You - Vlad is always trying to come up with solutions (in Young Dracula he is anyway), but yeah he doesn't have much proof.

jgood27 - thank you! Welcome to the party.

On to the final task! With any luck this not sending out alerts issue has been resolved (here's looking at you ff) and you guys will know this is posted!

-YDHP-

"What's up?"

Vlad turned his neck to enable him to look at his mate, who was currently playing his fingers over the scar on Vlad's chest. He was self conscious being topless, but Harry had silenced his doubts with heated kisses.

"Just anxious for this to be over. I want my unlife back."

"You'll be fine. You're amazing."

Vlad felt his cheeks heat, Harry's smile saying he had noticed too.

"Thanks. But let's not be naive about the fact anything could happen tomorrow."

"Cheery you are."

"I'm a vampire you dolt."

"Still. Cheer up. It's nearly twenty four hours away."

"Mmm. Not sure what the logic was in making us do this maze at night. My night vision is better than a humans, but still."

"Kinda says they don't think it's going to take that long, since the audience can't exactly stay out there indefinitely."

"Or they expect us all to die in there very quickly."

"Will you cheer up? I don't like this deathwish attitude."

Vlad recoiled, realising he had hurt his mate. Harry noticed quickly, backtracking when he saw Vlad's face

"Hey, calm down. I just mean... act like you want to come out of this alive a little more."

"Of course I do! I told you, I'll always come back to you."

He reached up to touch Harry's face but dropped his hand - he didn't deserve to touch the other boy. He had upset him. Harry touched him instead, stroking a cool thumb across Vlad's cheekbone. Vlad couldn't help but lean in to the touch, absorbing the touch of his mate.

"I know you will. Just humour me and sound more like it?"

"I'll try. You need to accept that I am a Dracula, and we talk in a maudlin manner though."

"I will try. I'm still getting used to this, I didn't know I could care more until I started falling for you."

Vlad felt his heart pound in his chest - it was his birthday in a couple of days, was he about to get a perfect gift from Harry after six months together? He couldn't help himself, blurting it out as though Harry didn't already know.

"I love you."

Harry's thumb stopped and Vlad panicked, but then he was smiling and he dared to hope.

"I love you too. Even if you're a bit morbid and you make me do homework."

No gift could ever quite match up to that - his mate loved him. Vlad could die happy in the maze the following day. He felt his smile grow so wide his cheeks hurt, returned in Harry's more angular, sharper face while Vlad was still very much baby faced, age impaired.

Vlad woke the next morning with the reassuring weight of Harry on his chest, indulging in looking at the contours of muscle in Harry's back and hips, view then impeded by the emerald green bottoms Harry had on. Vlad's gentle encouragement had slowly convinced his boyfriend to accept he looked divine in green, and it didn't make him suddenly loyal to Slytherin.

So when Harry had to buy new bottoms because his old ones didn't fit, several of the pairs had been in varying shades of green. It made Vlad very happy, particularly when Harry scarcely wore tops to sleep in. They often had a few minutes lazy conversation in the mornings, as neither needed as much sleep as the human boys in the dorm and so there was no rush to leave Vlad's bed. It was rare for Harry to even sleep in his own bed once a week by then.

"Do you have champion stuff all day?"

"I'm not actually sure. I have to go for a thing after breakfast. But the task isn't until after the early dinner. No idea if we get hidden away all day."

They slipped out of his bed and cleaned up, quickly dressed in the bathroom and headed down to the mostly-deserted common room together after Vlad fed Phantom and Harry dropped a mouse into Lily's rarely-inhabited tank.

"Hey Vlad! Good luck with the thing tonight!"

"Thanks George. How are exams treating you?"

Given that Ingrid was periodically hexing anyone nearby who disturbed her studying, Vlad wasn't sure anyone else was currently at her level of irritation. George shrugged, slathering peanut butter over her bacon and eggs without a care in the world.

"Easy. Seriously, my teachers have all complained I finish the exams too quick. I told them my secret is brain food."

George indicated her bizarre food mix, adding some ketchup for good measure and Vlad looked away, trying not to vomit into his blueberry porridge. That he totally wasn't eating because it reminded him of the way Harry's mouth tasted after some blueberry jam enthusiasm. Not one bit. Harry was on the mid point of his breakfast, after the meat feast and on to the sugar. The third part could go either way depending on his appetite that day.

