned once and he was afraid to be hurt twice. Neville had a hunch that if Hermione pulled a move like Ron then Harry was not likely to trust other people in the future.

"Harry told you he liked men, right?"

"After he showed up with Bill at the dance," Hermione replied.

"Yes, but he actually explained it to you, right?"

The witch nodded. "But he did not mention he had a boyfriend."

Neville shrugged. "So? Does he really need to tell you everything?"

"Well, no but I'm his friend!"

"So was Ron and even Ginny in a way. They both acted like brats last year."

"I get it," Hermione said. "Let Harry share this at his own volition and pace, right?"

"Close enough," Neville agreed. "I also want you to promise me not to follow Harry around or snoop. I know you," he said when she made to protest. "You just can't stand not knowing things but this is not a book. Harry is your friend."

"But what if he gets in trouble?" she cried out.

"Then he gets in trouble," Neville replied. "But what makes you say that? Don't you think that he will go to Bill for help?"

"Will he?"

"Harry's changed, you said it yourself. Now he actually asks people for help, people like Bill or Remus Lupin or Sirius Black..."

"You," Hermione said.

Neville smiled, "Yes, me if he wishes. It's his choice, Hermione. Let him make it. When he decides to include you, he will."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "You know who the mysterious boyfriend is!"

"Yes," Neville said. "And I won't tell you."

"Some kind of test then," Hermione realised. "Harry does not fully trust me," she realised.

"He does trust you but..." Neville trailed off.

"But he fears I might not like his choice," Hermione said. She sighed. "Fine, I get it. I'll give him space, on this and with the..."

"Nagging about homework?" Neville offered.

"I'm only trying to help!"

"Yes, but that is not necessarily helpful."

The witch nodded again, but more reluctantly this time. Then she eyes Neville. "You would have been a great Hufflepuff, you know, all this loyalty to Harry. I'm glad you ended up in Gryffindor."

Neville beamed at her.

The talk Neville had with Hermione, he did not share it with Harry. Still, the green eyed man caught wind of the change in the witch quite fast and one night, after they had retreated to the common room, he had thanked the Longbottom heir for his assistance.

"What did I do?" Neville had said, feigning innocence.

"You know," Harry had replied.

Then he did not elaborate because Hermione returned with her books and joined them in a table at a corner. They had decided to all study together and the witch had been ecstatic about it. When she returned, brandishing books and notes and spare parchment Harry also noticed a letter among the pile. Unwittingly he also caught sight of the name signed at the bottom and Hermione saw it as well and flushed pink.

"Um, it's not what you think!" she hurriedly said.

"You are not pen-pals with Krum?" Harry asked her.

"I am," Hermione admitted. "You don't mind?"

"Why would I?" Harry asked.

"I don't care either," Neville added.

"Viktor seemed like a nice guy," the green eyed teen commented. "And you did mention that your families joined for holidays at some point right? You're not fickle enough to drop all contact, of course you two are going to write to each other."

"So, is he your boyfriend?" Neville asked.

"We are trying to be friends," Hermione admitted. "The distance is large and I still have two more years of school." She looked around. "We did say we are going to meet during summers and perhaps during Christmas too. But not Easter because..."

"It's Quidditch season," Harry said with a grin.

The witch rolled her eyes. "Exactly," she muttered.

"Makes sense," Neville commented. "And since we discussed Hermione's not-yet-boyfriend, I'm dating Luna Lovegood."

"The Ravenclaw Ginny greets sometimes?" Hermione asked.

Neville nodded. "We met up during the summer a couple of times. She was out of the country mostly; they like to travel with her father."

"She seems like a nice girl," Hermione commented.

"Wicked sense of humour too," Harry agreed. "I met her a couple of times. Perhaps you should sit with her during lunch or dinner."

"We could also join you," Hermione added.

"I'd like that," Neville said. "Luna... She does not have many friends."

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

"She's a bit..." Neville hummed, trying to find the right world to describe the blonde witch. "Unconventional."

Hermione looked to Harry.

"She gets bullied by other Ravenclaw's and I've overheard Ron calling her 'Loony'."

"That's awful!" Hermione said.

Neville shrugged. "I know but she has her way of handling things and I don't want to offend her or anything.

Draco was getting fed up with the rumour mill of Hogwarts. Everywhere he went he got to hear about Potter and how the Gryffindor turned down a girl from Ravenclaw. Weasley constantly tried to voice his own vitriol about why the green eyed teen was not good enough for any girl (though never within hearing of Potter, Longbottom or Granger). The only Weasley girl was wandering around in a foul mood and the snakes kept hypothesizing who was Potter's boyfriend. Blaise, the idiot, took great pleasure in creating outrageous rumours to keep himself entertained. He would suggest to Pansy several potential love interests for Potter, ranging from male students from Hogwarts (Goldstein from Ravenclaw or Mclaggen from Gryffindor and even Ernie McMillan who were all straight), students that had visited last year from Durmstrang, aside from Krum, and the selection got more outrageous by adding people from music bands, Quidditch teams, unknown Muggle's and various supernatural creatures. If anything the rumour mill was keeping the truth hidden but was also a head ache to keep up with. Finally, he got fed up when his own name was suggested, by one of the badgers no less. That nasty rumour reached him via Theodore Nott of all people ( the one person less interested in gossip) and Draco finally stormed up to Potter after Potions class and pulled him along, leaving behind a spluttering Granger and an amused Longbottom.

