Author's Note: No matter how much I wish on stars, I'm not J.K Rowling. I had planned on posting this sooner but as I was reading through it, I realized my description of the First Task really sucked royal hippogriff. So, as a result, I completely scratched my original work and re-wrote it. Hope you find this enjoyable!

Chapter 13 The First Task

On Saturday morning, Alex woke up in a wonderful mood. It was the weekend, she had finished all her written homework, and Draco was going to show her a great place to buy chocolate fudge. She dressed warmly and followed Hermione and Harry out into the biting cold.

Hogsmede was one of the all-wizarding villages in England, the most famous one actually. What it was most known for was the Shrieking Shack, said to be haunted by extremely violent spirits. Even though no noise had come from it in years, the villagers feared to go near it.

Their fears were pointless because there was never any spirits, just the screams of one Remus Lupin transforming into his werewolf form. In fact, Alex, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been in there last year. That was where they learned the truth and Alex was reunited with her father. Professor Lupin resigned after the events and that was the last time that Alex talked with him. It seemed her owl couldn't find her old professor, but the bird wasn't giving up without a fight.

All these thoughts were swimming in Alex's head as she waited in the cold for Draco to meet her. She had managed to fool her friends into going back to the castle without her, saying she had some early Christmas shopping to do and she didn't want them around while she did it. Alex wasn't dumb, quite the opposite. She knew if she told Harry and Hermione what she was really doing, they would either try to stop her or they'd follow her around "secretly". Alex chuckled; Harry and Hermione would probably have been as subtle as Hagrid's show of emotions for Madame Maxime.

"Hello there," Alex turned and saw Draco leaning casually against a tree, "And what, pray tell, would you be doing here freezing in this weather?"

"Waiting for a friend," said Alex, playing along with a smile, "I think he's late so I might just leave."

"How rude of him," said Draco, walking to her and sitting on the fence, "Tell you what, how about I take his place and show you around?"

"I'd love that."

They laughed and walked down a side dirt road. Alex hoped Draco knew where he was going, because she had lost all sense of direction. Finally, they came out of an alleyway onto a smaller main road and they went into the first shop on the left with a sign that read, "Grandma Hinkins' Famous Homemade Fudge and Other Delectables".

There was a tinkling of a bell and a wrinkled woman appeared from around the back. She smiled warmly and came out from the counter, embracing Draco like a son.

"There he is, my little Draco, though not so little anymore," the woman said and it was true. The woman came just below the boy's shoulder, her white hair tied back in a bun and her hazel eyes shinning with pride. Once she let Draco go, she turned to Alex and her smile widened.

"And who might this be?" she asked, looking Alex up and down.

"This is my friend, Alex. Alex, this is Mrs. Hinkins. She was a great friend of my grandmother's and runs this shop," Draco introduced and Alex shook the woman's hand.

"This place is really nice," said Alex politely, looking around. It was like she walked into a candy store from the fifties with jars full of different kinds of wizard and Muggle candy. Alex saw candy canes next to Pepper Imps. At the end of the shop was a huge counter with a glass panel full of different kinds of fudge.

"I've always had a sweet tooth for both Muggle and Wizard candies," Mrs. Hinkins said, coming to the counter were Alex was looking in, "Would you like to try a flavor I've been working on?"

Alex nodded and the white-haired woman went to the back of the store. Alex turned and saw Draco eyeing a container of jaw-breakers.

"This place is amazing!" whispered Alex, "How many people know about it?"

"Hogwarts-wise? Just us," said Draco, his face falling slightly, "She's been trying for ages to get onto the main road, but this is the closest they'll let her. They say there's no room for another candy store since Honeydukes does so well, but that's a load of frog crap. They don't want wizard children getting hooked on Muggle candy and then begging their parents to buy some. Honeydukes is afraid of going out of business, that's the bottom line."

"But a lot of Hogwarts students are part Muggle," said Alex, "They already know about Muggle candy, why can't a store have more choices for their customers?"

Draco opened his mouth to answer but stopped when the owner of the store returned with two large pieces of chocolate fudge with different colored spots inside. She placed them on the counter and Draco moved closer to see.

"It's chocolate fudge with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and M&M's. The children will never know if they'll get an M&M or a booger-flavored bean. Tell me what you think."