The other three champions each waved in greeting to him as they came down for breakfast, a small show of how they still weren't falling for the overt angry competition everyone expected from them. Vlad didn't even care about winning - what did he need 'eternal glory' for when he was already destined to be Grand High Vampire? And what would he do with a thousand galleons? He already had money, a future high paid job and a certain blond friend who had an annoying habit of paying for peoples things.

There was one perk over breakfast - seeing that empty spot Ron Weasley had occupied, since he had been taken by the Ministry for questions and while he didn't know what had gone on over that, the point was he was no longer in Hogwarts upsetting Ingrid. Or breathing too near to anyone Vlad cared about really.

Vlad waited until Hermione and Draco had come down for breakfast before he regretfully left Harry to head off to the whatever-it-was the champions had to be at that morning. Cedric and Fleur caught up with him by the door, and Viktor wasn't far behind as they walked into the appointed room.

"Mama! Papa! Gabrielle!"

"Dad!"

"Mother. Father."

Vlad knew a moments fear as the other three greeted family members. He didn't want Count Dracula roaming Hogwarts. Gabrielle Delacour offered him a shy wave, and the Delacour woman - an ethereal half-Veela who practically glowed where she stood - gave Vlad an appraising look. Definitely could tell he was a biter. Cedric and his father greeted each other with exuberance, all bear hugs and slaps on the back and shoulder as they discussed the tournament

Viktor's father was practically the spitting image, just thinner and beard-ier than Vlad's ex boyfriend. That made him a little unsettled, wondering how much the Krum's knew of Vlad. They probably knew about the relationship, since it had been front page news in the United Kingdom and Viktor was more famous in Bulgaria. Apparently, he was about to find out.

"Mother, father. This is Vlad. Vlad, these are my parents."

The older Krum looked down at Vlad over his hooked nose, making him feel about two inches tall.

"This is the cheat who attempted to convince you to throw the tournament?"

"Whoa whoa whoa. I don't know what you've heard, but my relationship with your son was never about this godforsaken tournament. I didn't even want to compete."

For a minute, Vlad felt hurt that Viktor had painted him in such a light, though he knew Viktor didn't owe him a damn thing in reality.

"Father! I never said any such thing about him. And Vlad vas never anything but supportive and encouraging despite the competition during our relationship."

"Hmmph."

Mr Krum turned away and crossed the room, leaving Vlad feeling a little wrong-footed by the whole experience. Viktor wrapped a loose arm around Vlad's shoulder, smiling in his usual friendly manner.

"Sorry about him. He's just a little uptight. Vait until he finds out you don't like Quidditch."

"Viktor!"

"Sorry, I'll see you later Vlad."

He waved his friend off, not seeing his father anywhere and wondering if he was to be left watching everyone else with their family all day... he could spend that time studying. Studying Harry, but that was his favourite subject.

"Vladdo!"

He was suddenly besieged by two brawny hugs at once, surrounded by flaming red hair and smelling reptile all over one.

"Bill? Charlie?"

"Mum too! Since your dads not allowed near Hogwarts, we are your assigned family for the day."

The Weasley matriarch was indeed there, giving Vlad a hug just as fierce as her muscular sons were capable of. Vlad had not been told his father wasn't allowed in Hogwarts... but he wasn't sad about it. His vampire status would be out in all of a minute and a half as his father flirted with various women and threatened to bite everyone else.

"Cool. I gotta say though, I don't think anyone will buy that we're related."

"I think you would make a fetching red head."

Bill grinned, eyes occasionally drifting over to the Veela women in the corner. Vlad hoped they didn't bring up the incident in the Forest with Ron... at least while they were around other people.

"So... you get to show us around the school, then lunch and dinner and then we'll be watching a maze. Try to set off fireworks, make it look exciting for us?"

"I'll try Charlie. No promises."

The Weasleys knew Amos Diggory as it turned out - Mr Weasley worked at the Ministry with him. The Delacours introduced themselves to Vlad, thanking him for helping Fleur and Gabrielle in the lake. The mother even kissed Vlad's cheek and he felt them flush in response to Veela pheromones, regardless of his own feelings. Like any big brothers, Bill and Charlie teased him mercilessly about that.

"See you in the tent later?"

Cedric nudged Vlad's shoulder, about to head off with his father.

"Yeah." Vlad turned back to his 'assigned family' "Suppose we can start up at Gryffindor tower and work our way down?"