"Neville…"

"Let it go, Draco's not going to hurt Harry, just his ears," the wizard told her.

Hermione gave him an odd look. "Since when's he 'Draco' to you?"

"Since summer actually," Neville replied.

"I heard from Parvati and Lavender that you and Harry were seen in Diagon eating ice cream with Zabini and Malfoy but I thought they were just being…" she trailed off, not wanting to speak her mind about her dorm mates.

"All true I'm afraid," Neville told her as he steered her towards the Great Hall for lunch.

"How did that happen?" she asked.

"We decided to share a table and saw it was not so bad," Neville answered her. "Then we started talking and surprisingly enough, no one died," he quipped.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know, lately I never know whether you are telling the truth or pulling my leg."

"Can't joke very well I'm afraid," Neville told her.

"But shouldn't we…"

"Harry can take care of himself around Draco…"
"There you go calling him by his first name again," Hermione muttered.

"You do realize that growing up I kept meeting him in social functions and whatnot?" Neville wryly told her.

"Right, purebloods the both of you," the witch recalled.

"Small world," Neville confirmed.

Hermione looked at the direction Harry was taken and then at Neville. "This is the point where I need to trust Harry and ask no questions, right?"

Neville nodded and she sighed.

"Fine," the witch said. "Let's go and eat lunch. Maybe you can even introduce Luna to me?"

The wizard smiled and they started walking.

Meanwhile Harry was face to face with an indignant blond wizard. And he was smiling at Lucius son.

"You do know that just by grabbing me like that you confirmed the poll that wants us together, right?" the green eyed Gryffindor said with amusement.

Draco glared. "What damned poll?"

"Two words for you, 'Weasley Twins'."

The Malfoy heir groaned. "I hate those two."

"So do I, well, not most of the time," Harry agreed.

"You know, this is your fault!"

"Did you want me to string the poor girl along? Not to mention what you-know-who would have done if he got even a suspicion that I could be cheating on him."

The blond wizard choked. "You did not just use the Dark Lord's moniker for my fa…"

"Ah, ah, ah," Harry shook his finger. "No names. The walls have ears," the dark haired wizard paused with an odd look on his face. "Sometimes literally."

The grey eyed teen blinked. "I can honestly believe that."

"Really?"

"Weirder things have happened," Draco muttered. "And I refuse to continue hearing all those ridiculous rumours about you, especially those including me!"

Harry chuckled. "Yes, it is annoying. Shouldn't you be after Blaise though? Lavender said she heard it from him that I was apparently sighted this summer in Bali with a male Veela."

"There are no male Veela," Draco responded automatically.

"I know," Harry huffed. "Fleur was quite horrified by the ignorance of the general population about Veela. She was nearly spitting fire last year."

"Never mind your idiotic year mates…"

"Lavender is your year mate too."

"I choose to ignore that fact," Draco responded. "Say something to dispel this ridiculousness…"

"I won't," Harry quickly replied. "I wrote to Lu… you-know-who when all this started and he agrees this is for the best. Blaise did the right thing by turning this into a swirling mess. No one knows what to believe and even if they somehow name him, everyone will find it ridiculous, which suits us just fine for now. Can you imagine the drama if his identity got out."

Draco winced. "You would be hounded non stop. Not to mention my… Fine! You-know-who would be in deep trouble. Mordred I hate this rumour mill."

"Yes welcome, welcome to my wonderful life," Harry told him. "Now is this tête-à-tête done? Because I'm hungry and if we're gone too long people will think you're molesting me."

Draco blanched and shoved Harry. "That was gross!" he cried out.

The Gryffindor laughed and pulled him out of the classroom and towards the Great Hall.

"Come on, see the humour in this!"

"Humour? I'm losing my sanity here, and my appetite. Thanks a lot!" he glared at Harry, who looked unaffected.

"Are we entering together?" Harry asked.

"Better no, lovebirds," Blaise cut in from behind them.

The duo were startled at the Slytherin's arrival.

"I was waiting for Draco and heard this last bit. You go ahead Potter, Draco and I will follow ten minutes later, I'm not that cruel to my best friend," Blaise remarked.

"Sure, you say that after creating this mess," Draco glared at his dorm mate.

"I'll leave you two to work this out," Harry told them. "See you later."

The two Slytherin's waved him away, Draco with a scowl and Blaise with an amused face.

End of chapter.