Alex and Draco each bit into their pieces. Alex got a few M&M's and a grass bean. Draco was unlucky and got all beans: earwax, vomit, and hard-boiled egg. He told Alex later he hated hard-boiled eggs with a passion ever since his mother forced him into eating them so as not to make his aunt upset.

"It's delicious!" Alex said as Draco attempted to swallow his beans down, "And I'm sure Draco would say so too if he could talk."

Draco nodded emphatically and Mrs. Hinkins clapped her hands together in joy.

"Oh, I hope it sells! Since you were my first tester, I'll give you each a pound for free."

Alex bought five more pounds, making the owner almost cry with joy, for her friends and uncle. She promised to come back next time she could and the two Hogwarts students left. They went back to the shack and spent the rest of their time sitting on the fence eating their fudge. When it was almost dark, they reluctantly decided it was time to go back up to the castle. They reached the Entrance Hall and bid each other good-bye.

"I had an amazing time, Draco," Alex said, "Thanks for showing me that place."

"I'll see you later then?"

Alex nodded and went back to her common room. She hid the fudge under her bed and went to find Harry and Hermione, unable to keep a smile off her face.

…...

The day of the first task arrived and Alex and Hermione watched as Harry left the breakfast table to join the other champions. Once the two of them finished their breakfast, neither eating much, they went out to the Quidditch pitch and found a place in the stands where they could see everything. After waiting anxiously, Dumbledore came out and the stadium became so silent, a pin could have been heard dropping.

"Good morning everyone!" Dumbledore said happily, "Welcome to the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament! Today, our champions will have to take a golden egg from a mother dragon. They have already chosen their dragons, so wish them all luck!"

The stadium erupted into cheers. The first one out was Cedric. Alex heard the dragon before she saw her. The dragon was a large, beautiful silvery-blue creature with large fangs and great leathery wings. Along its snout were sharp horns and Alex noted that instead of having forearms, it only had hindquarters and wings.

"Cedric, you may start the task when the gong sounds," said Dumbledore. Soon afterwards, there was the sound and Cedric raised his wand.

"Hmm…what have we here?" Alex heard the dragon said with suspicion and interest, "I haven't seen much of your kind before."

Cedric took a step forward and the dragon reared up onto its back legs. It opened its great mouth and Cedric quickly dived as a bright blue fire came out of the dragon's mouth. The rock behind him was quickly turned to a pile of ashes.

"Whoa!" cried Alex, leaping back, "That fire is really hot!"

"Swedish Short-Sounts have fire hot enough to turn wood or bone into ashes in a matter of seconds," said Hermione breathlessly as she watched, "They don't come into contact with humans often but you definitely don't want to mess with them, especially in the air. They rule the skies better than the ground."

Cedric was safe behind multiple layers of rock and he raised his wand. One of the rocks turned into a black Labrador. The dragon eyed the dog with interest, as if she found it more amusing than delicious.

"You are a funny little four-legged creature," she said as she followed it. As Cedric walked over to the eggs, he slipped and caused a small avalance of rocks. The dragon heard the noise and turned around. "My eggs!" she shouted in fury and released her fire.

Unable to hide behind rocks this time, Cedric quickly dropped to his stomach but not before some of the fire licked the side of his face. He grabbed the egg as he let out a scream of pain and the gong sounded again. Many in the crowd gasped but then started clapping furiously. Alex heard some girls asking each other worriedly if Cedric would still look like a model after this task.

"I hope that dragon didn't ruin that gorgeous face," one girl said dreamily.

"I hope that dragon didn't kill him," said Alex nonchalantly but loud enough so that the girls could hear her. They all gasped and started whispering amongst themselves.

"You're so bad, Alex," said Hermione with a disapproving look and an eye roll.

"They started it," she muttered and started laughing quietly.

The men that Alex had seen before with the dragons came running out and started chaining the creature down, the dragon fighting and screaming profanities the entire time.

"What is she saying?" Hermione asked quietly as a group of men Stunned the dragon at once.

"Trust me, Hermione," said Alex as the dragon was silenced, "It's better if you didn't know."

Her friend merely nodded and watched as the next champion, Fleur, came out and her dragon was released. It was a little bigger than the first one and was a startling emerald green. She was a Common Welsh Green and much calmer than the other dragon.

"Hmm…where am I? And why am I guarding these eggs? They're not mine…right? It's all kind of blurry," the dragon said and Alex felt bad for her. If it were Alex, she would have been freaking out at not being able to remember what happened to her.