"Sounds good, I wanna see if the scorch marks I-... nothing mum."

Charlie fell silent under his mothers glare, clapped Vlad on the shoulder and they headed out to the almost empty Great Hall, passing up to the Grand Staircase. Fred, George and Ginny were all thrilled to see their brothers and mother, and Harry, Draco and Hermione were all greeted warmly over lunch too. Bill and Charlie were the subject of many admiring looks and attention from younger students, and they had to explain that Vlad was an honorary Weasley for saving Ginny in second year several times.

"What's the matter Dracula? Your mommy and daddy don't love you?"

Several of the students who didn't like Vlad's participation in the Tournament tried to pick a fight about it when they were out on the grounds to relax by the lake, but Vlad let it roll off him. The fiery redheads however, would not take it. Mrs Weasley had disappeared off to see Ginny and meet the boyfriend, so the twins and their two brothers weren't worried to be witnessed.

"He's got enough people caring about him that he basically has two families. Your 'mommy and daddy' didn't even visit when you fell off your broom and cracked your skull Miller. Now get lost."

Vlad didn't like them using what was probably an unhappy home situation, but the other boy had come seeking an argument - he got one.

"Leave it guys. He's not worth the hassle."

Scowling, Miller realised he and his friends weren't going to win the fight - especially when Tonks, part of the security assignment for the Task, was eyeing the crowd, - and they turned away, leaving.

"You are far too passive for a lion."

Vlad shrugged, but Harry rose to his defence with a smile as he stretched out beneath the spring-summer sunshine.

"Nah, he just picks his battles. Vlad's not afraid to jump into the fire, just not for stupid reasons. He's one of those rare ones, a Gryffindor with patience."

"Blasphemy! Speaking of patience... when's dinner?"

"You had lunch an hour and a half ago!"

"Hey, you gotta eat alot when you wrestle dragons for a living."

"There's no dragons here. Except Ingrid. And she wouldn't appreciate you trying to wrestle her."

His sister glared, but Vlad just offered her a grin and a Blood Pop. He tried not to notice the boys around them watching her with it for the sake of his own sanity, instead watching the spectator stands being erected for the third task. The hedges were now so tall and thick, Vlad felt certain he could actually get lost amongst the tightly twisted leaves.

"Well there goes my evening plans."

"Oh, don't make me eat you."

"Is that a promise?"

Charlie's banter was unthreatening to Ingrid, as she knew he wasn't really interested in women in the slightest. So when he rolled on his stomach and smirked up at her where she sat beneath her protective parasol, she didn't hesitate to continue it.

"I'll come find you after the task. Gotta watch Vlad lose miserably first."

"Thanks for your faith and support in my hour of need Ingrid."

"I'm drowning in redheads and Gryffindors, what more do you want?"

Ingrid was being surprisingly supportive, and Vlad wasn't even seriously injured. That was often the only time she showed her concern for him. She was even out in the sunshine with the others.

"Fair point."

With his fifteenth birthday approaching, Vlad knew in a years time his body would not bask in the sunlight as it did now. He was thankful for his magic, in that it would still allow him to be out in the sunshine - where he could watch Harry bask in warmth. His t-shirt would roll up and reveal the muscles of his abdomen when he stretched across the grass, and Vlad was having to make a concerted effort not to be caught staring avidly.

"I repeat, when is this early dinner? My body clock is all over the place, I'm on a different time in Romania."

"Yeah, we know that. We lived there remember? It is" Vlad held his hand palm up, wand in its holster against his wrist "fourty minutes to early dinner. However, if you're going to waste away before then, you're welcome to my Honeydukes bag or the twins stash of cake... assuming you can pry it away from George and her twins."

The afternoon served as relaxation for Vlad, skin pleasantly warmed and Harry's scent more intense for the heat infused into his skin. On top of getting to spend a couple of hours with people who didn't treat him with contempt, suspicion, or outright dislike, which was refreshing after the last seven months of the tournament going on.

Dinner was a somewhat hurried affair for him, as he had to go out to the Champions tent to 'be prepared' for the task. He had barely forced some vegetables and a couple of sausages - Vlad had forgotten what it was like to eat with several Weasleys plus Harry and Draco, a near violent tussle for food - down his neck before Tonks was coming to get him.

"That's my cue. Off to my death."

"Cheer up, at least you'll die heroically!"

"Fred!"

"I'm George!"

"Did somebody call me?"

Shaking his head, his friends waved him off as he stood. Ingrid, having relocated to the Gryffindor table for that meal as everyone knew by then she sort of cared he survived the tournament, told him to at least die dramatically, and he was almost glad to be escaping the noise and chaos at the table. Except... they were his family. And he was never happy to be leaving Harry.

"Nervous?"

"Only that your dad is going to corner me and interrogate me."

"Nah, don't vorry. His English is not that good."

"Comforting."

Viktor grinned, disappearing into his cubicle to change as they all did for the task. Vlad pulled on the hideous jumper thing, reminding himself this was the last time he would have to wear his name across his back, tucking his wand into the holster and stepping back out with a vain attempt at flattening his hair where it had become messy as he yanked his top on.

"This is the final task. You will be released into the maze according to your previous scores, and the aim is to reach the centre of the maze where the Triwizard Cup awaits. The Cup is charmed to remember who touches it first to avoid claims of cheating, and the maze contains many obstacles. To succeed, you must face trials and tribulations "

Vlad began to tune out the briefing, skin itching where he felt Karkaroff keeping an eye on him. A gentle nudge at his shoulder shook Vlad from his reverie, turning out to be Viktor who smiled at him.

"Sorry. Zoned out."

"It's fine. But it's time. Good luck Vlad."

"Good luck Viktor."

If nothing else, the Tournament had given him a wonderful friend in the burly Bulgarian Quidditch player. And Fleur and Cedric had shown him he could be accepted as a vampire. Harry had taught him to swim.

Of course, he had almost drowned and had been mauled by a dragon and Merpeople along the way.

It had had its ups and downs.

"Our champions!"

Someone was shouting as they came out, introducing them but Vlad was focused on that last look at his mate before he went into the maze with Lucifer-knew-what. Eyes finding 'his group', with banners and cheering and the Weasley twins had 'VLAD' written across their foreheads... there was Harry. His eyes were bright and his smile wide, and when Vlad's name was announced he jumped up to cheer alongside the Weasleys for him.

Vlad had ended up scoring last, so he was last to be let into the maze. Each of them had a separate entrance that closed behind them, but were assured that each one had no geographical advantage. Vlad didn't believe that entirely, but he wasn't really in it to win it. So it didn't matter much.

There were several staff circling the maze... if one could circle a square. Each had a red star either on their robes or hat - if anyone wanted to quit because of mortal danger or something, they were to send up red sparks with their wand and the circlers would come fetch them.

"Try not to get killed in there. I don't want to deal with your sister."

"Thanks Tonks. And thanks for being my buddy through this whole debacle."

"You're surprisingly good company for a future bat. Alright, get in your spot and wait to be told you can start."

One by one, each champion was directed into the maze. Holding his wand in hand - for show if nothing else - Vlad was last to be sent in. As soon as he reached a magical marker glowing on the floor, the hedges slammed shut behind him and the world fell eerily silent. Squinting, he could see the silencing charms layered over the hedges, and there was even one over the top of the maze. Vlad headed forward, and by rights he ought to be able to see the stands, or at least the school.

Nothing but leaves and night sky as far as his eye could see. Silent, practically invisible... guess they started with trying to disorient them. Pocketing his wand, Vlad clicked the Illumina light ball up in existence next to his shoulder, casting everything into a harsh light that sent shadows stretching up before him.

"Creepy maze. At night. Alone. Peachy."

Vlad set off along the grassy floor, unsure whether to be looking for anything as trivial as trip-jinxes or whether he ought to keep his eyes higher up. Nothing but his own footsteps could be heard, not even a flicker of wind over the leaves above.

From his position of entry, Vlad needed to go north east, so he should go forwards for now and search for the turns on his right. He walked for about five minutes before anything happened, and it was slightly unexpected - the hedge shot out a branch, scratching Vlad's hand open with silver-coloured thorns.

"If I were a werewolf, that could have killed me. This isn't playing around."

Thankful for his Healing lessons, Vlad disinfected and closed the scrape on his hand - it wasn't deep, but he didn't want to be dripping vampire blood around for any old creature to smell and track him down. Assuming the branch attack meant he was going to start encountering things now, Vlad let his senses heighten a touch. Next came several of the passages snapping shut behind him, and two dead ends.