Fleur waited for the gong and walked cautiously towards the dragon. The creature saw this and her lax attitude immediately changed. Whether she thought the eggs were hers or not, it seemed her motherly instincts were kicking in fast.

"Oh no little human, you can't have these eggs! Just try and mess with me now!" The dragon let out a loud, almost melodious roar that left Alex staring in awe of this great beast.

"You know, I'm starting to see why Hagrid likes them so much," she whispered.

"Focus Alex. You're forgetting that these things would kill Harry and have no problems with it," said Hermione.

"Er, right. Sorry 'Mione. Hey, I like that nickname!" said Alex happily, "Can I call you that sometimes? It's actually kinda pretty, don't you think?"

"If Harry makes it through this task, you can call me whatever you want," her friend said, waving her hand distractedly, "Look, what is she doing?"

It seemed the Fleur had cast a charm over the dragon. Alex hated to admit it but she was impressed. It was really hard to enchant a dragon since they had internal magic and all that usually counteracted the spells.

"I feel…sleepy," the dragon said in a woozy voice, "What's happening to me?"

"She's putting it to sleep!" Alex said, eyes wide, "I wonder what that spell was?"

"Well, it's looking. Look!"

The dragon curled up in a ball and was soon sleeping soundly. Fleur ran forward and grabbed the egg. Suddenly, the dragon let out a snort and a flame came out its nose and onto her skirt. Fleur jumped in fright but quickly put the flame out by sending water on it from her wand. The members of Beauxbatons and several members of the male populations cheered happily and loudly. Alex and Hermione clapped politely while rolling their eyes.

"I have to say, little miss sunshine didn't do so bad after all," said Alex with a shrug, "Oh look, Krum's up next! And his dragon is…shit!"

"What? What's wrong, Alex?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"Harry's got the Hungarian Horntail," Alex said, shaking slightly with fear, "See? Krum's got something else…looks like a Liondragon."

"A what?"

"A Chinese Fireball," said Alex quickly, "You can tell because of the snout. See how it hooks down like a beak? They're supposed to be really fast and clever for a dragon. I wonder what Krum has planned."

"I dunno. But why is it called Fireball? I mean, I got the Swedish Short-Snout because of its nose and the Common Welsh Green because of its color. I mean sure, it's scales are like fire but why—?"

Just then, the gong sounded and Krum sprinted forward. The dragon crouched down low over her eggs and looked furiously at the Durmstrang student.

"Do you think that wise, human?" she said in a low tone, "Very well, you asked for it!"

The dragon let out a roar and fire leapt from its mouth. However, it almost seemed to mushroom out of the opening, looking as though a giant fireball was rushing towards the Bulgarian Seeker. With the thanks of quick reflexes, Krum rolled away from the flames.

"That is why it's called the Chinese Fireball," whispered Alex while Hermione just nodded.

Krum raised his wand and shouted a spell that the crowd's noise covered up. Suddenly, Alex let out a shout and covered her ears.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione, her voice slightly higher.

But Alex just shook her head as she leaned forward with her head on her legs. The dragon was screaming in confusion and fear. Krum had temporarily blinded the dragon so she couldn't see him grab the eggs. It wasn't until the dragon was subdued that Alex was able to look up.

"Are you all right?" her friend asked and Alex nodded. Hermione let out a sigh of relief and continued, "Krum got the egg, but the dragon crushed all the others. He'll get points off for that. No harm is supposed to come to the other eggs."

"Poor dragon," said Alex sadly, "She won't be happy when she gets her sight back and sees that her babies were killed by her."

Finally, it was Harry's turn. When he came out, Alex started a cheer of "We Will Rock You". He looked at the stands and Alex thought she saw a smile flicker on his face. However, when the dragon came out, Alex knew Harry wasn't smiling anymore. The Hungarian Horntail was a ferocious looking beast with black scales. Its eyes were golden yellow with slits for pupils, almost like a cats except far more frightening. Its head was covered with spikes but it was the tail that was the worst. Pointed spikes ranging from a few inches to the size of a fully-grown man covered the tail. Alex felt pain shoot down her hand and realized that Hermione was gripping it tightly.

"It's okay, Hermione," said Alex in a would-be-calm tone, "I mean, he's taken on the darkest wizard of all time. Compared to that, this should be a piece of cake."