Backtracking, Vlad heard what could only be described as hoofbeats. What was he supposed to do, arm wrestle a centaur? His stomach dropped a minute later when he saw the ethereal glow of white gold only one creature gave off.

Unicorn.

Trapped between a dead end and a passage in the completely wrong direction, or being gored by a big sharp horn, Vlad took a deep breath and hesitant steps to his left, hoping not to be spotted by the unicorn. Invisibility wouldn't help if it got closer - it would still sense him. Hiding behind a hedge anyway, he wanted to run but could end up in any number of traps, or even alert the unicorn to him even faster.

"Someone's trying to kill me, a unicorn wouldn't even glance twice at Fleur. Bloody specieism. If that is even a word. And I'm talking to myself."

Vlad clamped his mouth closed, taking a few more steps and speeding up as the hoofbeats grew louder. Taking a chance, he ran for it and didn't stop for what felt like half a mile. Not a sound anymore. Sighing in relief, he planned how to compensate for the detour and kept going.

Leaves rustled, a little unsettling with still no wind to rustle them. Wanting to get this over with, but also knowing someone who set this maze up probably had bets on Vlad being dead, he kept going. He encountered nothing more than angry branches again for a while, turning at a point he thought maybe meant he was back on course after the unicorn detour. He wasn't sure if they would get some sort of signal if they were beaten, or were just expected to go wandering until they reached the middle and found out they had lost.

Something slammed into him out of nowhere, Vlad's distracted senses taking a second to recognise Fleur, bleeding from a cut on her cheek and looking genuinely terrified of something.

"I don't understand. I thought we were friends!"

Confused by her outburst, Vlad turned in the direction she had come from. Wandlight stunned his eyes for a second, having doused his own light long ago to reduce the chances of the unicorn following him. Blinking it away, Vlad found his skin crawl as he saw Viktor, eyes glazed and wand out.

"It's not him. He's cursed!"

"'E tried to kill me!"

"Get going Fleur, go!"

The veela hesitated, then looked at him and shook her head.

"No."

"Then stay there. Whatever he's doing, it's after you not me, see? He hasn't made a move now I'm in the way."

She nodded, watching Vlad approach the Bulgarian slowly, ensuring he kept his body between the two until Viktor's glazed eyes fixed on him. The harsh wandlight gave them an even eerier glow, his head turning like a lost animal who didn't understand the situation. Taking a deep breath, Vlad only knew how to do this in theory.

"I know you wouldn't hurt her. Just like I know you wouldn't attack me. But if you want to hurt Fleur, you'll have to go through me."

At first the features darkened further, searching for Fleur but Vlad stayed in the way, waiting for a sign the control was wavering. Viktor blinked, wand lowering a fraction of an inch and it was enough. Hypnosis and the Imperius curse were similar enough that if Vlad could find the chink, he could - in theory - cancel the two out with each other. But he hadn't tried it before. It was like fighting through an Occlumency barrier made of treacle, but he found the gap and forced his own mind control through it, a backlack knocking the two apart as the magic shattered.

"Vladimir? Are you ok?"

A soft hand tapped his cheek, trying to bring him round. Vlad opened his eyes, finding Fleur hovering over his face. Pushing himself upright, his eyes sought Viktor, who was still prone on the ground.

"How long was I out?"

"Minutes."

Groggy and disorientated - that had hurt - Vlad crawled over the ground, feeling for Viktor's pulse even though he could hear his heart beat.

"He should be fine. Can you do the sparks thing? I hate to disqualify him but I'm not leaving him here to get eaten by a rabid Kneazle or whatever else is going on in here."

Fleur nodded, fumbling for her wand and sending up a shower of red sparks into the air. Then she bent down and helped haul Vlad to his feet with a strength belied by her slender frame.

"We better go, if we are 'ere when they reach 'im we will be disqualified too."

"That way. Quickly."

Vlad pointed to their right, and Fleur helped him stumble that way for a couple of turns, then leant him against a non-attacking patch of hedge.

"Thank you. You may 'ave saved both of our lives. 'E could 'ave been imprisoned for attacking me."

"All in a days work. Get going, it'll look like collusion if he's found unconscious and we reach the middle together. I'm fine... just keep an eye out for Cedric. Something bad is happening in here tonight."

Fleur nodded, whispering a healing charm over her bloodied cheek and heading off on one turn while Vlad ambled along the other. His head began to clear, leaving room for panic. Was someone eliminating his competition? Or was that too fanciful?