Hermione just nodded but started violently when the gong sounded and the dragon let out a roar.

"Time to die, human boy!" the Hungarian Horntail snarled.

As it opened its mouth to release a flame, Harry raised his wand and shouted, "Accio Firebolt!" There was silence, the dragon looking at Harry with amusement. Then there was a whoosh and Harry was flying through the air on his Firebolt. The dragon was confused for a second, but not for long. It spread its great wings and took off into the air after Harry. Suddenly, it stopped short because of its chains.

"You think these chains can keep me in?" the dragon roared, "They are no match for me!"

It opened its mouth and sent flames onto the metal. Alex watched in horror as the metal melted and the dragon gave a lurch, breaking the chain clean off. Harry saw this too and immediately took off as fast as he could, taking the dragon away from the stadium and towards the castle. Alex watched with a stomach full of cold fear as Harry suddenly shot off through the dragon's scaly legs and towards the stadium. Everyone was screaming and cheering as the Gryffindor dove to the ground, grabbed the egg, and fell off his broom. The Firebolt stopped shot, as if sensing its rider was missing, and waited wile hovering above the ground.

Alex screamed until her throat was sore. Harry had gotten the egg the fastest and was the least injured. The dragon was quickly subdued and taken away as everyone turned their attention to the judges. Madame Maxime, Karkaroff, Dumbledore, and Crouch were talking amongst themselves. Finally, Dumbledore amplified his voice. Hungarian Horntail

"We have decided to make the standings as follows: Fleur Delacore in third, Cedric Diggory in second, and a tie for first! Both Viktor Krum and Harry Potter are in first place. Congratulations all!"

The Gryffindors were very upset by this. Fred and George were booing and shouting curses and the judges. Even Hermione was upset.

"Honestly," she said angrily as they walked to the first aid tent to congratulate Harry, "Just because he's a great Quidditch player doesn't mean he's good at everything else."

"It's rigged," Alex ranted as they opened the flap, "The other schools are all upset 'cause we got two champions while they only got one each. I mean, come on! Harry did it the fastest and he's barely injured! And at least he didn't destroy an entire nest of dragon hatchlings!"

Harry was sitting on a bed getting his arm bandaged. Apparently while he dived to get the egg, his arm had gotten burned.

"Harry, you were amazing!" Hermione said happily, sitting on his bed and hugging him, "You should have gotten first place, if it weren't for that hair-flipping French girl."

"Thanks Hermione," said Harry. He held out the egg and Alex took it as he continued, "Bagman said our next clue is in the egg."

"We'll open it in the common room," said Alex.

Once Harry was ready to go, the three of them headed out of the tent. They passed Cedric's bed and Alex stopped. Cedric was pretty beat up, but his eyes fluttered open and he sat up to look at Alex.

"Nice job out there," said Alex with a smile, "You got third place by the way."

"Thanks," he said weakly, "And tell Harry thanks for, you know, giving me that tip about the task."

"I'll let him know," said Alex and followed her friends out of the tent an up to the castle. Once they reached the common room, they were greeted with cheers and shouts.

"Great show, Harry!" Lee Jordan shouted over the noise, patting Harry on the back.

Fred and George lifted Harry onto their shoulders and began carrying him around the common room. Alex and Hermione went to find a table and waited for Harry to get away from the praise. He finally came over and sat down, looking fully embarrassed and relieved.

"Let's hear see that clue, Harry," said Alex.

Harry found a clasp on the edge of the egg and unhooked it. It opened and a loud screeching was heard. Alex covered her ears as did the rest of the common room. She was only able to make out a few words.

"Come…voices…ground…hour…recover…we…"

Harry closed the egg and rubbed his ears. The Gryffindors quickly made their way up to their dormitories, in case their champion decided to open the egg again. A shadow appeared on the table and Alex, Hermione, and Harry looked up to see Ron standing in front of them, hands in his pockets.

"Look…Harry, I'm sorry for being a, you know…"

"Prat?' suggested Harry.

"Git?" asked Hermione, but she was smiling gratefully.

"Self-centered pig who refuses to use his brain?" Alex said coolly.

"Yeah, all that. I realize now only a total idiot would put his name in there."

The girls looked at Harry, waiting for his response. He shrugged and held out his hand. Ron grinned and grabbed it, doing some kind of man shake that made Alex and Hermione laugh.