Either way, Vlad didn't have much time to think about it - something was coming closer.

The Blast Ended Skrewts had stopped being part of Care Of Magical Creatures classes a while ago - they were just too vicious and Madam Pomfrey wanted to skin Hagrid alive for all the burns she had to treat from them. So Vlad had missed the part where they grew and were now the size of Hagrids hut. Bats.

Their mottled grey skin was now thick plates of armour, and the enormous stinger protruding longer than Vlad's entire body told him it was probably a male. How that information helped him, he wasn't sure. Gone were the small propellant flames of before - this one raised its wings and poured a fire storm from it's hind, setting several feet of hedge on fire and launching itself at Vlad.

He barely moved in time, the heat close enough to make his face sweat as the Skrewt got its cruel twisted front end stuck in the brush. Vlad didn't wait to see how easy it could tear out, waving an Aguamenti charm to drop water all over the flames before the whole maze turned into some kind of lethal, logical inferno.

Smoke poured from the doused flames, making it hard to see, hard to breathe but the Skrewt behind him roared out in anger. Vlad thought he was almost safe. Until something in front of him returned the sound.

There were two of them. At least.

Casting a quick bubblehead charm allowed him to breathe clean air again, though it did nothing for his eyes as he had little to go on but sound. Despite their huge size, Skrewts had thin legs, like an insect, making virtually no sound as they displaced next to nothing with each step.

"Fire. So... Ice shield. Why can't I be good at that instead of fire? Glacie!"

The shield solidified into existence, letting Vlad at least make a run for it and hoping he didn't run straight into a Skrewt. How did one incapacitate such heavily armoured, super-pissed-off fire crabs with attitude and poison stingers? Where was their weakness?

Vlad found it by accident, getting knocked clean off his feet by the wings of the second one he could not see. The wings were razor sharp, but made a loud fluttering sound as they skittered through the air. The cut across his cheek bled quickly and copiously into his bubble, held by the suspended gravity within and cloying his sense of smell and taste. But when he blinked the coloured lights out of his eyes, Vlad spied it - their underbelly was not armoured.

Hearing the roars grow louder and knowing he was potentially seconds away from being plastered in heavy flames as the Skrewt tried to propel itself to the aid of their friend, he cast a stunner to the underbelly with his outstretched hand. The Skrewt faltered, but didn't stop moving. Petrifying didn't work either, and Vlad was running out of non lethal options.

Wait... fire crabs. They had that sort of awkward turtle shape, and their biggest weakness was being flipped onto their back. Crawling along to try and get out of range of flames just in case, Vlad used a levitation charm, struggling against the creatures weight until he had the room, and flipped it on its back.

Skinny legs wriggled angrily in the air, but Vlad had the chance to get away before it could get up. Hoping Cedric and Fleur were actually ahead him and wouldn't encounter those now even angrier Skrewts. Cancelling his bubble meant blood spilled down his clothes, but at least Vlad could breathe free air and heal his cheek.

What next?

Using a quick point charm, he found he was going in the right sort of direction, continuining on ignorant of his bloody clothes - there was no hiding his scent now, it would take too long to clean every drop of blood from his shirt. At least he could toss out the shirt after the task. Maybe he should have left a note saying not to cremate him in it if he died.

He had little idea how long and far in he had gotten, so there was nowhere to go but forward. He wanted it over so he could get back to Harry. Hoping he could drink his weight in pumpkin juice when the Task had ended, Vlad kept his eyes open now the smoke had begun to clear, ears open for the sounds of more Skrewts.

If anything, his next stretch of maze was far too quiet. Every step sounded thunderous in the dark silence, even when he tried to step quietly. A gust of wind crept up behind him, definitely not a natural breeze and as Vlad made himself look back, he saw the maze was melting together - he could be swallowed up by the suddenly shrinking valleys. Taking off at a run, he fought to maintain the correct direction as his bruised legs protested. Apparently he was more injured from the Skrewts than he thought.

Coming to a stop with a stitch in his side, Vlad was relieved to see the maze had stopped closing around him. Gulping in deep breaths of air, he took a proper look at where he was, catching a strange glow toward the end of the longest path before him. Was that... another unicorn?

Before he could think more on it, he heard a scream to his left - Fleur. Ditching the glow, Vlad headed toward the sound and spied Fleur backed into a corner, firing ineffectual spells at a huge black mass. Squinting, Vlad made out eyes glinting in the moonlight, multiple legs.

"It's an Acromantula. Aim for the underside!"

Fleur turned unwittingly toward his shout, and Vlad could have kicked himself for distracting her. Throwing up a shield charm up between her and the spider, Vlad ran over to her. Not his wisest move to run at a ravenous, human eating titanic spider covered in blood, but he managed to grab Fleur's wrist and pull her away from the Acromantula.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have distracted you."

"You saved me. Again. Eet is almost a shame you prefer men." At Vlad's panicked look, Fleur laughed, a soft tinkling sound despite her obvious fear "worry not. I know you are... spoken for. Creature to creature."

Sighing in relief, Vlad saw the Acromantula had started to press against the shield charm more insistently, and in his current state Vlad's magic wasn't going to hold indefinitely.

"Wait. I think... I think zat is the cup!"

"I don't know, I ran into a unicorn earlier."

Fleur shook her head, turning back to see they had two options - Acromantula or potential unicorn or cup. She eyed his bloodied clothes, then grabbed his wrist.

"Come on."

Tired and hoping this was almost over, Vlad let the Veela lead him away, hoping he wasn't about to become swiss cheese a la vampire. The glow didn't change, didn't move and as they reached the end of the path, the view of the huge cup was obvious. It hummed with magic, but Vlad remembered being told it was charmed to know who touched it first.

"You saved me. Take it."

"You take it. I never cared about winning."

"Together?"

Having argued about this eventuality earlier in the maze, Vlad felt stupid for agreeing, but nodded in an attempt to end the thing. Fleur might just keep refusing to take it and they would both be eaten by spiders. He lifted his hand, waiting for her to mimic him as they both reached for a handle each.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Both hands closed around it, and Vlad realised a second too late the charm was more familiar than it should have been as they were yanked along by a portkey.

"Is this taking too long, or is it just me?"

Harry felt twitchy, tapping his knee and thinking out loud. Ingrid reached for the nearest Weasley arm with a watch, checking the time. Bill looked surprised, but amused.

"No, two hours watching a basically empty maze is definitely too long. The younger years are starting to fall asleep."

Harry looked, finding that George and her friends were indeed beginning to doze off. Jacob and Jason were leant against each other, eyes closed and different house coloured jumpers clashing while they were otherwise identical.

"Well Diggory is out, bitten by that Acromantula. And Krum was dragged out unconscious. So it's between Vlad and Delacour."

"If my brother loses to that airhead French half breed I'll hex him so hard he will beg to go back in that lake. With the dragon."

"He and Fleur are friends though."

"He's no threat to her. I am. Queen Bee, one per hive."

Rolling his eyes, Harry turned back to the maze. With any luck, it would be over soon. The crowd began to veer between restless and asleep as the evening wore on, and the judges were beginning to look a little unsure themselves.

"I don't think it's meant to take this long."

"No kidding, I am about ready to-"

Whatever Ingrid was ready to do, Harry never found out. Everyone's attention was fixed on the ground outside the maze, a flash of light that became Fleur Delacour holding a huge trophy-esque cup. The judges still looked unsettled, and Harry wasn't sure that was meant to happen. Ingrid's superior senses focused on the blonde, eyes laser-focused.

"She's got blood on her clothes. Not hers, and she's saying something... do all those people have to shout?"

People began to head down to Fleur, mostly Beauxbatons students wanting to see their friend was ok. Watching Ingrid, Harry felt ice coil in his stomach. Bloodless and dead technically, Ingrid was naturally white as a sheet. So when she looked even paler, eyes widening, Harry feared the worst. Ingrid grabbed his wrist and yanked him from his seat, clear of everyone else they had been seated with before she turned and sated his terrified question on the stairs toward the ground.

"What did she say?"

Ingrid knew they were being watched, people all around having noticed Harry being essentially kidnapped from his seat by her. Her voice didn't work for a second, a degree of discomposure Ingrid had scarcely ever displayed even when Vlad was critically injured. Four words. Four words turned Harry's world on its axis. He couldn't breathe.

"She said Vlad's dead."

-YDHP-

Do you hate me? I hate me.

And while I have no doubt Acromantula venom is probably fatal immediately or something... sue me. I just wanted Cedric out of the maze.