"What?" the boys asked together.

"You're so weird!" said Alex, still laughing, "A simple "you're forgiven" will suffice. You all don't have to that whole "man hand-shake" thing!"

They all started laughing and Alex was happy everything was back to normal…well, life at Hogwarts was never normal when you were friends with Harry and Alex.

…...

A sign on the notice board the next day had all the Gryffindors nervous. They were to meet with Professor McGonagall later that afternoon. Fred and George were hiding all evidence of their prank items while Alex spent hours in the bathroom making sure she didn't look bad. She always felt like she was in trouble when McGonagall was around and she didn't want to get in trouble for a uniform violation. Finally, Alex and Hermione joined their fellow Gryffindors in the common room, in which the chairs had been moved for a large open area.

Once McGonagall entered the room, all talk ceased in an instant. She stood in the center and began talking in her stern voice.

"As some of you may or may not know, between the first and second task is the Yule Ball." At this, the girls around Alex started giggling and whispering excitedly. Alex just sighed, she never liked getting dressed up for formal events.

"Girls…thank you. Now, I am here to explain the proper dress code and proceedings for this event. Boys must wear dark dress robes, which must be neat and impeccable. Girls may wear dress robes if they wish but regular dresses may be worn as well. I know they are in fashion.

"I anticipate that every single Hogwarts student will be on their best behavior. No improper dress, dancing, or language is permitted. Remember that you represent your school as well as your house. I know all the Gryffindors will behave with some dignity.

"The dance will be held on Christmas Eve from seven to midnight. Only fourth years and older will be permitted, unless an older student asks one who is younger than fourth year. Dinner will be served there, the younger students eating in their common rooms. It will be a fun night for all and will help bring unity to three very different schools."

She spent the last few minutes going over length, cut, and color of dresses that she expected the girls to wear. When she left, the room began talking once more.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Parvati said to Lavender, Hermione, and Alex as they were in their room, "I love dances!"

"Me too!" said Lavender, practically jumping up and down in her excitement, "We need to go shopping, all of us together next Hogsmede trip. What do you think we should wear?"

"Dresses," said Alex as she packed up her bag for school the next day, "There's more variety and I'd feel more comfortable in them."

"Same here," said Hermione, "But we need dates."

"You three won't have any problems," sighed Parvati, "You're all gorgeous! Guys'll be stalking you until you accept."

Alex burst out laughing. Parvati was one of the prettiest girls in the school with her slanted eyes and dark skin tone. When she told her this, Parvati just waved her hand.

"You're so much prettier than me," she said, "Haven't you seen the guys watching you all year?"

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked, sitting on her bed and staring at Parvati, "Guys don't like me like that, I'm just some girl they ask for about homework."

"Man Alex," said Lavender with a sad smile, "You need to open your eyes and see that every guy in the school wants to go out with you."

"Very funny guys," said Alex, starting to laugh but seeing none of them doing so, "And besides, I don't want to go out with just any guy, they need to treat me right. None of that using me for their benefit crap. I want a guy who likes me for me and all of me."

The girls just nodded and Alex went to change into her pajamas in the bathroom. Once she finished, she looked at herself in the mirror, really looked. Alex never considered herself a knock-out, but she knew she was pretty good-looking. But there was so much more to her. She was smart, funny, intuitive, and adventurous. She was loyal and always ready to take on anyone who messed with her or her friends. Alex knew that if a guy couldn't get past her pretty face, he wasn't worth much.

Author's Note: So how did you like this chapter? A little more action-packed than the last one, huh? Hopefully this chapter makes up for the last one. I apologize if you were falling asleep because you were so bored. However, every chapter has important parts to it so keep that in mind.

I just wanted to let my readers know that I will be graduating next weekend and I have a ton of practices and end-of-the-year stuff this week. I will, of course, try to update as often as I can and when I do update, I may even do two chapters just because I know next weekend will be crazy. I will keep you all informed as the days go by because I know many of you really look forward to my next chapters.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, added me to their favorites, and put me on alert. You, the readers, are the reason why I keep posting chapters and your support is incredible. I can't tell you how many times I've had a bad day and I've checked my email to see a nice review in my inbox. It really makes my day a thousand times better. You guys are amazing and I don't think words can express how grateful I am for every single one of you. So thank you all for your love and support! :D